I'm totally and completely pooped right now. For myriad reasons, mostly owing to the fact that I've been going out every night for the past few days.

Yesterday morning's run was awful. I could barely handle TWO MILES. Ridiculous.

This is all fine. It happens. I've been riding my bike everywhere and moving and walking and running - though as I said, rather pathetically - but the key is to keep moving in some fashion and pick it back up when my body is a bit more rested and I'm not drinking a dirty gin martini the previous evenings.

I've learned not to push it when my body genuinely doesn't want to be pushed. I end up frustrated and pissed and feeling like I failed somehow, when it's perfectly natural that my body doesn't want an hour of ass-kicking after all of the socializing I've been doing. And the socializing is just as important. Maybe even moreso.

Anyway, there's that. I'm taking off a few days from work starting tomorrow so there will be plenty of time for relaxing.

I've been eating a new salad for lunches lately, one that totally rocks and makes me stupendously happy since I need to eat more salads and I usually get bored with them easily.

I grill a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, after they've been marinating in some kind of Italian dressing for 24 hours, and then slice them up into four, separate 4-oz. portions. Then I take a bag of sweet butter lettuce, dump about half into a plastic container, and add about a Tablespoon or two of Trader Joe's dried cranberries, fortified with Omega-3's, a Tablespoon of plain, raw pine nuts, a Tablespoon of crumbled goat cheese, a slice of turkey bacon, crumbled and 4-oz. of the grilled chicken.

Then I add about a Tablespoon and a half of Newman's Olive Oil and Vinegar dressing, and shake it all up.

I recommend cooking the turkey bacon slice right before you add the dressing, if a microwave is available to you. I know not everyone has one at their office they can use. Anyway, it keeps the bacon crispy and adds a nice smoky flavor.

In an effort to get more fruit into my daily diet, I've been taking bananas, strawberries or frozen cherries and dipping them into sugar-free chocolate syrup. I know this seems to be one of those things chock-filled with self-loathing, but again, I need to cut the bad sugars when I can and fruit already has enough of it. Plus, I don't use more than a Tablespoon. Just enough to curb the chocolate cravings when they come.

That's it for now - I'm going to take a few days off of the blog and spend less time on the computer and more time reading and hanging out outside!

Posted by Erin at 12:17 PM | filed under: Random