I decided to use the spices that my Paleo Pen Pal, Ronda, sent me this month to create a recipe that I’ve been playing around with in my head for a while…. Chicken Caprese. Here’s how I made it: Ingredients: 4 free range chicken breasts 1 cup of Italian salad dressing (I used Good Seasons) 2 tbsp Rosemary Chicken Herb Blend from La Madeline A few grinds of Trader Joe’s Himalayan Pink Salt 1 to 2 tbsp EVOO 4 cubes frozen basil (from Trader Joe’s) 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 4 ½-inch slices of fresh mozzarella 4 ½-inch slices of fresh tomato Directions: On the night before… In a shaker bottle, combine salad dressing, Rosemary chicken blend and salt. Place the chicken breasts in a gallon Ziploc bag and pour the dressing-seasoning mixture over the chicken breasts. I didn’t use a Ziploc bag and it made for more cleanup, which is so unAmerican… Marinate in refrigerator overnight (or if you’re like me, over two nights, because you didn’t realize how long it would take to paint your nails for the black and white party…Wanna see how they turned out? Of course you do. See below.) On the day of… Preheat oven to 400ºF. Heat EVOO in an oven-safe stainless steel or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from Ziploc bag. Don’t rinse – just shake off any excess marinade. Sear chicken breasts for 2 minutes on each side – do not cook all the way through. After both sides...
Recipe: Paleo Crab Rangoon Deviled Eggs
Out of an attempt to use up some canned goods I had in my pantry, this delicious recipe was born. I found a can of crab meat I had bought some time ago when I was unpacking my pantry items to move them into the kitchen at my new apartment. I scooted it to the side, awaiting the day I was inspired to make something with it. Day after day, I’ve pushed this can of crab meat to the back. Then I found myself craving deviled eggs and crab meat at the same time. I grabbed my pot and followed these instructions to hard boil 6 easy-to-peel eggs (it really, really worked!!) and while those were simmering away, I chopped up two green onions… and pulled out the 6-oz. can of canned crab meat and put it in my Ninja blender along with 2 heaping tablespoons of mayo (recipe from Well Fed)… and added about 3/4 of the chopped green onions, some Himalayan sea salt and black pepper. I whizzed them up until well blended, then when the eggs were finished with their ice bath, I proceeded to very gently and patiently unpeel them… they turned out perfectly! I sliced each egg in half, dumped the yolks into the Ninja with the other ingredients, until the mixture was smooth. I scooped the deliciousness into a Ziploc baggy, snipped the corner, and pipetted the yolk mixture into the egg whites. Now I have a delicious snack to take with me to...
Change
Hello friends! I’m back after a much-needed break from blogging. The hiatus started abruptly (at the beginning of my Whole30 in October) and although I continued and completed my Whole30, I did not take the time to share my pictures with you. I so badly wanted to chronicle the entire thing, but you know how that goes. Let me lay down some background for you first. I am originally from Lexington, Kentucky. My husband and I lived there until spring of 2011, when we moved to Atlanta for three main reasons: I was frustrated at University of Kentucky with trying to complete my degree there; he is originally from the Atlanta area and has family here and I was going through a very tumultuous time with my immediate family in Lexington; and he received a generous job offer from a hospital in Atlanta. He would make more money which meant I would be able to work less, and I had been researching dietetics programs and wanted to complete my degree at Life University because of their emphasis on holistic care and vitalism, which complemented my passion for whole food nutrition. We moved here and I fell in love with my school, met some amazing people through my work, and have really grown to like Atlanta. I always knew that my heart was in Kentucky and one day I’d return. When my husband started applying for different jobs a few months ago, we discussed the possibility of him applying to a...
Whole 30 Days 2-5 Chow
My apologies for not being able to publish this post sooner. My original plan was to post my food logs daily, however, there was a change in plans. On Tuesday night, I had just finished drafting that day’s post when all of a sudden, the power went out through our entire neighborhood. Before I hit “save,” of course, despite the fact that I usually save every few sentences. I just hadn’t Tuesday night because I was in a hurry to post. That’ll teach me! The power eventually came back, however, our computer wouldn’t start up. Days later, it’s finally back up and running – but now it doesn’t recognize my iPhone (actually, it’s iTunes that doesn’t recognize my iPhone…I really don’t like iTunes…). I take most of my food pics on the go with my iPhone (I usually only eat one meal a day at home, two if I’m really lucky), so bear with me because there’s going to be several descriptions of meals with no pics temporarily. Just until I can figure out how to resolve that dilemma, the only pics that will be shared were taken with our fancy camera. Without further ado, here’s my summary of foods from days 2-5: Day 2: Tuesday, 10/2/12 Meal 1: 3 eggs soft scrambled with ghee, leftover Kahlua pork, Bubbie’s kraut Pre-workout: some more left over Kahlua pork and a handful of black olives Post-WO: half of a scotch egg Meal 2: WholeFoods Hot Bar lunch (in between classes): steamed...
Chow: Whole30 Day 1, 10/1/12
We got back from Daytona Beach last night. I ran to the grocery store to get a few things to have on hand until I got around to making an official meal plan and did the shopping for that. One of the things I grabbed at the store was a pork shoulder roast that was on sale. I had been wanting to make Nom Nom Paleo’s Kalua Pig for a while, and I figured that I’d throw it in the CrockPot and let it cook overnight. Good thing I did, because Brian and I both overslept and had to run out the door at 9 this morning to go pick up the dogs from the vet’s office where they had been staying while we were playing on the beach all weekend. I know that Whole9 principles say you should eat Meal 1 within 30-60 minutes of waking, but um, that definitely didn’t happen today. Once we had gotten home and calmed the dogs, I took the pig out of the CrockPot and shredded it with a fork. I nuked some frozen broccoli and threw together a quick meal. Right before I started eating, I tossed 4 bricks (2 lbs total) of Kerrygold unsalted butter into the other, smaller CrockPot to make some homemade ghee using these instructions. While I counted down the minutes til I had to head over to the gym to work the smoothie bar, I fluttered around the kitchen trying to make hard boiled eggs so that...
Weigh In Wednesday #9: 9/19/12
The past week has been good for me, and I’ve had some major self exploration/discovery. By eating vegan for the last week I have learned reaffirmed two things about myself: I possess within me a tremendous amount of self discipline that makes me capable of achieving whatever goal I set for myself, and eating a vegan diet is so not for me. I already knew the latter, but the former was something I have always doubted about myself. I’ve learned through this process that self discipline and willpower are not the same things. I don’t have to have willpower to make certain food choices, but I do need to utilize self discipline to do that. I’ve spent the past year justifying lots of “small” cheats here-and-there by claiming that if I’m too strict on myself, it will backfire and I will end up binging. I’ve had a paradigm shift this month, and it’s because I finally embraced the fact that I was simply not ready to commit to paleo because I was afraid to fail. I was afraid that I would let myself down, because I really felt like I lacked the willpower to resist some of my favorite non-paleo foods. I was wrong, and I now realize that I just needed to be ready to embrace the lifestyle fully. I always believed in it, but wasn’t ready. I’m ready now. I often tell people that my paleo diet is plant-based, because I usually eat way more vegetables than...
BeachBody Ultimate Reset: Review
During September, I completed the 21 Day BeachBody Ultimate Reset Cleanse. I chose to do this because I had been struggling at a plateau for a few months, losing and gaining the same 5-10 lbs over and over again. I know from my studies of nutrition that fat cells store toxins and therefore if you have a major excess of fat cells, it’s very difficult for your body to release excess fat without first releasing toxins from your liver and cells. That’s why I did this… Supplements There’s 5 supplements that come with the cleanse. BeachBody says to use distilled water while on the cleanse. From what I understand, the reason they advise distilled water and not tap water or spring water is because the point of the detox is to remove toxins from your body. I suppose this is one way of controlling exactly what’s going into your body during this time. They also advised using this formula to determine how much water to drink: take your body weight in pounds, divide by 2, and drink that many ounces of water each day. It actually worked out to be about what I drink each day (at least 100 oz.) so no big deal, but I can’t afford to buy that many gallons of distilled water. I did try to always use the distilled water when I took the supplements, though. I guess that made me feel less toxic! Mineralize You put a “pinch” of these mineral crystals in distilled water & drink it three times a...
Tropical Traditions Giveaway
I’m excited to announce the second How iChow giveaway! This giveaway is brought to you by the people at Tropical Traditions. I’ve read a lot over the past few years about the superior quality of Tropical Traditions’ products, especially their coconut oil, but was on the fence about buying it because I’m a cheapskate and afraid to spend money on a product I’m unsure of. So I sent them an email sometime over the summer, and they responded to me by sending me a sample jar of their virgin coconut oil! The first thing that I made with the coconut oil was pumpkin muffins, which I’d made a variation of before with a different coconut oil brand. I will never buy another coconut oil brand again if I can help it! I am going to place an order for the expeller-pressed coconut oil later this week to compare to the virgin, because the virgin has a little bit more of a coconut flavor than I am used to and prefer. I’ve been using coconut oil as my face moisturizer for a few months now, but have switched to this one and am also noticing that it is easier absorbed by my skin than the other brand I used. Many thanks to Tropical Traditions for sponsoring this giveaway so that one of my readers can try your product, who perhaps otherwise would not! Sorry, but only residents of the US and Canada are eligible to enter in this giveaway! How...
Paleo Summit
I’m so excited that the Paleo Summit has officially begun! Whether you are paleo elite or paleo beginner, or even if you think we’re a crazy group of grain-hating carnivores, please do yourself a favor and make some time over this next week to take advantage of this FREE opportunity to educate yourself on the basics of the paleo lifestyle and way of eating. I’m listening to Diane Sanfillipo of Balanced Bites – this chick has my dream job, of helping people get back to the basics and eat food the way we’re meant to consume it, thus helping them thrive in a healthy lifestyle. I can’t wait to finish school and start working with people. I love Diane’s view on transitioning into the paleo lifestyle and how people miss the main points by getting caught up in all the minute details and technicalities of what is – or is not – paleo. The whole food approach to eating is actually very simple and requires very little “navigation” – but is also highly customizable based on personal preferences. If you watch any of the Paleo Summit series, leave a comment and let me know what you think. I’d love to get a discussion going...
Easy Homemade Coconut Butter
My path to paleo was a winding one, and while I encourage people to explore it as a possible way of eating for themselves, it’s not for everyone. Nothing is for everyone. For example, I believe no one should eat processed foods at all if they are striving for optimal health, but that opinion doesn’t matter if someone is getting their food from a food bank & completely dependent upon whatever food is supplied to them. So I perhaps have a bit more of a relaxed approach to paleo eating: eat as well as you can, most of the time, but don’t get lost in semantics or dogma about what “is” or “isn’t” paleo–just eat as real as you can, as often as you can. I’ve spent most of my life fearing foods high in fat. Fat was the devil. My Weight Watchers leaders (I joined for the first time when I was 13) told me so, the health magazines I would devour told me so. I’ve learned within in the past year or so, since immersing myself in paleo blogs, research, and in my opinion most importantly, self-experimentation (n=1), that fat was not the enemy. I ate low fat through most of my teens, and yes, I’d lose weight, but the second I stopped being super restrictive, it’d pile back on and I’d blame myself for my lack of willpower. Our bodies need fat. It took months and months before I accepted that low fat diets aren’t the answer...
Zucchini, Onion & Sausage Quiche (Grain-Free Crust)
Today, I wanted a break from my normal morning chow of french omelet with veggies and either bacon or sausage. I still wanted eggs, but something a little bit different. Since I’m on summer break from school right now and had today off from work, I had no plans to be anywhere. I decided to experiment a little bit with something I’ve been wanting to try my hand at for months now: a quiche, with a grain-free crust. I mentioned in the Zucchini Brownies post that I’ve had bad luck with grain-free baking in the past, but I’m getting braver all the time as I learn more and more about how to work with these different ingredients. That being said, today’s chow was an experiment, completely concocted in my head with the ingredients I had to work with. My very non-paleo husband, B, told me that he is excited to eat the quiche again for breakfast tomorrow. That’s amazing to me, considering my attempts at cooking generally fail big time. But this quiche, especially the crust, really is that good. B thought it was just as good as a wheat crust, if not better… those are his own words! SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First, I made the crust by melting 3 tablespoons of butter in a 9″ pie crust. I was using a glass pie dish, so I just put the butter in the dish, threw placed the dish into the microwave and heated on medium/low for about 20 seconds until it was...
Mexican Chicken Salad
I’ve had a hankerin’ for chicken salad for a while. I made my standard seasoned salt/pepper and mayo chicken salad last week with some leftover Publix Mojo Rotisserie Chicken, but that just didn’t do it this time. A little too plain. I just needed something more. I somehow stumbled onto this recipe for Spicy Mexican Slaw with Lime & Cilantro from Kalyn’s Kitchen that really peaked my interest. With the hot July sun blazing down on us here in Georgia, it’s critical to my healthy eating efforts to have something quick, filling and cool on hand for those times when I’m starvin’ but can’t bring myself to turn the oven or stove top on to cook anything. I pretty much stayed within Kalyn’s recipe, but adapted it to my tastes. Also, I used the pre-packaged cole slaw vegetable mix (look by the bagged lettuce) instead of chopping up my own green and red cabbage. The only prep I had to do was chopping up the cilantro, green onions & chicken! Almost too easy. Except I still had to do the damn dishes, because I don’t have a maid. Both my co-workers and in-laws taste tested this one in addition to me, and everyone gave it two thumbs up. I’ll be mixing this into my chicken salad rotation throughout the rest of the summer! Mexican Chicken Salad Ingredients: For the salad mixture: 2 chicken breasts (approximately 1 pound), cooked & chopped 1 package (16 oz) slaw veggies (Mine had green...
Paleo Tuna Patties – Fast Recipe for One Person!
I’ve been trying to eat fish more frequently in order to get more Omega-3′s in my diet. Honestly, I hardly ever eat fish. Not that I don’t like it- I actually love almost all kinds of fish. I just don’t like cooking fish because it makes the house smell. I was thinking about what to make for lunch today, and really wanted salmon cakes like my Granny Ree used to make. I went to the grocery store and bought a can of wild salmon. For the record, I had never bought canned salmon before. I opened it up and shouted, “What the HELL!” There was skin and bones up in that. And it looked congealed and nasty. So maybe it’s my fault for having had unrealistic expectations, but I assumed that canned salmon would come like canned tuna does. Just thinking about that nastiness makes my skin crawl. I tried to separate the skin and bones, but the skin basically disintegrated in my hands, only freaking me out even further. I understand that the skin and bones are perfectly safe to eat, but I don’t want to eat them. So, I hate to waste food, but I threw the salmon out. I was seriously that grossed out by the whole thing. That’s how I ended up making tuna patties for my lunch today. I had bought a few 2.6 oz packs of tuna in water to have on hand for quick lunches during my long days on campus, so ...
Weigh In Wednesday #1: July 18, 2012
I’m starting Weigh-In Wednesdays as a means of holding myself accountable for the goals that I make to myself. It takes a lot of courage for me to put in writing how much I weigh each week, for the world to see. I think the anxiety I have about this stems from the fact that for most of my life, I have valued myself by what the scale said. Whatever it told me, that’s what my worth was. When the scale told me I lost a few pounds, it meant I was good, or at least getting better. When I would gain, it would devastate me, frequently to the point of abandoning my weight loss effort altogether. Abandoning myself and my goals is no longer an option for me. It’s taken years for me to get to this place of peace with my weight, but I can now say this is my truth: I am not defined by this number. This number describes only one aspect of who I am at this moment. This number will constantly change. Sometimes it will go up, sometimes it will go down, but it’s about what I’m doing daily that matters, not a unit of measurement at a specific moment in time. I refuse to let the scale dictate my emotions. If I have a “bad” week, or a gain, I will evaluate what I could have done better, reformulate a realistic plan/goal for the next week, and refocus. Week 1 Weigh-In: 240.2 lbs...
Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo – Book Review & Giveaway!
![IMG_1097[1]](http://howichow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/IMG_10971-300x300.jpg "IMG_1097[1]")
First and foremost, let’s get real about this whole “Paleo” diet/lifestyle thing: it’s not easy. I wish it were, but it’s not. Sometimes it feels downright impossible. I personally spent the better part of 2011 researching the “how-to’s” of eating paleo without even trying to implement too many changes, because I was so overwhelmed by all that I had to give up. Plus, I was certain (based on a lifetime of previous failed diet attempts) that if I made too many changes all at once, I’d be setting myself up for failure. A year and a half later, I have now read almost every paleo blog that’s out there, and my absolute favorite paleo blog is Balanced Bites. The Balanced Bites website was the first place where I found a really simple breakdown of what to eat and what not to eat, and maybe most importantly for me, the why’s behind those guidelines. You can find her useful guides that helped me get started here. Diane Sanfilippo, the lady behind the BB website, basically has the career of my dietetics dreams. She’s not a dietitian, but she has years of education and experience helping people like you and me transition into a real, whole foods lifestyle, which is what I desire to do for people as well. Diane has a new book, Practical Paleo, that will be released on August 7, 2012. If you’re on the fence about the paleo diet, or if you know it’s legit but you just don’t...
Paleo Chicken Nuggets
![IMG_1118[1]](http://howichow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/IMG_11181-300x300.jpg "IMG_1118[1]")
These nuggets were the result of my craving for Chick-Fil-A’s chicken nuggets. They’re gluten-free AND dairy-free, and even my husband liked them…which says a lot. Ingredients: ½ pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts about ¼ cup of pickle juice 1 cup almond flour 1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar 1 teaspoon paprika ½ teaspoon black pepper ½ teaspoon garlic powder ½ teaspoon celery salt ½ teaspoon dried basil ¼ cup coconut milk (or almond milk) 1 egg 2 tablespoons butter Directions: Wash the chicken breasts in cold water. Pat dry. Cut into nugget-size pieces. Place in a container, pour pickle juice over chicken, cover container and place in fridge for 1 hour. After the chicken has marinated in the pickle juice for an hour, whisk together coconut milk and egg in a medium bowl. Prepare flour mix for dredging by combining all dry ingredients in a separate, medium-sized bowl. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Melt butter on a baking pan by placing butter in the middle of the pan and setting in the oven as it starts heating. I only left it in there for 4 minutes, then I used a pot-holder to pull the pan out and coat the pan evenly with the melted butter. Begin preparing the nuggets by dunking the chicken into the egg/milk mix, then dredge each individual piece in the flour mixture and coat well. This is how I set up my counter, and the baking pan was to the left of the flour mix. This kept...
Weigh In Wednesday #2: 7/25/12
This past week, I never went hungry. I only ate three meals a day because my meals are so filling, but on some days where I was more physically active than others and I did get a little hunger pang, I ate some walnuts and dark chocolate, or fruit with cheese. I ate a crap-ton of fat each day, starting with my coffee. If it was hot coffee, I blended the coffee with a good amount of grass-fed butter, Bulletproof style. If I wanted iced coffee (like I do most summer mornings) then I threw some of my coffee cubes into a mason jar with maybe ¾ or 1 cup of coconut milk and let the coffee cubes melt on my drive in to work or school and by the time I arrive, I have iced coffee. My commute is an hour each way, so if I’m not commuting, I blend the cubes into the coconut milk. I tell y’all this because if you’re doing Weight Watchers or really calorie restriction in general, when was the last day that you didn’t have to try to convince yourself not to eat something because you were hungry…or probably even starving? Oh, yesterday, you say? That’s not how it’s supposed to be, y’all. Love your bodies and give it what it needs: lots of fats and proteins and adequate carbs – but make them good carbs, don’t eat crap that your body can’t really do much with besides make your liver work extra...
Paleo Kung Pao Chicken
![IMG_1155[1]](http://howichow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/IMG_11551-300x300.jpg "IMG_1155[1]")
One of my favorite take-out foods is kung pao chicken. Tonight, I tried to recreate it using paleo-friendly ingredient substitutions (especially using coconut aminos instead of soy sauce!) plus I added a ton of veggies, so it made this a very filling meal by itself. I didn’t even eat it with cauli-rice like I had thought I would, although that would definitely round out this dish perfectly. 1 pound of chicken breasts (boneless, skinless) 1 teaspoon minced garlic ¼ cup pineapple juice Chop the raw chicken breasts into 2″ cubes, then put in a food processor with the other 2 ingredients. Pulse 2 or 3 times. This kind of shreds or thins out the chicken breast and will allow the pineapple juice and garlic to tenderize the meat. Don’t pulse too many times or you’ll end up with ground chicken! Refrigerate for at least an hour. ½ cup sherry ¼ cup coconut aminos 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) 1 ½ tablespoons coconut sugar 1 teaspoon hot sauce (or more if you like it spicier) 1 teaspoon black pepper Combine these 6 ingredients together in a 1 cup measuring cup, then stir until well mixed. Set aside. Once the chicken has marinated for at least an hour, put 1 teaspoon of coconut oil in a skillet or wok and stir fry the meat over medium-high heat for 6-10 minutes, until done. Remove the chicken from the wok, and add the following vegetable mixture to the wok: 2 green peppers,...
Weigh In Wednesday #3 – August 1, 2012
This past week was a real doozy. Stressful is pretty much the only word I have to describe my week. This past week, I did a really crappy job of managing my stress. Everywhere I turned, there was something to stress about. Just for example, there was the shock when my paycheck was direct-deposited into my checking account on Friday that I had not gotten paid for all the hours I’d worked (KARA DON’T WORK FOR FREE!) and on top of that, a computer error had resulted in an additional 6 hours being taken out of my net pay. So I spent several hours on the phone with payroll and managers’ managers trying to get it fixed. It finally got resolved on Monday, but um, I needed my money, so that sucked. Oh yeah, have I mentioned before how much I really, really dislike my job!? I’ve been working retail pharmacy for several years now, but I can hardly bear it anymore. All these doctors prescribing drugs to treat the side effect symptoms that are caused by the other drugs people are on. It’s basically the complete opposite of what I want to do to help people get better… and then there’s these ridiculously out-of-touch emails I receive daily from the corporate goons who have no clue how silly their emails are given the current climate of the company I work for. I literally received an email yesterday telling me that it’s unacceptable to sell zero American Diabetes Association donations...
Weigh In Wednesday: August 8, 2012
I have some exciting news: my cousins and I had a 4-hour long group text last night about paleo and how it can help some annoying health problems they’ve been dealing with for several years now: headaches, chronic acid reflux, etc. I first told them to google “paleo diet,” but that was a mistake – they found some crazy person’s site who told them they can’t eat butter, bacon or beef. Incorrect!! They said it doesn’t seem complicated or hard, so of course I encouraged them to give it a try for at least a week at first, using the 80/20 principle (3 cheat meals a week). I’m excited for them! And speaking of how people chow, I’ve recently changed a few things about how I chow. For a while, I had a hard time with my blood glucose levels bottoming out even when I was eating adequate carbs. I knew that this meant my insulin/hormones (leptin!! damn you leptin resistance, I will squash you!!) issues were still present, so I started journaling what I ate, how I felt andwhen I ate it. What I ate was fine – usually 75-100 grams of carbs a day. However, I was eating breakfast within about an hour or two of waking, and then I felt like I was chasing down food the rest of the day. Even if I was at work with my meal packed, there was a constant voice in the back of my head about eating. Even when I wasn’t...
This Week’s Goals
![IMG_1196[1]](http://howichow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_11961-300x300.jpg "IMG_1196[1]")
I like Sundays. I like them because it’s on Sunday that I take the time to prepare for the rest of the week, so that I set myself up for success. Before I started doing this, my meals were unorganized and I often settled for whatever was easiest (read: no consideration for healthiness) at the end of a long, busy day. So, in order to squash that bad habit, I realized I had to buckle down and not only plan for success, but prepare for it also. My friend Lauren of Lauren Bach- Together We Can is doing a notebook challenge. Every Sunday, we’ll write down our personal goals for the week in our notebooks. Different colors will emphasize different categories of goals. For my notebook, I’ve chosen to write my nutrition goals in blue, fitness goals in red, and other goals in green. Each week, as I complete a goal, I will mark it off in my notebook and I’ll post it on here as a permanent reminder to myself of the committments I’m making to myself. Lauren is running this challenge through the end of August, and once the month is over, there will be a prize for one selected winner. A prize for doing something that I should be doing anyways? OKAY! Here’s what my goals look like for the first week: Setting goals is important because you can use them to measure your accomplishments. It’s not enough to just write them down, though. That’s just the...
Chow: Tuesday, 8/14/12
![IMG_1216[1]](http://howichow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_12161-300x300.jpg "IMG_1216[1]")
Today was a yummy, healthy chow day! I broke fast at 12:30pm today. I had thawed out a salmon filet this morning, so I threw it in the oven and let it bake while I prepped my veggies. Food was ready in 20 minutes! I stopped at Sam’s Club last Friday and found these blackened salmon filets. They’re not wild-caught, just full-disclosure in case that’s a deal breaker for you. I definitely prefer wild caught, but I’m on a budget so when I find a good deal on any fish, I’ll take it. Especially when they’re individually frozen, and the only ingredients are seasonings and lemon. That’s right – no oil in these babies! I compared these to a similar product sitting next to it in the freezer, but that brand was covered in some crappy canola-soybean oil blend. Now, that’s a deal breaker for me! Breakfast was 1 salmon filet, 1 cup of broccoli with 1 tbsp Kerrygold salted butter, and ¼ cup Bubbie’s kraut. (422 calories, 25 g fat, 37 g protein, 13 g carb) The blackened salmon-kraut combination was strangely delicious. I don’t know why, but the salty/sour taste of the kraut eaten at the same time with the spicy/smoky salmon was fantastic. I’ll be doing this combo again fo sho. For a snack around 4pm, I had a banana bread Lara bar (220 cal) with a tbsp of natural peanut butter on a few pieces of celery (95 cal). I threw together this recipe for a...
Chow: Wednesday, 8/15/12
When I broke fast at noon today, I scarfed down some leftovers from last night in between filling prescriptions and selling people their drugs. I had spinach meatloaf with marinara sauce, mashed cauliflower, and lots of green beans. I also had ¼ cup of Bubbie’s kraut. [450 cal] This was so filling, almost too filling. Later in the afternoon, I drank some homemade pineapple-mango kombucha as I finished up my shift. I headed to my biochemistry class at 4 and ate a Lara Bar (uber nut roll flavor) [220 cal] After class, I endured an annoying drive home behind some moron who drove 10 mph below the speed limit – I always seem to have the pleasure of being stuck behind that a-hole. When I got home, I boiled some bratwursts in some Yuengling Black & Tan and threw together this easy dinner of 2 brats and a buttload of broccoli with a little Kerrygold [590 cal]: I had already eaten a couple bites of broccoli while I was waiting for the brats to finish cooking. Today’s macronutrient breakdown: 1,260 cal; 45 g carb; 90 g fat; 68 g protein Just to show you the contrast that exists in our household, this is what my loving husband’s dinner chow looked like… I roll my eyes a lot&#...
Chow: Thursday, 8/16/12
Today was a long day on campus! I planned ahead and pan-fried 2 turkey burgers yesterday to bring with me, along with my salad dressing (I mix 1 tbsp olive oil with 1 tbsp red wine vinegar) so that I could throw them on a salad. I spent this morning in my Nutrition Education class. When that let out at 11, I set up shop in the library with all my notes and books to study for the biochemistry exam that was this afternoon. My stomach started growling right at 12pm, so I ran over to the cafeteria and put together a big salad from the salad bar and some sliced lemons from the iced tea stand. I hurried back over to the library and threw everything together so that I could keep studying (and intermittently checking Facebook). I ate half a fresh, locally grown Georgia peach, too. [561 calories] After I took my biochem exam, I headed to the cafeteria to wait for the other students to finish because our teacher is awesome and lets us check our answers after everyone finishes so that we don’t lose any sleep wondering what our grades were. I snacked on half a pumpkin muffin [116 cal] while having a good talk with another dietetics major who is also trying to lose weight about how much pressure we feel to be thin in order to be perceived as a credible dietitian/nutritionist. I reminded her that even though we are carrying around too much...
Weigh In Wednesday #6: 8/22/12
Kara got her groove back, y’all! That was weird to refer to myself in the third person…but it’s true! My blood glucose is under control finally. I’ve been IFing for 2 weeks, only eating between 12pm-8pm, and that helped me get my cravings for sugar under control…along with eating most of my carbs later in the day – I know that’s not what we’re told, but that’s why it’s important to listen to your body! Eating too many carbs at breakfast was a disaster for me, metabolically. As I sit here typing this, I’m craving banana pancakes. Before I show you this week’s weigh in, I want to let you all know how much I appreciate each of you who has taken the time to send me a Facebook message, comment on my posts, and emailed me. God bless each of you because the past month was a difficult time for me, and it is embarrassing when you weigh-in publicly each week for the world to see and you’re not losing any weight. Here’s the thing, though: this is about more than me. How many people are like me and want to get rid of their excess body weight, but get depressed because that freaking number isn’t moving, or even worse–the number keeps going up. Look, I know better than anyone that people don’t get fat because of food. People get fat because they are trying to solve things with food. This is the problem with dieting – when we are...
Weigh In Wednesday #7: 8/29/12
I was totally on-point this past week. I allowed myself only two indulgences, and accounted for them to make sure I was good carb/calorie wise. Last Wednesday night, I had one piece of pizza, and felt like crap the next morning. Thank you, wheat hangover, for reminding me why I don’t need it. Then Monday night, I had a cherry dipped cone from Dairy Queen with my husband. I’ve also been killing it in my workouts. Pushing just to the point of fatigue, then pushing a little more. It feels so good to be able to increase the weight on the bar in Body Pump, because like my pump instructor Jake says: if you don’t change something, nothing changes. I’ve been regularly walk/jogging right at a 14 minute mile, which I really want to break through, but I know as I keep dropping weight jogging will get a little easier with each pound I shed. It will come in time. This morning, I stepped on the scale and it said… Highest Weight: 240.2 lb Current Weight: 237.2 lb Total lost: 3 lb What!? I’ve been sore every day for a week, and eating well, and I only drop 0.2?! To be honest, I was disappointed. It’s frustrating. So I threw on my workout clothes and shoes and dealt with my disappointment the healthiest way I could think of: I hit the pavement. I thought about it the whole time I was walking. I thought about it the whole time...
NaturAlmond Giveaway
I have been so blessed since moving to Atlanta in so many ways. In just a few months, I’ll have been a Georgia resident for two years! In that time, I’ve made many connections with local farmers and business owners as I navigated the paleo/real food conversion. One of the most incredible food finds I’ve made since moving here has definitely been NaturAlmond. This almond butter is unbelievably delicious. I know, I know, almond butter that you buy at the store is good right? No seriously, this almond butter will blow. your. mind. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting with NaturAlmond owner Jaime Foster a few times since the summer, and it’s so inspiring to me how much pride she takes in the product they craft. You see, Jaime grew up eating her grandfather’s secret recipe almond butter, and left her corporate job so that she could share the delicious taste and health benefits of this highest quality almond butter with the world. The best part about this almond butter is that it isn’t chalky, gritty or grainy like the other almond butters I’ve purchased over the years. It’s this perfect texture of both smooth and slightly chunky at the same time, with the perfect amount of sea salt swirled in. According to their website, this perfection is achieved by “starting with the finest ingredients and hand select the highest quality of almonds from California. Unlike other manufacturers, NaturAlmond is handcrafted in small batches to ensure quality, freshness and flavor. By slow roasting...
Weigh In Wednesday #8 – 9/12/12
I just wanted to quickly check in and update y’all on where I’m at and what’s going on. Today is day 8 of my 21 day Beach Body Ultimate Reset cleanse, which means I’m starting week 2! Those of you who’ve been following my journey and encouraging me while I’ve been struggling through this plateau for the past couple of months, I want to thank you for constantly cheering me on. I am excited to announce that the plateau is done with! I am beyond grateful to Mandy and Jake McLendon for showing me this system, and coaching me along the way, not to mention the other opportunities you’ve given me. Thank you so much. Highest Weight: 240.2 lbs Current Weight: 234.0 lbs Weight lost: -6.2 lbs See y’all next week for a post-detox week weigh in!...