“Spark”ly and Bright

Hi guys! And HOLLER to all of the new readers who are stopping by from the Daily Spark– my guest post on Zumba went up today 😀

Sorry I’m late posting, but I did this morning’s Insanity workout with the girls (Pure Cardio. Cuhrazy),

munched a bfast cookie:

Yes, today’s was green (intentionally– not moldy! Haha). The girls were like, “Um.. what are you eating??”

-1/2 C oats

-1 heaping T almond butter

-almond milk

-1/2 banana

–spirulina (for nutrients and the lovely green tinge)

-1 T mesquite

-vanilla

and went to the orthopedic surgeon to get the A-okay on the ol’ knee. It hasn’t bothered me in a *long* time (the hiatus, icing, and taking it easy helped!) but I wanted to make sure nothing was going on with it. I already had the referral and insurance was paying for the appointments, so I figured I’d go have it looked at.

The good news?

I have a sparkly knee 😀

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Good to know that those 19 years of dancing (toe-touching, jumping into the splits, rolling and doing my thang) didn’t cause any damage. Doc said everything looked good and I have a normal, healthy knee. 3 cheers for that, eh?? 😀

However, my vastus medialis oblique (VMO) is weak on the left side, and needs some strengthening action. Since it’s significantly weaker than my right VMO, it’s what has been causing my left knee to pull toward the left, made my IT band bother me (god bless you, foam roller) and caused some pain after the half marathon.

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It’s a tiny little muscle and the good news is that it can be strengthened with leg extension exercises. Baller.

Funny story: The pilot called, half asleep, while I was in the waiting room and I told him I was at the ortho. He was like, “Ortho? Oh.. orthodontist”. Haha, um braces came off maybe 8 years ago? I told him to call me back when he was awake. We got a good laugh out of it 😉

Since I was ravenous for waiting a thousand hours (ok, an hour and a half.. but still long!) for my appointment, I couldn’t make a smoothie fast enough when I got home.

Kristen’s Chocolate Cherry Bomb shake. I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it 😉

In honor of today’s guest post at the Daily Spark, I wanted to ask you guys what *spark*ed you to make a healthy change in your life? Was it a gradual thing (like feeling low energy, getting sick more often) or a specific “ah-ha!” moment?

For me, my *spark* happened on my first day of school at the University of Arizona. I was overweight, lugging my laptop and books around, and had to walk all over campus in the blistering Arizona sun. Climbing up the four flights of stairs to my Spanish class, I was sweating and so uncomfortable. When I got home from school, I had to lay down for a while…and couldn’t believe I still had to teach dance and take jazz and hip hop that night. Immediately, I started researching ways that I could get healthier through changing my eating habits and adding in walking.. it all snowballed from there.

So tell me, what was your *spark*?

Well I’m going to walk these puppies before it rains, get a haircut and head to work!

See ya later with a recipe post 😀

xoxo,

Gina