Lunch: Shrimp sautéed in olive oil with Thai chilies with cilantro in lettuce wraps.
Dinner: Grilled sirloin and asparagus.
Dessert: Espresso
Monday, August 5, 2013
Keto Day 1
Lunch: Shrimp sautéed in olive oil with Thai chilies with cilantro in lettuce wraps.
Dinner: Grilled sirloin and asparagus.
Dessert: Espresso
Posted with Blogsy
Oh boy.
Remember in my last post....over a year ago....how I talked about getting back into routine and being down 30 pounds....yeah. I screwed that up big time!
It began with falling off my half marathon training, then starting a new drug that messed with my blood pressure. So I stopped running, because it made sense for two weeks. Then it was just hard to get back into it.
I started a new job....which is right across the street from my favorite running trail. However, I was too anxious and tired to run. I figured I'd settle into work and then start again. As long as my clothes fit I was happy.
Around Halloween that rule went out the window.
Then! Then the best part happened. In November. I started having sciatic nerve pain down my left leg and ignored it for a month. I sat down at my desk two days before Thanksgiving and couldn't get up. I was trapped in my locked office for two hours before I could call a friend for help. I'm no wuss when it comes to pain....but I was screaming by the time I got to the urgent care. Herniated discs. L4/L5 and L5/S1. My back was twisted for a week and I needed muscle relaxers and ibuprofen to do anything.
But the initial pain left....and I was stuck with an even worse sciatic nerve pain going from my hip to my toes. Nothing relieved that except lying down. And you can bet that's what I did as often as possible. I gained a limp, bursitis in my right hip, loss of muscle in my left leg and a huge loss of movement. At one point I had foot drop and standing for more than 2 minutes made me sweat from the pain.
Here I am almost 9 months later and only finally starting to feel better. I'm anti-surgery, anti-steroid injections so I went with the "hope it heals in a year" strategy. Still hard for me to stand for long periods of time. I did do the Five Boro Bike Tour in May, which surprisingly didn't aggravate anything. Laying around depressed for 9 months really does a number on you. Needless to say, I gained 30lbs and a bit more back from just eating garbage and drinking wine and beer.
Today I'm starting a ketogenic diet...1. To drop some weight and alleviate the back issue ASAP. 2. It's supposedly a good diet for the insulin resistance too. 3. I'm bored and up for a challenge. I will tell you, I do plan on having a cheat day. I know it's a big don't for the hardcore keto people, but I've always managed to lose weight with all my cheats as long as I worked out. Which brings me to....now what?
Walking. So boring. So excruciatingly boring. I bought a treadmill so I have no excuse not to walk. Walking makes me want to cry. 3 miles an HOUR? Ugh I used to run that in half the time!! My workouts were so short and fun and now they're long and boring. My goal is to get back into running, do a 5K in the new year. Definitely going to take things slower this time around.
Well, let's do this!!
It began with falling off my half marathon training, then starting a new drug that messed with my blood pressure. So I stopped running, because it made sense for two weeks. Then it was just hard to get back into it.
I started a new job....which is right across the street from my favorite running trail. However, I was too anxious and tired to run. I figured I'd settle into work and then start again. As long as my clothes fit I was happy.
Around Halloween that rule went out the window.
Then! Then the best part happened. In November. I started having sciatic nerve pain down my left leg and ignored it for a month. I sat down at my desk two days before Thanksgiving and couldn't get up. I was trapped in my locked office for two hours before I could call a friend for help. I'm no wuss when it comes to pain....but I was screaming by the time I got to the urgent care. Herniated discs. L4/L5 and L5/S1. My back was twisted for a week and I needed muscle relaxers and ibuprofen to do anything.
But the initial pain left....and I was stuck with an even worse sciatic nerve pain going from my hip to my toes. Nothing relieved that except lying down. And you can bet that's what I did as often as possible. I gained a limp, bursitis in my right hip, loss of muscle in my left leg and a huge loss of movement. At one point I had foot drop and standing for more than 2 minutes made me sweat from the pain.
Here I am almost 9 months later and only finally starting to feel better. I'm anti-surgery, anti-steroid injections so I went with the "hope it heals in a year" strategy. Still hard for me to stand for long periods of time. I did do the Five Boro Bike Tour in May, which surprisingly didn't aggravate anything. Laying around depressed for 9 months really does a number on you. Needless to say, I gained 30lbs and a bit more back from just eating garbage and drinking wine and beer.
Today I'm starting a ketogenic diet...1. To drop some weight and alleviate the back issue ASAP. 2. It's supposedly a good diet for the insulin resistance too. 3. I'm bored and up for a challenge. I will tell you, I do plan on having a cheat day. I know it's a big don't for the hardcore keto people, but I've always managed to lose weight with all my cheats as long as I worked out. Which brings me to....now what?
Walking. So boring. So excruciatingly boring. I bought a treadmill so I have no excuse not to walk. Walking makes me want to cry. 3 miles an HOUR? Ugh I used to run that in half the time!! My workouts were so short and fun and now they're long and boring. My goal is to get back into running, do a 5K in the new year. Definitely going to take things slower this time around.
Well, let's do this!!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Oh. Hi!!
I'm not even going to apologize, I've warned you about my sucky bloggerness.
Well, if anyone follows this, dailymile, twitter, or any other stalker tools I post on...you can see...my training has blew. Really hard.
I mean, who goes to CALIFORNIA for the beer and wine for two weeks and expects to keep to a half marathon training plan?
Pfft.
I ran like 2-4 miles over the Golden Gate and decided that was enough for the vacation.
So bad.
But you know what? Who cares. Fact is, I've come back, I'm running consistently again. Did I totally mess up my head game? Yup. But I'm moving. I'm down 30...THIRTY pounds. My stamina is pretty wack. It'll come back. Will it be back by the half marathon I'm running next month? Sure hope so. If not, I'll deal with it then.
And, what else? I GOT A NEW JOB. Do. You. Even. Know!
This is life changing, seriously.
AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE? I ran a pretty awful 5K last week, with tons of hills and sick humidity....AND GOT ANOTHER MEDAL.
I mean, come on, despite my slackerness...July was awesome.
Anyway, since this is more a welcome back type post...I'll post some pictures of the past month!
Well, if anyone follows this, dailymile, twitter, or any other stalker tools I post on...you can see...my training has blew. Really hard.
I mean, who goes to CALIFORNIA for the beer and wine for two weeks and expects to keep to a half marathon training plan?
Pfft.
I ran like 2-4 miles over the Golden Gate and decided that was enough for the vacation.
So bad.
But you know what? Who cares. Fact is, I've come back, I'm running consistently again. Did I totally mess up my head game? Yup. But I'm moving. I'm down 30...THIRTY pounds. My stamina is pretty wack. It'll come back. Will it be back by the half marathon I'm running next month? Sure hope so. If not, I'll deal with it then.
And, what else? I GOT A NEW JOB. Do. You. Even. Know!
This is life changing, seriously.
AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE? I ran a pretty awful 5K last week, with tons of hills and sick humidity....AND GOT ANOTHER MEDAL.
I mean, come on, despite my slackerness...July was awesome.
Anyway, since this is more a welcome back type post...I'll post some pictures of the past month!
 |
| LOVE YOU. |
 |
| "Do you want a Kia Spectra...or...the Mustang?" |
 |
| Guess what we chose! |
 |
| Russian River Brewery...I LOVE YOU TOO. SO MUCH. |
 |
| Pacific Coast Highway...in a convertible...I'm still alive! Beautiful. |
 |
| One hotel gave us a pet fish. Hi, Duke! Hope you're still with us! |
 |
| We're so cool, with our cool glasses. |
 |
| YUM. Worth it. |
 |
| Pismo Beach |
 |
| Only in LA. Well, probably in NY first then LA. |
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| 9 PM after a 7 PM race...still red, still sweaty. That's me! |
 |
| MEDAL! |
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| TWO. TWO MEDALS. Ah Ah Ah! |
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Schooooooool's Out for Summer!
So I think it's as good a time as ever to start getting back into a running groove. Tomorrow. It's just too damn hot.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Oh, that's nice.
It's been a totally lame week for me and running. I have so much to do in these last days of work before vacation, then squeeze in birthdays, engagements, dinners, interviews and then throwing running in the mix is stressing me out. Because I'm forcing it.
Running sucks when I'm in this overwhelmed threshold. For example, once again, I set out for a long run yesterday on my usual trail. I knew things were heading south as soon as I stepped out of the car and it was sooooo not 73 degrees...more like 85. I set out with a slow pace, around 11:00, for the first mile and a half. There are two college aged girls walking on the narrow part of the path side by side. Wearing all kinds of running gear. Walking slowly. They turn to look behind them as they hear me approach, and continue to walk side by side.
Uh, it's hot, I'm tired, I've got 4 million things on my mind and now I'm annoyed. I sound like a douche, but really, this is supposed to be my stress relief!
I run around them and shake my head. Now that I'm annoyed, I'm running about 10:00 m/m. About 2 minutes later, still on the narrow path, they start to run alongside me. Just. Right. Next. To. Me. Almost touching. Now, they're not going that fast, obviously, as we are running together now. Yet the one in the compression socks, camelbak, etc decides to just hop right in front of me and slow down to a light trot. I almost fell on top of her. I yell "excuse me!" as I balance on the curb to avoid ending up in the street to get around this crazy. Now I'm doing about 9:30 m/m...which is too fast for me. And it takes all my energy to focus on not turning around and giving them a Bronx welcome with a choice finger. I run up the crazy steep hill at the 2 mile mark and I hit a serious wall. I waited for my husband to catch up and we take a walk break. We did another mile back and I quit. As we walked to the car, there's a sign set up for some low key, unmarked ultra marathon that's going on. And it all makes sense, all these rude randoms on my route...out of towners. Watched a pack of five more nearly get hit by cars running against the light. Tried the whole smile and wave at more of these people only to get strange looks. Really happy for you guys. You can run 100 miles, oblivious to your surroundings, while being jerks...awesome.
And then we packed the car, went to Philly, saw Jim Gaffigan in Atlantic City and it was awesome. Goodnight :)
*positive posts to resume shortly.
Running sucks when I'm in this overwhelmed threshold. For example, once again, I set out for a long run yesterday on my usual trail. I knew things were heading south as soon as I stepped out of the car and it was sooooo not 73 degrees...more like 85. I set out with a slow pace, around 11:00, for the first mile and a half. There are two college aged girls walking on the narrow part of the path side by side. Wearing all kinds of running gear. Walking slowly. They turn to look behind them as they hear me approach, and continue to walk side by side.
Uh, it's hot, I'm tired, I've got 4 million things on my mind and now I'm annoyed. I sound like a douche, but really, this is supposed to be my stress relief!
I run around them and shake my head. Now that I'm annoyed, I'm running about 10:00 m/m. About 2 minutes later, still on the narrow path, they start to run alongside me. Just. Right. Next. To. Me. Almost touching. Now, they're not going that fast, obviously, as we are running together now. Yet the one in the compression socks, camelbak, etc decides to just hop right in front of me and slow down to a light trot. I almost fell on top of her. I yell "excuse me!" as I balance on the curb to avoid ending up in the street to get around this crazy. Now I'm doing about 9:30 m/m...which is too fast for me. And it takes all my energy to focus on not turning around and giving them a Bronx welcome with a choice finger. I run up the crazy steep hill at the 2 mile mark and I hit a serious wall. I waited for my husband to catch up and we take a walk break. We did another mile back and I quit. As we walked to the car, there's a sign set up for some low key, unmarked ultra marathon that's going on. And it all makes sense, all these rude randoms on my route...out of towners. Watched a pack of five more nearly get hit by cars running against the light. Tried the whole smile and wave at more of these people only to get strange looks. Really happy for you guys. You can run 100 miles, oblivious to your surroundings, while being jerks...awesome.
And then we packed the car, went to Philly, saw Jim Gaffigan in Atlantic City and it was awesome. Goodnight :)
*positive posts to resume shortly.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Phew.
Hey New York!!
Guess what?
It's HOT outside!
Like, really, really, really, really, really, really, HOT!
HAZY, HOT AND HUMID!
Are you sick of the news reports about it being hot? And it's summer?
IT'S HOT IN THE SUMMER OH NOES!
Okay. I'm delirious. I didn't even give a thought towards running outdoors today. In fact, I barely did all week. The Jackie Warner workout I did on Sunday beat me with a baseball bat. I literally could barely move until today.
So I had this whole plan to go work my ass off on the dreadmill...but I get scheduled for a phone interview at 5. WHAT TO DO!? I don't get cell service inside my house (Thanks, AT&T) so I decide to workout until 4:50, run to my car, blast the AC to try and dry myself off a little, and get me through that first interview. Check my email, got another one lined up.
UNIVERSE: YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO FOR ME. THANKS IN ADVANCE.
I got two miles in, not bad considering I was barely able to stand up straight yesterday. I'll have to try it again tomorrow.
It's kinda weird that I wait all year for summer vacation, like the 5 year old that I am, and it's almost all booked up already! Friends, if you're reading, I have limited days left...book now! :) Last night I finally booked the rest of the hotels for California. That tyrant of a husband made me sit there and do it because I'm such a slacker. But then he got me an ice cream sandwich (skinny cow ftw!) and I'm in love again.
I'm kinda ultra excited about our California trip. Other than Napa, Sonoma, Russian River Brewing Co., Stone Brewing, beaches, kayaking in sea coves, Alcatraz, shopping, The Grove, Sea World, etc... It's also become the quirky hotel tour because quirky hotels have good (for CA) prices. Check out the Yelps....
Hotel Rex, San Francisco Jazz themed, free wine hour with local wines.
Kon Tiki Inn, Pismo Beach All rooms face the ocean and have a patio!
The Pearl Hotel, San Diego Outdoor movies by the pool, bar with local brews.
Farmer's Daughter Hotel, Los Angeles Good restaurant, across from The Grove and Farmers Market.
I really want to squeeze a race in while out there, but somebody doesn't want to! Boooooo!
Only problem I have is the flying part. I have meltdowns. Quiet, sobbing, meltdowns before I board planes and waiting to take off. I am a BALL of fun.
But once the money is out of the bank, there's no going back.
Guess what?
It's HOT outside!
Like, really, really, really, really, really, really, HOT!
HAZY, HOT AND HUMID!
Are you sick of the news reports about it being hot? And it's summer?
IT'S HOT IN THE SUMMER OH NOES!
Okay. I'm delirious. I didn't even give a thought towards running outdoors today. In fact, I barely did all week. The Jackie Warner workout I did on Sunday beat me with a baseball bat. I literally could barely move until today.
So I had this whole plan to go work my ass off on the dreadmill...but I get scheduled for a phone interview at 5. WHAT TO DO!? I don't get cell service inside my house (Thanks, AT&T) so I decide to workout until 4:50, run to my car, blast the AC to try and dry myself off a little, and get me through that first interview. Check my email, got another one lined up.
UNIVERSE: YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO FOR ME. THANKS IN ADVANCE.
I got two miles in, not bad considering I was barely able to stand up straight yesterday. I'll have to try it again tomorrow.
It's kinda weird that I wait all year for summer vacation, like the 5 year old that I am, and it's almost all booked up already! Friends, if you're reading, I have limited days left...book now! :) Last night I finally booked the rest of the hotels for California. That tyrant of a husband made me sit there and do it because I'm such a slacker. But then he got me an ice cream sandwich (skinny cow ftw!) and I'm in love again.
I'm kinda ultra excited about our California trip. Other than Napa, Sonoma, Russian River Brewing Co., Stone Brewing, beaches, kayaking in sea coves, Alcatraz, shopping, The Grove, Sea World, etc... It's also become the quirky hotel tour because quirky hotels have good (for CA) prices. Check out the Yelps....
Hotel Rex, San Francisco Jazz themed, free wine hour with local wines.
Kon Tiki Inn, Pismo Beach All rooms face the ocean and have a patio!
The Pearl Hotel, San Diego Outdoor movies by the pool, bar with local brews.
Farmer's Daughter Hotel, Los Angeles Good restaurant, across from The Grove and Farmers Market.
I really want to squeeze a race in while out there, but somebody doesn't want to! Boooooo!
Only problem I have is the flying part. I have meltdowns. Quiet, sobbing, meltdowns before I board planes and waiting to take off. I am a BALL of fun.
But once the money is out of the bank, there's no going back.
Monday, June 18, 2012
A Real-ish Post...?
The suspense was terrible, right? I mean, did Cat run another whopping "three easy miles" or a walk/run five? What did she eat? Did she behave this weekend?
All that and more in this issue, folks.
So, I ran the fastest three miles yet on Thursday, despite really not wanting to go, and starting out at about 6:00PM. 30:20 seconds!! That is SO close to me being under 30 minutes. If you recall, way back in March when I ran my first 5K, I did it in almost 40 minutes. Something is working! It's incredible. I'm hoping when I run the 5K next month I can do it under 30.
I've decided that since my friend gave me her Jack Rabbit Sports gift card that she received at the Bronx Zoo run, that I'm going to use it to get another pair of Brooks PureConnects in a bigger size. My big toenail is bruising lately, and I think the extra room will hopefully keep me from having zombie toes.
Exciting stuff! I know!
Didn't run Friday, and had a Belgian inspired feast, yet again!
Got up on Saturday and decided to change things up. Drove up the Bronx River Parkway, parked and ran from the County Center to the Kensico Dam. The first three miles were good, got me right to the front of the dam. More hills than my usual run, but I should be doing that anyway. Totally should've brought my camera, it was gorgeous out!
This is where we decided to take a break and go up the crazy steep stairs to the top of the dam. Let me tell you something, running? Doesn't scare me. Stairs? HORRIBLE. I suck at stairs. Yet I walk up 72 stairs to my office every day. And it NEVER gets easier. These were even worse! My husband was able to just walk up them like nothing. I think I crawled.
I don't know what I was expecting at the top...but this is what we got:
After getting back down the stairs, in the sweltering heat (65 degrees my arse) we started the three miles back.
And I got one and a half miles in and quit. Pretty lame. But my mouth and throat were so dry that I couldn't function. Why wouldn't the dam have water fountains!! Salty shellfish night before a long run? Bad idea. Noted. Nathan belt purchased. It was still a great workout though! I really have to get it together for this half marathon training. Thankfully it doesn't truly start until next week, but my long runs have to really start becoming long runs.
Went to TJ's (of course) and they had fresh seafood!! JUST what I needed!
The rest of the day was a blur. I think I drank four gallons of water and slept. Then woke up and used Friday night's clams to make a healthy linguine and clam sauce with soba noodles. It was glorious. I haven't had any type of pasta in a LONG time.
Then Sunday came!! YAY! I knew I was meeting my pal of all pals to shop and drink beer, so I figured I should workout. Originally, I was going to run a couple of miles just to add in another running day in my training schedule. But instead, I chose Jackie.
The last time I did this workout, it was probably right before the wedding. I was lifting weights and kickboxing in my house like a champ. I did the whole DVD while using 10 lb. weights in each hand.
Nothing slaps your ass back down to earth than not being able to do the whole workout, and not even using weights most of the time. And then waking up today immobile from being so sore.
Ended up going to Yard House, which is my favorite chain restaurant EVER. We ended up overstaying our welcome by like three hours and the waitress wanted to kill us, but you know what? I don't care. Someone didn't mention the special for the day wasn't part of the lunch special for the day and I paid $30 for THIS...
OH WELL. I got to have some tasty, tasty beers and guacamole!
Finally....I'm ending this post with my latest shenanigans. See if you can figure out what I've done.
All that and more in this issue, folks.
So, I ran the fastest three miles yet on Thursday, despite really not wanting to go, and starting out at about 6:00PM. 30:20 seconds!! That is SO close to me being under 30 minutes. If you recall, way back in March when I ran my first 5K, I did it in almost 40 minutes. Something is working! It's incredible. I'm hoping when I run the 5K next month I can do it under 30.
I've decided that since my friend gave me her Jack Rabbit Sports gift card that she received at the Bronx Zoo run, that I'm going to use it to get another pair of Brooks PureConnects in a bigger size. My big toenail is bruising lately, and I think the extra room will hopefully keep me from having zombie toes.
Exciting stuff! I know!
Didn't run Friday, and had a Belgian inspired feast, yet again!
 |
| Garlic bread, FRIES, Mussels and Clams! |
Got up on Saturday and decided to change things up. Drove up the Bronx River Parkway, parked and ran from the County Center to the Kensico Dam. The first three miles were good, got me right to the front of the dam. More hills than my usual run, but I should be doing that anyway. Totally should've brought my camera, it was gorgeous out!
 |
| Halfway Point! |
 |
| Side of Dam |
This is where we decided to take a break and go up the crazy steep stairs to the top of the dam. Let me tell you something, running? Doesn't scare me. Stairs? HORRIBLE. I suck at stairs. Yet I walk up 72 stairs to my office every day. And it NEVER gets easier. These were even worse! My husband was able to just walk up them like nothing. I think I crawled.
 |
| 3/4 of the way up. Speck is stair champ. |
I don't know what I was expecting at the top...but this is what we got:
 |
| A road. And water. |
And I got one and a half miles in and quit. Pretty lame. But my mouth and throat were so dry that I couldn't function. Why wouldn't the dam have water fountains!! Salty shellfish night before a long run? Bad idea. Noted. Nathan belt purchased. It was still a great workout though! I really have to get it together for this half marathon training. Thankfully it doesn't truly start until next week, but my long runs have to really start becoming long runs.
Went to TJ's (of course) and they had fresh seafood!! JUST what I needed!
 |
| Seared Scallop Salad! |
Then Sunday came!! YAY! I knew I was meeting my pal of all pals to shop and drink beer, so I figured I should workout. Originally, I was going to run a couple of miles just to add in another running day in my training schedule. But instead, I chose Jackie.
 |
| UGH. |
Nothing slaps your ass back down to earth than not being able to do the whole workout, and not even using weights most of the time. And then waking up today immobile from being so sore.
Ended up going to Yard House, which is my favorite chain restaurant EVER. We ended up overstaying our welcome by like three hours and the waitress wanted to kill us, but you know what? I don't care. Someone didn't mention the special for the day wasn't part of the lunch special for the day and I paid $30 for THIS...
 |
| A bok choy, 5 oz of white fish, some brown rice. |
 |
| :) |
 |
| It's begun! |
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