Running- my current reflections

Hi friends!
Let's take a time warp back about 16 months.

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Ok, 16 months in the past, here we are! (sort of)
Looking at my life around this time, things were pretty similar... and pretty not similar.
I was still a girl (shocka there) who loved nourishing her body with the best kinds of foods, cooking all the time, reading healthy living blogs and generally fantasizing about food.

There was one big difference though. Running hadn't entered my life quite yet. And then a month or two later I started to run. And then I comfortably ran for 10 minutes each day for a while.
It was just another healthy addition I decided to add to my life after seeing so many of my healthy living blogger idols expressed their adoration for the sport.

I didn't really know anyone else who ran, so I didn't know if 10 minutes was long, or how far I was going, or anything really. I plugged in my headphones and took off around the local park, huffing and puffing, feeling exhausted and exhilarated and returning home with a massive smile on my dile.

This easy distance suddenly became uninteresting and dull (no wonder seeing as I was doing the same small route day in, day out) so I started doing at home workouts instead, and enjoyed them more.

Then the school cross country carnival happened. I ran. I did well. And the spark was re-ignited once again.

This was longer distances than I was used to and trying was hard and testing but the buzz I got after finishing was like nothing else I had ever experienced. After the inter school carnival came and went my love for running remained and my distances had increased dramatically. I was now running 30 minutes at a time- sweating like an ice cube left out of the freezer- but running further none the less.

30 minutes seemed a crazy long time back then and seriously wiped me out- in a good way! I guess I just went too far, too hard, too fast. My first injury soon ensued. This was awful for me. I wrote about it a bit here and here (although I didn't want to go into it in too much detail as it just made me more upset) and it just seemed like recovery was taking forever... and I just wanted to run! (I think that's when I truly identified myself as a runner).

Eventually I did recover and slowly (oh, so slowly!) worked my way back to my previous fitness level (I started off with my long forgotten 10 minute runs once more, adding another hill, or another lap of the oval each time when I felt ready) I took a break every second day, so I ran, didn't run, ran, didn't run and so on. I made it back to where I was and then... I just kept going.

Cross country opened my eyes (and ears?) to running without head phones and so I haven't run with them since. My physio helping me through my injury said to me on my last visit that I'll 'be back to running marathons in no time!' and that stuck with me too. And now? Now I run. And I run far. I run for 90-100 minutes (1 hour 30-45 mins) with no headphones, with a motivation of one day running marathons (when I'm older and wiser :) and some days return home, think of my 10 minute runs of just over a year ago and think to myself;  'what the...' when I realise just how far I've come.

 Running has given me so much- strength, determination, patience, energy, an escape for my crazy, stressful mind... and I'm just so thankful that I've finally found something that now makes up such a huge part of who I am. I guess it's pretty hard to understand unless you've gone through the same thing (with running, or another aspect of life) then you would understand exactly how I feel.

And along with the awesome endorphin high, and awesome fatigue at the same time, I also definitely feel hungry after such a long period pounding the pavement grass (a lot nicer on the knees)!
Today's post-run brekky?

 PANCAKES! It's a public holiday over here in Western Australia and so my Monday feels like a Sunday... so I made pancakes!

 Some vanilla protein powder banana bread pancakes. Similar to this recipe, with a scoop of vanilla protein powder stirred in.

 Along with a side of blackberry fro-yo ( handful frozen blackberries + 1/2 banana+ 3 big scoops of greek yoghurt).. because- YUM!

 Topped my delicious 'cakes off with some almond/sesame/chia seed butter and some smooth peanut butter. Nice and heavy-handedly :)

 This fro-yo was on point guys! So creamy, perfectly sweet and fruity!

 I love having enough time to make pancakes after a run. So easy to eat up, enjoy and replenish all my hungry cells. Break down all the glucose!! (Thanks human biology ;)

 So the two loves of my life now? Running and nut butter food. It's like food was my first-born and I loved it very much, but then along came it's new brother, running, and I had to love both of them just as much. :D

 But food will always hold a special place in my heart.

 I mean seriously, I'm drooling and I only ate this about an hour ago!

Happiness in the form of pancakes. :)


What about you?
Do you have an aspect in your life that you just couldn't live without?
Has your life changed in the past 16 months?
What did you have for breakfast?

See you guys later! I'm off to enjoy my free day and rest up my tired legs! Maybe eat some more food. Well, definitely eat some more food! Bye friends! :D

Stevia- the reason for my skepticism

Happy Saturday everyone! Who's excited for the weekend? This girl!
And boy, do I have a post planned for you today!
Topical, debatable and will probably remain that way even after I've blurted out a full post of wisdom, because that's the way of the world!

If you've been reading this riveting blog for a while now you may have learned that I do not eat sugar. But that's a lie in itself. Check out a typical snack of mine:

That's quite a bit of sugar right there in that pic. Around 20g even.
What I mean when I say I've stopped eating sugar, is I've stopped eating the white processed stuff shown in the above pic.
Why is that? Because I don't need it.

Our bodies need sugars to function- to provide energy, to be stored as fuel etc. Without it we would cease to function.

However our bodies only need a certain amount of sugar to function properly and excess can be detrimental to our healths. We know this. Scientific studies have proved this. And yet there is still so much confusion.

I choose to get my sugar intake from fresh fruits and veggies. I do not eat table sugar or cookies with cups of sugar, or jelly lollies, or white chocolate  and yes, the list goes on. What we must remember though, is sugar is sugar, no matter where it's hidden. I am still eating sugar and it holds the same effect in the body as ingesting a teaspoon of sugar would, however I choose to eat the tablespoon of sugar along with another tablespoon of fiber and vitamins and minerals.

But sugar is sugar, no matter what the form.

This is a very simplified view of sugar though. Table sugar v fruit. It's not that simple to decide right and wrong. Fruit wins because of the added benefits above the sugar, but what happens when we introduce the other game changers? Brown sugar, raw sugar, pure maple syrup, agave nectar and the most popular it would seem, stevia.

Now, brown sugars and molasses and nectars are all types of sugar as well and are simply less refined than table sugar, which means they create less of a spike to your blood sugar levels when ingested. But they are still sugars.

Stevia on the other hand is an interesting one. Stevia is from a plant. It is 300 times sweeter than sugar and contains zero calories. It must be the answer to all of our problems right? My mum came to me with that exact same question when she was weighing up whether to switch over to the popular sweetener alternative and my response was simply, 'It sounds too good to be true.' And I believe it is.

Those who focus on weight loss and body fat percentages and food to burn more calories would worship this wonder sweetener, hailing it in all it's glory for allowing them to indulge without indulging. I, on the other hand, focus on nutrition, on worshiping (for better use of a word) our own bodies and fueling them with the most natural and least processed foods available. We are natural creations, we should eat natural foods.

So when I researched more about stevia I was less and less impressed by what it had to offer. Stevia- in it's pure form, may well be a wonder food, but the powdered white stuff we find on our supermarket shelves is a totally different story. First of all I was curious as to why it took so long to be approved as a product and what else they must be hiding from the typical consumer.

Then I found this statement from Dr Alan Barclay, of Diabetes Australia that answered my question to a T:
The powder "is a highly refined extract, blended with sugar alcohol and... bulked up with maltodextrin [a refined starch that breaks down into glucose]," he says. "To get it table-top sweet, it's bulked out with other carbohydrates which are calorific."

We do not eat the herb stevia (which genuinely does have zero calories) in it's pure form. Stevia is a lot less natural as lead to believe and unfortunately has taken the world by storm as the new wonder food.

 Of course make sure you do your own research on the matter if you choose to eat stevia/ steer clear of it, this is just my opinion and I always say that there is never an absolute answer for the perfect diet. My opinion is stevia needs a lot more research thrown into it to determine whether or not this powdered miracle is really just a powdered poison, until then, I'm steering clear and that is my opinion alone.

What about you?
Do you use stevia?
Do you prefer to use other sweeteners?
Ever feel like the 'next best thing!' isn't always the best thing?

That's it for today folks! I hope everyone has a great day! Bye! :D

Thinking Out Loud! What food has taught me

I thought a lot about what I wanted to write about today.

I didn't have a recipe, or any pretty food pictures, so that was off the list. (There's only so many bowls of oatmeal I can show you before it becomes...plebeian- I wanted to find a more interesting word than boring;)
I didn't feel like writing a long post about something that requires a lot of research and is pretty factual (see here and here). I didn't feel like preaching, or jesting, or ranting.
So as I puzzled purposefully through this predicament (alliteration appreciation!) my mind wandered back to that one thing that brings me comfort, happiness and peace whenever I think about it. Food.

 I'm not just talking comfort foods that coat your mouth with greasy goodness or fill your belly with carby comfort (seriously my literary devices are on fire!) for me food is more than that.

Like music is an escape for some, food is my escape. Others may seek comfort in a favourite well worn book, or feel a sense of joy when they pick up a pencil and draw (I must say I can relate to all of these too) but the one thing on this planet that brings me the most joy and excitement and comfort, can be summed up in one word. Food.

Food has taught me that no one body is the same. Everyone needs different amounts, different types and different amounts of these types of food. From a young age I could relate my tired and bloated and most of the time sore belly to the food I was eating. As a kid my snack of choice was a big carrot to munch on, or a banana.

Food taught me that it can be produced and collected in two ways- right and wrong. It pushed me to stop eating meat because most supermarkets were selling the wrong kind- the kind that were stripped of any animal right, and packaged up nice and tight to hide the iniquity.

Food taught me that certain foods can make me feel great. Fresh fruit and veg, minimally processed grains, healthy fats, good protein sources. Food and I reunited once again into a loving relationship after failing me and leaving me fatigued and sick. Food gave me strength, healthy skin, energy, strong hair and nails, concentration and my internal, almost forgotten, sunshine.

Food taught me to listen to my body and to act upon it. To understand when I was eating the wrong things and when I was eating the right. Some foods gave me pain. Others gave me strength. I stuck to the stuff that made me stronger.

Food taught me that others might judge. How much, how often and what you're eating, people will question. Girl's will sneer and tease at the food that makes me feel good. People will drop their jaws in shock when I tell them what I choose to eat and what I don't. Questions will fly as to whether I'm getting enough protein/ iron/ vitamin B12.

Food gave me creativity, challenges purpose and a sense of pride. Never have I wanted achieve so much. Food kick started my determination to succeed and flourished my talents for others to see.

 Food consumed my unconscious, my waking mind, my habitual day dreams and spread warmth throughout my body. When times got tough I'd think of food. I'd create food. I'd bake and write and imagine future creations. Consequently my stresses and worries would be soothed away by the whir of my beaters, by the folding of my batter.

Above all else, food showed me what I am capable of. The things I create, the recipes I've devoured and challenged myself to produce, the blog that I write.

Food has given me a direction for my life and for that I am thankful. Good job food. You're awesome.

What about you?
Does food do the same thing for you? Does something else in your life?
Do you bake when you're stressed?
Craziest food creation you've ever made!

This is just me Thinking Out Loud! Be sure to head on over to Spoons to check out what everyone else is thinking about this awesome Thursday!

WIAW #45 Good Noms

It'ssssss Wednesday! You know what that means! A whole day of eats! A whole day of my eats! Who's super-duper excited?
I know it seems weird but I absolutely love writing these posts, it gives me a little document into what I've been eating each week. I can suss out changes and flick back for some meal inspiration. I also really love reading other peoples WIAW posts- because underneath all of our good intentions, we are all nosy plebeians. Yup.

So, with that awesome intro, let's get onto some eats, shall we?!?
Below is a typical Tuesday- a no-running day where I have time and effort to make my food. (Well, as much time and effort that school will allow)
Breakfast: 7:15am
Leisurely breakfasts are so amazing for me because if I want to fit in my runs somehow (they're getting pretty long, see) I've got to squish em' into my mornings (hello before-the-sun-rises wake-ups!) and then some how manage to eat breakfast whilst simultaneously running around the house with one shoe on and a hairbrush in my hand.

So yeh, Tuesdays are good.

 Also the sun made a spot just for my breakfast to be photographed with perfect light. Thanks sun! :)

 Tuesday's brekky was an old favourite of mine- a peanut butter and banana toastie. Simple, delicious and... did I mention delicious?

 As a side dish to absolutely perfectly complement the rich, coat-your-entire-mouth, sandwich I made some blueberry fro-yo:

 Which was simply a handful of frozen blueberries whazzed up in a mini food processor with a few big dollops of greek yoghurt:

NOM.

Snack: 11:00am
After the first two periods of wonderful school (half serious, because I actually quite like school!) which involved some cooking (food science) and some literature (...literature) I enjoyed a nice little pot of peas. :)

*Imagination required*

Lunch: 1:40pm (because my school wants to starve us)
Pre-prepared lunch of delicious roasted veg (pumpkin, potato and parsnip) with lots of spinach and some chili tofu:

 How good are cold roasted veggies? I've said this many times before... but still! Nothing beats a cold roasted potato. Nothing. Maybe...

 So easy to whip up the night before and pop in a container to bring to school!

Snack: 4:00pm 
Snack-attack hit at 4 today after some delightful homework and prior to a flute lesson:

 A white-flesh nectarine with some raw mixed nuts and some soy milk. Yum!

 Deliciously sweet and crunchy nectarine, super yummy nuts and cold, refreshing soy milk. Perfect snack.

Dinner: 6:45pm
Flute lesson done! More homework done! Dinner- ready!! 

 This was a good one guys! Roasted sweet potato fries, roasted brussels sprouts, spinach tomatoes and Mexican chickpea patties.

 Happy Days.

 The veggie patties were so good that I'm going to make you wait and suffer for the recipe. Well, I'm actually going to go and do some more homework and write up the recipe when I have more time... but same outcome!!

What about you?
Do you sometimes have super-rushed mornings?
Cold roast veggies? Best thing ever, or not?
Favourite afternoon snack to keep you going?!?

That's it for what I ate Tuesday, to check out other people's eats head on over to Peas and Crayons!
Bye!! :D