(Paleo) Green Deviled Eggs

This morning I took off on my bike to ride the 8 miles to the Picnic Loop to meet up with NC and a couple of other girls from TriGirl.  They wanted to do 10 miles around the loop (each loop is one mile), and well, that means I would end up with close to 26 for the day.

I took the long way to avoid going over the TCJ bridge (save the sciatic which is MEAN in the mornings), so thats why it was 8 miles.  Probably 2 miles longer I guess.  Probably.  My odometer read 25.47 miles when I got back home.

Anyway when NC got there she had done boot camp, gone to a transition clinic at TOTR, so she opened up her trusty little Paleo ice cooler and shared a Green Deviled Egg with me.  It was so yummy that I had to make them.

Today.

Start by mashing up one (large) avocado.  I also added minced garlic, and some green onion

 

Boil (or bake your eggs)

 

Slice the eggs in half, and dump the yolks in with the avocado.  Then smash it all up.

 

Making it pretty is optional :)  Clearly I didn't care since it wasn't for a party or anything

Fill the egg whites, sprinkle with paprika or other spice.  I used cayenne.  :)

Now Where Were We?

Why yes I am!!

So.  Damn.  Close.

Lets see...oh yeah...yesterday I went to the gym as planned and did the following:

1. 20 min on the elliptical
2. 20 min on the treadmill (walking)
3. 20 min on the bike
4. 5 min on the stairmill
5. 2000m row

While all day I was still having intermittent pain from the sciatic, it wasn't horrible and when I got to the gym everything felt pretty darn good.  So good in fact that I ALMOST started to run on the treadmill, then came to my senses.  I didn't need to rush things no matter how I felt.

The big tale would be told when I woke up on Friday morning.

Which when I did wake up I was able to stretch everything out (pulling my knees in and what-not without pain).

Great!

I did more stretches after I got out of bed and it wasn't until mid-morning when I started to feel the sciatic again.  Since my neighbor wasn't in today I took the opportunity to use his hidden cubey to get down on the floor and do stretches throughout the day (Friday is jeans day so its not like I was in a dress!)  This really seemed to help and by the time I left I was feeling great.

Came home, did more stretching then hopped on the bike and rode the 1.5 miles to the chiro:  got an e-stim, ice and massage then had my adjustments.

The massage made me a bit sore near the inflamed area (but we are soooooo much better than we were on Monday!!), so I had some trouble getting into position for one of my adjustments, but Dr. Michele was awesome.  I was a bit more tense because I had never had her adjust me and it kind of freaked me out.  After we were done, I did more stretching there in the office before hopping on my bike and heading on home.

Did some icing and more stretching and as of right now, I feel grrrrrrrreat!

One thing I notice is that during the day I feel more pain in the sciatic and when I get home it eases up.  I do believe its my heels.  Once I am barefoot or in my trainers, it feels great.  I might be wearing trainers to work next week! 

I am so excited that it seems we are nearing the end of this flareup!  I have plans to ride about 20 miles tomorrow morning (riding to meet friends for an easy 10 over near Memorial Park)

If all goes as planned I should be able to try running by Monday!  Woo to the hoo!!!  Maybe I won't have to walk the run portions of TriGirl next weekend!!

 

Killing The Fat Man - Episode 6

Injury Update

Well there hasn't been much to write about, even though I do have a few product reviews I need to do...but I just haven't gotten around to them.


Speaking of product reviews, my blog gets anywhere from 300-500 hits a day because of this product review.  I need to write Gatorade and tell them to send me some Gatorade Carb Energy Chews for a giveaway I guess!


So on Monday I went and had the first adjustment.  Things were OK that evening, and even Tuesday morning I could tell a difference.


The pain in my ass and in my upper thigh from the pinching of the nerve has completely gone away.  What hasn't gone away is the severe inflammation around the disc itself and this is the most painful.  I was unable to even lay on my back without propping that leg/knee up because the pressure was just too extreme.


Additionally whenever Aubrey (the on staff massage therapist) would even get close to it would bring me to tears.  You could actually see the inflammation around that area on my back:  puffiness and redness


Inflammation is the way the body is healing itself, and I get that, but damn Gina, could you hurry the fudge up already?  :O)


Yesterday I had scheduled a massage at Avalon (massage school and really cheap but good massages by interns), but it didn't go so well.


I have been there several times and its always been great.  On top of the limitations I had to set forth to begin with, I ended up with a not so great intern.  Thats the trade off; you just don't know...but like I said 1 out of 5 times is pretty good.  I just will request NOT to have Travis if I go back.


I feel kind of bad because he didn't have much to work with, and had to be extra careful with me, and probably what he did do, actually helped.  I don't know that for sure, or if the 800mg of ibuprofen I took last night along with constant off/on heat helped, but this morning I did wake up with less inflammation.  I was able to actually lay on my back with only mild pain.  Of course I had to slooooooooowly roll onto my back but I could do it!


I was not sure if I was imagining things, but when I went back today for another adjustment and Aubrey began to massage my back it was apparent that there was improvement.  She was able to rub my entire back (not with a lot of pressure in that one area, but still she was able to without me even flinching).


Yay for progress!!!


I am hoping that it wasn't just because it was morning and less movement all night = less inflammation, but I guess we'll know by this afternoon.


This is day 3 without any physical activity outside of normal everyday activity, and I am about to pull my hair out and throw my cat out the window.  I think me resting has helped so I just keep telling myself that.  I do intend to go back to the gym tomorrow for something.  Dr. Batterton said NO CrossFit for another week, and that anything non-impact should be fine but to listen to my body as I go along.


After Aubrey was done with me this morning, Dr. Batterton did the same adjustments she did the other day, and also did some 'traction' work with my neck.  That felt reeeeeally good actually.


I gotta tell ya, it feels good after she is done, and I can tell its working.  I have more sensitivity now in my back, as indicated by touch and by the simple fact that any BioFreeze type products I put on back there, and I have several brands, is that I can actually feel the effects whereas prior to Monday, I couldn't feel any cold/heat/tinglyness from any of them.


Again, yay for progress!!!


Tonight we add a warm jacuzzi to the agenda!!!

Do Not Fear the Chiropractor! aka Runners and CrossFitters with Degenerative Disc

At my appointment today I wanted to whip out my camera phone so bad and take a photo of the xrays of my back and neck.  But I felt weird doing it with the doctor standing there, so I didn't.


The one thing that I was not surprised about was exactly where the degenerative disc is located since I saw that 2 years ago on another xray with the mean doctor downtown.  Thats all he focused on and I guess rightfully so since I had gone in for extreme lower back pain, but like I said he was mean and basically told me to quit running right then and there.


Right.  Second opinion was next.  Anyway back on track...


What a chiropractor will do is show you the whole kit and kaboodle.  Prior to taking xrays they did this other thing, kinda like a bone scan I guess, where they roll this thing up and down your back and it picks up any 'negatives' or 'anomolies' in your spine and assign a number/color to it.  Also not surprised that there was a lot of red bars towards my lower back.


However there were some red bars a bit higher up and even so far up as in my neck.  The x rays showed the same thing; in the neck I mean.

Not my neck x ray, however it shows what a bone spur looks like, and I do have 2 of them (small).  Mine are 1 at the top  of the five vertebrae that you see, and then at the bottom.  I also have a narrowing of the disk in the exact same place as the photo.

Additionally my neck is definitely off kilter and needs adjusting as well.  Just because I haven't had any pain from it, doesn't mean that I won't at some point if anything jarring occurs to set it all in motion.


So.  On to my back issue; again I don't have a picture of my x ray, but here is a photo to give you an idea of what disc degeneration is (and we ALL have it occurring; just takes something trivial or non-trivial to make it become a nuisance).

Mine is probably more like the 2nd one, probably not THAT bad, but bad enough to where it is pinching the sciatic.  What we are trying to avoid is the one that says Degenerative disc, since that puppy looks almost gone bye bye!

Here is another photo giving you an idea of the inflammation of the nerve ending

I wasn't quit sure what to expect, but after going over all the x rays I went in for another 10 min of e-Stim, then about 10 minutes of massage.  I still have one knot of muscle that is (was) EXTREMELY sensitive and it hurt like hell whenever she would attempt to rub it out.  She did what she could without me coming off the table, then it was time to wait for Dr. Batterton and my first 'adjustment'.


Initially Dr. Miller had gone over my x rays, so I thought she was going to be doing the adjustments but I was happy when Dr. Batterton came and got me.  At first she just used this tool; best way to describe its like a nail gun or an air gun, and when pressed to the skin where it needs to go and 'pulling the trigger' it feels like pressure but not to where you hear anything cracking; more just like its moving whatever it needs to move tiny tiny teensy movements.  She worked on my lower back and then my neck with this contraption.


Then she placed her hands along a certain area in my lower back, told me to take a deeeep breath, breathe out and when I did that, she pushed and I heard the crack.  Then she did it again.  It doesn't really hurt, but what little pain there was, was instananeous and quickly was gone.


Once she was done with that, she had me lay on one side, one leg straight, the other bent, then did something weird with one arm (felt like a pretzel), then I honestly dont remember what she did because a) I had my eyes closed and b) it was over before I knew what she had done.  All I heard was a crackle/pop, felt it crackle/pop and she was telling me to roll over to the other side.  :/


Repeat.


Then it was over.  For today....I go back Wednesday for another adjustment.


As I am writing this, I actually feel tons better.  There is some residual soreness in my SI joint, hindering me a bit, but nothing compared to the last couple of weeks, and the past couple of days.

****************************

So remember on Friday after my initial 'treatment' how great I was feeling? Well by Saturday morning I wasn't quite as elated.  There was some discomfort still, not sure why I thought I was miraculously cured, but I already knew I wasn't going to be running for a few days.  Looks like its going to be a bit longer than that....anyway, I hopped on the bike and rode 17 miles and was extreeeeeeeeeeeemely careful on a couple of the roads leading me to the bike paths that are very uneven and bumpy to raise my booty up to avoid any unnecessary jarring.


I stopped a few times during the 17 miles to get off the bike and just stretch a bit and really I felt 'ok'.  Not great, but ok.

After coming home, I iced etc., and while I did experience some returning pain  throughout the day, it wasn't horrible, but it did dampen my spirits...

Sad Face

Sunday morning my plan was to get up feeling much better and head to Buffalo Bayou to do 5 miles.  And when I say 'do' I mean [walk].


Blech.


Well when I got up, the pain was definitely back and I just iced and stretched until it felt a bit better, then headed out.  I haven't run the bayou in so long, and while I was anxious to experience all the new renovations to the path etc., I was not really looking forward to walking the 5 miles.


Again I stopped multiple times along the way to throw the legs up to stretch them which seemed to help as I went along, I could feel the sciatic tensing up (shortening), and it did seem to help.

 I don't know...but by Sunday afternoon I was in so much pain it was difficult to sit, lay or do anything.  However in my attempt to feel better, I was putting some biofreeze on my back and while doing it I was concentrating on really pushing into the skin; like giving myself a massage.  As best as I could that is.  What I noticed was the harder I pushed and the longer I went, the time span of it hurting would decrease.


Ah.  The massaging was working so I kept at it off and on until I went to bed and when I woke up this morning there was no more of the intense pain I had had yesterday afternoon.


So after all of that, and then today at the chiropractor, I am seriously taking the next few days COMPLETELY off.  Even though I feel so much better, I need to make this residual crap gone, and I figure since I haven't exactly been resting and really tending to this issue, I should at least just give myself a break for the next couple of days.

Killing The Fat Man - Episode 5

I will get a post up about my activity this past weekend AFTER I go to the chiropractor today for my first 'adjustment', or as some call it: 'manipulation'.

Either way I hope it renders great results!

Until then, enjoy episode 5!

Note:  I have these labeled, so for anyone needing the previous episodes, just click on the label name and it will bring them all up.  

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Glory Glory Glorious!

Today was my appointment to meet the doctors over at Batterton Chiropractic Clinic.

I woke up this morning SO excited!  

Last night I did indeed go to the gym, did only 30 min on the elliptical, 2000m row, then about an hour on the weights (both free and not-free).  :O)

When I got home, I iced off and on all night, but as the night wore on I started to have this 'pain' in my ass.  Like in my left ass (same side as DC).  It felt like a really really pulled muscle; or a bad sciatic strain.

By the time I went to bed I had sat cross legged on the floor long enough and did enough child pose's to help stretch it out enough to where I slept just fine.

This morning I immediately stretched, but the pain in my back had literally become the pain in my ass.

:O)

I came in to work for a couple of hours then headed over to my appointment, filled out the new patient forms and waited.

The patient patient.

First off the head doc, and owner, female came in to consult, which we went over everything in my history, to my activity level, what my current status was and on and on and on.

Thankfully she is a runner, both doctors there are (both female btw), and one even does CrossFit.  A lot of athletes go there, runners, cyclists, and triathletes, so I felt like I was in good hands.  I did not know any of this prior to making the appointment, but I am not surprised given its location.

After all of that, I went for Xrays and some spine rolly thingee pictures (which we will go over on Monday), then I went on to some mobility exercises to determine any issues and range of motion from my next down to my feet.

Then came the best part!!!

eStim and ice first!

I didn't have the little thingees on shoulder just on my lower and mid-back.
Then they put this huge ice pack that pretty much covered all of me on top of me and started the machine.
It was awesome!  Like little elves tap dancing all over me.

After 10 minutes of eStim and ice, the massage therapist came back in, un-did everything, and then lotioned me all up and began what was initially very painful on the left side.  She could feel 2 very big knots which were just muscles all bundled up from the inflammation and what-not.  I thought I was going to come up off that table at first.  She would go as much as she could, or rather however much pain I could take, which I sucked it up because I wanted her to really get in there.  She would move to the other side ever so often to give me a break before starting back in.

She said by the time she was done, one of the knots was basically gone and good Lord I could FEEL the difference immediately, just lying there!

And when I went to get up off the table and walk?  Oh goodness....soooooooooooooooo much better!

I seriously could not believe the difference!

I have to keep icing as much as possible, even giving me something I can use at work, take it like I have been the next couple of days to let the inflammation continue to work itself out, then on Monday we are going to go over all my xrays and what-not, then they will do an official 'adjustment'.

Thank goodness for insurance!  Prescribed massages for a co-pay?  My insurance only approved me for 20 visits in a year, but hopefully going once a month after getting 'fixed' will be just fine to 'keep me in line'!


I should be back to running and CrossFit on Monday!!!!


Whoop! Whoop!