Meeting with a Sadist

This morning, I met with Matt, my personal trainer at Gold’s Gym in Shallotte. He is a Sadist. Well, okay, in fairness, he isn’t a Sadist so much as a Designer of Tortuous Workouts. As I reminded myself during the session, I actually pay him for this service. He is good at his job, I will give him that much. I meet with Matt once a month for him to “up the ante” on my strength training workouts. Matt has a degree in—and has worked as—a physical therapist. This is why I pay him to torture me—he knows how much to push me and when to say “slow down girl”. As I mentioned in an earlier post, a few months ago—February 18^th to be exact—I hobbled into Gold’s and joined up. I was a sick lady looking for help to get better and they were part of the plan to achieve health and wellness. I told Matt that I intend to return to the GSMNP to backpack next Spring and I want to see my biomarkers improve—and obviously I need to work on the whole walking upright without wall support thing. Step by step Matt and his sidekick Randy (who also has a degree in physical therapy) have been helping me toward those goals. I am walking upright, without need of wall support, and at a decent pace again. My strength is improving and my core muscles are getting stronger. So, for all my complaining, he is worth every penny and every achy muscle. If I had one complaint, Gold's needs a jacuzzi--with lots of Epsom salts in it! They have a dry sauna which is great but if they would just add a jacuzzi it would be purt near perfect.

Back at the Ranch:

I bought a new toy today at Walmart. It is a three-in-one crockpot! It has three 2quart crockpots! It is so way cool! Why, you ask, do I need this gadget? Well, I’m glad you asked. Now, I can set my breakfast cereal to cook in one, beans in another, and grain in the third. Talk about efficient Macrobiotic cooking! It is fabdabulous!

After a nap, I went out to try to help BJ with weeding the garden. My legs hurt from this morning’s torture session and have not yet been treated with an Epsom salt soak (forgot to get it at Wally World) so I did not last very long…only about 45 minutes. Mother took over the hoe which is a task she has decided she likes very much. My mother working in the garden—miracles never cease! Mother has been told and told by her cardiologist to exercise but she has refused. But, seems gardening is a form of exercise she is willing to do. And BJ….I’ve never seen a kid get so excited about gardening. He is blossoming right along with the vegetables.

As for meals today: breakfast never quite happened. Gasp…I know, very bad. I intended to but strawberry picking too longer than expected and I was late for my torture session. I had intended to take soup from last night with me to drink on the way but forgot in the rush. 

Lunch was a salad at Chili’s in Shallotte. I chose the Caribbean Salad but asked for black beans and corn in replacement of the chicken. No problem there. They had no healthy soup choices so soup was out. The Caribbean Salad has fresh fruit and –gasp—iceberg lettuce. I should have asked them to toss in some vegetables but I didn’t want to push my luck. I did add some of the guacamole from the appetizer to my salad. I’d also eaten a few tortilla chips with guacamole. Overall, not terribly macro but not as horrible as it could have been.

Dinner will be leftover Quinoa and Lentil Soup with some added tomatoes along with a pressed salad of carrots, radish, and onions and a salad of spring lettuce, carrots, radish, and onion with balsamic vinegar. At least one meal today was Macrobiotic! 

Tomorrow, I hope to actually plan out the weeks menu so as to come closer to hitting a good macrobiotic meal balance. That said, I think I am transitioning pretty good as I continue to learn how this diet is supposed to work. Hopefully in a few months I’ll be much better at it!