Break These Rusty Chains

Can I just give some mad props to those of you out there who post pretty much every day!? I seriously don't know how you manage to come up with something interesting to say every day. I'm so impressed. More so now that I actually have my own blog and am realizing how challenging it is.

Tracking - glorious, boring, effective tracking. It has once again done the trick! I haven't been freaky about being on top of it, but every other day seems to be a good balance. The weight is feeling comfortable again and the eating (and drinking!) are where they should be. Thank goodness!

I had a nice NSV over the weekend. Hubby and I went down to Portland to visit some of my college friends. My good girlfriend is getting to be very pregnant, and Hubby didn't bring his workout gear, so on Saturday I went for a run with my girlfriend's husband. I was fully expecting for him to either have to slow way, way down for me or just leave me in the dust. Neither one happened! It was amazing! We were both shocked. I have to say that interval training is a creator of miracles. Losing weight has definitely helped, but switching up my training has made the biggest difference.

I'm not one for following the newest diet craze, but I was curious about whether any of you out there have ventured into trying the Paleo diet? First time I heard about it I totally scoffed! Why follow a diet from a time period where everyone pretty much died by the time they're 30? But a friend of mine is trying it out, and the more she's told me about it, the more it seems to line up with eating changes I'm following almost naturally. Lots of it seems to be kind of a no-brainer - ie: eat protein, fruits, veggies, nuts. Avoid processed foods. Some of it I find sort of so so: no beans? (can't live without my hummus!) I'm still learning more about it, so as I fill things in I'll share a bit. I think what really got me interested was a few posts from Barbara about how they've done studies about the addictive properties of sugar and processed foods. Your brain builds pleasure pathways from the emotional boost you get from sugar, and that creates cravings for more and more of those foods. I feel like I should've known this because it makes perfect sense, but maybe I just needed to be in the right frame of mind to accept it. Now I've just felt ready to kick the habit (okay, not the cocktail habit, but pretty much the rest of it). Some of you out there just have no intention of giving up some of your favorite foods entirely, and frankly, more power to you! If you can eat that stuff and still lose weight, you're made of sterner stuff than I. However, the more I've cut out sugar and processed foods, the fewer cravings I've had for them. And I think the knowledge that giving in and eating them makes it worse has really helped me stick with it in my weaker moments. I AM stronger than those food companies seeking to manipulate me with additives and chemicals. I DO feel better when I feed myself with quality natural foods. Proof is in the pudding - well, if pudding wasn't made with a bunch of chemicals and added sugar. But you catch my drift.