Spring Cleaning

I will admit to a few weeks of (albeit calorically regulated) less-than-clean eating in the weeks after my marathon. But now that I've overcome my post-marathon food anxiety, I'm back to reassuring and cleansing super-clean eating habits. In the dining halls here, that amounts to...

- fruit
- salad (with soy sauce, ketchup, or fat-free italian as dressing)
- egg whites (and sometimes yolks)
- light bread
- fat-free cottage cheese

I. Feel. So good. In fact, I've come to realize that a meat-free diet really agrees with me. Though I enjoy fish, the cleanly prepared stuff is hard to come by on campus. And I definitely can't handle chicken or beef anymore (as my stomach will attest).

I've also been trying *really* hard to drink more water. And I've started weighing in every day.

It takes a HUGE load off my mind to know the number. It really does. To see it every day, even with the little fluctuations, makes me worry less about my body and less about minor bloating.

What I still need to work on, though? Eating more fat and more protein. I get more fiber than I'm willing to admit (way more than 30 grams...*sigh*), but making more of it come from fruit and less from light bread would probably be wise. I can't wait until this summer, when I'll no longer be subject to dining hall limitations.

I've been getting the same amount of exercise as always -- at least 60 minutes of cardio every day -- but less of it has been from running since the marathon. These past few days, actually, I've taken 3.5 mile hikes in the hills here (which my BodyBugg says counts for ~300 calories) as half my daily workout. Upside: beautiful views, open air, challenging different muscles. Downside: wind + pollen = allergies.

That's it for today; just checking in. Eat clean and prosper! (And see Star Trek while you're at it.)