A ride and some things I am learning to not whine about

I rode for about an hour and forty-five minutes today, bright and early, after only about a minute of kicking my little feet about not wanting to be awake yet...at ten a.m.. Yeah, I am self-employed; I set reasonable hours but I am a harsh task-mistress. And there's no health plan. I've instituted these health incentives instead: If I eat well, take a multi, and work out, I don't die.
I think as far as employee benefits, you can't really get better than that.

Things I am learning to not whine about:

1. Waking up early.

This means any earlier than I would normally let my ass roll around in bed without an alarm or caring about the cat paw swiping at my face. Mostly I wake up to do long rides in the morning before can I feel that my legs Do Not Want. Mostly I have to set two alarms to get me to do it. The crazy thing is, I like mornings. The problem is, I HATE alarms. But for now, while my internal clock seems permanently set to "I hate summer; sleep all day," I set the alarm.

2. Quinoa

I do not like this stuff. I think it tastes off, like something is wrong with it. In the way you'd say that about the super-quiet child who laughs at the wrong moment, "I think there might be something wrong with Geoffrey..." Like that. I dress it up, I flavor it up, I mix it into things, I make salads with it. Still, I end up licking the roof of my own mouth trying to figure out why something just tastes...wrong. However...

Not only is quinoa's amino acid profile well balanced, making it a good choice for vegans concerned about adequate protein intake, but quinoa is especially well-endowed with the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair.
—from "Quinoa" at http://www.whfoods.org

Damn. So no more whining about quinoa. Though I reserve the right to think that it is beyond awful that there is a Quinoa Corporation, I am just going to suck it up and eat it up. As an ancillary benefit: the more of it I eat, the more I will win at Scrabble.

3. Clothes that don't fit

Actually, I learned not to whine about this one a while ago. If your big problem in life is that you are losing weight so fast that one day you wake up and nothing fits...and you go around sighing and saying, "Woe is me, I am trying to lose weight and it's working and now my clothes are too loose," you will be struck by lightning. Or at least evil-eyed by most women in hearing distance. And some of the men, too, though they might be more subtle about it. It's like that "Friends" scene:

ROSS: I don't know what I'm gonna do. What am I gonna do? I mean, this, this is like a complete nightmare.
CHANDLER: Oh, I know, this must be so hard. "Oh no, two women love me. They're both gorgeous and sexy. My wallet's too small for my fifties AND MY DIAMOND SHOES ARE TOO TIGHT."

Earlier while I was doing some kettlebell stuff I realized that I was gleefully swearing about how much I love exercise.
"GodDammit! I love sweating!" "F--- me!, I AM AWESOME!"

This happens sometimes. I remember this feeling, this feeling of being invincible. Of knowing that, if I had to, I could run (preferably bike) from zombies...if I absolutely had to, of course I would prefer a sawed-off and a couple boxes of ammo but this is about cardio, not about target practice.
I remember back before I slipped into Boyfriend-landia...I felt great physically. I was strong and fitter than now. I was losing weight then too. I ate well and slept easily, and worked out every day. For months I had kept it up. It amazes me that I let that all gradually slip away because I fell in love (and because that person I fell for really likes fatty carbohydrates). Somehow, that doesn't seem right, like somewhere there's a factor missing....

So I guess there's another something I have to learn to not whine about, if only because of the possibilities:

4. Being alone