I Have a Theory
It can be done. I did it. Before I left last Thursday for the Missouri Fiber Retreat, I did a lot of planning. I went at 5:45 a.m. for my workout with my trainer, and then also stayed and got my cardio in because I knew that there would be a lot of sitting over the weekend.
Having "food issues" this year made this trip a bit more challenging. As you know - I gave up bread and deep fried foods for Lent. In addition, I'm allergic to chocolate and I can no longer eat poultry or crab.
What the hell?!
The chocolate's no big deal to me - if it made you feel the way it makes me feel, you wouldn't miss it either. I've gotten good at avoiding poultry - I like to keep breathing, that makes that one pretty simple, as well. Deep-fried food is not really a problem because I mainly did that so that I would be off chips for a couple of months. I don't eat much fried food at all anyway.
But . . . um . . . . I miss bread. And when you're not eating bread, it's much more challenging to eat out. No sandwiches, no rolls, no bagels, no cake, no cookies, no crackers - I counted all those things as bread.
So - I packed oatmeal and almonds and raisins for breakfast every day, and the hotel had bananas for free, so I had a good breakfast. The breakfast at the retreat is great, but I'm not a cereal person, and was off bagels. I had almonds and raisins for a snack every day, and both days I had hummus and carrots that I had brought with me. I also had apples, and Kashi bars (which I love, but which are now 4 points+ so I don't have them very ofen - but they are very good for travel). All in all, I did pretty well. And I did walk on the treadmill in the hotel gym on Friday morning before everything jumped off.
So, the scale did reflect my efforts, and for that, I'm grateful.
And on a completely different topic - I have a theory. My knees and the tops of my shin bones have been hurting me a lot lately, and also my left hip. Advil wasn't helping much, nor the anti-inflammatory I caved to yesterday.
Last night, however, I had a Shamrock Shake from McDonald's. Once a year I like to have one. It's minty and although a milk shake would never be my drink of choice, once a year I like to have one. This morning, nothing hurts.
Seriously - perhaps I need to be drinking milk a little more often. I pulled out the almond milk that's been in the fridge forever and had a glass this morning. Only 2 points+ and it tasted pretty good. I could be wrong I suppose, but don't you find it interesting that I have something with a lot of calcium in it and pretty much immediately my bones stop hurting? I do. Very interesting indeed. I'm going to test it out this week and have a glass of almond milk every day. I'll let you know how that goes.
Having "food issues" this year made this trip a bit more challenging. As you know - I gave up bread and deep fried foods for Lent. In addition, I'm allergic to chocolate and I can no longer eat poultry or crab.
What the hell?!
The chocolate's no big deal to me - if it made you feel the way it makes me feel, you wouldn't miss it either. I've gotten good at avoiding poultry - I like to keep breathing, that makes that one pretty simple, as well. Deep-fried food is not really a problem because I mainly did that so that I would be off chips for a couple of months. I don't eat much fried food at all anyway.
But . . . um . . . . I miss bread. And when you're not eating bread, it's much more challenging to eat out. No sandwiches, no rolls, no bagels, no cake, no cookies, no crackers - I counted all those things as bread.
So - I packed oatmeal and almonds and raisins for breakfast every day, and the hotel had bananas for free, so I had a good breakfast. The breakfast at the retreat is great, but I'm not a cereal person, and was off bagels. I had almonds and raisins for a snack every day, and both days I had hummus and carrots that I had brought with me. I also had apples, and Kashi bars (which I love, but which are now 4 points+ so I don't have them very ofen - but they are very good for travel). All in all, I did pretty well. And I did walk on the treadmill in the hotel gym on Friday morning before everything jumped off.
So, the scale did reflect my efforts, and for that, I'm grateful.
And on a completely different topic - I have a theory. My knees and the tops of my shin bones have been hurting me a lot lately, and also my left hip. Advil wasn't helping much, nor the anti-inflammatory I caved to yesterday.
Last night, however, I had a Shamrock Shake from McDonald's. Once a year I like to have one. It's minty and although a milk shake would never be my drink of choice, once a year I like to have one. This morning, nothing hurts.
Seriously - perhaps I need to be drinking milk a little more often. I pulled out the almond milk that's been in the fridge forever and had a glass this morning. Only 2 points+ and it tasted pretty good. I could be wrong I suppose, but don't you find it interesting that I have something with a lot of calcium in it and pretty much immediately my bones stop hurting? I do. Very interesting indeed. I'm going to test it out this week and have a glass of almond milk every day. I'll let you know how that goes.
Comments
I was thinking that the low amount of processed sugar and flour was helping me.
You know you can get a lot of calcium from greens, too. Collard greens and spinach have a lot of calcium in them. So eat your greens, too!
I find it so interesting how unique we are - for you, it's one thing, for me another, and for a third another still :-)
I like chard - I haven't done any collards yet - is the taste similar to chard?
My report about my PF symptoms was that they seem to be getting better. Is it the fact that I'm eating different lately or is it just time? Who knows. I spent 30 minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym yesterday and while I did have some pain during the exercise when I was moving in one direction, once I reversed directions it went away. I stretched afterwards so that may have helped.
Collard greens are more like cabbage than chard. They have to be cooked longer if you want them tender, but they are delicious. Traditionally they are cooked with smoked/cured meats like ham or bacon, but you don't have to do that. You can just braise them with some broth and add seasonings/herbs to taste. I think they can also be made into a "stew" with ground peanuts, and they can be eaten raw, too, in slaws.