Dave's Fall Journal: Losing the Gut

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: M0oG0oGaiPan
you should try some crystal delight or whey in your oats. Or sweet n low + cinnamin.

maybe look into getting some ambien if you really can't sleep. Or try some over the counter stuff first.

Thanks! Any over-the-counter stuff you'd recommend?

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: M0oG0oGaiPan
you should try some crystal delight or whey in your oats. Or sweet n low + cinnamin.

maybe look into getting some ambien if you really can't sleep. Or try some over the counter stuff first.

Thanks! Any over-the-counter stuff you'd recommend?

First I'd make sure your doing everything you can to sleep naturally. There's been some good articles posted on digg on the subject of sleep.

http://digg.com/search?section=all&s=sleep

Honestly I don't have anything to recommend for sleep aids. Maybe melatonin?

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: M0oG0oGaiPan

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: M0oG0oGaiPan
you should try some crystal delight or whey in your oats. Or sweet n low + cinnamin.

maybe look into getting some ambien if you really can't sleep. Or try some over the counter stuff first.

Thanks! Any over-the-counter stuff you'd recommend?

First I'd make sure your doing everything you can to sleep naturally. There's been some good articles posted on digg on the subject of sleep.

http://digg.com/search?section=all&s=sleep

Honestly I don't have anything to recommend for sleep aids. Maybe melatonin?

I think it's mostly self-induced stress. I tend to overthink things and worry a bit about things I haven't finished. I need to learn how to turn off my brain at night, haha.

 

[Kaido]

Daily Update: Saturday, September 20, 2008

Stats:

Wakeup: 9:43am
PT: None
Meal 1: Raisin Bran
Meal 2: 1/2 Chicken Sandwich, Baked Chips
Meal 3: Skipped
<cheat day>
Bedtime:

Notes:

Hahaha, I can FEEL that Burger King food just sitting in my stomach. Clean diet ftw. I'm making my cheat food at home from now on, lol.

Kind of took the day off today.

 

[Kaido]

Daily Update: Monday, September 22, 2008

Stats: 201 pounds

Wakeup: 6:47am
PT: None
Meal 1: Oatmeal
Meal 2: Chinese Beef & Broccoli, Brown Rice
Meal 3: Strawberry Protein Shake
Meal 4: Turkey burger
Meal 5: 2 Tbps Natural PB + 2 Rice Cakes
Meal 6: Banana Protein Shake

Notes:

Kind of took yesterday (Sunday) off as well. Ate okay but was lax. Back on the plan today! The Irish Oatmeal (Steel-Cut) is still fantastic with Agave Nectar and doesn't make me tired from the sugar hit like syrup and honey does. I made Beef & Broccoli on my Wok today and I tried substituting the sugar with Agave Nectar, but it didn't turn out too good. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good. Guess I'll be sticking with 3/4 tablespoon refined white sugar for the recipe - not too terribly bad, but I'd still like to avoid it!

Check this Scooby guy out, he's been bodybuilding for over 20 years with less than 10% bodyfat year-round:

http://fitness.scoobysworkshop.com/

He has a Youtube channel as well:

http://www.youtube.com/user/scooby1961

Calisthenics also look awesome - this guy doesn't use weights, just his bodyweight using calisthenics and he has an amazing body:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdRaMdK7rWI

I made this protein shake for Meal #6, I need to go shopping so I can get back on my regular meal program:

http://fitness.scoobysworkshop.com/proteinShake.htm

It was really good!

 

[nixium]

I wish I could set up my meals as well as you've done. I always manage to have them going well for a day or two, and then fall back into eating out/not eating the right mix of nutrients. Nice job!

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: nixium
I wish I could set up my meals as well as you've done. I always manage to have them going well for a day or two, and then fall back into eating out/not eating the right mix of nutrients. Nice job!

Thanks! The trick is setting a date and time to go shopping once a week, picking up ALL of your food (take a shopping list!!), and having a detailed meal plan. Without that, you're on the failboat. This took me a little while to figure out, but here are the basics...

Here is the failboat checklist:

[ ] Don't have a detailed daily menu
[ ] Don't have a detailed shopping list
[ ] Don't buy all of the food on your list once a week
[ ] Don't set aside a time to shop or cook
[ ] Don't have the tools you need to cook or containers for the food

It sounds funny to spout the reverse off, but if you do any of those things on that checklist, you're pretty much guaranteed to fail. No detailed meal plan, no detailed meals. No detailed shopping list, no ingredients for meals. No shopping, no food, no meals. No time to shop, no food; no time to cook, no food. No tools and no containers, no food. I mean it pretty much boils down to just knowing what to do, and then setting a time to do it - like a doctor's appointment.

It's not hard...I've spelled out everything I personally need in this thread - a detailed meal plan and a detailed shopping list. All I have to do is (1) buy the food once a week and (2) cook the food in the morning and put it in containers or lunchboxes to take with me. But if you don't do the very simple things, then the end result is, well, simply that you don't get the results you want.

******************

It's incredibly simple to do this after you've cooked the meals for a week or two. I pretty much use 3 appliances:

1. Small George Foreman electric grill (around $20)
2. Black & Decker electric steamer (around $30)
3. Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker (around $110)

The George Foreman grill cooks steak, turkey burgers, fish, and chicken breasts. Just sprinkle some McCormic spices on top or use some dip (honey mustard, A1, sweet & sour, etc.) after cooking to add flavor. I recommend the one-piece units if you can find them instead of the removable-grill models; I used to have the 5-plate model and it more steamed meat than grilling it, the 1-piece grills get much hotter.

The electric steamer is used for veggies (15 minutes for fresh veggies, 20 minutes for frozen, 45 minutes for sweet or red potatoes) and for fish and chicken (you can also bake your fish or chicken, but the steamer is 100% automatic).

The rice cooker is for brown rice, oatmeal (I hate regular oatmeal; I eat Irish steel-cut oats), and pasta. Yes, pasta. You can use the timer, or if you don't mind the noodles a bit "fluffier" than usual, just hit the Quick Rice button and it will boil it for you.

The only other things I use are a frying pan and a waffle iron. I sometimes do chicken or fish on the frying pan, as well as other meats like deli-sliced turkey or chicken. I also do whole-wheat pancakes on the frying pan. I use the waffle iron for whole-wheat waffles. So really: (1) frying pan (or electric griddle), (2) waffle iron, (3) electric steamer, (4) fuzzy-logic rice cooker, and (5) George Foreman grill. Those 5 things make my life really easy and I usually only spend about 20 minutes cooking all 6 meals for the day in the morning.

Explaining it kind of overkills it...you just have to it for a week or two and you'll pick up your own flow for doing it pretty quickly. I'll do some Youtube videos on efficient cooking someday...

 

[Kaido]

Daily Update: Thursday, 2-Oct-2008

I'm having a really hard time staying on the wagon this time around. I am cutting my cardio to 30 minutes, I think 45 minutes is just to overwhelming psychologically, despite the fact that I can manage it physically. I weighed in today at 198 pounds, so I'm below the "200" barrier which makes me happy

I tried out this made-from-scratch Whole Wheat Pancake recipe today:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/...,150175-242197,00.html

Not bad, kind of on the bland side. These are more "flapjacks" than "pancakes" because they're so thin. They do puff up a bit while cooking though. I made a second batch but with the following modifications:

1/2-cup Whole Wheat Flour
1-tsp. Baking Powder
1.5-tsp Light Agave Nectar
1/2-cup Rice Milk
1 whole Egg
1.5-tsp. Grape Seed Oil

I used Agave Nectar, my new favorite sweetener, because it doesn't give me a fade like honey or syrup does. I guess this is because it's a low-glycemic food (according to Wikipedia). I also used Rice Milk because I have a dairy allergy. I also figured, what the heck, I had some Grape Seed Oil lying around and figured it was probably healthier than vegetable oil (I use it for cooking steaks in a cast iron skillet because of the high smoke point). I toss the liquids in the blender and then added the dry stuff and pulsed it a few times. Took like a minute to prepare from start to finish lol.

The pancakes came out very edible and actually looked nice. It had a slightly nutty aftertaste (don't know if nutty is the proper word), which I think is from the Grape Seed Oil. It's kind of weird cooking with agave nectar and rice milk in the recipe, because I use agave nectar as syrup now and drink rice milk with my pancakes. Again they weren't steller pancakes, same as the original recipe, but they were edible. My wife said, "not bad". Definitely not quite as good as the Aunt Jemima stuff, but these don't have any chemicals in them. This recipe is nice because you get an egg (protein) and whole wheat (fiber). It makes 2 large pancakes. I'll keep researching pancake technology and see if I can come up with something better. I think the recipe may be too liquidy for making waffles, however, so that will require some tweaking as well.

Bottom line, I made very edible pancakes in one minute using my blender and materials from scratch :thumbsup:

I am working on a series of cooking videos that show you how to cook using only 5 appliances (aside from your fridge and microwave):

1. George Foreman grill
2. Electric Steamer
3. Fuzzy-Logic Rice Cooker
4. Waffle Iron
5. Electric Skillet

No oven or range need...yup, no need for a conventional stove! I listed 3 appliances in the post above, but I think you really need 5. So basically:

George Foreman grill: Meats
Electric Steamer: Veggies (including Potatoes), Fish/Chicken
Fuzzy-Logic Rice Cooker: Brown Rice, Pasta, Oatmeal (Steel-Cut for me)
Waffle Iron: Whole-Wheat Waffles
Electric Skillet: Meats, Pancakes

Total cost is about $250 for quality appliances. All clean up easily, either in the dishwasher or by hand. You can cook everything in the morning, wash up the appliances, and have great food to eat all day long. I'm still fleshing out the details and learning how to cook more things from scratch, but I'll keep this thread updated

 

[Kaido]

Daily Update: Friday, 3-October-2008

I believe I posted this in my previous thread, but I like RideFree's bread recipe for bread machines:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=1759391&enterthread=y

I modified the recipe a bit; this is how I like it:

3T packed dark brown sugar
2T olive oil
12oz warm filtered water * (microwaved for 90 seconds)
2t salt
1c whole wheat flour
3c white flour
1¾t yeast

* Be sure to use filtered water - the tap water in my area makes the bread too hard

For the sake of convenience, I have a special set of tools for making the bread. I keep the cheap plastic measuring spoons in the plastic drinking cup, which is also microwavable (for the water). I keep my measuring cup nearby anyway so I didn't bother with that.

1. Measuring Spoons: 1 Tablespoon, 1 Teaspoon, 1/2 Teaspoon, 1/4 Teaspoon
2. Plastic Drinking Cup: With a line marked at 12oz with a Sharpie

Next, I make pre-mix bags. These are super convenient because you can prepare as many pre-mix bags as you want ahead of time; they make it really easy to prepare the bread mix quickly. I keep the dry mix in the 1-gallon plastic Ziploc bags (I like the kind with the zipper tab from Ziploc or Hefty because they're easy to seal quickly). Here is what I put in the bags:

3T packed dark brown sugar
2t salt
1c whole wheat flour
3c white flour

I dump all of those ingredients in the bag, seal it up, and mix it around by hand to get the ingredients sifted (the brown sugar is packed and needs to be broken up). One pre-mix bag will make 1 loaf of bread; you can make as many as you want (if you do 20 or 30, you're set for a month of fresh bread every day). Here is what I keep on the shelf:

Bread machine
Large bottle Olive Oil (with small pour spout)
Toolkit (pre-measured cup with measuring spoons)
Bags of pre-mix
Yeast (kept in the fridge)

Since the bread takes awhile to cook, I set it up to cook at night. It only takes a couple of minutes since I have the pre-mix bags and tools readily available:

1. Fill cup with filtered water, microwave for 90 seconds
2. Measure in Olive Oil, then use the water to rinse off the spoon into the machine
3. Dump in pre-mix bag
4. Measure in yeast
5. Set color to "Light" and click the "Start" button

So once a month I make about 30 pre-mix bags and keep them in a bin on the shelf next to the bread machine. Then every night that I want fresh bread for the next day, I take two minutes to heat up the water, dump in the ingredients, and start the machine. For whatever reason, pyschologically it is less of a barrier for me to do this on a regular basis if I have pre-mix bags available with a special toolkit handy. It's not that grabbing the tools or ingredients is any harder, but since I perceive it as really easy then I actually do it lol.

Purchasing a bread machine may not be the most economical thing in the world up front, but it's about convenience and having healthier bread - plus, if you eat a lot of bread, it definitely pays for itself in very short order. Having half a day to cook multiple loaves of delicious bread in the oven is nice, but honestly, I'd rather be doing other things like playing on my computer and then have an appliance do the cooking for me. I have a 2-pound Breadman, which is available on Amazon for $90 shipped:

http://www.amazon.com/Breadman...&qid=1223047937&sr=8-3

You can also find good, used bread machines on eBay, Craigslist, and at local DI places like Goodwill and thrift stores. People use these things once or twice and then give them away. It does take a few loaves to get the recipe dialed in for your particular machine, so don't be alarmed if the bread comes out funny the first few times you make it. Once you get the recipe down, it comes out perfect every single time. The loaves are shaped a bit weird (non-traditional), but you get used to it after awhile.

As far as economy goes, I think it costs about $3.50 for a loaf of fiber grain bread from my local grocery store. Assuming my family goes through one loaf of bread per day (toast, sandwiches, bread slices with dinner), at $90 for a new bread machine it will pay for itself in under a month. According to RideFree's calculations, it only costs 13 cents per loaf of bread if you make it yourself. So 27 days times $3.50 per loaf is $94.50 ($90 shipped for the Breadman I have); 13 cents per loaf times 27 days is $3.51 cents ($3.50 per loaf from the grocery store). You can make bread for a month for the cost of a single loaf of bread from the store!

 

[Kaido]

Daily Update: Sunday, 5-October-2008

Found a recipe for Whole-Wheat Waffles:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/...,148174-247196,00.html

I adapted it to be dairy-free and replaced the brown sugar with Agave Nectar:

3-3/4 c Whole-Wheat Flour
2t Baking Powder
1/2t Salt
2T Agave Nectar
5 Eggs, well-beaten
3c Rice Milk
1/2c Oil

Makes about 6 large Belgium waffles. Still loving my new Presto "flip" wafflemaker, totally awesome!

The taste is pretty good, but they came out somewhat dry. Edible, but dry. For the last waffle, I mixed in a bit more Rice Milk and that helped, so I'll probably try adding maybe an extra 1/4 cup of Rice Milk to the recipe next time. I like this recipe because it makes a whole bunch of waffles, which I can then freeze and eat later instead of having to cook them the day I want them. My Grandma has a great trick for freezing waffles: let them cool down, wrap up each waffle in Press-N-Seal wrap, and then stack in a Ziploc bag and freeze. Then you can toss it in the toaster oven and get a nice, hot crispy waffle in the morning with no effort! One waffle or 2 pancakes fulfills the morning requirement for Meal #1.

I'll try adapting this to be a blender recipe. I mixed the wet ingredients in my blender, but those alone filled up the entire jar, so I wasn't able to mix in the dry ingredients. But, I like cooking a lot of waffles at one time because then I can freeze them, so in the future when I experiment more maybe I'll see about adjusting the recipe to fit in a blender.

I also found out there is a dark Agave Nectar (I've been buying light) and it's supposed to be more like maple syrup - better to put on pancakes and waffles. My local store stocks it, so I'll give it a try this week and see how it is. I really like Agave Nectar because it doesn't give me a sugar fade if I have it in the morning like syrup or honey does. The brand I get now is Mahava. I used to get it at Whole Foods, but Stop & Shop recently started carrying it in the syrup aisle. Here's a link:

http://www.madhavasagave.com/

My big goal this week is to learn how to make tasty whole-wheat or grain/oat muffins, with or without fruit baked-in. Muffins are a super-handy breakfast food because you can eat it with your hands and take it with you. I've found some good recipes for "6-week muffin mix" that will keep in your fridge for up to 6 weeks, making it easy to toss in some muffins to cook. I wish they still sold muffin appliances, but they're nearly impossible to find, so I guess I'll be using the oven.

 

[Kaido]

Daily Update: Monday, 6-Oct-2008

I read about using Agave Nectar in place of Sugar in bread recipes here:

http://www.madhavahoney.com/agave.htm

5) Agave Nectar is a moisture retainer. It increases the water retention properties of food. In bread and baked goods, Agave Nectar enhances product freshness due to its hygroscopic properties which act as humidifying agents, thereby increasing the shelf life of such products.

And here:

http://www.greenthistown.com/2...ave-nectar-banana.html

The syrupy consistency of the agave nectar makes breads and cakes super moist. Agave Nectar is naturally sweeter then sugar and it's lower on the glycemic index, so it won't make you crash and you can use less of it.

I had originally googled agave nectar as a replacement for brown sugar; I'm not sure if I was supposed to use light or dark agave nectar, but since I only had light on hand, I went with this recipe:

Bread Machine Recipe: (2lb Loaf on "Light")

2T light (golden) agave nectar (replaced 3T packed dark brown sugar)
2T olive oil
12oz warm filtered water * (microwaved for 90 seconds)
2t salt
1c whole wheat flour
3c white flour
1¾t yeast

The bread was definitely more moist! It has a consistency closer to what you would buy at the store. Sold! I'm ditching brown sugar now in the bread recipe and getting better bread to boot And MAN it makes awesome toast! Also, I noticed that the top of the bread didn't rise as much as the brown sugar recipe...instead of a giant loaf I got a normal-sized loaf, which was much easier to deal with in the toaster and cutting into sandwiches. Another great benefit to using agave nectar!

I picked up some dark (amber) agave nectar on my way home and will test that in my bread recipe tonight and also try it on my whole-wheat waffles. I really like the containers they come in too...it's an easy-squeeze bottle with a thin pour spout, which makes it easy to measure or just pour on stuff.

***********

Ow, ow, ow. Too much wheat. My insides are feeling bruised lol. I've consumed waaaaaay too much fiber for my own good :Q

Anyway, I placed an order for "white wheat" from King Arthur:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/detail.jsp?id=3378

I later discovered the non-organic stuff was almost half the price:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/detail.jsp?id=3311

I don't even know what 100% organic really means...do they grow it without pesticides? I couldn't find a definition on their website. I know there is some shady marketing stuff related to "organic", so I'll have to order the regular kind and compare to see if it tastes or cooks any different. It actually has more protein than traditional whole wheat flour (14.5% vs 14%):

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/detail.jsp?id=3015

I'm excited to try the white wheat in my pancakes and waffles, it should hopefully make them lighter, fluffier, and tastier. Maybe. I've never tried white wheat before (or really used wheat period much for that matter), so this will be a new experience for me.

I picked up some dark agave nectar and tried it on my waffles. Definitely an improvement over the light stuff as far as a syrup goes, it's closer to pure maple syrup than anything. I'd actually like it more syrupy than liquidy though because the waffles are kind of on the dry side, but hopefully the white wheat will help with that.

 

[Kaido]

Daily Update: 7-October-2008

Hah, NAILED it!

Agave Mixed-Wheat Bread Machine Recipe: (2lb Loaf on "Light")

2T dark (amber) agave nectar (replaced 3T packed dark brown sugar)
2T olive oil
12oz warm filtered water * microwaved for 90 seconds
2t salt
1c whole wheat flour
3c white flour
1¾t yeast

Came out spectacular - had the same moistness that the light agave nectar had but an even better "bread" smell. This is my new default bread recipe

 

[Kaido]

Daily Update: 8-October-2008

Got the White Wheat in today. Looks just like all-purpose flour, only denser. Cooked up some blender pancakes. Taste is a little bit different, but that may be because I'm trying Olive Oil in the recipe this time. The pancakes look like regular white pancakes, but are dense like whole-wheat pancakes. Interesting, I'll see about making them "poofier".

 

[Kaido]

Daily Update: 9-Oct-2008

Trying the White Wheat with the bread recipe tonight. I replaced 1 cup of Whole Wheat with 1 cup of White Wheat. Next I will try 1 cup of Whole Wheat and 3 cups of White Wheat, and after that I will try just 4 cups of White Wheat. Here's some more background on Whole White Wheat:

http://www.wholegrainscouncil..../whole-white-wheat-faq

 

[brikis98]

Just browsed through your journal a bit, and damn man, you're a machine. Nice organization and some interesting info. Just overall well done. How's the weight loss going, btw?

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: brikis98
Just browsed through your journal a bit, and man, you're a machine. Nice organization and some interesting info. Just overall well done. How's the weight loss going, btw?

Hehe thanks

Weight loss is going okay, but I haven't been as focused as I want to be. I've found it really difficult to stay focused this time around. I think part of it has to do with setting my goals too high - just because I can do 45 minutes of cardio doesn't mean I can do it psychologically day after day. I think I'm going to revise my workout plan to be "15 minutes minimum" - that way if I'm having an off day, I know I can at least muster up 15 minutes of PT. I think motivation is the most difficult part of any new project that requires a fair amount of work. However, the people I've seen get consistent results (Scooby, JamerJay, etc.) pretty much just make it a part of their lifestyle instead of having an off-season and whatnot. Rather than constantly putting themselves through goal-cycles, they just make clean and healthy living a part of their daily habits and then it's no big deal.

I've gotten pretty good with meals over the course of this project. I've learn a lot about nutrition (and hype) too. It's like computers - there's a lot of misinformation out there, but if you're willing to sift through it, you can find the keys to unlocking the principles that get results. It's not very hard...all you really have to worry about are three things:

1. What you eat
2. When you eat
3. How much you eat

So portion, content, and timing are pretty much all you need to understand. Constant small meals every 2-3 hours seems to work the best (between 5 and 8, but usually 6 for most people). It only takes a week or two for your metabolism to adjust. As far as what you eat, basically it's just lean meats, whole grains, and healthy stuff from the ground - anything green is pretty good for you (kale, cabbage, lettuce, green beans, broccoli, etc.). If you use condiments, only use a tablespoon or two and use stuff like "light mayo". And then eat until you're full, but not stuffed and not hungry. That was one of the hardest things for me to change - I was used to eating until I was pretty dang full because I was only eating 3 meals a day and it had to last for 6 hours between meals.

I think that most people understand the principle of eating healthy, but it really boils down to having a very specific meal plan. Without a specific meal plan, you don't know what to shop for and you don't have supplies to cook healthy meals for yourself. Again it's not hard or "new" info, it's just taking a more structured approach to it. Another HUGE key is variety, for two reasons: first, you'll get sick of eating the same thing every day (most people, anyway) and two, you can develop food allergies and intolerances without a variety of food. So a rotating diet plan is really the best way to go, imo. As little as a 7-day meal plan is good.

Initially I complained in my head about this, about not having enough variety, but then I looked back on what I ate normally my whole life and it was pretty consistent anyway. I do like my 2-week rotating menu though, that's really nice to have a breakup in meals, but it's something most people have to work up to since they're not used to cooking 6 healthy meals a day. Learning how to use spices and learning different ways to cook food has also been a big help...I've learned that "healthy food" can still mean "really awesome-tasting food."

I've been making more of a push to go all-natural as well, i.e. as few preservatives and chemicals as I possibly can. I've discovered I have a lot more sensitivities than just a milk allergy, for example I don't get along with MSG or foods with a lot of processing that involve too much sugar/frying/chemicals/preservatives. I feel WAY better making my own food at home, and luckily there are tons of great appliances that just about cook the food for you, so it's been a fairly easy transition from mostly buying store-bought food and restuarant/fast food to DIY cooking at home, from scratch.

One of these days when I've learned enough, I want to put together some Youtube videos and a little guide to share what I've learned...the principles seem to be pretty consistent for the successful people who get real, long-term results; it's just a matter of documenting them and then making them accessible with things like step-by-step recipes, tricks to using appliances to making cooking easier/faster/better, and so on.

Anyway this reply turned out longer than I though it would...haha. Nice job on your thread too, keep it going man! I'll be lifting weights and running by the end of the year!

 

[Kaido]

Daily Update: 10-Oct-2009

Well I tried the bread recipe with 1 cup of White Wheat flour in place of 1 cup of Whole Wheat flour. It came out lighter - it still looks like wheat bread, but it's a much lighter brown. The bread was soft and chewy, even after being toasted. I prefer Whole Wheat for toasting - it makes it crispy (I sometimes toast my sandwich bread too, so that it holds together better). I tried it on a chicken sandwich...I don't know if it was the chicken or what, but the bread didn't seem like it had much flavor. Mixed feelings on this one...I like the flavor of Whole Wheat better, but the White Wheat had a better consistency for sandwich bread (the Whole Wheat bread is the King of Toast, however). The Whole Wheat bread had more flavor. Anyway, I'll do a couple more tests - tonight is 1 cup Whole Wheat, 3 cups White Wheat and tomorrow is 4 cups White Wheat. So far I like my Whole-Wheat Dark-Agave recipe the best!

 

[Kaido]

Daily Update: Wed, 22-Oct-2008

Tried the bread with 1 cup Whole Wheat and 3 cups White Wheat last night. Came out very dense and stiff. Flavor wasn't too bad, but it was much too dense for my liking. I don't think I'm going to bother trying the recipe with 4 cups White Wheat; I think it will just be dense and flavorless.

I have some kind of cold. Achy body, slight ear pain, sore throat, cough, and thick, dark green mucus. I've been taking Motrin for the ache, which helps perfectly, and various cough drops for the cough, but I still have this weird problem with the mucus. It's like it's coming from my lungs instead of my throat, I have to really cough to get it out. My wife had whatever I have last week and had the same problem. I spend about 20 minutes at 3:00am this morning hacking my lungs out, trying to get the little bits of thick, dark green mucus out of my chest. Boy did that hurt. I'm still hacking this morning, but thanks to the extreme coughing last night, I've completely lost my voice. And I still have some of that weird mucus. Anyone have a clue as to what this is? I don't recall ever having a cold or flu like this before...

 

[Kaido]

Daily Update: Thurs, 19-Nov-2008

Been out of the game basically since the middle of May (approx. 6 months). I don't know why it's been such a struggle for me to get back into it, but it has been a struggle (still at 195-200lbs though!). So, I've decided to try the 6-week deal again because I did well on 6-weeks and didn't do so well on 3-months. This week I am finalizing the new diet (mostly just more DIY foods). Here's a great recipe from it:

Blender Waffles:
1/2-cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2-cup Rice Milk
1 whole Egg
1-tsp. Baking Powder
1.5-tsp Light Agave Nectar
1.5-tsp. Vegetable Oil

Makes 1 large Belgian Waffle. Add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth. I recommend adding the flour last because it's dry and will stick to the bottom of the blender if you put it in first.

This is the same recipe as my Blender Pancakes. One recipe, two delicious breakfast items For toppings, I'd recommend Dark Agave Nectar and 1/2 cup fruit (berries or bananas are great) if you want to go the healthy route. Some powdered sugar probably wouldn't hurt and of course natural maple syrup tastes great. I can't handle sugar in the morning though, so I'll stick with agave nectar as my syrup.

You can eat 1/2 the waffle (it's large and you don't want to stuff yourself - remember, small meals) and then freeze the other half for later consumption. The trick is, get some Press-N-Seal wrap and seal the cooled waffle in an "envelope", then put that in a ziploc bag. I've tried just putting the extra waffles in a ziploc bag, but they get ice crusties and freezer burn, so you have to seal them individually inside the Press-N-Seal wrappers. Plus they don't stick together this way. I'd say they're good for about 6 weeks using this method.

 

[Kaido]

Playing around with protein numbers for the blender pancake/waffle recipe:

http://www.joyofbaking.com/flour.html

Whole Wheat Flour:
1 cup = 150 grams
1 cup sifted = 130 grams

I don't sift, I scoop, so let's say 140 grams per cup of flour on average. If Whole Wheat Flour is 14% protein, then that means there is 19.6 grams of protein per cup of Whole Wheat Flour. 19.6 divided by 2 is 9.8 (that means 1/2 cup of flour has 9.8 grams of protein).

http://www.iloveindia.com/nutr...otein/egg-protein.html

That site says each egg has at minimum 6 grams of protein, depending on how you cook it. The rest of the ingredients are neglible (like the rice milk), so we'll just add .2 grams to even out the wheat protein. So 9.8 + .2 + 6 = 16 grams of protein per blender recipe. Rambo would definitely eat this for breakfast, so I am renaming my recipe Rambo Pancakes.

Rambo Pancakes = 16 grams of protein