Chemo - Part 12 - Day 11

Today I had an interesting conversation with my co-workers. We started with the question of when Google was created. I guessed it was late 1990s, but had to google "Google" to find that it was founded on Sep 4, 1998. We then progressed to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, the latter of which reminded me of a process department meeting where my manager's manager said that our HR department will know if you update your resume on LinkedIn and start looking at other jobs. Yikes. "Private eyes... they're watching you" (Thank you Hall and Oates). So of course we moved to the topic of job searches and making sure you don't post your college party photos on Facebook, which led to a conversation about fraternity parties and a discussion about Greek Tug and back to fraternity parties. Because GT fraternity parties often had police officers checking ID at the door, we then started discussing the drinking age versus the age you'd need to be to buy a gun. The result of this conversation... Lawmakers don't want you to be drunk when you have a gun. Sounds pretty solid to me. So, summary of the day: Founding of google leads to "don't drink and shoot."

Now for the chemo update: The rash that I mentioned yesterday has spread, enough so that my parents called the oncologist and were told to come in to get it checked out. So it seems unlikely that it's just a heat rash. So add steroid, benadryl, pepcid, and a topical cream to the list of drugs that need to be taken daily. I believe that brings the grand total of daily pills (excluding vitamins) to 9. And for someone who hates taking pills because of how it affects the mind, it's not good news at all. I have a not so pleased parent.

Also, the current blood chemistries have dropped further than what it was before chemo. Here's the current levels with the normal levels in parentheses:
white blood cells: 1.8 (3.8-10.8)
platelets: 62 (153-379) -- [this was at 96 before chemo]
red blood cells: 2.34 (3.75-5)

And for more disappointing news, the doctor today said that because there was bone pain as a result of this first round of chemo, there will be more bone pain with the next round of chemo.

Here's the results of a recipe I found via pinterest at 3.2.1.Paleo, that I tweaked a bit.

Paleo Pumpkin Brownie Swirl

Brownie Batter
8 oz chopped walnuts
1 cup creamy almond butter (no added salt)
1 egg
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 Tbls vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Pumpkin Batter
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg
1 1/2 Tbls cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup almond flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Dump the walnuts into a food processor and run until the walnuts become creamy, like almond butter.
3. Mix all of the brownie batter ingredients into one bowl, and mix the pumpkin batter ingredients into another.

It even looks like non-Paleo brownie batter.

4. Spread the brownie batter into a coconut-oil greased 13"x9" pan. Put spoonfuls of pumpkin batter across the top of the brownie batter. Grab a knife and drag the knife through the pan to mix up the batters and create your swirl.

5. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Let cool before slicing.
After it bakes:

And here's what happens after it cools.

Food for Thought

My mom sent me a link to an article on Everyday Health titled: "Processed Meat May Kill You, Study Finds." Processed meats include smoked and cured meat (ham, bacon, and sausage), as well as deli meats and meat from fast food restaurants.

“Overall, we estimate that 3 percent of premature deaths each year could be prevented if people ate less than 20 grams of processed meat per day," Sabine Rohrmann, PhD, study author and assistant professor of chronic disease epidemiology at the University of Zurich, said in a statement.

I fully support cutting down on processed meats, especially from fast food restaurants, but I do believe that some minimally-processed meats are acceptable. For example, I'm going to believe that it's okay for me to continue eating grass-fed and/or nitrate-free bacon (based on what's available). When you don't have a lot of options for what to eat, I recommend going for the most Paleo option. If in doubt, aim for the item with the least ingredients. If you're choosing between dried bananas (no-sugar added) and dried bananas made with sugar and canola oil, go for the one that only contains bananas.

Lent

Every year I participate in Lent, and this year is no different. For the past 5 years or so, I've given up sodas and sweets (such as cookies and candies). I did the same thing last year. Then a week or so after Lent began, I started Paleo, and gave up a lot more things. This year, I needed to think of something different. I still have sodas and sweets every once and a while, but it's drastically lower quantities than what I used to consume in the past (I only have tonic or soda water when I have a mixed drink). So for this year, I've decided to give up TV. I already canceled my cable subscription in January, but I'm going to say no to my nightly Netflix for the next 40 days.* The reason why I've chosen to give up Netflix is that I'll come home from work and sit down to watch something on Netflix. The result is that I end up watching more and eating more food than I intended. I like watching TV and movies, but I get a bit bored and fidgety. I stave off boredom by eating. Bad plan if you ask me. I'm well aware of this habit of mine, which is why it's time to change.

So don't ask me if I know what's going on in your favorite TV series. I won't know.

And of course, I'll be using Lent to refocus on Paleo.

*I will make exceptions to watch a movie with friends or family. However, it will not be my suggestion. And I'll be bringing knitting to keep my hands busy and away from the food.

Lack of Computer Access

I don't have much computer access right now, so my posts will be lacking for a few more days, plus I'm busy with work. However, I'll leave you with a photo of what I feel like sometimes when my alarm goes off or when someone jumps on my bed at 6:45 in the morning to wake me up (you know who you are)...

Who dares disturb my sleep? http://imgur.com/irPBIOi

And I'll send you to some humorous videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/BadLipReading

And my favorite: O Fortuna Misheard Lyrics

Interesting Things to Think About

I did a boot camp a little over a year ago. Because of that, I get monthly newsletters from the company, even though I don't want to go back to waking up at 4:20 in the morning to go to boot camp. Anyways, in the latest newsletter, they included the following formulas for determining your appropriate calorie intake (for maintaining). I'm not recommending that you use this and I have no idea where it came from, but it's something that caught my interest, at least temporarily...

Women: (665.10 + (9.56 x weight in kg) + (1.85 x height in cm) - (4.68 x age in years)) + 200

Men: (66.47 + (13.75 x weight in kg) + (5.0 x height in cm) - (6.76 x age in years) + 200

--SUBJECT CHANGE--

My car insurance company sends out a quarterly magazine. While I was taking a break from knitting last Friday night (yes, I stayed in to relax, knit, and watch The West Wing on Netflix), I read a small article about saving for your future. Apparently, people who see age-progressed photos of themselves tend to save more for retirement. Is it true? I don't know, but if you want to check it out for yourself, you can use the following apps:

AgingBooth

HourFace

Oldify

Age My Face

Enjoy.

Post-Vacation

Well folks, I’m back. I know it's been quite some time since I've consistently posted. And I blame vacation and being lazy. Prior to vacation I was working like a madwoman to meet deadlines. And once I was visiting my parents in Atlanta I was too lazy to take the time to post. It was pure laziness. Instead of typing up paragraphs of wit to share with you, I watched movies and did puzzles with my parents, walked the dogs, and hung out with friends. After a week of being lazy with my parents, godparents, and friends, I returned to Houston for a day so that I could pack for a trip to Jamaica. Yep, I got to spend a week of glorious sun and warmth with my friends. Anyways, what I’m trying to say is that I'M BACK, BABY!!!

Because I'm still not in the swing of blogging again, this is going to be a short post containing just photos. But they're exciting. Why? See below...

I don't think I mentioned this, but I went to an Apocalypse Party on December 20th that was hosted by my friend KAOS. Everyone was told to come as they want to go... So I wore a prom dress. My high school junior prom dress to be exact. Yeah buddy. I fit into my junior prom dress. SWEET! So I have to say that Whole 30 (and cutting out alcohol) worked quite well. I'm thinking of doing it again soon!

I didn't dress up this nicely for New Year's Eve though. Alas, a prom dress wouldn't fit in my luggage to Jamaica. Strange, right? Those photos will be coming... just let me get through the Christmas holiday first. Stay tuned for the next episode!

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!

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.

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

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

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?

Psycho

Yesterday was Halloween, in case you didn't know. So what did my overly-active imagination self do? I went to an outdoor showing of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho, where I finally watched the #14 movie on the AFI's 100 Greatest Films. I have now watched 39 of the top 100 films - must work on this. I'm not a huge fan of suspenseful movies, and last night was no exception. I thought the movie was okay, though highly unbelievable at times. At other points, I was hiding my face behind the blanket I brought, and covering my ears so that I couldn't hear the slasher music.

Once I got home, I checked every possible hiding place in my apartment. I checked my laundry room to make sure nobody was crouched on top of my washing machine waiting for me. I checked the pantry and my linen closet (in which only the skinniest of people could fit), my coat closet, behind my shower curtain, in my bedroom closet (I kicked my clothes to make sure villains weren't hiding behind my dresses), under the pillows on my bed, under my giant stuff dog, on my porch, under my dining room table, behind my couches, and behind all of the doors. And yes, I realize that some of these places were impossibilities. I mean, who could actually hide in a ball under my giant stuffed dog without me noticing. The person would take up space under the dog, so I hope I would have noticed that the stuffed animal was much higher into the air. Once I was done with my excessive checking, I wedged a door stop under my front door, and promptly slept like a baby.

I explained to my friends last night that I sometimes have terrifying zombie nightmares. I used to watch zombie movies without any issues, but ever since I watched Saw for the first time 3 years ago, I started having zombie nightmares. Weird, right? There aren't any zombies in Saw, so why would I have a zombie nightmare from Saw? When I wake up from these dreams terrified, I have to use logic to reason myself down from my state of frozen terror...

1. Zombies don't exist.

2. If they did exist, why would they be here in Texas?

3. If zombies were in Texas, why haven't they rotted from humidity already?

4. If zombies exist in Texas and have managed to withstand the humidity, why are they at my apartment complex?

5. If zombies are at my complex, why have they chosen to climb up to my floor?
6. If zombies are on my floor, why MY apartment?
7. If zombies are in my apartment, why would they be hiding in the other room, in my closet, and in my bathroom, waiting for me to wake up before eating me? Seriously, they would have attacked while I slept, right?

So, once I've talked myself through these steps, I work up the nerve to roll over and switch on the lamp next to my bed. Then I roll back over and lay unmoving until I've fully reassured myself that there are no zombies running at me and trying to eat my brains. Finally, once my eyes have started to droop again, I turn the light back off and go to sleep.

And that, my friends, is how I handle scary movies.

Portland - Day 1 - Part 2

Just as a warning, I just got back from dinner at Fogo de Chao with SD, GS, and CM, where I ate all of the meat, so I'm about to fall asleep from a food coma. If I misspell words or use faulty grammar, please forgive me. I did prepare for tonight's dinner though; I only had 2 eggs for breakfast and ~1 cup of fruit today so that I could stuff myself tonight and not feel so guilty. To be honest, I've gone to churrascarias before where I feel like I've eaten way more. But I didn't eat any bread this time like I normally do at those places (the cheesy bread is delish), so maybe that's why I didn't feel too overly full. Moving on...

229123. No those are not the numbers I pick for lottery tickets. 229 is the number of photos that I took of roses at the International Rose Test Garden, and 123 is the number of photos from the Portland Japanese Garden. Too many? Probably. But I liked it. So here are a select few. And trust me, I had a hard time picking, but I don't know if you would appreciate the nature overload you'd get from seeing all of my photos at once.

In a garden
The kiss of the sun for pardon
The song of the birds for mirth
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth
-Dorothy F.B. Gurney

We finished off the day at Red Star, the restaurant connected to our hotel. I had the Ruby Gimlet and the Red Star drinks with my slow-cooked pork shoulder over coleslaw and corn. Delicious. The corn (not Paleo, I know) really pulled the dish together.

Portland - Day 1

The other side of the mug said "Call your mother"

As I mentioned in my post on Monday, I started off with a 6am run. By the time I got back to the hotel room around 7, my parents were ready to start the day. So after I de-glistened myself (Us Southern belles don't sweat, we glisten. Obviously.), we headed to the front desk where the kind young gentleman recommended that we go to Mother's for breakfast. There, I ordered hot chocolate and Mike’s Special Scramble (prosciutto ham, roasted garlic, tomatoes, basil & provolone cheese),

and my parents each got the Omelet du Jour. It was delicious and filling, even though my toast and potatoes went untouched. I forgot to ask for no cheese, so my tummy growled at me for a bit after breakfast. The restaurant was super cute and had some awesome chandeliers.

After breakfast, we wandered over to Pearl District, passing by the entrance to Chinatown and a couple interesting sculptures along the way.

Our first stop was Powell's bookstore. 

I wish ALL bookstores were like this! These three monstrous floors of giant bookcases (68,000 sqft) full of one of my favorite things ever: BOOKS! Store maps are available by the entrances and at information desks. The bookstore even has a smart phone app that will provide you turn-by-turn directions through the store to the book you're looking for. We spent about two hours perusing the aisles. Of course the first thing that I went for was cookbooks (particularly books on Paleo), followed by books on running and other workout books. Those were the two things most appealing to me. I ended up buying Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals by Mark Sisson. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but each recipe comes with a handy nutrient breakdown: calories, fat (and the types of fat), carbohydrates, and protein.

And, I think that's enough photos for one day... don't you?

Nail Health

This is a bit random, but just the other day I noticed how long my nails were getting and how strong they were. I found this intriguing because I'm not used to that. I used to keep my nail short for violin (if I were to show up with long-ish fingernails, my teacher would make me trim them immediately). But honestly, my nails would usually break off before they got close to the tip of my finger because they weren't very strong. However, right now, these suckers are strong. I've heard in the past people say that there are certain foods that will help with nail health, such as "eating avocados improves your nails." Obviously what you eat affects your overall health ("You are what you eat," right?), so I'm sure eating Paleo and feeling healthier has to affect my nails. I've also heard in the past that the condition that your nails are in can provide insight into your overall health.

Dryness and brittleness can result from a lack of vitamin A, vitamin D, and calcium. Insufficient amounts of vitamin A and B can lead to vertical or horizontal ridges in your nails. Want healthier nails? Make sure you get enough omega-3 fatty acids, lean proteins and iron. Hello, Paleo!

So your fingernails are kind of like a barometer for your health... Health issues involving your liver, kidneys, lungs, and heart can appear in your nails. Here's some of the things that you're nails can tell you:

• Pale nail beds can imply anemia or malnutrition (the nails can reflect deficiencies of iron, biotin and protein) the 
• White nails with dark rims can indicate liver problems.
• Besides fungal infections, yellow nails are also associated with thyroid disease, lung disease, diabetes, or psoriasis.
• Bluish nails may mean that your body is low on oxygen, which can be a lung infection, heart condition, asthma, etc.
• If the surface of the nail is rippled, it could mean psoriasis or arthritis.
• Frequently cracked or split nails is indicative of thyroid disease.
• Inflamed nail fold (cuticle area) can be an infection or even an auto-immune disorder, such as lupus.
• Dark lines under the nail could be a form of melanoma.
• If your nail separates from the nail bed, this could also indicate thyroid disorder. Another possible effect of thyroid disorder is "spoon nail," where the nail is concave away from the finger.
• Splinter hemorrhages are thin red/brown lines under the nail that look like splinters but is blood. They can be associated with cardiovascular issues or can result from severe injury to the nail bed. (I have these on one of my nails that got ripped off when I was 7. Yes, you read that right. Ripped off. It wasn't pretty. The nail bed is not pleasant to look at, and it took roughly 6 months to grow back.)
• And obviously, if you're a severe nail-biter, you might have an anxiety or compulsive disorder. Though it could just mean that you're stressed or bored.

A few other facts: The human fingernail is made out of the protein keratin, the same protein from which animals' horns and hooves are made. Fingernails grow an average of 3mm per month, though it varies for each individual based on sex, age, exercise, diet, and season (your nails grow faster in the summer, how strange). The world record for longest nails (4.8 ft) is held by Shridhar Chillal. Click here for a photo. Personally I think his nails look terrifying. The record-holder for women is Lee Redmond (2'11"). Click here for a photo. Yikes!

References:

(1) Trimarchi, Maria, and Sellers, Jennifer. "Top 10 Things Your Nails Say About Your Health" Discovery Fit and Health. http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/nail-care/health/5-things-nails-say-about-health.htm

(2) Stamatis Gregoriou, MD, et. al. "Nail disorders and systemic disease: What the nails tell us." The Journal of Family Practice. August 2008 · Vol. 57, No. 8: 509-514

 http://www.jfponline.com/Pages.asp?AID=6492&issue=July_2008&UID=

(3) "Nail Abnormalities." Medline Plus. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003247.htm

P90X - Day 18

Hahaha. Day 18? Yeah. Yoga did not happen yesterday. I tried to wake up early. I really did. But I had my first FE Review Course on Tuesday night, and didn't get to bed until past by bedtime. I mean, class goes until after my intended lights-out time. Yes. It's ridiculous that I try to go to bed by 9. I haven't had a bedtime that early since elementary school. Anyways, I didn't get up until 5:35, so I skipped working out before work with the intention that I'd workout after work. That didn't happen either. I put in ~12.5 hours at work yesterday so by the time I got home I was exhausted and didn't feel like doing anything. Instead, I ate a poached egg, a sun-dried tomato and chicken sausage, and some sweet potato fries while watching season 2 of Grey's Anatomy on Netflix and cross-stitching. Did I mention I love cross-stitching? Well, if I didn't, now you know. I started working on a cross-stitch pattern that my mom bought for me in China a couple years ago. So the instructions are all in Chinese, which I definitely don't read. I think I can figure it out from the pictures though. Maybe. Hopefully.

I know you're all worried that I missed a workout, but don't. I'm going to make up the yoga workout this weekend.

In totally non-Paleo news, but maybe interesting facts for some of you... Yesterday I was talking with someone about the benefits of having a pet, and how cats are handy because they are more self-sufficient than dogs. She-who-shall-not-be-named then told me yesterday that you can get leukemia from cats. My initial response was, "What are you talking about? If cancer isn't contagious between people, how do you expect to catch it from a cat?" I referenced the plague and how rats can transmit the disease between humans, but that the plague was transmittable via human-to-human contact as well. So I decided to look it up once I got home and found this from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine website:

Can people become infected with FeLV? 
Epidemiological and laboratory studies have failed to provide evidence that FeLV can be transmitted from infected cats to humans. Regardless, FeLV-infected cats may carry other diseases. At greatest risk of infection are elderly or immunosuppressed people (e.g., those with AIDS, or receiving immunosuppressive medications such as chemotherapy), infants, and unborn children. It is recommended that pregnant women, people with suppressed immune systems, the very young, and the very old avoid contact with FeLV-infected cats.

That says to me that you cannot catch leukemia from a cat. Cats can infect other cats via bodily fluids (saliva, nasal secretions, urine, feces, etc.), from bites, or during mutual cleaning. Research done! So there!

P90X - Day 17

All of this week I have been/am going to be in all-day meetings, starting at 8 a.m. and going until 4ish in the afternoon. This means that all of the other work sitting on my desk waiting to get done will continue waiting. However, because I hate the idea of missing deadlines, I decided to get into work by 7, so that I have an hour before my meeting and an hour or so after to work on my other tasks. In order to get to wake up, work out (1-1.5 hours), shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, and get to work, I have to start my workout at 4:30. I've found that it generally takes me an hour from the time that I start to get ready for work until the time that I get to my desk.

So... yesterday morning I intended to wake up at 4:30 a.m. I turned off my first alarm when it started ringing and decided to wait for the 5 a.m. alarm. But I ended up getting out of bed at 4:50 to do P90X Shoulders and Arms. I strongly dislike waking up that early. But I'm going to try to do 4:30 a.m. for this week. Fingers crossed that I manage it for yoga. That's a full 1.5 hours, so I NEED to be up by 4:30 to get to work on time.

Last weekend I made Paleo Spinach-Artichoke Dip based on this recipe from PaleOMG. It turned out really well. The cashews definitely did the trick. The only variations: instead of using onion powder and garlic powder, I used a few shakes of garlic salt; my cashews were raw (unroasted and unsalted). I think it turned out just fine. And it made a lot. More than my friends and I could eat at Girls Night In.

In scary news, there are zombie amoeba in your tap water! Just kidding. But seriously. Though the result of the study just got published on August 22, 2012, the study covers "brain-eating amoeba" found in tap water that led to the deaths of two people in Louisiana. The actual term for the disease is primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). It's caused when Naegleria fowleri–containing water enters the nose, such as while swimming. The N. fowleri migrates to the brain via the olfactory nerve, which, you guessed it, is critical to your sense of smell. N. fowleri is a "climate-sensitive, thermophilic ameba found in the environment, including warm, freshwater lakes and rivers." The warm climates of southern USA makes nice breeding grounds. Boo!

The way in which these two people were exposed were via sinus rinses. For those of you who don't suffer from chronic allergies or frequent sinus infections, you may not have heard of a sinus rinse. Doctors recommend a rinse to their patients basically as a way of cleaning out the sinuses. Previously the only option was a neti pot, for which you had to turn your head on it's side and pour the water mixture through your nose. Yes, into one nostril and out of the other. There's now a "sinus rinse" option which is a squeeze bottle. And as I'm sure you can guess... you squeeze the bottle to send the water + special formula up one nostril and out of the other. Then repeat on the other side.

You may think this is gross, and it kind of is, but it is helpful. I start using the sinus rinse every time I feel a cold/sinus infection coming on and I do believe it helps to get rid of the cold sooner. The key thing to take from this story is that you NEED to use distilled, boiled, or filtered water.

For reference: 

Yoder, Jonathan S., et al. "Clinical Infectious Diseases." Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis Deaths Associated With Sinus Irrigation Using Contaminated Tap Water. Oxford Journals, 22 Aug. 2012. Web. 28 Aug. 2012. <http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/08/22/cid.cis626.abstract>

P90X - Day 4

Yoga. Oh my gosh. My least favorite of the P90X routines. I know that yoga is supposed to calm the mind or something similar to that, but it doesn't quite work that way. A full 90 minutes of yoga can be exhausting and exhaustingly boring. And when I'm already tired and wanting to go to bed, it really makes me want to crawl back under the covers. I do enjoy the end of the yoga when Tony tells me to do Corpse pose (a.k.a. lay flat on my back and breathe) and then tells me to roll onto my side into the position that I normally sleep in. I finish off yoga feeling calm and ready to go back to sleep, the former of which goes away shortly after getting to work, and the latter is not ideal for waking up in the morning.

It was a later start than I intended, because I fell asleep after my first alarm, despite being half-awake for 10 minutes before my 5:00a.m. alarm went off. So I didn't roll out of bed until 5:30a.m. when alarm #2 sounded. I debated just getting ready for work and skipping yoga, but I knew my schedule for the day and I knew that I would end up not doing yoga at all if I didn't do it yesterday morning.

Here's what I ate yesterday: 

Breakfast (@8a.m.): 1 tbls almond butter, dark chocolate (healthy breakfast? not so much.)

Lunch (@12:30p.m.): Rack of lamb with balsamic glaze, Brussels sprouts, and mixed greens

Snack (@2:30p.m.): Fruit Tray for my birthday celebration at work. Yeah, it's a week late, but I like to keep the celebrations going for as long as possible. I've already gotten a request from one of my friends to have a one-month anniversary celebration of my 25th birthday. I think I may have to oblige. (OMG. I'm 25, how did that happen?)

Dinner (@6p.m.): Chicken and Vegetable Soup
Happy Hour (@7:30p.m.): Gin and tonic

		Goal	with Exercise	Actual
Calories	kcal	1,330	1,612	1,345
Carbs	g	183	221	147
Fat	g	44	53	49
Protein	g	50	60	68
Calcium	g	100	100	22
Fiber	g	15	19	20
Cholesterol	mg	-	-	164
Sodium	mg	-	-	965
Sugars	g	-	-	87

So a random annoyance of mine is when people who are clearly not handicapped, nor have their hands full in any way, decide to use the automatic doors provided for physically disabled individuals. Is there a reason why they can't push or pull the door open by themselves? Are they too weak to open the door? Well, I can recommend some exercises and weight-lifting they can do to improve upon their upper-body strength. I know that the doors at the entrance of my office building are a bit on the heavy side, but they're not that difficult to open. Though I have had co-workers comment to me about how strong I must be to barely break stride in order to open the door. "You must workout a lot." True story. Still I feel that if you are an able-bodied individual, you should stop being so lazy and open your own door. Just saying.

And now for a random tidbit of knowledge: How to get a boy into your room according to Mad Men, Season 1: "The light fixture in my room is out... could you change it for me?" Smooth. I'm sure the poor fellow had no idea (yeah, right...) what was going to happen after that.