Rock-a-Bye Baby: Celebrating National Napping Day

Happy National Napping Day! What a great way to put a cap on last week’s National Sleep Awareness Week 2013! Oh, you didn’t know about these fabulous “celebrations?” Neither did I until I saw peeps tweet it on our social medias. And now that I know about them, I want to turn out the lights and catch a few Z’s underneath my desk at work (I have a feeling this might be frowned upon; what a shame).

So why do we need National Napping Day & National Sleep Awareness Week? Most of us have grown up being told that hard work brings about success. Some have heard the Biblical proverb, “If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Keep your eyes open, and there will be plenty to eat (NLT Prov. 20:13). Others are wrapped up in being in the know about everything, that when it comes to sleep, they say,

You can fill in the blank.

But here are two findings when it comes to the typical practice of sleep in our modern society:

• 10% of adolescents sleep only five hours and 23% sleep only six hours on an average school night. The recommended amount of sleep for teens is 8.5 to 9.25 hours per night (National Sleep Foundation)
• The average adult sleeps less than seven hours per night. The recommendation for adults is 7 to 9 hours (NSF)

So what’s the big deal? Many of us can attest to why this is a big deal if we take a moment to reflect on how we are feeling at this moment. Some of us are saying, “Now’s a great time to go get another (insert a caffeinated beverage).” Some of us are blaming Mondays for the feeling we have. And a few of us forgot exactly what we were supposed to be doing right now instead of reading another blogger rambling on about sleep. These feelings can often be traced back to two things: what we ate & how we slept recently.

So what should we do? Sleep more. That advice is not going to help you make a change, but what else is there to say. Turn out the lights for 10-15 minutes and take a snooze. Turn off this computer, smartphone, or tablet, and shut your eyes for a few minutes. Turn off the TV at 9:30 (in the middle of your favorite show) and put your pajamas on. Put that caffeinated beverage down & drink water for the rest of the day so your body is ready for sleep at night. Go exercise a little.

Why? There are multiple benefits to getting adequate sleep. Personally, adequate sleep and a short shut-eye lowers my blood pressure. I can quickly tell if I am short on sleep, and it all begins with my blood pressure. Other benefits are well-documented—alertness, improved memory, productivity, creativity, lifted spirits, and less stress. All those things sound AWESOME! 

So what should we do now? Recognize and celebrate a belated National Sleep Awareness Week and National Napping Day! Go get some shut-eye…

Further Enjoyable Resources:

·         Mark’s Daily Apple: The Definitive Guide to Sleep

·         PaleoNonPaleo: Get Your SLEEP!!!

·         Huffington Post: Nap Benefits: 6 Reasons to Snooze on National Napping Day

·         Huffington Post: National Sleep Day: 8 New Findings About Sleep & Your Health

·         National Sleep Foundation: How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?

52 Pick-Up Challenge: Week #4

*This series of Friday posts is inspired by the blog entry--52 Pick-Up Paleo Style by Amy Kubal via robbwolf.com. Each post is based on this premise that Dietary Ruts = Kitchen Boredom -> Healthy Eating FAIL! So each week, I plan to share with you one meal from the previous week that I tried and enjoyed to help me stave off the boredom in my weekly meal plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ah, the humble tomatillo...what art thou? Art thou a tomato?  ¿Por qué llevas esas hojas? Why must I char you along with this jalapeño? You are so intriguing; therefore, I am making you part of my 52 Pick-Up Paleo Style. So I fired up my slow-cooker, fired up my cast-iron skillet, and got to work with this recipe from Sarah Fragoso at Everyday Paleo. 

The Caveman Feast: E-Cookbook Review

Happy February 28th! Tomorrow is the beginning of meteorological Spring, but many of you are still feeling very winter-ish. Here in Chicago, we have finally experienced winter. Some of you in the Northeast have been constantly digging out from winter's mess for two months. Perhaps we should all become snow-birds and move to Florida. I hear there's plenty of cheap housing around Fort Myers (Cape Coral, anyone?).

Spring puts me in the mood to break out and try something new. And if you are familiar with my blog, you know I have recently had a revelation; many of my posts focus on this simple philosophy:

Ruts = Boredom -> FAILURE!

I often tie this to food choices or workouts. And today is no different. So how do you stay away from falling into ruts? Find something that forces you to be varied in your approach. When it comes to fitness, many of you know that CrossFit is based on variation to keep your body "guessing." And for many, it works. If you have recently completed the Whole30 program, I hope you have also discovered their semi-varied strength program, 603PTP. In fact, I'm going back to that in March to get ready for the Tough Mudder in May.

What else forces me to stay out of ruts...especially in the kitchen? Cookbooks! I love a good cookbook, and I have mentioned before that I have learned to enjoy the kitchen during the past 4 months of following a "paleo"-type lifestyle (No, I am not wearing animal skins and living in a cave; although, that sounds like an fun adventure). I have discovered some treasures: Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook, Well Fed, Practical Paleo, Eat Like a Dinosaur, & The Caveman Feast.

After buying these, my wife and I have had wonderful moments menu planning while flipping the pages (paper & virtual) to find new ways of staying out of the meal-time "ruts." One of my favorites to look at and flip through is George Bryant & Abel James' e-cookbook, The Caveman Feast. In fact, it was the first e-cookbook that I took a risk buying. I did not know if I would enjoy cooking from my iPad mini. I thought, "expensive electronics next to stove & range is not a good idea." But I am surprised by how much I like it and use it in the kitchen.

If you want to know more about George & Abel, you can find their stories, podcasts, and creations at these two websites: The Civilized Caveman and Fat Burning Man.

But The Caveman Feast is a simple compilation of all these things. Three specific things stand out that make me advocate for this cookbook & I believe every cookbook should have:

#1: Variety - The authors provide about 45 beef entrees, 10 pork entrees, 20 chicken entrees, 5 seafood entrees, and 20 breakfast ideas. And if that's not enough, they provide recipes for sides, veggies, rubs, dressings, and sauces to mix things up even more. And dare I skip the desserts? Can you say, "More than 40 grain-free desserts?" In fact, this is my go-to source for dessert ideas like Chocolate Bacon Bites. Yes, the authors are bacon-minded...a very good thing in my book.

#2: Beautiful Pictures - Every good cookbook should have pictures of their food that inspires you to make that same yummy-ness in your own kitchen. Who wouldn't want to go home and make these Blueberry Espresso Brownies tonight? Or wake up tomorrow morning and make this Simple Sweet Scramble? Needless to say, the pictures inspire me to cook.

*Photos courtesy of CivilizedCaveman.com

#3: Simple Ingredients & Instructions - In order to make these foods, I need clear instructions that don't have me throwing dishes all over the kitchen (which I tend to do anyway). Each recipe is complete with straight-forward preparation & cooking instructions.

So here's my sales-pitch (something I'm not very good at). All this can be yours today for $19.95 . But before you buy it, please make sure you have something to read it on (preferably an e-reader with a color screen like an iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone or Kindle Fire). A laptop or desktop computer will work also, but I doubt your desktop is on your kitchen counter. All you have to do is follow this link. (In full disclosure, yes, I do get a little kick back for referring you, and your help is greatly appreciated). Thanks!

"My School Farted..."

I have never had such a unique day in my profession as a Chicago teacher, and my faith in today’s youth at my school has been redeemed. Just as students were walking into school today, the hallways started to smell like gas. The fire department was called in, and the administration went into emergency-plan mode. About a third of the students (including mine) were directed to the Catholic church about two blocks away. We sat there for about two and a half hours waiting for the all-clear to re-enter the building. Meanwhile, I had very understanding & patient conversations with students who were in a very uncomfortable situation. To each of those students, I applaud you. Great job staying level-headed! You broke the mold today! Many people have lost faith in our urban youth recently (for very valid reasons), but they reminded me that the public image is not always the correct image. In the end, we found out that the school released a gas bubble. Yep, my school farted.

This weekend was unique too. I was a cookin’ fool. I whipped up four tasty foods, and I am having a hard time figuring out which one to highlight in this upcoming Friday’s 52 Pick-Up Paleo Edition blog post. So I need your help. Here is a picture of each kitchen creation…

The yummy foods include:
1) Upper-Left: Beef with Broccoli & Cashews
2) Upper-Right: Paleo Pizza
3) Lower-Left: Chocolate Bacon Almond Butter Bananas
4) Lower-Right: Cod with Coconut Slaw

Help me by choosing one you'd like to see featured this Friday in my 52 Pick-Up Paleo Style Blog Post. Simply leave a comment below saying which one looks most interesting to you. Thanks!

Lastly, I am trying to sell as many copies of this great ecookbook by George Bryant, The Caveman Feast. It is currently on sale for $19.95 until Thursday, February 28^th In fact, the Chocolate Bacon Almond Butter Bananas are straight from Bryant’s imagination. So you can imagine all the other goodness that must be in his cookbook. Please click on the image of The Caveman Feast below to learn more & order your copy (+ goodies)!

If you need any more motivation to order a copy, just look at this cutie ready to munch on those lovely Chocolate Bacon Almond Butter Bananas! My daughter loved them!

 

52 Pick-Up Challenge: Week #2

*This series of Friday posts is inspired by the blog entry--52 Pick-Up Paleo Style by Amy Kubal via robbwolf.com. Each post is based on this premise that Dietary Ruts = Kitchen Boredom -> Healthy Eating FAIL! So each week, I plan to share with you one meal from the previous week that I tried and enjoyed to help me stave off the boredom in my weekly meal plan.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the most interesting lessons I’ve learned over the past few months of eating a “Paleo-ized diet” is how prominent sugars are in the modern American diet. You’ve probably heard about the evils of high fructose corn syrup and the lack of anything positive from processed white sugar. So when someone wants a “healthy sugar” (is there such a thing?), they often turn to honey and maple syrup. They’re natural, right? So when I saw this recipe on PaleOMG’s blog while suffering a sweet-tooth attack, I knew I had to try it.

Recipe #2 of 52: Maple Blueberry Bacon Breakfast Carnitas with Fried Egg (Modified Recipe)

Whole30 CHAMPION!

I am a Whole30 CHAMPION! That’s just to say that I finished the Whole30 Challenge from January 12 to February 10 along with my wife. After going through the full 30 days, I consider anyone who completes it to be a CHAMPION. So for all those out there who did their own Whole30… Congratulations!

For anyone curious about what I am referring to, you can find all the answers at The Whole30 Program overview and in the book It Starts With Food.

Here are the 4 main points that I was concerned about:

1)      I want to have a “healthy psychological response” to food.

2)      I want to have a “healthy hormonal response” to food.

3)      I want to have a “healthy gut.”

4)      I want to “minimize inflammation.”

And in the end, my overall health improvements prove that many of these areas were addressed. I can attest to the same benefits that many other Whole30 CHAMPIONS claim (weight loss, less inflammation, healthy skin, that sexy feeling, etc.) Many of these stories can be found here. But the most beneficial parts of this journey were learning new things about myself, discovering new recipes, and uncovering areas of more focus.

LEARNINGS

a)      I Love the Kitchen & Cooking: Who knew the kitchen was actually a room worth spending time in? Prior to this challenge, I spent a total of maybe 15 minutes a day in the kitchen pouring a bowl of cereal or reheating leftovers. Since starting this journey, my kitchen-time has grown exponentially.

b)      SURPRISE! Poisonous Food Alert: Who knew our modern diet was inundated with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), soy products, and other “baddies?” Prior to this challenge, I couldn’t have cared less about the ingredients on food labels. Now, I pick up products simply to read the horror stories on the back.

c)       Beware Judgmental Attitudes: Many paleo converts talk about how they are viewed strangely when discussing their diet & lifestyle with others. But I recognized myself becoming judgmental. I would glance at the carts of my fellow grocery shoppers and silently judge them for their gluten-riddled, HFCS-laden foods while I righteously purchased produce items that cashiers couldn’t identify without their handy-dandy flip charts. Be careful people; our diet doesn’t make us better people…just a bit healthier.

FAVORITE RECIPES: 

                Top Recipe #1: Bone Broth from Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook

                During the thirty days, I caught the cold my four children had and passed around. Bone broth relieved my sore throat, eased my stuffy nose, and  helped me recover just like a yummy bowl of soup. Homemade chicken broth is much better than the canned/boxed stuff. And buying chicken feet is an adventure in and of itself.

                Top Recipe #2: Curried Sweet Potato Soup w/ Coconut Milk from SyrieWongkaew

                I have my sister-in-law to thank for this one. During her 30-day Clean Eating Challenge, we often shared dinners together. She produced this yummy soup. It was so good that I could have glugged down the entire stock pot full. Luckily, I have some self-control. This made enough for many easy work lunches for a couple weeks.

                Top Recipe #3: Fiery Jalapeño Burgers w/ Sweet Potato Pancakes from Practical Paleo

                We also enjoyed chances to entertain people and share some of these unique foods during our thirty days (we didn’t want to horde this experience). So we made this dinner that balanced spicy and sweet. Kitchen Learning Moment: How to Prepare a Jalapeño.

“FAILURES”

So everything is perfect, right? Not exactly. I will admit I still have an unhealthy psychological response to sweets. Instead of wolfing down a bag of gummy bears, my daughter did witness me hiding myself in the pantry to scarf down a few dates. Yes, I made a risqué date with dates. At least dates are natural, right? But I can definitely see the need for a 21-Day Sugar Detox in my future.

What a coincidence…the next 21-Day Sugar Detox Challenge starts on March 4, 2013 (right after my wife’s birthday). The timing is awesome!

 

So, congratulations Whole30 CHAMPIONS! I’m happy to join your ranks! And for everyone else…JOIN THE RIDE!