spicy

My schedule (work and otherwise) has been out of whack this week with Christmas parties and celebrations. As a result, my running schedule has also been out of whack. I couldn't run on Monday because I worked a double. I ran 4 miles on Tuesday. I was too busy to run on Wednesday. Knowing that I would be working a double today (Friday) and traveling to New Jersey/Pennsylvania tomorrow (Saturday) and with Christmas celebrations on Sunday, I knew that I needed to get a run in last night (Thursday). After Christmas shopping and getting some things done around the house, I looked at the clock...it was 10:15 p.m. I never run that late! But, I knew what needed to be done...I needed to run. I went down to the basement, jumped on the treadmill and set it to a modest 7.5 mph. I was not feeling all that great. I knew that running so late certainly played a role in this feeling, but I also knew the bigger reason: what I had eaten for dinner.

As I said, I had been out Christmas shopping earlier in the evening. I was hanging out with a good friend in the process. We decided to drop into the food court at the mall to grab some grub. Per usual protocol, I opted for an Asian fast food spot. Since the particular spot was Thai, I opted for some "Bang Bang Chicken" on top of my rice to go with my standard barbecue chicken. Let's face it...I love spicy food. It was delicious.

Unfortunately for me, as much as spicy food agrees with my taste buds, it doesn't always agree with my stomach. This was seemingly the case last night. And sadly, that wasn't the worst of it. I was sweating a little more than usual and my sweat had a little bit of a burn to it. It wasn't miserable, but it was uncomfortable. I learned a valuable lesson...I shouldn't eat spicy food before I run.

Actually, what I was reminded of was actually bigger than that. As I recently blogged, food is really fuel. I did a terrible job fueling my body yesterday by eating what I ate for dinner. I was thinking about this last night when I was reminded of a recent excerpt I read in the "Ask Miles" section of the September 2011 edition of Runner's World magazine (p 20). The question submitted by Joshua H. was "Which one is better? Run a lot but eat unhealthy or eat healthy and don't exercise?" Miles quoted Bill Roberts, M.D. in his response. Dr. Roberts quote: "That's like asking, 'Is it better to shoot myself in the right foot or the left?'" I agree with Dr. Roberts' reaction to that question. Exercise and eating healthy work hand-in-hand. You cannot choose one over the other. You need to find a way to balance them harmoniously in your life. And yesterday, I failed to reach that balance.

As I thought a little bit more about it, it also occurred to me that as in most other things, this is true of many aspects of our lives. I have changed Joshua's question to ones with regards to other aspects of our lives:

Which one is better? Pray but not read the Bible or read the Bible but not pray?
Which one is better? Love my spouse but despise my children or love my children but despise my spouse?
Which one is better? Breathe in but don't breathe out or breathe out but don't breathe in?
Which one is better? Treat others with respect but not myself or treat myself with respect but not others?

I think you get the idea I am trying to make. When you look at the same logic in different situations, it seems a bit laughable. Yet we have all likely been guilty of making this mistake in some area of our life. We need to be careful not to choose between things that are both important. Sometimes it can be hard to find that harmonious balance between them, but we will be much better off if we put in a little hard work to find it.

fuel

Since my last post, I have been continuing in my quest for increased fitness through healthier eating and quality, intentional exercise. The truth is...I will never fully satisfy my quest. Like every other aspect of life, it's about continually growing. Today marked another growth spurt in my quest.

After my morning run on the hotel treadmill, I went back to my room. I was hungry, so I decided to order room service. I opted for the multi-grain french toast with berries. In less than 20 minutes, the knock came at the door. The gentleman set my tray down at my desk. I finished my crunches and planks, then sat down to dig in. I looked at the plate before me and the following thought came to mind: "Carbs and proteins...and a good ratio." That's right...not "delicious french toast" or "nice mix of savory and sweet"..."carbs and proteins." Food had regained its true purpose for me again: fuel.

We would never fill our gas tanks with junk, so why would we fill our bodies with it? The truth is that we would be less likely to if we thought of food in terms of fuel...but we usually don't. We get confused about food's true purpose.

I think the purpose of food is one of the easiest things for us to confuse. We so often think of food as a delicious treat or soothing comfort, forgetting that its true purpose is as fuel. Those deceptively false purposes are the things that get us into trouble with our health, fitness and even self-esteem. But when we think of food in terms of its true purpose, we are much better off in those three areas. One purpose is true, the others are lies. And sadly many people don't even realize they have made that trade-off.

The purpose of food is not the only thing about which we confuse the truth though. We can do this with many other things in our lives as well.

Let me use our spiritual lives as an example to help make my point. How many people view the Bible as a book of stories rather than the infallible Word of God? How many people think of God as non-existent or uninvolved instead of a living, compassionate, relational God? How many people view Christianity as a set of rules instead of reconciling our relationship with God? These are all examples of trading the truth for lies. And much like people confusing the purpose of food, people often don't even realize that that have made such a trade-off.

So remembe...whether in food, your spiritual life or any other aspect of life, be careful not to trade the truth for any number of lies. My challenge to you is this: Next time you eat a piece of chicken, think of it as protein. And next time you read a passage from the Bible, think of it as God's word.