The Fresh 20

Every once in a while, Groupon or another discount site will expose me to something good.Today's discount included a 50% off deal on meal plans from a company called The Fresh 20. They are offering $24 for 12 Months of Classic, Vegetarian, or Gluten-free Meal Planning ($49 Value)

Every Friday, The Fresh 20 posts a meal plan for five healthy dinners. The plan includes a shopping list of 20 ingredients, estimated costs, simple recipes, and ideas for leftovers. The meals are kid-friendly and designed to feed a family of four. Vegetarian and gluten-free meal plans are also available.

Seems like a pretty cool idea to me, especially if taking that step into healthy eating has been impeded by just not knowing what to do or what to make. You can find the Groupon deal here.

Simple & Good Choices

So, I forgot to pack my lunch today and after my run this morning, I was starving. Now the only decent choice we have in the food court at the Peterson Events Center @ The University of Pittsburgh is a salad bar. Other than that, there is an icecream stand, a Burger King, a sub place, and a pizza/ pasta place. Which is why most of the Pitt Police look like this.

I eat at the salad place fairly regularly, but sometimes I'm just not feeling it.So, today I went down to the local IGA. It's not a very fancy grocery store and definitely doesn't have a Whole Foods or Trader Joes health focus, but I found some options.

I always start with a good protein source. Today I went with Ducktrap Smoked Salmon. It's farm raised and definitely short of quality as compared to wild caught, but it was pretty much salmon with some spices, so nothing terrible about it.

I also had some steamed broccoli and cauliflower. I got Birds Eye Steam Fresh Frozen Vegetables. I've shied away from frozen vegetables in the past because of preservatives and losing nutritional value, plus I just like raw vegetables, but IGA's fresh vegetables didn't look great and I wanted something warm with the cold of the salmon.So, I was delighted when I read the ingredients and there wasn't a single ingredient I couldn't pronounce. It was just broccoli and cauliflower. I feel happy about my score there.

Finally, I topped it off with some Justin's Maple Almond Butter. Almond butter is delicious goodness and way tastier than peanut butter without the negatives associated with them. So, I had a little pack of it just to get some more Calories in and to have something that stayed with me a little better.

I was also pleased with myself because one of the eating strategies I promote is the "Divide Your Plate Into 3rds Strategy" Except, instead of having. 1/3 as Whole Grains, we just go with more veggies, maybe some fruit, some sweet potato, some nuts and seeds. You know, things with actual desirable nutritional content. This little meal fit right into that with 4oz fish, 12oz vegetables, and the almond butter was only a little over 1oz.

Like this, just with less starch and more veggies.

 So, I ended up picking some decent quality foods. What does that look like in the macro department? 

Fish- 180C

PRO-26g

FAT- 8g

CHO- 0g

Veggies-105C (The whole bag was considered 3.5 servings by the way. It felt like one serving to me.)

PRO-5.5g

FAT-1g

CHO-15.5g

Almond Butter-200C

PRO- 6g

FAT- 17g

CHO- 8g

Total- 485C

PRO- 33g

FAT- 26g

CHO- 23.5g

So that comes to a 21/29/50% CHO/PRO/FAT ratio. Now that's a little higher in fat than where I'd normally like to be and a little low in carbs, but I ate some fruit after my workout and that was weighed more in that direction.It's been a few hours now and I'm still satieted, but I can tell I'm going to need to eat again later this afternoon, so I can have a small dinner before my night class. 

Anyway, I hope this helps anyone who is looking for how to put together a meal when you are on the go and looking for a healthy option.

Diabetes Cat

Diabetes Cat

My most recent post (I use the term recent loosely) was about my dog choosing quality food over crap. I got a text from my friend Christin about her cat and I thought it was worth sharing. I hope HIPAA laws don't apply to cats.

In June, her cat was diagnosed with diabetes. He had a blood sugar of 560! The vet asked if she wanted to put him down, which she wasn't ready to do. So, they gave her some prescription food and some insulin and sent her on her way. The fancy prescription cat food didn't have any positive change in the cat's health. In July, she put her cat on a paleo diet centered around raw chicken (because that's what cats eat in real life). Last week, he was tested again... His blood sugar is down to 85 and he is likely to be getting off the insulin next month. The vet couldn't believe it.

Most of Christin's friends think she's nuts. I'm not sure why it isn't common sense to understand that the quality of what we put in our bodies makes a difference in our health. What our pets put in their bodies makes a difference in their health. And what our food eats, makes a difference in their health and thus our health again. And sometimes the food we are willing to put in our pets has an impact on our health. "Where's the Dog Food? In Your Hamburger".

Even My Dog Knows Quality

Just wanted to share a funny anecdote from this morning. On my morning run with the dog, the garbage collectors had left quite a mess. This led to one distracted puppy. Just as I finished, I saw her stray off to a particularly interesting pile of debris. She snatched something in her mouth. Now, my little pup is notorious for scarfing down stolen food with the quickness. She has stolen half a roast off the counter in the time it took me to turn my back and fill a glass of water.

So, I expected whatever she grabbed to be in her belly before I even had a chance to try to take it from her. However, the quality of food in my house must have spoiled her. I will feed my dog scraps on occasion as a training tool. She loves the traditional food that drives dogs crazy like chicken,pork and of course pieces of steak. But she also likes her veggies. She'll eat carrots, and nuts, and she LOVES bananas, maybe even more than the meat. We even spend a little more to buy her quality dog foods. So, I look down at her and I see a hotdog poking out of her mouth and she has this puzzled look on her face like "WTF is this? It smells like it should be food, but it isn't." I reached down to take it from her and she gave no complaint. Now, to be fair to hotdogs, this was no Hebrew National or premium brand all beef hotdog. This was clearly the remnants of a last minute BBQ supplied by the Walmart special. But still, I'm proud of my little pup for making quality choices even when opportunity presents itself. So, if my little mutt is smart enough to make these kind of choices, shouldn't you?

Paleo Gourmet

Hey cave dwellers,

I know it's been a while since I posted on my culinary endeavors. I have been trying to hone my skills in the kitchen and have been learning a lot over the past few months. I've found some great resources and have tried a bunch of really good recipes that I look forward to sharing. Quick update on my status personally. After returning from Afghanistan, I celebrated a little too hard and shot up to 195lbs and close to 20% body fat. My blood profiles were a mess and I felt like crap in general. In January I decided that I needed to get back on the paleo horse. In, 3 months of very casual and not strict at all paleo eating, I cut 18lbs and I'm down to just over 10% BF. My cholesterol dropped 30pts and I feel great.

So, while I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen and on the grill, I am also stupid busy and don't always have the time to plan ahead. In steps Paleo Brands. They sell a series of frozen dinners, jerky, and paleo friendly snacks. For when I'm running out the door in the AM and didn't have time to get a lunch together the night before, this is the perfect solution. All the meals are gluten/ trans fat/ other garbage free. As an added bonus, they are cheaper than what I'd spend on a meal at a fast food place. I ordered their Paleo Gourmet Sampler Pack to get an idea of what they have to offer. The meals look quite good, but I wasn't convinced just yet. I mean, if you look at the pictures of most tv dinners, the ads looks wholesome and delicious, but the results taste like old tire. Well, I had my first meal today. The Fish Patties were definitely a keeper. It consisted of 3 fish patties, a mix of vegetables, and spaghetti squash. I took a pic of the box. Should have shared one of the meal itself, but it was gone too fast. This definitely met expectations and if the rest of the meals are as good, I will be going this route again.

Smart Choices

Have you ever been out and missed a meal? That starving feeling in your gut and the fogginess in your head from low blood sugar can lead to some bad food choices. I was out picking up some things from Walmart today and had missed breakfast. I was roaming the isles feeling like this.

I was wandering up and down the isles trying my hardest not to just attack any thing that might have a little sugar in it. I got over to their grocery section and saw my salvation. There was a Subway inside, but the bread doesn't fit with a paleo lifestyle. They had an area with a large board above it titled "Quick Meals" which is what my stomach was demanding. But when I got there, it was all microwave pizzas, sandwiches, and other premade, over processed "foods".

The funny thing is, that while I watched plenty of people on their way to a heart attack, gravitate towards these foods, just a 180 turn away the vision looked like this:

So, I turned that direction and made some quick decisions that got my blood sugar back to normal faster than if I had chosen something from the "Quick Meals" section and probably faster than if I had gone to Subway. What I ended up having was some apricots, almonds, and sliced chicken breast (which was my only regret as lunch meat isn't exactly paleo with all the salt and preservatives) But, it was still a satisfying meal with less guilt than anything else I would have done at that moment.

So go out and make some smart decisions because they are plotting against you.

Eating Out 2- Chipotle

Chipotle is one of my regular lunchtime stops for a meal on the go. However, there are limited choices that fit within the paleo lifestyle. The salad there is a great choice though. The carnitas is my personal favorite. I'll pass on the dressing and get it with the fajita vegetables, mild and hot salsa, guacamole, cheese (a violation to the strict paleo, but one I'm not willing to move on), and if I'm extra hungry, I'l get double the meat.

It's a delicious choice and I never seem to get tired of it.