No Go

It’s official.  My body doesn’t wish to ever work out again.  Yesterday was to be my official return to the gym and what happened?  I woke up with my neck all out of whack.  If it’s not one thing it’s another!

I consoled myself with coffee spiked with light egg nog…

And strawberry Chobani with sliced banana and toasted pecans…

After breakfast I took a muscle relaxant in the hopes of loosening my neck up enough to stretch.  All it did was wipe me out!  I became immediately exhausted and had to take a nap. 

When I woke up I stumbled into the kitchen to make lunch.  Greek-ish salad…

Tomatoes, cukes, red onion, and mixed greens with EVOO, white wine vinegar and coarse salt.  Served up with spanakopita and hummus.

While finishing up work for the day I got the munchies and went cupboard surfing. Seemed like the right time to break into the Trader Joe’s Flattened Bananas…

It’s like fresh banana fruit leather! I pulled apart about five “sheets” of banana and rolled two of them up with almond butter as my snack.

Hours later I was still trying to kick the effects of the muscle relaxant while dozing on the sofa watching back to back episode of SATC.  A dinner requiring any work was soooo not happening…thank gawd for soup in the fridge.

Corn chowder with chicken, and squirrelly toast on the side.

Followed by a little dessert…tiger butter fudge. nom.

No Magic Cure

Note to self:  Do NOT try to hobble down the 200 step hallway first thing in the morning.  Holy hell did that hurt.  I’m way too stiff after sleeping all night to expect my poor body to appreciate simple walking.

I had to be back in my own place by 9am to meet the carpet cleaning man.  Now that I’ve had all of this painting done the carpets look much better and won’t need replacing for a while yet so I finally got them cleaned.  Yay!

To stay out of the way I set up shop in the kitchen…using the cat’s scratching post as a desk for my laptop.  Hey, whatever works!  While the man cleaned I enjoyed my coffee and actually got quite a bit of work done.

After he left I got straight to work making a late breakfast.  Oatmeal craving!

In the mix: water, UVAB, flax meal, rolled oats, 1/2 banana…

On top: 1/2 banana, chopped almonds, drizzle of honey.  Honey Bunches of Oats!  :)

Breakfast was so late that I decided not to eat lunch before my first physiotherapy appointment.  Best not to be digesting spinach salad when the poor guy is poking at me.  I did grab a Honeybar on the way out of the kitchen though.

Physio was interesting.  He took far more time collecting a history and list of complaints than my chiro and regular RMT have.  We did lots of bending and assessing of my leg, hip, glute, etc trying to pinpoint where the issues lie.  He then hooked me up to a funny electronic machine that pulses little massage-like zaps and taps on my bum.  What a sight! 

His conclusion is that I have an injured disc in my back that is irritating everything else…hence the tight muscles and nerve pain.  Basically what I knew already except in the opposite order.  Up until this everyone thought the piriformis muscle was the culprit but it turns out the piriformis was just trying to protect me.

Sadly, the solution isn’t any more magical or faster than anything I’ve done up until now.  He said this “will take weeks”.  Ugh.  So I visit him as often as I can afford and continue working on my posture.  Yippee.

Wouldn’t you know that the office was right across the street from a Starbucks… whooops, broke my “no treat for a week” rule on Day 2 and consoled myself with a PSL.

Back at home I finished up work for the day, used every last piece of strength and pain tolerance I had to hustle the cat back to our apartment, and actually found it in me to haul sheets down to the laundry room.

By the time I finished all of that I was ready for bed, but made dinner instead.  Comfort food to the rescue.

Homemade Beef Stew served up with steamed brussels sprouts and buttered whole wheat roll.

Yup, steamed brussels are comfort food to me!  :)  Well, they ain’t no chocolate chip cookie…but they still cheered me up.  Yay for green veggies.

Now that I’ve sat here and regained leg energy it’s time to make the bed.  And maybe eat an apple. 

All Day Long

Geeeeeze.  I finally have a night that I want to blog and have tons to show you guys…only to be thwarted by a jillion updates on my laptop.  That’s what I get for only using to watch TV shows the last month or so.  But now I’m here!

I recently got one of those little battery powered frother things so this morning I tested it out by making a Vanilla Soy Coffee Misto…

Works like a hot damn!  Yay for foamy deliciousness.

Since I can’t work out right now (what I wouldn’t give for just 5 minutes of cardio!!) I’m trying VERY hard to stick to a proper healthy meal plan so I don’t gain any more weight.

Smoothies are back on the menu…

In the KA today: ice, 1/2 banana, baby spinach, frozen blueberries, flax meal, Amazing Grass, and UVAB…

After breakfast I received a surprise delivery!

Shut the front door!  It’s a package from the friends that were in Vegas without me…

Tokens from Boston…where my friend John lives…along with the coveted Coconut M&Ms that we can’t get up here in Canada.  I missed out on a fabulous weekend but it feels great that my friends were thinking of me anyway.  Thanks you guys!

In the spirit of good eats…a bigass salad for lunch!

In the big silver bowl: romaine, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, beets, and feta cheese…drizzled with EVOO and topped with a generous dollop of Sabra crack hummus…

This afternoon I had a visit with my friend Laura…she’s an RMT and thought maybe she might offer some different insight on my bum pain.  She spent a very long time taking notes and assessing…much more than any other massage therapist I have seen.  I had high hopes because I really thought I could feel her treatment working…but alas, the screaming pain in my leg was still there full force.  I barely made it the block to my car.  Dammit.

Tomorrow I try Physiotherapy.

Back at home, my light lunch caught up with me so I grabbed this PB Larabar and powered through it in about 45 seconds!  Followed up with lots of post-massage water in my new Thermos water bottle…

I worked late to make up the time I was out at massage, then had to move odds and ends around in my place to prep for the carpet cleaners coming tomorrow.  I snacked on these Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Ginger Snaps while I vacuumed.

Vacuuming literally sucked the wind out of me.  I hurt.

To top that off I had to pack up my dinner and hobble my arse down the hall to Nicole’s again.  Mr Stoopy has been camped out here because I didn’t want to move him back and forth between the renos and the carpet cleaner.

Dinner was a super success though.  Last night I made a pot of Beef Stew but I waited to have a bowl today.  It didn’t disappoint!

Recipe post coming soon.

Can’t eat stew without a dinner roll!

The nice part about hanging out at Nicole’s when she goes away for work is that she doesn’t keep any snacky treats around (well, and she has cable!!).  For dessert I topped the apple I brought with a big scoop of PB…

Day One of no undocumented snacking down.  Nice.

What blog?

Another Sunday night realization that I’ve been totally neglecting my poor blog.  I even ate out twice this weekend and didn’t even consider taking pictures.  Ooooops.  Well I was supposed to be in Vegas so I probably wouldn’t have posted until now anyway! 

Instead I kept my broken arse at home and saw my bedroom renovations in action.  It sure didn’t compare to David Copperfield but it’s pretty cool.  :)  Photos to come I promise.

Look at the lovely flowers my Vegas travel partners sent…

Sweet right?

Stoopy and I camped out down the hall at Nicole’s again while the paint and sawdust was flying around.  He’s spent so much time down there I think he might just pack up his kitty litter and move in permanently. 

This upcoming week involves a massage by a new RMT, my first visit to a physiotherapist, a lot of salad, a lot of water, some weight watching (seriously…not being able to work out has caused my biggest gain in FOUR years…not cool), and finally….my housewarming party!  Oh, and a lot more finger crossing regarding my ridiculous arse injury. 

Taco Time

Well, the bad news is my arse still hurts so I had to cancel my weekend trip.  No chance this badazz would want to sit on an airplane for 4 hours and trek through the airport for a connection.  Lame.  This woulda been a fun weekend.  :( 

Good news is I’ve had multiple physiotherapists recommended to me so hopefully that is a step in the right direction.  I guess I’ll randomly chose one tomorrow.  In the meantime I continue with the stretching and muscle relaxants.

How ironic is it that I was sipping coffee from my Vegas mug while cancelling my flight to Vegas?

I wasn’t very hungry (I think some of the pills are suppressing my appetite) so I just had a granola bar with my coffee.

Once everything was sorted out I decided I should get some vitamins in me and threw a green smoothie together…

In the KA: ice, 1/2 banana, flax meal, baby spinach, coconut milk and UVAB.

Much better than the cookies, crackers and random cupboard finds I’ve been stuffing myself with most of the week.

On the way to pick out some more paint samples…bedroom this time…I stopped for yet another Pumpkin Spice Latte.  I’m seriously keeping Starbucks in business lately.

The plan for the bedroom is to put a really cool wallpaper on the main headboard wall, then paint the rest of the room in a corresponding colour.  Of course, I came home with two completely different wallpaper samples.

The first one is more purple in real life, but you get the idea.  I’m kind of in love with the metallic flowers and branches…depending on the light they are quite silvery or more of a pewtery bronze.  The black and white is really cool too but I think it’s too busy.  It would be way easier to chose a paint colour though!

I’ve waited until the last minute in the hopes that a snap decision will work out.  :)

Since I was still feeling down about cancelling my plans and hurting like hell from walking around in Home Depot I decided to make myself one of my favourite dinners…tacos!

Extra lean ground turkey, Old El Paso shells and seasoning, lettuce, tomatoes, light cheddar, light sour cream, salsa, and avocado.

There’s just something about those crunchy shells that reminds me of being a kid.  Nom nom nom.

And the best part…scooping some leftovers on the plate for an extra few bites…

They don’t make up for the shitty week I’m having, but they certainly made for a bright spot in an otherwise crappy day.

Candy corn kinda helps too!

Time for another Epsom salt bath. *sigh*