There was a time that I would not look forward to going for a run but tonight was a scheduled run and I thought about how great that run was going to be all day:
http://www.shape.com/fitness/sports/training_triathlon_week_1_tuesday
As explained on Shape's site, this plan is to get a person up to speed for a Sprint Tri so I should be in great shape for an even smaller length race. Because I've been running for awhile now, I didn't bother to do the walking portions. I warmed up, ran my 25 minutes and cooled down. Running makes me feel like I'm in a fight against my depression. I never feel stronger or happier than I do when I'm out for a run. It's the best cure for the blues that I've ever found and I can't stress enough that even minimal running does great things for toning up my entire body. Tonight felt like a gift because it was just a short 25 minute jaunt. I even ran a couple of sprints within the run (known as fartleks by real runners).
Nutrition and food has become a much bigger focus in my life while I've been on maternity leave. Many articles I've read in various fitness magazines have started me thinking about food quality. This has led to an unexpected interest in cooking. I've spent a lot of time with my Mum this year and she's a big fan of the Food Network. I used to scoff at the French Food at Home (www.foodnetwork.ca/ontv/shows/French-Food-at-Home/show.html?titleid=105739) lady because I couldn't understand how she stays thin and yet cooks with all the good stuff. Recently though, a friend of mine mentioned the “French paradox”, the phenomenon that suggests that French women don't get fat. When you put some thought into it, it's not such a paradox. Aside from the fact that French women realize that a muffin the size of their heads' is not a correct portion size there are other things that likely contribute to their eternal thinness.
I cooked a peppercorn steak last night with some “squished” baby potatoes. Even though I had quite a lot of the ingredients, I still had to go out to pick up a few things which required two stops because I wanted to find a good cut of meat which I couldn't find at one of the stores. Then I went home and cooked for an hour or so (all with the baby in tow). I enjoyed choosing everything I needed to make the meal as well as the act of cooking but it ended up being about three hours work when you consider the shopping, cooking and cleanup. I got a lot of satisfaction when I ate something that I didn't just heat up in the microwave and then toss the packaging as clean up and more importantly, I burned a few calories while doing all that was required. See? Those French women are on to something.
Tonight I put together a savoury salad but just so there would be something special, I made a cast iron skillet of cornbread. I used real ingredients like butter and brown sugar and because ES and I saw fit not to eat the whole pan, the treat still fit within our diets (ES is also losing baby weight).
I never thought that I would ever be a runner or a cook but I'm finding that both these activities are giving me energy and helping achieve my fitness and weight loss goals.