Road Trippin

Tags

cereal, Cliff Bars, earth fare, giveaway, Great Harvest, injury, Mojo bars, pelvic stress fracture, quaker. quaker oatmeal squares, road trip, starbucks, stir fry, stress fracture, trader joe's

I learned a few very important lessons about road trips today.

Do eat a stabilizing breakfast before setting off on your trip.

This morning I had… nope, not oats! I know you are shocked… instead, I had a bowl of Quaker Oatmeal Squares with 1/2 a banana and 1% milk.

(I added the milk after the pictures – soggy cereal, no thank you)

Ok ok so it was still a Quaker product and still had oats in the title but it was slightly different. This is actually one of the few cereals that keep me full for longer than an hour. And it was fast, which I needed this morning.

 

Do not drink a lot of liquids and/or foods that contain a lot of liquids. You WILL have to use the bathroom at the most inconvenient time. Because that’s how life goes.

I stopped after the doctor’s appointment and got a Grande iced coffee with a splash of half and half and a sprinkle of cocoa powder from Starbucks. YUM.

I tried to drink it slowly to avoid a sudden need to use the bathroom – that plan did not work.

And neither did the apple that I had as a snack. But it was good.

 

Do pack a filling lunch. And consume before a shopping marathon. Neither of  which I did. This is one of those “do as I say, not as I do” things…

I packed this bar, which was pretty high in calories and had a good amount of protein and fiber.

Unfortunately, it tasted like crap (to me). Kind of like a Lara Bar gone wrong… maybe I tried the wrong flavor? I took one bite and said “uh…no.”

Thankfully, I also packed this bar.

Oh Mojo Bars… you never let me down 😉

I also had some baby carrots.

 

Unfortunately, (but not suprisingly), this was NOT a big enough lunch to keep me full. I ended up shaky and with a massive headache because I waited so long to eat AND the fact that it was not enough. Lesson learned.

 

Do not always rely on your GPS. She can be very, very wrong. (yes, my GPS is a she)

I was looking for an Earth Fare. I ended up at a construction site. Hm… methinks I need to update her.

Do your trust your instincts. I was on a frozen yogurt mission with a recommendation from a fellow blogger. As I got closer, the surroundings… erm… deteriorated. I started to think “hmmm… this doesn’t look good.” I then realized that I was in Inner city Charlotte. Yes, said frozen yogurt destination was in a very sketchy area. I don’t think I want to leave my car and risk my life… not even for fro-yo.

(I probably would’ve been OK and would’ve been fine getting out if I wasn’t alone buuuuut i’m a huge chicken)

Do choose fun destinations. Ok so my said “destinations” were stores, but you get my drift.

I first went to a HUGE mall (the malls in Spartanburg are SEVERLY lacking in good stores). I found some cool finds at Forever 21 and then hit the jackpot at Delia’s! I found THE cutest dress.. and it was on SALE. Like, the biggest sale of the year. Yay!!!

And then… the destination to end all destinations.. Trader Joe’s!!! I walked in and it’s like I heard a choir singing… at last. The famous TJ’s. I brought a small cooler for the perishable items so i had to limit myself to what would fit. And believe me, I had to STUFF stuff in there after TJ’s and the next store (read on for that). I found some amazing stuff!!!! Unfortunately, I also missed out on the pumpkin waffle/pancake mix. There was ONE box left on the shelf and I walked away to look at something else for one second. And I turned around… and it was GONE. DANGIT! But I still found some great stuff!

TJ’s whole wheat pizza dough, fat free european yogurt, mahi mahi, mocha yogurt, chicken sausage, maple yogurt

Do these not sound incredible?!

TJ’s almond butter, poppy seed dressing, pumpkin butter, white cheddar mac and cheese, pumpkin spice granola, swish milk chocolate, apple cinnamon bran muffins, honey, almond, and flax cereal, and dark and chocolate nutty bites

 

TJ’s Almond Butter, Pumpkin butter, and Poppy Seed Dressing

 

Luckily for me, Great Harvest is right next door to TJ’s! (FYI,  this Great Harvest is actually the one that Kath’s husband Matt works at, if you read her blog. Last time I came I saw him… it was like seeing a celebrity!) I bought some Dakota bread, Irish Soda Bread (because I’m in an Irish mood, what with my upcoming trip and all), and a Cappuccino Chocolate Chip Muffin. 

Irish Soda Bread

Dakota Bread

 

Next up, Earth Fare! I know, I know, there are Earth Fares all over the place… but not in Spartanburg! And it was there. So I thought why not? And thank goodness because I hit the motherlode!!!

Cliff Bar jackpot!!! Ok, so I went a bit bar crazy. BUT they were only 99 cents at TJ’s… can’t pass that up. So excited to try the iced gingerbread… I’ve been looking for it forever!

FINALLY!!!!

 

LOVE Crofter’s! Can’t wait to try this flavor!

Spelt Chocolate Chip Muffin

FYI, I froze both the muffin from Great Harvest and the muffin from Earth Fare. And I will be freezing most of the Dakota Bread, Irish Soda Bread, and TJ’s muffins. So then I can make these delicious goods last and last and last…

Do pick out some awesome music to sing along too. Hey… no one else is listening 😉

All in all, it was a fun trip. I needed the alone time… like for real. Have you ever driven without music, just in the quiet? SO relaxing. And gives time for some deep thinking.

After coming home and putting up/freezing my treasures from the day, I was starving and craving some veggies after my day of snacking and no real meals. So I had a stir-fry.

I cooked up some baby bok choy, mushrooms, broccoli, bean sprouts, ginger, and garlic. I added some tamari sauce and teriyaki sauce. And then a scrambled egg in the middle to bind it all up. I then added the veggie mixture on top of some wheat berries. All topped off with cilantro and salted peanuts.

YUM! The wheat berries added a nice chew and texture to the stir fry… nice change from rice!!!

And then dessert… ok so this was quite possibly the best dessert I’ve had in FOREVER.

What is that picture of perfection? It is a slice of Vegan Carrot Cake from Earth Fare. AKA, a slice of heaven. It was SO freaking good, in case you haven’t gotten the message yet. And I haven’t had cake in MONTHS. <- too long without cake in my life!!

This even beat some regular carrot cakes that I have had. It was super moist and the taste was incredible. Upon the first bite, the first thing I tasted was cinnamon. And then a bit of orange. And then this cream cheese taste. HOLY crap. I had to go look up the ingredients on the package after I ate it. I want to re-create this!

Carrot cake is probably one of my most favorite desserts. No, I know that this was not healthy, even if it is vegan and has carrot in the name. And it was a very large piece of cake. But you know what? I enjoyed it. And I savored it. AND this was a little mini celebration because I *think* I have figured out a solution to my school dilemma, which I will share with you once/if everything works out.

And now, the doctor’s appointment from today. Thank you to everyone who sent me well wishes and gave me some great advice. And shared some AMAZING stories! First, honestly, I don’t like my doctor all that much. I don’t know why but there’s just something about him that I am not too fond of. But at the time of my injury, he was the only one that I could get an appointment with. Well as some of you may know, he had told me back in Jan (my injury actually happened on Dec. 13 ) that I would be back to running within 6-8 weeks and I would be able to run the half marathon that I had planned for April 9. Well, I had a feeling that this was not going to happen but he gave me hope. Obviously, false hope.

And so I went back today because I’m still having pain and I"m wondering if I’m not doing enough for my injury for it to heal properly and I almost feel like something is wrong… So I go and tell him all this, but he hardly lets me get a word in edge-wise. I explained that I’m still hurting, some days badly and some days I feel no pain at all. And I explained that I can still FEEL my injury, not necessarily always pain but I can just feel it’s there. His response to that was that when bones heal, they are sore and the process can be painful. And that what I’m experiencing is normal and it should be healing properly. Notice that I said *should*. I want another MRI done to see if it is healing but he doesn’t want another one done unless he HAS to because he doesn’t want to expose me to more radiation than necessary.

Now here’s the kicker – after telling him all that, that I have more pain at nights on days where I’m walking a lot, he tells me that I am a young. healthy individual. He tells me that he wants me to go home and for 3 days straight, he wants me to power walk for 10 minutes. And then the next three days, power walk for 15 minutes, the next 3 days, 20 minutes, and the next 3 days, power walk for 20 minutes and jog for 5 minutes. And then increase my jogging time after that. And then come back to him – if I am in more pain, we will go from there. Seriously? Do you really think that doing something to see if it causes me pain is the BEST idea? I don’t get it. If i’m having pain NOW after just going about my daily routine, then won’t more physical activity make it worse? I don’t know, something in me just tells me that I should NOT do this. I just have this gut feeling, you know? He also told me that he wants me to start physical therapy. I do want to go to physical therapy but it still seems too early for me. I know that I’m not a doctor, but everything he told me seems contradictory to everything that I have heard about these types of stress fractures. So I managed to get an appointment with another orthopedic doctor for next Thursday that specializes in pelvic injuries next week because I want a second opinion.

Bah. Not exactly bad news but I’m not happy with it either. On the other hand, maybe he is right and I should do what he says. If not, at least I’m DOING something proactive (by finding another doctor).

I am thankful today for:

1. ROAD TRIPS!
2. My foodie self 🙂 It brings such joy!
3. My parents, again, because they support me in anything and everything that I do, no matter what.

Have you entered my giveaway yet? If not, you may be missing out on an awesome prize! Also check out the giveaway over at Eat, Drink, and Be Hopeful!

*I’d also like to add one more thing (to an already long post ha). I have received some e-mails lately from some AMAZING gals who have overcome injuries and come out on top. They are SUCH an inspiration to me and I think that it would be to others too. We can always use a little more inspiration in our lives! In any case, if you are one such lady who has overcame an injury, are in the process of healing from an injury, or just have something inspirational to share, I’d love to share your story on my blog! Shoot me an e-mail and I’ll feature one story a week. I’d loooove some great participation in this, I think that it could be SUCH a help to those who are working through injuries.