Broiled Maple Salmon

Dinner 3.29.10:

Salmon fillets
Lemon Juice
Basil
Pepper
Garlic Powder (not too much)
Maple syrup

Set oven to broil on High. Lightly drizzle fillets with ingredients listed above. Heat olive-oil in a pan on stove-top, sear each fillet for 60sec on each side. Remove fillets from pan and broil on a broiler pan on high for 5 minutes or until cooked all the way through. Easy!

We added a mixed green salad w/ avocado and raw baby carrots and used olive oil + lemon juice as a dressing.

Dairy & Food Allergies

{cow polaroid}

One of the main reasons why Dan and I opted for paleo-living is that it is a non-dairy diet. Why no dairy on paleo, you ask? Well, dairy was not readily available to our primal ancestors (I don't think they were domesticating wild cows, let alone milking them... maybe if they did have Fruity Pebbles, but I digress). For many, giving up dairy seems to be the hardest transition in going full paleo -- for us, this was an easy transition since we already lived in a dairy-free household.

Back track a year ago, we found out (the hard way) that our 11 month daughter has an anaphylactic response to dairy and milk protein (casein). Since then, we've learned (and enjoyed) a milk-free kitchen and lifestyle and have avoided any cross-contamination issues by nixing dairy altogether. I could go into more detail on why dairy isn't necessary, and is actually destructive -- not just to those with allergies like my daughter -- but to everyone, however the fine folks at Whole9 have already done the hard work for me so I don't have to. Check out their Dairy Manifesto (really, it's worth reading).

While paleo-living has allowed us as parents to breathe a sigh of relief with the no-dairy component, keep in mind that paleo is a diet that CAN include the consumption of nuts, eggs, fish, shellfish, and certain fruits and veggies that others may be allergic to. Make modifications where needed, ALWAYS read labels (if labels exist, ideally paleolithic foods do not need labels), and work with your doctor/allergist. Dairy alternatives we use when/if needed: almond milk (unsweetened) and water (works well with cooking, substituting in equal amounts, i.e. 1c milk = 1c water). Until our daughter is tested and cleared for nut allergies, she consumes soy milk (not Paleo, soy=legume).

So, with no dairy, where do we get our calcium? Carbohydrates in the forms of fruits and vegetables. The 'typical' American diet doesn't support the same fruit/veggie intake compared to that of the Paleo diet. Hence, the American diet/FDA compensates its shortcomings for calcium through dairy, as opposed identifying the real problem and upping the amounts of fruits and veggies. Who are they fooling?

Cow, if you're reading this don't worry -- we don't want to hook you up to a milk-pumping machine all day. We just want to eat you. [JF]

Certification Week!

{avocado}

In one week, I'll be taking the CrossFit Level I certification - a two-day seminar that lays the foundations of CrossFit training and instruction. There will be lots of preparation this week - including reading the 117-page training manual (yikes) and getting in a daily WOD between now and Thursday. But the focus of this post will be a breakdown of the food I'll be fueling myself with over the next seven days in order to maximize my performance next weekend.

Though one of the hallmarks of the Paleo Diet is not having to count grams, calories or meals; I still prefer to do some tracking to ensure that my intake is substantive (I'm lucky that I don't have to worry about eating too much, but rather not getting enough). For those of you familiar with The Zone (books written by Dr. Barry Sears), I prefer to use the blocking system for tracking my food intake. Though Paleo and The Zone do have stark differences, they both spring from the belief that we should be fueling our bodies with the food they are engineered to eat (where Paleo says, "don't eat that," Zone says, "eat less of that"). Zone blocking is built around the three macronutrients and essentially works like this:

1 block of protein = 7 grams
1 block of carbs = 9 grams
1 block of fat = 1.5 grams

A typical guy my size (6'2'', 174lbs), doing a standard workout routine (think running and crunches a few times per week) would eat 16 or so blocks of all macronutrients each day. Since my training regimen is relatively intense (CrossFit workouts 5-6 times per week, usually with a heavy lifting emphasis), and since my metabolism works relatively efficiently, I'll eat somewhere between 25-28 blocks of protein per day. My carb block count usually matches that. However, my fat intake is much higher - somewhere in the 50 block range. This is primarily to provide additional energy on top of what the carbs give me.

Protein examples: ground turkey or lean ground beef (JF and I prefer to season w/ garlic powder, paprika, cumin, chili powder and sometimes cinnamon - we typically throw this on some mixed greens w/ salsa and guacamole), lean chicken breasts, beef or turkey patties, salmon, tuna, tilapia, etc.

Carb examples: sweet potatoes, carrots, lettuce, spinach, salsa, peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, apples, cantaloupe, banana.

Fat examples: avacados, olives, coconut and olive oil, nuts (almonds, walnuts and pecans), almond butter, and LOTS of sunflower-seed butter.

Lots and lots per day. I usually eat every 2.5-3 hours, w/ "big" meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Okay, time to go. It's now been 3 hours post-workout and I'm starting to smell. [DF]

So, what is Paleo?

This might be a cop-out, but it's a good, quick summary on what we're doing here at the Flood household. I included some other links that I frequent as well. Just watch it. [JF]

Welcome!

We're back. But, this time it's different. Sure we'll include some family updates, photos, and quirky you-tube links, but mostly the conversation will be focused on fuel (aka food). Dan and Julie (the Floods) have been living a paleo lifestyle for close to 6 months now. We get a lot of questions from friends, family, co-workers, and other CrossFitters at our gym on what this all means. We thought this space would be a good platform to share what we know, what we're still figuring out, and a place where you can join the conversation if you choose to do so (we really hope you do, we don't like wasted space and awkward silences... well, I do like awkward silences).... um, yeah. [JF]