Soup has always been one of those comfort things I turn to when I am tired, sick, sore, or just want something that makes me feel all cozy…and the chunkier the soup the better!

After the emotional day I had yesterday, along with the lack of sleep, I really REALLY had to drag myself to Cirque Fit tonight.  And also still nursing a sore knee (it hurt more the day after I fell than it did the day it happened…), so I did the very best that I was able to do today.

I have had to modify a lot, but even with all the modifications, I still feel much stronger than I have in years.  While a cannot jump up and down like a frog, I do bounce on the balls of my feet.  I can’t get my knees up all that high while attempting to jog in place, but I can do a modified quick-march that gets my heart rate up, and that’s the point.  I’ve had to go back to my knees for push-ups for now because the plank position hurts the knee…but I am doing more push-ups!

Modification, schmodification!  I can still feel the difference in my calves (not only in the burning sensation while bounding for what seems like a half hour, but in the decrease of flabbiness that was once there!), and I can really feel it in my shoulders and arms.  I am even getting a little “bump” in my bicep!  Granted, it’s a little bump, but I am just as proud of that bump akin to a three week pregnant woman who is dying to wear maternity clothes  because she believes she’s “showing” already (yeah… that was me at one time…or two…or three…or…four….orrrr….fiiive…!), but a bump is a bump, damn it!

I had to sit out for the push-you-pull-me part of the session, but I used the time with my back flat against the wall with my feet stretched out in front of me…and my arms/shoulders pressed flat against the wall with my hands making a “goal post” (I threw that in as a visual in honor of the Big Game that I didn’t watch yesterday).  I held that position all through the rest of the class’  first two rounds of pulling each other across the room, and man, were my shoulders burning!  So instead of using the shoulders to pull and push a partner around, I got a similar benefit and still got to baby my knee.

By the time I got home, I was ready for some cuddly comfort on the couch with my soup and my laptop to tell you all about it!  Tonight’s concoction? (actually leftover from yesterday and that much better!)…  Butternut Squash soup with lentils and kale… YUM!

Easy, peasy, lemon-squeezy!  I poured a box of pre-made organic butternut squash soup (courtesy of Wegman’s) and added a package of steamed lentils (go, Trader Joe’s).  After cooking that a bit, I added two chopped tomatoes and three handfuls of chopped kale.   Throw in some curry and cayenne and let it simmer till the kale is tender.  Delicious!

So right now I am going to relax with my soup and congratulate myself for what I WAS able to do instead of berating myself for what I COULDN’T.   I showed up, I participated, and that is a triumph in itself!