Bloggers of the Day! (randomly chosen from yesterday’s comments)

• Your Food Smiles – Emily shares many great recipes and food creations
• Health, Happiness, & Skinny Jeans – Samantha blogs about her race training, including a recent half marathon which she rocked
• Second City Randomness – Amy gives the best sarcastic wit out there in sharing her balanced, fun loving life

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Good morning! I’m about to head into another busy day, although at least this one is all fun-filled. Yesterday I had so many things to get done that I didn’t even eat dinner until 8:45 pm!  I had to tutor last night and then stop at the store on the way home. It never fails that I forget something when grocery shopping. Without question, I inhaled my food immediately upon butt contact with the kitchen chair.

I dined on a turkey burger with my usual toppings – ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions, and tomato. I like the basics. Sides, however, can spice it up. We noshed on our first roasted butternut squash of the season. Delicious!

While eating my late dinner, I began thinking about those old food rules I used to follow. One of which touted that eating after 7 pm would cause my body to store every drop I ate as fat. No matter if my overall calorie consumption balanced out. Eating past the golden hour automatically equated to pudge in my book. In that same situation, years ago I might have convinced myself I was no longer hungry or had nothing more than a few veggies. How twisted! Like my body switches off its mitochondrial metabolism support at 7 pm. Riiiggghhhttt.

Then I remembered other “food rules” I used to live by. Laughable now really. Besides not eating after 7, I also could not have complex carbohydrates except around my workouts. So, in other words 2 meals a day and only on training days. Now, does a meal without complex carbs even exist? Not in my stomach!

Another rule in line with that? I could not could not could not consume a starch (complex carbohydrate) with a fat source. Oats and nut butter? Not possible. My body wouldn’t be able to process the nut butter after processing the carbs so I would get fat. Where did this logic even come from? Oh yea. I know. I won’t name names though. Let’s just say I no longer need to send out an “SOS” with my breakfasts. Like my morning’s glorious bowl with oats, 1/2 banana, sprinkle of raisins, and glob of Nutella. 😀

And I cannot forget the golden protein rule! I would keel over and die if I did not eat at least 1 gram of protein per my weight each and every day. Usually I consumed even more than that, getting upwards of 150g each day. That would be 100g OVER the recommended amount for healthy living. I don’t imply its bad to eat more protein, but forcing yourself to eat more because you fear muscle loss and not allowing yourself other foods you love to fit in protein…that’s not too smart. I wasn’t too smart. How did I force myself to eat so much of this…which I don’t even like?

I think my favorite food rule of all, however, was the need to rate my fruits and veggies. Berries and apples? Good. I can have one per day. After a workout, but of course. Bananas, peaches, and grapes? A bit too much sugar…better avoid. Green beans, spinach, and broccoli? Good! Zucchini, squashes, potatoes, corn, carrots, and peas? Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 “grade B/C” veggie calories.

I am not kidding. I used to view food that way. No wonder I binged! Carrots were “bad”! Letting go of food rules was one of the best things I have ever done. It freed me from fearing food and giving it power over me. I now eat how satisfies me and in the process learned that quality foods satisfy me more than anything else. Although that doesn’t stop me from having one food rule. Make room for a bit of dessert every day. 😉 Why, hello there special treat to share for tonight’s special Sister Night courtesy of BlogHer!

• Have you ever succumbed to any of these food rules? Or what others have you placed on yourself?
• What are your favorite burger (be it beef/turkey/bean) toppings?

[All photos not my own from photoxpress.com]

Well, today’s morning post certainly made for some interesting discussion. Thank you for sharing all your thoughts in a quality manner. Overall, I view the healthy living blog community as such a positive environment that can help many. It is part of why I continue to involve myself in this little blogosphere. In the end, we each must do what works for us and remember that blogs do not show everything. Keep things realistic to be the best you possible. Find inspiration from others and keep it real in the process. Onto lighter things…

Sometimes technology can give me such a headache. I admit that I could not live without it. Heck, it serves as a great source of creativity (and adult interaction) for me every day. Today, made me want to toss my little netbook across the room. Do you know how hard it is to rotate a video image from your digital camera? It’s not only hard, it’s downright evil. Which is why the video below is in fact still sideways.

Getting my fitness on rocks my world. Plain and simple. Without some sort of activity almost daily in my life, I feel at a loss. I love movement. I love improving my strength and cardio abilities. I love feeling strong and seeing changes in my body. My workout time also stands in as my “me” time. I can get in the zone and really delve down deep into my thoughts. Exercise is fun, challenging, exciting, invigorating, reflective, and downright fabulous. It makes me giddy like a school girl when her crush asks her to the homecoming dance.

I wanted to share the above super low quality clip of me doing exactly what I love. Well, one of the many things I love. Because TurboJamming, spinning, weight lifting, ellipticaling, plyo jumping, running…I love it all. Upon seeing that video clip, I could think about how I can’t do the intensity I love or dwell on the fact my body is a lot softer and my butt a lot bigger. I don’t though. I choose to sit in awe that my body can still move that way at over 6 months pregnant. I choose to look at how happy I am…because I know I’m smiling on the inside. I choose to remember that I do these things to honor my body. I choose confidence.

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• Do you love working out? What is your favorite form of exercise?
• What does exercise do for you?

Atlanta Blogger Meet-Up!!! I’m helping organize a blogger meet up in the Atlanta area. If you are interested in more details and haven’t received any already please email me at [email protected]!