Happy Sunday – I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! I know that with the weather my mood has improved – and getting out on Saturday in 40F temperatures was just amazing after this past week dipped firmly back into ‘Polar Vortex’ territory again!
Cool thing – the picture up top is all the stuff that I had to wear on Thursday that I did NOT wear on Saturday! Light tights, single layer shirt, and light gloves … that was all I needed!
Here is my weekly summary:
Sunday: Family Day! Went shopping, hung out, relaxed … it was amazing!
Monday: A ‘warm’ 20F … 7.25 miles
Tuesday: -10F … 6.75 miles
Wednesday: -2F … 6.75 miles
Thursday: -6F … 6.75 miles
Friday: 19F … 7.75 miles
Saturday 40F, did 15.5 miles
I was happy to break 50 miles this week (50.5) – once again we were dealing with considerable cold, and even the ‘warmer’ Monday and Friday felt cold to me, and my hands were cold … and I was generally annoyed even as I pushed myself those days a bit further. But once again, Saturday was awesome, and it made it all worthwhile!
This week we are predicted to get snow followed by more sub-zero cold before finally warming up to ‘normal winter’ late in the week. Hopefully it will last this time.
Blog Love
One of the best things for me about blogging is finding great new friends all over the place, people who are genuine, kind, funny and interesting. And I have found quite a few … but one of my faves has to be Megan at The Lyon’s Share. She combines fitness, health, and great enthusiasm about her marriage and running.
She threads it all together in a way that has you constantly learning even if you don’t realize it. She shares ups and downs – recently she talked about a disappointment at a marathon and an amazing trip with her husband Kevin to a friend’s wedding in Brazil.
My one ‘criticism’ – she has a definite snarky voice, but is just too nice to ever fully embrace it! Ha! 🙂
Obligatory Selfie
And this week over at Arman’s site, the ‘Spill It Sunday’ is ‘Fat’ – as in the macronutrient.
1. What is your favourite fat source?
The one that I totally love but don’t get enough is avocado. They aren’t local to our area, and the ones we get imported have been hit or miss, so I don’t always grab them when shopping. Plus I am the only real fan in the house – the kids will have them in guacamole, but Lisa can’t eat them.
Hmmm … now I want some again!
2. What is your favourite nut? What is your favourite nut butter?
I love pistachios – I always keep them at my desk for an afternoon snack, which is great because they take time and both hands, so they are not as prone to ‘mindless snacking’.
For nut butter, I really have to go back to peanut butter – it is my daily source in my ‘peanut butter & butter’ toast … yes, I really do butter my toast then put peanut butter on top!
3. What fat is receives unfair flack? What fat is most overrated?
I love Coconut Oil – we bought some to try out with Lisa’s Paleo diet, and it adds great flavor to cooking and making popcorn. But some of the early studies suggested it might raise your ‘bad cholesterol’, but many more since have shown the opposite. Like everything, you shouldn’t be spooning it out of the jar, but in moderation it works to add flavor and retains benefits due to high smoke point.
In terms of over-rated, I would agree with Truffle Oil from this WSJ article. I think high quality Olive Oil is amazing, but the cost-benefit for Truffle Oil just isn’t there.
4. Link up a favourite recipe embracing fats (it can be your own or another bloggers!)
I love this no-bake chocolate peanut butter cake , and I have been planning to post about my variation version of it. Meghann adapted it from here, and I have taken the the peanut butter into a more ‘fudge’-like direction and keep with the graham crackers, but with fewer larger layers. Mine fills a loaf pan and is insane. I will post when I make it again … promise!
5. What is YOUR perception of this macronutrient?
I think that even as more and more people learn that balancing healthy fats is critical to your diet, they are still avoided like poison.
I grew up as a kid in the 70s as the sugar and corn industries teamed up and launched HFCS and also the attack by implanting ‘eating fat makes you fat’ as a mantra. Of course, given the out of control obesity that has happened just as fat consumption has plummeted … let’s call that debunked sufficiently. But when I first lost weight in the late 80s, I was eating as little fat as possible, reveling in that feeling of hunger and empty stomach … it was seriously unhealthy.
Now I call that stuff ‘chemical soup’, and realize that there are things that SHOULD have fat, like salad dressings. So my perception is that fat itself isn’t bad, it is the delivery vehicle – a nice lean cut of beef is not the problem, it is the bucket of fried chicken.
6. What benefits do FATS play in YOUR personal eating habits?
I am in the best shape of my life, I can easily go run a half marathon on a moment’s notice … and I owe SO MUCH of it to proper fueling. And I have learned so much from other bloggers about balancing macronutrients … my diet has changed considerably and now healthy fats play a large role in my diet every day.
So what about you? How was YOUR running this week? Did you have better weather this week? And how do YOU feel on the subject of fats?
Hope everyone has a great week!
Running Around the Bend 
I love fat, eat a lot of it and can’t even believe it myself. I was afraid of eating fat for years, consuming maybe just 10% of my caloric intake from fat (guesstimate), and not even healthy fats. Now I eat about 30%, mostly healthy fats, and I’m probably in my best shape. Smart choices make a huge difference.
It is funny – and scary – how effective food marketing can be at keeping us from changing behavior. Everyone I hear who has gone to a more balanced eating approach has seen a benefit … yet we are all STILL scared of fat!
I find it so interesting reading about how fat was perceived in the 70’s and 80’s and now it’s changing perception- I think I was definitely wary of it growing up, but fortunately the last few years it has been receiving positive credit!
I’m laughing at your Megan bit- She really is a wealth of knowledge, and I’ve told her that sometimes I feel she’ll get cranky at me or tell me off- but she has a heart of pure gold.
To me the ‘fat is evil’ thing is such a great example of the power of money and marketing. And during my lifetime we have seen food labeling come into existence (heck, it was only within the last 75 years that packages had to say how much was in there, let alone WHAT was in there!)
Definitely agree on Megan … though one thing is sure, when she plots our demise it will be significant, she is smart as heck 😉
Oh my goodness, you have no idea how much this made my day!! Thank you so much for the Blog Love! You know I feel the same way – I just left comments telling how you inspired me in running and marriage, in fact!
And I’m laughing out loud at the snarkiness … you know me too well that it’s hidden deep inside there, but I only embrace it at rare instances :). I KNOW you have another complaint, though … I “catch up” on blog comments and flood your inbox! Oops!! Thanks again!
Haha – you are one of two bloggers who has weekly email-pocalypse 🙂 But since we follow many of the same blogs it is even worse! I don’t mind, but my phone battery pays the price!
I probably shouldn’t mention it was 80 here yesterday. 🙂 I love avocado too. It does help that it’s grown here as well. I recently had to cut back because although it’s a good fat, I eat took much so the calories were adding up! 🙂
It is all the ‘too much of a good thing’ concept. Like tonight, I made a cake and also made buttercream frosting. Arman was big on butter, and it is one of those things that has become much more appreciated … but spooning frosting is not such a good idea 🙂
And unlike so many others, I don’t begrudge others their good weather … hope you enjoyed it!
nice mileage this week! and I’m a big pistachio fan too!
Thanks so much Jason!
Nice running this week! After the snowstorm on Monday I decided not to run outside on Tuesday, but by Wednesday most of the sidewalks and running paths were clear. Still a little cold this week but nothing like what you have dealt with this winter:)
This has been a crazy winter all-around for everyone between the cold and storms and so on! And when we were out ballroom dancing on Thursday there was a doctor in the same class talking about how many people were getting hurt running this winter and hitting patchy ice – so it is always better to be safe!