Ah, emotional rest

Last night I arrived at Dave and Val's house, where I'll be staying for the next week. Words cannot express how glad I am to be here, and how grateful I am to be among family. I'm so grateful to be in Ohio, which in a lot of ways feels like home to me, as I went to college here those were some wonderful years. Autumn is my favorite season, and I'm so grateful that I get to see the beautiful colors on the trees - I was worried I'd missed it, being out in the CA desert. It is wonderful to be with, for a change, people who are role models for the lifestyle I live. For a change, I have physical companionship in this - I'm not living this lifestyle among people who are doing something else. I'm not with people who wonder why anyone would want to do this (and occasionally, when lonely, I must admit I think that myself). It's really nice. Val's pregnancy is going along very smoothly - no morning sickness or fatigue. She feels great. Dave told me that their friends don't believe them when they tell them. Sigh =).

This morning I got to sleep until I woke up (7:30 a.m. - not bad, considering I am in Ohio, and was in California yesterday).

We played with some of their toys to warm up for going for a walk (Val stopped running at about 4.5 months in. They still rode bikes while it was warm, but lately they've been walking). Then we went for a walk nearby. The leaves are so beautiful. Dave brought along some hand weights and he did some lunges and footwork and stuff during the walk. Then he handed the weights to me and I played with them for a little bit.

We stopped and took some photos.






When we got back to the house, Dave and I went out into the garden. We picked a few concord grapes and raspberries. I snuck into the greenhouse and picked a couple of ripe cherry tomatoes (shh, don't tell!).

Then we continued our breakfast inside. I had a pineapple, a few sips of OJ, and two stalks of celery.

In the afternoon I had the chance to catch up on some things, like sending photos to people.

I walked to the track (about a mile and a half away). Then did some running (sprinting the straightways, walking or jogging the curves, for about 15 minutes). Then walked back to the house.

Ate - 1 pineapple

Dinner - Banana blueberry smoothie (about 4 bananas, 1 cup blueberries?), some dates (about 10 maybe?), some lettuce (1/2 a head of romaine?) and....

I tried durian for the 4th time...and this time I actually liked it! I've never liked it before. Usually I just couldn't get past the "oniony/garlicky taste" - I didn't want my fruit tasting like that. But today (maybe because I've been craving onions and garlic lately?), I LOVED it.

Just goes to show...be willing to try things you didn't used to like, because you might change your mind. For example, before I went raw, I didn't like papaya or celery at all, but now I love those foods. So be willing to try =).

Totals today (approximate, since I didn't measure everything and I am guessing):
2203 total calories (88%C, 5%P, 7%F)

Going to bed...hope to sleep well tonight!

One of the best mornings I've had in a long time!

The rest of last week was mostly spent recovering. I was very sore and stiff on Tuesday morning, and I ran anyway. It was hard. I loosened up a bit during the run, but afterwards I was more sore and stiff than I had been before! Farm work is more tiring than I thought it would be, and I realized that I REALLY needed to catch up on sleep.

So that's what I did for the rest of the week...no morning workouts, just sleeping in until it was time to start working.

Last night I was feeling a bit discouraged...I felt like marathon training wasn't fun, and that maybe I should not run a fall marathon this year. I knew that I needed to run 5-6 miles this morning, and that last weeks 4-5 miles felt really difficult, so 5-6 would probably be more so. I went to bed...

Today was my day off, which was why I planned the long run for today.

When I woke up, it felt good to lay in bed as long as I wanted. When I finally got up, I looked at the clock: 8:07 a.m. And it was the strangest thing...the sky was blue, it was bright and sunny...and I felt like going for a run! So I said, "ok, I'll do my 5-6 miles...no need to make any final decisions about a marathon yet, and I don't want to close any doors."

Here in Colorado, I really don't have a way of gauging the mileage, so I'm just going for time. Assuming a 12 minute mile, that would mean I need to run for one hour to do 5 miles. If I was REALLY slow (15 minute miles, which I highly doubt), it would be only 4 miles per hour. So my mileage is really just rough estimates. So I figured that in order to ensure that I ran 5-6 miles, I'd need to run for 1 hour and 30 minutes. So that was today's goal.

Well, I got outside, and I was determined to take it nice and easy to start, since I hadn't done any running in the past few days (just recuperating from being stiff and catching up on sleep!). I enjoyed it right away.

What a wonderful run! I discovered a trail along the Colorado river about 45 minutes into the run, so instead of turning around and going back at that point, I just kept going! I couldn't believe that it felt so easy today, after weeks of having running feel very difficult! Even though my goal was to run for 1:30 today, I didn't even turn around until 1:17! So my total run was 2 hours long today...somewhere between 8 and 10 miles, instead of the 5-6! And I thought that 5-6 would kill me =)!

This was so encouraging to me. I had a little trouble hitting the ground running after returning home from Costa Rica. I pretty much had a week and a half of very poor sleep (due to stress) that really took it's toll on my energy levels and on my recovery, and so running and training felt like huge chores and seemed to break me down even more. So having a fabulous run after a few days of good rest and recovery (and a week and a half of catching up on sleep!) reassured me that I did not lose all my endurance...my body was just plain TIRED. And now it's catching up! Excellent! And I didn't even carry any food/water with me...imagine if I had food/water! I probably would have gone farther!

Look how much I ate!

Yesterday's training was supposed to be 4-5 miles. I had no way of telling the mileage, so I ran for 60 minutes and hoped that got me enough (don't see how it wouldn't...unless I was really THAT stiff). My hamstrings were REALLY tight and it took me a while to get into it.

My hamstrings are really tight today as well. I'm moving pretty slowly...I feel like an old lady! Farm work is TOUGH! =) But I'm sure I'll get used to it soon. Training is specific...so since I've never really done this type of work, my body will take a period of time to adjust.

I hope I feel loose enough tomorrow morning for my training run...the bending over and weeding is tough on the hamstrings after a while.

But enough complaining. Other than feeling stiff, I feel fabulous. I feel as though I'm in better health than I've ever been in (and I probably am!). It feels great to be so active...and now I REALLY enjoy my food.

Speaking of food...it's been a bit of an adjustment there, too. For the first few days on the farm, I was eating something along the lines of this: watermelon for breakfast, bananas (sometimes with celery) for lunch, tangerines followed by a huge salad for dinner (tangerine juice for dressing, usually). Or maybe instead of the salad, a blended veggie soup (toms, cukes, pepper, celery). Then I would crave dried fruit late at night before bed. So I realized that even though I am eating "as much fruit as I care for" during the day...it's not enough calories for my much more active lifestyle here on the farm! I didn't see how I could cram in many more bananas at lunchtime, since I was already pretty much at my limit (11, 12, 13 bananas...how much more can I eat in one sitting, haha)...so for the past 2 days I tried replacing the watermelon with more bananas at breakfast. Works like a charm! 9 bananas down the hatch in the morning! And no nighttime cravings! Perfect =).

So, today was a "rest day" in terms of training...but my job was hard work! I ate:

Breakfast - 9 bananas blended into a smoothie
Lunch - 13 or 14 bananas and 2 stalks celery blended into a smoothie
Dinner - 10 large honey tangerines. 4 or 5 tomatoes. Did some evening chores, then made a HUGE salad: 2 romaine hearts (shredded fine), 5 tomatoes (chopped), 1 orange bell pepper (chopped), a few leaves cilantro (chopped), and 1 haas avocado (chopped, and the first overt fat I've had in a week). Tossed that all together, than ate it inside whole romaine leaves, like a taco (used 2 more romaine hearts for the shells!).

I can't believe I ate that much! But it doesn't feel like "too much", and I probably won't have any cravings tonight, haha. Seriously, though, I don't feel like I'm going to burst at all! But it took a damn long time to eat all that food. It was SO good though.

Can't wait until height of season, when I get most of my produce for free and fresh from the farm!

I feel so happy, grateful, and good!

Today I feel better than I have in my whole life, I think! Now that I'm in CO, and all the stress of the past few weeks is gone, I've finally been able to sleep again.

I can't believe how good I feel.

Today I just walked...no running, but a fair bit of walking. Probably at least 4 miles.

A lot of resting today too.

Watering plants in the greenhouse with a watering can is a good anterior deltoid (front shoulder) workout! =)

I'm blogging again (may take a few false starts though!)

Ok! I'm finally settled in Colorado, and head-over-heels in love with it! My marathon training is starting! After 2 weeks of no sleep, I'm finally able to sleep through the night again! Good news all around!

Gotta get used to eating more again...I'm a lot more active than I was in my office job! Weeding for hours works your back and your biceps and doesn't feel hard while you are doing it...but afterwards you are TIRED! =)

Yesterday:

Before breakfast - Did a jog/walk, just for enjoyment, into town. About 50 minutes round trip. Stretched.

Breakfast - 1 personal sized watermelon

We mostly did greenhouse work and a bit of walking around the farm in the morning. Nothing too strenuous...

Before lunch - 3 sets push-ups (it may just be my imagination, but these felt easier than they had in a while!), 3 sets jump squats, 3 sets ab work.

Lunch - 11 bananas, 1/2 a large bunch celery.

Afternoon - greenhouse work and about 2 hours of weeding the strawberries and garlic.

Dinner - 6 large honey tangerines. 2 large bowls veggie soup (tomatoes, cuke, pepper, celery). More tomatoes (they needed to be eaten).

Later - 1 head cauliflower, 1 pepper, more tomatoes. Finally I realized it was sweet that I needed...will need to get used to eating more fruit during the day! Had some dried figs.

Woke up this morning not sore at all from the weeding! I feel great from all this activity!

What an active day!

Today I went for my first long run in a while. Probably somewhere between 8 and 10 miles. Went on the bike path here in NJ. Included some hill training too. Took a few walk breaks (there were some icy patches!).

Breakfast - 7 bananas.

Then I went into the city. Carried a heavy backpack around.

Lunch at Caravan of Dreams with a friend - 2 live pink lady smoothies (orange, apple, mango, strawberry, plantain) and a large mixed green salad.

More walking, carrying.

Dinner at home - 7 fuyu persimmons. 1 large bowl tomato-basil-celery soup (.75 pounds tomatoes, 2 stalks celery, 4 leaves basil, blended in food processor). 1 date.

Today is the 6th day in a row of meals as opposed to grazing. It feels excellent! It's amazing how easy this is to do now that I'm not trying to distract myself with food from an office job! It feels so effortless. When I was working, it felt like such an effort.

I earned my breakfast this morning (!)

Woke up around 3:30. Got up around 4:15, and was able to get a bit done before my workout this morning.

Morning workout:
Walk to gym.
Upper body-building session. Involved some serious chunks of metal! Worked back, chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps:

Flexed arm hangs/negatives chin-ups on the assisted chin machine (I think I did 5 of these, with 30 pounds assistance on the negative.
Flexed arm hangs/negative pull-ups on the assisted chin machine (don't remember how many of these)...
Lat pull-downs (3 or 4 or 5 sets...I really gotta log this earlier in the morning next time!)
Straight arm lat pull-downs (3 sets)
Decline bench dumbell presses (5 sets, 3 of which were to failure in under 5 reps)
3 sets push-ups (from knee)
3 sets flat bench dumbbell flyes
3 sets each posterior delt raises (on incline bench), lateral raises, and front raises.
3 sets upright rows
3 sets triceps kickbacks
3 sets dumbbell curls
3 sets overhead triceps extensions
3 sets hammer curls

Whew!

7:30 a.m. - 1 papaya (before I left the house)
8:45 a.m. (after I got to work) - Huge banana-date smoothie (7 bananas and 7 medjool dates). 5 more medjool dates. 1 head green leaf lettuce.

Wow! I was soooooo hungry for that breakfast!

11:30 a.m. - 2 pounds grape tomatoes
1:10 p.m. - small salad at restaurant (romaine, cukes, tomato). 2 papayas, 1 ugli fruit when I got back to the office.

Way too many nuts/avos at night...

Snow!!! Lots of it.

And wind, too.

Woke up to alarm. Didn't feel terribly well rested, as Justin got into town late last night for his auditions so sleep was interrupted, and I had trouble getting back to sleep. Went to the gym anyway, and I'm glad I did, because the workout felt great!

Morning training:
Walked to the gym. This was more challenging than usual, as it was very windy, and the wind had caused a lot of snow drifts, so the "terrain" was uneven.
Treadmill workout (1.0 incline throughout) - 10 minutes jog (4.5 mph, increased a bit towards minutes 8, 9, 10). Followed by 4 10-minute miles alternated with 3 minutes walking in between each mile. 5 minute cooldown, for 65 minutes total. Felt great not to run sprints, hahaha.
Lower body strength work:
3 sets step-ups on bench, to failure (the left leg failed before the right, every time, so I stopped at left-leg failure).
3 sets romanian deadlifts (I hope I did them right!)
3 sets barbell squats.
Stretching in between sets.
Walked home. After the lower body work, the walk home in the wind/snow was definitely challenging.
Stretched a bit at home.

7:30 a.m. - 4 or 5 small fuyu persimmons
9:00 a.m. - 1 large fuyu persimmon. 3 medium bananas.
11:30 a.m. - 4 bananas (Justin is meeting me for lunch at one, but I was ravenous, so I ate a few bananas to hold me over).
1:15 - big bowl of persimmon-date pudding: 5 large fuyu persimmons (frozen and thawed), blended with 10 soaked medjool dates (I coudn't finish it all, but almost). Big bowl chopped romaine lettuce.
4:10 - 1 romaine lettuce heart
Got home really late...
8:10 p.m. - 1 large papaya. 2 pounds campari tomatoes. 1.5 florida avocados. A few fresh mac nuts (maybe 8?) that Dan brought back from Hawaii. 4 valencia oranges.

Bed around 10:30.

What you think about, you bring about. =)

Slept in this morning!

Morning training in the apartment (chest, shoulders, triceps):
Lots of push-ups, in sets, most from the knees, some of the later sets in box position.
Shoulder raises (3 sets each side, front, and rear delts) (used a tote bag with papayas in it for a weight!)
1 set triceps extensions with bands.
Experimented with kicking up into a handstand next to a wall a few times, just to see how it feels. No handstand yet...

10:30 ish - 2 large papayas
11:55 - 13 apple-bananas
3:00 - 8 persimmons. 2 pints cherry tomatoes. 1 haas avocado. 1/2 a florida avocado.
6:00 - 3/4 head nappa cabbage.

Morning training:
Walked to gym.
Back/biceps workout: hanging from the bar and pulling myself up a couple of inches, lots of times. lots of flexed arm hangs/"negative assisted pull-ups". 3 sets dumbell rows (one arm). 3 sets each overhand grip dumbell curls, dumbell curls, and hammer curls.
Indoor cycling class with Austin.
Walked home.

Breakfast - 1 large papaya.
Lunch - 6 large bananas
Snack - 5 cara cara oranges, 1 pound tomatoes
Dinner - 2 papayas, 1 pound tomatoes, 1 head nappa cabbage
Later - 1 avocado (haas), 1 pound tomatoes.

Back to it!

FINALLY got a much needed good night's sleep last night. 6:00 p.m. last night until 4:30 this morning. It feels really good to consistently go to bed early enough that I don't need an alarm clock in the morning. Feels great to wake up naturally and not to an unnatural noise.

Morning training:
Walk to gym.
Warm up on Treadmill - 23 minutes (2 miles). (Yesterday, I read that, in order to make up for the fact that there is no wind resistance indoors, you should set the incline on the treadmill to 1 if you want to make the speeds comparable to similar speeds outdoors. So, previously, I had been using 0 for the incline. Today I used 1.) Took a few minutes to "get going." Maybe it's because of the artic temps outside that it takes longer to limber up.
45 minute indoor cycling class with Tony. The first half was all speed work, which I'm not used to, so it was a good workout! I definitely had lactic acid collecting around my knees, ankles, shins. The second half was mostly climbing. I was pretty sweaty by the end of class.
15 minutes pull-up practice - 3 sets each (to failure) assisted chin-ups and assisted pull-ups, with rest/stretching in between each set.
Walked home.

Today at the gym, I was talking to someone I knew but hadn't seen in a while. It took her a few minutes to realize who I was! She said I looked so good, she didn't recognize me! Again, these types of interactions are reassuring, since I've actually gained some weight and not lost. Makes me feel more reassured that I'm still having visible results.

And besides, even though I may be no lighter than I was when I started doing this in July, I'm definitely fitter by leaps and bounds. I can push much harder, cardio-wise, and run faster, and cycle harder, and lift more, and hang from a bar, etc, etc, etc.

It is a happy morning!

Food:
7:30 - 5 small bananas (that's all I was hungry for at the time)
9:00 a.m. - 13 apple bananas (finally got hungry!)
later in the morning - more apple bananas
noon - sucked the juice out of some tangerines (8? 10?)
2:15 p.m. - some small sunburst tangerines (12? 14?). 2 lbs. grape tomatoes. 1 large orange bell pepper. 10 oz. baby spinach. more tangerines.
Around 5:30 p.m. - some macadamia nut butter (about 2 or 2.5 oz), a few more tangerines.
Later - 36 oz. tomatoes.

Went to bed a bit late (9:30 or 10 p.m.), since I worked a bit on moving down the the first floor.

A happy recovery day

Today was a recovery day. Got up at 6:45 a.m. Feel really good and happy and exuberant and light.

9:45 - lots and lots of sunburst tangerines. (didn't count them...just ate 'em until I didn't want anymore).
11:30 - 1 pound grape tomatoes
12:15 - some small apple bananas (8, 9, 10?)
Afternoon - lots of leftover salad from meetings (iceberg, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes. the rest of the sunburst tangerines.

Bed by 6:00 p.m.!

I am SO blissed out.

That's right. a week and a half ago, I just couldn't seem to get a grip. Now, everything is happy and good. Or rather, I made it that way by taking care of myself. When you love your body, it loves you back.

Last night I went to bed around 6:40ish (again!). Got up this morning at 6:20, so almost a full 12 hours of sleep!

This morning, even though it is a beautiful sunny day, it was too cold to even think about enjoying exercising outdoors.

Morning training:
Walk to gym
35 minutes treadmill hill course (!). The incline intervals were definitely challenging. Covered about 3.3 miles. Tough.
1 hour indoor cycling class w/Kim. There were a lot of sprints, and a lot of standing...I don't know whether it was being fully rested or what, but even after kicking my butt on treadmill hills, I was INCREDIBLY high energy in that class. Everything felt so easy (even the sprinting, which isn't my strong suit) - at one point, the instructor told us to take it down four full turns and I was like, "THAT was supposed to be hard???" So I didn't take it down at all, hahaha! I just kept going with the workout at that resistance level, and I didn't really feel like it was too hard until the very end (and even then, it was still doable. I even thought about getting back on the treadmill after class. Then, I came to my senses).

Then I walked to the produce shop, and it was bright and sunny, and I actually got to SEE the sun, instead of being cooped up in the office, since its Saturday.

Breakfast (around 10:50 a.m.) - 16 apple bananas (some were pretty small, some were almost as big as a small cavendish) and 1 hachiya persimmon.

Lunch (around 1:00 p.m.) - 10 fuyu persimmons

Dinner (around 4:30 ish, at a raw restaurant with friends) - salad made w/mixed greens, chopped apples, walnuts, and avocado. Then ate about 15 honey tangerines that I had brought with me.

Later at home - 2 pints grape tomatoes, 1 avocado, a lot of spinach, six more tangerines.

I'm really happy that I didn't have salt or spices at the restaurant. Today was a higher fat day, and I craved fruit afterwards, but I won't feel nearly as badly tomorrow as I would have if I ate the more complex food at the restaurant.

"Miles first, smiles later!"

Very well rested this morning!

Morning training:

Walked to gym.
Treadmill: 2 mile run (first mile started at 5.5 mph and worked up to 6.4 mph. Second mile started at 6.5 mph and worked up to 7.0 mph). Very sweaty and challenging, lung-wise, towards, the end.
Indoor cycling class w/Tony. Very good class today! Good mix of climbing/sprinting. Some cardio, some strength climbs. Definitely sweated bullets this morning!
A few sets of core work - hanging abs (2 sets), roman chair (2 sets, holding a 10 lb. weight), sit ups on bench (2 sets), sit-up with twists.
Walked home.

Wow! I should do this more often - go to sleep EARLY and wake up and kick ass in the gym! I felt absolutely awesome walking from the bus to my office. Harley once said to me "miles first, smiles later." I see what he means =P.

Bouncing off the walls at work - in a great mood!

Breakfast (around 9 a.m.)- 7 large bananas. 5 hachiya persimmons.
Dinner (around 3p.m.) - 12 small honey tangerines. 3 large sunburst tangerines. 2 BIG bowls salad (filled 2 huge bowls with mixed lettuces, 24 oz. grape tomatoes, juice of two sunburst tangerines).

Back to happy!

By the time I was walking to work, I realized that I'm back to my ever-increasingly-happy self! Exuberance abounds! Happy Friday!

Went to bed last last night (just before 11 p.m.).

Woke up around 6:00 a.m., didn't feel like intense training (still digesting bell peppers, nut butter...they tend to slow everything down).

I started by playing some music and practicing some bellydance moves from class last night. I interspersed the dancing with one set each sit-ups, twist-sit-ups, pushups, and lunges. Didn't do this for very long...maybe 20 minutes or so?

Got off the bus early and walked to work (35 minutes). Felt full of joy and exuberance. =) Really happy, even though it was gray outside.

Lunch - big bowl orange salad (cara cara, navel, blood, valencia). hachiya persimmons
Dinner - big papaya. hachiya persimmons. followed later by lots of salad - green leaf lettuce (3 heads!) with some pumpkin seed/orange/tahini dressing. 1 spoonful mac nut butter.

What a Beautiful Morning!

What a great morning! Slept in a bit (until 8 a.m.!)...probably because I went to bed close to 11:00 a.m. last night. I stayed up watching the rest of the Organic Athlete conference DVD.

No training this morning (and my legs were still stiff when I got up), but I did a lot of walking/moving things. To enjoy some of the sunshine, I walked to the co-op and bought more of those persimmons that were on sale for 2 for $1.00 (too bad Dan G. is out of town...Dan, if you're reading this, we should arrange to have a persimmon dinner when you get back!). Also bought some mangoes. Then walked to Hyde Park Produce for lettuce. Carried everything home! =)

Took a car today to donate some old clothing to the ARK thrift store. Also bought running shoes, and stopped at Stanley's, where they were selling 4-pound bags of organic valencia oranges for 98 cents! Bought 10 of them!

While driving home from my errands, I just felt so happy and exuberant! A sunny day, great music, and breakfast/lunch awaiting me when I got home.

1st meal (around 1:15 p.m.) - 1 bag valencia oranges (13 oranges, cut into wedges and sucked the juice out of them). 7 perfectly ripe fuyu persimmons.

Later in the afternoon - more persimmons, 2 bunches baby bok choy, 2 large tomatoes

Dinner - 2 heads green leaf lettuce, 2 small orange bell peppers, dressing made from 1 navel orange, 2 tbsp. tahini. Then had some cauliflower (1 head), blended with 2 stalks celery, a bit of basil, and 2-3 tbsp cashew butter. Later, 1 satsuma mandarin orange.

I like the taste of that cauliflower mush....but it doesn't satiate me like fruit does! I'll try eating more fruit at the beginning of the meal.

Look what's in my kitchen! I may need a little help eating some of this...

Got a lot done today

No training, but got a lot done...filing and laundry. Very good. It was a cloudy, dreary day. Didn't train. My calves are very sore from yesterday's training - it hurts to stand on my tip-toes.

Food-

Late morning - persimmons (8) and bananas (6)
Late afternoon - lots of tomatoes (2 pints cherry tomatoes, 1 large tomato), 6 persimmons
Dinner - big salad - 2 heads green leaf lettuce, 1 large tomato, 2 oranges, 2.5 oz. tahini
Later - 2 large tomatoes

I'm ready to train again...frustrating that calves are sore. Frustrated that I'm still not fit enough to train like a serious athlete...but I'm getting closer. It just seems like a long way away.

As I cleaned today, I've been watching the Organic Athlete 2005 Conference DVD. So very, very inspiring...and shows me that I have such a long way to go!

Ruth Heidrich is amazing...and what is really encouraging to me is that she didn't start running until age 33, and she does Ironmans! Gives me hope. =)

I want to be able to train intensely every day! Then I'll probably lose the rest of this weight...right now, I can eat like an athlete, but I can't train that hard yet.

Fitness is free!

Went to bed around 8 p.m. last night. Woke up at 5:45 this morning. It was raining, and I didn't feel like going out to the gym, so...

Morning training:
Warmed up by dancing around to music for 25 minutes. Then hit the hallway for some training! Did lots of sideways shuffles down the hall, interspersed with stair jumping (started with 1 flight at a time, worked up to 3) for about 12 minutes. Took a water break, and then did it again for about 15 minutes, this time including skips down the hall and jumping 3 flights at a time. It really got my heart rate up, and my legs felt like jello from the jumping.
Did some stretching to cool down.

Gym-free fitness!

Breakfast - lots of persimmons (fuyu and hachiya!)
Lunch - 6 red bananas. most of a bunch of celery. 1 bag red grapes. some leftover melon from a meeting.
Dinner - persimmons (fuyu and hachiya) and lots of tomatoes (5 pints grape tomatoes). A bit later, had 2 or 3 navel oranges, and a salad (one pint grape tomatoes, 1 head of green leaf lettuce, dressing made from 1 navel oranges and 2-3 tbsp tahini. That's one of my favorite salads in the world!!!) So delicious!!!

Still exuberant...

Wow, the week just keeps getting better and better!

Slept until just before 7 a.m. this morning, so no morning training.

Breakfast - large maridol papaya
Lunch - 22 small fresh figs
Mid afternoon - apple bananas
Dinner - romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, persimmons

Got some sunshine this afternoon! Went to a sunny park bench and read at lunchtime. Lovely!

Probably should have skipped dinner... I was really sleepy, and not hungry, and would have fallen asleep more easily on an empty stomach.

Exuberance!

I've been following this program for 5 and a half months now - and I've noticed that more and more of the time, I feel what can only be described as exuberant! Yes, exuberant, just like a healthy child. =)

Funny that children are exuberant, but exuberance is not normally associated with adults! I guess most adults don't get enough sleep, sunshine, biologically appropriate food, physical activity, etc, etc, etc to feel anything close to exuberant.

I feel so lucky to be able to feel exuberant. =)