Week 1 of Raw Lunches Done and the Massage from Hell

So, I am on Day 7 of my personal Wellness Project Challenge.  Day 7 of eating mostly raw food for lunch, and I have to say this was the first day that I actually resented being on this challenge.  It's not that I am getting sick of eating only salad or smoothie for lunch.  Really, I am not!  But I made this amazing vegetable soup last night that was flavorful, healthy, and warm.  Of course we had leftovers and I actually resented the fact that this challenge was preventing me from eating them.  It's all of 14 degrees here today. You think I couldn't go for some warm soup about now? Sigh.  As it is, I am too stubborn to give up on my challenge just for a bowl of soup, so instead I am having a smoothie (perfect for those hot summer days...)

I thought the Vader glass was a nice touch given my attitude towards the smoothie today. I picture him saying, You will drink this, and you will like it! 

You will notice the color is not the pretty green of the last smoothie, but rather a muddled rose. It is not bad, although I think I added too many veggies, because the flavor balance tipped a little too far to the bitter side. It's still sweet, but not like the last one.  My lunch date did not care for this one and didn't drink his.  For the record, this smoothie contained two bananas, kale, celery, carrots, half an avocado, one orange, sesame seeds, frozen cherries, frozen pineapple, and water.

Also, if you are thinking that you would starve if you tried to get by on this, all I can say is don't judge based on the photo.  I actually have managed to drink three of these glasses each day I have had smoothie. So, seriously, THREE pints of smoothie for lunch. It's probably 1,000 calories worth of food. What do I know. So, if you think I am doing this to lose weight, think again.  I don't skimp on calories.

Speaking of calories and (not) skimping, I should also disclose that I eat snacks.  The past few days, my snacks of choice have been either citrus fruit, toast with peanut butter, or a Luna bar.  All that combined with my "rawish" lunch, breakfast and dinner, and you have to realize that I am in NO danger of wasting away on this challenge.

So, moving off the topic of food, the other big happening today was that I got a massage. This is the same lady I have seen off and on for the past several years, and truly she is brutal (in a good way, of course). Today, for example, if she had offered me a stick to bite down on, that would not have been inappropriate.

Mainly, she worked over my left leg (my injured side) and declared my hamstring tendons like cement. There was a golf ball sized knot at the base of my hamstring and not much mobility in the tendons.  Although the IT band was not completely innocent in this crime, she felt the hamstring tendons were the main culprits.  She kneaded the area, dug in her thumbs, and seriously worked me over for the full hour. There were times where I actually had to ask her to stop so I could take a breather, that is how painful this session was.  But, I suppose when you go in and ask someone to start digging around and eradicate any knots she finds, you have to expect some discomfort.

During all this fun, I did have an interesting conversation with her that got me thinking.  It was about how stress impacts the body and about the very real possibility that I may simply be the type of person who literally holds on to stress.  The upshot of the conversation was that I really need to find ways - outside of running - to rein in the stress I feel at times.  I am not exactly sure how to go about that, but it is something to think about in the months ahead.

In the meantime, I am left with a very bruised left side and the hope that this massage may have been just what I was missing on this road to recovery.