Back to Cooking or Uncooking That Is

The ants are gone...for now. It's been two weeks since I've seen a live one and while I don't think we're completely free from the their return, I'm at least happy that they're not crawling everywhere for now. The benefits are a super-clean kitchen and family room :) No one likes ants so we're all pitching in to keep our place as spic and span as possible. 

With the elimination of these little pests, I've brought back the fruit, veggies and other groceries into the mix. My body has been craving a high raw low fat vegan diet. Here are this week's eats in pictures.

I visited my favourite local grocery store, Henry's, although the sign has now officially changed to Sprouts.

The pineapple was a good pick and made for a great breakfast Wednesday morning! 

I spent a lot of time in the Los Angeles area last week attending meetings so I made sure I had snacks ahead of time. The best part of following a low fat raw vegan diet is the ease of food prep. I need to get a better lunch bag - the grocery bags just aren't cutting it. Fortunately I have already picked up a couple of the re-usable variety at the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, i.e. the annual RD conference. 

I digress. Here are my eats for the rest of the week.

Mango Avocado Salad on Wednesday

Surprised at the selection of fruits and veggies at one of my conference last Friday. This  was plate 1 of 2 :)

Giant zooks from a co-workers garden. I chose to start with the biggest one.

I used half to make this delicious Zook Salad Friday evening.

The other half was used in my first 'oven-as-dehydrator' experiment.

The results: over-dehydrated zook chips but they were still very tasty as a Saturday treat. I'll be trying again with one of the remaining zooks.

Another mango salad on Saturday afternoon.

Cucumber Radish Salad for FNCE today.

Mango Ginger Salad for FNCE. Yes, I love mangoes!

On the weight loss front, I am happy to report that my weight has remained stable! Well, I've actually lost 0.6 lbs which is good considering my diet has not been on point the past couple of weeks. Getting back on track feels so good!

Hope you enjoyed a fun and healthy weekend!

- Kareen, RD

New Pants . . .

. . . well, new to me anyway :)

Last summer I purchased a pair of beautiful white linen pants from Dillards at a super-great price. While living in Arizona, I discovered Dillards and their amazing sales. I wore the pants two or three times before my weight began creeping up. You can imagine my dismay when on the fourth time I chose to wear the pants, they were too tight. Like, way too tight.

This gorgeous pair of pants was ready to be given away in this post on donating clothes, but when it came down to it, I couldn't. I did donate most of the suitcase contents recently (I couldn't part with three of the items yet!). With this recent move, I've made five trips to my local Goodwill's Donation Center so I felt okay with keeping some items.

And I'm glad I did!

If I had given them away, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to feel the sweet success of slipping comfortably back into them. I shouted in glee startling my husband and I thanked the Lord. This weight loss journey is difficult so I enjoyed the moment thoroughly!

There's more to lose and I'm motivated to keep moving in the right direction.

- Kareen, RD

30 Days in the Raw - Update

As I sat down to write this post, I realized I don't even know what day of the 30 that I'm on. I lost track after day 7 but not in "bad" way.

I haven't been 100% raw but I have been high raw - usually eating one cooked meal or snack a day. The benefits are still noticeable.: less bloating, no nausea and weight loss (1.4 lbs the first week). With the recent move almost everything is still packed so I have been off of my usual schedule. 

I am thankful to be living on the first floor so that I can exercise at home; however, there are ants so I have been reluctant to unpack until the situation is resolved. There's not a stream of them (thank you Lord!) and they likely (hopefully) came in during the move when all the doors were open but I'm uncomfortable. A pest control company will be out soon. Just one of the joys of living in Southern California.

I am on Day 4 of the Turbo Fire Inferno Plan. One more day to go! I'm not sure I lost any weight but I have lost inches - my clothes feel so much looser and my face looks different. I didn't take measurements (hey! I just moved) but I won't be discouraged by the number on the scale.

The regularly scheduled Turbo Fire program begins on Sunday! 90 days of punching, sweating and dancing. Good times.

What are your plans this long weekend? Maybe I'll be unpacking.

- kareen

I'm Back!

The move is done and, by God's grace, we're set to be in this new location for the next year. Stability matters! Packing and moving just throws my life into chaos and I really like structure. So, I'm super excited to be settled.

We chose to live in a ground floor apartment so that I can exercise at home. I thank my husband for making this sacrifice. He prefers second and third floor living but he supports my weight loss journey so we find ourselves on the ground floor. I thanked him by getting up at 4:15 this morning and starting my Turbo Fire journey! Wow, did it feel good to sweat and have fun with Chalene Johnson! I didn't have time to complete the workout this morning so as soon as I got home from work, I finished out Day 1. I am completing the 5-day Inferno Plan but following my own nutrition plan.

This is a year of transformation - not only health-wise but financial, too. We're buckling down ready to attack debt. September has always been a month of renewal - return to school and the start of fall. I remember that surging feeling of hope on the first day of school.

A clean slate where anything and everything was possible.

That's how I feel now.

Unstoppable!

- Kareen, RD

30 Days in the Raw - Day 2

Here is a simple and delicious recipe I made this afternoon inspired by this video:

While prepping did NOT take me five minutes it was worth the effort!

I didn't have cucumbers on hand but the star of this delightful meal is the mango so the wraps were still great tasting. I cannot tell you how yummy and filling this meal was!

We also scored some oranges from a fruit stand today. Oranges are my husband's treat - he loves them!

Off to prep for tomorrow. Have a good night!

- Kareen, RD

30 Days in the Raw - Back on!

As I mentioned in my last post, my adventure in the raw was postponed. I restarted yesterday and this time I'm ready to embrace this journey! Part of the breakdown last week was due to lack of preparation but after a visit to my local Henry's, I was armed and ready for the latter part of last week. While my eating habits left much to be desired last week, I still managed to lose 1 lb (yay!) so I am thankful that my overeating didn't completely derail me. I will have to make a grocery trip today for the next couple of days.

Last week I did something I have never done before - I ate an entire raw tomato by itself! That's huge for a self-proclaimed tomato-hater. It was an heirloom variety and delicious!

Bolstered by my new-found love, I made this wonderful mango salsa. Mangoes are perfect in savory dishes.

Made with one Cherokee heirloom tomato, red onions, chipotle flakes, cilantro, lime and of course, mango!

My supply of tomatoes ran out so the next day I made the same dish without them. Just as delicious!

Sunday errands, cleaning and more packing await so I'm off. What are your plans for today?

- Kareen, RD

What's that Ring Around Your Neck?

Why it's acanthosis nigricans. I remember learning about this skin disorder characterized by dark, thick skin in the folds and creases of the body when I was in school. While acanthosis nigricans can develop for any number of reasons, I became fascinated by this disorder because most often it is an indicator of insulin resistance which is on the pathway to diabetes.

In my outpatient practice, I saw this darkening of the skin around the neck frequently on teenagers - usually obese teenagers with a strong family history of diabetes. To help them see that their current lifestyle choices were negatively affecting their health, I would educate them on acanthosis nigricans and point out the ring around their neck. Most parents believed that the ring was just a line of dirt and would often send the child back to the shower or even try to rub it off themselves. Whenever I had a concern, I encouraged the family to see their physician and I would also send a letter with my recommendations to the referring physician. 

Well, you can imagine my displeasure, then, when during my physical this past week my doctor pointed out that I had the ring around my neck and that under my armpits were darkening as well. Truthfully, I wasn't completely surprised. I noticed the developing darkness last year and asked a health professional (not my doc) her opinion and she said I was in the all clear. I put it out of my head and forgot to ask my physician at the time. Fast forward a year and my current doc is talking to me about pre-diabetes. 

The darkening of the skin can also be attributed to hormone intake such as the pill and I have been on the pill for  many, many years; however, with a 30 lb weight gain in the past 3 years and a current BMI of 31, I have to be realistic that I may be insulin resistant. And it's not just 'the ring'. There have been other signs as well but being in the health field, I am paranoid about self-diagnosing so I ignored my gut instinct.

Nevertheless, I was shaken by the news and I reverted back to my usual place of comfort - food. For three days, I went a little wild with eating. 30 Days in the Raw went out the window as did vegan eating. Considering the news, it's a strange reaction I understand but it's done. I don't have a family history of diabetes so I don't want to be the first and I certainly don't want this to be my legacy to my future children. 

Today I re-committed to 30 Days in the Raw! I'm on the brink but I have a choice and that choice is to beat the disease. And I will.

Staying positive.

- Kareen, RD