Thoughts for the week

Started Ripped 1000 with Jari Love [again] this week and also some intervals on the treadmill. AND, took my first run outside since my injury. In fact, this is the first week in a month that I've exercised with any constancy. That stinkin' ankle injury sure did a number on me! But man it sure feels good to be back to normal. I feel human again. I feel like myself. I'm still sore, still a tad swollen, some limited mobility and I definitely favor my hurt ankle but at least I'm working on my fitness again. Plus, I've been trying to eat super clean on the week days but a little more relaxed the weekends. The weather has been beautiful so I've been able to get in some glorious evening walks as well. Life is good!

Not sure what my new goal will be. I have to think about it a little bit. I obviously won't be making my goal by June 1st. Ha! Oh well. For now, I'm happy with just saying I'll so Ripped 1000 3 times per week over the summer and once fall arrives, I can start heavy training again. I'll see if I can't lean out over the next 3 months, then try to build some muscle over the long winter months. That's quite a long term goal, but it's good to have short and long term goals anyway.

Besides my ankle, I've been putting up with a knee that likes to act up. I'm going to talk to my doctor about it next time I go in and see what he recommends. I've heard there are injections you can get for joint lubricant. Maybe that is all I'll need. Wow, getting older sure is a trip, isn't it?! LOL!

p.s. Have you ever heard of Nut-Thins? They are delicious, gluten free crackers made from nuts and rice flour (other ingredients too). Smokehouse is my favorite at the moment but they come in many other flavors. I am absolutely ADDICTED to them! I can't buy them unless it's a weekend when I plan a cheat meal, cuz if I have them in the house I'll eat the whole box. That's how good they are! Check them out! Nut-Thins

How to prevent muscle soreness

Here's what I do:

1. Take a good multi-vitamin everyday
2. Drink LOTS of water
3. Have a good stretch post workout
4. Get moving! - Even though you are stiff and sore, go for a walk or a jog, it helps.

To be honest, I like to feel a little sore a day or two after a good workout, reminds me that I did something good!

Get your veggies in!

Great smoothie recipe:

1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
handful frozen strawberries
frozen spinach
almond milk (enough to get your desired consistency)

YUM!

You may think **WHAT?** with the spinach in there. But you don't even really taste it. The strawberries and the almond milk make the drink sweet and delicious.

Get a serving of fruit, a serving of vegetables, and a serving a protein and some good fat too. It's perfect!

Tip of the day

Nutrition labels may list trans fat as zero but there may still be trans fat in the product! If you read the list of ingredients and see the words "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" oil, that is TRANS FAT! It may just be that the amount of the trans fat is less than 0.5g per serving of product so it is considered trans fat free. But if you eat more than a suggested serving, it adds up. And any amount is terrible for you!

To read further on the subject go here. It's important to keep yourself informed. There is a lot of misleading packaging out there because big companies don't care about your health, they care about money.

Healing

Since my ankle injury I haven't had much to post in regards to my fitness and diet log. Speaking of the injury, I am walking again, heel to toe (instead of just on my toes like I had been for quite a while) so that's great news. It is still painful though and there is limited mobility. For instance, it's hard to point my toes which makes wearing certain footwear hard to impossible. It's been raining like the dickens here for the last, oh, I don't know, 5 million days, and I have a new pup that I'm trying to potty train and I would like to wear my rain boots. But, my ankle says no. Going up and down stairs is a bit weird and it's still very sensitive to the touch. But I am able to balance on one leg, all weight on my bad foot, so there has been significant improvement. I am SO ready to be 100% healed so I can just get on with my normal activities. I don't want to aggravate it or injure it again so I am being extremely careful and babying it. I have almost completely given up exercise since it happened, even though I am able to do strength training. I hate my "all or nothing" personality. But, I have to admit, I am really just trying to let myself enjoy the break and heal.

Anyway, until I'm back full steam, I thought I would do something with the blog daily so it doesn't feel like I'm neglecting it. Not that I think I have any faithful readers I am disappointing (although that would be cool), just that it was mainly supposed to be a way for me to document my progress ups and downs, and keep myself accountable. Well, I notice that while I haven't been posting, I haven't been really active either. It helps me. It's sort of like therapy. Although I don't know what therapy is like. I can assume this is a form of it.

For now, I'm going to post a great tip that I have learned along the way about either nutrition or exercise or maybe a recipe that I personally love. That way, I'm still an active part of my healthful diary until I'm 'active' again. :)

Take care all!

sounds interesting

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