Sad rainbow

Remember LeVar Burton?

I just discovered the Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte Larabar – it is amazing. It seems gooey-er and softer than some of the “original” Larabars (Cherry and Apple pie for example) which makes it seem like even more of a treat. Cherry and chocolate go perfect together, and for 190 calories this treat rocks!

If you are wondering where I found this treat – look for it at Target, usually in the pharmacy area, near the other “diet” bars (although personally I think it is a shame Larabars are lumped in with all those other processed junk bars that claim to be healthy).

I just had to take a photo of my breakfast this morning because it was so pretty.

A frittata I made with veggies, ham and bacon, topped with chives from the garden, cilantro and salsa

I recently listened to an interesting podcast about the placebo affect and the power of belief in healing. Chris Kresser always has excellent podcasts and blog articles, and this is no exception. Toward the end there are some good points about how we can harness this research to affect our own health and happiness.

They said: “Positive beliefs about future outcomes, especially when connected with an intervention recommended by a clinician, may trigger those outcomes.  Moreover, much of medical practice consists of repeated rituals that may create conditioned responses that can be reactivated in the future by placing the patient in a similar environment.  In conscious persons, conditioning overlaps with learning, thus creating positive expectancies.”  So, in other words, just the ritual of going to the doctor and getting a prescription or a diagnosis or the doctor telling you that you’re going to get better can have a real, measurable, biological effect on healing.

 For example, in Italy blue placebos make really good sleeping pills for women, but they had the opposite effect on men.  Like, they actually gave men worse insomnia.  And they were really trying to figure out why this would be until somebody pointed out that the Italian soccer team’s color is blue and, you know, Italian men are crazy for soccer, it gets them really excited, so the theory was that the association of Italian men with blue was as a really stimulating color, and that actually affected the outcome or the effect of these placebo treatments.

Appearance is a consequence of fitness

-Mark Twight

That is a quote I heard somewhere, I think it was on thefitcast. It really made me think, why do I  workout? Is it to look good? Or feel good? I think it’s a bit of both. But from my experience I have found that is my motivation is purely for appearances, I will not stick with my plan, and/or will start to engage in destructive behaviors (such as binge.purge). So I need to focus on feel strong and being healthy!

Paleo Breakfast

Today’s delicious breakfast: 2 eggs, 3 slices of bacon, and sauteed greens: I made a variation of this, but used swiss chard instead of kale. Not a very good picture (used phone) but it sure was tasty!

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real.”

“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real, you don’t mind being hurt.”

“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. ”You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

Love it.

So far my day has been pretty good and productive – got the car washed, returned some things to Amazon and Athleta, and got some goodies from Aveda: Blue Oil, Peppy mint, and a new robe. Also returned a swim cap to Sports Authority.

I ordered the Merrell Barefoot Pace Glove yesterday, should get it today – yay. Excited to try out a minimalist/barefoot type show, although I know I need to take it slow – still sort for the Duathlon

Better than cereal

My typical breakfast consists of 2 eggs over-easy with ham, and sometimes so veggies. But after listening to Episode 88 of the Paleo Solution I began to reconsider my daily egg intake – Robb gave some good advice on varying your diet, especially since eggs can be a food not well tolerated. And I was pressed for time this morning, so my new “mock cereal” was perfect. What it is:

• 1oz walnuts
• about 1/2 cup of toasted coconut flakes (I love Bob’s Red Mill Flaked Coconut
• coconut mil
• handful of blueberries
• generous amount of cinnamon

It is not a very sweet breakfast, but it was very filling and I think its tasty.

The basic idea – mix

• 1 tablespoon honey (raw recommended, but I dont know where I can find that)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Massage over face, rinse well – viola! Can’t wait to try it, and use up some of the baking soda sitting in my cabinet!