No creamer in my coffee?!?!

I cannot remember a morning in years (seriously) that did not include a cup of coffee.  I would venture to guess that most of America shares my affection for this daily dose of black gold.  I have actually become a little bit of a coffee snob, so I have no problem drinking mine straight up black, no sweetener.  This was one Whole 30 hurdle that I did not have to worry about. 

My fiancé, though, does NOT love black coffee.  She does LOVE flavored creamer.  Without it, she rarely finishes even a tiny cup.  Since I can’t stand wasting coffee, and she can’t stand drinking black coffee, she decided to search for a solution.  So resourceful.  After some trial and error, I am pleased to inform you, my Paleo/Whole 30/creamer-in-your-coffee loving friends, that there is an unprocessed, non-dairy, still delicious way to enjoy your morning cup.  Enter coconut milk.  This 'milk' is well respected in the Paleo nutrition world for its health benefits.  Even the mainstream LA Times showed it some love!  Don't buy the FDA fat percentage daily allowance blah blah blah garbage.  Go buy a couple cans from the market right now, then do like Alexis did:

Pour a small can of the coconut milk into a Tupperware container or jar.

Add cinnamon (start slow, you can always add)

Scrape out some vanilla bean. Slice in half, longways, and run the knife alone the inside and use what comes off.  If you use vanilla extract, a bit of that works fine, too (again, go easy at first).

Whip it up with a little whisk or fork until it feels thick enough for you.

Add it to your coffee to taste.

Store in the fridge (makes it seem like whipped cream).

Happy to report that she is now finishing her cup regularly…I have even been known to spice up my cup lately with her new little coconut-cinnamon-vanilla goodness. 

Btw…there are a million ways to use the rest of the coconut milk that you just went to the store to buy…I feel a nice curry recipe coming soon…but in the meantime, hopefully all of you Whole 30 adopters can enjoy your cup of coffee just a little bit more.  Let me know what you think!

Delicious Kale

So obviously with any healthy diet, the idea is to eat more vegetables, especially those dark leafy green ones. Unfortunately, since they are a little bitter and a little tougher than their popular cousin, Spinach, they are probably ignored more often then they should be. Too bad, because they are widely considered one of the healthiest foods a person can eat! They are loaded with essential vitamins, minerals, fiber, and even some good fatty acids. That said, they can also be delicious! Seriously. Here is a recipe for my favorite of the dark leafers: kale! This makes for a good light lunch, a side dish for dinner, or even a nice base to top with a poached egg for breakfast. Kale all day! Enjoy.

Kale with Italian Sausage

-1 link of good Italian sausage removed from casing (I like the spicy pork version in the Whole Foods meat section)

-1 small onion or half of a regular sized one...your call (sliced into small pieces)

-1 big bunch of Kale (washed and torn into small pieces off of the stems)

-1 clove of garlic, minced

-Apple cider vinegar

-Chicken stock

-Olive oil

-Pinch of nutmeg

-Pinch of red pepper flakes

-Salt and pepper

1. Heat a pan on medium/high with olive oil until nice and hot. Add sausage and break up with spatula until browned.

Sausage browning up

2. Remove sausage with slotted spoon to a bowl or plate lined with a paper towel and set aside. Add some olive oil if the pan is dry. Turn heat down a bit to medium and add onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté until onions are soft and translucent.

If the onions start to brown, turn down the heat

3. Add torn kale and pour in some chicken stock (enough to make a little pool below the kale). Add a bit more salt, stir the kale and onions, and let the liquid begin to cook off. Let the mixture cook until the liquid is absorbed and the kale is soft.

Let it go until the liquid is almost gone.

4. As it’s finishing, add a nice sized splash of the vinegar and the nutmeg and toss it all around. Add the sausage back and mix it all up.

Some delicious greens.

Now get out there and eat your vegetables! 

Whole 30 Halftime

Today marks two weeks into our Whole 30 adventure.  Had a prettttttty tough weekend turning down free wine tastings while looking for wedding venues, but we survived cheat-free.  I think I definitely miss a good beer or a glass of wine most, so we picked up some solid celebratory bottles for day 31.

I had to at least pretend for a second

So after total compliance for 14 days, I have noticed the biggest difference in my joints.  For the past few months, I have been trying to get back to full speed with some knee issues after surgery last year.  Two weeks in, and the knee feels great.  There’s much less catching and stiffness, and I am able to recover from a tough workout much faster.   Definitely something to be said about reducing inflammatory foods to help heal from injury.  Everything feels a little less creaky. 

I have also been taking a fish oil supplement to help the healing even more…I started out taking the recommended dosage, then I stumbled on this fish oil calculator.  If you take any fish oil now, try to plug your numbers into this site…I was waaaaay underestimating the amount I needed, and you probably are too.  Tip: take the bigger doses with food or you get some gnarly burps.  

Anyways, I am happy to report that this Whole 30 plus fish oil is doing what I hoped it would.  With that said…time for some progress pics…

Day 1 vs Day 14




Noticeable changes…and we are only halfway there! 

Answering the Big Question: So What Do You Eat???

The most common question that I get from anyone that I talk to about this Whole 30 deal is, “What DO you eat???”  When you tell people about all of the things you can’t eat for the month, naturally people lose their minds.  I get, “No cereal?!”, “No beans?!?!”, and “I would starve!” all the time.  The truth is, there are more than enough vegetables and ways to prepare those vegetables to keep every meal different.  Normally, we kinda lean on the same proteins (fish, shrimp, grass-fed beef, chicken, and some pork), but we try to dress em up with different sides and salads all the time.  As a result, we have become MUCH better and MUCH more interested lil chefs.  Eating a less-processed diet is a great way to learn to cook quickly. 

Speaking of learning to cook…I do it via ‘Google’ and the Food Network, and I encourage you to use both.  The Food Network cooking shows make for great “Hey…do we have anything good to watch in our DVR queue?” stuff.  These chefs do this for a living and they are on TV all day trying to teach you tricks…let them.  With teaching and learning in mind, I decided to walk you through perhaps the easiest Whole 30-compliant meal that we eat almost every day.  This meal is the best because you can do it a different way every time you make it, and it is a great way to load up on veggies.  This meal is an omelet!  It is easy (one pan!), and it is versatile.  If you can make one, you will always have a go-to healthy meal.  Follow me and you’ll be like that guy in the good hotel breakfast buffet in no time…

Here we go…

You need (per person):

2 strips of bacon (optional recommended)

3 eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt and pepper (feel free to add fresh herbs too)

Any assortment of vegetables, chopped

Olive oil (if you opt out of the bacon)

1. Lay bacon strips in a cold pan and turn heat to medium.  Cook until browned and crispy turning often. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Goooood stuff.

2. Saute chopped veggies in the bacon grease on medium heat until they are soft.  Don’t worry, you will not have a heart attack if you cook in the bacon grease.  Obviously, if you aren’t using bacon, start here and use olive oil.

Remember: larger/denser veggies will take longer than leafy ones.

3. Turn heat down to medium low (important...eggs should be cooked at lower heat), and add beaten egg mixture directly to veggies.

I added some spinach right before the eggs.

4. KEY STEP!  As the edges of the egg begin to cook, use a flexible spatula to lift them off the pan and tilt towards that edge to let uncooked egg run underneath.  Continue to do this until there is no more running and the entire omelet is loose from the pan.

The liquidy egg should run right in there.

5. With a flick of the wrist (and some messy practice failures), flip the omelet over for about 30 seconds to 1 minute on the other side.  

Nice.

6. While plating it with the bacon, let it slide off of the plate and fold in half.

Done deal. I added some sliced avocado for some good fat and flava.

Boom.  You just made breakfast, lunch, or dinner with many servings of veggies, plenty of protein and fat, and pure Whole 30 goodness. 

How I ended up half-dead on the sidewalk

 

So part of the reason that I got so into this Whole 30 stuff is Crossfit.  I went to my first class at Crossfit LA in April of 2010 thinking I knew all about everything.  I was fresh out of a respected NCAA football strength and conditioning program, and I thought I was a pro at anything that involved weights and rubber mats....bring it on, Crossfit, right???  Wrong.  I have learned more about myself in less than a year than I had in the previous decade.  Sounds like a little much, I know, but this gym has seriously changed everything for me.  Crossfit pushes you to push yourself harder than anything I have ever tried.  Love this stuff.

Sorry for the rant, there…you are probably wondering why I even brought it up.  Well, today was one more of many, MANY reminders that I have a LONG way to go before I am any kind of expert in exercise.  Today was the finals for a challenge that my gym, Crossfit LA, hosted (like a big competition).  These challenges are a big deal…close to 100 competitors, a DJ, a food truck, the LAPD (noise complaint on Saturday at noon…c’mon Santa Monica, seriously), and the same kind of energy you feel at a high school football game.  We had a preliminary workout nine weeks ago, and then we repeated that workout today.  This workout was called “330” and consisted of:

300m run,

30 reps of power cleans

300m run,

30 reps of shoulder-to-overhead (jerks or push press),

300m run.

*The ‘prescribed’ weight for men is 155 lbs. More on that later.

I try to do the ‘prescribed’ weight as often as possible for the workouts (maybe a bit of an ego thing, but I like to think it’s me pushing myself).  The preliminary round of the challenge happened to fall on one of my first days back to the gym after a knee injury that put me out for several months, so I opted to go a little easy and use 95 lbs.  This made my concerned fiancé very happy, but this round did not feel tough enough for me.  I consider maybe increasing my weight for the finals.

Nine weeks, many nights of boozing, some suspect food choices, and not enough preparation workouts later, the day of the finals arrived.  I was feeling GOOD.  I decided to jump up to the prescribed weight of 155 lbs (definitely ego).  My heat started at 10:15AM, and around 21 minutes later, I was regretting my 155 decision very much while lying flat on my back on Franklin Ave for the next 20 minutes feeling like I may die.  See below for a blow-by-blow pictorial account of how the 330 destroyed me. 

Let's go!

No problem...

K, kinda feelin' it...

Still okay...

Wheels are comin' off...

Ok, feeling bad now. Poor me.

Last couple steps...heading to the sidewalk for a nap.

To give you some perspective, the fastest time for the workout with 155lbs was between seven and eight minutes.  Most times with this weight were about 12-15 minutes.  My time: 20 minutes, 17 seconds…slowest of the day for that weight.  There was a time where the competitor in me would be pretty disappointed with that, but today, I can say that I am actually proud.  There were several times during the 20 minutes that I thought I should quit, but because of the people in my little Crossfit community either screaming at me to keep going or going through it right next to me, I finished that mf’er.  After I recovered, I had a nice Whole 30-compliant bowl of meat and guac from Chipotle with Alexis, and I felt GREAT.

There are a lot of things that we all feel like quitting, but when we don’t, the payoff is so big.  Whether it’s a hard workout, a 30 day nutrition challenge (had to tie this in somehow :-)), or anything else, YOU can finish it.  You are not alone out there!

A New Blog for a New Challenge

Hello my friends!  So I decided to start blogging when Alexis and I decided to do a big time, all-out food challenge called the Whole 30.  If you have never heard of it, it’s basically committing to eating only fresh vegetables, good clean meats and seafoods, fruits, nuts, and seeds for 30 days…NO exceptions.  So this means: no booze, no bread, no beans, no rice, no dairy, no sweeteners…no nothin’ except for what I listed earlier. 

Why would we want to do this, you ask?  I did a similar, less strict “experiment” last spring, and the results were awesome.  I had more energy and less stomach than I can ever remember having.  Ever since that, I have been a believer, but I have never gone 100%.  So to answer “Why do this?”…it’s simple: because I like this kinda thing, and I want to look and feel good.  You want the same things, don’t lie. 

Anyways…this blog is half accountability tool for Alexis and me and half guidebook/motivation for anyone else with a crazy “get-skinny-quick” idea.  That said, day one was March 7, 2011.  I will post a “progress report” picture of us both every week while we are Whole 30ing (see day one pics below), and I will update the blog as often as possible with food logs, recipes, pictures, and workouts that we do along the way.

 

The goal is to really push to see how far we can go for one month and to learn some stuff along the way.  Also, feel free to participate…nobody likes not-drinking alone.