(Recipe from The PaleoDiet by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel, p248)
Serves 6
1 large cucumber, cut into half slices
2 medium tomatoes, cut into eighths
¼ red onion, very thinly sliced
½ green bell pepper, sliced thinly
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Mix the cucumber, tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper in a bowl. Toss with the lemon juice and oil. Add black pepper to taste.
My thoughts: Very tasty, simple/fast to make. Next time I will put less red onion in since it kind of overpowered the rest of the salad (especially after sitting over night in the fridge). More green pepper.
I was too busy last night making fabulous tutus and taking ridiculous photos to post about Day 3 of the Whole30 diet last night so you're just going to get the highlights.
1. Nearly passed out in Panther Circuit (need more calories!!) 2. Nearly sliced my left pinky off (need proper supervision in the kitchen!!) 3. Survived my first "meal" out (packed my own sack dinner) 4. Made a tomato/cucumber/pepper/onion salad (yummy if not a little onion-heavy) 5. Made a tutu for the St. Patrick's Day Dash (started, next week is the Bling Session) 6. WCotD = Salami (it was just sitting there, in front of me saying "Eat Me!!")
I could have provided Flo Rida's version but figured the Chipmunks version added a little bit extra to the occasion (plus, I spent Super Bowl Sunday watching animated movies so I'm sort of in the mood).
Day two on the Island (aka the diet) and the natives are getting restless. I could have cheerfully chewed off a couple of fingers and toes (protein, right?!) around 11pm last night when I woke up absolutely ravenous with nothing in the house to eat. Luckily, Stella and Quinn were willing to share their carrot stick treats so I could eat and go back to sleep. Stella paid me back with four ice cold feet to the lower back. Good thing she's cute...
Today's food choices consisted of banana and apple slices for breakfast, plain water, a banana pre-run, rest of the curry for lunch, an orange for an afternoon snack, a lightly peppered piece of beef for dinner before heading out to derby practice, a banana and some walnuts for my evening snack. I felt pretty good all day, even slogged out a 2 mile run (first time since November). Managed to make it through the afternoon without dying for something sweet and sugary. But that doesn't mean there wasn't a weird craving. It just hit later in the day. Weird Craving of the Day (WCotD) was for Easy Cheese. You know that awful yet oh so delicious stuff in a can? Yeah. That. Anyone who shows up at my front door on Day 31 with a can of that $h!t will be mine FOREVER.
Would go great with Bacon Vodka. Just saying.
I've been looking at recipes out of the Paleo Diet book (the original, not the cookbook) and some of the recipes look pretty tasty!! Lemon Pepper Pork Steaks - I'm looking at you. I've also ordered a couple other books from the library based on recommendations from friends. Bought a tub of coconut oil. Chunky. Different. We'll see how that goes...
I'm pretty sure I'll dream of cheese again tonight. Yummy, nasty stuff from a can. What can I say, healthy body...sick, sick mind. I'll leave you with Operation Ivy singing the song of the day - the lyrics are pretty accurate:
Expensive vitamin pills and wheat germ on your windowsill
Schedule's hectic and you got no time to kill
Earning money and you're spending it the right way
Just in such a rush
You don't know if it's night or day
5:30 get up, run run run
Then you work eight hours slaving under the gun
Your little world's based on lies lies lies
Always rushing but you're never ever satisfied...
Healthy body sick mind
Working overtime
Healthy body sick mind
Too hectic, too hectic
Healthy body sick mind
Why don't you justify
It's just a matter of time
Sick body sick mind
The money you spend on running shoes could feed me for a week
Your plans are laid so well you can't even sleep
Pursuit of happiness got your life locked under martial law
You got everything to lose so you're paranoid about some fatal flaw
Today's blog post is brought to you by the number 30. As in Whole 30. Today I started the Whole30 diet, which according to the website, is supposed to "Push the “reset” button with your metabolism, systemic inflammation, and the downstream effects of the food choices you’ve been making" by "Cut[ing] out all the inflammatory, insulin-spiking, calorie-dense but nutritionally sparse food groups for a full 30 days." You may interpret this as eating nothing but protein, vegetables and fruits for a whole month. No dairy, no grains, no alcohol... I interpret this is as "Holy crap, what have I gotten myself into?!"
Day 1: Mmm....Bananas and Apples for breakfast followed by a nice big cup of plain black coffee. It has never taken me so long to finish a cup of coffee before in my entire life. Lunch was a delicious bowl of my second attempt at making a Thai curry (recipe courtesy of my favorite "Curie"). My mouth was on fire!! (which was probably better than my eyebrow being on fire but that's a whole different story....). I thought I was doing pretty good but two o'clock rolled around and I was DYING! I knew for sure I wasn't going to make it 30 days. I needed chocolate. And Peanut Butter. Or anything!! Off to the cafeteria for a banana and an orange. Please to say that I survived the first attempt to sabotage myself. Add another cup of plain black coffee for my evening date and another bowl of my curry for dinner. A nice big tall glass of water is my nightcap.
I'm going to definitely have to work on some of the other recipes since I don't see myself eating curry (no matter how delicious) twice a day for 30 days straight.
In other news, the indoor soccer season is now over. We might not have finished first but we didn't finish last. I [finally] scored a goal, and it was within the first minute of the game so Go Me!! I also ended up with a rather sexy bruise on my left thigh courtesy of some young high school whipper snapper kicking the ball and me being in its direct path. Little bit of limping the following day... I've healed up just in time for indoor volleyball to begin. Looking forward to the season... It's the first time any of us have played with the Eastmont Parks and Recreation organization so we'll see how it all goes. I'm making team jerseys because I'm a nerd and I like to do crafty things.
Speaking of crafty things, this coming Thursday marks the first offical "She's Crafty" night. We're making tutus for the St. Patty's Day Dash that is coming up awfully soon (I really should start running...). I have 360 yards of sequin trim to put to good use. I don't think the race will ever be the same.
All this talk of whole foods reminded me of Atomic Kitten. I prefer their remake of Eternal Flame but since the lyrics didn't really fit in with the post, I'll leave you with their song "Whole Again" which this diet is supposed to do. I'll let you know how that pans out...
Has anyone else seen noticeable differences in their brain functions after a morning workout? Seriously think my brain cells have been catching a ride with all the snot making a very slow exit from my body (I got the flu for Christmas, woo!!)
Case in point: I decide to have a slice of cheese. Get cheese out of the fridge. Realize it is cold in the house. Go turn on the heater right that second because if I don't, I'll forget. Go sit down at the computer. Surf for a bit. Jump up and freak out (a little). I forgot about the cheese. Check the usual hiding spots for the animals (since surely they stole my cheese). Can't find it. Look on the counters. Not there. Wonder, did I even get it out of the fridge? Check fridge. Not there. Search the kitchen, living room and entry way. Again. Not there. Go back to the computer. Bag of cheese sitting right there. Yes. Exactly where I started this whole exercise in memory lapse. Might be time to head to bed (and put down the sharp objects).
Oh boy, I can't believe that 2010 is almost over...just a few short days left to what turned out to be one of the wildest years in my life. A slightly uncoordinated, definitely unathletic girl started out in March 2010 with her first 5k race, the St. Patrick's Day Dash, in Seattle and finished up the year with a local (and very chilly) 5k race, the second annual Turkey on the Run on Thanksgiving day. In between the 5ks were several other 5ks, a 10k and two triathlons!! A bonus to all of the events was meeting and getting to know several other local athletes. There are some AWESOME people in Wenatchee who were so helpful to this newbie. I can't wait to learn more!!
The plan for 2011 include some of the same races and some new challenges. In April, I'll be running my first half marathon, the Wenatchee Half Marathon and I've also signed up for a 1.76 mile swim in August, the Long Bridge Swim, which will take place in Sandpoint, ID. Pretty sure it was a moment of brief insanity (and a bargain) that caused me to sign up for this!! Early registration is still happening so you too can swim across a lake for the low price of $12!! Come drown swim with me!!
My planned events: March - St. Patrick's Day Dash April - Wenatchee Half-Marathon May - Mazma 10k Fun Run (and pancake breakfast!!) June - Iron Girl Portland (a new event put on by Aflac Iron Girl) July - ChelanMan (Sprint or Olympic distance, hrm...) August - Long Bridge Swim September - Iron Girl Lake Tahoe (way too much fun!!)
January 1, 2011 starts a whole new year of fun and training and I'm sure another few fun races or triathlons will sneak in too. Santa was good to me and brought me a Saris Bones bike rack for my car so traveling to all the triathlons is going to be a breeze!
It's been two months since my last race and I haven't done much of anything! It actually felt good to not have to train, to not have to figure out the logistics of getting to and from an event and to not have to coerce someone into running with me. Maybe I was just burned out...9 events in six months might have been overdoing it a bit much for my first year running/biking/swimming.
One thing I have done in the past two months is working some strength training into my extracurricular activities. The Pather Circuit to be exact. BioSports, my favorite choice of physical therapy clinics in Wenatchee, started the Pather Circuit for the local high school athletes. Over time it has evolved into a community affair and on a given Tuesday in the fall/winter, you can find 20 or more people sweating it out in the WHS gym. Thursdays don't seem to be as busy as Tuesdays are.
I went to my first Panther Circuit on a Thursday and thought it was tough but doable. Mostly weights and upper body stuff...I don't know all the technical names for moves we were doing. Then I went on a Tuesday. Whole different story. Due to a new position at work, I could only go for 20 minutes my first time. The next day, I was SORE!! Mentally, I'm thinking if I'm this sore after only 20 minutes of work, how would staying the entire one hour make me feel?! The second time I went on a Tuesday, I only stayed for 30 minutes or so. I could barely walk, much less sit and stand up, the next day. Phew!! But what a workout!! It was a GOOD feeling despite the pain.
Yesterday was the first time I stayed the entire hour on a Tuesday. I felt great if not a little embarrassed by the fact that I'm extremely uncoordinated and asking me to stick a 6lb medicine ball between my feet and hock it up into the air like some sort of soccer superstar is just not going to be pretty. Today I realized that I'm obviously getting some strength in my core and other parts since I wasn't nearly as sore as the first time I went to Panther Circuit a month ago. Winner!!
My goal now is to get back into training. Nothing over the top, there's no marathons in my future (yet). Next event is a week a way and my will also be my first event in Wenatchee. I'll only have to travel 3 miles to get to the event and no need to coerce anyone since pretty much every athlete I know in the area is already participating. If you're not already doing something this Thanksgiving morning, come on down and join me in the 3rd Annual Turkey on the Run 5k / 10k. This is going to be a fun event!
