Tag Archives: health blog

Day 18: Dolores Park life

Breakfast: Low fat natural yogurt, raspberries, red grapes, 6 pecans, cinnamon, coffee with milk
Snack: banana
Lunch: Vietnamese chicken salad (grilled chicken with cabbage, carrots, pickled onions, peanuts), kale smoothie made with almond milk and almond butter. All from Delores Park Cafe (really tasty).
Snack: Apple
Dinner: Chicken with tomato ratatouille, cherry tomatoes, red grapes

The summers in San Francisco are not the best. It’s cold and foggy and you’re more likely to be investing in a sensible Northface fleece than a cute pair of shorts. The fog is kind of cool to see though- it rolls in over the city like a wave and hovers so low you feel like you could touch it. The San Franciscans have become so acquainted with it they’ve even given it a name. Meet Karl the Fog. It’s a definitely a love-hate relationship.

Anyway, SF summers kind of suck (which is a lot for an Irish person to say) but the SF fall can be spectacular- like this weekend! It was so hot, but with a light breeze so very pleasant indeed. I love the sun!!

If you’re staying in the city there’s really only one thing to do when the weather is nice- hit up a park. And my park of choice is Dolores Park. Not only is it in my hood, but it’s the most fun in my opinion, even with half of it under construction as it is now. It’s chock-a-block with people, dogs (sometimes cats), babies, birthday parties, acrobatics, hippies doing hippy things, hippies selling hippy things (like things 😉 ) and…people kicking back and drinking.

Beers in the sun, in a park. Is there anything nicer?

Before heading over to meet my friends I tried to steel myself against the lures of Delores Park by reminding myself of my goals, blah blah blah.

But as soon as we sat down and someone mentioned getting beers my resolve began to waver and the internal battle commenced.

‘Well maybe one, tiny, light beer won’t hurt.’ ‘

‘That skinny girl over there is drinking beer, how bad could it be.’

‘Drinking in the sun burns off calories immediately.’

And so on.

It wasn’t until another friend Katie refused the offer of beer in favor of coffee that I was able to calm the inner voice and say no myself.

And the good news is I still had a good time. Parks are fun without the drinking.

But it just goes to show that while I have won a few battles on behalf of healthy eating, the war with my old habits had yet to be won.

In other news, I got a hair cut today as well. It was really needed! Thanks Henrik, magic work!

Day 17: Tears and brunch

5 Replies

Snack: Green juice from Pressed Juicery and Coffee with milk
Brunch: Smoked Salmon Scrambler from Toast in Noe Valley (eggs, smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers), side of fruit salad, coffee
Snack: Banana and 10 almonds
Dinner: Zucchini noodles and Puttanesca sauce (homemade)
Dessert: Red grapes

Today my Mom and Step-Dad left to go back to Ireland after 3 weeks of vacation here in San Francisco. I’m not going to lie- there were tears as we said goodbye at the airport. It was a proper Love Actually moment in fact. I kid you not, as I was waving them off at security ‘God Only Knows’ by The Beach Boys started playing, which is in the actual movie! That opened the flood gates for me. Thank God for sun glasses.

I loved having them over and getting to spend quality time with them. That’s one of the benefits of living away from your family- when you do see them you actually make a concerted effort to hang out and talk. It’s almost like an opportunity to get to know them a little better. So, I’m thankful for that. Now I just need to get my Dad, brother and sister over!

The folks wanted one last American brunch before they left so we went out to eat in my new fave brunch spot in Noe Valley – Toast. It has a laid back, diner vibe (no schmanzy SF brunch cocktails here) and the food is great!

I knew we weren’t going to be eating until 11.30 and I was up early so it was important to grab a snack beforehand. I decided to walk to Pressed Juicery for a green juice. It was yum! In it’s own green way. There was some apple and lemon in it as well, which makes it a little more palatable.

One of the tough things about brunch and healthy eating (aside from the abundance of pancake related dishes) can be the extras you get- ie everything comes with a side of hash browns and toast. My brunch strategy is to substitute with fruit salad where possible and to leave the toast behind. If something unhealthy is on my plate it immediately becomes a battle between me and my will-power. And I don’t want that type of confrontation in my life. See ya later toast, keep on walkin’.

I also made zucchini noodles today. I’ve been wanting to try them for ages. I made a puttanesca sauce to go with them, so they were very light. I used 3 small zucchini for 2 people, which wasn’t enough really. Next time I’ll use more zucchini and probably add chicken as well.

Zucchini noodles

Gonna miss these faces!!

Day 16: That Friday Feeling

3 Replies

Breakfast: Scrambled egg whites and eggs, pineapple, berries, coffee with milk
Lunch: Mixed salad, roasted veg, Grilled chicken breast, balsamic vinegar
Snack: Pineapple, cherry tomatoes, sugar snaps
Dinner: Appetizer – mixed meat, main course – vegetable cassoulet (smoked chickpeas, corn, green beans) and arugula salad, 2 x glasses of wine

What is it about Fridays – you always feel like you want and deserve a treat! It’s the end of a hard working week and all you want to do is kick back with a glass of wine and something nice to eat.

Or, as has been my habit of late, go out for happy hour, not eat any food and finish up at around 1.30am in the pizza joint.

Guess what I did not do! (The pizza one).

But I did kick back with something relatively nice to eat and a glass of wine (x2). Not 100% healthy but I think it’s healthy enough. Just to be clear – I still want to live my normal life by going out on the weekends and going for dinners and drinks. I just need to healthify the norm.

It was a slightly special occasion as well – my parents’ last night in SF. And we had a lovely time!

We had an aperitivo in the sun at Noeteca in Noe Valley. Such a cute little wine bar if you’re in the neighbourhood with good food.

We then went to Precita Park Cafe in Bernal Heights. Sweet little neighbourhood, with a great dog park if you’re that way inclined, but I probably wouldn’t recommend it for a Friday night. Full of kids (actually the perfect spot for a family on a Friday eve) and they totally rushed us through our meal. The food and wine were tasty though.

Then afterwards we went back to my parents’ Air BnB to chill on the couch and watch TV. There’s something so lovely about doing this with your family – so comforting, so normal, so relaxing. So precious.

I’m going to miss them loads.

Also, one last point to show you what I’m up against when it comes to healthy eating.

This is what I was faced with when I walked into the work cafe this morning:

Death by doughnut holes…

Thankfully they also had this, so I was easily able to be healthy.

Yum!

Day 15: Reflections and Refocusing

2 Replies

Breakfast: Low fat natural yoghurt, bee pollen, flax seeds, tsp dried cranberries, apple
Exercise: 30 mins PT
Snack: Acai bowl (frozen blended acai, bananas, strawberries, shredded coconut)
Lunch: Mixed salad with plain tune
Snack: Half carton of low-fat cottage cheese, crudites
Dinner: Mediterranean chicken (chicken with homemade tomato sauce and zucchini, peppers, onions and mushrooms) with mixed salad and avocado
Dessert: What I didn’t have was some of the Mitchell’s ice cream my parents bought. BOOM.

The acai bowl is more of a cup really. False advertising.

I am now in my 3rd week of my 100 Healthy Days in SF challenge – where did the time go?!?

This has prompted me to do some thinking and reflecting on how the challenge has gone to date and what I want to focus on for the next while.

Biggest learning for me has probably been that it’s not just a matter of saying you want to change a behaviour and relying on sheer will power to get you there. Yes, will power plays a part, obviously, and the more you practice using it, the easier it gets. It’s like a muscle, don’t ya know.

But I think you also need to think about pro-active, intervention strategies as well. Bad habits take a while to form and they can be steadfastly entrenched in your day-to-day life. It’s going to take some effort and planning to get rid of them.

So, one of my big focuses over the next while is to plan ahead and be prepared to meet the various challenges head on.

The second biggest learning is around FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). This will happen a lot!! You see someone else happily drinking a margarita in the sunshine of a Friday evening, or ooo-ing and ahhh-ing and smacking their lips over an ice-cream and a little voice inside your head screams ‘THAT SHOULD BE ME! I DESERVE TO BE HAPPY! HAPPINESS IS NOT FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF A BAG OF STUPID CARROTS.’

What I’ve learned is that it takes a lot of shouting back at that inner-voice to get him to shut up. You need to constantly remind him it’s all for the greater good, that this is a new way of living, that carrots are tasty in their own way and that the person who appears to be having such an amazing time eating or drinking may not actually be enjoying themselves that much. (Although I’m pretty sure the people eating Mitchell’s ice cream are having an amazing time).

Funny note – my mother is obsessed with the phrase FOMO. She laughs every time she hears it and has started saying it as well. I’m trying to get her to start saying YOLO as well. That would make me LOL.

The third part of my reflections are around exercise. I haven’t been doing nearly enough. Partly because my parents are over and partly for no reason at all. Laziness most likely. So the next few weeks will focus on getting my sweat on!

Last note for today – do you know how to pronounce acai? I did not. Apparently it’s pronouced ah-sigh-ee. Morto for me, I was pronouncing it A-Kigh. Oh how the Californians must have laughed at me.

Day 14: The Take-Out Challenge

Day 13: Spotlight on breakfast cereal

2 Replies

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and egg whites, steamed kales, chia seeds, raw celery, tomatoes
Exercise: 1 hour PT session (leg day)
Lunch: Mixed salad, with grilled chicken and avocado, apple cider vinegar
Dinner: Brown rice and spicy eggplant with shrimp and chicken
Snack: Almond brittle

I didn’t photograph the almond brittle. It was only a tiny piece!

I read a really interesting article today from The New York Times, about the decline in cereal sales over the past decade. The reason cited are varied- millennials are too busy to sit down and eat meals in general so are ‘snacking’ instead (not this millenial!); people went crazy for bagels for a while; the number of breakfast options available in the marketplace are growing so people are branching out; and lastly people are becoming a lot more health conscious and don’t want to eat unhealthy food.

About 2 years ago I started seeing a personal trainer in Dublin (howya Gordon!) and one of his most important pieces of advice to me was to fix the breakfasts- ditch the sugary, processed cereals and concentrate on eating protein. Not only is it better for you from a nutritional standpoint, it will also help to balance your blood sugars for the day so you’re not craving the bad stuff.

I cried a little when I heard that.

Cereal and I – we go way back. Some of my most fond memories relate to cereal – my gran sprinkling on the sugar for me when we vactaioned with her in Italy, being so excited to eat Captain Crunch and Lucky Charms when we went back to visit Canada. I would happily eat cereal at all times of the day – it’s carby and comforting. Carbforting – does that work?!

But, based on his advice I did it, I quit cereal! Even the ‘healthy’ muesli I had convinced myself was OK. Instead I started eating eggs, smoked salmon and even smoked mackerel (there was a small bit of gagging the first time)!

I stopped short at eating chicken for breakfast, which is what his recommendation was. I think I nearly threw a dumbbell at him when he suggested it. Chicken!

And, you know what – I feel great for it and it’s one of the healthy habits I’ve managed to keep up. I rarely get sugar cravings, and I don’t feel hungry until lunch time. So great, it’s a healthy habit I’ve managed to keep up. I can safely say that my breakfasts are 99% clean. (Don’t you dare throw those Day 11 pancakes back in my face).

Note, I actually also try to avoid fruit sugars at breakfast, where possible. Even having too much fruit has an effect on my blood sugars (ie sugar craving).

Try it! And tell me if you have any good breakfast recommendations that don’t involve eggs. I eat them a bit too regularly.

The cereal selection in work. You have no power over me, cereal!

One of the breakfast options I want to try is this. It looks soooo good!

Avocado with eggs. Yum!

Day 12: Getting back on track

Day 11: The Hangover Challenge

Day 10: The Pre-Gaming, Night Out Challenge

1 Reply

Breakfast: Omelette with smoked salmon and tomatoes, coffee with milk
Snack: Fruit tasting at the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market
Lunch: Chinese Chicken Salad at Gott’s Roadside in the Ferry Building
Snack: Iced Coffee
Dinner: Left-over salmon with roast potatoes and fennel
Pre-gaming: Prosecco, mini cup-cake, tortilla chips and guacamole
Gaming: Vodka Soda
Post-Gaming: Pizza…

Day 10 of my 100 Healthy Days in SF brought the greatest challenge to date – the pre-gaming night out. (Or, if you’re in Ireland, the pre-drinking before going on the tear). And I am ashamed to say, I failed spectacularly.

From the start, I’ve known that social drinking would my Achilles heel. It’s probably the whole reason why I feel the need to embark on this challenge. I’m relatively healthy during the week and feel empowered and motivated to make healthy choices. However, as soon as Friday comes and the suggestion is made to go for cocktails/beers/dinner/margaritas my resolve crumbles faster than low-fat feta cheese. It’s not just the drinking, it’s the whole package – the unwinding after a long week, the catching up with friends, the debating over what cocktail to try…it’s just all so social and fun.

So, today’s event was a night out with some of the Irish people living in SF. Our friend Kev was over visiting from Dublin, so of course we wanted to ‘catch up’ (aka go on the lash). We started out pre-gaming at another friend Katie’s house in The Mission, followed by drinks at my fave bar The Latin American Club (beware the Margaritas – they are lethal!).

In fairness to me, I couldn’t have been faced with more difficult foes. Kev is the Emperor of ‘getting on it’ and it’s practically impossible not to be affected by his good buzz and Katie is always on hand to pour the bubbles. I just couldn’t say no. Actually I didn’t even try. 😦

So, I ended up drinking a lot, and then going for pizza afterwards. The shame!

I’ve been beating myself up about this ever since, but I’ve decided to stop doing that. This is the first time I’ve met with this challenge during the 100 healthy days, and while I failed it’s not the end. I just need to come up with some strategies to ‘healthify’ the nights out. Some ideas:

Drink a TON of water the day before going out so you’re not dehydrated and reaching for the neared liquid to hand
Eat a big, protein and veggie filled meal before-hand so your blood sugars are balanced and you feel in control
Drink a glass of water as your first drink
Bring your own ‘healthy’ beverage to the pre-game
Have a healthy snack prepared for when you come home, so you don’t feel the need to go to the pizza place

The next time I go out, I will be prepared!!!

In other news, I spent a lovely day with the folks wandering around the famer’s market at the Ferry Building (a must for those visiting SF) and then doing the city bus tour, joined by the bold Kev.

Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Buidling. Check out dem peppers!

Irish reunion!

Day 9: The Wine Tour Challenge

1 Reply

Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs, banana
Snack: Half a banana, wine
Lunch: Meats, cheeses, tomatoes, olives, cheeses, cheese
Snack: Wine, wine, wine
Dinner: At Slanted Door – 1 x fresh spring roll, 1 x crispy spring roll, cellophane noodles with crab, glass wine, coffee with milk
Snack: Cheese

Meals today were mostly of the grape variety. And cheese...

Meals today were mostly of the grape and cheese variety.

One of the nicest things to do when you’re visiting San Francisco is to head off into the hills for an afternoon of wine tasting – Sonoma and Napa Valley being the most convenient areas from the city. You can hire a limo, join a group, or cajole (bully) a friend into being the designated driver (sucker). Blissful hours are spent wandering through vineyards, sipping on delectable vintages and trying to decide which of the cheeses you bought at the farmer’s market will go best with the 2010 Chardonnay you’ve just tasted.

Sounds idyllic, right? It is.

But days like this are a NIGHTMARE for anyone trying to eat healthily.

1. Wine is obviously high in calories.

2. Cheese goes amazingly well with wine. And cheese is also high in calories and potentially other not-so-healthy things like trans-fat.

3. When you have one glass of delicious wine, you want another. And another. And sure why don’t we buy a bottle for the limo.

4. You don’t drink enough water, so you’re thirsty, so you drink more wine.

5. At the end of the day you’re slightly buzzed so all you want is to eat carbs.

As a result of all of the above, my day was not the healthiest. So, I think I probably failed the Wine Tour challenge. But what are you supposed to do? Decline the invite and sit at home drinking green juices? Actually, that’s probably exactly what you’re supposed to do if you’re really dedicated to living a 100% healthy lifestyle. But, I still want to do fun things and live the full SF experience. I just need to be as healthy as possible.

So, what would the ideal healthy wine tour look like to me? I think it would mean going to wine country, doing the tastings, being able to choose your own healthy lunch (or bring your own picnic), not having any extra wine, drinking enough water and going home to a healthy, home-cooked meal.

Lesson learned.

But it was still a lovely day and I’m glad I was able to give my parents that experience.

As regards the details of what we did – we joined a tour group run by Valley Wine Tours in Sonoma. We visited some lovely wineries – my favourite being Jacuzzi, which had more Italian type wines. I did find an amazing Sauvignon Blanc in Bartholomew Park Winery as well. We had a lunch stop at Larson Family Winery, which was nice. They have dogs you can play with (I say play, but all they want is for you to feed them) and some fun lawn games to play. The tour itself was only OK I would say. I’ve heard rave reviews about the owner Bob, but we had a different driver.

Dinner that night was in Slanted Door on the Embarcadero, which has won a few awards. Tasty Vietnamese food and the views of the Bay Bridge at night are spectacular.

Tasting the wine

Lawn games at Larson Family Winery

Views of the Bay Bridge at night

100 Days in SF

100 days of fun in San Francisco