It?s My Last Day with My Old Ankle

I know this phrase isn?t completely accurate, I?m not having an ankle replacement or anything like that. But it does seem to help make surgery tomorrow more exciting. It emphasizes how my ankle has been ?broken? and how great it will be for it to be fixed.

I can?t even imagine what it would feel like to run with a fully functional ankle, or jump, climb stairs, or even move. To not have that feeling of my joint rubbing together and slipping will be amazing.

I can?t wait to be able to run a half marathon after, that?s the first thing I?m going to do once my ankle is back ready to train. I?m going to train to run. I know it will probably take a lot longer than normal, none of this 8 weeks to 13 miles kind of stuff, but I can tick the miles off one by one until I can do them all together and at once. This is why I?m having surgery, so I can live the life I want to live.

Can I let you in on a little secret? It?s really hard to come up with 4 things to be thankful for, when I would just say them to myself in the mirror in the morning I would stand there staring at myself for long periods of time trying to find ?thankfuls?, now I type ?I?m thankful for ______? all four times and continue writing, then when I think of one I go back and add it.

Someone asked me how many calories I eat a day, and honestly I have a goal (1600-1900) but I don?t actually count on a daily basis. Because I?ve been eating within this goal for so long, I know what it feels like. I know this sounds strange, but I?ve counted before and it?s amazing how my body just instinctively knows. Do I chose to eat over this on an almost daily basis? Yes-sometimes, but I do know when I?ve hit the window? and pass it .

But because I received this e-mail I decided to talk about how I transferred from calorie counting to intuitive eating, really I do a little of both daily. So today I made pancakes and eggs with coffee.

Breakfast is a meal I like to have everyday. I used to skip breakfast daily but I noticed that I was always snaking like crazy in the afternoon, when I eat this first meal I only need one snack a day (usually). I also like to almost always have the same size breakfast, meaning calories. I try to be between 350-450 calories for breakfast. I do not count everything! But I do do a rough estimate because if I eat too little for breakfast I?ll be hungry all day. For instance, I know an egg is about 100 calories, I also know that my usual 2-3 cups of joe with milk and a little sugar is around 50. Then I checked the back of the Bisquick box and saw that 1/4 cup mix was 60 calories. So I don?t go look stuff up on the computer or write it all down and calculate it. I focus on range.

I like to feel full and this 100 calorie range is everything in the Filling Factor department .

I?m not glued to this range either, though I do stick to it most mornings. If I go out to eat I order what I want, sometimes it fits in the range sometimes not.

I approach lunch and dinner with a lot more fluidity. I don?t really have a range for these, I try to listen to my body and give it what it wants. I also believe in Bethenny Frankel?s motto Cancel your membership to the Clean Plate Club. It?s in her book, Unleashing Your Inner Skinny Girl. I really like to bring home leftovers, and I hate feeling stuffed!!! I would say more than half the times I eat out I have a box to take home. I?m also famous for bumming off unwanted food to people around. I?m very bad at taking too much.

Max always laughs at me because I?ll start eating and then periodically put my fork down and I?ll say ?I?m taking a break?. I stop and let myself digest a little. Sometimes my tummy starts to say- full, and sometimes I want to keep eating. Also, eating slower is better for digestion.

Snack is a completely different story, I meld the two philosophy?s together. I like to have between a 150-300 calorie snack, not more. I read somewhere about a year ago ?A snack is supposed to hold you over until your next meal, not be a meal?. I usually have one snack at about 4pm but sometimes depending on lunch it?s earlier or I skip it. I try to wait ?till I feel hungry. But sometimes something catches my eye like muffins and I just can?t stay away .

This is how I approach a day. I hope it answered your question and you find it helpful. Look who watched me eat breakfast this morning like a stocker !

Hope you all have a great Thursday, and thanks again for all your kind words about surgery. You have no idea how much it?s been helping me !