Nothing special in the romance department around here, just a normal day and a couple of really sweet cards. :)
The more life goes on, the more I am thankful I have my wonderful man.
I know it's been ages since I've posted. Quite honestly, I've been going through a pretty rough patch lately as I've been dealing with some sort of hip injury/issue. It's really been affecting my workouts, as I can't do anything cardio-related, or squats, or deadlifts, or lunges, or everything else with my legs that's fun. That has led to some pretty interesting and fairly dark mental issues.
As you all might know, or have guessed by now, working out and eating right has become quite the obsession for me. I expect very few people will understand, but I'll try to explain a little more. The last year has been difficult for me. However, it didn't matter what my mental status was, or what I was dealing with, I could always head to the gym and be strong. My body was strong... not always in shape, but able to do what was asked of it. As a result, the gym has become my happy place. It's where I can turn my phone on airplane mode, lift heavy weights, and do crazy WOD's that include multiple rounds of burpees, pushups, running, squats, powercleans, etc.
So, as I've battled this injury with my hips in the last few weeks, it's been a roller coaster of emotions. All of a sudden, my body isn't strong anymore; in fact, it was quite weak. My mind, so used to depending on my body to be strong, didn't know what to do. I was ashamed of myself for not being able to perform, for having to do jogging intervals at 5.0 mph rather than sprinting intervals at 9.5 from the week before. Ashamed to be using "machines with chairs" while longingly looking at the squat racks. I went from November/December last year of hitting PR's (personal records) nearly every week in something or other, to completely cutting out entire portions of my workouts. I felt very frustrated and broken, and let's say it was a very good lesson in dealing with my shattered pride. Nothing like leaving the gym nearly in tears every day to take away some of that happy place feeling.
Fortunately, I've gained my upper body strength back as I still can work those muscles. I've been joking about finally becoming ripped on my upper body, as my legs have always been strong. My trainer has me finally convinced that no, in fact, I'm NOT broken. He even let me do a few things I probably shouldn't have just to prove that point, for which I'm grateful.
Yes, the realization has come to me and has finally sunk in that my body just needs to heal. Acceptance is always the last step, right? ;) I have been taking it easy, cutting out nearly everything cardio, taking lots of precautionary measures like stretching (goodness, I'll be able to do the splits by the end of this... both ways!), using ice/heat therapy (hello ice bath, NEVER again).
Like I said, I don't expect many to understand this crazy competition I have with myself. Some people have tried to offer comfort by telling me to look back and remember where I started. Oh boy, do I remember... but there's no way I'm stopping now. I'm too busy looking ahead! I don't want to settle for just plain good, or even great.
I will say this, like any other long-term struggle I seem to go through, it usually does wonders for my faith and strength in God. Sometimes I ponder that if it didn't take such extremes for me to learn the lesson, I might have an easier time in life....?
This is another great "pin" I have in one of my Pinterest boards:
Anyway on to the next part... Food!!
Tonight I tried something new... a take off a recipe I found on Pinterest, where else? :)
I realized as I found the link again and read through the recipe, that I really just grabbed the idea from here http://www.marksdailyapple.com/crispy-nut-and-herb-fried-chicken-with-creamy-avocado/ and not much else. :)
I'd been wanting to use up some of my flax meal for awhile, so that made up the majority of the "breading."
I've also been off chicken for awhile, so wanted to try the recipe with turkey breasts instead. I really like these turkey breast cutlets, as they're thin and cook super quick. I hate waiting for food to cook. Me want food! Me want food now! :)
With chicken breasts, I would recommend pounding them or something. On the original recipe link, the author says that nuts smell really bad when they burn (?), so if after a few minutes the meat isn't cooked through, pop the pan in a preheated 350*oven for a few minutes once the outside is nice and crispy.
I probably wouldn't go with all olive oil for frying next time either... I like olive oil, but not too big on the taste. Now, butter. That makes everything better. Butter. Better. It's meant to be.
So, without further ado, here's the recipe for my homemade
Parmesan-Crusted Turkey Breasts:
Heat pan, add oil/fat of choice (I used olive, but probably will go butter in the future)
Combine:
Italian seasoning
Oregano
Onion powder
Parmesan, small amount (otherwise will burn in the pan)
Ground flax seeds/meal
Ground/finely chopped almonds or almond meal (I actually liked having a few crunchy almond pieces in there!)
Salt
Chopped garlic (which I didn't think to add, but yum, wouldn't that be good?!)
2 eggs, or however many you need to make it into a sticky paste of sorts
Rub mixture on both sides
Throw them in the pan for 2-ish minutes on each side
Garnish with more parmesan
And, devour!
If I were more on top of things, I would serve with marinara and pasta, at least for the hubby to enjoy. The turkey had a very yummy American/Italian flavor.
Hope you had a
Happy Valentine's Day!
2 comments:
Well, I posted before and now it didn't work. Just thought that your pinterest post was a perfect ending to your "share" of the last year. You have gone through other "growing" experiences, and have always come out on top. You probably will have more, but you have a lot of firsts to still come that is exciting to look forward to.
Love the "beautiful people" pin...so true! Thx for sharing and hope all goes well for recovery...
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