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Ugh.
Due to a hand injury (specifically the anatomical snuffbox - google it, it's real, people!) this blogging adventure is being put on hiatus, primarily because I can't do...um...anything. Cooking is on hold, cleaning is on hold (no dishwasher=no dishes for me), yoga is obviously on hold. Yeah, pretty much everything. Typing one-handed requires too much time and effort so I'm chilling for a bit.
My appointment with the hand surgeon was moved from Thursday to today due to swelling and increased pain (yippee!) so hopefully by this evening I'll at least have a better idea what the near future holds!
If you're thinking that it's odd that someone could damage one of the tiniest bones in the hand that nobody has ever heard of that is called a snuffbox, just remember that I'm also the girl that has slipped on a banana peel twice (TWICE!), pinched her rotator cuff picking up a can of green beans and trapped herself in her own bathroom moments after her fiance left on a weeklong business trip. So it really isn't that strange after all....
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Third Time WAS a Charm
The rink opens at 12, but they resurface at 1:30 so I decided to wait and go a bit later today to get the laundry done. It was a pretty impressive morning - must have been the blueberries! I got the laundry done, took care of some bills, freshened up the kitchen, dealt with my nails (aka the hot mess of the day) and all in time to have lunch before heading out.
I knew I wanted something warm and hearty enough to keep me going through the afternoon but not so heavy that I felt full-full. I decided on a lemony shitake and asparagus sauce over quinoa. Pasta didn't sound too appealing and I wanted to give quinoa a shot since it's supposedly a wonder food. It's the only grain that is a complete protein in and of itself. Pretty cool, huh? This was my first go-round with it and I'm hooked! The slight nuttiness of it paired so well with the mushrooms. YUM!
I wasn't quite full and decided to go ahead and have a 2% Fage Greek yogurt with strawberry to fill up the empty spot in my stomach.
Shortly after lunch I headed downtown to hit the rink and was a bit disappointed to find about 20 people already skating. I don't mind the newbies who truly can't stand up on their skates and I LOVE the old-school hockey guys ducking in and out of the groups. I can get around the newbies and trust the hockey players completely to move where and when they need to, but there were a four guys in their late teens/early twenties who were, quite simply, being JERKS. What they were lacking in ability they more than made up for in ego and after narrowly avoiding being run over by them while they chased each other, threw things on the ice, and purposely tried to make people fall I was done. DONE. I made it nearly 30 minutes but just could not deal with them anymore and wanted to be able to enjoy the ice and my working iPod. Luckily my friend Karen recently pointed out that the OTHER rink is only a couple blocks away and basically hidden so I threw on my shoes and hiked over. What a difference 2 blocks made!
This rink is truly a hidden gem and I'm so grateful to have found it. I arrived to find eight or ten kids (real kids - all under 10!) who not only knew what they were doing on the ice but could outskate me. It reminded me a lot more of the rink I grew up on where there was a healthy mix of figure skaters, hockey players, and frequent fun-skaters who all could hold their own on the ice. Much more my style, and I even got the guts to work on my transitions from backward to forward skating as well as some back crossovers! Even the music was better - cheesy teen pop, which is in my opinion the best for skating. Luckily the rink had pretty much cleared by the time I bit it and none of the kids were there to laugh at me. : )
One of the best lessons I learned in yoga while working towards headstand was that sometimes if you don't fall it's because you're not trying hard enough, and that was definitely the case today. Once I really got into it, BAM, I went down. But hey, one of the skills they teach in classes is how to fall, so who cares?
When I got home I ended up doing a slow and light yoga practice instead of a power yoga session and am completely calm and loose now. That must have been just what I needed! The Beanpole's on his way home and to celebrate we're ordering Chinese takeout - a big ol' beef dish for him and veggies for me. Can't wait!
I knew I wanted something warm and hearty enough to keep me going through the afternoon but not so heavy that I felt full-full. I decided on a lemony shitake and asparagus sauce over quinoa. Pasta didn't sound too appealing and I wanted to give quinoa a shot since it's supposedly a wonder food. It's the only grain that is a complete protein in and of itself. Pretty cool, huh? This was my first go-round with it and I'm hooked! The slight nuttiness of it paired so well with the mushrooms. YUM!
I wasn't quite full and decided to go ahead and have a 2% Fage Greek yogurt with strawberry to fill up the empty spot in my stomach.
Shortly after lunch I headed downtown to hit the rink and was a bit disappointed to find about 20 people already skating. I don't mind the newbies who truly can't stand up on their skates and I LOVE the old-school hockey guys ducking in and out of the groups. I can get around the newbies and trust the hockey players completely to move where and when they need to, but there were a four guys in their late teens/early twenties who were, quite simply, being JERKS. What they were lacking in ability they more than made up for in ego and after narrowly avoiding being run over by them while they chased each other, threw things on the ice, and purposely tried to make people fall I was done. DONE. I made it nearly 30 minutes but just could not deal with them anymore and wanted to be able to enjoy the ice and my working iPod. Luckily my friend Karen recently pointed out that the OTHER rink is only a couple blocks away and basically hidden so I threw on my shoes and hiked over. What a difference 2 blocks made!
This rink is truly a hidden gem and I'm so grateful to have found it. I arrived to find eight or ten kids (real kids - all under 10!) who not only knew what they were doing on the ice but could outskate me. It reminded me a lot more of the rink I grew up on where there was a healthy mix of figure skaters, hockey players, and frequent fun-skaters who all could hold their own on the ice. Much more my style, and I even got the guts to work on my transitions from backward to forward skating as well as some back crossovers! Even the music was better - cheesy teen pop, which is in my opinion the best for skating. Luckily the rink had pretty much cleared by the time I bit it and none of the kids were there to laugh at me. : )
One of the best lessons I learned in yoga while working towards headstand was that sometimes if you don't fall it's because you're not trying hard enough, and that was definitely the case today. Once I really got into it, BAM, I went down. But hey, one of the skills they teach in classes is how to fall, so who cares?
When I got home I ended up doing a slow and light yoga practice instead of a power yoga session and am completely calm and loose now. That must have been just what I needed! The Beanpole's on his way home and to celebrate we're ordering Chinese takeout - a big ol' beef dish for him and veggies for me. Can't wait!
Bowl Full of Sunshine
All the stiff and sore muscles from yesterday were GONE when I woke up this morning and while I'd been slightly apathetic about hitting the rink and mat today last night it all washed right away this morning.
Time to fuel up, so after rushing through some lemon water I turned to the trusty oats. The addition of blueberries has been wonderfully refreshing and I think they'll be making many more appearances. Today's toppings were chocolate chips (just a few!), coconut, blueberry, banana, granola for crunch, and some chopped dried apricots. I always forget to mention the tablespoon of flax I add to the mix but I think they make the meal!
Of course I had to have a spoonful of peanut butter as well! I'm almost out but have a fun little sample-size packet of Justin's Almond Butter that I picked up at Whole Foods that's ready in the wings.
Time to fuel up, so after rushing through some lemon water I turned to the trusty oats. The addition of blueberries has been wonderfully refreshing and I think they'll be making many more appearances. Today's toppings were chocolate chips (just a few!), coconut, blueberry, banana, granola for crunch, and some chopped dried apricots. I always forget to mention the tablespoon of flax I add to the mix but I think they make the meal!
Of course I had to have a spoonful of peanut butter as well! I'm almost out but have a fun little sample-size packet of Justin's Almond Butter that I picked up at Whole Foods that's ready in the wings.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Arda Chandrasan (Who Doesn't Love a Half Moon?)
Mmmmm, yoga kicked my butt this afternoon. I think I underestimated how much I've been using my arms at the rink and what an intense arm workout yesterday's Power Yoga session was and I could barely make it through the vinyasas! In fact, I tweaked my shoulder a bit during one of the modified chaturangas due to fatigue - nothing serious, just a twinge here and there but still frustrating. I was extremely grateful for the standing sequence and the opportunity to finally give my aching limbs a bit of a break!
After lunch I cranked up iTunes and danced/cleaned the apartment. It's much more fun with fun music to move around to! Needless to say, all the cold winter air from skating, the cleaning, and the yoga made me ready to eat anything in sight. I narrowed it down to two choices - kung pao tofu takeout or breakfast for dinner. The Beanpole will be home tomorrow night and we'll likely grab dinner out this weekend at some point so breakfast for dinner it was! It's fast, easy, relatively healthy (compared to Chinese takeout!), and better still requires few dishes to clean up. I had two eggs scrambled with mushrooms, green pepper, onion, spinach, and tomato on a whole-wheat pita with a bit of Mexican cheese (maybe 1/4 cup?) and two veggie sausage links mixed in. The perfect half-moon side? Apple crescents of course!
Virtually every part of my body is deliciously sore right now so depending on the temps I might take a rest day tomorrow. I still want to fit in a yoga practice for sure though and have a slower-paced video that I might do to accommodate my cranky shoulder. I'd rather take a slow yoga day now than 6 weeks off for a crazy rotator cuff injury a la the green bean incident of 2007!!!
After lunch I cranked up iTunes and danced/cleaned the apartment. It's much more fun with fun music to move around to! Needless to say, all the cold winter air from skating, the cleaning, and the yoga made me ready to eat anything in sight. I narrowed it down to two choices - kung pao tofu takeout or breakfast for dinner. The Beanpole will be home tomorrow night and we'll likely grab dinner out this weekend at some point so breakfast for dinner it was! It's fast, easy, relatively healthy (compared to Chinese takeout!), and better still requires few dishes to clean up. I had two eggs scrambled with mushrooms, green pepper, onion, spinach, and tomato on a whole-wheat pita with a bit of Mexican cheese (maybe 1/4 cup?) and two veggie sausage links mixed in. The perfect half-moon side? Apple crescents of course!
Virtually every part of my body is deliciously sore right now so depending on the temps I might take a rest day tomorrow. I still want to fit in a yoga practice for sure though and have a slower-paced video that I might do to accommodate my cranky shoulder. I'd rather take a slow yoga day now than 6 weeks off for a crazy rotator cuff injury a la the green bean incident of 2007!!!
Third Time's a Charm?
I hope so anyway! I headed down to the rink this afternoon to get a workout and some ice time and ended up being out in the 5 degree weather for 2 whole hours. The laundry was scrapped prior to going so I could load up on some new music and skate away to all the cheesy pop songs I love, but after one song (oddly enough, Sk8tr Boy) the iPod craaaaashed. Between the Beanpole and I we have five of the things but one or more always seems to be on the fritz. Today was NOT the day for it to crash because the workers had the music set to classic rock and Pink Floyd is hardly my idea of good skating music. I much prefer early 90's pop since it reminds me of my old skating days! Never mind though - nothing was going to stop me! While gliding around happily I realized that I am extremely right-legged when it comes to skating and can't even come to a simple T-Stop with my left leg leading. Now in addition to skating just for exercise I'm setting little goals for myself and walking through what little I can remember from my pre-Alpha classes with my left leg to strengthen it. Once the "crowd" (maybe 8 people?) dissipated I even managed to psych myself up and work on skating backwards and my back crossovers. I miss the BIG rink I used to practice on with the hockey circles to help me track my back crossovers and stay consistent!
When I got home I was red-faced from the cold and ready to eat. I thought about stopping on the way for one of my favorite falafel-hummus pitas but decided that something even more savory was in order and decided to whip up a red lentil curry and some garlicky kale. I'd seen this recipe over at eatliverun.com and finally had red lentils on hand to try it and it did not disappoint. I could honestly eat Indian food and/or curried anything every single day and it's great to have a quick recipe on hand that is much healthier than eating out! The bitterness and texture of the kale stood up quite well against the sweetness and creaminess of the curry and provided a nice balance. I rounded the whole meal out with half a pita quickly warmed in the oven.
I was fairly full after lunch but my sweet tooth decided that the savory tooth had gotten a little too much attention and decided to throw a fit, so I indulged it with a 2% Fage Greek yogurt and strawberry.
Next up is a yoga practice!
When I got home I was red-faced from the cold and ready to eat. I thought about stopping on the way for one of my favorite falafel-hummus pitas but decided that something even more savory was in order and decided to whip up a red lentil curry and some garlicky kale. I'd seen this recipe over at eatliverun.com and finally had red lentils on hand to try it and it did not disappoint. I could honestly eat Indian food and/or curried anything every single day and it's great to have a quick recipe on hand that is much healthier than eating out! The bitterness and texture of the kale stood up quite well against the sweetness and creaminess of the curry and provided a nice balance. I rounded the whole meal out with half a pita quickly warmed in the oven.
I was fairly full after lunch but my sweet tooth decided that the savory tooth had gotten a little too much attention and decided to throw a fit, so I indulged it with a 2% Fage Greek yogurt and strawberry.
Next up is a yoga practice!
SUN!
It's so nice to see after a couple cloudy-ish days. I just keep staring out the window at the perfectly blue sky and smiling. I'm not one who hates winter at all but sometimes the endless cloudy days are just a bit too much.
It's shaping up to be a lovely day. I'm planning on getting the laundry done as well as cleaning the entire apartment. Cleaning might be the only time I LOVE living in 600 square feet. I'm also planning on heading downtown again for a figure skating workout and then coming home to a power yoga practice. The only yoga classes in English I've been able to locate so far in Paris are in the Ashtanga style so I need to step up my game. It's chock-full of vinyasas and I'd like to be able to do full chaturanga throughout the practice, but that's going to require a lot more upper body strength and stamina than I currently have. I know, I know, it's about honoring the body and appreciating what I CAN do, but I'm looking forward to getting back to my more bendy self.
I started the day with a hot mug of water with lemon juice, as usual. I really enjoy the slow pace of drinking that and thinking about the rest of the day. Afterwards I moved on to - what else - oatmeal. Today's toppings were 1/2 a banana, blueberries, a couple chopped figs, a couple chocolate chips, a dash of cranberry-apricot granola, and of course, peanut butter.
Off to be productive!
It's shaping up to be a lovely day. I'm planning on getting the laundry done as well as cleaning the entire apartment. Cleaning might be the only time I LOVE living in 600 square feet. I'm also planning on heading downtown again for a figure skating workout and then coming home to a power yoga practice. The only yoga classes in English I've been able to locate so far in Paris are in the Ashtanga style so I need to step up my game. It's chock-full of vinyasas and I'd like to be able to do full chaturanga throughout the practice, but that's going to require a lot more upper body strength and stamina than I currently have. I know, I know, it's about honoring the body and appreciating what I CAN do, but I'm looking forward to getting back to my more bendy self.
I started the day with a hot mug of water with lemon juice, as usual. I really enjoy the slow pace of drinking that and thinking about the rest of the day. Afterwards I moved on to - what else - oatmeal. Today's toppings were 1/2 a banana, blueberries, a couple chopped figs, a couple chocolate chips, a dash of cranberry-apricot granola, and of course, peanut butter.
Off to be productive!
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