Run, Kaycee, Run.

I cheated.

I was stupid.  And did not exercise self-control.  

First, I must say that I did great with dinner.  I had a vegan noodle salad and a Vietnamese crepe, which were both delicious and satisfying.  However, things went downhill when my friends showed up with something tempting.

Fresh, hot Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  Everyone said, “Oh, those probably don’t have dairy.”  WRONG.  In denial, I ate not one, but TWO.  

I do think that I could totally go vegan if someone fixed me food like I had tonight.  Homemade tofu is phenomenal.

Unexpected benefits of going dairy-free

Usually my running clothes STINK of sweat.  Today, I had to grab my fleece jacket on my rush out of the door, even though I had worn it running a few mornings this week.  To my surprise, it did not stink at all.  It still smelled like detergent.  

Also, my stomach is down a total of 2” in just a week.  That’s the fastest drop I’ve ever seen.  Of course, this obviously wasn’t fat, but most likely inflammation, which is scary.  

I’m starting to feel a little more energy than usual.  My runs have felt really easy lately.

TJMaxx ftw.

A four-bottle FuelBelt for $9.99????? Why, I don’t mind if I do.  I think the sizes were mislabeled because they were much smaller than the sizes on the tag.  

I’ve been running a fitness class for at-risk kids that live at the facility where I work and today we asked if they wanted to train with us for a 5k.  We took them outside and showed them how to do intervals based on the marks that I made on our walking path.  I tried to make it fun by pretending we were cheetahs when it was time to run.

Day 3, Dairy-free and other adventures

Got up, ate some cereal with almond milk, drove to the 5k location, raced to little fanfare (seriously, no one was there because of the nasty drizzly rain and cold), went to the grocery for some dairy-free food staples (pizza, cereal, snack crackers, cookies, bagels), visited my grandma, and came home.  Now about to eat my cheese-free pizza.

Also, I am realizing that dairy is in EVERYTHING.  However, it is totally worth it because my stomach didn’t hurt at all during my race.  Which is a first for me.  That may have even helped me do over 3 minutes better than last year.  I ran it in 31:30, compared to 34:49 last year.  I don’t have any pictures because I didn’t have any supporters there and forgot my camera.  Once I was done, I was ready to get out of there.

End of day #2

Okay, I definitely avoided all dairy today.  I found out that the food I had at O’Charley’s was not totally dairy-free.  Live and learn, I guess.

Tonight, I substituted olive oil, Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb, and a little salt on a baked potato in place of my usual butter or Smart Balance.  It was good.

Almond milk is hard to stomach by itself.  I just need time to get used to it, but it’s a different texture and smell, which is a little off-putting.

My stomach feels great right now.  I was used to the pain before, but now, I just feel an absence of pain.  It’s such a relief.  My face is breaking out now, but I figure that it probably is just the bad stuff leaving my system.

5k tomorrow.  My calves are mooing.  

Day #2: Almond milk

I had almond milk for breakfast today.  I think it is an acceptable replacement for milk.  

Last night was hard.  We went to O’Charley’s.  Hopefully my meal didn’t have dairy in it.  Ice cream was offered to me at several points during the night.  

I’m taking the afternoon off from running.  My calves are too sore from running and aqua jogging yesterday and I need to save my legs for my 5k on Saturday morning.

Bye bye dairy-Day #1

I’ve decided to go without dairy for a month.  I have had a variety of health problems over the past couple of years including weird skin rashes, nearly-constant abdominal discomfort, bloating, gas, sinus issues like infections and congestion, diarrhea (sorry, TMI), and other things.  I’ve been tested for a lot of things, but they’ve never found anything.

The other day, while searching for answers, I stumbled on some sites that mentioned all of the problems that dairy can cause.  So, I’ve decided to try to give it up.

Today has been my first full day without dairy (although I got a little with my Dunkaroos at lunch), and my stomach feels better.  I skipped my cup of milk at breakfast, didn’t put butter on my toast, and ate corn on the cob plain.  My mom, trying to be helpful, bought me some stuff that she thought would be good for me.  Including Kashi pizzas and other things that have milk in them.  Things that I love.  I almost folded the minute I saw the stuff.

But no, I am going to try my best to avoid the major dairy things for a month.  And, if my stomach feels like it does now, it’ll probably be worth giving it up for good.

MIA

I’ve been lurking around Tumblr for a few days now and thought I would post.  I really needed some time off from Tumblr while I was feeling kind of down about running.  During this time, I was also working to figure out my life.  I gained about 4 pounds over the summer, which isn’t bad, but I’m feeling the need to get back to my former self as fall begins to lurk around the corner.

I signed myself up for a 10k in October benefitting my work, which helps kids in need.  My coworkers and I have formed a team, and we talk about running and fitness a lot.  I’ve been leading a fitness class for some of the kids, which is funny and sometimes frustrating.  I’ve changed my goals for my life over the past few months.  I want to be a physical therapist now, specializing in pediatrics.  That means three more years of school, but that’s okay.  

I’m back on track with a new training plan that I wrote for myself.  So far, I’ve done every workout on the day that i scheduled it.  After I’m done getting ready for the 10k, I’m going to keep training to get myself ready for marathon training, I think.  It’s time. 

Hopefully, I’ll be able to post from now on.  It’s exciting to see everyone working on their fitness goals!

Nightly routine

In addition to my new routine of packing my lunch in the evening when I get home from work, I have another activity that occupies a small portion of my nights.

Killing flies.

Our back porch, which functions as my dog’s room has a large amount of flies that get in with my dog going in and out his door constantly during the day.  These flies bite him, so killing them makes his nights a little more pleasant and it keeps them out of the house somewhat.

It looks like a war zone out there.  I didn’t know that flies could bleed.  Yuck.  The floor is littered with their tiny carcasses.  Tonight, I’m so tired from work and running that I did not have my usual fervor for killing the flies.  

Also, I tried to find a clip from my old Taebo video.  Anyone remember the one where he says, “Swat those flies and kick ‘em down!  Swat those flies and kick ‘em down!”  Man, I love Billy Blanks.