Chinese Congee saved me

I’m not certain, but I may have had the stomach flu… I had an awful rumbling stomach and nausea causing me to lose my appetite for about 8 days. On day 5, I asked my acupuncturist what I could do and she suggested Chinese Congee to eliminate any toxins in my system.

What in the world is Congee? It is a broth or porridge made with rice and lots of water and cooked until the rice grain bursts open. There are many variations of congee (I found a lot of them being savory and with meat). But my gal gave me a simple vegan recipe that I only adjusted a tad.

1 cup white rice
5 cups water
10 dates (I used Medjool because they grow here and are easy to access) pitted and diced
1 teaspoon of dried ginger root or 1” fresh ginger diced

 Toss all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Cover and turn to a simmer for 45-60 minutes. Add water as needed and be careful not to burn. Stir occasionally.

It took about a day for my stomach to start feeling normal. However, I was able to eat the Congee immediately without an angry response from my stomach. The Congee smelled delicious and tasted good enough to eat as every meal for 3 days.  I didn’t get sick of it and now I actually crave it. This recipe will certainly be kept for any future stomach ailments.

 

 

The juice to make it happen

Total miles for week one: 9

My 11 mile goal was a little ambitious; I was feeling great and wasn’t considering rest days. Although I was in ship shape and ready to go yesterday, I took a rest. Days off for recovery are just as important as work days. And I certainly don’t want to injure myself being overzealous. Now if I could only get a little more sleep...

Today’s Workout

I warmed up with a 2 mile jog-walk and a little unreasonable resistance with Kona (our 85 pound Bernese Mountain Dog) and of course, Nola tagged along in her stroller. Today was my Kettlebell workout and I used the 18 lb. bell. I found this work out here.

1.      Reverse Lunge-right

2.      Reverse Lunge-left  

3.      Suitcase Dead Burpee

4.      Dynamic Pushups

5.      Bent Over Alternating Row

6.      Alternating Swings

 

10 reps 4 times

Squeeze Me!

My go to juice every morning is: 3 carrots, 1 beet, 1 small apple, a handful of spinach and roughly ½ to 1 inch of ginger. This is the perfect portion for Nola and me to share (I omit the ginger in her portion). It’s an extraordinary ease to have our little beetle bug love fresh juice the way she does. Nonetheless, this combo is getting a little boring. So next week our juice will be composed of carrot, granny smith apple, pineapple, orange and turmeric root. I will play with the portions and post what I come up with. From my understanding Turmeric root can be hard to find in whole, raw form. I have been told Whole Foods sometimes has it so we will check it out this weekend on a trip to San Diego. An interesting list of 20 health benefits for turmeric can be found here.

 

 

Bonus!

We have the BEST property manager at our condo! I was asked to show a potential buyer our unit due the shortage in floor plans similar to ours (or maybe because our place is so hip); I joyfully accepted. I spent about 45 minutes chatting away about how much we loved our condo and how it has made living in such an isolated area more bearable. The couple viewing our place was quite pleasant; or maybe I am so sheltered from social life I will latch on to anyone who will chat with me! Anyhow, they ended up purchasing a unit and our manager mailed us a referral check for $1000! Awesome.

 What to spend it on… At first, my mind scrambled. Running shoes, compression socks, headphones, hair-do, pedicure, Beco potty trainer for Nola. Then I took a deep breath. Yessss a Vitamix! I’ve been lusting over these babies for some time now, never imagining our union would be so soon. The purchase is quite an investment but how can you put a price on your health? The sale was an easy layup with my husband, Chad; likely due to the fact that he wants to spend his share on something totally unusable and merely cosmetic (building a kickboard under our kitchen bar??). Ideally he would be working on the pile of dirt for a yard we have, but it is his share so do as he may. Regardless, tomorrow is the big day.  We are headed north to Palm Springs to the local Costco to search out our new beloved. I will be sharing recipes and lots of photos in the near future.

On a side note, I am happy to say I completed 4 miles today without stopping for a walk until the 3.5 mile mark. Two miles was the goal but I felt great so I kept going. Our running path is an exact mile loop around a horse stable where the local rodeo is held every winter. Today there was a commotion of horseback riders with their beautiful Pendleton blankets, gleaming trailers, dusty cowboy boots and the nay of over excited horses. This was certainly a factor in my exhilaration (daydreaming of riding bareback). My furthest run up to this point  is a 5k so I am excited to be up to par. My pace was about 1.5 minutes slower than ideal but I am delighted my miles are good this week. Strangely, I am excited to hit the pavement tomorrow.

 

Week one

I created this blog to document my life transition, to inspire and be inspired. This is week one of the new me as a runner. I have always loathed running while admiring the life of a devoted runner. In the past I have been a Kettlebell enthusiast and still prefer it for strength, endurance and cardio. I plan on using my bells for my workouts on strength days. I know this additional training will propel me into the world of running (the cardio you get from it is incredible). I will be following Skogg System as guidance for workouts.

My childhood friend and now sister-in-law (we married twins in order to get past our constant quarreling over the same taste in boys) told me she signed up for a half marathon on her birthday this year. Being that birthdays are of great importance to her, I told myself that I didn’t have any other option but to sign up too. It IS her birthday after all and that’s what she wants to do, so let’s do it! 13.1 miles. OKAY, now I’m scared. I have not loyally followed a fitness routine in roughly 2.5 years (a few months before getting pregnant with Nola). While I am struggling to run at a comfortable pace for more than 2 minutes, I keep in mind all of the amazing and admirable women’s runner-mother blogs I have unearthed and I am inspired to keep going. I look down at my sweet baby girl humming away in our (awesome) stroller and I am inspired. It’s not too bad that we are in the desert for winter and the weather is prime for this transition (I’m still scared).

I have completed 5 of my 11 mile goal this week so far and feel pretty good. Although I quickly learned that I must be flexible in my training regimen when Nola came down with a fever and peculiar rash. It is a bit of a game changer since we have to drive 2 hours west to San Diego (where we dream of living) to visit our doctor. Naturally, we made a day of it when we woke up Wednesday morning to a rash and fever free-happy baby. Nonetheless, one of my Kettlebell workouts had to be cut out this week. And that’s alright; I won’t beat myself up about it. We got to breathe in the sea air, let our dog, Kona charge through the ocean water and Nola giggle away at the tiny bits of sand pouring through her little fingers. It was a good “sick” day. Next time we will bring our running shoes!