Currently....

Currently...

Eating: NOT SUGAR OR ALCOHOL. Because I had a couple of baby pounds to lose and I wanted to be back to pre-baby weight by the nine month mark. Makes sense, right? Nine months to gain it, nine months to lose it! I tried a rather drastic fast last month and it was a disaster. I kept bonking on my long runs and workouts. So instead I just cut out my empty calories - sugar (I have a terrible sweet tooth) and alcohol ('bye, wine! Boo hoo!). This isn't long term, just to get back to normal weight. I was about ten pounds overweight this summer, and fasting took off five measly pounds; since then I have lost three or four more, so I am doing well. But I think the weight includes more fat and less muscle than pre-baby, which my total lack of strength work supports.

Cooking: I've been on a sushi bowl kick lately. I start with a bowl of rice and top it with avocados, asparagus, cucumbers, sesame seeds, and barely-seared salmon (or tuna, when the grocery store has a fresh catch). The night before I prep the vegetables and marinate the salmon in soy sauce, then make a siracha-mayonnaise sauce. We usually also add some more soy sauce on top. The crowning touch is these fun "seaweed snack" garnishes - they're the same as the seaweed wraps used for sushi, but sold in convenient bite-sized sheets. It's a fast, easy meal and tastes like a sushi roll! Normally I get my sushi raw, but since I don't buy sashimi-grade fish, a quick searing makes me feel like I'm slightly less likely to end up with a liver fluke. 

Reading: I just finished Into Thin Air by John Krakaur and I loved this documentation of his harrowing climb up Everest. This book is the subject of some controversy, as another climber disputes his version of events in his book, The Climb. I intend to read that next to get the full picture! I just requested it by interlibrary loan today.

Strengthening: My ankles and feet. I have had terrible tendon and ligament problems since pregnancy, and now I wake up very stiff and arthritic. I have to hobble out of bed. I've been trying to do some strength and mobility work to help with that. I actually wonder if I truly have arthritis, since morning stiffness is such a tell-tale sign. My feet have always been problematic, so it wouldn't surprise me if I had early osteoarthritis. 

Ankle tendinitis :(

Liking: It's McIntosh apple season, and I'm eating at least three a day. I love me some McIntosh!

Not liking: This hurricane season has seriously annoyed me. We have been in the "cone of uncertainty" for SIX major storms, wreaking havoc on work, weather, and plans. Every time daycare closes we have to scramble for childcare! Luckily, they have all shifted and spared us, but I can't believe we're on Delta already. What a busy storm year this was! 

Planning: Audubon baby's Halloween costume that he can wear *nowhere*. And I haven't gotten very far, honestly! I'm very uninspired this year! 

Wondering: What to do about my health. I saw an interventional radiology specialist about my uterine mass (still hanging out there!). The plan was to embolize the arteries feeding it, and thus allow it to die back by eliminating blood flow. He did an MRI and I am not a candidate for that treatment. His advice is that I may not even be able to safely have a myomectomy due to size of the mass - it is submucosal (in the muscle) and takes up nearly the entire uterus. He recommended complete hysterectomy but perhaps do the embolization procedure about three days prior to reduce the risk of hemorrhage during surgery. The mass is very well perfused and the concern has always been too much blood flow for a safe surgery. 

I have done nothing since then - no follow ups, no decisions. I just don't want to have a hysterectomy! And I also don't want the symptoms I am having! Argh, no good answer to this one! 

Since I enjoyed Into Thin Air so much, any recommendations for similar true adventure stories? Any ideas for easy baby costumes for lazy parents?