BananaHammock

Ran this AM, accomplishing two major (for me) feats already today: getting out of bed earlier than absolutely necessary, and running.  I'm a walker, a laze, a lout, a couch potato, a nester.  Running doesn't come naturally to me, and it's not an activity I could say that I enjoy.  But, I've decided to take baby steps toward better health and fitness, and running is good for my under-developed cardiovascular fitness.  I much prefer walking (and I do walk really fast) but running gets my heart pumping a little bit, and it's actually becoming satisfying to me to feel my endurance slowly, slowly increasing.  I can run basically a whole mile without having to stop and catch my breath now, a feat that 2 months ago I would have sworn was impossible.  And I can keep walking and running for a great while afterwards, too.  Not that a 29-year-old should have any difficulty doing this, but I did, and now I have much less difficulty doing so now.  And I like that.

So, anyway, any time I work out in the AM I get ravenously hungry all morning.  I don't know that much about nutrition, but I know that protein keeps you full and carbs give you energy, and fruit is just good for you...So I try to get at least some protein in the mornings now instead of just a bagel or a bowl of cereal (especially when I do weights or conditioning in the morning).  Peanut butter, hard-boiled egg, or even 1/2 a lean turkey sandwich are usually what I turn to, although cottage cheese and yogurt, I believe, are also good protein sources.  So are beans, for that matter, but I don't usually know how to fit them into breakfast...Anyway, protein does keep me fuller longer, although for a bottomless pit of a stomach like me, that's really just a relative time frame.  It's 10 am and I'm starting to feel hunger pangs, which is depressing since I'm technically closer to breakfast than lunch time. 

Half an English muffin topped with reduced-fat peanut butter (not my choice, I like Jif or natural but it's what's in the office kitchen) and sliced banana, with black coffee and lots of water on the side. 

Yep, ready for lunch, which is round 2 of Butter Chicken and naan. I can't wait!