Here Comes the Pain Again

Here in the northeast we've had the wettest, soggiest, most depressing summer ever so far. It seems fitting that my insides have been just as miserable as the outdoors. Last night I had a horrific bout of pain that had me contemplating driving myself to the ER. I was scared and don't know exactly what happened, but it seems my gastritis flared up big time. I made it through the night somehow, and managed to do a quick workout this morning, even though I wasn't 100%. When I got to my desk at work, the pain came in waves throughout the morning and I left work late enough to have it count as a half day.


I'm pretty miserable right now, but it's been nice to rest up and cuddle with my beloved cat Björk. I haven't had much quality time with her with all the training I've been doing. I really don't know how tri-moms do it! I have so much respect for all the moms out there that train, I can hardly take care of myself and my cat let alone myself and tiny humans.

Thanks for the comments on my last entry! I got some great feedback about posting my simple recipes. I hope to do it more often. I have for you today two ridiculously easy ones. One quick and simple meal, and one snack.

Baked Potato with Steamed Broccoli and Carrots. This takes 15 minutes, and for me is my go-to comfort meal. People at work ask me all the time how I bake a potato in a microwave, which always strikes me as odd. My dad's been doing it forever and I never thought twice about it. Stab a potato a few times and wrap it up in a paper towel. Nuke it 4 min on each side. For the broccoli and carrots I use my rice cooker to steam them and it takes 10-12 min. Before I had a rice cooker I'd boil a bit of water, put a colander in the pot, and cover it with a lid. I use about 1Tbsp of Earth Balance margarine to add flavor and moisture to this meal, and sprinkle on salt and pepper, as well as a bit of onion and garlic powder onto the carrots and broccoli. This is one of those warm meals that fills me up without being fattening and leaves me satisfied every time.

Bananas with Almond Butter, Raisins and Agave Nectar. This is a snack I use to satisfy a sweet craving. To me it's like a homemade, healthy candy bar. Cut a banana in half, and then cut the two halves lengthwise. Spreading peanut butter or almond butter on a banana is a pain! I usually have to use my fingers to help spread it out. (By the way, Raw Almond Butter at Trader Joe's is FANTASTIC and cheap, $4 a jar! Thank you Kelly for telling me about this, I'm spreading the word! Haha, I'm so lame!) If you're into raisins, like I am, put a few on top. Over everything I add a drizzle of Agave Nectar. This is also a great post workout snack, I would advise against this as a pre workout snack, as the banana and raisins may upset the stomach when its jostled around.

For the past few weeks I've been using Buckeye Outdoors to really track my nutrition. If I went by the online caloric needs calculators I would need well over 2000 calories a day. It seems this is way too much for me. When I eat around 1800 a day I usually gain weight. So I've been keeping my intake to around 1500 -1800 max. Eating lots of raw fruits and veggies has helped me to reach my goal and feel full/satisfied for longer. Before work (usually the night before) I pack two 2 cup snack containers. One I fill with a fruit salad of pineapple, cherries and blueberries. The other I put in carrot sticks, celery and a little container with hummus. These have been great and I highly recommend putting together fresh veggie/fruit snacks like this for work.

Anyway, back to laying around in bed, watching The Office on Hulu, looking up recipes and snuggling with Ms.Björk.