W30D12

ECD4: 2 hours of Primal activity.

Today I did my first so-called Primal workout. It wasn't high intensity, but I definitely felt tired during and after it. What can I say? Running around the park and crawling over and under trees and branches can wear me out. We started off the afternoon with warm-ups/stretches and then left the running path to head into the "woods." jumped over bushes, climbed trees, and bear crawled under tree limbs. After we emerged from the wooded area, we then bear crawled across the grass to a few bleachers, where we bear crawled up and down the bleachers before jumping off of the bleachers and then climbing the chain-link fence around the nearby baseball field. Yeah, we were kind of all over the place. And we had a cop watching us the entire time we crawled around. It was a bit creepy.

After crawling around for a while, we ran/weaved through some trees before finding ourselves at a playground. Man, I miss playgrounds! I think we all need to make more time for playing. Because seriously, running around on playgrounds, sliding down slides, and jumping across bridges. Why did we EVER stop doing this. After playing around there for 20 or so minutes, we headed into another wooded area that had fallen trees everywhere. (Thanks to our last hurricane for all of the excellent trees to run on.) I felt like we were running through a bog. My feet were sinking into the mud during the times we couldn't stay balanced on trees. Let me tell you, ponds/mud/bogs are a pretty good motivator for maintaining your balance.

All in all, it was awesome. I really REALLY want to do it again. I can't remember the last time that I just played around outside. I've spent time outside doing organized activities like running or rowing, but I haven't done a random jaunt around a park picking up tree limbs and throwing them around. I've got a few scrapes and bruises to show for it, but that's kind of what I signed up for, so I'm pleased with the experience.

And to go along with new things, I tried out a new Brussels sprouts recipe. What do you think?

Lemon and Onion Brussels Sprouts

2 Tbls olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

15 Brussels sprouts, halved

2 Tbls minced fresh basil

2 Tbls lemon juice

1. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5-10 minutes until translucent.

2. Place the Brussels sprouts, cut side down, in the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes until browned. Flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

3. Add the lemon juice and basil, cooking until the flavors have fully incorporated. Serve and enjoy.

21DSD Day 8 - Chemo

Well folks, I'm back in Atl to be with my parents for this next round of chemo. Yesterday we just took things easy. We took the dogs for two walks, finished one puzzle, and watching Rise of the Guardians and Resident Evil: Resurrection. I really enjoyed the first one. I thought it was super cute and funny. Resident Evil was a bit of a let down though. I've been a faithful Resident Evil since I watched the second film during my senior year of high school, probably slightly becasue of the movie itself, but mainly because of the good memories I associate with it. (Yes, you heard that right. Zombie movie = good times. I'm weird, right?) Anywho, we stayed busy, while still taking it easy. I whipped up some steak and roasted Brussels sprouts for dinner.

And got to use my parents' handy Wustof Silverpoint steak knives. Yep, they copied me because of how much I raved about my set.

Today we spent about 4 hours at the facility, which is a lot less than what we expected. The doctors started the chemo drip slowly (50 mL/h, then 100, 150, 200, and 300 after 30-minute intervals) in order to watch for any signs of allergic reaction, which of course kicked in after about 45 minutes. The allergic reaction we got today was a "weird-feeling," slightly itchy throat. We notified the nurse (Vanessa is really helpful), and they paused the chemo and started up a steroid drip to stop the reaction. The doctor basically told the nurse to use whatever drugs (steroids, anti-nausea, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, etc.) she thought we needed, considering all of the issues we encountered with the supposedly "nicer" chemo drug. After the steroid we progressed without a hitch.

We then headed home to start a new puzzle, (maybe you can tell that we like puzzles?), and eat a late lunch. We brought some food to snack on while we were at the doctor's office, but it didn't count as a meal. I brought a sugar-free chicken-andouille sausage, some proscuitto, and a mixture of almonds, pistachios, pecans, and pumpkin seeds.

After about an hour working on the puzzle, we took a nap break because some light-headedness and tiredness had set in. We checked temperature and blood pressure just to make sure there wasn't any fever, which is a concern if it goes over 100 F, or anything like that. I headed back to the puzzle after placing a trash can next to the bed just in case and leaving the yorkies in the room to "keep an eye on things" (Yes. The two 8-lb dogs are worriers and will stick close by when they know something isn't quite right.) A couple hours later, we were pulling together some dinner before calling it an early night, with some Benadryl to hopefully prevent any other possible side effects.

In summary, things are going well so far. Fingers crossed that the good continues!

And just to leave you with some comfort food, here's a garden vegetable soup recipe I made last week:

Garden Vegetable Soup

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup tomato puree

3/4 cup water

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes

1 14-oz. can tomato puree

2 cups carrots, sliced

2 cups celery, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbls olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced

1. Toss everything into a large stock pot. Heat over medium-high heat on the stove for 2 hours.

Man, again with the one-step recipes. Awesome, right?

Chemo - Part 3 - Day 2

Today was pretty similar to yesterday's visit to the doctor, except that we got an actual room and I knitted instead of blogging. Yes folks, I knit. I find it relaxing. We were only at the doctor for two and a half hours today. I guess things go faster once you get the procedure down. Things are going well so far - a bit more tired, but overall still staying active (we took the dogs for two walks today - the dogs are out cold right now because they're so worn out). Fingers crossed that things continue to go well.

Now to food... While I was at Whole Foods the other day I picked up a chicken to cook and make chicken broth out of (recipe to come). Because my co-worker BA was so unhappy with me for using a whole chicken to make my last chicken broth instead of using just the bones, I decided to follow his advice and roast the chicken first. Here's what I did for the roast chicken:

Roast Chicken

1 5-lb chicken
Inside the chicken
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1 lemon, cut in half
1 head garlic (yes, the whole head), with the outer layers peeled and cut in half
Outside the chicken
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 Tbls olive oil
1 onion, sliced (~3/8" thickness)
6 carrots, cut into large chunks
2 bags of Brussels sprouts, rinsed and trimmed
1 bulb fennel
Both inside and outside
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Remove the giblets/whatever they're called from the inside of the chicken. Rinse both the inside and outside of the chicken, and pat dry. Liberally sprinkle salt and pepper inside the chicken. Stuff the chicken with the thyme, lemon, and garlic. Use kitchen string/twine to tie the legs together, or use something like the metal prongs that I found in one of my parents' kitchen drawers to skewer the poor thing closed. Rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil so that the chicken is thoroughly coated, then rub with salt and pepper. Don't be stingy.

Spread the carrots, Brussels sprouts, onion, fennel, and thyme in the roasting pan. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Make a hole in the center of the veggies and position the chicken in the opening. Place the roasting pan in the oven. Cook for 1 1/2 hours or until the inside of the chicken reaches 170 F with a meat thermometer.

Remove the chicken from the roasting pan and transfer to a platter, covering with tinfoil. Let rest for 20 minutes.

Then cut and serve. It's so yummy!

I also want to point out that this is the first time that I've ever cooked a whole chicken. Or whole anything for that matter. The last time I had to deal with a whole raw bird was Thanksgiving three and a half years ago. My parents had come out to Texas with the dogs to celebrate with me. My mom took charge of the bird and called me over to help out at the sink. I tried. I really tried, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't reach inside to pull out the giblets and whatnot. I actually shrank away... I was too chicken (yes, that horrible pun was intended).

However, thanks to Paleo and my need to eat meat, I've learned to handle raw meat, in particular raw poultry (I'm still working on fish). So when I roasted this chicken, I passed with flying colors, though I washed my hands like 15 times over the course of prepping the chicken. So I'm a bit crazy about germs right now... or technically always... it just means that I'm a safe chef, right? You're welcome, kitchen counters and bottle of olive oil for keeping you clean.

Which is worse: gluten or dairy?

My friends (BK and DK) and I went to a basketball game last night. As you can see, I wore my glasses so that I could actually see what was happening on the court. The most exciting part of last night was that we magically got upgraded from our level 4 seats to level 1. And by magic I mean that as we were riding the escalator up to the 4th floor, a guy on the escalator (who works for the team) asked us if we wanted better seats. We said yes. We got new tickets, and all was well with the world.

Anyways, I got myself a G&T and was Paleo-bad and ordered a buffalo chicken tender basket. Surprisingly there was a separate  "restaurant" for gluten-free food available, but most of it was hot dogs (I shudder at the meat) and cheese-covered options. And for me, I choose gluten headaches over dairy-induced stomach cramps.

I often wonder which is worse for me, and I'm not really sure. I know that I react poorly to both, but overall it's a person-by-person sort of decision. I fell like every time I eat dairy, it's with gluten, but no necessarily the other way around. So if I have to pick one or the other, I choose gluten, plus I love bread. Though a lot of Paleo people out there would say gluten is worse.  What's your thoughts on the matter?

(Of course after I got my food, I realized that there was a salad place just past the gluten one. I smacked myself in the head for that smart move. Note to self: put on glasses when looking at things far away.)

I'm being healthy at work though. Here's what I ate for lunch today:

Chipotle Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (recipe to come soon), Thrive Brussels Sprouts, and salad with carrots, celery, and a hard-boiled egg.

My snacks for this week have been: celery, carrots, plantain chips, roasted unsalted pistachios, bananas, oranges, and almond butter.

Thrive Brussels Sprouts

Last month, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an article about Atlanta restaurant Thrive's Brussels sprouts. While I was in Atlanta two weekends ago, I tried out their recipe, and decided it was good. Yesterday, I decided to make it Paleo by changing the unsalted butter to ghee and using olive oil instead of canola oil (ewww). Oh, I also cooked more Brussels sprouts. See the original recipe here.

3 Tbls EVOO for sauteing

2 cup Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, cut in half

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup chicken stock (I used chicken broth because I didn't have any stock at home)

1 tablespoon ghee

1/2 tablespoon honey

3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

Heat the EVOO in a skillet over medium heat. Place sprouts cut side down in a single layer. Sear sprouts until they are golden brown, then turn, searing the other side. (I cooked mine a little too long on the first side because I got distracted. It should be about 3 minutes per side.)

Season with a few shakes of salt and pepper. Add vinegar and cook until vinegar has reduced by half. Add chicken broth, ghee, honey and pepper flakes and continue to cook until sauce has reduced to a glaze, about 5 minutes.

Bacon Brussels Sprouts

What Brussels sprouts really look like...

Looks kind of funny, doesn't it? If you have the time, go ahead and buy the stalk. However, if you're not on vacation like me and generally short on time, just buy a bag of the buds, because it definitely takes some extra time to pull the buds off of the stalk and then pull off the outer leaves. Also, rinse thoroughly, because when my mom and I were working our way through the stalk, there were some tiny black bugs crawling around (shhhh, I didn't point them out to my mom at the time because I didn't want her to freak out).

I've mentioned cooking Brussels sprouts with bacon before, and I really need to emphasize this fact. It's delicious! And in case you need step-by-step instructions to realize this for yourself...

Bacon Brussels Sprouts
1 stalk Brussels sprouts (or 1-2 lbs of buds)
5 slices bacon
2 Tbls EVOO
2 tsp garlic salt (or use a combination of garlic powder and salt)
1 1/2 tsp fresh-ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Rip the buds off of the stalk and pull off the top two outer leaves (I always do this, but it's not necessary). Cut the stem off and then cut the bud in half. Place all of the halved buds into a gallon-sized Ziploc bag and add the EVOO, garlic salt, and pepper (other seasonings can be used as well). Seal the bag and shake well.

Using a sharp knife, chop up the slices of bacon. Cook in a pan over medium heat until crispy. Scoop out the bacon and transfer to the bag with Brussels sprouts. Remove the pan from the stove and let cool for a couple minutes. Then pour the bacon fat over the Brussels sprouts, seal the bag, and toss to coat. If you don't let the bacon fat cool, you could end up melting the plastic bag, which is bad. I said the Brussels sprouts were good with bacon, not plastic. Even bacon can't make plastic taste good.

Cover a baking sheet with tin foil. It works best if you use a baking sheet with edges. Spread out the Brussels sprouts and place in the oven. Cook for 20 minutes before flipping the sprouts over. Cook for another 15-20 minutes, then remove and serve.

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!

P90X - Day 3

Day 3 of P90X: Shoulders and Arms

4:45a.m.: Wake up 15 minutes before my alarm and begin internal debate regarding whether I actually want to get up.
5:00a.m.: Alarm goes off. Debate continues.

5:05a.m.: Willpower wins.

5:10a.m.: Start P90X. Let the pain begin.

6:30a.m.: Done!

Yesterday when I got into work, I had to walk down two flights of stairs (for some reason the elevator in the parking deck only goes up to the 5th floor, despite the deck being 8 levels - I work at an engineering company. You'd think that we'd have a better parking deck design, right?). While going down the stairs, I felt like my right quad was going to give out on me. It was shaky and weak, and I was concerned as to whether I could continue . Don't worry, I didn't crumble and fall, but I did walk pretty slowly and held onto the hand-rails with both hands.

Here's what I ate yesterday: 

Breakfast (@7:30a.m.): Rack of lamb with a balsamic glaze, served over mixed greens, and topped with a poached egg. Yeah, I like to eat fancy food, even in the morning.

Snack (@10a.m.): Orange, Dark chocolate with cacao nibs 1/2 serving.

Lunch (@12p.m.): Chicken and steak faijitas with guacamole thanks to a lunch meeting (though I should have just stuck with the food I brought from home - compared to breakfast and dinner, lunch alone had the same number of calories, three times more carbs, the same grams of fat, and 1/3 the protein - eating out is gross sometimes!)

Snack (@4p.m.): Apple

Dinner (@8:30p.m.): Rack of lamb with Brussels sprouts and artichokes

Nutritional data:

		Goal	with Exercise	Actual
Calories	kcal	1,330	1,932	1,625
Carbs	g	183	265	124
Fat	g	44	63	75
Protein	g	50	72	69
Calcium	g	100	100	11
Fiber	g	15	22	18
Cholesterol	mg	-	-	359
Sodium	mg	-	-	1,261
Sugars	g	-	-	39

Sometimes I get cravings. Usually I succumb to them. I'm a firm believer that my body will let me know what it needs. Obviously it does that already: when your body needs water or nutrients, you feel thirsty or hunger, respectively. There was a week of my freshman year at Georgia Tech during which I craved green beans (obviously prior to Paleo). I had green beans at every meal, including breakfasts, from Monday through Friday. My breakfast was half of a can of green beans; lunch was a side of green beans; and dinner was green bean casserole. And the week progressed in much of the same way. For some reason, every meal of my meal plan contained green beans that week.  It was more than just me wanting green beans. But most of the times that I claim I'm "craving" something, it's usually just me wanting to eat something like chocolate or sweets. So here are my levels of "craving," 5 being the level where I feel like my body is craving it, not my mind.

0 - No way

1 - I wouldn't mind it

2 - I'd like it

3 - I want it

4 - I really want it (usually stress-related)

5 - I crave it; I need it; I have hunger pangs for this particular food.

So see below for an explanation of what your body is trying to tell you:

P90X - Day 2

Monday morning

5:00 a.m.: My alarm clock sounds.

5:05 a.m.: I convince myself to get out of bed.

5:10 a.m.: I start the 1-hour P90X Plyometrics routine.

6:10 a.m.: I foam-rolled my hamstrings, calves, and shins.

Plyometrics is almost my least favorite of the P90X workouts (yoga wins the least favorite award). I did more squats yesterday than I have in the past month, and my body is unhappy with me for not maintaining the fitness level that I had achieved the first time I did P90X. Here we go again!

I've talked in the past about where to get things like fiber or calcium, and I started thinking about whether I was getting too much or too little of a particular nutrient. So I created an account on myfitnesspal.com today as a way to track the amount of nutrients that I'm consuming. It unfortunately doesn't track all vitamins, but it covers the "big" ones that most people watch for. Based on my weight, goals, lifestyle (I spend ~10 hours/day sedentary), etc., the website predicts that I should consume 1330 calories, 183 g carbs, 44 g fat, 50 g protein, 100 g calcium, and 15 g fiber. These goal values change when you log your workouts so that you get enough nutrients. So when I added in the Plyo from this morning, my target values changed to: 1980 kcal, 272 g carbs, 65 g fat, 74 g protein, 100 g calcium, and 23 g fiber.

Here's what I ate yesterday: 

Breakfast (@7:30a.m.): 1 egg scrambled with spinach and artichokes

Snack (@10a.m.): 1 Gala apple

Pre-lunch (@11:30a.m.): 2/3 serving of 72% dark chocolate with cacao nibs (I'm bad, I know.)

Lunch (@1p.m.): 1.5 cup homemade chicken and vegetable soup

Snack (@4p.m.): 1/4 of an orange, 2 Tbls Sundrops

Dinner (@8:30p.m.): Rack of lamb with Brussels sprouts, and artichokes, with a dessert of 1 Tbls of almond butter.  The lamb was seasoned with salt, pepper, rosemary, sesame seeds, and thyme. The artichokes were just sprinkled with some salt and pepper, and the Brussels sprouts got pepper, garlic salt, and about 1/2 tsp of bacon fat.

Nutritional data:

Calories:      1226 kcal

Carbs:          108 g

Fat:              54 g

Protein:        83 g
Calcium:       38 g
Fiber:           32 g

Cholesterol: 381 mg

Sodium:        1272 mg

Sugars:         51 g

As you can see, I was below my suggested intake on everything except for protein and fiber. Hmmmm... then again, I don't eat too many carbs being on the Paleo diet, so I hope I wouldn't reach 272 g of carbs per day. And eating more protein is a component of Paleo. Either way, I ate when I was hungry, and felt incredibly full after dinner.

This week's goal: No "sneaking" food. If I eat it, it counts and I'm posting it here so that all of you can judge me. Accountability!

Paleo Braised Chicken

Paleo Braised Chicken
2 Tbls bacon fat
1 lb chicken thigh fillets
(you can use chicken thighs or chicken legs)
1 cup pearl onions, frozen or fresh
2 shakes each of:
    parsley
    coriander
    marjoram
    thyme
    salt
    pepper
pinch of cloves
2 large cloves of garlic, sliced
1 cup artichokes, frozen
3/4 cup Brussels sprouts, frozen
1 cup chicken stock
2 Tbls balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 325F.
Heat bacon fat in pan on medium heat. Season chicken with spices, then sear chicken in pan.

Remove chicken and set aside. Do NOT clean out the pan. Put the onions into the pan from which you just removed the chicken. Once the onions are carmelized, add the artichokes, garlic, and season with more salt and pepper.

Transfer to a covered baking dish. Add chicken, chicken stock, and vinegar. Cover and put into the oven for 50 minutes.