Coconut oil for hair and skin (and general update)

I bought some raw organic coconut oil from the organic grocers the other day. It's the stuff which is solid at room temperature. I bought it to ?cook with ...even though I'm trying for 100% raw...anyway, I bought it and I used it in my hair as an overnight treatment (well, originally I thought I rinsed it out but it needed shampooing out the next day) and it worked amazing - better than any other salon treatment I've ever used, and I used to be a hairdresser. I tried massaging some into my scalp and it seems to have helped my dandruff for sure.

As I was in the bath, some got onto my skin through it rinsing in the bath water and my skin looks amazing too, so I thought I'd put some just on the dry patches on my face, and they looked and felt amazing too. So I thought I'd put it all over my face and neck last night and I woke up with beautiful skin. So this morning I "washed" my face in the coconut oil and I am loving it. I never have nice skin.

I'm also currently using beetroot as a blush (the fresh stuff, not canned) and I love that too. The mixed blackberry and spirulina powder works good as an eyeliner and ok as a mascara. I got these tips from Megan Elizabeth.

Perhaps my skin is looking so good because I'm at the end of my fives weeks off work, I went to Bali in the sun and surf, or that I've been eating 100% high carb raw vegan for a week (minus one big mishap yesterday afternoon which I'm leaving in the past). Probably all of these combined I'd say.

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I've bargained with myself that if I get >1500 words of my assignment written today I'm allowed to go shopping for an outfit to wear this weekend for the BF's birthday. I'm trying to reward myself as bargain for eating well as I can usually study no probs, but on annual leave from work I'm finding it painful to be at the home desk instead of...anything else!

I wouldn't normally buy a brand new outfit for an occasion, especially not form a high street retail store, but the BF requested it so instead of arguing my case I've decided to "let go" of being right and instead by loving.

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Med school update: I've requested a deferral from OUM so I can figure out what I'm doing. I'm still waiting on a letter of recommendation to finally submit my application to IUHS. It's unfortunately all come down to finances. I'm so glad that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel re my finances so it will be a matter of re-grouping and going again. I'm really super-keen, but I can't do what I can't do and I still haven't won the lottery....

I've now purchased the Dr Najeeb videos as they are currently on sale, so I will be doing those at work daily when I go back next week.

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Fitness it on the back-burner right now but I'm hoping it will make a come back soon as the weather improves along with my heath.

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Container house: we have our first one on our land now! Yay! It needs some work but I'm hoping to start semi-living in it shortly when I'm at the BF's farm.

That is all and I better go finish this assignment.

Raw vegan

Last week of annual leave. Just went to the tax accountants today and not really doing much although I should be studying.

I got some lovely organic groceries I'm so excited about. I also got some raw organic coconut oil. My groceries, excluding the oil, we're about $70 and should last me about 3 or 4 days, so that would be $140 a week for me to eat 100% high carb raw organic. I was hoping for $100 a week but I can afford it right now until I figure out how to organise myself to buy in bulk. For now, I don't mind so much because I'm probably spending the same I would have on my SAD (Standard Australian Diet) due to all the take-away and restaurant food. Also, my health and well-being is certainly worth the investment.

Back to reality

I'm back in my routine, although I still have about another two weeks before I return to work. I am, however, back at uni x3 (Chinese Med, Herbal Med, and International Health). I have a total of four subjects this semester. My to-do list is rather lengthy.

I want to go raw vegan again, so I started my morning with banana with coconut and cinnamon and a rose hip and hibiscus tea. I can't wait to buy a Vitamix blender, an Excaliber dehydrator, and a good juicer. Then I should be set. For now I'll have to make do with my crappy juicer, my cheap blender, and no dehydrator. It's a zucchini and tomato with fresh basil and pine nuts salad today, maybe some lemon juice and shredded coconut too and perhaps some spices....mmmm I'm so hungry.

I'd like to buy more organic. Right now after returning from holidays, my funds are a little low, and the nearest organic grocer is 40km away. There are some organic veges in the supermarket near CM school (I thought there were more but I was duped by the plastic "wicker"-style baskets they normally put the organic stuff in which was all in one place but only a few of the baskets had organic veges in them). Anyway, here is a link to the Clean 15 which are the fifteen fruit and veges you don't have to buy organic as they usually contain very low levels of pesticides. This is an American list, but I'd like to think that the foods that don't require pesticides it's fairly universal. Well, the list is a start anyway. There is the partner list, the Dirty Dozen, which lists the worst food i.e. the ones you should only buy organic.

Ok off to make my salad......

Under pressure

Wow - what a weekend. Been at the BFs again. Got spoiled by him a lot. We also picked up a baby miniature donkey to foster for a while on his farm. So cute.

I'm back on the 12wbt bandwagon. I'm glad to say that missing last week didn't have any majorly negative effects.

This week - I'm at work all week until Sunday night. I will be: working out in the back room, cooking up a storm, studying for next weeks exams, and preparing my house after work for my parents who are coming to stay next week.

Today, I made a nice berry smoothie for myself and my housemate for breaky and a nice Thai pumpkin soup for myself and my workmate for lunch.

Oooh - exciting news. My blood pressure is down to 115 (systolic) now! Yay! Hibiscus tea must be working. I had a massive weekend (alcohol+++) and am feeling under pressure with these exams and my parents coming to stay, and I was nervous to have my BP read again, and I haven't been taking the three cups of hibiscus tea per day like they did in the study, but still I'm so glad to be "normal" again.

How to juice

How to juice with Joe Cross

So after just watching an interview with Joe Cross, he mentioned something that I never really considered before - if you get your nutrients and even calories without non-soluble fibre, our bodies will flip into the "famine" state. Interesting. Above is a link on "how to juice" but I think it's fairly easy to figure out on one's own.

This is based on the theory that our bodies are designed to store energy (as fat) in times of feast, and to use energy (burn fat) in times of famine. So if our bodies think we are in famine, we should lose weight.

Also, I only have a blender and checked that blenders and juicers are not the same thing. Juicers extract that non-soluble fibre I just mentioned. So I just ordered the cheapest one I could find online at  http://www.appliancesonline.com.au/  and it should arrive on Monday.

New phone

I dropped and killed my Samsung Galaxy II. I was so looking forward to getting the Nexus, but it's $735. I recently took my insurance off my phone plan to save money. Doh. So I asked today (on my fatigue break I drove to the major town) what was the cheapest smart phone, and I can't believe the Samsung Galaxy Mini (pictured above) was only $135! Wowzas!

Happy outcome.

Also while I was up there I dropped into the organic cafe which has a mini grocery dept as well and picked up some organic fruit and veges and a few other bits and pieces. I tried not to spend too much. I thought I would eat everything and then if I needed more I could probably drop in and grab more stuff after taking patients to the hospital near by. I'm trying not to waste so much.

I couldn't do my quiz again last night but I'm not expecting to be able to any more. I have been asked to take my computer into to be checked that it isn't faulty. As it is a brand new iMac and works perfectly for everything except the proctor, and I have spoken to and run diagnostics with the proctor company several times, I don't think I will be spending my money on this before the end of this term anyway. I kinda need my computer for, like, classes and writing my presentation and study and....

Code Red and ravenous

I'm at Code Red. I feel anxious and stressed. I worked until 3:30am this morning and just couldn't attend my lecture. I was also under-prepared and so friggin tired from the weekend. I feel like I've lost the plot and I don't know where to start.

It is really not helping that I've been on a diet. Cutting out refined sugars is NOT helping! I know it will be better for me in the long-run but I wish I had waited until after the end of this term. Now I've done really well to get my BMI from 24 to 23 I don't want to undo all this hard work.

I'm quite ravenous after my morning run, lack of sleep, and lack of food (I had watermelon for breakfast). Completely cranky. I should really end this rant here.
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Off to go figure out my damage-control plan for this term...


EDIT: Sorry for this terrible post. I had some more breakfast and feel much better. I shouldn't be allowed in public so hungry.

Reality: I only missed one lecture. It's best not to miss any, but it's no the end of the world. I normally miss 2-3 every term and I have decided previously that this is acceptable collateral damage to continue working full-time. Also, I normally have lulls in each term, that was mine. Now to stop complaining and start taking action.

Neuro

So I technically start the neuro module tomorrow, however I am late with my tuition fees. They won't allow me to enrol without the first month's instalment paid, which is ~$2000. I have up to the end of the week at the latest. After Christmas, going away and not doing any overtime, and being a little too relaxed with my money, I got myself behind a bit and I've had to grovel to my parents for a short-term loan. The way this year is shaping up, I doubt there will be any overseas trips happening (although Bali is on sale currently at $450 return....). These are the sacrifices we have to make I suppose.....

I did just get back now (on the train) for a lovely weekend away into (a different) country-side. It was wonderfully relaxing before I start back at med school again, despite my harrowing first experience "shooting" (hunting). I was just the driver and everything was done humanely and no meat was wasted, but it was dreadful. I wanted to see what happens for myself, and I even forced myself to watch the cutting up of the meat although I felt quite ill.  I said to my friends if I go with them again I will drive and not get out of the front of the ute.

If they weren't so safe with their rifles and strict with what and how many they kill etc I'd want nothing to do with it. They only shoot roos, rabbits, and foxes, and never wallabies and avoid getting female roos (due to the risk of joeys in their pouches). I would eat roo (kangaroo) if it was humanely shot and properly prepared and we only took what we needed and I didn't buy additional meat from the butcher's, etc. I just need to learn how to cook roo so it's not so gamey. I'll have to ask my friend in Alaska who makes moose spring rolls for some tips. I also need a special fridge to "hang" them in, which just feels so creepy. But logically, I think it's better to just take out one small roo out of a herd every few months and do it properly, than to consume a lot of meat from who-knows-where. After-all, roos are a real pest to the local farmers, despite how cute they are.  It will be a much greater leap before I'd see myself eating rabbit......

Anyway, my first neuro case study is Multiple Sclerosis. I asked my lecturer to email me the case study as I can't access my stuff on the OUM website until I've been cleared by the bursar and register. At least now I can make a start this week.  Also, I had a "first-pass" read of the FA neuro section and it looks intimidating to say the least. As a paramedic, I'm pretty good with strokes - both ischaemic and haemorrhagic. After that, I have no clue.

I also start back on-call tonight, so I guess I'll get organised for that now and try and do some study on-call (and wait for the comments to arrive from PETA...)

Home-made marmalade

Before I moved out to this little town you could say my motto was something like "Can't cook, won't cook".  I even considered doing one of those bachelor's cooking night courses at the uni. Out of shear necessity of needing to eat more than just 2-minute noodles I started cooking (occasionally).  Cookbooks drive me mad.  I don't like to stick to set volumes and times, but I do draw inspiration from recipes I find online or wherever.  I prefer to improvise and get creative.  I think that's what I like about rural and remote medicine - you don't always have every latest and greatest test or piece of equipment at your disposal.  But I digress.....

Here is my recipe for home-made candied burnt-orange marmalade I made (made-up) yesterday instead of studying.  A lot of the recipes I saw add pectin, but I did not.  I used citric acid as a preservative, and lemons, but I have no idea how long they will store for.  I'll be keeping mine in the fridge until my preservative skills improve.

Candied burnt-orange marmalade
Ingredients:
10 oranges
2 lemons
1 cup of water
4 teaspoons of citric acid
1 cup of castor sugar
Saucepan
Jars for storing - wash well in hot water to minimise bacteria and allow longer storage
Labels
Makes only about 500mg - 4 tiny baby-food jars.  Double recipe as required.


Thinly slice four oranges and two lemons with their rind still on.

Cut up the remaining six oranges but discard the rinds.  Cut the flesh into chunks about 1-2cm cubed.

Places the oranges and lemons into a non-stick saucepan.

Begin to cook on a moderately high heat and begin adding some water so they don't stick.  Continue adding the water so the oranges and lemons reduce but don't dry out too much.  Stir as necessary.

Add the citric acid and stir-in well.

Add the castor sugar and continue reducing the juice and water on low heat and mix in well.

Keep a good eye on it now as it will start to candy and burn.  I've got no idea how long this takes - maybe 15-20 minutes.

Once everything looks jam-like and there is no runny juice or water allow some of the rinds to just burn a little on the pan and then remove from heat.

Put into jars.

Can be used as marmalade on English muffins, or as I prefer in cocktails or ice-cream.

Burnt-orange cosmo
30mL vodka - any, seriously.  The cheap stuff is fine.
30mL Cointreau (or Chambord for a bit more berriness)
Cranberry juice (or pomegrante juice, or even ginger beer for the "mule" version)
Candied burnt-orange marmalade
Chilled martini glass

Mix together and enjoy responsibly!

Lunch

I love bento boxes. I wasn't expecting to see them in Taiwan's train stations.

The picture is my lunch. The box,was 65 NTD which is about $2 AUD. I also got a cute skinny can of coke and three Ferrero Rochers for 115 NTD total. That's about $4 AUD. Sweet.

Harrison's and the curse

I'm back at work now on my normal rostered shifts.

I spent my whole day yesterday grocery shopping, cooking a roast, making stock from chicken bones, baking protein muffins, and making a beef and brown pasta dish... And after all of that I think I've only got enough food for about 3 days!  I did a good workout though, so I'm happy about that.  It's much easier on a day off, but I'll try and find some time today again.

Right now, I'm obsessed with Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine.  I got a cheap old edition a while ago because I heard it was a great reference text to have.  You can get the 14th edition (~1995) for about $1!  Slowly, slowly I've been replacing my old editions with newer ones and donating the old ones to work's library - I've pretty much double-it now. 

The books I donate I put a Medieval "curse" on the front of them that I first saw at the hospital library in Warragul - a little country town, where I did my emergency department and anesthetics clinical placements for ambulance.  The curse goes:

For him that Stealeth a Book from this Library,
Let it change into a Serpent in his hand & rend him.
Let him be struck with Palsy, & all his Members blasted.
Let him languish in Pain crying aloud for Mercy,
Let there be no Surcease to his Agony till he sink to Dissolution.
Let Bookworms gnaw his Entrails in token of the Worm that dieth not,
When at last he goeth to his final Punishment,
Let the flames of hell consume him for ever & aye.
I think it works better than the electronic devices!  I'm scared!

Ok, so I'm going to read the chapter on joint pain in Harrison's now as I am still not motivated to look at bone anatomy.

Nothing much

I don't have much to report since the last post.  I'm at work, I'm sorting out things like transferring my tuition fees to Samoa, and getting my application together for the ADF.  I'm nearly ready now to start studying before we get a job.  First I'll start with the work guidelines, then move back to my pharm text again.

I think I'm doing musculoskelatal and I just can't wait to find out!  I see there's also neuro and GIT available this term. 

So far, the food I pre-prepared on Sunday is working well for me and I barely notice I'm eating so healthy.  I realise I can easily live on fruit and veges for my source of carbs (no need for bread, pasta, and mostly no rice) as long as I eat them at regular intervals, but I still have this terrible sweet tooth.  I'll try going back to the dark chocolate at night thing again or maybe try and make TAM recipe of chocolate pudding bu add more chestnuts and blueberries and less choc.

I don't miss dairy at all (except it's in the chocolate), and green tea is a good substitute for coffee.  I do crave coke occasionally but if I have it it just makes it worse.  I have no problem with craving fats, but I have a lot of "healthy" fats like red meat (lean, but still enough), olive oil, and sometimes avocado (we have an avocado shortage atm.  I assume it's to do with the cyclones up north).

No workout logged as yet, but it's only early.

Back

Friday night I unexpectedly had a big night - lots of fun, and then had to get up early the next morning ot meet my sister as we had tickets to see the Tutankhamen exhibition at the Melbourne Museum.

Then I only had just enough time for a power nap before heading out to a farewell party for someone from work who I will miss.  Everyone will miss him - he's great.

Then I couldn't sleep last night because I had a Redbull, my bodyclock was off, it was very stormy, and I kept thinking about the apocalypse that was due at midnight.  I really should ban myself from Redbull.

Tonight I started back on-call, but before that my sister talked about a girl on Dr Oz who prepares her whole week's food every Sunday and cuts up veges and puts them into Tupperware containers in the fridge.  So today I made soup out of all my old veges in the fridge from when I did my big TAM shop about 2 weeks ago.  I'm really pleased I've at least got my nitrition back on-track.

I also dropped 0.5kg without trying and my mood has lifted and I have energy again, so I'm just going to blame being female for that and try and get back on track during the week.  The damage isn't that great afterall.  I wish I had a few more days off, but nevertheless, I'll try and at least get in my muscular workouts.  I think the pressure of doing muscular and cardio every day was a bit much so I'll start off with alternating days and trying to do at least one.  Mind you, the TAM Meta workouts are only 30mins, so I really should be able to do both.  The cardio takes more planning due to sports bras and getting all sweaty.  I can do the muscular stuff in my work overalls if need be.

Muffin top

I just made some banana and walnut muffins from receipes off the Venice Nutrition website. I forgot my soy protein powder at work - drats, so they are to be eaten with a side of protein, like a protein shake (made with water). I also swapped milk for rice milk and artificial sweetener for honey, and I used gluten-free white flour and organic brown flour. So, yes, I'm quite happy with the result. From the photo you can see I already ate one - yum.

I don't really cook, and I don't bake. I really can't remember the last time I used my oven. Seriously. Maybe a year ago.

I enjoy making food when I know there's beautiful ingredients in them. My little local supermarket is a bit limited, but I can usually be creative and find the basics and the odd organic ingredient.

Maybe these muffins will help me lose my muffin top...