Warning: Long post ahead!
I woke up this morning being able to walk without pain.. yay! The first couple days it hurt to stand up straight. Even Sunday night I thought ‘oh I’ll feel better when I wake up tomorrow’.. just to wake up in an awful state. I’d never had anything like this before. I’m thankful to be up & moving today, but I still feel pretty frail, for lack of a better term.. it sucks! But at least, slowly but surely, I’m coming back to life. In the meantime though.. I’m going stir-crazy! I’m the type that likes to be busy and on-the-go, so it’s absolutely driving me nuts to be stuck at home, not moving for days at a time. Not to mention, that although Killer (the cat) is lovely company, he’s not great with stimulating conversation, and I’m just getting lonely darn it! I want to go to kickboxing & spin, and lift! .. ok, vent finished.. I decided to take another point of view..
Body > Mind
Basically: I should have listened to my body.
I’m considering this a not so friendly reminder from my body to listen to it, and not be distracted by silly things such as stress, outside opinions or confusion. This is a wake up call to be particularly conscious & mindful of everything I’m eating & drinking, and be SO THANKFUL for my health. Generally I stick with the 95-5% rule (I adapted it, haha): eat clean & sparkly 95% of the time, and enjoy treats 5%. Like with anything though, when life gets crazy, distractions are all over, things going wrong, yadda yadda yadda.. I sometimes lose focus, and let outside factors, and/or other people’s opinions get the best of me.
As a health coach in training, I don’t pretend to be perfect or have all the answers, but I’ve been through the ups & downs.. and around-and-arounds of health, I learn (both from experience and from reading everything I can get my hands on), I analyze, and I’m constantly trying to improve. Health is a journey, there is no final destination (ok fine, there is.. but this isn’t a morbid sort of post). Something one of my teachers says is, “it’s all an experiment.” You don’t know if somethings going to work for you until you try. If it doesn’t work, check it off as a lesson learned, and move on.. the important part is, to learn that lesson!
What I’ve learned on top of everything (though apparently I need abrupt reminders every so often) is: listen to your body, not mind.. the body tells the truth.. your mind lies!
So now for confession time.. know what made me sick?!? .. something I very rarely eat.. pizza 
I had had a crappy weekend, and gave into a craving I’d had for a while. Since I have pizza so rarely, I wasn’t feeling particularly guilty about the decision at the time. But in retrospect, it was incredibly dumb. Dumb not just for health reasons, but because I know it’s not what I really wanted/needed. On the physiological side, sometimes I still forget that my body isn’t use to the same stuff it once was. I rarely eat cheese anymore (it was well coated in it) and generally the only meat I eat is chicken or turkey (this had sausage & pepperoni.. I don’t even like pepperoni, wtf?). So yeah, not rocket science, that after over a year of eating quite clean the majority of the time.. this was a bad idea. But I guess sometimes us hard-headed folks have to learn lessons the hard way. And after 2.5 days of horrible pain, not being able stand up straight and missing, coming up on a week’s worth of workouts.. my lesson is very well learned.
So after making a very big mistake.. a little reflection is in order. The pizza tasted good and all at the time, but not any better than a beautiful Spinach & Strawberry Salad. The funny part of all this is, not 48 hours before I’d told a friend how 95% of the time I’d pick a salad over macaroni & cheese or pizza any day.. oops, foreseeing the future much :p I digress..
I think I went with non-homemade (the homemade version is not being ruled out.. so much better and healthier) pizza because I associate it with fun & stress-free times. I ended up at the store because I needed Drain-0, I wasn’t hungry, I was just in a crappy mood & stressed. Crappy mood + crappy food = evil Alyson.. or in this case, very sick Alyson. That need could have been satisfied in so many other, more healthy ways; i.e. going for a late night swim, reading a favorite book, calling a friend to vent etc. So even though I still sort of feel like my body punished me for making a bad choice, I’m not beating myself up about it, because that it utterly pointless. I learned both psychological and physiological lessons:
Moving On
I felt well enough today to have a real breakfast! Since I spent the majority of the last few days curled up in a ball on the couch, I had plenty of time to catch up on my Reader (one positive right?).. and admire many pretty & healthy meals. So this morning, I new exactly what I was going to make.. waffles! I’ve had a waffle maker since college, but I’ve only used it twice! I know.. crazy.. especially since waffles are one of my very favorite breakfasts (and are requested almost every time I’m home visiting my parents). Why I haven’t gotten around to making Protein Waffles is beyond me.. but that’s all changed now 
This morning I used Lori’s, from Finding Radiance, recipe for Protein Waffles. I’m still being careful with my stomach, so I wanted to avoid protein powder, and stick with whole foods. This recipe was just the following ingredients whipped up in the Magic Bullet:
1/3 c Cottage Cheese (I used nonfat)
1/3 c Egg Whites
1/3 c Oat Flour (ground up Coach’s Oats in my case)
I forgot to add a little vanilla & cinnamon, but it wasn’t missed after adding a little 0-cal Maple Syrup, a sprinkle of Cinnamon and Strawberries on top..
I picked up Kefir in order to try to get some of those lovely Probiotics (aka healthy bacteria) back in my digestive system. What goes perfectly with Kefir..
+
=
I rarely buy granola, because I have trouble sticking with an appropriate serving size (seriously 1/4 c of yumminess is just not enough).. but I picked this up, and wow, amazing!
Wrap it Up
I prefer wraps to sandwiches.. unless it’s a panini which is a whole other story (why the grilling makes so much difference, I don’t know, but it’s magical :p), so I was delighted to find these at the store..
Toufayan Low-Carb Wraps. And I was even happier to love them! Sometimes low-carb/cal wraps fall apart or have a weird taste &/or texture. These however are delicious! In that beauty is low-sodium Turkey Breast, 2 tbsp Garden Vegetable Hummus, Spinach, Tomato and Avocado..
I have am not skilled in the art of ‘wrapping’..
A Lovely Combination
I’d seen this recipe pop up in a few different blogs, and it just looked too good, I had to try.. I give you Angela’s Nut Butter Fries. I used Sweet Potatoes and 3 tbsp of raw Almond Butter. I cooked them at 400 F for 40 min, but they never got crisp before they started to burn. Should I have used a lower temperature for longer? But I actually prefer fries on the softer side, so they were just fine by me.. and ohhh so good!
For dinner they enjoyed the company of Gardein’s BBQ Shreds and Kale with a little Tomato..
Subconsciously Inspired Dessert: Raw Strawberry Pie
This dessert came together by accident, and I’m pretty proud of it because I didn’t follow any recipes! I know however I was certainly subconsciously inspired by the raw dessert masters like Averie and Michelle & Lori. I started out with the goal of making some sort of raw dessert treat, so into the food processor went..
5 Medjool Dates
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tbsp raw Almond Butter
1/4 c Quinoa Flour (just ground Quinoa)
I could have stopped there.. but this seemed to be a great ‘crust’ of sorts.. so I patted it into the bottom of a tupperware and brainstormed.. next into the food processor goes:
1/2 frozen Banana, in chunks
1 c frozen Strawberries
~3 tbsp Kefir
Spooned that onto the ‘crust’ and chilled for a couple hours..
Layer love..
Yumm. I put mine in the freezer for a couple hours, but it would be fine stored in the fridge..
Back at It
Even though I wasn’t able to workout today .. it felt so good just to be up, moving around, and being productive! Boredom = depression for me, so it was refreshing to get back to work. I’m hoping, praying, crossing my fingers that I’ll be good to go with at least a light workout tomorrow.
Phew.. so if you stuck around through all of that, thank you! How’s your week going so far? Have you had any body>mind lessons?
Fun Links
I am on a bit of a raw kick, too! That dessert looks fantastic. Thanks for the recipe!
My body dislikes foods I use to eat also. I'm adding cottage cheese and yogurt back for a bit and I hope my body responds. Don't be down about eating pizza. Just remember the crappy feeling it gave you. I do that before I devour chocolate…it's not worth it.
That dessert sounds interesting.
I'm the same way with foods! People don't understand why "just this once" won't hurt me.. but my stomach hates a lot of foods now!
Mmm so many good food in here too! I'm drooling over that dessert!
I did the same thing recently, I ate a big greasy pulled pork sandwich after months of eating meat very sparingly and eating cleaner in general for longer. Needless to say, it tasted great at the time but I felt ill very soon after. I forgot how long it had been since I changed my diet for the better and didn't think that my body would no longer be ok with junky food. Live and learn as they say.
ugh, I am sick today and I hate that I can't be 100%. But youre right, I need to listen to my body. Bugger. Maybe I'll go make that raw cake to cheer me up. haha!
HI Alyson. Don't beat yourself up… I too have been there… Its amazing how your body says "NO NO NO you don't" to processed foods and junk once you have been eating clean. The other day I was also thinking, wow, I have not had pizza in ages or pasta with meat sauce, or an ice cream sundae… But nothing beats feeling healthy, vibrant and energetic. Thank god for clean eating recipes like the ones you provide. I love your blog and find you to be a BIG inspiration. It's all a journey, not the destination.
Take care!
Denise
yes, dont beat yourself up. You judge yourself, your body does not judge you or pizza for that matter. Sure, its processed but its not toxic, you'll live and the most important thing to to look forward. That raw pie sure put that pizza in history! looks gorgeous!
Cool dessert recipe idea!! Or should I say, freezing?
So many life lessons for sure! Like you, my bod really reacts bad to things it is not used to & it does not like milk products. I don't do cheese for sure. Pizza is not something that I crave (I know, I am weird) but I do love the crust!
Glad you are feeling better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
looks like you rebounded awesome girl
keep your head up you know what's best for you!
for example that AMAZING dessert!
My body seriously hates cheese now. I used to just suck it up and eat pizza at events but now I ask for at least 1/2 or 1/4 of the pizza to be without cheese….I now have a bit of an aversion to it too. I absolutely love homemade pizza, though! Glad you are starting to feel better – your raw dessert looks absolutely amazing!
dont beat yourself up alyson!! you are beautiful and strong, and you will always bounce back. Thank goodness we have healthy, clean foods like YOUR RECIPES to fall back on
taht dessert looks so good!! i am a HUGE kefir fan and wondering a recipe to make with it besides a smoothie!!
those bars look SO good and pretty! i love kefir and cannot beleieve I had it for the first time only about a month ago! I went through a container So fast!! the blueberry looks fantastic
my roomate has the strawberry one and says its so good!!
dont beat yourself up!!! you are beautiful and strong and know your body well and I love your recipes…so thank goodness we have healthy food to lean on
So glad you're feeling well again! You certainly paid quite a price for a few slices of pizza!
I wish my body hated pizza. But it doesn't, and I eat it almost weekly! I totally look forward to it and I never regret it. I've been wondering when you were going to post a protein waffle!!!
Sorry we didn't get together before I left for NY. I really do want to meet when I get back after the 10th.
LOVE Medjool dates!! Reg pizza makes me mega sick too. Funny enough I actually just posted my fave healthy pizza!
hey girl! im so sorry about the pizza- it makes me sick too! oh well.. tommo=A NEW DAY and new start!! altho youve already had that! your eats look GREAT!
Glad you are feeling better. We've all had the post cheat sickness. I now get a stomach ache just thinking about eating those foods, a great deterrent! Usually it lasts 3 days after I eat a baddie.
On another note….OMG!!!! Everything you have here today for food looks fantastic. I had no idea healthy waffles could look soooo delicious. Must try everything! I'm with you on the spinach / strawberry salad! Thanks once again for sharing such lovely food ideas! HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!