It's the end of the world as we know it...

So I'm hanging out with my parents watching the John Cusack movie, 2012, on tv. What an appropriate way to celebrate the end of the world. We're alternating that with The Santa Clause, which is way more entertaining in my opinion, mainly because it's Christmas time. And apparently my dog Sophie LOVES Santa. She's definitely the most excited about watching tv.

I, on the other hand, am more excited about the glass of wine that I'm enjoying while watching Christmas and apocalyptic movies. There's a thought... A Christmas apocalypse movie. Where instead of the world being taken over by zombies of overheating, we're overrun by cheery elves and snow. Sounds like a better way to go if you ask me.

I was welcomed to my hometown in the best way possible. My mom picked me up and we immediately headed over to a spa near my old apartment for facials and massages. Awesome! It was very relaxing and necessary after the last couple of weeks that I've had. Work has been intense, which is the reason why I haven't posted for the last week. That and I learned how to knit last weekend, so I spent some of my spare time in the evenings knitting. And watching old episodes of Whose Line is it Anyways. Great show. And did well for improving my mood.

Tonight we went to a Mediterranean/Lebanese restaurant. I confess, I ate pita bread and hummus. But I only ate one piece of pita bread and then decided it didn't taste good enough for me to want to eat more. Crazy! I don't think I've ever had that experience before. The beef shalwar a and lamb kabobs were delicious!

Anyways, back to the movie... Enjoy the apocalypse! Hopefully I'll see you all tomorrow!

The Hobbit Repercussions

Amazingly, I had decent energy for most of the day despite only getting 3 hours of sleep after watching The Hobbit and consuming no caffeine during the day. I did have a lack-of-sleep headache for most of the day (yes, I get headaches when I'm tired), and I'm thinking that my stomach was pissed at me for drinking soda because I was queasy all day. But despite that, I was able to stay focused while I was at work. However, once I finally left work at 6:45 last night, the tiredness kicked in, and I fell asleep from 8 until 11 p.m., at which point I woke up for a few missed text messages from my friends wondering why I wasn't at JZ's going away party. I texted my apologies, but could barely keep my eyes open and fell back asleep, not getting out of bed until 9:00 a.m. today.

So was it worth going to the midnight show of The Hobbit? I'm going with a no. The movie was good; I really enjoyed it. However, being exhausted and falling asleep at 8:00 p.m. on a Friday night brings the response to no. Oh well. I must keep this in mind for next time.

And in a change of subject... if you're still debating whether to give up grains... Check out this article, or even better, this article. Or if you want a book: Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis.

Some random facts:

• Today's hybridized wheat contains sodium azide, a well-known toxin. It also goes through gamma irradiation processes during manufacturing.
• Two slices of whole wheat bread will raise blood sugar levels more than a candy bar.
• Famous celebrities who are gluten free: Jennifer Esposito (celiac), Elizabeth Hasselbeck (celiac), Emmy Rossum (celiac), Chelsea Clinton (gluten-intolerance/wheat allergy), Zooey Deschanel (wheat allergy), and Ryan Phillipe (wheat allergy).

The Hobbit

So, apparently I won't give in to peer pressure to drink alcohol in social situation but I will drink diet coke at the movies in order to stay awake for the midnight premiere of The Hobbit. In the synchronous words of LMR and me: "Priorities!"

I'm already regretting this decision though (as I currently post from my phone in the theater). My head and heart feel funny... We'll see how it goes. Anyways, back to waiting for the movie to start!

If you love LOTR like me, check out lotrproject.com/cheatsheet

Whole 30: Peer Pressure and Alcohol

I'm almost done with Whole 30, and based on my experiences so far, the biggest difficultly that I've encountered with Whole 30 is peer pressure. I think that the part of Whole 30 that my friends (and family) can't quite comprehend is why I'm not drinking. But don't get me wrong, I've had peer pressure to eat non-Paleo foods, too. Even though my friends and co-workers know that I've been following this diet/lifestyle change since February, they still try to convince me to take a break and have some bread, pizza, etc. And sure I've had some non-Paleo foods during the last 8-9 months, but for the most part, I've stayed strong. But peer pressure is hard. It's something that we deal with our entire lives. I admit that there are times during this past month that I want to have a drink, like when I'm stressed, or when I'm at a happy hour or dinner where everyone and their mother except for me is drinking. The thing I can tell you about all of this is that you CAN have fun without drinking. You can enjoy the stories and events even when sober... that is, assuming you have friends that you enjoy being around. Sorry, but being sober with people you don't like basically just leaves you with people you don't like. So maybe this would also be a good time to re-evaluate your friendships. Anyways, it can be fun to witness your friends when they're heavily intoxicated and saying "Stop judging me. No, I don't want any water!" as you watch them gulp through one glass of water after another. It's the little things that are amusing.

One thing that I think we often forget about is that alcohol is a toxin. There, I said it. A TOXIN! Sure there may be some health benefits if you drink one glass of red wine with dinner, but the key thing here is moderation. A good rule of thumb for learning your limits is that if you wake up with a hangover the next day, you had too much. A hangover is your body saying that you did something it didn't like. Learn from it. And remember, our Primal ancestors weren't distilling vodka in their caves, so these high % alcohol liquors can blow the concept of moderation out of the water. High consumption of alcohol for an extended time period can lead to fatty liver, swelling, and inflammation of the liver, and cirrhosis (Reference here). 

And one of the other reasons that alcohol can be bad for Paleo-ites is that, as everyone knows, it lowers your inhibitions. This is particularly important for us Paleo people because that means we're more likely to cave into peer pressure and eat that late-night pizza, nachos, or taco(s). So in addition to the hangover you might get from over-indulging, you might also end up with a non-Paleo-foods-induced headache or stomachache (or other gastrointestinal-based issue).

Check out this post or this post on Primal alcohol consumption.

In particular, why you should drink with food...

When you eat a meal, and your stomach is “full,” the pyloric sphincter – which controls the passage of food and drink from the stomach into the small intestine – closes up until your stomach can break down its contents. Any alcohol added to a full stomach will also spend more time being broken down by the relevant enzymes. If you drink on an empty stomach, the pyloric sphincter is wide open, and a greater proportion of alcohol will make it to the small intestine for immediate absorption. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, drinking alcohol with food can reduce postprandial blood glucose and the susceptibility of blood lipids to peroxidation (PDF). Keeping your drinking around meals will let you take advantage of these benefits.

And now you know why you get buzzed/drunk faster on an empty stomach.

Read more at http://www.marksdailyapple.com/alcohol-the-good-and-the-bad/#ixzz2EsU1S4rH

And here's a summary of alcohol facts: calories, % alcohol, serving size, etc.

Whole 30: Banana Bread

Banana Bread
1 frozen banana, mashed
1 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 Tbls cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Thaw the banana for 20 minutes. Mash the banana and mix in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk the eggs and the blend with the banana and almond flour mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until solid. It might end up being a little dry, so top with apple butter for a bit of moisture. Alternatively, you can mix in some coconut oil to the mixture before baking. Enjoy!

Whole 30: Paleo-ites Unite!

Anyways, Friday was an exciting day. I found out that I passed the FE exam! Excuse me while I dance around my apartment!! ... And, I'm back. Phew. On Friday night, I went to a Brazilian steakhouse with a Paleo meetup group. If you're a Paleo person and feel alone in your city, check out meetup.com and search for things like Paleo, Primal, Health, Natural Foods, Caveman, CrossFit, Primal Blueprint, Gluten-free, Nutrition, etc. You'll probably be able to find at least a few people who you can bond with over Paleo trials and tribulations. And want to know how to recognize a table of Paleo-ites/Groks? Look for the table that all turns around to the waiter and says "No bread, please! No, we don't want the bread." The most amusing part of the evening is the fact that one of the guys at the meetup whom I had never met before happens to be friends with one of my buddies. Small world, eh?

Other excitement over the weekend... A couple of my friends and I went to a German Christmas Market where we got to see some of these cool characters... like Santa on a golf cart... because that's what we do in Texas...

 St. Nicholas and a elf/puppeteer...

and a high school German dancing club...

 My lunch was a bratwurst (minus the bun)...

And then I saw the star of my future nightmares... these ridiculously enormous pretzels that had to have been twice the size of my head

 My friends indulged in an apple strudel, which looked truly delicious. The bakers told me how impressed they were that I was saying no to the strudel and lemon white chocolate mint bread.

Whole 30 - Primal

If you don't read Mark's Daily Apple, you should. If you don't care about the science and facts behind Paleo/Primal and are purely searching for recipes, Mark also has authored a few cookbooks. He just announced the release of his newest book (Primal Blueprint Healthy Sauces, Dressings & Toppings) and is offering awesome giveaways. So check it out!

In other exciting news, I went to the gym today for over an hour! I haven't done that in quite some time, and I feel wonderful. Tomorrow may be a different matter. I'm hoping the 20 minutes I spend icing my ankle while I'm writing this will keep the pain from getting too bad tomorrow

I brought my pumpkin trifle into work today in a small-ish jar for people to taste. One of my co-workers who NEVER gets second helpings of desserts went back for more (and also got a bit of whipped cream in his mustache). My supervisor ended up finishing off the dish, then washed it and returned it to me, "ready to be refilled." I think they liked it.

Anyways, I wanted to share some products I found while perusing Whole Foods tonight. First off is Go Raw Organic Lemon Super Cookies. I was intrigued... Gluten free, wheat free, and nut free. I tried one of the "cookies" and I am NOT a fan. I do not recommend these. It tastes a little strange.

The second thing is Eden Organic Spaghetti Sauce. If you're like me and sometimes get too lazy to make things from scratch. Here is a Paleo option for spaghetti sauce. It just contains tomatoes, olive oil, and herbs/spices. So give it a try.

Colors, Crafts, and Steak

So I apparently don’t know how to run without injuring myself. I participated in a color run (5k) over the weekend and managed to roll my ankle once again. It was only 3 miles, yet somehow, I fit in another sprain – at the green color station. Of course, I kept running and finished the race, but my ice pack and ACE bandage were necessities once I got home. Disregarding the return of my ankle pain, the race was a blast. Something about being rainbow-colored is immensely satisfying. I highly recommend it. Just try not to injure yourself.

This ankle injury is kind of baffling to me. How do I keep injuring myself? If I didn’t know better, I’d say that I’m klutzy. But I don’t often trip over myself or fall over or knock things down. As a child, I did 6 years of ballet lessons, so by the time I switched over to soccer, my coach was impressed that I didn’t fall over like most of the other girls on my team. I had and still have good balance. Yet make me run on even slightly uneven ground and whoops, there goes my ankle. As I mentioned before, my running career is over.

This past weekend has been a Christmasy weekend. I hit up Ikea twice for some Swedish Christmas decorations, lights, and candles to set up around my apartment. I also spent some time in the crafts section of Wal-Mart. Here is the result of my Sunday afternoon crafting session with KAOS and How the Grinch Stole Christmas playing the background:

Monday and Tuesday of this work week has been spent primarily in training. They have provided fruits, muffins, pastries, and sugared fruit juices for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. One thing that I noticed while I wasn’t eating breakfast was that more of the fruit was gone in comparison to the amount of grain-based sweets. Also, during lunch, I saw that 4 of the 16 people in our training ate the insides of their sandwiches but didn’t eat the bread/wrap. It made me happy to see that other people are also restricting their grain intake (though I recognize that they may be doing so as part of a Southbeach-esque diet).

Anyways, time for a How-To…

How-To: Cook Steak in the Oven 

Need:

Oven

Cast-iron skillet/griddle

~1-lb rib-eye steak, grass-fed, at room temperature

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Set the oven to broil. Let heat for ~20 minutes. Place a cast iron pan over medium-high heat on the stove until hot (heat your griddle in the oven).

While things are heating up, pat dry your grass-fed rib eye steak. Then brush with olive oil. In a small bowl, mix together salt and pepper. Sprinkle evenly over the steak on both sides.

Now that your pan/griddle is hot (pull the griddle out of the oven and place over stove), place your steak on the hot surface. Flip over after 30 seconds. After both sides have been seared for 30 seconds, flip back over onto the original side, and transfer pan/griddle into the oven. Cook for 2 minutes for medium-rare, or 4 minutes for medium. Once cooked to your liking, remove from the oven and transfer to plate, covering with tinfoil. Let the steak rest for 5 minutes. Slice against the grain and serve immediately.

You may get some smoke in your kitchen, so I recommend turning on overhead fans and opening a window to prevent your smoke detector from going off like mine did.

If you’re like me, eat ¼ of your steak for breakfast with one scrambled egg, and wilted spinach.

Whole 30 - Meat and Brains?

No, no. I'm not saying you need to eat brains. We're not zombies here. However, I read an article lately which claimed that a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle would not have allowed humans' brains to grow as large as they did. Apparently, a raw vegan diet requires too much time and effort (chewing) in order to get the large amount of nutrients necessary to support brain functions. Yet another reason to eat Paleo/Whole 30/Primal.

Early humans eating only raw vegetation would have needed to munch

for more than nine hours a day to consume enough calories.

Cooking food reduces the amount of time necessary for chewing. So once our ancestors learned about cooking, they didn't have to spend as much time ruminating on food. And their brains were able to grow. Cool, right?

Just some food for thought... Get it? Lol.

Sorry vegans, eating meat and cooking food is how humans got their big brains

Whole 30 - Italian Greens Frittata

My dad sent me an email a while ago about this and I'm finally getting around to posting this... Apparently cooking with dry heat isn't good for you... or at least not for mice. Cooking meat with dry heat increases Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs), such as the compound methyl-glyoxal (MG). With sustained exposure MG, mice (across four generations) "developed significant abdominal weight gain, early insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes." The study recommends that we stop cooking foods with dry heat (grilling) and replace them with lower heating methods or methods that use a lot of moisture (stewing, poaching or steaming). So check out my slow-cooker recipe from yesterday.

Check out the article here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120820152102.htm

And now that I've shared that it's possibly bad for you, let's bake breakfast...

Italian Greens Frittata
7 eggs
1 lb ground turkey/beef
1 baby bok choy, chopped
1 cup frozen, chopped spinach
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch broccoli, chopped to bite size pieces
1 green onion, sliced - for topping
1 tbls olive oil
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp oregano
3/4 tsp basil

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan on the stove over medium heat. Once hot (test this my getting your hand slightly wet and flicking the excess water onto the pan. If it sizzles, it's ready.) Add the onions and garlic, and cook for about 5 minutes. While this is cooking, rinse and chop your bok choy, separating the stalks (white part) from the leafy green part. Toss the stalks in with the onions and garlic and cover for ~3 minutes. Now add the leafy bits, broccoli, and mushrooms. Cook until veggies are soft. Transfer the veggies to an 11" x 7" pan.

While the veggies are cooking, use a separate pan to cook your ground meat. Once browned, transfer to the pan with your veggies and spread evenly. Crack your eggs into a separate bowl and whisk with your seasonings. Pour eggs into the pan and put into the oven for ~20 minutes or until the eggs have solidified. Take out, sprinkle with green onions, and slice into 6 pieces. Breakfast for the week. Sweet.

Whole 30 - Tomato and Beef Stew

I'm not sure whether this qualifies as a soup or as stew. I generally think of stews as thicker than this one, but I think of soups as thinner than this one. Sooo, I'm going with a stew. Call it what you will.

Tomato and Beef Stew
1 lb beef for stew chunks
1 - 28 oz can of peeled whole tomatoes
1 - 6 oz can of tomato puree
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 cup chopped spinach, frozen
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp pepper
a few shakes of salt
(optional) a little bit of your own blood... Just kidding. I happened to slice my finger open while trying to find another fast way of chopping onions, but I promise, no blood went into this stew...

Chop up all of your ingredients. Put into the crockpot. Stir. Set for 8 hours on low. Check back 8 hours later. Eat. Enjoy.

Today, I ate a piece of my Italian Greens Frittata (recipe tomorrow) with avocado for breakfast, had nuts and a Lemon Pie Larabar for lunch, a banana for a snack, and almond butter and a Cashew Cookie Larabar for dinner. Too many nuts. Way too many. And I used myfitnesspal.com to track the nutritional values of my food, and my "dinner" ended up being ~500 more calories than if I had eaten a cup of my stew. Yikes. Darn nuts.

And as a side note to all of you wondering why corn isn't Paleo: Mark's Daily Apple: Corn is not a Vegetable.

Whole 30 - Paleo Thanksgiving

I returned to the grand state of Texas on Friday night. On Saturday, I couldn't stop from weighing myself. And I'm happy to report that I'm one of the few people who lost weight over Thanksgiving break. I know most people would say that it's because I cut out carbs, but that's not really true. The main thing that changed last week was cutting out alcohol and chocolate.

On Saturday night, my friends, LMR, LD, DD, and I held a Paleo Thanksgiving. LD was in town from Oklahoma and he also does Paleo. Yay for another friend who follows Paleo. Our dinner menu consisted of chicken with homemade Paleo cranberry sauce (courtesy of DD), roasted Brussels sprouts (LMR), and mashed cauliflower (DD). So it was almost identical to my Thanksgiving dinner.

But LMR sets a much fancier table than my paper plate Thanksgiving...

I made the non-Paleo chocolate chip bars because Laura requested that I make the extremely non-Paleo pumpkin trifle from a few weeks back, but then I ran out of time and forgot to get more pudding mix. So I regret to report that I did not stick to Paleo/Whole 30 for the evening. I did eat some of the pumpkin bars. Judge away. I'm judging myself. And wishing I could take it back. But it made me feel better that my Paleo friend went a bit crazy on those bars. They're just THAT good.

I'm also realizing that my version of Paleo is much stricter than others. The mashed cauliflower was made with a LOT of heavy whipping cream, which I normally wouldn't have. Also, I think LMR put some Parmesan cheese on the Brussels sprouts. And I ate some of the pumpkin chocolate chip bars - I felt bad contributing something that I wouldn't eat. So basically, the only thing that I would have eaten if I was following strict Paleo would be the chicken. I didn't want to be rude, so I relaxed my rules a little bit. I'm back on though. Definitely.

Whole 30 - Thanksgiving

So my family really likes Crock-pots. We're from the Midwest... it's a thing. We love us some Crock-pots.

And here's my Thanksgiving plate: Turkey, ham, mashed cauliflower, and roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon. And I drank chamomile tea almost constantly for the last few days.

Shortly after eating, my cold took over and I fell asleep on the couch, with my head on my father's shoulder while watching a football game. He fell asleep, too. And his snoring woke me up. Thanksgiving Day was not a good one for my cold. But tea made my throat feel better.

On Friday, my family celebrates Christmas (a.k.a. Thankmas). My uncle's family (kids, grandchildren, and great grandchildren) all gather for Thanksgiving, and it makes more sense for them to celebrate Christmas at the same time so that they don't have to travel to the same place twice within a month. Starting Thursday night, Thanksgiving decorations start getting switched out for Christmas ones. And on Friday, we go for Scandinavian foods, like pickled herring and Swedish meatballs. Though I didn't eat the meatballs, because they come in a cream-based sauce. It was killing me, trust me. I love Swedish meatballs. They're delicious!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day to all of my American readers! I hope you take this day to enjoy time with your friends and family. And don't forget to enjoy your delicious Thanksgiving meal!

And to all my other lovely readers, enjoy good food today, too! Just because there's no holiday today which forces copious amounts of food into your bellies is no reason not to enjoy some delicious meat and veggies  I recommend using self-restraint that most Americans lack when it comes to Thanksgiving... a food-induced coma is not your goal.

And in the sarcastic holiday spirit: The Haters Guide to the Williams-Sonoma Catalog

Whole 30 - Family Gathering

Today was my first full day with my family, and it was a bit of a later start than I was expecting. I ate a small banana for breakfast before leaving the hotel. After my parents and I got our ID passes from the Air Force base (the hotel at which we are staying is on the base), we stopped by the grocery store in order for me to pick up some ingredients for Paleo meals. My grocery list consisted of:

• Butternut squash 
• Cauliflower 
• Broccoli 
• Onion 
• Scallions 
• Garlic 
• 2 tart apples 
• Bacon (as organic and free-range as I could get) 
• Ground beef (as organic and free-range as I could get)

While I was there, I also grabbed some acorn squash because it looked delicious. Once we got to my uncle's house, I immediately started cooking. I started off with Mashed Cauliflower, Roasted Broccoli

and Spicy Kale Chips

I also chopped up two bags of Brussels sprouts for a side dish tomorrow. By this point, it was about time for lunch. So while my family ate BBQ pulled chicken, I snacked on some broccoli and salami. And because of happy coincidence, my Atlanta-born college roommate and I happened to be in the same city, so I met up with her in the early afternoon for a catch-up -on-your-life tea break. When I got back from hanging out with her and her hubby, I started making non-Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars for my family. Yeah, I'm just that nice; even though I couldn't eat it, I wanted to share the deliciousness with my family. I think they liked it... just kidding, it was awesome!

Because the oven was full of baking lasagna and mozzarella breadsticks, I postponed prepping my own dinner until the oven was free. Because I'm on vacation I didn't want to think of any new recipes and the acorn squash reminded me of a PaleOMG recipe that I wanted to try. So I made Stuffed Acorn Squash.

1/2 acorn squash

1 lb ground beef (go for free-range/grass-fed if possible)

1/2 onion diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbls + 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 375°C. Cover a baking sheet with tinfoil.

Cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Coat the flesh of the squash with olive oil (1 tsp on each half). Now shake 1/2 tsp of cinnamon onto each half and rub the cinnamon across the squash to ensure even distribution. Place the squash, cut-side down, onto the baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes before flipping over and baking for another 10 minutes.

While the squash is baking, heat 1 Tbls of olive oil in a skillet over the stove. Once hot, transfer the onion and the garlic into the pan and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the ground beef. Once the beef has been browned, reduce heat to low and keep warm until the squash is done.

Now that your squash is done (the skin of the squash will be squishy when you poke it), carefully scoop the flesh out of one half of the squash, making sure that you don't break the skin.

Transfer to the pan on the stove and mix into the ground beef. Transfer back into the skin of the squash. When the half is almost completely full, use your spoon to make a dent in the mixture and crack an egg into the hole you just made. Put the squash back into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the egg is cooked.

You could do the same thing with the other acorn squash half, or you could use a knife to cut the squash into squares for use in some other dish. I did the later, but I haven't decided yet what to make... I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow.

So it took an hour after my family ate for me to finish cooking and get around to eating, but hey, I managed to stay Paleo and eat a delicious meal. And I have exercised INTENSE self-control and have not eaten any of the pumpkin chocolate chip bars which you all know that I love. That's dedication to Whole 30. Your admiration of my mad self-control is appreciated.

Whole 30 - Traveling

Today was an exceptionally early start for me, with not a lot of sleep on top of that. This morning, my alarm went off at 4:15 a.m. Even for me that's an early wake-up call. But I needed that time in order to get showered, dressed, and well-fed before heading off to the airport. In the past, when I traveled early in the morning, I would skip breakfast at home and just grab something at the airport. However, with Paleo, airport food isn't always an option. Travel can be a daunting task for Paleo-ites. As I sit at my gate waiting for my flight, I see a wall of sugary processed foods at the nearby news stand, a Starbucks full of sugary drinks and grain-based snacks, and a Proof-of-the-Pudding full of to-go wraps, yogurts, bags of chips, and salads with lots of cheesy toppings. But what are most prevalent at airports? Fast-food restaurants - a Paleo nightmare.

The Atlanta airport is a rockin' airport. It's massive and if you have the time, you can check out the different terminals for their food options. I had an almost 4-hour layover today, so I came into Terminal B, walked the entire terminal, then walked to C and walked up and down that terminal before proceeding to Terminal F (the airport's new international terminal) and walking both levels of that as well. I then walked back to D, walked around D, and came back to B for lunch.

Here's a couple shots of Terminal F: 

Here's some of the places to eat at the various terminals: Terminal has a TGIF and Cafe Intermezzo. Terminal D is undergoing some construction. Terminal E has fast-foot restaurants as well as a fancier-looking restaurant with a sushi bar. Terminal F has a Pei Wei, El Taco, The Varsity, and Pecan Grille. (For the life of me I can't remember what was at Terminal C.) Of these, I recommend Cafe Intermezzo. I got an Almond Avocado Salad ("avocados, mandarin oranges, diced cucumbers, red peppers and toasted almonds on mixed greens with orange vinaigrette dressing").

The key to Paleo traveling is being prepared. Most airports have the available dining options posted online so you can check out what will work for you. The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Int'l Airport has this site which lets you search by terminal. And if you know you won't have time while you're at the airport to grab something, prep some snacks or a meal the day before. For instance, last night I mixed up a Ziploc bag of raw almonds, walnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, and hazelnuts as a snack if I needed it. I also brought along two apples, a banana, and Lärabars. I ended up not needing it while traveling, but at least I came with food so that I didn't have to resort to going hungry or succumbing to unhealthy airport fares. And the nuts came in handy for adding some more variety to my salad during dinner with the family.

Whole 30: Days 1-4

Grrrrrr. Turkey leg!

I've made it through the first few days. It doesn't seem like much, but when you have multiple occasions for social drinking and have a 1-lb bar of dark chocolate in your freezer, it's a little tough.

What I ate:

Friday dinner - tuna sashimi

Saturday breakfast - two scrambled eggs and two slices bacon

Saturday lunch - half of a turkey leg at the renaissance festival

Saturday afternoon snack - small handful of walnuts and 1 sheet of beef jerky

Saturday dinner - sauteed baby kale and baby spinach, with a few bites of rib eye steak

Sunday breakfast - two scrambled eggs

Sunday lunch - mixed greens salad with chicken and balsamic dressing

Sunday snack - 1 Tbls almond butter

Sunday dinner - 3 oz. of steak with four slices of bacon (go ahead and judge me, I just wanted to finish the bacon off before the holiday)

Monday breakfast - one egg, sunny-side up

Monday snack - beef jerky

Monday lunch - steak salad (~2 oz steak)

Monday dinner - steak salad leftovers

I think the hardest thing for me to give up is alcohol. I know that this makes me seem like an alcoholic and I'm really not. I did have a discussion with SD the other week about whether we thought that we could give up alcohol for 30 days, and both of us said no. It's an issue of social drinking and staying out late. Unsurprisingly, it's not as much fun to stay out late dancing at bars or clubs when you're the only sober person and your high heels are killing your feet.

As I mentioned, I survived my first night of saying no to social drinking. It was just dinners, so there wasn't quite as much pressure to join in as if I had gone to bars with friends. So far, alcohol has  been my one caveat to Paleo. Even when I first started Paleo I didn't cut out alcohol. As a 25-year-old, it's strange when you don't drink alcohol. And it's never a convenient time to stop drinking. Seriously, when I told a few people that I had started Whole 30, most people asked Isn't that bad timing? Right before the holidays? Well, yeah it is, but you can always come up with a reason not to cut it out. So if you don't do it now, when will you? For instance, it's Thanksgiving this week. That means a family gathering which you attend completely sober. I think most people can agree that sober family events is not high on the list of Things I Want To Do. I know my mom is reading this and is asking "What do you mean?1?! Are you saying that spending time with your family requires alcohol consumption?" So, I'm sorry, mom. But, it's not that it'll necessarily be bad, but it would just be more fun if there was alcohol involved.

The bright side of no alcohol is no headache or upset stomach the following morning. I woke up bright and chipper on Saturday and Sunday, despite my cold. Most of Saturday was spent at a renaissance festival where I got to listen to bagpiping music and try on renaissance festival clothing. And Sunday was a lazy day filled with a lunch date, browsing at Barnes & Nobles, and Netflixing Battlestar Galactica. Overall it was a great sober weekend.

And while we're discussing alcohol, did you know that the shape of the glass out of which you're drinking can affect the speed at which you drink? My dad found this article a while ago and found it interesting: Raise your glass! It's shape may influence your drinking. If you drink out of a fluted or curved glass, you're more likely to drink faster. So keep in mind those cool looking glasses may be interfering with your attempts to "pace" yourself.

5000 and Whole 30

5k! That's 5000 page views. It happened yesterday. 5000!!! Amazing! Thank you so much!

In honor of this momentous occasion and in recognition of the fact that I have not been as good about Paleo lately as I ought to be, I've decided to start Whole 30. I've toyed with this idea before, and I had intended to start Whole 30 right after my birthday (back in August), but I kept finding excuses to postpone it. I was going out of town with my parents and my mom wanted to do wine tasting, it was my friend's birthday, I was stressed at work. I had lots of excuses.

So today when I was reading a bit of It Starts with Food, by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig, I was struck by a certain passage:

Start now. Today. This minute.

I'm guessing that you, like me, can always find some reason to put off starting something. And unfortunately, you can end up putting off a really good decision for you indefinitely. I felt like this line I read was speaking directly to me. So I started right then. I'm going to be good and stay good. And re-learn how to say no to my urges and whims. On my first day, when I went out to two birthday dinners tonight, I turned down all offers of alcohol and said no to foods when I didn't think that ALL of the ingredients would be Whole 30.

What you can take away from this is that it's going to be a very sober Thanksgiving..

Bye-bye half marathon

Well, I said last week that if my toe didn't get better I was going to the doctor. I kept my promise. Yesterday I went to the orthopedic surgeon who administered to my left ankle earlier this year. The result? Thankfully, nothing is broken. It's most likely a bone bruise. My doctor gave me a steroid pack and a foot brace thingy to wear that will keep me from putting too much pressure on my toe or bending my toe while I walk. After limping around in that thing for one day, my left shin has decided that it's jealous of the attention, so it has decided to hurt too. It's hard keeping my body happy.

Speaking of joints, I've decided that I have to switch to something with less impact. I'm 25 years old and I have joint problems now? It scares me to think of what my joints will be like 40 years from now. So, I'm going to return to crew in January. And as soon as I can I'm driving to Atlanta to pick up my rowing machine from my parents house. They've only been bugging me about it for the past few years.

And in other fun news, I've managed to catch a cold. Oh yay. Just in time for Thanksgiving vacation... and for my 6:30 a.m. meeting tomorrow. So when I went to my neighborhood Walgreens to fill my prescription, I conveniently got lost in the cold and flu area while waiting. So I picked up three types of lozenges, NyQuil, vitamin C, orange juice, 7up, and Blistex. Hopefully this will nip this sore throat/ear ache/cold in the bud.

I am not graceful about being sick. Considering all of the colds that I've had over the years, you'd think that I'd be more adjusted to feeling under the weather, but unfortunately, I managed to avoid that skill. When I'm sick, I'm sluggish, tired, and lame, and I don't smile as much which makes everyone think that I'm pissed off. I guess I usually smile a lot, so when I don't, it's noticeable. That's good, right? Overall, I guess I get grumpy, which reminds me of my cousin Austin, who, as a child, claimed:

"I don't want to be Grumpy anymore... I wanna be Dopey!"

Don't we all, Austin? Don't we all?

Half Marathon Training

Below is my intended training schedule for my half marathon. It's a tad compressed. And even though I'm only on week three, I'm already behind schedule. Fail.

Week	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
1	3	Rest	3	3	Rest	4	Rest	13
2	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	5	Rest	15
3	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	6	Rest	16
4	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	8	Rest	19
5	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	10	Rest	21
6	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	11	Rest	24
7	4	Rest	6	4	Rest	12	Rest	26
8	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	9	Rest	22
9	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	8	Rest	18
10	3	Rest	3	Walk 2	Rest	Rest	13.1	21.1

I attempted to run last Friday morning wearing my Vibrams, but my right big toe, left ankle, and right knee were hurting enough to make me switch to the stationary bike in my gym. And after dancing at a series of bars on 6th street and walking around on Friday night and Saturday, I had to come back and ice my left knee and tape my right big toe to it's neighboring toe. I think I'm broken...

So let me just summarize my issues since starting to run again: right toe, left ankle, left knee, and right knee. Is my body telling me something? Maybe that I shouldn't be running? Seriously, I'm concerned about my joints. If it was solely my muscles that were sore, I wouldn't care. And some joint pain is expected, but when I have pretty constant bone-deep pain, should I listen to it?

This is a dilemma that I've been facing for years, ever since I injured my knee playing soccer at age 16. My doctor literally told me that the worst thing I could do for my knee would be to keep playing soccer... So, I played for another year and kept injuring myself because I was favoring my knee, i.e. twisting my ankle, pulling my groin, etc. I didn't play sports for a couple years, and then I got into crew (rowing). Crew was better for my knee because there's no twisting of knees or anything, you're simply bending your knees in straight lines. Granted, I still had knee problems and sometimes got special assignments from my coach because of it. After one regatta over fall break during sophomore year, my coach assigned us the task of running 10 miles over the next couple days, but because of my knee, I got to do 20k on the ergometer (rowing machine). I think I would have preferred running. 20k on the erg can be mind-numbingly boring because your scenery doesn't change. However, at this point, rowing might be my best option... we'll see.