Today was my long run. Eight miles in the Rec Center. Around and around. I am grateful to have it and I will limit my complaining. Running in the dark is a hundred times worse.

Ah.... comfort food. I made chili last night (PROTEIN) and cinnamon rolls. I had one. I did. It was so good. If this is my journey, my life is going to have to include a cinnamon roll every now and then. When I received my life time, part of me checked out and wanted to be done. I'm not. I will never be done. This is my fight - for life. This is never ending. This is life now and I'm not going back the other way. After two years of doing this you would thing it would be a habit by know. It kind of is but it still takes thinking about. Does that make sense? Always focusing on being better.

I have to say the protein has made a difference. I feel better and the scale is moving. Coincidence? Was it the protein or just giving my body time? Who knows? The focus of protein won't hurt.
I have found some protein bargains.

• Skim milk (thanks Keelie!), one cup is a whopping 9 grams of protein and only 2 WW points.

• Fat free feta cheese (Costco), one ounce is 7 grams - I love it on my salad!

• Protein shake - vanilla or chocolate. I get mine at Costco, it's $40 a bag and last over a month with two of us eating protein shakes daily, sometimes twice a day. I get the brand Cryomix (if that's wrong, I'll edit it). I love to put 4 ice cubes in the blender and crush them. Then I add my skim milk, protein mix and a half a cup of frozen berries. It is so yummy and keeps me full until lunch!
• Eggs have 6.3 grams of protein and if you add an egg white you get an additional 3.5 grams.
• Ham - I love ham. I just get one slice in the meat department. It's easy for a lot of things and for 2 ounces has 9 grams of protein and it's only 2 WW points.
• Jerky - Just 2 WW points, has 10 grams of protein in 1 ounce.
  

These are just a few finds this week! I'm excited to get this figured out.

Morgan - running faster is one of my unwritten goals this year. Maybe it should be written!!! Right now I'm working on endurance and building that up. In the next few weeks, I'll start some speed workouts. They aren't easy but they work. Thanks for the input -- It makes my day!