Today I was supposed to be running a 5K race. The Agony of DeFeet starts at 5pm on a Thursday in an elementary school yard in the outskirts of Medford, OR. There are maybe 200 people who compete, each of whom pay $5 or less to enter (early registrants are charged a full $3). The course passes by several horses, the roads are completely open to traffic, and there are no finisher’s medals or race T-shirts.
It is absolutely my favorite race of the year.
Over 40 years ago, my father, Jim Hoyer, founded The Agony of DeFeet to raise funds for PE equipment and playground maintenance at Griffin Creek Elementary, where he was a teacher at the time. I mean, come on, only a dad could have used that bad of a pun for a race name. But he loved running, and even more, was passionate about getting kids to be active and play sports. This event was one way he chose to share that passion, and make a small difference to his school and his community.
My dad passed away in 2001. That year, the school created a 2K companion event for elementary school kids, and awarded the Jim Hoyer Memorial Trophy to the top placing boy and girl. May 28, 2020 would have been the 20th running of that event. My plane ticket was booked and I was looking forward to returning to Medford to run this race and reconnect with the town. Unfortunately, because of COVID, the event has been cancelled.
A previous top elementary girl finisher,and winner of the Jim Hoyer Memorial Trophy.
I was disappointed. But then while I was out on a long run, I had an idea. To continue my dad’s lifelong passion of supporting kids’ physical fitness, and to thank the school for continuing his legacy for all these years, I’ve decided to create a fundraiser event…to which I may be the only donor. But you all play a part! Here’s how you can raise money for kids, just by being active…
For every person who runs 5K between May 28th and Father’s Day (6/21/20), I will donate $5 to the school so that they can continue to purchase playground and PE equipment, and maintain their track and activity fields. AND, if you get an elementary schooler (6th grade or under) in your life to run/walk a 2K, I will donate another $5.
I will donate up to $1000 to this cause (that’s 200 runners). Please make me give the school my money! You do something good for your health and the kids are supported in their play, fitness, and teamwork skills. WIN WIN!
To ensure your 5K/2K efforts are rewarded with a donation to the school, please post or DM a screenshot of any fitness tracker showing your distance (time entirely optional…it is about doing it, not how long it takes you) to this blog, or to the SWIM BIKE BRUNCH facebook page. I’ll be making a donation each week based on the number of participants. Because I want to encourage many people to participate, there is only one donation per person. But please run as many 5Ks as you want to during this time!
And of course, if you’d like to add your own donation, that would be much appreciated! I’ve started a GoFundMe for this campaign. Please contribute any amount you feel comfortable with.
Thank you in advance for your participation and support. Happy running!
This past week I found out that it’s very likely that I will be working from home until Fall, and quite possibly the rest of the year. Some coworkers might go back next month. But because of the need to keep social distancing, the office of about 750 people has to prioritize who comes back first. I’m overall quite productive working from home, so it makes sense that I’ll be in a much later wave of those returning.
Overall, I’m fine with this news, and I know I have much to be thankful for. I still have a job and the company is doing very well, which is all too rare right now. On top of that, I no longer have a commute, it is much easier to get in a lunchtime workout, my dog gets a lot of attention, and I can basically live in comfortable athleisure wear (or pajama pants…that’s definitely happened on more than one day).
But for all the benefits, the downsides also became crushingly obvious. It will be a long time until things are back to “normal,” and not just at work. I really miss being out among people. Given the theme of this blog, it will come as no surprise that I love restaurants and bars. Meeting up with friends and family to have a quick drink or a lingering meal filled with laughter and catching up was such a core part of my life. And I traveled a lot. The fact that I can’t plan my next vacation, or even a three day weekend away right now is something I mourn. I also love browsing shops, taking live classes in things like cooking and sewing, and I really love my gym. My love for Orangetheory has been well documented in this blog. While the community at the gym is staying connected through facebook updates, group challenges, and online guided workouts, we all know it isn’t the same. All this makes me sad.
Since I’m unable to change the situation, I’m starting to come to terms with the fact that we are in this for a while, and the realization has set in that I need to start thinking long term. At home I’m starting to do things like invest in a nice office set up, one where I can feel productive for months. But I’ve also been shifting my exercise routine to focus on the long term as well. I’ve started to take a big step back from a focus on speed, because what race am I actually training for right now? Instead, I’m using these couple months to target something even more critical: base training.
Base training focuses on gaining endurance. But it isn’t just about running or biking longer distances each week. True base training reprograms your body and changes the way it burns fuel. To give a very general overview of the science (stick with me…I promise I’ll be pretty quick), the focus is on keeping your heartrate below your lactate threshold, where your body is able to burn fuel at a sustainable rate. When you cross this threshold, your body starts to fatigue and can’t sustain that effort for a prolonged period of time. There are differences between this and your aerobic threshold that some people can geek out about. But for most people’s purposes, thinking about lactate threshold as that time when you become anaerobic is sufficient. The goal is to keep your heartrate low enough to be able to sustain increasingly longer workout sessions. Over time, if you consistently train below your lactate threshold, it is possible to feel as good running ten miles as you currently do running three. I promise.
I will follow this post up soon with another that dives a bit deeper into reasons you should commit to doing a period of base training if you want to avoid injury and move closer to your peak performance. But if you can trust me on that for the moment, the really good news is that this is the perfect time to do it!
In March I was maxing out at about 7 mile runs. By gradually adding mileage over the weeks, I just hit half marathon distance. That pace is key: way slower than if I were trying to race it.
Right now, almost none of us can go to the gym to keep up with our former, usual routine. As I’ve said many times, I love Orangetheory (I mean, this isn’t even the first time I’ve said it in this post). I see really good results in my muscle composition, overall fitness, and definitely in my running speed. But Orangetheory and most other gym workouts don’t really provide endurance training. Sure, they call some workouts “endurance days.” But when that time is limited to, at most, 25 minutes of your workout, it isn’t going to continue to expand your endurance beyond that point. So people who go to such workouts exclusively could become really strong 5K runners, but will have a hard time with any event that takes them more than that 25 minutes. And even those wanting to focus on being 5K runners will be better in the long run if they spend six to eight weeks focusing on base training before they start incorporating high intensity intervals. So while I miss my gym routine, I’m taking this down time as a chance to focus on gaining more endurance, both to ultimately run a faster 5K, and also with an eye toward working my way back into being a decent half marathoner.
Whether you are bemoaning the loss of your favorite gym workout, or maybe looking to start a fitness routine from scratch, I’d encourage you all to slow it down for a bit. We have to start thinking long term with our new COVID reality. It’s also a perfect time to reorient your fitness goals and start thinking lower intensity, longer distance. Longer, slower distances might not be as sexy as sprint intervals, and they do take more time and dedication. But it does pay off. When our gyms open up and communities can once again host races, we will be ready to push our bodies even further and achieve even greater performances. Until then, we’re in this for the long haul…together.
Are you missing something in particular from your old routine? How are you adjusting to the the extended projections for Stay at Home? Share your thoughts, ideas and insights!
One more week of work from home is complete, and with it came more heightened restrictions on our activities. Washington State, where I live, joined the growing list of states mandating Stay at Home or Shelter-in-Place. With that, however, came the potentially confusing encouragement to go outside for exercise and emotional wellbeing. “This does not mean you can’t go outside,” said Governor Jay Inslee in his televised address. “If you feel like going for a walk, gardening, going for a bike ride, we consider these things essential activity too for everyone’s physical and mental health.”
I was relieved that this was
allowed, since I’m pretty desperate to keep up some kind of normal exercise
routine throughout this. But it also brought up a lot of questions: Is it
really safe? How much can I be outside? Am I being selfish if I head outside to
make myself feel better?
After several days of researching and trying things out, I’ve
realized I can both go for a run outside and be responsible, but it takes some effort
and diligence. The biggest reason is that, while you and I may be committed to Social
Distancing, many others still aren’t. Many people make no attempt to alter
their path on a sidewalk. I’ve waited for crosswalk lights and had people come stand
right next to me. And this week, a group of guys playing pick-up basketball
(already a bad choice) asked if I could throw their ball back to them when it
rolled toward me. I said “Sorry,” then charted a six foot course around the
germ ball and kept running.
All these people made it to this crowded spot by walking on a three foot wide path…after being warned to social distance.
So to help more of us avoid situations like this, here are a few tips I’ve gathered from a combination of research and personal experience. They’ve helped me significantly limit my encounters with those who, inexplicably, have still not gotten the social distancing memo.
Get creative with your routes
Humans like doing things they feel comfortable with. So,
when looking to get outside and stretch their legs, most head to a park or
familiar trail. That’s exactly why you should go elsewhere. Last weekend I made
the mistake of trying to go for a run along the Lake Washington waterfront,
where I and a lot of others run, bike, and walk frequently. I got within about
100 yards of the route and realized I needed to find another option. I saw
dozens of people passing each other within inches, groups walking three or four
abreast so that anyone wanting to pass them at a six foot distance found
themselves in the middle of the street, and a handful of children playing on
the playground right next to the path. While I sympathize with parents who need
to find an outlet for their kids’ pent up energy, until someone invents
antimicrobial monkey bars, you really need to keep your kids off the jungle gym
during a pandemic.
Not a great place to run when you want to keep your distance from others.
So have some fun exploring new routes. You can plan out a new route on your laptop in advance using one of many online tools such as Map My Run or Google Map Pedometer. Or head out and just enjoy new streets. If you normally run on Main, try going one or two blocks over. Make a game of finding a one mile loop in your neighborhood that uses all side streets. As a bonus, these streets tend to have fewer lights, so you don’t have to stop or slow down as often and there are fewer buttons to have to touch at crosswalks.
Avoid peak hours
A pretty great way to avoid people on your run or walk is to
do it early in the morning, or after dark. And, from my experience, the people
who are out at those times tend to be more diligent about their social
distancing. The oblivious texter who doesn’t look up to see who’s around and can’t
hold a straight line is out in droves on a weekend afternoon. So avoid them by
going M/W/F at 6:45am.
If mornings are just not your thing, consider becoming a post-sunset runner. With nobody coming home from bars and restaurants, the sidewalks are basically a few other runners and the occasional dog walker. But if you go this route, be prepared. Dress the part in bright, reflective clothing that is warm enough for the nighttime drop in temperature. And consider investing in a head lamp, particularly if the streets near you aren’t well lit. You can buy a really decent headlamp and reflective vest for around $25 each at a lot of online retailers. If your local running store is filling online orders, consider supporting them to help them through these tough economic times.
Rain is a good thing
Much like running at dawn and darkness, running in the rain is
a much more solitary experience. Most people won’t even consider going for a
run or walk if they are going to get wet. So, if your fitness is your priority,
purchase a good waterproof outer layer and head out into the empty streets.
Bring your own water
That drinking fountain on your route? Hard pass.
Run single file
If you happen to be lucky enough to cohabitate with a
running or walking partner, enjoy the company. But if you are anywhere near
other people, be courteous and shift to single file so that passing at a safe
distance is easier. That couple walking the other way may not be paying you the
same courtesy, but you can only control you. Let your moral superiority fuel
your next half mile.
Consider leaving the electronics at home
I really like running without music. It is my chance to be
alone with my thoughts and I appreciate the quiet. I do realize that many
people love their soundtrack, though. Just be aware that this makes it harder
to hear people coming up behind you, or ones around the corner. So maybe turn
it down a tad. And if you are out for a walk, remember that the thing that
makes this time an “essential” activity is your health and mental wellbeing,
not that you took a selfie, or texted with your bestie, or caught that
Charmander. Being heads down on your phone makes you less aware. Don’t be that
oblivious person from Tip #2. And a reminder that any germs you happened to
pick up from forgetting to not touch the railing or crosswalk button will now
be on your phone. If you don’t need it, leave it at home and enjoy the scenery
around you.
Follow the rules of the road
This is a longshot because it requires mass adoption of this
practice. But I’m putting this notion out into the ether in hopes that it will
spread. If we all walked and ran on the sidewalk on the right side of the
street (or left side if you are in England or one of those other left side
driving countries), we would pass VASTLY fewer people. Cars don’t drive in opposite
directions on the same side of the road for obvious reasons. But most people
never think about it when on the sidewalk. But particularly now, it would
really help us come into contact with each other far less.
Following the Rules of the Road on a quiet street.
If two people approach each other on the same side of the street, they are guaranteed to have to pass one another. But if you are traveling the same direction as that person, even if you are going somewhat different speeds, there is a large chance one of you will turn off the street before either of you overtake the other. And if you do overtake someone, you have a lot more time to plot out a good spot to do so that is safe and has plenty of clearance.
So try it out, and spread the word. Pedestrian Rules of the Road should be a common practice everyday, but particularly in a pandemic.
. . .
It should hopefully be obvious that none of this matters if you or anyone you live with is showing symptoms. If you are sick or may be sick, stay home. Take care of yourself, and in so doing, take care of the rest of us.
But assuming you believe you are healthy and in need of exercise, consider incorporating one or more of these practices on your next run or neighborhood stroll. You won’t just be helping you, but all the other people out there trying to find their social distancing path.
And I’m sure there are more tips. Please add yours to the comments! I may even incorporate some of them into a future blog post. Because remember, right now we run solo, but we get through this together.
This blog started about four years ago with the goal of helping me and others live fit, fun, and fabulous lives. Many of us search for that balance between feeling and looking great, and wanting to indulge in the fun and fabulous parts of life: memorable times with friends, scrumptious food, and great wine or other adult beverages. I explored ways to strike that balance here, and many of you came along with me. Looking back now, it was a worthy goal, but it was also a simpler time.
Before the COVID-19 crisis, I actually felt like I was finally
doing a pretty good job of finding my balance. I had a regular workout routine
I’d been sticking to and seeing results from, I was cooking a lot of tasty and generally
healthy foods, and my wine and cocktail consumption was more occasional but
still satisfying. I was feeling, looking, and living healthy, and it felt
pretty great.
Then came the word I was to work from home. It made it more
tempting to snack during the day, but it also cut out my commute, giving me
more time for exercise and meal prep with friends. But then the bars and
restaurants closed, quickly followed by thinly stocked grocery stores. Then my
gym closed, and with it, the core of my fitness routine. And all of this was
based on the idea that we as people weren’t supposed to be near each other
anymore. No impromptu hallway chats with coworkers about cool ideas, no
brunches with friends to celebrate wins or pick each other up from losses, no
high fives from the other regulars at my Orangetheory from our mutual survival
of a particularly grueling power day.
It has been one week of dealing with all of this sudden
change. Bluntly, I didn’t handle it very well. Being knocked so quickly out of
my routines resulted in my working too much, snacking too much, drinking too
much, stressing too much, and sleeping far too little. And this all comes with
a realization that our lives are likely to become even more restricted in the
coming weeks.
We all have to acknowledge that our primary goal right now
should be to fulfill our obligation to one another to act responsibly and keep
each other safe. Because I have a job that is not currently threatened by the
economic downturn, I also feel a sense of responsibility to look out for those
less fortunate, and to always be aware that these changes, though stressful,
are, in the bigger picture, rather mild…and they will pass.
But in the meantime, I need to make some changes and start
building some new habits. Chatting with many of my friends, family, and
coworkers, I know that others are facing similar issues and feelings. So, one
of my first steps is rebooting this blog. The focus of it may change, but the
spirit of it remains the same. I believe there are ways to not just survive,
but thrive throughout all this. And I’m sure it will be easier if I work on
this with others. So I hope you’ll not just follow along with this blog, but
share your experiences, insights and resources.
I’m not sure what the coming weeks will bring, but I am
certain it will be better if we bring the right attitude and support each other
through it.
During this quest to find the right balance for a fit, fun and fabulous life, one thing has become very clear to me: the support, encouragement and partnership of friends is key. While friends are always in for the fun and fabulous part, those who support you in the fitness column can be harder to find. Fortunately for me, I have a group of friends who not only support and join in on the quest to be healthy, but also are finding ways to make fitness fun.
This week, several of us started a fitness challenge. Kellen the Inspiring, Kristen the Badass, Energizer Ben and Jim the Grillzmaster were all looking for some motivation to be a bit healthier. So over a generally nutritious dinner we decided to make a game of it. Here are our rules:
We all put in $100, and say what fun thing we are going to do for ourselves if we get it back.
Each of us set five goals to be met over the course of five weeks.
If we meet four of the five goals, we get our money back.
If we don’t hit five goals, we each picked a charity that we will donate the money to.
We started Monday, and Kellen made a spreadsheet on GoogleDocs so we can share and track progress. This is ridiculously motivating. To better explain, these are my goals and the way we track them:
All of us have our goals in a shareable, editable GoogleDoc.
While not all of our goals are things that are tracked day by day (like my goals to lose weight or run a faster 5K), most of them are. After a morning workout class, I drive into work in the morning and get excited about putting a “1” into the grid. Kellen and I were hanging out at an event with wine and we both agreed that drinking a glass wasn’t nearly as appealing as being able to enter a 1 in the “days without drinking” goal, which we both included in our list. The grid shows each of us how we are getting closer to meeting our goals, and shows off to the others that we are making progress. And because we’re all a bit competitive, seeing other people’s commitment just reinforces our own motivation.
We’re still in the first week, so it will be interesting to see if this motivation stays strong over the full five weeks. But so far it has been really successful. I’m lucky to have some fit, fun and fabulous friends. And if you are in search of a fitness friend, I’m always happy to make some side challenges, so please reach out!
A few weeks ago, I was feeling great. I was in the gym four times a week, I was down nearly 20 pounds since the beginning of the year, and I was finally seeing my running pace drop to levels that were inspiring me to enter races again. I patted myself on the back, and decided to splurge on a few things: nice dinners out, a great bottle of wine, fancy cheese plates…paired with another bottle of wine.
And then the business travel started. Two weeks out of town with no ability to cook, and with lots of work gatherings that centered around rich dinners and cocktails. Sure, salads and water were an option, but those didn’t seem fun at all. “Everyone else is enjoying themselves and I don’t want to stand out,” “It’s a special occasion,” and “Screw it, I’ve been super healthy lately. I’ll get back to it tomorrow” became common thoughts. Well, three weeks of tomorrows later, I find myself feeling slow and having put back a good handful of those pounds I worked so hard to lose.
So, before I throw away all the hard work, I’ve decided tomorrows are over. Today I get back to it.
First step: writing this blog. Those who are paying attention may note that the last post on this blog was back when I was feeling super awesome about my efforts. There is an undeniable correlation. Subjecting you all to my goals helps hold me accountable, so thanks for bearing with that.
Second step: return to a lot of the parameters I set for myself back when the weight loss challenge started (see that post here). I’ve realized through this whole quest for balance that rules are helpful, and I respond well to parameters. I’m going to follow these because I know they’ll get me back on track.
And when I get back to where I was a few weeks ago, I’ll hopefully re-read this and remind myself not to undo the hard work. It is so much easier to stay fit than to get fit, and I have no one to blame for the hard work ahead of me than myself. If you have any good tips on ways to not unravel the fitness sweater once I so carefully knit it again, please share. I have a feeling I’m not the only one who could use the tips.
Yesterday marked the end of a six week weight loss challenge at my gym. I committed to three workouts a week at the gym, eating much healthier, and finding other (hopefully fun) ways to weave physical activity into my days. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of results, but I felt like two pounds a week would be doable, so I set that as my goal.
And while I run the risk of sounding hugely immodest – I crushed it!
Six weeks later, I’m 18 pounds down and lost almost 13% of my body weight. I will share more on the specific things I did to get there, but I wanted to take a moment and say that the biggest thing that propelled me was the support of folks around me. I was really open with the fact that I was trying to do this (heck, I blog about it for anyone on the internet to see), and pretty much everyone around me was really encouraging. Here are some highlights:
First, my partner in crime, Kellen the Inspiring, was a great fitness buddy. She motivated me to stick with it, drank water with me at social functions, and got my butt into hip hop dance classes once a week. Having a buddy for the whole program was invaluable.
While visiting Miami for work, a trip that threatened to take me off track, Mauricio Magnifico helped schedule our meetings in a way that I could also hit the gym for classes. This made me feel like having a couple cocktails at the beach was fine. And who wants to go to Miami without having a cocktail on the beach? That’s certainly not what this blog is about.
Jim the Grillzmaster knows I love roller skating (yep, roller skating), so he surprised me with a trip to a rink one evening. I probably burned 800 calories during the session and had a smile on my face the whole time.
Mark the Organizer offered frequent suggestions about ways to mix up my fitness routine, shared stories about his own weightloss, and made a point to check in with me often to see how things were going.
Cheryl the Uplifting made healthy dinners with me, Dana the Vibrant made a fun weight loss side bet, Drew the Cheerleader got me on a spin bike and made me feel awesome, Kristen the Badass joined me for some pampering combined with motivating fitness talk, Gavian the Co-conspirator got me out on a long post-dinner walk, Seeester Amy told me she was proud of me for not drinking at her birthday, all the people I grabbed a meal with who shared healthy options, everyone who followed this blog, twitter or facebook page and said nice things…and many others.
Celebrating fitness success with Kellen the Inspiring.
And there was one moment that happened early that really stuck with me. About a week into my challenge, I was going to meet up with some great friends who I hadn’t seen in a long time, and I knew there would be drinking. I had vowed no drinking for the first two weeks, but I was pondering bending that rule for this occasion. Jordan the Closer happened to catch me online for a quick chat before I headed out. It is relevant to note that I met Jordan during a night of parties and club hopping at a conference in NYC, and that pretty much every time we are in the same city and hanging out, there is drinking involved. When I mentioned to him that I was meeting old friends and thinking of taking a one night hiatus from my fitness plan, I expected him to think that was a great idea. I was wrong.
Instead, he replied “Stick with the program – the payoff is always better.”
Probably because of the context of our friendship, his words really struck me. That night, I told my friends I wasn’t drinking, they were all fine with it, and I walked away having eaten veggies and chicken and drinking only water and Diet Coke. I reread Jordan’s statement the next morning and logged it in my brain as my mantra for the rest of the challenge.
I definitely wouldn’t have had as much success without the support of the folks around me. So first, thanks to everyone who encouraged me in the many ways that you all did. You are amazing and it was invaluable to have your help this past month and a half. And second, I encourage anyone looking to focus on their fitness to be vocal about it. I think you’ll find, like I did, that the response will be overwhelmingly positive. The people around you can’t support you if you don’t give them the opportunity, so share your plans and goals with them, and help them help you.
Health and fitness resolutions aren’t really that hard…except when they are. “Normal” days can be pretty easy — there’s a routine and expectations are met.
And then Miami happens.
I’m in Miami for the next few days for work. There’s a convention with other professionals from my industry. And conventions lead to socializing, and parties, and open bars…in Miami. And it is Super Bowl Sunday.
So, I’m hoping that this formula is going to work:
A couple of drinks every day + working out every day = staying on track
I’m doing pretty well on my weight loss challenge, and I know that I really want to stay on track. But these kinds of things are always going to come up in life: birthday parties, holidays, special occassions. I want to enjoy those, and that means having some desserts and drinks and foods cooked with lots of butter. But enjoying those makes me feel like I’m cheating on my resolution. I really wish I could change this mindset, because I don’t think that is a particularly healthy or sustainable way to approach life.
If you have any thoughts on this — tips, mindsets, etc. — I’d love to hear. This is my first big challenge during my fitness resolution, and I could use some help.
In workout class this morning, I discovered that Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On” may be my perfect running song. Ideal tempo for a challenging pace, and that hook gives me energy. And it’s Missy…awesome women are just naturally motivating. This led me to resolve to resurrect my iPod mini and fill it with some things that will keep me going during my workouts.
But I need your help. What would you recommend I throw on there? I’m open to all genres, but I want to keep the tempo high and the tone invigorating. I’ll post the final playlist someplace where people can download it.
Two weeks ago, project “lose some weight in 2016” began. The spirit of this blog is rooted in balance and enjoying life, and diets don’t always fit naturally into that. But, as I mentioned then, I was willing to go through a couple weeks of a pretty restrictive diet in hopes that I would have a “chance to assess what I really value…to see what I really miss. That will help me define what is worth indulging in as the weeks and months go on.” Well, two weeks have passed, and my biggest takeaway is that I’d encourage everyone to do this as well. Here’s why:
Overall, somewhat surprisingly, it really wasn’t too bad. Work days were vastly easier than weekends. Weekends, where I’m used to snacking and drinking something while watching football, and usually going out to dinners with friends, were much tougher. But I found that, while I was a bit anxious to tell friends who I was meeting with that I was going to sip water or Diet Coke at the bar, they were all really supportive. Some even joined me, in part in solidarity, but also because some thought they could use a bit of a break from drinking as well. One even thanked me.
Also, it really did give me a chance to figure out what I missed…and what I loved that could work within a low carb, no alcohol, 1400 calorie a day diet. To that second point, I found that there were actually a lot of things that I love that completely fit within this plan. I think the key for me was that it FELT indulgent. So, take for example this great lunch I had at 99 Park with Gavian the Co-conspirator.
Even he, with his decadent cheeseburger, admitted that I won the order prize. But at about 500 calories total, and very few carbs, my lunch of seared tuna with deliciously seasoned quinoa and toasted almonds and a salad of shrimp, shaved papaya, mango and toasted coconut was both healthy and delicious.
On top of this, my favorite food on the planet is Dungeness crab. It is really tasty, even without being dipped in butter. It is more expensive than chicken, to be sure, but I’m realizing that may be a key for me. If I feel like I’m indulging, I am more satisfied. That may be strange and a bit twisted, but I’m trying to understand my triggers, and I have to be honest with myself when I find one. Crab is completely within a healthy diet. If I have to pay a bit more to be both healthy and satisfied, I’m ok with that. I ate a lot of crab over the past two weeks.
Now, onto what I missed. I thought it might be sweet things: chocolate, desserts, marshmallows (I have a bit of an obsession with s’mores). But really, the only thing I missed was wine. Not cider or margaritas or other alcohol…just wine. I like wine. I like the way each bottle and blend tastes a bit different, the way it pairs nicely with what I’m eating, and the indulgence I feel when I open a new bottle. And right then I’m back to my realization: I like to feel like I can indulge.
So I’ve decided that, as I move to this next phase of my six week fitness plan, I’m going to allow myself a bit of wine. Just two days a week, and only two drinks on each of those days, but I think that will help this plan feel balanced and sustainable. But my rule is: only the good stuff. I’ll order the nice glass or share the nice bottle, because that feels indulgent.
So, my well-being may cost me a bit more, but I’ve decided this experiment is about curation. I want to curate a life of good health, good food, good drink and good people. That takes some effort. But that effort seems to be worth it.
And by the way, I’ve lost about eight pounds in these first two weeks. So, back to my original point, I’d encourage everyone to try this for two weeks. I will almost guarantee that it will help you figure out what is important to you, and help you curate your own balance. Best of luck and please share any tips or thoughts you have on this.
