Rest?

For a day of rest, today sure was busy! I'm so glad today was my day off from the gym as I really don't know how I would have managed to fit in a workout.

I finally had my follow-up appointment with Dr. T about my leg. Since the pain is gone, there really wasn't any reason for a check up. The main purpose of this trip was for him to check my shoes.

I didn't really need a doctor to tell me that my New Balance shoes that I absolutely LOVE needed to be replaced. They should have been replaced ages ago ... and the fact that I did that 10K in them really screwed me up! I've been looking for a replacement for ages ... just haven't found the right pair. He told me that the average shoe life for my workout routine is about 100 hours, which basically means that I'd need to change my shoes about every 3 months! That's quite often ... and it's not like gym shoes are cheap either! In any case, gym shoes are something that I'll definitely invest in - I don't even look at the price. If it feels right (and looks right!) then I'll buy them.

He went over some interesting points on how to choose the best shoe for me. Each person is different, and because of the overall weakness in my left leg (extra pressure on the pad of the foot, slightly dislocated kneecap, broken thigh bone that didn't quite heal (very long story there), and hip pain from too much dancing in high heels (sigh, those were the good 'ol days when dancing salsa was the main thing going on in my life) ... anyway. All those combined made my left leg a big more unstable than my right, so I basically have to choose shoes that won't aggravate any of the old injuries ... not an easy task.

He did not approve of my newly bought Nike trainers:

Well, at least not for high impact cardio. He said I could wear them on days that I'm lifting weights or doing a class like Body Pump that doesn't require much stepping. So, the search for the right shoes is still on ... luckily I never shy away from a bit of shoe shopping :)

After the doctor's office I headed to the supermarket. I had my list in hand and was absolutely ready ... until I got there and I was completely overwhelmed by the number of people and kids. It was absolutely jam packed!! I never shop for groceries on the weekends ... and now I remembered why. It was insane. I had a lunch appointment so I knew I would have to rush ... I just headed straight for the produce section - grabbed what I could - and was out of there as quickly as possible (and even then it took too long). I can't stand having to shop for groceries when it's that crowded. A second trip will definitely be required as I'm sure I forgot many things that were on my list ... still, dinner for tomorrow is definitely ready.

The rest of the day was spent tackling a few errands and tasks around the house. Although I had a productive day, I definitely feel like I need one more day of no obligations/work so that I can make more progress through my never-ending list of things to do!

Stage 6 of NROL4W starting tomorrow! Yay!!

Shift in the Tide?

Today's been a pretty good day. I'm hoping it's a sign that things are finally improving. Although I have yet to have a cough-free day, I did manage to get some sleep last night, which is a bonus. I hope that I'm well enough to workout tomorrow - I'm dying to get back to the gym. Yup, that's right - dying to get back to the gym. It's been 10 days now with minimal activity. I'm more than ready to get back into it.

Today was a short day at work, which is great because I needed some extra time to grade the 35 papers my students handed in. Plus I needed to make another trip to the grocery store, this time to stock up on vegetables for the rest of the week.

This post will be short as I've got a writing target for the day that I want to hit so I need to get back to it. Just keeping my fingers crossed that I can literally breathe easy soon ... I do feel a bit better ... now to fully recover.

Oh and one more thing, those fruits from Dean and Deluca -- DIVINE! No chocolate ever tasted so good - seriously ... and I love chocolate! The fact that they're in bite sized pieces makes life so much easier - that way while I'm studying I can have my fruit snack at my desk and take my time - instead of trying to quickly devour an apple so I don't need to deal with holding it etc. Ya, I know, eating fruit shouldn't be that complicated ... but sometimes it is!

Seduced by Dean & Deluca

Although I haven't been feeling like myself for the past week I thought enough is enough. It's time to start getting back into a routine, still allowing for rest and being realistic about what I can/can't do (no gym until Wednesday at the earliest!). I originally had a bunch of errands planned for today as I had hoped I'd be done with my writing. I decided to go through with them anyway. I think getting back into a proper routine and not obsessively trying to write will be better for me.

So, did my errands and thought I'd do a bit of retail therapy -- but today's retail therapy was different. Instead of buying stuff, I splurged at Dean and Deluca.

I don't normally buy my fresh fruit from there, though I'm always teased by their gorgeously arranged fruits in baskets. Everything always looks so fresh and delicious. It's hard to resist fruit when it's arranged so enticingly - add the fact that they can be diced up for you and ready to go - total bonus. So today I stocked up on their fruit - pineapples, melons, watermelon, strawberries - and a bunch of vegetables. Yum!

Now my fridge is stocked and my menu for the week is planned. I've got a reasonable study schedule mapped out to help me get through this last phase of writing and a moderate gym plan to ease me back into a routine while my lungs recuperate.

Slow and steady. Slow and steady. Gotta keep moving forward.

Making a List (and checking it twice!)

One of the main focuses of today was getting my grocery list in order. I spent quite a bit of time online researching different ingredients. I think I'm quite a creative cook so I wasn't really looking for recipes. I was mainly looking up nutritional values of things so that I could try and make the healthiest choices for my big shop on Sunday.

I also took some time to look up egg white substitutes. Now, before I traveled, my friend Raine was looking through some of my recipes and she asked me what exactly was in egg white substitutes - an ingredient in my Spinach Ricotta Quiche - and I couldn't tell her. I didn't know what the egg whites were being substituted with! My research today helped me clarify two things. First of all, there's an error in my recipe - I actually did not use egg white substitute, but instead used all liquid egg whites. Second of all, egg white substitute can actually be composed

of different ingredients, but they are all natural (whew! I was nervous about what I would find!). I looked up the info on several websites, but found this article to be the most helpful.

There was also some useful info about egg whites and their substitutes here. In any case, I wouldn't hesitate to use either the 100% liquid egg whites or the egg white substitutes - I've found it to be very helpful when trying to come up with a high protein quick snack in the middle of the day (recipes to follow soon!)

I'm a bit short for time at the moment, but I'm hoping to be able to move away from pre-packaged nutrition bars and other foods and start making things more from scratch. This is particularly because there are a lot of foods that aren't easily available here. For example, Larabars (which are supposed to be excellent) or Kashi products. Also, I like the idea of being able to control the ingredients in my food. Anyway.

Another thing I looked up was the nutritional value of fresh versus frozen vegetables. I try to eat fresh vegetables whenever possible, but lately the produce in Kuwait seems to be in a rather sorry state. Produce that is imported (rather than the local products) is often much better quality, but sometimes I wonder at how fresh the broccoli from Australia really is ... Someone once told me that frozen vegetables were just as good if not better than fresh vegetables - today I took the time to try and find out. There are several articles on the Internet that do say there is no problem eating frozen vegetables (and yes, they do say that in some cases frozen is better). Two of the main things the articles talk about are 1) the flash freezing of the vegetables actually locks in most of the nutritional value and 2) the vegetables are picked and frozen when they are at their peak and this contrasts to what may be available to you at the supermarket (could have spent days in transit). Having a good stock of frozen vegetables in my freezer will be a huge time saver when it comes to cooking, especially with how busy things are going to be over the next few weeks.

I'm looking forward to getting back to cooking! What are favorites on your grocery list?