diagnosis: plantar fasciitis

It has happened again. I awoke on Sunday morning like most other Sundays. I was happy to sleep in, and ready to go veg out on the couch for awhile. But when I put my feet down on the ground, my heels were screaming in pain.

I tried to tread lightly around my apartment that morning, but am saddened that this is happening yet again. I expect it in the summer. I'm a flip flop girl, but in the winter? I haven't even been wearing my Uggs.  My first go-to feel good fix is Yoga Toes. I know what you're thinking...those things from the back of Star magazine?

Well let me just tell you, I LOVE these babies. I've had them for years, and they are the best. They feel a little funny on, but you feel even better once you take them off. And once you have them, you'll have them for life. They're made of a durable rubbery plastic material that withstands abuse (not that I abuse them...).

But this time, they're not enough. And I NEED to hit the gym.

What do you recommend to help these painful heels?  I need to stay on the cardio train!

opaaaaaaaaa!

This has been a weekend full of FOOD! Good for my tummy, not so good for my waistline. I have trouble making good food choices in the public setting. I mean, I'm not always making great choices at HOME, but it can be even worse when I'm out.

Which leads me to Saturday's dinner at OPA. This is a guilty pleasure of mine. It's BYO, so there's always too much wine, too many zucchini chips and usually a big piece of pastichio! When the food is this good, I just can't say no! We did split a salad though. Of course the ginormous pieces of feta cheese, and the many pitas I ate probably cancelled that out and then some.  The pastichio is really to die for though. The noodles are creamy and delicious, and the meat is tender and together they are just perfection! I could eat it everyday. Then I'd be obese. It's probably a good thing the restaurant isn't right around the block from me.



Yesterday's fat-fest leads me to today's workout: a nice long run. I've come to the conclusion that I like good great food too much, that I've got to balance it with lots and lots of exercise.

How do you balance food and exercise?

happy weekend!

Two weeks into my last semester of law school, and man does it feel great!!  Even though I still have some 100-odd days left, summer plans, including a shore house are in full effect. Which leads me to my next point...how do you motivate to work out when the weather is SO COLD?!?! It has been snowing, practically blizzarding about once a week here in good old NJ. I'm over it!

I made it to spin class once this week, and it felt so good.  But my schedule is so all over the place that its not making classes easy to get to. I used to love the elliptical, but since I've fallen in love with spin, its gotten boring. What's a girl to do?

Well Friday night, I had dinner with my darling friend Nicole because it's restaurant week near where we live.  We tried this great tapas place called West Five Supper Club. We had quite the wait, but it was worth it! The food and vibe were delicious. We had six small plates, including french fries with dipping sauces, baked mac and cheese, and an amaaaaazing artichoke and crab fondue. I could have just eaten that all night long. It's a little off the beaten path, but definitely worth the trip.

back ON the wagon

i have been in a SERIOUS funk, but i'm here to tell you i'm coming out of it!  off to spin class, then back to blogging...

xoxox

studying = baking

finals time means three things:

• lots and lots of orange juice (minus the vodka)
• self-induced hibernation on weekdays and weekends
• baking!

i'm not going to lie, i get really cranky during finals time, and this year is no different. it doesn't help that my worst two exams are back to back and are the first two in the lineup. since i get stir crazy being trapped in my apartment, this usually leads to baking. and since my oven is finally back in action, and the weather is sufficiently chilly i've been a baking machine.

i wanted to make chocolate chip cookies, but didn't have eggs, so i improvised a bit, and have to say the results were fabulous!

what i could find in the cabinets (and fit on the counter)

i started with 8 oz of smart balance, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of splenda for baking, 1/4 cup of peanut butter and mashed it together. i think the experts call this "creaming". but i'm telling you, when i do it, its just mashing. 

i added 1/4 cup of applesauce and 1 teaspoon of vanilla to that mixture and combined. at this point it looked gross, too gross for photos.  separately, i mixed together 1 cup of whole wheat flour with 1/4 cup of all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking power and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.  add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix thoroughly. 

i added to that, one cup of mini chocolate chips that i tossed with about a tablespoon of flour.  i always add a pinch of flour to just coat the chips so that they stay interspersed throughout the dough. mix just until combined.



i baked them off for about 10-12 minutes in a 325 degree oven.  and because there were no eggs in the recipe, i only baked as many as i thought i'd eat over a 10 hour span, and popped the rest in the fridge to bake off during the week.  i looooove eating freshly baked cookies, but i'm usually apprehensive to leave dough in the fridge for too long. not that it ever lasts too long when you could have this:

yummmmmm!!  i enjoyed these little beauties all week long. all those sweets made me want to make some REAL food. i tried out a chicken marsala recipe, that didn't come out half bad!  although i was a little over zealous with the marsala wine. it was more drunken chicken than anything else, but i polished it off!

ok, back to the note cards and outlining (and a harry potter marathon) ....what should i bake next?!

gobble, gobble, gobble!

i am so incredibly thankful for family and friends, but because there are so many of them, it means LOTS of thanksgiving celebrations, and TONS of food!

my mom and i started off the day low key with turkey cutlets, oven roasted potatoes, and my interpretation of my dear friend megan's corn souffle. you're probably thinking corn souffle? what does that even mean? if you like corn, it means heaven on a plate!

corn souffle
(adapted from megan's recipe)

1 egg egg white
1 box of corn muffin mix (i use jiffy)
1 can creamed corn
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
1 stick of butter 1/2 cup smart balance (or other low-fat spread)
8 oz of FAT FREE sour cream
low fat/no fat cooking spray


in a large bowl, melt the smart balance or other spread. add egg white and sour cream and mix together.  add in both cans of corn and combine.  add box of corn muffin mix. mix together until the mixture becomes a bit doughy. 

preheat oven to 350 degrees, and spray a baking dish with cooking spray.  add the mixture to the pan and bake for one hour. you will know it's done when the edges are browned and when a toothpick comes out clean. 

(personally, i LOVE the crunchy top and corners, so i use a bigger pan, and have a more shallow souffle. if doing this, be sure to check it at about 40 minutes, to make sure it doesn't burn or dry out)

thanksgiving #2 was with my cousins, and was basically a food network, giada feast!! my cousin loves to cook and entertain, and basically cooks as if she was serving 32 people, when inreality there was 6 of us at her house!  needless to say, the food was amazing!  round two consisted of turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes, and stuffing.

round three was dessert, and i'm a dessert first kind of girl, so it was fabulous. we had pumpkin cheesecake from trader joe's (which is now sitting in my fridge, calling out to me), apple pie, and giada's chocolate hazelnut tart. it was so decadent and delish!  and because i'm a glutton for punishment, while we cleaned up and gossiped, i ate even more turkey!  and since i got leftovers from both feasts, i actually have lots of food in my fridge. of course i feel like i can't move off the couch...

how do you motivate to workout during the holidays?? i need all the motivation i can get!

KNOCKOUT!

so in my vow to try new fitness classes, my friend carol, who is currently OBSESSED with boxing, dragged me to a class. and when i say dragged, i mean it. she's been begging me to come for weeks, and i'm always pushing her off. she cornered me, and we made a date to meet at LA Boxing.

needless to say, the class was intense!  it incorporated tons of boxing moves on our individual heavy bags, as well as lots of cardio. currently i am insanely out of shape, so i was dying halfway through (in a good way).  i felt great afterwards though. i think spin class still has my heart, but i was happy i went out of my usual exercise comfort zone and tried something new.

have you had friends turn you on to new exercise techniques? how else do you find new fitness trends??