Checking in

Whoa nelly - it has been too long since my last post!  My apologies, honestly, I have been reflecting about which direction I would like to take this blog in.  Why, you ask?

• My running has slowly come to an almost halt (see below for explanation)
• I do not want this blog to be 100% IBS-focused, nor do you, I assume

As you know, I injured myself last year - knee, hip flexors, IT bands and hamstrings.  I was on the road to recovery, ran (pun kind of intended) into issues when exceeding 3k runs and now am doing 2k runs once or twice a week. The reason for such a short distance is because my knee goes a little crazy when I exceed 2k, so in the name of being able to walk up and down stairs, I have opted for very short runs.  

As you have likely read from my previous post, I have been spinning and enjoying it (somewhat) - I would probably enjoy it more if Goodlife did not incorporate Cosmic Girl into their spin classes quite so frequently.  I am praying for that song to be removed from the list and I continue to cringe whenever the opening bars open my spin class.  My knees and hip flexors have not been faring so well with spin, or with life in general.  I am back to physio, laser and extended massage sessions to maintain myself at a tolerable level of discomfort, as a result, I have had to reduce my spin schedule.  I am hoping to discover the cause of these issues at some point during my lifetime, but, as we all know, our healthcare system is anything but speedy, especially if your affliction will not kill you anytime soon.    

In other news, I have been working on some guest blogging, my first post can be found at The Local Traveler - a great site devoted to exploring Atlantic Canada, taking us on a journey through our own backyard.  

In terms of the IBS -I have become an avid user of myfitnesspal to track my food and exercise - I have been doing so well with it that I have logged in 45 days in a row!  I have always avoided the whole food diary experience and only used it when medical practitioners forced me to use it as a tool to help with my IBS.  Although I scoffed at these exercises a few years ago, I am beginning to see the light and have been trying to take note of my symptoms when they crop up.  I am hoping to discover some patterns or triggers, so I keep logging.  In this vein, I am considering trying out the FODMAP elimination diet to see if I have any luck with it.  This diet was not around when I was first diagnosed, but, I have seen it mentioned a lot in my social media networks and am wondering if I should just give it a whirl.  The main thing holding me back is the elimination of garlic - I am not certain I can survive without a healthy amount of garlic in my life!  I would love to hear if any of you have tried this, and if so, what was your experience - was it helpful?

Spoon fork glow?!

I have never done any sort of recipe feature on the blog, but I have found two recipes that I adore so much I feel compelled to share.  Before I dive into them I would like to make a few things clear.  

1. I am not a great cook.
2. I am beyond a picky eater.
3. My husband refers to my kitchen stints as "tornadoes" - leaving a destructive path in my wake.
4. I am not good at meals - I am an appetizer, side dish, snack or dessert gal.  
5. I am not a true recipe follower - I invent, I cook/bake on a whim resulting in many, many substitutions. This can be problematic if the result is good, as I have a hard time recalling what it was that I added (case in point - Peanut Butter & Honey Chocolate Chip Cookie incident of 2009). 

Now that we have these important details out of the way, let's get started.  Recipe #1 comes from Angela of Oh She Glows and Green Monster Smoothie fame.  She is a vegan blogger who shares her moments of culinary brilliance with the online world.  I am in no way a vegan, but I can appreciate her healthy approach to eating and have turned to her for healthy snack ideas.  I have been known to make a Green Monster myself on occasion!  My current fave of hers are her No Bake Peppermint Patty Bars.  True to form, each time I make these I never have the exact ingredients on-hand, so I have been improvising.  The latest adaptation to this recipe is listed below, I will not go into detailed instructions as Angela does a fabulous job of outlining it for you:

Base

• 2 cups rolled oats, put through the food processor until it becomes a flour
• 1 cup mixed nuts (no oil, no salt)
• 5 tbsp cocoa 
• 2 tbsp coconut sugar (this is lower on the glycemic index, however, I recommend pulsing it through a coffee grinder so it blends better)
• 2 tbsp any milk you have on-hand
• 5 tbsp pure maple syrup
• Dump in some dark chocolate chips, however many you feel is appropriate

Chocolate Topping

• 2 Lindt Dark chocolate bars (I use 70%)
• 1 hunk of coconut oil
• 1-2 top-fulls of pure almond extract
• Dollop of cashew or peanut butter
• Flaked, unsweetened coconut

For Recipe #2 we will turn to the duo at spoon fork bacon. This blog features luscious recipes and beautiful photography.  Many of their recipes are an indulgence, for example, today's Chocolate Chip Bacon & Orange Kissed Pancakes - what is not to love about this combination?!  I have, however, convinced myself that their Cheesy Quinoa Cakes are a healthy choice - if you forget about the oil. 

 And, of course, given my statement above, I made some slight adjustments to these babies.  See below for the details and check out their website for the instructions.  

• 2 cups cooked quinoa 
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour (sometimes 4 depending on how much quinoa I have)
• A bunch of parsley, chopped finely
• 2 chopped green onions
• ½ celery stalk, chopped finely
• A large amount of garlic (I use a large soup-spoon from our weekly jar of food processor garlic)
• 1 egg
• Sprinkle of sea salt

I hope you enjoy!  I would love to hear about your favourite food bloggers and the recipes.  Feel free to share in the comments section below.  

Networking? Sorry, I Have to Cancel.

For the record - I am not a natural when it comes to networking.  In fact, I loathe it - it reminds me of a junior high dance when everyone has a partner but you.  What does one talk about?  Where do you put your hands?  How do you look like you are enjoying yourself when really you would prefer to be hit by a truck?

Now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about networking.  A few weeks ago I cancelled on a meeting because I was in bed, blown up like a balloon, unable to be in a social setting for fear of passing wind or crapping my pants - obviously I told them I had the flu.  Fast forward to this week, I have been a model student, eating almost my full servings of fruits and vegetables each day, avoiding white bread and getting my workouts in.  Things were going really well for approximately two days with this impressive regimen.  During spin class both Tuesday and today I had several key moments of panic that involved planning my escape through a mess of spin bikes and sweaty bodies and visions of how I would react to losing control of my bowels in this same environment.  I was overtaken by extreme cramps and cold chills as I spun right round, right round at my local gym.  Luckily I maintained enough control to be blissfully ignorant as to how that scenario would play out.

Tonight I had a dinner meeting scheduled with this same group (who flew in from France and are only here a few nights), I was on track to attend.  Work today was a little bit uncomfortable, JWow joked about how I had not left the washroom all day (not entirely true), but I pushed through it.  I stayed late at work so I would not have to go home in between and just as I was leaving I had to rush to make it to the washroom.  I still planned to attend, I walked to my car and before I could reach it that wave of panic overcame me and I ran to a public washroom.  Twice in twenty minutes. By the time I made my way out of the stall I was in the throes of despair - I had to cancel, there was no way I could ingest any food, my stomach was already rumbling, but how could I cancel for a second time?

This is the age old dilemma of those who have digestive issues.  Everyone thinks we have a knack for catching the flu.  What do you tell people?  Do they think you are making excuses?  How can one use the flu excuse for two separate meetings?  Well, it can be done, I have no idea what the other side thinks, but the alternative was sitting through a dinner without ordering anything, with several extended washroom visits.  So, I marched in there, was extremely distressed and talked about how this flu just keeps coming back again and again.  Then I ran to the car so I could get home as quickly as possible.  No swimming for me tonight, it is frowned upon to drop the browns off at the pool.  I speak from experience, I was a lifeguard back in the day.

I finally arrived home, was stripping down to my skivvies in order to get my jammies on, was running around looking for a glass to pop my Advil with and, of course, the doorbell rings.  I have no idea why I answered it - I am sorry Brock, but I have no desire to help any children tonight.  I need to powder my ass with corn starch, ensure there are two rolls of TP in the washroom, feast upon Gatorade and watch Damages.

In closing, I encourage you to check out the following video for the new campaign Escape the Stall from the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, which was featured in the New York Times on January 7th.