Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Less running, more fat

We are in the height of fall marathon time, and I've been reading a lot of blog posts about how much we all hate tapering (except me). Ok, that's a lie, I'm way behind on blog reading, boo hoo, feel bad for me, I'm busy with real life, OMG it's so hard. But I've read a few, and usually there are a lot going around this time of year, so I'm inferring they are out there.

I'm going to provide a public service. If you need some sort of way to fill the void in your life left by tapering, email me your address. I'll mail you a big envelope filled with papers and an answer key, you grade them, and mail them back to me. If your big race has passed, don't worry, I'll be offering this service until I'm ready to retire.

Once again this week, my motivation seems to have disappeared. Weird timing, because I got a bunch of nice comments this morning on my 56 mile post marathon week.

Usually, I only fight myself about running until I'm out of bed, but when it lasts all the way up until I brush my teeth, I know I'm in trouble. I managed to push through Monday for my 8 miler, but not Tuesday. I worked at Charm City Monday night, so I was up "late". I've had a second job for most of my teaching career, but it seems I'm no spring chicken anymore, and I can't just hop out of bed like normal the following morning anymore. 

With afternoon running, my main challenge is generally getting out the door, and sometimes getting through the first mile. I was out the door after work, but really not feeling the run. My legs felt good, my breathing felt good, but I just kept feeling stressed over all the crap I still needed to do and desperately wanted to not be running. Weird.



So, I turned around after a mile and a half and totally bailed on the run. It was a waste, since my body felt good, but I was so happy when I got home. I tried to figure out where all the running hatred was stemming from. I came up with this great theory about how I'm an introvert and I need time alone to recharge (pretty sure I just read that on a blog somewhere, but it sounds like me) and since I hadn't had any recently I was burnt out, but then I realized that I was, in fact, running alone, so that didn't really hold any weight. 

The only logical thing to do was cook a delicious dinner. I've been obsessed with this recipe Vanessa posted, since it had coconut milk. I've posted before about how much I love real (full fat) coconut milk and how much I hate low or nonfat.....anything. Of course, I'm always looking for ways to make meals even more delicious by adding more fat, as we all should be. I came across this great find a few weeks ago at Trader Joes and couldn't wait to bust it out.

Just like coconut milk, except twice as much fat and therefore
twice as delicious

As usual, we ate most of the four serving recipe, because we love to eat, and then I followed it up with a few spoonfuls of Nutella, for good measure.

Some people claim they don't like fat, and I really struggle to believe that. I'm not going to call anyone a liar, but I really don't see how you can tell me skim milk is preferable to whole with a straight face. That's like when people say they had fruit for dessert.

What's your favorite fatty food (other than dessert, obviously)? I'm torn between ice cold whole milk or delicious cheeses like smoked Gouda or Gorgonzola. 

You have to go to my sister's blog to see my nephew's one month/two month comparison photos. It looks like she swapped him out for a new baby.

14 comments:

  1. The only person I believe who actually wants fruit for dessert is my kid. She would throw a cookie to the ground to get to some berries. I don't know where I went wrong in raising her.

    I think it's normal need a mental break day from running, even if your body isn't crying for a rest day. :)

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    1. That doesn't count, she's young, her brain is still developing, and I am holding out hope. If she gets to 6 or 7 and still does this she may need to come spend a weekend with me so I can launch a full blown intervention.

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  2. somehow we ended up with a packet of coconut cream mix, and made it for a party a while back....it has the exact same color and consistency as semen. So you can probably imagine what we did with most of it.

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  3. Chips. I could eat chips all day long. I am banned for buying them because I become mean when anyone else wants to put their dirty hand in the bag.

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  4. Ok, but have you ever put fruit in a bowl full of dark chocolate almond milk? It's pretty darn yummy :)

    But cheese. Yes, cheese in all shapes and sizes-- I'll never give that up. Oh, and Nutella is like crack to me. I literally cannot purchase it without planning on eating the entire container that same day. Your few spoonfuls that you mentioned would NEVER happen in my world!

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  5. Favorite fat? Bacon. Absolutely. The best part is that you can cook other stuff in bacon fat too! It's so versatile!

    I also like cheese and avocado. Really, any dish with bacon, cheese and avocado is my favorite!

    Who eats fruit for dessert? I mean, I like fruit but I would never say it's on par with dessert.

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    1. Bacon is definitely up there on my list of favorite fats. As are all the things you can make from bacon fat! Also ice cream, especially Ben and Jerry's "Everything But The..."

      I'm a fan of fruit pie for dessert, but generally with whipped cream or ice cream on top. Heavy whipping cream that is. I still have memories of a carrot cake my grandmother and I made when I was little: we used reduced fat cream cheese in the icing, and it was too liquidy to stay on the cake. Full fat is the way to go for sure.

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  6. I prefer skim milk to whole milk, but only because I don't really like the taste of milk and skim tastes like water. It works out nicely.

    Fruit for dessert isn't dessert, it's an extension of your meal and doesn't count. Fruit never counts! I feel like I need to go eat some chocolate chips to make myself feel better now.

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  7. I agree with all of the above. Fruit is not a dessert (unless you're a 2-year-old).

    I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who's ran part of a run and then turned around and gave up because my brain needed it.

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  8. Does yogurt count as a non-dessert food? I love full-fat yogurt in France or Germany that gets topped with honey. It's the most amazing thing in the world. I found some at the grocery store by a French company but it's like $3 a serving.

    Glad you liked the coconut dish! Tim bought low-fat coconut milk for it once and I refused to even make it. But that Trader Joe's extra thick stuff? I've never even seen it. Is it amazing?

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  9. This week I am going to try NadaMoo organic, vegan, gluten free, lactose free Ice Cream. If its any good, I may have to start running marathons.

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  10. I think you are just missing running with me - jajaja :-)

    at least thats my excuse...... I miss u!

    dont worry...you are an awesome runner... you will get it back :-)

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Thanks for commenting! Comments make me probably more happy than they should.