The soup is filling but still light, and provides protein and fiber to keep the belly satisfied. You can also bring it to work or class in tupperware. I recommend the Alladin bowls or Contigo mugs, they keep food hot for up to 3 hours!

Recipe: Makes ~4 large servings

• 1 butter nut squash
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup onions, chopped
• 3 cups 1 percent milk
• 1 1/2 chicken broth
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ½ tsp salt little under
• walnuts, to garnish
• optional: few drops black walnut extract

Directions – Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roast the squash for 45 minutes to an hour, until soft. While the squash is roasting, melt the butter in a large pan on the stove. Add the onions and cook on medium low heat until caramelized. Towards the end, add the garlic and let lightly brown. When the squash is done, scoop out the seeds. Place in a blender (you may need to do this in two steps) with the milk and broth. Blend until smooth. Pour the squash soup into the pan with the onions and garlic. Add the salt and pepper and optional walnut extract if desired. Alternatively, you can also grind up some walnuts and throw them in the soup. Bring to a light boil and reduce the heat. Cook until thickened to your preference. Serve topped with some chopped walnuts. Enjoy! 

benefits

Butternut squash * a great source of Vitamin C, A, potassium, manganese, and folate. It is also very high in fiber and water content!

Walnuts * a fabulous source of 0mega 3 fatty acids. Walnuts have been found to decrease LDL cholesterol, decrease inflammation, improve endothelial cell function, and decrease risk of excessive blood clotting, all of which decrease heart disease risk. They may also help reduce metabolic syndrome symptoms and decrease tummy fat. They are rich in antioxidants and may help protect against some cancers.

Coming up soon I have a product review that I am actually REALLY excited about: P28 protein bagels and bread!

Have a lovely Tuesday, yall. Remember to stay positive.

We decided to go last weekend, in order to really celebrate the greatness of MLK’s contributions to American history. Kidding, but that is when we went. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and got settled into the hotel. There were 6 girls and 2 king beds – cozy! We explored the Strip for a while and I learned that prostitutes have calling cards that get flicked at you every 100 meters on the street. At first I thought they were coupons? We went to a few shops in the Venetian and then headed back to the room to get ready for the night. We went to dinner and then headed to a nice club, Tao!

Being a group of females with a few weak connections to ‘promotors,’ we were led to a table and given free drink wristbands. We proceeded to dance, get stuck in weird bathrooms with transparent doors that only turned opaque once you figured out the complicated lock, meet some other Vegas-ers from USC and Utah, dance more, and then trudged back to the hotel a few hours later.

For reasons unbeknownst to us, we all awoke at 9 am the next morning. I had taken my trusty B vitamins before falling asleep and was feeling pretty fine, just a bit tired. That day we explored more and a few of the girls went to a huge buffet at the Wicked Spoon. Shelby and I didn’t want to wait in line, so we walked down the Strip, went to the Sugar Factory, and got dinner at our hotel. That night, we went to a club opening at the Wynn and were seated at a table with bottle service. It is the weirdest concept. These groups of people pay 1 to 2 THOUSAND dollars for these tables and the clubs shuffle in groups of (mostly) females to accompany them. But they don’t talk to you. Its like you are decorative piece of furniture…

We just sat there for a while and drank some champagne and chatted with one another. Eventually, we left the table to go dance a bit. Later that night, we moved on to another club, XS, but the line was a couple hours long. Feeling dejected, we all sat on a bench in the hotel to try to figure out what to do. Random group of dudes to the rescue! We joined a group and went inside and almost immediately a few of us got split up.

That was probably bad sign #1.

I bumped into this really sweet girl and we started chatting. She introduced me to her boyfriend and he seemed really nice too and we were all just hanging out and watching all the people going nuts on the dance floor. They offered to get me a drink, which I thought seemed odd but nice, and we waited in line for that for a while. Later, we maneuvered over to the dance floor and were just having good time dancing to techno mixes and some top 40 hits. But then, it got a little weird…. The boyfriend seemed to be kind of flirtatious, but right in front of his girlfriend. And then the girlfriend started to seem almost flirty…. And it was just weird.

And then it dawned on me.

SWINGERS!!!!!!!!

I am so naive. I should have figured that out in the first 5 minutes, or at least when they offered to get me a drink, but no, ohhhh no, I just thought I had met some nice Californians. Once I realized what was going on, I pulled the girlfriend aside and said something along the lines of “Y’all are really great, but I dont think I am quite what you are looking for. I am sure you wont have a problem though!”

Her response was “You dont like us?!?!” I proceeded to assure her that they were great and then hightailed my behind outta there.

I wondered around for a couple minutes before finding a few of my friends.We agreed that we were tired and ready to go so we cabbed it back to the hotel, full of stories and blistered feet.

Cranberry & honeyed walnut salmon with brown rice and a ginger-coconut kale salad

Recipe: Makes 3 servings

For the salmon – inspired by Ohh May
~1 lb salmon
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 small orange, peeled
1 tsp fresh grated ginger (or a shake of ginger powder)
1/2 cup sweet white onion, diced
1 tbsp honey
4 tbsp walnuts, chopped

Directions – Combine the orange, cranberries, and ginger in a blender and blend until chunky. Pat the mixture all over the salmon and let marinate, if possible (I didn’t have time). Grease a baking dish with a bit of coconut oil and place the salmon and diced onions in the pan. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Turn the stove on medium high and place a non-stick pan on the heat. Once the pan is hot, drizzle the honey over the top of the salmon and sear it for a minute, or until lightly browned. Sear the salmon with the honey-cranberry side down. Remove the salmon from heat and top with chopped walnuts.

For the salad:
4 cups kale
2 cups sugar snap peas
1/2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp grated garlic
1 tsp grated ginger (or dash ginger powder)
3 tbsp shredded sweetened coconut

Directions – Melt the coconut oil into a pan on the stove top. Add the ginger and garlic. Add the snap peas, kale, and shredded coconut and stir fry until wilted and bright. Remove from heat.

For the rice:
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tbsp soy sauce

Directions – Mix the rice with the coconut oil and nuke until hot. Stir in the soy sauce.

Benefits:

Salmon * is high in Vitamin D and omega 3 fatty acids which raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. Also makes hair grow faster (from personal experience!) and your skin smoother.

Cranberries * contain the antioxidants phenolic acids, anthocyanins, flavonoids, triterpenoids, and proanthocyanadins (PACs) which can work synergistically together in the body. The PACs are what enables cranberries to help protect against urinary tract infections

Ginger * contains gingerol which relaxes blood vessels and thus improves circulation. It also aids in digestion and can soothe the stomach. Contains TONS of compounds that fight cancer!

Coconut * coconut gets a bad rap because of its saturated fat content, but its fatty acids are mainly medium-chain triglycerides, not long-chain. The long-chain triglycerides are bad for our cholesterol levels, but coconut has been shown to improve cholesterol levels. Animal studies suggest that medium-chain triglycerides can increase metabolism. It is great to cook with because it is stable at high temperatures!

Brown rice * more fiber and nutrients than white rice.

Kale * Extremely high levels of vitamins K, A, and C! Also has manganese, calcium, fiber, and antioxidants.

Onions * contain anti-aging antioxidants phenolics and flavonoids. A study by Dr. Liu showed that pungent and Western yellow onions protected the most against colon cancer, while pungent yellow, Western yellow, and shallots protected the most against liver cancer.

So, I definitely had a meltdown earlier this week. There was self-doubt, worry, anxiety, fear, and salty tears everywhere. Just thinking about everything I needed to cram into my schedule was making me ill, and it was the first day of the quarter! The way I got over it was to first list all the things I needed to make time for in the week:

• 4 classes at UCD (really just 3 though)
• 4  2.5 hour MCAT classes per week
• ~3 hours of MCAT studying per day
• ~3 study allotments for UCD classes per week
• an hour to lift weights 3x per week and an hour to exercise in some other way another 2 or 3x per week
• time to SOCIALIZE or have ME time  e v e r y  s i n g l e  d a y

Next, I drew out the plan. This is mostly accurate, with a few exceptions. And its color coded! Green = class, orange = workout, pink = study, purple = MCAT class.

To get this schedule the way it is, I had to make some sacrifices. Unfortunately, they are very self-serving sacrifices, but, frankly, I don’t care. I will remain sane. I quit my food sampling job to free up 4-8  hours each weekend, and I have at least postponed my internship at the fertility center until I get the hang of everything. I figure I have acquired almost everything I can from it and I can still put it on my application!

Step 3: ACTUALLY FOLLOW THE PLAN. Or at least complete the necessary daily tasks.

I really am sorry to bore you all with that, but maybe it can help some of you find sanity within a crazy schedule. Also, putting it on here holds me more accountable

Now, for the recipe.

See that quiche crust? Looks like brownie, don’t it? But its not! There are no grains, gluten, or nuts (for you, Mark!) in this recipe. The quiche is high protein, high fiber, and filled with veggies! The sweet corn and red bell peppers go well with the cheddar topping and black bean base.

Southwestern Quiche with a grainless, black bean crust

Recipe: Makes 4 large, filling servings

For the crust

• 1 cup black beans, extremely well drained
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp ground flax

For the filling

• 3 eggs
• 5 egg whites
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• 1/2 bell pepper, diced
• 1/3 cup onion, diced
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup corn
• “Baja seasoning” or a combo of garlic powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, dash onion powder, dash oregano

Topped with 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or a ‘Mexican blend’

Directions -

First, preheat the oven to 400. Drain the black beans extremely well, press firmly to the point of squishing them a little bit in the can. Combine the beans, egg, and flax in a bowl and mix until homogenous. Grease a quiche dish or baking pan and spread the batter evenly over the bottom. Bake for 10 minutes, until cooked but not yet browned. While the crust is cooking, saute the onions and bell pepper on the stove top with a dash of butter or oil until soft and the onions are lightly browned.

Next, combine all the eggs and yogurt in a bowl and mix well. Fold in the bell pepper, onion, salsa, corn, and spices.

Pour on top of the crust. Reduce the oven heat to 375. Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the quiche. Bake for 35 minutes or until cooked all the way through.

SO EASY.

Benefits:

Onion * Contains quercitin, an antioxidant that halts the growth of tumors! Also, studies have linked regular onion consumption with lower cholesterol and reduced risk of colon cancer. A prime source of chromium.

Eggs * the yolk is where all the nutrients are! It contains tryptophan, selenium, iodine, B vitamins, and phosphorous, many of which are necessary for optimal metabolism. The egg white has 6 grams of complete protein!

Black beans * High in folate, fiber and protein. They also have antioxidants called flavonoids and small amounts of omega 3′s.

Flax * A great source of fiber and omega 3′s!

These muffins are very light and have a punch of fiber, perfect for breakfast. They aren’t very sweet, which I think is good for eating something first thing in the morning. There is a light sweetness from the sugar and apples, and a nice tang from the raisins. The greek yog provides some protein, although I would pair the muffins with eggs or more greek yogurt for a substantial breakfast. I want to remake them soon with some added bran and perhaps more butter and see how they turn out.

They are quite tasty. I made 14 two days ago and our house of 3 is now down to… 3. Success!

Glorious Morning Muffins

sorry for the iphone pic!

Recipe: Makes ~14 muffins

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup white flour (gasp!)
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Wet ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup lowfat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated carrot
• 1 sweet apple, chopped
• 1/4 cup almond milk (only as needed, if the batter is too dry)
• optional: liquid stevia to taste (I added a few drops to the second batch and enjoyed the slightly sweeter flavor)

Directions - Preheat the oven to 350. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. In another large bowl, whip together the butter, sugar, and yogurt. Grate the carrots into the mixture and add the rest of the wet ingredients. Pour the dry into the wet and mix until just combined. You may need to use a bit of almond milk/whatever if the batter is too dry. Bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Benefits:

Whole wheat flour * has more protein and fiber than white flour, as well as more B vitamins, calcium, iron, selenium, and other minerals. Due to the fiber content, whole wheat flour raises blood sugar more slowly than white flour.

Carrots * a prime source of vitamin A and antioxidants

Apples * 3 a day can help decrease cholesterol by 10%!  They are rich in the antioxidants beta-carotenoids, vitamin C, and polyphenols. They also have filling fiber and pectin!

Greek yogurt * one cup contains (or should) about 20 grams of protein and is a great source of calcium. Opt for plain and add your own vanilla extract or fruit to sweeten it up!

Coconut * coconut gets a bad rap because of its saturated fat content, but its fatty acids are mainly medium-chain triglycerides, not long-chain. The long-chain triglycerides are bad for our cholesterol levels, but coconut has been shown to improve cholesterol levels. Animal studies suggest that medium-chain triglycerides can increase metabolism.

Walnuts * contain the healthy monounsaturated fats, fiber, and antioxidants.

one of my oldest, bestest friends, Emily

Currently, I am laying in bed with the most stereotypical, quintessential hangover headache to ever exist. It was pounding harder than [insert hip,obscure drummer that I don't know about], but is finally subsiding enough to allow me to think semi-clearly and write a hopefully coherent blog post.

In the past, I haven’t made New Years Resolutions. Goal making and self improvements are a constant in my mind, at the very least on the back burner of my brain,  so resolving to make changes at the New Year always seemed redundant. Plus, it seems for many that making a New Years Resolution is often a safe way to make sure that goal isn’t met. However, I am starting to see the beauty in resolving to make changes at the start of a year. Why not?!

Im hoping that publicizing my goals will help me accomplish them.

Mental goals

Don’t take things personally. At times, I have a problem with interpreting others words, tones, or actions as being a personal attack, which causes me to get defensive, and then snappy in response. This stems both from personal insecurity and self centeredness – which I hate. It ain’t about me! If someone says something in a rude tone or asks me the same question 5 times, it doesn’t mean that they dislike me or don’t care about me. It means they have their own problems going on that have nothing to do with me! Instead of making it about me, I want to try to take it for what it is and, if possible, help the other person with whatever they are struggling with.

Be more patient. I think that reminding myself that regarding my time as precious is selfish and false will help with this.

Appreciate other’s mental processes more. Every persons mind is different. Each and every individual has their own unique set of neural connections and pathways. We think differently, utilizing different forms of logic, and using differing levels of emotional sense, intelligent sense, and gut intuition to make decisions. What may seem completely illogical to me, may be the right thing to do for another – and I need to remember this!

Academic Goals

Rock the shit out of the MCAT. So that I can get into a med school. Please dear God.

Read the news at least every other day. I am pretty good about this, but I do go through phases of being clueless about what is going on. I feel like that is giving a big Eff You to the world – which I certainly don’t want to do.

Read 2 books a month. I am completely okay with this goal not starting until after I have taken the MCAT and graduated in June. Realistically, that just ain’t gonna happen.

Blog Goals

Post at least 1 recipe per week. This goal would have seemed ridiculous to me in the days that I posted a recipe per day, but now it seems appropriate. With MCAT studying, school, and life, I think posting 1 or 2 recipes a week will be doable.

Make someone else’s recipe at least once per week. Real meals. With leftovers. And more than 5 ingredients. This goes hand in hand with the previous goal.

Re-make some of my own recipes and perfect them. Now that I have a littlleee more knowledge of baking and cooking, I know I can tweak some of my recipes (especially older muffin recipes) to make them even better.

*

I definitely have more goals to share, but I want to think them through more before posting. They are so grand, I need to find a way to make them more manageable and tangible.

What are your New Years goals or resolutions? What would you like to see more or less of on this blog in 2012? 

Please share!

We did the normal Christmas thang at my step grandma’s house and then I had to leave early in the morning to fly back to AUSTIN! I had a second Christmas with my oldest friend, Loryn. We met in the third grade and have been friends for the last 14 years. Nuts.

Now, I am sucking the internet out of Book People in order to upload Prague photos to facebook and write this post. Prague recap will go down in my next post, so for now, you get this healthy and delicious cornbread recipe.

I love cornbread. I love it so much that I lack portion control when it’s around, so I wanted to create a recipe where you can have a giant hunk and be nutritionally sound. Its lightly sweet from the corn kernels and honey and actually has a bit of protein from greek yogurt. Hope you enjoy it!

Healthy, homestyle cornbread

Recipe – Makes 4 large servings

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 3 tbsp honey (or 2 tbsp stevia baking blend + 1 tbsp honey)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup sweet corn kernels

Directions – Preheat oven to 400. Mix together all the wet ingredients in a bowl (the egg, butter, yogurt, honey). In a separate bowl, mix the cornmeal with the salt and baking soda. Combine the wet and the dry and stir until just mixed. Fold in corn kernels. Bake for 20 minus or until passes the knife test.

Ideas: I enjoyed this cornbread warmed up as a snack and with scrambled eggs for breakfast.

went to the Czech Republic and Hungary for a week!

My mom and I went to Prague and Budapest, and passed through Bratislava and Vienna. A HUGE post on that is in the making.

In the mean time, make these muffins. They are hearty and filling and absolutely delicious. Full of fiber with just the right amount of sweetness. The difference between these muffins and my past bran muffins (which still taste wonderful) is butter. I was reading some books on baking and learned that butter specifically, not just any oil, is key to a flaky pastry and a crumbly muffin. Not too crumbly, but just the right amount that the perfect breakfast muffin needs. In the past, my number one complaint of my healthified muffins were that they weren;t crumbly enough – they were  a tad… gummy. Tasty, but requiring a slight bit too much effort to rip into. With the addition of just a bit more butter, my bran muffin recipe was transformed. Now, I need to go back and remake all of my muffin recipes for the perfect consistency!

Traditional, Healthful Bran Muffins

perfect with eggs or greek yogurt for breakfast or on their own as a snack! 

Benefits:

Wheat bran * contains TONS of iron, B vitamins, magnesium, phosphorous and antioxidants! 1 cup has 25 grams of fiber and 9 grams of protein!

Whole wheat flour * when you choose white flour over whole wheat flour, you are losing over half of the B vitamins, fiber, folic acid, calcium, zinc, phosphorous, copper, and iron. Whole grains reduce your risk for diabetes and have also been linked to weight loss and maintaining a lower BMI.

I want to talk about hormones. I am not sure if I have shared my new life plan on ze blog yet, but I am going to be taking the MCAT prep course January through April  and then the MCAT in May. And then I will apply to med schools in June… I have been debating about going to medical school for quite a while now, with my interest growing at my internship at the fertility center (although I am more interested in the other branch of endocrinology, which is metabolism). My professor of Endocrinology really sealed the med school deal. I just took the final on Tuesday and realized how in love with it I am. That’s why Im bursting at the seams to talk about female reproductive hormones.

To be blunt, I want this post to convey how the menstrual cycle works, why it is so important to have a regular cycle, the damage that amennorhea can wreak on the female body, and a bit of advice for bringing the body back to a hormonally balanced state.

To understand everything, a little anatomy is needed.

The hypothalamus is a section of the brain, composed of millions of nuclei that communicate with the rest of your body. It has centers that regulate everything, from hunger, to metabolism, to reproductive hormones, to sleeping cycles. Most importantly, when given the proper stimuli, the hypothalamus sends signals to the pituitary gland.

This depicts the hypothalamus connecting to the pituitary gland which sends hormonal signals to the rest of the body. 

The pituitary gland secretes many hormones that travel to tissues in the body and activate them to perform their necessary functions. In the case of reproductive hormones, the hypothalamus sends Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) to the pituitary. This causes the gonadotrope cells in the pituitary gland to secrete Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Leutinizing Hormone (LH).

This depicts the hypothalamus connecting to the pituitary gland which then sends hormonal signals to the ovaries. LHRH is referring to GnRH.

The ovaries contain a set amount of oocytes (baby eggs) from the day you are born. At puberty, the hypothalamus begins to send enough GnRH to the pituitary which will secrete more FSH and LH which will travel to the ovaries. Once stimulated by Follicle Stimulating Hormone and Leutinizing Hormone, the oocytes begin to develop and mature further. In the monthly menstrual cycle, this is the Follicular phase. The growing follicles secrete estrogen as they mature. This estrogen causes the uterus to build up a blood lining. The follicle with the most FSH receptors continues to grow, while the others die off. After about two weeks of the follicles growing and secreting estrogen, there is a surge of LH which causes ovulation. This is the egg breaking free from the follicle, which is basically a nice little shell of hormone secreting cells. The egg is now free to hitch hike down the ovaries and try to get inseminated. Meanwhile, the empty follicle shell is transformed into the corpus luteum. This is the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. The corpus luteum is a package of cells that begins to secrete progesterone, which maintains the lining of the uterus. Over the next two weeks, the corpus luteum secretes progesterone, but if the egg isnt fertilized, the level of progesterone falls and the lining is shed. And the cycle starts over!

Main point: No GnRH = No FSH or LH = No growing follicles or corpus luteum = No estrogen or progesterone = No period, no cycle, no babies. Nada.

And why is this relevant?

There are many things that can shut down the GnRH signal from the hypothalamus and thus cause amenorrhea. A few include..

• High energy expenditure (like endurance athletes)
• Stress (cortisol)
• Melatonin (the sleepy hormone – you would have to take a shit load of this though)
• Pregnancy and breast feeding
• Menopause and hormonal disorders like PCOS
• Certain medications
• Low leptin levels

What is leptin? Leptin is a hormone that is secreted after meals to tell your brain that you are satisfied and to stop eating. It is also produced as a baseline depending on body fat levels. The more body fat you have, the more leptin. Women with very low body fat do not have enough leptin to signal the brain that they are healthy and thus will not secrete enough GnRH or FSH and LH to begin a menstrual cycle. This can be due to working out too much, not eating enough, or both. Enough body fat means that the body is healthy enough and has enough energy stores to sustain a pregnancy. The body is smart. Its not going to let you grow a fetus if you can’t even afford to not eat for a couple days. Shit happens.

So if you aren’t having a period, you can’t sustain a pregnancy. But if you don’t want to become a mother right now, then it’s no big deal, right?

Wrong.

Having a menses is for more important than just getting preggers. It means you have adequate estrogen, and estrogen is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL for bone growth.

This shows the pathway between the brain, pituitary, ovaries, and bone destruction. 

When estrogen binds to receptors in bones, it stimulates the production of a protein called OsteoProtyGerin (OPG). OPG binds to osteoclasts (cells that break bones down) and prevents them from growing and proliferating. Thus, it has a bone protective effect. Estrogen also stimulates the production of growth hormone, which stimulates the production of IGF1. Both growth hormone and IGF1 contribute to bone growth. They are responsible for bone matrix formation, CALCIUM DEPOSITION, and bone cell proliferation and maturation. Therefore, estrogen is essential to both growing bones and preventing their breakdown. Unfortunately, bone break down is constant – we are constantly remodeling our bones to maintain adequate blood calcium levels. So estrogen is needed throughout our lives – not just for a couple years to grow our bones. Furthermore, it is now suspected that bone density is greatest between the ages of 18-25, so suffering from amenorrhea during these sensitive years could lead to a lifetime of weak bones and related complications.

The moral of this novel is that if you aren’t having a menses than you are inching closer and closer to osteoporosis and you aren’t at your healthiest state. It is important to go see an endocrinologist and see what’s up! It could be many things, and low body fat is one of the more reversible issues to work with. It doesn’t mean one has to gain tons of weight, stop working out, and eat junk. In fact, weight training helps build bones, so that should always be a part of any weight plan, whether gaining or losing!

In order to prevent bone loss during the weight gain or lifestyle change process, the endocrinologist may prescribe birth control as soon as possible. This is because the synthetic estrogens are still effective at bone synthesis. When I went in to see my endocrinologist, he also said that if I didn’t want to gain weight but I wanted to have kids later on, not to worry, there are drugs for that.

That pissed me off.

But a lightbulb went off. I had always wondered how extremely thin women, like Posh Spice and Nicole Richie had managed to have children despite their skeletor-esq bodies. Turns out, fertility drugs can override the lack of leptin (and body fat) and give you large doses of FSH to stimulate follicle growth. This is just my opinion, but it seems as though that is cheating nature. Furthermore, I worry that could possibly have effects on the child later in life. Again, this is just me playing around with ideas, but there are studies out there that indicate that babies born to mothers who were pregnant during a famine or economic depression were more likely to be overweight or obese later in life. The lack of energy (or folate or something else – I’m not sure) altered the epigenetic markings on the fetus’ DNA and thus made the future men or women more prone (but not doomed) to weight gain and resistance to weight loss. Perhaps having a child via fertility drugs when your weight and energy intake isn’t adequate could have similar effects?…

If you have any questions or want any more details, information, whateva, just send me and email or leave a comment!

Cheesy.

Insanity Inspired Plyo Workout

• warm up walk 1 mile, 5% incline
• 20 lateral ski jumps
• 20 pushups
• repeat 3x
• 20 jump squats
• 30 mountain climbers
• repeat 3x
• 20 jump lunges
• 20 hop-left-right-crunches
• repeat 3x
• 20 basketball jumps (left to right to left…)
• 10 tricep dips
• repeat 3x
• cool down walk  1/2 mile, incline 5%, speed 3.5

Lateral ski jumps = stand on the left of a yoga mat (optional). Keeping your knees fairly close together, bend your knees to almost a 90 degree angle and use your arms to jump far over to the right, over the yoga mat.  Repeat to the left, then right..

Hop-left-right-crunches = Put yourself in pushup position, with elbows slightly bent and legs straight back. Hop and bring your knees close to your chest with your feet coming forward about a foot and a half and slightly to the left. Hop back to starting position. Repeat on the right side, then left..

Basketball jumps = Squat down to 90 degrees facing the left. Use your left hand to drive you to the right as you jump out of the squat as high as you can and turn 180 degrees to the right. It looks like you are making a free throw! Repeat back to the left, then right..

Lifting Day

• warm up on the ellipticizer, 5-10 minutes
• 15 squats holding a 50 lb dumbbell
• 10 bicep curls into military presses with 10 lb dumbbells
• repeat 5x
• 20 (10 on each side) one legged lunges with other leg up on bench, 20 lb dumbbell in each hand
• 12 dead lifts with 50 lb dumbbell
• repeat 3x
• 12 tricep dips on bench with feet elevated
• 12 lateral  shoulder raises, 10 lb dumbbells
• repeat 3x
• 10 tricep raises with 30 lb dumbbell
• 15 lower back raises (lay over a bench with feet secure under another bench and lift upper body up with lower back) holding 20 lb dumbbell
• repeat 3x
• 60 left cheek leg raises (get on all fours and lift your left leg back as high as you can)
• 60 right cheek leg raises
• cool down ellipticizer or treadmill, 5-10 minutes

Cardio Day

• 10-15 minute warm up swim
• treadmill, 1 9-minute mile
• bicep curls with 10 lb dumbbells, tricep raises with 30 lb dumbbell, lateral shoulder raises with 5 lb dumbbells
• treadmill 1 8-minute mile
• bicycle crunches, leg lifts, crunches, V ups
• treadmill 1 7-minute mile (I broke this up into two sprints)
• booty raises and leg lifts
• stretch to cool down