"The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life." -Jessica Hische

Aside from delicious vegan food, there isn’t a topic I enjoy discussing more than career happiness. It’s something I’m deeply passionate about and thrilled when I can throw ideas around with other people.

I could talk about it until I’m blue in the face. But, I guess that is pretty evident below.

Keep in mind, I really have no idea what I’m doing most days and I’m not here to give you advice on your unique academic or career situation. I can offer insight from my own experiences and lessons learned along the way. My goal for this post is to create a place for discussion so everyone can join in and offer their input, stories, and insight. That’s when the magic happens!

My story in short:

I graduated in October 2006 with a BAH degree in Psychology and minor in Family and Child Studies. In October 2008, I graduated with a Master’s Degree w/ Honours in Social Psychology. Prior to graduating, I interviewed for a full-time research position during Spring 2008. It was offered to me and I took it even though my gut told me that the timing wasn’t right. I was already a full-time grad student and part-time teaching assistant which kept me very busy.

But I took the job anyways even though every instinct I had was saying DON’T DO IT.

Lesson #1: Listen to your gut.

Eric and I were also planning our wedding to be held on Aug. 31, 2008. Stress was at an all-time high as I juggled courses, my thesis, a new demanding job, and wedding planning. My eating disorder got bad during this time and I often starved myself or over-exercised to deal with my emotions.

In October 2008, I was happy to be graduating, but I still wasn’t enjoying my career as a researcher like I thought I should be. While the money flowed, it didn’t matter.

On October 31, 2008 I started Oh She Glows as a hobby in an effort to add some joy back into my life.

Oh, and joy it brought!

This blog was in essence, ‘the work I did while I procrastinated’, as the opening quote mentions above. I blogged at breakfast, during my lunch break, and after dinner, for months. It was a lot of work, but looking back, it was the best positive escape I could’ve had to get me through that time.

This blog gave me the courage to pursue my passions full-time so I planned my actual escape and in early 2009, I quit.

It was the scariest, yet best thing I could have done.

Below are some of your career change questions that you posed on facebook last week.

How did you find your passion?

1. Get rid of life toxins

Until I was about 24-25 years old, my hobbies were calorie counting, the scale, and exercising. I didn’t have any real hobbies aside from playing sports throughout school and if you asked me what my passions were I would have stared at you blankly. To find my passions, I had to get rid of life toxins that weighed me down. Once I entered recovery for my eating disorder, I was able to add positivity back into my life such as finding new hobbies and activities. We need to get rid of things weighing us down to make room for inspiration, creativity, and authenticity.

2. Give yourself Me Time

It’s easy to say ‘I don’t have time right now’, but this is when it’s especially important to take time out for yourself. I gave myself permission to do things I enjoyed whether it be hanging out with friends, baking, reading, or spending time with Eric. Even if it was only 30 minutes a day, it was my time to do what I wanted and slowly discover activities that I enjoyed. ‘Me time’ allows us to figure out what it is that makes us happy.

3. Allow creativity to flow

Shortly after graduating, I started my blog which turned out to be the real gateway to discovering my passions. What better creative outlet than having a blank slate each day to write whatever inspires me? As a creative person, I consider my blog a virtual vision board.  I can write about whatever I want which was a stark contrast to my role as a researcher. Overtime, I discovered that I had tapped into a huge passion in my life. (Another creative outlet I love is Pinterest). If there’s a voice inside you that suggests you try something out, give it a shot because it could be your hidden passion!

4. Look to your childhood

Look back to your childhood and ask yourself what activities you enjoyed. The passions we have as children are clues to what we might enjoy as adults.

As a child I loved:

• Playing house and school with all kinds of characters, names, and story-telling
• Playing with Barbie’s & Lego and creating stories about the ‘people’
• Polaroid, disposable, and film cameras !!!
• Writing Fiction stories
• Drawing, painting, crafting
• Baking & easy-bake ovens
• Playing with friends and animals
• The outdoors, playing outside for hours, skipping, building snow forts
• Track & Field, softball

My passions today seem to have the same underlying characteristics, albeit through different forms and expressions!

How did you know that your career was the right choice long-term?

Nothing in life is a sure bet, but my instincts told me I was on the right path. Sometimes hope, a good feeling, and a positive outlook are the only things we have. If I told myself I couldn’t do it, I would probably still be at my old job. Oh She Glows started out as a hobby while I did my ‘real work’. It turned out that I not only enjoyed blogging, but I fell in love with it. The blog and bakery brought together my passions like inspirational writing, healthy food, cooking/baking, fitness, and helping others.

When I couldn’t imagine myself not doing it, I knew I had found something special. It’s sort of like knowing you’ve met the person you want to spend your life with. I knew Eric was the one for me because I couldn’t imagine us apart. I felt the same way with my new career.

How did you deal with a severe pay cut?

Not getting a regular pay check in the bank every two weeks was difficult to deal with. I struggled with an identity-crisis (who was I now that I didn’t have a full-time job and steady income?) and insecurity (what would others think of me?). I had to make financial cutbacks in every aspect of my life. I only spent money on essentials like food and bills. I didn’t spend money on entertainment, eating out, clothing, or anything that I didn’t think was a necessity at the time. I got used to the cutbacks after a couple months and many of my money-saving habits stuck with me.

Do you think you would have taken that leap if it was just you taking care of you? I admire what you do and would give a kidney to be in your shoes, but just don’t feel that it’s possible for me. I’m not pessimistic–I am proud and satisfied with what I’ve done–but I’m realistic.

I would’ve left my research position eventually, but probably not as quickly had I been single. I saved consistently for almost a year before I left my research position so I could cover my share of the bills for the first while, but if I was single I probably would’ve stayed in the field for another 2-3 years so I could save up enough to feel stable financially. I knew in my heart that I wasn’t meant to be a researcher so I would’ve done what was necessary to change my career path even if it wasn’t as soon as I wanted. I’m a firm believer that planning and preparation is crucial if you are serious about making a career change. If you think it will never happen, you are probably right.

How did you take the leap with a career change?

Quitting my job was not an impulsive decision even though it may seem that way. It was a calculated decision that I planned for months before actually quitting. I flip flopped back and forth all the time, but ultimately, I knew in my heart that I had to go through with it. The day that I quit was not planned though. It just happened to be a really bad day that fueled my fire.

How do I know what my strengths are?

Growing up, I never really considered myself good at much. In my late teens, when I was trying to figure out what career I would enjoy, I asked Eric what I was good at because I had no clue. If you are lost about your own strengths, ask your family members or your partner. Most people can identify strengths in other people much easier than they can in themselves. Also, think about things that you do well. Are you an expert Sudoku player? Maybe you have a strength in problem solving. Are you great at knitting? Maybe you have a strong attention to detail and lots of patience. Do you love making lists and hosting parties? Maybe you have strengths in event planning. Do you love to bake? Maybe you have a sweet tooth like me. heheh…

Oddly enough, I went to see a Career Counselor during my first year of university because I was having doubts about my career path. After answering a battery of tests, I was told that I was suited for a creative field, such as teaching, writing, culinary arts, fashion design, or photography. A test could detect my strengths when I couldn’t detect them in myself. I highly recommend seeing a Career Counselor if you can.

I want to change careers, but my fear of other family members judging me is paralyzing. How did you get over worrying about what others thought?

This was my biggest hurdle of all. I think most of us care deeply about what our loved ones think, whether we like to admit it or not. I had so much anxiety to tell my friends and family that I quit. It almost kept me from quitting at all.

Ultimately, I realized that I couldn’t live my life for other people. We lost a friend suddenly to cancer in 2008 and it really made me change the way I live my life. I stopped beating myself up and worrying about what others thought. I don’t know how long my life will be, but I do know that I’m now living it authentically rather than putting off happiness for another day.

I would love to hear how it felt to walk away from a career you had invested so much time and money in!

The day I quit was a mix of negative and positive emotions. I felt shame, guilt, relief, anxiety, happiness, worry…you name it (see my I Quit post).

Do I regret the 7 years I spent in university? Not a chance. I now know what will make me happy in a career and what won’t. I may have figured it out the hard way, but I’m happy I did at all. An education is invaluable, even if not used in the traditional way that its intended (is it ever these days?). I still feel like I’m fulfilling my goal of helping other people (which is what drew me to psychology), but perhaps not in the way I initially imagined. The twists and turns of life are often the greatest.

How do you deal with isolation when making the change even though you know it’s an unhealthy career for you?

Losing contact with my coworkers was very isolating, especially during the first few months when I was feeling a gamut of negative emotions and questioning my path in life. In the workplace, coworkers are great for venting about problems, forming friendships, and leaning on when you need some support or advice. When I quit my job, I was on my own during workday hours. No one could figure it out but me and that was really scary.

Whether you are having a baby, moving, or taking on another big adjustment, surrounding yourself with supportive people helps so much. I talked to Eric, close family, friends, and on the blog. My mom always tells me that there is no greater joy than knowing your child is happy. If you can wake up each day and feel happy about where you’re going, you’re already a success.

“It isn’t necessary to know exactly how your ideal life will look; you only have to know what feels better and what feels worse…Begin making choices based on what makes you feel freer and happier, rather than on how you think an ideal life should look. It’s the process of feeling our way toward happiness, not the realization of the Platonic ideal, that creates our best lives.” ~Martha Beck

What she said.

~~

For a recap of how I changed careers and my full story, check out my ‘A Year Can Change A Lot’ Series:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3,  Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, and Part 10 (1 year later)

In my last post, I opened the floor to you to ask some questions about body-image, weight, and eating topics that you wanted to explore. Firstly, thank you for having the courage to ask these questions because I know that is hard to do! Trust me, sometimes I get bashful before writing a post and want to crawl under my desk with a blanket over my head and hide.

Kinda like now.

But, I’ll be brave because you were brave.

I was a bit overwhelmed with how many questions I received, so I tried to pick out reoccurring themes and address the ones I felt that I could offer my experiences. What works for me may not work for you so please take what I say with a grain of salt and always see a professional before making any changes in your own life. Oh, and you might want to talk to your mom about that Tattoo you are planning. She brought you into this world and she can take you out!

Self-Love & Acceptance

How do you learn to start loving yourself, just as you are?

I’ve been asked this many times before and the question always leaves me feeling like I didn’t answer it properly. I think the reason why this question always tripped me up in the past is because I thought it implied that I just flipped a switch and instantly loved myself one day. And that was certainly not the case. It took me a long time to build a positive relationship with myself.

Because I had so many negative behaviours going on in my life (such as, negative self-talk, poor body image, disordered eating and exercise behaviours), I had to change those behaviours before I could ever learn to love myself. Only when I addressed those negative behaviours and started to eliminate them from my life, was I able to grow as a person and slowly but surely allow positive thoughts and behaviours to replace them. I do not think self-love can grow from a negative place. You have to create a positive place for it to flourish and was crucial for me to address those inner demons first. I did this through therapy initially, supplementing with things I learned in psychology courses.

Binge-Eating & Calorie Counting

How did you initially begin to deal with your issues of binge eating? Did you have to cut out certain foods from your diet for some time? If you ever slipped up, were you able to stay positive? And if so, how? Do you have advice from stopping binging and overeating permanently? How long did it take to feel as though you had control of yourself around food, and how did you resist the urge to binge? 

How did you learn to not count calories even though you already knew the calorie content of most foods? Out of all the progress I’ve made in my own recovery, I still find calorie counting hard NOT to do. I’ve gotten much better at avoiding it, but sometimes I find myself counting up my day before I even realize it.

It sounds counterintuitive, but I was able to beat binge eating by letting go and not restricting myself. For so many years, I thought I could beat binge eating by being more rigid and controlled, but that only made the problem worse. I would often think, ‘Ugh I need more self-control!’, but more control was the last thing I needed.

I needed freedom. Binge eating, for me, was my body rebelling from too much restriction and control.

I used to try a ‘cheat day’ once a week to prevent binge eating. That just did not work for me. I realized that I can’t deprive myself all week and then expect to have a normal and controlled cheat day. My body would rebel against me and I would often end up bingeing, only to start the starve-binge cycle all over again on Monday. I remember the emotional highs and lows it caused me and it further reinforced the lack of balance in my life. Plus, I hate the notion that one is ‘cheating’ when eating certain foods. What works for me now, is to have a treat every single day that I look forward to. I’m not ‘cheating’, but simply enjoying decadent food in moderation.

How did I stop binges after failing so many times? I had to stop counting calories and restricting my intake. I counted calories for about 10 years of my life and I never thought I could stop the habit. It took me about 6-12 months before I fully stopped counting calories. I would try to start very small, such as not counting calories for a snack, rather than overwhelm myself and going cold turkey. I had to make baby steps because it was extremely hard to stop and I found myself doing it automatically.

I still struggled with binge eating for about 1 year after I stopped counting calories and restricting my intake. I was so frustrated about this. Here I was eating healthy portions, yet I was still bingeing! I felt like I was never going to be able to eat normally again and I relapsed into my old ways a few times, but thankfully I stuck with it.

It took me a long time to get back to a place where I could eat normally and not have old habits creep up. It was about 1 year before I was able to stop bingeing and eat more intuitively. My best advice is to stick with it, seek professional help, and be patient. Eventually, you will re-learn positive habits that will take the place of old ones. It just doesn’t always happen as quick as we hope, but the reward is so worth it.

Weight & The Scale

You seem to stay within the same weight range for the most part – How often do you weigh yourself? If not very often, how did you stop weighing yourself often and obsessing over the number? And how did you learn to not care about the number on the scale as much?

When I got serious about recovery, I decided to ditch the scale. I removed the scale from the bathroom and put it in storage so it wouldn’t tempt me. For the longest time, I was trying to get better while still weighing myself daily and I found it impossible. I wanted my recovery to focus on what was important to me- my health and well-being. After time, it was easier for me to give up because I realized that I didn’t NEED the scale! After all of these years letting the scale control my life, I realized that I could live a healthy life without a daily number. I can maintain my weight by paying attention to how my clothes fit me and how I’m feeling. Once in a blue moon curiosity gets the better of me and I will weigh myself, but it no longer changes my mood or how I feel about myself. It is just a number. I am also surprised to find that I am usually within the same 5 pound weight range. I’ve learned that the body does a wonderful job maintaining its weight when you treat it kindly.

Happy Weights

What is your definition of a “happy weight” and how did you know that you had reached your happy weight for your body?

To me, a Happy Weight is a weight your body can maintain with relative ease. My happy weight is the weight that my body naturally settles at when I am eating healthy foods (of course with occasional indulgences too), not restricting my intake, and exercising moderately. My happy weight is the weight I can maintain without resorting to obsessive eating or exercise patterns. I was only able to find my happy weight when I stopped counting calories, listened to my body’s hunger signals, and exercised without obsession. Ever since I did this, my body has been about the same size (probably give or take 5 pounds) for a few years.

A Happy Weight doesn’t necessarily mean that you will instantly love the weight/size where your body is happiest. I struggled for a long time to accept my Happy Weight and realize that I wasn’t going to be a better person, more loved, etc. if I was 10 pounds lighter. If anything I would be unhappy and struggling to maintain my low weight like I used to. Over time, I have realized that I would rather be where my body wants to be, than fighting it the rest of my life.

Over-Indulging & Slip-Ups

I eat healthy at least 80% of the time, but my boyfriend likes to go out to eat at a restaurant about once a week or go out for some drinks. I’ll agree, but beat myself up over it the next day because I feel “fat”. When I weigh myself and I’m not where I’d like to be, it ruins my entire day. I love food and trying out new restaurants and want to be able to enjoy those things in life (in moderation) instead of beating myself up about them. How you cope now with times when you over-indulge a bit. I often beat myself up for eating “too much” and have trouble letting it go and being at peace with it.

How do you make up for a “bad day” (overeating-wise) without restricting food intake or overexercising?

I’d be interested in hearing about how you cope now with times when you over-indulge a bit. I often beat myself up for eating “too much” and have trouble letting it go and being at peace with it.

I think it is best to start your day off with positive behaviours that will quickly turn your mood around. If I over-indulge, I like to start the morning with a Green Monster and a sweaty workout. Shower, get ready, and put on my favourite outfit. After that, I am usually feeling back on track as the day goes by. A workout in the morning encourages me to eat healthy all day long and gives me a positive outlook for the entire day. Focus on positive actions you can feel good about (i.e., cook a healthy meal for dinner), rather than negative actions (i.e., I will skip my lunch today) to punish yourself.

Regarding overeating, it is human nature to overeat from time to time. I overeat sometimes and I try not to beat myself up about it. I may eat when I’m bored, sometimes I eat too much when celebrating with family or friends, or when I’m dealing with PMS cravings. It happens to the best of us! The difference now is that I don’t beat myself up and it doesn’t lead to a binge like it used to. It is what it is and I move forward. I have found that the more I dwell on something, the more difficult it is to get over.

Exercise & Balance

My question to you is how you’ve learned to find a healthy medium with your workouts that doesn’t throw your body out of whack, and also how you manage to stay focused on being all around healthy (as opposed to being thin) without letting yourself make extreme choices.

For me, a big turning point with exercise was finding a way to make it fun. I used to make myself do crazy long workouts at the gym and they always felt like a punishment more than something to enjoy. I used to workout to burn calories and that was about it. Once I stopped focusing on calories, I started to look for activities that I enjoyed the most. I fell in love with running and hiking and I was motivated by how my fitness improved and how I felt. It is important to find activities that you enjoy.

Trigger Foods & Baking

I was wondering if you had any trigger foods in relation to binge eating (foods that started the binge). I know that for myself, I simply cannot have anything super salty around or I’ll get a bit crazy with it (pretzels, chips, tortilla chips, etc.). When I bake, I immediately have to pack some of it up and put it in the freezer or take it to work.

I wouldn’t call any foods a ‘trigger’ for me anymore, but I do have a major sweet tooth! When I bake, I freeze baked goods and I also give them away so they don’t make up the majority of my diet. I typically always have a treat after dinner to end my day and I look forward to this indulgence. I’m often satisfied with a serving because I know I can have some the next day if I want to. By not making things forbidden or ‘off-limits’, they become less appealing to me.

Self-Sabotage

I think when I reached my “happy weight” I self sabotage. I start to say “oh I can have some extra snacks, I deserve it” then at the sign of weight gain I go into the whole “you’re terrible for eating that, might as well just have more then” mind frame. I’d be interested to hear how people deal with that.

I think self-sabotage can happen for many reasons. For me, I used to get a strong urge to overeat when my weight was too low for my body’s preference. I would be terribly hungry, which would lead to overeating and often binges (some say this is a survival instinct). Once I found a weight that my body could maintain with relative ease, the urge to overeat was reduced greatly. Others might self-sabotage because they are uncomfortable or insecure at their new weight and their self-esteem and emotions have not caught up with their weight loss. In these cases, it might be a good idea to talk it through with a professional.

It was important for me to realize that a a slip-up didn’t need to be a catastrophe and it didn’t mean I was a failure. I still have occasions when I overeat, but I realize that it is just a bump in the road along my journey.

Negative Self Talk

How have you over come negative self-talk, in both regards to self image as well as other aspects of life?

I’m certainly not 100% free of negative self-talk, but I would say that I have reduced it by probably 75-80% over the past few years.

I feel like negative self-talk and negative behaviours feed off of each other. As long as I was treating my body poorly, the negative self-talk would increase in proportion to it. In return, the negative self-talk fueled the negative behaviours! It is a hard cycle to break out of.

A good strategy that I used (and still do from time to time!) is this:

List all of your negative thoughts on paper, cross them out, and write positive ones to replace them. Do it first thing in the morning and right before bed. I strongly suggest that you do this twice a day because when you write your list at night time, you can look and see what was worrying you in the morning. Often, you will realize that your negative thoughts had no basis whatsoever.

For more on dismissing negative thoughts, please see this post.

Eating On The Go

Do you ever crave convenience foods, especially if you are out and about/busy? I’d say cutting way down on these is one of the biggest changes for me over the past few years.

When you are away from your home either traveling or eating out, are you triggered to binge by certain foods, since it is often hard to find healthful nourishing vegan foods in the average restaurant. (for me especially, living in rural Alberta). I cook very clean meals at home and dont bring processed food in that will trigger me, but i really struggle with traveling, which i have to do a lot of for work.

I know that my options as a vegan are likely to be very minimal when out and about so I try to pack snacks when I will be out. I am much more prepared now than I used to be. I tend to pack fruit (like an apple with nut butter), Glo Bars, or trail mix when I go out for an extended period of time.

When I travel I try to do a few things to prepare. 1) I ask for a mini fridge in the room if there isn’t one. 2) I will often call ahead to the restaurant to let them know I need a vegan dish. 3) I pack as many healthy foods as I can in my suitcase, such as bars, fruit, crackers, trail mix, etc. 4) I look for a nearby grocery store, market, or convenience store and pick up some fruit and things like cereal or non-dairy milk if my hotel doesn’t provide them. My goal is not to eat exactly like I eat at home, but to just do my best with the resources I have.

Friends & Family

How did you friends and family react to your disordered eating, and when did they realize that you needed help?

My family knew I needed help long before I was able to admit it. They would often try to help me or persuade me to get help, but until I was ready and willing to admit I had a problem, nothing really got through to me. It is extremely difficult on loved ones who have to watch the person go through it.

Therapy

Have you found help with behavioral therapy or through any other professional supporting you, or instead have strictly improved from the work done through your own self help?

While I was in university, I saw a behavioural therapist to seek help for my eating disorder. I was suffering from the binge-starve cycle and I felt like I had hit rock bottom. I gained about 25-30 pounds in my 1st year of university and I knew something had to change. While I was scared to be open with someone about my struggles, it was one of the best things I could have done for myself at the time. She gave me take home assignments that I could use to challenge my negative thoughts and behaviours.

Experiencing Emotions

I’m currently recovering from anorexia and I am realizing that I have trouble experiencing my emotions and managing them. Whenever something is wrong, I turn to my eating disorder…it’s like my crutch. I was wondering how you learned to experience all the ups and downs of life, while creating positive coping mechanisms, so that whenever you felt down, you wouldn’t turn to pictures of models, or doing other things ED-related things.

I totally used to use my ED as a way to avoid experiencing emotions. Anytime I felt the least bit uncomfortable, I would turn to my ED to numb the pain. When I recovered it was difficult because I had to actually face the ups and downs of life. I used to shut off all of my emotions and not talk about them. Talking to a therapist and also writing on this blog helped me tremendously. I learned, albeit very slowly, that talking about my struggles and problems was actually very healing and cathartic for me. The more open I was, the more healing that took place. It is important to find people you trust to talk to during this time because doing it alone is very isolating.

Food & Punishment

I think my biggest struggle is punishment. Any suggestions on how to not punish yourself for eating something that your mind thinks is “bad” – I think this also goes along with how to eat in moderation or understanding the consequences if you do decide to eat something that’s not healthy.

I think it helps not to think of foods as ‘bad’ or ‘good’. When I have a dessert or treat, I don’t say to myself that I am eating a ‘bad’ food, but just a food that I try to eat in moderation. Even though a food might not be superior nutrition-wise, I still recognize the value that it can have in my diet, such as pleasure, enjoyment, celebrations, etc.

How to Begin

Would you tell me how you started on your journey towards a better and real health? I have found myself on a path of self destruction for a long time. My mind knows better but old habits die hard. Where did you find the strength to overcome your negative thoughts and destructive patterns? How did you begin?

I was not able to change until I admitted that I was in trouble and I wanted to take steps to change my situation. I was sick of living my life the way I was and I felt like I was missing out on so many opportunities. Please see my Road to health series, for my story up to this point.

Off-Limit Foods

Did you ever have foods that were “off-limits” – as healthy as they may be (for example oils, nut butters, nuts, etc .. high in fat and calories.. but in a good way). Was it a struggle to re-incorporate these foods into your diet? If so – how were you finally okay with eating them… guilt-free?

Avocado, oils, nuts/seeds, and nut butters used to be off limits for me. I used to be terrified to eat these foods and I avoided them at all costs. When I took my focus off of calories and fat grams, it was much easier to introduce them into my diet because I wasn’t obsessing like I used to. I tried to focus on the wonderful nutritional benefits of these foods instead, like glowing skin and hair. I also saw a lot of bloggers eating these foods with their daily meals and that inspired me to use them too. Of course, I still try to be conscious of portion sizes, but I don’t obsess over it.

Weight Gain

I’m recovering from a past of restrictive eating and obsession with calorie counting. My question for you is that is how you would react if you gained back some of the weight you lost without changing your eating. Would you count calories or cutback on intake? My fear is that I will gain back the weight I lost and no longer be able to accept myself.

How did you deal with the fear of gaining weight when you stopped restricting your diet?

How do you not beat yourself up over weight gain. How do you avoid being depressed and upset about it?

I gained about 10-15 pounds when I recovered and initially it was very hard on me to accept that my body needed to gain this weight to be healthy again. It was very hard not being able to fit into old clothes, so it helped if I gave them away instead of keeping them in my closet.

This is where my hobbies also helped me out a ton. I started to focus on building my life back up and filling it up with activities that I enjoyed like writing, photography, or running. I used these new hobbies to distract myself from constantly focusing on my weight. Over time, it became easier to accept my weight because I was not only out there enjoying my life, but I was visibly happy and energetic, much more so than I was when starving myself or bingeing. For me, the proof was in the pudding!

Mindless & Intuitive Eating

Sometimes after I eat a meal, even if it’s filling and nutritious, I find myself walking over to the pantry and continuing to eat, whether I’m hungry or not. They aren’t serious binges in my case, and more often than not it’s healthy food, usually dried fruit or something sweet, but I know it’s not necessary, even if it’s not that bad for me. How do I combat these urges? I’ve definitely tried to put thought into staying away from the pantry/fridge after meals, but for some reason, it’s really really difficult for me. Any suggestions or strategies to help me?

How do I learn how to eat intuitively?

This happens to me as well, especially in the Winter time when I am bored at night! I found that having a dessert or sweet treat at the end of my dinner was not only something to look forward to, but it was a way for me to signal that I was done eating for the day. I typically always crave something sweet after dinner. When I have my dessert at night, I feel satisfied and I start looking forward to breakfast the next day. I try to have large breakfasts and lunches and have my calories taper off throughout the day. This seems to help prevent mindless eating at night for me.

As for intuitive eating, there is no magic formula to learn how to eat intuitively. It takes time and patience to re-learn how to listen to hunger signals. I had to give up calorie counting because as long as I was counting calories and restricting my hunger, I would not be able to listen to my body’s true hunger signals. It was a lot of trial and error for me and it took at least a year or longer to feel comfortable assessing what my body is telling me. After 2-3 years, it now comes to me naturally and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Pressure to Eat Healthy

Do you feel pressure to only showcase certain foods, i.e. natural, vegan, “healthy” in some capacity on your blog? Do you ever just want to feature a super nonhealthy dessert but fear reader backlash and outcry? Or you have no desire at this point in your eating journey to show things like that anyway?

I don’t feel pressure surrounding what I ‘should’ feature on the blog and I am very grateful that my readers have been accepting of all kinds of foods. The recipes I feature on the blog are foods, meals, and desserts that I actually eat and LOVE, so I don’t feel pressure to change one way or another. I eat what makes me feel good and I share that on my blog. I don’t think everything I post is healthy, nor should it be, but I feel like I have a good balance in my diet. Of course, what works for me, doesn’t necessarily work for everyone…we all have to eat in a way that makes us feel content! I’m just one woman who has found what works in my life and sharing it with the world.

Do you ever go a while without eating, but don’t end up feeling hungry when you normally would? When this happens to me, I don’t know whether to eat or not eat. I feel like I SHOULD eat, because I don’t like to skip meals, but I also feel like my body would tell me to eat if it really needed to. What causes hunger signals to go away? Do you have any tricks to keeping your appetite on a steady schedule? (I suppose this partially relates to being intuitive.)

I don’t think this has ever happened to me before! My appetite never seems to let me down. Maybe others can comment on this below?

What is your biggest take-away message from your recovery?

Ok, ok…you got me, no one asked this question yesterday, but I like it so I’m going to pretend someone did!

One of the best lessons I have learned is that life doesn’t have to be a battle every day. It doesn’t have to be a struggle. Life is what we make it. We can choose to make it a battleground or we can do our best to beat that mindset and learn to be free. I have chosen to be free. Of course I still struggle like anyone else, but I don’t beat myself into the ground like I used to.

I learn from the past, or try to anyways, and I remind myself daily just how short life is. I work at this everyday and I’m excited for the journey instead of only thinking about the destination.

I used to say, ‘I’ll be happy when ________’

Now I say, ‘How can I be happy NOW.’

Hey guys!

Hope you are having a great day. I am currently watching the Men’s Olympic Hockey right now, while blogging. I’m a crazy multi-tasker like that.

Today on Twitter, I posted a link to an anonymous form where you could ask me anything, anonymously. Why would I subject myself to such a thing? Well, for one, I received an email from a long-time reader hinting that I hadn’t done a FAQ post in a dog’s age (which is true!! oops). Secondly, I saw the Ask Anything on many blogs and I thought it was pretty fun to read.

Here are a few of the anonymous questions that I received today. Please note I am leaving out the questions I have answered in FAQ’s previously.

Here we go!

Missed installments 1-33?

264. Have you lost any friends because of your healthy lifestyle? If you could go back, is there any way you could have saved that friendship knowing what you know now?

Nope, thankfully. When I was struggling with an ED, I did however.

265. Since becoming a vegan, do you ever crave meat? How do you combat it?

I think it has been over 6 months since I have truly wanted meat. I used to combat the cravings with fake meats, but now I don’t need to. I do occasionally crave cheese though. Eric had me try a piece of cheese last week and I was surprised to find that I actually didn’t enjoy the taste much anymore. I think that our palates change based on what we eat. 

My biggest cravings now are things like coconut butter, nut butter, green monsters/fresh juices, HUMMUS (I need to buy stocks in Fontaine Santé), dark chocolate, glo bars, oatmeal, dried apricots, dried cherries, bread. I go through spurts with what I crave…it changes by the week!

266. What’s your biggest fear?

That I am not living my life to the fullest.

267. It seems to us readers like you are the dominant person in your relationship. Would you agree with that?

We have an equal partnership. When we disagree we always find a middle ground.

268. I’ve tried having green monsters for breakfast but they always make me nauseous. Has this ever happened to you?

Possibly after a night of consuming too much alcohol. I’m not sure why this would happen to you- anyone else out there experience this? Maybe it is due to how visually unappealing they are- close your eyes?

269. Does your husband ever mention that he misses it when you weren’t Vegan or does he like your lifestyle better now as a Vegan?

I just asked him and this is what he said: ‘I don’t miss it because I can still eat meat when I want to.’

Basically he said vegan or not, he doesn’t really care too much!

270. Which bloggers are you jealous of? Which ones tick you off?

Come on now.

271. You talk a lot about natural beauty. How do you think highlighting/dying your hair falls into that?

It doesn’t…and I’m ok with that. Gotta have some fun!

272. Sketchie is so adorable! Do you think he’ll be good with kids?

Thank you. He loves kids!

What is your favorite color?

Light blue and pink. Pink a bit more because I want a baby girl.

273. It doesn’t seem as if you attend church regularly. Are you a member of a church? Why or why not?

I don’t speak about my religion or spirituality on the blog.

274. Do you ever feel selfish for waiting so long to have children?

So long?! What am I, an 80 year old? haha. Sheesh. We have only been married a year and a few months. For one, I don’t think it is selfish to not to have kids. Secondly, I don’t think it is selfish to wait to have kids until you are ready. I am only 26 and am still establishing my career and place in this world.

275. Do you feel guilty on days you don’t work out? It seems like you work out a lot.

No I don’t feel guilty on days that I don’t workout. I used to in the past, but I am way easier on myself in recent years. I’ve had some life lessons recently that have taught me to love myself and to treat myself well. Hating on myself gets me no where. Working out makes me feel awesome, but I realize that my body needs rest too.

what size are you?

Size…HEALTHY! That is what the tag should read anyways. Numbers suck.

276. What does your wedding ring look like?? What is your favorite grocery store?? When you go grocery shopping, do you make a list or just walk in and buy stuff??

There might be a picture of my wedding ring on my wedding page…I can’t remember. I enjoy Whole Foods, but I don’t live near one so I don’t go more than once every few months. I don’t make a list, I just wing it most of the time.

277. When is your birthday? What do you like about having your Glo Bakery? Are there any hatha yoga DVD you would suggest I get…I am a Level 1 or 2 Love your tweets/blog and bars!

May 16th. Taurus. I love the freedom that owning my own business gives me. I love the creative aspect of it the most. I always felt so confined creatively in previous jobs. Sorry no DVD’s to suggest- anyone else?

278. Have you stopped dying your hair blonde? I think you should go full out – it would look great on you!

Thank you. I get highlights about 4 times a year, although I am considering just getting full colour because root touch ups are cheaper than highlights.

279. What does the husband do?

He doesn’t feel comfortable discussing his job on the internet. My lips are sealed!

280. Green Monsters Or fresh juices?

Don’t make me! That is like choosing between your two children.

281. Which fashion designer would you want to dress you?

Nicole Miller in a heartbeat.

282. i’ve been to a bunch of blogger meet ups and it seems like we always end up talking about you!!! I’m not sure why, but we talk about how INTENSE you are with everything you do! You just seem so hardcore about everything you do! Calm down!!!!

I don’t want to calm down, but maybe you need to? I like who I am! I’ve never been called intense or hardcore before but I kind of like it.

283. You’re least and most favourite exercise?

Least- recumbent bike (like watching paint dry to me haha)

Most- Snowboarding, running, walking around as a tourist on vacation

284. Where’s one place in the world you still want to go?

I want to go to a developing country to volunteer. Hopefully in 2010 or 2011.

285. Do you really want kids?

More than anything.

286. How tall are you and how much do you weigh? I know you aren’t interested in numbers on the scale but do you have a specific number which you would like to keep under forever?

I’m 5’5 and I don’t know my weight. I go by how my clothes fit and it surprisingly works well. They start to get tight and I reel in the party in my mouth a little bit.

~~~

I better get back to our cheering squad now. It’s currently 3-0 for Canada right now…woot!

Have a great night!

Good morning!

It has been a long time since I did another post in my Road To Health series. Eleven months to be exact! I’m sure you were starting to wonder if I fell off the cliff?

Start your engines folks!

My Road To Health: Part VI

Missed these?

• My Road To Health: Part 1
• My Road To Health: Part II
• My Road To Health: Part III
• My Road To Health: Part IV
• My Road To Health: Part Va
• My Road To Health: Part Vb

One factor that helped me beat my eating disorder was that I learned how to channel my negative thoughts into something positive.

For example:

Eating Disordered Thought #1: “Food will make me fat; therefore, I should avoid it at all costs.”

—> Negative thought changed into positive thought —>

New Positive thought #1: “Food can be healthy and energizing; therefore I will learn about what foods will make me feel the best.”

So as you can see, part of my recovery involved looking at food, and myself, in a new light. It is not a surprise that we get into negative thinking patterns and can’t get out of them. After all, we are inside our heads all day long! For the longest time, I didn’t even recognize that my thoughts were problematic. I would estimate that 95% of my thoughts used to be negative. How draining and tiresome that got…

So I had to first recognize that this was not healthy and secondly decide that I was going to change. Then I took action.

The Goal: Negative thoughts about food were turned into positive thoughts. Negative thoughts about myself were turned into positive, or at least neutral, thoughts. A tall order but I was not willing to accept the alternative.

I was a walking-contradiction. I had a huge passion for health, but I neglected to treat myself in a healthy manner. Something was missing. I had to start practicing what I preached. I decided to learn about health and nutrition and apply it to myself. I was my own guinea pig in a sense. My ‘control group’ or ‘baseline measure’ was how I felt while starving- unhappy, depressed, and irritable. Surely it could only go up from there…!?

The question became: How would I feel when I started to eat wholesome and nutritious foods?

I took those nutrition courses in university and I rocked them. I started to buy nutrition books for pleasure reading when I wasn’t studying for my course work. I discovered many things along the way:

1) I soaked up health and nutrition information like a sponge.

2) I started to appreciate my body for everything that it does for me instead of loathing it.

As I learned more, I started to apply it to myself…very gradually. I realized that the iceburg lettuce I was eating, while low in calories, gave my body almost zero nutrients. Same with many of the foods I was eating. Instead of focusing on how much I could eat with the fewest amount of calories, I started to focus on what foods I could eat that would have the most amount of nutrients in them. I swapped the iceburg lettuce for romaine and spinach. I swapped microwave popcorn for veggie and cracker trays with hummus and avocado. While the calories really didn’t differ too greatly, my energy levels sure did.

During high school and also in my 1st year of university, I went vegetarian for several months at a time. It was extremely hard being a vegetarian while living off cafeteria food in university. I found that my options were limited because I didn’t have a kitchen to cook my own foods. So that didn’t last too long.

In 2008, Eric and I started to save money for our wedding. Prior to this, we hadn’t been paying much attention to our grocery bills. Once we examined them, we realized that we had been spending about $25-30 on meat a week. We both ate meat twice a day. We decided that we could easily cut back our meat consumption and swap a few dinners for lentils, beans, or grains. We discovered that lentils, grains, and beans were cheap. This made our wallets thicker, or should I say, the wallets of the wedding industry.

This is when something started to click inside me. I started to experiment with new foods (also thanks to many food blogs I was reading at the time!) and I realized that I didn’t need meat like I thought I did. There were all of these wonderful foods out there that I had not even given a chance because we were taught that a meal should consist of meat, potatoes, and veggies.

Gradually over 2008, meat lost its’ appeal in my life. Sometimes I would cook meat for Eric and then just have something else for myself because I found that I didn’t crave it anymore. I decided that I would eat a meat-free diet and I continued to consume dairy, eggs, fish, and other animal products. As I educated myself about the food industry, my love for animals and the environment swayed my choices in my diet. Watching Food Inc. really opened my eyes and I realized that I could never go back to eating animal products again. I asked myself, ‘Why eat an animal when I can obtain my diet from plants?’

In 2009, I continued to eat fish occasionally up until around the early summer when I decided to eat a vegan diet. I would have fish once a every two weeks or so. While some vegetarians would gasp at the idea of having fish occasionally, I just did what was best for me at the time. I listened to my body. For me, it was never about being ‘perfect’ according to a certain label or what people say I should eat.

Over 2009, I started to experiment with new products. I tried Tofurkey, soy yogurt, soy cheese, and non-dairy ice cream. Some of these products tasted good and some of them tasted horrible. The obvious downside with these products is the price and the processed mystery ingredients that they contain. I was a fan of neither. These imitation products are a big reason why many people think it is more expensive to eat a vegan diet. They are super expensive. Because we were cutting costs in our lives, I had to learn how to eat a vegan diet without the use of these products. And let me tell you, it was the best thing I ever did.

I think these vegan products are ok for that transition period when you are freaking out and wondering how in the world you are going to survive without your yogurt, but I have found that I can’t even be bothered with them anymore. I used them as a crutch at first because I thought that is what I was supposed to eat as a vegan. Now I would rather eat the unprocessed stuff because I find it tastes better and I feel better when I don’t eat them. However, on occasion I will have a vegan pizza or something to that effect when I want one.

My decision to eat a vegan diet was not sudden, just as eating a vegetarian diet was not. It was gradual. You probably saw the slow and gradual change in my diet over the past year. many vegetarians or vegans can tell me the exact date, but for me it was very gradual and something I did over time. While some vegetarians or vegans go cold-turkey, this was not my approach. I slowly transitioned to the diet I eat now. I found this much more manageable. My best advice for those of you who want to change is start slow. Many of us spent our entire lives eating certain foods and it may be unrealistic to just change everything in one day.

When I started to find that my energy increased, I stopped getting colds, and my skin started to really glow, I knew that I was on the right path and my body was finally happy.

To answer all of your questions on Twitter last night, Yes I craved meat, dairy, etc for several months. Occasionally, I will still crave eggs or cheese, but I don’t crave meat anymore. This is quite shocking to me because I used to love meat! It took about 4 months or so of not having these foods. I have always had a big sweet tooth, so for me, giving up cheese or eggs was probably not as hard as it is for others.

I find that I am craving all sorts of foods now like black bean burgers, couscous, hummus, green monsters, and almond butter. When I changed the foods I was eating, my palate also changed over time. I have also seen the same change in Eric. He used to hate all vegetables and now he loves them and craves a big salad for dinner. If you grow up eating meat and dairy, you will probably crave it. If you grow up eating other foods, you will likely crave those foods. It only makes sense to adapt to what you eat.

During the ‘transition’ when I was trying to go without dairy products, I got hooked on almond milk and hemp milk as a replacement for cow’s milk, so this wasn’t a hard sacrifice. I don’t really care for soy milk so I stay away from that mostly. It was really hard giving up cheese and yogurt. I used to have a huge yogurt addiction to the point where I would eat 3 mini yogurts a day. I used to wonder what the heck I would eat if I couldn’t have my morning snack of yogurt! I got creative and I learned about new foods and new recipes. I looked at what other vegans were eating and followed suit. Thank God for vegan food/recipe sites, that is all I can say!

I actually found this trial and error period very fun and liberating.

There are many negative associations with veganism, such as rigid, obsessed, overly-restrictive, etc. However, what I learned while on this journey is that being a vegan is not restrictive when you learn about all of the foods you can eat. As humans it is natural for us to focus on things we can’t have, but what about all the foods we can have? In just the past year or two, I probably eat over 200 new foods that I never ate before.

My diet used to consist of the same three meals every single day. Being a vegan has challenged me to break out of that rut and try new things. I get much more variety now than I ever did, so for me, this experience has been a great thing for my health and overall satisfaction with food.

There is no exact science to going vegetarian or vegan. I have said all along that I am not a perfect vegan, nor do I strive to be one. I will make mistakes and occasionally eat food with dairy in it that I don’t know about. I don’t let myself get bothered by things like that. I don’t believe the point of being a vegan is perfection. I wore the perfectionist mask for several years and I can tell you that it is a mask I will never wear again. I do the best I can each day and that is good enough for me.

And for those of you asking what Eric’s response was to me going vegan:

Here it is from the man himself…

Eric said, “It’s your choice and it doesn’t bother me. The only thing I don’t like is that it is hard  for us to find a restaurant where they have vegan options.”

I asked what about me not making meat for dinner?

“It was a drag not having you make meat for dinner, but after a while I got used to it. I have meat a couple times a week now so I don’t really feel like I am missing out. My meat consumption has gone down about 75% and I don’t mind having some vegetarian meals now whereas before I would never have considered it. I probably would never go fully vegetarian though. I’m happy with how things are now.”

It is definitely possible to be a vegan and not have your partner choose the same. It is more work, but it wasn’t a huge deal breaker for us.

The main thing I have learned is to have FUN with whatever your diet may be! For me, food was the enemy for so long. I have never been so excited about food in a long time. I feel like a part of me has woken up and come alive.

Whether you are a Vegan, Vegetarian, Carnivore, Flexitarian or what have you- HAVE FUN with your diet! Experiment, try new foods, and enjoy the experience.

~~~~

More reading for those curious:

1) For specific information on how to make the vegetarian or vegan transition, please see this wonderful article on 20 tips! Love Zen Habits

2) For my vegan baking tips, please check out my guest post over at Silly Tater Tot!

3) Want go participate in vegan for a week? Thursday is the official vegan for a day challenge.

You want to take part?

On Thursday, November 19, we are asking that you devote one or all of your meals to being vegan. We just kindly ask if you could link back to either my blog or Michelle’s when you make your posts about Vegan Week. We will be compiling a list of all who participate throughout the day, on our blogs under the ‘VeganWeek’ tabs. If you could make sure to either send us the link and/or leave it in the comment section of the ‘Vegan 4-A- Day’ official post on Thursday then we can give you proper accolades.

If you know of any other friends, bloggers or not, who are up for the challenge…spread it around! Everyone who takes part will have a chance at a really cool prize — details of that to come soon!

THREE GLO BAR GIVEAWAYS:

3) Check out Katy’s Glo bar giveaway as a part of Vegan for a Week!

4) Check out Michelle’s Glo Bar giveaway as part of Vegan for a Week!

5) Check out Julie’s Glo Bar giveaway!

Charity Donations:

For all of November, Katie has something going called “Operation Chocolate Covered Kindness” where she’s going to donate all of her foodbuzz money to a really great charity called The Enough Project. Please visit her amazing website (she has great recipes too!) and contribute to the cause.

Goodluck!!!

Have a wonderful hump-day!

Hey guys!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I am starting to compile my most frequently asked questions! These are the questions that I get every week. Today, I will start with one of my most popular questions.

I could honestly write a book on this topic, but I will try to keep it succinct.

1. How did you stop obsessing and beat your eating disorder?

I struggled with disordered eating since the age of 11. I was sick and tired of being unhappy, hungry, and dissatisfied when I looked in the mirror. Even though I was thin for much of this time, I hated my body. My weight went up and down due to teetering along the extremes of both starvation and over-eating. In my first year of university I gained over 25 pounds and my obsession with my weight only got worse. After my first semester in university, I hit rock bottom. I knew I had to change. I was sick of struggling day in and day out with calorie counting, weighing myself, restricting how much I could eat, etc. It was a battle I was never going to win and I knew if I didn’t do something about it, I would never be happy.

I began seeing a school counsellor. She was a huge factor in my recovery. I still remember the kind words she told me and I think of her words whenever I am feeling down. One thing she told me was that I had such a soothing voice and I had a very easy-going nature about me. She would always tell me how easy it was to talk with me. After hearing these kind words, I started to realize that I was so much more than my weight and how skinny I was. I got so caught up in the disorder that I really needed to hear it from an outsider to make everything click. She made such a huge impact on my life when I least expected it. I was very skeptical about seeing a counsellor (fear mostly), but it was the best thing I ever did. I only saw her about 6 times and to think that she helped me so much is really amazing.

In addition to this, I also took a few nutrition courses in university. These courses were pivotal in the change that started to occur in my mind. I finally learned how my body worked…and I was amazed. I poured myself into my nutrition books and I had marks at the top of my class. I enjoyed every minute of it. I wanted to major in nutrition and become a registered dietitian, but I didn’t have a couple of the science pre-reqs and I decided to pursue psychology because I didn’t want to be a year behind (oh how I wish I would have followed my heart!). As I learned more about nutrition, I started to appreciate my body for what it did for me everyday. I had been abusing it for so long and it was just doing the best it could to stay balanced. It never occurred to me why I had the urge to binge until I learned that bingeing is an evolutionary adaptation! It is natural for the body to respond with over-eating when it has been deprived and it feels that it is in danger of survival. I was blaming my body for everything, but it was doing nothing wrong!

I decided to stop weighing myself. For some, the scale is a useful tool but for me no number was ever good enough. If it was up, I would starve. If it was down, I would starve too. I had to put the scale away. I knew that I needed to stop focusing on numbers so much and start focusing on my overall health. It was extremely hard to not weigh myself, but I just went cold turkey.

Going cold turkey was also my approach to calorie counting, but it didn’t work. Because I had been counting calories for over 10 years it was ingrained in me. I couldn’t stop! It sort of freaked me out and I thought for a while that I may never be able to break the habit. I realized that I had to start small. I started with not counting one part of my meal. So if I had cereal and milk for breakfast, I would not measure my cereal portion and not add-up those calories.

Gradually, over time I was able to build up to a full meal…and then eventually a full day of not counting. This process took months and I had many relapses. I gained a bit of weight during this time (I could tell by how my clothes fit) and that scared me and made me want to go back to my old ways. Sometimes I would get to the end of the day and not know how many calories I had eaten and this would cause me to binge due to the anxiety. I wasn’t used to not having control over every morsel that went into my mouth. I tried to focus on my hunger cues instead of how many calories I was ‘allowed’ to have. I realized during this process, that I had absolutely no clue how to listen to my body! I hadn’t done it for so long that I could barely tell when I was full or hungry. It was scary to experience this. It only solidified the fact that I was doing the right thing by trying to beat it.

When I stopped starving myself, it all became clear to me. My binges stopped. It took a few months but they did. My body no longer felt at risk for survival or desperate for food. I started to feel more calm around food and I started to appreciate food instead of fear it. The whole process took about 2-3 years before I felt confident that I would not go back to the disordered eating.

One crucial factor in my recovery was learning how to channel the negative energy about myself into something positive. I decided to channel this energy into learning about nutrition. Instead of looking at food for how many calories it had, I started to look at food in terms of its’ overall nutrition and how it made me feel when I ate it. I started to eat for energy instead of lack of calories or fat. When I was restricting my intake, all I ate was processed diet foods (aka crap!)…popcorn, iceburg lettuce, sugar-free popsicles, Crystal Light, chewing gum, you name it. I decided to start eating unprocessed foods and I ate more whole grains, vegetables, and fruit. I also started cooking more instead of going out to eat. I started to eat FAT which was absolutely ground-breaking for me. I used to restrict my fat so much and everything was fat-free. It was no wonder that my skin and hair were dull as rocks. I learned that healthy fats were good- bring em on! I ate nuts and healthy oils. My hair, skin, and nails started to glow.

I had many relapses along the way, but now, several years later, it was hands down the best (and hardest) thing I ever did. Nothing worthwhile in life comes easy…

For anyone who is struggling, I strongly suggest seeking out professional help. I am not sure I would have been able to do it without my counsellor’s professional guidance.

~~~~

Have you ever had an aha moment about yourself or how you viewed food?

"Throw back the shoulders, let the heart sing, let the eyes flash, let the mind be lifted up, look upward and say to yourself… Nothing is impossible!"

~ Norman Vincent Peale

Good morning! Happy office day

I had a lot of questions and emails after my half marathon race recap, so I thought I would save some time and make a post out of them.

Let’s get to it!

264. Kirstie asks, “Hi Angela, I’m not sure if you mentioned this or not, but I was wondering what you ate for breakfast before your half and what time you ate it at. I am always struggling with how much fuel I need for races and training runs and what time I should eat. Thanks for your help!”

I guess I must have been in a big excited haze the morning of my half because I completely forgot to take a picture of what I ate.

Breakfast time: 4:45am (2 hours 45 mins before gun time)

I started with a pre-made green monster from the night before. I put it in a sealed drink container in the fridge overnight.

The GM was made up of the following: 1 cup hemp milk, 1 T chia seeds, 1/2 cup water, 5 sprigs dandelion (cooked), 2 kale leaves (cooked), 1 banana, 1 teaspoon maca powder, 1 squirt Kyolic garlic extract, 5 ice cubes.

After my GM, I had a small bowl of Nature’s Path Flax Plus cereal (maybe 1/2 cup) plus 1/2 cup Almond Breeze. I crumbled a Run Glo Bar over top of the cereal.

For hydration, I had about 3 cups of Sencha green tea. In the car I had some Swamp Water (Amazing Grass + H20 + Ice).

After I ate, I was a bit worried that I had too much and would cramp up, but it was actually the perfect amount. Eating almost 3 hours prior to the race was essential for my body to have enough time to digest. I was not hungry or full feeling for the race. It actually worked so well that I will probably have this exact same breakfast for my next race!

265. Karen asks, “Did you drink the full cup at the water stations? Or do you just take a sip or two and toss it. I see so many people just take a sip. I seem to be the only one who drinks the entire amount!”

I actually noticed this same thing with people not taking much. For my half (and my races before the half), I drank at least 75% of the cup. I stick to Gatorade as I find it gives me a great boost. The only time during the race when I did not drink almost the full cup was the last water station when my bladder was bursting with discomfort!! lol.

I always thought that drinking so much fluids during a race would give me cramps, but I didn’t get cramps once. It was almost as if my body just sucked up the fluids instantly!

266. T asks, “Hey Ange! Congrats on your race. I’m dying to know how your moleskin held up for the half. Did you notice any new blisters or irritation from your chest strap like you worried would happen?”

My moleskin trick held up really well. If you are wondering what my moleskin trick is just visit this post for an explanation. It stayed on for the entire race. However, I did get 3 small blisters from the half. It was nothing major and I didn’t feel them at all during the run. Only when I removed the moleskin did I notice them (and they were gone by Tuesday).

As for chafing, I did get some chafing in a new spot! I was careful to put some Vaseline under my heart rate monitor (in the centre of my chest strap) and also on the side of the strap under my arm where I had problems previously. However, I actually ended up getting some chafing just underneath my chest area. I didn’t even notice I had it until I hit the shower and it hurt and stung for a bit when the water touched it.

267. Paula asks, “Was it not so frustrating to see a red km marker approaching sooner than expected, and then realize it was the sign you’d already passed earlier, but were seeing from the back?! Argh.  Happened over and over again. Great recap. Glad to have found your blog.”

Yes it was frustrating! I forgot to explain that the course was an ‘out and back’ loop. So when we were running out we would pass these big red signs telling us how many km we had run. Well, on the way back, you still see the signs on the other side and it looks like you are coming up to the next km marker, but it was in fact just a sign from the other direction. This fooled me a couple of times and I remember saying to myself, “Nooooooooooooo”.

I felt like I was in a desert and was seeing a water fountain that turned out to be a prickly cactus.

268. Jillian asks, “Hi Angela, I just wanted to email you and tell you that you have inspired me to sign up for a half next year. Congrats for bouncing back from your injury so strongly. I have a question for you. I’m wondering how sore you were after the race and how long did it last? I am just trying to gauge what I am in for next year! Thanks again, J”

Congrats on signing up for a half! Immediately after I crossed the finish line, I felt pain. Nothing out of the ordinary thankfully. I just felt very stiff and like my muscles were very angry with me. They were like, ‘What the hell was THAT all about?!’

I had to walk very slowly back to the car. I wasn’t worried about it though because I know what is normal pain (ache, stiffness, etc) and what is not normal pain (sharp). I was very sore all day long and it was very uncomfortable. I made sure to stretch and take a bath. I also took an Ibuprofen in the evening (with dinner) to help reduce inflammation.

I was not very sore on Monday and then my soreness came back with a vengeance on Tuesday for some reason! I guess it is fairly common to have soreness 2-3 days later. I also didn’t stretch on Monday and I should have!

269. Beth asks, ‘Hi Angela. I’m curious as to when you are going to get back into running after your half. I struggled with burnout after my half and I didn’t want to run for 1 week.’

I took 3 glorious days off exercise (Mon-Tues-Wed) and I now feel like I am ready to exercise again today (Thursday). I really enjoyed my days off this week. I was so lazy and I loved every minute of it!!!

My muscles now feel like they are healed and I am started to get anxious to exercise again, so I know that I am now properly rested. As for running, I might try an easy 2-3 mile run today and see how that goes. If I have any discomfort, I will just stick to walking.

270. Heather asks, “You mentioned that you were a bit sore for the first few kms. Do you think this was because you didn’t run much the week prior and you were stiff?”

It might have been that, but I doubt it because when I ran 2 miles on Saturday I felt fine. I think it was actually a result of my nerves. I was anxious and when I am anxious I tense up a bit and my muscles get stiff. Once I consciously started to shake out my arms and focus on running ‘loose’, I found that the soreness and stiffness was reduced (albeit with help from my endorphins!).

271. Amanda asks, “I’m dying to know if you signed up for your next race!”

I am currently thinking about running the Goodlife Toronto Half Marathon on October 18th. It is a quick turnaround so I need to think about it more. Details will follow in the next day with my decision and my training plan.

~~~~~

Still no race photos up yet! I am dying to see my ‘I-feel-like-I’m-in-labour’ facial expressions.

Enjoy your day!

Good afternoon!

It has been a while since I did a FAQ installment so I thought I would put one together.

264. Kaitlyn asks, “Hi Angela! I love all of your running talk lately and I am glad to see that you have fallen in love with racing (I have too, thanks to you!!!). I know you have your half marathon coming up on the 27th, but I was just curious if you ever think you will run a full marathon some day? Have you ever given it any thought? I totally think you could rock one!”

I would be lying if I said that the thought hasn’t crossed my mind, especially now that I am enjoying all of the wonderful and inspiring marathon stories in my new book. At this point, I am really not sure if I will ever run a marathon. You probably saw that it was in my fitness bucket list as one of my fitness dreams! I never say never. Right now, I have this half planned for the 27th, a possible half on Oct 18th (Toronto Marathon), and I am also signed up for a half next May in Toronto. Time will tell! One thing is for sure…I have found a huge passion for running and racing and I am so happy that I found my own ‘sport’, since retiring from fast pitch softball years ago.

265. Jessy asks, “Angela I love your blog and I visit it daily to feel inspired about my health. So thank you for that. I just have one question- how do you stay so positive all the time? If I could have 1/10th of your positivity I would be much better off!”

266. Anon asks, “On the topic of motivation — how do you stay motivated to eat well and keep up with your workouts? How did you handle this while working full time out of the home? I currently working full time and I go to the gym every day but the joy is gone. I eat healthy for the most part but tend to OVER eat out of being worn down and tired. I exercise each day in the hopes of shedding those last five pounds, but alas, it never comes off because I’m too tired to really cook anything too healthy. And today, work is ending shortly and I’m exhausted with no gym motivation — how did/do you handle these situations?”

Great questions! Whenever I am asked about motivation I always think of one of my favourite quotes:

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” ~Zig Ziglar

There isn’t some special trick to being motivated. You’ll often hear people say, ‘I just don’t have any motivation so I can’t workout.’, but the truth is everyone is capable of motivating themselves. There are many days when I don’t feel like getting my exercise in or eating healthy. Something that helps me is knowing that I have committed to this lifestyle. If you commit to something and write out your goals and reason for doing this, that alone will give you some motivation to achieve those goals that mean so much to you. I suggest writing yourself a contract stating what your goals are and why you want to achieve these things and then put it up on your wall, office space, fridge, mirror. Remind yourself each and everyday what kind of life you want to lead. Also, creating a fitness bucket list really motivated me a ton. I look at it over 20 times a day and it makes me so excited about my goals.

My positivity comes from feeling good about my choices and knowing that if I mess up, I can make my next choice a good one. All of us have the power to chose our destiny.

Regarding working outside the home, the only thing that ever worked for me was to workout first thing in the morning before work. I could never ever motivate myself to workout after work or school. I would get up, brush my teeth, get dressed, and be to the gym often before I even felt awake! I had no time to chose if I wanted to workout or skip it because I made it automatic. The first 15 mins. of the workouts were tough, but then you wake up and you feel awesome for doing it.

267. Katie asks, “I get side aches when I run, they start up and I have to stop immediately because it hurts to bad to run. Its frustrating because I’m not out of breath or tired but the pain of the side ache. My question is do you experience side aches and if yes how do you get rid of them! thanks

I get side aches when I am not properly hydrated and when I am doing speed work. On my 10 k speed run the other day, I got some side cramps. I stopped to walk a bit, but I pretty much just had to run through them. I think it was my own fault because I didn’t bring any water and my body was dehydrated. I suggest making sure you are properly hydrated and see if that helps. I never get them when I am drinking fluids at regular intervals.

268. Cbeebs asks, “First off, I’d like to say that i only used to skim over blogs when i’m looking for recipes, but since encountering yours, i’m religiously following daily!!

I just graduated with a BCom this May and am job hunting…I find myself not all that thrilled about sitting in an office 9-5…but i’m finding myself quite into fitness/nutrition. I looked up the Can-Fit-Pro certification you mentioned back a while ago. Did you take the exam? Did you find it useful and would you recommend it? Where else is this certification recognized…is it only with the affiliated members? Thanks, I hope i sort out what i want to do in the next step of my life soon. “

Uh oh, I’m busted! haha. No, I haven’t taken the exam yet and I haven’t even had time to study for it either. My intention was to take the exam and get my certification for a Nutrition and Wellness Counselor, but alas, that did not happen since Glo Bakery has kept me working around the clock. I still hope to get my certification at some point just to have it. I would check out Can Fit Pro’s website for all of the information on all of their certifications. I have only heard good things about them. Goodluck!

269. Sarah says, “Hi Angela. A friend recommended your site to me and I just LOVE it. I just started trying the Green Monsters on Monday and actually got 2 girls at work to try them. We’re all doing the challenge together.

I also noticed that you go to an Aveda salon. I used to work as a makeup artist for Civello in Oakville. Is that the one you go to in TO? Just remember, that as gentle as the hair colour is, its defiantly not natural. It may have some natural ingredients, but unless its a henna product (which its not), its not as natural as you might think.

Take care and keep up the great work!”

Sarah you are right and this is something I have actually looked into. There is still bleach in the products they use to lighten hair. Unfortunately, when getting highlights, often products do not work unless there is some amount of bleach in them. I would love to be able to find a 100% natural product that works. If anyone knows of any (for lightening- NOT darkening) let me know!

270. Becca asks, “Hi Ange. Loving all your delicious pictures lately (well I always did just now they look even better!). I noticed that you haven’t been eating fish anymore and I was just curious if you decided to give it up. I don’t think I have seen you eat it since the Spring. What did you decide? Have a great day!”

You are right, I haven’t had fish since the Spring. As I have been experimenting with getting my protein in new ways I have found that I don’t need to rely on fish as a protein source anymore. I get plenty of protein now from beans, seeds, lentils and grains. Now that we have two fish as pets I most certainly cannot see myself eating it. I think Snitzlefritz and Jezabal would have a heart attack.

271. Am asks, “Hey Angela, I really admired how organized you are. You have so much to do but you keep so organized that you manage to accomplish a lot in one day.
I work part-time and I am trying to study the rest of the time. I have a very important test to take coming up. However, I go to work, I work out, I go grocery shopping, I cook, clean, take care of my husband…etc and next thing I know…I am exhausted, it is the end of the day and I have accomplish NO STUDYING AT ALL
Do you have any suggestions on how to get my time organized in a way that I can get pretty much everything done?
I would really appreciate it!”

I think I already answered this in my last FAQ installment, but I just wanted to reiterate what a blessing G-Cal has been in my life.

If you have never given Gmail Calendars a chance you really should. I am so much more organized now! Check out my how-to post here. Watch out- you will become addicted to it!

~~~~~

I also have a few words to get off my chest:

Dear Fresh,

Please love my products.

Love,

Glo Bakery xoxo

Ps- Wasn’t The Office last night hilarious??? It was over so fast though…

Fun quotes:

Jim Halpert:
”This is parkour. Internet sensation of 2004. And it was in one of the Bond films. It’s pretty impressive. The goal is to get from point A to point B as creatively as possible so technically they are doing parkour, as long as point A is delusion and point B is the hospital.”

~~~~~~~

Pam Beesly:
”This is the last day of our summer interns. It’s been nice. We haven’t had interns in a while. Ever since Michael’s Monica Lewinsky incident. He didn’t do anything sexual, he just made far, far too many Monica Lewinsky jokes. It was just easier for Corporate to shut down the program.”

~~~~~~~

Andy:
Let me give you a scenario. I’m at like a beach cabana, and Brad Pitt approaches. Tries to lean in and kiss me. I would definitely resist, like at first. But if he was persistent, I might give in a little bit just to see what it felt like. Would I push him away? How hard? Like, what if he’s really aggressive?

Oscar:
If you resisted Brad Pitt a little bit he would still.. need to get to you?

Andy:
This is not real Brad Pitt, this is like, in my–this is my fantasy. Or not a fantasy it’s like what I’m–it’s just a scenario.

Oscar:
Wow I–I wish I could help you. I don’t–you might be gay, you might be gay

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

This email comes from Katrin:

Hey Angela!

I really adore your blog and read it every single day (even on vacation )

But I have a question on running. I never did running for exercising before (only yoga, pilates and dancing for cardio), but I would like to start with it now. I don’t really know how to start (how fast should I go, how long should I run,….) I tried to run around the block this morning and had to stop after being drenched in sweat and having severe pain in my side. Am I going too fast maybe?

So I was wondering, how did you start running and what hints do you have for someone like me?

Thank you so much (for everything you do!)

Katrin

My Running Journey: From 1 Minute to 10 Miles

When I first started to run longer distances, I hated it.

I used to participate in track and field, but long distance was not what I took part in! I stuck to the short sprinting distances and relay races (think 60 metre sprints). I also did high jump and long jump. I was never a long distance runner and I couldn’t understand how people could be on the cross country team and just run and run for miles!

During the summer of 2008, I decided to give running another shot. At first, I could only run 1 minute at a time.

Only being able to run 1 minute at a time was hard for me to comprehend seeing as I was a cardio junkie. I could do a 1 hour cardio workout no problem, but once I hit the pavement I was huffing and puffing and my legs felt like lead. Suddenly, I felt so out of shape!

This is what I did:

I grabbed my stop watch and timed myself for 1 minute. I promised myself I would run the full minute and then I could walk. And you can bet I was starring at the watch almost the whole time.

I ran 1 minute and then walked 1 minute. Then I clicked the watch and ran another minute. I didn’t pay attention to my speed or have any fancy gadgets. I just did what I could during that minute, knowing that a rest would be coming up soon. My first running interval workouts were about 20 minutes in length.

Gradually, over time I started to run for a longer time. After a week or two of doing the 1:1 intervals, I increased the running for 2 minutes and then I did the 2:1 intervals until I felt comfortable to move up.

My best advice is not to rush it. Give your body enough time to build that running base. I also highly recommend getting some great running shoes. Go into a good sports store and have them watch you run, so they can fit you with a proper pair based on your needs.

I remember feeling so proud of two running accomplishments when I first started:

• Being able to run 5 minutes without stopping
• Being able to run 1 mile without stopping

The great thing about running is that improvements happen quite fast! If you listen to your body, give it proper rest, fuel with food, and do cross-training, your body will respond even better than you would ever imagine.

Here are some of my tips that helped me learn to run:

• Get intervals! If you are just starting out try 1:1 run/walk intervals or even 0.30:1. Gradually build up from there.
• Get a stopwatch. For me, having the distraction of a watch was key for my motivation. You don’t need anything fancy or any special gadgets.
• Get your rest. Always listen to your body. If you are sore (oh, and you will be very sore when you first start out especially!), give your body the rest it needs. Your muscles need time to repair so you can get stronger on your next outing.
• Get flat. Try to run on flat terrain for the first while, so you don’t get discouraged by hills. Baby steps.
• Get comfortable. Invest in some comfortable running shorts, sneakers, and a good sports bra. You don’t want your mind on uncomfortable clothes while you are learning to run.
• Get a calendar. Chart your progress! I wrote down each and every run in my Outlook calendar. You will have a visual to see yourself improving and you will probably be surprised at how fast you improve.
• Get a buddy. I didn’t have a running partner so it was a bit more difficult for me, but if you can find a running buddy it will help you stay committed. Try to find someone at your own level. You can also sign up for a Running clinic for new runners in your area.
• Get block. Exercising outdoors does a whammy on your skin. Protect it each and every time you leave the house.
• Get a 5k race. Had I not been so intimidated by races, I would have signed up for my first 5k race last fall. I was definitely ready for one. My advice to you is not to be scared to run your first race. They are fun, the people are friendly, and you will have a grin on your face for a week (at least!).

Are you interested in starting to run?

Do you have a running story? How did you start out?

FAQ Installment 33

It’s been a LONG time since I did a FAQ Installment, eh? I bet you thought I forgot about them! They were put on the back burner for a while that is for sure.

Without further ado…

256. Anamaria asks,  “Hey Angela, I have a few questions! I really admired how organized you are. You have so much to do but you keep so organized that you manage to accomplish a lot in one day.

I work part-time and I am trying to study the rest of the time. I have a very important test to take coming up. However, I go to work, I work out, I go grocery shopping, I cook, clean, take care of my husband…etc and next thing I know…I am exhausted, it is the end of the day and I have accomplish NO STUDYING AT ALL

Do you have any suggestions on how to get my time organized in a way that I can get pretty much everything done?

I would really appreciate it!”

Wow you are a busy bee! I think everyone is different in how they organize their lives and what they find useful. I tried using Todoist for a while. It was helpful in some regards, but I also found that I would ‘lose’ to-do tasks in the sea of lists I had. At one point, I had over 100 tasks in it and I found it very hard to navigate. It was also a problem when the window would close and then I forgot about important tasks.

For me, the only things that have been foolproof are my paper calendars or my marker boards. During both my undergraduate and graduate programs, I had a marker calendar board and used it religiously. It was huge and on my wall near my desk. Every single important thing in my life went onto that calendar. School due dates, exams, presentations, birthdays, family events, appointments, etc. I like the 2- month calendars because I like knowing not only what I have going on this month, but next month too. Right now I am using a paper calendar that I printed free from the internet. I have August and September. Once I start booking dates for October I will print that off and attach it. For me this works! Goodluck!

257. Marnie asks,  “Hey Ange! I have a fashion topic for ya…I’m doing my Masters in School Psychology (University of Alberta) in the fall and have a feeling my lulu clothes aren’t gonna cut it to look professional in grad school.  What type of clothes did you wear when you did your degree?  Was it any different than what you wore to your undergrad classes?”

First off, congrats on getting into graduate school! =) Great question about not knowing what clothes to wear. I found myself in the same pickle before my grad program started. I thought that grad school was going to be much ‘dressier’ than it actually was! As you may know, I took social psychology for my Master’s degree. I found that grad students dressed about the same as undergrads, but perhaps a bit more ‘mature’ looking. It wasn’t that noticeable though. What I tended to wear: dark wash jeans, black shoes (heels or dress shoes), and a nice top with a blazer. I tended to be dressed up a bit more than many of my classmates, just because I love fashion and I love to dress up. I also wore some skirts now and then with dark tights and boots in the winter. For my 8:30am advanced stats classes, I tended to wear my lulu black pants and my lulu zip-up shape jackets because they are quick to put on and require no thought! Because I had to get up around 6am to workout, shower, eat and then commute to class, Lulus were always appropriate for early morning classes. That is unless I had a presentation!

I wore lots of dress shirts, but nothing really stuffy looking. I always accessorize with jewelry to instantly dress up clothing. I also had nice go-to black slacks that I wore when I didn’t want to wear jeans. For example, on Mondays our department had ‘Brown Bags’ where fellow grad students and professors would do presentations on their research. I tended to dress up for these more since I wanted to make a good impression on my professors and advisors.

Everyday wear: Nice shirt, dark jeans, and heels or black shoes:

Presentation outfit:               8:30am class (lulus):

Don’t stress about it, it really isn’t that different from what typical college students wear!

258. Anon asks, “Hi Angela,

I’m a new reader of ohsheglows.com, and I absolutely love it. I think you send such a positive, balanced message about nutrition, exercise, and health. I really respect and appreciate your approach and would love to one day have the "glow" that you do!

I’m not really sure why I’m emailing you, but I was reading your FAQ page on binge eating and you said it would be okay to send you a message if anyone ever just felt the need to connect to someone. I’m a 19-year-old college student who’s back home for the summer now, and I’m really, really struggling. Without going into too much detail, I’ve struggled with disordered eating for six-plus years now.

What I’m really struggling with is the binge/restrict cycle. It’s been horrible ever since I got home, and I just feel so, so alone. These last couple days, I’ve eaten an insane amount of food, and I know I’ve gained a significant amount of weight since summer began. This cycle is causing me to isolate myself – I’m not really going out with friends or even answering their phone calls because I feel so badly about myself and my appearance and I don’t want to face situations with food. I know that my bingeing is partly because my body is begging for more fuel when I restrict, but I also think there are emotional reasons – my relationships aren’t fulfulling (partly my fault – I don’t let myself open up or get close to people), I don’t really know who I am, etc. I’m so dissatisfied with my body, my weight, and my life, and yet I can’t seem to pull myself out of this cycle and do something about it.

I can’t seem to find a balance, and I honestly don’t know what to do. I want to tell my mom what’s going on and maybe even start therapy with an eating disorder specialist again, but I’m scared and ashamed. I feel trapped, and I can’t seem to pull myself out of this.

I’m so sorry that this is so long and personal. It’s okay if you don’t have time to answer – honestly, just writing this out made me feel a little better. If you have a chance to email me back, I would love to hear any advice that you have; I know that you struggled with bingeing, too. Thank you again for all you do – your website has really helped me start thinking about what I want in all aspects of my life. You truly have made a difference!”

Thanks for being so honest and open in your email. I relate to many things that you said in your story. I think you gave yourself your answer when you said, “I feel trapped and I can’t pull myself out of this.” To me it sounds like you would benefit from professional help. I think many of us believe that no matter what is thrown our way, we can handle it ourselves, but often times outside help really is needed even if we don’t want to realize it.

Coming from my psychology background, I feel that counseling is something that could really help you. Eating disorder therapists in particular are trained to help with many of the things you are struggling with. I saw a counselor off and on while in university because, like you, I couldn’t handle everything on my own.

It sounds like you really could use an extra, professional opinion and guidance with your struggles. Going to see a counselor is nothing to be ashamed about. I had the pleasure of meeting many clinical psychologists while in grad school and one thing I often found is that they were some of the nicest and kind people I have ever met. The counselors I have been to were as well. They impacted my life in a very positive manner. That isn’t to say that you will love everyone you come across. I strongly suggest trying some out until you find the right ‘match’.

I hope whatever you decide you will find a balance in your life and be on the road to health. Best of luck and remember ‘this too shall pass’.

259. Kay asks, “Is there a better way to steam spinach before using in the GM? I usually just put in a pan with a tiny bit of water for about 5 minutes over medium heat. I wanted to make sure I was not losing the good nutrients by doing this. What do you do?”

You can lightly steam it or boil it. In a pinch, I even microwave mine in some water for a minute or so. I try to cook it for as little time as I can to reduce nutrient loss. Basically as soon as it first starts to wilt, I stop cooking it. This can take anywhere from 1-3 minutes. Happy green-ing!

260. Misty asks, “Hi Angela! I LOVE your site…..thanks for all of the enthusiasm and motivation! I was wondering if you have ever heard of the whole food supplement called Juice Plus? My husband and I have been taking it for about 7 years now and we love it!”

No, I haven’t heard of it! Care to share some info on it? =)

261. Ari asks, “I have a question about the canned salmon you use. Do you make sure to buy canned wild salmon? I don’t know if they even make that lol, but lately I’ve tried to stop eating farmed fish because of what they feed the fish and what that diet does to the omega 3/omega 6 fats in the fish so I was wondering if that’s a concern to you or if you just buy regular canned salmon.”

I don’t eat much fish anymore, maybe once every two months or so. I am especially trying to avoid buying salmon after hearing about the danger to the species in our waters. When I do have fish, it is usually because I am at a restaurant and there is no better option for me. On the rare occasion when I do have salmon at home, it is usually canned flaked salmon. I used to buy organic but it is way too costly ($5 per can) so I don’t buy it anymore (it tastes SO much better though).

262. Kim asks, “I’m a recent calorie counting convert here too. It’s been hard, BUT I’m actually starting to learn to listen to my body, which is nice. Another habit I’m trying to break is timed eating. I tend to want to eat at noon and 6 for lunch and dinner, even if I’m not actually hungry, it’s just that I’ve trained myself to say I’m “supposed” to eat a full lunch or dinner at those times. Any advice/tips on how to work on that part of the disorderly eating? I think that if I can get that fixed, I’d be really on my way to achieving my goals!”

I’ve never really struggled with this problem before so I am not sure how much help I can be. What works for me is giving myself time ranges for meals. So breakfast is between 8-10am depending on how hungry I am when I get up. Lunch is between 12-2pm, dinner 6-8pm. This way things are quite flexible and I eat when I get hungry enough.

With that said, I never had this problem when I worked out of my house and had a set time schedule (when I went to work, breakfast was always at 7am, lunch at 1pm, dinner around 7pm). For some reason, I found that I was always hungry when at work so I never had the problem that I wasn’t hungry but felt like I had to eat.

263. Fitzalan asks, “I have to say…your calorie counting story is so similar to mine. And I thought I was alone in the fact that I basically got addicted to calorie counting. And I would force myself to eat when I wasn’t hungry because I had to have my 300 calories I had allocated for lunch…I just completely killed any intuitive eating.

How long would you say did it take for your to really kick your disorderly eating habits? How long was it until you can say you trust your body?”

It took me a good two years to finally get rid of counting calories entirely. I started slowly with one meal (breakfast) or snack at a time. It was so hard and I quit many times and went back to counting calories because it was easier for me. Not counting was really tough. After about 2 years of trying, I can confidently say I finally broke the habit. Of course, this time frame will vary for everyone. I had been counting calories since I was 13 or 14 yrs old so it was fully ingrained into my head just like brushing my teeth.

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You can read up on all 263 of my FAQ’s on my FAQ page!

~~~~~~

Whew, that took a while. The good news is I got two huge orders shipped out today. Feels awesome! Tomorrow I am baking up another huge order of Sweet Wheat Sugar Cookies.

I’m off to go make dinner. Sweet potatoes fries are sounding really good right about now. I think I am going to make them with a special twist tonight.

I am seriously still craving my Healthy Peanut Butter Coconut Swirl pancakes. I still can’t believe how good they taste!!!!! I think these are going to become a WEEKLY staple in my diet.

I. must. have. more.

Swirls. Swirls. Swirls!

I can’t wait to come up with new swirl concoctions…

Night!

Just a quick note to say that the Amazing Grass Giveaway is only open until 11pm tonight! Make sure to get your comment in!

Good evening!

Tonight I am going to talk about my training for my first 10-miler race on Sunday! I have been receiving lots of questions about it so I thought I would address them in 1 post.

10 miles will beat my longest distance I have ever run by 2 miles. Naturally, I was a bit nervous about this distance, not really for my lack of cardiovascular training, but for the fear of not wanting to get injured again. As you know, I have been very careful easing back into running and I now approach running in a completely different manner.

Let’s take a quick look at my training since my 10-km race on June 14th, exactly 30 days ago today:

June 15, 2009: OFF day, very light walking

June 16, 2009: 3 mile run

June 17, 2009: 15 min hill walking, core work, tons o’ stretching, pushups

June 18, 2009: 60 mins treadmill hill walk (This was my first regular treadmill workout since my 10k race on the 14th of June and man were my calves screaming on the incline!!).

June 19, 20009: 3.31 mile run

June 20, 2009: 30 minute treadmill hill workout

June 21, 2009: OFF DAY

June 22, 2009: 5.35 mile run

June 23, 2009: OFF Day

June 24, 2009: 3.33 mile run

June 25, 2009: OFF Day

June 26, 2009: 50 min treadmill hill walking

June 27, 2009: 5 mile run

June 28, 2009: Treadmill hill walking

June 29, 2009: 35 mins treadmill hill workout

June 30, 2009: OFF day

July 1, 2009: 4.60 mile run 

July 2, 2009: 55 min treadmill hill workout

July 3, 2009: OFF day

July 4, 2009: Treadmill interval workout, 50 mins.

July 5, 2009: 4.5 mile run

July 6, 2009: OFF day

July 7, 2009: 6 mile run

July 8, 2009: OFF day

July 9, 2009: 50 min treadmill hill workout

July 10, 2009: OFF day

July 11, 2009: 1 hour treadmill hill workout

July 12, 2009: 7 mile run

July 13, 2009: OFF day

July 14, 2009: 8 mile run

REST DAYS:

As you can see out of 30 days, 10 of those days were REST days.

Averaging it out, one in three days I took a rest from exercise! You may also notice that my rest days almost always follow a run. I have been much more mindful of this since my injury.

You can also see that I never ran two days in a row. Others might be able to handle running two days in a row, but I prefer to give my body a break.

One thing I have really learned lately is just how important rest days are. I never used to take them and I felt guilty about it. I find I have changed my entire outlook on it now.

How did you stop feeling guilty about taking off days?

When I was injured for 2 months, I couldn’t exercise for the entire time. I couldn’t even go on a walk without feeling pain. I couldn’t do yoga. Zippo. Those two months taught me a lot about my body and how I should listen to it more. I used to hate rest days, but now I see them as saying a big ‘thank-you’ to my body that works so hard for me all the time! Just like it is healthy to take breaks from work on the weekends (or whenever your scheduled off days are), it is healthy to give our bodies a break too. I always feel re-energized after a rest day. For example, I took a rest day yesterday and came back today stronger than ever! So now whenever I feel a small twinge of guilt for skipping a workout or taking a planned rest, I remind myself what it was like to be out of exercise and training for 2 months. It was not fun. Since I don’t want to be back there, I play it sensibly this time around.

Why the increase in rest days lately?

I generally try to stagger my off days after runs, and you may also notice that my off days increased in frequency in the past 2 weeks. This is because I started to increase my mileage and speed training. Since both of these things are harder on the body, I knew my body would need extra repair time.

What about mileage?

I barely did any running in the two weeks before my 10k race, yet I felt fine cardiovascular-wise during the race. I credit this to high intensity cross and interval training. As you know, I am a huge proponent of steep incline walking at a fast pace and I believe this conditioned me and prepared me for the race, even though I wasn’t hitting the road and doing 8 or 10 kms each week.

However, a 10 mile race is a whole other ball park and I knew I would have to increase my running mileage if I was to be ready for the race. So gradually, over the past month I have increased my mileage to a point that I now feel confident entering this race.

What did your weekly mileage look like over the past month as you trained?

Week 1: 6.3 miles (this was a decrease in mileage since I was recovering from the 10k)

Week 2: 13.6 miles

Week 3: 9.1 miles

Week 4: 13 miles

Week 5 (current week): 8 miles (taper week)

Now of course, my mileage isn’t perfect over the past month and I wouldn’t expect it to be. I don’t think mileage should be a linear thing either. I think it is natural to have fall-back weeks where our mileage is less than normal. This allows the body to recover. We have also just gotten out of a nasty month of weather where it rained basically every day so many of my runs were cut out in favour of the dry treadmill.

How are you preparing for your race now that it is 1 week away?

I did my last long run today-8 miles. I made sure to reduce my pace and I took it very easy. It was a very calming run and relaxing. I wasn’t out of breath or struggling because I wasn’t focusing on my speed…just distance. I needed to know physically and mentally that I was capable of doing the 10 miles this weekend. After 8 miles, I knew I could do another 2. I felt fine and since I didn’t want to push it too much, I was content with 8 being the longest distance I have yet to run ever in my life. On Sunday, there will hopefully be a new record.

For the rest of the week, I plan on tapering. I have 4 days left now, and I don’t plan on running again until Sunday. I may do a couple of easy miles on Friday, but I probably won’t. here is my game plan:

Tuesday: 8 mile easy run + stretching (done and done)

Wednesday: Off day + SGBC exercises 19, 20, maybe light walking, stretching

Thursday: Treadmill hill workout

Friday: Interval training + SGBC exercises 21, 22

Saturday: Off day

Sunday: 10-mile race

This is just a plan and of course may change

How has stretching improved your running?

Let me just start off by saying that last year when I was running, I didn’t stretch. Barely at ALL. Bad, bad, Angie, I know! Now I stretch almost immediately after getting back from my run and then I stretch at night too. And get this- my muscle soreness has virtually disappeared! Even after my longer runs this past week, I have not been sore the next day. This is a first for me actually and I credit most of it to stretching. I focus a lot on my inner thigh/groin muscles because that is my trouble spot for getting tight.

Is there anything else that has helped you out?

Yes! After my runs I now make sure to take my favourite vitamins along with my post recovery meal. I take Spirulina, Vitamin D, Calcium/Magnesium, and Omega 3 vitamins. I’d like to think that these vitamins have helped build my bones and help my muscles recover faster.

Secondly, I have said it before, but I’ll say it again: My knee sleeves have CURED my knee pain. I have worn them every single run since I got them (2 months ago or so??) and I no longer experience knee pain. A true life saver for me!

Thirdly, I have helped my blister issue by using Moleskin. It is a pain in the butt to put it on each run, but it is worth it. I also secure it with electrical tape and I have had no problems with blisters.

How do you get motivated to run on the days you don’t want to (like Sunday after the Wedding)?

I do a lot of pep-talks to myself and I use motivating phrases. Feed The Warrior works for me and puts a big smile on my face. Sometimes, I remind myself of how I will feel afterwards or those blissed out moments when I am running and everything seems right in the world. I also make sure I have lots of fuel in the tank!

I also have been wearing my 10k medal off and on to ramp up my motivation to race! Here I was this morning, mentally prepping myself for the 8 mile run (a distance I have not done since pre-injury):

So there you have it! I hope this has helped answer some of your questions.

Tonight’s question:

Have you ever had to revamp the way you approached exercise or training for an event? What did you do? Were you ever injured and as a result learned news ways of approaching your training?

Stay tuned for tomorrow AM for the post-run recovery food I am in love with! I will also be revealing a new Glo bar, and a fun relaxation exercise!