Spring Break, Life, Plantar Fasciitis, Etc.

(I originally saw this image on Pinterest.com a few weeks ago and fell in love with it.)

First of all, I LOVE this poster and thought I would share it.  I found it on Pinterest.com a few weeks ago.  Remember me talking about how you have to wade through some crap to find a true gem.  This is a true gem to me and it makes me happy everytime I look at it.  I have it hanging up on my office wall now and I would love to find a poster size of it and get it framed.  There are a few of these inspirational posters floating around but this is my current favorite. 

As usual, life has been moving at the speed of light lately.  I just had my spring break and went home to be with my mom while she had a knee replacement surgery.  Once she recovers from this knee, then she will have her other knee done probably this summer.  She is recovering well, but the whole process seemed very painful and miserable.  She had to stay in the hospital for 2 nights and 3 days.  She had a complete hysterectomy in the fall and was home the next day.  That tells you what a serious surgery joint replacement is.  It definitely was an eye opener for me to stay healthy, focus on fitness and nutrition and just overall health in general. 

Although, the trip home was mostly spent at the hospital, I did get to spend some quality time with my nephew. 

(Playing Flashlight Monsters with my nephew)

He is growing up so fast!  He turned 2 in December and from one visit to the next, he changes so much.  That's probably what I hate the most about living away from my family.  Months go by and I don't get to see him.  I get to see him about once a season.  Plus, my brother and his wife are having another baby and she will be born this summer.  I really would like to be more a part of their lives but it's just so hard living so far away.  I guess there's always pros and cons to everything.  Sigh....

I also got to spend some time at home over spring break.  I had a few days before my trip and a few days after.  I really liked that because I actually felt like I had a little bit of downtime before getting back to work . I had some time to take this guy for some walks.......

(I love this picture of Cornelius because he is smiling and doesn't even look blind.  Walking is his favorite thing in the world!)



On another note, before spring break, I went to a foot doctor because I was experiencing some pain in my left foot.  I found out that I have Plantar Fasciitis.  This is what happens:

The doctor said because I am flat footed, my plantar fascia stretches out and becomes inflamed.  When it becomes inflamed, that's when I experience heel pain (the red area of the picture).  It feels pretty miserable when it's inflamed (especially first thing in the morning).  The doctor gave me shoe inserts, special sandals to wear around the house and I am using a natural anti-inflammatory on my heel area.  I also try to do the foot exercises that the doctor taught me every morning. 

I got really stressed out because I thought this would really affect my workouts and I guess it does to some extent.  But the doctor just told me that I would have to determine what I could and couldn't do based on pain (especially if I had pain the next morning).  So far, after about 3 weeks, I know of two things that cause pain:  running outside and my Box Pop (plyometrics) class.  The running outside part is not a big deal.  I was only doing that to get ready for a 5K that some friends are coming in town for.  I am just planning on walking it now.  But the Box Pop class I am pretty sad about.  I really love that class and I enjoy doing things like box jumps and other plyometric movements.  BUT......the positive is that kickboxing does not cause much pain.  So far, I have been able to do kickboxing with very little pain even when we do jumping movements in the class.  Yay!  Kickboxing is my VERY favorite class and I really did NOT want to give it up!  :)

Anyway, I am just going to try and take care of it the best I can and really try to pay attention to my body.  I know it doesn't do me any good to keep on doing something if it's causing me pain.  I will just have to modify the classes I do and maybe even some of the exercises in the classes.  But my fitness instructor knows about it and she has been really great to make sure I am not doing things that will be bad for my foot.  So I will just keep going along and hope that I can correct this and maybe one day I won't have any issues with it at all.  I will keep my fingers crossed. 

So, I guess that's my life right now!

The French Broad Chocolate Lounge

(Just a note--all 3 of these pictures are pretty bad.  I have been really lazy over the past several months and I haven't brought my nice camera with me anywhere.  Therefore, I take pictures with the Retro Camera app for my phone.  I need to get better about this!)

One of my favorite places to go in Asheville is the French Broad Chocolate Lounge.  It serves chocolate and coffee....what more could I want, really?!  Because I am mostly not eating chocolate during the week, the Chocolate Lounge is a nice weekend splurge.  I love the French Broad Chocolate Lounge because they stay open late, they serve vegan chocolate cake, truffles and sipping chocolate and it's a much better environment than a bar.  It's a great place for us to take guests when they are in town because everyone loves chocolate (well, maybe there are a few weirdos out there who don't) and it's a great place to just sit around and talk.  They have two floors and 3 separate rooms so even though there's almost always a line out the door, you can find a place to sit.  They also have live music on certain nights too. 

There are some other things I love about the chocolate lounge.  They have stevia available for my coffee instead of other nasty artificial sweeteners, they pay a fair wage to their employees, they have a focus on the environment and sustainability and it's a great local establishment that pumps money back into the local economy.  It's kind of expensive for us to go to the chocolate lounge but it's definitely worth it and it's a nice, decadent splurge. 

When I go to the chocolate lounge, I ALWAYS get the vegan olive oil chocolate cake....AMAZING!!  Once again, excuse the terrible picture:

They also have a line of vegan truffles called the Buddha collection, but I can't resist the cake.  The truffles are excellent but I just really enjoy the cake more.  R usually gets 2 or 3 of the truffles and we both share some of the french pressed coffee.  It's just a great way to spend a Saturday evening.