Knee Probs

My knees are being such jerks.

All I want to do is get back into shape, and here they are actin fools. Rude. I don't know if it's an IT band issue, or what, but that's what I suspect. Who knew someone so out of shape could get an OVERUSE injury? This is probably the only time in my life I will ever have a problem with exercising TOO much.

I took both Sunday and Monday off from the gym, so this morning I rolled out of bed excited to head that way. (Not sure who I am, but ya know.) I figured I'd do elliptical without a whole lot of resistance. Just get them limbered up, etc etc. I did 30 minutes, and my knees felt... weird. Not painful, just not normal. After that, I did 15 minutes on the sit-back stationary bike. Then, I foam rolled. Considering, I didn't know what the heck I was doing, I'm impressed I managed to figure it out with minimal stupidage.

More than anything, I just want to keep up my habit of going to the gym and focusing on fitness. Because when I get out of that mode? Bring on the junk food, cause I'm leaving this wagon altogether.

So, like I said, my knees are jerks.

Birthday Weekend

I had a great birthday weekend.

My birthday was yesterday (Sunday), but we basically made the whole weekend a celebration of sorts. On Saturday, we sort of went for a run (more on that in a bit), went to an AMAZING dinner, chilled at Barnes n Noble, and went on a late night donut run. Yesterday (my true birthday), I had a massage, hung out at the Farmer's Market, and then we ran errands together. Low key, but just the way I like it.

I didn't spend my time taking a lot of pictures (which is ironic, since one of my bday gifts was a new lens for my Nikon), but I did snap a few with my iphone.

So when we started out on our run Saturday morning, my knees were REALLY tight. I had noticed this on a previous run, but then, they had loosened up, so I didn't think too much of it. I was having such a hard time running that we stopped at this amazing tree (trees?) at a nearby park to stretch.

While stretching, we discovered that this tree isn't used just for stretching. (And, we promptly bathed in disinfectant when we arrived back home.)

Unfortunately, nothing I did limbered up my knees and finally, the tightness graduated to shooting pain. We ended up walking back home and by the time we made it back, I was limping (favoring my left knee, though both hurt). I immediately iced, played on my ipad, and sat around feeling angry over my knees.

:( So. Needless to say, now that I'm finally motivated to work out, the last thing I need is an injury. I took off exercise yesterday and didn't hit the gym this morning either. I'm super bummed, but I'm pretty sure this is an overuse thing, so resting is necessary. boo.

After our failed run, we hung out and eventually got dressed to go out on the town. We had reservations at the Portland City Grill, a fantastic restaurant 30 stories up in downtown Portland. The views from the restaurant:

It was pretty amazing. The food was divine, they decorated our table with little "happy birthday" confetti, and we got a free dessert complete with a candle.

Sunday was a massage, farmer's market, and errands. None pictured. All amazing.

Huzzah! I'm 31!

Me and My Brilliant Ideas

Today, I had the brilliant idea to go to Body Pump. 

This was after KILLING IT at the gym on Monday (read that, over 500 cals burned) and running last night with Ryan on super tight legs.

I went to Body Pump mostly because I never get to go. At my gym, the class is offered at 9 a.m. (after Ryan has taken the car to work) or 5 p.m. (before Ryan gets home with the car after work). Today, he went in late to work, so I positively jumped at the chance to take the car to class.

(Note: That was the last time I'll be jumping for a while.)

I went and did the whole class minus the abs, and I made it out to my car. At which point, I melted into a puddle. My arms were shaking so bad I could barely steer the car. I haven't done any upper body training in FOREVER. Haven't done a Body Pump class since 2010, I'd say. And holy balls, it nearly killed me.

I can barely type or use my arms at all. No big deal, except for the fact that I use my hands for my J-O-B. Uhhhhhh.

In non-food news, I've been tracking my food on paper. This is a less-green alternative, yes, but it reduces my ability to obsess over numbers, so I'm sticking with it for now.

I've really been focusing on protein, as it's my weakest food group. Scrambles are easy, so I do those pretty often. Scrambled eggs + cheese + black forest ham = yes. Yum-o. Today, I had that for lunch, along with some leftover braised kale and steamed brussels sprouts. Lotsa iron veggies lately. Iron for the win!

Speaking of iron, I've been slamming an Amazing Grass cacao fusion smoothie every day for months now and my iron (and other vits) levels have been awesome. I've always been terrible at taking vitamins daily, but this? I drink this everyday for breakfast and look forward to it. WIN.

And, that is all.

Little Questions, Shhhhh

What if I stumbled upon my original blog that I opened in 2008 and realized -- to my surprise -- that it's still live?

Would I spend hours reading through it? Would a grown woman with war wounds feel inspired by a young, hopeful girl? Would I enjoy reading the recipes I'd forgotten and seeing the simple meals I once consumed? Would I love the pictures that I forgot even existed? Would I revel in the memories of a time when blogging wasn't self-conscious, competitive, or anything more than something I just did sometimes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Would I ever so quietly decide to, oh what the heck, post something?.............