wednesday, 3.6.13

7:15am
huge tuna and egg patties, kinda like meatloaf.
4 cans of tuna, 7 eggs, garlic, basil, pepper, rosemary crackers that i made on sunday for the “bread”, mixed and poured into an oven pan, baked at 350F for 45 mins. it should have only taken 30 mins., but my patties were extra thick. after it was done baking, i split the huge patty into three servings for w, th, and f breakfasts of this week.

12pm
was not hungry (wonder why =P). had my grapefruit green tea and was good to go.

4:50pm
workout
lower body and abs 6 sets of: 12, 10, 8, 6, 12, 12; with increasing weights (unless otherwise noted): 6, 10, 13, 16
quads: dumbbell squats- low-carry (10, 13, 16, 18, 10), shoulder rack (10, 13, 16, 18, 10)
hamstrings: dumbbell lunges, straight-leg deadlifts (10, 13, 16, 18, 10)
calves: standing heel raises (10, 13, 16, 18, 10), one-leg raises (10, 13, 16, 18, 10)
abs: ab ripper x (from p90x).

6:30pm
tilapia, sautéed garlic peppers, bean sprouts, some pork and chicken (like three bites), spinach. was still hungry after dinner, so i had a handful of nuts and a few gulps of almond milk, too.

i am feeling really good! today was a bit tiring because i subbed for another p.e. teacher and was out in the sun all day, but i honestly feel better than i have felt in a long time. i am feeling like i felt before my whole downward spiral, which is awesome. also, i am extra encouraged because a colleague of mine told me something special. there was a former teacher whose daughter was a victim of a car crash, and, sadly, she did not make it. my colleague asked us all to write letters if we wanted to so that she could send the former teacher and her family a care package. i had not known the teacher well. in fact, i only knew her name and would see her at the same church before she left for the states. however, i still wanted to reach out to her in hopes of helping her in some way. and i did! and i am so happy that i could make a positive impact, albeit a small one, on someone who is practically a stranger. =] PTL. i hope that i can keep glorifying God in this way, especially for peace. speaking of peace, i think my family mistakes my peace for cruelty. it can be difficult, but people who do not have God cannot have peace. a few of my family members are so stressed out over the physical. i am sad that my father is in the hospital, but, because it is out of my control, i can only place my trust in God. He has some sort of plan, and it is not important for me to know it. i can only do what i can.

it’s been interesting figuring out how to do breakfast. 50g of protein within half an hour of getting out of bed can be difficult sometimes, so i have been preparing bulk breakfasts to last me a couple of days. also, i like to stretch and do a little bit of yoga in the morning before eating anything, so it makes it extra difficult to try to prep in the morning. b.i.l. got me egg whites today, which was really nice of him. it was funny, though, because i had only asked him how much egg whites cost per unit, and then he said, “oh, they are 125nt (~$4usd) for one bottle, and one bottle has 30 egg yolks. i bought you four.” x_X well, i guess i’m set for a week. =P

interesting article husby showed me (“how i stopped eating food”):
http://robrhinehart.com/?p=298

and to end today’s post, here’s some motivation for what i call the the move, be moved, make a move MOVEMENT.:

=]

monday, 3.4.13.

7:20am
a few sips of almond milk (pretty easy to make, just soak almonds for 5-10 hours, blend with water 1:4 ratio, strain, and add a bit of vanilla and cinnamon to taste. better to do without skin, but, since we’re straining it, it doesn’t matter all that much).
paleo egg custard tart. i made two portions so that i could have it for breakfast tomorrow, too.
crust: crushed walnuts, ground golden flax seed, desiccated coconut, medjool dates (soaked for ~half an hour beforehand), cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg.
filling: 4 eggs, beaten; stir in milk of choice (i used blended cashews); lemon juice and zest; a drop of vanilla extract.
baked till set/firm.
topped with half a dried fig and MORE COCONUT. E>

i have it pictured with half a fig, but i could not eat it because i started to feel like i was having too much sugar from the crust due to the dates. so i left the fig and a portion of the crust as a dessert for lunch.

matcha green tea, courtesy of sensei’s well-behaved students.

12:45pm
grapefruit green tea, tuna+failed sardine pate (sardines, chives, grilled onions, basil, lemon juice and zest, parsley, pepper)+salad. had a few of my rosemary crackers with salad, too.

6pm
first time doing weights on leptin reset.
workout:
upper body 6 sets of: 12, 10, 8, 6, 12, 12; with increasing weights (unless otherwise noted): 6, 10, 13, 16
chest: dumbbell bench press, dumbbell flies
shoulders: seated dumbbell presses, front raises
triceps: seated triceps presses (started with 9), triceps kickbacks
back: wide-grip lat pull-ups (0 weights, extra second hang, 3lbs., 6lbs.), one-arm dumbbell rows
biceps: dumbbell curls, concentration curls

7pm
eggplant sautéed in garlic, soy sauce, and basil; salad greens with onions and cucumbers; clams; broccoli; a couple of swigs of almond milk.

i let my egg custard tart bake a little too long last night, but it ended up tasting really good! i baked two portions so that i have one for tomorrow’s breakfast, too. i tried to make sardine pate, but i didn’t have anything to substitute for the butter. also, i accidentally put too much lemon peel and water. it became a sauce instead of a pate, and it became bitter. bitter anchovy sauce. =( i put in canned tuna so that it wouldn’t be so overpowering. before i made the sauce pate, i soaked the anchovies in water for about thirty minutes. they are very briny, so i wanted to get rid of some of that sodium before i ate it. i also made a big batch of rosemary crackers. i’ve always made them pretty much the same way (leftover almond pulp, ground golden flax seed, crushed pumpkin seeds, seasonings, or any variation of nut powders), but they ended up being soft this time? i don’t know what happened. so i guess i have rosemary flatbread instead of crackers this time. =P i also made a batch of almond milk.

i know i supped too late, but the workout took longer than i expected. i ended up not doing a full minute’s rest between each set as bodyforlife advises, and i used super light weights. i feel like i can actually just get back on my normal exercise routine, but we’ll see how i feel tomorrow. i’d love to get back into insanity asylum-type workouts and powerlifting. unfortunately, i don’t really have the equipment for powerlifting. =T

i know that jack kruse advises against even drinking tea throughout the day, but i still drink it. =P i only do one bag in the morning, though, and refill and steep it till it can’t steep no’ mo’. i took photos for our japanese teacher this morning because they were doing a tea ceremony. a lot of giggling high school students. it was nice, though. i got a cup of yummy, albeit watery, matcha tea that sensei brought from japan. btw, i use takeya’s classic 22 oz. water bottle in black. it’s really good. leakproof (my mouth is not leakproof, but that’s not the bottle’s problem), convenient to use, not too heavy, and pretty. ;] i have been using the same one for about two years now. i use it for all kinds of drinks– hot teas,  chilled kombucha juice teas, chia seed drinks, and just plain water.

i’m starting to feel a lot better. i am still a little sleepy, though. just keep pushing forward. onward, ho!

wednesday, 2.27.13.

7:30am
niece’s leftover scrambled eggs (~1/2 an egg, sautéed onions and bamboo shoots), egg pudding=4 eggs+1/2 cup dreams hazelnut milk+1 tbsp coconut oil+cinnamon+ginger powder+nutmeg+ way too much flaxseed. so + a handful of golden raisins, gooseberries, almonds.

12:45pm
1.5 milkfish fillet, salad=1 cup of 2 types of romaine+ leftover kelp salad+sautéed peppers, onions, and tomatoes.

2:40pm
1 glass of grapefruit green tea from black tea.

5:30pm
panfried tilapia*, sauteed spinach+little fishies+japanese peppers*.

dessert of ~3/4 cup dreams hazelnut milk+cinnamon+ginger+nutmeg+vanilla.

*not prepared by me.

niece couldn’t finish her brekkie, so i ate it, but i didn’t finish my own breakfast pudding because i put wayyy too much flaxseed. i was pouring in some bob’s red mill ground golden when a whole clump fell out into my egg pudding, and so i had to just deal with it. it ended up making something delicious into something disgustingly bland. couldn’t even finish it. i had to add in a few golden raisins and gooseberries to try to make it more palatable, but i still couldn’t do it. i ate about 3/4 of it before i raised the white flag and the trashcan lid. what a waste. =(

i am the yearbook advisor this year, and our hs seniors (those rambunctious kids) had their mugshots taken today. every year, they go on location to shoot. we shot at a hipster arts district known as Pier 2. it was freaking hot, the kids were whining and about hunger and had trouble focusing on the task at hand, we wasted a lot of time waiting for certain people who decided to go six blocks away to get (UGH!) mcdonalds. it was all due to misunderstandings among too many people and disorganization on my part for being so inexperienced, and not anyone is at fault. we got our photos done, and that’s that. super drained, though, and i feel that i am extra moody because of the leptin reset, which is normal. it’s like withdrawal symptoms. moving on now. though today’s work time wasn’t that great, lunch was good (or maybe because i was so sick and tired of adolescents that eating was extra heavenly? xD).

i did something bad and had a grapefruit green tea as soon as we got back to school. we’re not supposed to snack on the leptin reset (or “forever,” as kruse claims), but i felt completely drained! my lips were parched and throat was so dry. i was in the sun from 10am-1:30pm, so the exposure was too much, and i got something that i call a sunstroke (i just made this name up, please don’t think of it as something medically diagnosed). i used to get sunstrokes really often (headache, weak, dizziness, no energy, sometimes nausea). taiwan is closer to the equator, so the sun feels harsher here in kaohsiung. anyway, a colleague orders drinks every week for the week, so my drink was sitting in the fridge, waiting for me. it was calling to me. i always get grapefruit green tea. i generally try to stay away from fruits because of the sugars, but there are a lot of benefits to citrus fruits, grapefruits especially. instead of spiking your insulin, it helps you to digest and clear out your system faster. =D so i don’t think i need to be remorseful about it, and the tea only has less than like 1/4 of the meat of a grapefruit.

right after i had the tea, my tummy was gurgling. i am thinking that the reason for the runs these past few days is because i have grapefruit tea after eating lunch when i should have it prior to any meal. any kind of fruit after a meal is not good! so make sure that, if you are eating fruits, eat them before a meal and never post-meal.

dinner was yumz. i love fish! fish fat is the real deal! i’d much rather have fish oil fresh from the source rather than from a capsule. i was craving something sweet after dinner, so i mixed together what i have been mixing for breakfast (sans eggs+nuts). as you can tell, i love cinnamon. i bought a huge thing of it so that i don’t have to worry about running out quickly.

i have not been preparing a lot of my own food this week. i guess i have been lazy. i do enjoy preparing food, though. maybe i’ll link my few readers to my pinterest page of food. ;D i love experimenting with different flavor sensations, anything from sweet and savory paleo crepes to hearty and delicious powerballs to creamy cashew tuna salads to epic powerfood desserts. and my lemon tarts! they’re my go-to because they are easy-peasy lemon-squeezy. they are both paleo and raw. i stopped making them because i was making them and eating them too much! was having one slice a day, every day. they are actually very healthy, but i felt like i was relying on them too much. anyway. i am so tired. need to sleeppppp. E>