Hey, hey, hey! How’s things going?
It’s funny, I feel so much more rested when I get up pre-6am than when I do post-7am. How weird is that? Even when I don’t set an alarm my body naturally wakes up around 5am and so I try to fall back asleep and then wake up feeling so groggy. Don’t get my wrong, I don’t leap out of bed with a smile on my face when the alarm goes at *whispers* 5.15am but once I’m up I feel pretty good.
After my run on Sunday I felt my lower back was slightly tight and my outer knee (IT band territory) was feeling slightly niggly. I started to panic: oh my God I’m broken again!!
I saw my physio on Tuesday morning and explained everything to him. I also mentioned about my hard leg workout the day before. He said I’d been a bit stupid. My legs were probably exhausted from the tough workout which had then put more pressure on my back and IT band when I ran… whoops. But he did his thang and said things felt less tight than before and my right leg was a lot stronger again now. He said I wasn’t to worry and that things were heading in the right direction and I could continue to run.
PANIC OVER.
I still need to leave a day between runs and I’m not running over 4 miles. Progress though! So my next run is Thursday 😀 and I can do Parkrun Saturday. Finally!
On to matters of food… I’ve been back in the salad groove as of late (maybe to offset my current cake overload…dear lord, it’s gotten out of control this week!)
Rubbish photo I know
This beast of salad contained pretty much all my favourite foods (except cake…). Tinned salmon, broad beans, two kinds of lettuce, broccoli, roasted butternut squash, beetroot, onion, garlic roasted courgette…oh my life this was so good. I love beastie salads because they take so long to eat and you can really enjoy them. And tinned salmon in my books is so much more superior to fresh or smoke salmon – am I alone in that opinion??
We also tried hummus baked chicken.
I basically just topped chicken breasts with roasted pepper hummus and then baked it in tin foil. It was easier to serve it in the foil as it was a bit messy. Quite a rustic look I like to think… Served with roasted veggies. Ben loved this.
So…let’s talk about the amount of cake I’ve eaten recently. Tuesday, as well as my physio, was also ‘bring a cake to work day’. Well, can you get a better day than that at work?? My lovely work friend was concerned I wouldn’t get any cake because I was in a bit later due to my physio appointment. So she got me a ‘mixed grill’ style selection platter…
OK, so what have we got there? Giant slice of Victoria sponge, underneath that a rather generous slice of baked cheese cake, some rocky road and a Mars bar crispie cake. At first I was flabbergasted by how much she’d gotten me.
Yeah… well it took me two sessions during the day to finish the plate off but it happened. I don’t even want to think how much sugar or how many calories I consumed. And then…later on…I had another cheeky slice of Victoria sponge.
I don’t often feel guilty about the treats I have, but I really felt quite bad for what I’ve eaten. I mean let’s be honest, it was a lot. I also woke up this morning feeling quite bloated and not great. Spin was a joy I can tell you. Ha!
But I drew a line under it and today and for the rest of the week it’s all about sensible choices and healthy nutritious meals. I don’t eat rubbish and cake every day and I exercise regularly. I eat healthy meals and I only have a crazy blow-out once in a while. I’m not going to starve myself or ramp up my workouts. Life is not about punishing yourself.
Then Saturday it’s afternoon tea…shhh.
What do you do when you’ve had a bit of a ‘bad food’ blow-out?
What foods are your naughty go-to foods?
What would be on your ‘mixed grill’ selection platter of cakes?
Oooh that cake looks lovely. As you know I’ve experienced exactly the same thing this week. I think you have the right mentality, just to move on from it and balance things out.
Exactly. There’s no point lamenting about what’s happened. I enjoyed it at the time, now just gotta be sensible going forward.
My go to naughty foods would be tortilla chips and hummus or chocolate! My cake platter would have to be lemon polenta drizzle cake, chocolate torte and carrot cake…….getting hungry just writing this!
Lemon polenta drizzle cake?? Oh yes please!
I think you can’t go through life without things like cake, chocolate and other goodies (she says munching into a no-sugar almond butter cup). As long as the bulk of my diet comes from colourful, nutritious foods, I’m happy. When the balance starts to swing in the other way, I try to swing it back!
Yep I can’t live without cake. It would be ridiculous for me to not have it. But I try and not go as crazy with it! Haha.
I would have devoured that cake plate! What a good idea to have bring-a-cake-to-work day. Every workplace should do this! Bread is my naughty food. I love freshly baked rolls – the really soft sort. It’s at a point where I can’t actually buy a loaf of bread anymore because I could probably eat a whole small loaf over the course of the day! I look forward to Monday lunchtimes when I nip down to the bakery for one roll with my soup though. 🙂
Yay to the Parkrun allowance and for running again even if not quite as regularly as you like yet…it’s heading in the right direction finally.
I’m not a huge bread fan but freshly baked bread is a different story. Warm and soft and smells so so good. And with soup? Oh heavenly!
Haha I love the line about the salad including all your faves except cake! Good luck for your runs this week! I think it’s totally all about balance, and just moving on from it and eating plenty of healthy nutritious food to even things out.
Could you imagine a cake salad? I’m sure somewhere someone has done one. I mean they did a sweet pizza didn’t they? Craaazy.
I feel you with the cake overload as of late- sooooo my issue too!
It’s so good but so damn bad.
So good but so damn bad.
That cake does look delicious! I try not to label any foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for me its feeling bad when I’ve over indulged period, no matter the food. You’ve got the right attitude though, and with your exercise and running you’ll burn that off in no time at all. I think feeling guilty about it can be one of the worst things as you just end up feeling even more crap!
Exactly. And you’re write about ‘good’ food and ‘bad’ food. I couldn’t label cake as a bad food – it’s far too tasty! But there are definite foods that I try and limit so I don’t feel rubbish (like I did after all that cake).
Your work friend sounds amazing. Way to look out for you! Cake… Ya, I would have devoured that too.
Sorry that you felt some repercussions from it. Bloating is the worst. Hopefully you’re recovering nicely, and I’m sure that a few days light on the cake will have you feeling better in no time. I wish sugar didn’t make us feel so awful!
I know, sugar is a beast. But it tastes so good! I definitely have the right contacts at work hehe.
I wish you lived closer, we currently have a cake & half in our kitchen from Joshua’s birthday this week. We .. well mostly I need help eating it!!
& btw, 4 miles is 4 miles more than last week 🙂
Amaaaaaaazing – cake and a half?? I’m not sure I could cope with that temptation hehe.
If I’ve had a blow out like that then my tactic is to get straight back to it at the next meal, drink plenty of water, and get a workout it – this combination gets me back in the groove and gets rid of the bloat pronto. My blow out foods are usually savoury – pizza and takeaways are a weakness, but I only eat them about once a month.Greta news about your leg being stronger, hope the runs continue to go well this week 🙂
You definitely have the right attitude. There’s a horrible mentally of “oh well I’ve ruined it now, I might as well continue to eat rubbish”. Just enjoy the blip and move on 🙂
Afternoon tea again? You lucky girl!
Gosh, lemon cake would be my top choice, then maybe carrot cake so long as it had cream cheese icing and some nuts in there, and then cherry and marzipan cake. But it would be a tough choice!
Glad you are still OK with your running- enjoy Parkrun!
I know, it’s becoming a real problem. I think it’s because there are quite a few nice little tea rooms near where I live (maybe I attract them? Haha) And the prices are very reasonable for the amount you get.