Weekly Workouts and Recipes December 31 2017 to January 6 2018

Workouts

Unfortunately my workouts this week didn’t go according to plan. I wanted to get in two runs this week on the treadmill, but I only managed half of one, thanks to plantar fasciitis rearing it’s ugly head again. I’ve been taking it really easy this week, trying to make my foot feel better. Right now I’m feeling pretty bummed and like I’ll be dealing with plantar fasciitis with any high impact activity I do, no matter how much stretching and rolling I do.

If you’re a runner who’s also dealt with plantar fasciitis, I’d love to hear any recommendations that you may have. I’m pretty good at stretching my calves and rolling out the bottom of my feet. Maybe I should be adding some ice in too? What worked for you?

Monday

I had a planned rest day for Monday. I spent New Year’s Eve at my boyfriend’s place, and we were slow getting up in the morning. I figured I wouldn’t want to go to the gym later on in the day, and I was right.

Tuesday

A workout didn’t happen on Tuesday. I didn’t sleep very well on Monday night, so I was late getting up and I wasn’t in the mood to go to the gym.

Wednesday

My first workout in the new year was a great one. I was only planning on a 30 minute workout on the elliptical, but I ended up getting in the groove and I decided to add on 15 minutes. I got to the gym within 10 minutes of it opening so it was relatively quiet. I think there were only 3 or 4 of us that used the ellipticals the entire time that I was there. I’m going to have to get there at 5:30 am more often!

Thursday

I started to do a run on the treadmill at home. Since it was my first run and I wanted to take it super easy (I really don’t want my plantar fasciitis to come back), so I did 1 minute of running followed by 2 minutes of walking, and then repeating. I did a couple of the intervals, but ended up having to quit my run early because I could feel that my foot wasn’t right. The bottom of my heel was hurting and the bottom of my foot was getting tight, from the ball of my foot to my heel. Boo. I decided to roll out my feet with a golf ball, which wasn’t pleasant at all. I think anyone who had dealt with plantar fasciitis before will understand how much that hurts. On the bright side I think it helped later on in the day.

Friday

I decided to avoid running on Friday to give my foot a bit of a break since it was still sore, so I went for a low key walk instead. Despite all the snow that’s still on the ground right now, it was actually pretty warm. I still had to wear my big winter boots for all the snow and slush, but all I needed on top was my fleece and gloves. Warm weather for the win! Thankfully my foot held up pretty well and it was only a bit tight when I got back. I once again rolled it out.

Saturday

I woke up Saturday morning with my foot feeling tight again. Boo. Usually it feels a bit better once I’ve been up and about for awhile, but it didn’t improve much throughout the day. As a result I skipped my running workout and instead rolled my feet out again with either my tennis or golf balls.

Recipes

Since one of my goals for 2018 is to meal plan 3 meals per week instead of just 2, I put in a bit of extra effort and it turned out really good. I ended up making naan pizzas, chicken and apple sausage and peppers, and skillet cheeseburger pasta.

While the naan pizzas had more calories in them than I typically allocate for a meal, they were really good. I started with a garlic and cilantro piece of naan bread, added some pizza sauce, and then topped it with an assortment of meats (chorizo sausage, salami, prosciutto), kalamata olives, onion, roasted red pepper, and mozzarella cheese. I switched up the toppings depending on my mood, which helped with eating these so often this week.

I hadn’t eaten chicken and apple sausages and peppers in what felt like forever, so they were an easy choice to make last week. I didn’t follow a specific recipe, but they still turned out great. I put 3 chicken sausages (which I’d cut into bite sized pieces) along with 3 bell peppers that I’d cut into strips with one onion, also cut into slices. I combined them all and put them into a preheated 424 degree oven for 45 minutes. Every 15 minutes I would take them out and stir it up so that nothing would get too brown. Super easy to make and it tastes really good.

You’ll know that I really like the recipes from Budget Bytes if you’ve read here for awhile. Last week I tried a new to me recipe from Beth’s blog, the Skillet Cheeseburger Pasta. It was a relatively easy recipe to make (though it did take me a bit longer than the recipe said it would to make), but I think it turned out pretty good. It’s just as good as leftovers. I think the only thing that I’d switch up the next time I make it is to add some veggies to it. Maybe some broccoli or bell peppers?

Overall my first week of meal planning 3 meals instead of 2 went great. I’m excited to continue doing it. I didn’t eat out at all this week which was really nice. It’s easy to make less healthy choices when I’m eating out.

What was your favorite workout from the last week? Favorite meal you made?