Holy cow Batman, it's been a while

Huh, about 5 months since my last post...and all hell has broken loose - we've been through an Air Force retirement, Delta interview, Delta hiring and indoctrination (and now in process of MD-88 school), starting kindergarten, losing a parent (not mine), trying to change jobs in the reserves...stress meter has been pegged so blog was off the schedule.

Anyway, never mind all that. The low-carb/paleo lifestyle has been fabulous - I have a lot more energy and never get sleepy after lunch, and can eat a lot of fat without gaining a lot of weight. The intense workouts are part of the puzzle, but they're short, and it works MUCH better than long slow distance and carbs. This morning's craft was paleo scones - used almond and coconut flour, coconut oil, a little grapeseed oil, some egg, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and I'm sure I forgot something, but in any case, WOW! They went great with strawberries and fresh whipped cream, and the kids destroyed them.

The snowbirds are back in force, and a whole gaggle of them were at Harlow Gardens today. I was trying to buy poop for the garden and nearly shoved some of them out of the way - not on purpose, not to be belligerent, but think of it like kicking the pigeons in St. Mark's Square...they're in the way, and they belong there but I'm bigger and faster! They do a lot of community service and I appreciate their presence, except when they're doing 35 in a 40 zone in their Grand Marquis, riding the brakes.

After acquiring said poop, I spent a lovely afternoon digging steer manure into my community garden plot, attempting to level the ground around the plot - no more "pit gardening," and dropping in another slew of seeds. I had to rip out a batch of terrific pepper plants and eggplant plants (redundant?) to make room for the new stuff, and they had frost damage anyway. Phase I of the garden now has salad greens, peas, garlic, and some other stuff - I'm not sure what all of it is.

We checked out a new restaurant tonight: The Abbey. They are still working out some kinks, but the food was great. I have a few gripes but will spare them here, except for the stingy pour of the inferior Riesling; $8 for 3 oz of grape juice? Really? Fortunately the salmon was phenomenal.

Afterwards, I finished making the butternut squash soup that I started earlier, and cranked out a batch of eggplant soup too. Freezer will be stocked, ready for the harsh cold snaps that we get here in Tucson; for example, when it gets below 60. Brrr! Thank you, Janos, for the eggplant soup recipe. I have now used about 10 lbs of eggplant in at least 6 different recipes. If only I had something to do with all the peppers...I'll think about it while enjoying my baba ghanouj. Yum.

Cornell, Carb-Free (mostly), and Courteous Cops

Last time, I was just getting through my first week of TKD - eating mostly protein, some leafy greens, etc. I haven't been strict about it, but have mostly eaten under 30 carbs/day and low fat as well. After 2.5 weeks, I feel AMAZING! I never get blood sugar swings and am therefore never tired after lunch; have extra energy most of the time; and actually don't get hungry much. I'm not bored with the chicken because I mix in fish and treats (beef, chocolate) enough to keep it interesting, and use a lot of hot sauce. I've leaned up and ran a 5k within 1 second of my all-time PR (12 years ago), and scored 100 on the Air Force Physical Fitness Test with my fastest 1.5 mile run in ages. I have lost a few pounds but nothing drastic; I'm probably leaner, though. I can't believe I have been eating carbs for all these years and only just unlocked the no-carb lifestyle. It's too bad that most of the population won't do it and won't believe it, and that crap food prevails, but at least I found it and I can get my kids eating better. I don't even crave the berries that are everywhere, though would like to eat more of them, and more tomatoes (I love tomatoes!) so will start working these back in sometime soon...maybe. Wine, sugar-free (mostly) chocolate, and almond butter (fresh-ground) are my treats.

Speaking of treats, I attended my 15th college reunion last weekend. Verdict - FUN FUN FUN, so glad I went! Everyone (mostly) looked the same, and the campus had changed a lot, but the spirit was the same. I ate Hot Truck - French bread pizza/garlic bread with pizza sauce and toppings and cheese, absolutely delicious and well worth the treat. Saw a lot of friends, walked everywhere, slept in the dorms...nostalgia can do you good, and it certainly was a great recharge.

I'm now in Montgomery, AL for a class. I actually got a notice on my car from the police, thanking me for securing my car. I see that they check to make sure windows are up, doors are locked, etc. I'm not sure how to react - after the initial speechlessness wore off, I think I was more surprised than anything. People sure are nice here! The shrimp is excellent too, and I really hope it stays that way, though listening to Alabama Public Radio leads one to believe that they're screwed down here and clearly Obama has no freaking clue what he's doing (as usual). It's quiet and I don't see much to do besides work, work out, and sweat, but it's not nearly as awful as I expected. Actually, it's a nice quiet little place so far. I don't want to live here, but a visit is just fine.

Targeted Muscle-Sparing Ketogenic Diet so far

I'm a CrossFitter. I have CrossFit friends who went on this diet back in February. They weren't exactly blimps, and after a month of lots of chicken and few carbs, they got amazing results (huge body fat lost) without really losing strength. Inspired, I finally decided to try it, starting as a short-term solution to get me from vacation foodie-ness to college reunion - 9 days, 5 lbs as a goal. Sounds nuts? Sure. However, I was at the top end of my rather narrow range of tolerance (142 at 5'5") and wanted to see what I could do fast.

Tuesday, June 1 - Day 1. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Hungry, then eating, and got through the day but felt hungry a lot. As far as I can remember. Salmon for dinner, which is fattier than the diet allows but I already bought it.

Weds, June 2 - Day 2. More chicken. Feeling weird in the afternoon, spacey, could have been low sleep too.

Thurs, June 3 - Day 3. Felt horrible in afternoon, hot (I am usually freezing) but not really hungry. Hm.

Fri, Day 4. Upset stomach!

Sat, Day 5. Felt great! No problem sticking to it now. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Some fish and egg whites, protein shakes, and lots of water. Leafy greens and vitamins too. Ran a 5k in very hot weather and did fine, despite pushing 90 lbs of double stroller.

Sun, Day 6. Decided to try a cheat day - supposedly to jack up leptin, which burns fat and decreases when you starve. Made cheese souffle for breakfast. Yum but not many carbs! Supposed to be getting carbs. Went shopping, checked out the baked goods and nothing looked good! Read labels on ice cream - I don't want to eat that! Ick. Can I do a clean cheat? You're not supposed to do that. Lunch: pizza, even a few fries. Yum, but felt guilty guilty guilty.

Afternoon: drank milk! Made chicken, green beans, mac/cheese (mainly for kids), biscuits (leftover) with roasted garlic (fresh), and agave-sweetened brownies. Yum on the brownies but I feel horrible now and apparently put on something like 7 pounds today. Eew! I don't think I will do this again. To get the cheat benefit you have to eat carbs and what not for 5 hours minimum. I'd rather stick to chicken, thanks. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?

Baking, basketball, and bad juju

Attention Heloise: if the natural peanut butter separates in the jar, you can use a hand blender with the whisk attachment to mix it. Works like a champ. Also, the food processor attachment is great for grinding turbinado sugar so it behaves more like the processed, refined variety. Result: natural not-quite-paleo peanut butter cookies worked a lot better on the third try. Try #1 involved almond butter, oats, no salt, and rubbery results; try #2 was crunchy and like caramel but not quite right (though very very tasty).

Happiness is finding frozen cookie dough in the back of the freezer, where you hid it from your husband.

Speaking of husband...and now to the bad juju. How is one supposed to feel when one's husband prioritizes the change-of-command party for the husband of an officer who works for him over one's 9th anniversary date? We're supposed to go out for a nice dinner and then to a play with my alumni group on Saturday, and now he's saying the party takes priority. I'm thinking he needs to wake the f*** up or he is going to be in the doghouse worse than usual. He had been doing better lately in the points department...so much for that. Did I mention that he likes me alum group and I would be bored at the party? Tell ya what, I am not afraid of separate plans after dinner, but nothing says "this marriage is not important" like anniversary plans that involve being in different locations. It's bad enough that I'll be in another state on reserve duty on our actual anniversary...this was supposed to be Festivus Movus anniversary.

My alma mater made it into the Sweet 16! Go Big Red! Too bad the women's hockey team lost the NCAA final in triple overtime. Still, they did a lot better than anyone expected, and completely stunned Mercyhurst in the semifinals, which won me a beer.

Foodie!

I've turned into a foodie. I enjoying cooking delicious food with natural Ingredients and plenty of flavor, which unfortunately goes right against the Crossfit lIfestyle. The workouts almost balance the delicious food, but unfortunately, I don't think you can make paleo Guinness chocolate cupcakes with Bailey's buttercream frosting!

Bedtime for Boris

Years ago, I had a running joke about how the Russians were parading Yeltsin's vodka-preserved corpse around in the manner of "Weekend at Bernie's," and that he had actually died in 1994. Either way, apparently he is now gone. For all the foibles, mistakes, and even tragedies, Yeltsin sure did the world...well, a world of good, even if the Russians don't see it that way. Das Vadanya, Boris Yeltsin...you can sleep now.

The Looney Season

For years, I have been amazed at how the third week of April is always prime time for some majot tragedy. Oklahoma City, Columbine, the Branch Davidian fire, plane crashes in Asia (multiple in different years)...and reaching back, the 1906 SF earthquake, the Titanic sinking, and more recently, Chernobyl (okay, that was at the end of the month). Add one more to the list. It just seems strange. Sure, bad things happen at other times, but these events were particularly destructive.