Adventures of the Overly Active

Julia is staying with me for the long weekend, and we had great plans for the great weather. After Thanksgiving with her family yesterday (where we both ate waaay to much), we were going to start with a trip to Pipeworks today. Tomorrow (maybe Sunday) we'd head to Auburn Cliffs, where Julia and one of our friends would climb, and I'd be the designated photographer and snack lady. I've been itching to climb in Auburn since it opened about a month ago, but outside climbing is a little too dangerous for my current condition.

Well, as luck would have it, Julia called me from a morning errand this morning. I thought she would be telling me to meet her at the gym for some climbing before we headed to Mari's parent's house for Thanksgiving #2. Nope, not today. She was stuck in her car, unable to move, not sure what was wrong.

Photo credit: wikipedia.org

I picked her up,  and we headed to the doctor in Elk Grove. One diagnosis of a pulled lat later, and our weekend plans were dashed. She's out for at least a week. In all honesty, I probably could do a better job of taking it easy and not climbing until I see the doctor next. But I did want to climb a bit at the gym (of course), and going to Auburn just to hang out sounded fantastic. Oh well.

We were such a sight at the hospital. I pulled up to the passenger unloaded, hobbled from the car, and helped Julia get out by lifting under her arms. Walking into the hospital, we both were slow and labored in our walking, but with very different gaits. We kept laughing at ourselves. It is so not funny, its funny.

People keep saying to me that the broken leg is a sign that I should take it easy. I don't buy that. Julia doesn't either. We work hard, we push ourselves, and sometimes we have setbacks. But we don't let that stop us.

Thanksgiving baking time!

While many of my friends were Running to Feed the Hungry this morning, I was baking cranberry bread. No, this isn't my usual, whole wheat banana cranberry bread (with low sugar and fat). This is the real 1:2 sugar to flour ratio classic. It is going to be delicious. Yesterday, I baked a pumpkin pie to take to Thanksgiving at Julia's house. Crust from scratch, all butter! It looked so flaky and delicious when it came out of the oven.

 It is probably a good thing that I've been feeling a little chubby for the past few days. I got a good workout in and climbed on Tuesday, but still woke up feeling blah on Wednesday. Hopefully that feeling will help me reign my eating in at Thanksgiving #1 today, and Thanksgiving #2 tomorrow.

It is a beautiful day out, and I wish I could go for a run. Or go to nature and just walk around. Another week and a half, and I'll be closer to doing those things again. I'm sure I won't be super stable or have much endurance when I start out, but it will be so much better than being couch-bound most of the time.

All Roads Lead to Rome

The Spirit of the Marathon II, set at this year's Rome Marathon, is in production. I'd be excited to see the film anyway, but I'm extra excited since I ran the race they filmed! Sneak preview below...

Food Stamp Challenge: Aftermath

If you haven't noticed, I didn't post anything on the seventh day of the 7 Day Food Stamp Challenge. As I had been noting for several days leading up to the final day of the Challenge, I was hungry, beat, and crabby. I wasn't feeling up for anything.

The bottom line: I bagged the Challenge after completing six days. I wouldn't say I successfully completed those six days, because I felt awful by around the third day, which continued up until I gorged myself on the day I quit the Challenge. When I got home on Wednesday, I didn't even want to think of how I would pack a lunch for my all-day meeting that would fit within the Challenge. Plus, they would be serving food. It would be a long day. I had done enough.

What did I learn? Well, I probably spend more on food and don't think about how much of it I eat, at least from a financial standpoint. Sure, I don't buy super-expensive stuff by most standards, but I snack when I want and buy quality food. I wouldn't be able to do that on a food stamp budget. I would probably eat more rice and beans, and less Greek yogurt. I would still eat oatmeal, but I would likely omit the walnuts and raisins for cost reasons.

I'm hoping that this little experiment didn't set me back. I worry that the old saying that starving yourself just makes the body hoard calories once normal eating resumes. In any case, I've been eating a but less than normal since ending the challenge.

All in all, it was an interesting six days. I'm happy to be back to eating again.

Food Stamp Challenge Day 6

On Day 6 of the Challenge, I ate the following, which wasn't nearly enough:

Breakfast

Surprise! I had oatmeal with raisins and walnuts, and coffee as usual. I added a small glass of almond milk because I was pretty hungry when I woke up. It didn't help too much. $1.04.

Lunch

I had a spinach salad with garbanzo beans, carrots, tomatoes, and cheese on the side. Spinach was pricey, so this came in at roughly $2.08.

Snack

I goofed, and didn't bring my Clif bar with me to my afternoon series of meetings. Lucky for me, they had snacks so I didn't starve. I had a small plate of bread, cheese, and grapes. I'm going to estimate this at around the same cost as much cheese, crackers and lunchmeat lunch, since it roughly resembled it in size. $1.87. 

Dinner

For dinner, I made a nice big panful of fried rice with tofu zuchinni and peas. This will be dinner tomorrow as well. All this for $0.79 per serving!

How did I do?

Today has been rough. I continue to be hungry and irritated, and I don't know if I can make it another day. I'm sure if I didn't know this would end after tomorrow, I'd buck up and come up with a workable solution to my hunger pangs (switch up food), but having the end in sight I'm not planning to change. I did modify my post-leg-break diet to include a heaping serving of brown rice tonight, though, due to hunger. I've been staying away from too many carbs since I'm not as active, and have been getting much of my carb intake from vegetables. I was just too hungry today.

On the Challenge side of things, I came in over budget by $0.88 today due to the estimated cost of my snack and lunch. I have $5.13 left of my $34.30 for the final day of the Challenge.

Another Brick in the Wall

Amidst the Food Stamp Challenge and my resulting lightheadedness, I've neglected to keep up with the true purpose of this blog, or posting about fitness. I actually took a big step yesterday, and climbed for the first time since breaking my leg!!!

Photo credit http://bit.ly/XDFntS

I talked with a few folks at the gym, and found out it isn't uncommon or frowned upon for the less-abled to climb, with protective apparatus attached (i.e. my leg brace). I texted Katie, my climbing colleague, and we met at Pipeworks on the Veterans Day holiday for some climbing.

It turns out that Katie didn't like the idea of me belaying her, since if I caught a fall I might tweak my leg. She was thoughtful and supportive, though, and belayed me for quite a while after doing her cardio workout.

I started with a short 5.5, to see how I would do. I was immediately surprised by the different feel of climbing with one fully extended, non-useful leg. I used my arms a lot more. After another 5.5, I seemed to get the hang of it. I moved on to two 5.7s, then a 5.8 on the slab wall, and finished with a 5.9.

I definitely had an interesting technique. I used my arms to pull more than normal, and would pretty much hop from foot hold to foot hold on my right leg. Sometimes, I would match with my left leg and just put enough weight on it to allow me to get to a higher right foot hold, but often I'd hop. I employed the leanback a lot, and today am really feeling it in my core.

I'm super excited that I climbed, and even more excited to go back and do more routes soon. I don't think I'll go much above 5.10a or so for now, but that should be challenging enough. I was at Pipeworks today, and stuck to my weight and core routine, which is improving as well. I'm getting better at the assisted pull-ups every time I go it!

Food Stamp Challenge Day 5

Four days down and three to go! Here is what I ate on Day 5, Tuesday, November 13:

Breakfast

Same old oatmeal with raisins and walnuts, with coffee. $0.94. I thought I'd take a new picture today.

Lunch

For lunch, I had leftover pesto pasta with edamame and peas. I also had a cup of tea (not pictured), bringing the total to $0.86.

Snack

For a snack, I had the last of my pricey non-fat Greet yogurt with an apple and a little honey. $1.85.

Dinner

For dinner, I had Huevos Rancheros with salsa, and a piece of sprouted wheat toast with pomegranate jelly. $0.81.

Snack

Since I had a bit of extra money today, and I went to the gym, I'm having a snack. This is the first time I'm eating after 6PM, aside from my dinner last night when I was soooo hungry that I had to leave a meeting to get home and eat. My cheese and crackers cost $0.73, leaving $0.17 cents for the day.

How did I do?

I noticed today, more than other days, that I was hungry. And irritable. Some people call it "hangry," for hungry+angry. Whatever it was, it was no fun. I'll be glad when this challenge is over, but I think I am benefitting from the challenge. For example, I may be irritated, but I've lost the 3 or so pounds I gained after breaking my leg and not working out for a week (and only doing a few short workouts a week since). Score for that!