Outside my comfort zone

Hello, friends!

Today has been AMAZING. It feels like I was eating constantly all day (and I pretty much was), and I still haven't finished everything I'd prepared yesterday. And it was a pretty relaxed day at work - tomorrow I will not have as much time to leisurely munch on my salad for an hour!

The food I prepped yesterday was great today. The "blanched" asparagus was delish, as was the black bean soup that looked suspiciously watery yesterday. Now I'm eating the chickpea curry that I threw together (and accidentally dumped too much turmeric in), and it's quite good (and spicy)! I decided to have the food I was least looking forward to today, in the hopes that my "first day motivation" would help me power through. And it did!

After work, I walked home, gulped down a green smoothie, and threw on my running clothes:

Yes, that's painter's tape around the door behind me. What of it?

Then I bravely rushed off (read: walked slowly) to a local running store to join a "Learn to Run" group! Now, according to this very blog, at one point in my life I could run 5k without stopping (which I only did once ever, but you know. Still counts). Tonight, we ran for one minute/walked for one minute, and went a VERY SHORT DISTANCE (about 4 long blocks total. I think it was around 1.5 km). And I DIED. My lungs were burning and I think I was the second-last person back to the store at the end. But I did it! And everyone was really nice. As some other slowpokes and I crested the hill to the halfway point, we totally got applause.

It was really motivating to be in a group. When the leader addressed us all at the beginning and gave us a bit of a pep talk, I found it really inspiring! It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but sometimes you just need to hear that kind of thing ("you'll be amazed at what you are capable of," etc).

I was so glad on the walk home that my dinner was prepared and waiting for me in the fridge. If that hadn't been the case, I am 95% sure I would have picked up dinner on the way, thinking I "deserved" it because of my running. But really, do I deserve to load up my body with fat, give myself stomachaches, gain more weight, and get heart disease? No! I deserve lots of veggies and whole foods that will give me energy and make me healthier. But seriously, if my food wasn't waiting for me, I totally would have gotten two slices of pizza. Not one. TWO.

AND I am SO happy that tomorrow's meals are ready too! I can now chillax with the new Breaking Bad and my knitting (HELLO, best night ever) and get to bed early. (Um, of course those dishes from my cooking marathon aren't still in my sink. I'm totally a responsible adult who keeps a tidy home. Totally.)