May 25, 2013
by hannahsurges
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Nutrition Update: My Second Appointment with Dr. Diana

It’s been a little over a month since my first appointment with Dr. Diana, and quite a bit has changed. In the last 5 or so weeks, I’ve enjoyed a huge change in how I feel. I’m sleeping through the night consistently, my headaches are gone, I’m leaner, happier, more energetic, and generally feel calm and think clearly. I’ve also settled in to this way of eating and rather enjoy the simplicity of it.

My second appointment was on Thursday, and I was happy to have made it through the most restrictive dietary phase. I’ve pretty much stopped craving stuff like grains and baked goods, and I’ve hardly thought about soy and dairy at all. Going into my appointment, though, I was really excited about adding a bit more variety and maybe having a few more options at restaurants. Here’s what I get to add back into my diet:

- Green tea

- Bananas

- Blackberries

- Kiwi

- Peaches

- Pears

- Plums

- Corn

- Buckwheat

- Wild rice

- Flax seeds

- Canola oil (nice for when we’re out, but I won’t be using it at home)

- Lentils

- Potatoes

- Tomatoes

- Peas

- A bit of alcohol, on occasion (booze, not beer or wine)

I’m especially excited about being able to eat corn and tomatoes again, because that means that Mexican food is back on my radar. Also, bananas, because I have missed them so much for running fuel.

While it is exciting to get a bunch of foods back that I love so much, I’m still on a pretty low carb diet (<100g/day). That doesn’t leave a whole lot of space for bananas, potatoes, wild rice, and other fruits on that list. So, while I will be able to have a bit more variety, my diet is really not changing that much. I’ll still be eating lots of vegetables, lots of eggs and egg whites, lots of almond butter, lots of nuts and seeds.

As far as supplements, not too much has changed. I’m still taking tryptophan, theanine, vitamin D, B12, and folate. I’ve stopped the coenzyme Q10, and added a probiotic.

I feel great, so my focus now will be to keep my carb intake low, increase my protein intake just a bit more, and drop 5-10 pounds. A lot has been resolved, so it’s really just minor tidying at this point. Already looking forward to my next appointment in August!

Any big plans for the long weekend?

May 22, 2013
by hannahsurges
2 Comments

E’s Graduation Weekend

Emily graduated from UW-Milwaukee this weekend, so I went home for the festivities. It was a lovely few days of family time.

Congrats, E!

May 14, 2013
by hannahsurges
3 Comments

Love List: Everything.

That is, basically my whole life could be included in my love list. I’ll try to contain my enthusiasm.

1. My new sewing machine.

Turns out you need a lot more than just a sewing machine to sew stuff. I only have the basics, but I’ve been practicing!

I bought a yard of this fabric just to practice stitching and making small pouches and such. I still don’t have decent fabric scissors or a measuring board, so everything I make is a little extra janky and lopsided. It’s charming though.

Today, I made this janky lopsided bow.

You’ll have to forgive the cornstarch sprinkled all over the table. I have many projects in the works.

2. Making sushi.

Mmm. Cucumber avocado rolls.

3. My thermos that keeps smoothies chilly for many hours.

I make these babies at 4 in the morning on days that I work, and they still taste like they were just blended at 8:30.

4. Not renewing library books.

I have a glorious amount of reading time these days. I love that I picked up 6 books from the library two weeks ago, and I only have 2 remaining. I probably will end up renewing one or both of them, but only because I’ll be out of town when they’re due.

So far this month, I’ve read Gone, Mr. Peanut, Case Histories, and Sweet Tooth. I’m starting Mr. Fox today, and I’ll probably take Hanging Hill with me to read on my flights.

5. Hiking

With this guy.

On Sunday we hiked about 6.5 miles around Los Penasquitos Canyon. It was hot, but lovely.

6. Upcoming trip to Milwaukee!

E is graduating at the end of this week, and I’m so excited that I’ll be able to be there. I can’t wait for some family time (and girl time!).

So that’s my list for today. What’s on your love list these days?

May 6, 2013
by hannahsurges
1 Comment

10 Avocado Recipes That Aren’t Guacamole

I have a lot of avocados right now. Would you like to know how many? 44. I just counted.

These babies are ripening fast, so I’ve been working hard to find ways to use them aside from making TONS of guacamole.

Here’s how I’m planning to use my 40+ avocados:

1. Zucchini and Avocado Soup with Cucumber Salsa

2. 15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta (in my case, I’ll have the sauce on some vegetables and a bit of brown rice or quinoa)

3. Guacamole Enchiladas (for G) (And yes, this one is kind of guacamole)

4. Cucumber Avocado Rolls

5. Quinoa-Avocado Verrines

6. Curried Coconut-Avocado Soup

7. Smoky Brussels Sprouts with Lime and Avocado

8. Cucumber and Avocado Summer Rolls

9. Sweet Potato and Avocado Empanadas (won’t be making these anytime soon, but they look so good!)

10. Avocado, Artichoke Hearts, and Heart of Palm Salad served in Lettuce Wraps

What’s your favorite way to use avocados? Any recipes I should try?

Happy Monday!

May 4, 2013
by hannahsurges
2 Comments

Apartment Progress 5/4/13

From the state of our living room, it looks more like the opposite of progress has taken place since last week.

That’s because we’ve FINALLY moved the last of our stuff last night, and we’re completely out of the old place! Obviously, we need to find homes for a few more items.

We’ve made only a few small improvements since last week.

We now have pictures in the bedroom.

And I have a pretty functional desk/workspace!

Greg mounted a power strip underneath and ran all of my cords under the edges of the table. It helps so much to keep the space looking a bit neater.

He set up a nice little gadget charging space, and everything is always in the same place, easily accessible and easy to find.

My favorite thing about my work area is this wonderful little Ikea find.

It’s great to be able to get the stuff I’m not using off my desk and still have it nearby. Plus, I love the color and it looks really cute in the room.

I also picked up a small lamp at Ikea and mounted a magnetic dry erase board.

The space to the left of the dry erase board looks a little blank, so I picked out this print, which I think will darling in this frame.

That’s pretty much it for this week!

May 2, 2013
by hannahsurges
2 Comments

Tea Lattes: My New Drink of Choice

I’m a beverage person. I like to drink stuff. I have at least one beverage going all day (often two at a time, one hot, one cold, one fizzy, one not, etc.). At restaurants, servers can expect to fill my water glass at least 3 times during a meal. And I get the tiniest bit cranky if they aren’t prompt with those water refills. Coffee dates, margaritas (with extra salty chips), giant 32 oz Diet Pepsis at Target, these are a few of my favorite things.

These particular favorite things are on hold right now. And I’m not crazy about it. In fact, I’m really surprised that changing my beverage habits has been a bit harder than changing my food habits. Sure, there was one time when Greg was eating a grilled cheese and I felt like crying, but overall, it’s the coffee, soda, and alcohol that I really miss.

When it comes to soda, I miss my rituals. I used to be completely and totally addicted to diet soda. I quit cold turkey for almost a year, and then started again when I went back to school and got a boring job with constant access to free soft drinks. I had cut back quite a bit when I started this elimination diet, but I sincerely miss my post-lunch soda and my giant soft drink after my weekly-ish Target trip.

I’ve never been a huge coffee or alcohol drinker, but I miss these things nonetheless. Coffee and alcohol are social beverages, and it’s surprisingly isolating not to take part. Ordering water or herbal tea while Greg orders a beer on a Friday night? Meh.

La croix is really no substitute for Diet Pepsi, and I think we can all agree that there’s just no way to make a delicious sugar-free, alcohol-free margarita (or corn-free corn chips), but at least I’ve found an acceptable substitute for coffee. Herbal tea lattes are my new drink of choice.

Unfortunately, there are very few coffee shops that carry unsweetened coconut or almond milk (my only milk options at the moment). Luckily, the Whole Foods coffee shop carries both, so it has become my new favorite place.

I also make my own tea lattes at home. They aren’t foamy, but they’re still quite lovely!

So far, I’ve found 3 herbal teas that make wonderful tea lattes:

Vanilla Rooibos

Chai Rooibos

and Baked Cinnamon Apple.

To assemble the latte, brew an extra strong half-mug of tea.

Meanwhile, heat some unsweetened vanilla almond milk on the stove. Remove teabag, add warm almond milk, and mix in 3-4 drops of stevia extract, if desired.

A sprinkle of cinnamon never hurts either!

Iced tea lattes work, too. Of course, in this case, you can skip heating the almond milk, but I would recommend brewing extra, extra strong tea (maybe even use two bags), since the ice will dilute it a bit.

What’s your drink of choice these days? Are you ok with drinking water all day, or do you like to switch it up?

May 1, 2013
by hannahsurges
4 Comments

What I Ate (and Didn’t Eat) Wednesday

Happy May!

As many of you probably know, there’s a little thing in the food/healthy living blog world called What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW). Pretty self explanatory. Here’s what I ate today, and some of what I didn’t eat.

Post-run: Best breakfast ever!

I love this smoothie so much that I’ve actually calculated if I could meet my nutritional needs drinking it for 3 meals a day with vegetables as between meal snacks. It would be a bit on the low side calorie wise, but I probably could. Today I added chia seeds to my favorite raspberry/blueberry smoothie, and I am never going back.

Snack before work:

Plus a few pumpkin seeds.

Lunch: cucumber, carrots, celery, almond butter, and boiled eggs.

I ate one whole egg and just the white of the other. This is the perfect meal on the go, and it’s definitely becoming my go-to for work lunches. Although I might just start doubling up on smoothies…

Afternoon snack: Walnuts and pumpkin seeds.

I’ve been eating pumpkin seeds every day because they’re delicious (most importantly), and they’re also high in protein as far as seeds and nuts go.

When I got home, it was time to bust out this beauty.

I can’t eat baked goods. Period. But Catherine has been so awesome about stocking my kitchen with loads of eggs and avocados from her little farm, and I really want to take her some chocolate chip hazelnut cookies tomorrow.

It was incredibly hard not to even taste what I was baking, but I just kept telling myself (kindly and gently) that these cookies are just not for me today.

But seriously, I am a freaking saint. Not one granule of sugar went into my mouth.

Ok, I’m not a complete saint, because I had a secret weapon (aside from pure badass self-control). (And really, I’m done congratulating myself now.)

Nutritionist approved (a couple times weekly) 70% dark chocolate.

Dinner: salad, steamed broccoli, fried egg + egg white, slice of brown rice bread with almond butter.

I have to work early tomorrow, so I’ll probably be skipping my evening snack and hitting the hay shortly!

What was the best thing you ate today? Have you ever baked something without trying any at all? That was a totally new experience for me!

April 30, 2013
by hannahsurges
2 Comments

May Reading List

Hi, folks! Can you believe that today is the last day of April?

I know I say it every month, but April really flew by! It was an especially busy month for us, so I only managed to read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and the first 3 books of The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman. I’ve read most of The Sandman, but it’s been close to 10 years (am I that old already?), so I’m enjoying another read through.

Reading Gone Girl made me want to read more thriller/mystery novels, and this list that my mother-in-law sent me has therefore become my May reading list.

It includes:

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
Hanging Hill by Mo Hayder
Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi

Yesterday, I went on a little outing to the library that’s just a few blocks from our new house. I didn’t find any of the books listen above (it’s an incredibly tiny library!), but I did put holds on several. I did find a different novel by Mo Hayder called Gone. I started that yesterday, and about 130 pages in, I’m not as hooked as I was 130 pages into Gone Girl, but I’m still enjoying it quite a bit.

I probably won’t get to all of the books on my reading list this month, but I love the feeling of having more than enough good books lined up to read.

What’s on your reading list for May?

April 29, 2013
by hannahsurges
2 Comments

New Typical Eats

In a recent post, I mentioned a long list of foods that I’ll be avoiding for at least the next month. Based on the advice of my nutritionist, I’ve cut out soy, gluten and most grains, dairy, beans, sugar, sugar alcohols, alcohol, artificial sweeteners, caffeine, and peanuts. Everyone’s reaction to these restrictions (including my own, initially) is shock/ a WTF moment followed by wondering what the hell I can eat . It’s really not bad, though. In fact, I’ve been enjoying delicious meals and snacks and feel incredibly satisfied pretty much all the time.

As soon as I wake up, I take 1 L-Theanine tablet, usually with about 12 ounces of water.

I’m required to use my VegaPro protein powder once a day (since my only other big protein source is eggs), and I find that the best way to do so is in a smoothie.

So far, I’ve had a smoothie for breakfast every day (along with my breakfast time supplements).

The first time I had this smoothie, I thought it was palatable, but not delicious. Now, I find it so satisfying and so delicious that I crave it. Here’s my recipe:

- 140 g frozen berries (I use a combination of strawberries, raspberries, and/or blueberries)

- 24 g almond butter

- 20 g VegaPro

- 8 drops stevia extract

- 1.5 c. unsweetened vanilla almond milk

My morning supplements are as follows: 1 folate, 1 B12, 2 vitamin D, and 1 Coenzyme Q10.

I’m supposed to eat every 3 hours. On days that I work, I usually have two snacks between breakfast and lunch because I don’t get around to lunch until 3 or 3:30.

For work, I pack a little tray of snacks like this:

Snack 1: an ounce of pumpkin seeds. Snack 2: vegetables with almond butter.

Today, I had celery, almond butter, and a few strawberries from the farmers market as a morning snack.

Lunch was an Asian/Mexican fusion plate with my leftovers from Sipz last night (steamed veggies + about 2 tablespoons of cooked brown rice), extra steamed broccoli, 1/2 of a small avocado, and 2 egg whites with green salsa.

I also nibbled some almond butter for dessert.

Pretty much all day, I sip on water, la croix, and herbal tea with almond milk. Around 4 today, we went to hang out at Kensington Cafe and I ordered an herbal iced tea with stevia.

Afternoon snack: pumpkin seeds

Dinner: Sunshine burger, salad, avocado, pickles, roasted sweet potato and cauliflower, more egg whites with salsa.

God, I’m so deprived! This dinner was a bit higher in carbs than I should be eating, and I probably should have chosen sweet potato or veggie burger, not both. Oh well, I’m still learning. And still addicted to carbs.

As an evening snack, I had 3 strawberries and a small dollop of almond butter.

In case you can’t tell, almond butter is my new favorite food. I like to have a little fruit with my evening snack because it makes it feel more like a dessert.

On my way to bed, I grab 2 tryptophans and 2 theanines, and it’s lights out.

Not too horrible, right?

What do you think would be the hardest food for you to give up? For me so far, I think it’s cottage cheese. I’d also really like a latte with an oatmeal raisin cookie…

April 27, 2013
by hannahsurges
5 Comments

Apartment Progress 4/27

We’ve lived in our new place for a week now, and I have loved every moment of it.

Things are coming together really nicely, and we continue to enjoy setting up, making improvements, making it home.

Most notably, the sitting area in the living room is just about finished.

(you’ll have to excuse the kitchen clutter in the background.)

The workspace on the other side of the living room is probably the area that still needs the most work, but we’re getting there.

We added a shelf above the stove with jars to store whole spices.

Fashioned some neat bathroom art from some old postcards and Ikea frames.

I also set up this little side table as a kind of drink cart. I think it’s really cute, but I don’t think Greg is convinced. What do you think?

That’s pretty much it for now. Still a few more boxes to unpack and many more pictures to hang.