Thanksgiving, Football, and an In Home Workout

Happy Thanksgiving (and Hanukkah for all you lucky folks getting two holidays in one). On Thanksgiving we feast like the famine is upon us and movement is pretty much limited to going from the couch to the table. Although most gyms are closed today, don’t use it as your excuse to skip an opportunity to move. I’m suggesting you put down that beer for the football game you're watching and pick up your water bottle. (Well, you could have a beer and then make it an Appalachian training routine.)

All you need for this workout is a football game that is of some level of interest. Maybe a jump rope or step stool if you're on overachiever.

What to Do:

First, pick a team to cheer for. (Follow these directions for the team you are cheering for.)

Push ups Do one for each point your team has on the board each time they score.

Burpees One for each penalty yard your team’s defense draws. If you’re doing this after dinner, you should pick a cleaner playing team.  

Crunches One for each penalty yard your team’s offense draws.  

Punting/ Kickoff Hold a plank from the time your team lines up until the end of the play. You better hope the other team doesn’t have a kickoff return.    

Commercial Break Car-di-o! Jumping jacks, high knees, fast feet, jump rope, step-ups. You get the idea, keep moving and get that heart rate up.   

Half-time Depending on if your game is a blow out or not, you can throw in the towel here or keep it going. To keep it going get outside and toss the old pigskin around or go for a walk/ run. Then repeat the instructions above for the second half. This may also be the optimal time to assist someone in the kitchen.

After the game, don’t feel an ounce of guilt when you reach for that pie later. You earned it! 

Almost-Better-than-Second-Base Cupcakes

One day, not too long ago, a good friend stumbled upon a video of Emily Nelson, wife of Packer WR Jordy Nelson, making “Better-than-Almost-Anything Cake.” As my friend described it to me, the pure gluttony of this cake made me want to make it… my way.  I’m not quite as innocent as Emily, so I added stout to the mix and nixed the condensed milk. I present to you “Almost-Better-than-Second-Base Cake.” Or as my husband labeled them at work “Mocha Stout with Caramel and Toffee.”

What You Need:

1 Package of German Chocolate Cake

Vegetable oil and eggs as called for on the box

1 -3.4 oz Package of Chocolate Pudding Mix

½ Cup of Stout (I used Oakshire Espresso Stout)

Caramel Topping

1 Container of Cool Whip Topping

1 Heath Bar (or another toffee candy bar)

What To Do:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line your cupcake pans with liners (it makes about 24 cupcakes).  You may want to double- line the tins since these cupcakes can be on the gooey side.

Mix the cake according to package instructions and add the stout to the mix. Divide the cake mix evenly among the cupcake tins. Bake according to package instructions.

Remove from the oven and let cool for about 20 minutes.

After the cupcakes have cooled, take a wooden spoon handle and make a hole in each cupcake. Drizzle the caramel over each cupcake, with a little extra going into the hole. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Frost each cupcake with the Cool Whip topping. Next, crush the toffee candy bar into pieces using a mallet, the thick handle of a kitchen utensil, or Clay Mathews’ wrecking ball of a hand. (Whichever you have access to will do.) Open the wrapper and sprinkle the toffee bits over each cupcake.

Store covered in the refrigerator.   

Fall Paleo Lasagna

Ditch the pasta sauce in favor of fall flavors with this Paleo friendly version of lasagna. This recipe takes some time to put together, but is well worth it for a nutrient dense meal. (Plus, it can be dinner/ lunch for a few days.) 

What You Need:

4 Medium zucchinis

2 10-ounce packages of frozen squash

1 Medium head of cauliflower

1 Small onion

2 Cloves of garlic

½ T of Apple cider vinegar

1 Pint of Grape tomatoes

2 lbs of Bulk Italian sausage

1 lb of Raw mushrooms, sliced

1 lb of Baby spinach

Italian Seasoning

Salt and Pepper

What To Do:

If not already indicated as washed, wash your produce before beginning. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the tomatoes on a cookie sheet (lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper) and roast for 30 minutes.

Using a vegetable peeler, peel zucchini noodles (zoodles) until you reach the seedy middle of the zucchini. (You can also use a mandolin to make the zoodles.) Lay the zoodles, overlapping, on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper (you will likely need two cookie sheets for all the zoodles) and bake for 10 minutes.  

While the zoodles bake, cut the cauliflower into florets and place in a microwaveable container. Add a little water, cover, and steam in the microwave until cooked through. After steaming, place the cauliflower florets in a food processor and process until it is of mashed potato consistency. Add ½ T of apple cider vinegar and blend.

Heat the squash according to package instructions (I prefer the microwave option).  

Chop the onion and garlic. Spray a skillet with cooking spray, place on a stove top burner, set the burner to medium, sauté the onion and garlic until soft, and set aside in a bowl. Next, using the same skillet, sauté the mushrooms with the spinach and set aside.

Turn the burner under the skillet up to medium-high and cook the sausage until browned and crumbled. 

Turn the oven temperature up to 425 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 inch cake pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Take one sheet of zoodles and place on the bottom of the pan. Use half of the squash and spread over the noodles with a spatula (this will help hold it together). Layer half of the mushroom and spinach mixture, onion and garlic mixture, and sausage over the squash. Spread a layer of half of the cauliflower mash over the sausage. Layer all of the tomatoes over the cauliflower. Sprinkle ½ T of Italian seasoning over the tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste. Repeat starting with the zoodles and ending with the cauliflower mash. 

Place the lasagna in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Diabetes and Exercise

Awhile back a friend who also is a personal trainer asked me for some information on diabetes and exercise. Knowing that he couldn't possibly be the only person interested in this, I decided to make a whole post dedicated to this topic. Most of the information in here is quite general. If you have questions, feel free to leave me a comment and I will answer them. This post is not meant to diagnose or treat diabetes (or any other disease), it is merely informational and perhaps inspirational to get someone to move a little more. For more information, please refer to a physician, a diabetes educator, or visit diabetes.org.

(A Very Brief) Overview

In 2011 it was estimated that over 25 million U.S. citizens are believed to have diabetes. Of that number 18.8 million people were diagnosed while approximately 7 million people were currently undiagnosed. That was 8.3% of the U.S. population in 2011, almost 10% of us!

There are two main types of diabetes. These are referred to type 1 and type 2 diabetes (think Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss books). In both types of the disease the body has trouble utilizing glucose (i.e. fuel) in the blood. Typically in a person without diabetes, when blood glucose levels increase (which generally occurs after a meal) insulin is produced and released by the pancreas which activates cells to transport glucose into cells via transporters and the glucose can be used in the cells for energy or stored for future use.  

Thing 1 and Thing 2 are far more pleasant than type 1 and type 2 diabetes. 

Type 1 vs. Type 2

In type 1 you do not produce insulin, so when blood glucose rises there is no signal that cells need to move transporters to the cells' surface to take in glucose. When this happens blood glucose can remain high and cause a litany of complications. In addition, when your body is unable to use blood glucose it causes the body to think it is starving and it then resorts to other sources of energy. This can lead to muscle breakdown and excessive utilization of fat stores (which can lead to a dangerous complication known as ketoacidosis). In type 1 diabetes, patients are prescribed insulin to help the body move glucose into cells.

In type 2 diabetes your body still produces insulin but your cells do not react to it as well, this results in glucose utilization by cells being lowered. This also results in high blood glucose levels and can result in complications. In type 2 diabetes, patients are not usually given insulin since their body can still produce it. Instead, patients can be given drugs to increase insulin production, to lower glucose release by the liver, and /or to make cells more sensitive to insulin. In addition to prescription drugs, type 2 diabetes can be managed through a healthy diet and exercise.

Diabetes and Exercise

In both forms of the disease, blood glucose levels should be monitored pre-, during, and post- exercise. If blood glucose levels are above 250 mg/ dL, the urine should also be checked for ketones (if they are present it could indicate ketoacidosis). Monitoring pre- exercise will let one know if they ready to exercise. For instance, it is not recommended a person with diabetes and blood glucose level above 250 mg/ dL with ketones present exercise. However, a person with diabetes and a blood glucose level above 250 mg/ dL without ketones could initiate exercise. Blood glucose levels should be monitored throughout exercise, especially if the workout is longer than 60 minutes.    

Type 1 and Exercise

In people with type 1 diabetes, exercise can be a balancing act. Caution and careful blood glucose monitoring should be used when beginning an exercise program.  People with type 1 diabetes will need to find the perfect balance of eating enough carbohydrates to fuel their workout while using enough insulin to be able to utilize the glucose. 

Too many carbohydrates and not enough insulin can lead to hyperglycemia (high blood glucose) which can lead put one at risk for complications associated with uncontrolled diabetes. Too much insulin and not enough glucose can lead to hypoglycemia (low blood glucose). Risk of hypoglycemia is highest during and post- workout. To counteract hypoglycemia, additional carbohydrates should be consumed and blood glucose levels should be monitored. It can take time to adjust one's diet when beginning an exercise program, so it is best to check blood glucose levels consistently when starting an exercise program to find what works best. 

Type 2 and Exercise

Unlike type 1, people with type 2 diabetes will typically not need to balance blood glucose by using insulin. In fact, people with type 2 diabetes can potentially control* the disease with exercise. Exercise alone can make the cells more sensitive to the blood glucose, meaning the cell's glucose transporters can move to the edge of the cell to transport glucose into it to be utilized. With time, the need for some medications prescribed for type 2 diabetes may be diminished if not eliminated.

(* Please note that I used the word control, there is currently no cure for diabetes.) 

I hope this short run down of diabetes and exercise gave you some insight into what to pay attention to as well as a sense of what direction to go. As with any exercise program, please consult with a physician before beginning.        

Weighting for Change

There it is, that magical date on your calendar. May it be a wedding, school reunion, post-baby date, beach trip, etc.; you have a date and a goal in mind.

"I need to lose X pounds by (this date) and then my life will be perfect."

Next thing you know you're paying more attention to infomercials for battery operated waist bands that do your work out for you while you sit. Dr. Oz suddenly has you mesmerized and whatever flies out of his mouth is the God-given fact to weight loss. You stand in GNC/ Vitamin Shoppe/ (Insert your supplement store of choice here) in awe of your options for fat-blasting aids and metabolism boosters. These are the answers you have been looking for! These will finally help you lose that pesky weight you have carried for so long!

At least that's what you think.

But why invest your money in pills with more ingredients than what goes into a loaf of bread? Why strap and battery powered belt yourself? Why put the stress of one, inconsequential day on yourself?

Setting a date/ goal is a preliminary step in weight loss. But having just that and no real idea of what it takes to lose weight will only set yourself up for failure. And no, buying pills and products does not count as a plan. These are "quick fixes" if they deliver what they promise. But odds that it will last you a lifetime are not so high. The thing is, many of the products promise results in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise!

I have seen/ heard from too many people who have said "I want to lose weight, I just don't want to change." (In all fairness, the phrase "I don't want to change" in its entirety was not stated. With that out there, the statement "I don't want to change the way I eat," or some variation of it, has been expressed.)

What You Need to Realize About Weight Loss

YES You will need to change. If you don't, how can you expect things to be any different?

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."- Albert Einstein.

NO You don't need the "latest and greatest" pill/ gadget to do it.

Someone once said "Your body is 80% what you put in your body and 20% what you do." Considering how far you have walk to burn off a doughnut, there is some truth to that.

NO You don't need to starve yourself. But...

DO Pay attention to what you're putting in your mouth; its the best place to start.

Tip: Look at the nutrition label to see what a serving size is and use that to put what you're eating in perspective. For instance, pour yourself a bowl of cereal. Then measure out a proper serving from the bowl you just poured with a measuring cup or a kitchen scale. How does this look compared to what you usually eat? Is there cereal left in your bowl or is the measuring cup coming up short? Do this for everything you eat for at least for a week. Some items you may be eating under a serving, but with others you may be eating double. Pay careful attention to items you are going over board with. Having too many vegetables isn't bad for the calorie bank, but too many chips can send you over your limit quick.

Pro Tip: Avoid eating straight from the package, things can quickly get out of hand. 

Image of the LoseIt! App

DO: Keep a log whether it be with pen and paper, on a website, or an application on your smart phone. This log can be not only for what you're eating, but for exercise too. There are a ton of options out there. Ones that I have personally used are Myfitnesspal.com and Loseit.com (both have apps and websites so you can update your log from just about anywhere).

Bonus: Most of applications out there can let you know how many calories you need to maintain, lose, or gain weight.  

DON'T Wait! Why put weight loss off for a special occasion? There may already be enough pressure on that special day, why add to it? Get out of the mindset of "now is not the time." My dad was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes two days before Thanksgiving. Two days, talk about "now is not the time." The holiday of gorging oneself was now him asking what he could eat and my mom scrambling to alter recipes. Chronic diseases don't wait for the "right time", why should you wait for the "right time" to be the healthiest you can be? Put yourself first and go after it!

 

Farmers Market Dinner Challenge: May Edition

Ever since I moved to Portland I have been told that I have to go to the Portland Farmers Market at Portland State University. Portland has farmers markets just about everyday of the week during the warmer months, but the granddaddy of them all is on Saturday on the PSU campus. I had lived here nine months and failed to go just about every weekend up until a few weeks ago when I mentally committed myself to going. 

I was overwhelmed by it all. Its very similar to the Dane County Farmers Market in Madison, WI. It has a few more stands, with many of them serving ready-to-eat food due to a lack of restaurants on the PSU campus. I didn't see anyone playing a drum, guitar, or recorder for money. There was also no one inside the market selling something that could not be consumed (minus the honey people selling beeswax candles). 

Note: If you're looking for something crafty, your place to be is the Saturday Market. Or if you're looking for a basket, go out on the sidewalk a hundred feet outside the main entrance of the farmers market grounds. That is where I spotted one man selling all sorts of baskets and I overheard a potential customer asking about where they were from. (I felt as though I should have been looking for Portlandia cameras.) 

My first trip to the PSU Farmers Market I made a critical mistake; I did not go in with a plan. I passed over mountains of beautiful produce and arrived too late to find the legendary Hood strawberries. Rather my friend and I sampled sausages and cheeses, including a vegan smoked gouda (I know for certain now that no matter how many times someone swears it tastes just like cheese, it doesn't). That day I managed to pick up a kielbasa from Olympic Provisions, a well-known sausage producer in Portland, and a cow's milk cheese called Juniper from Ancient Heritage Dairy. You can take a girl out of Sconnie, but you take the Sconnie out of the girl. 

The RD side of me was fairly disappointed with myself after my first trip. Then I swore to myself that next time would be different, next time I would have a plan. This week I had decided I was going to make a farmers market dinner for two for under $50. Many local restaurants boast/ warn you that their menu varies based on what they can find at the farmers market. They then charge you an arm and a leg as a reward for them going out there early, planning a menu, and having a sous chef prepare for you what they felt was the best of the market. Considering it was going to be a typical rainy day in Portland on Saturday, why not try to do it myself?

The market opened at 8:30 and I found myself there about 15 minutes after it opened. It was raining lightly as I made my way to the first booth with Hood strawberries. (I have this quirk where I feel pressured at farmers markets, panic, and buy from the first vendor I see selling what I want.) I ended up paying $4 for a pint of strawberries. I then turned around a saw another vendor selling strawberries for $3. I rationalized that I didn't see one other vendor use the word "Hood" by "strawberry" so I continued to allow myself to think that I did not get ripped off. 

The next stand I stopped at had golden beets. I had maybe had beets three times in my life before coming to Portland. Through my co-workers obsession with all things beet-related (mainly beet martinis, beet infused vodkas, and beet salad), I have come to appreciate them. I had never seen golden beets before and decided to actually talk to the vendor. I learned from him that golden beets are sweeter than red ones and don't stain as much. I also learned that beet greens are much like chard, the only difference is that chard was bred not to bulb like beets so the greens grow faster. I picked up bunch ($3.50) and went on my way. 

I walked along and tried a bourbon chicken liver mousse from Chopped. It was melt-in-your-mouth delicious, but I didn't want to spend $8 of my dinner fund on it so I moved on. I then spotted a stand selling asparagus and I had an idea of making asparagus soup. This time rather than buying something at the first place I saw it, I went along to see if I could find it somewhere else. I then passed by a hard cider stand offering tastings of their award- winning ciders. I considered stopping, but I wanted to see where I ended up before I bought a beverage to go with dinner.

The next task was finding a protein for dinner. Do I go with fish or meat? If I go with meat, what do I want? There is always chicken, beef, and pork. But what about buffalo, yak, rabbit, lamb or duck? Minus the buffalo and lamb, I have no experience cooking the other game meats so those were out. I tend to eat a lot of chicken and that made me less inclined to purchase it there. I also wasn't really feeling a seafood to go with my beet salad, even though it would have went well with the asparagus soup. I ended up consciously committing myself to beef. 

I walked passed a few stands selling grass-fed/ pastured-raised beef. I finally stopped at Sexton Ranches from Haines, OR. They were advertising tenderloin filets for $20 a pound. I was cautious because the first time I bought a grass fed flank steak at a farmers market it was $20 a pound and the smallest this particular vendor had was 1.5 pounds. I ended up spending $30 on a flank steak and blowing over my half my budget there. This time I was going tell the vendor how much I wanted and see if they could make that happen rather than taking what they handed me.  As it turns out, they only had pieces that were about .3 to .4 pounds. Perfect for me and my budget, I picked up two steaks for about $15.  

Sexton Ranches was also one of the first booths where I was getting the hang of the farmer/ rancher/ vendor- customer interaction. She congratulated me on making out in the rain and how she would not be there herself had she not had to work. Really though, Madison has had farmers markets on 30 degree days. If anyone should be congratulated, it should be those market goers. 

If I was going to be making dinner, I really didn't want to put the effort into making dessert. Why even attempt it when someone else at the market has already mastered that skill? I had this idea to have an apple or pear pie topped with melted smoked gouda. I had tried the smoked gouda, non-vegan, a couple weeks prior. On my way to the cheese stand, I stopped at the Packer Orchards stand to pick up a small apple pie sweetened with pears for $5. I then went to Willamette Valley Cheese to get their smoked gouda for $7. 

I only had a couple things left on my list. Onions and asparagus. I stopped at a near by stand where I found sweet onions for $2.50. I asked the vendors there if they had any asparagus, which they did not. However, the woman recommended I stop at Viridian Farms, which had "the best" asparagus at the market. I made my way to where she directed me and low and behold, that was the first stand I spotted with asparagus. The asparagus was $3.00 per bunch there, the same as most other places.

If you are tracking my costs, so far this meal is $36.00. I did not include the cost of strawberries since I'm not planning on using them for dinner. At this point the dinner menu consists of a beet salad, asparagus soup, and steak. For dessert I have an apple pie topped with smoked gouda. Now what to drink... I know!

I meandered over to the cider stand, where the gentleman there ask if I was now ready to try some cider. (He must have seen me pass by earlier.) I told him about what I was doing for dinner and after asking if he could come over, he had me try a few ciders that he thought would go with the meal. A couple others stopped to try what he had and I was able to taste 6 different offerings from Anthem and Wandering Aegnus Ciders. I ended up selecting the Pear Cider from Anthem. It is usually $6 a bottle (or 2 for $10) at the market, but he gave it to me for $5. I now had a complete meal for a grand total of $41.00. Below you can a see a picture of my purchases. (The honeycrisp apple was also not part of dinner, it was part of my breakfast.) 

The before. 

There were only a couple things I needed to make dinner that I did not get at the farmers market and had around the kitchen. Those items were olive oil, lemon, cashews, carrots, garlic, and ground ginger. These items were for the beet salad and the asparagus soup. Here are the recipes I used for these items. 

Beet Salad

What You Need:

4 Medium Beets

1/4 cup Sweet Onions, sliced

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

1 T Olive Oil

1 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger

Salt and Pepper to taste

What to Do:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Wash the beets and cut the greens and tips off of the beets. In a small pan, put down a sheet of aluminum foil. Place the beets in the center of it and fold up the sides to make a pouch. Roast the beets for about one hour (you should be able to easily pierce them with a fork). Remove the beets from the oven and open the pouch to allow them to cool. 

In a small container whisk together the oil, lemon juice, onion, and ginger.

When the beets are cool enough, peel their skin off. Then slice the beets half, then each half into four pieces. The pieces should be about a 1/2 inch long and 1/4 inch wide. Put the beets in the container with the oil mixture. Salt and pepper the salad to taste. Put a lid on the container and give the container a shake to coat the beets. Place the container in the refrigerator to chill and allow the salad to marinate for at least one hour. 

Asparagus Soup

What You Need:

1 bunch of Asparagus

2 cloves of Garlic

1/4 cup of Sweet Onions, sliced

2 cups of Vegetable Broth, warm (I made my own using 3 cups of water, the woody ends of the asparagus, 2 sweet onions, 1/2 cup of chopped carrots, one cup of sliced beet greens, and salt and pepper to taste.)  

1 T of Raw Cashews

1/2 Lemon, zested

Salt and Pepper to taste

What to Do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the asparagus well, cut off the woody ends, and place the trimmed asparagus on a lightly greased pan or a pan lined with parchment paper. Roast the asparagus for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip the asparagus, add the onion and garlic, and roast for another 10 minutes. If the asparagus is thinner, you should be able to roast it in about 5 minutes on each side.  

In a blender, add 1 T of cashews to 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth. Blend until smooth. 

After asparagus is done cooking select a few pieces to use as a garnish. Place the rest of the asparagus on a cutting board and cut it into 2 inch long pieces. Place half of the asparagus in the blender with one cup of the vegetable broth and blend until smooth. Continue this process with the rest of the asparagus, onion, garlic, and vegetable broth. Add salt and pepper to taste.  

Pour the soup into bowls. If the soup seems fibrous, feel free to strain it with a sieve. Top each bowl with about a 1/2 a tablespoon of lemon zest. Serve warm. 

The finished meal minus the pie (it didn't last long enough to be pictured). That steak was as tender as it looks. 

 

                        

Nanner Walnut Pancakes

I had been surviving on eggs (in just about every way, shape and form) for the last few months for breakfast. Needless to say, this past Saturday I was craving a change in my morning routine. This meant one of two things. I could either a.) succumb to Voodoo Doughnuts being my backyard and get a ridiculously topped and injected hunk of pure carbohydrates or b.) experiment in the kitchen.

Fortunately I had an overripe banana and an idea.  (A dangerous combination, but not nearly as dangerous as fried dough.) After a little bit of research I made Nanner Walnut Pancakes. This recipe is super quick and the batter was thick enough that it didn't spread and merge into a cell-undergoing-mitosis shape when I dumped (yes "dumped" and not "poured") it in the skillet. 

What You Need:

The ingredients (I made a half batch, the recipe is for 4- 6 pancakes.)

2 Eggs

2 Egg Whites

2 Bananas, overripe

1/4 cup of Walnuts, chopped

3 Tablespoons of Coconut Flour

1/2 teaspoon of Baking Powder

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Cooking Spray or Coconut Oil

What To Do:

In a medium bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Next mix in the vanilla, egg, and egg whites. (If you want to forgo the egg whites, use 3 whole eggs. If you prefer to cut out the egg yolks, use 6 egg whites.) Stir in the coconut flour and baking powder until slightly lumpy. Last, stir in the walnuts.

In the pan it goes!

Spray a medium skillet with cooking spray. (If cooking spray is not your style, you can also melt a 1/2 Tablespoon of coconut oil for cooking.) Heat the pan over medium heat. Pour/ dump a portion of the batter into the pan. Cook the pancake until the top of it is bubbled and looks "dry." Flip and continue cooking on the other side until the bottom side is browned. Remove from pan and put it on a plate. Continue this process until you are out of batter or made all you care to eat.

Once your plate looks like this, grab a fork and get ready for some nutty, nanner goodness! These pancakes are so moist you don't need butter or syrup (especially if you use coconut oil for cooking them). Added bonus: you won't want to nap after eating them!


   

Toothers

A political battle is brewing. The yard signs are up and campaign commercials are on the airwaves. The battle is pitting neighbor against neighbor. It's not over a controversial candidiate or hot button issue.

It's over water. More specifically, adding fluoride to the water. Opponents to fluoridation have been given the nickname "Toothers" (not to be confused with "Birthers" demanding President Obama's birth certificate).

Fluoride is well-known to help strengthen teeth. It can be found naturally in water, but many water  municipalities add it when it isn't naturally found in the water supply. The Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for regulating fluoride in drinking water and has established a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 4 milligrams per Liter. It has been shown that some people who drink water for many years with fluoride above this MCL may experience bone disease and children may be at risk for mottled teeth.

In 2010, the Center for Disease Control reported that 73.9% of the drinking water in the United States was fluoridated. Currently, Portland is the largest city water municipality in which the water is not fluoridated. Last September the City Council unanimously voted to fluoridate the water, but a petition with 22,000 signatures took the measure out of the City Council's hands and onto the May 2014 ballot. The council then decided to fast forward this measure and added it to a special election ballot for this May. (For a more in depth look at the history of this issue, take a look at this piece from the Willamette Weekly.)

I had never heard of a city that didn't fluoridate the water until I had moved here. In fact, I was certain fluoridated water was universal. Then I learned from my dentist that the fight for fluoridation was just getting warmed up.

Many Toothers believe that there are health effects that fluoride can have besides bone disease when it consumed in large amounts. Some of these health concerns include dry skin, low thyroid function, and cold hands and feet. Toothers believe that any amount of fluoride in drinking water is hazardous to one's health.  

Putting this in perspective, our bodies are exposed to hundreds of environmental "hazards" daily. It is difficult to tell exactly what in our environment is going to be the cause of any health issue. This is why many studies that suggest people quit smoking/ lose weight/ reduce alcohol consumption add the line that doing any one of those things "may reduce the risk" of developing this, that, or the other thing. However, doing any of those things does not automatically eliminate the chance of you ever being diagnosed with a disease.

I am not by any means saying that fluoridated water is equal to smoking tobacco products or excessive alcohol consumption, but rather there is a good chance that fluoride is not the sole cause of some (if not all) of the health issues described above.

As far as I am concerned, this is a public health issue. It has been shown that many people in Portland have poor dental health. Some of this is by their own choice, but for many it may be the fact they do not have access to the tools for proper care. It has been brought up by Toothers that more should be invested in education programs promoting dental care. One example of the education approach in action is the campaign to wear seatbelts. When you look at the statistics, however, people are still killed due to being involved in car accidents and not wearing their seatbelt. If the education approach worked, wouldn't this have ended?

This is a picture of tooth decay. In line with the Toothers train of thought, if everyone saw this they would take better care of their teeth. I mean, images work so well for cigarette cessation, right?

This May the voters in Portland have the ability to improve the dental situation of many community members. It is my hope that the voters in Portland do not take this opportunity lightly. In the meantime, I'll be investing in a fluoride mouth rinse.

Post Paleo Review

Please excuse the delay on my review of the Paleo challenge. I went on vacation a couple weeks ago and I am still working on getting back into a routine. After last night's Easter candy binge, I think I'm there. Note: That was a week ago and I was still not ready to write this. 

I officially completed the Paleo Challenge on March 25th. I was going to do one additional day to try Paleo while travelling, but that was the first day my first real vacation in over five years. Five years. Real vacation meaning no wedding, birthday party, move across the country, etc. involved. Earlier that day I could barely choke down a chicken breast for lunch. At that very point I reached my meat intake limit. After that my thought was, "Like heck I am going to be on a Paleo challenge when I am going to finally have a chance to relax."

Now, I did have one memorable semi-Paleo meal in Vegas. Mr. NN was super excited when he found that Hot 'n Juicy Crawfish was in Las Vegas. He had watched a Man Vs. Food episode about this restaurant and was immediately smitten with it. I was a little unsure what we were walking into, but I had a vision from "Beasts of the Southern Wild" involving a bayou feast. At Hot 'n Juicy, you order your food by the pound and then choose what seasoning you would like. I opted for a pound of shrimp with their signature Hot 'n Juicy seasoning. A little while later, a plastic bag was dropped in front of me filled with shrimp. Rather than standing on my chair like Hushpuppy flexing my muscles, I looked more like this:

That, my friends, is the look of me attempting to hide my terror upon the realization I need to rip apart my food to make it edible (by my standards). I still cringe when I see that little guy with his eyes bulging out. I probably ate a half pound of shrimp by the time I beheaded, de-legged, peeled, and deveined my shrimp. This was not my type of dining experience, but Mr. NN was completely into it- up to his elbows in crawfish juices. My favorite part of this meal were the corn fritters. No de-assembly (or looking my food in its dead eyes) required.     

Now let's review my goals for the Paleo Challenge:

• Increased energy
• Better cold sensitivity management
• Bikini- ready shape

Did I reach my goals? In the order of my goals listed above, the answers are : No, no, and kind of.

I didn't have more energy and I was still pretty caffeine dependent during the challenge. For me, "caffeine dependent" is at least two cups of coffee (or tea) a day. I know many people will scoff at this idea because for some people this is called "breakfast." But for me, I never had a morning routine involving caffeine consumption until this year. Not to say I don't enjoy it, I just want to be able to function without it. The week after my vacation, however, I didn't even need a cup of green tea in the morning. I therefore attribute the lack of energy not to my non-Paleo diet (or to Paleo for that matter), but to my extreme burnout. A couple weeks after Spring break and I am still consuming less caffeine.

My cold sensitivity is better, but that is likely because it is warmer outside. I also wear more layers when I'm cold. Amazing what that combination can do for body temperature regulation.

Now let me explain the "kind of" for bikini- ready shape. I already have a solid workout routine and can be found in the gym most days of the week. I definitely have an athletic build, although my build has no correlation with any ability to play sports. (Just ask anyone who I have played recreational volleyball or softball with.) In any case, after starting Paleo I noticed I was way less bloated.  All the work I had been putting in at the gym was becoming more noticeable. Mr. NN even asked when I put on my bikini if I had lost weight. Which no, I had not (but I did lose excess intestinal air). Unfortunately the only photo I have from Vegas involving a bikini is the one below, but it pretty much sums up my break so it will do.

       Happiness is poolside in the sunshine.  

Now that I have completed the challenge, I have been asked if I will continue on it.

The short answer: I will likely follow some parameters of Paleo, but not all of it.

The long answer: There are things that I liked about Paleo and things that I didn't. I definitely do not think that beans and peanuts are detrimental to my gut or my health. My immune system has been incredible this past cold and flu season, in spite of the fact I work in schools and primarily ate beans as my protein source this past winter.

Not once during the challenge was I able to get my recommended amount of calcium intake from food alone. I didn't even get enough with a multivitamin and mineral added in. That all being noted, I'm also going to have dairy.

When it comes to grains, prior to the challenge Mr. NN was on a meal plan that only permitted starchy foods (i.e. grains and potatoes) after workouts. Many of our meals had been grainless due to this and it really is not as difficult as it sounds. You just need to make sure you fill in the starch-void on your plate with more vegetables and fruit (or in some cases, meat).

I will not, however, avoid grains like the plague after this experience. Whole grains also have a lot of benefits that should not be disregarded. Whole grains have insoluble fiber to help your body get rid of unnecessary cholesterol. Insoluble fiber also helps you to feel fuller and pushes food particles (and what it becomes) through your intestines faster. There are also many things in life I enjoy that involve grains- such as cupcakes, beer, and cheeseburgers. I like being able to enjoy these items every-so-often and don't feel it necessary to deny myself these items.

A few Paleo Diet experts, including Dr. Cordain, recommend a 85% Paleo Diet lifestyle. This means all but three of the meals you have in a given week are Paleo. For those other three meals you can pretty much have whatever your heart desires.

Recently I listened to an interview with Dr. Eaton, the first person recognized with creating the Caveman Diet back in the 1980s. (Dr. Courdain recognizes Dr. Eaton as being an inspiration.) The interview was done by a  die-hard Paleo fanatic and he seemed floored when Dr. Eaton told him that ate "forbidden" foods (i.e. beans, dairy, and grains). If the founder of the Caveman Diet allows himself to have these things, I'm fairly certain it is okay for me (and everyone else) to have them too.    

Nice to Finally Meat You

In Portland there is no shortage of culinary adventures. From restaurants to food carts there is a plethora of places to try at every corner. After falling off the mark last Saturday, I decided to fully commit to finding a purely Paleo meal outside of my kitchen.

A friend recommended that I try the Cultured Caveman. The Cultured Caveman is a food cart with two locations in the NE and SE neighborhoods. For being a food cart they have a pretty nice website to go along with it. It not only has the menu posted on it, but a short nutrition breakdown for most items as well. You can even check out a couple recipes on it. 

Mr. NN and I ventured out on a sunny Saturday after our workouts to give it a try. We visited the one in SE, which was right across the street from a popular natural/ local foods store. This location had a single table in front of the cart near the bustling intersection and tent in back with a few more tables that offered a more secluded dining experience. But enough about the location, let's get down to the food!  

For the main dish we both opted for the Grass Fed All Meat Chili and Caveman Coffee. For a side, I selected the Beet and Walnut Salad while Mr. NN tried the Ginger Carrot Kale Salad.  You can see our selections pictured off to the right. Our grand total came to $20, not bad for a lunch with high quality ingredients.  

I love a good chili and I have been disappointed in what I have found in Portland so far. That was until I had the chili here. It was full of flavor and there were large chunks of tender meat rather than minuscule meat-like crumbles floating about. The portion size was perfect for me, but Mr. NN could have used a larger size. 

The Ginger Carrot Kale Salad was just the right mix of crisp vegetables and ginger flavor. While the Beet and Walnut Salad was described as containing jicama, but I didn't find any. The jicama was either really well hidden because it had absorbed the color from the beets and carrots or jicama was simply not in it. If it was left out, I don't think it was a major loss (to me jicama doesn't have much taste anyway). The bright salad still had a nice earthy flavor balance. 

The Caveman Coffee was delicious. There is no shortage of good coffee in Portland and One Drop Coffee is no exception. It was perfectly iced and not watered down. If you're interested, you can order their cold brew online and play barista at home. I'm not sure what made this coffee "caveman" though. Maybe because you could order it with coconut milk or heavy cream. 

All in all, I would give my meal a 4 out of 5 caveman clubs. I'm withholding one club due to the fact we were both hungry an hour later. One way to avoid that would be to order a little extra. For a perfectly Paleo (and tasty) meal give the Cultured Caveman a try.        

Week Three: Cave Kids and a Gluten Reaction

Last Saturday I attended the Oregon School Nutrition Association conference. The attendees are exactly what you might expect; from school nutrition directors to your typical lunch lady, all of them are really passionate about school food- the good, the not so good, and the kids really touch this stuff? My group was there to be educated on everything from new legislation affecting school meals to how to pick ripe produce. Maybe we'd make a few new connections along the way as well.  

First, we all gathered in a large hall while a pep squad held a "flag ceremony" (which we found out was code for the Pledge of Allegiance) and then the board members of various organizations were introduced. A motivational speaker who you could have sworn was about to have an aneurysm later outdid the pep squad's pep. Midway through his presentation, after he threw himself onto numerous women yelling, "Get happy!" while rubbing his chest in their face, he disclosed that he had a stroke about 10 years ago. Shocking.

But this wasn't the excitement that most of the child nutrition professionals were waiting in anticipation for. A floor above us, vendors scurried about setting up booths, warming samples, and practicing their selling points. The vendor showcase was the crown jewel event of the day.

In case you have been living under rock and/or do not have a child in school, you may not be aware of the changes this year to school lunches. I will save the explanation of the government and school meals for another blog. Long story short (for the purpose of this post) is that many companies have been reformulating what they already make to sell to schools in hopes of holding on to that part of the market. School meal entrees are generally made up of two of the three components required to be a reimbursable meal. The components tend to be grain, protein, or a combination of the two. The curveball in school meal entrees is that cheese constitutes a protein, not dairy.

Since the vendors usually bring samples, the conference did not provide a mid-day meal. Meaning I was left to forge what I could for a meal from what the vendors had. Generally it is pretty easy to eat yourself silly at one of these events. However this Paleo challenge increased the difficulty of this task. School meals are far from being considered Paleo with grain, legumes, and dairy being major components of school meals. Most of the meats I found were breaded. Some of the meats I found, that weren't coated in breading, didn't look quite like meat. Then some places were promoting their cheese/ bean/ peanut butter filled products. None of these things were considered Paleo either.

This left beef jerky, salsa, and frozen fruit. I ended up having a lot of fruit: as in sugar-high, blood-thickening amount of fruit.  At one point my stomach was turning due to the amount of sugar I had consumed, so I tried a questionable meatball in a "citrus, ancho chile sauce." I spit it out. I am highly appreciative that my school district does not serve mystery meat like this.

I never thought it was possible to get a hangover from fruit. By the time I got home I was feeling semi-nauseous from the amount of sugar in my body and was in desperate need of grease.

Since it was St. Patrick's weekend, I grabbed a friend and we went out to an Irish pub for whiskey and grease. We first split a plate of fries, which helped the sugar to salt/ fat ratio in my blood, but it wasn't quite enough. I needed more. This was when Mr. NN met up with us and was in need of dinner. That was my ticket to continue on my quest for grease.

I had been fantasizing about bread for the last few days, what could it hurt giving in and having a reuben? It was just one sandwich, not heroin. I could have gone with the bangers and mash, which would have been more aligned with Paleo, but I was planning on having that the next day. I could have also asked not to have the bread or cheese and just a pile of corned beef and sauerkraut on a plate. But if I was going to have just one non-Paleo meal in three weeks, I might as well fully embrace it.  

Within a few minutes a perfectly grilled sandwich, with a tantalizing menagerie of melted cheese and dressing oozing down the sides, was set down before me.  I was more excited than the motivational speaker I saw earlier. I held myself back from tackling the server with unbridled happiness.  Just so you have a visual, the sandwich (pictured left) is not one that I had eaten, but it looked just as beautiful.

I inhaled half of the sandwich in what felt like seconds. I could have stopped at half of the sandwich, but this was my first sandwich in a long time. I didn't need the other half, the first half of the sandwich needed to be reunited with the other half... in my belly. Down the hatch it went.

After the entire sandwich was ingested I was in pain. At first I thought it was because I had eaten myself silly. But after an hour my stomach was distended and there was a lot of gurgling going on.

My body was rejecting the sandwich. Nooooooooo. 

I have noticed since starting Paleo I have been less bloated, but this was a little ridiculous. Do I think that gluten caused this? It certainly could be. Obviously my body is not used it since it has been a few weeks since I had a full serving of grains, let alone gluten. But as one RD friend pointed out, our intestinal lining is replaced every 3 to 5 days. Because I have went longer than that without any grains my body simply isn't used to processing it. It probably didn't help that I had two slices of refined bread rather than easing myself back into eating grains.

Do I think gluten is the devil and that people should avoid it at all costs? No, absolutely not. I should have been more careful when making my dinner decision. Everyone should also be sure to choose whole grains over refined grains. In this frame of thought, if I thought that I had to avoid gluten the rest of my life due to the way it made me feel I would have to avoid fruit too. Think about it, I managed to eat myself sick on fruit but I know that blueberries aren't evil. These both illustrate the point that everything, including fruit, in moderation.

The Irish, Cave-made Cupcake

Cupcake: cup-cake (noun) a small cake baked in a cuplike mold.

A cupcake is generally meant for one person to consume. Although if you go to someplace like Gigi's, one cupcake is large enough to be shared. (However, I'm not going to say that finishing one by yourself is impossible and I can attest to that.)

Lately, I have had an insatiable cupcake craving. Partially because I have yet to find a cupcake cafe to act as my safe haven here in Portland after a hectic week. Mainly because I am attempting to be fully Paleo and haven't had one in a long time.

After spending a good part of the week researching Portland cupcake stores, I was inspired to be more pro-active. Of course there are gluten-free bakeries here, but why not try to do a little of my own baking? This was also my first time baking with something other than wheat flour.

In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, I decided I wanted something "Irish." Being the Naughty Nutritionist, I thought Irish cream would be a good flavor to work with. I also am a big fan of Bailey's in chai lattes- a concoction I discovered on a cold, snowy night a few years ago- so that is where the chai idea came from. But as much as I like the color green, I declined on adding food coloring.

I will forewarn you that these are not your typical cupcakes. The recipe I created was a mash-up of a cupcake recipe and a paleo muffin recipe. My cupcake does have a moist, spongey characteristic to them similar to most paleo mock-grain foods. They also aren't nearly as sweet, so it could easily pass for a breakfast muffin (minus frosting).

Bailey's Chai-Spiced, Gluten-Free Cupcakes
Makes approximately 18 cupcakes

What You Need:
12 Eggs
1 c. Butter, melted
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/4 c. Honey or Maple Syrup
1 c. Water
1 T. of Chai Tea
1/4 c. Irish Cream
1 c. Coconut Flour
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp of Baking Soda

What To Do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brew one cup of chai tea using the water and chai tea according to package instructions. (I used Rishi Tea Masala Chai loose leaf tea.) If you use chai concentrate, feel free to omit the honey and up the amount of chai used.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter, vanilla, honey, chai tea, and Irish cream. Sift in the coconut flour, salt, and baking soda in and stir until well combined.

Line the cupcake pan wells with cupcake liners. If you do not use liners,  use pan spray or butter to lightly grease each well. Fill each cupcake well with 1/4 cup of the batter. Place the pans in the oven and bake for 30- 40 minutes.

Remove from oven and remove cupcakes from pan to cool. If you would like, frost or ice the cupcakes. (I used a marshmallow cream since I would not be able to refrigerate them.) Green food coloring would be a better addition to the frosting or icing than the cupcake itself due the dark color of the cake.  

Saturated Fat and Shamrocks

It started because I had to go to the bathroom.

I was at a craft store thinking that I was in need of some sort of project, when all I really needed was a restroom. Not seeing one in sight (at least for the public), I went to the nearest convenience store. Which was conveniently on the same intersection as a Burger King and a McDonald’s- with an enormous poster of a Shamrock Shake gracing its window. Like many Americans who love green things in mid-March, the Shamrock Shake is one of those things I have to have almost every year. Not just have rather need. But with me being on the Paleo Challenge, a Shamrock Shake in all its green food coloring goodness is off limits.

I went into the convenience store only to find the most dismal public restroom I have seen in a long time. I've seen cleaner ones in the middle of Montana, where the maintenance staff might come once a week. In my moment of need, I headed for the golden arches.

Upon entering I was struck by the stale fryer smell, the one that permeates your clothing after being in the area for more than 30 seconds. I bee-lined for the bathroom and then decided that I should probably get something there since I was using their facilities. I went to the counter where a man stood, seductively wrapping his lips around a straw was connected to a Shamrock Shake.

Need that... no, not the guy. The shake. Hey, when did they start putting whipped cream and cherries on this thing?

Then my willpower took over and I ordered a coffee. I was dangerously sedated from the potpourri I inhaled at the craft store. I was in no condition to be driving with out a pick-me-up. The coffee helped, but I was still craving my minty treat. 

On my way home, I stopped at a grocery store and after some deliberation I picked up a mint flavored, coconut milk frozen treat. I was a little curious as to how this was going to go. How are mint and coconut going to pair as an "ice cream"? Its brand name was So Delicious and I was So Willing to give it a shot.

Upon opening the pint, I was a little sad to see it was white. What the heck? This is supposed to be mint flavored and every mint-flavored thing I have consumed has always been green. Half the reason I get the Shamrock Shake is for it's green color. (That's because it’s authentically Irish, like green beer.) Now I was lazy and finally home from a tough day of window-shopping. I wasn't about to venture out to call shenanigans at the grocery store over this so I grabbed a spoon and dug in.        

   

   

This first spoonful was full of coconut flavor (shocking). After a few more bites, I started to get more of the mint flavor. It was no Shamrock Shake, but it was doing the trick. It was also incredibly easy to eat. I have only eaten an entire pint of ice cream in a single sitting once. I was not about to do that a second time, at least not today, so I coached myself to put the lid back on and put it in the freezer, for later.

After eating about half the pint, I decided that I should look at the nutrition of this. Some people believe that just because it is made from coconut milk, it is instantly better than the real dairy thing. But coconut milk is high in saturated fat. Even though this form of saturated fat is primarily composed of medium chain fatty acids (I'll save this topic for another blog), it still packs 9 calories a gram like any other fat.
I am going to the take the liberty to compare 12 ounces of the So Delicious Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert with the alternative, a 12-ounce Shamrock Shake. Let's take a look, shall we?


So Delicious Coconut Milk Mint Chip
Calories: 510 Calories
Fat: 27 g.
     Saturated Fat: 24 g.
Carbohydrates: 60 g.
     Fiber: 18 g.
     Sugar: 39 g.
Protein: 1 g.
Iron: 24 %

Shamrock Shake

Calories: 530 Calories
Fat: 15 g.
     Saturated Fat: 10 g.
Carbohydrates: 86 g.
     Fiber: 0 g.
     Sugar: 73 g.
Protein: 11 g.
Calcium: 40 %

The So Delicious was 120% of my daily value of saturated fat intake. That's 120% if I had nothing else to eat yesterday. This helps illustrate the importance of enjoying your favorite treats in moderation even if you do find it in the natural section of the grocery store. Unlike the Shamrock Shake, the So Delicious lacked calcium but had plenty of iron. The Shamrock Shake was no shining star though. It had more than double the sugar (part of that due to the natural lactose in it) and no fiber.

When it comes down to it, it's a pick your poison situation. Either way both options are going to be high in calories. The question is: do you want those calories to come from sugars or from fat? That choice is entirely yours. My only suggestion is to do whichever one you will get the most enjoyment from.  

Week Two: Let the Contradictions Begin!

Earlier this week, a book I had on hold at the library finally came in. I had put this book, The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordian, Ph.D.,  on hold a few weeks ago prior to starting this challenge. I wanted this book serve as my main guide for the Paleo challenge since Cordain is one of the main figures Paleo enthusiasts know of. Cordian and his research is referred to on numerous websites and in books.

Unfortunately, there were 10 people ahead of me on the wait list so I had to refer to what I could find online and in books a friend loaned me for advice. The funny thing about this was that this Paleo book didn't even have the longest wait list. There were numerous Paleo cookbooks with a long list of holds ahead of me, including one with a 54 people already on it. Is it really that hard to think of recipes that basically only involve meat and vegetables?

Prior to reading The Paleo Diet I was little shocked at things that were considered okay on this diet. In the Practical Paleo book I found numerous recipes involving bacon, ribs, skin-on poultry, butter, and coconut oil. These foods are not exactly low in saturated fat. The first week of the Paleo challenge my blood felt more like sludge and I had less energy than before I had started. Week two, I cut out the bacon and went back to eating more egg whites. I started to feel better and I was a bit less reliant on caffeine in the morning.  

Here are just a few notable things a learned from The Paleo Diet: 

• Choose lean meats, game meat, fish, and shellfish
• Limit your whole egg intake (Note: There is nothing mentioned in regards to cholesterol free egg whites.) 
• Eat your fruits and veggies (Note: All potatoes, not just white, are off limits in this book.)
• Nuts and seeds are permitted
• Oils (olive, avocado, walnut, and flaxseed), most beverages (besides water), and dried fruits are all allowed in moderation
• In addition to dairy, legumes, and grains, also avoid butter, bacon, potatoes, yams, olives, canned meats, chicken skin, pork sausage, and honey most of the time. 

I found a lot of what Cordain was recommending to make sense. Eat lean meat, eat a lot of fruits and veggies, and use healthy fats. He also notes that you don't have to cut out foods such as dairy, grains, and legumes forever. (That's a relief.) The version of Paleo that Cordain recommends is very similar to Clean Eating, which is something I usually adhere to. 

Still, the hardest part of this is going out to eat. Every time I went somewhere for food this week I was satiated, but not full. At our favorite burger place, I found myself staring at people smushing down their bun as cheese oozed out the edges. Last night I would have killed for pizza. Killed. I also miss my beer; which would be amazing with the pizza I've been fantasizing about.

The grocery bill is still up there. The picture above is the latest load from my last shopping trip and that's not even half of it. Nutritionally speaking, I am still lacking calcium. My cholesterol and saturated fat intake are also both still high. I am hoping now that I am going to be following more closely to what Cordain outlines as Paleo, both my cholesterol and saturated fat intake will be in a more acceptable range.


Goals Update

• My energy levels have increased, but nothing terribly notable. 
• I'm also not sleeping any better. Hopefully this week will be better than last.   
• I still have cold toes and fingers. I have a feeling this is not going to change in 4 weeks. 
• I am so ready for spring break... mentally.  

I am now at the halfway mark of the challenge. Next weekend I have a conference to go to, let's see how Paleo I am able to be at a school nutrition conference. Since most of the foods that schools serve are commodity, and the majority of these foods are processed in some way, I am going to predict not very. Saint Patrick's Day (one of my favorite holidays) is also coming up. No reuben for me this year, but corned beef can still be on the menu!  

  

   

Where There Is Smoke, There Might Not Be Fire

Paleo Prep (Sunday)

I went grocery shopping for the beginning of the Paleo meal plan. In total, we spent about $180 on groceries for the week minus food that my husband was able to have and I had to avoid  and items that weren't edible. Looking at our grocery receipts, there is a sizable amount of produce and meat. It looks about right since that's about all I am allowed to eat. 

One of the recipes I selected for this week involved coconut aminos. Coconut aminos are a non-soy, gluten-free sauce made from the sap of a coconut tree. This was the hardest thing for me to buy. Not only because the employees at my usual grocery store had no clue what I was talking about (much like 90% of the planet), but they were also almost twice the price of other non-gluten soy-like sauces.  According to the author of the book I have been using as a guide, it tastes just like soy sauce. 

I find it odd that coconut aminos are allowable on a Paleo plan. If I travelled back thousands of years and asked cave people to pass the coconut aminos, would they know what I was talking about? Or would I get the same glazed-over look from them that I got from the stockers at the grocery store? 

At Whole Foods I conveniently found them in the "ethnic" section without any assistance. Then came the price dilemma, this uber-special seasoning cost $6.59 a bottle. The other gluten-free soy sauce substitute was only $3.49 a bottle (on special). The only issue was that soy was an ingredient, which is not allowed on the plan. My husband reminded me that if I was going to do this, I had to fully commit and that included incurring the cost.

This stuff better taste like soy sauce. 

That evening I prepped a week worth of breakfasts. (There is something to be said about what one can accomplish when football isn't on.) Since I was mostly forgoing eggs, in addition to grains, there really isn't anything substantial one can have for breakfast that can be prepared quick. This meant I was turning to the recipes in the Practical Paleo book for breakfast ideas. I decided to make the Pumpkin Pancakes. They used a low amount of eggs and were seemingly the least amount of work. 

The only thing these "pancakes" had in common with your typical pancake is that I made them in a pan. The first two I made were incredibly runny rather than oozy, like a thick pancake batter. (Not terribly shocking since there was no sort of grain in it.) Then I realized, I didn't add butter to the batter. The recipe called for 2 tablespoons of butter or coconut oil to be mixed in. Instead, I put 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in the pan for cooking. (Oops.) Since I already had 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan,  I opted for 2 tablespoons of butter for what was left of the batter for the double batch I was making. These pancakes were less runny than the first ones I made, but still not the same consistency. I had come too far now to toss them so I finished making the batch.

The other main component of breakfast would be baked bacon, which is exactly what it sounds like. This was way simpler to make than the pancakes. All I had to do was put a baking rack on a cookie sheet, place each strip of bacon on the rack so they weren't overlapping, place the bacon filled pan in the oven (preheated to 325 degrees), and bake for 25 minutes. The time can be more or less depending on your desired crispiness. I had not eaten bacon in awhile, so I was more excited about this than I was about the pancakes.

Week One in Review: 

• Bacon is great day for one day, good on day two, but I'm pretty sure my arteries were narrowing by day three. How does anyone have meat for breakfast everyday? 
• I am not a fan of eating things I do not derive pleasure from. In this particular case, canned wild salmon is one of those things. 
• Coconut oil has a low smoke point. Please keep this mind if you are using it as a fat for broiling. Your food won't catch fire, but your kitchen sure will be hazy. Opt for butter or olive oil over coconut oil. Scratch the butter, as I recently learned that also will create smoke under the broiler.
• Coconut aminos are to soy sauce as alligator is to chicken. Disclaimer: I have never had alligator.  
• Eating at restaurants can be difficult. In particular, Cuban restaurants. Most menu items had beans and rice as a part of the dish. I settled on a sandwich and asked for it without the bun. The server laughed as she said "This is your sandwich, without the bun." Thanks, lady. I miss bread. 
• It also be very tasty. At a local winery I opted for the meat plate with Salami with Herbes de Provence shingled in two rows, Prosciutto piled in thin mounds down the center, and heart-shaped Hot Soprasseta slices (pictured above) arranged on the opposite side. All of which were melt-in-your-mouth delicious. On a normal night I would have shared the cheese board with my husband. (I'll admit that I took a few bites of his cheese. I'm a Sconnie girl at heart, not dead.) 
• I was able to mostly stick the "Paleo" adult beverage stipulations. Saturday night I had more than the one drink limit, but not by much. Living in the Northwest there is no shortage of good Pinot Noirs. I still miss beer though. 

Nutrient Breakdown

Previous to the Paleo plan, my diet was roughly 45% carbohydrates (mainly from beans and fruit), 30% fat (mainly from olive oil), and 25% protein (mainly from whey protein). These numbers are fairly in line with what the USDA recommends for Americans. This past week my diet was 50% fat (butter and oils), 30% carbohydrates (vegetables and fruit), and 20% protein (from meats).

My cholesterol intake has skyrocketed. Before, I averaged 300 milligrams of cholesterol, which is the "limit" set by the Food and Nutrition Board and the Institute of Medicine. I used quotation marks around limit because there is no Estimated Average Requirement (EAR), Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), or Adequate Intake (AI) set for cholesterol. This is because all of our tissues are capable of producing enough cholesterol for their needs meaning there really is no gain by us consuming cholesterol. There is also no Upper Limit (UL) set because any increased amount of dietary cholesterol intake increases the risk of Coronary Heart Disease. Cholesterol is present in all animal tissues, so there is no way to avoid it. That is unless you are vegan. Needless to say, once I moved from my mainly vegetarian diet to the Paleo plan my cholesterol intake jumped. This past week I averaged 400 mg of dietary cholesterol a day.

I'm going to take this opportunity to stress the importance of exercise while on a high-meat intake plan like this. Physical activity can increase your High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) levels. HDL serves as the "street sweeper" of your arteries. Their job is to pick up cholesterol in your blood and deliver it to the liver, where it is repackaged into bile and excreted from the body. The more HDL you have the better, especially if your dietary cholesterol intake is high.

As for minerals, with the Paleo plan my intake of iron is above and beyond what the RDA is for it. However, my calcium intake is way down. This shouldn't be surprising since dairy is a no-no with Paleo. Currently, I am getting on average 25% of the RDA for calcium from my diet alone. As noted in Practical Paleo, spinach is a good source for calcium. But you would have to eat a lot of spinach to get your RDA for calcium in one day. I'm not talking eating one big bag (about 8 cups) of spinach in a day, its more like 10 of those bags in a day. Other good plant-based sources of calcium include kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower. Although I am eating all of these items, my intake is still pretty low. Admittedly, I am still taking a multivitamin with calcium and even with that I am well below the RDA. (I know cavemen didn't have multivitamins and minerals, but I'm also sure they never heard of coconut amnios either. I live in the cloudy Northwest and I'd rather not have osteoporosis.)    

Goal Update

In regards to my goals, I'm not feeling anymore energetic than before. In fact I feel like I have had less energy. I still get about 7 hours of sleep a night (which is about what I usually get). Maybe its because I am having meat in the morning. It's no wonder bacon and coffee make such a great duo.

This is taking the bacon and coffee combination to a new level. Image from: http://wanderingbeancoffeeco.blogspot.com/ 

I have not been able to tell a difference in my tolerance of cold either. I have warm socks, though, and they definitely do the trick. I would rather have eggs, nuts, and seeds in my diet and wear warm clothes to keep my toes warm than be on a severely restrictive diet in hopes that by doing that it will work.

Now that I am done with the Paleo for autoimmune conditions version, I am moving on to a more "typical" Paleo diet. Signing off from week one and onward to week two!