My New Years Resolutions:

Given up artificial sweeteners. At least the packets, so diet sodas, certain sugar-free products and what not are still in. It's just been a bad habits that's worth working on kicking. My biggest worry was removing it from my coffee, but so far it's been pretty good with out it.

Stop weighing myself daily. I'll still do it about once a week, but in my efforts to not be so controlling of my diet and weight, and to let my energy and performance rather than my weight dictate my eating habits, staying of the scale should be helpful.

I have a few other ones, but they'll stay a little closer to the chest.

Let me say how much I love oatmeal. I've really come to appreciate it's versatility. It's a fantastic base for just about anything. It's great just plain, with a little sugar or honey or jam or maple syrup or .... During the holidays my favorite was with pumpkin puree and some dairy such as Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. The utility really came to light when I discovered a more savory dish by adding turkey sausage and some cheese. The result has been a phenomenal meal that is reminisce of sausage gravy (so think a porridge-y version of biscuits and gravy). So in savory dishes, oatmeal can work a lot like grits, especially if you're using the coarser Steel cut variety.

In honor of such, I happened across this website with a little oatmeal devotion:
Kath Eats

I hate to admit it, but rest/easy days are useful. Instead of another run, yesterday consisted of an afternoon sessions with the bike trainer (think spinning). Low intensity and low impact, it gave this morning's run a lot of energy and pep. It felt really good. Probably killed my energy for tomorrow's race (the 10-mile Little River Trail Run), but as a low-priority event, I won't be terrible anxious about it.