A Delay in Posting My Story

I apologize to those who actually read my blog and were looking for today's post where I gave my personal story regarding a big issue in regards to health and fitness. 

I have that post all written up, but I'm still gaining the courage to post it. Tomorrow I guarantee a full post, whether it be a new recipe or I actually get the guts to click the "post" button on my story. 

Thanks for reading! 

WIAW #9: Michael Symon edition

 And we have made it to hump day once again! That means it is time to drool over the food of other bloggers around the world thanks to Jenn from Peas and Crayons who created this idea for a link up.

Today's version of WIAW will be my food from Monday. Monday was my 3 year anniversary with my boyfriend and we went out to a really nice dinner on Monday night. And I just HAVE to share that food because it was delicious! And why wouldn't it be? It was created by none other than Michael Symon! :) So here we go!

 {Breakfast} Two hard boiled eggs (only ate a little over one yolk...the doggies got to share the rest), a side of frozen veggies steamed, 1/4 of an avocado, and a recent obsession...a half a cup of pureed winter squash with cinnamon...Mmmmm.

{Lunch} My mom treated me to carryout Middle Eastern food (I have a serious problem...I've become friends with two of the owners at the place I go to...I get free fresh juice, lol). Anyways, I ordered a fattoush salad with no pita and grilled chicken (I ate half and had the other half yesterday for lunch). My mom order a side of grilled veggies that we shared (they are seriously the most delicious things EVER!) And I had my usual Potassium Broth - spinach, celery, carrot, and parsley. I seriously love this!

For dinner, my boyfriend treated me to a night a Michael Symon's Roast after our Crossfit workout. 

Together, we shared a side of Michael Symon's famous Fried Brussel Sprouts with Walnuts. This was OMG delicious!! I found a recipe on Food Network's website that I am going to try soon and cross my fingers it is the same recipe. I could eat these at EVERY. SINGLE. MEAL! My boyfriend even let me take the leftovers home which I had with my breakfast the next day :) Sooo good.

For my main course, I had the scallops with couscous. I only had one bit of the couscous just to try it, but I did want to remain as paleo as possible so I limited that. But the scallops with the citrus and almonds were so tender and flavorful. Michael Symon never lets me down. :)

That's about all for Monday's eats. Tomorrow, I am going to share a personal story that I shared in a fitness group I belong to on Facebook and received a lot of positive feedback. And the words of encouragement and praise I received has made me feel maybe it's time to share my story and maybe help some others out there like me. Anyways, that is coming tomorrow. I need to buildup the courage to post it :)

Marvelous in My Monday (MIMM) #2: Mother's Day Weekend

It's been quite some time since I have linked up to the Marvelous in My Monday groups hosted by The Healthy Diva Eats. But I think it is such a great concept...reflecting on your life and pinpointing the GOOD things, not the bad things, and getting your week started on the right foot (even if it is basically winter here in Michigan today)

First things first, I PR'd on my deadlift on Friday while at crossfit (even though I ended the night being really sick with an ear infection!) I made it to 105 pounds!!!! That is 20 more pounds than I weigh (and 15 pounds heavier than my previous one rep max 2 weeks ago!!!) I am quite satisfied :)

I was sick all weekend with an upper respiratory infection and an ear infection, but the good thing was...I didn't miss any nice weather really. It was either super cloudy and dreary outside or frigid cold. Yes, Michigan got down to freezing the past few days. So I didn't feel guilty staying inside watching movies all day (Harry Potter marathon? Soul Surfer? I think yes!)

via imdb.com

Yesterday, for Mother's Day, my family and I went out to dinner at Carrabba's. It was nice to see some of my family that I only see on holidays. The food was also delicious! I had a Summer Citrus Salad with gluten free grilled salmon and a class of a sparkling moscato or prosecco...I'm new to wine and I know I like the sparkling Italian moscatos, but I ordered a prosecco but the bottle said Moscato d'Asti...so I'm confused. If anyone out there can clarify the difference for me, I'd be eternally grateful. Because I once ordered a moscato and it wasn't sparkling and I didn't care for it too much. Anyways, it was a delicious dinner!

I didn't get my mom much for Mother's day but I bought her some nice chocolate truffles (Cafe au Lait and Champagne flavor) along with some of the largest chocolate covered strawberries I have ever seen...I didn't manage to get a picture before my brother, my mom, and I shared the goodies. I also gave my mom a card from the dogs...but trying to get them to terrorize the card to leave their 'mark' was a bit unsuccessful. 

As for today, I am looking forward to Crossfit and celebrating my 3 year anniversary with my boyfriend at Michael Symon's Roast. Looove Michael Symon as a chef :) Have a fabulous Monday!

Passage into the Crossfit World and a New Recipe

I did it. I officially did it. I have passed the barrier and have become a true Crossfitter. 

I have succumbed to the box jump. And my battle wound looked perfect with the dress I wore to my boyfriend's graduation on Thursday. (You can't tell, but although the bruise isn't too bad, I have a nice lump there but it's healing quite nicely lol). To be honest, I didn't hurt too bad when it happened. I slipped (one foot still on the box) and stepped down and kept going. It wasn't until I saw the blood that hell broke loose....see, me and blood, we just don't see eye-to-eye. Once I saw the blood, I had to get it covered up and sit down before I passed out. Yes, I am a wimp with blood but that is why I'd never go to med school haha. 

via Google.com

Anyways, I am working on doing some research to learn more about the science of paleo nutrition and why things work the way they do. Like I mentioned in a recent post, I really want my blog to not only contain my rambling, new recipes I've tried (or at some point in the future, created myself), my fitness journey, fitness motivation, and the weekly link-ups, but I want it to contain some scientific facts about overall health, nutrition, and fitness while leading the paleo lifestyle. This may start out with simple reviews of scientific articles and journals I have read, but at some point, I'd like to have worthwhile posts to read. This may take a while to get going as I'm a chemical engineer, not a nutritionist or fitness expert. So while I know how to do the literature research, good things take time. :) And one day, hopefully soon, I will also have a personal training and/or nutrition certification to back me up as well. (If you haven't noticed yet, my goal is to live the best of both worlds: working at NASA as a polymer engineer/researcher and also helping people (including myself) with fitness and nutrition.) It will be a long road but that's what my blog is here for - to learn and to recount what I've learned and to help others learn through me (hopefully). 

But as for today, I want to share a recent recipe I tried (yes, it is once again from Paleomg.com - her recipes are seriously so simple and up my ally in terms of budget and time). This one is a cold salad that is great for lunch. I can see myself making this for picnics or get togethers this summer. Even my mom, the most anti-healthy anything person I know (well I guess 2nd to my brother) said it smelled good. This is a HUGE leap considering most of the time I get crap about my food smelling bad (i.e. fresh broccoli, kale, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, etc....because it is my fault they smell right?) Anyways, I was disappointed when I finished up the last of my leftovers last night :( I would suggest adding more shrimp if you are like me and kept picking at the shrimp during the day. Last night, I ended up having to saute some more shrimp to complete my meal!

Sorry for the poor quality. I think I really need to learn to take food pictures (or maybe just use my real camera versus just my iPhone where I can adjust the settings a bit). But this picture doesn't do the dish justice in terms of flavor. You should just try it! 

Shrimp Salad

adapted from: Paleomg.com

• 1 cup of shrimp, chopped (but again, go with the recommended 2 cups...I just didn't initially buy enough)
• 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• 1 green apple, chopped 
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 2 TBSP white wine vinegar
• 1 TBSP EVOO
• dried parsley (I like parsley so I used about 1 TBSP)
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook shrimp until pink and hard boil eggs. Once these are done, make sure shells are removed completely and roughly chop.
2. To a large bowl, add ingredients from shrimp to celery. 
3. In a separate smaller bowl, combine dressing ingredients (dijon, vinegar, olive oil, and seasonings.) Pour over ingredients in large bowl and mix well. 
4. Serve and eat!

This was absolutely delicious in my opinion and there are honestly so many ways to switch up the flavor profile. You can use different veggies, different herbs (fresh or dried), a different apple,... it really is endless! One day I also topped mine with fresh avocado....Mmmmm. :)

Enjoy your Saturday!

What I Ate Wednesday #8: Getting Back on Track

I am such a nerd. I had this post all typed up for WIAW and FORGOT to "publish" it. But I'm still going to post it...so enjoy WIAW on Thursday :)

So as much as I truly enjoy eating 90-95% paleo ALL the time (I just feel 100x better when I do) I will be the first to admit since being freed from my wisdom teeth mayhem, I completely got off track with paleo and boy was I feeling it. Majorly. So after enjoying full, rice filled sushi with all sorts of soy on Saturday with my mom, it has been very near strict paleo since then. I will admit, that I'm beginning to run out of quick, easy, protein filled options for breakfast and post-w/o that are not strictly eggs. So I have used some protein powder - right now I am trying Vega protein powder. It is the only vegan protein powder that isn't strictly rice protein. Also, since there are 4 different protein sources all together, I figured it was at max, about 25% rice protein (especially since it is listed third on the ingredient list). I bought a few single packets, but if I find I do well with it, I will either splurge the money for a bucket of it and use sparingly, or hunt down something VERY similar. I want as clean and close to paleo as physically possible. 

So without further adieu, here is a mash-up of some of my meals over the past few days. Thanks to Jenn over at Peas and Crayons for hosting such a great link up!

{Breakfast} This meal was on Saturday. I had a bunch of leftover veggies from the week and a bit of pasteurized liquid egg whites, so I sauteed up the veggies (asparagus, brussel sprouts, kale, mushrooms), topped with diced avocado and scrambled egg whites, topped with one running yolk egg. Mmm. :)

One day I was feeling adventurous and decided to make my own avocado dressing. (Recipe coming soon!). I had a leftover turkey burger patty so I heated that up, sauteed some kale and topped with the avocado dressing. It was actually quite nice and refreshing even though burgers can be heavy sometimes.

 I've been really on the "fresh" train lately...I haven't wanted to cook or eat anything really hot. This is where this AMAZING dish was created. I bought some cocktail shrimp already cooked from a local market and just sliced some fresh tomato and avocado and topped with some pepper and a pinch of salt. (I also had a side of fresh fruit which didn't make it into the picture).

As I mentioned above, my mom and I got sushi on Saturday. I was all paleo UNTIL the sushi chef talking to us gave us a free roll. It was delicious but OH so bad for you. It was filled with crab salad and topped with a sweet sauce, panko crumbs, and was torched. Delicious but NOT paleo and sent my stomach for a whirlwind lol. But this plate of assorted sashimi was absolutely DIVINE! I love fresh fish <3

In the past two days, I have made two delicious new recipes. One was a blackberry glazed pork chop (that I ate with a yummy side salad) and the other is a cold shrimp salad. Both recipes will be posted soon. 

That is my past week of food in a nutshell. 

Protein Pancakes

Well yesterday ended up in a VERY unique turn of events. 

So I began my day, prepping myself for my wisdom teeth extraction...like I was seriously going insane, crying at every turn (yes, this is how extremely terrified I was and I can't even explain why...I'm usually good with this stuff). I get to the dentist, I'm crying and trying to explain my asthma history and all the complications I have had since developing asthma last summer and the surgeon tells me he isn't comfortable doing the procedure on me, unless I would be willing to be awake during the procedure, because my asthma is so abnormal (with no wheezing or knowledge of triggers) and he was unsure of whether or not they would have the proper tools to help me in the event I went into an asthma attack. 

So I got a HUGE reprieve and got to go home with all my wisdom teeth still in me (yes, they need to come out, but they are still very underdeveloped so this isn't an emergency situation). I just have to talk with my pulmonologist for the best way to go about the procedure and it may mean having the procedure done in a full hospital setting so they can be prepared for any attacks that may happen. (I'm just crossing my fingers that my health insurance will cover it since as of now, our only coverage is the university my mom teaches at).

Anyhow, even though I was exhausted from fasting all day and being up at the butt crack of dawn, I was so relieved! I still managed to talk my mom into treating me for my planned dinner of frozen yogurt (I was seriously looking forward to this non-paleo treat). It was DELICIOUS! I still did miss  my Crossfit class unfortunately :( I just didn't have enough nutrients in my body at the time of class to fuel a good workout. I can't wait to be back at it today!!

And now for the recipe! I initially saw the idea for a non-protein powder pancake from Brittany over at GotheXtraMile. I tailored her recipe a bit to suit my paleo needs and it turned out great! I think I will continue playing with the 'flours' that I use to see if I can get an even better combination, although they are super fluffy and filling!

Protein Pancakes 

adapted from gothextramileblog.com

• 1 TBSP coconut flour
• 1 TBSP ground flax
• 1 TBSP almond meal
• 1/2 cup plus 1 TBSP liquid egg whites
• 3 TBSP almond milk
• some baking soda (I didn't measure, just used a pinch, maybe 1/2 tsp or so)
• vanilla extract
• Stevia
• Any fruit, nuts, nut butters, etc. you wish to top your pancakes with 

1. Measure out your dry ingredients in a small bowl and mix together to form somewhat of a homogenous mixture. 
2. Add liquid egg whites, almond milk, and vanilla extract to a separate bowl. 
3. Slowly pour in the dry ingredients mixing as you go until everything is thoroughly combined. 
4. Heat up a skillet (size depends on size and amount of pancakes you will making). Once the pan is hot, I add a small spray of EVOO because I really stink at making pancakes, but if you have a non-stick pan, this shouldn't be necessary. Add pancake mixture and allow to cook as you would a normal pancake, until the sides begin to dry out and bubble very slightly. 
5. Carefully flip the pancakes and allow to finish cooking all the way through. 
6. Serve hot with desired toppings (in my picture above, I added blueberries to the batter just before I flipped the pancake and added some almond butter and 1/4 of a banana on top of the pancakes)

Serves: 1

Approximate Nutrition Information: 

279 Calories

18 g Carbs

12 g Fat

23 g Protein

What I Ate Wednesday #7 - The Resurrection Version

Well howdy! How's it been going?

I know one of the last posts before taking essentially a month break was about a resurrection of my blog but going into the last month of classes, I just began to be consumed by the work for class and had to put my blog to the side for a bit. But I am happy to say as of last Friday, at 5:15pm, I submitted my research paper and finally closed out the semester! It is such a relief! And to not be required to do anything this past weekend was absolutely amazing and relaxing! So welcome back to my blog! I hope my absence for the past month didn't stray you from reading about health and fitness through a paleo perspective!

I am very excited to be back and to continue learning how to up the game on my blog to provide more useful and interesting content than just me rambling about my days. I mentioned in a past post that I wanted to rethink my purpose for blogging. While I'm still working on the specifics, I want to streamline things a bit, lighten up the blog (even though I love my 100% space themed background), and bring you more informative stuff as well as recipes I've tried and reviewed.

But, since it is Wednesday, I have to share with you some of my recent eats! If you haven't heard of this awesome link-up party from Peas and Crayons, you should head over there to see what its about! You can also discover so many new blogs that way. 

 

Over the past few days, I have been far too lazy to get creative with my cooking and have honestly not take pictures of all of meals. So here are just a few of some of my recent meals.

{1} A preworkout snack: a mini Cherry Pie Larabar and 1 tsp of raw almond butter (TJ's brand is my ABSOLUTE favorite!) {2} A yummy, kitchen sink salad: romaine, cabbage, carrots, tomato, avocado, hardboiled egg, a grilled chicken breast, and some balsamic vinegar {3} A piece of grilled chicken (grilled with the lemon and basic seasonings) with steamed broccoli and coconut cream with a side of fresh watermelon (not pictured) {4} A typical breakfast: 2 hardboiled eggs, avocado, and a saute of whatever veggies I have on hand (this day it was asparagus, brussel sprouts, and mushrooms)

This past weekend I did go to the zoo and go out for a lovely meal at this unique restaurant called Vinsetta Garage. I definitely didn't remain 100% paleo this day as my lamb burger was topped with feta and homemade tzadziki. (Plus I couldn't pass up the cookie dough Dippin' Dots!!!)

This morning I had a larger breakfast than normal. I get my wisdom teeth out today at 2pm so I can't have anything to eat after 6am this morning. So I was up at the butt-crack of dawn making some protein pancakes, drinking coffee, and downing 700mL of ice cold water. I'm so insanely terrified of this surgery and I don't know why! I've had surgery under anesthesia before but I. Am. TERRIFIED!

Recipe coming soon!

That's about all for this What I Ate Wednesday. And I WILL be back to blog tomorrow (well, it may be Friday because I'm not so sure how 'sane' I will be tomorrow after my surgery).

Have you ever had your wisdom teeth out? What was your experience like?