PT and New Cookbooks!

I've been rather lax about posting recently. I apoligize!

Physical therapy has been going pretty well. I've been pretty good about keeping up with my exercises at home, I think, as I've been pretty sore every morning. However it's a good sore now! I don't mind muscle soreness as long as it's not causing pain. So this week, I've gone three times and I've got another three scheduled for next week. Unfortunately my insurance isn't covering as much as I'd like, but this is pretty important to me so it's worth it. I can walk normally now (good for Martha!) but I still can't manage stairs. It's amazing how many glares I get taking the elevator at school or the bookstore. I think most people think I'm just being lazy. Judgy.

So I learned a little bit more about my IT band from talking to my physical therapist (love her, really!). It seems that something that I do every day might also be really stressing my IT bands. When ever I'm standing still, I tend to cock my hip to one side, which really stresses the band in that leg. Once I noticed that I do it, I see that I do it ALL the time. While brushing my teeth, washing the dishes, even during pauses while walking the pup. I'm trying to keep my weight evenly distributed on both legs, but I've had few lapses. It looks like this is going to end up being a total re-education in how I walk, stand, run... I usually sit on the couch in a way that stresses it too because I fold my legs under myself in a weird sorta way. I'm trying to be pretty conscious of it so that I can learn new ways to do things that don't stress my legs.

I've been making it to yoga at least! I went on Tuesday and Thursday this week, and I hope to make it to the free class at lululemon tomorrow too. I've been taking it easy and trying to not push it, but so far, no pain from class. I think I've developed a little bit of fear towards re-injury too. It hurt a lot. These past two classes, I've been using my new lululemon yoga mat and I'm shocked to report that I really don't like it! I even switched mats mid-class yesterday because it was so slippery that I can't stay in downward dog. Luckily, the company stands by their products so much that I've heard that they will take it back! I will test that theory out tomorrow and see what happens. Maybe tomorrow if I make it to the class?

I picked up a couple new cookbooks to try out as well! As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm not a vegetarian, but I tend to eat a rather plant-based diet so I bought two vegetarian cookbooks. I find that most others revolve around meat as the main part of the dish (i.e meat and a veggie side instead of veggie with a little meat), especially for slow cookers. I'm pretty excited to try both out and if I'm really craving bacon, it looks like it would be pretty easy to toss some in.

First up: How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

I really like Bittman's column in the NYT and his food philosophy. I also have his book Food Matters, and while the recipes are really good, it's got a lot more narrative than cookbook. I was especially excited about the section in this book on seitan! I love getting it in restaurants but am clueless as how to handle it in my own kitchen. I'll let you know how it goes!

Second: Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker
I just bought a slow cooker, thinking how wonderful it would be to just toss some ingredients in it in the morning and to have something ready for dinner! However, most slow cooker cookbooks are for roasts and stuff. This one has a great white bean and escarole one that I can't wait to try out. Yum.

One last comment on food before I get back to some physical therapy exercises. I had some Ben and Jerry's light Phish Food Ice Cream last night which is deeeelicious, but I took a gander at the ingredients and almost fell over. Ingredients 2-4 are liquid sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and sugar. ICK. I'm going to finish out the pint (can't waste tasty ice cream), but I'm kinda conflicted at buying it again. That's a lot of sugar and artificial sweeteners, and since I'm so careful about not throwing that into most of my diet, it seems like a bit of a shame to eat it for dessert. Any thoughts on this?

So tasty! But so artificial! What to do!

As I go, I'll leave you with a picture of Martha (who just turned two!). The poor pup has been trying to climb into my lap for the past half hour and has been asking me to hurry up with the update so she can settle in. She says hi. :)