Always Something There To Remind Me

If you haven't picked up on this yet, I'm going on a theme of using song titles for titles of my posts.

It's true, there is always something there to remind me to pay attention to what I'm doing. Once again, I will repeat my mantra, "listen to your body."

On Monday we had a holiday, and I went running with Robert in the morning. He runs faster than I do so we had to compromise a bit, but he also helped me to push myself so I am appreciative of that. After our 4.17 miles, we went to Heine Brothers (local coffee chain) and although I enjoyed my hot latte, I learned the hard way that it is not a good idea for me to drink caffeine after a longer run like that. Being a smaller person, I am easily affected by caffeine, alcohol, medicine, etc. When I've depleted my energy and burned off the food I've had before a workout and then some, any stimulant or depressant is going to hit me so much harder. The same goes for Bikram or any other hot yoga class: imagine sweating your butt off in a room for 90 minutes and then having a glass of wine. Needless to say, I've got to be mindful as ever about what I'm eating and drinking.

Not only do I need to watch WHAT I'm consuming, I need to watch if I'm consuming ENOUGH. Cardio burns calories during the activity and for a little afterward, but strength training burns calories ALL the time. If you count yoga as strength training, then I'm doing 3-4 sessions a week. In order to have the best workouts and best recoveries possible, you must have some fuel. The past few days I've been very tired, and I realized it's probably because I am not eating enough. Cereal for breakfast, a veggie burger and some carrots and hummus for lunch, triscuits and grapes in the afternoon...that's not very much at all.

Sharn asked me about vegetarians and getting enough protein in her diet. Simple ways to incorporate more protein include: peanut butter, protein shakes (add milk and that's even more!), hummus, and bean dips. If you are an athlete, don't forget about carbs. Put that peanut butter on a whole wheat bagel, dip whole wheat pita chips into hummus. Perhaps this notion is a bit outdated, but people are so afraid of carbs. We need carbs! Moderation is key. I like to stay away from anything that has a main ingredient of enriched wheat flour. Go for whole wheat or whole oat flour.

Be concientious of what you are doing and eating. Don't be afraid to spend more money on good, quality foods. You are putting it in your body after all!