Ramblings from the Gym

I sit here writing from the gym. Yep, writing, not running.

My gym membership includes 2 hours of childcare a day. It's my only break from being a full time mom. As my husband pointed out, his work ends at the end of an 8 hour day, mine doesn't. So he encourages me to use my 2 hour gym childcare everyday.  For the past 7 months, I've been doing that. To the extreme. Recently, I've started taking one of those workout classes...on top of my 3 mile run.  This backfired two ways. 1) My eating has gotten out of control, and 2) I now have an overuse injury.

Sunday I went on a nice 3 mile run with the Hubs. I felt great!  However, 2 hours after the run, I went to stand up and had a massive sharp pain go through my inner heel. With ever step I took, the sharp pain was there. I iced it, elevated it, and cancelled my run group meet ups for the next 2 weeks. I've seen my husband suffer from plantar fasciitis for 2 years before it finally healed (mostly). I wanted to make sure I rested my injury before it got as serious as his did.  Today I went to the gym lifted weights and did abs for an hour and then decided to just walk for 30 minutes because my foot felt fine. Big mistake. I didn't walk for 2 minutes before I felt the pain in my arch!  I immediately got off the treadmill and sat down until my 2 hours is up. (Mental health is just as important as physical health, right??  I'm taking my whole 2 hours of ME time.)

Since I can't walk or run, counting calories is going to be even more important over the next 2 weeks. I need to get my eating under control. I've recently found the blog Runs for Cookies and the author mentions how she binges when she eats sugar, so I've decided to test out her theory. I've attempted to cut sugar out of my diet for 30 days. I'll still have fructose and lactose, but will try to stay away from sucrose and artificial sweeteners. I've already failed today, as my husband makes my coffee every morning and there was Splenda in it. ...and then there was that granola bar I had. I'm not going to beat myself up over it, since I normally have a ton more sugar and artificial sweeteners than that a day. Instead, I'm going to continue to try. I must admit, I've already noticed a difference in hunger. Whether it's from cutting back on/out cardio, or the lack of sugar, I'm not sure. We'll see how the next few days go. I'll probably add swimming back to my workouts, since I can't run, and that'll be the test to see if it's the lack of sugar or lack of cardio that has curbed my appetite.

Has anyone else cut sugar out and seen any side effects/results?  I'd love to hear from you!