My Keto Experiment

On my way out the door one morning this week I mentioned to M, "this coconut oil in my coffee thing is weird." He slowly shook his head and went back to sleep.

So goes my life these days.

Warm weather makes me do silly things. Like give up ice cream. And bread. And sugar. But not beer... I'm not that crazy. This week is two weeks on keto. Actually, three, if you count my test week before I started last week. And it's been okay. And minus the beer, I've been sticking to it.

Except for tonight. I made some pizza for M and the temporary neighbors. I was going to abstain, but I was curious to see if my baking skills had fallen by the wayside. They haven't, if you were wondering. I thought my body would react more to the bread, but I guess it hasn't been that too long since I gave it up.

Originally I started on the 30 day plan from Healthful Pursuit, but a week into it and I got bored. So now I'm just picking and choosing through my many cookbooks. Tweaking recipes so it works into my macros of 70% fat, 20% protein, and 10% carbohydrates. Lots of salads, lots of bacon. Not that I'm complaining about that. The egg heavy dishes, I guess I'll get used to.

Keto, or ketogenic is a diet focused on low carbs and high fat. Eating in this method eventually leads the body into ketosis, which uses fat for energy. That's a very simplified description of it, so I suggest you google your way to a better understanding.

I'll try to do a better job about tracking my progress this week.

Perks of the Job

The place where I work is an island of sorts – I can’t leave to get something to eat, which is fine since there aren’t places in walking distance. Sure, there is stuff a few blocks away on the main road, but I only get thirty minutes. I have been known to kill at least half of that in the cafeteria waiting for my food or just circling the cafeteria to find something worth eating.

So yes, I am jealous of places somewhat similar to where I work that have shops right outside their doors – Starbucks, restaurants, and ahhhhhh… Panera! Free wi-fi and bottomless cups of coffee and all the hilarious conversations that go on there.

I had to drop M off in Albany for some work training Sunday, and hit up Panera for lunch before going to my volunteer gig. It’s the first time I’ve been to the one over by Albany Med, and it’s nice. The place wasn’t too busy for a late Sunday morning. There was a spattering of law/med students, with the random hospital employee picking up a meal before heading back across the street. I’m pretty sure this place is crazy during the week.




I kept seeing all these signs for their “power” meals, which may be stuff from their hidden menu that is no longer hidden? Who knows… but they seemed to all have meat so I passed on that. Ended up going YP2, with a Mediterranean salad with Salmon and French Onion soup. I can’t remember if I’ve had it before, but it was actually pretty good. Lightly dressed, if dressed at all. Didn’t really taste the mandarin orange, the olives dominated the flavor outside of the salmon. Stilled liked it, though.





The FOS had tons of onion (which I love), and just the right amount of cheese. Their soup was thicker than other places I’ve been to… which is surprising, because I thought most of their stuff was made elsewhere and then shipped to the stores. Which would make you think they would all be uniform. Maybe they just didn’t add more liquid?

And then there was the coffee. Black gold, half & half, sugar in the raw. Can’t even tell you how many cups I downed.

King Cakes and Gumbo

What a busy week this one was, eh? CNY on Sunday, followed two days later by Fat Tuesday, with Ash Wednesday and Valentines Day following right afterwards. I am sure there are many out there with thinner wallets after all that.

Moving on.

Albany Jane threw a little shindig on Tuesday, inviting a few friends over for drinks and a HUGE pot of gumbo. I didn’t want to arrive at the party empty handed, so I picked up dessert from Bella Napoli. I got some treats for me as well, but the cake was all for sharing.

So traditionally the baby is baked into the cake but I guess the risk of choking on that baby is too high. So they just throw it on top. Lame. Perhaps people should learn to actually chew their food, instead of swallowing it whole. I didn’t know you could get these cakes in different flavors. I always imagined it just being a big ol’ cinnamon roll with colorful icing. And beads. And a naked inedible baby.

Gumbo! Very hearty, and the sausage was spicier than I was expecting. It was a bit of a sniffle inducer, but it didn’t stop me from finishing the bowl. There were some other nibbles that I didn’t take pictures of – the homemade donut holes someone brought, and toasties with smoked salmon. Ahh… thinking about it all is making me hungry.

Feast of Saint Anthony

Food items from different countries for a ticket. How much those tickets were, I don't know - someone just handed me a strip of tickets and told me to go at it. Paella, some Dominican food I forget what, corned beef and rye, and a burger and hot dog. Fun time, ended up having to take lots of pictures for my parents and their friends.

Out With The Old

Trying my best of eat up leftovers in the fridge and cut into the pantry supply. I’ve made progress – most of the vegetables are gone, as is the rotisserie chicken. I used up the rest of the ramen noodles and started on the sweet potato ones. Only one container of soup left!

Providential

I took a quick trip to Rhode Island last month to see my little cousin graduate from college. It’s amazing how quickly four years go by.

Blame It On the A-a-a-a-a-alcohol

 
Second wedding so far this season. And oh the fun we had!

Oh, Memorial Day?

I celebrated. Just me… and the grill.

Puerto Rico Getaway Part 2: First Meal

Travelling down to Puerto Rico wasn’t too bad, but I sure was hungry. And the heat that hits you as you step off of the plane doesn’t help matters either.

Lunch Visit

Aunt and family stopped by check up on my dad. Brought with them Red Ribbon and Max's food. Can't wait to chow down!

Jets - Vikings

If I had to pick a team to root for other than my beloved Steelers, I’d have to go with the Jets. The reasons behind this are simple:

1. M is a Jets fan (although I know deep down he’s still rooting for the Detroit Lions).
2. M gets us tickets to Jets home games. Monday night games, no less.

2010 Vendy Awards

This originally was going to be quite a lengthy post.

But I kept putting it off, and here were are, more than a week later and the post is still in my drafts pile. That changes today.

Instead of the lengthy typed post, detailing the sights, sounds, smells, etc… you get videos:

Vendy Awards 2010 from Under the Copper Tree on Vimeo.

Vendy Awards from Under the Copper Tree on Vimeo.

There are better pictures out there of the event, and no doubt some excellent write ups on it. It was fun, I enjoyed myself… but I was more excited just being back on Governors Island. I lived there for a time growing up, so it holds a special place in my heart. It’s sad to see it’s not the same as I remember it, but glad that it’s being used.

Feed Me: Conferences

One of the upsides in my field of work are all the conferences I can go to. I just graduated and already I've been thrown into the conference loop. Aside from all the networking that I figured I would be doing (and I did my fair share... and lots of me telling people I'd get in touch after I pass my exam), I was curious what kind of food they would be serving.

Initially I planned on bringing my travel mug so I can fill it up with coffee and try my best to stay awake during the morning sessions (this thing started at 7AM and I didn't go to sleep until 3AM) but I forgot all about it when I rushed out the door so I wouldn't be late.

Breakfast/snack was your usual fare- bagels, pastries, juice and coffee. Lots of coffee. The bagel was bland, but no surprise there.

During the little breaks between sessions, there was an exhibit in the dining area. You may not be able to really see it on he pic, but the guy with the white band around his head? If you can't put the pulse oximetry sensor on their hands, you can wrap that sensor around their head.

Lunch consisted of sandwiches/wraps, salad, chips, cookies, and soda/water. I got the grilled veggie wrap, which was really good. I was going to get another and perhaps snack on more cookies and another bag of doritos, but we directed to head into the auditorium for another talk. And somewhere during this move I lost my phone. I got it back, thank goodness.

Lunch led to the itis and I went back to see if there was anything left to snack on. Nothing. Not even coffee. Bah! They should have at least set out coffee to wake us up.

According to some other conference goers, all they had was breakfast and drinks. They had to go out for lunch, and if they wanted to pay a little more could go to a lunch lecture at a really nice restaurant. They don't remember the lecture, but they did remember the food.

This week I have a continuing education class to attend. Let's see how the food is there.

School Things

Some pictures I've been meaning to post... but got distracted

Lotus Blossom martini. My post-pinning drink. It was okay, but I'm not really into martinis. My sister, the bartender, is all about them, so I passed it over.

Pan fried sea bass, Szechuan style. Post-pinning meal. Well, part of it. The server asked if we would like the head removed and said okay. So they removed the head... and took it away. Boo. Lots of good stuff is in that head. So I hear.

Some spicy tofu dish that I ordered for M. Apparently too spicy for him, but OMFG... incredible. Silken tofu, peas, scallions, maybe even some cilantro. Either way, mighty tasty.

My class dinner the day after pinning. Here where I drank lots of drink, and ordered the salmon. Rare. I was shocked they gave me an option, but whatever... it tasted like slightly warm salmon sashimi. And it was pretty darn good. Served with mashed potatoes and vegetables. The sauce I forget, but it wasn't bad at all.

One of my classmates had a graduation party. And. Went. All. Out. Bartender, catered food, shirts. It was a lot of fun... maybe a bit too much fun. Anyways, food was catered by Bailey's Smokehouse. Everything tasted good, but sadly there wasn't much for M to have, so he munched on pickles and salads.

On the same day as rehearsal for graduation, the school held Senior Night. The spread was a variety of sandwiches, salads, fruit, and desserts. As college students usually do, they bombarded the table, coming back with multiple plates piled high with food. Us second degree folk waited patiently for the zoo to die down, and in the meantime ran around the room swooping up any untouched glasses of champagne. I only had two. And a half. I grabbed a veggie and turkey sandwich, the garden and pasta salads, and a brownie. The bread was tough as hell, but the fillings were pretty good. And they should be good, considering how much you normally have to pay for these sandwiches.

SDN Meet: January 2007

My friends and I over at the Student Doctor Network have this tradition of meeting up for a weekend in January. The inaugrual meet is what we lovingly call "The Blizzard Meet," and the one following I like to think of as "There's Something About Meera."

This year's meet is over and we are slowing punching out the photos of the events. Normally I am a picture taking loony, but I lacked the motivation to click my way through the night.

Regardless of that, here are pictures I did take.

I actually had to take one down because one of the participants did not want her picture open to the world. I guess she's worried she'll be discovered at her school.

This is what I had for dinner. The place we ended up eating at was pricey, but hey... Kobe Beef Sliders? HELLO!!!!

The Great Intercontinental Eat Off

To be honest, this won’t be intercontinental. Merriam-Webster defines intercontinental as such:

Main Entry: in•ter•con•ti•nen•tal
Function: adjective
1 : extending among continents or carried on between continents
2 : capable of traveling between continents

Meaty Indeed

How good is a diet made up meat? For the last week I've been feeling quite carnivorous. For example today I'm having a burger that I bought from the butcher last night. It looked so good, how could I possibly refuse?

If I had to argue the good aspects of the burger... well, it was cooked on a Foreman grill, knocks out the fat! Eh, and there's cheese. I try to have 3 servings a day.

And a diet coke. Woot woot.

Weather and Weight

I can't believe it might snow here. It's way too soon for this to happen. It's been three weeks of rain it seems, and won't let up for a while.

I have to watch what I eat. I have to be in a wedding in January and I've been told not to get fat. What is it with Filipinos and being blunt when it comes to weight? I think I look fine, but then I get the comment, "getting a little chunky there..."

Things like that make me scream.