Walk on the wild side with chocolate

By Virginia Winder
I'm writing this blog with chocolate melting in my mouth.
Dark chocolate, high in antioxidants, delicious and slightly forbidden. It's also giving me an instant endorphin kick. Mmm.
You see, it's OK to indulge every so often, to take a walk on the wild side without guilt.
I talked to a bloke today and he quizzed me about food, concerned I may get obsessive about eating or develop a disorder.
Fat chance - not when there's chocolate in the world.
Or chicken mole. That's a Mexican dish of chicken and chocolate sauce.
It's fine to enjoy food, eat every mouthful slowly and savour the flavour. I've talked about this before, but every time I eat it's about making choices.
Wise choices that will help fuel my mind and body. I've cut down on carbohydrates, given cheese and butter the flick and added more blueberries (I crave them!), walnuts, salmon and protein to my diet.
Fresh, unprocessed and home-made, that's the way to go.
And be mindful. Sometimes I take a bite of something, hold it in my mouth and imagine where it came from. Who grew the cocoa beans in this chocolate? Where is that farm? What does it look like and who picked these beans - a machine or human hands.
I love doing that. Sometimes I do it with other things too, like a book. I hold one in my hands and flick through it, knowing that a person wrote every word, a tree grew tall and was cut down by a person using a human-made tool to make paper for the pages, that someone mixed the ink... you can see how far you can think about a seemingly simple thing.
The reshaping of a body, a life, is the same.
It's a process that begins with a decision, then a short walk, a few lengths, a bike ride or a gym workout.
And then more and more and more.
With each training session there are changes, like the ease of breathing, a lightness of step, a gentle hill that felt like a hard slog is a breeze on the bike.
Then clothes feel big.
Others items fit.
This is a slow metamorphosis, which won't be obvious to others at first and then a friend will exclaim how your face has changed or you look glowing. Then you realise that these supportive people are your mirrors, reflecting you back to you.
But most important of all is how you feel.
After allowing a freight train of words to flow through my head, there are three that stand out: Motivation, determination and revelation. The first two are self-explanatory, the third is about finding out that I still enjoy exercise and, in fact, love it, with a passion.
Along with that joy of getting out there and doing it, is the growing pleasure of writing about it.
This blog is no slog.
Tomorrow I'll tell you about a man called Clint, a short-term and long-term training programme, remind us about SMART goals and then I'll tell you a true story about generosity.
It's an amazing one.
But for now, I'll leave you with a story about Ben Davis.
Watch this video and enjoy the soundtrack.

Yesterday, I:
Walked for 50 minutes
Ate like an angel
Slept for 9 hours
Worked for 5 hours
Drank 3 cups of coffee
Drank more water than ever (about 1.5 litres)

Today, I:
Slept for 6 hours
Did no exercise
Had a triathlon-training planning session
Worked for 9 hours
Ate pretty well (walked away from pizza and beer, but indulged in dark chocolate)
Had 3 cups of coffee
Drank about 1 litre of water

For the love of endorphins

When I was out walking tonight I realised four things.
1. Even though I might train and train at swimming, it is unlikely to be my best discipline. However, I need to work harder at it, because I don't want to be useless out there in the sea. I think, from now on, I'm going to have to swim every second day.
2. To perform well in a triathlon, I need to play to my strengths - both of them. Yes, I'm talking about my legs. Despite initially having some trepidation about biking, I have realised that it could well be my strongest discipline in these triathlons.
3. I need to get running. To do this, I need to lose another 10kg and I'm keen to do this as quickly as possible, but still without dieting. I'd like to be jogging by the end of November. I have started by running downhill, in a relaxed and slow manner, plus I'm doing my Bionic Woman slow-motion running the pool.
4. Help, I need new music! I love my playlist, but it's getting a bit too familiar. I need some surprises in there, so if anybody has any suggestions for uplifting music with a fast beat, I want to hear from you. I like rock, alternative everything, some hip-hop and even pop. I love great lyrics too, but most important of all is a fast beat.
Had my day off yesterday and gosh I needed it. I was so tired, probably because of those double-dose sessions. Am still going to do more of them, because exercise is so good for me.
When I'm going to the gym, walking or cycling, those wonderful endorphins make me feel happy.
Swimming is a different story. That's when a get a big boost of endolphins.
Don't start grabbing for your dictionary - my friend Callie coined that word and I think it's cute and clever.
But what are endorphins (or endolphins)?
A quick internet search reveals they are neurotransmitters that interact with the opiate receptors in the brain to reduce our perception of pain and make us feel good. Endorphins act in a similar way to drugs like morphine and codeine and are believed to be responsible for the runner's high. Exercise, sex, chocolate, acupuncture, massage therapy, meditation and hot chillies all trigger the release of endorphins.
That explains why chilli and chocolate is my favourite food combination.
Gotta love that natural high.

Today, I:
Worked for 3 hours
Slept for 8 hours (badly)
Had 3 nutritious meals
Went for a 6.1km power walk
Drank lots of water
Drank 2 cups of coffee