microbes, maple & more

December 15, 2009

adjusting my expectations
i was certainly being optimistic as i created my to-do list for yesterday (you know my listy self loves this technique). unfortunately, my sore-ass self was not quite up to the challenges that i had so breezily posed.


my easy fix? before going to bed at 9 pm (i wasn’t feeling so hot), i changed the title of my to-do list from

12.14.09

to

12.14.09 – 12.15.09

instant redemption. i felt much better about myself immediately!

post-marathon virus?
i have been sick so frequently lately (october, november, and now december) that i feel bad writing about it — it’s just so boring and repetitive! and i can only post pictures of plush giantmicrobes so many times before they start to lose their cuteness, right?


although i maintain that this guy is still pretty cute.

this time, i think i just have a plain ol’ cold, and for one i can’t blame it on sick kids at work! instead, i’ll blame the marathon (and by extension, myself). while moderate exercise is good for the immune system, prolonged, intense exercise (hmm, such as running 26.2 miles) is not. this article does a pretty good job of summarizing what is known about post-race immunosuppression.

apparently, one has a 1 in 7 chance (about 14%) of developing a respiratory infection post-marathon. that statistic is still better than the 6 in 7 chance one has of developing a respiratory infection after a week in acute care pediatrics clinic (okay, no formal study . . . but that’s my experience!), but it’s still pretty high.

luckily, i don’t think this bug is THAT horrible. i suspect i will be able to be pretty functional with a little help from my friends mr. ibuprofen + ms. pseudoephedrine. and at least for once i won’t have to worry about missing important training runs!

nature’s path: mmmm-maple
i’ve been a fan of nature’s path cereals – particularly the “optimum” varieties – for a while now. my interest was piqued when i saw a fellow blogger (i forget exactly which one!) receive some nature’s path products that i had never seen before, and i wrote the company requesting some to try for myself.

[which brings me to an important note to other bloggers: if you see a product on someone else’s site and think, “woah, LUCKY!! i’d love to sample that!”, don’t sit there and be jealous — take action and write the company yourself! 90% of the time, they will be happy to oblige.]

i received a box with this trio of cereals in it (the company asked me specifically which varieties i wanted to try, and sent exactly what i had asked for!).


this morning, i decided to dig into the crunchy maple sunrise variety. i actually don’t eat cereal for breakfast that often — i find that even adorned with nuts and add-ins, it just doesn’t keep me full for that long and i hate being stuck at work at 10 am ready to eat my own hand.

but, i’m working from home (for 9 more blissful days!), so my risk of being stranded on a desert island (or, participating in endlessly long rounds) without a snack is low. i prepared a pimped out bowl of maple sunrise mixed with some barbara’s shredded spoonfuls, chopped pecans, sliced banana, and organic 2% milk (we usually buy 1%, but only 2% was available . . . yum, creamy).


this combo was excellent! the maple flavor was strong, so i was glad to cut it a bit with the plainer shredded wheat cereal. the texture was light and crispy, and it sweetened the milk just the right amount (again: yum). because of its robust maple-y taste, i think that in addition to being served traditional cereal-style, it would make a great yogurt or kefir topping.

nutritionally, this corn/rice/quinoa-based cereal has a very good ingredient list — really nothing unrecognizable at all, and 100% organic. the only negative is that sugar (in the form of evaporated cane juice) IS the second ingredient. with 7 grams sugar per 2/3 cup serving*, though, that still isn’t so bad. calories are a reasonable 110 per 2/3 cup serving, and the fiber content is okay at 3 grams. the vitamin content is quite low — this isn’t fortified with anything other than vitamin E. finally, for those with celiac disease (april!), this cereal is gluten-free.

overall: i would recommend crunchy maple sunrise to any maple-lovers out there. it’s versatile, relatively healthy, and tasty.

* i love how i’m quoting everything ‘per serving’ yet have NO IDEA how much of it i had.

————————————————————————–

12.14.09

workout: complete rest day #2. i was able to carry groceries up the stairs without too much pain! progress.

inspired dinner: i took one look at allie‘s post about crab cake bites, and knew what i wanted for dinner!


since josh was on call, i took the easy route and bought a pre-prepared crab cake from the seafood counter at whole foods. accompanied by grilled zucchini slices (rubbed in olive oil, salt, and pepper), a little cocktail sauce, and mini-pickles, it was an easy and delicious dinner for one.

reading/work: well, given the re-appropriation of my to-do list, you can probably guess that i failed on this front yesterday. about to go redeem myself — FOR REAL this time.

6 Comments

  • Reply Catherine March 10, 2019 at 7:28 pm

    Have you ever tried a neti pot? I find when I have relatively mild colds/sicknesses using it a couple of times a day clears everything right up.

  • Reply Anonymous March 10, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    i <3 that giant microbes site soooo cute!! hope you feel 100% soon

  • Reply Chelsea March 10, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    The giant microbes are incredibly cute. Hope you feel better soon. I should get some WF crab cakes for a dinner one night (if they have them in WI…). D and I love them, but it&#39s not something I think about making.

  • Reply atilla March 10, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    feel better

  • Reply Susan March 10, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    I gave James mono for his birthday one year. 🙂 I got a good laugh out of telling people that I gave him mono…I may still be laughing about that. In return, he gave me an RBC and WBC…they&#39re cute. But mono has the prettiest eyelashes!

  • Reply Sarah Hart-Unger March 10, 2019 at 7:28 pm

    catherine: have never tried it, but would be interested in it! that is similar to the ever popular neil-med sinus rinse, right?

    jenny: josh is calm and supportive 🙂 and in the video, he is totally sleepy. and YES innoculators! we both get it bad — you because you&#39re around the little germy one all the time, and me because i get exposed to multiple in one day and they&#39re ALL weeded out to be the sickets ones!

  • Leave a Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.