The Vegetable Fairy Has Landed!

I sat up in bed this morning, sleepily rubbing my eyes. As I wandered into the hallway, I remembered that a special visitor was going to stop by while we were sleeping. I dashed to the door and flung it open, and glory of glories...there it was! A big, heaping, delicious box of organic goodies!

This box had a head of green leaf lettuce, a bag of salad mix, a bag of sugar snap peas, 2 zucchini, 1 bunch of brocolette, 1 mango, 2 yellow things that are some mango hybrid, 3 oranges, 4 minneolas, and several of two kinds of apple.  Amazing! I was able to completely stock my produce drawers in the fridge. 

I'm so excited to see how this goes! Full Circle Farm. Check it out.

Is it Sinful to Eat Deviled Eggs?

I'm back from a break after the holiday! And I didn't eat a TON of candy! Don't get me wrong...I totally wanted to. I really love chocolate. I did have a few pieces, but just a few. It's easier to resist the temptation when you can eat fruit, which I've added back in to my diet. That was glorious...strawberries at breakfast, and orange with lunch. When you deprive yourself a little bit, you enjoy it so much more.

So Easter is over. What are you gonna do with all those gosh darned eggs you boiled for Easter Egg hunts? Devil them!

Deviled Eggs are so easy to make! And they make a great breakfast or protein packed snack. 2 boiled eggs is roughly 200 calories, only 2g of sugar, and a whopping 17g of protein! Here is how I make them: Cover eggs with water in a large pot, crank up the heat, when a rolling boil has just started cover the pan and remove from heat. Let sit for 10 mins. Drain water and allow eggs to cool.  Peel eggs and halve lengthwise. Gently scoop out the yolks. Mash with just a little bit of mayo and a teensy bit of honey mustard. Scoop yolk mixture back into egg white. Sprinkle with paprika. So delicious!

I think about food a lot, and was trying to decide what the blog should be about today. I was like, "Well it's Easter, holiday, leftovers....*lightbulb*....eggs!" Then I started thinking about how it was kinda weird to eat deviled leftovers from a Christian holiday. I know, my brain takes interesting pathways of thought. Then I started thinking, "Well what makes an egg 'deviled' anyway?" And I found this interesting website. If you're curious about the history of deviled eggs, click here: http://www.deviledeggs.com/why_called_deviled_eggs.html

Very informative!

Side note....Our vegetable fairy is coming tonight!  I'm so excited. I mentioned in an earlier blog that in our efforts to fill our diets with produce, we're getting organic goodies delivered right to our door! We're getting this service through Full Circle Farms. If you're interested in that sort of thing, click here: http://www.fullcircle.com/  Their new member deal is still going! Between now and MAY 3, if you sign up and put SPRINGTIME as your promo code, and say that Eileen or Michael Rojas sent you we can each save $15 bucks! Pretty sweet deal.

Finding Inspiration

I'm going to attempt to tear myself away from Swamp People on the history channel long enough to put together some sort of blog posting.

First, someone asked me an excellent question the other day.  "What are your goals with your horrid diet anywho?" I never really planned out specific goals for the long term...I was just anxious to get started. The main goal was to just complete the 21 day challenge, which I've already faltered on. I was going to say "failed", but I'm not sure I would really call it that.  Despite the fact that I've "cheated" and indulged in some forbidden foods, I'm still fully conscious of the changes I'm attempting to make in my life. And really, that's the ultimate goal...LIFE CHANGE. I mean, to seriously change your life, that takes time and patience. As long as I can stay motivated to continue no matter what, that's important. I'm not going to say, "Well I already ate the pizza...I may as well give up!" F*ck that! I'm going to say, "You know what, I had some pizza. But that's okay, because I ate really healthy all day, and I'm going to eat really healthy for as long as I can from this point on." And it's not just diet, it's a frame of mind. I need to change the way I THINK about things. I'm trying to change the way I behave physically. I'm trying to not be so stagnant. I just want to NOT come home and sit on my ass every day. I want to come home and enjoy my physically able body.  So many times I've thought to myself, "Wow, I really take my body for granted! Look what it can DO when I push it!" It really is amazing. Who CARES if you're ten pounds overweight (As determined by who? Government health officials?)! If you can go on an awesome hike, a run, a walk or anything and enjoy yourself then you're winning!

Back to diet. I have a couple more links that I've been frequenting myself for inspiration. The first one is a blog called "Cave Girl Eats" which in itself has all kinds of other awesome links. Click here if you want to see what it's about http://cavegirleats.com/ . I love how she talks about being Paleo on the outside as well as within, so I'm already looking forward to blogging about Paleo approved products for the body/beauty routine.  If you're filling your body with all these delicious organic foods, why would you slather the outside with things like Parabens and Sodium Laureth Sulfate?

And here's some more great information about Paleo Diet in general http://www.gnolls.org/1141/eat-like-a-predator-not-like-prey-paleo-in-six-easy-steps-a-motivational-guide/  This one talks about ways to avoid letting your Paleo Diet adventures turn into "Failio Diet." Yup. I shoulda read that one a couple weeks ago, eh?

Another question came up the other day about the Devil...my best friend...Sugar. This person had some questions about different types of sugar, and how the body metabolizes them differently. It was a very good question, and we'll definitely be exploring that soon.

And I just realized I have no food prepared for tomorrow.....ungh....

21 Days is hard....

I'm not doing as good as I thought I would here. I'm back on track after our binge of doughnuts and mexican food this weekend, but my cravings are fierce and I haven't looked into supplements much yet. Because I'm tired and lazy (and honest!).

A couple of pointers for other people who are trying to stay on track with their nutrition. 1) Do not run out of food. This is dangerous. If you open your fridge and there's nothing there you'll go looking for other things. Luckily, this has not happened to me yet (I've cheated for other reasons). 2) Pack all your food for the next day the night BEFORE. This is consistently hard for me. I'm already exhausted when I come home. Add in required moving/breathing for the night, and I'm usually crashed on the couch before 8. I did not pack my food last night which left me to squander in the cafeteria today. I think I did okay...I had scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast and salad at lunch. I was surprisingly pleased that the dressing did NOT contain MSG! Hooray! I'm pretty sure I already referred to soy as the Devil's (Sugar) younger brother...well, add MSG to the list. That sh*t sneaks into everything! And I can always tell when I've eaten it. Instant headache+dehydration.

I haven't talked on my moving and breathing much because, honestly, I've been kinda half-assing it. I definitely meditate and do breath-work daily, but it's really not enough. I haven't been running nearly as much as I used to before this started, and I've done a little of my martial arts training. I've been doing all these things, but not to the best of my abilities. And I haven't been keeping track of it very well. Also, yoga on your own gets soooo lonely! It's so awesome to be in a roomful of amazing people and sharing the energy with them! The connection just can't be described. It's an experience for sure.

Ugh. So I really need to push myself harder to keep on top of these things. Work harder, be more prepared. Anywho...recipe time! This is something that's super easy and fast!

Pan seared salmon and asparagus! Please note that in this photo, the salmon is cooked to perfection but the asparagus is a little well done....ooops. :-/ I over did that a little.

So for the salmon: heat some oil over medium-medium high. While it's heating, I pat the salmon dry with a paper towel. When the oil is hot I add the salmon skin side down and season the flesh with sea salt, pepper, garlic. Cook five mins, turn and cook three more mins.  Dill might be a good seasoning, too, but I didn't try it this time.

For the asparagus: first, SNAP OFF THE WOODY BOTTOMS. This is really easy, and asparagus is designed to just break in the right place. Bend it near the bottom and it should snap pretty easy where it's supposed to. Drizzle with EVOO and lay flat on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.  And here's where things get sketchy...I cooked mine at 400 for 20 mins. I think the temp was too high and the time was too long. These puppies were REALLY roasted. I think reducing the temp and the time will make the asparagus nice and tender.

Overall, preparing the entire meal takes less than 20 mins! Amazing! Delicious!

The Dangers of Cheating...

Sooo...after being pretty good for a whole week (aside from Ginger Ale and Bread consumption while sick), hubs introduced me to the 80:20 rule. His theory is that if you're good 80% of the time, it's okay to be bad 20% of the time. We celebrated this realization by downing Top Pot Doughnuts and coffee and Mexican(American) food.

The result...I feel like complete shite. Seriously. Ugh.  Slept in super late. Doughnut consumption occurred at approximately 10:00 am. I did manage to avoid dairy by adding Soy Milk to my coffee, which normally I wouldn't do.  Sugar is the devil, and I feel like soy is quite possibly it's younger brother. We'll save that for a different blog post. I also added Splenda (not really a better alternative) instead of sugar.  Altogether, quite unhealthy no matter how you spin it.  Surprisingly, this combination kept me full til about 3:30. Off to Las Margaritas for Americas crappy excuse for Mexican food. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't really Mexican. I only went because all I wanted was a Chimichanga. And, boy, did I have a Chimichanga. Yum/barf.

I was pretty active today though, so hopefully SOME of it was burned off. Lots of running all over the place, and trips to not one but TWO dog parks.

By about 4:00 this afternoon, I could barely function. I've been practically comatose for the past 4.5 hours. I feel disgusting. My belly is totally bloated, I've got the worst (or best, depending on how you look at it) gas ever, my head feels cloudy, and I'm totally exhausted.  This means that my sugar metabolism is very, very bad and that I should continue to avoid it.  Since I'm still very angry with sugar and how it wreaks such havoc on my body, I'd like to share with you a link that my friend D posted on my Facebook wall which further outlines the serious dangers of sugar consumption.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?_r=1

If you're interested in watching the video (which is an 1.5 hours long), there is a link from the article or you can just click here  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

I myself have not watched the video, as it is late and I consumed waaaay too much sugar and I'm about to crash hardcore, but I will definitely do that tomorrow.

I imagine that all the crap I ate today, while making me groggy, will not be helping me sleep tonight.  My body will be working furiously to digest and break all this down while I'd rather be sleeping. I wish I wasn't so WEAK. 21 days...that's all I wanted! You'd think it wouldn't be so hard to dedicate three weeks of your life to proper nutrition. Ungh.  But lesson learned. It feels so much better to eat amazingly fresh food that you prepare your self. The crap TASTES good, but the aftermath is ugly.

Get the Sugar OUT!

I can tell that I truly was addicted to sugar. Much in the way an alcoholic needs a drink, or a heroin addict needs to shoot up. I'm wondering if the nausea and vomiting I had been experiencing were truly related to some viral illness, or was it simply withdrawal from sugar? The withdrawal symptoms from cutting sugar out of your diet are not fun to deal with...fatigue, headaches, irritability, depression, moodiness. Seriously! If you do a two week elimination diet, you're doing some serious body chemistry changes! A book that I've been reading that explains a lot of the details on sugar, what it does to your body, changes you can make, etc. is called Get the Sugar Out: 501 Simple Ways to Cut the Sugar out of Any Diet. http://www.annlouise.com/23/diet-detox/22/

This book was written by Ann Louise Gittleman, a renowned nutritionist, and was published in 1996. The book itself may be a little dated, but the information in it is not. Some of it is common sense stuff that I think most of us know, but it's laid out in a wonderfully simple format. It's a quick read and very informative. I'm not saying that I agree 100% with everything in the book, but a lot of it just makes sense.  A couple of the tips that I think I need to look further into are number 471: Make sure you're getting enough Chromium, Manganese, and Zinc. Most Americans do not get enough of these nutrients, and if you are hypoglycemic or diabetic the supplements can be particularly helpful. Also tips 474 and 475: Sugar is an antinutrient that interferes with your body's capability to digest and efficiently use minerals, and 474 is particularly true for Calcium and Magnesium. Tip 475 tells us that if you take any of these supplements with sugar, you will not be able to absorb them. This may be one of the reasons that osteoporosis is so high in America.

I especially worry about my calcium since I've cut out dairy. Lactose is a big sugar that can really mess with your hormones! I can tell that my body is really struggling to do it's own hormone regulation lately since I've stopped taken an oral contraceptive.  I wanted to take charge of my body chemistry, and I felt like the pill was running the show so I stopped taking it. Sure enough, my face and neck has erupted with wonderful adult acne :-/ . Since I've shut down milk and cheese, it's progressively gotten better, but where should I get my calcium from? I think supplements are okay, but it's better to get your nutrition from food. Apparently, I'm supposed to be getting 1200mg a day. I eat a lot of broccoli and spinach, but I don't think it's enough! I better look into some more calcium rich foods and see what's out there in supplement form (besides Tums).

I have been eating  A TON of spinach, pretty much three times a day. I love it! Way better than lettuce and full of nutrients. I'm still enjoying my mini-quiches for breakfast, I had that delicious steak and broccoli for dinner the other night, and this is what most of my lunches have been looking like:

Just a good portion of grilled or panned seared chicken, generously seasoned with oregano, black pepper, garlic, and a little sea salt. I toss some organic spinach with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and mix in the warm chicken and it is so delicious! Sometimes I use red wine vinegar, but the balsamic has been tasting a little better lately.

I did enjoy dinner out last night, but I didn't cheat! I had a burger with no bun and pile of veggies with greek dressing. No cheese and I was full! I was tempted to enjoy a vodka beverage but I didn't do it. Yay, me!

This morning I had scrambled eggs and turkey sausage. I had a snack before we hit the dog park of almonds and macadamia nuts, and I'm still feeling pretty satisfied. However, I'm still dealing with cravings so I'm going to look more into the supplements. If I can find a good, whole food supplement then I'll jump on that wagon for sure.

Off to enjoy the sunshine....it's gorgeous out there!

This Wasn't Supposed to be Fail Blog....

Here's a tip. Don't make any radical changes to your diet right before your period starts or when you're sick. It will just make it that much harder...I promise you. I don't care how strong you think you are, just don't set yourself up to fail.  If you're going to make this big of a change, plan accordingly.

There was no blog post yesterday. I tried my hardest. I even went to work feeling dizzy and nauseous. Thank goodness I was sent home before things got worse. When I got home, I felt like I needed something miraculous. Something that always works when my tummy hurts. Something with sugar in it. GINGER ALE. Oh, miraculous, golden colored, carbonated beverage...I LOVE YOU. It was wonderful. A coworker told me that ginger ale wasn't really cheating...but I had some bread too.

After some ginger ale and bread, and a good nights sleep, I woke up feeling quite refreshed! And I'm back on! Today was a success! Bacon and eggs for breakfast, chicken and spinach salad for lunch, delicious nuts (who doesn't love toasted salty nuts) for snacks, and a big juicy strip steak with steamed broccoli for dinner!

This was. So delicious.  To steam my broccoli, I use a steaming basket in a large saucepan. I add about an inch of water to the pan and throw in my fresh cut broccoli. Lightly sprinkle in a little sea salt, a little fresh cracked black pepper. Crank it up and let it go for about 8-10 mins. I wouldn't let it go any longer than that, I don't like soggy veggies.

For the steak, I take it out of the fridge for about thirty mins before cooking.  I think it cooks better from room temp.  I rubbed the steaks with a little EVOO and seasonings of choice.  Simply Organic has a good grill rub, garlic, sea salt, pepper...whatever else you like. I heated some additional EVOO in a skillet til about smoking over med-med high heat. For a good thick steak, I cook it 5-6 mins per side (Medium).  I don't touch it while it's cooking...5 mins one side. Flip without poking. 5 mins.  When it's done, LET IT REST. Seriously, just let it chill for 3-5 mins before you cut into it.  Let the delicious juices simmer inside for a couple seconds. It's worth the wait.

For the breathe part...for the past two days, that's about all I've been able to manage.  Not much movement, but that's okay. Sometimes you just have to be still. That's something that used to be so hard for me. But now, sitting in complete silence and focusing on my own breath for 10 mins is such a revelation.  It can really blow your mind, and I highly recommend it.  Since I haven't been able to focus on TaeKwonDo movement, I have visualized the movement.  Working through a traditional form mentally can sometimes be just as good as going through the motions.  It can even get the heart pumping a little.

As I'm starting to feel better, I'm excited about getting back on track.  Ready to get outdoors this weekend! The farmers market will be starting up in Issaquah...can't wait to see what's out there.

"Nutrition makes me puke."

Apparently, the great Jimmy Piersall and I agree.  I highly doubt that my brief bout of puking overnight had anything to do with changes in nutrition (most likely just period related), but nonetheless I believe the quote is fitting.

Day 2 = success! Although, it is easier to stick to a strict diet regimen when you can't really eat for the day. I didn't sleep very well last night (due to queasiness and trips to the bathroom), and woke up hurting with a fever, soaked in sweat.  I mostly spent the day trying to stay hydrated, lots of water and tea. Luckily, Fred Meyer had been having a sale on Traditional Medicinals brand tea. I had just recently picked up a few boxes at 2 for $7.

While I didn't eat much, food was definitely on my mind.  In order to better our efforts for following Paleo, we've signed up for a produce home delivery service! We're so excited about this. If you would like information about this service for yourself, click here:  http://www.fullcircle.com/

They deliver a big box of farm fresh goodies to your door while you sleep!  Since we're noobs to the service, I can't really tell you much about it but will keep you posted. If you check it out and decide to go for it, use the promotional code SPRINGHEALTH at checkout and tell them Eileen Rojas told you about it. We'll each get a $15 credit.  They're doing this promotion until May 3rd.

That's all I got for today...sorry there's no exciting pictures or recipes, but check back tomorrow!

"Danny McBride is like bacon...he makes everything better."

Day one = success! A big part of my new nutrition plan is The Paleo Diet. For those of you who would like to know more...here is a link: http://thepaleodiet.com/ I had no trouble sticking to it today, mostly because I was prepared for it. Preparing food in advance will keep you from getting hungry. That is rule number one. Rule number two is do not run out of food. Seriously. Keep your fridge stocked.

The basic idea is meat + veggies. No dairy or legumes, and to jump start things take out fruit for two weeks.  The dude who developed the Paleo Diet focuses primarily on lean and game meats.  I love deer meat, but unless you hunt it can be hard to come by. In Missouri, it was illegal to sell it.  I'm not sure what the rules are on that out here, but I will definitely be looking into it.  I'd like to try elk meat as well. If you're hard core Paleo, bacon is not allowed. I am not hard core Paleo, so I'm having bacon.  It is part of the tasty dairy free mini quiches that I cooked in a big batch so I'd have breakfast ready to go every day this week! Winning!

My first recipe! I was trying to explain to someone at work that I don't really measure things (unless I'm baking), so I apologize in advance for the vagueness of it.

You will need: 1 dozen eggs (organic preferred), some cooked bacon (NITRATE FREE), coconut milk, veggies  (I used broccoli and spinach). That's pretty much it for food. You also need a muffin pan, paper muffin cups, and cooking spray (I used Spectrum Expeller Pressed Canola Oil Spray, not Pam). 

-Preheat oven to 350

-put paper muffin cups in muffin tin. Spray with cooking oil. If you forget to do this, things will not go    

 well when you try to eat your delicious creation.

-chop your veggies (next time I need more veggies, and I think I will add red pepper)

-cook your bacon, crumble it up

-beat eggs, add some Coconut Milk...a big splash. Or whatever.

 I beat my eggs in a giant pouring measuring cup so transferring the mixture to the muffin pan would be

 easy-ish.

-I sauteed my veggies for just a few minutes to soften them up a little. I don't think you have to do this, 

 but I felt like it.

-fill muffin cups half way with egg mixture, sprinkle in veggies and bacon, put more egg mixture on top of that, sprinkle more good stuff on top of that. Fill till just even with top of muffin cup.

-season as desired.

-bake at 350 for 20 mins or so. 

If you have a question about this recipe, let me know!

Now on to the yoga part of my day.  First of all, I shouldn't say "the yoga part." Because, really, you should incorporate yoga into your entire day. Pranayama Breathing Exercises can be done anywhere! At anytime! One of my favorites is Dirgha Pranayma. Basically, I feel like this is how we should be breathing all the time. In summary, it is a three-part breathing technique which begins in your abdomen with the diaphragm and travels all the way up through your rib cage to your collar bone. To learn more about this breathing technique, click here: http://www.yogabound.com/yoga/pra_dirgha_pranayama.htm

I did spend about 1 hour 20 mins on the mat as well. I didn't do anything strenuous because I'm pretty crampy today (you wanted to know, right?). I began in seated meditation, and decided to work from the head down. Loosening up the neck and shoulders, through the middle and sides, lots of twisting, through the hips and out the legs. I wrapped it up with some supported bridge, rolled over into happy baby and was ready for Savasana. This was the first time I didn't get all weepy doing yoga at home on my own. It's been very emotional for me because I miss my yoga home in Missouri badly, but I focused today on the positive energy that was created there in order to keep it HERE. In my mind. I focused on how wonderful it felt to make these connections with my body...rest the palms of my hands on the soles of feet, twist my body, stretch muscles that haven't budged in eons. And while I'm doing all of this, I WAS BREATHING. It was amazing. Relaxing. 

A major benefit to having a home practice is you can really just hang out in a pose for as long as you want, do whatever you feel as it comes up, and Savasana with a purring cat is extra awesome. You also get to make your own playlists! Some of my favorite yoga music comes from an album called 108 Sacred Names of Mother Divine. You can purchase this here: http://www.amazon.com/108-Sacred-Names-Mother-Divine/dp/B00191KPIG

Part of my 21 day challenge also includes getting my butt into bed at a decent time, so that's all for now! Let me know if you have any questions.

Start at the Beginning

I moved to the Seattle area in September 2010 from Columbia, Missouri.  The transition has been overall a little unsettling. I didn't think I would miss CoMo all that much. WRONG. I miss the smallness of the community, which of course bothered me while I was a part of it. I miss being able to walk to the nearest grocery store. I miss my truck (sold my dear 1996 Ford Ranger, Max). I miss Sunday Funday at Forum 8 movie theater (movie going on the west coast is SO expensive). I miss springtime bug and frog sounds. I miss my yoga home (Alley Cat). That is the worst. Trying to find a great place to do yoga is like trying to find a suitable church. Difficult. You'd think that being in the Seattle area, there would be yoga choices galore. Not so, dear reader. What we have here is Hot Yoga, Bikram, Vinyasa Flow, Hot Yoga, Hot Yoga and Yoga in a heated room. Ugh.

What we also have here is NATURE. Glorious nature. Every day I'm blown away by what is outside my back door. And transportation. I get to ride the bus over Lake Washington twice a day, with stunning views of Mt. Rainier. Trails a mile from my house with waterfalls abound. Blows my mind every time I go running.

Anyway, I started this blog because some important parts of my life STOPPED when I moved. Nutrition...I've gained 6 lbs. Yoga...I don't know if I've breathed right in months. TaeKwonDo...I haven't trained since BEFORE the move. I run more than I ever have in my life, but there needs to be MORE.

So this is what I'm doing. 21 day challenge to myself. Complete change. A sort of Paleo Diet. Mostly meat and veggies, no dairy, no bread, no potatoes, no sugar (fruit will be reintroduced after 14 days), no alcohol, no caffeine (except what comes from my tea). So what will I eat? PLENTY! Lots of chicken, beef, salmon, eggs. Delicious nuts such as Macadamias, Brazil Nuts, Almonds, and Pistachios. Veggies and veggies...spinach, broccoli, yum.

Yoga EVERY DAY. No exceptions. If I don't have time for a completely rounded practice, there will be a minimum of 15 minutes dedicated to breathing and meditation. I am so ready to have this part of me back. My body is aching for it. Literally.

TaeKwonDo. Train a minimum of twice a week. I want my second degree black belt. Fo real.

Running. Not as important to me as the other things on my list. But I should probably do this a minimum of twice a week. I know I should do it more than that, but I don't want to hate it. I'll keep you posted on that.

So I'm going to update this blog with recipes, gripes, photos, and revelations. Be excited...be very excited. I know I am!