A threesome being you, your mate,… and a baby.

St. John’s wort is one of those nice over-the-counter natural supplements millions of people take to remedy mild depression and anxiety.
I don’t have any personal experience to comment on how well it works, although I’d recommend against it for relationship-blues. You are more likely to feel worse if you – or the person you are seeing – is not ready to become a parent. If you are on St. John Wort, and you are taking birth control, and you combine the two with make-up sex… you may end up pregnant.

Why?

Because St. John’s Wort causes your body to metabolize the pill faster, i.e. you end up with too low a dose in your system to stay baby-proof.

Running is becoming a big part of my life these days, ever since I discovered the main benefit to it and it became my main motivator: it is time for me to be alone, no phones, no internet, no family, no friends, just me.

Today I came to a stunning discovery that healed me from my previous excuses not to run/exercise: the feeling that I “cannot run”. The proof I was drawing from to support this often-used-comment is the fact that when I start running, I can’t finish a song (i.e. run for more than 3 min) without walking to catch my breath. Now, I think that aside from my heart having to keep up there was more to my problem than just my level of fitness: it was a psychological block.

How did I solve the problem? I kept running! Certain songs on my iPod made me not think, and thus in a sense forget that I already should have been tired and walking. I think I was so used to thinking I “can’t” run, that I would stop and walk even when my heart rate was fine and my breathing was in check.

Having said that, I do have the run-walk-run-walk pattern when I first start out. This is perhaps also the reason I previously gave up; I couldn’t run far without feeling like my heart was going crazy. Today I discovered that after “warming up” I just keep on running. I don’t go very fast, but at least I managed to run almost constantly on my return trip (only stopped for a light once!).

Running stats for the day:
- 4.16 miles
- 450 calories burned, approximately (I think this assumes I ran a constant speed, which I did not…)

Want to track your own run? Map it here. There is a neat saving function that allows you to save the map and your stats, make sure you copy the URL though, because there is no way to go back to it otherwise.

Here is a map of my run today, half of it was in walk-run-walk mode, but the other half was constant running:

All “Best Year of my Life” Columns:
[postsincategory#15]

It is astonishing what a little “change of mind” can do to one’s motivation and endurance. Some people reach this goal by positive thinking, affirmations or even meditation. I came to think differently by chance.

I have never been immune to the common problem of going to the gym twice, only to give up on a regular routine before the week is over. I have always known it was in part due to the fact that the gym bores me to tears. Aside from the fact that treadmills, and some other cardio equipment, makes me feel like a lab rat. Being outside, or at least on an indoor track, provides me with the visual stimulation that keeps me from becoming repulsed by the activity itself.

This however has nothing to do with my change in perspective. Although I have given up on a exercise routine countless times before (the same way I never managed to stop biting my nails), I have reached a turning point. Not because exercise is so much more fun than it was before – there is only a little bit of that – but rather because I perceive it as a treat instead of a chore.

How can this be?

It’s simple: in my highly articulated, chronically social life where I am at all times surrounded by people I crave some time alone. I in fact get tired of my social obligations, and of family obligations to the point where I am irritable and almost resentful. The past week, these feelings have subsided a little bit already, because I manage to be just alone with my thoughts and my music for a little while.

Running now represents this fantastic time alone to me, instead of the chore it was previously. Who can be expected to keep up with yet another “chore” or “responsibility” on top of every other annoying thing we are expected to do during the day? It is far easier to stick to a routine if it is in fact a selfish act.

At this point, I wouldn’t even want to train with another person. It would be nice to have a friend to share this interest with, but at the same time it would take away the reason I am going to keep up with it.

My tip for the day is to try and think of things differently. Whether it is regarding exercise, food or even a career: approach things a little more selfishly, and do make some time for yourself. Once you change your perspective on, for example exercise, and turn it into something positive it will actually be surprisingly easy to stick to your goals. I find the Nike slogan terribly appropriate in this case: just do it!

Having said all that, I’m going for my run!

Today I had lunch with a friend I haven’t seen in over two months. I also spoke on the phone to a person I care about, and wrote a few blog posts. Aside from that, I tried to get myself to work on something I have due (tomorrow!) but didn’t manage to muster the concentration. In addition, I am about to have a moderately distressing meeting, which was the reason I didn’t get a whole lot else done.

However, although lunch-with-a-friend may not immediately seem like something I would do as part of this “Best Year of my Life” plan, it actually is: previously, I went through a few years without a vacation, hardly ever saw my friends and was generally miserable. Now, within the past year this has changed, but part of this whole new me I am creating is the sensibility to prioritize what is important to me. What adds value to my life? In this case, seeing my friend made me happy. It did add value, and the fact that I resisted choosing the pizza on the menu and opted for a grilled chicken panini instead also made me proud. Clearly, the fact that the lactic acid hasn’t worked itself out of my system yet worked as a reminder and helped me made the “right” choice there.

I am also curious to see whether eating healthier, without going hungry, will make a difference in combination with the running. Fact is: I love food. I love to eat it more than I love to prepare it, but I cannot go on conventional starvation diets because of this. Today, the massive burst of protein and salad I ate kept me so full I only had a small bite for dinner.

Although professionally speaking I didn’t get a whole lot done today, I did formulate plans as to what I want to do within the next couple of days and updated my iPod running playlist with the free songs
I downloaded yesterday.

Here is my quick tip for success: change the way you talk to yourself! I almost just wrote “things I need to do”, but there is really no need to speak of. I want to do them. For me, only.

I’ve given myself twelve months to change my life around. It’s not new year’s eve, and nothing terribly shocking has happened to cause this change of heart. However, much like a dripping faucet can fill a bucket and make it run over, a continuous stream of minor events can add up to big life changes.

In a nutshell; within the next twelve months I intend to take my business to the next level, earn enough money to afford a place of my own and achieve the best physical shape of my life. Now the latter is theoretically the easiest one to achieve, because I’ve never really been in shape. Even after having lost 15 pounds a few years ago, I can’t say I was in “great shape”. To make a real start to my ambitious intentions I went for my second run today. As a result of my first run I am currently lying on a couch with an ice-pack on my shin and a cushion elevating my left leg. Nevertheless, I let songs by PINK! and Gigi d’Agostino push myself around the running track twenty-one times this afternoon. Interestingly enough, while running I hardly felt any pain. Walking normally almost kills me though.

The mere fact that I’ve gone running twice over the span of 72 hours warrants this post in itself. Just like some people say “never” when it comes to love, I used to say never to running. I grew up hating to run, because whenever we were made to break a sweat in gym class I was the slowest runner of the group. My public humiliation back then left such a huge impression on my adult life that I haven’t been caught near a treadmill in years. However, a chance encounter with a running enthusiast, and my own desire to get in shape outside of the gym caused me to want to give it another try. Not only that; my grown desire to outdo myself and achieve what I never thought I could before also pushed me to go shopping: to buy a few new running shirts and window shop for a too-expensive running watch.

I ended up settling for a more affordable, but still fabulous and useful Polar RS200sd Heart Rate Monitor Watch: