Oops...how could I forget?

What the flip?  How could I forget to blog yesterday?  That's so weird.  So sorry to all of you faithful readers who were probably up late worrying and wondering what had happened to me!  Hahaha, just kidding...

No blog post does not mean no workout, thankfully.  (Did that sentence just have an explosion of double negatives?)  Anyway, I went to the gym early yesterday and did 2 spin classes, a mile on a treadmill and 45 minutes of strength training.  My muscle groups for the day included primarily triceps and back, but I also threw some ab work in there.  Today my triceps are super sore, which makes me quite happy.  Usually after doing triceps, I find myself wondering if I'm doing the exercises right because rarely am I sore there.

This morning I slept in until 7.  It felt really good. Once I was up and at 'em, I spent some time on the internet researching "clean" eating.  Of course I had previously heard of it and read some articles on what it means exactly, but I finally decided that my diet still needs some tweaking so that I can fully reap the benefits of all the working out and running that I do.  One of our spin instructors (who is also a competing fitness model, certified trainer, well-educated mother of 3 with one rock-solid body), touts following a clean diet, and if it works that well for her, well who am I to argue?

So from what I understand (and it goes in varying degrees for different people), eating clean means keeping the food you consume as close to it's natural form as possible.  In other words, if it's man-made, overly processed, full of sugar, white flour and a mile long list of ingredients that you can't pronounce - don't eat it.  As I read more about it and thought through my normal daily eating habits, I realized I actually do a lot of things right.  That doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.  One of my downfalls is cold cereal.  It has been my stand-by, go-to snack/meal/therapist/comfort food for quite some time now.  My absolute favorites are Cinnamon Life and Special K Vanilla Almond.  Generally speaking, I don't necessarily think these foods are that bad, but they do have a lot of sugar and other "extra" ingredients.  It will also probably be somewhat of a challenge when it comes to eating out.  We don't particularly eat out often, but when Chris and I go out on a date - usually every 1-2 weeks - we always eat at one of our favorite restaurants.  I haven't felt that guilty about it, because I know how hard I work out.  But I'm starting to realize that if I want to make real changes to my physique, I'm going to have to get serious about cutting out whatever processed, sugary stuff I have been keeping around.

After looking at some recipe ideas and ingredient substitution lists online, I made my grocery list then Chris and I headed into town.   After we did an awesome midday spin class, we went grocery shopping together.  Then I spent pretty much the rest of the day cleaning, slicing, dicing, storing, juicing and generally preparing fresh produce, fish, chicken, whole grains and nuts for the next week.  I will keep you posted on how things go over the next few weeks.


In the meantime, 3 weeks and counting until marathon day.  Tomorrow I have a fun 11 miler planned that involves an uphill climb on the first half.  I think those are becoming my favorite types of runs.  I love being rewarded for working hard on some hills with an amazing view at the top followed by a downhill cruise back home. :)