Gaining a New Perspective On Injuries

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Just a quick update on the injury status:

I stopped running completely last week, and my ankle is feeling A LOT better.  I tried running for 1 minute this morning just to test it out, but it still feels pretty weak.  I think I am going to try to not run for 4-6 weeks to give it as much time to heal as possible.  Getting injured really is a bummer no doubt, but it has given me the opportunity to be creative and to try new things to get my daily burn in.  I believe that every experience we have in life is there to teach us something or to help us grow into the person that we are ultimately to become. I know this is not that big of a deal in the big scheme of things, but I am trying to look at it as a way to work on getting to that person I need to be; one set back at a time.

Also, being around these little ones throughout the day makes me realize that there is more to life than being able to run:

Like building robots out of boxes!

And making sure that you keep up on your teeth brushing!

It’s the little things that help you keep perspective right? :)

Another Injury, Another Set Back

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The past few days I have been kind of down because I am experiencing another injury since having my youngest 18 months ago.  Having him must have really thrown off my alignment or something because I just have not felt the same ever since.

For 18 months now, I have dealt with back pain, hip pain, knee pain (on both knees) and now I am having issues with my right Achilles tendon.  It has bothered me off and on all summer, but I have kind of just dealt with it and kept going.  This week though, I decided I can’t ignore it anymore.  There is something seriously wrong here! I don’t feel a lot of pain associated with this injury, but I can definitely feel that tendon pulling and something is moving around.  I don’t think that is normal considering that I never felt this sensation before.

I also experienced a really intense pain while running downhills the other day while pushing my kids in the jogger. I had never felt this before, so it totally caught me off guard.  As I was going down a hill, I was pulling the stroller to keep it in control, and something about that motion made my lower back tense up so much.  I had to consciously tell myself to relax my legs to make it go away. Needless to say, I am no longer running.

I know there could be worse things in life, but this is hard for me right now.  I struggled with disordered thoughts in high school in relation to eating and working out, and I feel those thoughts being triggered again because of this.  I feel so limited on what I can do for cardio since I don’t belong to a gym, and our complex fitness facility is very lacking.  I know it is irrational, but I am nervous about how this is going to effect my weight.

The rational side of me is telling myself that this time “off” will be good for my body and will help to heal whatever is going on.  It is also telling me that by golly I am a personal trainer now, so I should be able to figure something out right!? I am also thinking that I will use this time to really focus on weight lifting. I am going to figure this out and not let it get me down!

Sorry for the lame-o post, but right now this is where I am at.  Its tough!

Have you ever had an injury set back? If so, how did you get through it?

Almond Butter Crust Pie

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Time for another recipe thanks to my new food processor! I love this thing!

This recipe came to be by accident. I was trying to make almond butter in my food processor, but it just was not forming into the creamy consistency that I was looking for.  Maybe I should have been more patient and let it run a little longer? I didn’t want to waste the almond paste I had just created, so I turned the loss into a success!

Almond Butter Crust Pie

Ingredients:

1 cup roasted almonds

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1 box sugar-free and fat-free vanilla pudding.

Directions:

1-In a food processor, add almonds, cinnamon, and vanilla and mix until it turns into a thick consistency.

2-While the processor is going, make pudding according to package directions.

3-Press almond mixture into the bottom of a pie dish and pour pudding over crust. Let cool in fridge for 1-2 hours before serving.

While this was a total accident, this is something I will definitely make again!  It was so good!

Have you ever turned a fail into a success in cooking or baking before?

Weightless Upper Body Workout

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I am currently helping a friend of mine lose weight, and she is doing so awesome! One of my biggest desires is to inspire women to live a healthy life, so seeing her enjoy the workouts we are doing and seeing some serious results makes me beyond happy and eager to help more people!

She is a very busy mom, as are many of my readers, so I put together a workout that busy moms (or person for that matter!) can do because it requires no equipment and you can do it anywhere.  The first workout I will post focuses on your upper body, and will post the lower body workout later.

As a disclaimer, as much as I would like to be, I am not a fitness expert. I claim no responsibility if injury occurs while performing these moves. Perform this routine at your own risk.

Weightless Upper Body Workout

Fitness Level: Intermediate to Advanced

**The key to getting the most out of this workout is to do the moves in a superset. (completing consecutive sets of an exercise until you have reached desired number of sets with little to no rest in between moves)**

Also, to up the calorie burn, add a plyometric move between each superset to keep your heart rate up.  

Superset #1: (Up your reps by 2 each time you do a set)

  • 10 Push ups (you can modify by doing these on your knees)
  • 10 Chair Dips (works your triceps)
Do these two moves back to back until you have completed 3 sets of each.
Superset #2: (Again, up your reps by 2 each time!)
Do these two moves back to back until you have completed 3 sets of each.
Superset #3: (Up reps 2 times each set)
  • 20 Weightless Standing Rows (I kind of made up this move, but stand with one foot in front of the other in a ready stance.  Raise arms so that they are parallel to floor; hands in fist shape.  Pull your arms back towards your chest and really focus on contracting the muscles you are using.  Think about pulling a band back and forth to visualize.)
  • 10 Up-Down Planks
Do these two moves back to back until you have completed 3 sets of each.
Your upper body should be nice and tired by the end of this workout!  I hope you enjoy!
What are some of your favorite upper body exercises?

Nutty Blondies

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When my mom casually asked what I could use for my birthday this year, I casually mentioned that I have always wanted a food processor. And guess what I got for my birthday this year from her: a food processor! My mom is too good to me :)

There are a ton of recipes that I have wanted to try if I ever got a food processor, so yesterday afternoon I finally got the chance to make some!

I made a couple of things, but I will post one today and one another time for the sake of having some good blogging material later!

Nutty Blondies

This recipe was inspired and created by Chocolate Covered Katie. I added a few personal touches, but the original recipe is hers.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups chickpeas, rinsed (I used dry beans that I soaked over night, but this equates to 1 can)

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup ground flax

1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

1/3 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1-Combine all the ingredients minus the chocolate chips in a food processor and process until well combined.  I mixed it for about 3-4 minutes to make sure there were no traces of chickpeas left :)

2-Stir in chocolate chips

3-Pour into a square baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

4-Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. (Mine was a little more brown than I would have liked, so next time I would probably do less time.)

I absolutely loved these, and my kids did too.  My husbands response was, “They taste healthy.” That is always his go to response. I also didn’t mention that there were beans in this recipe just so he would at least try them.  :)

But honestly, these are amazing. Try them and let me know what you think!

Book Recommendation

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One of my favorite past-times is reading. I love to get caught up in a good book, and I read one recently that will definitely go on my favorite list.

While We’re Apart by Lynn Austin is set during WWII and follows the story of 3 main characters.  Each chapter is from the perspective of a different character. There is a love story intertwined throughout which always makes a good read.  You also find yourself falling in love with the characters in this book. The author is such a fantastic writer, and I have already painted a picture in my mind of what all the characters look like and how they would talk.

I highly recommend this book, and I would love to hear your thoughts on this book if you have read it!

Now I need a new book to read since I feel lost without one right now! What would you recommend?? 

Home Preschool

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I realized something very important lately; I THRIVE on a routine! I tend to be more productive when I am busy, so it is not a surprise that the past 4 months have probably been some of the most unproductive months of my life.  We have no real commitments right now, so every day turns into being the same thing day after day.

Moving to the DC area has been really hard for me, and I have had a hard time establishing a routine because of it.  I was fed up a few weeks ago with this slump I have been in, so I decided to do something about it.   I decided that I was going to do preschool at home with the boys, and by doing that I hoped to set up a better routine in our day-to-day life.

Today was our first day of doing this, and so far I think we are all going to love it! A friend of mine suggested this website for a home preschool, so I am now following this curriculum.  Preschool in our area is outrageously priced, so this is a great option for our current situation.

Having structure in my day really does give me a greater peace of mind and also makes me feel like a better mom! My oldest was so excited about doing this today since we have talked about it for a few days now.  At one point, he stopped what he was doing and told me that he thought I was a great teacher.  Best compliment ever! :)

I am looking forward to what this year will bring with our little home school! I am also excited that for the first time since we have moved here that I finally feel settled.  Such a good feeling!

So how about you, do you thrive on routine?  What kind of routine do you follow with your little ones?

I am over natural disasters

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We had another really close call with Mother Nature the past few days; we experienced our first flash flood.  Something I definitely do not want to experience again.
We had a ton of rain fall in a very short time yesterday evening, and we had some serious flooding.  I did not get any pictures of the flood at its highest since I was too afraid to think straight, but there seriously was a raging river of muddy water that was pouring through our parking lot.
Today is my oldest 4th’s birthday, but unfortunately we really could not go anywhere since our car has some flood damage.  Poor guy’s birthday was really dampened by storm clean up.  We did the best we could to do fun things with him, but I honestly feel bad that we did not do more.
We might have some serious car issues ahead of us, but the important thing is we are all alive and well.
Here is a video of our parking lot turned river.  This was not even the highest point of the flooding; it got maybe another 6 inches to a foot higher!  I was really freaked out as you can tell.  Sometimes you have to just look back and laugh at yourself, at least that’s what my husband tells me:)

Here are a few pictures I took this morning to show some of the damage:

  • Imagine a river of water running through the parking lot in the picture below, and imagine water coming above our tires and that is what this scene looked like last night.

  • Our apartment is the apartment on the far right side of the picture.  There was a stream of water going through this breezeway.

  • I went to check on the car and the surrounding area this morning, and my feet looked like this afterwards.  There was SOOO much mud everywhere!!

I am officially over natural disasters.

I Need to Apologize

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As I re-read my post from yesterday, I feel kind of like I want to cut it.  I sounded like a selfish person, so I apologize if I came off that way.  I have no reason to complain sometimes when I do.  That is a flaw of mine, and I need to work on it.

Saturday was my birthday, but it was also a day to celebrate the birth of my dear friends baby, and a day to mourn the loss of another.  It was not a day all about me, and I want to apologize if it sounded like I was implying it should have been.  I feel humbled knowing that I really have no reason to complain.

I was going to post something else today, but I really wanted to just put this out there since I realize that sometimes I just need to grow up.  I might be another year older, but I still have a way to go before I am wiser too.

The Best Birthday Gift

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As I mentioned before, I had a birthday this past weekend!

To celebrate, I went on a run; ALL.BY.MYSELF! It was heavenly! SOOOO heavenly.

I ended up running from where we were staying to our old apartment.  I did not run with any music and just took the time to think.

The whole way there was downhill, which meant that the whole way back was uphill. Talk about a killer workout! I loved it!

It is funny that as you get older, your priorities really change, and you don’t need gifts to in order to celebrate.  Give me an hour to myself to go running, and I will be happy as a clam.

I think I need to have a birthday more :)

If you gave yourself something for your birthday, what would it be?