Is soy sauce really cheating?

So, life has taken a couple of crazy turns in the last week or so, but I'm keeping my head above water.

First, I will start with how guilty I am feeling about adding some salad dressing (soy sauce and honey) to my dinner tonight. Why might one feel guilty about this seemingly small thing? Well, it's the latest obsession with the Paleo diet, according to the book you can "cheat" or follow an 85% rule, which means the average person eats 20 meals a week, so if you follow the diet 85% of the time that means you can have three meals a week that don't strictly follow the diet. I must say, I am really shocked by what I miss the most. It's not the sweets, breads, dairy (although I do miss lattes) it really is all the salty/processed condiments that I use in cooking or as salad dressings. I still don't quite get what the problem is with salt, vinegar, soy sauce etc. if used in moderation, it's not like I'm drinking it... And, there is NO reason I am doing this other than to see if it helps with my training. Right now I'm in the "don't quit, you should feel tired and it will take longer to recover" period. Which, is not fun. I feel like I am working out harder by adding in strength training, eating healthier and instead of an increase in energy and better workouts, my body feels tired. I am not used to my legs not wanting to run another step. But, all the books say three weeks minimum before you decided what you think about the diet and it's effect on your performance. Most books say stick with it longer and you will continue to notice improvements, it just takes time. Today I did stop in at this small bio store near my house I've never been to before and bought some unsweetened almond milk to try in my coffee. I'm actually pretty excited. Overall training is fine, swim class was good, we won't learn the full stroke until week seven, seems a bit extreme, but I guess with swimming it's about technique and we have a lot to learn. There are four of us in the class, it is in German and it actually makes me want to learn again. They seemed to be laughing and having fun and I had no idea what was going on. I mean I could understand enough to follow the class, but sure would be nice to know the language.

Ok, back to the rest of life, wait, is there life outside of training and eating?! I went to Amsterdam to visit a friend who was traveling through Europe from Australia, it was awesome! We stayed with a friend who worked with us in Dubai, rode bicycles all over town ( a bit scary...), went to a few local markets, wandered all over, went to this ridiculously awful, so almost entertaining band, I mean, who knew Lionel Ritchie could be remixed in quite that way, and what band doesn't play Oh When the Saints Go Marching On...! The next day Mark and I went for a run, lounged about the house for a while and then met another friend who I worked with in Vienna for lunch at this great Nacho place and it was great to just sit and talk with her! It is pretty fun that I have friends that I can visit all over the place, I consider myself very lucky!

Work is work, really, with training and this whole eating thing, I really feel like I don't have time to do much else. It will be really, really, really nice to be home this weekend! I haven't been home for a weekend in only a month. I don't really have anything I have to do, but some things I want to do. I'm thinking about buying a grown up fridge, mine is TINY and the freezer is super tiny and with all this eating and prepping I need some more space. I also ordered a juicer and am hoping it arrives soon and am going to look at food processors too. I should just go buy the Kitchen Aide mixer and all the attachments that I have been dreaming about for years now... I keep thinking, well I don't want to buy it here because I don't know how long I'm staying, well, it's at least another year and a half, definitely enough time to buy a mixer...

No plans to travel anytime soon, we had talked about meeting in Thailand or China, or wherever Steve is, but he might be back to Vienna before my break in February. The smart thing to do would be to stay here, do my training and relax, but... I would really love to see the sun!