Songs to run to

a la the Two Gomers:

Track: "Test Drive,"

Album:"How to Train Your Dragon" sound track by John Powell.

Track: "One Last Message"

Album: City of Ember sound track by Andrew Lockington

Track: "I'll find my own way"

Album: X-Men Origins Wolverine sound track by Harry Gregson-Williams

Track: "Another Brick in Hadrian's Wall"

Album: King Arthur Original Score by Hans Zimmer

Track: "Opening Titles"

Album: John Adams Music from the HBO miniseries by Rob Lane & Joseph Vitarelli

Track: "Ben"

Album: National Treasure Soundtrack by Trevor Rabin

Track: Jai Ho by A.R. Rahman from the Slumdog Millionaire track

Cool down tracks:

Track: La Fiamma Sacre

Album: Amore recorded by Russell Watson

Track: Titaptawa by Gandalf on the Celtic Lounge album

I love sound tracks because they give me momentum when I'm at that 2/3s section of my workout and I need a bit of extra energy without eating a snack or taking a break.

S A D

Is an acronym for Seasonal Affect Disorder. What that means is that as the fall and winter progress, the subject experiences anxiety and depression with the shortening days. In my family, there are people who have this problem. It can pose a particular level of distress for the dieter. Often people experience an increased craving for carbohydrates and the desire to sleep. Frankly, this sounds a lot like hibernation. Are we 100 percent certain that humans don't experience a hibernative like state in the fall? Its not easy to lose weight coming into hibernation, ask your local black bear, he will tell you that as the days grow shorter he is hungry and finds himself increasingly plumped. As a dieter, our desire is to see the scale go downward, progressing towards our weight goals. It is critical that you don't give into those carbohydrate cravings. The thing with sweets, is that you can never get enough. Having just one bite can lead to eating the whole pie or cake. Its better to just walk away, reviewing in your mind your motivations for weight loss.

Sometimes, sugar is just not your friend. If sugar were your friend, it wouldn't ask you to think about it all the time. It wouldn't insist that you eat with it at every meal. It wouldn't call you up in the middle of the night, saying, "Eat me!!!!" Thats not a friend. Thats a parasite. The less you give in, the less often it will have the strength to insist on you doing what it wants. I'm not interested in some urge being the boss of me. I'm the boss of me. Do you want to be the boss of you? or does that urge get the better of you?

Fall

I love the fall. Its a wonderful time to enjoy the weather outside. Its cooler. Where I live, its still sunny punctuated with occasional rain storms which keep things more green and beautiful. I really love this time of year. A lot of runners love this time of year because we can really dig into our training. I'm currently working on some very tough hills. I have either a 4 or 2 hills trail that I run in my neighborhood, it depends on which direction I take. With sunrise being later in the day, I have been going out later in the morning. This morning I went for my run after 8 am and it was very cold out there, I really couldn't feel my fingers. I'm still doing a 'Truffle Shuffle' a la the Two Gomers. I wonder what their training for this season will be. I'm working on the Couch to 5k program. The only thing that is really in my way is those hills. They are really intense. I am working on the 8 min. intervals. I can do the first one, then the 5 min. walk, and then after the 2 min. interval at the top of the hill, I just get tired. I know I need to just push through. Really dig deep into my spirit and power through it. Its like the little engine said, I can do it, I can do it, I can do it.

Soothing

without eating.

This morning I experienced car trouble. This was a stressful situation for me because I have had my car for 10 years and I had gotten used to not having a car payment. The prospect of putting the blind fold on and shooting my car between the headlights did not thrill me either.

I opened the freezer, looking for ice cream. I was not hungry. It was not my cheat day. I closed the freezer, saying out loud, "Ice cream won't help me fix my car." Just walk away.

But, here is the thing, even though I am not eating the ice cream my little self on my sleeves needs soothing. I need to soothe myself without eating.

I am so tired of interruptions. My life is not horrible. But, interruptions always seem so jarring. Why is that? idk.

Fall

Fall is tough for dieters and weight watchers. There are 4 holidays in just three months time that are very food centric. Sometimes its not easy setting boundaries. What I like to do is instead of eating foods that in reality are now available year round, I try to focus on my friends. I always have a glass of water with lemon or some tea. I don't eat the crudites because you don't really know whats in the dressings unless you made it yourself. The tip that has always been passed around is eat before you go. I use that technique myself. Something with healthy fats, protein and maybe a vegetable. Even a tart green apple can help (if you can tolerate that much carbohydrate.) The holidays don't have to be the end to your diet or a reason to just give up. If you have one or two parties this week you have some decisions to make, is there going to be a food stuff that you really want to eat? If not, then thats really not an opportunity or obligation to go off your diet. Instead, its an opportunity to engage others in conversation. Maybe this year you don't want to make lots of baked goods. If that is a problem for you consider using this time as an opportunity to stay focused. Try having a sugar free holiday and see if that doesn't help stave off some of those winter blues. If you aren't experiencing sugar crashes you will have more energy to go for walks, even on very cold days, getting outside can make the difference between a successful, on target on diet kind of day and an unsuccessful day that you need to undo in January.

What if you took on your New Year's Resolution now? Thats a powerful thought. Then come New Year's day, you wouldn't be starting, you would be continuing good habits. You could look at that day as a goal weigh in. Wow. Its kind of mind blowing. Taking back the power from the advertising that seems to push every single little sweet thing as though there would never be another pumpkin pie, turkey dinner or cranberry muffin.

Look at your body. What does your body need to be healthy? Is it asking to process sugar? Or are those cravings left over messages from your child self asking for fun? Is it ok to be adult and grown up about these things? Is behaving like an adult really the entre into our own fear of death? Setting aside our child like behaviors won't make the hands of time tick any faster.

Responsibility is not a four letter word. Growing up is only scary if you don't do it. Embrace your inner adult. Its there for you.

ok, I'm getting down off my soap box.

Gear

I am inexorably tied to my workout gear. Just two days ago my Polar F4 announced that it had a low battery, I being the frugal individual that I am have successfully taken it apart, purchased the replacement battery and am prepared to replace it today. This only interrupted my workout rotation by one day. I know, I could have run without it, but I just shifted my rest day around. No harm, no foul. This got me thinking about the gear that I find to be essential for a good, effective workout.

I use my ipod three times a week. My ear hugging ear buds are a non-negotiable. Running podcasts and a great playlist are always along for the ride. I almost always wear my heart rate monitor for cardio. This helps me stay in my zone by being able to see when my heart rate dips too low. It also keeps me from working for too long in the anaerobic zone. I always wear a good pair of shoes, bra and socks. I need my workout mat everyday for stretching time and 3 times a week for yoga.

What do you find to be essential for a good workout?

Halloween

Poses challenges, including lots of candy/sugar around and its in these tiny little bite size pieces that you could easily forget that you even had them. I do suggest that if you want to eat some candy that you get a full size candy bar. Eat it, enjoy it and log it into your food log. That will oddly give you less sugar and calories than just diving into the candy jar or bowl at work or at a party. Don't kid yourself, kid size candy bars don't give you kid size energy, they just give you a king size stomach and the tummy ache to go with it. A better sweet alternative is an apple with peanut butter. Its yummy, has lots of fiber and is full of pectin too.