I Know I'm Sick When ...

I don't want coffee in the morning.

I lose my appetite.

I'm ambivalent to what I eat.

Horrors! I'm a foodie!

I'm sick now -- I can't tell if it's a full out head cold, sinus infection or partial cold, too (I was really achey and overall tired the past couple days) -- and my eating habits are out of whack. Funny thing, I'm still probably eating more than most people do.

Here's hoping my cold (or whatever) is over with by Tuesday. We're off to Custom House, and I have a foodie crush on the chef -- Spring's Shaun McClain -- so I have to be ready and able!

Foodie Overload

I still feel gross.

It's been a week since my my boyfriend's family's Labor Day Extravaganza, and I can still taste each and every cream-cheese- and mayonaise-based dip as if I devoured it seconds ago. I may as well have bathed myself in hydrogenated oil; it might have been easier to wash off.

Instead, I gorged on an amazing lineup of food: Chess Squares; brownies; shrimp n grits; eggs, spinach and goat cheese with onions; fritos; cream cheese and Pickapepper sauce; shrimp boil ... the list goes on. And none of the food was face value; the brownies had a layer of Symphony chocolate bar at the bottom; the grits were cheesy; the onions sauteed in bacon fat. I can picture my taste buds drunkenly stumbling and eventually passing out from gluttony. I don't want to step on the scale.

I feel this way after this weekend every year. Labor Day with his family is pretty simple -- his parents, brother and sister's family all I've get together at a lake house in Arkansas to hang out, ride in a pontoon boat and eat. I vowed this year to only gain a pound that weekend, even though I know I won't weigh myself. I might actually be making up for it a bit because I've been sick the past few days and surely consumed less calories than normal.

Usually I can take a weekend and indulge -- I'm specifically thinking of our now annual trip to New Orleans' Jazz Fest that's filled with nothing but oh-so-tasty fat grams -- because I'm mid-season and therefore have a great metabolism and a regular, solid workout schedule. But Labor Day weekend follows the weekend of my last race, the Chicago Triathlon, which signals the start of September: my month off.

I've tried to maintain a constant stream of veggies. Honestly, I pry won't feel back to normal until I'm working out regularly again. Maybe that's my problem -- not the food.

Another Season Down, Almost Injury-Free

I found out today that I have ulnar neuritis. The name sounds a lot worse than it is, but basically the nerve that runs on the outside of my arm from my elbow to wrist has been aggravated, and I need to rest it. It's a common sport injury from tennis, cycling and swimming. I do two of the three.

The good news is that it isn't painful, per se, but it does make the top of my wrist, fingers and forearm tingle and ache. When you're a writer like me or finishing up a triathlon season, like I was when the problem started, it's hard to rest it.

The timing is good, b/c I go easy in September, but it's bad b/c I'd really like to be able to get outside more for fun rather than just quit altogether. I don't have to go cold turkey, but if I want to jump back into a routine in October, I need to lay off. I need exercise to keep me happy, so this'll be a challenge.

Most athletes get injuries of some sort much worse than mine, and I'm amazed that they're able to push as hard as they do until something does pop up. I don't consider myself a die-hard athelete. I do work out regularly and push myself, but I'm not going hard-core distances. I'm above the casual athelete but not much more serious.

I feel like as soon as I get into something and push myself, my body reminds me that it's just not cut out for going hard. When I got into running faster and farther -- up to 5 miles regularly -- that's when my knees freaked out. Even physical therapy and strengthening my muscles didn't cure me enough. I basically can run 3 miles with minimal pain.

When I cycle, I'm cardiovascularly able to go farther than I do. But then my knees kick in and remind it's time to take it easy.

If I swim too much, no matter how much or what variety of stretching I do, I start to get muscle damage.

So I feel stuck in this range, with improvement in going harder but for shorter periods, or going longer but not as hard. Can't do both. I'd love to be able to train for an Olympic Distance triathlon, but considering the small increments I'm able to push myself, it seems like it would be more painful than fun. And it's always supposed to be fun, right?

But I'll try! I'll keep at it. And in the meantime, I'll rest up. Gotta listen to my body to stay injury-free.

Time for a Run

It's been four days since I finished my last triathlon of the season, and I need exercise.

I vowed I'd take a break.

I promised to let my body heal.

I'm going for a run.

Two Years Later, My Love for Spring Continues

Two years ago this month, my boyfriend took me to Spring for my birthday. We had been dating for just over six months at that point, and I had only been to a couple nice restaurants prior -- Blackbird for his birthday, and Hopleaf in Andersonville as a thank you dinner to me -- so although I had some great comparisons, I didn't really know food too well. Nice restaurants still made me nervous, and while I loved the different foods and combinations I was putting in my mouth, I didn't know why I loved them. I lacked the vocabulary, repeating after each bite, "I really love this," and "That's so good." Spring set a standard in my newbie foodie head, even if I couldn't explain what that standard was.

We went last night with Brian's aunt, and Spring is still amazing, right up there in my Top 3 as always. The staff are still warm and incredibly helpful, and everything tasted like heaven to me. I wasn't crazy back in 2007. I wasn't in a haze of fine dining, the kind that can overpower anyone not used to eating in a higher end restaurant. As of 2009, Spring really is that good.

The staff hit the spot. They're still unpretentious and low-key, and they're able to talk about anything on the menu. If you say, "I'm debating between the tenderloin and the scallops," they don't respond, "Well, it depends on what you're in the mood for. Those are so different." No shit Sherlock. Spring staff go into the finer details of what's not listed on the menu. And they're attentive.

I had grilled octopus in a creme fraiche for a starter and the scallops and oxtail for my main. Both fish were cooked perfectly, and the flavors played off one another really well. Scallops and ox tail? It works, trust me. I sampled my boyfriend's and his aunt's food, and it was equally tasty. Our dessert -- panna cotta with ginger sorbet, and an almond cake with cherry sorbet - knocked our socks off. I was thrilled the chef still offers a basil hot chocolate end-of-meal chaser, served in the same cute cups as the chef's tasting potato curry soup (definitely bowl-worthy).

I'm proud to announce Spring still ties three ways for my top restaurants. )The other two: Schwa here in Chicago and Bayona in New Orleans.)

In Defense of Yellowtail

My coworker just called Yellowtail one of the "worst wines you could possibly drink." The Dissing coworker just couldn’t understand why someone wouldn’t spend $3 to get a nicer bottle of wine.

I had to chime in on behalf of the brand: if you’re not a wino and can deal without analyzing the details of a wine, Yellowtail will do you good. So wine snobs, back off.

Are you going to have a conversation about it’s color, aroma and flavors? No. Would I recommend Yellowtail if you’re cooking a gourmet dinner? No. But in all other cases, Yellowtail is a sure bet to be smooth and balanced. I love opening it in the middle of the week. If I don’t finish the bottle in a day or so – likely – the $5.99 to $7.99 pricetag won’t leave me feeling guilty.

My coworker’s right: you cold drop $5 more and maybe upgrade, but b/c there are still a decent number of crappy wines in the $12 range, and you still have to know what you’re doing. And that’s fine! I've had my share of beautiful wines in all types of price ranges, and when chosen well, they have their time and place. For those of us who don’t want to think about it, though, Yellowtail is great.

Sometimes you’ve just got to defend those sure things. Yellowtail is one of ‘em.

The Eating Commences!

Some people worry about gaining weight over the holidays. For me, I fear the pounds of September.

As of today, I'm no longer working out on a set schedule and won't be working out, period, for at least a couple weeks -- it's part of my body's recovery period after my last race of the season (Sunday's Chicago Triathlon -- see post-race party celebratory burger at right). That means I have to get used to eating less because I'll be burning fewer calories, all while wanting to indulge because of several key end-of-summer events: my boyfriend, Brian's, birthday; his brother's birthday; a family Labor Day weekend filled with mayonaise and cream cheese-based dips; my birthday; and a weekend away with friends in Michigan. Did I mention we're all foodies? When we eat, we do it right.

I'm aiming to gain no more than 2 pounds this month. The challenge is on!