Late... Better than Nothing

I'd like to give a shout out to Dan! All is well, in order. Mostly. Steve and I have to play legos in your absence. We're extremely disappointed.

A crazy week. I've raised a business from the ground. "Lighter-Than-Air" a dirigible air shipping and travel company. Dirigible is the long word for blimp and less well known than zeppelin. Anyways, my team gave a presentation about our high initial costs, but our slightly lower revenues. Not sure if the idea sold, but it was probably one of the best presentations that I have given. I watched the video later, and I amazed myself on how well I turned my nervous hand movements into hand motions.

I've also done quite a lot of homework.

Also worked 8.5 hours total on Tuesday. I've crammed in a bit of work in the last few days, I was called with project. I love being able to help and give a real answer. Better yet, I also got to use some of the things that I learned in Pennsylvania.

I've done more homework, and a lot more to go.

I'm getting thinner.
My pants are looser. I've lost at least a pound. (which makes me angry)
But, in other news, today was the first day of Super Ab Tuesday. I'll let you know how I'm feeling tomorrow.
Uh. Yeah. Distracted. Until later.

And primal lifestyle is going well.

Surprising Number

Thursday. Another busy day. It all started with waking up. I'm beginning to think that maybe I should stay in bed.
I made myself coffee again, and it was excellent. I might become an addict.
Went to the first class, ESM 450, where it's engineers trying to learn to be accountants/marketers. We're attempting to learn about compounding interest, present worth analysis', discounting factors... I think I'll just hire all of those people and have them do it for me.
But in that class, I got my wish. My friend Andrew did not. We got selected to present our business plan on Tuesday (we have 5 days to write one) and he has a proposal for a student organization for NASA due Monday. I feel bad for him since his weekend will be terrible. He'll get a break at the end of the presentation.

Also yesterday, the first Tau Beta Pi meeting. It was during a BP info session, so at least 2 of the members were there. I wasn't expecting many because of the job fair going on. There were a surprising number of students there, but also the people who showed up were surprising. I may have support this year. Cool.

Then I started studying like mad and researching - got a break and went to dinner at Big Daddy's BBQ with the Farabaugh's. Atmosphere was alright. Food was decent. The leftovers eaten today were even better.

This morning, I was awake at 5:23. I was alive, and realized how much I kind of like getting up that early. Woke Steven up, got to the gym at 6:15. First thing that I hear there is "holy crap." Ahh... my old gym partners are still there. I got to catch up with them for a little bit, which was really nice. There's two guys who I know odd details of their lives, but I don't really see outside of the gym. It's worse than barbershop gossip.

The quiz that my professor kept telling me was going to be easy, was in fact easy. What a relief.
Had the rest of the day. Worked for a few hours. Got told my assignment was the best by another professor. ... Discovered why TV dinners make you fat.
That's right. I grilled a steak. It was quite a large steak. Steven had big bang playing. I sat down and started sawing away and eating. And sawing away and eating. And sawing away and eating.  I ate 3/4 of it. I'm full. Very full.

Oh, and using the correct formula really helps with a homework assignment.

And Nathan said that it was Good

I'm reminded of how much pain is caused by not doing an exercise for some period of time. My current case and point: squats.

I'm not sure what day of the week it is. I've been extraordinarily busy, which causes a blur of every other day. Yesterday is a good example. I found out that my group was waiting around for a miracle to make a business plan. Our 3 week timeline has now shrunk to 6 days.
On top of that I was unable to fix my car.

But, dinner was grilled eggplant and the rosemary and garlic chicken, and let me tell you, Nathan said that it was good. Garlic is a funny after taste though.

Today, I talked to a professor about problems that I am stuck on, and I am still stuck. His homework difficulty went from a 3 to a 12 in one assignment. Great outlook...
I re-ordered my business group, and it looks like we're going to show some progress here.
And I went to history class. Pretty boring.

I've got a quiz coming up Friday, a crippled vehicle, a business report, and a tough homework assignment.
But! I've also got another bag of coffee and a lego set from my mom. I'm stressed out, but so happy. And loved.
My forecast for next week (assuming I present on Tuesday) is so much slower... I need to recover.

In other happenings, it was described to me that I may have senioritis (mom, again) explaining why I am leaning towards a job so heavily now.

3rd weeks are hell. That may be too strong, but it gets the point across. The third week of being primal - I was out of state, out of my niche, at a conference against diets. This week is my third week of actually being in school. I don't know why. Maybe you expect the first to be hard, the second you're cocky, and the third you're broken. Or it takes 4 weeks to set up a pattern.

15 Foot Flames

Yesterday, I didn't even think about this blog. I don't know if that's good or bad.
Plus, I forgot to mention that on Saturday, Steven and I signed our primal contracts, so let the challenge begin.

Anyways, Sunday, I grilled eggplant. To me, it tastes remarkably like bread, but really mushy. It tastes really good with balsamic vinegar though. And everything tastes good with the charcoal flavor. I should try getting some wood chips and putting more smoke in the food.
I also made paleo chili. It's a spicy meat soup. There's 1 pepper, 5 stalks of celery, 1 onion, and 3 pounds of meat. It's amazing. Total man food.

After all of that was said and done, Steven and I went out to the Labeans to hang out with John and Missi, who were gone 14 days too long. (they were gone 14, but supposed to be 4) John made dinner and I ate a bacon triple cheese burger. I almost went meat burger, but decided to eat the buns and potato chips as a test to my contract. Three patties of meat and bacon is about the limit of my mouth. It's really tall.
Then it was bonfire time - a collection of all of the summer's pallets, branches, leaves, and grass clippings. First, we tried synthetic oil that had been used. No luck. Then gasoline. Made some cool explosions, but no luck. So John brought out cloth work gloves, we stuck them on the ends of sticks, put new oil on them and the fire, and in about 5min, you couldn't stand within 5ft of the fire. It was hot. And spewing 15 foot flames. The heat from that point on felt nice, from 10 feet away.
I also got to have some nostalgia yesterday, because Missi offered rice custard, which to me is rice pudding. It was excellent.

This morning was the first implementation of a power exercise infront of the normal workout, and it was squats. I'll tell you how I feel in the morning.
And for a day that seemed to be moving well, it got extraordinarily busy quickly. I received a few more homework assignments, have a quiz coming, a Tau Beta Pi meeting, work to work on, and so on. Great day...
I'm hopeful for tomorrow. I might have time to make myself coffee. I'm excited.
Oh, and angrifying is now a word. It's in my blog.

The Steven or Opportunity Cost

This is two days worth of material, and I will somehow try to catch your attention to keep you reading.

I'll start with Friday, at 1:30am EST when I did "The Steven"
50 push ups - 30 sit ups - 25 burpees - 50 jumping jacks - 40 mountain climbers - 30 dips - 120s plank - 120s superman - 50 slider push ups - 24 lunges
I did it in 17:43.97

NEVER underestimate the effects of caffeine. Even in small doses. I had a small amount before bedtime on Thursday night, and tossed and turned until 1:30 when I was so frustrated that I did the workout that I was supposed to do at 6am. I wanted to do double that, "The Steven 2.0", replacing all push ups with body weight rows, but that wasn't happening at 1:30am when I was fatigued.
I left PA with a lack of sleep.

I had the opportunity to swap flights back to Fairbanks so that I didn't have to get in at 12:20am. I was actually in bed at 10pm Friday night. I was so happy. Especially when I didn't wake up until 7am.

BUT WAIT!!! The flight was incredible because I got to sit next to a real estate/insurance tycoon who had made quite a bit of money. We talked about everything. I got to pick his brain. It was very inspiring/provoking. He told me to look at my opportunity costs for grad school. Assuming my job prospects pay me no less than $60k a year starting in May and grad school costs $40k a year and takes 2 years to complete, it would cost me roughly $215k to go to grad school. (Don't forget 6% interest)
Numbers mean a lot to me. Do my dreams of Nuclear Engineering pencil out?
He also said something that I've read in the Rich Dad Poor Dad books - he's not in the insurance business even though he owns a State Farm franchise. He's in the investment business. Something that I had slightly forgotten, but really shouldn't. His profits from his day job go into some investment portfolio. Real estate in this case.

And at the end of all of that, today, this morning, I was amazed at myself.
I benched 190lbs, dead lifted 335lbs, and shoulder pressed 135lbs.
Amazing: the most I've historically benched is 195lbs last spring. I've lost 20+ pounds and can bench almost as much. (How does that work?)
Yes, 335lbs. I tried for 345, but couldn't lift it. I should've tried 340 to double my body weight.

Derivative

I've fallen. I saw cereal at breakfast and couldn't resist. I don't necessarily feel bad, other than I betrayed Steven.
Oh well. We'll move on.

Today was the last day of the conference. I arranged a personal demo of a module so that I could learn it. I've never seen so much in two hours. I think I can figure it out. I also sat through a 4 hour session of the same module and similar products right after that. Needless to say, the phone came out, texting started, and so on. The modules were pretty cool, but there were guys who kept asking about the price and saying that they needed to bring back physical evidence. It got really boring. I now know that there is a software to do something that I wanted to do using pdf documents and filling them in on computers or iPads like devices.

But, my day was made awesome when Robin asked me a calculus question. I now get to try to figure it out. Woo hoo.

That's all for today. Not much exciting happened. I saw lighting this morning.

Amazing Day - 15

I think that I'll stop putting day numbers up there. It really makes no sense to.

Lunch at the conference was grilled chicken and pulled pork. While it tasted really good compared to the "eggs" I ate this morning at the hotel, the pulled pork doesn't compare to my dad's. I can't believe I had to miss my mom's second birthday party where there was pulled pork sandwiches. School...

I was able to put my Synergee knowledge to good use today in a competition among conference goers. (Other than work that is) The other members had little or no experience with the Model Builder Module, which I have worked with a lot before. I was able to whip out the model and create it in no time. In the end, my team finished 30 minutes before any other answering other questions and jumping other hurdles. We didn't win. The "tie-breaker" was pick a number between 1 and 100.

Ah, but today, and on other days, I realize how much I like being treated like an adult. I have real responsibility. I have a real job. The staff members here come to me to arrange with my schedule and needs. (Quite a few of them were shocked to see me, seeing that I am "so young") I'm driving a rental car for which I am responsible for. I don't know how to describe it. It makes me just so excited to go back to class to be baby sat for an hour and a half then assigned homework like I wasn't really paying attention in the class. Or given pop-quizzes to make sure that I'm attending. Or only having to show enough responsibility to not cheat on an exam.
I'm not a child! (Yes there is a word that precedes that. No I will not say it)
If I had access to professors like at a university, I almost prefer reading and learning on my own. The almost is because I like listening to intelligent lectures. But out here, I learn on my own time, which I have to manage well. I've gotten 3.667/4 homework assignments done while at a business conference attending sessions all day. (I'm stuck on a third of an assignment, this is where the professor would be nice)
Why can't school be more like this?

An Experience - 14

I went to sleep last night at 10pm EST. That's 6pm AST. You'd think I would've had issues. Nope. And I woke up at 6am EST, or 2am AST. I feel great.
After waking up, I went and ran on a treadmill for the first time ever. That was an experience. Only a few times was I afraid that I was going to fall off the back. When I stopped, I felt like I was going forward.

My First Self-Portrait

Then I went to TEAM Gas day 1:

I'm fighting my for my food, primal style. Err... Rather being selective. The day began with a large breakfast in which I ate a veggie scramble, had some ham, and fruit. (provided by the conference)







Lunch was Italian sausage, Hawaiian meatballs, grilled vegetables, and Mandarin salad. I think they're over doing the diversification here... And I'm pretty sure meatballs and 'Mandarin' salad are just American ideas with "island" and "oriental" flavors respectively. The grilled vegetables were amazing; pretty much anything grilled is. In regards to the rest: maybe not the most primal, but given my other options (cheese stuffed giant pasta shells among them) I think that I did well. I read in an email regarding this conference: No one has ever gone hungry at TEAM. Hopefully this doesn't mean over-eating.

Also heard, and my which will be my piece for the day, "there are no diets at TEAM." This is what I'm up against; the battle. Amazing tasting cooking at the conference. Endless little chocolate candies in the halls. Little fruit and chocolate fudge/cheesecake looking bars. Jolly Ranchers in my hotel room. And being away from my kitchen so I can't exactly cook and prepare my own food. For the cherry on top, the day I left was fairly non-primal and I honestly don't, or didn't, know why I wanted to continue this. Grandma's cake was amazing. Rhonda's cookies were amazing. I drive by a Wendy's everyday here and think about the frosty card in my wallet.
But: NEVER    GIVE     UP
Ever.
Example: I've had a more than I want share of 'bad grades' due to my own negligence. (I say 'bad' here because of my personal standards) To me, there is no worse feeling that knowing that I could have done something to score higher. Everyone makes a big deal out of "never give up. Never back down. Never surrender" stuff, but those sayings just don't convince me not to give up. No one honestly cares if you give up. (unless it causes fatalities) But I'm convinced by knowing that I will never forget about it. It's sickening to me that just getting right past that little challenge would've been so much more rewarding.
And the phrase "what if." What if I had actually studied? (to stay on example) Forget what if. What if is a challenge. What ifs need to change to "I did." That's another motivator.
So why I am doing this: for a rewarding feeling. Will it come? I don't know. I sure hope so. But if it doesn't because I gave up, I'll know that I let it slip through my fingers.
Why did I write this: just because one professor is threatening me. I feel that if I let this grad school and job fair slip away, I gave up, and if I don't end up in a field that I enjoy, I'll always think "what if" about that fair.
My current rewarding feeling: Knowing that up to this point, I have a 3.94 - I have not failed a class ever and I am not going to start now. One test or not, I will succeed.

Tips: Search for something small that you've done and focus on it. Every once in a while we need to reflect on past victories.

When the Rubber Hits the Road - 13

No menu today either. I've been sporadically snacking since I've been traveling so long. Also, I was probably in the air or asleep when any specified "meal time" was in the current time zone that I was in.
So in summary, the most closely related thing that I've eaten to a meal was a bunch of turkey roll ups. I definitely think that those will be the default when travelling. You can buy turkey sandwich meat anywhere, cucumbers and peppers are also extraordinarily common. But I've eaten beef jerky, an assortment of nuts, carrots, a banana, and... An Avocado. It was delicious. I might go get another one to eat. Ripe and amazing.
When I went to the store (walmart was the only place that I successfully found), I looked at prices and realized the higher cost of living in Alaska. 39 cents a pound for bananas that were ripe. 50 cents per avocado. Yeah. Had I not eaten the whole avocado and 2/3 of the cucumber, $11.18 would've fed me dinner for two days. I saw pineapple, but fear the pain of eating an entire pineapple by myself in one or two days.

I go to see my mom and brother last night for an hour. It was really nice. I wish that I was returning through Anchorage on Friday, instead of spending 4 hours in Seattle. It's really strange passing through your home town.
And SOGM: there was a black woman on my flight from FAI>ANC and when we landed, I got her bag out of the overhead bin. She started singing. Whether the two were connected, I don't know, but ALWAYS help a lady get her bag out of the bin. You will reap a reward. Mine was her singing.

Took two more flights. Walked quickly across an entire concourse in Chicago. Made it to HOT Harrisburg, PA. Saw a river super high. Rented my first car.
My lucky day: first, the woman behind the counter was born on Elmendorf and said that she hadn't seen an Alaskan Driver's license before. Second, they were out of "Honda Fit, or similar" size vehicles. I got an Impala for no extra charge. It's silver, black leather interior (which is a sauna in the sun) has a Bose stereo system, satellite radio works here, and its a gajillion (copy and paste that into word and it corrects it to gazillion) times larger than my car. Not really, just bigger.
I drove about 30min to the hotel, using my non-toll road instructions, checked in, then worked out:
20 Burpees - 20 Bodyweight Rows - 20 Diamond Pushups - 50 Chair jumps - 50 dips - 50 Good mornings - 20 Clapper Pushups - 20 B.W. Rows - 20 Mountain Climbers (per leg) - 2:00 Plank - 50 dips - 20 B.W. Rows - 100 ab twists - 25 Pikes
The chair jumps were changed into 100 jumping jack because they were quieter when I hit the floor.
I did all of that in 19:42.69
And finished up with 2:00 superman - 20 decline pushups - 20 pikes

Then I went to find the grocery store. I drove around a bit. Higher cost of living in Alaska or not, all of the residents up there are blessed compared to what I'm seeing here. There's been some losses here. I'm assuming from the downturn. More than I've seen in Anchorage or Fairbanks.

Eh. Back to homework. I want to have some whirlwind adventure.
Oh, and many, oh so many, hedges of protection around Dan as he journeys forth today.

Airport and A Cheaters Relief - 12

Since this is done on a mobile app, (thanks steven) I can't cheat and copy and paste my menu bar. It doesn't really matter, I ate. And cheated. Grandma gave me Orange cake. And then I ate a few cookies. I feel great.
Turns out that my partner in this project cheated today as well. Funny how that worked out.
Today, right now, starts my adventure to Mechanicsburg, PA for ENSTAR. I'm excited and nervous. I've never rented a car before.
It feels like a rather somber day. Not only is it September 11, but everyone is just off. Perhaps its small internal conflict. I won't expand on that.
No matter. I'm scatter brained an going across the nation.
Oh, and I've decided that a job and grad school fair is more important than an exam. I worked hard to become elite, I deserve the chance to show it off.

Manday. 11

B: Manfrest. Meggs, Macon. And veggies.

S1: Two turkey roll ups, bananas

D: Sounds like meat. (It was meat)

Despite the rain and not being able to go hiking, Sean still pulled off a manday. We had manfrest, which was excellent, then went out to Chatanika dredge.

It's big. And Awesome.

We climbed inside hatches, up ladders, around cables, across steel beams, up a conveyor belt, had fun.

We had man time. And it included steven and michael.

Go here to a few more photos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/108980049808436694175/ChatanikaDredge?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Tonight, if the rain stops, we'll have a fire. In the least, we're going to grill a ton of meat. Hopefully someone brings veggies, but lets see. If it rains, hopefully we watch the expendables.

It's been decided that Saturdays will be activities days. Hiking, running, skiing, snow machining.

I'm excited to go to PA. One day to go.

(waldo is in this picture)

Manday 11.5:
SOGM is now open. School of general manliness. We chopped 8X8's, caper tossed one, poured gas over logs, but never got a fire to light.

Anxiety Kills - 10

(written 9/10)

B: 1 whole egg - 2 egg whites - peppers - 3 leaves of kale - spinach - basil

S1: Orange

D: Salmon dip, sharp cheddar cheese blocks, crackers, french bread, Papa Murphy's cowboy pizza, Gourmet Veggie pizza, and chicago style.

Dessert: Pudding cake - butterscotch pudding with chocolate on top and graham crackers. Plus chocolate ice cream

Where to start... Well, my blog is going international. Dan is going overseas and said he'd read my blog. Whether or not he does, I'm claiming international. (I shall keep you informed, Dan)

Salmon Dip: made by Dan. Tasted amazing. Mostly non-primal. Didn't really care.

Pudding cake: made by grandma. Filled with love. I love grandma's.

And as much as I may try to stick to primal foods (meat and veggies) for the rest of my life, I enjoy sharp cheddar cheese far too much to give it up completely.

And back to, where to start. Does a whirlwind begin at one specific point? Because that's how my day went.

I woke up, went to gym, was all hyped up excited, then a professor told me that he wouldn't give me an early or late exam when I miss the first exam in October. My grade in his class would be based on the 2nd exam entirely. (for the exam percentage) That's a lot of weight. The whole time, he's telling me that the trip "will be a great experience" and "everyone has a choice." I'm missing his class specifically for a huge career and grad school fair. We're talking big time employers coming to look at the super nerds. (It's a Tau Beta Pi convention) That's my choice all right. I'm now going try to talk to my advisor and see if something can be worked out.

That all happened around 2:00.

3:30ish. Robin calls. Dan may have to leave early. Dinner is cancelled. Mass pandemonium. Everyone is running around.

I find it funny that when you think that you're in the dumps, God can take you to someone in the same position.

My response to the phone call: Let me bring pizza.

The moment I wanted to be rescued from my anxiety, I got to help someone else. We played cards for an hour or so. I ate way too much food. Stayed there late. And left feeling so much better. So much better.

9

B: 1 whole egg - 2 egg whites - peppers - 3 leaves of kale - spinach - basil

S1: Jerky

L: Turkey roll ups and chopped veggies

S2: Salad and jerky

D: Stuffed Pepper and banana

Today is the first day where I'm feeling like I have nothing to say. This blog has no point. Except information. It's not particularly funny or intriguing. I need to figure out how to lure people.

See a trend in my breakfast yet? I eat the same thing. It tastes good. Why change.

I really like those turkey roll ups. They're a super convenient primal snack. You take a piece of turkey deli meat, put something in it, and roll it up. My current favorite is peppers and cucumber. Sounds odd, but its the perfect sweet/salty/crunchy mix. They truly are a snack though, and don't fill me up. I ate 6 for "lunch" and was hungry 2 hours later. Hungry enough to down the rest of the jerky.

Steven made the stuffed peppers, and despite refusing to follow the recipe, they tasted pretty good. But, to not boost his ego, I had just gone running, was out of energy, and was starving. Nearly anything would've tasted good. (They were tasty, Steven)

Pet Peeve of mine: not being able to finish what I've started in one sitting.

Doing homework over several days (unless it's writing) bugs me. What bugs me more is that I have had a break through for work and can sit down long enough to make it complete. I've figured out how to import demand files, but not everything is correct. Just the life of this program. Leave it to me to figure it out.

I'm excited to go on to these "business" trips. It will be fun. An Adventure. And a lot of work leading up to it.

I've also realized that I've been really busy the last week, and I have yet to figure out what exactly I have been doing.

A Shocker - 8

B: 1 whole egg - 2 egg whites - peppers - 3 leaves of kale - spinach - basil

L: Salmon Sushi

S1: a little beef jerky

D: Pollo Con Salsa Roja (chicken enchilada soup)

S2: Orange and beef jerky

So today was the first weigh in. (I had forgotten about it) I was under the impression that I had gained weight over the summer. In reality, I lost over 20lbs this summer. I am amazed. All of my hard earned muscle... Oh well. Winter is for body building. Gives me a goal anyways.

Also see, I made sushi. Well sort of. It was a mixture of jared salmon, dijon mustard, ginger, and tarragon wrapped in zucchini. I'm not sure if I wasn't hungry or it was really as filling as it made me feel. I ended up giving the last four pieces to Steven because I was so full. Thing's that I'd do differently: going to try to wrap it in cucumber next time.

Today was one of those days where you sit back and wonder, "where has the day gone?". But on the same hand, I've done quite a bit. I've been up since 20 to 7am and don't plan on going to bed until 10pm. Busy day, yet I didn't manage to call the airlines or my bank to get some things straightened out. I'm hopeful to tomorrow.

I feel like I'm living a dream life right now. I'm fit, healthy, and happy. I've got a job. The school outlook is tough, but right now simple. I'm going on a business trip. I'm a leader of a group. I'm helping people. I'm helped by people. Is there much else?

That's all for now folks...

We've Made It a Week - 7

B:1 whole egg - 2 egg whites - peppers - 3 leaves of kale - spinach

S1: a bit of beef jerky

L: Leftover Puerto Rican Stir-fry

S2: a little salad and beef jerky

D: Leftover Rosemary and Garlic Chicken and Ratatouille

I just realized that I've now been primal for 7 days. (except one meal) Wow. Do you know how easy it is to do this? There are so many different types of vegetables, I don't think that I've scratched the surface of trying them all. This could go on for more than a week. (for the better)

What's with the beef jerky suddenly? Homemade beef jerky apparently doesn't last long, a factor that I didn't consider, so it has to be eaten. That's right, I made beef jerky and forgot to mention that yesterday. It's good, but there's plenty that I'll do differently next time

I'm beginning to get into my groove for school, and I still hate writing. The first homework assignment is a technical writing piece. The subject of the assignment is the ASCE report card of America's Infrastructure (we have a D by the way) vs. the debt crisis and cutting the funding to the rehabilitation projects. I haven't a clue what to write about, much less in technical terms without filling material. Like I'm doing now.

Back to school, I have to give my first speech of the year and first speech as President of Tau Beta Pi on Friday when the officers and I unveil our repaired bent. (this thing >

Looking at the trips that I have to take, I'm going to miss at least 2 full weeks of Mechanical Vibrations, and 1.5 weeks each of Engineering Management and Heat&Mass Transfer. I would honestly prefer not to miss those, but its adventure. I hope that I still do well.

"The light of Your face feels so good, radiating in this place"

Day 6 (With Pictures!!!)

D (9/4): carrots, cucumber, salmon

B: 1 whole egg - 2 egg whites - green onions - peppers - 2 leaves of kale - mushrooms - spinach

S1: 3 baby carrots and a piece of beef

D: Rosemary garlic chicken, ratatouille

Notice the last item on the food list: ratatouille. That's right, I made ratatouille. At first I "bit off more than I could chew" by under estimating the size of a "large pot" in the recipe. It calls for a large pot. I had to make it in two pots. And froze 4 servings because it made so much. But! It made me feel gourmet when combined with the chicken. I had sliced a clove of garlic and inserted it into the chicken, (cut slits) then rubbed it with rosemary and grilled it. The ratatouille was good alone, but the combo was amazing.

I guess I don't really need to post what I am eating, but it's proof that I am.

The other thing that I did today: WOD (workout of the day)

20 Burpees - 50 Pushups - 20 pull ups (or bodyweight rows) - 50 dips - 20 bench jumps - 50 ab twists (with 10lb ball) - 120s plank - 50 "good mornings" - 30 ball pushups (15 per arm) - 40 mountain climbers (20 per leg) - 20 chin ups (see above) - 50 jumping jacks (modified for low ceiling) - 50 sit ups - 120s superman

BONUS!!!

50 dips - 50 Pike pushups - 40 side ab crunches (20 per side)

ntb: 29:59.41

When I got into the burpees, about number 6, I knew that I had created a workout that would go over 20min. Took me 29:59.41 to do it all including the bonus round. I also discovered that I have a very weak core; it took a lot of time to do the sit-ups. It's good to know that my mind is still more ambitious than my body. Now I have something to aspire to: my mind's goals.

I was pumped up/twitching most of the day, but felt amazing.

I feel like I should be writing something deep here. Did you know that the closest point on the earth's surface to the earth's core is in the Atlantic ocean even though the deepest point in the ocean is in the Pacific? How's that?

I'm looking forward to going to Hawaii. Really.

Test 5

9/4/11

D (9/3): breaded baked chicken, salad with homemade ranch, potato salad, french bread and butter, cheesecake with strawberries and whipped cream, peach cobbler.

B: 1 whole egg - 2 egg whites - green onions - peppers - 2 leaves of kale - mushrooms

L: Puerto Rican Stir fry

S?

D?

It's 4:45ish and I'm now getting around to writing this. I have a feeling that this will be the method of my choice. (reporting the last meal with next day) That depends on how my evenings with school go.

In regards to last night's dinner, hey, it was a free day, what can I say. And ordinarily I wouldn't have eaten so much potato salad, but Grandma Williams made the hands down best potato salad.

I'm getting fancy with the spices! Tarragon, turmeric, coriander, and, the most potent, cumin. Hopefully soon I'll experiment with my curry. But back on the spices, I'm exploring recipes that call for those spices, so it's fun to experiment with the flavors. Today's Puerto Rican stir fry called for the last three, but in hindsight, could've used more salt. It was incredibly aromatic, but not nearly as tasty.

Well, I thought of a topic: resources - where I am getting all of my information and basing most of my decisions off of.

www.marksdailyapple.com

www.robbwolf.com

www.nerdfitness.com

Everyday Paleo (cookbook by Sarah Fragoso)

The Paleo Diet (general book by Loren Cordain, Ph.D.)

The websites above are used in decreasing amount from the top down. I use marksdailyapple the most because I found it first and therefore, think of it first when I have a primal question.

Robb Wolf owns a gym, wrote a book that I'd like to read because he seems more down to earth that mark, and endorsed the cookbook above.

Nerdfitness: don't go there unless you consider yourself a computer/gaming/science nerd. There really isn't much there to benefit from.

If you do go research this topic by using any of the above, what you'll find, especially with marksdailyapple, is that this diet is natural, unprocessed, and extremely high fat. Example: dairy is not promoted here because, let's face it, a caveman would not have taken a cow hunting just for milk. If you choose to use dairy, it is recommended to use whole milk with omega3's. Or just whipping cream.

But don't worry, and keep in mind, take everything with a grain of salt. As a comparison, The Paleo Diet (TPD) vs marksdailyapple, TPD goes through nuts and oils ranking them good and bad by ratio of Omega3's to Omega6's. Marksdailyapple does not. (Omega6's in this context are bad polyunsaturated fats. You already get a bunch of them already) The cookbook is more like marksdailyapple, but I agree with TPD and Robb Wolf (Omega3's are better) and so the coconut oil is out.

I'm... distracted. And jumbled. I guess I need a specific question in order to provide a specific topic. Border's and guidelines are so nice. Especially for the engineer.

Ask a question, get an answer.

P.S. Back for more: I'm reading more Robb Wolf, and he seems like the most "normal" guy drinking coffee, working out, and so on. Caffeine is a taboo to a lot of primals.

Early 4

9/3/11

B:1 whole egg - 2 egg whites - green onions - peppers - 2 leaves of kale - mushrooms

L: Turkey Roll Ups, Salad

S1: Carrots and Cucumbers

D: ?

Okay, this is an experimental time. I'm writing this at... 3:44 in the after noon since I have the time and am thinking about it.

Today's Primal activity: moving slow and foraging! I went to Wickersham Dome with Steven and Kevin, walked slowly, picked blueberries, got cold, got a little damp, had fun. It's amusing to me to act primal by stopping suddenly to pick a berry. But, that aside, the fall red colors are really pretty, along with the rolling hills north of Fairbanks. I do miss the mountains, though. I am also suffering the strange, new urge to go hunting and kill a large animal. I see it as a primal instinct, seeing how moose is a big qualifier being only "grass-fed."

Being in the rolling hills, and reading hiking books, also inspires camping goals: Summer 2011- Skagway to hike the Chilkoot (Klondike, too lazy to look up which it is) Trail and Eagle (stopping along the way of course, in chicken). Perhaps some summer I'll make it up to Deadhorse. I need a truck and a dog.

As an additive to my christmas list: binoculars, a compass, a map reading class (I didn't get lost, I just want to be able to whip out a map and know where I am)

Today may a be a "free (for all) day" because dinner is at the Williams. I probably will tell them, but not expect a change because they have a family to feed, not two college boy's diet.

Until Tomorrow

Delay 3

9/2/11 (written 9/3)

S1: Banana and AmiN.O. Energy (not primal approved, but a supplement)

B:1 whole egg - 2 egg whites - green onions - peppers - 2 leaves of kale - mushrooms

L: Chicken salad, using leftover rotisserie chicken

D: Beanie Weenies, mixed veggies, a little cheese sauce, 3 deviled eggs

Today I had a discovery on dressings. I'm trying to create a salad dressing, and currently the base is rice vinegar and olive oil. I've been adding various spices and I stumbled upon something today: cayenne pepper. I mixed in some oregano and cayenne, took a bite, and was disappointed that it didn't burn. Until I swallowed. Then it was amazing.I think I'll be using that for a while as a salad dressing.

Also, today might have been "free day" number one, as it was friday night dinner at the Labeans. Pizza night and watched the movie 'Coneheads.' When I arrived, I was able to snack/meal on the more primal options available.

While I'm not opposed to telling people about my primal choice, you don't tell a mother who has cooked for you. Or continues to give you home cooked options. I don't want her to think that I'm not going to eat something that she makes, or that she has to accommodate me.

I'm still trying to figure out how this is going to work, especially if I don't have time at night to write all of this down. I'm also in need of topics.

(a day late)

What was supposed to be Day 1

9/1/11

B:1 whole egg - 2 egg whites - green onions - peppers - 1 leaf of kale

S1: 1 banana - 1 carrot

L: Large piece of salmon, some zucchini, large salad w/ homemade experimental rice vinegar salad

D: "Rockin' Moroccan Chicken" with cabbage added

As I am a bit disorganized with moving and school starting, the dates that I am writing this post and "Day 1" are the same. I thought about writing all of that down, but never got to it. In fact, I don't know how long this one will be. I don't have much time.

For the duration of my choosing, B=breakfast, S=snack (the number indicates which snack number) L=lunch, D=dinner.

Notable things that happened today:

school started

the TBP Bent got put back, and now I have to host an unveiling at the CEM BBQ Friday the 9th

Steven actually admitted to being "full" from an entirely vegetable and meat based meal. No starch. Only complex carbs and protein.

I did the math and discovered that I will still have quite a bit of money in my bank account when I pay the rent (which I still haven't found my checkbook)

And, really, I think I like this whole "yo-yo" dieting lifestyle. I really enjoy just seeing what happens when you eat differently. I started eating more body-for-life fall of my sophomore year, went extreme rationing in the spring, did no sugar again and only sort of watched what I ate fall junior year, and spring... Well, let's just say many cows died when I discovered the P90X block meal plan. I don't think that I've ever consumed so much meat. Nor have I ever been so big. It was awesome. But that's not really what my goal is.

My goal this time: idk. I'll get back to you on that one. Steven wants me to have a goal so that we can write contracts to make sure that we achieve them. Both of us are "too big to fail," so our egos will be crushed no matter how much we deny it. Especially mine. Maybe that's why I don't have a goal yet.

(still no smart closing statement, but i'm done)

Day 1...

8/31/11 (written 9/1)

On a whim last night, Steven decided that we would be paleo today. (Aug 31st) As a final act of freedom, I drank a pint of Wilcox RECOVERY chocolate milk. Oddly enough, that bottle had fewer calories and fat per serving than the 1% chocolate milk sitting right next to it.

Leading up to this decision, I had consumed near 18 cookies in two days, a doughnut, a cup of chocolate pudding, cheese and crackers, but other than that, nothing too notable besides the awesome brownie sundae from hot licks two nights ago.

I started the day around 8:15am (woke up about 7:15) with a chicken wing that was in the fridge and carrots. By the time I had consumed that, Steven was up and we headed off to the gym. I got to be drill sergeant for the tough warm up 1/2 mile run, then the first time he had worked out since... December maybe.

When we got home, I created a 2 egg white, 1 whole egg, 1/4 red pepper, handful of mushrooms skillet breakfast.

After cleaning a marble slab, going to a farmers market, and then Fred Meyers, I ate lunch, the thigh and drumstick off of the chicken that gave me the pre-workout wing. And more carrots.

Dinner was me grilling a large zucchini and some salmon that I had found in the freezer. It was a little freezer burned on the edges from a large air bubble in the packaging bag, but sprinkle some lemon pepper on that and we're golden. The zucchini had onion powder and tarragon on it; I didn't taste the onion powder, but was tasting it later in my mouth.

Note that this was also my first time unsupervised grilling salmon, so after trial and error, i ended up with only a slightly under-done piece of fish. I'm quite proud. And (this may disgust you) but I quite enjoy slightly charred salmon skin.

Also note, I went and got a paleo cookbook, "Everyday Paleo."

(insert witty farewell statement here)

Warning

I'm already reposting, but I'm not yet addicted. I've actually been pondering creating this site for quite a few days now, but have just pulled the trigger. It's a disorganized thought process, which is why there are no pictures of me. I've never even had a social networking site before.

I suggest that you find my first post, and read it for a terrible explanation of this blog.

What comes right after this will be 5 days of writing, and the topic is currently my quest on a primal lifestyle. Enjoy.

In the Beginning

Good Evening,

Welcome to Making Nathan. Created on a whim, a bored Sunday night at the beginning of a semester, at the request of a friend.
The fast title choices were: Engineering Nathan, Creating Nathan, Nathan's Creations, and Making Nathan. With unanimous vote by one person, Making Nathan won.

This will be my thoughts, adventures, experiments, notepad, the place to bounce ideas. And incomplete, grammatically incorrect sentences. Possibly with made up words and poor spelling.

In short, this is all about what makes Nathan.