Hand in Hand

I realized something very important today.

For me, exercise and eating well go hand in hand. Earth shattering, I know.

I understand that this is kind of a no-brainer, but for me, if I lose hold of the exercise, the eating quickly follows. So maybe I should say that eating well is dependent on the exercise.

I noticed over the past two weeks that both my exercise habits and my eating habits slipped dramatically. I was busy, so it was really hard to fit in my long runs. Now, you would think knowing that I was limited in exercise, that it would cause me to be extra careful regarding my food intake.

That's where I seem to do the opposite of what I should. As soon as my exercise falls off, I seem to treat that as a free pass for eating whatever I want to eat. Make sense? Of course it doesn't make sense. If I could wrap my head around why I eat like a moose when I haven't worked out, then maybe I wouldn't be fighting to lose weight.

Ugh.

On the flip side, when I am doing well with exercise, I tend to eat better. I don't want to mess up all my hard work with bad food choices. I also tend to crave healthier foods when I'm exercising, as if my body knows I need good fuel to get me through a long run.

Anyhow, just thought I'd share my "ground breaking" discovery about the link between physical activity and food consumption. One of those super high tech research colleges is going to snatch me up any day now so I can share my highly developed theories with the world! The Catholic school kids will just have to do without me!

While I wait for that phone call to lure me away from the riches I make here, I'll be trying to find a good balance between exercise and food. I am onto a good start with the five miles from last night. I plan to do an hour of elliptical tonight, a four mile run on Tuesday, a three mile run on Wednesday, and a two mile run on Thursday before two rest days leading up to the half.

I'm also back on track with food. It helps to have a frig full of good choices.

By the way, this is Teacher Appreciation Week at my school, so today we received a healthy fruit snack. I sadly did not eat the scone. It's okay because the grapes and apple slices were delicious.