Sweet Potato Sausage Soup

Sweet Potato Sausage Soup
In a large pot, heat 1 tbsp olive oil w. medium-high heat. Cook 1 yellow onion (diced) and 4 cloves garlic (minced), until translucent. Season w. salt & pepper. Remove 3 Italian sausages from their casings. Add sausage to the pot with onions & garlic... break up meat with a wooden spoon and brown meat.

Add 4 cups chicken broth, 2 cups water, and 2 sweet potatoes (peeled & diced) to the pot. Bring to a boil. Add 3/4 cup small pasta shells and cook until al dente. OR skip the pasta and boil for about 7-8 minutes until sweet potato is soft.

Reduce to a simmer. Add 1 bunch of kale (rip leaves into edible size pieces, leave out the hard parts). Leave heat on for about 4 minutes until leaves wilt.

It's yummy... hits the spot on a cold afternoon! It fed me for quite a few meals this week. And Italian sausage usually comes in packs of 4, so you can have a lovely breakfast the next morning. Perfect!

EXERCISE UPDATE
So, I accompanied my friend to another on-site wellness class today. It was at the end of my work day, and I didn't want to go... just lacked motivation. I also had a weird, bad-ish day and didn't feel happy. One of my teammates was also affected by the events of the day and in a bad mood for a spell. I noticed the two of us were sitting there hunched over our keyboards and feeding off each other's negative energy. I was like: Omg! I'm going to just keep feeling crappy and bring it home with me... go work out!!

So, I went to Bootylates by Nina Waldman... the fancy lady on the right. This class was definitely at a much more manageable intensity level. The class started late due to technical difficulties, and I had to leave early... so I only probably worked out for about 30 minutes, but she made that short time count! My booty is sore! haha

Wait, This Isn't Zumba?

YESTERDAY: With my New Year's resolve firmly in place, I responded with a resounding, "YES!" when my friend at work asked if I would accompany her to an on-campus Zumba class. Yeah... I don't have much rhythm or coordination... but there's music and dancing so I'll have fun I'm sure.*pumped*

I'm in the yoga/dance/workout studio at work... kind of standing towards the back... ready to just casually be overlooked while I bumble around to the beat. THIS GUY (in photo to the left) literally jumps into the class - clapping and jumping and screaming things.  He went into like a 5-10 minute high intensity introduction... Here's how his verbal and my mental dialogue went.

"Welcome to RAW Fitness!!!"
Wait, this isn't Zumba?
"Who is here for endurance & conditioning? Who is here for strength & toning? Who is here for cardio?
Wow, these sound like great choices... um... strength & toning, please!
"I am going to scream at you! Can I cuss here? Yes? F*ck yeah!!"
Yeah!!!! F*CK YEAH!!!!! Pumped Up!!!
"I am going to push you! I am going to make you hate me! I am going to kill you!"
Um, pardon?
"You might feel like you need to puke.....[explanation and further clarification]..."
Puke? What?!?! *look at friends in class with bewilderment* Help!
"You can go to the gym and sit on a bike with your phone and Facebook and get in people's way. Hahaha (not). You can do that on your own time. Not when you're here... you're on my time!"
Why did I leave my jacket, badge, and water bottle in 3 different locations? I can't even make a quick exit! Would anyone notice? Would he yell at me?? I bet he would yell at me. Is he talking about vomit again? WTF?
"RAW Fitness is for those Ready And Willing! Get it?? It's all in the name!"
I'm not ready.... omg, omg, omg... I don't even feel willing... omg, omg, omg.

So, this happened:
15 minutes: Insanity / P90X Remix - Max Interval Circuit Training
15 minutes: PiYo - Body Weight Athletic Training inspired from a fusion of Pilates and Yoga
15 minutes: Core Strengthening
05 minutes: Zumba... because we initially thought this was Zumba so he threw it in as bonus. Thanks.

So... a few other things happened.
1) I ALMOST vomited on about 4 occasions.
2) I saw *s*t*a*r*s* during the first/last 5 mins of PiYo.
3) I thought I was going to die.

TODAY: Unbelievably sore hamstrings and glutes. Walking is difficult... mostly done in one direction at an unchanging velocity. No turning, no pivoting. Sit to stand to sit mechanical functions are restricted. I'm not sure when/if I'll be taking that class again... I think I just need some time to feel better about the experience.

I guess I'm proud I got through the class...? But I'm not really sure I got through it... I can't remember like 30% of it! I'm pretty sure I mentally fainted, if not physically.

It feels like that one time I climbed down the cliffs at UCSD to the beach, witnessed a pervert touching himself in public on the beach while I was sunbathing, then rushed to climb up the cliffs again super fast - and whited out from heat exhaustion!! I saw stars then too. I'm not sure that this was the most reasonable induction to 2015 fitness... but it happened... no regrets.

New Year, New Start!

Welcome back... or more like, I welcome me back to you. Haha. It's been quite a few weeks... and how did I fare during my absence from The No Food Fun Life? Um, not too bad but not too well.

I'm going to just say that I indulged in quite a few carbs - delicate tea sandwiches, petit fours, at least three greenbean casseroles with extra crispy french fried onions, turkey tetrazzini, a two-cheese baked ziti, and some delicious Chinese Dim Sum. Oh yeah, and one day I had an extra-large slice of purple potato pizza... my excess serving of carbs was topped by little thin slices of starch. Yeah.

But! Now that I've listed my momentary lapses over the holiday season, I've had successes too. For example, we tried a new Italian restaurant for take-out one night, and instead of ordering the seafood linguine that I truly wanted, I ordered a Caprese Salad (tomato, mozzarella, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar) and a side of meatballs. It was a guilt-free fancy meal at home! I also discovered that Atkins have a frozen foods section. I purchased the Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo and it was really yummy. I heated it up and poured the contents over a bowl of Miracle Noodles... winner! Of course, I don't make it a habit to eat highly processed foods, but this was a real life saver. At 26g Protein, 9g Carbs, 1g Sugar... it really helped me stay on track on those nights when I came home super tired from work and had no motivation to cook.

So, onward to 2015... it's time for the real deal. I busted open my bottle of Kevita Probiotic Tonic and drank half the bottle. That's the size of 1 serving and contains 5g Carbs and 4g Sugar... is it that much of the bad stuff? Meh. It's kind of marginal... and I take that hit because it's worth it! I seriously have a love affair with probiotics. The good bacteria keeps everything moving and grooving along on the inside, and they're super awesome for the immune system as well. So, I guess I'm kind of toasting myself to a healthier New Year? Cheers!

Now, for the next part. I stopped my 30 Day Yoga Challenge about 1/2 way through because of a rib injury last month... and I didn't pick it back up because of something else that's aggravated - related or unrelated? Who knows. It's a supra-scapular nerve impingement... it's painful to put any weight on my right arm, and my range of motion has been reduced. However, I won't let it stop my fitness goals for 2015. I need to find other things to do! And... CARDIO is the name of the game this year.

I did one of those body fat analysis thingies... 32% body fat. OMG. I can't believe I typed it... so embarrassing! I'm just going to trust that nobody here is judging me as hard as I'm judging myself. :( And increased body fat content is scientifically known to mess up hormone balance in females. I may have lost "weight" last year, but I need to work on this body fat situation. Stat!

Another confession!!! One of the things that I'm notorious for doing is using my scoliosis and neck/back pain as HUGE mental blockers against my own success. I know why I do it... there were many occasions over the past 16 years when I went to high-impact classes like Bar Method, Jazzercise, or Kickboxing... or just went jogging, did a high-intensty workout, or whatever... and my low-back has locked up and I get crippling sciatica pain. I mean, it does happen. But it doesn't ALWAYS happen. I think I'm afraid of taking on new activities based on the history of pain. However, I've got great insurance and a new wonderful chiropractic office that takes said insurance... so I vow to venture forth and take a little more risk in my activity choices this year.

Alright! Confessions have been made. Goals have been set. Here's to 2015 - a year of fitness and good health!

My Special Eyes

I've always had dry eyes, but they were manageable with some diligent attention... I switched to audible to give my eyes a rest while still indulging my reading appetite, I keep eye drops at work, in my purse, and in my car, I have overnight gel for sleeping, I have special glare protection on my computer glasses, and I keep the humidifier running at night. Wow, what an arsenal it appears to be when listed out like that.

Apparently, dry eye issues are yet another ridiculous complication of PCOS. So, even with all those preventative steps... I've been feeling pain, stinging, itching, watering, graininess, and general weirdness... mostly in my left eye. So, I went to the optometrist to see what's wrong and get some new computer glasses. My vision is still great after Lasik eye surgery, and nothing was wrong with my eyes.

Fast forward a week or so... things are getting worse. People at work are noticing that my left eye is like crying. Awkward. So, I finally went to the ophthalmologist today... and he thinks that the issues with my eye(s) may be a side effect of my medication. He sees a lot of patients on Metformin (which I take for insulin resistance & correlative treatment of PCOS) because that is a common drug prescribed for treatment of diabetes, and diabetes can cause any number of complications with the eyes and vision. Interestingly enough, my dosage was just increased from 500mg to 1000mg last month. Spot on, doc!

In an effort to alleviate some of the discomfort, I was given a whole ton of samples for Refresh Advanced single-day use vials... and they gave me a bunch of coupons to buy more at the store. It may feel better than what I've been using because it doesn't have any preservatives, which could be aggravating the problem. It should all last me about a month until I go back for a follow-up. I hope this is the solution to my eye problems!

On another note, sometimes when you're down... something unexpected is just waiting around the river bend, ready to pick you back up! My best friend asked if I got a package in the mail - I told her I'd check after work. I just thought she was sending me her daughter's school pictures. Turns out she sent me an early Christmas present and a little mini pick-me-up package!!

I can't wait for the weekend to come so I can curl up on the couch with some steaming hot, relaxing, and calming loose leaf tea... steeping in my "manatea" infuser! And then I can dig into part two of the Sailor Moon manga box set... it's seriously like unfinished business from my childhood, haha. And I'm reunited with one of my favorite movies, Horton Hears a Who! :)

See, I don't even remember that my eyes bug me anymore... YAY!!!!