FOOD!!! and more food.

So, I walk into the office Monday morning. And what do I see?

This!         ...and THESE!!

Ah... RUN for your gut lives!
Ofcourse, I couldn't help myself. And took one.. or two munchkins.  Let me tell you, it took alot of work to walk away from those evil boxes. It is more painful when you're starving ...and there is only vending machine food... AND you forgot to pack lunch. Well! thank jebus I hardly ever forget to pack my lunch or atleast some healthier alternatives. One thing I learned was to always ask yourself, "do I really want this?", "is it going to sabotage my entire day", "Have I worked out/Will i?", "Is it worth it?". Well on Monday morning, it was sure worth it. Everyday, I let myself cheat a little. Whether it's a handful of chips, chocolate milk (mmmm), chocolate or some gummy worms.. I don't beat myself up over it and go back to my usual routine afterwards.

And that is why you should always pack something for emergencies like those up there.

TADA!

Peanut butter on a whole wheat bagel thin :)

Now doesn't that sound alot better?

Ah.. relief. :)

In reality, I use to find food to be my enemy before I started seeing it differently. I didn't know about portion control and logging calories. I couldn't eat my PB&J without going over my calorie intake (after smothering about 3 tablespoons on 2 pieces of white bread plus the Jelly!). Yeah, that's where I was messing up. Nowwwww I know where all the weight came from! :O
haha..

Ofcourse I can never NOT eat my peanut butter. Literally, I eat peanut butter every day. Without it, I would go crazy. Good source of protein right? Anyway, I downsized from smothering all that tasty stuff on my bread and now measuring with TEASPOONS. and use wheat bread. Mmmm. Healthy! and Delish.

I now call my lunch bag my Emergency Food Kit. Because it has everything I might need in case of an emergency. If only it had red stripes instead of purple.

Good ol' Emergency Food Kit. (BTW that's my breakfast w/ snacks most mornings, I haven't got bored of it... yet)
-Peanut Butter (2tsp)
-Banana
-Pineapple & grapes
-Whole wheat bagel thin (or waffle or toast)
-Cheese spread (for half a bagel)
-H2O! 

It comes in handy when I'm craving something from the vending machine or the convenience store (or donuts). Anything that I pack from home is usually better than what they sell here. I walk around aimlessly trying to find something worth my money (and worth the calories!). That is, when I run out of goodies in my bag. it wasn't all like that before. It took a while for me to get use to not buying snacks at the stands and eat sugar-loaded stuff for breakfast. Find time during the day to plan out meals, atleast an idea of what you might eat or buy at the grocery store. As time passes, and you stick with the plan, everything becomes a habit. But that story is for another day..

Yesterday was hectic. I needed an "Easy" Button ASAP. I did not feel one bit like myself. School and work were really stressing me out, after a long day I honestly didn't want to drive back to school and run with my running group. I needed a nap. and FOOD.
But I still went, and I felt great afterwards! :)

Which brings up a good point about working out.
Unless you are in real pain, working out will make you feel WAY better than how you were feeling before. AND you will never regret it.
It's like tylenol, except you have fun and burn an extra load of calories).
Running with a group is different than running solo. For one, you socialize with others about the one thing that brought you guys together, RUNNING! :)
We talked about running gear, hydration, and upcoming races. In all, they're your running family. (and we're all UIC students, which gives us another thing in common)
After the run, I felt re-connected to my normal chipper myself. They (running + friends) are like your free inexpensive therapist. I couldn't help feeling so grateful again. And yesterdays run reminded me of how lucky I am. To RUN. To have frienships. Yeah... Deep stuff. haha. But on a serious note, it gave me that little push this morning to go out for another run, I thought "Something is better than nothing." Since I had snoozed my alarm this morning, my 7 miler was now cut to a 5miler (plus being late to work + pay for cab +risk getting called at for being late). I didn't mind. So I went out there this morning, for a beautiful run, faster and better than any of my recent ones. Like I said, deep stuff. haha :P

 (2 of our runners)

Ofcourse I had to reward myself (for being such a good sport) with a healthy takeout dinner, after the run last night

VOILA! Turkey Breast Sammich on Wheat Bread! 

I was too lazy to make anything for myself and my boyfriend. So he treated me to Subway (my number 1 place for quick safe dinner/lunch/breakfast!) No, I did not eat the whole thing. Good thing my McSpeedy (aka- the boyfriend) has a big appetite ;)

See below, I am not kidding

Aww isn't he the cutest? ;P

PS! 11 days till ROCK N' ROLL!
Ahhhhh...I'm trying to avoid looking at my calendar as much as possible. Summer is flying by and the thought of it ending makes me sad. But it also makes me panic about my upcoming races. I'm crossing my fingers for a strong (below 1:57) finish. ;)