A cheesy don’t
30 Jul 2010 12 Comments
The night started off promising. Had some beets and sauteed spinach for dinskies.
Did you know beets turn your pee red? It’s weird. But then I got into the cheese. Guess what. Snacking on 3/4 of a block of cheese makes your tummy hurt. I’m paying for this one today.
Today is my weigh-in day. Lost another 1/2 pound. It is what it is. I knew with each bite of sharp cheddar I’d probably pay for it on the scale today. At least it’s not a gain. So I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully if I ever run again it’ll come off a little faster. Speaking of running and the knee, here’s the latest on the injury front. I’m getting a second opinion. At PT they found another spot that when he pushes on it makes me jump off the table in pain. He also felt a ridge and thought it might be a bursa (inflamed ball of fluid). Even he said we’ve been working for awhile now and I should be farther along. So I’m going to a different orthopedist next week. If there’s the possibility of an injection to calm down the inflammation then I want it, and also I don’t feel great about how fast the initial guy sent me off to PT without doing much more than an MRI. I’ll keep you updated obvs.
Take that, Thursday morning
29 Jul 2010 9 Comments
I did it again, folks. I actually went to bed not planning on getting up for a workout but then sometime around 3am I woke up and figured I would set my alarm for 5:45. So I made it to the 6:15 total body conditioning class at the gym. The description says “This workout uses weights and/or bodybars to promote muscular endurance, flexibility and body alignment.” That definitely sums it up. It was a good arms workout especially and in the shower I found it exhausting to lift my arms up to wash my hair. Good sign though, right?
Today’s lunch menu includes my usual salad. Except I forgot to pack dressing. I’ll have to improvise.
Who’s excited for Jersey Shore tonight?
To cleanse or not to cleanse
28 Jul 2010 12 Comments
A popular craze, especially in NYC, is the cleanse. I’ve done two before, both with Blueprint. The first time I did the “easiest” level, and the second time, the middle level. A day on the cleanse includes this:
Green juice
Pineapple mint juice
Green juice
Spicy lemonade
Beet juice
Cashew milk
And that’s it. I’ve done the 3-day as a way to jump start my body and clean oiut all the toxins. I wasn’t really planning on doing one again, since the last time I really struggled, but I’m thinking about it. Both Blueprint and Cooler Cleanse over a raw food/juice combo option. I’m thinking about doing Cooler just because it’s cheaper and I’m not the biggest fan of the Blueprint’s green juices. Have you ever tried a juice cleanse?
Yesterday I went swimming again. I also bought goggles this time around. I kept losing track but I think I did 15 roundrip laps. When I got home, I made a yummy green monster and a sandwich consisting of a sandwich thin, hummus, tomato and avocado. Then, of course, I finished off the rest of the avocado. At the same time I roasted up some beets which I’ll have tonight.
Oh, Monday
26 Jul 2010 12 Comments
Thank you everyone for your supportive comments. I’m going to keep at it, and try to increase my water intake while decreasing my alcohol intake. We’ll see what happens. This morning I set my alarm for 5:45am and headed to the gym by 6. I find it hard to think of non-cardio things to do, but ended up on the bike for 20 minutes (low impact for my knee), followed by a bunch of different weight exercises. Have you ever tried to spell the alphabet with an 8-lb weight? It’s hard. I really miss the feeling of walking back to my apt dripping in sweat, but this morning was certainly better than nothing.
Last night I was inspired to make homeade vegan pesto, thanks to Heidi at Basil Vodka. I first picked up some goodies at the farmer’s market by my apt. Here we’ve got a zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, beets, fresh basil, green pepper and 3 cucumbers.
I got the rest of the week’s groceries at the store. The recipe for pesto is simple. Basil, pine nuts, salt, garlic, evoo. I roasted the eggplant, zucchini and squash at 425 for 40 minutes with some EVOO, salt and pepper.
It filled up my entire roasting pan!
Once that was cooling, I put in the 3 tsp minced garlic w/ 1/2 tsp salt. Next I added fresh basil (cup & 1/2) and 3 tbsp pine nuts. Then I streamed in 1/4 cup of EVOO.
I thought it may have come out a bit too salty for my liking, but when I put some over the roasted veggies, it worked.
Yummy dinner. As a snack I had a laughing cow wedge and pomegranite fruit bar. Do you snack after dinner? I always need something.
Giving up
23 Jul 2010 16 Comments
I really want to give up. Today was weigh-in day and I only lost a half a pound. I was really dilligent about my food this week and worked out as hard as I could given my knee circumstances. Yes, I could skip all alcohol and eating out, but then I’d have no social life. And I was pretty good even when I was out. So folks, what do I do. Hang in there? Hope that once I can start running again the weight will come off more easily?
Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?
Squash and swimming
22 Jul 2010 7 Comments
Well I got back in the pool. I know, so proud of me too. I went after work and it wasn’t crowded one bit. I jumped in and started doing laps. I’m not gonna lie, I still have a pretty mean crawl stroke. It’s tiring though and my eyes were so red from the chlorine. Must. get. goggles. The person there said it was a 14 yard pool (is that right?) and so I did 12 round trip laps. I’m still super sore from my workout sesh Tuesday, so the pool was perfect for me.
When I got home, I cooked up the squash I had gotten from my local farmer’s market. I diced it up and sauteed it, along with 1 big carrot I also had, in EVOO. Once it was starting to get soft I put it over brown rice and added some Newman’s Own lite Sesame Ginger dressing. It was a party in my mouth to say the least. The one-ball squash was very similar to the regular squash, except with a tougher skin.
Today I’m taking a day off from working out, but back to the good ole salad for lunch and I’m going out to sushi tonight. Yum!
Road ID Review
21 Jul 2010 11 Comments
A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to pick any Road ID of my choosing. I had been wanting one for awhile, and knew exactly the one for me. The shoe ID. As a runner we need to be so cautious of our surroundings, and also aware that it’s not the safest sport considering you usually do it alone. I myself never carry my cell phone or really anything but my ipod for that matter and so a Road ID is a great idea. I chose the shoe ID so that it would always be attached to my sneaks and I’d never need to remember to wear it (the other styles are bracelets). Here it is on my shoe:
It has my name, year of birth, and emergency contacts. For some reason I had trouble figuring out the right way for it to go on, and wasn’t expecting velcro, but once I put it on the laces, it stayed for good. I’m glad the Road ID has really made its way around the blogging community since safety as a trend is never a bad thing.
Do you have a Road ID or run with a phone or license?
I gotta feeling
20 Jul 2010 8 Comments
So many updates for ya! So Sunday I discovered I have a farmer’s market across the street from my apt. Yes, across the street and I never really knew. So I ventured over and perused the four or so vendors. It’s a small market, but still exciting. I picked up 2 zucchinis and then something called a one ball squash. So this can be my new veggie to try for Mom vs Marathon’s SOWL challenge.
Here’s the stand that I got the goodies from.
This was all very exciting for me.
On the knee front, I think I might have good news. While Wed was so freakin painful and I was sore for a few days, starting Sunday I didn’t have any pain. Yesterday at PT my guy worked on the area again and although there was some pain and tenderness, it was actually tolerable. This was compared to Wed when he made me almost jump off the table from pain. So I’m looking forward to seeing how it feels when I see him again on Wed. Perhaps it had to get worse before it got better?
This morning I had a training sesh with Leanne again. It was supposed to be a small group but the others cancelled so I got a one-on-one. I woke up around 5:45, and saw this:
Seriously? When will this heat end. We did a ton of weighs, planks, arms, lunges. Basically I sweated my ass off and it was fabulous. Nothing like a good butt-kicking at 6:30 in the morning.
Baby steps
18 Jul 2010 10 Comments
It may not sound like a big deal, but last night I went out, drank, came home and went to bed. Without late-night eating. It’s not necessarily the alcohol that always does it, but when you eat dinner at a normal hour and then get home at 1 or 2, you’re sometimes actually hungry. And even if I’m not, I usually just want a little something. Last night though, I knew no matter what I’d come home and go to bed. And I did. And I’m proud of myself.
Yesterday my new food processor came and of course I had to try it out. I was so excited to try out the black bean burger recipe I had seen. Because I had gone to the food store earlier without the recipe in hand, I only remembered to get 2 things I needed, so I improvised. And it worked out fabulously.
The first thing I did was grate 2 carrots. Never tried this before, but I like the consistency that came out of it.
Then I started by grinding a 1/2 cup oats with flax seed (didn’t have pumpkin seeds, so used these instead). Next up I added the carrots, 3/4 of the beans and the spices I had. Original recipe below called for coriander and cayenne, which I didn’t have but it tasted fine without. The only part where I sorta went wrong, is that the recipe was too big for my 4-cup processor. I had so sorta scoop some out, then grind, then add back in, etc. Next time maybe I’ll do it in 2 parts or 1/2 the recipe.
Once the mixture was done, I made 6 patties.
How pertyy is my processor.
Then I baked them at 300. Recipe said 40 min, but they weren’t quite ready so it more like 50-55.
Paired 1 of these bad boys, with this
Perfection.
And yes, I finally rented Food, Inc. Started watching and already amazed. Will definitely have a full report once I finish. Oh, and I brought back the green monster earlier in the day.
Mmm. Black bean original Front Burner blog recipe below.
Ingredients: (makes 6 burgers)
- 2 cans black beans (rinsed and drained)
- 2 carrots, grated
- 1/2 cup dry rolled oats
- 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
To Prepare: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Next, add the oats and pepitas to your food processor and grind until coarsely chopped (they will still be a little chunky). Let it run for roughly 10 seconds. Grate the carrots, and then add to your mixture in the food processor. Add 3/4 of the beans, all spices, and the olive oil. Once all of this is in the food processor, give it a whir and mix it all together.
Spoon mixture into a mixing bowl and then fold in the rest of the whole, reserved beans. Wet your hands and then form into 6 medium sized patties. Place patties on a non-stick baking sheet or into a baking pan, and bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, turning once in the middle. If you want to grill these, pre-bake them for 30 minutes at 300, and then throw them on the grill to reheat and get a little extra browning.
Facing my fears: the gym pool
17 Jul 2010 6 Comments
I finally did it. I took an exercise class in the pool. Now it’s not the water I’m scared of, but I hate taking classes I’ve never been to before, and for this one specifically I just didn’t know what to expect. But because it’s the best workout I can do with my knee right now, I figured I’d go for it. And how crowded could it be at 9am on a Saturday? So I walked in there and the first thing I realized was that swim caps are required. Shit. Didn’t say that on the website. Luckily the nice gym guy gave me one to borrow. As the ladies, yes, ladies strolled in I realized I may be the youngest one there by good 30 years. They all knew each other and it was kind of cute that this is their big exercise for the week. One granny even had a walker and I heard her say if it weren’t for the pool classes she’d probably be in a wheelchair.
So the one other thing I was nervous about was the fact that I don’t own a 1-piece. Let me tell you, when you’re in water those puppies float. So even though I was in a bandeau I was constantly fearing a nipple slip or two. And the instructor took notice. He was a young, buff hard core guy (that all the ladies love) and kept yelling at me to not worry about my wardrobe. He knew exactly what I was thinking the entire time. The actual class was more intense than I expected. Using water as resistance is tiring and you know me, I have to try to be as hard core as possible. He kept calling people out and was screaming, “how do I want you to jog?”, and we’d have to say, “hard.” Yeah, he’s that type of guy. Afterwards he asked me my name (everyone else were regulars) and he said, next time wear I swimsuit. I explained that I didn’t want to buy a one piece until I knew if I liked the class, which he totally understood. So will I go back? I just might. With a properly fitting 1-piece and my own swimcap.
After the class, I came home and made some breakfast. I switched it up and cooked 2 eggs over. Because I had already had toast before the gym, I put it on a bed of spinach. It was yummolicious.
And most exciting of all, my new toy came in the mail!
I really want to try this black bean burger recipe I saw on the Front Burner Blog. So excited!!
