Oh My May

Well, as I always end up saying at the beginning of the month, I can't believe that it is already May! Oh my, where has the time gone! I feel like I was just starting the semester and now I am looking straight down the barrell of my last 2 weeks of this final full semester of my undergraduate classes!! Yay for that! Then the following week I am taking a mini-mester class that is Monday through Friday 8am-5pm. These classes, although are nice because you get a full 3 credit hour class finished within a week, are super stressful because you are doing an entire semester class in a week! All the prayer warriors get your BIG ones out because I am going to need all the prayers that I can get these next couple of weeks!!!

Unfortunately, over the last couple of weeks I have been getting increasingly tired. I don't know if it was the switch in my thyorid medicine or just the cycle of the progesterone, or just the PCOS in general. Yet, yesterday I was falling asleep on the couch at 5pm! WOW, that is crazy for me. And even as I sit here typing this I am struggling to keep my eyes open and if it were possible for me to go back to bed, I wouldn't think twice about it! Obviously there is something going on now the real key is figuring out what it is!

My diet has been great I believe I am not on day 27 of perfectly clean eating with no carbs, and no sugar, and all natural. I love how much better I feel when I am eating like this and it has definitely helped the insulin resistance because I no longer am having CrAzY outrageous desires and NEEEEEDs for sugars and carbs. I even made Monkey Bread (a Giant Cinnamon Roll) this past week for my roommate and friend and didn't even have an urge or feel the need to have any. I have also kept up with my supplements and my water. I drink excessively as usual and pretty much always have a bottle of water in my hand. I have even started buying all grass fed, no hormone, free range meats despite the fact at how much more expensive it is.

My workouts have been quickly coming to a stall because of the energy thing. Fortunately, I am at least able to get myself to the gym in the mornings and I am getting in at least 5 weight training days per week and at least 5 cardio days per week. Unfortunately, this LACK of energy thing is REALLY starting to get to me and I am struggling to even make it entirely through all of my workouts. I am ready for bed about half-way through. Also, I am finding that I am weaker and not able to lift as much or go as long. This is TOTALLY and COMPLETELY out of my character! I hate it because it is almost like I am looking from the outside in and I know that it is not like me but I can't do anything about it. It is basically just pure exhaustion, physically and mentally.

I called the doctor this morning and left her a message about my thyroid and about the fact that I am supposed to get a prescription level of vitamin D because mine was so low and my moods fluctuate sooo much when the weather is bad. So I am anxiously waiting their phone call (with as much energy as I can muster up to wait for it!)

I am trying to stay postive throughout this time, but it sure is going to make these next 3 weeks even more difficult then they are already going to be if something doesn't change. Thank God for my amazing relationship with Him because without Him I don't know what I would do or where I would find my rest, peace, and strength! I am going to just rest on the notion that, "I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens ME" (Phil. 4:13).

Pneumonia

First off, I can't believe that it is already April! Wow, crazy! Time suuure flies (and yes, I will probably say that at the beginning of every month!) Well, March wasn't exactly my favorite month ever. I was pretty much sick the entire month and wasn't able to workout! I did get to watch a lot of movies and a lay on my butt a lot. I had been pushing to compete in April yet after a month of not working out, unless of course you count hacking up a lung, that is not going to happen. On top of the coughing and feeling awful when I actually felt like eating, I pretty much ate whatever I wanted, and most of the time I didn't want to eat chicken and broccoli. It was a crazy chain of events that started with my usual health stuff and snowballed into a cold, to bronchitis, to a kidney infection, to pneumonia! No bueno!

Well, the positive news is I am feeling MUCH better now. Despite the fact that I am still not 100% I was able to run on Tuesday, Wednesday, and this morning. Also, I trained with Jerome for the first time today too. Despite the fact I was on the verge of passing out the entire time, it felt AMAZING! I loved the torture and sorta of forgot JUST how much I liked it! It was an amazing high and made me feel soo much better! Now I can't wait to be back to 100% so I can get back focused and ready for the next competition. Right now I am trying to shoot for the end of May but sort of playing it by year because you just never know what my body is going to do (or not do).

Boot Camp 2/27

As usual Jerome kicked out butts at Saturday morning boot camp! There is never any doubt about that! Yet, I was feeling pretty good and motivated at the end of the hour so I decided to continue going! I choose to do more sleds and the bike and I was super excited because I ended up burning more than 1,000 calories total! It was definitely a killer workout but I was on such a workout high after, even despite the tiredness! Plus, we had a race that morning on the sleds and I was racing against a good friend that I train with that is a track star and is rated in the top 5 of her age group! She is pretty awesome! So of course we are assumed and figured that she was going to win and so the race was going to be for second between me, and the other two girls that were racing. Yet, I totally kicked some butt and WON! It was awesome! The other girls were fighting about who got 2nd place, when I so nicely reminded them that it didn't matter because 2nd place still meant they lost! All and all it was an amazing workout and morning! :)

This is a short video towards the end of the two hours of Bridgette (the track star) and I pushing some sleds!

I rocked it this workout and felt pretty good! I would say 2 hours and 5 minutes and 1023 calories is pretty awesome! :)

Here is Jas, Bridgette, and I doing our cool down and definitely all a little exhausted!

Golden Sunshine

A box without hinges, door, or lid, yet inside a golden treasure is hid?  What is it?

This was a riddle that I have remembered since I was a kid because I always thought it was so interesting and most people never quite figure it out. Have you? 

Well, I guess I will make it easy on you and just give you the answer, it is an egg! Currently in my diet for one of my meals I am eating a cup of egg whites, so one might assume that I go the easy route and just buy egg beaters or egg whites that are already separated. Yet, this would just be waaay too easy and who wants to make my life any easier in all of the craziness, right? So I actually physically separate all of the egg whites individually. I like to do this because it is cheaper and it is healthier. I don't eat anything processed or fake and unfortunately most of the egg white products that are out there are pasteurized and processed and have added things in them. I go through about 7-8 eggs a day to fill up a cup. That means that every day I have 7-8 egg yolks that I usually just throw down the disposal. I always feel like I am wasting these especially in the recent perspective of the events in Haiti. I just feel like I am wasting precious food that could be used for something. 

So I went on a mission. I wanted to find yummy recipes that involved only egg yolks to try and use them instead of just throwing them away. I found some custard, crème brulee, cakes, cookies, ice cream, hollandaise sauce, mayonnaise, and a couple of other random things. Many of the things that I wanted to make I didn't have all of the ingredients and neither did my parents. Yet, I found a cake recipe for a Sunshine Sponge Cake that I was able to utilize the most egg yolks and had all the ingredients. Also, I knew it was something that people would actually eat and I thought it might bring a little sunshine to the cold, rainy, and snowy weather we have been having.

Sunshine Sponge Cake

Makes 1 - 10 inch cake

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 10 egg yolks (at room temperature)
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract

Directions

1. Sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. With electric mixer, beat egg yolks until slightly thickened; add hot water gradually, beating until mixture is very thick and light (about 10 minutes).
3. Add flavoring to egg yolks, then add sugar gradually, beating constantly.
4. Fold in flour, about a fourth at a time (I do this by hand) folding until well blended.
5. Pour batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan.
6. Bake at 375°F for 40-50 minutes until done.
7. Remove cake from oven and invert pan.
8. Let cake stand for an hour until cool.

*The only ingredient that we didn't have was the lemon extract so instead of the lemon we used vanilla extract. Also, instead of the whole cup of sugar we condensed it and only used 2/3 cup of sugar.

The cake did not end up cooking for the entire time and was well done. I think that the time should be a little less. Also, I think that the pan needs to be greased because it was definitely a pain trying to get it out. The cake tasted good but it was not very sweet. It was more like a bread. My mom and I decided that with the lemon it would make it lighter and probably would taste better. Also, the egg yolks that I had were not fresh; they were a couple of days old. They probably would have risen more and gotten more fluffy and light had they been fresh.

I think I am going to try making this cake again, but with egg yolks that are fresh and make sure they are at room temperature. Also, I will probably use lemon extract and some fruits and nuts. It would be a very good breakfast bread. I also might try and make it with some whole wheat flour (just to make it healthier).

My dad, who is definitely a sweets guy, didn't like it too much because it is not very sweet. Yet, by spreading jelly, honey, or peanut butter to it gave it some more zing. Well, the cake didn't shine as bright as I had hoped but it wasn't awful and I got to use 10 egg yolks that would have usually just gone in the trash! So maybe next time the sun will shine brighter (and sweeter)!