January 19th, 2025
So clearly the goal of writing every single day did not happen! It’s funny how one little thing can throw off everything. There’s always a chain reaction with these things and it has now taken me five days to get back into a rhythm–well at least I should be in one by the end of today, The good news is that I remain sugar free and, quite honestly, each day becomes easier to say no to sugar as a result, although Saja’s homemade brookies were calling my name. They looked outstanding!
Nonetheless, the last few days were not without their adventure. Wednesday, the 15th I was able to catch up with two old friends who were in town for a retreat. We met up close to 8:00 at night and hung out for a few hours. I decided to do yoga before that so, needless to say, by the time I got home, I had no energy for writing, push-ups, guitar or any other good routine I had begun. I ended up getting a lovely portobello sandwich- I wouldn’t mind being vegetarian. As I fully extract sugar from my body- it seems to nudge me toward other healthy decisions. The sugar detoxification efforts certainly make a big greasy burger less appetizing. Furthermore, while I committed to not giving up beer in the name of a sugar free diet, the appeal of that is slowly fading away as well. I had two social beers but it was the bold flavors of the portobello that continued to resonate in my mouth. The beer didn’t add anything, maybe it detracted.
I did catch up on my push-ups Thursday morning and again in the evening to keep that trend going, but had unrealistic aspirations of carving out enough time to catch up on the missed blog and stay current on Thursday. I came home after work and cooked a vegan tofu za’atar dish with herb yogurt sauce. It was ok, and sadly I don’t know what I did with the rest of my evening. So there was no excuse for not writing or being more productive. I think once that chain of consistency is broken, the effort it takes to get back on track feels more monumental than it probably is. There’s a good lesson in that though too for me and a nice warning to keep saying no to the sugar. There is no guarantee I will get back on track.
Friday, I decided to play tennis and had quite a scary moment. While my podiatrist has cleared me for all physical activity, I know the full healing from my surgery will take 6-8 months. I was loose and relaxed and playing decently. My opponent- LOL, who is my friend, hit a short ball and from the baseline I pushed off hard on my left foot to spring toward the ball. Immediately, I could feel something tear in my foot as pain spread from the middle out to my toes. And, of course, with all of my extra effort, I didn’t even return the shot.
This was on January 17th, precisely one year after I damaged my tibial nerve in that same foot during a tennis match that led to all sorts of issues culminating in surgery. For a brief moment, it seemed as though 2025 was going to be a sad repeat of 2025. With all the negative thoughts spiraling through my brain, I finished the set (we were close to the end) and left the court for others to keep playing. At home, I took some extra curcumin turmeric, some extra EB-N5 (for nerve damage), and Celecoxib, another anti-inflammatory, and went to bed depressed praying that I had not just blown $3000 on surgery and that I could walk without pain when I woke up in the morning.
My foot felt better in the morning so I decided to test it at yoga where I am sure the heat helped loosen it up and stretch it. I left confident that 2025 was not going to be a repeat of last year! Thank God!!! I am sure that there is some scar tissue on the inside of my foot from where the plantar fascia was cut. My best guess is that I restretched it and maybe reopened it a bit, which wouldn’t be the worst thing. I just need keep a good compression wrap on it, especially when I play tennis- and make sure I keep on stretching.
I finished Saturday with a lovely meal with Ashley at a local Ethiopian restaurant called Addis Nola. We ordered a vegetarian spread on injera which included lots of lentils, greens, cabbage, and beets as well as a beautiful fried whole red snapper. No dessert was calling my name and for the first time in a long time I left a restaurant not stuffed to the max. It’s as if that had been my previous goal at every nice meal out to empty the wallet and stuff the belly as full as it can get. Last night was a different feeling of lightness- At 48 years old, I am learning I can enjoy something without overdoing it.
And that brings me to today, where I am back writing again, still sugar free, keeping my push-ups with not broken yet in 2025.