Nutritional Knits

Oh, yah... because blogs are better with pictures...

photo from makeupandbeautyblog.com

Perfect little stocking stuffer... I love MAC collections and mini-kits!

Why Macy's should have go-go dancers, and foot update.

Shopping at Macy's is so confusing! They hide the exits to confuse you and stuff the aisles with items so that you'll spend more money as you wonder around helplessly looking for the exit.  It's kind of like being in a casino, only without the go-go dancers and free alcohol. 

Now if Macy's did have go-go dancers and free booze I'd probably enjoy the experience a lot more but they don't and I hate it.  I'm not a shopper...I walk in - try to find what I came for and then leave.  I don't browse or window shop.  Unfortunately today I went in to find Joe a new cologne for xmas.  The only thing worse than having to go to Macy's is having to shop for cologne at Macy's. I walked out of there smelling like a cheap strip joint and high as a kite off the fumes! How can someone actually work there all day?  I think I'm still high off of some nasty updated version of Coolwater. Ew.

Anyhow.  I saw my foot doc today (her office is right next to the mall, hence the Macy's trip) and she was happy with how much the swelling went down in my foot.  My ankle, not so much.  She wasn't too surprised though.  Apparently I'm a 'sweller.'  Because I'm walking funny my Achilles tendon has become very tight, which causes the stiffness in the ankle as well as the pain in my shin (shin splint).  She gave me a stretch to do every day (along with Aaron's stretches) and will send me to PT.  All of the movement should help alleviate the swelling. Ha!  I'll believe it when I see it.

The only thing we are keeping an eye on now is the knot located right along my plantar fascia.  The whole tissue is inflammed so I have to watch it and maybe use some arch supports to make sure it doesn't turn into Plantar Fasciitis.

So thats it.  I really like my doctor.  She always lifts my spirits and now I feel motivated again.  Ready to maybe go back to the gym on Saturday....or take the train into work again.  Yay!  Movement!

BPA Danger may be greater from Tin Cans than Water Bottles

Dangers of Bisphenol A (BPA) From canned food

According to the FDA, 17% of the American diet comes out of cans, and many of those have an epoxy liner made with Bisphenol A, a chemical which can mimic human estrogen and which is linked to breast cancer and early puberty in women. While the leaching of BPA from Nalgene water bottles and other polycarbonate bottles is a concern, the danger from canned food may be greater. The Environmental Working Group tested canned food bought across America and found BPA in more than half of them, at levels they call "200 times the government's traditional safe level of exposure for industrial chemicals." There are no standards for BPA; it is allowed to be put in anything, and billions of pounds are produced each year.

read more from TreeHugger.com

"...trying something you’re afraid of (headstands), and confronting the worst case scenario that lurks within that fear (falling) has a payoff" http://www.choosingraw.com/just-falling/

December 1.

I had a goal to start back with my small group training in December. 

I won't be achieving that goal. I had to cancel my sessions.  I'm no longer in good spirits, I'm quite pissed off actually.  I'd probably be more pissed off but I don't know where to channel it.  My foot? My ankle? Actually, my foot is doing ok.  Still swelling up after a day of activity but no pain.  it's my ankle that is the bigger problem.  It has limited mobility due to swelling and when I walk on it for more than an hour then I feel pain.

WTF. I'm so over and done with this. Really.

Blech.

I just did that salt sugar salt sugar salt sugar pms thing.  Glad that is over with.

Today was a tough day.  Took the commuter rail/orange line into work for the first time.  Good lord it took forever to walk the length of the platform!  Around 4:00 my sneaker started to really hurt my foot so I decided to call it a day and start the long-ass commute home. Walking down stairs takes foreverrrrrrr.  Lots of exaggeration today - caused by extreme annoyance.

When I got home I tried to cook up some shrimp with garlic & olive oil and way overcooked the shrimp. Needless to say the cats didn't seem to mind a bit and I ended up making a ham sandwhich.  Not diet food, actually I'm not much of a cold cut person at all (not healthy!) but at that point I was fed up.  And not yet fed.

Anyhow - Today was a washout.  I'm headed to bed.  Tomorrow I'll try again (except for the train part - that aint happening).  I'll try the train again next week. 

My new favorite Holiday cookie recipe.

 

These are so delicious that I won't make them again until next year.  I could have kept this whole pan to myself.  I ate two of these even though they aren't dairy free.  The really are my new favorite 'cookie.'  They are the Pear, Pistachio and Candied Ginger Blondies from Martha Stewart.

They are cakey - which is apparently how a blondie is supposed to be.  They do firm up a bit overnight but I was happy with the texture both days.  The original recipe calls for dried pears but I grabbed dried (sweetened) cherries instead, which I'm very happy about.  The pistachios are a must.  The candied ginger flavor is almost lost in these so next time I wouldn't chop it up so small.

I also liked these better in squares than in the wedge shape that the recipe called for.  They only made an 8x8 pan's worth so cut into small squares means there are more to go around.  Make these for your next holiday party - especially if I'm invited to it, ha ha. 

You can find the recipe for these here, on the Martha Stewart website.

Thanksgiving photo re-cap.

Turkey Day ReCap

Jake got his first 'real' concussion today in the 2nd quarter of the Varsity Thanksgiving Day game. Grade 2. He's OK but honestly I'm glad his team lost today so they don't go to the playoffs and he won't be slamming his head into anything for the next 8 months.  Scary stuff.  He seems to be ok now.  Actually, he's acting like a typical teenager but we'll keep an eye on him just in case.

Joe and Jake stayed home while Jake rested and I went to my mum's for t-giving dinner.  I brought home a whole tray of leftovers so they could have it tomorrow.  I left most of the desserts at my mums though... I had my desserts today.  Now I'm done.  I've lost 8-10 lbs (I'm going back and forth with those last two lbs) and I don't want to gain it all back in one day.  Besides, I'd rather eat stuffing, roasted squash and mum's homemade cranberry relish.  Yum.  I have pictures of the ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS blondies I made.  You have to make these - they are incredible (which is why I didn't bring any of the leftovers home with me!) and the carrot cake cupcakes.  My niece really loved them but by her third cupcake she was licking the frosting off and tossing out the cupcake!

I'll post those pics tomorrow - yay! long 4 day weekend for me!  and then I'll be trying to ignore the leftovers and the homemade apple pie my mother-in-law brought us. 
Oh, and my ankle is killing me lately.  It's pretty swollen and has been since my workout last week.  I was hoping to go back on saturday for another workout but I think I'm going to stay off it completely for the next few days and try to get it ready for my December 1 return to small group training.

I'll be back tomorrow with photos... blogs are just so much better with pictures!

Food Allgery Cards for International Travel

from the  Go Dairy Free website:

"This new website is dedicated to people suffering from food allergies who travel abroad and need to explain their condition in a foreign language.

Allerglobal is a free on-line service that conveniently translates food allergies in almost all Central and Eastern European languages. It automatically creates a customized, accurate passport-sized card with the user's allergy information in the chosen language. Users just need to print it, slip it in their wallet, and show it at restaurants, hotels, or wherever needed. This service is intended to contribute to a safer, more comfortable travel for people with food allergies and intolerances."

If I ever travel overseas I'll need a 'dairy-free' card as well as a "I'm hard of hearing" card.  Sometimes I feel like I need the 'hearing' card in this country.

I left my hearing aid at home today. Of course I had a meeting at work with a bunch of quiet people. I have no idea what happened at that meeting.

Swollen and crooked...but in good spirits.

My foot and ankle swelled up something wicked from my workout + busy day on Saturday.  Today I couldn't even get my sneaker on, so I'm back to wearing the special shoe.  Special shoe for 'special' girl, huh?  I think tomorrow it will be back down to 'normal' so I'm not too worried about it.  I was so happy to exercise and to see my PUNCH peeps!

Tomorrow I also have my first appointment with Aaron Brooks since my foot surgery.  I may be wrong but I think my first appointment with him was a year ago.  Wow. How time flies!  He took good care of me then when I had so much back pain and I'm sure he'll take good care of me again this time.  My body is so twisted that sometimes I just look at myself in the mirror and laugh.  When I straighten my left foot (it veers out to the side) then my knee buckles inward and I become knock-kneed.  When I straighten my knees my hips then twist and when I fix that my shoulders are way off.  It's amazing how quickly you can wreak havoc on your body's alignment.  Thankfully it can be fixed - easily and quickly.  I'm lucky that he was recommended to me.  In turn I've sent about five people his way and have yet to hear one negative thing about him.  This guy? He's good stuff. If you're local and you have aches and pains... check him out.

I'll go see my foot doctor at the begining of December for a monthly check up.  She's a hot ticket too.  You know you like your doctor if your still talking to them after they pretty much amputate your toes then stick them back together with pins.  I'd recommend her as well.  The surgery itself was horrible but having her as a doc made it bareable.  I don't know what she's going to recommend for this swelling.  At that point it will be three months into recovery, which was supposed to be 4-6 weeks.  I know she'll want to send me to PT for both my toes and my ankle, which is fine. Actually I look forward to it.  It's hard to do PT on yourself and it's not nearly as effective. 

Sorry for yet another photo-less post.  I think I have a food/meal photo that I'll post next.  Or maybe the next post will be my Thanksgiving dishes that I am bringing this year.  One of which is a dairy-free carrotcake cupcakes.  Yum!  I'm still doing Bonnie's plan so I've decided ahead of time what I'm going to eat that is off-plan and stick to it. 

Hope you have a great thanksgiving!!  Be safe if you plan to travel!

ICE ICE BABY. (AND YAY! a real workout!!)

Today was great - I went to the 11:00 kettlebell class taught by Stacey and had a great work out.  Krista was there and it was great to be a able to work out with her again.  My foot and ankle are still swollen but it's gone down enough that I could put a sneaker on.  I had to take it off for the workout though it was too tight for all that activity.  I worked out in my socks which is always more challenging than working out in sneakers.

I had to modify a few of the exercises but I figured that would be the case.  I can't do anything on my toes (lunges, planks, etc.).  We did ladders that started off with push presses.  Push presses are supposed to be done with a challenging weight and you are supposed to push and really get the strength for the push with your legs.  That part wasn't working out for me - I couldn't do the little jump so I used a less-challenging bell and just pressed it.  After two rounds I had to go down in weight (started to feel it in my lower back).  We also did some swings, which stretched out my back and felt great. 

As for the Figure 8's ...I only did one set.  There was more than one set in the workout but I almost dropped my bell at the beginning of the second set and I stopped right there.  I wasn't wearing shoes and if I dropped a bell on my surgery foot I think I'd probably jump off a bridge or something.  I can't deal with any more 'recovery/down time'.

The hardest part for me were the planks/side planks.  I did as many as I could on my right leg with my left toes held up.  When that got too hard on that side I would do child's pose or some push ups from my knees.  Oh, and I also couldn't do the renegade rows because of the lunge position so I did a hip stretch instead.  There were more exercises incorporated into the workout but I'm not keen on posting other people's workouts.

Even though I had to use lighter bells than normal (12kg and the 8kg) all in all it was a great work out and I'm happy with how much I was able to do after taking TWO MONTHS off.  I'm really trying to get my body moving and my circulation strong in the surgery foot.  this is my ninth week and the swelling is supposed to be pretty much gone by now.  Today's workout felt so good! My back was so happy to stretch and my legs felt so good to be worked (both of them instead of just the right leg). 

So now I'm icing my ankle and this is stuck in my head.  Now it's stuck in yours.  :-P

Self-motivation.

I have TWO sneakers on, I signed up for the 2010 3-Day Walk and I'm headed to a kettlebell class this morning. Foot be damned, I'm ready!!! :-)

My New Makeup from Sigma

I love makeup.  It's fun... there are so many different colors to chose from and play with.  I like to try different style to see what I like and what is flattering on me.  Most of my eye shadows are from MAC and Stilla.  I have a few bare escentuals colors but I don't think they stay on very well, even with a shadow primer.  I am always looking for a new brand if it gets good reviews.  Good brushes are important too.  Once I changed my brushes my makeup application became easier and more fluid.

pink... I chose pink brushes over black?!?

I've been dying to try the Sigma brushes... most of what I have are MAC and a few Bare Escentuals.  Seeing TiffanyD's recent review on a bunch of Sigma products turned the tide for me and I placed my first Sigma order.  I prefer travel sized brushes so I was happy to see the collection available in the travel kit (which is available in black or pink).  I also received two free brushes (at the top) for my purchases.  I really debated between purchasing the red satin bag or the black and as you can see the black won.  The red sure is pretty though!  I chose the pink brushes because they appealed to me (first time! pink!) and so that I could quickly differentiate between them and my MAC brushes, which are black. 

I also wanted to try the neutral eye shadow collection from their new On The Go kits.  I like the shimmer of these colors -plus I find shimmery powders stay on longer.  These are a bit sparkly but can be toned down. I almost purchased the Smokey kit but was really intrigued by the Indian Girl color in this pallet.  I love it and I love the Brown Eyed Girl as well.  They are dark and dusky and gray-ish. 

Wearing them today... LOVE them!

This is good stuff.  My photography doesn't do the color justice so watch Tiffany's review on the products and then watch her make-up tutorials (brushes too!) for the different color pallets.  Those are now featured on the Sigma site for each On The Go kit.