Today's Motivation

RUNNERSWORLD.COM'S DAILY KICK IN THE BUTT:

When you hit a rough patch, try to imagine yourself as an Olympic athlete who's headed towards the finish line. Envision your running form as smooth, graceful, and relaxed. Think of a runner who you really admire and imagine yourself running just like him.

Christine Luff, Mental Tips for Long Runs, About.com Guide

Wheat Belly

It's time for me to own this. Remember all those tweaks I was making to my diet at the end of the summer? Particularly the juice fasting and trying to go gluten-free?

Well, I've rebounded off of it. Hard. As in, I've gained about 10 pounds since August. And that really ticks me off because I had FINALLY gotten down to below 170, after four years of working at it.

Soon it will be the new year, and I will be trying again to lose "that last 10 pounds" like millions of other people. At least I'm in good company. In the meantime, I'll just try to get through the holidays without gaining too much more. Hopefully the long runs I have planned for the day after Christmas and New Year's Day will help somewhat.

Experimenting over, time to go back to what I know works. Count calories! So simple, yet so effective. I don't think that all calories are the same, that I can eat whatever junk I want just so long as I stay in a "caloric deficit" day to day. I think of that as the "Diet Coke" mentality (it's calorie-free, so it must be good for me!) and I just don't believe it. But, I also can't eat unlimited amounts of anything and expect to lose weight. And I certainly can't eat unlimited amounts of homemade pizza or Cookies and Cream. So, after the holidays, first thing I'm going to do is go back to logging my meals daily at My Fitness Pal. (jhmomofmany <-- Look me up!)

I'd rather live happy and die OLD.

It's been a few months, but one of the most inspiring movies we watched over the summer was Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead a Joe Cross Film. I'm not going to do a complete review- feel free to check it out yourself if you're interested- but one particular scene has really stuck with me.

Joe is visiting a diner in Oklahoma, talking with a table of patrons and asking if they would consider changing their diet if they knew it would extend their life expectancy. One of the middle-aged men says he would rather "die happy", and the others agree.

First of all, I believe many people would be healthier we could get rid of this idea that bad habits somehow enhance our life. "At least I'll die happy." So says every smoker, drinker, druggy... and obese binge-eater.

But will you really be happy? Visit the hospitals and nursing homes. Ask those suffering from cancer, diabetes, liver disease, emphysema, or heart failure if they are dying happy. Unfortunately, premature death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person who persists in bad habits or harmful addictions. Even worse is the pain and suffering that usually accompanies these diseases, sometimes lasting years. I find it hard to believe that anybody would actually choose to "go out" this way. Who would do that to themselves or their family?

Of course some people end up with chronic or terminal disease through no fault of their own; I'm not pointing fingers at them. But I'm convinced that nearly all of us have the ability to make choices that will better our own odds of living a longer, healthier life. Get real! We all know the difference between habits that are healthful and those that are not. And really, is that THAT much harder to order a salad rather than a huge entree and appetizers and beers and dessert? Is yet another night of flipping through three hundred channels of reruns really more fun than hitting the gym or going for a walk?

Me personally, I'd much rather give up the junk food and alcohol (already gave up smoking years ago) and live free from these addictions. I want to LIVE happy. And, God willing, in a hundred or so years I will die happy.