Catch Up

2 days. 72 hours. 4,320 minutes. Until? Until my summer class is over and I have my life back again! For two weeks, until Fall classes start. BUT, that’s two whole weeks of fun (and some work thrown in there). This week alone, I have tentative plans to go to a theme park, tubing, and spending lots and lots of time with friends.. Otherwise known as, making up for an entire summer of not doing much into the last few weeks we have left.

A big event took place last week. Well.. a big event to a runner. I ran six pain free miles last Wednesday! As I have previously mentioned, I had a stress fracture that kept me away from running for years and I’m just getting back into full force.A year ago today I could only run a very slow and painful 1 mile once a week. And now? Last week I reached 5 miles, and this week it was 6. To say I am excited is an understatement. The runner’s high? That is some real stuff my friends. However, this brings me to another question. While six miles isn’t my lifetime PDR, it is my post stress fracture PDR. Caitlin at HTP debated this topic a while back on her blog.. are PDR’s a lifetime thing? Is a PR or PDR that you reached when you were 19 still applicable when you are 30? Or, something like having a child or having a serious injury.. do your previous PDR’s still apply? For myself, I still consider those past accomplishments true and yes, I have ran six miles before but that was three years ago and I fought HARD to get back to where I was then, and I’m still not close. In my opinion, post injury or post baby, these new PDR”s deserve their own recognition and celebration.

You can check out my running story and some of my past PR’s here

And now, on to the food…

Gluten free blueberry pancakes made from a mix that I am slightly obsessed with

A whole wheat bagel thin topped with cinnamon laughing cow cream cheese and peanut butter, with a side of the juiciest peach on the planet.

Random craving for a salad with iceberg lettuce, tomato, cheese, and Ranch dressing. Maybe not the “healthiest” salad, but oh so good.

Fresh corn and okra… helllllooo summertime

And here we have, quite possibly, the best meal I’ve cooked in a long, long time.

We have here Shrimp Alfredo with Broccoli

Dinner tonight, however, wasn’t too far behind

Starting off with a simple salad tossed with a raspberry vinaigrette.

And followed by a homemade pizza

I bought some pizza dough from Earth Fare and topped it with their homemade sauce, mozzarella, and Canadian bacon.

Just add another slice to that plate.. I definitely had more

And now, off to ponder dessert!

Thoughts

I had a burger for dinner tonight.

Just a burger, you say. No big deal, you say.

However, at one point in time, this simple burger would have sent me into a frenzy. And the thought of eating beef? A full blown panic attack would ensue.

You see, I had an eating disorder. Anorexia. Had? Have? Do these things ever really go away? I’m beginning to think not, at least, not every ounce of it. Am I at a healthy weight? Yes. Do I have a healthy relationship with food? For the most part. Do I still have the thoughts of an anorexic? Do I sometimes want to go back to those dark days? You betcha. Am I forever going to pay for the damage I have done to my body? Absolutely. Honestly, that is the thing that keeps my head above water, as I’m not sure my body can outlast another battle with that demon.

In my summer class (psychology), we have been discussing eating disorders and I am doing a book report on a memoir of an anorexic. Naturally, this things can be triggering. They can also be eye-opening. Some people think that anorexia and eating disorders in general are not really.. disorders.Some think if these people would just eat, it will all be ok. If they will just get help, it will all be ok. Those statements anger me more than almost any other in the human language. Anorexia is a disease. A full blown, mental disease that takes over your mind and body and makes you do things that are absolutely insane. Anorexics starve themselves. And yeah, it may start out as a desire to get thin but to put it simply, it’s starvation. And starvation leads to death. Anorexics are essentially killing themselves, some more slowly than others. And for those of us who are “recovered,” we still pay the price for the damage we have done. Myself physically, I a have developed osteopenia (in other words, super weak bones), an irregular and erratic menstrual cycle, anemia, chronic heartburn, a stress fracture, a heart murmur, an erratic metabolism, hypoglycemia, among other things. All directly because of or related to my eating disorder. And that’s only the physical problems… never mind the emotional and psychological.

All of this is to say, this is why I do what I do. This is why I’m part of the blogging community. This is why I am pursuing a degree that will allow me to work with people who struggle with eating disorders. I will do anything to prevent others from going through the darkness that is anorexia and other eating disorders. It’s a darkness that for me, never completely has gone away. And maybe you say that someone who still  struggles shouldn’t be helping others suffering from the very same thing. But, you see, who else is more knowledgeable and understanding than someone who has gone through the exact same thing. I don’t know about others but the nutritionist I was sent to when I was recovering was everything I didn’t need.. she didn’t understand what I was going through, she gave me a number of calories to eat a day and suggestions of what to eat, and that was that. Needless to say, not much good was done. And so I hope to do the opposite. I want to do good in the world and as corny as it sounds, make a difference in someone’s life. If I help one person, prevent one person from going down the path of anorexia, everything, my struggle, everything, will be worth it.

What I’ve Been Eating

Or, AKA What I Ate Wednesday… plus some.

My apologies for the lack of posting the past few days.. chalk it up to it being the last week and a half of my summer class. Or, as I like to call it, cram as many papers and projects into as few days as possible. Otherwise known as, my life until further notice.

A yogurt mess with lemon Chobani and plain oats

Homemade gluten free blueberry pancakes

They might not have turned out.. aesthetically perfect but the taste? Perfection.

A whole wheat bagel thin topped with (new to me) Cinnamon Laughing Cow Cheese.

Along with some protein in the form of string cheese and deli turkey. Brain Fuel.

Homemade spaghetti with turkey instead of beef.

Perhaps my favorite meal of all time?

Comfort food at its finest.

My latest go to breakfast.. Special K Fruit and yogurt with a banana

And finally, dinner tonight started off with a glass of this, one of the most delicious red wines I’ve ever had.

With salmon, fresh corn, and oven fried green tomatoes.

And now, back to the grind…

Any other students feel my pain?!

My Life Via Instagram

Follow me @ Jess5698

This Is How I Eat

This, is how I eat…

I eat carbs

Even PASTA.

And protein shakes.

Waffles with chia seeds…

And pancakes with sprinkles.

I eat oatmeal…

and…

well, lots of oatmeal.

I eat real food…

With an occasional treat..

or two.

Breakfast

Back At It

At one point in my life, running was my life. Until it wasn’t. From a combination of over-training, under-fueling, and weak bones, I developed a serious stress fracture in my pubic ramus in December of 2010. In one of the worst places possible. In a place that can take forever to heal. And, it did. I had a very long road to recovery (that  I’m still walking on) involving misdiagnosis, multiple doctors, bed rest, crutches, and many many bouts of physical therapy.

My time off from running taught me a lot, first and foremost that running is a gift, it something to be thankful for. And, our bodies are not indestructible, no matter how young or thin or fit we are. Two and a half years later, I am finally (FINALLY) back at it but with a new mentality.

Gone are the days of back to back runs. While it works for some people, my body is simply to able to endure those at this point in time. I’ve learned to embrace cross-training.

Gone are the days of under fueling, a lesson I needed to learn. If you want your body to endure something like running, you have to take care of it and nourish it and strengthen it.

Since been given the OK to get back to it and then waiting until my BODY told me it was Ok, I’ve increased my mileage slowly and, most importantly, listened to my body. And my reward?

That’s right. 5 miles. Otherwise known as the longest run since the diagnosis of my stress fracture.

To some, 5 miles is nothing.

To me? It’s the world.

The Why’s

A lot has changed in the mere 3/4 months since I’ve been absent from the blogging world. As I mentioned in my previous post, as well as is evident by the title of the blog, I have moved to a new town an hour and a half away from where I grew up. Why the move? Because I finally, FINALLY, know what I want to do with my life and I’m going after it. If any of you guys followed me back when I started The Process of Healing, I had changed my major from Bachelor’s in Early Childhood to Business. I’ve even taken a few culinary classes over the past few years but not one of those degrees felt right. Why? Because I knew what I wanted to do all along, I simply never had the courage to do it as it meant that I had to leave home and move away. And then one day, the courage popped up… and here I am. I am pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition, and then I hope to acquire my R.D. license, much like Kath from KERF. I am extremely excited about this and while I know it’s going to be a lot of work, it will be worth it when it allows me to have a job that I love. And that is one of the reasons I decided to start a new blog, to chronicle my journey to my degree and as I know many of us bloggers are nutrition freaks (for lack of a better word), I hope you guys will enjoy learning right along with me as I share what I learn.

As the title suggests, not only am I in a new city but I AM a new girl.. I feel like it anyway. They say that you change more in your 20’s than in any other time in your life; I believe it. If I knew me 2 years ago, I wouldn’t know me. Much less 3, 4, 5 years ago.. I’m embracing the real me, becoming a strong woman, and finding out who I really am. I’ve been through some trials in the past 3 or 4 years but I’m ready to move on from them and to make my life, well MY life.

On a lighter note, I was going to share some foodie pictures from the day but I neglected to bring my camera cord to my new place. SO, I’ll share with you some pictures (via iPhone) of my apartment (which is still a major work in progress) and some pictures of my beautiful friends back home <- The hardest part of moving away.

Make sure to check out the new About Me page!

A New Start

Many of you guys may remember me from my past blog, The Process of Healing. If so, I’m glad to be back! For new readers, thank you for stopping by! (And I do hope you come again)

The reason for this shiny new blog? To put it simply, I’m not the same person I was when I started The Process of Healing, nor am I in place, literally and figuratively. I started out The Process of Healing living in my hometown, a timid quiet girl who had no idea how the next 2 1/1 years would make her a determined and stronger person, who pursues her goals relentlessly, in a new town where she has a new start. Yet, here I am! Ready for this new start? Absolutely.

On New Girl, New City, you will find recipes, daily eats, random musings, among other things. And I will explain the why’s, how’s, and where’s behind the new city in coming posts. Here’s to a new start!