Bye bye blog!!

I'm shutting this blog down.  I'm just not feeling it.  I hate the formatting and moderating comments, blah blah.  And half the time when I post I need to constantly go back and redo it so it looks semi pretty.

So if I feel the need to say anything I'll be posting it on a note on Facebook. If you aren't my friend on there, here I am!    Me on Facebook

I'll probably be posting a lot of videos in the near future on You Tube as well.  Me on You Tube

Keep in touch my blogging friends!  :)

So much I want to say...

...but I can figure out exactly what.  And the stuff that I know I want to say, I can quite put into words.  I've been wanting to write for a long time now so I'm just going to blabber.

First off, blogspot is annoying.  I think I need to find a new place for this stuff.  Any ideas?

My vacation was so amazing.  Words certainly couldn't do it justice.  I spent time with the most unbelievable people ever who were all so inspiring.  I've been so inspired in fact that I'm starting to make life changing decisions that are worrying me right now.  I feel like I may be making them too fast...then again I sometimes feel that I didn't make them soon enough.

I still HATE money.  It pisses me off.  It's one of the things I'm trying to change...to be able to live on as little as possible.  I don't want it.  Only what's necessary to keep myself breathing.

I haven't been back to the gym or yoga yet and that makes me feel gross.  I fell off my diet a bit when I got back and that worries me.  I've been pretty good the last 3 days but tonight I ate a ton of popcorn...that may not sound bad to some of you but I know there are those who read this who DO understand why that's so bad.

I miss having my camera in my hand everyday.  I miss eating salad with breakfast everyday.  I miss the absolute bliss I was surrounded by every day.  I miss my new friends.

I guess you would call this the post vacation blues eh??  I am ever so grateful and thankful to have experienced such an amazing time in my life though.  And I'm embracing all of these feelings and carefully observing them and recognizing them for all that they are.  Things are still changing, me and my world.  And I love my life more than ever.

Primal Airplane Food

In trying to keep as close to my diet as possible...I don't want my body to freak out on me on the airplane...I packed plenty of treats for my two looooooong flights to Bali.  My first flight is to Seoul and is 14 hours...the second to Bali is 7 hours.  I really hate airline food too...not that I will want to eat any of it anyway.  Also, I have plenty for snacks to last me all of my trip too!

So the first thing I wanted to make was a trail mix.  I bought the "fancy nut" mix from Trader Joe's that has almonds, cashews, etc. and soaked them for about 24 hours.  I then dry roasted them in my oven for another 12 hours.  The lowest temp on my oven is 200 so I just kept in on warm.

 

I also bought the "dried berry medley" from Trader Joe's.  Wow this is a good one!  It's cherries, blueberries and strawberries!  All favorites of mine.

 I didn't use the whole bag of fruit because that would be major sugar overload for me.  The end result is two nice sized bags mixed together.

 

 How could I go anywhere without my beef jerky?  And now together with my new yummies Pemmican!!

Bought a nice mix of Lara Bars.  These can sometimes be too sweet for me but I think they will be good for this trip because I'm going to be so active the entire time.  They are awesomely tasty too!

And last but certainly not least is an extra special treat for myself, dark chocolate!!!  I love Lindt's 99%...it's really bitter but I have really acquired a taste for it and it doesn't leave me craving for more.  And Diana Renata suggested I try Scharffen Berger so I got a bar of 82% of this.

So now I'm well prepared for my trip.  Still watching the snow forecast so I may be delayed and in the airport for a bit but I certainly won't be hungry!

I'm going to Bali!

In just a few days I'm leaving for a trip to Bali.  I still can't believe that I'm going.  I have so much to say about it...reasons why I'm going, what I'm doing there, how I'm going to stick to my primal diet as close as possible!! So...the basics....

Though I'm traveling there alone, I am going on a poi spinning retreat so will be with the same group of people for 2 weeks.  I started spinning fire almost 2 years ago and absolutely love it.  The retreat is being run by Nick Woolsey of PlayPoi and I will be learning more advanced techniques of poi spinning from this wonderfully, awesome person!  Do you know who he is?  Do you know what poi spinning is?

Here is his latest video that was shot in Costa Rica:  Costa Rica Poi

Nick is without a doubt, one of the most incredible spinners and teachers I have ever seen.  He has a knack for breaking down the moves so that you can fully understand them.  His latest instructional video is incredible and I can't wait to learn first hand all of these moves!  If you are interested, here is a link to it:  Adventures in Poi

This year, I wanted to make my yearly charity donation to somewhere in Bali so that I may possibly visit on my vacation.  I made this donation to Yayasan Bumi Sehat in Ubud.  They provide midwifery and general health services to the people of Bali.  I've been in contact with them and found out that I am indeed able to go visit them when I am there.  How wonderful it will be to see a charity at work that I donated to!  They have also just opened a clinic in Haiti to help with relief efforts there.  Here is their site:   http://www.bumisehatbali.org/

Being how focused I am on my nutritional habits, I've been looking at traditional Balinese foods and some menus at restaurants near where I'm staying.  Oh joy of joys, they cook with a lot of coconut milk and coconut oil!!! Yay!!!!  Now, I plan on sticking to my diet as close as I can simply because, if I don't, my body hates me and I get sick.  One thing for sure is that I will be completely avoiding gluten and dairy as best I can control it...no breads, pastas, yogurt, milk, etc.  They pretty much serve everything with rice.  That is going to be my big indulgence out there...I absolutely love it and well there could be worse things I can eat.  Everything else with be meat, veggies and fruit!

We're also going to be doing yoga every day which I am super excited about.  I started practicing Bikram Yoga about 2 years ago but lately have been going to a lot of Vinyasa yoga.  I love it so much and has taught me how to really breathe and relax!!

This is also the first time I'm not planning anything on a vacation which is really weird to me but I'm kind of excited that I'm really not making any decisions on anything else that we are doing and I can just be told what we are doing that day.  The goal for this vacation is to really relax and let go! 

I'm hoping to be able to update and post some pics while I'm there here and on Facebook.  Will be sure to come back with many stories of fun, joy and beauty!

Shepherd's Pie

Ooooo baby!  I don't cook meals with several ingredients very often but yesterday I made a Primal version of Shepherd's Pie.  The "primalness" of it is the fact that you substitute the mashed potatoes for cauliflower.  I cannot believe that I've never tried this before.  I kid you not, mashed cauliflower is one of the greatest things ever!!!

I used the recipe from MDA and the only changes I made were not to include peas and I added a lot of roasted garlic.  It came out so good and I just wanted to pass this recipe along to anyone interested in trying it!
Shepherd's Pie Recipe

Also, I'm madly in love with pemmican now too.  I got it for the first time from the same place I order my beef jerky.  It's the best source I've found price wise and lack of ingredients wise:  http://www.jerkyusa.com/

Though I thought pemmican is supposed to be mostly fat...this kind seems to be made with more meat.  I plan on buying my own dehydrator soon so I can start making my own anyway!

My Auntie May

My great aunt, Auntie May passed on last Saturday.  She was 81 years old and had gotten very sick. My mom said some beautiful words at her wake last night and I was going to speak at her funeral this morning but unfortunately, I got overlooked.  I didn't get a chance to share my thoughts about her with anyone so I would like to do so now. 

This is what I was going to say:

I would like for all of you to close your eyes and think of one thought or memory of Auntie May that makes you smile.When I do this, I think of  "Big Bertha from Outer-space."  It's what she used to call herself sometimes...I have no idea why but it does make me smile.

But that's not what shaped her as a human being.  Another memory I have of her that brings a smile to my face was her always selfless, giving nature.  She never asked for anything back and truly enjoyed giving to others.  That's my most significant memory of her.

I do not mourn for the loss of Auntie May.  I celebrate her life and all she has taught me.  I try to take away learning experiences from all of my moments.  Auntie May had been a smoker all of her life and in the later years had learned she had emphysema.  It was then that she decided to make a change to better her health.  She quit smoking just like that.  I'm sure it couldn't have been easy as she had become addicted throughout the years.  Unfortunately, the change that she made was too late and the sickness eventually is part of what took her life.  And though it was too late for her change to cure the illness, that didn't stop her from making the change that she knew was right.

But she made a choice, a choice all of us have:  to take action on something that will make us better.  That power to make a choice is something I really took away from this.  Is there something I've been meaning to change about my life?  Spending more time with my family, better nutritional habits, exercising, ending an addiction, getting more in tune with my spiritual side?

Auntie May has shown me more than ever that I have the power within me to make a change, NOW, as do we all.  I can think of no better way for me to celebrate the inspiration that Auntie May gave in doing this herself, then by starting, on this day, to choose to make a change.  Choose a life that with improve and bring me closer to the truth of my inherent human nature.  It is my choice.  It is our choice.  Our choice to make ourselves healthy and to give unconditionally.  We have the power to give our time, knowledge, laughter, skills, advice, hope and love.  Give with respect, give with humility, give unconditionally.  Share joy, share hope, share love.  This is what I have learned from such a beautiful person as my Aunt May.

I would like to leave you all with a beautiful quote I discovered this morning:

"Death is not the end of who we are.  It is only a brief pause in the endless cycle of our lives.  Each of us is a spirit that cannot die."

Nutrition...What I've Learned

In August 2009 I embarked on a "get super healthy" nutritional journey.  Wow have I learned a lot.  Not only about how unhealthy foods that I had been eating were but the foods my body functions best on.  And I know this is a never ending process and am enjoying it so much.  I've felt so good and have more steady energy throughout the day since starting.  Also, I rarely get sick...haven't even caught a cold yet this year.  I've learned pretty much everything on different websites and blogs.  Here are my favorite ones:

www.marksdailyapple.com
http://robbwolf.com/
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/
http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/


One of the most resourceful books I have read is Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.  Simply amazing what I've learned from this one which disproves so much of what we've learned over the years through conventional wisdom...what our government tells us is good.

Also, I just recently watched the documentary, Food, Inc.  Wowy wow wow wow, makes me really upset that I can't afford to eat all grass fed, organic meat.

So basically, I cut out grains, dairy, sugar and processed foods.  I eat meat, eggs, veggies, oils and occasionally nuts and fruit.  It's based on Primal Living...the way in which humans lived before we had all of these "creations" of ours.  Of course I'm not 100% on this new way of eating.  I firmly believe that I can enjoy some treats from time to time and still be healthy.  Um except the holidays...I went a little overboard and will never do that again as the result was not very pleasant for me at all...felt really icky which is soooo not worth it for me.

Here are the major things I have learned:

Gluten is bad, bad, bad.  And even when I go off my diet a bit, I am sure not eat gluten at all.  I don't eat any grains now actually and here is a good explanation for it:   Why Grains are Unhealthy

Dairy simply doesn't agree with me.  I'm almost positive that this is what cause my bloated gassy feeling all of the time.  Since I've been off dairy, I've had none of that.  

Protein is the most satiating thing I can eat.  I never feel comfortably full unless I've had enough protein at each meal.  Beef jerky is my new favorite snack!  It makes up about 35-40% of my diet.

Fat is good good good!  I make sure to have a generous amount with every meal.  Olive oil is in every salad and almost every meal I cook with has coconut oil (saturated fat)...so good!.  They make up about 50-60% of my diet.  Here is some good info on fats:  Guide to Fats

Good carbs are good.  For the most part, I've significantly cut carbs from my diet.  I get all of my carbs from veggies and occasionally fruits.  I have found that when I eat a lot of carbs, I just get more hungry.  They make up about 10-20% of my diet.  Here is a really interesting post on carbs:  Carbohydrate Curve

So as far as my percentages go, I found that this is what works for me.  I know of people who thrive on more of a high fat (80%) diet and those that can eat more carbs and feel good.  It's really all about what works for you...and it takes endless experimenting.

Consume more Omega 3s.  We are supposed to have an almost equal balance of O-3s to O-6s but the problem with conventional diets is that we are overloaded with the O-6s which are found things like grain fed meats, vegetable oils and other "fake" products.  I've begun taking 3 grams of O-3s in Fish Oil everyday.  You can read a great article about them here: Fish Oil

In case you have wondered, yes, Mark Sisson's site is my favorite source of info.  His book is a great read too.  I highly recommend it!

Fish Oil is also great for reducing Inflammation which is a bad bad bad.  Inflammation

I've tried Intermittent Fasting on and off doing planned and unplanned days.  I function much better on the unplanned days...skipping a meal because my body just doesn't feel like it needs it.  It's usually breakfast for me.  The most amazing thing for me with this has been that I now know I can go for hours without getting that overly hungry, low blood sugar feeling...which often led to migraines for me.  Here is some info on it and this site has several great articles on IF'ing:  Intermittent Fasting

Alcohol is my nemesis.   When I do drink, it's now red wine as that seems to be the least evil in terms of what it's made of and how it makes me feel the next day.  However, it makes me crazy hungry and impairs my judgment when it comes to eating.  I'm really trying to lean out and this I have found always seems to stall it.  I've significantly cut it out of my life...actually haven't had a drink in two weeks and don't plan to have one before I leave for my vacation the end of Feb.

80% of your body composition is made up with what you eat!  Exercise is important but this fact has placed nutrition as more of a priority for me.  I love this new lifestyle and will never go back to the way I used to eat.  If you have any questions for me about all of this nutritional mumbo jumbo, please feel free to ask me.  I love sharing what I've learned with others and if it can help you make a healthy change that's even better!

I'll end with a picture of one of my favorite meals.  I'm never hungry before work so I make myself a frittata for the week to take with me.  This one is made up of zucchini and organic turkey sauteed in coconut oil and then baked with eggs in the oven.  You can use any kind of veggies or meat in it.  My mom pan fries these and hers are always the best!  I can't do it yet though because I am lacking the flipping skills she has down so well!!

Peace and Love!