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*

Pain in the Azz

I thought I’d better check in and give a little update on the happenings around here lately.  Sadly, my broken arse is still broken.  Someone please wave your magic wand over me and make me all better.  Please!

Thursday night I went to yoga with the hopes that some good stretching and easy strengthening would help me out…but all it did was hurt more.  Booooo.

Friday morning I sucked it up and went to walk-in to ask for a prescription.  The doctor there suspects that my piriformis issue is actually stemming from my back or my hip joint (which I already kind of knew, but his suggestions made more sense).  He put a referral in for me at the Canadian Back Institute and gave me a prescription for three different drugs.

1. Muscle Relaxant
2. Anti-Inflammatory
3. Pain Killer

I was so excited about this.  But…here we are 5 days later and nothing has changed.  The pain killers do NOTHING for me.  I think the stabbing pain actually starts at my hip joint so I guess the meds don’t deal with that.  I’m not sure if the anti-inflammatory helps…if so, the sharp pain overrides the inflammation.  The muscle relaxant helps because it makes me sleepy so if taken at the right time I can actually sleep a little longer without waking up to pain.

So disappointing. 

Today I’m back to the chiropractor and massage.  Next step will be to try physiotherapy…hopefully next week.  The problem is all of these things cost money so I can’t just pile them all up at once.  Right now I really wish I had a job with medical insurance!

What I wouldn’t give to be able to stand up straight and walk more than 100 feet without struggling!!

Love from Beantown

Like a shining light on my broken homebound bum a lovely housewarming package arrived today from Boston…

Thanks to Elizabeth (my very first cross-border blogger buddy!!) I am now the proud owner of a Boston Starbucks mug…

…and a few other way fun American goodies…

That mug collection is really taking off!  Who knew?  :)

Another reader (Hi Dayna!) sent along what I hope is the answer to my piriformis pinch…this awesome video highlighting a few new exercises for me to try.

Neural Flossing

I’ve done that first one sitting on the chair twice today and it’s actually pretty hilarious.  I have to hold my leg up because it’s so tight I can’t get it straight.  Maybe I ought to film my own video….haha. Riiiiight.

As far as food goes, my dinner turned out looking burnt (it wasn’t!!) so I’ll save you those ugly pictures…but breakfast was worth mentioning for sure.  Have you ever made your oatmeal with coconut milk?  If not, try it!

The local supermarket brand isn’t labelled as “light” but when comparing NI with other brands this version was very low in calories.  Only 30 cals per 1/4 cup.

I noticed the coconut milk takes a little longer to absorb but just keep stirring and it works just fine.  I use half milk, half water.  Added half a frozen banana as per usual and topped with dark chocolate chips and shredded coconut.  Deeeeelish!

Well that was random.  :)  Hope you enjoyed!

Girls, Grey’s and Quinoa

Well, it’s official.  I threw out my back and now my stupid piriformis issue has returned.  I’m shuffling around like a little old lady again.  So sitting at the computer has to be minimized until I can figure out what fixed it last time.  Argh.  I think I’m being punished for lounging by the pool in Vegas.  Pigeon pose and lunges are my new best friends.

To help myself along I decided not to sit at the computer and blog last night…so you get a delayed Thursday recap now.  Tres exciting!

Here’s something you don’t see around here often…cereal for breakfast.  Kashi Honey Almond Flax with sliced banana and UVAB…

(This combo is often my undocumented midnight bedtime snack…hehe.)

After visiting my chiropractor and nearly crying in pain I decided to throw my “save the $5” rule out the window and stopped for a PSL.

A pumpkin cream cheese muffin jumped in my purse. I swear.

Come lunchtime I probably should have made a salad to counteract the morning treats but I reasoned that I’d be having salad with dinner and decided on a grilled sammich instead.

Gala apple, double crème brie, spinach, cinnamon and honey on Silver Hills multigrain…

Grilled with a smidge of real butter on the Griddler and served up with Concorde grapes…

Girl’s night dinner... We got together for some good eats, Grey’s Anatomy and to finally exchange photos from our Vegas adventure. We each contributed to the meal and if we do say so we did a lovely job!  :) 

Tiff volunteered me to bring the bigass salad so I broke out the big silver bowl and put together a fresh and fun crispy salad.

Romaine, carrots, cucumber, beets, red onion and navel orange segments.  I also brought along avocado to add at serving time.  The whole thing was dressed with Ali’s Citrus Honey Vinaigrette.

Rose cooked us up moist and delicious chicken.  I didn’t see how she seasoned it but it was yummy and went perfect with my salad and Tiff’s quinoa side dish.

The star of the show (in my eyes anyway!) was that quinoa.  We talk about making quinoa all the time (I’ve had a bag in my cupboard for weeks now) but never get around to it.  Tiffaney Googled up a recipe and came up with this quick and easy Lemony Quinoa.

She put this together in about 15 minutes after we got to Rose’s place.  It was fast, easy and super deeeeeelish.  We all went back for seconds and damn near cleaned out the whole bowl.  Nom!

After dinner I asked the girls when our next trip is.  California Wine Country?  Oh yes please.  ;)

Pretty Healthy

Just looking at today's food porn and not only was it a very healthy day but all of my food was pretty!  I love it when that happens. 

Local blueberries were the star of breakfast.  It was the end of the container so I loaded a few extras on top of my Kashi Honey Almond Flax with skim milk.

There was a cup of Joe this morning too...but I guess he was camera shy.

After breakfast I headed off to massage AGAIN.  Today she actually went so far as to tell me I have the tightest piriformis muscle (and surrounding area) that she has ever dealt with.  Oh yippee.  So basically she's saying this could take a while.

I felt pretty beat up after I left but as the day progressed I did feel looser.  Not great or pain free, just looser.

Lunch was light...which I need to stop doing.  For some reason I've been eating tiny lunches which leave me snacky in the afternoon. 

The highlight of this meal was the simple tomato & feta salad.

• 1 perfectly ripe local yellow tomato, chopped
• 1 ounce light feta cheese, cubed
• drizzle of EVOO
• drizzle of white wine vinegar
• fresh cracked pepper

Toss lightly and let mingle for a while before serving.

There are few things better than a perfect tomato.

Served next to crack hummus and multigrain Tostitos.  The best was slooshing the tomatoes and cheese through the hummus.  Nom!

Lunchtime dessert:  Oatmeal Raisin Bar

Tonight I had hoped to try out one of the yoga classes at my gym.  I brought my Nubody's/Goodlife membership with me but so far have only been to the new Goodlife here once.  I've actually been kind of annoyed with them and today was no different.  I called to ask a question...and it was a good thing I did. The class I wanted to take was cancelled because of instructor injury...and they don't have a back up instructor.  Annoying.

I still needed to get a workout in though (homework from Tia!) so decided I'd just tackle some cardio (which is what she assigned us anyway).  Since I'm not allowed to do any impact work because of my piriformis issue I opted to break my 30 minutes up between three machines.

• Rowing: 5 minutes
• Treadmill:  power walk, varied inclines, 20 minutes
• Cybex: new to me!, 5 minutes

Followed by some light core and glute work and tons of stretching.  Pigeon pose is my new best friend/enemy.  My poooor glute!

On the way home I grabbed a couple of groceries but to be honest my glute/hip/leg was bothering me so much that I had to get in the car just to sit down.  Apparently the cause/aggrevation of piriformis syndrome is sitting, but sitting is the ONLY thing that gives me any relief.  Argh.

Anyway... <end whining>

I picked up this lovely little wild salmon filet.  I simply squeezed some lemon over it, sprinkled with s&p, and lightly brushed a squeeze of Dijon mustard across it.  Then seared it over medium high heat in a sprayed pan.

Covered with a lid for about 3 minutes to help complete the cooking process.  And served with leftover Veggie Pasta Salad.

(FYI: these plates I've been eating from are side plates...I have yet to buy new dishes since the move...hence, no dinner plates.)

After sitting on my ice pack, spending too much time reading blogs, and surfing around Twitter I decided to make dessert.  It's about time I get on the Banana Soft Serve wagon!

If you hang out in the healthy eats section of blogland you've seen this recipe (originally created by Gena at Choosing Raw) a zillion times, but here it is again anyway!

Take one frozen banana.

And one food processor.

Peel and chop said frozen nanner and place in processor.

Start processor and let 'er rip for 3-4 minutes.

(I added about 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk at about the 2 minute mark to get things moving.)

When it looks like ice cream you are done.

Serve it up and enjoy!

 

Deeeeelish.  What a treat!  How can a bazillion bloggers be wrong?  Oh wait, they can't.  Tomorrow this beauty shall incorporate chocolate.  or peanut butter. or chocolate peanut butter.