Listening to My Body

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I realized that I don't listen to my body very well. Sometimes my body is screaming at me to do or not do something and I just don't listen. The only goal I'm giving myself for July is to listen to my body. It will tell me what I need or don't need if I just listen.

I've decided to not count calories for a while. I realized the other day that I was eating just because I had calories left over and not eating because I was hungry. In order to have a healthy relationship with food, I need to step away from the numbers for a bit and learn how to listen to what my body is telling me it needs. I suspect that I'll go back to counting calories eventually but for right now, I need to focus on listening to my body. The only "rule" I'm giving myself is that I can eat when I'm hungry but I must eat slowly and enjoy my food and stop when I'm full.

The last few times I've been running, my knees and joints hurt like crazy. It's not a soreness in my muscles, it's an ache in my joints. As much as I love to run, my body is telling me it needs a break from running. For the rest of this week...no running for me. I can go for a walk at lunch instead of a run, but no running!! I will have to be strict with myself about this. Next Monday I can start running again. Once I started thinking about it, I've been putting in 25 or more miles a week running and I haven't taken longer than 3 days off from running in months. My joints just need a bit of a break.

Today's Plan:
Activity: Walk (don't run) at lunch
Breakfast: English muffin with cinnamon raisin PB, pineapple, banana, 12 oz skim milk with 1 Tbsp low sugar chocolate syrup
Snack: 1/2 mango, 1/2 peach, berries
Lunch: Kashi crackers, Greek yogurt, Salad with honey mustard dressing, beans, hard boiled egg, spinach, red peppers, carrots, tomatoes, and cukes
Dinner: Chicken pesto pizza, Salad