Physical Therapy and Cold Baked Beans

Hi friends. I hope your week is off to a good start!

As for me, I had my first physical therapy appointment this morning and things are looking up of the tingling leg front. Apparently the muscles on the left side of my back are overcompensating for the misalignment I have from scoliosis. The lower back muscles on my left side have become very short and knotted up and are pulling down on my left shoulder and up on my left leg. This in turn is affecting the muscles in my left leg (causing tightness) and also causing a pinched nerve in the pelvic area which leads to the main symptom I have been experiencing, the leg tingling and numbness.

I LOVED my physical therapist! She did a complete evaluation of my whole body- not just the areas I expressed that I was having pain in. In addition, she was very informative, answered all my questions and did a lot of hands-on work rather than machine exercises. And, for the first time in about 3 years (crazy that I it’s been that long since I graduated from college!) I have homework to do. The homework is 4 different exercises – all are pretty easy and one requires me to lie on the ground with one leg at a 90° angle so the other can completely relax for about 30 minutes. Sounds like a great exercise to me. I think I’ll use that time wisely and read Eat, Pray, Love since I’m trying to finish it before the movie comes out in a few weeks.

As for my eats, I’ve been trying to stick to eating clean, it’s basically a must now that my bridesmaid’s dress (for the wedding in September) is a bit snugger in the middle than I remembered it being back in the spring….

So lots of protein filled salads have been appearing for both lunch and dinner:

I’ve founds that frozen edamame is an easy way to add a little protein to a salad. The frozen bags of it cook super quickly and it cools off fast, making it perfect as a salad topper.

This one was topped with hummus, sliced tofukery, and crazy patterned green/yellow heirloom tomatoes.

On the side I had some left over baked beans and tortilla chips.

It might sound strange, but using tortilla chips to scoop cold (or hot) baked beans is really tasty. I love the sweet and salty flavor. Try it!!

I’ve also been sipping on this homemade kombucha! A family friend of Isaac’s brought me this little jar and was so excited to try it. Since GT’s was pulled from the shelves I’ve been missing it. (Alas, my bank account has been thanking me.)

I’ve never had homemade kombucha and was expecting it to taste different than the store bought versions but as it turns out, it was amazingly similar to GT’s Original. I’m almost tempted to ask her to teach me how to make it myself.

Mid-afternoon today I snacked on a another fun surprise I found at Whole Foods over the weekend, the new Carrot Cake Larabar!

1 word = amazing! I really like carrot cake and was pumped to give it a try. Let’s just say the bits carrot, almonds, dates and spices did not disappoint. It’s definitely up there as one of my favorite Larabars, probably coming in right after my most favorite, Coconut Cream Pie! Now I’m anxious to try the other newly released flavors: peanut butter chocolate chip, chocolate chip brownie, and chocolate chip cookie dough!

I’m now off to the gym, don’t worry my PT said I was allowed to exercise.

-Brittany

PS – The best part about today is that I was suppose to be moving offices so I wore “moving clothes” aka yoga pants, a thriv shirt, and sneakers. Turns out we are going to move on Wednesday instead, which means I get to wear moving clothes again on Wednesday – SCORE! If only I could wear yoga clothes everyday…

Tagged as: Carrot Cake Larabar, cold baked beans, homemade kombucha, physical therapy