The countdown is on!

Only one day until chocolate. My cube-neighbor has already given me two mini Reese's Cups, which are tucked safely in my desk awaiting the day of celebration. I don't plan to overdo it on Friday, of course, considering I have a 17 mile run scheduled for Saturday, and too much sugar gives me stitches (another underlying reason for this hiatus), but I do plan to eat something decadent following my run. Cast your vote on what I should eat. The only ground rule is that it must contain chocolate. And be tasty. David's idea was some dark chocolate Cold Stone with brownie and gummi bear mix-ins. Sounds decadent enough to me. I'm thinking I'll probably end up with a tummy ache or some other gastrointestinal issue, but hey, it's been over a month...I deserve a celebratory snack.

Running, running, running

If you're at all interested in my marathon training with David and Ashley, you should check out the Allison Krewe's "Marathoners in the Making" blog: allisonkrewe.blogspot.com. If you hate reading about people who exercise way too much, then don't bother. But we mostly write about how much we run, and how we plan to get back all the calories we burned. We're thinking of having shirts made with "Will run for..." on the back. I think mine will say "brownies. " Or "chocolate ice cream." Mmmm...gotta stop thinking about it, hiatus doesn't end until Friday.

Ode to chocolate (and all things sweet)

I decided that for the month of January, I would give up all that excess sugar that seems to rule my life. I was saving a lot of my Weight Watchers Points and using them up on junk: Uncle Wally's Smart Portion Muffins, Skinny Cow ice cream, and Weight Watchers cakes were the biggest perpetrators. Even worse, I was spending all my extra Points I earned back on long runs on the weekends on other not-so-sinless sweets. Although it wasn't contributing to weight gain, it wasn't contributing anything else nutritionally either. So, I decided to cut out the excess sugar, with the only acceptable sugar being present in fruit, or in less than 5 gram increments (such as the 2 grams of sugar in my Rice Chex, or the tiny bit in my Naturally More peanut butter.)

I started a few days early on December 27, and it sure has been a long month. It has definitely had a positive effect on my eating habits: already, my meals and snacks are more balanced throughout the day, causing the little boxes that measure calories/complex carbs/protein/fat/sugar/fiber on the spreadsheet I keep to all turn green with correct percentages. I would say that it's gotten easier as the month has gone on, but that's a lie. Not a day goes by that I don't want something sweet. I manage to get by on fruit, natural peanut butter, sugar free jelly and sugar free pudding, but that craving is still there. I think next month I'll institute a weekends-only approach to sweets, and maybe limit it to one on Saturday, one on Sunday, and only if I earn it with exercise. Overall, it's just an attempt at making this marathon in April the best, healthiest, fastest race yet. I've also cut out carbonated drinks, which I think I will do until the race, since they tend to give me stitches. I've been really keeping track of what I eat and it's been helping, since I've dropped about 5 pounds since Christmas (which is just a little more than my holiday gain.) I think the flu helped a little, too, but that's beside the point. The point is: I'm 138 lbs of marathon-running machine. Here's to a sub-5 hour marathon.