On the advice of Marathon Brian, I have been running without my iPod for weeks.   Last year, as Brian was doing his NYC Marathon training, I would check in with him each week to get an update on what, at the time , appeared to be an amazing feat of strength and endurance.  LOL, it still does!   I was just a newbie runner, scraping out 15 minutes, 20 minutes of running.  Working my way up to a 5K.  So to listen to Brian talk about running 15 miles, 20 miles, 22 miles…..I was in awe of him.  Then one day he told me he runs without an iPod, and I nearly fell @ss on the floor! Read the rest of this entry →

Six weeks into my Lean and Mean phase of Training, and overall — I’m doing OK.    That’s the judgmental part of me coming out.  Surprise surprise!! Read the rest of this entry →

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or gazelle – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”

— Author Unknown

Because I declare it so….Starting Today! Read the rest of this entry →

Work events, big dinners with collegues….too many food bonanzas this week.  This is what gets sooo easily out of control….and wrecks my week.  Wrecks two weeks.  Because now I know that scale is going up big time this week,  a..n..d..it’s going to take two weeks or more to lose it.  UGH! Read the rest of this entry →

Maybe it’s because we are on the cusp of summer, and all my flowers are starting to bloom and the butterflies are floating and flitting around……that my mind drifts to thoughts of metamorphosis.  Wouldn’t it be great if I could just roll up into a comfy chrysalis and bake for a few months, and just pop out CHANGED and ready to run the marathon?  Metamorphosis complete!!! Read the rest of this entry →

By now you realize that these “week in review” segments are only partially a “look back”, because the more important part is the “look forward”.  Looking back is important for one critical reason, and one reason only…….and that’s Learning!  Learn from the Past, and ……..Change your Future.  Ta-Da!!  There’s the magic.  Genie goes back in the bottle.  Job done.    “>) Read the rest of this entry →

My reading this week kept leading me in a certain direction.  I’ve come to embrace when karma takes my hand and leads me somewhere…..I’ve learned to follow…especially when I don’t know WHY.  Ohhh, this has been a HUGE learning point for me.  Diane, stretch before running.  But Why?  Diane, drink Vitacoco?  But Why?  Why..Why…Why.   I’m like that annoying 2 1/2 year old, who just learned how to put those two sounds together, and I’m using it everywhere I go.  This week, magazines, online articles, and other running friends have been telling me…..Diane, wear running shoes at least 1/2 or 1 size bigger than your normal shoe size.   But Wh…..Ok, I’ll try to stop.  I’ve been doing ok in my size 7.5 Asics….but just to make sure I was setting myself up for success…… I decided to take a trip out to North Brunswick to visit  RoadRunner Sports and meet the Shoe Dog! Read the rest of this entry →

The first year of my journey was a year of discovery and illumination.  Around every corner I was learning new surprising things.  About exercise, and water.  About Food and non-Food.  Did you know that my favorite (at that time) McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger is 12 ppvs.  That’s 40% of an entire day’s food in one burger!  And one chicken wing is 3 ppvs?  Just one lil ole chicken wing.  I can assure you I was not eating 1.  Sheesh…no wonder I packed on the pounds.   In that first year, I was a point plus value calculating fool.  My calculator was burning wattage, I used it so much.  Then the smart phone app came out, and I was in the grocery store zapping everything I could.   Cookies, Granola bars, bread, cans of soup, ice cream…..yeah….my eating had improved from the McDonald’s days, but my learning hadn’t gone too deep below the surface,  hadn’t sunk into the grey matter yet.  The information I was gathering was still being used to figure out how to cheat the system.  Looking back, my mission was, how to eat the ppv-friendly  version of the foods that made me fat.  It was a step forward, buuuuuut….not quite the progress I needed to make overall, for the long run.  THAT’s the change I am embarking on now.  The next phase of my journey.  The REAL Food change.   Read the rest of this entry →

I was tempted to call this post “My Comeback”!  Because where ever it was that I went last week…..to that deep, dark place — where Oreo cookies are King and the mean voices pipe their worst thoughts straight into my mind….where ever that was that caused my 4.2 weight gain…..I packed my bags and left it and Came Back.  Back to my life, and fighting for it.  Because seriously….what other choice do I have.  All the other options really really suck.  Besides, being a fighter is Bad @ss, so….. Read the rest of this entry →