No Secrets here!

One of my three readers asks how I can eat so sensibly and if I have any tips to share. Mmmm...that’s actually a really difficult question to answer. This has been a really long journey for me, though I must say I do feel like I am at the end of the road. I’m mostly satisfied with my eating lifestyle and habits, but it did take me years (like twenty-five!) to get to where I am. Here’s generally what I had to do:
- I overcame my bingeing. I did that a lot as a teenager and probably a good part of my twenties. I used food as a way of getting out my aggressions-emotions-frustrations. Not bingeing has nothing to do with willpower. You have to learn why you abuse food and what is really hurting you. That took me a long time and a few trips to the psychologists couch to figure out. I still go overboard on sweets every once in a while but I do recognize that it’s because they are really tasty and just put a stop to it.
- I love exercise. I love endurance exercise. I always have, btw. Fun to me is training for a 100km biking race, and then doing the race. I love running, I love swimming, I love biking, I am very grateful that I have found my exercise groove because exercise does have to be part of your life if you have a tendency to make the scales tip the wrong way.
- I found a style of eating that works for me. I don’t eat milk products, pork, most sugars, and coffee. They’re all things that irritate me and I’m unable to digest. The most difficult to get rid of was the cheese, but after a few months I didn’t even miss it anymore. This is not to say that everybody should do this...it’s what worked for me. But I think it helps to know what your body works on best.
- I eat a TON of fruit and vegetables. I spend most of my grocery budget on fruit. Right now I’m into making fruit salads with lots of strawberries. Peaches should be coming in next month!
- I don’t feel guilty about eating dessert and probably do once a week. Manageing your weight is not about denial. You just have to find a balance for yourself, and for me desserts are in the picture.

Lies, lies, lies!

I read an interview in a women's magazine with Catherine Zeta Jones asking her about her family life and what she does to keep so gorgeous and beautiful. All you new mothers out there must remember CZJ during both her pregnancies. She was still beautiful but WAY larger. At the Academy Awards those boobs were spilling over her low cut bra. She was gorgeous. Anyway, the mag editor asked her what she now does to keep in shape. She replyed "Oh, just running after my children is enough exercise for me!"
How dare she lie like that! Can't there be some sort of solidarity among women? There is no way that she didn't have some sort of personal trainer (or two...) whip her into shape after that last pregnancy. Plus dieting, plus a personal chef...geez...

Quick Trip

We went to Paris for the weekend. It was a quick trip, a business trip actually. We went to see the marathon since hubby had a female athlete running there. I already knew ahead of time that I wouldn't be exercising since we had every minute planned, but I did get in a long five hour walk on saturday walking from the Operà to the Eiffel tower. The baby slept the entire time! I assure you, this is a rare occurance since he always wants to get out of the stroller and push it himself.
Eating went well considering that we had all our meals at the hotel and it was buffet style. I piled on the salad at the start of each meal and then had some fish one night and chicken the next. On the walk I did make the exception of trying a cone of Ben & Jerry's ice cream (chunky monkey) since I had never eaten it. No big thrill, I remain a diehard Hagan Daz fan. I decided not to count points over the weekend though I'm positive I didn't go over. I also started my cycle on saturday which doesn't help things scale-wise.
This morning I went running under the rain. 14km and it felt great. I mean, I feel lighter...we'll see...

Never judge a book by it's cover

I have this male client that I train. For those who know nothing about me, I’m a personal trainer for aspiring runners. He joined a beginners marathon program that I had few years ago, ran the marathon, and then signed up for private sessions. I remember the first time I met him in person he had this breath that almost made me faint, it was so bad. Somehow it cleared up by our next meeting, but I had always sort of judged him as…I don’t know…a poor person. Whenever I would talk to him he would say that he does nothing but work so running was his outlet. He never went on any sort of significant vacation. All of his marathons were locally run, like not more than 50 kms away from his house.
This weekend me, hubby and the kids went to the Clients town to do some testing on some of the athletes I train in that area. The Client absolutely insisted that we come to dinner. He even wanted us to spend the night at his house but I wiggled out of that one.
Anyway, we arrived at the house…it was this HUGE villa smack in the center of this historic town. The house was out of a magazine. At one point he showed us the children’s (3 boys) “playroom”. The dang thing was as big as my ENTIRE house. The maid (yes, the maid) served us this gorgeous dinner of salad, shrimp pasta, baked fish and pineapple for dessert. I was truly embarrassed by how much I was off mark about this guy. Just goes to show you that you can’t judge people by their appearance. I had always thought that I didn’t…but I guess I do.
So the dinner turned out to be good (I was really worried about that) and I stayed well within my points for the weekend. Tonight I went on a really nice hour and a half run that left me feeling full of energy. Maybe too full since I’m writing this at almost two in the morning…Good Night!