Blog moved.

509 Heather Lane has permanently moved to http://509heatherlane.wordpress.com.

what I learned in law school today.

"The 'e' in e-mail stands for evidence."

two kinds of iron.

First, the kind you pump:

One thing I've noticed about many of the healthy living blogs I've been reading is that there's a lot of emphasis on cardio, but not much on strength.  Well, not here!  I started lifting this summer, following a slightly modified version of the plan in The New Rules of Lifting for Women.  While the tag line "Lift like a man, look like a goddess" makes me cringe, and I've pretty much ignored the nutrition section, I like that it sets out a realistic, gradual weight training plan that (with a few modifications) I can do at home with adjustable weight dumbbells, a step, and a balance ball.

I'd fallen off the wagon the last month or two, though, and wanted to incorporate lifting back into my exercise routine.  I'm starting the program over (but this time I can do heavier weights!), and the plan is to alternate days of lifting and running.

And now for the kind of iron you digest:

...or in my case, realize you've been ingesting a disturbingly small amount of.  Oops.  I'm a default vegetarian (no real objection to meat...just rarely ever eat it), so most of my food sources of iron are of the type that is not as easily absorbed by the body.  That means vegetarians need more iron in their diets.  A quick glance at what I eat told me that I'm not even getting close to the 18mg recommended for meat eaters.

Because I'm a genius, I brushed off the boyfriend's suggestion a few months ago that I needed to be taking an iron supplement, and was mystified as to why I have been wanting to sleep all the time despite implementing my regular seasonal affective disorder remedies (hooray light box and going outside) and seem to be shedding more than usual.

So I'll be switching away from my beloved non-iron children's gummy vitamins and onto stuff with iron.  I'm hopeful that it'll help, but if it doesn't, it'll be time for a visit to the doctor and some bloodwork.

*I have not received any compensation from the authors or publishers of The New Rules of Weightlifting for Women, or the manufacturers of the generic iron supplement vitamin I picked up at the corner store.  I just use the products.

saturday shopping.

I hit the farmers' market this morning with a short list: spinach and cheese squash.

Check, and check, with a block of local cheese to boot!

I've got a big grocery run planned for later with my $10 off purchase of $50 or more coupon.  The challenge will be to get it all home on my bike.

motivation (and inspiration)

I know, another picture of shoes.  But there's a reason, I swear.  And it's not the shoes (although I do love them to death) -- it's the socks.  Yes, the somewhat wacky lime and pink argyle socks that peek out from under my otherwise staid jeans and black top.

They were a Christmas present last year from my youngest sister, who is in high school.  Everyone in my family knows of my insane love for socks, but these are a little more...colorful...than I usually go.  While I probably wouldn't have bought them myself, I love them because they came from my sister.

I'm the oldest of five girls, two of whom are still in high school.  There's a 10-year gap between me and the youngest, which means I don't have the history of screaming matches with the youngest two that I have with the older two.  The relationship is simply different, and I have a huge sense of responsibility toward the two little (or now not so little) ones.

I think they know bits and pieces of what I've been through, but my parents have for the most part managed to shield them from the whole story.  But they had to say something when I spent Christmas break in inpatient (and then outpatient, after I decided inpatient could kiss my ass) eating disorder treatment, so they know I've had problems with food.  They still look up to me, though, and so far seem to have escaped the family genetic predisposition toward depression and anxiety.

I'm terrified, though, that they won't escape, especially as they approach the age when my problems with depression and eating started in earnest.  I feel powerless, and I figure the best thing I can do for them is to be there as much as possible (while living in another state) and to model a healthy, balanced life.  I don't want them to look to me and see me having a tortured relationship with food and exercise.  I want them to look to their big sister and see someone they can emulate, someone who can show them there's life beyond the scale and the enormous pressure society places on young women.

Wearing the loud socks they give me helps me remember that.

footwear, spinach, and motivation

Yesterday's highlight was a box from Zappos containing two pairs of Superfeet insoles -- one for my everyday shoes, and one for my running shoes.  I'm hoping they'll help with my plantar fasciitis (a problem I've had on and off since running track in middle school), since I've had a pair in my hiking boots for a year now without any problems on that front.  The insoles are now trimmed and inserted, and I'm excited to run with them.

On the food front, I'm happy to report that I'm almost done with the pound of spinach I bought at the farmers' market last Saturday.  I'm also damn impressed with myself for blowing through that much green goodness in a week!  I'll be buying another pound tomorrow, and will also be on the lookout for Long Island cheese squash, since I want to try Heather's awesome looking mac and cheese (and squash) recipe.

Happy feet and veggies aside, I'm having serious problems with motivation this week.  Perhaps it's the increasingly dark mornings (although my light box should be helping with that), or the fact that I'm on my period and probably a little hormonally out of whack.  Or perhaps I need to kick myself in the butt and make things work (to paraphrase the inimitable Tim Gunn).

Since the insoles are all set, I've got no excuse not to run today.  And as delicious and healthy as they might be, my lunch and dinner can't be green monster smoothies.  Then there's the small matter of the rough draft of a major paper due Wednesday that I haven't started.

This needs to be a kick-ass weekend full of doing.


I did not receive any sort of compensation or consideration for mentioning or picturing Zappos, Superfeet insoles, Keen shoes, or Asics shoes, and have no relationship with Zappos, Superfeet, Keen, or Asics beyond that of customer.  They're simply products I like.

what I learned in law school today.

"If you take a bribe in the form of a check, you're going to have big troubles."

around the tubes: cleaning produce.

By any measure, I am not the queen of produce cleanliness.  I've joked that pesticides add that extra "zing!" to tomatoes.  I've reasoned that since I'm roasting broccoli at 450F, any germs that survive deserve to kill me.  And I've proclaimed "Mmmm....protein!" as small bugs fall into my simmering pot of camping food.

But honestly, I was grossed out a few days ago when I opened a box of organic baby spinach to find a large, dead fly.  And I do make cursory attempts to rinse most vegetables.  As I do so, I often wonder whether swirling a colander full of veggies under some cold water actually does anything or just makes me feel better.

So I was interested to see The New York Times tackle my produce cleanliness questions in this week's "Really?" column.  I was relieved to learn that I don't have to break out the dish soap or a fancy produce spray to avoid a side helping of chemicals and micro-nasties.

Instead, I learned, friction is the key to removing pesticide from produce.  While my current method of casually swirling veggies in the colander probably isn't doing much, 30-60 seconds of tap water combined with some rubbing will remove most pesticides (9 out of 12 in the cited study) and works as well as soaps or sprays.

For microorganisms, a rinse with a 10 percent vinegar solution (one of my favorite all-purpose household products!) removes 90 percent of bacteria and 95 percent of viruses.

Friction, tap water, and vinegar may not be completely foolproof, but they're simple solutions most of us can easily implement without investing in specialized products.  And hey, the pesticides and germs that survive at least have to show some evolutionary fitness in order to kill us!

To read the entire article, visit the NYT Health Section: The Claim: A Soap-and-Water Rinse Gets Produce Cleanest.

what I'm doing here.

A bit about me to start, I guess.

I am 25, a third year law student, living in my fourth state, recovering from depression, anorexia, and bulimia, a volunteer at a medical clinic for the uninsured, an avid reader, a former dancer and re-starting runner, addicted to the internet, and seeking to live a healthy -- and more importantly, balanced -- life.

That last one is the impetus for creating this blog, but it doesn't mean those other things won't be coming up.  I want to chronicle my efforts toward living in a way that makes me feel fulfilled and energetic.  I figure some of that will be universal, and some of it will be...well, idiosyncratic.

Here's what you won't be seeing here:

• Many numbers.  I don't weigh myself.  Right now, my metabolism is still trying to figure out whether I'm going to be giving my body fuel on a regular basis, so I'm at a weight that's higher than I've ever been in my life.  Apparently, 5+ years of disordered eating will do that, and the only way to convince my metabolism things are going to be different from now on is to keep eating normally, exercising, and not falling back into old destructive habits.  And numbers tend to fuel my habits.  So no pounds or calories here.
• Blow by blow of my meals or workouts.  In my introductory travels around the healthy living blogging world (and in reading the MC-gate fallout), I've noticed that with some people this is a "thing." I think it's boring.  And while it may be helpful, healthy, and inspiring to some people, it's unhealthy for me.  That's not to say that I won't talk about food, meals, or workouts.  But I want those things to be part of my life, not all of it.

Here's what you will see:

• How I'm succeeding (and struggling) in living a healthy, full life, and what I find works (and doesn't work) for me.
• My thoughts on balanced living, body image and eating disorder recovery, and becoming a "grown-up."
• Tidbits from around the series of tubes.
• Ephemera -- books I'm reading, TV I'm watching (and since I started law school, I watch a lot of it!), and general weirdness.