Cheesecake Diaries

Great run today. Still icy, but enough clear pavement to make it work. Technically, it was my third workout of the C25K program, but it has not yet been a week ... so I'm stuck with whether I should move on to the second stage or continue with "week one". From all that I read, there is more risk to moving too quickly than taking it too slow, so I think I'll do at least one more run at the stage 1 before moving on. For those who have no idea what I am talking about right now, here is the first three weeks of my running schedule from the Cool Running website that I posted before.

Although while I'm running I consciously focus on envisioning the air in my lungs and the beat of my heart rather than the jiggle of my thighs, I'd be lying if I said I didn't care about the physical as well as mental benefits of running. So I'll go ahead and take the hit for being the broken record that reminds you that "exercise is only 50% of a healthy lifestyle". A modest supply of common sense and a few foggymemories from my Nutrition 101 class as an undergrad secured this little pearl of wisdom firmly in my rational, conscious brain. I am very aware that no amount of exercise that I am currently capable of can account for one too many of those late-night trips to the freezer, spoon in hand (We all know it's not the frozen peas I'm after). I just wish someone would tell this to my wholly irrational and subconscious stomach. I'm not a horrible eater. I don't eat any red meat or pork, I RARELY touch fast food, I love vegetables and am a huge fan of whole grains. I also just so happen to love devouring a slice of brownie double fudge cheesecake every now and again (and again, and again).

All of the reading out there - or at least the small slice of it that I have skimmed- suggests food journaling as the best way to get a realistic picture of the caloric and nutrition content of what actually goes into your stomach. But the idea of carrying around a little notepad with a list of every french fry and cheese puff that comes anywhere near my mouth makes me nauseous. See, I tend to misplace things, and call me judgmental but I can't imagine finding something like that and NOT thinking that person had issues. My solution? Online journaling.

For the past year, I've been using FitDay.com on and off (okay, mostly off) to keep track of what I eat. Sometimes you have to find the approximate measurement for something or find the closest related food, but for the most part it sets up a pretty accurate picture of your nutrition intake and ...yes, calorie count (if you're into that sort of thing). I will say that I, for one, refuse to count calories. But that may have more to do with my childhood insecurities about performing simple math than the actual merit of calorie counting itself. Anyway, When I'm using FitDay, I love it! But even though I have fun doing it and it helps keep me on track, I always seem to stop using it after a week or two..

But to hell with it, I'm climbing back on that horse, at least until it bucks me off again. I don't plan on changing my diet drastically or restricting my calories (because that would require counting) but I do think it's important to know what exactly I'm eating. Maybe just knowing will result in subtle, subconscious changes, who knows? So back to food journaling it is, but if anyone out there has any tips for sticking with it this time, I'd love to hear them!