And immediately gets homesick for DC.

Regardless of the stress I’ve been under this past week was pretty great.

On Monday I got 2 pieces of good news: I was asked to join a networking group I’d been a guest at since the move. #nerdalert It’s all women and there are some talented women from across the working world! It’s also a great opportunity to make new friends

I also found out that I’ll be making a quick trip to New York City in December for a reunion meeting of a professional development program I did back in DC. Not only am I excited to reconnect with a few old friends, but I’m also looking forward to a few days on the East Coast, trying a gluten free bagel, and finally seeing Wicked on Broadway! It’ll be a whirlwind 55 hours! From there I’ll go to Chicago for a work meeting and then Austin for a bachelorette party! I’m tired already.

Did I mention that I got to go to Game 6 of the ALCS Championship series last week? The Rangers crushed Detroit that night and clenched a 2nd consecutive championship. Atta boys! I’ve also gotten sucked into watching the World Series, including at a fun Thursday night viewing party.

How was your week?

As soon as I saw an ad for the Dallas Gluten Free Food Expo I started getting excited. I knew that this would be a perfect opportunity to network, chat with reps from my favorite food companies, and get a feel for the gluten free and allergy communities in Dallas.

I spent my first couple of hours volunteering with Udi’s in my role as a brand ambassador. It was incredibly fun to chat with folks who stopped by the table, hear about their love of Udi’s products, and spend time with the lovely Regan who works for Udi’s.

After, my dad met me at the expo (he eats gluten free too and hadn’t been to one of these events before!) for some sampling and exploring. There were so many products and companies there; I visited with some old favorites and discovered new ones too! It was a great experience and I was glad to do some networking for my future business in addition to trying amazing new foods.

Points to Dallas for hosting this event and bring GF folks out of the wood works from across the city, state, and the South!

plain bagels, whole grain bagels, whole grain & millet chia breads, whole grain hamburger buns!

Good thing there are 2 Udi’s addicts in our house!

2 short weeks in a row because of Jewish holidays. I’ve never been so happy to have 2 days off to take care of school, business building, and maybe relax a bit too!

Coffee. Last week I weened myself off of caffeine in preparation for fasting on Yom Kippur. Come Sunday morning, I was ecstatic to have a cup of coffee back in my hand.

Someone who makes me smile on a daily basis and reminds me that there are things more important than striving for perfection.

Quiet, leisurely mornings. I love enjoying breakfast and starting my day in peace and quiet. That doesn’t always happen since I’m not living on my own at the moment and I savor every opportunity that comes up.

What are you thankful for?

As my studies progress, we are focusing not only on the topics above but also on business and marketing. I’ve learned some new skills and concepts and have “scheduled” time where I get to dream about and plan for my future business.

One of the “to-dos” I revisit often is my business name. I love the name of this blog but don’t really see that being a viable name for my business. I keep toying with ideas of what to call my future practice but haven’t settled upon anything yet.

With a lot of creative minds, I would love to get your opinion. What would you call a nutrition consulting business that focuses on the food allergy population (especially gluten free?) I have a few ideas but would love to get a few more!!

Please share any and all ideas below in the comments!!

We took a little adventure down to the Dallas Farmers Market which, while different in almost every way was a nice little reminder of local food. Sure, this market is unique in that a lot of stuff isn’t local at all but Nina and I managed to find goodies that were in fact from around Dallas and the surrounding areas. It’s not perfect but it’s better than nothing!

Imagine my delight that my handy dandy iPod Touch has all of my lectures loaded onto it and best of all, it’s portable! With me skipping the gym because of my stress fracture, I’ve had to find other times to get my lectures done. Good thing I carry around the iPod at all times; waiting in the doctor’s office or in the car are 2 prime “school times!”

On Thursday I had about an hour in between work and a special birthday celebration. Parked at a Starbucks with a cup of hot tea, I sat outside and enjoyed the DC-esque neighborhood and was able to tackle a few lecture segments!

A few weeks ago I decided to start working out with a trainer as a “splurge” for a little while. I figured it would be a good way to challenge myself during workouts that I wasn’t accomplishing on my own.

I had a couple of trial sessions with my trainer to figure out what worked for me. I made her fully aware of last year’s stress fracture and was explicit in explaining I can’t do things on the ball of my foot; I don’t wear heels anymore nor do I do lunges, etc. bc of the strain on the ball of my foot.

My sessions revolved around a lot of pilates, boxing, body-weight and combination moves with some free weights mixed in. All was well and I enjoyed training. That is, until my session 2 weeks ago.

In the last 5 minutes of my session, my trainer decided to do even more ab work than we had already done that session. She demonstrated a Bear Crawl Plank (the position on the left)and I said, “No way. My foot can’t handle that.” She told me ”come on, you can do it.” And I pushed back again, “No. I really don’t think that’s a good idea with my foot.” And she urged me again. That’s when I got a little cocky and competitive, because I figured it’d be okay for a brief amount of time, and got into the position, all the while praying that my foot wouldn’t give out. Genius, right? I’m still pissed at myself…

No more than 20 seconds into a 45 second hold I got a sharp pain in my foot and switched to a 1-legged regular plank. I.was.pissed.

The only exercise I got the following week was an afternoon walk I took on Labor Day Monday. I tried to work out that Wednesday and my trainer actually sent me home from the gym. When symptoms didn’t go away I went to see a new foot doctor figuring something was definitely wrong.

When the doctor brought out my x-rays and explained that I had strained apart the bone that I’d fractured in 2 last year, I was so angry and upset. Despite my best efforts I injured myself once again. Of course there were tears and failed negotiations to avoid the boot but he told me his preferred course of treatment and the boot for 2 weeks suddenly didn’t seem so bad.

I’m more than 1 week into my 2 week Boot Sentence and am doing everything I can to let my foot heal quickly. I’ve upped my calcium (and brought back small amounts of dairy into my diet), I haven’t seen the inside of a gym since I got sent home from it 10 days ago, and am staying off of it (read: staying on my ass) as much as possible. Oh, I’m also diligently taking my pain meds that make me loopy / borderline drunk.

So here’s where I need your advice. When people ask what happened and hear the story, their 1st question is, how quickly did you fire your trainer? I actually don’t how to handle the situation. I feel like she should have listened to me when I said no 2 times and perhaps even shouldn’t have suggested that move knowing what my limitations are with my feet. At the end of the day I still did the move and am completely responsible. I should’ve ignored my competitive inclinations and stuck to my guns. My gut told me no and I didn’t listen.

I haven’t resolved anything with her yet because I’m not sure what to do. I know I need to have a serious conversation with her, especially before I stop wearing the boot so she understands the scope of what that little exchange did to me. If I continue working out with her it’s going to be a no-negotiation relationship when I say no. On the flip side, if I start working with a different trainer, I’m not sure I’m ready for the potential awkwardness of seeing my old one around the gym, assuming I get back into a fitness routine somewhat quickly.

So that’s the story.

What would you do – keep the same trainer? Get a new one? Forget it and train yourself?

And no, I don’t wanna talk about it.