I love a good massage. Who doesn't? But yesterday I tried out a new kind of massage - a massaged kale salad! I've had massaged kale from Whole Foods before, but this was my first time making it myself.
I mentioned before that I bought a bunch of kale at a local farmers' market last Saturday.
I finally washed the kale and removed the leaves from the stems on Wednesday night (the worst part! I hate cleaning and tearing up lettuce, which is why I'm such a big fan of bagged spinach). With that out of the way, I was ready to make up a salad for lunch.
I put my clean, bite-sized pieces of kale into a container and added about 1/2 T lime juice, 1 T lemon juice, about 1/2 T olive oil, a few blobs of hummus (I just eyeballed it according to the amount of kale I used, and added enough to coat all of the leaves), then mixed it all up with my hands and massaged the kale leaves until they were evenly coated.
I also added some red bell pepper, lentils, Trader Joe's marinated artichoke hearts, and chopped walnuts. This was SO good! I actually tried a plain piece of kale when I was washing it, and it tasted exactly how I imagine a leaf would taste. Blech. But it's amazing how the acids from the citrus juices and hummus really tenderize the kale and change its taste, making it much milder and very tasty. I've read that you should let a massaged kale salad rest for at least 15 minutes before eating it, but since I made my salad before work, mine sat for about 4+ hours before I ate it, which worked fine.
I enjoyed my salad with some fresh pineapple and a medjool date. Yum! This salad was very satisfying and filling. It seemed even more substantial than spinach or other salad greens. And the added protein and healthy fats from the lentils, hummus, olive oil, and walnuts helped to keep me full for quite awhile.
In other (much less appetizing) news, my feet are getting better! Wednesday was a turning point for me and I'm almost walking normally again, thank goodness. I can't wait to get back into a workout routine!
Are you excited that it's Friday? I am! Bring on the weekend!
Song of the day:
"1st Things 1st" by Phantom Planet. In honor of their reunion shows the past 2 nights (oh how I wish I could have been in LA for them!), here is one of my favorite songs by my all-time favorite band.
I spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon boating with my family, but it ended in injury.
Injury of the lamest variety. I forgot my shoes on the boat when we were taking it out of the water, but I figured I would just hop in the car when my dad stopped at the top of the ramp before driving to a spot in the parking lot to clean up the boat. Except... my dad didn't stop at the top of the ramp.
So I thought, no big deal, I'll just walk barefoot to the car. I was mostly grossed out because it was not a very clean parking lot, to say the least, so I tried to hurry to avoid the grime and the hot blacktop. This turned out to be a terrible decision, though, because I ended up burning my feet. I developed 2 HUGE blisters on the balls of both of my feet Seriously, grossly, shockingly huge. I've had trouble getting around since Sunday and have had to hobble on the sides of my feet. I can't even drive. And I may have crawled up the stairs a few times... and scooted down them :) Yep, pretty pathetic, right?
It doesn't hurt, it's just really annoying. I don't like not being able to move around as much as I want! I've never been laid up with an injury before (knock on wood), and as minor as this is, I'm anxious for the blisters to go down so I can walk normally again. And Gina at the Fitnessista started her Summer Shape Up on Monday and I haven't been able to participate :( As soon as I can get moving again I'm going to join, though!
Adding insult to injury, today I received a couple of new workout DVDs that I bought from Groupon, and I really want to try them out!
The Fitnessista is a big fan of Shaun T, so I jumped at the chance to try some of his workouts (and couldn't pass up a good deal, per usual). Has anyone else tried these DVDs, or any other Shaun T workouts? (I still need to do a final review of the Physique 57 DVDs, too - soon, I promise!)
So that's pretty much what I've been doing. Sitting around. And sitting some more. I did make myself a delicious smoothie after work today. I named it the choco-nana-nut. Rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it? :)
It had 1 cup almond milk, 1 T natural peanut butter (Trader Joe's brand - very smooth and delicious!), 1 large frozen banana, and 2 T Ovaltine. I just happened to see a huge tub of Ovaltine in the kitchen cupboard and it made me nostalgic for my youth - I used to have a big glass of Ovaltine after school almost every day - so I decided to throw some in for old time's sake. You could also use cocoa powder or carob powder instead.
I went to the farmers' market over the weekend (finally) and got a nice big bunch of kale. I'm planning to make a massaged kale salad, and maybe try sautéing some of it? We shall see.
PS If you are like me and enjoy seeing weird skin things (but not blood! eek!), scroll down past the song of the day for some lovely pictures of my blisters. But please stop reading now if you wish to save your eyeballs from the horror.
Song of the day:
"Hold On" by Alabama Shakes. I'm obsessed with this song right now - there's something so primal about it. In a good way. I had no idea the lead singer was a woman until I looked up this music video. I bet this band would put on an awesome show!
Okay seriously, stop reading if you don't want to see gross pictures.
Really.
Okay, ready?
Left foot.
Right foot.
Right foot again.
So there you have it. Don't walk on blacktop in your bare feet. You've been warned.
West side roll it out South side roll it out East side roll it out North side roll it out
Sorry, couldn't resist.
I'm referring to this innocent looking cylinder:
That is my foam roller, and I'm in a dependent relationship with it. And I think it's going to be long-term. Let me start from the beginning. A few weeks ago, I did the week 3 workout of the Fitnessista's Winter Shape Up program. The thing is, I am NOT a runner. I can do cardio classes back to back, walk for miles at a time, etc., but running and I do not get along. This goes back to the first time we had to run "the Mile" in 5th grade - it was horrible and I just wanted to lie in the grass and sunbathe instead of run.
But the week 3 workout included a treadmill plan. I could have done it on the elliptical or bike, but I wanted to give the treadmill a shot and challenge myself. I definitely had to make modifications and take it at my own pace, but I felt awesome after completing the 30-minute routine. Except for one little thing - a sharp pain on the outside of my lower left knee.
I had felt this pain before, at least since I was a teenager, but it was always fleeting and I didn't think much of it. This time, though, the pain was much more intense and did not immediately go away. From reading other blogs and fitness articles, I had a feeling I knew what it was: my IT band, which runs from the hip to the knee. IT band injuries are common amongst runners, and while I would not consider myself a runner, I didn't think it was a coincidence that I felt the pain after running (and after being the most consistently active that I've ever been). I did a little online self-diagnosing and found that my symptoms matched those of IT band injuries.
I really did not want to get a full-blown injury, so I elevated and iced my IT band (with a bag of frozen corn - classy!), ordered new tennis shoes (the ones I had been wearing were a couple of years old), and ordered the foam roller pictured above. This video shows how to use a foam roller to release your IT band:
I had NO idea how painful this would be. The first time I used the foam roller, I could barely put any weight on the outside of my thigh; my IT band was incredibly tight. Tears came to my eyes as I was writhing in pain on the floor - lovely, right? I've used it every day since, ideally before and after working out, and before bed, and I have noticed a huge difference. Now I can put my full weight on my IT band on both thighs, and I only get a slight twinge of pain once in awhile. Huge improvement.
This is another video that shows other ways to use the foam roller:
If you work out regularly, and especially if you run, I would highly recommend getting a foam roller - it allows you to release muscles in ways that cannot be achieved merely from stretching (but don't forget to stretch, too!). Plus, using a foam roller is like an at-home massage! Also, a lot of gyms have foam rollers if you want to try it out before getting one for yourself.
On a sweeter note, I baked these lemon squares and brought them to school today for the Environmental Law Society's bake sale.
This is not a healthy dessert in the slightest, but it sure is delicious. As I was cutting them last night, the first square stuck to the pan and was difficult to get out - since it was falling apart and was not in any condition to be sold, I happily claimed it as my own and had it for a midnight snack while I was finishing up my school assignment. I set two aside to take over to my neighbor (a cute old lady who lives across the hall from me and has been in the apartment building for 50 years!) and the rest will be sold for a contribution to the Ohio Environmental Council.
After school I did the week 3 workout and am so glad that this time around I'm not having shooting pains like I did a few weeks ago.
Now it's time to shower, tackle my dish mountain, and get something to eat for dinner. Have a great night!
When's the last time you had a bake sale? Before I started law school, I heard it was a lot like high school, and that is so true - we have lockers, our class sizes are relatively small so you get to know each other pretty quickly (read: lots of gossip), we have bake sales...
Song of the day:
"Lonely Boy" by the Black Keys. The Black Keys are from my hometown of Akron (!!!) and I love their gritty rock vibe. And this is a pretty awesome music video, too.
