i didn't feel the tingle...

Today was the first day I tried the liquid version of Green Pastures Cod Liver Fish Oil/Butter Blend. say that three times fast! I previously tried the capsules, which had no smell or taste, but they are mighty expensive. So I decided to give this a go. Here are some tips on what to do and NOT to do:

 

1. Do not smell this stuff. Even with the cinnamon added, its not a pretty smell. 

2. Do not taste it. You will not want to if you ignored my advice on  #1 anyway. 

3. Do put it in the refrigerator at least over night so it gets solid. This way you can take a knife and measure it out, then bite it into your mouth so it forms a little ball (its wax like in substance) and is easy to swallow with a little bit of water. You can barely taste it this way....which is how you want it according to the Amazon reviews I read. 

4. Do not expect a tingle. I didn't really taste anything, much less a tingle. But I think I prefer that over the thought of whatever fish oil actually tastes like... (and yes, I really can't believe I am eating this stuff either!).

Anyway, lets hope I reap some health benefits because I plan to do Murph on 5/24/13. This is a crossfit workout in honor of fallen soldiers and all proceeds go to various charities that assist military & military families. Murph was apparently a hard ass in the gym. The workout is Run 1 mile (with a 20lb vest. or not if you are me :)), 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, Run 1 mile. Last year I did 1 mile, 50 pull ups, 100 push ups, 150 squats and ran 1/2 mile. So this year my goal is merely to finish! I will probably do this as 20 rounds of "Cindy" (5/10/15). Honestly just writing about this is making me tired. AND THEN I signed up to do a 5k the very next weekend (which may seem extremely easy after Murph. or its the worst idea I've ever had) before I partake in some Summerfest festivities! Or I may end up in the hospital. Stay tuned.

Veg out

Last night I made a version of "Summers End Bake," even though technically its early spring. What can I say.... I am excited for the summer veggies to come in! I got the original recipe from Health-Bent, which is an awesome website if you haven't visited before! I made a few variations and thought of a few more post-consumption....

(teapot not required. sorry my photography is kind of crap)

What you'll need:

1/2 lb spicy Italian sausage
1/2 lb 90/10 grass fed beef
1 eggplant
2 pints cherry tomatoes
fresh mozzarella
fresh basil, chopped
salt & pepper
evoo


I cut the tomatoes in half and placed on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Drizzled some EVOO and salt & pepper. Same with eggplant, sliced 1/4 inch thick. You probably want to drizzle a little extra on the eggplant because it dries out in the oven. I baked at 300 for about 25 minutes. 

While that's baking, I browned the meats and sliced up some fresh mozzarella. Once the veggies were done, I layered the meat, eggplant, tomatoes, cheese and basil (in that order) like I would lasagna (about two layers). Then I cooked for about 10 minutes at 375. I think next time, I will leave the cheese cold and place on dish after baking. Or if you prefer it all hot, I would recommend using shredded mozzarella for better melting consistency. But overall, this was REALLY yummy and super easy! And a nice colorful way to start off the warmer months :)

weekend in review

I love a spring weekend with lots of sunshine & cool breezes! It was amazingly lovely in Atlanta this weekend....so wishing I had spent more time outside. Saturday I spent an enormous amount of time cleaning and doing laundry instead of going to the Sweetwater or Dogwood festivals in town. Man, I'm getting old. But my reward was pretty sweet...a 90 minute massage (courtesy of my students) and dinner with Mary in the burbs :) We went to Muss & Turners in Smyrna. Delicious! My friend is currently doing a sugar/carb free diet, so we wanted to eat somewhere we could both enjoy. This place had a lot of delicious options! Favorite was definitely our appetizers-deviled eggs with duck prosciutto. I have to say I was afraid of duck prosciutto but quickly got over that. This. Was. A. Mazing.

M&T Deviled Eggs

Sunday I forced myself to go to crossfit. Although Sundays are usually super low key, I walked in to find my trainer with 3 super fit crossfitters from CF Atlanta. Um, only slightly terrifying. These dudes were pumping out muscle ups and butterfly pull ups like it was nothing. So of course I'm thinking how embarrassing it will be to compete with them in the WOD. But wait- then it turns out that they were just there practicing in the open gym and in fact I would be working out alone. With them watching. Fab. For skill I worked on doubleunders. These suckers still elude me. For those who are lucky enough not to know what I'm talking about, this is when you jump rope with two rope pulls per one jump. White girls can't jump. Or coordinate. So this is still a work in progress (without the progress). The WOD was 3 Rounds for Time: 400m run, 20 ring rows, 20 kettle bell slashers. The good news is, with no prescription weights on the kettle balls and no one to compete with, I win! by default! but who cares!

Celebrated post workout with a mini marathon of Nurse Jackie (so addicting. no pun intended) and dinner with Lara and her lovely parents. We sat out in the sun and had a glass of wine, then her parents made us dinner and took into account all of my crazy food requirements :) They are the best! We had chicken & veggies on the grill, salad with avocado, tomato, pine nuts and homemade dressing, and dark chocolate covered pomegranite seeds & fresh strawberries. And we all four enjoyed it! Slowly convincing everyone to eat like us :) 

 

 

Post-wod Protein Shakes

At my gym post workout, most of the dudes fill up their blender bottles with water and shake up a protein shake like its required (note those same guys don't stretch, but I digress...). So even though I don't really know everything about why I should drink one, like everything crossfit, I just did what everyone else was doing :) Jk. Well sort of. I know that that you are supposed to eat post-workout and drink lots of fluids to help your muscles heal. Check out this site for more educated info on that topic. I've tried out a couple protein shakes.... and they definitely do fill you up after a hard workout. They also make a great quick, filling breakfast. Unfortunately, I do not know of a paleo or Whole30 approved protein powder, but I think Pure Whey Protein comes in pretty close.

I've tried both the chocolate and vanilla and they are both tasty. Pure comes from grass-fed, free range animals, and is soy and gluten free. It does contain dairy & small amounts of sugar and stevia. Post-wod, I use 1 scoop + 4 oz So Delicious Coconut Milk (unsweetened) + 4 oz water. For breakfast, I like to add a banana & 4-5 frozen strawberries + 4 oz coconut milk....yum! Makes me not miss yogurt so much! This is the brand they sell at my gym, but you can also get it online at Amazon and the like. 

Whole Foods Whey Protein (chocolate): this tastes pretty decent; however, it does not dissolve very well and is not gluten free so I stopped using it. 

Publix Organic Protein (vanilla): I'd stay away from store brand protein shakes. This one was not delicious, gluten-filled and did not dissolve. 

As for the blender bottles.....I see these things everywhere now! They have them at Whole Foods and Target, in all kinds of shapes, sizes & colors. The benefit of this water bottle is it comes w/ a little blender ball to mix your shake if you are on the go.

Parrish paleo hunting

 

Oh New Orleans. How you cause a girl to cheat. Finally a pretty awesome destination for a mock trial competition .... and since I was traveling with 4 boys ages 23-25, I was fairly certain there'd be some trouble in the Big Easy. Beignets. Fried gator. Fried everything for that matter. I have been twice before and never really got the Bourbon Street experience....well now I have. Drinks at Pat O's, singing your heart out at the piano bar, live jazz, and lots of day drinking. So needless to say I got a tad derailed (though that was mostly booze related... I'm fairly certain The Grenade and The Shark Attack are not paleo friendly :), but I did manage to find some caveman approved food while on the road.



First meal: oysters. Now I am not really a seafood girl. Too bad because I guess oysters sans crackers would totally be legit. But man, I cannot get over that texture. Ick. But at least I can say I tried. Which for me, is pretty daring.


Breakfast was definitely easiest. Omelet, bacon, sausage & fruit. Mimosa at least quasi-compliant :). Then for lunch, I went to a place called City Greens. Now really wishing we had one in Atlanta. This place is awesome- salads anyway you want them. I got the Spinach Club, with avocado, bacon, egg, tomatoes & onion on a bed of spinach. They also had a bevvy of Kombucha drinks, which I was in desperate need of as I am certain I did some damage to my gut whilst on Bourbon Street for 10 straight hours the day before.

 

Kombucha Wonder Drink vs. GT's Synergy: I tried KWD, the pear/ginger version. It was decent, but had some additives like cane syrup. I have tried GTs in Hibiscus and Pomegranite. GTs is all natural and I like both flavors.... so I think I will stick with this brand. Kombucha, for those who haven't tried it, is a fermented drink - so lots of probiotics. And in comparison to using a regular probiotic supplement, this stuff gets your system moving pretty quickly if you catch my drift. I usually drink one over 2-3 days. Nice alternative to water AND healthy bacteria for your gut. 

Now I'm home and back to detox city for me!

Who is this girl?

Do you ever have those moments where you just do not recognize yourself? Hopefully it is in a good way.... but either way, I definitely have been having moments where I'm like, "really, when did I become this girl?" In college, I'm pretty sure my water intake was completely derived from diet coke & light beer. Now I do not drink either.... well not every day all day anyway. I take vitamins. Lost of them. I have been crossfitting for 1 year, which has to be the longest I've committed to a work out routine. Today I got up at 5:45 AM. Voluntarily. I'm slightly worried I will turn into my Dad who gets up at 5 or some other ungodly hour and is all kinds of useful in the morning.... I am typically more prone to hitting the snooze button at least ten times (sorry neighbors) and then speeding through a 30 minute shower/makeup/dress routine. But today I don't know, I was just up. Perhaps its because I was exhausted after last night's workout which included 150 full situps (don't make me laugh today or my abs may collapse) and went to bed at 10:30. Who knows. So I got up, made some coffee, watched some ID discovery & made breakfast & some snacks for later.

Exclusive! Never seen before! Cooked breakfast in my kitchen before 7AM!

Eggs with tomatoes & avocado and left over kale for Bfast. Then for snacks  for later I grabbed some Well Fed Chicken and veggies and whipped up some quick & easy guacamole. Paleo snacking can be hard. I find myself binging on nuts, which is not awesome for my thighs. So I usually mix in some veggies with sunbutter or almond butter, or guacamole. Usually I like to use minced garlic and red onion, but I didn't have onion and frankly I was too lazy for mincing this AM.... but here's the recipe for the easiest guac ever:

Easy Guacamole

1/3 cup chopped red onion
Couple of cherry tomatoes
1 avocado
garlic powder or 1 clove minced garlic
sea salt
pepper

Slice your avocado and pop out the pit. I usually cut a crosshatch design with my knife and then scoop out w/ a spoon. Using a fork, mash up your avocado & then add chopped veg, garlic, salt & pepper to taste. Eh voila! C'est fini!

Vitamins

In case you are interested, here are the vitamins/supplements that I am into with some brief, very unscientific reasonings behind taking them.

Multi vitamin: Nature made soft gels. The soft gels are easier to digest & do not hurt the tummy.

B complex: Nature made soft gels. B vitamins are supposed to be good for "turning food into
energy."

Fermented Cod liver fish oil: Green Pastures soft gel. Ok. This was the biggest splurge of the bunch. There are many benefits to fish oil, like the omega3 intake, but in addition it boosts your immune system and is good for your skin. I have had dry skin on the back of my arms for as long as I can remember and its clearing up. I read a lot of reviews about this brand and they all seem to be accurate. Worth the splurge. Note- I will probably have to break down and try the actual oil because of the cost (pills are way more pricey). Most of the reviews I read said buy the flavored ones if you can. I'll let you know when I do.

L-Glutamine: This was a recommendation from my naturopath uncle for muscle recovery.

Echinacea I work at a courthouse people. That has to be right up there with airports and hospitals on the germ scale. I need immune support, obvs.

Probiotic So I have taken these for a while because of my digestive issues. I cannot really
tell if my change in food habits alone has helped or if these played a role too. So I just keep taking them. Ringing endorsement, eh? These are supposed to help with digestion and cleansing your gut.

Now I am off to the drycleaner and to shock my office by arriving well before 9 AM. Hope you all have a great day! Everyone pray I do not crash at my desk around 3 pm......

Paleo for dummies...an addendum

Guidance & a laugh.