Fitting It In

Hey Fitties,

So, last Thursday and Friday I was SICK.

Like, puke-y, groan-y, can’t-do-anything-but-lie-completely-flat-on-my-back sick.

In other words: suuuuuper cute. Like, the absolute cutest I’ve ever been.

I haven’t been sick like that in years, and it made me remember how effing COOL our bodies are, in that they basically ask for what they need.

For example: on a normal day I pound raw vegetables; I love them. However, during this sickness, I didn’t want to come within 10 feet of anything green or crunchy. All I wanted was plain white rice. No salt, no flavor, nothing. Clearly my body was screaming for some easily-digestible fuel and simple carbohydrates are where it’s at in that respect. On a normal day I have ZERO interest in rice (it is boring to me), especially the white variety, so the fact that my body was screaming for it really made me take note.

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When this post goes live, I’ll be in the UK in the future!!! I wonder what Future Me is doing…probably thinking about snax. Which brings me to the topic of today’s post…

Staying healthy while traveling is a struggle for a lot of people. The key is: BE PREPARED. Just the act of traveling from one place to another place is enough to anger my bitchy stomach, so I always have to plan ahead to make sure I have things to calm her the eff down. Plus, because I have so many dietary restrictions, it’s imperative that I bring some things along with me in case I find myself hangry in the middle of a bread factory or something. Here’s a look at a few of the things that I ALWAYS have in my bag when I travel…

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Edit: This was actually last week’s post that never got posted. I’m doing AWESOMELY, guys. Can’t you tell?

Well hello! Worst Fitties in the room, please raise your hands! Oh wait, that’s me.

So, I’m on a bus somewhere in NJ, on the way home after a weekend with friends in which anything Fittie related went right out the window. Also, I have run twice in two weeks and my knee is acting funny. I have that heavy feeling in my limbs and that soft feeling in my stomach. I wish so often that we could just get on a bus and head RIGHT for Fittie town. If that trip existed I would deal with whatever I had to in order to be aboard. One week on a smelly bus in cramped quarters, no wi-fi, no phone, no entertainment, hands tied to my side, WHATEVER I had to do (within reason? No, sometimes I think not!) to get there, I would do.

But no such bus exists. And I find myself with times and weeks like this all the time. I know when I get home I will bomb myself with water and make a new start. How many new starts is this? I have no capacity to count. The problem for me, with someone who has a thyroid condition the way I do, one bad day doesn’t go by that way. One bad day is like the equivalent of six. It takes me so much time to get back into the right swing. At least a week. If I’m lucky.

But, I have you all, Fitties. So though I know I have posted about being very positive in the face of setbacks before, I’m feeling a little burned and frustrated and tired of all the back and forth and of not feeling awesome. So tell me what you do when you are hopping on and off that ever-ending metaphorical train to fitness, and how you deal with it when the temptation to stay off and switch to the Lazytown Line is overwhleming?

(Also, a little FYI – my schedule is now gearing into the crazy time as we get close to our summer LeakyCons. Super crazy. If I miss a day, please don’t hold it against me! My posts might be short for awhile, or might be missing, but I will try and get replacements when I’m really crazy. I love and am committed to all of you Fitties.

COCONUTS!!! Who knew there were a million things you could do with every damn part of them! Here is where I talk for a long time about all the ways I use coconuts:

Coconut Flour: YUM!!! This is basically just coconut that’s been dried and de-fatted, then ground super fine to create a flour. It’s high in fiber and low in carbs (if you’re into that sort of thang) and is GREAT for gluten free, grain-free andpaleo-friendly baking. My favorite brand is Bob’s Red Mill; this is also the easiest to find. It can also be used as a thickener for things that you…um…want to make thick? I like to add ½ tbsp into my green smoothies. This makes them extra thick and sludgy (emphasis on sludgy…it’s like drinking a delicious cup of swamp. If sludge isn’t your thing, just forget all about this).

Unsweetened shredded coconut: I love this shit! Love it love it. It’s very different from the regular sweetened coconut that we all remember from our childhood. That sheez is loaded with HFCS and other weird things. I find unsweetened shredded coconut in the bulk bins at Whole Foods/other natural foods markets, but you can usually find it pre-packaged in the baking aisle of those stores too. Or online! Boop!

Extra virgin coconut Oil:

This is one of my favorite oils evaaarrrr. It has a very high smoke temp, which means you can cook/bake with it without it becoming unstable. It is also SUPA good for you. Coconut oil is high is saturated fat, but is cholesterol free, has no trans fats, and has been shown to help lower cholesterol and help with thyroid function. It does lend a bit of a coconutty flava to whatever you use it in, so keep that in mind. This is quickly becoming my go-to fat for pretty much errthang. Oh, it is also an amazing moisturizer for your skin and hurr. Boop it, y’all!

Coconut Water: alright, CoCo WaWa (I am an adult) is SO hot right now. A lotta peeps are into it because it’s (usually) an all-natural way to replenish electrolytes after workouts…also because celebs drink it in the “They’re Just Like Us!” section of US Weekly. Coconut water is a fat free, low calorie drink that’s extracted from young coconuts. A lot of people say it is more hydrating than other beverages but like, ehhhhhh….not really. I like (UNFLAVORED) coconut water, though I don’t drink it often because even without any added sugar it’s still a bit too sweet for my tastes. I tried the flavored kind once and it made me want to jump out a window, it was so terrible. But that’s just me.

Coconut milk:

OooooohKAAAYY GURRL!!! I see you. You’re looking all thick and luscious and you make a great sub for full fat dairy cream. Yeah I see you, coconut milk. It comes canned (check to make sure the can is BPA free!) in either full fat or light varieties. I love full fat for recipes where it’s very pronounced, like a pudding or a mousse, and use the lighter kind for things like cereal, green smoothies or straight up dranking. You can also make whipped cream from full fat coconut milk! It’s true! I’ll do a tutorial sometime, this post is already too long.

Coconut butter: ohhh yes. Get in mah mouf. Coconut butter is just unsweetened coconut blended until the fats break down and it turns into a drippy, fatty, luxurious butter. Exactly how nuts are processed into nut butters! The amazing thing about coconut butter is that it becomes solid when met with cold things. Basically what I’m saying is take some melted coconut butter, mix it with cocoa powder, and pour it over your favorite ice cream to make a magic shell. JUST DO IT.

This was long. Coconuts.

L

It’s been a crazy week here in New England. While my apartment in Cranston RI is about an hour south of where the bombings occurred, I feel intimately connected to everything that’s been happening in and around Boston. I have close friends who live in Boston and who were at the Red Sox game on Monday. I know people who ran in the marathon itself. New England is a small world; I’m pretty sure everyone here knows somebody who was in Boston on Monday.

We all have our own memories in Boston. Obviously, for me those memories revolve around wizard rock shows, including my first appearance as The Whomping Willows in December 2005, at the Middle East in Cambridge. The first annual Yule Ball with Harry and the Potters. Just a few highway exits away from the birthplace of wizard rock. However, my Boston memories begin much earlier than that. We’re talking school field trips in the 1980s. Providence is definitely my home town, but Boston has always been the big city right up the road.

I think Sam and Lauren have beautifully put into words what everyone’s been feeling in relation to the Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent acts of violence that occurred late Thursday night and early Friday morning: We are angry, we are sad, we are conflicted, we are unsure of where to direct our mess of emotions. We are happy that the bombers have been caught, but we’re also still reeling from the initial loss of good-hearted people — including an eight year-old child. It’s hard to focus on a fitness post when we’re trying to process all this stuff.

So, I’ve abandoned my planned celebration of whole grains in favor of this:

I’m six weeks into Couch to 5K. We’ve just hit the point where there are no more walking breaks. Everything from here on out is at least 22 minutes of running. I was already committed to completing this training and then moving on to 5K to 10K, but the Marathon bombing has only strengthened my resolve. I’m motivated by many things, and mostly my own health and well-being, so I’m not going to get all sanctimonious and say that I’m doing this for Boston. But when it gets hard and I feel overwhelmed by the next crazy goal in front of me, I’m going to channel the spirit of Boston to get me over that hump.