A massage client just brought me a bag of fresh basil out of her garden! It looks and smells AMAZING, and I have no idea what to do with it.
Okay, my trusted league of foodies: I can’t eat beans, nuts, or dairy products, so what should I do with a bag of basil?
GO!
:)
Ivana posted a yummy soup, and I’d love to make it. Does an alternative to the pancetta need to be found, or would it be as flavorful without it?
I want to start making more soups, especially bean soups, but the recipes I have are all southwestern. They contain varying amounts of chili pepper, cayenne, etc., and all those usually give me heartburn. Anyone know of a good, vegan, savory sort of bean soup? One without added salsa or peppers?
As I’ve mentioned before, I have a pretty extreme problem with anxiety and panic. I was diagnosed with GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and Panic Disorder a few years ago. One of the biggest problems I’ve had in the last few years is exercise. Frequently, when I do any sort of exercise, but especially weight-lifting or strength-related exercises (my favorites, since I put on muscle easily and love getting strong), my body doesn’t seem to recover well afterward.
Specifically, my heart rate stays high (around 100bpm or so), I’ll have a mild headache, my muscles will feel very tense – as if they can’t relax afterward, and I feel keyed up, wired, and jumpy. Frequently this is all enough to trigger a panic attack, and the ones triggered by this phenomena have tended to be pretty spectacularly horrible. Over time, this developed into a mild phobia of exercise.
It seems worse with certain things. For instance, a year and a half ago I started a very successful exercise program that was basically light-moderate aerobics, with the occasional use of hand weights. For instance, I might do step-aerobics while I watched a movie, and hold some light hand weights while I did it. I noticed my arms and back got stronger, and I lost a significant amount of weight (25 pounds, which unfortunately I gained back once I stopped the exercise for reasons related to worsening anxiety).
After awhile I wanted to do harder exercises, so I began doing regular strength training at home, with dumbbells and kettlebells. The dumbbells were mostly okay, but I still struggled with that wired-high-heart-rate feeling afterward. The kettlebells were the worst! I loved them the most, they were so fun to use, but afterward I frequently had a panic attack.
None of this makes sense to me, I really don’t understand why my body would react this way. I thought I’d post about it here in the hopes that someone reading this might be familiar enough with exercise science to help me out.
Today it happened again. I did 35 minutes of high-intensity aerobics. I got done, and felt pretty great. Then, half an hour later, my heart rate was still at 104, and I couldn’t seem to relax. I ate an apple, then I thought I must just need protein, because don’t body builders stuff themselves full of whey after workouts? I figured maybe my muscles were crying out for some protein. Greg boiled me up some of our farm eggs (from some very well-treated chickens, which I feel good about), and I ate two of those.
I felt better, but still not great, and my heart rate was still 100. I finally decided to take a warm bath and see if that helped. I’m sitting in the tub while I write this (don’t ask), and yeah, it’s down to 92 now, and I do feel a bit better.
Still, what the heck is going on? I want to be super strong, people! I want to do kettlebell workouts three times a week, I want my arms to pop out, I want GUNS (not those guns, these guns), and I want to not make funny noises when I lift a bag of dog food into my cart.
Is this a case of bad recovery from exercise because I’m just out of shape?
Hollie is no longer, I am: Lump
Just in time for my beloved husband’s birthday, I am sick. That whole thing earlier, with the eating cookies for breakfast and my karmic punishment being that they contained butter, and now I’m all sick and stuff? Yeah, well, it turns out karma wasn’t done. I’ve been in bed since then, writhing around like a chest-burster is about to appear, alternating between fetal position and stumbling-to-bathroom position.
Fever is 100.3, and seems quite intent on going up. You know, when I was a lot younger, I could have a fever of 102 or 103, and I was very unhappy, but I could still walk around and was mostly coherent. Now I have this measly little 100.3 fever, and getting out of bed is like asking me to lift a car. You want me to what? Do you even hear yourself? Stand UP? Are you high? Do I look like I can stand up?
Is that just age? Am I just that out of shape? Has the whininess seeped down INTO MY VERY PHYSICAL BEING?
Also, all that stuff you guys said about dairy being in all baked products: that’s just cruel. I don’t blame you, but could you guys please figure out who I can blame for that? I have a thermometer I want to stick somewhere IN THEIR PERSON.
Dude. I am so tired. My head hurts. My belly is making very threatening noises. The lights are too bright, and they aren’t even on. Will someone please come bake a cake for Greg? With candles? I feel so bad. Happy Birthday! I love you! You’re my soulmate! Now hand me that bucket.
Blargh. This submarine is now submerging.