Back from Birthday Vacation

Hi friends!
I'm back from my mini birthday vacation. Let me tell you what happened...

Friday started with a quick breakfast for everyone before we hit the road...

I whipped up a batch of oats and added coconut milk, pumpkin butter, flax seeds and Enjoy Life's Seed and Nut mix in Mountain Mambo flavor that I received from the company.

This mix was the perfect pairing with the oats and pumpkin butter. The small pieces of chocolate were gooey and an were a extra special treat in my morning oatmeal. 

I took a half day on Friday and headed to the beach. I was very anxious and excited to be by the ocean again and to see some great friends. I felt like a little kid on the car ride there though, "Are we there yet?" "How much longer". Philip was not amused. Aw, poor guy. ☺ 

This bag of delicious kept me occupied for a little while...

If you have never tried lentil chips before I suggest you go get some...right now! Not joking! You're still reading and you should be eating Enjoy Life's lentil chips. They are very tasty. I think these would have been perfect with hummus. MMMM hummus. I can't thank Enjoy Life enough for sharing their wonderful products with me and keeping Philip sane while I munched away.

I am going to do my recap via a picture montage. ☺ Yay picture montage!

That is salmon marinated with lemon and honey alongside it is asparagus and tomatoes lightly roasted. I made this for dinner our first night. It was a hit.

When I travel I still like to stick to my normal eating patterns. That is a picture of my post-run snack. Homemade almond butter (thanks to my awesome friend!!) and local honey. ☺

Running along the water!

Those came along for the road trip too. Some/all may have been consumed between Philip and I ☺

That beauty was parked outside a gas we stopped at and had 50's music blaring from it. How fitting! ☺

MMM ☺ Egg white omelet with asparagus, tomatoes and Swiss cheese with a side of french fries. Those stayed on the plate though. It didn't feel right to eat french fries for breakfast....

I could get used to seeing these on morning runs. Sighs...

I had a nice relaxing weekend, soaked up some vitamin D, caught up with old friends and rang in another year!

Conversation Corner:

Do you stick to your normal eating patterns on vacation or do you indulge?

Do you exercise in the normal or the afternoon? 

While vacationing do you still exercise?

What did you do for your last birthday?

In The Dark

I didn't forget about you ☺
I was M.I.A. on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week due to MORE stomach related issues.

Guys, I am not sure what is happening. 20 minutes after eating a very healthy lunch on Tuesday

I was in severe pain. My tummy was angry and so were my intestines. There was NO gluten in anything I ate. That picture is red beans and rice with veggies. Nothing added! I am at a lose for what is going on with my body. This is now the 2nd time in a 4 day period that I have experienced stomach issues. This past Friday I experienced problems that I am very certain were related to the supposed 'corn chips' I ate but on Tuesday, well I am in the dark about Tuesday. 

Tuesday I experienced something totally new and well I am a little concerned there is something just not right. The pain I went through was worse than I have had since before being diagnosed with Celiac disease. 

The pain started after lunch and I thought it would eventually go away like it usually does but this time it didn't. It lasted into the evening and about 7 hours after not moving from my bed I thought that maybe I should go to the hospital but suddenly things started getting better and I decided against it.

I woke up on Wednesday and was worn out and tired but felt OK so I headed off to work. I thought to myself if anything else happens (stomach related) I am going to the doctors immediately. I was hungry so I ate my normal breakfast of oatmeal with fruit and added pumpkin butter to it. 20 minutes later the same thing happened! I immediately called my doctor who told me they couldn't see me until TUESDAY! Can you believe that!?!?! I am disgusted by this. What doctor says they can't see a patient, under these circumstances, right away? I will be looking into seeing a new doctor very soon.

Luckily, yesterday I didn't have to deal with 7 hours of pain. It only lasted for 1 hour and it wasn't as horrible as it was the day before. This was certainly not the way I wanted to spend the few days I had before my birthday weekend. Ugh! I had so many things I needed/wanted to get finished before today but those were foiled by these issues. 

On a positive note though I was able to participate in #nationalrunningday yesterday! I even created my badge. Check that out :)

I didn't want to run AT ALL but I pushed myself and it really did make me feel better to #sweat and move around. 

I even took the time to sign up for my first ever virtual run. You should too! It is going to be a good time. And the prizes aren't too bad either ☺ I have my eyes on the Sweaty Bands but the Sparkle Skirts look pretty cool too. Thanks to awesome #fitfluential blogging ambassador Toni for putting together this run! If you would like to participant too click on over to Toni's blog and join us! 

Conversation Corner:

Did you guys participate in the #nationalrunningday?

Have any of you ever completed a virtual run before?

Has your doctor ever told you they didn't have any appointments when you were sick?

Enjoy Life

This weekend was supposed to be packed with activities but as they say 'never assume'.

Friday was a rough day for me guys. I ate something that had gluten in it. It was terrible. It totally knocked me on my butt. The only thing I can possibly think it might have been was the handful of tortilla chips I consumed that I was told were corn chips. I had been doing so well without having any accidental episodes of gluten intake but Friday really made me sad. And it was Friday (my favorite day of the week) so it was a little bite of a let down.

Saturday morning I woke up to a beautiful #Atlanta day. I mean absolutely stunning. I didn't want to let my #gluten episode foil the beautiful morning so I dragged myself out of bed and hit the streets for a run. My insides were still not happy and my legs felt like lead but I told myself, "You made it through last night and things will get better today. Take advantage of this glorious day". Pretty soon I started getting in a groove and I completed a full 3 mile run. My time wasn't to my liking, 39 minutes, but I felt that at least I got up and got moving after yesterdays gluten episode.

After showering I decided to try to eat something, anything, because I was starving. Everything I tried to eat tasted sour and I had to give up trying. If you're reading this and thinking what is she talking about I will take a brief moment to explain.

The day after I have a gluten episode all the food I try and eat tastes sour to me. I usually can't eat anything for another full day. My intestines still are angry and hurt throughout the next day too. Sometimes I will feel sad for no reason, I will get tired really quickly and sometimes the 3 days after an episode I will be irritable and unable to concentrate. All of that I will take over the first hours of stomach and intestinal pain I feel after consuming gluten. I would much rather skip all that and go straight to the sour tasting food, fatigue and mood changes.

I picked up my essential veggies and fruits from the market and headed to Kroger for a deal on almond butter I heard about. When I arrived at Kroger I found no such deal but I did get a deal on #Chobani yogurt instead! I tried the Apple Cinnamon flavor and it was heavenly.

The rest of my Saturday was pretty low-key. I wasn't in the mood to really do anything so I started reading the first book of my summer reading list.

Sunday I completed the week with a mile run for the #RWRunStreak hosted by @runnersworld.

When I arrived home this evening I spotted this in the hallway...

and well my day was pretty much complete! I received this amazing gift from the folks at Enjoy Life. The box contained just a few of their amazing #glutenfree products. 

Enjoy Life is a company that sells gluten-free, nut-free, artificial everything free products. They are dedicated to selling delicious allergy-friendly goods. I won this box of wonderfulness during my participation in the #FDGlutenFree chat. The gluten-free chat was sponsored by Fresh Direct. It was really great to interact with the gluten free dietitians and meet other people who have Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance during the chat. I even learned how to make overnight quinoa in a crock pot from an amazingly creative new friend too. Now that is pretty awesome. 

But I think these win on awesomeness...

I haven't eaten a snickerdoodle since before I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease but I ended that silliness this evening. 

I ate two of these guys. MMMM they were good! They were soft and almost melted in my mouth. My favorite part about these cookies, besides eating them, was that they are made with date puree. I am a very large fan of dates. While I have never personally tried baking with date puree I see and can taste why dates are a great substitute for gluten ingredients. I give two thumbs up to the folks at Enjoy Life for making such a yummy cookie and for sharing it with me. I can't wait to try the rest of the goodies I received. 

I am off now to finish some more of Still Missing. I love a good suspense novel.

Conversation Corner...

How do you react to a gluten episode if you have an allergy?

Do you have a summer reading list? What's on your list?

Have you ever tried any Enjoy Life products? Whats your favorite?

Are you keeping up with the mile a day challenge from Runners World?

Nerdy Secret

Memorial day being on Monday has totally thrown me off my normal schedule. I thought today was Tuesday at least 4 times #doh ! Luckily, it's not though! Hooray for short weeks!!

Tuesday turned out to be a meatless day. Completely by accident!
For breakfast I gobbled oatmeal with honey and strawberries...

I loaded up on the honey too. If you couldn't tell from the picture. I enjoy starting the day with fruit and oats. The oats seem to keep me full until lunchtime and sometimes even through lunch. This was the case yesterday and when lunchtime came I found myself not very hungry. I decided to skip having a real meal and decided to munch on an apple with Justin's Peanut Butter and Honey butter and a yogurt. 

Since I wasn't in the mood to drive further to go to the Kroger I purchased the above things at Target which is conveniently located right across the street from my office. This Target was recently remodeled and during the remodeling they added a Starbucks to the store making it very easy for me to feed my coffee addiction. I choose a iced coffee with skim milk to sip on through the afternoon. 

Since I really didn't take a lunch I was able to leave the office a little early and get in my run for the day for the #RWRunStreak. I had plans to meet some friends for a few games of bowling in the evening and I wanted to make sure I had enough time for everything. 

OK guys...I have something to tell you.  OK...I guess this really makes me a little bit of a nerd....I used to be in a bowling league (blushes). 

Yes, I have my own bowling ball and shoes. Yes, my shoes match my ball and my towel. I am not really sure how I got involved in bowling. It was one of those things that kind of found me I guess. I feel kind of nerdy saying it but I used to be on a bowling league and I really enjoyed it. The league I was on was composed of mostly older individuals, above the age of 60, which was my favorite part. Some of the people playing on the league were even 80 years old! And let me tell you they still beat my butt. Totally impressive! If I live to be 80 I want to still be active like some of the older people I met on the league.

After a few games of bowling we called it a night and I headed to my friend Morgan's to eat some BBQ. Morgan is a vegetarian and I enjoy her cooking. She is always mindful of my diet restrictions too, which is super awesome of her. By the time I arrived there I was famished and immediately headed for the food table. I piled my plate with grill squash, tomatoes and grilled peaches. I am not sure about the combination of foods on that plate but that is what my body was craving and that is what I fed it. And let me tell you, grilled peaches are amazing! My belly was happy and content after I cleared my plate. 

Has anyone else forgot what day it is because of Memorial day being on Monday? 

Does anyone bowl?

What is your favorite kind of fruit? 

Memorial Weekend Recap

Sunday was a relaxing kind of day here in Atlanta. 

I started the day off with an hour tennis session which went great! It felt so good to be back in the game. I almost had forgotten how much I enjoyed playing tennis. Keep in mind I haven't played in a year so I was a little rusty but I didn't let those stray balls that flew over the fence get me down. I recognize that it will take time to get back in the groove and I am OK with that ☺

Before the tennis clinic I enjoyed a hard-boiled egg with chives. I haven't ever liked eating a large meal before playing tennis because of all the movement that is involved so I opted for this. Eggs are very filling to me and give me a lot of energy so I like to eat them before going to exercise or play a sport.

After freshening up I decided to take a trip to the farmer's market to get some lunch. It wasn't so bad (heat wise) outside so I decided to walk there to save gas. It's pretty close by only about a mile away and I am always up for some exercise. I had never eaten from their salad bar but kept getting great recommendations to try it out so I was excited to see if it was any good. I was very impressed with their salad selections and toppings. I loaded up on bean sprouts, zucchini, carrots, beets, quinoa with grape tomatoes and feta cheese, corn and black beans along with mixed greens. It was delicious. 

Earlier in the day I had suggested to Philip that we go out for drinks in the early evening and make something small for dinner. He was in agreement with this. By the time he came by my apartment to pick me up I was craving margarita's so we headed over to The Corner Pub for some cocktails and outside patio seating. 

Monday was Memorial Day and we were headed to Lake Lanier for some fun in the sun and some sailing for the day not until I finished my 1 mile run for the Runners World Summer Running Streak #RWRunStreak. If you guys aren't already participating you definitely should. What this is is a challenge with yourself to run 1 mile everyday until July 4th. The challenge was to start on Memorial Day and end on July 4th. This would mean if you run 1 mile everyday until July 4th you will have run for 38 days straight! How awesome! I was immediately on board when I read about this. 

After running my 1 mile and packing a cooler for the day we headed up to the Lake. It turned out to be a beautiful day. Clear skies, the heat wasn't too bad, a great breeze and a vacant beach! What more could you want ☺

When we arrived we broke into breakfast which was fruit salad and almond butter dip with iced coffees. You guys know I need my coffee in the mornings. ☺

Soon after we finished up breakfast Philip's father along with his brother Peter and his wife Jen showed up. Philip's father has a catamaran (pictured above) and he took us out on it. I had never been sailing before and it was an exceptional time! It was peaceful and beautiful out in the Lake. The air was fresh, the water was a blue/green color, kind of like the water around a tropical island. It was amazing. I had a wonderful time. I can't wait to do it again!

Are you participating in the Runners World Running Streak #RWRunStreak?

Have you guys ever been sailing before? Or on a catamaran?

Are any readers also tennis players like myself?

Holy Hotlanta!

Now I know why they nicknamed Atlanta 'Hotlanta' everyone. Oh my gosh it was HOT yesterday. I can stand heat. I really can. I am not being a baby about this, I swear. But you know it's hot when right after showering you get dressed and head out to your car, which is parked right outside your door, and you are wet with sweat and feel like you need to shower again. Yes! That happened to me. Luckily I had this...

Iced coffee with coconut milk and the air conditioning of Urban Grounds to help beat the heat. Geez it was a scorcher. It's not even June yet and Atlanta's temperatures are in the high nineties. I am getting a little nervous guys. Just a little bit. 

Thanks to the people who offered some advice about why I might have been 'Feeling Strange' the other day. I appreciate you guys offering advice and I really enjoy interacting with you guys.

Friday, was a BUSY day. I worked over 12 hours and wasn't in the mood to do much but to enjoy a quick run, eat some dinner and go to bed early. I decided that I would get up early on Saturday and head to the gym for a Body Pump class. I have been wanting to try one now for some time and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do so since it is a Holiday weekend. I assumed most people would be at the beach or up at the lake.

Alas, my plans were foiled when I arrived at the gym and the class had been cancelled. I was a little disappointed but took full advantage of the almost empty gym and used some free weights to work on my shoulders and arms. I really enjoy working on my arms and shoulders. I think it is very attractive for women to have toned arms and shoulders.

I started my work out with 20 minutes on the elliptical to warm-up. Next, I moved to an arms and shoulders workouts and I concluded my work-out by using the rowing machine. Gosh, I love that machine. Guys I am telling you it's great! You can get a total body workout in 20 minutes. Seriously, this might be the best machine in gyms to date. Short side-note I had a friend in college that was on the rowing team and she was in the best shape I have EVER seen anyone in. I never put two and two together until recently.

Back on track now...I was able to row a full 2000m in 11 minutes and 2 seconds. I was so excited and proud of myself. My goal is to be able to row 2000m in 7 minutes and after yesterday I feel I will be able to attain that goal very soon. I was pretty impressed with myself.

I left the gym yesterday feeling wonderful and decided to treat myself to that iced coffee with coconut milk pictured above. While I was hanging around the coffee house I worked on some articles I needed to get finished and before long it was time to head to a cookout at a friends house close by. There was A LOT of food to choose from but due to my diet of eating gluten-free I had to eat very selectively. I opted for two spare-ribs that were cooked with agave nectar and orange juice, corn and black bean salad, grilled veggies and a cold Crispin. It was a perfect combination. I wasn't able to snap any photos of this meal because well....I just straight out forgot. Sorry guys!

Do you guys like coffee as much as I do?
What are your thoughts on cookouts?
What's you favorite machine at the gym? Or favorite workout?

Feeling Strange

Yesterday was a totally weird day for me. I came into work and felt wonderful in the morning and early afternoon then suddenly things went downhill. Let's start at the beginning.

I started my day off with a breakfast of champions. A banana and chocolate hazelnut butter sandwich on my gluten-free bread along with a Starbucks via packet which I had never tried until yesterday morning. I have been missing out! They taste just like you would get fresh from Starbucks!

Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter with the banana tasted like it should be a candy bar. It was delicious. 

I nominated the whole thing in .03 seconds.

I still have sleepy eyes in that photo because the caffeine didn't kick in yet. ☺

Around 9am the caffeine started kicking in and I tore through my morning work tasks. Boosh! I was feeling victorious when noon came and thought I would treat myself to a big lunch of veggies and steamed brown rice. I stopped by the farmers market and picked up this delicious lunch and headed back to my office. 

As I prepared for my afternoon meeting I finished up my lunch and slugged down an iced water. I took about 10 minutes and planned out my grocery list for the night. I was planning on making a German dish my Grandmother used to make but with a healthier twist. I was really excited. I love German food. Around 2pm I headed to my all afternoon meeting. Those are the best...NOT! Things were going well when suddenly 30 minutes into my meeting I started feeling funny. I started to feel light headed and became short of breathe. I tried to remain calm because there was NO way I could leave in the middle of this meeting because it was very important. After feeling like this for about ten minutes I started to worry. I started feeling like I might pass out. I couldn't focus on anything either. 

I made it through the meeting and decided to cancel the grocery shopping and just head home. When I got there Philip was already home. I told him what happened and he said it sounded like low blood sugar. What do you guys think? So he grabbed me some OJ and I sipped on that and started to feel a little better. Since I was in no mood to go grocery shopping or cook and the meeting I was in turned out to deliver not great news to my work team I just wanted to go to bed. 

Against my whining Philip told me he was going to take me somewhere that would cheer me up. And he sure did. My favorite Vietnamese restaurant for my 'comfort food' Pho. I am not sure that I have ever talked about how much I love Asian food. I am a tremendous fan of Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai and 'Real' Chinese food. I mainly enjoy these types of foods because they don't use gluten in there cooking. So it's very easy for me to find something that I can eat. Philip always jokes with me that I whenever I make dinner it somehow always resembles a stir-fry or an Asian dish. I just stick me tongue out at him ☺

We started off with a combination crepe which I was unfortunately not able to take a picture of because we dug into the thing right away. I ordered my go to dish of Pho which was delicious and did cheer me up ☺

I wasn't able to eat all of my Pho because it comes in a super large bowl. I love that the Pho comes with basil and some mint and bean sprouts! MMMM

During dinner we chatted about food. Of course! One of my favorite things about Philip is that we are very like-minded in our view about America's food. He had recently come across a video of a woman, Robyn O'Brien, discussing her findings about what is really in our food here in the United States and food allergies.  He shared the video with me and let me just say that I was a little unsettled about it. Something to think about.

After dinner was finished we got smoothies because I just can't leave this place without one of their fresh made smoothies. This time I tried the passion fruit kind....mmmm it was delicious.

On the way back to my apartment I remembered I was supposed to take my car to the dealership to get it looked at. It has been having some issues with the headlights. I thought if we drove out there at that time and dropped it off I could come back and get a late night yoga session in at home. Apparently, my body wasn't down with that idea though because on the way to the dealership I started to feel the same way I had felt in the meeting in the afternoon. This time things heightened though and I had to pull over; luckily we were close to the dealership at this point. I felt really strange though guys and I started getting a little worried that maybe something was wrong. 

After a little while I started to feel better and was able to drive the rest of the way to the dealership and drop off the car for servicing. Philip drove us back to my apartment and I decided it was best to call it a night and get some extra shut eye. I decided that if I still felt the same way today I would make a doctors appointment but so far today I feel normal.

Do you guys think this is totally weird?

Any ideas what this might be about?

Have you ever tried Pho? 

What is your favorite kind of cuisine?

It's almost Memorial Day! I love it! Summer is almost here 'officially' ☺

What are your plans for the weekend?