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.

Mediterranean Diet?

US News and World Report has stated that the Mediterranean diet is the best plant-based diet available these days, rating it a 3.9 out of 5. This diet is based on the dietary patterns of Crete, Greece, and Italy from around the 1960s, when the rates of chronic disease were low. The benefits of following this diet include reduced blood pressure and reduced levels of LDL.

If you're an average American hoping to follow the Mediterranean diet, you should INCREASE the amount of vegetables and fruits that you consume, as well as beans, olive oil, whole grains, and herbs/spices. You should also increase your intake of seafood, while decreasing the amount of red meat that you consume. Don't forget: exercise is a requirement. Check out Oldway - Mediterranean Pyramid for more details.

There are some similarities between the Mediterranean and Paleo diets, such as:

• Eat your veggies!
• Omega-3s are awesome
• Fats aren't evil
• Focus on minimally-processed foods
• Use olive oil instead of butter
• Exercise!
• Limit your non-natural sugar intake, including honey

Differences: The Mediterranean diet calls for 

• Up to 12-16 oz of red meat per month (significantly less meat)
• Maximum of 7 eggs per week
• Daily consumption of low/moderate amounts of dairy
• Whole grains and legumes

Benefits of the Mediterranean diet:

• Control weight
• Lower blood pressure
• Lower cholesterol levels
• Reduce risk of diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease
• Protect against chronic diseases

Here are some of the benefits generally associated with the Paleo diet (with the Mediterranean diet equivalent in parentheses) :

• Weight loss (control weight)
• Lower blood pressure (lower blood pressure)
• Higher insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance (reduce risk of diabetes)
• High cardiovascular health (reduce risk of heart disease)
• Improved athletic performance
• Reduces inflammation (protect against chronic diseases)
• Reduced pain from autoimmunity
• Increased life span
• Higher and more constant energy levels throughout the day.
• Improved immune system response
• Clearer skin

According to an article on WebMD,

"Studies show the Mediterranean diet's protective effect against obesity and type 2 diabetes is likely due to its high proportion of plant foods, fish, and olive oil, along with moderate consumption of alcohol."

Tell me... doesn't that sound a little like the Paleo diet? 

Whole 30: Peer Pressure and Alcohol

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whole 30 - 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

Just say no... to grains

I really don't know why I get these urges to eat foods containing grain, like pizza or bagels. I had some pizza last Friday at lunch and I was vastly disappointed by the quality. Most of the times that I choose to eat something non-Paleo, I'm disappointed by how it tastes. I know I like my own food, so every time I eat grain or dairy, I wish that I had baked/cooked it myself so that I would have enjoyed it more. Seriously, unless it's from a high quality restaurant or a friend made it, I usually don't like it.

The side effect: Without fail, I end up feeling sick to my stomach after eating grains or dairy (especially dairy). After the pizza incident last Friday, I was so tired and icky feeling, I took a 2-hour nap on my couch, and I almost never take naps. Usually only when I'm sick. Plus, my face likes to break out after eating something non-Paleo. So for those of you who see me in daily life... a tell-tale sign that I've eaten something non-Paleo is the condition of my skin. A very cruel and unfortunate Paleometer. Damn you, grains and dairy!

Basically what I should take from this experience is that I should stick to Paleo. The non-Paleo food may be there, taunting me with its grains and sugar and dairy, but I need to stay strong and stick to things that I like and that my body likes. My body and I can get along, right? (The one thing that I will probably always give in and eat is Mellow Mushroom calzones. It's my weakness.)

If you haven't seen it yet, you should go see Pitch Perfect. I loved it. The bouncy version of myself decided to come out to play after the movie. And I found myself spontaneously clapping or bouncing, or even just smiling.

And just to throw in something more random... have you figured out how compulsively organized I can be? No? Well, just so you know, I maintain a spreadsheet of my local friends and their contact info. I updated it again today. Each entry is categorized by how I know the person. And it's in alphabetical order, with filters to sort based on the type of function. For example, if I wanted to plan a work happy hour, I can simply sort for "Work" and then copy-paste all of the email addresses. Oh? I want to host a girls night? Easy. I just sort by gender. Yes. I have included gender into my spreadsheet. Don't get all judge-y. I like girls nights. Cooking, drinking wine or margaritas, bashing boys (sorry guys), and watching cheesy chick flicks = so much fun!

Paleo News

This is a short post, because I'm a tad busy with work and studying these days. But I wanted to share this Fox7 clip on the Paleo Diet:

Check out Melissa Joulwan's post in response:

http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2012/10/10/paleo-news-me/

I think there's one thing that every Paleo supporter can say: We feel SO much better following the Paleo diet. Every time I eat something not Paleo, I regret it later. It may taste good at the time, but I usually feel terrible after I eat it. I still haven't managed to convince myself not to cave in and have a piece of bread or brownie or something, but I'm working on it.

In summary, I have a hard time saying the lifestyle I try to follow is bad when there's so much evidence of it being a great change for so many people.

So if you haven't yet, give it a try! I recommend that you try a round of Whole 30.

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

Hiatus - Sweet Potato Chips

I'm on hiatus. From P90X that is. I'm going to do Week 4 next week. This way I'll make up the days that I missed. So my reasoning for taking some time off from P90X can be summed up in one word: Balance. Physically, I can balance pretty well. However when it comes to my schedule and commitments, I need some work to balance things. I'm rather all or nothing. I get involved to the extreme. If I join an organization, I don't just join it, I usually run for a leadership position (sometimes doing multiple leadership roles at the same time). If I decide to exercise, I have to do a workout EVERY day, and it's a huge deal if I miss a day. What I'm trying to work on right now is balance. I started a FE review course last week, which means that a lot of my time these days is going to be taken up by class and studying. I'm trying to balance class/studying with work and exercise, right when football season starts. And no, I'm not a big football fan, but I decided back in July that I was going to try to be more interested and engaged in football. So that's something else on my plate. I also have a lot of different interests and activities that I want to do, and I need to prioritize those. It's a work in progress.

So I mentioned last week that I didn't feel great after eating a salad with carrots and apples on it and I was curious as to whether the it was the apples or carrots that was making my stomach angry. Yesterday I ate the same salad, minus the carrots, apples, and sundried tomato dressing (Spring mix, Baby Spinach, Tomato, Cucumber, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Mushroom, Celery, Bell Pepper, Cabbage, Pumpkin Seeds, Walnuts, Almonds, Chopped Egg, Sundried Tomatoes, Grapes, Strawberries, Mandarin Orange, with Chipotle Chicken), and felt just fine. Today I ate the same salad again with carrots and Pesto Chicken instead of Chipotle Chicken. Again, I felt fine. Leaving apples as the culprit. Sadness.

Yeah, I haven't cooked meal stuff lately, so I've been hitting up the salad shop close to my office. And I also admit that my salads have no theme. I literally just take everything I like individually and mix it together. It sometimes ends up as odd flavor combinations, but I'm okay with it. If you're not, then I suggest not eating the same salad as me. Problem solved.

And now for recipe time...

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

1 sweet potato

1 Tbls olive oil

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 300F. Whip out your mandoline or a really sharp knife and slice your sweet potato into ~3 mm slices. (No I didn't measure it, though I bet you thought I did.) In a large bowl, coat/toss the sweet potato slices with olive oil and the seasonings (you can use whatever seasoning you want: basil, parsley, rosemary, etc.).

Spread in a single layer on a tinfoil-covered baking sheet.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until edges are crispy and center is still soft, flipping halfway.

Tip: crumple the tinfoil before spreading it over the baking sheet; the chips won't stick to the baking sheet as much when you're done baking.

P90X - Days 20, 21, 22, & 23

I disappeared because it was Labor Day weekend and I needed a break. I took a break from blogging and from P90X. I know, I know! It's "bad" that I didn't work out. I'm supposed to be doing this intense daily workout program, right? Taking a day off isn't acceptable. Well, check back tomorrow for my reasoning behind my days off. In the meantime, I'm going to talk about the importance of sleep. I've mentioned it before a few times, but I feel like I need a reminder, so maybe you do, too.

Many of us claim that we don't have the time for sleep. We have work, exercise, cooking, friends, family, etc. all demanding our time and attention. It's difficult to say no to friends when they ask you to go out. If you have kids, you probably have a harder time taking care of yourself because you put your children first. However, there's one thing you need to remember... you need to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. Think about the safety presentation/video on airlines. Have you forgotten that they always say that if the oxygen masks are needed, you should put your own mask on before you assist someone else? If airlines have learned this, shouldn't we?

I bet most people you know have pulled an all-nighter at one time in their life. My first all-nighter was at a slumber party with my friend KM. We had tried to stay up all night at my birthday (maybe my 15th birthday), but ended up falling asleep for a couple hours. KM's birthday was a few months later and we decided we were definitely going to stay up all night. There were a bunch of girls over, but KM and I were the only ones crazy enough to attempt an all-nighter. We were especially crazy because we were both singing in church the following morning. And by singing in church, I mean that during service we had to sit front and center (literally... we were some of the shortest girls in the choir) in front of the entire congregation. So we stayed up watching movies and talking until her mom came down to the basement to wake us up for church. We got to church early for rehearsal and were still buzzing off of caffeine and sugary snack foods. However, during the middle of the service, we started to crash. My head kept bobbing and I couldn't keep my eyes open. Our solution? We pinched and poked each other to stay awake, and somehow managed it through the service. Why was it so important that we stay awake? One of the boys in our choir had fallen asleep during a service and the hymnal on his lap had slid off and smacked onto the floor; everyone jumped and stared at him. We didn't want to have the full attention of the church on us, too. We survived church without any embarrassing moments and headed home, where I immediately passed out. My entire day was wasted because I was so sleep deprived.

So what to take from that story...

Choice: It was KM and my choice to sacrifice our sleep; we had no reason to stay up all night.

Sleep substitute: TV/Movie and talking. Though talking and maintaining our friendship is important, it's not necessary to do all night, and watching TV is purely entertainment and is unnecessary in life.

After-effect: By staying up all night, it was difficult to perform the next day, not just in the singing sense, but also in basic day-to-day activities for a high-schooler like chores and studying, or even basic functions such as listening or staying awake.

Getting enough sleep is YOUR decision. YOU have to choose to give yourself enough time to sleep. YOU have to prioritize your sleep over the latest episode of Survivor, or whatever popular reality show you love. Think of it this way... what do you absolutely need to live? Sleep or one more TV series episode? This should be a simple choice. Would you give up food in order to watch TV? What about water? Sleep is just as vital to life as food and water. Okay, so you're a student studying for tomorrow's exam? Though I'm guilty of this myself, staying up late to study may not be the most beneficial activity. Stage 3 sleep aids in consolidating declarative memory (that you would be using for exam studying), whereas REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep helps with muscle memory. So by staying up and cutting into your Stage 3 slow-wave sleep, you may be harming your ability to remember what you studied. Such a dilemma!

Even a single night of sleep deprivation can be detrimental to your health. One night of partial sleep deprivation, which results in increased cortisol levels, can impair insulin sensitivity in addition to hampering the body's stress response. For those who don't know, insulin resistance is a component of Type II Diabetes. According to the US National Library of Medicine, metabolic syndrome is another term for insulin resistance and is defined as "group of risk factors that occur together and increase the risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes." Yikes.

I think my biggest issue with getting enough sleep is what I feel I ought to do. I've had lots of days like today where I got less than ~3.5 hours of sleep and then spent 10+ hours at work, followed by 2 hours of class and blogging. And when I'm in the midst of a workout routine like P90X (and blogging about it), I feel obligated to do the workout even when that means giving up my sleeping time. My other excuses for cutting into sleep time: there are chores that I ought to be doing, or studying I should do because I'm behind schedule, or socializing I want to do with friends. In short, I need to do some prioritizing. And the lesson you can take from this is: Go the F*** to Sleep, read to you by Samuel L. Jackson. If you are offended by Samuel L. Jackson or the f-bomb, don't click on the link or watch the video.

Click here if you like infographics.

Reference:

(1) Donga, Esther. "A Single Night of Partial Sleep Deprivation Induces Insulin Resistance in Multiple Metabolic Pathways in Healthy Subjects." The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. June 1, 2010, vol. 95, no. 6, pp. 2963-2968. <http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/95/6/2963.full?sid=b7ac906e-efdc-4dae-82f0-637cc6705ad9>
(2) Leproult, R. "Sleep loss results in an elevation of cortisol levels the next evening." Sleep. 1997 Oct; 20(10), pp.865-70. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9415946>

Longing for the Fall

As I mentioned the other day, I'm feeling rather under the weather. There are a few theories floating around on the internet as to where this phrase came from. A common belief (one that I grew up with) is that changes in weather can affect your health. I'm sure most of us believe that if we get stuck in the rain and end up being wet and cold, then we're more likely to get a cold. Also, maladies such as arthritis, joint pain, and migraines will sometimes flare up with bad weather. Another possible origin involves traveling via water. A weather deck on a boat can refer to any deck exposed to the outside, or the windward side deck. Thus, when people became seasick during storms, they'd often head below deck, and would therefore be "under the weather [deck]." Fortunately, I'm not on a boat (unless this illness is affecting my brain's ability to identify my surroundings) so I'm not hanging out under any decks. Plus, I get seasick when I'm not in the open air, so it'd be extremely unpleasant for me and my stomach to be hiding below deck.

Anyways, I feel a lot better than I did on Saturday, which is a pretty miraculous improvement considering my immune system's usual response time (it'd take at least two weeks for me to start feeling better again). I honestly attribute this to going Paleo. I know you may think I'm exaggerating about how terrible my health is, but I'm not. I was not blessed with a strong immune system, and I've got an entire lifetime of health records to prove it. However, out of the past five months since I started cutting out grains, legumes, and dairy, and limiting sugar, this is the only time that I've truly felt ill. Sure, there were times that I didn't feel great because of migraines, but as far as sinus infection/cold/flu, this past week has been it. It's incredible. If I compare the first seven months of this year with the first seven months of 2011, it's a dramatic difference. By this time of year in 2011, I had already had four prescriptions for antibiotics. This year: Nada! Zero! Zilch! It's really exciting to know that my eating habits have helped so much! Despite all this, one of my co-workers started off my day with "You look like shit." And another one asked me what was wrong with my nose (because it was super red). Thanks for making me feel so great about myself when I already don't feel good. Oh well. Some people need to learn filters.

So like the title of this post, I want it to be fall already. I got sick which means it has to be fall, right? This past weekend I realized how much I love fall. Every year, I can't wait for the season to finally come around. While growing up, I used to think that I loved winter, but I think that needs to be replaced with the fall. The fall has great weather and great holidays. Have you noticed that starting in May, there's a least one national holiday per month, whereas we go from New Years Day through Memorial Day without any holidays? And the fall also coincides with fall festivals, such as the Texas Renaissance Festival, the Stone Mountain Highland Games, the Sherwood Forest Celtic Festival, and Atlanta's Scandinavian Festival (I think this last one has been canceled since I last lived in Atlanta).

I was super excited when I saw Juli's post on  today. It's Sugar Detox Pumpkin Cake in a Mug with Chocolate Whip. Perfect for my recent fall-craving. I think I'll be making it sometime this week. The picture below is what Juli concocted! Doesn't it look delicious? I wish I had come up with this...

Sleep/Time Management

I mentioned yesterday that there are a few things that I'm having a hard time aligning with the Paleo Lifestyle. One of those is Sleep. It's hard to fully live the Paleo Lifestyle with my schedule. To do so, I should to go to bed without setting an alarm and wake up when I feel rested. Assuming that's 8 hours of sleep, if I intend to wake up at 5:30 a.m., that means I have to go to bed by 9:30 p.m. It's darn near impossible to fit in 10 hours of work, 2 hours of getting ready for work and commuting to/from work, .5-1.5 hours for lunch, 1-1.5 hours of working out, 1.5 hours for cooking/eating dinner, and 8 hours of sleep. Out of my entire day, I have less than one hour free, assuming I don't take more than 30 minutes for lunch and don't workout for more than one hour. It's hard to make time for social activities during the week, unless it involves food which takes care of my cooking. I know this makes me seem like a hermit and I'm really not. I like being around people most of the time. The problem is that if I do something with friends besides just eat dinner, I'm almost guaranteed to be out past my bedtime (apparently the bedtime aspect of childhood is revisited once you have to become a responsible adult - or at least one that gets migraines from lack of sleep). I'll give you one guess what part of my day gets cut short when I stay out later than intended. Need a hint? There's something about REM cycles involved. And when I cut that short, I'm tired, cranky, and headachey the next day, which is no fun, in case you were wondering.

Sometimes I wonder how other people do it all. Michelle from Nom Nom Paleo has two boys, works at a full-time job that sometimes gives her night shifts, does CrossFit, and manages to blog every day. And I swear Juli from  cooks or bakes every single day, she almost always has a new recipe on her blog. Do these people not require sleep? Or are fortunate enough to not work 10-hour days? What is the secret? Man I wish I had a Time-Turner like Hermione.

Acclimation

I've been living in Texas for 3 years, 2 weeks, and 3 days. I'm from Atlanta, so I was used to the heat and humidity, but it was nothing compared to moving here in the peak of summer. When I first moved here, I kept the thermostat at 72°F and often found that warm. After about 6 months, I increased the temperature to 73°F. A year later I found myself at 74°F. Add another year (+ a few months) and another degree, and I found myself at 75°F when I moved to my current place in late April. Three months later (this past weekend), I increased my thermostat to 76°F because I found myself getting cold and waking up so chilled each morning, that I'd huddle under the covers for a while before I could work up the willpower to leave the warmth of my bed and sprint for the shower.

The reason I tell you this is because adapting to changes in environment can take a while but it does happen... And thus, we come back to Paleo. I've been following the Paleo/Primal/Caveman Diet since February, almost four full months. In that time, I've done a pretty good job of switching over, with some lapses. However, I still don't feel fully acclimated to this new way of eating/living. I realized this past weekend that I'm still thinking about when I can take breaks from Paleo. I intend to continue this long term, but I need to change the way that I think about it. I need to recognize that I'm not perfect and I'm not going to eat Paleo ALL of the time, but I also need to view this as a permanent lifestyle change. I haven't made that full change yet, and I find myself reluctant to make some changes, for example:

Alcohol. Part of me wants to give it up altogether, but another part of me says "No way! What about going out for your birthday? Or to happy hours? Do you really want to be sipping on water while everyone else around you is drinking?" So, that leaves moderation, but I don't know what limit to aim for. What is considered moderate alcohol consumption? And what's considered normal for someone in their mid-twenties? I know a lot of people around my age who drink a lot more than me on a regular basis. I also know a few that drink less. And why do most people have the urge to drink excessively and let loose? Frequently, our reaction to stress in our lives is to unwind and go a little crazy. Me? I usually want to hide out, read a book, and relax. Often when I'm extremely stressed, I want to curl up under my desk and hide from the world. Why I have the urge to hide under something is beyond me. I guess I am trying to hide from the stressful world...


As I'm sure all of you know, it's hard to make drastic changes all at once. So I'll continue working on changing gradually, and hopefully I'll get to a point where I don't crave sweets anymore and am not tempted by breads and Mellow Mushroom pizza crust. I'd like to be able to say that I'm not ever going to have anything bad for me again, but who are we kidding... Mellow Mushroom is tough to forego.


I must work on patience!

Insomnia

Insomnia? Is it caused by stress? What can I do to help my insomnia?
Stress can be the cause of insomnia, but that doesn't mean that it is the cause of your insomnia. Stress causes hyperarousal (see below), which can affect your ability to fall asleep. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that you slowly increase the amount of time you spend asleep each night via 15-minute increments. So for the first night you aim to get the same amount of sleep (n minutes) that you normally do. The second night, you go to bed/set your alarm so that you get 15 more minutes of sleep (n + 15 minutes). Repeat until you reach the amount of sleep you're aiming for. For example, if I get 3.5 hours of sleep, or 210 minutes (like I did Sunday night), and I'd like to get 8 hours of sleep (480 minutes)... Using the equation below it will take me...
t = n+(15*d), or d = (t-n)/15 where:
     t = desired amount of sleep
     n = amount of sleep I currently get
     d = days required
... 18 days to work my way up to the amount of sleep that I want.
This process may be a bit longer than you want to wait, but if insomnia is a serious issue for you then 15 minutes more per night may be hard for you. As I'm sure you all remember from Aesop's Fables, slow and steady wins the race.

hyperarousal /hy·per·arou·sal/ (-ah-rou´z'l) a state of increased psychological and physiological tension marked by such effects as reduced pain tolerance, anxiety, exaggeration of startle responses, insomnia, fatigue, and accentuation of personality traits. It is produced by hormones released during the fight-or-flight reaction.

References:
(1)  Kavey, Neil B. "Stress and Insomnia." National Sleep Foundation. 2001. <http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/ask-the-expert/stress-and-insomnia>

Sleep Deprivation

The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report put out by the CDC on April 27, 2012 focuses on sleep deprivation. According to their research, roughly 20% of automobile crashes are linked to drowsy driving. Using data collected from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the CDC determined that 30% of employed American adults get six or less hours of sleep per night. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-9 hours of sleep for healthy adults.

An article by Williamson and Feyer concludes that a lack of sleep can cause similar behavioral effects as being intoxicated (1):
17 hours awake is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of .05
21 hours awake is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of .08
24 hours awake is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of .10

The above information agrees with an article published by Australians Drew Dawson and Kathryn Reid, which relayed the results of two experiments conducted using forty participants where performance due to sleep deprivation and performance due to alcohol consumption were compared. To analyze sleep deprivation, they were kept awake for 28 hours (from 8:00 until 12:00 the following day), and in the other they were asked to consume 10–15g of alcohol at 30-min intervals from 8:00 until their mean blood alcohol concentration reached 0.10%. Cognitive psychomotor performance was measured at 30-minute intervals for both experiments.


The Results
For each 0.01% increase in blood alcohol content, performance decreased by 1.16%.
The decrease in performance for each hour awake between 10 and 26 hours was equivalent to the decrease in performance observed from a 0.004% rise in blood alcohol concentration.

References:
(1) Williamson, A.M.; Feyer, Anne-Marie. "Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication." Occupational and Environmental Medicine 57 (2010): 649-655. 4 June 2012. <http://oem.bmj.com/content/57/10/649.full>

(2) Dawson, Drew; Reid, Kathryn."Fatigue, alcohol and performance impairment." Nature (388): 235. 17 July 1997. <http://www.fatiguescience.com/assets/pdf/Alcohol-Fatigue.pdf>

What exactly is the Paleo Diet?

The Paleo diet seeks to replicate the diet followed by our ancestors up until 10,000 years ago when the Neolithic Era brought about a rise in farming and the domestication of animals. Paleolithic humans lived in small groups and survived via hunting and gathering. The belief behind the recent popularity of the Paleo diet is that modern human genetics have remained virtually unchanged since prior to the Neolithic Revolution (agriculture), and thus our bodies are adapted to the ancestral diet of foods found in nature. This diet promotes the foods that allow for optimum health and avoids the foods that became prevalent after agriculture in an attempt to protect the digestive system from inflammation-causing proteins (i.e. gluten). The basis of the Paleo diet is lean meat, seafood, and unlimited fresh fruits and veggies. This way of eating is also beneficial to your liver, kidneys, and pancreas.

Some of the foods that started being consumed in large amounts after agriculture have lead to the diseases of civilization ("lifestyle diseases"). These lifestyle diseases include obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, auto-immune diseases, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, etc., and are common in western societies. Studies of modern hunter-gatherer civilizations show that the 10-20% of the population is at least 60 years old. Additionally, the elderly of these populations generally don't have any signs or symptoms of diseases of civilization. However, when these populations do adopt western diets, they begin to show signs of lifestyle diseases common to western society. (Refer to The Paleo Diet for more information.)

So what can I eat? The short response is non-processed foods.

• lean meats (grass-fed)
• seafood
• eggs
• veggies
• fruits
• nuts & seeds
• healthy fats
• ghee (clarified butter)

What can't I eat?

• grains
• legumes (soy and peanuts)
• dairy
• vegetable oils (i.e. canola)
• processed food
• sugar
• starches (potatoes)
• alcohol (this is my caveat to the Paleo diet)

If you're attempting to lose weight, you need to limit the amount of fruits and nuts that you eat. Also, you need to work on balancing your omega-3 vs. omega-6 fatty acid intake. The ideal ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 is 1:1 or 1:2. However, with society's reliance on vegetable oils (canola, sunflower, etc.), this ratio usually settles out to 1:10. Yikes!

You may be asking: If I want to lose weight, shouldn't I follow a low-fat, high-carb diet? No! Most people that follow this fad diet always feel hungry and will gain back whatever they lost after they stop following the diet. Eating lean meats provides protein to the body. Protein has an increased thermic effect over both fat and carbohydrates; in other words, it increases metabolism. Additionally, protein has a much greater satiety value than fat or carbohydrates, so it decreases your appetite.

Loren Cordain has stricter guidelines, which are especially beneficial if you have auto-immunity issues. He also recommends limiting fruits with very high sugar content.

Check out these websites for more information:
www.thepaleodiet.com, www.robbwolf.com, and www.paleodietlifestyle.com.

1000 Views!!!

Woo hoo!!!!!

OMG! I'm happy to report that yesterday y'all helped me achieve 1000 page views! I'm terribly excited and happy that you enjoy following my blog and my experiences with Paleo and working out! I feel like I need flashing lights and banners to truly express how thrilled I am. I wish I had something truly exciting to report for this momentous occasion, however, I seem to be sorely lacking in momentousness. My life is currently consumed with work and preparations for moving apartments next weekend. This fact means that LR and my apartment is in a messy state of packing, which, if you know me at all, means that I'm annoying myself with the lack of order and cleanliness.

I really like trying out all of these new recipes for my diet and sharing them with you. If y'all have any requests for dishes you'd like to see Paleo-ized, let me know!

I haven't had a lot of time to cook this week and I haven't had any fresh meat to cook lately, so I bought some grass-fed thinly-sliced pork loin today. Based on the recommendation of BF, an Atlanta friend, I am going to attempt utilizing a brine prior to cooking. Of course, I'll let you know what the results are!

Dark Chocolate...the highs and lows

Dark chocolate is chocolate without (or with very little) milk solids added and can be used to refer to unsweetened, bittersweet, or semisweet. It is produced by adding sugar and fat (like lecithin) to the cocoa, and is classified based on the percentage (by weight) of cocoa solids in the bar.  Unsweetened or bitter chocolate is cocoa solids and fat without added sugar; this type is usually used for baking.

After being removed from their pods, cocoa beans are fermented, dried, and roasted. Their shells are then discarded, leaving the "nib." Chocolate liquor is the paste that results from grinding the nib.

Some studies say that dark chocolate helps to lower blood pressure. But don't think that eating milk chocolate is going to help your blood pressure... it's dark chocolate that's "good" for you and is an antioxidant. Keep in mind that dark chocolate is still ripe with calories, so if you want to incorporate it into your diet, you'll need to make concessions elsewhere.

That little lesson on dark chocolate stemmed from this past weekend being Easter, which in my family means that my mother hides plastic Easter eggs filled with candy or an Easter basket filled with candy and other goodies. Because of this whole "Paleo thing", I don't eat candy, and I haven't had any sweets since Lent started. However, after reading various articles and blogs about Paleo, I noticed that most people on the modern caveman diet will eat dark chocolate. So I told my mom I could have dark chocolate for Easter... and she provided in abundance.

It was delicious!! I used to (and still secretly do) love white chocolate, the sweetest stuff out there, so dark chocolate was always too bitter for me. (In case you were wondering, white chocolate is sugar, milk, and cocoa butter, sans cocoa solids. The use of "chocolate" in describing this treat is a bit of a stretch.) However, after not eating sugar for so long, I didn't think the dark chocolate was bitter at all! Unfortunately, this meant that I ate an entire chocolate bunny throughout the day on Monday. Stop those stares! I didn't eat it all in one sitting! I instead spread it out over my trip home, beginning in Atlanta, continuing on the plane, and finishing it off once I got back to Texas. Even more unfortunately, I ended up curled in a ball on my couch clutching my stomach, with Never again! running through my head. Hence I'm restricting myself to one small piece of chocolate per week, which means that I should run out of dark chocolate sometime in November. I'm putting the chocolate in my freezer now...

Why Paleo? Part 2 - Migraines

I'm one of those unfortunate people who gets migraines and has headaches on a daily basis. It's a family thing I guess, because my dad gets the same sort of thing and he's learned that his headaches are triggered by changes in pressure (a.k.a. weather) and correlates to eating wheat gluten. I know that my headaches correlate very strongly with a lack of sleep (as I've experienced lately), and my headaches usually get worse right after I eat, regardless of what I eat (though the intensity may vary). Additionally, the other week my doctor told me that processed foods can cause migraines. Well, Paleo fits in REALLY well with that. And the result is that my daily headaches aren't as bad and sometimes take a day off from tormenting me.

A migraine is a throbbing headache usually associated with nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and/or sound. Usually the headache is focused on one side of the head. The exact chain of events that cause a migraine are still unclear. It's theorized that migraines are caused by swollen blood vessels in the brain pressing on nearby nerves. The attack begins in the brain, and involves nerve pathways and chemicals, affecting blood flow in the brain and surrounding tissues (1). Migraines are often seen in adults 25 to 55 years old (2).

Migraine symptoms vary based on the individual and the trigger. Most of them occur without warning, though some warning signs may include:

• Aura (usually vision disturbances)
• Numbness or tingling in lips, face, or hands
• Weakness in arms or legs
• Difficulty focusing

The "migraine hangover" are symptoms that linger after the migraine has passed:

• Feeling mentally dull, like your thinking is not clear or sharp
• Increased need for sleep
• Neck pain

The following are a list of common triggers (1):

• Caffeine withdrawal
• Changes in hormone levels during a woman's menstrual cycle or with the use of birth control pills. (Women are 3 times more likely to have migraines than men by their early 20s.)
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Exercise or other physical stress
• Missed meals
• Smoking or exposure to smoke
• Alcohol
• Stress and anxiety
• Certain odors or perfumes
• Loud noises or bright lights

And now for a list of common food triggers (1) (I've highlighted the ones that the Paleo diet excludes):

• Any processed, fermented, pickled, or marinated foods
• Foods containing monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• Chocolate
• Nuts
• Peanut butter
• Dairy
• Foods containing tyramine (red wine, aged cheese, smoked fish, chicken livers, figs, and certain beans)
• Fruits
• Meats containing nitrates (bacon, hot dogs, salami, cured meats - a.k.a. processed)
• Onions

There are three types of medication to take as a preventative measure:

• Blood pressure medication
• Anti-depressants
• Anti-seizure

In fall 2010, I had done my own little experiment where I went gluten-free for a month and a half to see how my body responded to it. Gluten-free resulted in fewer headaches than when I ate gluten. Also, the number of stomachaches I experienced decreased when I didn't eat gluten. To be honest, switching to the Paleo diet has actually been easier for me than just doing gluten-free. My assumed reasoning for this is that I still wanted wheat bread, crackers, and the like, because I was eating other grains. Sure I sometimes want chips and salsa or bread now, but it's easier for me to restrain myself.

Plus the paleo lifestyle promotes exercise and sleep. It's recommended that you go to sleep when it's dark out and even blackout your room (already done!). You shouldn't use an alarm, instead you should wake up when you feel rested. This infographic is decent summary of the history of today's version of the paleo diet. I'm set on the exercise front, but I need some work on setting aside time for sleep.

References:
1. "Migraine," PubMed Health; A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001728/
2. "Understanding Migraines," Relpax; http://www.relpax.com/understanding.aspx?source=google&HBX_PK=s_migraine&HBX_OU=50&o=32174861|210521462|0&skwid=43700003069423602

Why Paleo? Part 1

For those who know me, you know that I've had my fair share of health issues thanks to a terrible immune system. During college, one of my bosses at my on-campus job told me "You put your own spin on it [being sick]." In other words, I'd get sick, but I'd have multiple things going wrong at the same time. For example, not only would I have a cold, but also I would get barotrauma in my ears (a.k.a. small tears on my eardrum) thanks to flying, which resulted in vertigo in addition to a cold. Yes, it happened. I've have exercise-induced asthma since at least 1st grade, and I used to get tonsillitis every single year of my life (the doctors would never believe me and my parents when we guaranteed that it wasn't strep throat) until I got my tonsils removed at age 21 after having chronic tonsillitis for a period of 3 months. I never realized at the time, but I would have colds for months on end throughout grade school. My friends joked that I was always sick. At age 18, I got shingles (the flare up of the chicken-pox virus that supposedly only the elderly and those with terrible immune systems need to worry about - Thanks immune system!). Plus, I'd frequently get stomach pain, especially right after eating, which kind of makes life in general annoying.

I know two big factors in my health are stress and a lack of sleep. My migraines get worse when I'm stressed and when I haven't gotten enough sleep. I tend to get sick easily, and living at the office for 50 hours each week isn't exactly conducive to avoiding colds since so many of us come to work even if we are sick (we don't want to miss our numerous deadlines).

The Paleo diet can correct these issues as well as many others. It also reduces your risk factors for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cancer. This diet/lifestyle helps to reduce and even reverse many different illnesses/symptoms because many diseases have root causes in common, such as inflammation, gut irritation, and insulin sensitivity.

In the past month and a half, I've had the beginnings of a cold a few times, but haven't actually gotten a full-blown cold, which is a miracle (just ask my co-workers). The frequency of my stomach pain has decreased significantly as well. I can't tell you if this is purely the result of going Paleo, or if my diet has worked with my increased exercising to improve my health, but the bottom line is I am healthier.

Jousting

Today was just a normal Sunday, except for much much better... I woke up at 6:30 this morning to do P90X and get ready before we left for Sherwood Forest Faire. Today was the Jousting Tournament and the conclusion to this year's Sherwood Forest Faire season. Knights of Mayhem (as seen on National Geographic) performed the jousting.

If I ever have to go fully Paleo and hunt my own food, I think I'd ask for lessons from them. They can fight on horseback and clearly have a bit of a violent side. I did test my skills at Axe Throw and Long Bow though. I think I have a good basis at each, so I'll work on honing my skills.

Be afraid. Be very afraid!

We also spent some time at the combat arena for the Combat Tournament of Sherwood, where we learned to hit 'em where it hurts.

 Yeah, so today is mainly photos. I hope you enjoyed them!