I hope all of you who celebrate Christmas had a really lovely holiday. For those of you who don’t, I still hope your week has been amazing, albeit in a slightly different way. I have been MIA for quite a while because of our holiday traveling to and from North Carolina and recurring (or persistent) sickness. More on the illness in a bit, but let’s start with a quick travel/holiday recap.
Once Joe and I made it to my parents’ house last Wednesday I focused as much as I could on just spending time with family and friends, which put me a little behind on blogging. I did, however, make time for fitness and eating as healthy as possible, while still enjoying the holidays with my family.
First, the food:
To make that as easy as possible, I asked my dad to stop at the grocery store on the way home where I got a spaghetti squash, baby spinach, broccoli slaw, mushrooms, cubed tofu, and meatless chicken nuggets. My mother made pork chops that evening, but I made an Asian-inspired tofu and broccoli slaw stir-fry. I marinated some of the cubed tofu in low-sodium soy sauce, ground ginger, and a little bit of ketchup and honey mustard then stir-fried it in the skillet with the broccoli slaw as my entrée.
I couldn’t resist some of the other things my mother made, so I had a little bit of everything that didn’t include meat.
Talk about a feast! I did avoid the mayo-laden coleslaw that night because I had the broccoli slaw, but I opted in for the homemade buttermilk biscuit, homemade baked beans (mine didn’t include bacon, but everyone else’s did), Kraft mac & cheese, and mashed potatoes. I can’t even believe I used to eat like this (with pork chops instead of tofu stir-fry) on a daily basis!
On Thursday morning I had an Arbonne vanilla protein shake with unsweetened almond milk prior to going for a run. That afternoon Joe and I set out to do some Christmas shopping and stopped by a local barbecue place called Fat Buddies. I got the healthiest vegetarian option I could find, but it still included french fries and buttered Texas toast in addition to the sautéed vegetables and side salad. Still, I made out pretty well.
After running around all day buying Christmas gifts, we met up with my friend Amie and her husband Zach for dinner and a few drinks at the local watering hole – Mulligan’s. The vegetarian options were once again slim, but I made out with a veggie quesadilla, which was actually quite good.
Friday morning included another Arbonne shake and much of the day was spent doing more shopping. This time we were on Main Street and decided on a whim to go to Motor Company Grille for lunch. The restaurant is a 50s style diner and I hadn’t been since high school. Not only was the food great, I was pleasantly surprised to find that our server was the woman who trained me in my first job as a server at a local steakhouse. I had spoken of her the night before while out with Amie and Zach and mentioned that I would love to find out where she was working these days. Funny how things have a way of working out sometimes. For lunch I had their veggie burger and sweet potato fries.
We knew we wouldn’t be having dinner for quite a while because I was hosting an Arbonne wellness workshop that evening, so we decided to split dessert too. It was so worth it.
For the Arbonne workshop I set out some raw vegetables and pita chips with hummus, crackers with Cabot Light Sharp Cheddar. I also splurged and bought the cookies I had been craving so I could put out a little bit of dessert. After the workshop, I had a few for myself with a glass of almond milk.
Saturday morning I didn’t take a single picture of my food. I was up before everyone else in the house and had an Arbonne shake before heading out to a boot camp at the fitness center. When I got home I heated up a frozen spinach and cheese enchilada for lunch. For dinner I made spaghetti squash with hummus, chopped cherry tomatoes, and meatless chicken nuggets. It sounds weird, but it was delicious!
Sunday was the day we were celebrating Christmas with my family and also the last full day we would have in NC so I knew I needed to use my leftovers. I used the spaghetti squash, four egg whites, chili pepper, tofu, light cheddar, salt and pepper to make a breakfast frittata.
Throughout the day I had a few snacks, but saved most of my appetite for the Christmas dinner that evening. I made a broccoli casserole inspired by Caitlin’s with a few little tweaks.
We also had mashed potatoes, coleslaw, green beans, deviled eggs and homemade buttermilk biscuits. For dessert there was homemade black walnut cake.
With all of the heavy, rich, and decadent food I was eating while in North Carolina I made it a priority to get in a few workouts.
The workouts:
Thursday morning I knew I wanted to get in a workout to make up for the food the night before and to stay on track. Those of you who follow me on Instagram have already heard this story, but I wanted to share it with all of you because it really highlights the way I have changed in the past few years. On Thursday morning it was pouring rain as I prepared to go for a run. My father looked at me and asked, “How are you going to run in the rain?” I looked at him and responded, “With my legs!” I went on to explain how during my first ever Ultimate Bootcamp it rained 14 out of the 16 outdoor sessions and I wasn’t going to let a little rain get in my way. He just kind of shook his head and let me get on my way.
After close to two weeks with no running because of being sick, I took it pretty slow and easy. Still, I am very proud of myself for getting out there and doing it.
How many of you can say that you’ve run in the rain past a group of cows that looked at you like you were nuts? I wish it hadn’t been raining so I could have taken my phone/camera and taken a picture of those poor, confused cows. They don’t ever see humans running by, so it must have been a weird experience.
On Friday it was snowing, but I made it out for a run yet again. This time along a different route and a little bit further, but the hills and the cold got the best of me before I could go quite as long as I had hoped.
Saturday I was pumped for a workout with Lindsay! I played softball with her sister Katy and had no idea she was a blogger until I saw her mentioned by other bloggers on Twitter. I was excited to work out with her, but I knew it was going to be tough. Sure enough, the Track Star workout at the fitness center was a boot camp that worked me super hard. I have done several boot camps before, but Lindsay had me doing things that I’ve never done. I was weak from not working out for so long, but I felt amazing after the workout. Lindsay posted this photo on her Instagram of all of us afterward.
After the workout, Lindsay, Katy, and I sat in the sauna for a bit and chatted. Katy had to leave quickly, but Lindsay and I continued to chat about blogging, staying healthy, and what real balance actually looks like. That chat was just what I needed, it did for my spirit what the workout had done for my body.
Even though the workout was full body, the place I felt it most was in my legs. We did curtsy lunges with gliders that were killer as well as a step workout that, despite my lack of coordination, was great! On Sunday morning I was already sore and by Monday morning I could barely move. I love that awesome leg burn!
The sickness:
One reason it has taken me so long to write this post is because looking at photos of food keeps making me sick. On Monday morning before our flight I had a couple of pieces of toast with peanut butter and a cup of hot tea then some almonds on the way to the airport. I was starting to get a little nauseous on the drive to the airport, which is where the almonds came in. I kept hoping they would calm my stomach enough that we could get to the airport and have some food. I had a black bean burger at the airport that was pretty disgusting. Remind me not to try Chili’s again for vegetarian food. Still, I was feeling ok when we got to Joe’s parents’ house for their Christmas Eve party. I had some finger food and a few drinks before champagne and gift opening after midnight then came home and went to bed.
When I woke up on Christmas morning, I had Joe’s cold that he had been battling in North Carolina. I was stuffed up, but nothing major. We opened our gifts to each other and got ready to go to his parents’ house then to his brother’s. I had a sticky bun that his mother made along with a cup of coffee and felt fine. I even managed to smile for a photo in the car on the way to his brother’s house.
Unfortunately the smile didn’t last long. It seemed as though we hit every bump on the road on the way to Joe’s brother’s house and at one point Joe commented that my face matched my jacket. By the time we stopped, I was convinced I was sick from too many drinks the night before, not making the connection to my pre-flight nausea. I was still struggling with a stuffy nose and sneezing, so Joe’s sister-in-law gave me some children’s benadryl to help. Within an hour I was knocked out and slept through Christmas dinner.
When I woke up I was disoriented because I couldn’t tell what time it was. I went downstairs to find the family between dinner and dessert. I had a couple of bites of the food they saved for me and couldn’t continue. A little while later I gave in to my nausea.
Ever since then I’ve struggled to keep any food down. While Joe went back to work on Wednesday, I spent my day alternating between the couch, the bathroom, and the bedroom. He brought home some gatorade after work and I finally managed to keep down a rice cake and some applesauce.
Yesterday for lunch I finally had the rest of my Christmas dinner and, despite getting nauseous, managed to keep it down. After that I slept for over six hours and then last night I had a salad and thought I was in the clear. Then this morning I woke up sick again and made a green smoothie in hopes that amping up my nutrition would get my body back in order. Now I’m sick again and sticking to gatorade for a while.
The cold seems to be moving along, but this stomach thing is rough. I’ll hopefully have more of a regular post for you tomorrow, but for the time being I am just trying to get well. Whether this is still lingering from the last cold I had or something totally different, I have now been sick for almost three weeks, with just a little bit of a break in between. This is obviously not an ideal time to get sick, but it’s better than when we’re in Vegas, right?
Have any of you ever had a cold and stomach virus at the same time? How did you deal?
RIGHT way better than being in Vegas! Despite the fact that you’re sick in that last photo, you really look gorgeous. I’m honored that you made a variation of that casserole, I hope it was great! The dessert you had at lunch looks amazing too. Kudos to you for keeping a great balance during the holidays while not missing out on things (at least, when it was up to you, not when the sickness was dictating your choices). It really is funny to look back at how I used to eat each day too. Now a heavy meal like the ones I ate in high school puts me out of commission! Also, your spaghetti squash/hummus/tomato weird combo sounds weirdly WONDERFUL to me.
I really hope you feel better. You probably remember when I had my lingering tummy issue – the doc thought it was a virus that was holding on and maybe that was what it was since it did go away eventually. It’s possible your body is having trouble recovering from the stomach bug b/c first it put emphasis on recovering from the cold. I wish you many days of wellness as you…fight 4 it!
http://www.caitplusate.com
You are the best! You really put a smile on my face when I was feeling super crappy. Xoxo, thank you!