Run, Sleep, Eat, Sleep. (05/11/09)
Today I am two things: sore and hungry! I’ve eaten a lot today, I’m kind of embarrassed to post it, but I am proud that I checked myself at every point to make sure I was REALLY hungry and it wasn’t mindless eating. To me, that is what is important.
Thank you for all of your amazing comments! It’s so wonderful to be a part of such a supportive online community. I am truly grateful.
It’s been so bizarre today thinking about the race yesterday. As time passes I’m like, “Holy crap! I ran a 10K!” Matt and others have been asking me about the race, and honestly some of it I don’t remember clearly toward the end. I have never experienced exercise in the past that people describe as being “in the zone” before this. How can 6 miles be so different from 4?! Somehow, mentally and physically, it really was for me. I can SO see how road races get addictive for people. I can’t wait to do it again! I am already looking into more 5 and 10K’s in the area.
I slept like a baby last night! All those sleepless nights I struggled with in college—I wish someone would have told me to just go run! I woke up to coffee and a big bowl of fancied up cottage cheese:
Breakfast: Lowfat cottage cheese with frozen blueberries, frozen raspberries, banana, and almonds
I debated going to the gym but decided to rest today and return tomorrow. For lunch I made a quick hummus and veggie wrap (sans Swiss—we’re out!). I spread some hummus on a WW tortilla and topped it with some sautéed red peppers and mushrooms, with a little avocado:
Lunch: Hummus veggie wrap with an apple
But that didn’t keep me full for very long! About an hour later I had this scrumptious Pure bar:
As the afternoon wore on I realized I wasn’t going to make it to dinner without being in danger of over-eating so I had two wholegrain brown rice cakes topped with a tablespoon of Barney Butter.
For dinner I made a quick stir fry with shrimp and whatever veggies we had in the fridge. I think that ended up being green beans, carrots, mushrooms, and onions.
Dinner: Shrimp stir-fry with 1/2 cup brown rice
This is my big-girl version of rice and gravy. What I really wanted was to pile a huge bowl of white rice with the gravy from the stir-fry. I refrained. It was actually a great dinner and it made me wish that Chinese food didn’t have such a bad rep for being unhealthy. When you make it at home, it really can be so balanced and enjoyable! It doesn’t have to be oily and greasy. I used 1 teaspoon of oil in this entire batch of stir-fry, and could probably have used less if I had to. I make my stir-fry “gravy” with a combination of light soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil (just a bit!), vegetable broth, fresh garlic and ginger, and a little corn starch (for thickening).
But the eating didn’t stop at dinner. No, no. I wish. I was genuinely still hungry (I waited two hours and made a trip to the grocery store just to make sure) so I had a serving of frozen yogurt.
Maybe not the best choice to fulfill my hunger, but I thought the sugar might also be a good thing to send the message to my brain that today’s eating was over. It didn’t really work, I just ended up wanting more sugar. So I made a small bowl of plain, nonfat yogurt and now I’m DONE. I didn’t need the last yogurt bowl (I knew it at the time I think but was in denial), but I’m not going to beat myself up over this. I’m still reading Intuitive Eating and it says that as you go through the stages of teaching your body how to listen to its hunger signals again, you will have small setbacks and lessons as you figure it all out. The number one goal I have as I stop counting calories and start eating intuitively is no bingeing. Though I ate a lot today, I was conscious and mindful of every decision and I think that is good progress in my journey.
I’ll stop rambling and sign off for now. Really quickly though, are you all getting excited for Angela’s Shop 4 A Cause auction?! She just announced today that it will be on May 19. I’ve made a donation and I’m already eyeing up a few of the items up for auction! It’s going to be so fun!
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I really liked the Intuitive Eating book. I found it very helpful. I think if you’re eating habits haven’t been the best for a while it takes a bit of time to get them straightened out. Good luck with it!
Totally agree with your first paragraph as to what is important is eating when hungry
I always get mad when people say Chinese food is “so unhealthy”, you are right, it doesn’t have to be. Some people think it’s just the North American style fried Chinese fast food is all there is to the cuisine. Stir fries are one of my staple foods and they really don’t need much oil at all.
I tried that Pure bar today as well!! Fantastic reflection on IE! You will have this down in no time
sounds like you did a really good job recognizing that you were hungry and needed to eat! i have days where i just can’t stop thinking about eating something else and i think it’s better to just satisfy that need instead of putting it off to the point where i am forcing myself not to have a snack, you know?? all your food looks lovely and well balanced i think
running in college does not a good nights sleep make. haha.
anyways. lovely looking eats. and way to listen to your hot bod!
OMG I am so happy for you
One of the most important things that I’ve been thinking about recently is something Jillian Michaels says – you ARE going to fall off the wagon, it’s inevitable. But you have to get back on! If you get a flat tire do you stop the car and slash the rest of them? No! You pull over and fix it, and keep going. I think that you did a fantastic job with the eating and you are well on the way to being an intuitive eater. I really want to read that book. I started reading it in Barnes and Noble but I haven’t been back in a while.
I don’t think you should be embarrassed about your day’s eats at all! I think you should be proud of all the thoughtful and healthy choices you made! Honestly, Lara, this is fabulous…down to that last serving of yogurt! Keep it up!
i think you did a great job of listening to your hunger- everything looks healthy and delicious!
eat away girl! you totes earned it
The stirfry looks yummy, I simply love shrimp!When I workout hard, I always sleep well!
I know I’m a bit late but…. congratulations on the 10k! A little hungry? You better make sure you eat, girlie, the body does not exaggerate
enjoy!
dude do NOT be embarrassed. First of all, that isn’t a lot of food by any stretch of the imagination. Second, like you said, you listened to your body and that’s all that really matters. You made conscious decisions all day long- some days we’re just hungrier than others.
I think that’s the best looking cottage cheese that I have ever seen!
lara how much do you rock?!?!?! I just had to catch up with the last 2 posts and just wanted to CONGRATULATE YOU on you awesome run and for continuing to stick on track to your eating plan. I am SO excited and so happy for you it’s almost as if I had achieved something awesome for myself as well. hahahah though….I didn’t do anything and haven’t gone anywhere.
I’m loving those in-action pictures! I totally didn’t realize you were wearing a skirt until you pointed out people giving you strange looks. MAN, they need to get with the program!!! hahahah
I heart Pure bars too. More than Larabars I think…almost! If only they had more flavors!! And they were bigger. hahaha
Congrats on your 10k!!! You did so awesome! I have a goal to run a 10k this year but I’m not sure I will be making it.. you are inspiring my friend!
Sorry youre sore but your recharge food looks yummy as always!
Congrats Lara!-that’s why you were so hungry today, you ran a major race yesterday! And everything looks incredibly delicious and healthful, so i’m glad you enjoyed it and fed your body well! You totally deserved that extra fro yo!
Your hooked on the races now by the sound of it
its so great! its really inspiring too, as i know you only started runninng a while back, just like me! I too am planning on trying my first 5k then 10k over the summer, so its nice to hear someone elses account of their first race 
all the eats look great! especially dinner! and i dont think you ate too much or alot at all, you ate intuitively, which is awesome
have a nice night hun!
I’m so glad to hear the race went well, and I understand how road races can be addictive
Your food looks great today and I’m proud of you for honoring your hunger – I know how tough that can be! How are you liking the intuitive eating book? I have a copy but am still trying to find time to read it, and am a little nervous at this point of stopping calorie-counting. But I am inspired after reading your post 
I hope you have a great Tuesday!
I think you did really well eating. So you didn’t really need the last bowl of yogurt, but yogurt isn’t a bad choice when you just need something mentally. I think because you’re used to just 3 meals this seems like a lot of food, but actually this is a good example of a day like mine. Good luck with intuitive eating and no bingeing!
Lara,
Wow, you really enjoyed your 10K – so happy and excited for you. Glad you slept well, and listened to your body throughout the whole day. I’m relearning to listen to my own hunger signals. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. I’ve lived with all these ating rules for so long…times to eat, calories at each meal, etc. I totally envy people that never even think about food – just grab something when they’re hungry and then stop when they’re satisfied. I want to get there…someday, right?
Avocados make everything fabulous, and I adore your <3 plates… How is life???
Well done on your 10K yesterday! Is that the first time you have raced? You’re time is quite good! You’ll find you’ll knock of a few minutes each time you do another.
Your cottage cheese breakfast looks delicious – as does your lunch wrap. I hope you enjoyed your day break. You deserved it!
And yeah, running makes me sleep like a baby too
I loved all the photographs! and more food would have been appropriate too because your body just did a 10k for the first time!! I remember my first 10 k with my dad- I thought it was the longest race that ever existed!!! It kicked my butt!
I hope you recover and your knees are doing well and glad to read that you are taking such a concious and mindfull approach to eating healthy and sane!
Excellent job rfueling!!! I love hummus wraps more than anything. Good luck with your goal to stop calorie counting. You are such a wonderful person and beautiful inside and out – it makes me sad that calories bother you! I will beat them up.
Awesome job with the choices you made. Such clean, balanced choices!! I totally know what you mean: any cuisine can be made unhealthy OR healthy … it’s all in the prep and ingredients! Awesome job!!
I agree, great choices. When I get on a carb kick after a long run, I just keep going as well. Your body need it to recover!
I didn’t realize you used a food scale. In losing your 30lbs, how often did you measure/weigh your food. I have a pesky 10-15 lbs that I want to lose and have just started an off-line journal.
You really didn’t eat much at all. I eat more than that every day!! I was scrolling down expecting to see piles of food but you really didn’t eat much at all. Looks great, esp the stir fry!
my appetite has big surges when i do ong runs too…sometimes i think my metabolism just shoots through the roof (not exactly something to complain about). anyways, i think its great that you were so mindful the entire time and truly checked yourself to make sure you were really hungry. bethenny would be proud, haha.
gravy, huh? how very british of you!
Even though you say you ate a lot, you chose AMAZING healthy foods and that is so awesome!!
10K is such an accomplishment and you should feel fabulous about it!
Linda: I actually didn’t have or use a food scale (or count calories) while I was losing the majority of the weight. I think it was when I lost the last 10 lbs or so that I had the food scale. It made a HUGE difference.
I would definitely recommend using one for your last 10 lbs! At first I measured everything I could (from oats in the morning and all the toppings to meat at dinner). Now I’m scaling back and just doing the big stuff. I’m working on trusting myself a little more with portions!
Your meals look very small and sparse so not suprised you were feeling so hungry. Especially after the big race the day before. It seems to me that you are still eating pretty restrictively?
I bet you slept well! I don’t blame you!
Ps- good for you for trusting yourself with portions (read that in your comment ^ there).
Hi Lara: I am still trying to be really aware of everything I eat without counting calories. For me, I struggle with counting every calorie OR eating way too much. This was a good balance for me yesterday because I didn’t count but I didn’t binge. I estimated the calories (just now, not officially) to be around 2,000 for this post, so I think that’s pretty good (not restricting, not bingeing)
Good luck with your continued transition to intuitive eating. It’s hard, fo sho. Beauts stirfry tho!
It doesn’t look even close to 2000 but then again without knowing portion sizes it is hard to tell from pictures some times. Congrats on learning to eat Intuitively.
i think you are doing great – and you did not eat all that much, how can you be embarrassed! especially after the race, you definitely needed some serious re-fueling
it also makes me sad that people consider chinese food unhealthy – sure, the greasy take-away stuff, yes, but that’s not REAL! our family is a big fan of chinese, and love going out for true dimsum – and of course, we do get the odd take-away too
you only have to look at the general health state of the chinese popularity – i have rarely met an overweight chinese person.
i don’t know what brand wholewheat wraps you buy, but we have always bought “discovery” brand, which are fairly small and 109cals per wrap. the other day, i noticed they had changed the packaging, and made the wraps bigger! now they are about 140-160cals, can’t quite remember. not sure whether to be happy about it!
I am just starting the same journey as you are! I have read intuitive eating (but it’s been a while; I need to reread it) and am trying to eat mindfully.
I’m excited to watch your progress!
Mi: These are the Discovery ones! I noticed the change of packaging but I didn’t realize the old ones used to be so low-cal! I think these ones are 145 or something. Do you know of any other wholegrain wrap?
I think it is great that you listened to and respected your body today. I have days that I call “hungry days” where I just seem to be hungry all day. I have learned that it is best to listen to my body and eat a little more on those days. Chances are, that the next day I won’t be hungry at all (but I still eat of course). Your eats look fabulous and very healthy. You have no reason to feel guilty or embarrassed about the day! I can’t wait to hear more about your journey towards Intuitive Eating.
I had the same type of day yesterday where I was just so hungry! Nothing could fill me up. I want to check out that book!