TGIF, guys!  How’s it going?  Life has been crazy, but I’m learning.  I’m learning about how much I can take on, about what I’m willing (and unwilling) to sacrifice and, most importantly, what I need to improve upon.  In other words, I am learning my rules to live by.  I wrote here that I was not eating a varied enough diet, and you know — it was really making me feel sick.  I am hoping that an increase in vegetables will do the trick.  Guys, do you ever think that weight issues might be related to addictive personalities?  I am realizing that I am a bit of a control freak.  I am trying to channel that into more positive addictive behaviors, but even a good thing like eating my beloved Alternative Pitas can become a hazard when I choose to eat those for every meal instead of seeking variety and nutrition. I have been able to fit in exercise every day of this week — even waking up at 5:30 in the morning to do it, but only because I have changed my perception of it.  Exercise makes me feel good about myself, so I want to set the tone of my day with one of accomplishment.  I’m not running over 6 miles like I used to, instead, I’m focusing on faster and inclined runs.  This keeps me interested and also cuts the time down that I feel I should run, giving me more time to sleep at night.  Ideally, I would fit in more strength training to my routine.  It’s the ebb and flow of life, eh?  It’s where the “what we want” meets with the practical “what we can do.”  Choices, choices, choices.  I have been repeating that phrase to myself numerous times throughout each day. 

Rules to Eat By
[Source]

Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, who also contributed to the movie Food Inc., has written in the The New York Times several times and I’m finding his most recent contribution, “Rules to Eat By” here, incredibly compelling.  Pollan is writing a book called Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual (due out in Jan.) in which he surmises “for all the authority we grant to science in matters of nutrition, culture still has a lot to teach us about how to choose, prepare and eat food, and that this popular wisdom is worth preserving — perhaps today more than ever, in this era of dazzling food science, supersize portions and widespread dietary confusion.” He then asked readers of NYT to share their own “rules to eat by” — pieces of wisdom and advice they could share on how they eat the way they do — of which he chose his favorite 20 and included them in the article.  I have listed my favorite five from his list, but encourage you to read them all — they are amazing!

• Don’t eat anything that took more time to ship than grow.
• If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you are not hungry.
• Eat foods in inverse proportion to how much its lobby spends to push it.
• Don’t create arbitrary rules for eating if there only purpose is to help you feel in control.
• Never eat something that is pretending to be something else.

In the News/Blog-Land

• New Scientist’s, “Has the Pill Changed the Rules of Sexual Attraction?” (10/7/09) here
• Science Daily’s, “Los Angeles Fast-food Restaurant Ban Unlikely To Cut Obesity, Study Finds” (10/7/09) here
• New York Times‘, “The Calorie-Restriction Experiment” (10/7/09) here You may need to register for free to access.
• Science Daily’s, “Exercise Improves Body Image for Fit and Unfit Alike” (10/9/09) here
• Nicole Eggert fires back to all the fools who’ve called her fat here – Loved this.
• The F Word’s “From Hollywood to Bollywood: The whittling waistlines of Indian actresses” (10/9/09) here – Does Westernization mean weight-obsession?
• Science Daily’s, “Owners Should Count Calories For Obese Pets, Consider Several Factors For Good Health” (10/9/09) here

Give-Away Round Up

• Win a copy of the Food Inc. book and coupons for free Oikos Greek Yogurt here
• Win some Silk Soy Milk here

What are your “rules to live by” and your “rules to eat by”?  Weekend plans?!  The boyf and I are going thrift shopping and then eating sushi (vegetarian for me, of course!) tonight.  Tomorrow is writing my paper and presentation day and Sunday is band practice and  then more homework!

<3, The Cranky One

p.s. Good luck to Lauren and Morgan on their races this weekend!

Tags: addictive personalities, alternative pitas, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, healthy eating, michael pollan, rules to eat by, rules to live by, the new york times, the omnivore's dilemma