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| The most famous Icelandic hot dog stand down by the waterfront in Reykjavik |
Episodes of low blood sugar today: 1, almost 2 (a 3.5 at around 11am and tested a 4.2 before lunch, grumble, grumble). Jeff made this amazing egg casserole for breakfast and I obviously miscounted the carb content-he usually uses pre-made mini hashbrowns as the base, today he used shredded potatoes. Again showing that it is way better to use fresh ingredients over packaged, for blood sugar for sure anyways.
C's mood today: It's official-he is acting two today (as he should really, he is almost 2 1/2). I felt as though we had dodged the bullet thus far with tantrums and unruly behavior...well it's here today, that's for sure. Doesn't want to be told what to do, asks for something, you bring it, he doesn't want it, crying uncontrollably because Jeff told him it isn't safe to play in the street.(!) Sigh. Deep breath. :)
Workout today: 40 minutes kickboxing DVD completed with Jeff first thing this morning-C is back to his 6:30am wake up. Goodbye 8 am it was nice while it lasted. Great to be up, finished a workout, and showered by 9am though, I have to say. :)
Clean eating menu: Amazing egg casserole for breakfast (thank you Jeff)-it includes egg whites, shredded potatoes, a little bit of bacon, mushrooms, a little bit of cheese, green onions-all baked to golden deliciousness. Yummy! Another great recipe from Bill Phillips' Eating for Life
I'm outing my mother today. I know, terrible. But it's kinda funny so I thought I would share. And it involves our trip to Iceland, so I thought it was fitting.
Our first week in Iceland is kind of a blur. Between jet lag and getting ready for my race, I was one tired and stressed individual. Add to this that I am the mother of a two year old who, of course because of the time change, would wake up in the middle of the night and want to hang out...in other words I was a bit of a mess (Jeff can confirm this). We arrived early Tuesday morning (after taking an over night flight from Seattle-by over night I mean that we left Seattle at 4:30pm, and with the time change and a 7 hour flight, arrived in Reykjavik at 6:45am-more on this in another post, I promise).
By Thursday I was ready to get out and explore a bit. My Mom's cousin, Frida (her and my Mom have the same great grandmother-so cousins? I guess, don't ask me the exact relationship, bottom line we're related) who lives in Reykjavik had offered to take me out to see the race route. So my Mom, Frida, Frida's wife Sjofn (pronounced Shep...don't ask. And yes, Icelanders have marriage equality :)) and I went on a drive to check out the race route, while Jeff took C to one of the local geothermal pools.
The tour of the race course lasted about an hour. It was great to see the race course to help my mental focus, and it was kind of like a little sightseeing tour as we got to see some of the great landmarks around Reykjavik. It's funny when I have been in other races and I would read in the race program that there were race course tours available, I would laugh and think "how boring! why would anyone waste their time with that?" Hmm, apparently me. No really, it was great to know that there was a pretty major hill at kilometer 15, and definitely great to know where the finish line is when you are dying around kilometer 19.
Ok, so back to my mother. Carol has been a Type 1 Diabetic for 40+ years. She was diagnosed at 22. I have always marveled at her will power. She often says no to cake (I know, cake!?!), has one slice of toast with her eggs, and often will not even taste something if she knows it will be sugary. In her defense, she grew up with this disease at a time when they basically told you to deprive yourself. No sweets, no treats, period. Well the rules have changed lately. At least that is what my health care team tells me. They say "it is perfectly ok to have a small piece of cake if you are at a birthday party, just cover it with insulin". The take home message-you can treat yourself once in a while, just not all the time. Sound familiar? Yes, because that is basically what they tell anyone who is following a healthy eating plan-Diabetic or not. (I'm smirking, if you can't tell).
Carol is not perfect. Who is really? From my experience with her in the last 31.5 years, I know that she has two vices. One is wine. The other is, wait for it, hot dogs. I know, right? Of all the things you could love-cookies, cake, chips.....my mother loves hot dogs. I can remember her telling me on her day off when we were kids, she would go to the mall, do some shopping, and she would sheepishly tell me that she stopped at A&W for a 'whistle dog' for lunch. I could feel the guilt oozing from her pores, but could also tell that she had loved every bite.
So how can a woman with the will power of a God love something as 'kinda gross' as hot dogs? Well the mystery was solved in Iceland. Two words 'Islendingar Pylsur', or Icelandic hot dog (I guess that's three words). It's in her genes. Apparently they are world famous ( I know, this was news to me), and even Bill Clinton stopped for one when he visited the land of fire and ice. When Frida and Sjofn dropped us off downtown after our tour they told us "you have to try a hotdog" and proceeded to tell us the most famous hot dog stand was just around the corner. Well how could we not? I was carbo-loading after all.
Don't get me wrong, part of me wants to like hot dogs. They are kind of a staple-who doesn't have them at a baseball game or while camping? Well, usually me. The real reason is I usually feel sick after. Which is exactly what happened in Iceland. Our relatives that had been to Iceland before us told us you should 'order a hot dog with everything'. It tasted quite good, but I didn't realize it came with this mystery sauce. It was the color of caramel and tasted really sweet. Turns out it was some weird blended combo of relish, ketchup, and mustard. Which guess what (?), all have sugar in them. So I think I likely felt sick because of high blood sugar, which I got because I mis-calculated the carb content. Can you blame me, I have like 1 hot dog a year?
Anyways, like I say, I can't fault my mother. Nobody is perfect. It simply brings her down to the same level as us mortals. She is an Icelander, not a Norse God. And apparently she was blessed with the hot dog gene. :)
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| Look at her! She's beaming! ;) |
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| That's Jeff in the tuque-we brought him back after my race. I opted for Icelandic pastry over another hot dog | . |
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| Bill and I have a few things in common-running and Icelandic hot dogs (hopefully not heart attacks!) |
Check out this link to Hot Dog by LMFAO I had it on my music mix while running the half in honor of my Mom. Jeff and my Mom had never heard this gem-maybe you haven't either. ;)
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