Still running (and doing other stuff)

Apologies for my temporary disappearance. Lately, I've needed every precious hour for work, friends, running (more on that in a minute), and generally keeping up with life. Work, in particular, was tough last week, but I'm glad that this week has lightened up somewhat. Since I've been gone -

I've successfully run(/walked) each day this month for a minimum of 30 minutes. (My streak technically extends back to May 31, but who's counting?) I initially started out doing 2 min running/4 min walking. (I'm taking my cues from the Jeff Galloway school of running. He's all about walk breaks.) This past Saturday, I shifted to 2 min running/3 min walking. I'm actually looking forward to running each day. It's the best feeling ever knowing that you've already checked that box before you start your workday. Plus, we're having consistent 90+ degree days that feel like 100+, so the morning or late, late evening is really the only possible option to get out and run and not pass out (according to my logic, at least).

 This picture doesn't have to do with this blog, but it cracks my hubs up, and he actually went so far as to say, "You should post THAT to your blog." So I am.

We also attempted a 10-day diet of only fruits and veggies (plus, legumes, organic peanut butter and olive oil) diet. The diet is a slightly altered version of the Daniel diet. (In the Daniel diet, you can also eat whole grains.) The day before we started, we trekked to Whole Foods. (As a general rule, we do not shop there for obvious budgeting reasons.) We bought kale and tomatoes, carrots and brussel sprouts, zucchini and squash, bananas and apples. All organic and/or local. We put it all in our fridge. We were ready. This was going to be an exercise in willpower and an opportunity to cleanse our bodies of the junk we'd been eating en mass lately.

We only made it to day 5.5. I was bummed. We'd actually completed the entire 10 days once before, before we were married. (My mom and dad also participated, and my dad swore off edamame and black bean and corn salsa permanently as a result.) This time, my body was angry at me pretty much the entire time. After the no-caffeine headache wore off, I just felt rough.

Needless to say, I'm thankful for the addition of whole grains and dairy back into our diet. We have chosen to continue our "low sugar/no dessert" policy indefinitely. Right now, Diamond's brown sugar and cinnamon almonds are the closest I come to eating dessert. (Please try them. They are amazing. Like a cinnamon graham cracker meets an almond.) I also had my first cup of coffee in a week last night, and I only drank half of it. I do think I feel healthier all around with our basic diet changes.

 When B made our "clean out the fridge" omelet the night before our diet begin, the three eggs he cracked smiled back at us.

We also spent a few hours at Sullivan's Island on Saturday. The kite in the background of this photo belongs to our friend, Harold, and, dude, this is not your grandmother's kite. It's actually really fun - and really hard - to fly.

Moving forward, we're going to go to the beach more often. I just made that decision. Even this "non-beach" girl can't resist the occasional nap in the sand.