Is gluten-free worth it?

Is avoiding gluten worth it? The only answer is: It depends. Your body may be able to handle gluten just fine. Me? I know that gluten does bad things to me: migraines, upset stomach, bloating, mental fog, tiredness - all of these things happen when I eat gluten. I’ve known this for years thanks to first going gluten-free for a month four years ago, and then to going Paleo three years ago. Despite this knowledge, I kept eating grains for the last eight months. I’ve been cutting down significantly since January 1st of this year, but hadn’t completely given it up because I kept craving bread. This past weekend was a bit of an eye-opener for me though. Let me share…

On Saturday, I went out to lunch at a Tex-Mex restaurant with a couple friends. I ate chips and salsa and queso, and then the taco salad. The food was good, and the conversation was better. We ended up sitting in the restaurant for two-and-a-half hours, and by the time we got around to leaving, all of us felt like we needed a serious nap. I’m not much of a napper; I usually only take naps when I’m ill. So, I fought to stay awake and be productive Saturday afternoon. I felt miserable though. My head felt pinched and throbbing, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, and my sinuses started acting up - my nose, cheeks, eyes, and ears all became a burning type of pain. I ended up laying down, but not sleeping for an hour Saturday evening before heading to a friend’s house for a Candlemas party. My friends and our conversations kept me there for the duration, but I felt worse and worse as the night wore on.

On Sunday, I ate no gluten and no cheese. I still ate some grains, like quinoa, but I managed to steer clear of the pizza, brownies, and bread at the superbowl party. The result? No headache. No stomachache. No lethargy. I didn’t notice it during the day, but by the time I was heading to the party, I realized how much better I felt then than I had 24 hours before. It was incredibly satisfying to feel energetic and not to have a low-grade headache in the background of my life. So I made a pit stop at My Fit Foods and picked up a gluten-free salmon dinner to eat instead of the pizza I had been planning on eating. It’s only been five days so far, but reminding myself of the huge improvement in how my body felt between Saturday and Sunday has been giving me enough motivation to say no to those urges to eat a cookie or stop at the store on the way home to buy some pita bread and cheese.

Here’s hoping I can keep it up…

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a recipe:

Butter Chicken
1.5 lb chicken, cut into 1-2" chunks
2 Tbls coconut oil

1 - 14 oz can coconut milk
0.5 cup tomato paste
1 sweet onion, diced
5 cloves, garlic, smashed and minced

3 Tbls arrowroot flour

1 Tbls garam masala

1.5 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp chili powder

0.5 tsp cinnamon

0.25 tsp cayenne

salt and pepper to taste - I used about a pinch of each

1. Heat the coconut oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the diced onion and garlic, cooking until the onion becomes translucent.
3. Mix all of the ingredients except for the chicken into the pan. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
4. Mix the chicken into the sauce and transfer to your slow cooker. Set on low and cook for 6 hours. Then enjoy.

I seem to have a think for Indian food these days. Stay tuned for my next post on Paleo naan.

W30D9

This round of Whole 30 isn't going as well as some of my others. Usually I feel better within a few days of starting a round of what I term super-strict Paleo. I normally feel more energetic, I sleep better, my stomach gives me no issues, and so on. My skin has gotten a bit better on this round, but it's still isn't clear. I'm not as bloated as I was the morning that I started (1" from my waist to be exact).

I guess part of it probably comes down to the fact that I've continued to consume alcohol for the last week, which means I'm technically not doing a Whole 30. While I'm not drinking on a daily basis, I'm thinking that I'd probably feel better if I cut out the alcohol completely. The problem is that I like drinking alcohol with friends. So I'm making my own rule: no alcohol Sunday through Thursday. In addition to this, I'm no longer going to watch TV shows on my iPad just before bed. I'm not going to cut TV out completely, because I fully intend on watching some of the Olympics which starts up this weekend, but not watching it while laying in bed is probably a good idea and will help me fall asleep more quickly. Starting today, I'm also cutting myself off from facebook, excluding my blog posts to my facebook page: Adventures in Paleo-land. I seem to have a lot of caveats to everything. Here's the complete list of my new rules:

1. No alcohol Sunday through Thursday
2. No TV at night, except for the Olympics, but not within 1 hour of bed time
3. No social media
4. Exercise every day -- The most important of the bunch!

According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise...

1. controls weight
2. combats health conditions and diseases
3. improves mood
4. boosts energy
5. promotes better sleep
6. puts a spark back into your sex life
7. can be fun

And based on the article "Physical Activity and the Prevention of Depression: A Systemic Review of Prospective Studies" by George Mammen and Guy Faulkner, moderate exercise can both treat and prevent depression. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2013; 45(5):649–657.

I'm really bad about exercising these days. I need a goal or some sort of punishment if I don't exercise. Which is why I'm having my parents hold me accountable. If I don't exercise in some form, whether it's a walk, yoga, rowing, or Krav Maga, for at least 1 hour per day (barring the plague/flu or serious injury), I have to pay my parents $100 each. That's $200 that I could devote to shopping or travel or eating out. And that's $200 that my parents get to hold over me. I don't like failing. And I really don't like giving my money away when I have control over the cause. Plus, if I win, my parents have to buy me a steak dinner. Yum! So wish me luck.

Exercise Challenge Day (ECD) 1: 1 hour Krav Maga Flex (somewhat intense yoga)

Spicy Pepper Frittata

6 eggs

1 1/2 Tbls coconut oil

1/2 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced green pepper

2 minced jalapeno

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Heat 1 Tbls coconut oil in a medium oven-proof pan. Add the onions, green pepper, jalapeno and spices to the pan, cooking for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the last 1/2 Tbls of coconut oil and spread across the pan. Pour in the whisked eggs, and cook for 2 minutes or until the eggs at the bottom of the pan start to firm up.

4. Transfer pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the eggs are thoroughly cooked. Remove from pan, slice, and serve. I ate mine with a quarter of an avocado.

W30D1

Whole 30, Day 1

Hello, everyone! I'm back! (Or at least trying my best to come back.) Life has been a bit crazy lately. Let me summarize... Back in November, I started working part-time as a project engineer. I was supposed to spend 50% of my time on process engineering and 50% of my time on project engineering for a month, at which point, I was supposed to completely transition from process engineering to project engineering. What actually happened was full-time process engineering + part-time project engineering. After a month of this split work, I had full-time responsibilities for both jobs. Another month later and my direct supervisor moved to a different project while I was on vacation. So I was welcomed back from vacation with the responsibilities for three full-time jobs. Let's just say that I've been extremely stressed lately. Add in planning a bachelorette party and an upcoming trip, and my attempts at including healthy foods and exercise into my life were failing miserably. I basically stopped cooking altogether, stopped exercising, and stopped reading health-related blogs. Because I wasn't cooking, I was eating a lot of non-Paleo foods, such as bread and cheese, and subsequently, the frequency of my migraines increased.

As of last week, thanks to the help of my process lead, I am no longer doing project engineering work, so my stress level has decreased a bit since then. With that reduction came a slightly more optimistic attitude for getting back to Paleo. I went to a Paleo lunch meetup on Saturday where my enthusiasm for Paleo was reinvigorated. So my friend Jay (of Health Nuts Anonymous) and I decided to start a Whole 30 today. If you need a refresher, Whole 30 is a 30-day challenge to eat nutritious foods.

The things you can eat:

• Grass-fed meat and poultry
• Wild-caught fish
• Eggs (from free-range, grain-free chickens)
• Fruits (2 servings per day)
• Nuts (in moderation)
• Olive oil, coconut oil

The things you can consume in limited quantities:

• Ghee/clarified butter
• Green beans, sugar snap peas, or snow peas
• Most vinegar (white, balsamic, apple cider, red wine, and rice); stay away from ones with added sugar

The things you have to cut out:

• Grains (wheat, corn, oats, quinoa, rice, etc.)
• Sugar - real (honey) or artificial (Splenda)
• Dairy
• Legumes (this includes peanuts)
• Alcohol
• Tobacco
• MSG, Sulfites
• White potatoes
• Seed Oils and Vegetable Oils
• Sex With Your Pants On (Read below for more details)

Check out the full "Can I Have...?" List here

What is the benefit of cutting out these foods?

• Physical Improvements: "body composition, energy levels, sleep quality, attention span, mental attitude and athletic performance"
• Psychological Benefits: "changing long-standing, unhealthy patterns related to food, eating and your body image, and a dramatic reduction or elimination of food cravings, particularly sugar and carbohydrates"

Spiced Tuna Steaks

1 lb Ahi tuna fillet
2 tbls coconut oil
Spice Rub:
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbls coarse black pepper, freshly ground

1. Cut the tuna fillet into roughly evenly-sized portions.

2. Mix the spice ingredients together and rub over each side of the tuna.

3. Heat the coconut oil in a cast iron, or heavy-bottomed pan. When there are a few wisps of smoke, add the tuna.

4. Cook for 1 minute on each side, then remove from the pan.

5. Slice lengthwise and serve with veggies and balsamic vinegar reduction.

Balsamic Vinegar Reduction
6 tbls balsamic vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, peeled and cut in half

Put the vinegar, lemon juice, and garlic clove in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Simmer until the liquid is reduced by half. Set aside until you're ready to serve.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

I gave it a try. I attempted another recipe of Paleo pumpkin chocolate chip bars. The results? It's a bit closer to the consistency (but it's not quite there) and the pumpkin flavor got a bit overwhelmed by the coconut sugar. I've never used coconut sugar before, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. So here's the recipe I created today. Again, it tastes good, but it's not exactly what I was aiming for.

Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars (#2)

1/2 cup walnut chunks

4 Medjool dates, pitted

1/4 cup almond flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 Tbls pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup melted ghee

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup almond butter

pinch of salt

3/4 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Use coconut oil to grease a 8"x8" pan.

2. Put walnuts and Medjool dates into a food processor for a couple minutes (or until they almost form a paste)

3. Mix the almond flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt into the walnuts and dates.

4. In a separate bowl, use a hand mixer to mix the coconut sugar and melted ghee.

5. Once the sugar and ghee are combined, add the egg and vanilla. Mix in the pumpkin puree and almond butter.

6. Now mix the "dry" ingredients (everything from the food processor) into the "wet" ingredients.

7. Fold in the chocolate chips.

8. Transfer the mixture into the baking pan, and place in the oven.

9. Cook for 35-40 minutes. The sides of the pumpkin bars should pull away from the edges of the pan, and a toothpick entered into the center of the pan should come out clean. Let cool before slicing.

Toasted Pumpkin/Squash Seeds

You know what sucks? Migraines. Do you know what sucks more than migraines? Crying in front of your supervisors while you have a migraine. Yeah. That happened to me. I had a headache all morning, but then again, I have a headache most mornings, so it's nothing new. Anyways, I fought off succumbing to the headache for a couple hours before I finally took my migraine meds. 45 minutes later, the headache was significantly worse and every little sound was pounding in my head. The thing that finally set me off was a phone ringing. That was it. My final straw. I walked over to tell my supervisors that I had to go home (with tears in my eyes), and that's when they started freaking out, because in the words of my supervisor "You look terrible. You can't drive yourself." So one of my other co-workers drove me home, where I promptly crawled into bed and fell asleep. Let me just say that I have a renewed love of black-out curtains. Only black-out curtains were able to stop me from dragging myself under a pile of blankets... probably in my closet. Otherwise, being in my room with regular curtains in the middle of the day/morning would have been torture.

Today was the worst migraine that I've head in over a year. Since starting Paleo, most of my headaches haven't been too terrible. Yes, I still have headaches pretty often, but I can usually ignore them because they're not as intense as they used to be, and don't usually take any medicine for them. Unfortunately, I think that the lack of sleep this past week is what did me in. I've had such difficulties waking up this past week because I've been so tired and today's migraine is yet another sign that I need to pay better attention to my body. Obviously my goal of getting enough sleep (the 21-day challenge from Mark's Daily Apple that I mentioned) is not working out so well. Clearly, I still need some work. Health is a work in progress.

Anyways, enough of me, my migraines, and my need for sleep. Here's another pumpkin-related recipe.

Hot Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Seeds from one pumpkin

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

pinch of cayenne pepper

1. Preheat oven to 275 F.

2. Thoroughly clean the seeds after scooping them out of the pumpkin. I pull the pumpkin bits out by hand and then rinse the seeds in a colander.

3. Dry the seeds with a paper towel. It doesn't have to be completely dry.

4. Place the seeds in a bowl and add the salt and pepper. Stir to coat evenly.

5. Spread on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Cook for 25-30 minutes. The seeds are done with they're nice and crunchy if you bite into one.

Sweet Toasted Acorn Squash Seeds

Seeds from one acorn squash

1 tsp coconut oil, melted

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp nutmeg

pinch of allspice

1. Preheat oven to 275 F.

2. Thoroughly clean the seeds after scooping them out of the squash. I found the seeds to be more thoroughly attached to the acorn squash flesh, so it took some extra time to separate the seeds from the stringy bits.

3. Dry the seeds with a paper towel.

4. Place the seeds in a bowl and add the coconut oil. Stir to coat.

5. mix in the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice.

5. Spread on a baking sheet and slide it into the oven. Cook for roughly 25 minutes. The acorn squash seeds are smaller and I found they didn't need to bake as long to dry them out.

Pumpkin-Acorn Squash Soup

Yesterday I decided to try out intermittent fasting (IF). IF basically just means going through periods of time of not eating (drinking water and low-calorie drinks such as tea) and eating

It's one of those things of which I've been skeptical. I mean, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right? Well, that may still be true, but there is an argument that IF can aid weight loss by increasing fat oxidation, decreasing fasting insulin levels, and increasing insulin sensitivity. Head to Mark's Daily Apple for more information.

Despite a few hunger that hit around 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., I felt great. I drank water and tea. I wasn't hungry and I wasn't struggling with cravings for food throughout the day. My stomach did start rumbling pretty loudly after my Krav Maga class yesterday evening, so I ate some food after practice, even though I still didn't feel terribly hungry. I ended up feeling like I ate too much at dinner though, so that'll be something to work on in the future. I lasted a full 24 hours without food. I've mentioned before that I'm an emotional eater. If I'm stressed, bored, tired, etc., I tend to eat. Plus I seem to also use grabbing a snack as a short break. Yesterday I didn't have that option, but I survived without much effort.

Compare that to today. I started out the day with a mug of Pumpkin-Acorn Squash Soup (see recipe below). Within 2 hours, I wanted to eat something else. I know that I didn't have my usual protein for breakfast, so that could be part of the culprit. But I find it interesting that on my IF day, I wasn't hungry and didn't have to put any effort into restraining my snacking, but today, when I started off the day with food, I wanted more food, more frequently. I guess that's your body heading into starvation mode.

Pumpkin-Acorn Squash Soup (10 servings, 1 cup per serving)

1 pie/sugar pumpkin

1 acorn squash

2 Tbls coconut oil

1 Tbls olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 Tbls thyme, fresh, leaves

4 cups chicken broth (1 Mason jar)

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/3 cup coconut milk

1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil.

2. Slice the pumpkin and acorn squash in half. Scoop out the seeds and set aside seeds for a different use.

3. Brush the flesh of the pumpkin and acorn squash with coconut oil. Place the halves, cut side down on the baking sheet. Place in the oven for 50-60 minutes, until the skin is easily punctured with a fork. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes so you don't burn yourself. During this baking/waiting time, you can do something else, or chop onions, or whatever you want. After cooling, peel the skin off of the flesh or use a spoon to scoop out the flesh.

4. Once the pumpkin and acorn squash are cooling, heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add in the onion and thyme, cooking for 5 minutes or until soft.

5. Add the pumpkin and acorn squash flesh to the pot along with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

6. Transfer the mixture in small batches to a blender. Process each batch for a minute or until the mixture is smooth and creamy. You can also use an immersion blender, but it may not end up as creamy.

7. Once the entire pot has been blended, stir in the remaining ingredients. Reheat on the stove and serve immediately. Top with sage if you feel like it.

Here's how much soup I got out of this recipe.

Here's a nutrition label based on the results from inputting my recipe to PaleoTrack.com. These values assume a serving size of 1 cup, with roughly 10 cups of soup altogether.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

I think this may be one of the dishes that I was most excited about making. It's been on my list of foods to Paleo-ify for over a year, but I just never got around to it. I think I was a bit intimidated of attempting an Indian dish, which I've never ever tried before. And there's a large number of ingredients, but it's all pretty easy to throw together, especially when you do a slow-cooker version. Win! It tastes delicious. And if you're like me and don't eat a ton of meat at each meal, this concoction can last you for a while. I made this last Thursday. So far, I've had it for breakfast on Friday, breakfast and dinner on Saturday, breakfast and dinner on Sunday, and breakfast, lunch, and dinner today. And I've still got enough left for another 4-5 meals. That's a total of 12-13 meals, that I got out of one crock pot. Double win!

Anyways, I hope you LOVE this as much as I do! And did I mention that this is Whole 30 and 21DSD-friendly? Well, now I have...

Slow-Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

3 lb chicken breast, cut into 1" pieces

1/2 yellow onion, finely diced

1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbls grated ginger

2 small jalapeños, stemmed, sliced in half, and seeded

1 - 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, salt-free

1 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, whole

3 Tbls tomato paste

2 Tbls coconut oil

2 Tbls lemon juice

2 Tbls Garam Masala

1 Tbls cumin

1/2 Tbls paprika

2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper (for extra spice, add an extra 1-2 tsp)

2 bay leaves

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp turmeric

1 can coconut milk (shake well before opening)

cilantro, chopped for serving

1. Mix all of the ingredients, excluding the chicken in a large bowl.

2. Pour half of the tomato mixture and half of the can of coconut milk into the slow-cooker. Add the chicken, then cover with the remaining ingredients.

3. Set on low for 8 hours.

4. Remove bay leaves and jalapeño.

5. Serve by itself or over cauliflower rice.

The Things I Think About...

Yes, I've been negligent. My deepest apologies...

Because I've been in the midst of moving my life, I haven't been doing a lot of cooking. Seriously. Like none. It's bad. Anyways, though I haven't been cooking Paleo things, I've been thinking a lot about Paleo-ish things. In particular, I've been thinking more and more about how I should care about my surroundings and my treatment of my body externally as much as care about the food that I'm ingesting. I think this is a pretty common trend among us Paleo followers.

Here's the things I've been thinking about:

1. How to make my OCD cleaning habits more Paleo-friendly. Why on earth do I think that spending 30 minutes inhaling the fumes from my Lysol with Bleach bathroom cleaner is okay? It's being inhaled INTO my body, meaning that my body has to process it in some way. Sure, I'm not drinking the stuff and rushing off to the hospital for ingesting something poisonous, but my body still has to deal with the impurities/toxins that I end up inhaling. I've found this website which gives recipes for homemade household cleaners for various different services such as oven cleaner, tub/shower cleaner, dishwasher cleaner, etc. I've already talked to my roommate about switching over to the natural cleaning methods, and once I use up what I've got (yes, I'm frugal like that), I'm making a run to Sam's club for white vinegar, lemons, and a giant bag of baking soda. And borax if I can find it.

2. Paleo skincare. As I had mentioned the other week, I managed to get a staph infection from rowing camp. I went to my dermatologist (who I hadn't seen in two years) a week later just to make sure everything was healing well. And while I was there, we started talking about my history and continuing breakouts. In general, as long as I'm eating well (i.e. following Paleo), my skin tends to stay in decent shape in comparison to what I used to have back in college. However, I do still have little blackheads or whiteheads that pop up on my nose and jawline. It's not something I usually stress about, but sure, I'd like it to be gone. So my dermatologist convinced me to get these antibiotic wipes that I can use to remove the bacteria from my skin. She said it'd be good for clearing up the last of my staph infection, and would work for the breakouts on my face as well as for any heat rash I may get (my body does not handle heat rash well - it must be all of the Scandinavian blood in my family). So I gave it a try. I started using the wipes on my face once a day for about a week. The result? Not so pleasant. My face really broke out. In addition, it dried out my skin, so not only were my cheeks and jaw covered with red splotches, but also it was starting to flake and scab, even without picking at it. Pimples developed. I kept with it for a few more days, because I know that a lot of times things get worse before they get better (Such as stomach aches, headaches, etc. associated with starting Paleo - sometimes called the carb flu. Almost all of the paleo/primal blogs/books/dietary challenges out there tell you to be prepared for some immediate negative side effects.). After about a week and a half of this, I stopped and went back to just doing the oil cleansing method using a castor oil and grapeseed oil mixture, with apple cider vinegar + water as a toner, and either coconut oil or jojoba + rose hip seed oil as a moisturizer. And what happened but my skin started to heal and clear up within two days. What I'm taking away from this is that while medicine is indeed good for killing off bacteria/viruses that shouldn't be in/on your body, such as a staph infection, it may be best to allow your body to take of itself, but not stressing it out with bad food or unnecessary medicines.

3. Natural makeup. Since I've been thinking about skincare so much, I also started thinking about making the switch to natural makeups, meaning minus the toxins. Makeup gets into my pores (and probably causes part of my skin problems), and can get into your system via your eyes or your nose. I'm not quite ready to make the switch to much more expensive products that don't necessarily stay on as well, but I imagine it's going to happen at some point in time. And the funniest thing about all these thoughts about makeup is that Mark's Daily Apple just put up a post yesterday about it as well.

4. Motivation. I've been lacking motivation lately. That void mixed with a combination of work stress and moving stress has led to me snacking on sweets a lot and not working out as much, which in turn has led to me gaining weight. Yeah, the number on the scale isn't everything, but I do want it to be less. Overall, I feel pretty healthy: I still eat less sweets than some people I know, I exercise via rowing, I have decent physical endurance, my blood pressure is in the healthy range, etc. Though I'm sure the doctor would say that I could lose weight, it's not a major health concern from an organ-functioning standpoint. However, I've been having more and more joint pain lately. My ankles and knees tend to give me grief for any physical activity that I do, and I'm tired of going for a run and then limping my way downstairs to the freezer for ice packs for my knees (this happened Tuesday night). And usually that leads to me wallowing and eating sweets. Not exactly a cycle I want to be in. Anyways, I've been thinking that I need to refocus my goals to something that is more important than just my self-image. And what do you know, I've found it... Reducing joint pain. As a soon-to-be 26-year-old, I should not be having such frequent joint pain. Though I do remember my mom telling me even as a teenager that I seemed to have more aches and pains from soccer injuries than she did. According to an article on about.com, "Even small weight changes make a big difference because joint forces in the hips and knees increase about 3 times that weight with normal walking. This means that 15 pounds of extra body weight is felt by the knees as an extra 45 pounds." Ah, there's the rub... Motivation and will-power isn't everything, but I'm hoping that this can help me re-focus on my health goals.

5. Ergonomics. I am most comfortable sitting cross-legged. I do this at my desk at work. Or I sit with one leg folded up with that ankle resting under the opposite leg. It gives me nice large red marks on my legs, but I'm comfortable that way. As I mentioned above though, my joints have been hurting more lately, and I've been experiencing more pain after sitting at my desk for a long time, so I'm trying to force myself to sit like a normal person. It's difficult and uncomfortable, but I'm trying.

Paleo Peach Cobbler

Paleo Peach Cobbler

2 small peaches
1/3 cup water
2.5 Tbls honey
1 Tbls + 1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/3 cup almond flour
1 egg
2.5 Tbls coconut oil
pinch of sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prep a baking dish by greasing the dish with melted ghee or coconut oil.
2. Peel and dice the peaches. Mix in pan with water, honey, and 1 tsp cinnamon. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until you hit your desired thickness.

3. Transfer peach mixture to your baking dish(es).

4. In a separate bowl, mix the almond flour, 1 Tbls cinnamon, egg, coconut oil, and sea salt. Scoop over the peach mixture.

5. Bake for 30 minutes.

6. Let cool for a couple minutes. Then serve. I topped mine with coconut cream (milk).

21DSD - Days 16, 17, and 18 - External Health

It's back to work, my friends. The glorious long weekend has passed and it's back to that same old grind, though a bit more intense right now because we're rushing to meet deadlines. I mean, we're always doing that, but one of the upcoming deadlines is a BIG one. With the rushing around that I've been doing throughout the day, I haven't been eating so great. I'm still 21DSD-acceptable, but not balanced. Let me share with you what I have been eating.

Tuesday: Breakfast: 2 eggs and 2 strips bacon, Lunch: Garden vegetable soup, Dinner: Lamb Chop (see below)

Wednesday: Breakfast: N/A, Lunch: Almond butter, carrots, and celery, Dinner: Pistachios

Thursday: Breakfast: Chili with poached egg and avocado (see below), Lunch: Chicken breast and avocado, Dinner: Chicken breast

So where's the veggies? And seriously, on Wednesday I ate nuts, nuts, carrots, celery, nuts, nuts, and nuts? What was I thinking? Bad idea. My stomach was angry, and I've realized that nuts make my face break out. Boo. Sadly, this is what happens when I go out of town, get sunburned, and not want to move. Lesson learned.

My sunburn from this past weekend got me thinking about how I take care of myself internally (I've changed the way I eat to make myself feel better), but I'm obviously not taking good (enough) care of myself externally. Sunburns are bad! Sure, the burn fades into a tan and then I look "healthy," but how is increasing my risk for a melanoma healthy? Oh wait, it's not. But Vitamin D is good for me... or at least that's what Mark Sisson keeps telling me (he's got a few posts about it). From here on out, I'm going to try to be more conscious of the condition of my skin, and to try to reapply sunscreen more frequently. I'll wear larger hats and sunglasses to protect my face, shoulders, and eyes. And I'll look into sun shirts, that I can possibly manage to wear in the brutal Texas summer.

Anyways, it got me thinking about my skin in general. I already posted previously about how I've started using coconut oil for my face and hair. And as I was thinking about my skin care regime, I realized that I had started going for the more natural/organic face washes and lotions, without truly making that my intention. As I pondered this gradual change, I decided that it made sense. Here I am, eating all of the grass-fed, free-range, organic meat that I can find, and scouring through ingredients lists to find Paleo-friendly foods with the least amount of ingredients, why wouldn't I start doing the same thing for my skin and hair?

I also happened to read a post from Hayley of Food Lovers Kitchen (http://www.primalpalate.com/blog/bye-bye-rosacea-glowing-skin-for-the-bride-to-be/) about skin care for her upcoming wedding to co-blogger Bill. She shared her skin care regime and mentioned something called oil cleansing. I know what you're thinking... how do you wash your face with oil? Here's what you need for an evening skincare regime:

Cleansing oils: Castor oil, mixed with sunflower seed oil or grapeseed oil (~1:2 ratio of castor to sunflower/grapeseed)

Moisturizing oil: Coconut oil or jojoba oil

The recommended procedure: Start by rubbing the "cleansing" oils into your skin for a few minutes. Then hold a washcloth under hot water. Wring out the cloth and apply to your face, thus "steaming" your face (if you've ever gotten a facial, you've probably had this steaming method done). Once the cloth has cooled, wipe off the oil from your face. Repeat if desired. Finish off with a thin layer of the moisturizing oil. Sleep on it. In the morning, you can either just splash your face with water, or use a mixture of water and baking soda to lightly wash your face

Personally, I don't own castor oil, so I've just been using coconut oil. Which means that my evening skin care prep before bed goes a bit like this...

1) Rub coconut oil onto face and wipe over eyes as makeup remover.

2) Place a hot washcloth on face for ~30 seconds. Wipe away makeup.

3) Rub coconut oil onto face.

4) Place a hot washcloth on face for ~30 seconds. Wipe clean.

5) Rub coconut oil onto face.

So in one evening, I use coconut oil as an eye makeup remover, a face wash, and a moisturizer. You gotta love those multi-purpose tools, or oils, as the case may be. The next time I head to the store, I plan on picking up some castor oil. But I've been doing this for 5 nights now, and so far I like it. My face feels clean, and when I wake up, even if I didn't do step 5), my face is super soft. I'll keep you posted on how it goes after more than just a few days.

For more information, check out Liz Wolfe's post here: http://cavegirleats.com/2010/12/29/cleansing-redefined/

Or find even more detail with: http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/

And to finish off with food... here's how I prepared my lamb chops:

Lamb Chops

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. Season lamp chops with salt and pepper.

3. Cook in oven for 9 minutes per side or until internal temp reaches 140 F (if you want it cooked medium).

4. Remove from heat and let rest for 8 minutes.