Author: saholio

!!! I’m warning you right now there are going to be images of a dead deer in this post!!!

So the last time I really gave you an update I had decided I was calling it the Non-Farm and I find that really fitting.

Gah! Getting this post out on time as been a struggle. I’d like to offer you lots of images, et cetera, yet, even though I’m super into photography I don’t have many pictures of what I want to write to you about and I didn’t know I was going to write about these things at the time.

Maybe a listicle? Idk. . . these tend to be about half list/half novel as it is. We’ll see where we are when we are done, eh? Nah – I think I’ll talk about hunting and give you a recipe. Tune in next Wednesday for more Non-Farm things. . .
Hunting:

The growing season is over, and I already told you how well that worked out for me! Monday I talked about my ethical views on food, and I will need to explore that a little deeper, but today is not that day! Today is reaping the rewards of hunting day.

My dude gets us a deer every year for our freezer. Say what you will. I’d even love to see your perspective in the comments below, but if it’s hateful, ignorant trash I won’t entertain it.

As I said – my dude gets us a deer every year. He hunts. I butcher. I’ve done it for a living, that’s our trade-off, and I really enjoy it.

This year he got a BIG, beautiful White-Tail and has such a great story about how he got it. On the last day of the season even (Halloween!)! But that’s his story to tell so you can just use your imagination here. You could put your version of that in the comments below, too. I’d love to see what you come up with.

Back to the deer. We live far enough out of town that we have deer in our yard all of the time (even this morning, there was a Mule-Deer buck and a doe by the barn just hanging out. It’s the rut right now. (Mating season)) Yet they tend to be elusive when it’s hunting season. They really are intelligent creatures. . .

This year my dude also got bird licenses and I’m so very excited for that to be fruitful.

First off was Sand-hill Crane – the Prime Rib of the Sky – there are always a few in the field across the road from us, but they are high fliers and not as dense in population as other parts of the country. The season ended on November 11th, so we’re passed the window this year, and unfortunately he didn’t get any.

It’s turkey season right now and he’s been going out every morning trying to find one (our limit here is 1 in the fall) and hasn’t had much luck yet, but he has some time still.

He can also hunt doves, geese, and ducks.

But so far just the deer. It’s okay. I can be patient.

As I said he got himself a White-Tail Buck. His uncle runs a non-profit, chair-bound hunting organization that is so very wonderful, thus, we were able to utilize his refrigeration facility to hang the deer.

Normally we would just hang it in the garage for a couple of days, but this year Mother-Nature had a sick sense of humor and it was nearly 60 degrees outside, which is unfit to hang a carcass in.

Ideally you would want your ambient temperature to be around 30 degrees to inhibit any bacterial growth, but definitely not above 41 degrees (these are Fahrenheit) because between 41 degrees and 135 degrees is the ideal temperature range for bacteria to thrive. Meat does not freeze until it is 28 degrees.

Also, as I have a hectic schedule and Halloween was on a Wednesday this year, I was not able to butcher until the following Saturday. It’s best to hang your animal for a few days and doesn’t actually hurt it. This is called dry aging. It allows for the blood left in the animal to evenly distribute and makes the meat more tender and flavorful. There’s more to it than that, but you get the gist. There is also a process called wet aging that I may go into if I decide to wet age anything he may want to put in the smoker.

This time around no organ meat was saved, but next year, I think I’d like to save the heart and liver (you need to check the liver for spots because that indicates disease) and possibly kidneys? And the call fat.

My dude and his dad skinned the buck and I de-boned it while it was hanging. I then took the larger pieces and broke them down, cleaned them, and cut the entirety into steaks and trim (to be frozen and ground at a later date.)

Deer are small, but I’m a little out of practice, so I think it took me about 2.5 hours to complete. I just cut mine in the dining room. It’s perfectly acceptable to cut your animal in a warmer environment so long as you don’t let it get above 41 degrees for a period of 4 hours. (This is known as time and temperature control. I think I should write an article about food safety. . .)

Last night, actually, we ground the deer meat. I do not currently own a grinder, so I had borrowed my dad’s. I thawed the trim, which I had split between 8-1.5 pound bags, to a state where it was still slightly frozen in the middle. Deer does not have a lot of fat, so it is easier to get a good grind that isn’t mushy when it is still partially frozen. My dude trimmed some fat off of a few pounds of bacon and we mixed that in with our grind. A better fat to add would be bear, ideally, or beef kidney fat, but we had bacon and that’s what we used.

It’s important to note that unless you have a reliable vacuum sealing system, the best way to wrap your meat for long term (1-2 year storage) is the wrap it in cling wrap, tightly, pushing out as much air as possible as you go, then wrapping it with a wax coated freezer paper, again, pushing out as much air as possible. Then simply secure it with some tape and make sure to write the species, cut, and date on the package. This will help you when you go back to your freezer to determine what you’re going to make for dinner!

Would you like me to write an article on how to butcher a deer?

One more tip: Make sure you love your knives. I’m terminally particular with my tools. I have a Forschner Boning Knife and that is all I use. If it were a larger animal I would also need a Butcher’s Knife. I also have a Forschner Skinning Knife that I adore. I like this brand because they are well balanced, the handle has a great grip, and the blade holds an edge for a long time. The blade also moves with the cuts if needed, but is not so thin that it is flimsy. You want something that will be an extension of your dominant hand, but also can be precise. Know that these knives are pricey, but you really should be willing to invest in your equipment.

Nowwwww. . . . On to the recipe(s).

Stew: (This stew would work with any red meat, but I used Lamb and Venison this weekend and it was phenomenal.)

• 2 lbs Red Meat
• 1 lb Bacon
• 4 large, waxy potatoes (Golden is my preference)
• 4 large carrots
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 large onion (I don’t EVEN want to hear that you don’t like onions. You do.)
• Fresh Mushrooms
• 1 Bulb Garlic
• 1 16oz Beer (I always feel the darker the beer the better, but PBR is what we had and I really love cooking with that beer as well.)
• 3 T Flour
• 1/2 C Barley
• 2 sprigs Sage
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• Pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp Allspice
• 2 sprigs Rosemary

My dude recently got me an 8″ cast iron skillet (I used to have a bad-ass set my parents got me and I don’t want to get into why I don’t have them any more because I am STILL pissed.) That would be ideal to cook this recipe in (for starters), I wish I had a dutch oven, but I don’t. Either way, you will want a larger pot with a heavy bottom.

1. Cut up the bacon into small pieces and fry in skillet or bottom of pot. Dice the meat into bite sized pieces and sear in the bacon grease. Remove bacon and diced meat from pan and set aside.
2. Dice your veggies into bite sized pieces and fry in the bacon grease, I always save my garlic until last so that it does not burn. Potatoes and carrots should be first because they take longer to cook, then add celery and onions. Then garlic. 🙂 Remove from skillet and set aside.
3. De-glaze the skillet with a bit of the beer, and pour the grease and beer de-glaze into your pot. Add your meat, veggies, and the rest of the beer and bring to a boil. Once the liquid is hot, take about a cup or so and shake it in a shaker with the flour and add it back to the pot. (Instead of de-glazing you could make a roux if you are ambitious.)
4. Add your barley and seasonings and simmer on low, covered, for 2.5 hours. If it does not thicken enough, repeat the flour and liquid slurry process until it does thicken. Don’t you dare add cornstarch. Creep.

While you’re waiting for that to cook down you can make your. . .

Soda Bread

• 4 C flour
• 4 T sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 C butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 C buttermilk

• 1/4 C buttermilk
• 1/4 C butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F), lightly grease a baking sheet
2. Sift together your dry ingredients
3. Cut in 1/2 C softened butter
4. Whisk egg into buttermilk and add to your mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until a sticky dough forms.
5. Form into a round ball, and place on baking sheet. Say a prayer for your family to be nourished by the good food they will be eating and whatever else you’d like to pray for while you score a cross into the top of the dough with a sharp knife.
6. Mix remaining butter and buttermilk, brush loaf with mixture.
7. Bake for 30 minutes, then brush with mixture again every 10 minutes until done. This is usually at the 50 minute point. You can check for a golden crust and, much like you test a cake, if a tooth pick comes out of the center clean, you’re set. Pretty much, if you go more than 60 minutes, you’ve gone too long.

Set the table, gather your family, and enjoy a fantastic winter meal!

Hope you enjoyed this article! Let me know what you think of the recipes and if you tried them! Let me know also if you need any trouble shooting for those recipes!

xoxo

-S

P.S. – My dude’s sister-in-law got him a Treeing Walker Coon Hound puppy the Tuesday before Thanksgiving!

Sadly – I don’t have any before and after references for you. . . I know, I know. I need to get better about taking pictures. I’ve been getting told for years “Pics or it didn’t happen.” Not like I don’t have a tiny camera attached to me at all times or anything. . .

So yesterday I mentioned that my skin is clearer on my cleaner diet.

This is true. Eating garbage is known to wreak havoc on your skin. It also probably makes you part Billy-Goat and you don’t really want to have to explain to strangers which one of your parent’s is a pet of Satan do you?

Ahhhh. I’m so funny.

So I just wanted to give a little break-down about what I consider to be the problems with my skin and what else I have been doing to improve the condition of that big ol’ organ.

• One problem I have is Acne and the awful scarring (but minimal and only really seen by me.) I have other scars on my face. Chicken Pox (hard to see anymore) and a good sized cut on my left occipital bone from a hockey injury. I am not concerned about this scar because I love this scar. Boom, bitches. (Let me know if the comments below if you want to see pictures of the fresh cut or hear the story. OR what kick-ass scars you have that you totally earned!)
• I’m getting old and getting wrinkles and I’m just vain enough that I am FREAKING OUT.
• I have extremely sensitive ginger skin, which is always getting sunburned, I have tons of freckles, oh, and my jewelry and clothes cover me with rashes.

First of all, you went to science class at some point in your life so you must know that your skin is an organ. No? It is:

Alas! The truth as told by the internet!

Okay – now that that is out of the way. . .

As with every human over the age of thirteen is – I am deeply concerned about acne. “The hell?” you say, “You’re thirty-three years old. You’ve got twenty years on that hypothetical pre-adult. You don’t have acne!” Piss off. Yes I do. Kind of.

To understand how to craft your own skin-care routine, you should have a basic understanding of two things: Pores and Acne.

An abridged summation of pores:

A pore is a teeny-tiny little opening on your skin that allows sweat or oil (sebum) to be excreted. You need this to happen because this is one way your body cleans out toxins (think about the world we live in, you are constantly exposed to toxic crap you don’t want residing in your body) and a very handy cooling system so that you don’t die when you’re running from bears. Or kickboxing. Who am I to judge what you do for cardio?

• Oil Pores – are associated with your hair follicles. These are the pores that become comedones (keep on a-readin’). This sebum that is excreted is important because it keeps your skin healthy and hydrated, allowing it to function properly.
• Sweat Pores – these guys are so teensy you can’t see them with the naked eye. Because they are not connected to a sebaceous gland, they do not get blocked, therefore, do not cause acne.

There are 8 types of acne that I’m going to detail for you here:

1. Acne Vulagris: this is your common, run-of-the-mill acne. If you have this you get the whole shebang. Whiteheads. . . blackheads. . . pimples all over. AND a crap-ass social life. Go you! Common break-out areas are the face, neck, chest, shoulders, and back. Probably your butt. . . So you big toe might not get a zit, but the rest of you is fair game.
2. Comedones: this is a group of acne lesions (ZITS) that are a result of hair follicles getting blocked up with oil (sebum, which you need a little of for your giant organ to function properly) and dead skin, as well as other pollutants such as make-up, et cetera. Comedogenic and Non-Comedogenic are terms used in skin-care and make up that refer to whether or not the product will trigger the comedone. (BTW non-comedogenic make up, which does not cause acne itself, can and will STILL block a pore, helping to cause acne, if it is not properly removed. Again. Wash your face like your momma told ya and don’t be a dolt.)
3. Blackheads: (this is my biggest acne concern these days) So basically what’s going on here is that you have comedones that are open to the air (no skin covering). Contrary to what you’ve heard the other little punk bastards saying, they are not black because of dirt, they are black because of oxidation, much like how rust forms. There is a lot of speculation and mixed research that exists as the whether or not you should use a product like a Biore strip, or whether or not you can actually shrink or completely eliminate these little mother f**. . . s. Personally, and I will cover this later, I don’t believe you should use any form of extraction that involves manipulating your skin because wrinkles. But, for my own peace of mind, I am known to use a strip or two now and again.
4.  Whiteheads: Effectively what is going on here is that the comedone has been grown over by your skin. So, much like an ingrown hair gets irritated, your little blackhead has a covering over it, now preventing the oxidation process, and making the gunk look white. This “gunk” isn’t actually puss until an infection forms around it. Just lovingly call it sebum right now. (I find it funny that stuff like this, created by your own body, mostly, will piss your skin off, but something like a piece of glass can stay embedded in your skin for years. . . hmm? Shall I write about this? Comment your answer below!)
5. Papules: So these are the little tiny sore, inflamed bumps you get that are like teeny tiny mean little whiteheads. I didn’t get many of those, but they were the culprit of much of my scarring. Because they are inflamed, which indicates infection, picking at them can spread the infection which causes the outbreak to spread as well. This is also noted as a common cause of scarring.
6. Pustules: Another scarring culprit, these are the pimples you get that are clearly infected. You can see the greenish yellow puss under the skin and they hurt real bad. Generally the skin surrounding them is red.
7. Nodules: So I didn’t really have these when I was young, but I do now. These are the deep rooted bumps that you know have a pimple hidden inside. They are firm to the touch and are quite painful. The kicker? Even if you try to pop them, they won’t budge and most over the counter medications aren’t powerful enough to treat them, so you’re stuck waiting it out in misery or going to a dermatologist.
8. Cysts: These are they stereotypical acne lesions. They are similar to a boil and act like a nodule. They are far more sensitive and considered to be one of the most severe forms. My younger brother was miserably afflicted with these little bitches when he was younger. (One day we will talk about the dangers of Acutane, friends). These tend to leave the red and purple pitting scars that you see on people who had terrible acne as a child. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

There are also terms such as mild, moderate, severe et cetera that I’m not going to get into in this obviously long article.

Fun game – name your zits. . .

Now, why exactly do we have to live with wrinkles? Long story short, according to entirety of the internet, therefore it must be true, (yeah??? You see my theme here? At least I did my research. . .) is that basically collagen and elastin, which is a protein that gives your cells their structure and a fiber that allows your cells to be pliable respectively, begins to break down over time due to UV exposure and simple usage. This leads to loss of moisture and thinning of the skin.

Repeated activity such as squeezing zits, stretching your eyelids to get that perfect winged liner, squinting in the sun, pursing the lips to take a drag of a cigarette, et cetera, speeds up this process. It’s like your cells only have x amount of times they can move in a certain way and if you add to that, you’re speeding up the aging. It’s like you’re depleting your savings account by buying a bunch of bullshit you don’t need. So quit doing the things!

Also – do I even have to say this? Wear UV protection. Just do it and don’t give me any lip.

Which brings us to my terribly sensitive skin. I want to be careful here, because I’d like to save the physically cool weirdness of being a fabulous ginger for another post, but me being a ginger does contribute to my sensitive skin. So right now I will say this about it: being a ginger is a result of a mutated set of genes that affects your skin’s pigment, mainly. Okay so I have freckles and this is a big part of why. But because I have freckles, that means there is very, very little melanin in the rest of my skin to protect it from UV rays and other irritants.  (Side note – I used to absolutely detest my freckles, but I love them now.)

To pan the camera out a little bit here, by all means we shouldn’t be using soaps and detergents with harsh chemicals anyway, but, because my skin is so sensitive, I get reminded of that every time I break down and buy another brand of laundry detergent or wear a piece of jewelry made of cheap metal. I get terrible bumpy rashes that burn and itch. This is called Contact Dermatitis.

I’m having a hard time really nailing down why skin is susceptible to this type of allergy, but yes, it’s an allergy.

Ohhhhhhhkayyyyyyyy – now that you’ve learned your science lesson for the day, let us talk about what I have been doing to combat this.

• I rarely touch my face unless there is a true need
• I’ve started using natural(ish) products in all manners of life, be it cleaners, skin and hair soaps, air fresheners on and on and on and on and on. . .
• I’ve switched my laundry soap to All Free and Clear (which works far better than any other brand I’ve used anyway) and ditched the dryer sheets for those bad ass wool balls you put essential oils in (and sometimes I don’t even add the scents, but I freaking adore essential oils. Also these babies help to dry your clothes up to 30% faster and make your clothes oh-so-soft.)
• I’ve created the following skin care routine:
  • I wash my face with a blend of castile soap and tea tree oil and only wash my face with this at night.
  • Afterwards, within 5 minutes, I slather on the retinol cream. (The brand I have linked is just what I use right now, I’m sure there is something better out there, but this is what I’ve settled on the start with.)
  • Next I gently pat on some under-eye cream. (Again, perhaps not the best, but it’s definitely not the worst, but I’ve used it for years and I really do like it. Not to mention that I’ve always had a family member in some capacity or another that sells Mary Kay.)
  • I let that set in and then I put on a collagen filling moisturizer and pat on some night cream (this time the brand is a must, because it is. . .) under my eyes (and on my feet and hands for added softness :)).
  • In the morning I wash my face thoroughly with only water and then again with the collagen filling moisturizer and some sunscreen.
  • and above all, DRINK ALL THE WATER!!!!

Now a lot of these products are not natural, and as I find an acceptable natural way to replace these things, I will let you know!

This post is getting lengthy so I will wrap it up today. Next week I will go a little deeper into the WHY of it all and we will talk about hair.

Thanks for sticking it out! I had fun gathering the information for this article and putting it all together for you!

Let me know below if you learned something new and what you do to help your skin!

xoxo

-S

So I was doing daily posts for about 5 seconds and that’s clearly not going to work, so why not wait until 19 days later to give you an update. . .

Here’s why.

I’ve made some changes, but I’m at a point where I know that it’s doing some good, but I don’t feel/see it.

So I weighed in on my parent’s scale yesterday? Maybe the day before. Regardless I’ve gained 1 pound. Big woop. It’s not even the original scale I weighed myself on, but I think I will continue to use this one because of ease of access. . . So there is a variable for a little bit. That being said, clearly a huge difference in the past month-ish has been achieved. My clothes fit better, my skin is healthier, I have a big more energy, my depression is backing the hell off. We gotta be getting somewhere, right?

I’ve been doing yoga but not cardio because I’m lazy. Straight up this is why. Time to address that I suppose.

(^^^here’s a little yoga treat to just get into it. It’s short, sweet, and soothing.)

I still have yet to charge my fitbit. My goodness it’s like I don’t want to succeed!

My diet – so that is a struggle right now. I had posted that I was going to do the two eggs and a banana thing and I did for a while and it was fine, but, I have a crummy pancreas and that little bitch acts up whenever things are going good.

So – as I had stated previously, I was vegetarian for a while; and since I’m the type to do a lot of research, I had spent the past few weeks looking into diets. (Topics for later -why Keto is junk. Also – change your lifestyle DO NOT DIET). I finally settled on a vegan outlook, which isn’t really as miserable as it sounds. (I’ll link a couple of videos that cover both the health benefits and the ethical standpoint, also an alternative view.) This has really helped my pancreas.

(^^^Ethical Vegan Standpoint – the cow makes me cry every time.)

(^^^This guy can get a bit preachy, but his videos are really thorough and informative. Take it with a grain of salt and form your own opinion like a grown-up.)

(^^^Alternative view point. Also, subscribe to Joe Rogan right the hell now so that your life is better.)

Now here’s the dilemma – I totally understand the ethics of going vegan, and I’m probably a little more sensitive to the issues at hand than most, but I do believe we are omnivores, not carnivores, not herbivores. Ethically speaking – I feel a lot more comfortable getting my meat, eggs, and dairy from an ethically sourced provider. Yes, there is the logic of killing an animal against it’s will is still unethical, eggs are just chicken periods, not-your-mother-not-your-milk, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera; however that is not how I am going to be able to identify.

I do believe that a lot of this comes from me being an adult and now able to make my own choices on what I am comfortable with, ethically speaking, and also the fact that the way I grew up we grew our own vegetables, my dad hunted, we raised pigs, chickens, and even rabbits at one point, goats for milk when I was a wee little baby, and we got beef from 4-h, et cetera.

So – vegan for the majority of my meals, but, my dude hunts wild game (not my dude, but you need some Steven Rinella in your life) – I will eat that. I worked for this amazing bison producer, Prairie Monarch Bison Ranch, I will eat their products. Farm fresh eggs from local farmers? Absolutely. Dairy fresh milk from small time local folks who just have a couple of milk cows? Yep. Farmer’s Market? Well. . . there isn’t one here in the winter time, but again, yep.

So here’s my personal challenge to myself. Get my shit together and gather data for next Monday’s post. I’ll really make a conscious effort to gather some amazing content for you guys!

How are you all getting on with your diet? Let me know in the comments below and keep up the good work!

xoxo

-S

P.S. – for some inspiration, check out this guy I went to high school with! He’s really, really something amazing. I had absolutely no idea about what he was doing until my mom filled me in yesterday. (ahhh the benefits vs. struggles of boycotting Facebook. Ack.)

So, my fizzies, I believe that we have established that I’m not very consistent. Boooo.

I have so much that I want to talk about that I overwhelm myself and end up with tons of drafts I’m worried I will never finish. So – I’ve come up with a little weekly line-up of content categories that I’d like to implement. I think this will give me the opportunity to talk about allllll of the things and also push me to remain consistent!

Sunday –  Music

Monday – Weight Loss/Fitness/Diet

Tuesday – Beauty

Wednesday – Non-Farm

Thursday – Mental Health

Friday – Pop-Culture

Saturday – Wild Card!

Let me know what you think! I’ll take suggestions/requests, too! And yes – I still owe you that video. . .

xoxo

-S

I hope you’re keeping up on your diet and exercise! I am! Though I don’t see much difference yet, it’s only been 9 days. . .

I did fall off the daily updates, and then I thought, I’ll just bank up the information and send you a bundle, and then I thought nah – I’ll just pick it back up.

NOW – I’m getting a little crazy with my nutrition research and what I’d like to do with my diet/eating habits. So – I’m not ready to fill you in just yet.

I have a non-farm post coming as well.

Also – a video will happen, but I have a pool tournament to go to first.

Thanks for sticking with me!

Xoxo

-S

That I want to start filming Youtube videos. And by that I mean I’ve been thinking about this for about 10 years, but I have just never taken any action until now. So why not? Ima do it.

Fill out the poll below and comment to let me know what you’d like to see!

Xoxo

-S

P.S. – I added two options to the poll, but obviously I did it wrong. . .  So the other two were a cooking tutorial and “something about plants”. Someone also asked that I make a video about Calendar organization/Schedule keeping.

 

Day 3: Clarification on Diet? Another app?

This one will probably be short.

First of all: allow me to clarify just a little – the eggs on my diet don’t have to be fried. . . that’s just how I prefer them at the moment. I like ’em poached, scrambled, boiled, fried. . . The same deal with the potato, except I pretty much don’t like potatoes (I am Irish, I swear) most other ways and I’m too lazy to mash them.

ALSO – I tried to explain this yesterday, but I do ramble – in reference to using your TDEE – in that regard you can literally eat anything you want, just know that your calories at the end of the day are what matters. Granted, if you only eat jellybeans you might not feel that great, but if you only eat 1,800 calories of jelly beans and you should be consuming 2,400 calories a day – you will lose weight. Diet is everything. Nutrition is important and so is exercise, but diet is where it’s at. Keep in mind that these things do not roll over. You can’t just eat less tomorrow and expect that to fix over eating today.

Don’t beat yourself up, though! Accept that it happened and move on, because you can’t change the past, right? Why waste your energy beating yourself up when you can just do better next time!

Tip: If you over-do it on sugar, fiber helps flush. What is recommended (and I can’t for the life of me find the source to back this up, I’m sorry. If I do, I will link it) is the next day after a sugar over load eat a high fiber breakfast such as steel cut oats or granola. Then with every meal that day eat 1/2 of grainy fiber. Also lots and lots of water!

This diet has been pretty satiating, though. . .  I haven’t met my proper intake yet.

I’m trying to track my water as well, but I don’t think it’s quite accurate because I drink a LOT of water.

My fitbit [flex] has been lost (but I literally just found it in my center console of my car, go figure) so I hadn’t been tracking my steps, or anything else really. I will get it charged tonight and we can talk about step count tomorrow.

Apps. . .  I really like the fitbit app because I can track basically everything I need in one place. You might even be able to use it without linking a tracker to it, I’m not sure. I AM sure there are other apps out there that are just as good or better, but I don’t know what they are yet. Also, like I said, I really enjoy the convenience of having all of the information in one place.

Another really great app is Samsung Health.

See? Short today. I’m a little mentally worn out. I’ll try to have some good stuff for you tomorrow!

Comment below and tell me your favorite fitness apps! Also comment any dietary questions you may have! (Again I’m not an expert, but I do know a lot – I like to think!)

Xoxo

-S

Day 2: Let’s talk diet.

First of all every individual person’s dietary needs are completely different, and I am not a doctor. I’ve just done a lot of research and landed on what I believe is the best possible combination for myself as far as what will be nutritionally balanced, filling, and satisfy my taste buds.

As the name suggests, this is what I have decided on for my meals: 2 Eggs and a Potato.

I chose this diet because of the potato diet (shoot, Kevin Smith did it. . .) and the nutritional balance of eggs. Not to mention how satisfying and delicious they are. Now – If I transition to vegan, this will have to be revisited.

HOLD UP!

I will NOT give up my coffee and cream, no-siree! Any other time I have lost weight, that has been the one thing I have been able to have as my little “coping mechanism”. Nothin’ doin’. I’m not giving it up. SUCK IT diet enthusiasts. Srsly.

Anyway – for the rest of my consumption I will be pretty meticulous. Except when I struggle, and I will, and I just want something else. If I hate my life I won’t stick to my diet. So – I’m allowed to mess up.

Otherwise the meal goes as follows: 2 over-easy eggs over top a baked golden potato seasoned with nutritional yeast and pepper. Did I stutter? I did not say butter. I did not say sour cream. I did not say cheeeeeese. I did not say I fried my eggs in butter, or in bacon grease.

So this meal x 3 plus my coffee (and water, duh, don’t be a dolt. . .) Puts me at 1,097 calories per day. Whoops! That’s no good.

Let’s now discuss TDEE. Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This is what your body uses in calories a day based on your activity level, height, weight, age and gender.  If you take in less than your TDEE you are in what is called a calorie deficit. This is necessary when trying to lose weight. Again, don’t be a dolt. You need to eat enough to have energy. You shouldn’t cut more than ~500 calories per day from your TDEE in order to function healthily.

My TDEE is 2,664 currently. So if I only consume 1,097 that puts me at a deficit of 1,567 calories per day. I like round numbers so my goal is likely to be 2,000 calories a day. Yes that breaks my rule but only slightly. Enh do as I say not as I do? So at my deficit based on the amount of calories planned for the day that leaves me 903 calories. GREAT! Because ya’ll know there’s no way I’m only drinking 5 cups of coffee. Plus I love to snack. . . Especially at night.

That is part of me and I’m not going to fight it. Right? I want to enjoy my diet so I stick to it. Plus I need to add lots of green veggies to my diet which I don’t have listed.

As long as I track my caloric intake I will be fine. So I have to make sure I eat enough and not too much.

What is the icing on the cake, you ask? Well let me tell you it’s that you get to eat your dang cake AND lose weight. Just fit it into your TDEE goal. Eat the stupid cake, brah!

*Disclaimer! Always, always, ALWAYS wash and thoroughly cook your potatoes. This is where botulism comes from (not only, but one of the biggest risks). Botulism is not your standard food poisoning. It will kill you dead. Right now. Well kinda slowly. So few cases have survived contraction that there is very very little medical science to protect you in this aspect. – Don’t be a dolt!

Blaaaaahhhh blahblahblahblah

I would have tracked my food intake to post here (which I will start tomorrow) but freaking Safeway was out of my POTATOES and I got all discombobulated.

So! Tell me what you think? Am I being ridiculous? What is your diet like? What would you like to try? Post your TDEE down below! I use this app.

Xoxo

-S

The other day I shared this beauty with you:

Well on the drive in to town this morning I realized that for some crazy reason it reminds me of this song. You listen.

Xoxo

-S