Diet and workouts other than (gasp) running.

When I followed the Hal Higdon Half marathon training plan, I didn't deviate it from it one iota. I was so overwhelmed by the mileage and the thought of actually sticking to the plan that I was fearful of adding anything to my days.

 After the half when my knee hurt so bad for several days, I knew I needed to add strength training into my workouts. At the gym I use the machines for the quad and hamstring strengthening, at home I do exercises I learned on a Pilates DVD from a decade ago to strengthen the psoas, and I try to swim a couple times a week.

 There's really no schedule set in stone with me. I would probably be in better shape if there was! I am just of the mindset that fitting it in when I can is better than nothing. I would also love to be in a place where the weather was more consistent to allow for more outdoor exercise. If it isn't the wind, then it's the swarms of mosquitoes, miserable heat or miserable cold. I would really like to just deal with one negative, maybe rain, or heat, but that requires moving. Sigh.

As far as diet, I try really hard to not be on my typical see-food diet, I see it and I eat it. Two years ago, after mocking everyone on the gluten free diet and rolling my eyes at this "fad diet" that I figured would be out of fashion soon enough, I read the Wheat  Belly Diet and was shocked to see I had many of the issues they listed off for people that were gluten intolerant; stomach aches (every morning!) acne well into my thirties, itchy skin, bloated stomach. I gave the Wheat Belly Diet a try and the difference in how I felt was almost immediate. It wasn't too long after that I gave the Whole 30 Diet a try. I gave up dairy, wheat, beans, rice and all sugar except in fruit. It was torturous, but what wheat removal didn't do, being dairy free did. My dark circles under my eyes went away completely and I lost 15 pounds but it was so restrictive I couldn't keep it up. Moving to the area we now live in made eating healthfully outside of the house very difficult and I have sort have gone back to my old, bad ways of eating.

  Running has helped me stay on track as best I can, waking up after an evening of pizza to go for a run is out of the question, and once you've gone on a long run and feel good, it makes it easier to make healthy meal choices. I suppose some people think if they exercise they have an excuse for bad food choices but I feel the opposite. Except for my lattes, those are fuel for my runs!

 Basically with my running I have wanted to make a full, permanent lifestyle change. Exercise and the foods we eat to fuel our body should go hand in hand for life and it is difficult to have good health without both.