That Time of Year

Posted by Lisa Eirene

Well I’m not at all surprised that with all that traveling we just did that I got a cold! Thankfully I don’t think it’s the flu (I never had a fever) but I felt pretty crappy last week and basically all weekend. πŸ™

I was home Thursday and Friday and either on the couch or in bed. Drinking gallons of theraflu, emergenC, taking ColdEze and elderberry cough drops. Yuck! The good news is that I got to catch up on some TV shows snuggling with the fur babies on the couch.

I watched Pandemic on Netflix (very good) and started Locke and Key (also pretty good, with a twist of fantasy and mild horror). And I got caught up on my favorite TV shows I’m behind on (Schitt’s Creek, Grey’s Anatomy, and SVU). Lots of napping. Lots of laziness.

I was sick for Valentine’s Day. Bummer. But Michael brought home pho (my favorite when I have a cold) and some keto ice cream!

Not really doing keto right now while I’m sick but trying to do low carb at the very least. The pho hit the spot! The ice cream was a little weird in texture but I’ll try it again. πŸ™‚

Logan got me a super sweet card:

Michael also got some keto bread at Costco!

Saturday night I had a grilled ham and cheese sandwich on the bread. It was pretty decent. It itched the craving for a sandwich! The bread was pretty good. The first half was good but the second half got a little soggy and the bread started falling apart a bit. Maybe using the keto bread for just grilled cheese, no ham, would be better.

Sunday morning I had eggs and avocado toast with the keto bread. The keto bread was great as toast!

Sunday I also went to the doctor. I was feeling a lot worse and it was turning into a sinus infection. Antibiotics and prednisone for a few days. BOO. My surgery last year definitely fixed my issues, though. Instead of 7 or 8 sinus infections a year, one is definitely an improvement!

Also, once I’m feeling better I need to get back to weight lifting. I notice that when that falls off I start having issues with my back and stuff. My SI joint has been bugging me for weeks and my hip and back feel terrible. Probably because all I’ve done for a month is cardio (swimming, running, hiking etc). I need to get back to strength training asap!

As for losing weight…I managed to NOT gain any weight in Hawaii! Yay! I did a mostly on plan diet (low carb, not necessarily keto) with splurges every day (like rice with my poke and then birthday cake) but I didn’t go crazy and we were super active. So that was nice. I did manage to gain 2 pounds in LA, of course. LOL How does that happen?!? Who even knows. But as soon as this cold is over with I am back to the diet, back to the gym!

I started doing Keto last February 1st and have done it in fits and starts, which isn’t ideal and not effective. Stuff kept popping up (my surgery, the stress of buying a house and moving and then the holidays) so I basically kept gaining and losing THE SAME 10 pounds since last year. I am really hoping I can do better this year.

Los Angeles Hiking

Posted by Lisa Eirene

On Saturday I dragged Michael out of bed πŸ˜‰ and we drove to Pacific Palisades to go for a hike in Will Rogers State Park. It’s a really big place! And it was nice. We did the Inspiration Trail. It was fairly easy, but connected to other trails you could do to make it longer.

It was about 65 degrees but felt warmer in the sunshine. It felt SO nice after being back in cold, rainy Portland for two weeks after paradise. πŸ™‚

The trail looped around a big hill and at the top there were really nice views.

There were also stables, so we saw horses. And trail runners, mountain bikers and people walking their dogs. It was a popular place.

It was a really nice workout. After that we drove to Pacific Palisades for lunch. It was a really cute place! Lots of cute little restaurants and shops. I would like to explore that area some more, too. We went to lunch at Cafe Vida, which was very popular. The place was packed the entire time and had a long wait. But it was worth it.

I got the mahi mahi grilled fish tacos topped with cabbage slaw made with yogurt and a mild sauce. It came with black beans and rice. It was SO SO delicious! Michael got a chicken and veggie bowl and he loved it, too.

I definitely recommend this place and would try and go back next time I’m there. The food felt really healthy. It wasn’t spicy, which was kind of a bummer because I like spicy fish tacos, but it was still delicious.

Saturday night we went out to dinner at Paul Martin’s in Manhattan Beach. Another great place I highly recommend! Classy joint, great food, good service. Reasonable prices compared to a lot of LA options! Also, Manhattan Beach is super cute, and parking was easy at the restaurant, so definitely check it out. The place filled up fast, too!

I got a glass of Sauvignon Blanc (delicious wine list!) and they brought freshly baked bread (the butter was awesome). I got the Wedge Salad (very very good):

And the French Onion soup:

Michael got the steak cobb salad and he said it was one of the best he’d had.

Then we splurged and shared a piece of chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Everything was so good! Definitely ate too much. Worth it.

We had an early night because we had to get up at 4:45 to get to LAX for our flight home. The early morning hour turned out to be a good time for LAX and everything went super easy. We even saw Jason Momoa at the airport!

The flight home was turbulent (yuck) but we landed and got to see Logan! I’d missed him SO much! I admit, I got a little homesick for my baby. This was the longest we’d ever been away from him (4 days) and the first time we were in another state without him. It was very weird for me. I couldn’t stop giving him kisses when I saw him!

It was a good trip. Driving in LA is nuts and I felt like our trip was spent just driving places. I didn’t get to do all the things I’d wanted to do (partly because of how long everything took to drive to) but it’s on my list for our next visit (The Getty Villa, The Natural History Museum, Runyon Canyon).

It is so good to be home. Michael and I are both “over” being on vacation though! Traveling is tiring. (Not complaining, it was all amazing, but dang we are tired!)