Google+ Adventures in Paleo-land: December 2012

Friday, December 21, 2012

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!



Saturday, December 15, 2012

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).

Thursday, December 13, 2012

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

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

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.

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

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

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!

Monday, December 10, 2012

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.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

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.


Tuesday, December 4, 2012

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.