I thought it was weird that even though I ate a huge bowl of oatmeal around 10:30am, I was hungry for lunch at 11:30am?! Then, I realized it’s because I ate breakfast so late that I was hungry again. I had been up since before 6:30am, ran 5.8 miles and didn’t eat a full meal until 10:30am = a very messed up blood sugar.
Even though I had just ate I listened to my body and ate lunch early. I had leftover Mexican Pizza, carrots and a handful of veggie sticks.
I was still hungry after this and ate half a SB bar and a cookie. Okay, that was enough finally. I actually was overly full after this – obviously this is because I didn’t need all this food right then, but my body was confused. Lesson: If I am not going to exercise within 1 hour of waking then I need a full breakfast (and a little cereal doesn’t cut it). Like I said, I’m still figuring out my meal plan to fix this.
More Ask Me Anything Questions!!! This is a fun game 🙂 Sorry if it’s boring to anyone that doesn’t care about the mundane details of my life…
Question: Who’s blog did you first read that introduced you to the blogging community?
Monica: I stumbled upon Eat Like Me on Self Magazine’s site and read that for a while before discovering the blog world. From there I was obsessed since it was great to find so many people with similar interests/problems/learning experiences.
Question: How did you and Ben meet? – not sure if you’ve talked about this in other posts.
Monica: Despite the fact that I completely shared my engagement, planning and wedding on the blog no one has ever asked me how Ben and I met until now!
Ben and I actually met online. Yep, we are one of those couples. We both signed up for eharm after going through break-ups and realizing neither of us had friends that were into being social. This meant we weren’t in a place to meet new people and move on with our lives, so we had to do something about it. It’s funny that we signed up for similar reason 🙂
Anyways, we emailed back and forth only a couple of times before he gave me his number and I called. He was really weird on the phone and I almost canceled our first date 🙁 Thank God I didn’t!
We had a great first date on a Friday night. We both were at the same place in our lives and it just felt good. I remember going for a run the next day with a smile on my face the whole time. I was running on air. T hat following Monday, we went to the movies (date #2). To make dates like this more intimate, enhancements like the Pink Pussycat pills can be availed.
Later that week we were talking about going to the Grand Canyon. He told me he would pick me up Friday night and we would drive to Las Vegas and visit the Grand Canyon on Saturday. I was trying to call his bluff so I said okay.
He wasn’t bluffing…
Our third date was to the Grand Canyon. He was a complete stranger that I met on the internet and less than a week later I was letting him drive me to some remote location in the desert. I do not recommend anyone doing this, ever. Don’t do it. It could have turned out badly. But (maybe it was my red head luck or something) I got a ring out of it 😉
A little too close to the edge with a stranger…
Question: When you first started running, were you ever worried about “over doing it” and injuring/tiring yourself? How many days/miles did you run on average when you first started running?
Monica: I wasn’t worried about over doing it when I first started running because I only ran on a treadmill and wasn’t training for anything. I just started running because I got tired of walking and only did as much as I could. I wasn’t keeping track at the time so I don’t know how long it took me, but eventually I got up to 6 miles a day. I ran that for a long time before I even considered racing.
Question: Do you ever wonder what life would be like if you didn’t blog? Would you eat differently if people weren’t watching?
Monica: I think my life would be exactly the same without the blog. I’m not successful enough to have blogging as my job – it think that would give it more of an impact on my life.
I don’t think I would eat any differently if I didn’t blog either. I read a lot of blogs and I feel like I keep it real and very open with you guys. I have days where I eat things I would rather not blog, but I do. This blog isn’t about how perfectly healthy I am, it is about how real I am. I really try hard to lead a healthy lifestyle by example. I am a girl who wants to lose weight, loves running and has issues with food. My eating is less than ideal, but it’s me.
Question: Why did you move across the country and what does Ben do for work?
Monica: Ben and I moved to Maryland from California for a job opportunity I got. It ended up not being at all what I expected and subsequently fell apart.
Ben is an engineer. Don’t let his lumberjack-like appearance fool you, he is a genius. 
Question: Where are you going to move to when your lease is up? Do you regret moving?
Monica: I totally do not regret moving. It has been a huge learning experience and I’m grateful for it. I also think it’s opened up new opportunities that I wouldn’t have pursued otherwise.
We don’t know where we are going when the lease is up. Half of us are voting for California, half of us are voting for Florida…
Hey there, I’ve been lurking for awhile but wanted to pop in and comment. Your Mexican pizza looks fantastic! I’ll have to try that!
Read more at
Hey there, I’ve been lurking for awhile but wanted to pop in and comment. Your Mexican pizza looks fantastic! I’ll have to try that!
Read more at https://runeatrepeat.com/2010/01/27/how-i-met-ben-and-lunch/#DKghwOBi0MXikvJJ.99
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I’ve been through online dating. As much as I hate to admit it. The guys I met were creeps. You’re lucky to have met a wonderful guy like Ben.
Oh, and about eating breakfast within 1 hour of waking up. It took me a while to realize that I should be doing that. I end up exercising with a really hungry feeling.
Hey there, I’ve been lurking for awhile but wanted to pop in and comment. Your Mexican pizza looks fantastic! I’ll have to try that!
I think you’ve just sold me on trying eHarmony. I have the same issue – my friends are all coupled up and no one wants to go out anymore, so I end up home alone. I’ve tried other online dating sites, but they’re no better than bars. Seems like eHarm might be different. Fingers crossed!
You guys should be on one of those commercials!
Even though you’d just met you two look like you belong together in your Grand Canyon pic! Keep on keepin’ it real!
Gah! You live in Maryland?! I think I knew that from reading your blog before…I live in Annapolis & I just moved here too..its difficult to find new friends, luckily they just opened a 24 hour fitness down the street from where I live…I just don’t know if I’ll be staying in the area that long…ya know?!
So sweet that you two met online. I love that you went to the grand canyon with a complete stranger, seems so daring and kinda romantic. 🙂
I met my husband on line as well. He saw my profile and joined so that he could write to me. He brags that he has a 100% success rate with on-line dating!
You are one brave chick! I could never travel with someone I just met online. Obviously, you two were meant to be. You certainly seem to be perfect for one another…just meant to be !
That is really cool that your third date was the Grand Canyon! What a fun story 🙂
That is like a love story from a book or movie or something… how incredible!! The grand canyon… must’ve been impossible to top a date after that one lol
And I have days like that where i’m STARVING and can’t get enough to eat and then all of a sudden it all catches up at once and i’m stuffed
Im so glad you didn’t listen to me and went with Ben to the Grand Canyon, remember I made you call me every little while to make sure you weren’t dead!!!
I second (or third?) what Kate G. and Ella said. I really enjoy your blog and think you have a fabulous, keep-it-real attitude.
I love the story of how you and Ben met.
Ah, Monica, you are so refreshing!! Thank you for being so “real” on your blog – as much as I love some of the other food/nutrition/fitness/eating blogs, it sometimes seems like their authors are too perfect, too together, too on top of things. You, on the other hand, aren’t afraid to take pictures of yourself without makeup and be frank about your shortcomings – I absolutely respect that.
I totally agree with ella on this one! I am just a reader so maybe i don’t “get it” when it comes to having a blog but i love that yours is so open and honest and you aren’t trying to be anyone else!
I <3 you and Ben's story it's unique!
You guys need to do an eharmony commercial! I would just leave out the whole Grand Canyon thing
Eat like me was my first blog too! from there I clicked on a commenter who had a similar blog and i was like AWESOMEE! there’s TWO blogs like this!! then I found her blog roll. and died. =)
Loved this post! I’m new to your blog so it was great getting to know a little bit more about you.
You guys met online! I love it, it gives me hope 🙂 Letting a stranger take me to a remote location sounds like something I’d do if I really liked him.
what a cute date story! but that’s crazy that you trusted him enough after a week. glad it worked out 🙂
That’s such a cute story! I can’t believe he took you to the Grand Canyon on your third date! haha how awesome.
Love the story, too cute!
You two are so cute and I am very glad that you were able to meet each other online… I am having a hard time finding someone who I really care about and I am not sure what to do about it. I am also very sorry to hear that your job opportunity didnt turn out, but I hope that you end up in an area where you are VERY happy to be living!! Keep up the positive attitude while on your your journey to eating mindfully!!
OMG I love it! Since I basically met my bf on the internet (well thru my blog actually) I know how nerve wracking it can be to test out the whole online thing! So exciting and such a great story! I love the third date! 🙂
What a great story about how you two met, that’s so romantic, like it was ‘meant to be’!! Aaah I hope that happens for me someday [soon]! I love these posts, keep them up 🙂
and glad to know you were safe!
If you come to California, you’ll be near me. 🙂
Andy and I met through the internet sort of. We both had livejournal accounts and a mutual friend also had a livejournal acct. I drove from L.A. to San Diego to meet the mutual friend and he brought Andy with him. Andy and I talked via internet for 3 years before we started dating.
I love that you went to the Grand Canyon with Ben shortly after meeting. I think it’s great!
Ha! Love Eharmony! Met my boy there, and we’re getting married in November in Mexico 🙂
Love your blog too!
Rachel, even my brother’s guy friends were telling me not to go! They scared me, but I still went…
i totally met my boyfriend matt online. sometimes it works!
Mmmm love me some online dating! I had to laugh though, I wrote an article about how to have a good first online date and one thing was DO NOT GO HIKING! But I guess since it was your third date, the GC was okay. Anyway, YAY for an eHarm success story!
Yeah! Did you see I stopped by your blog today 🙂
you guys are adorable. My first blog was Meghanns (graduatemeghann.com), a friend was like “this girl eats healthy and takes pics EVERYDAY. I didn’t even know what a blog was let alone that there were healthy blogs! Then I found amazing ones like yours and Caitlins. You guys inspired me to start my blog!!! So thanks! 🙂