Remember how I said I was taking a break from high impact exercise to rest my foot more? Well the good news is that I got plenty of rest (yay!) but unfortunately it was mainly because I was sick (boo!) with a bad cold.  Not a fun way to end the weekend and start the work week! At least I got over a weeks worth of rest and my foot feels better.

Bland Dinner

Before my cold came about, Andy and I decided to go out to dinner on Saturday night. Usually I’m all for hibernating in the winter, but a night out sounded good to us.

We braved the cold and snowy weather, which was pretty bad:

Because it is Cleveland after all, it was no surprise that downtown Willoughby, Ohio was pretty crowded for it being a white out!

We decided to go to a place called Nicklebys.  Neither of us had been there so we figured we’d give it a shot. The atmosphere was really great – it’s a cute bistro with really modern decor.  Unfortunately the food didn’t match.  It was pretty bad. 

I ordered a chicken wrap and according to the description was supposed to be full of flavor, especially from the red pepper mayo and pepper jack cheese.  But the wrap was cold and bland.  I didn’t even eat half of it.  Andy ordered a half grilled cheese sandwich with a crock of creamy tomato bisque. The soup literally looked like they just opened a can of Campbell’s condensed tomato soup.  We should have sent our items back but neither of us are complainers. Though now that I think about it, they could probably use the feedback!

Though are meals were tasteless and seemed to be thrown together from a can, the spicy buffalo chicken dip that we got for an appetizer was pretty tasty and that became our main meal.  Luckily there was a lot of it! I was pretty full from all the chips and dip..and maybe the two cosmos I had with dinner.

Do you complain at restaurants? I honestly don’t have the guts unless something is not cooked right. I’m definitely a restaurant wuss!

For the sake of Nickleby’s (I keep wanting to type Nickleback – and I don’t even like that band!) I hope that they improve their cooking. It’s certainly a cute restaurant and Downtown Willoughby is a great place to go out.

I woke up the next morning from our night out feeling terrible – sore throat, stuffy nose, congested.  Just gross. I stayed on the couch all day and luckily had Monday off for the holiday.  I still felt terrible on Tuesday and Wednesday and took additional sick days off to further recover.  I hate being sick, but I did enjoy watching all the fun talk shows on during the day!

I finally felt somewhat human on Thursday and got back into the swing of things.  Hopefully it’s the last cold I will get this season.  I’ve been washing my hands like a mad woman and making plenty of fresh juice every day in the Vitamix:

This was today’s juice:

• Frozen broccoli (about a cup)
• Couple handfuls of fresh baby spinach
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 large carrot
• Frozen fruit mix: peaches, cherries, strawberries and grapes (about a cup)
• 1 scoop Amazing Grass Chocolate Superfood mix

Blend together for roughly 60 seconds:

Makes one very hefty glass of juice!

It’s actually a lot tastier than it looks.  I don’t like very sweet drinks so the addition of the frozen fruit and the superfood mix give it just the right amount of sweetness in my opinion.  Ever since I gave up artificial sweeteners a while back (and I do my best to avoid them in food products) I just don’t crave overly sweet things so I don’t need to add anything else.  I love the natural taste of all the veggies and fruits.

The Vitamix has been amazing to have. I know this was a gift from my parents, but if I didn’t get it as a gift I would definitely invest in one. I highly recommend it or something like it. It blends things up so perfectly. I used to try and blend up spinach and other greens in my cheap blender and it left really big chunks and I literally had to force it down.

I actually enjoy these drinks each morning and it’s honestly the only way I can get a lot of my fruits and veggies in each day. I am not a salad eater (unless it’s a Cesar salad smothered in dressing) and raw veggies make me extremely gassy and uncomfortable (especially broccoli – look out!). However, drinking raw veggies in a smoothie does not bother my stomach, probably due to the fact that my body does not have to break down as much as it’s already in liquid form. The Vitamix has been a wonderful addition to our kitchen and if you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy salads and eating their vegetables I recommend drinking them!

Foot Update

Since I was sick and planned to take some time off anyway from high impact activity, my foot pain has improved. After over a week off, I got back into the swing of things late this week. Thursday I taught a Total Body Toning class and did some of it with the participants and my foot felt OK with that. Today I did a Hot Yoga class and I felt great – my body was so tight from taking so much time off (and just sitting on the couch) and it felt amazing to stretch out.  My foot felt fine too! I also taught Turbo Kick at work today, but modified a lot of the movements for myself (my foot did OK with this too). Luckily my students know most of the moves and can catch on to the choreography just from my cues.

The key for me has been resting to calm the inflammation, then easing back into exercise slowly. Stretching and strengthening seems to crucial. I stretch and strengthen my entire body though (especially my hips, legs, and ankles), not just my feet. From past experience with other injuries (like IT band pain), I know that the source of the pain is usually not that exact area. It’s usually stemming from something else, like tightness or weakness in another muscle. So I’m just taking it one day at a time and doing what I can!

This weekend I’m sticking to Yoga and/or Pilates for my workout.  If anyone is in the Cleveland area, especially on the East Side, there are FREE classes at Harmony Studios in Willoughby on Saturday.  I’ve been there for quite a few classes and they’ve all been exceptional. I love how most of their classes are an hour and fifteen minutes – I think that’s the perfect amount of time for Yoga.

I’m off to prepare for Pizza Friday (and by prepare I mean dial my cell phone and place my order).  Andy and I are laying low tonight but we do have plans for a night out tomorrow with friends.

Have a great weekend!