{November | No Junk Food}

    Back during the summer, I got into this great exercise routine where I would run easily 9-12 miles a week, and cross train twice a week in between miles.  I was slimming up, getting toner, feeling better, had less aches and cramps and headaches.  I was also eating better, much more healthy foods than usual. {We eat fresh and healthy foods anyways, but we cut out all the little excess crap that we didn't need too!}  I was nervous about starting the semester because I knew school would come in and ruin everything... :P  And it kinda did...  I still try to run at least a mile or two...every week... just to keep myself in some sort of shape.  And I've allowed all of those little extras back into my diet, too.  I'm back to not feeling as confident in myself as I did when I was on a regular kick-butt schedule and routine.

    To battle this mindset and way of feeling, and in an effort to help my body out a little since I truly don't have a whole lot of time to exercise, I've decided to stick to something for the month of November; you know how guys (and some girls...) do the whole No-Shave November?  I'm going to [attempt with all my might!] do my own rendition: {November|No Junk Food}.  That's right, I said it.  Two things that are ever present in typical American, and even more so, Southern culture are going to be cut out for at least a whole month.  Obviously, I know that this alone won't do as much for me as combining diet with exercise, or prolonging this diet over time, but it's the least I can do right now.  Besides, small goals are good places to start ;)  I'm already noticing when I'm craving foods that aren't good for me (like every flavor of ice cream in the caf...) and have been working on avoiding them, and also working on moderation of those kinds of things.  I know that, like any other habit and addiction, it takes time to break yourself of them.  I have hope that God will equip me with the strength to stick to the denial of such foods beyond November 30th.  I am already getting started by weening myself back off of these foods again.

    I still have goals of getting in shape and feeling better about myself just because I know I'm healthier.  I am still working towards that!  And I still have a goal of running my first 10K, and running the Cooper River Bridge Run! :D  I will make it there!  Because of my workload and stress, it's hard for me to find motivation through all of the exhausted evenings of homework to want to go out and spend more energy on something that doesn't count towards my GPA.  (I don't want to hear about how exercise really does improve your sleep and work ethic and yada yada yada - yeah I know, that's not the point I'm making though.)  I'm going to avoid all of these following types of foods:

• French Fries
• Pizza
• Tater Tots
• Chips (Sunchips; I don't eat chips anyways unless they're sunchips)
• Refined sugars as found in candy, ice cream, not-dark chocolate, hot chocolate, pie, brownies, cookies, pudding, soda pops, white bread, enriched white flour, etc.

Dark chocolate (in moderation) is acceptable.  The only time any of the fried food options will be acceptable are in the rare case that it's the only food served that isn't covered in meat, or if it is merely courtesy that I eat what's given to me - in both cases, they will be taken in moderation.  Otherwise, all such foods will be avoided.  Natural sugars from wheat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables should be enough to suffice since that's what my body was actually made for, food-wise.  I could you could also consider this as {November|No Fried Foods|No Refined Sugars}!

    Yeah... this will be pretty tough to conquer... but I can do it.  I have God and His strength on my side, even for this menial, man-made, me-made thing.  Because of Him, I can do this.  Now the question is: who wants to do this too?  You can tell me, we'll be accountabilibuddies!  You don't have to tell me, and you can get into better shape in thirty days than you are right now!  Obviously, this is not some weight loss program, but it is a "help your body feel better and work better" idea that I am after.  You are welcome to join!

    Weekly, I will give updates on how things are going on my end, and post a few recipes (just in time for Thanksgiving!)  If you happen to do this with me, feel free to let me know about your progress!  We have exactly two weeks to start weening ourselves off of the bad things, two weeks to find healthy replacements, and making more healthy decisions before we take on this battle!  We can do this!