Getting Back in the Groove

So after weeks of stressful planning for a big upcoming event and lots of homework, it should be pretty obvious that working out was the least of my worries. I'm coming back though!

My dad and I are going to run a 5k together this summer. He is a cyclist, so running isn't quite his expertise, but we've both started running more regularly to help train ourselves for the big day. I know it's not going to be very difficult for me, but I'm very excited to see my dad push himself so hard because he knows that this is something that I really want to do with him.

So like I said, I'm definitely getting back in the groove of things. I'm reading a new book for my developmental psychology class, The N.D.D. Book: How Nutrition Deficit Disorder Affects Your Child's Learning, Behavior, and Health, and What You Can Do About It--Without Drugs, and it is really changing my perspective on my diet. It's primarily targeted towards parents to help them learn about making sure children eat healthy to help brain development and functioning, but the scientific principles obviously apply to everyone. I don't want to ever go on one of those fad diets, but I'm definitely hoping to move in a healthier direction. I realized that even though I'm not a complete junk food junkie, that I take in more processed foods than I should.

As a poor college student, I usually find myself buying knock-off brands of processed foods that are easy to eat on the go and are super cheap, but I really want to change that. The book mentioned above (which I've only read two chapters of but HIGHLY RECCOMEND), emphasized that even though the healthy alternative foods are more expensive, the positive attributes are so much greater. Getting sick less often means fewer classes and days of work that I miss, the better sleep I will get, the healthier I look and feel definitely seem to outweigh the costs. I wish I could have seen this sooner.

So here's to eating less processed food, to reading the labels on what I buy, to more fresh produce and less fatty meats, and to healthy snacking :]

If anyone has any good recommendations for good healthy snacks (your fav. trail mix recipe, etc...) please post a comment. I want to start off on the right foot, and your comments help!