I call it healthy selfishness.

I brought my work out gear to work and was fully prepared to get to hit the gym right after work. You see, that one hour at the gym is my ME time. I get to be totally selfish. I don't have a daughter (or husband) to feed or take care of. I am away from my e-mail, students, and anyone I know. It's just me, the tunes, and the treadmill. Well, there's other people there, but they don't care about me nor do I care about them. Okay, occasionally I do peak at the skinny girl on the treadmill near me to see how fast and how far she goes, but that's the natural competitive bone I have! Anyway, I posted recently about crappy shin splints. I have rested and not gone to the gym since 4/4 when I only made it 1.5 miles on the treadmill before I had to throw in the sweaty towel. I figured I'd be good to go by today, but I still have the bulges in my right shin and the dull, achy pain. I talked to a friend who does marathons and she advised me not to push it. It sucks, but apparently shin splints need time to heal. :/ I did purchase some sport gel inserts and new sport socks. Hopefully those will help until I can invest in a new awesome pair of tennis shoes. I've had my current ones for a while and I actually think they are too small. I'm going to check some running blogs I follow and look for good shoe suggestions. So I got upset because I know I need to rest and ice it, but I started a 5k training plan and now I'm starting it over on Monday. I was already back to the "high" feeling I get when working out. I don't see anything wrong with a little healthy selfishness. I'm not neglecting my family. My daughter is at daycare an hour longer and my husband is still at work. I figure I am a much better wife and mother when I get to exercise. I'm happier, less stressed, and a lot nicer! So yes, I am away from my daughter an hour longer after working all day, but I know the time with her is more enjoyable when I'm in a good mood. "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

I follow Katie at Runs For Cookies and she is in love with her Garmin Forerunner 305. I have a Polarft4, but since I want to run a 5k race this year, I'd like something to help me track my pace, etc while also tracking calories. I do love my Polarft and looking down to see the calories burned increase is a great motivator, but I really want a Forerunner! So...I found one on eBay and put a bid in. I've been the highest bidder for the last 3.5 hours, but someone always swoops in at the last second, usually while I'm showering, and out bids me. It has 35 minutes left. Ugh! I just checked and this idiot keeps out bidding me. I'm about to just have to give up because the price + shipping is just getting too high for me. :( if I do buy a Garmin, I plan to sell my Polarft. I use it a lot, but I just got it in February, there's no wear and tear, and I have everything it came with.

**I was sitting there monitoring the bid for the last 35 minutes and someone came in and bid really high in the last 5 seconds.** Maybe it's a sign that I really should wait to get a Garmin. They are expensive, but I know it'd really help me to train for a 5k!

I had one of my favorite dinners tonight. 2/3 c Brown rice, shredded chicken breast, and 1 can of rotel tomatoes. I cook rotel in olive oil in a skillet. I let it get a little crispy. It's delicious and I'm so full. I used canned chicken breast tonight because I didn't feel like cooking a piece of chicken. Joey isn't eating much right now so I didn't cook for him. I'm going to cook some chicken over night in the crockpot so I can bring some for lunch tomorrow with my leftover rice. I'm one of those people who finds a meal I love and eats it often. It's a dark picture, but it's so tasty...

 I keep slacking on calorie counting on MFP because I eat the same things so often. I know I should still track, but it gets so tedious. Speaking of, I need to go track when I finish this! I know lots of people who are losing weight through MFP. I don't have many people on my friend list (especially real life friends) because weightloss struggles are so...personal. I had the chance to join Joey's family's Biggest Loser contest this year, but didn't want them all knowing my weight. Ugh. I've got to overcome that! I'm still working on my blog pages and layout, but I will be adding goals I want to achieve and my weightloss journey.

I have a few other pages in the draft stage as well. I gave my blog a makeover a week or two ago and it has been quite the process to get it all up and running. So check back as I keep updating! (Speaking of, I've never posted a new post from my iPad and I'm not a big fan!)

Make good choices tomorrow!