PEP TALK :

Stay in the game, bitches!

Next stop - Cardio Vascular Disease!

Reminder :

• Week 2 of Sample Recipes are up.
• The calipers are at the gym if you want to take your measurements. 
• As far as your measurements are concerned, if you did not do them this weekend you are OK to do them on week 2 or week 3, at the very least, the half-way point. Granted you stayed Paleo-savvy, it should show you a progression. 

---> M

Banana-Blueberry Nut Muffins

In celebration of no one telling me that tomorrows WOD is freakin Murph! I made some Paleo friendly banana-blueberry nut muffins. I found this recipe using the great tool known as “Google”. Thus, I cannot take credit for it. It’s pretty simplistic and I’d grade the end result a B+. Going forward, I think I would add at least one more banana, and a little more honey. The recipe will make approximately 18 muffins. To those conquering Murph tomorrow, I will be bringing some to the box to taste.


Ingredients:
2 Cups of Almond Meal
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
5 Banana’s (Smashed, add another one IMO)
2 tsp Honey
4 tsp Cinnamon
4 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 ½ Cups of Walnut Halves
2 Cups of Blueberries

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Use 2 bowls; one for dry ingredients and 1 for wet. Use a mixer if you have one or stir until combined (be sure bananas are really smashed). If you are not using cupcake wrappers, make sure the muffin pan is greased with olive oil or coconut oil. Bake approximately 23 minutes. Store in the refrigerator for longer lasting muffins.

PC Topic: Tired

What up my brothas and sistas?

I received this question earlier today, so I thought I would address it blogwide.

(Paraphrasing)

Dear Manni,

Let me start off by saying that you are as cool as the other side of the pillow. I had a workout today. It was my first workout since Sunday, because this week has been really busy, and I think I did awfully (compared to my baseline workout capacity). Is this is normal for the 1st week of being Paleo, or is there something I might be doing wrong? I have been pretty strict with everything so I am curious if that is normal. I have a beast workout planned for tomorrow and I'd say I'm a bit concerned for my ability to perform. Thoughts?

Yours Truly,

-Inquisitive Monkey

Good question, Monkey. This first week is rough in general, but after several days, your body should start figuring out how to manage energy (in a different than previously, aka [before Paleo], manner). Sometimes it may take one's body a bit longer to acclimate. This may be dependent on various factors including, what your nutritional intake was prior to changing your diet, independent physiology, age, rest/unrest, stress.... the list goes on. Rememeber that your body is transitioning to utilization of fat as your primary source of energy. Also, you have probably been eating crazy amounts of starches (Hell, I ate half a cake on the weekend prior to Paleo Challenge's commencement) before you began being Paleo.
Hopefully, by now your lethargy/headachey-ness should be waning. The mainstream would call this phenomena "The Low-Carb Flu", but it is more correct to think about it as "The Detox-From-So-Freakin-Much-Crap-Carbohydrates-That-You-Had-Been-Eating Flu"! I will be honest with you, I have heard about some people complaining about these and other symptoms for as long as a couple of weeks before their body decides to act right. Bear in mind that, you're rewiring your circuitry.

In addition, you inquisitive little monkey, to the aforementioned circumstances/causes there may be several other possible factors, or combination of factors, at play which may be contributing to your "impotence".

• Your nutrition prior to your workout wasn't adequate/optimal/sufficient to keep your energy levels.
• You weren't well rested. You may blame this on your hectic week if you want, it is certainly a valid thought. Sleep, damn you, sleep.
• Is it possible that you were just having an "off" day? ("Wrong side of the bed"-type scenario?)

These aren't the only ones that come to mind, but these are the most likely. I'd venture to say that it's a little of each and independant physiology. I doubt, however, that received the short stick and will continue on suffering for a while. Try to remember what you ate during the last 12-24 hours (prior to your workout) and scrutinize it. Did you have enough FAT, Carbohydates, and Protein? Remember, you don't necessarily need to dramatically increase your protein intake (most active people do well with 1-2 kgs of protein per 1 kg of body weight), you need only to ensure that you aren't consuming too much [bad for you] foods.

As far as tomorrow is concerned, make sure to rest adequately and I suggest you have a light snack (perhaps, 1/2 a banana, a bit of almond butter, and a piece or two of jerky - for example) sometime before your beast workout. Don't worry, it won't count against your 1 piece of fruit permitted per day :-)

-El Leon Negro

So there you have it. I hope that this may help some of you guys out. Feel free to ask anything you want. We can all get our learn 'on together.

-M

Chicken Pad Thai ... with Spaghetti Squash!

Alright, so last night I decided to venture into using spaghetti squash. I was skeptical at first, but am really happy with how it turned out! Needless to say, it was an orgasm of YUM.

There are three components to this recipe: sauce, stirfry and spaghetti squash.

Sauce:

3 TB lime juice

3 TB soy sauce

3 TB fish sauce

2 TB rice vinegar

1 TB Honey
1 TB sesame oil

Red Pepper flakes, to desired spiciness

Stirfry:

1/2 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

Chicken, shrimp, beef, or pork

Veggies - anything you want to add! I added lots of green, red, yellow bell peppers, carrots etc., I feel like you could get creative in this department.

Saute the onions and garlic in a bit of oil for 1-2 minutes, then add your protein (I chose chicken) and stirfry until fully cooked. Toss in the veggies and cook until they start to soften. Add the sauce and simmer for a few minutes. Serve over your squash!

Spaghetti Squash:
Ok there are several methods to do this; however, being a college student, I picked the quickest and most convenient option (who doesn't like something quick and easy? Jk guys ;D), but if you google "preparing spaghetti squash" you'll find something that involves an oven and some more complicated techniques, which may yield you even better results.

1. Cut spaghetti squash in half, long ways (like how you'd cut an avocado).

2. Scrape out seeds

3. Wrap each half of the squash in saran wrap

4. Microwave each half for 6-8 minutes.

5. Take fork and scrape inside of squash into bowl (caution: it will be hot!)


This was super easy to make and tasted great. Also, I got this recipe from http://cavegirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com which has a lot of really tasty things I want to try.

P.S. I apologize that the picture I'm uploading falls quite short of artistic, or appealing to the eye (gotta love the ladle sticking out of the stirfry, keepin' it real). Hopefully next time it'll be a bit more pleasant!

Lemon Rosemary Tilapia

4 tilapia filets (can use any white fish)
1 lemon
4 sprigs of rosemary
extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
capers (small container)
salt & pepper

Cover cookie sheet with a layer of aluminum foil. Place filets side by side on the aluminum foil. Cut lemon in half. Squeeze juice of half the lemon over all four filets. Drizzle EVOO over fish as desired. Salt and pepper to taste. Cut the other half of the lemon into four discs. Place a sprig of rosemary and a lemon disc on each filet. Sprinkle capers over filets as desired. Cook uncovered for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Tip: Squeeze lemon with cut side up to prevent seeds from falling onto fish.