I woke up
this morning feeling different. Maybe it was all of Sunday’s sunshine. Or the hour-long
pilates session I did before bed. Or the party-in-my-mouth-worthy peanut butter
frozen yogurt I consumed (documentation of these events to follow). Maybe it
was all of these things. But I woke up feeling truly refreshed. And not in a “I
have so much energy I could run 10 miles way,” but in a “wow, I feel free” way (yes I know that sounds super
cheesy). I think know that the real reason I woke up with a spring
in my step was because yesterday I took a major leap of faith. I lightheartedly
mentioned at the end of my last post that I was taking the day off from the gym
and going on a long walk instead. Well, as normal as that sounds, this decision
required a whole lot of courage!
I am, for
the first time, admitting here, on this new blog of mine, that I am a gym
addict. (To understand the entire picture just click on the "My Story" tab above.) I have used and
abused the gym for far too long, logging 2-3+ hour-long workouts and not
refueling adequately. The gym has been a best friend of mine for, waaaay too
long…We’ve had a love-hate relationship really. I love working out, but NOT for
hours and hours. For many reasons, I came to believe that super sweat sessions
were the only way I’d be able to maintain both my weight and a healthy
lifestyle. If I worked out for less than an hour one day, I’d feel tremendous
guilt. I never let myself relax, choosing to always stand, when possible, and
go on long walks even after running 10+ miles on the treadmill. It wasn’t
pretty people.
over the past few months I’ve significantly reduced my workout time, and have
slashed my gym sesh down to about an hour. I’ve also cut back on cardio and
started lifting weights (summer goal: bye bye bird arms!). However, I’ve still
remained married to
the gym. I cannot remember a day in the past eight years that I have, by
choice, not gone (holidays have always been a source of panic because gyms are
typically closed. *gasp*).
the past few months I’ve done a lot of growing and a lot of thinking. And
yesterday was the very first day that I CHOSE to listen to my body and not go.
I decided that along with my mission to eat intuitively, I need to start
exercising intuitively. The weather was simply too gorge to pass up the
opportunity to take a leisurely stroll through the foothills, and my conscience
was telling me that’s what I needed to do. So I went with it. And it was so, so
liberating.
to the gym today? Yes I did. Did I enjoy my workout? Yes, more than ever. But
you know why? Because I knew that
I had made the choice to go. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. 
about that for now. Time for the fun part: EATS!
was craving frozen yogurt all day, so after my Organic Chemistry tutoring
session, I stopped at the mother of all frozen yogurt shops, TCBY! And guess
what? They had my favorite flavor, peanut butter. You guys, this is orgasmic.
Sooo yummy. Smooth. Creamy…Ahh. They also had two new flavors: butter pecan
(which I sampled) and pink bubblegum (umm, eww?). I ordered a large so that I’d
have leftovers to for later.
I.LOVE.YOU.
Dinner was a
new-to-me product: Morningstar Farms California Turk'y Burgers.
These were
really good! The package says that they’re filled with avocado, which I was a
bit skeptical about, as I’ve never tried reheating frozen avocado. But the
flavor was wonderful. I topped it with swiss cheese and ate it with a slice of
wheat toast and a broccoli cauliflower medly tossed in Galeo’s caesar dressing.
Unfortunately this meal went undocumented. 
were calling my name this morning, so I whipped up a batch of pumpkin protein
pancakes! In the mix:
whites
3 T pumpkin
2 T
wheatbran
½ scoop
vanilla protein powder
cinnamon
stevia
As usual,
these were delicious. I ate them with raspberry jam and a Laughing Cow cheese
wedge.
off to start dinner! On the menu: Salmon! I think I’m going to pan roast it,
but haven’t quite decided. Pics tomorrow. 
Oh, and I almost forgot! This has made a reappearance in my life. More on that manana!
Have a lovely evening!
you ever felt “addicted” to the gym or a particular type of workout?
your favorite way to cook salmon? I’m looking for new recipes!
Are you a workout DVD devotee? (FYI I'm not, but I do love pilates!)
