Saturday, April 24, 2010

ROTD 4/24/2010 and cravings

Today, dear reader, I actually ran. Not nearly what I wanted to, but something like this (click to enlarge):


Full details here.

I also had to sneak it around a thunderstorm or two this morning. Real heavy rain, but just for 30-45 minutes or so.

The focus today was on keeping my vertical alignment properly engaged, which is not as easy as it sounds. For further details of why this is important, please see the simplified running video (and a thanks to reader David, who directed me thusly).

I also must mention the cravings of the last 48 hours or so. Long time readers (here, about 2 weeks) know that I am interested in addiction neurobiology (see here and here) and specifically the addiction of food. Mostly because I am addicted to food.

Hi, My name is Mitch, and I'm a junkie. I'm quite serious about this. Most people look at me and laugh. I have never found it funny.

Two days ago Katie baked a small batch of these:


No picture can capture just how yummie Katie's cookies are.

I was having a bad day--feeling worn out, hadn't run that morning, everything hurting, kids didn't let us sleep. All of these weaken my already low resistance. I gave myself permission to "just have 1 or 2".

To an addict, or anyone with any compulsive behavior, there is no such thing as "just 1 or 2." You have let your guard down, and until you manage to reset, you are firmly in the grip of your compulsion.

This is what my compulsive self has me do when I lose control: I ate 3 cookies worth of uncooked dough. Then I had 7 or 8 cookies that night. I then had 5 slices of bread with peanut butter and lots of honey, two bowls of Fruit Loops, and some of the kid's candy. The next morning I was still craving hyper-palatable foods and ate another bowl of Fruit Loops, 4 more cookies, 4 more slices of bread with peanut butter and honey, 2 more with butter and honey, two large pieces of cheese, the remains of all the pasta in the fridge, 1 package of lunch meat, a chocolate brownie Cliff bar, and then when we went out that night, two large scoops of ice cream.

Felt a bit like these guys:


There might have been more. I lose count because once this takes hold, I eat without realizing it, and only in retrospect grasp how much has gone down the pie hole.

Fortunately, I did run today. Oddly enough, running is what resets my cravings back to something approaching normal. Today (as of 1 pm) I have had: one Cliff bar, 1 salad with chicken, and a banana. Very different than the above, don't you think?

Running for me is more than just a way to let stress out, fight bad moods, get in shape, and spend some time in nature. It resets my cravings, and helps me be human.

Happy (and healthy) running!

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