I. need. help.

My eating is starting to scare me.  I mean really.  The behaviors are so old yet still so familiar.  I have a hard time getting anyone to take me seriously, to hear my concerns, but I know inside that it is serious.  You may not have noticed but lately in my blog I've been saying things like, "I'll spare you all the calorie-laden details but...".  And I think that's because of embarrassment, shame and self-loathing.  Those are heavy words but I do believe it's at the core of my hiding what I've been eating.  So I'm going to break down and write the blow-by-blow of today's eating to just get it off my chest.

Breakfast:  Grape Nuts with Almond Milk
Snack:  Banana, string cheese (+ water and vitamins)
Snack:  Clif Bar (the whole thing)
Lunch:  Avocado/hummus sandwich with cheese and a tiny bit of mayo, bag of chips
Snack:  Snickers bar**
Dinner:  Black beans, avocado, cream, tortilla, mexican cheese, 1/2 of a rib eye steak
Snack: Grapes, slice after slice after slice of pumpkin bread, red potato with butter

Yesterday saw me eat two candy bars in one day plus a ton of Now&Laters, I had a burger with avocado and bacon with onion rings for lunch, and just snacked until I went to bed.  Somewhere over the past couple of days I had the thought, "I need help."  I've been telling myself I'll eat better tomorrow and each day tomorrow comes and is no better than the day before.  I start the morning out feeling clear and focused and by midday I'm eating things that make me feel like crap in the end.  IT'S SO FRUSTRATING!

I know this all started with the slump I was in.  Then I felt myself come out of it and had a brief moment in the sun and then I got sick and bam, back in it.  It was like my newfound non-slumpage wasn't well established when the sick thing just threw me off.   So today I was in a frustrating situation at work.  I'd eaten the sandwich and chips and was super full.  I pondered buying a candy bar and talked myself out of it.  But the stress level rose and I gave in.  So I'm eating the Snickers bar and I'm halfway through it when I said, "enough!" and tossed the second half in the garbage.

It's never too late to make a new decision.

That's one of my mantras.  I'd love to finish this post with a lovely little tale of how the rest of the evening I was true to myself and my goals and ate good, clean, healthy foods - but you saw what happened.  More junk and more food than my body needs.  What is going on?  I have ideas of course.  There's shit going on in my personal life, work is work, I'm taking some exciting career development steps but that still adds stress and added responsibility, I don't get enough sleep, and I'm allowing my brain to be lazy.

Miguel brought home half of a lemon meringue pie recently.  I ate all but a few bites of it before the day was over.  I had all these resentful thoughts toward him for bringing it home.  I know better.  My eating is not his responsibility.  In fact, unless I ask, I want him to stay out of it.  But that's classic externalization of blame.  And it's addictive thinking.  My brain has just gone a bit haywire and I've let it.  I've been stepping it up some, fighting back with the more rational, healthy thoughts, but it's slow going.  I hope this writing it all down, getting it all out, will help.

And of course I'm having to battle all sorts of other irrational thoughts, the biggest one being, "Well, that's it, it's over, you've gone back to your old habits and...".  The unfinished part is, "and you're going to gain all the weight back."  And my brain acts like it's not only a foregone conclusion, but that's it's already happened.  Give up, it's over.  I have an idea of how friggin' insane that sounds.

And further, I see how insane it looks.  I am not that woman anymore, and yet she haunts me, and taunts me and calls to me to be her, to let go, slip back, hide.  Wow - this writing is...enlightening.  I don't want to hide.

For a while now I've been enjoying wearing "cute" clothes, styling my hair, wearing make-up.  I was actually looking forward to summer so I could wear shorts and skirts more often.  But lately I haven't been into it.  I figured it was just part of my slump.  It's not fun to put an effort into dressing cute when I don't feel cute. But I wonder if wanting to hide is part of this.  What am I hiding from?

Dammit, this is just too much to think about.  Bottom line, I've been coping with my feelings by eating.  I've been using food in all the wrong ways.  And it doesn't feel good.  That's what I have to remind myself.  In the end, the food does not help, I am left holding the bag.

If hunger is not the problem, food is not the solution.

And it's sure as heck not about hunger.  It's about feelings.  And not exercising the strongest part of my body - my brain.  So I need to sit with my feelings, talk myself through the rough moments, build my confidence back up and establish a better recent past to break these bad habits that are trying to wiggle back into my life.  Fortunately I've done a lot of hard mental work over these past 6 years so even with all this unhelpful eating my brain is still there whispering, what are you doing?  you know this isn't good, think, Michelle, think.  So maybe my brain isn't so lazy after all.

Ok, what else can I do?  The title of this post is I. need. help.  I'm going to a meeting every week.  If I can't make my Friday one, I'll go to a different one.  Or two.  Or whatever I need to get some help.  I remember reading about a Lifetimer's meeting, maybe I need to track that down.  They'll understand and probably have some good advice and support.  I need it.  I don't want to gain 10 pounds and then reach out.  That said, it's not about the weight, or my clothing size, or my appearance at all really - it's about the thinking, the habits, the behavior.  It's about not feeling good.  I did not lose 90+ pounds to be feeling like crap.

See Jane Run San Francisco Bay Area Half-Marathon Race Report

This week has been what I hope is an anomaly.  Prior to the half-marathon yesterday the only exercise I got was the 4.5 mile run I did on Tuesday.  You might recall that I was sick last weekend and I basically parlayed that with the upcoming half-marathon into a week of doing almost nothing exercise-wise.  Food-wise I really cut back on my eating to compensate for the non-exercise.  LYING!  I ate as any good carbo-loading excuse making girl would given the circumstances.  I'll spare you all the calorie-laden details but trust me when I say the 1 pound loss I posted on Friday was not as a result of my hard work and focus.  In fact, it's one of those the-scale-lies weights.  But I won't pretend I wasn't happy to see a lower number.  Despite the scale's lying ways, I'm still inclined to take it as a good thing when it tells me what I want to hear.

So, Saturday night came and it was time to prep my stuff for the See Jane Run half-marathon.  I felt tired and was looking forward to getting the kids in bed so I could do the same.  Of course, as often happens, them going to bed is like a mild stimulant, I'm suddenly awake enough to stay up for hours.  What's with that?  Anyway, I think I finally drifted off to sleep somewhere south of midnight.  But I must have slept well because the next thing I remember is the alarm sounding at 5am.  Up and at 'em!  I had a tiny headache and I'm starting to wonder if sleeping with the ceiling fan gives me a headache, is that possible?  Decided I might take some aspirin or ibuprofen if the coffee doesn't cure it.

I had my cereal and coffee and took a few sips of water here and there to hydrate.  The forecast was for a hot day and I debated wearing a tank vs a tee but in the end chose a t-shirt, I didn't want my shoulders roasting in the sun.  I wasn't satisfied with my intestinal voiding and hoped more might vacate at the venue.  How do you like that for details?  I never knew running would involve so much attention to pooping.  Good thing Laurie and I enjoy such conversations (as do most crazy runner types).  I might have to dedicate a whole post to poop soon.  Oh the anticipation you must feel reading that!

Anyway, Laurie and I hit the road a bit after 6am.  Neither of us had ever been to the venue in Alameda so we allowed extra time for snafus.  Other than having to look for street parking things went smooth.  We found a spot about eight blocks away and made our way to the starting area.

Didn't realize how matchy I was with my shirt and hat.

Can you tell how sunny it is?  There was a good but not massive crowd and plenty of porta-potties.  We got our bibs and pinned up before heading to said porta-potties.  Unfortunately my intestines were being stubborn and I had to hope that running with half-full bowels wouldn't cause me any grief. 

I drank more water and I wondered how hot it might get, it was entirely pleasant out but it was only 7:30am - not sure what it would feel like two hours later running the final miles.  There was a group warm-up and more standing around and then boom! - time to start running. 

And then I realized I never started my Garmin, so I had to hang back for a couple minutes while it found satellites.  I ended up running at the back of the pack, which made for a tricky first few miles.

We were roped off to one lane of the road and most of the people were running a lot slower than me.  You know I'm no speed demon but by starting in the back I was with people running 13 minute miles and/or walking.  To avoid getting stuck behind other runners I had to run a bit outside of the cones most of the time.  Fortunately there were almost no cars so it wasn't really a big issue.  I'd decided before the race not to have any time goal - I just wanted to go with the run-by-feel/run-happy thing I'd been doing on my training runs.

So I looked down at Mile 1 to see I'd run a 9:18 mile.  I knew I should slow down, I knew starting out too fast is probably the most common race mistake runners make, so I reeled it in some.  Mile 2 was 9:48, still a pace I probably couldn't maintain throughout the race.  In general I'm a believer in reverse splits being the smartest approach.  Guess I wasn't feeling very smart.  And I had no idea of the route that lie ahead.  I was telling Laurie on the way in that in the past I would have obsessively poured over all the race minutiae in advance.  But now I'm happy enough with seeing a route description that starts with, "This beautiful, flat course...". 

They had water stops roughly every two miles and I drank a few sips of water while running at the first couple of stops.  Mile 3 saw me continue with what would become my steady pace for most of the rest of the race, close to, but not over, 10:00 minute miles.  And I pretty much set that as my goal for the rest of the run.  I had some Gatorade at the Mile 4 hydration station and was feeling pretty good.  In an attempt to avoid post-run intestinal cramping I planned to use as few gels as possible.  I figured I might need something between miles 6 and 8 but the Gatorade gave me enough of a lift for now.

The route moved onto a paved trail and included running over a couple foot-bridges.  The paved trail had a lot of bumps from tree roots pushing the paving up.  I watched my step pretty carefully, especially after seeing another woman take a dive.  We also ran on some wide sidewalks that included uneven concrete.  That, combined with a sometimes crowded group, made navigating tricky.  I decided around mile 7.5 to have a couple Shot Bloks.  Normally I notice a boost to my energy about 15 minutes after having them but not this time.  I think the heat might have played a part.  There were a few people cheering on loved ones and given that this is primarily an all-woman run many of the signs were a variation on "GO MOM!".  I took them as written for me :)  Those weren't my kids out there holding up the signs but I soaked in the love anyway.

Just past Mile 10 we came upon a bridge and passed a woman walking in the opposite direction, "The bridge is up".  Huh?  I didn't know what that meant (we don't have these bridges in my parts) but I came up and around to see that, yep, the bridge was up.  It's a drawbridge, and fortunately, it was on its way back down.  I slowed my pace considerably, hoping it'd be down before I got to it.  I hate stopping mid-run, I immediately feel my muscles start tightening.  But I got to the waiting crowd before it was all the way down.  I decided to stop my Garmin, I saw no reason why I should count this toward my time.  I didn't know how long we stood there, somewhere between 30 seconds and a minute I'd guess.  I jogged in place and grumbled to myself about having a friggin' drawbridge in the middle of a half-marathon.  Who does that?

Anyway, I told myself to quit bitchin' and run happy, which helped.  Besides, it's not like I was going for a PR or anything.  The sun was beating down on us and we were running on a (very non-shady) paved trail that butted against waterfront condos.  Up ahead I see a woman with a hose, spraying runners.  Fun!  I swerved to get sprayed and felt grateful for her thoughtfulness.  So I'm running along, pushing myself to stay under 10:00 minute miles when I hit the 10.25 mile hydration station and took another Gatorade.  I had a few sips and quickly realized they'd mixed it way too strong.  I was looking for a place to toss my cup when - BAM! - I was heading quickly and directly for the pavement.  I'd tripped over part of the sidewalk.  A volunteer was right there and he helped me up, "Are you ok?"  Thankfully I was.  I kept on running and did a mental scan.  My hands were scraped up, mostly my left, and my knee was scraped but not bleeding.  My left hand took the bulk of the fall actually.

Ouch!

Funny how I fell for the first time ever just a few weeks ago and here I am, falling again.  Anyway, I figured this ought to distract me for the next few miles.  Way to put a positive spin on it, Michelle.  I hadn't been sure if I was going to have more energy gel but I was definitely having to dig to keep my pace.  So/ I decided to have 2 more Shot Bloks in the hope it would help me sail toward the finish line.  

I wouldn't describe the last few miles as sailing though.  I had to keep telling myself to push on, keep going, only a 5k to go, all those things you tell yourself to keep moving forward.  I even remember telling myself I was a robot that runs - so just run.  Move your legs, one after the other, just keep doing that.  I wasn't dying, but it wasn't easy.  Probably should have taken those first miles a little slower.  I passed the 12 mile marker and did my best to pick up the pace for the final mile.  As I neared the finish line and the crowds got louder, running happy came easy.  I'm almost there!  I crossed the finish line and happily accepted my finisher's medal, "I Ran for Chocolate."

I Ran for Chocolate

 

Then I remembered to stop my Garmin and saw a time of 2:09:56 - cool!  Full Garmin stats here if interested.  I ran an average pace of 9:47, something I was really happy with.  The way my training runs had been going I thought I'd be fighting for a 9:59.  The official results are 2:10:40, which means I lost about 40+ seconds waiting for that bridge.  The good thing is, even the official results give me a sub 10:00 pace, if only by a hair.

I'm really happy with my placement too, finishing in the top half across the board.  I wandered around for a bit, looking for Laurie (I never saw her on the course) and finding food to munch on.  And I collected my finisher's t-shirt, a technical tee that I think is my favorite race shirt ever.  I will definitely be hitting the gym with this shirt. The fit is similar to the Rock-n-Roll shirt, now my second favorite race shirt, but it's black so it's bad for running outside.  This one will be fabulous for running outside, making it easier for cars to spot me. 

Selfies in the kids' bathroom!

I collected my champagne glass and started munching on the See's candy it was filled with.  But I skipped the champagne.  First, the lines were ridiculous and second, the last thing I wanted was champagne.  I tried to find a first-aid tent to clean up my hand but all I could find were paramedics helping downed runners.  In fact, there were more people on stretchers at the finish line than I'd ever seen at a race.  I saw 4-5 people getting IV fluids, oxygen and the like.  Must have been the heat.  I ran into another woman who was scraped up too.  Neither of us wanted to bother the paramedics for antibiotic ointment and a bandaid given the more serious things they were dealing with.

I signed up for a massage and found Laurie.  We walked around a bit, there were some fun clothing and fitness oriented vendors out there, and then my stomach cramps starting setting in.  I re-visited the porta potties and pretty much spent the rest of the day in some degree of discomfort.  I really want to figure out this issue, having a great run and then being in pain the rest of the day is not cool.  Eventually we found a paramedic standing around doing nothing so I got an antibiotic wipe and bandaid.  I am too wimpy so Laurie wiped off my hand.  OUCH!  She 'bout killed me.

Check out the cool bag we got too.

But at least my hand was cleaned up.  By then I was up for the massage. Thanks to the National Holistic Institute for coming out!  My ten minute massage was lovely.  Then we hit the road for home.

Honestly, I would not be in a big hurry to do this race again.  My main beef is the condition of the road we were running on, coupled with the drawbridge and the way the route was too narrow too often.  I guess with the theme being every woman (of every shape and ability) joining together and running for chocolate (and champagne) it's not a race about racing, running fast, or getting PR's so the pavement and whatnot are not a big priority for the organizers.  Still, I had a great day and I'm very happy with how I ran.

In the back of my head is a question about when, if ever, I'll want to shoot for a sub 2-hour half-marathon time.  For now I'm happy to shift away from a running-only training focus while I look forward to doing my first Olympic distance triathlon in September.  Between now and then I might do the local 4th of July 4-miler or some other short distance fun-oriented run, but otherwise, my running legs are taking it easy. 

I'm a Rambling Gal

Whew!  We had a fun weekend around these parts.  Not.  Well, sort of.  As you might recall I stayed home with Marek on Friday because he was sick.  He didn't actually seem sick but he had thrown up at preschool on Thursday and they have a stay-home policy when that happens.  Saturday we packed the kids up and headed for the beach.  It was a fun family outing which I spent intermittently lounging on a towel watching the kids play and chasing them around the beach.  I loved running after them, or being chased, hearing their squeals of laughter, watching as they tried to glance back at me while running.  They knew I wouldn't go in the water (brrrr) so that's how they escaped my clutches.  So fun.

We drove home and cleaned up but were restless, even after all that fun.  So we packed them up to see a movie.  This would be Myra's first time at the theater and suffice to say, she's not quite ready for the big screen.  But I was managing to keep her somewhat quiet when Miguel took Marek to use the men's room.  Next thing you know I'm getting hailed to bring clothes to the bathroom.  That's never good.  Marek threw up all. over. everything.  So I'm off to Gap to buy him clothes and Myra's giving me a run for my money, bolting every chance she gets.  And then, out of the blue, the saleswoman at Gap tells me, "Great legs!  Amazing, nice work," (I was wearing shorts). Woah - yes, thank you!  You think I ever get tired of this?  No, I don't - 'bout lost track of my kid while I was taking in the compliment.  Anyway, back to the movies to drop off the clothes, but I gave up on taking Myra inside so she and I shopped around until the movie was over - including the purchase of a Subway gift card for the poor soul who had to clean up the vomit that. was. everywhere.

I chased her all over that mall with more squeals of laughter and more than a few near collisions.  You probably know where I'm going with this.  It felt so good to keep up with my munchkins all day.  I can't imagine, can't even begin to imagine what our outings would be like if I still looked (and felt) like this.  I am so grateful for the steps I've taken, for the energy I have, for the work I'm still willing and able to put into maintaining this body - I'm so grateful for it all.  Hallelujah!  And then Saturday night comes.  Miguel went out with friends and Myra is up throughout the night vomiting.  I changed her sheets several times, along with a midnight bath or two.  We finally all got to sleep around 3am I think.  But guess who woke up vomiting at 6am?  Yep, moi.  Ugh, thanks Marek.  We all owe you one buddy.  Fortunately Miguel was there to take over so I got some sleep.

Obviously my 11-mile training run was not happening.  I spent the entire day lying around feeling sick.  And my body was sore too, not sure if that was from being sick or from being in bed too long.  My back especially...wah!  Miguel left for soccer and the kids and I muddled through the afternoon alone.  Sunday night finally came and I happily closed the book on that day.  I woke up yesterday morning (Monday) still feeling nauseous.  But it was manageable so I went about my day, including a doctor appointment to talk about my back.  She said it sounds like typical age-related back pain and gave me a physical therapy referral (and some anti-nausea meds as a stocking stuffer).  Yep, gettin' old.

And then I couldn't fall asleep last night to save my life.  I tossed and turned until I finally gave up and took some Advil PM, or something like that.  I dragged myself through the day today and come the end of the work day felt equal parts wound up (from too much downtime) and exhausted (from not getting enough sleep).  I had a quick debate with myself about going out for a run.

Me:  I'm tired.
Me too:  Being tired is not an excuse.  If you bagged exercise every time you felt tired, you'd miss half your workouts.
Me:  I'll put on my shoes.

I never win when arguing with myself.  Wait, huh?  Oh forget it.  The point is, I got changed and hit the road for a run around my 'hood.  I could have gone to the gym and flown through my routine but after a few days off and with a half-marathon coming up on Saturday, running seemed like the way to go.  And boy did I enjoy myself.  I ran 4.5 miles in 43:05 (9:35 pace), not including a pit-stop in Papa Murphy's to place an order for dinner.  By the time I got home Miguel was home with the kids and the evening took off.  Man, I'm really giving you the blow-by-blow tonight, huh?  Long story short, I've been sick, now I'm feeling better, but I'm in a bind because I should be tapering, but I want to get back on the gym horse...blah, blah, blah.

So, as I said, half-marathon Saturday.

You know I'm doing the half-marathon :)

And check out the forecast:

Hot!

Should be a lovely day for a little 13.1 mile jaunt.  My right Achilles is still tight, let's hope that doesn't give me any grief.  And this new less-energy-gels plan seems to help my stomach cramps but I'm hoping it doesn't slow me down too much.  Ok, I'm rambling.  It's almost midnight.  I am terrible at going to bed on time!  Wait, really quick - I'm taking the kids on a hike and picnic tomorrow.  I baked some lovely banana bread for the picnic and now the whole house smells scrumptious - how the heck am I supposed to sleep under these conditions?!  And yes I ate a piece.  That is all, goodnight.

She Looks Amazing!

It's Friday and I'm home with a sick kid.  Perfect time to do some blogging, right?  I'll jump back to Wednesday, my day home with the kids.  We spent the morning enjoying some fine Northern California weather.  I packed up a picnic and met some super-cool mom friends for a kid-friendly hike (Hi Whit, Joanna and Erin!!).  There were 4 of us with two kids each - plus a dog - keeping us all busy.  After the hike we staked out a spot in the grass for a picnic.  I'd made myself a chicken avocado sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mustard.  Yummy!  I'm still using the Essential Flax Seed bread from Alvarado Bakery.

Notice the serving size is *2* slices - and check out the protein and fiber!

I usually lightly toast the bread for sandwiches - it adds a nice crunch - but since this would be packed up for a picnic I left it soft.  So I had the sandwich and fruit for lunch.  There's a small organic farm stand near where we hiked and I purchased some strawberries that were amazing!  After the hike we took the kids for ice cream.

The kids all standing on chairs to scope out the ice cream flavors - so cute!

I had a large hot tea and only snuck a few bites of the kids' ice cream (and a few bites of the yummy cookie samples they had on the counter).  I was not tempted at all to have my own ice cream.  Motivation makes everything easier.  Too bad it doesn't stick around 100% all the time, but as they say, if it were easy, everybody would do it, right?

After the hike I came home and quickly changed for the gym.  You might remember I wasn't able to go on Tuesday so I was happy to get in a make-up session.  But by the time I got to the gym I was pressed for time.  I started with a 3-mile treadmill run and then flew through my chest/shoulders/core routine.  I felt a bit spazzy, quickly hopping from one exercise to the next and almost running circles around my fellow gym-goers.  I felt compelled to tell the woman near me that I was running late and that I'm normally not quite so spastic.  The interesting thing was that I burned more calories than I usually do, and in less time.  Goes to show that intensity trumps time when it comes to burning calories.

After the gym I changed and went to my private practice.  I knew I'd be starving before too long so I bought a snack-bar at the gym and ate half of that, along with the rest of my tea, on the way to the office.  Then home to make dinner.  Miguel and I had grilled steaks and rice, the kids had some homemade pizzas I whipped up.  No veggies in site.  Then I hit the grocery store for some much needed food - including some veggies.  Whew, that was a long day!

Yesterday was a bit more normal.  The highlight was lunch with some super-cool fitness friends - Mira and Cori (Hi ladies!!).  They are both on this wonderful journey of health, fitness, and self-discovery.  Being women of a certain age, and mothers, we share in the insanity and joys of weight loss (and maintenance).  It's always good to be reminded that we're not alone on this wild ride.  Even if you can't see anyone else on the road - knowing others are out there, fighting the good fight, and we're all cheering each other on - it's good stuff.

I hit the gym after work, feeling ready to burn off some energy.  Spin class was starting just as I got there so I quickly changed and joined in late.  Mark was there and you know he's blogging now so I landed in his blog!

Michelle (our club superhero) came into the class just after it started.  She walked across the floor and I couldn't help but think to myself, my God, she looks amazing!  There were a few times that I glanced over at her and was simply awe struck at how much she has transformed her body.  As she rode I could see how well her arms and legs have become defined.  No one would ever know that this woman had once carried an excess of 90 pounds on her body.

So much here that puts a big smile on my face. Thank you Mark for being such a positive reinforcement in my journey.  And the thought that I've done the same for you is so perfect.  Dear readers, bear with the love fest.  I only had time for my normal 25 minutes so I left spin class early, despite a real desire to stay and revel in the music, in my pumped up heart rate, and in the energy in the room.

After spin I did legs/shoulders/core, taking it a tad easier on my back when it came to core exercises.  Oy vey, my back...[so I *just* took a break from writing to schedule an appointment with the doctor.  They have an opening on Monday so I might be going to physical therapy by this time next week! Not a moment too soon, I've started popping the ibuprofen twice a day.]  As I was heading out the door Mark and I had a chance to chat.  I grilled him a bit on his post-30-day-Paleo cleanse plan.  I remember from Body for Life that doing a time-limited plan is great as a kick-start but it makes having a good plan for transition super-important.  

Anyway, I went to pick up the kids and turns out Marek had thrown up his afternoon snack and since preschool rules means he has to stay home today, I'm here scheming to get to the gym later.  The good news my bug's bug seems to have already passed - so far everything he's eating is staying down.

And...it's weigh-in Friday.  My weight jumped up to 141.6 pounds.  I say jumped because just yesterday morning it was under 140.  I know the cause, I had a salty meal last night and two glasses of wine.  I imagine it will be back down under 140 by tomorrow or the next day so I'm not sweating it.  Though the doughnut I had this morning won't help :/

I'll close with a little inspiration via the Athleta catalog.  Check out those shoulders!!

Power to the She

Hunger, Wait for It

Have you seen those lists that detail how much exercise it takes to burn off what you've eaten?  For example, it reportedly takes an average female 35 minutes of running to burn off a serving of potato chips (415 calories). 

Seems like practically useless information to me.  I know, calories in, calories out.  But it's so much more than that, at least it feels that way to me.  The quality of those calories counts for something and the type of exercise matters too.  Sure, if you run long enough to burn 415 calories then you've "worked off" the chips.  But what else have you done?  Well, there's a laundry list of health benefits from the running, but there's also a potentially missed opportunity in not strength training.  Not to mention you could have had 415 calories of something that your body could have used in a much more efficient manner and might have been much more satisfying.

Not sure what my point is but seems to me these lists offer little in terms of usable, applicable information - other than trying to scare you into not eating chips.  What does it matter how long it takes to burn off a bag of chips?  Burning calories is such a small part of running.  I know a lot of women run specifically to lose weight and so it's a big part for them, potentially the only part that matters.  But if she doesn't eventually see the other benefits of running - better cardiovascular health, improved mood, better sleep, etc, etc - she's likely not going to keep up a regular running routine. And then how long she has to run to burn off chips won't matter, because she's not running at all.

Anyway, enough ranting.  I have such a full schedule this week that it feels like it's almost over.  On Monday we ended up taking the kids bowling.  The weather was too crappy to do anything outdoors and they loved bowling last time we went.  On the way we stopped for In-n-Out burger for lunch.  I had a hamburger with ketchup/mustard instead of "special sauce" (basically eliminating the mayonnaise), about half an order of fries and unsweetened iced tea.

I hit the gym when we got home.  Started with 25 minutes on the upright bike and then did back/biceps/core.  My back is still touchy so I skipped a couple things and did no/less weights on some things.  A reader, Sara (from Rantings of an Insecure Chubby Girl), asked me when I'm going to go to the doctor for my back.  That got me thinking, physical therapy was so helpful for my shoulders (they hardly bother me at all now), maybe I should see if they can give me some back exercises and stretches.  Anyway, after the gym I took the kids out to dinner for Mexican food and ate black beans, guacamole and chicken with probably one too many potato chips.  I was too hungry when I went in and practically attacked the chip bowl. 

I was so full I managed to get through the evening with no snacking.  Today I had a grilled chicken breast sandwich for lunch and snacked on fruit all day.  I wasn't able to get to the gym so I'm scheming to go tomorrow.  For dinner we had tipico (canned refried black beans, avocado, corn tortillas and cream).  I felt like I didn't have enough food and kept feeling the urge to find something to snack on.  But my stomach wasn't hungry so I told myself it was fine to eat, when I get hungry.  I think my urge to snack was taking a preemptive strike against hunger.  Hunger is fine, it doesn't hurt, and it's a good sign (at least now that my appetite is in the normal range) that I need to eat.  And now I'm in bed (before 10pm, imagine that!) and doing fine, guess dinner was enough after all.