Balanced Bites Podcast

I have been listening to the Balanced Bites podcast a lot recently, and I just want to tell everyone (well, those of you that like funny, clever women) that they should download and listen to it.  I might be a bit obsessed.

Diane Sanfilippo, who created the awesomeness that is Balanced Bites, is a Certified Nutrition Consultant and C.H.E.K Holistic Lifestyle Coach  that specializes in Paleo nutrition, blood sugar regulation, food allergies/intolerances, and digestive health.  Her site offers great tools (such as the 21-Day Sugar Detox) for living the healthiest way you can, as well as informative blog posts and nutritional coaching options.  She also does seminars to spread the good word (and valuable information) about whole food nutrition.  You can find out more about her and the great stuff she does at the Balanced Bites site.

Liz Wolfe, Diane’s counterpart on the podcast, is a board-certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and a very cool lady.  Her blog, CaveGirlEats, makes me laugh almost daily, or, at least whenever she posts something new!  She’s got some great info on there on natural body care.  She’s also got a more professional site that is dedicated to her NTP practice, you can find that here. I also just found out that Liz actually does the Balanced Bites seminars as well, now I really want to go to one.   I wish they would do one here in Canada.  Well, West Coast Canada anyway.  Although if they were ever in Seattle, I’d take a wee trip.

Anyhow, these two have made a podcast that is so informative and easy to digest (no pun intended); they really work together well.  I listen to it on my way to and from work, and I actually look forward to the drive now.  The topics covered are ones to which I find myself thinking “totally applies to me”.  They answer questions and discuss ideas openly and with an appropriate amount of depth.  They never get too nerd-sciencey, and make every part of the Paleo lifestyle seem completely accessible.   It also helps that they both seem like normal women (albeit probably way cooler) and I can really identify with them.  Part of me (read: a lot of me) wishes I knew them in real life.  I would love to have them sitting in my kitchen chatting away about nutrition, they seem like such down to earth gals.  Until that happens, though, I’ll have to settle with playing the podcast and just pretending.

The Heaven that is Coconut Butter

If you haven’t tried coconut butter, I really think you ought to drop everything, rush out to your nearest healthy food store, and buy some.  Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to come off as pushy, but I am seriously having a love affair with this stuff and I want to spread the good news!  Not that affairs are always good news, but…well….nevermind.

Anyway, here’s the scoop about this amazing stuff:  it’s made from coconut meat, and THAT’S IT.  It tastes like….candy.  No, better than candy (did I just say that?), it tastes like a rainbow of creamy goodness.  Uh, yeah.  You can use coconut butter as a dip, a spread, or just as a delicious something to put in your mouth straight out of the jar (but don’t eat the whole jar at once, you might feel kind of sick after that, trust me).  The best part about this stuff is that in addition to being super tasty, it’s quite good for you.  Coconut contains naturally occurring saturated fat that is great for your body and lends itself to improving heart health, increasing metabolism, and supporting your immune system, among other things. Dr. Mercola has a pretty good article on the benefits of coconut oil here (yes, I know, I know, it’s the Huffington Post).   Though coconut butter is not coconut oil, it still supplies those benefits to your body (just to a lesser extent because it isn’t as highly compressed).

In the US, I think they call coconut butter “coconut cream concentrate”.  At least, that’s what I’ve come to understand.  Perhaps there are just two names, just to make people think they’re losing their minds. Many times I would read over a recipe on some paleo recipe website and think “I’ve never heard of coconut cream concentrate, what on earth are they talking about?”.    Another thing to note is that coconut butter hardens up pretty easily.  Since I live in Canada, it’s rarely the temperature here where the butter is easily spreadable.  I like to put the jar in a pot of hot water for a while before attempting to use it for anything (otherwise you’ll be attacking it with a fork just to get anything out of that jar).  When you first buy it, there will most likely be a layer of oil on top (just like any nut butter), so you can mix that in once it’s mixable.

As for brands, there are a few out there.  I like the Artisana brand (as shown in the picture.  Yes, I have it at work with me all the time, what of it?!) because the coconut meat used is raw and organic and there is only the one ingredient.  There’s also the Nutiva brand called “Coconut Manna”,  which is pretty good as well.  Or, you could be amazing and make your own!  Melissa over at theclothesmakethegirl.com has made an easy recipe for doing so.

The only places on the Island at which I’ve been able to find this stuff have been natural food stores, such as:  Lifestyle Markets in Victoria, the Community Farm Store in Duncan, Edible Island in Courtenay, Island Natural Markets in Nanaimo, Healthyway Natural Foods Market in Campbell River, and Heaven on Earth Natural Foods in Qualicum Beach.   Of course, if you live in the Lower Mainland you can probably find them at your local Whole Foods (of which I am jealous).  If you don’t live on the Island or in the Lower Mainland, you can try calling your local health food store and seeing if they have it, or just order the stuff online!

 

BLACK KEYS

I’m going to see the Black Keys tonight and I AM SO EXCITED.  I even wore green pants (and then immediately spilled coffee on them) in honour of actually going to the big city and milling about in a crowd.  The thing that sucks, though, is having to take a ferry over to Vancouver to see the concert, and then taking the ferry back tomorrow.   I don’t mind living on an island, until I want to get off it.  If you live on an island, then you know exactly what I mean.  If you’re on the mainland you can just get in your car and drive wherever you want, at whatever speed you want.  Leaving here is like driving whatever speed you want to the ferry, waiting for usually two and half hours to actually get to the other side, and then speeding off again.  It’s a hiccup in an otherwise fun trip (in my opinion).

Though I dislike the ferries, the hardest thing about going over for the concert will be eating well while I’m over there.  I have a bit of jerky and almonds that I’ve brought with me, but I’m not used to staying up really late and having to wake up really early to catch a ferry.  I’ve got to be on my game and make sure that I don’t binge on sugar because I’m sleepy and need to wake up (which tends to happen).  I’ve already prepped myself by eating a huge breakfast and bringing a huge lunch to work with me.  Hopefully, I’ll eat a big enough dinner that I won’t be dreaming about candy when I’m outwardly dancing to “Sister”.   Breakfast could be iffy, maybe I’ll eat on the ferry.  They have pretty decent breakfasts (bacon & eggs), I think.

I find it amusing that going away for the evening takes so much planning in the food department.  I feel like I’m planning a heist or something.  I just don’t want to be caught unawares by a debilitating licorice craving and have no choice but to give in.  I guess this just goes to show that eating well is an effort, but completely doable.  Just plan for it!  So, despite my worries about finding food, I AM GOING TO SEE THE BLACK KEYS AND TAKE PICTURES AND DANCE AND HAVE MY EARDRUMS EXPLODE.

Sushi!

I used to love sushi.  I love using chopsticks, I LOVE pickled ginger (I usually ate all of it and no, I didn’t feel guilty), and yam rolls make me lose my mind.  So, when I decided to chuck rice out of my diet, the only thing I really moped about losing was sushi.  I’ve never really liked rice as a side dish, but it’s kind of necessary for sushi, ya know?  I know that some paleo people eat white rice occasionally as it is a pretty safe starch as far as they go (here is a good description of why from Paul Jaminet of the Perfect Health Diet), but for me, I just don’t dig it.  Now when I go out for sushi, I usually eat a bunch of sashimi and whatever that seaweed salad is called (god, I love it).

The other day, however, I bought some nori papers because I wanted to make these (which are amazing by the way).  I had a bunch of papers left over, so I decided to use some random stuff in my fridge and make sushi.  I think I used garlic roast beef, avocado, red pepper, and cucumber at that time.  Without the rice to make the nori paper damp and stick together properly, it was a bit funky, so I used a basting brush to spread some water on there and it seemed to work pretty well.  I was pleasantly surprised that it worked out, I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  Even my boyfriend commented that it looked pretty good (but immediately followed up with “I don’t want to eat it, though”).

Today I have lox, avocado, and cucumber sushi for lunch.  I love it when I’m excited to eat my lunch!  The picture I took doesn’t really make them look as appetizing as they really are (I swear!).

Taking a New Tack…

I don’t know if everyone who tries to follow a paleolithic diet template and lives above the 49th parallel has the same issues as I do, but I’m willing to bet that they do.  The issues I speak of here are in regards to sourcing organic vegetables, grassfed beef and dairy products, pasture raised chicken and eggs, and other such things that seem to be in abundance everywhere but here in the Great White North.  I know we have some strict (if a bit nonsensical) rules regarding unpasteurized dairy, and it’s hard to find grassfed anything out there, but hopefully this site can become a reference point for those Canadians who want to make sure they have the best food products for themselves and their families.

I’ve decided to make this blog into a detective agency.  An agency that will track down paleo friendly sources of food and share them here.  As I live on Vancouver Island, I’ll start here with local sources and see what I can find.  I’m on a mission to find the best of everything. If anyone has a company or farm near them that they have found offers paleo-esque products (in Canada), then by all means, let me know!!   I know there are places out there…I think we may need to just do some digging.  Time to find my pipe and collection of sleuth hats……

Ahhhh, Watson.

 

Homemade Burgers (with Portobello Buns)

Image courtesy of mrsedsresearchandrecipes.blogspot.ca

Last night I attempted to make my own burgers, and I must say it went pretty darn well.  I’d never done it before so I was a bit wary, but I figured it couldn’t be that hard.  I didn’t really know what to use for buns as I don’t really eat grains, so when I saw the portobello mushroom caps in the grocery store, I figured they might serve the right purpose (and yeah, I was right *fist pump*).   I’m stoked that these were so easy to make because I don’t really like buying the pre-packaged patties and I nearly always have some ground beef kicking around.   Hooray for easy weekday meals!   These only took about 10 minutes to whip up (including getting the fixing ready). Here’s what I used to make my burgers (I’m sorry, I’m not really the measuring type unless I’m baking, so I just used whatever amounts I thought seemed appropriate).

Patties:

1lb ground beef

1 egg

Salt

Pepper

Ground Mustard Seed

Paprika

Oregano

Cayenne Pepper

Mix all this stuff together in a bowl (I find hands are the best utensil for this).  Once mixed, take out about a handful at a time and roll it into a ball (roll it in your hands enough that there are no seams).  Press the ball onto a plate, tray, whathaveyou, and flatten it into pattie shape.  My pre-cooked patties were about 3″ in diameter and they cooked up quite a bit smaller.  I would say maybe 4″ diameter would yield a decent sized cooked burger pattie. Grill those suckers on yo’ grill!

For the portobello ‘bun’, I just threw two of the caps onto the grill (well, I got my boyfriend to do it as I don’t have good grill skillz) and cooked them for about 2-3 minutes per side.

While these things are a-grilling, you can prepare the rest of your burger fixings.  I cut up some iceberg lettuce, some red onion, some dill pickles and some really good goaty cheese.  I also have really great gluten-free dijon mustard that I use whenever I can (on everything I can).

Okay, final step.  Take your stuff off the grill and make a burger!  I find that using the portobello caps as buns is super filling, I could barely get through one burger.  It was delicious, though, and I will most definitely be making these again.

Sleep Monster

Image from flash-screen.com

I’ve been having trouble sleeping for the past few nights (excluding last night, I totally won that one) and it has been driving me crazy.  I know that stressing about a thing like sleep isn’t really conducive to getting it done.  I don’t know about you guys but when I get mad about the fact that I can’t sleep, it just makes it worse.  I flop around and beat my pillows (much to the delight of my rock-sleeper boyfriend) and generally want to scream.   I can get to sleep, no problem, but staying asleep has been a huge issue.  I usually wake up a few times in the night, to roll over and fix my pillow and such, but lately I’ve not been able to sink back into sleep.

This BBC article has some really interesting theories about pre-17th century sleep patterns. A psychiatrist in the 90’s performed an experiment where he had a group of people “plunged into darkness” for 14 hours every day for a month. These people settled into a pattern of sleeping, waking for a few hours, then sleeping again. Apparently (according to the article), before the advent of nighttime lighting (streetlights, etc.), peoples’ sleep patterns were a two-parter.  They would go to sleep (relatively early) for about fours hours, wake up for an hour or two, and then go back to sleep for another four or so hours.   This pattern diminished as society became more nocturnal as going to bars, late night coffee houses and other nighttime pursuits grew commonplace.   A contributor to the article, sleep psychologist Gregg Jacobs, believes that the old pattern of waking up during the night is “part of normal human physiology”.   Thus, the eight hour sleep that we’ve been told is the standard, might not be right for us.

Robb Wolf, of the Paleo Solution, also has some thoughts on sleep.  His rebuttal to the BBC article can be found here, and basically says that sure, if we had the chance to have 14 hours of sleep in the dark, then maybe we could go back to that “bi-modal” style of sleep. However, since not many people have the luxury of sleeping 14 hours a day (in a pitch black room, no less), the key is to maximize the time you actually get, and minimize the amount of artificial light you have near you while sleeping.  Artificial light elevates cortisol levels (because hey, when it’s light out you should be doing something, right?) and so when you’re trying to sleep with the hallway light beaming at you under the door and your alarm clock blinking at your face, you probably won’t have the best sleep.  In addition, watching tv and staring at the computer screen before bed won’t help your sleep much either. According to this article, indoor lighting before bed also contributes to a lower level of melatonin, which “could, in turn, have effects on sleep quality and the body’s ability to regulate body temperature, blood pressure and glucose levels.” Not so good.

How to remedy?  Get some blackout curtains, don’t have an alarm clock staring you in the face (Amazon sells some cool “daylight” ones), and try and stop looking at your tv/computer/phone at least a half hour before you head to bed.  I need to put this into practice myself as well (I’m guilty of playing Sudoku on my phone before I go to sleep). Here’s to having some good sleeps in the near future!

Toes Not Heels

I have run, off and on, for the better part of ten years.  Sometimes I consider myself a dedicated runner, and sometimes I consider myself a half-assed runner.  Usually, when I run, I have a training program that I try and stick to.  However, once I’m done that training program, I have a tough time finding the motivation to keep running.  I have a plan to deal with that post-goal motivation slump, and I’m excited to just run out of habit instead of following a strict plan all the time.  At the moment, I am following a plan, so I’m motivated, but when I’m done I just need to work on improving my run in various ways.  Keeping things varied always works for me in everything else, so why not running?  But I digress, this post isn’t about my running motivation, it’s about the way I run.

I have never attended a running clinic, nor actually cared too much about the physiology and technique of the activity.  I mean, everyone knows how to run, right?  Turns out no, not everyone does.  And I was one of those people who was making things worse the harder I trained.  I have always run heel-toe, coming down on my heel and springing off my toe.  I’ve also never felt comfortable running, like it was such a struggle every time.  My legs would get so tired and I would wonder why they weren’t getting stronger and things weren’t getting easier.  I trained for a 10k last year and, even though I completed the race, I didn’t feel like I was really ready.  I felt like I was still so far away from finding my runs enjoyable; it’s like I never got better.

My co-worker, who has run many marathons and is an avid runner, runs like a deer.  I remember the first time I saw him run and I thought his running style was a bit bizarre, but I never really thought anything else about it.  A few weeks ago I was looking into some minimalist shoes and some tips about how to transition from regular runners to the non-padded shoes and found a video of a woman running, much like my co-worker.  This prompted some digging into running technique and I found out that the correct way to place your feet when you run is to land on the mid or fore-foot, not the heel.  I was a bit surprised at this, considering how many people I see doing the heel-toe stride, but man, did that ever open my eyes.  Landing on your heel impacts your body much more as the impact is much more forceful and sends shocks up through your legs and hips and generally makes running harder on you.  Landing on your mid or fore-foot helps absorb the impact a lot more and, as a result, you are more efficient and your body will work a lot better.  I found this great article in the Globe and Mail that discusses exactly what I’m talking about here (but has better information from people who actually run well).  Check out the picture below and note the position of their feetsies.

Photo courtesy of Runnerscorner.com

So, in light of this new discovery, during my runs this week I concentrated on striking the ground with my mid-sole first. And you know what?  It feels so awesome.  I feel lighter on my feet and I actually found my run segments went by effortlessly.  I know I still have a long ways to go in terms of making this technique a habit, but with such good results the first week, I don’t think I’ll mind the practice.  I’m hoping that switching up my technique will help me find what I’ve been missing in my runs all these years.

Meatzza!

Since I stopped eating grains, one of the things I’ve missed most is pizza.  Every once in a while my boyfriend buys one and I get to smell everything I’m missing, and let me tell you, it sucks.  Luckily for me, a lot of people who have stopped eating grains have also missed pizza!  I first found out about the phenomenon of a meat-pizza a while ago from Melissa Joulwan’s site, and I’ve since made it several times, in several different ways.   Even though there is no doughy goodness for a crust, the meatzza more than delivers on taste (I mean, it’s totally up to you what you put on it, so it can be as fantastic as you want!).  I like being able to have ‘pizza’ with everyone else and not feel like a weirdo when I’m eating salad and jealously staring them down as they eat their slices.  Soooo here you go: meatzza!

Crust:

1 lb. ground beef
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
2 eggs

Heat yo’ oven to 350F.  Mix all this together (I find by hand works best) and make either one big ball, or two little balls.  Smush those balls flat onto a baking sheet and then stick them in the oven for about 12 or so minutes (until cooked).  Take those little crusties out and let them cool a bit (it’s easier to spread the sauce on this way).

Toppings:

8 oz can of tomato paste (I like to use the garlic one) – alternatively you can use any kind of pizza sauce, I just like the taste of tomato paste.

Whatever veggies you want (my staples are mushrooms, green peppers, olives, spinach and sundried tomatoes)! Saute them first before sticking them on your pizza, that   way they’re actually cooked when you go to eat them.   If you want, you can put cheese on there as well.  Every once in a while I have goat cheese on there, or shredded mozzarella.

And then…

Stick your pizza(s) back in the oven for 10-12 minutes, then take them out and let them cool down for a few minutes (sometimes I don’t let them cool and burn my mouth something awful…..you’d think I’d learn).  And then…wait for it….wait for it….EAT THEM.

photo courtesy of theclothesmakethegirl.com

Ceiling Busting

Picture courtesy of the Paleo Plan

Recently I’ve been realizing that I don’t eat enough, well, I don’t eat enough good stuff.  For the longest time I’ve been following the 1200 calorie ideal, trying to make everything fit. Unfortunately, I can adhere to that calorie ceiling for about a week at a time until I crumble and crawl into the pantry looking to put anything and everything into my mouth.  I exercise pretty regularly, five or six times a week, and I’ve never really thought about the amount of food I take in versus the amount of energy I put out.  I suppose I’ve had it drilled into my head over the years that eating less is better.  What I didn’t understand was that it’s not sustainable.  Shocking as it may seem, I’ve only lately come to the realization that I need to eat more to consistently fuel my body and not find myself wandering, Lurch-like, through the candy aisles in the grocery store.   My body is simply running low on energy because I’m actually using up all the nutrients I’m putting in there and then (at the 1200 calorie limit) ceasing to give it any more (out of pure stubborn will).  Willpower will only get you so far if you’re not actually giving your body what it needs.  There is no point in depriving your body of healthy food when it’s just going to go straight for the bad stuff when you do (look at me, talking about my body like it’s somehow unattached to my mind).

My moral to this story is that if your body needs food, eat.  However, eat healthy food, and try not to stress out about calories.  This is my major downfall, my calorie obsession.  My goal for this next week is to forget about counting and restricting, and to give myself free rein to enjoy real, healthy food in whatever amount my body needs.  Of course, I’m not going to go ahead and eat an entire quiche to myself (I hope), but I want to see what happens when I take the unnecessary stress of counting calories out.  I’ve both heard and read, many a time, that if you follow a paleolithic diet, rich in vegetables, meats, fruits, fats and nuts (but mainly veggies and meat), your body will thrive and will let you know when you’re satiated.   It’s a nice idea, but one that I’ve yet to experience.   Ah well, here’s to trying!