Relaxing..

I know that you are thinking that someone who has my schedule has no time for this. But even on the days that I work 15 hours, or days like yesterday where I work 13.5 hours and then go to the gym for 45 minutes of the elliptical, (YES I DID THAT, I am SO proud!!) I have 20 minutes before bed to relax. Really hard core greeners, avert your eyes.. because I take a 20 minute shower almost every night.
Yes, that's right. This is how I wind down. I have little to no time for naps, lounging, TV watching any day of the week. So I indulge with the shower. Let me tell you how it works: I light a candle and shut off the lights. I have a bath pillow, and when I get in the shower, I lay down. Yes, I lay down in the shower. I don't wash hair, face, nothing for at least 10 minutes. I lay there, brain shut off, hot water coming down, and I relax. I let my muscles de-compress. I put my feet up, put my head on the pillow, and I just breathe in the candlelight. I have been known to drift off for a couple of minutes in the shower. It is SO relaxing.
When I can tell that I won't have hot water for much longer, I wash up and get out. Due to my dry skin, I use baby oil AND lotion, and the combination smells amazing and makes me sleepy for some reason. I get into something really comfy, and go directly to bed. Usually, this makes me go right to sleep, and I will sleep well. Even though I'm sure some people will be mad at me for wasting water, I need this. I need this 20 minutes at the end of a crazy day where I can sit, relax, clear my head, wind down, even cry once in a while. I will never shower in the morning regularly again. I think I have trained myself to get sleepy with this ritual. I highly suggest doing this if anyone out there has a crazy stressful day. Light a candle, get the water hot, lay down, and just BE for a while. Warning... it's a super addictive habit. You will never be the same.

Goodnight everyone :)

Wedding Weekend!

I've been MIA all weekend because one of my good friends got married and as a member of the bridal party, I have been otherwise occupied. It was a great time!
Friday was a half day at work, and then off to get nails done. Jenny found a salon that had a full service bar... yes it was as awesome as it sounds. It was drinks one and two of about 100 for the weekend :) After a mani/pedi, a glass of champagne and a martini, it was off to take a small nap before dinner and the bachelorette. Dinner was at a steakhouse, so options for me were limited. I ended up with a poached pear salad and bruschetta. (Did I spell that right? I don't even know.) I (stupidly) got the small salad. After it came, I really wished I had gotten the large. It was crazy delicious! Peaches, mixed greens, goat cheese, pecans, some sort of amazing dressing.....yum.... not to mention the margarita and martini that came with dinner :) After dinner, and after the older/too young/pregnant people left, it was out to the clubs. At this point I don't remember exactly what I drank, but I can tell you that it was my first experience with PBR.. thanks Lindsay. We went to 3 different places, drank, danced, laughed a LOT, took some fabulous pictures that I hope to post tomorrow. Jenny didn't want any of that tacky bachelorette stuff, so no sashes or stupid "props" or anything like that. Thank God, because I also hate those things. No one on the outside looking in would have been able to tell it was a bachelorette. Her dad was nice enough to pick us up afterward, so it was a fun, SAFE evening.
Saturday I spent most of the day in bed recovering from Friday. I'm not used to drinking like that anymore, so good thing I had nowhere to be until the rehearsal at 5. After the rehearsal was dinner, where I really got to hang out with and talk to the other bridesmaids. They are all from out of town and I had never met them before this weekend. They were all really nice, fun girls, and we all got along really well the entire weekend.
Sunday was the wedding! We went to get our hair done at 10, and there was more champagne and some bagels and things to be had. Of course I had champagne... Jenny had the bottle with her at one point because the time was being cut close, and we weren't sure whether or not it would rain, and I think she was stressing. Actually, I KNOW she was stressing. Time was being cut really short, so the ladies at the salon were nice enough to let me and another bridesmaid get ready there, and the other girls went ahead. After finally being done and getting to the church, things seemed to go smoothly. Pictures were taken, we all got down the aisle, and the ceremony was beautiful. I was surprised when it was time to go back up the aisle and I realized that a joke from the night before had actually been approved by Jenny... therefore the bridal party exited the church to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." Hilarious. Because no wedding is complete without Lady G. (FYI, this was a groomsman's idea. They were the best group of guys to hang out with during the wedding, I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard for so long. They were always doing something crazy and ridiculous.)
After a few more pictures, it was off to the reception. We were introduced to Jay Z's "Bring Em Out" and danced our way into the room. The party was so much fun, and the DJ managed to play music that didn't offend the older crowd but still made the younger crowd want to dance. The groomsmen were in hot demand by the two flower girls, and they were all good sports and great with all the kids there, so everyone in every age group had a great time. After the DJ was done, the bridal party went out for drinks AGAIN, and I was finally home by about 1:30 in the morning this morning.
Today was mainly a lazy day, sleeping and recovering from the entire experience. (Although I did squeeze in a small workout at the gym this afternoon.) It was such a great weekend, I had a great time and met some great people. I wish people got married every weekend!!!

Its EARTH DAY!!

So I think I will write this post in green...

Do YOU live green? Do you know how to do it, and do you understand the huge effects of a few simple changes? Let's start with my favorite, and definitely the easiest thing to do. Reusable shopping bags. You can get these almost anywhere now. In America, we go through over a billion plastic bags every DAY. These bags clog the landfills, and never decompose. They are also made using petroleum, so cutting back would lower gas prices. Not one person reading this can claim that they wouldn't like to pay less for gas. Buy a few larger, sturdy shopping bags that will hold a ton more groceries, be easier to carry, and save the environment :) If you forget these bags, ask your store to use paper instead of plastic. One thing I do not like about Target is that there is not a paper bag option, but we did give out reusable bags on Sunday, and we give you 5 cents off your order for each reusable bag you use to bag your groceries. There are a couple of regions in the country that have outlawed plastic bags and Styrofoam take-out containers. Imagine the dramatic cut in waste if the entire country did this.
Use "green" cleaners and laundry soap. I personally like the Seventh Generation brand, they sell it at Target and Whole foods, and I promise it cleans everything just as well as chemical-filled cleaners. Everything we use to clean our kitchen, bathrooms, and our clothes will eventually end up back in our water supply. Maybe you don't think of this while you are scrubbing your sink, but that water goes back down through the sink, through the sewer system, and winds up back in our drinking water. Mmmmm, I bet it tastes good. And there is a side benefit to using these as well... they are safer for children and there are no awful fumes. Win :)
Buy a water bottle. Buy a travel coffee mug. Use these every day instead of buying bottled water and using a Styrofoam cup at the coffee place.
Stop buying single-serve portions. Packaging makes up one third of the garbage in landfills, so if you buy in bulk and portion them out into reusable containers, it will save on a ton of garbage.
Try to have one day a week be "meat-free" in your home. It is now a proven fact that the methane gas produced by farm animals is partly responsible for global warming. 9 billion animals are consumed in this country every year, and if everyone could make one day be meat free, this number would significantly reduce.
Buy organic. Organic produce is grown without the use of damaging pesticides and chemicals that filter into the soil and create poisonous conditions for wildlife. (Do you really want all that crap on your food anyway? And if the health risks aren't enough, did you know it is now proven that all these chemicals and pesticides make you FAT? I will explain this in a different post, but it's true, so think about that.)

This list is a list of things that I actually do, except for me, every day is meat free. Could I do better? Of course. I drive an SUV, and since I cannot afford a new car I will be keeping it around for a while. I love SUV's, but I will try to make sure my next one is more fuel efficient. I am known for leaving things plugged in, for leaving lights on, etc. I am working on this. The point is, if everyone made a few small changes in "greening" their lives, this planet will be around for longer, and will be a much better place for future generations.

Please let me know what you do to live green, I would love new ideas. Happy Earth Day everyone :)

Warning: Adult Language. Not Suitable For Children.

Last night I couldn't bear to look at Molly's face anymore, begging for a run, and my knee felt better so we went. It started out ok, but as it went on and on it hurt more and more, and I got super frustrated. Why does this always happen to me?? I always get really motivated to work out, and then I hurt myself somehow, and by the time I'm healed I no longer want to do anything. Its a vicious cycle. Right now, I am really motivated to run. It was starting to be something I looked forward to doing, but even if I had to drag myself out there, the feeling after I accomplished the 2.6 miles was a high. I don't know what to do, I don't know how to fix it other than icing it and taking ibuprofen. I mean, I am walking/running 2.5 miles. I did not go into this thinking I was in amazing shape and could take on a 10 mile sprint. I don't think I overdid it at all, and yet still, here it is, sharp pains and acting like a total baby.

Look right-knee. It's time to man the fuck up. I'm tired of all this complaining and your attitude. Get better, and do it quick. I don't have time for this shit, and I am on my last nerve with you. I know you don't like running. My whole body has never liked running, not ever in 26 years. But to he honest, I never expected this reaction out of you. Ankles? They are a different story, soccer really hurt their feelings and they never quite got over that. But you knee? Are you serious? Are ankles passing around a petition? Because I cannot have that. Don't think for a second that none of you are irreplaceable. They make plastic that will function and not hurt me, so keep it up knee, and you won't live in this body as long as I do. I promise to get you new shoes soon, but I don't have the money right now and I don't think its fair that you are rebelling because I can't afford fancy gifts. If you are a gold-digger, you came to the wrong person. I need to get in shape now. Hold out for another month, and I will get shoes that both you and ankles will enjoy. So all three of you... grin, bear it, and get it done.

Molly and I also got into a fight last night. We take a route that goes over a bridge, and there is a 4 foot wide sidewalk with the road on one side, and a chainlink fence on the other to prevent people from falling about 30-40 feet to the ground below. Needless to say, there is not a lot of room to go if something happens. Every time we cross this bridge, I pray that there is not another person also crossing the bridge at the same time. Or that, if there is, that they don't have a dog. Because Molly hates dogs, and takes it upon herself to try to kill each one she sees, and 4 feet is not a lot of room for controlling her without being taken out by a tractor trailer. Do you see where this is going? Yes. Last night was the night that another dog owner and his dog dared to cross the bridge at the same time as us. I saw them before Molly did, so I pressed her up against the fence and grabbed ahold of her harness, and yelled a warning to the man with the now super scared dog that Molly is not friendly towards other dogs. Then she saw the dog... and in the words of Ceasar Milan, she entered the Red Zone. Its a good thing I saw them first and was able to get a good grip on her because like I said, there is not a lot of room for error here. I was holding with both hands and pressing her up against the fence, she was doing the best she could to get free, and the man and his coward dog walked by as fast as possible. I felt bad, because he had to go into the road for a second, but there were no cars at that moment so he was safe. Safer than getting his dog closer to Molly anyway. After they were gone and still safe and sound, Molly got chewed out. Bad. She was in trouble for the rest of the night.

All in all, I did not feel good about myself when I got back last night. I was mad that my knee hurt, (pretty brutally at that point may I add..) and I was mad at Molly, and I didn't feel that I had gotten a good enough workout in. Tomorrow, I am going to go to the gym and try the elliptical and talk to a trainer about what workouts to do that won't kill my knee altogether. I quit, yes, but you have to give 30 days notice and therefore I have 30 days to be able to go. I also bought Jillian Michael's DVD, No More Trouble Zones. I can't do this yet because there are a lot of squats and lunges involved, but when I can, I'm scared and excited at the same time. Scared because she is scary and slightly annoying, and excited because I heard her DVD's really work. Let's go knee. Get it together. See what you are holding me back from?!?

Not A Good Blogger...

Sorry guys. I suck lately. I haven't had much happen this past week that's interesting, and I've been super tired as you know. The good news is that I think I finally caught up on much needed sleep last night. I went shopping with a friend and came home and took a 2 hour nap. Went to bed for the night around midnight, and slept almost straight through till 11. It sucks because I wanted to get up early and go running, (powering through the knee pain!!) and get my grocery shopping done because I am seriously out of food. But I think my body needed to rest, so it is what it is. My knee still hurts but thanks to icing and ibuprofen, its getting better. So I am definitely going tomorrow. I feel bad, I can tell Molly misses it just in the way she is acting, so her knees are apparently fine lol. If I didn't have to work in 45 minutes, this wouldn't be an issue, but I do... stupid Target. And since I need to work till 8, groceries and running will wait till tomorrow afternoon. Ah well, I only work at Target three days next week, and I have the whole weekend off for my friend's wedding... very excited! Let's hope I look ok in my bridesmaid's dress!
Well, I better get ready for work now. Blah.. hope everyone else has a better Sunday afternoon!

Sorry, I Just Woke Up

Today was kind of a waste of a night off. I have been so tired from the lack of sleep at the beginning of the week that I came home and passed right out for a couple of hours. I wanted to go running SO badly, but I hurt my knee and its finally starting to feel better, but its not 100%. After thinking about it, and reading about a similar injury on IITGI, I decided to not run till its completely better. Hopefully this will be Saturday. The good news it that this seems to be a common injury among new runners, so it doesn't mean I have bad knees! I do need to get new running shoes ASAP so let me know how you all want to donate to this... :)
I ate the last of my spinach this morning in my smoothie so tomorrow I will have to get creative with my meals... it means I will probably have to wake up earlier and make oatmeal or something with fruit, and Quiznos for lunch. I just tried Pacific Natural's Carrot/Ginger/Cashew soup, and eh.. it was good, but there was something about it I didn't love. I think I will stick with their tomato soup from now on lol. And I also had my last vegan cookie dough ball. Apparently I need to go grocery shopping sooner than I had expected!
This is all I really have for today. I've been in a sleep-deprived haze for the past few days and I don't have any super exciting news to share. I can tell you that my friend's wedding is next weekend, so hopefully I will have some pics to share from that. The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend and I plan to run and spend some time outside. I hope you all have a great weekend! I will try to get on and at least say something at some point... hopefully I will be cheering right after a good workout!

I Heart Sleep

Sorry I've been so bad about the posting. Lemme explain... extreme lack of sleep. I'm not talking the normal lack that I get from working so much, no. I'm talking about getting an hour and a half Sunday night, and about 2 hours Monday night. Bru-Tal. Sunday night I just couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned all night. Also, I have circulation issues in my legs, (have I mentioned this before? I think I may have..) and when my feet go either extreme hot or cold, they tend to stay that way for a while. And my feet were HOT. No matter what I did, they were so hot and it was so uncomfortable. So that was Sunday... Monday, J brought the kids over for the night before they went back to their mother's. When the kids come, poor Molly has to be shut in the second bedroom. She is big, and they are little, and she terrifies them. So needless to say, Molly hates this. Monday night, all I listened too was her whining, and scratching, and throwing herself at the door. At this point I was so unbelievably exhausted that I had a small meltdown. Yesterday at work I was a zombie and got nothing accomplished. I got a normal night's sleep last night, but I totally could have slept all day I think. I'm exhausted even now. I have tomorrow off from Target and I'm looking forward to a LONGG nap after work.

One of the worst things about lack of sleep is the effect on how I look. I'm serious, because right now my skin looks all matte and un-glowy, (its a word, a new one,) and dry and just not attractive. The circles under my eyes are pretty dark, and basically I look like a drug addict. Not a good look, especially at work. The other worst thing about no sleep is that... I didn't get to sleep. I LOVE sleeping. Its one of the reasons that I can get lazy quick and start not working out. My bed is so comfy, and I could sleep all day sometimes if people would let me. (Speaking of working out, I would like to throw in that I actually did go for my run with Molly on Monday, lack of sleep and sore knee and all. I'm badass.)

I'm going to stop talking about this now because I'm already tired, and its making it worse. I'm hoping that between tomorrow and the weekend, I can catch up on my sleep and be good as new on Monday. For now, the coffee machine and I have become dear friends.

Protein??

My internet is totally trippin today.. you all know that I, ahem, borrow my internet at the moment and I would like to know why it goes faster when it tells me my signal is low than when it says it's good? This is so backwards to me. Anyway, let's see if I can get through a whole post shall we?
First things first.. the car is back and running well. I would recommend to everyone that if you have a personal friend who is a mechanic to consult with them before letting anyone work on your car, no matter how much you trust your place. I trust my place, they have saved me a ton of money in the past, but still wanted to start with something so crazy expensive and my ex gave a better suggestion.. one that ended up being right. Good thing we are now on good terms because he saved my ass on that one.
Secondly, I am a little bummed out today. I went for a run yesterday before my 8 hour shift at Target, and while I'm happy I did that, my knees are killing me today. They weren't hurting until a few hours into my shift so I don't think the running really caused it, but my left one hurts enough today that I am icing it at the moment and wondering if I am going to be able to do anything today. It will suck if not, because I have the day off for a friend's bridal shower, and I really wanted to run afterward. I guess I will see how the day goes.
Speaking of working out, I have been thinking about my diet and worrying about something I have never stressed over before.... protein. Most people think we need wayy more protein than we actually need, and since there is protein in almost every single food, I have never stressed too hard over it before. However, after reading this post from Averie about how she is now eating more protein for her workouts, I started thinking about my intake. I am working out now and trying to build a little muscle, so naturally I will need more. As we "speak" I am eating oatmeal, which I haven't eaten in months. I made it with almond milk, a banana, some peanut butter, and a big spoonful of wheat germ. Its pretty good! I started finding and following some more food blogs over the weekend and a lot of them have some pretty intense oatmeal recipes, so I will be able to jazz this up a little...(canned pumpkin anyone??? YUM I bet pumpkin oatmeal rocks.) Yesterday I had some Greek yogurt and a Clif bar. So I am definitely getting in more protein than usual. I am trying to get it more from plant sources than animal sources, because even though I never officially gave up eggs or seafood, I haven't eaten them in a LONG time. So I'm not sure how my body will react. I have had dairy in the form a cheese and small amounts of skim milk, but I still worry that I would get sick. Its been a couple of months at least. Not to mention that I believe that plant based proteins are cleaner forms anyway, and better assimilated by the body. But I won't go into all that :)
ANYway, I hope everyone had a good weekend. I am going to spend some time reading blogs and icing my knee, then its off to the shower and Whole Foods after!

Trying To Be Glass-Half-Full... Or Whatever

Ok, so I am supposed to be able to get my car tomorrow. We will see if it's actually fixed, since the other day I left twice, came back both times, left for a third time and needed it towed back. Let's see if 4th time is a charm.
This little episode is setting me back a couple hundred dollars that I don't have. It caused me to stall on at very busy intersections no less than a million times. It caused me to call into Target 3 nights in a row, for a total of $112 that I could have made. (So actually, it cost me over $300. I'm going to choose not to think of it that way.)
It caused more than a couple hours worth of crying, a fight with J, and moment where I considered if stripping for money may just be the most sensible option. However, I already bitched enough in the last post. The only way I get through these extremely stressful times in my life is to see if there is possibly a positive side to the situation. This is what I came up with:

1. I got to work from home today. This means I slept until 6:55, rolled over and turned the laptop on, and did my work while watching TV and laying in bed. I think working from home should be allowed once a week. It was fabulous.
2. Even though I lost money because of calling into Target, this means that last night and tonight I got to run with Molly, and since I am calling into my full time job tomorrow, we will run in the morning, (As long as it's not raining.) This is a total of 3 workouts that I wouldn't have had.
3. My ex-boyfriend is a mechanic, so he was able to tell me what he thought it was. The people at the shop wanted to replace the catalytic converter. EXPENSIVE. The ex told me to start with the fuel filter. MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE. Turns out this has so far done the trick. (FYI, fuel filter? Didn't knew my car had one. Did not know it should have been changed at least twice by now. The car has 130k miles and is 9 years old, and the filter lasted this long, now THAT'S Ford tough.)

Ok, this is all I got. I'm still more than a little bitter, and I actually wrote a post where I let it all out, but I deleted it because I didn't think I should subject you all to it, and there was one person in particular who would have probably been hurt by it. Not that they read this blog, but when I become a famous blogger, I don't want that out there for the paparazzi to publish when they try to ruin me. But the act of writing it, editing it, and deleting it made me feel a ton better even though no one will ever read it. Thanks everyone for your support and nice comments while I deal with yet one more financial punch to the face, it makes everything a little easier to know that you are all crossing your fingers for me :)

A Very, Very Bad Day

Today was.. well, not good. I have been having some car issues lately and I have been praying that it holds on until I can scrape up the money for it. Well, the issues that the car was having are fine. But a whole new set came about today, and caused a hot mess on my way to Target.

Let me explain. This weekend I brought the car to the auto shop that sold me my battery, because the mechanic told me it was leaking. So I had him test it. It tested fine, and I went on my way. J had the car the next day, and it wouldn't start. Come to find out, the battery was not attached correctly. So on my way to work tonight, my plan was to stop at the auto shop and have them fix it. Until the car totally died, right in the middle of a busy intersection, 5 pm. Not. Ok. I burst out crying, and some guy came over and got it going and followed me the rest of the way. LONG story short, they thought they fixed it, I drove it home and stalled out twice, and had it towed back. They don't know what's wrong with it, but I have no money to fix anything really... and I was declined when I applied for the mechanic's credit card. I have no idea what to do. I need this car. I had to call in to Target for today and tomorrow, and that's loss of income that I really need right now. If I can't get to Target, neither can J. It means that I can get to my full time job, because I have a friend who will get me, but that's it. I'm so stressed. The only positive thing that happened tonight was the fact that I was smart enough to sign up for roadside assistance through Allstate... GO ALLSTATE. Much better than AAA.

At the end of the day, I need my car. And even after I fix this issue, there is still the other, very expensive issue that was found last week during the oil change. And the inspection is coming up. And.. I'm starting to feel like I'm drowning, so I'm going to stop now. I hate this feeling. I hate that I bust my ass for 70 hours a week, putting off having a normal life, just so that we can survive. And just when I think things are going to look up, something happens to throw me back to the ground. Sorry everyone. I'm really bitter right now, and I'm going to stop before I start crying for the millionth time tonight.

Randomness

First of all, I was so excited to get on blogger today and see that I have 3 new followers! Welcome to TLD, I hope you like it :) With that being said, I don't have a lot going on. I have a headache at the moment, probably due to a slightly stressful day and the literal clouds of pollen floating around outside. I had today off from work and planned to lay out, but my wish to NOT turn yellow trumped that plan. So I ran a couple of errands and now I'm home in bed, relaxing. I have a couple weekend highlights to share, so I will do that and hopefully have something more interesting tomorrow.

• Number one, I am brought to you today, via my comfy bed, by my wonderful neighbor with unsecured wireless. She is making my life a ton easier, and since I have no plans to get on child porn sites or anything like that, she is safe with me stealing her signal.
• Now I feel the need to clarify that I'm not a total scumbag. I actually do pay for my own internet, but at the moment its not wireless. And my regular computer is so full of viruses that as soon as its turned on, so many popups come up that its impossible to even see the desktop and the internet icon. So I need a wireless router. And until that day, (soon, I promise, ) lets all thank the neighbor. And if I knew specifically who it was, they would get all sorts of flowers from me and never know why.
• I have done lots of exercise this weekend. I told you on Thursday about the run with Molly and I am happy to say she has been subjected to it twice more since then... Saturday and Sunday. Friday I had to work all day and night, but when I got to Target, they were down one cart attendant. So I volunteered. And all night everyone was all, why are you doing that? Why are they making you push carts? And I was like, HELLO, I volunteered!! It was 80 out, sun was shining, and I needed exercise. So for 5 hours, I pushed carts with my cart attendant buddy. It was a fabulous time, and on Saturday I woke up so sore that I could barely move. But I still went for a run. And I endured the 7 hours of teasing later on at Target because I couldn't walk normally. I was that sore.
• Today, I am sad to say that I did not work out, even though I have the day off. I wanted to go tonight, and I have a major headache now so it isn't going to happen. Its one thing that will definitely make me cancel plans, a headache. Because mine are pretty major. So I am chillin, and I'm pretty sure Molly is relieved.
• I did go to Whole Foods today, and came across a fabulous find.... vegan cookie dough. They make vegan cookies, and so I thought I would ask if I could buy just raw dough. And yes, you can. Here is where it started.... I have a new obsession with cookie dough ice cream. But I don't like vanilla ice cream, or ice cream really at all for that matter. So I eat it for the cookie dough. This became a problem the other night when I bought Edy's and there was exactly 6 pieces of cookie dough in the entire thing. (And no, I did not eat the entire thing. But I did pick it totally apart to find the cookie dough, became pissed when I found 6 pieces, and now the rest is sitting in the freezer.) So I decided to just buy cookie dough.. might as well cut out the middle man and a bunch of calories from something I don't even like, right? Until my mother came down all upset because of the raw eggs. So voila.. vegan cookie dough it is. And its fabulous, and I highly recommend it.
• Now, I am making dinner. Tonight, its a boca burger with Amy's Organic Mac n Cheese. I don't even remember the last time I had a dinner like that, and its funny how something like this went from being a healthy option, to an every-day option, and now a rare treat-option. It makes me feel proud of how far I have come. And after it gets dark, if my headache has gone away, maybe Molly and I will take a relaxing walk around my complex. For now, its dinner and Mr and Mrs Smith. Angie is a bad ass, and my girl crush, and Brad.. well, we all know how hot he is. So have a fab night everyone, I will be enjoying my last few hours of freedom to the fullest!!

Poor Molly...

I took her out for a run last night. (Insert extreme excitement about getting some exercise HERE.) As I was writing my post for IITGI, I realized that even though I am busy, there are still times where I can work out but I don't. So after the usual night-off nap, I threw on running shoes, grabbed the leash and my ipod and trotted Molly out the door. At first she was super excited, pulling me along, and running with all the speed her little legs could handle. (Perhaps I should mention that this was not a straight out run, it was a walk/run.) She seemed a little mad at me when I slowed down to walk, and I had to be all, chill Molly. You know I'm out of shape. We will run again in a few minutes. And we did... and after about the third interval, she started not to pull me. And after about 15 minutes, she started making up excuses to take a break, like trying to show me she had to pee but nothing was coming out. But she would squat down, and try with all her might to make me just stop for a second. We ended up doing our run/walk for about a half hour, 45 minutes or so, and by the end she was walking behind me. After we got home, she drank an entire bowl of water and collapsed under the fan when I turned it on high. She pay there, panting, for an entire half hour. In her defense, it was about 80 degrees out, but since I wanted to do this when it was still light out, she didn't have a choice. And the vet said she needs to lose 5 pounds. So she is in this with me, whether she likes it or not. Tomorrow I will take pity on her and we will go earlier in the morning, before it gets too hot. And she will like it, I know she will :)

For me, this made me feel great. I am not a runner at all. In high school, I could run for an entire soccer game, but when the coach made us run a mile for practice, I was at the end of the pack dying for air. Its just not my thing. My little brother used to be a serious runner, running like a hundred miles in a week or something crazy like that. I was happy to read that interval training makes you drop weight faster than just running or walking alone, because this means I can disguise my lack of endurance with the excuse that its more effective. I hope it is. I am going to keep my gym membership for now because I want to use the stepper, elliptical, and I love yoga and spinning. (All things on the "when I can quit Target" list.) But its getting nice out, and I like being able to get Molly's energy out, and its not as much of an ordeal as going to the gym. My face last night was BRIGHT red, and I was worn out, and I am sore today, but its good. I really want this 15 pounds gone. I want my abs and my arms back. I want to look good when I go to Jay's friends wedding in June. My goal now is that on the weekends and my nights off from Target, I will get something in for exercise. For the immediate future, this means tomorrow, Sunday and Monday. Molly, get ready.

YAY!!!!

Guess who posted on In It To Gym It?? And its up there now, check it out!!

My Growing Hatred For Processed Foods

Most of you know by now that I strive to eat mostly organic foods. Of course I don't like the idea of all those chemicals in my produce, and I don't like to think of all those steroids and antibiotics and all that in the meat that Jay eats. But probably the biggest reason has to do with processed foods. I'm not saying that I don't eat them, because I think most people do at one point or another during the day. However, its important to make these organic as well, and an article that I read yesterday proves my point..

I think most of you hear that High Fructose Corn Syrup is bad for you. No matter what those stupid commercials tell you, (you know the ones, "its nutritionally the same as sugar and fine in moderation," blah blah, and yes, those commercials come from the corn industry, big surprise..) its horrible and its in EVERYTHING. I heard today that Duke has confirmed a study that getting too much of this garbage can actually cause a type of hepatitis because when eaten, it goes right to your liver and since its an unnatural substance, your liver cannot metabolize it. So it almost instantly turns to fat, causing cirrhosis, scarring, fatty liver, hepatitis, and even cancer. And.. there are not always side effects. So this could be happening, and you would never know about it. I decided a long time ago to try to eliminate this from my diet as much as possible and that's when I realized just how widespread it it. For example, the Campbell's tomato soup that I used to eat all the time. Along with a laundry list of other ingredients, HFCS is right up there. I switched to a brand called Pacific Natural Foods, and got their creamy tomato. Ingredients, (all organic,) are: Reduced fat milk, filtered water, tomato paste, evaporated cane juice, sea salt, sodium citrate, rice flour, cheese flavor, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper. And I know, could it be better? Probably. But there are no chemicals or HFCS in sight, and it tastes amazing.

As bad as HFCS is, this is still not the reason for writing this, since unless you work for the corn industry, you should already know this is bad for you. No, the reason is.... FOLIC ACID. Apparently eating too much of this greatly increases cancer risk as well. And this is something that most people think is a good thing, myself included. In the late 90's, food companies started fortifying a lot of foods with folic acid because it reduces birth defects in newborns. I guess they thought they would put it in everything, because you can't get too much of a good thing. What they neglected to do was study the long term risk of this, because now they are seeing that along with the jump in folic acid consumption came a 21% increased risk of cancer. And similiar to HFCS, its in everything.

So what can you do, since these things and God knows what else is running rampant in the American diet? The government makes these decisions without fully informing the public or testing the potential dangers, and we unknowingly eat foods containing these things every single day. My choice is to take the time to read labels and eat organic as often as possible. Who knows that they will come up with in a few years and say oops, we decided it would be good to put this in all processed foods and didn't realize that it made your eyes bleed after 3 years of consumption. This is also why I didn't get a swine flu shot. It wasn't tested enough IMO, and I was not going to put something in my body that no one was sure what would potentially happen after. (Major, MAJOR family rift after my parents heard that I wasn't getting one. HUGE.)

Sorry for such a long post, but it makes me so angry. I feel like for the vast majority of Americans, the FDA is treating them like guinea pigs. They come up with medicines to treat an illness, and a while later reveal that it causes something else equally as bad. They want to pepper our foods with new chemicals, minerals, even vitamins such as folic acid, and then decide afterwards that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Eating is something we ALL do. There is no way around it, and I am a firm believer that food is the basis for health and well being. Please, try to be as informed as possible about what you are eating. Everyone makes mistakes, and I am still learning every day, but I do the best I can because not only do I want a long life, I want good quality of life. And that's becoming rarer and rarer every day.