29
My Whole30 Experience
Published by Sara, under Food. 2 Comments.
Many months ago, I became part of an online fitness community which has been a great place for me to learn and build my knowledge as a fitness enthusiast. It’s where I learned the great feeling of picking up heavy things and then putting them back down. It’s where I got advice and encouragement as I ran my first 5K last year. But another thing they are always willing to give advice on is nutrition.
Many members of the community there are proponents of “The Paleo Diet”. I won’t go into all the details, but the premise is that we should be eating like cavemen did for so many years. Like hunter-gatherers, not like agriculturalists. In general, this means no grains, no refined sugars, no dairy. the historical origin behind it seems a bit dodgy to me, but I like the way Whole9 put it:
We eat real food – meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, healthy oils, nuts and seeds. We choose foods that were raised, fed and grown naturally, and foods that are nutrient-dense, with lots of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals.
This is not a “diet” – we eat as much as we need to maintain strength, energy, activity levels and a healthy body weight. We aim for well-balanced nutrition, so we eat animals and a significant amount of plants.
Eating like this has helped us to look, feel, live and perform our best, and reduces our risk for a variety of lifestyle-related diseases and conditions.
I’ve never been a big fan of any sort of diet that completely disallows any food. And, seeing as one of my other hobbies is baking, having no grains and no sugars is like… blasphemy. But there is a lot that makes sense to me about a Paleo-style diet. Meat and veggies really are dense in nutrition, so it makes more sense to base most meals around this than basing it around rice or pasta or cereals.
But when it comes to nutrition, there’s so much information and misinformation on both sides of the fence that it’s almost impossible to figure out what’s really the truth and what’s hype. However, enough people I respect live by these rules that I decided to give it a try, through the Whole30 program. Thirty days of ‘paleo’ – meat, veggies, fruit. No dairy, no legumes, no grain, no sugars. It’s just 30 days, and then I can form my own opinion.
And so I did it.
And you know what? It wasn’t that hard.
I replaced my weekday breakfast cereal and weekend pancakes with hard-boiled eggs and omelettes with fresh veggies. My lunch was usually leftovers, a meat dish and two servings of vegetables. At dinner time, I replaced our usual “starch” side (pasta, rice, bread, etc.) with a second veggie dish. I ate lots of tasty avocados. I gave my Friday office treat to someone else.
And while I didn’t notice any sort of amazing energy boost or health improvements that I had been promised - I did learn a lot:
- I don’t need grains and dairy to survive, despite what the government says (as I put on my conspiracy hat.) I made it 30 days without either, and I feel at least as healthy as I was before.
- Holy crap, there’s sugar in everything! I mostly cooked for myself during this adventure, but going through my cupboards and the grocery store isles it was amazing to see how much stuff I never thought had sugar in it that really does. Same goes with soy products. Packaged chicken stock? Sugar! Ugh!
- There are lots of vegetables, and a dozen ways to cook them all! I worried that I would get bored with vegetables. While I did eat a lot of raw baby carrots and broccoli, I cooked with some new vegetables and some new methods which are sure to stick in my standard recipe book.
- It’s ok to say no. I planned my Whole30 to take place during a time I knew there would be no holidays or major social events for me to worry about, but still, there were times I had to pass on free lunches and baked goods. Take it as an opportunity to share what you’re doing, or just lie if you don’t want to get into details. Either way, no one is going to shove that cheese croissant down your throat for you – it’s a choice.
- It’s important to make healthy eating an open discussion with kids. Over dinner during this experiment, we talked lots about why sugar isn’t good for you. Why you don’t really need to eat grains. We made a game of “Guess if this food has added sugar!” We asked the kids to think about how they would eat if they gave up sugar for a week. And while they’re still eating dessert most nights and asking for junk food at the grocery store – it’s clear that they are starting to really think about their eating decisions, which I think is really awesome.
This experiment gave me a lot to think about, and really did change my perspective on food. Although it was not really my intention, I did lose weight during this experiment, but I think what I gained in insight was much more important!
Now that it’s over, I plan to continue eating mostly this way. I’m going to have treats, I’m going to have sugar and grains and dairy, but not all the time – I will eat them because they are tasty treat, not because I think I need to.
And I’m totally having pizza for dinner tonight.
16
A Weekend of Beer
Published by Sara, under Food, Travel. No Comments.
I don’t consider myself a beer connoisseur, but I sure am a fan.
A few weeks ago, I took Will on a birthday trip – a “tour of beer tours”. The idea was centered around visiting The Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery in Barrie, which is where Will’s craft draft of choice, Hoptical Illusion, is made.
But I figured, why stop there? It’s a 6 hour drive to Barrie, we can’t just come right back home!
So, taking advantage of my skills as an Internet Searching Person, I happened upon the Old Toronto Beer Tour, which seemed like a unique experience, and the perfect compliment to the motivation behind the trip.
And so, on Friday, we traveled the treacherous back-highways all the way to Barrie. Kaitlyn, at Flying Monkeys, was nice enough to arrange an off-hours tour for us, since I knew we wouldn’t be able to make it there for their normal touring schedule.
It was a great tour! It’s amazing how small the brewery actually is. Kaitlyn gave us a tour of the entire facility, starting in their fully-stocked and reasonably-priced gift shop, through the entire brewing and bottling process, and then a peak at the offices behind the scenes. Getting a personal tour was a real advantage, because we were free to take our time and ask any questions that came up.
Photo credit: William J. Gibson
Not to mention all the free beer samples, of course!
After sobering up at the nearby Local Gastropub, with our car loaded with shirts, glasses and beer from Flying Monkeys, we made our way down to Toronto for the rest of our beer-filled weekend.
On a rainy (yes, rainy in January!) Saturday morning, we took a quick subway ride right downtown to Steamwhistle to get our Old Toronto Beer Tour started. We went inside and were led to the Steamwhistle event room, where there were breads, cheeses, meats and vegetables set up for our lunch – and of course, beer! As we enjoyed our meal, our guide for the day, Oliver Dawson, introduced himself and gave the back story of how the tour came to be. Quite a story!
Next up, we were introduced to our “bartender” – Lindsay, who then lead us on a tour of the Steamwhistle brewery. He explained the entire process clearly, which was great for those of us who drink beer without any real idea behind the making of it.
After the tour, we boarded the bus and made our way to our second stop – Fort York. Fort York? On a beer tour? I know, it seems strange. But it worked pretty well. The history of Fort York is closely tied with the history of brewing in Toronto, and it was interesting to learn a bit about what it was like when it started. This part of the tour is newly added, and it still could use some polishing (a little more guidance and a little less freeform exploring) but it was an interesting break and really brought the history of it all into perspective.
The next stop was the second brewery: Amsterdam. At this point, Oliver and his new secondary guide traded back and forth on introducing the many beers we were to sample at Amsterdam. I lost count in the mix, but I think we tried about a dozen different beers while we were there. I really enjoyed learning about the many varieties and methods of preparing different kinds of brews, and had my LCBO iPhone app ready to go to bookmark a few particularly interesting brews.
However, there were a few improvements that we thought could have been made during this visit. We didn’t actually get to tour the brewery, which was a bit disappointing as it looked like an interesting set up. It also would have been good if they had the samples prepared and ready to go before we got there, if possible – by the time the beer was poured and passed around, it wasn’t clear if you were tasting the last one that was introduced or the one before that.
After we were all sufficiently tipsy and had taken our bathroom breaks, we made our way back to the bus and onto our next destination: Corktown. This is a historic part of Toronto, an Irish area of town, which is steeped in brewing history. As we explored the area on foot and on the bus, we learned that much of the area was built by local brewers, for their employees. We heard stories about architecture, business conflicts and family lineages along the way. Unfortunately, I missed out on a good portion of the talking because my brain (and I was not alone in this) was overloaded with the thought of how important it was for me to find a bathroom NOW. Many of the males in the group found their own creative solutions to this problem, but us girls were not so lucky. If I were to make one suggestion to improve this whole tour, it would be to find a bathroom break during the Corktown visit!
Our last stop was Mill St. Brewery in Toronto’s Distillery district. I was really looking forward to this part, as Mill St. makes a few of my favourite beers. Unfortuantely, I have to say that the tour fell a bit flat here. We were shoved into their small tasting room/overly-priced gift shop and that’s where things ended. Unfortunately, the main tour guide had to leave and the rest was left up to his assistant – who didn’t guide so much as chat with people. We didn’t get to see the brewery, and we didn’t get introduced to any of the beers that were available for tasting. Mill St. itself lost a few points in my book here too, I was looking forward to bringing home some merchandise, but not only were the shirts way above my price range ($35-60 or so) but I was informed that they didn’t carry anything in a Ladies Small.
Despite a few hiccups here and there, I would still really recommend both visiting Flying Monkeys and the Old Toronto Beer Tour. Oliver seems to be always looking for ways to improve the tour, and his passion for it was obvious throughout. It’s given me an appreciation and understanding of the brewing industry and the beers I so love to enjoy that I didn’t know I could have!
24
Army Run 2011 – My First 5K
Published by Sara, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
This spring, I started running. I started with the Couch to 5K program, which I’d begun but never finished in the Fall. It was pretty obvious that I hadn’t really run for any duration since my grade 9 mandatory gym class 10 years ago.
After a long and busy summer of working at it, I began to really enjoy the challenge and my results from running. By the end of June I had completed the program and was working up my speed and distances. A friend mentioned the Army Run happening in September, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to put my running skills to the test.
Throughout August and September, though, my schedule got busy and the weather got colder. I wasn’t running nearly as often, and when I did, I found I was having serious difficulty pushing myself to run more than 3.5km at a time. I was worried, and thought I might not be able to complete my goal as race day approached.
But bright and early on Sunday morning, I headed to downtown to partake in my first ever 5K run. It was a beautiful morning, and I joined over 16,000 energetic and excited people ready to run the 5K or half-marathon.
My goal was to just finish the race, but I’d also set a goal for myself to finish the run in under 35 minutes. My personal best on my own runs was about 36 minutes, and I’d heard I would probably knock a bit off of that with all the energy and excitement of the actual race.
After the Howitzer fired, I waited and waited until my section finally made it up to the starting line – I didn’t realize it’d be nearly five minutes between the starting gun fire and when I actually was able to start running… how anticlimactic!
It was a great day to appreciate the scenic route around Parliament Hill and along the Rideau Canal, although I was usually too distracted trying to navigate through the droves of people to enjoy it!
As I approached the finish line and heard all the cheering, it gave me that final boost of energy I needed just as a side-stitch was setting in – and past the finish line I went. I received my awesome dog-tag from a member of the Canadian Army and wore it proudly the rest of the day.
Oh, and about beating my 36 minute record?
Chip time: 32:13. 
One thing I unexpectedly discovered was that getting to meet, learn about and support the members of Canada’s Army was almost as rewarding as the run itself.
Thank you to everyone who offered me support and advice to prepare for this run.
Can’t wait until next year!
21
Scott Fletcher on Developology
Published by Sara, under Podcast. No Comments.
Do you know about Developology? It’s the podcast I host with Sebastiaan van Dijk about software development! We’ve only done a few episodes so far, but this one was particularly special so I wanted to make a note of it. This week, we had our first interview episode – Scott Fletcher joined us to talk about his career path and his insights as a arts-major-turned-developer-turned-CEO.
I realized shortly before we started that while I’ve started to become more and more comfortable recording podcasts over the last few months, this was the first time I was in the interviewer seat, which made me a bit nervous. It’s one thing to have a co-host who you can talk back and forth about, but having to direct questions and follow a line as it comes is a different skill completely! Luckily, Scott is a wonderful and understanding interviewee, with insightful responses and he even turned the tables a few times asking questions of us in return.
I recommend you have a listen if for no reason more than to hear the smooth sounds of Mr. Fletcher’s voice as he predicts the future and asks why there are so many programming languages.
You can listen directly to the MP3, or find us on iTunes if you’d like to hear me clumsily try to turn every design pattern into a car metaphor!
29
Seven Languages in Seven Weeks
Published by Sara, under Projects. No Comments.
I first heard about this book around the time it was being published last fall. A review had popped up in my RSS reader and the title of the book immediately stood out to me: Seven Languages in Seven Weeks by Bruce Tate. It was as if I had just been offered a challenge – one that seemed perfect for someone like me who, while having some experience, is still fresh out of University where we instead study Two Languages in Four Years.
Of course, we touched on a few other languages in some courses… but when you’re still new and haven’t really gotten your hands dirty, it’s hard to distinguish one language from another. Why is it important for me to learn C? What would motivate me to use Java instead of C++? (Other than it being the required language of some particular course…) Four years, and I didn’t really learn the answers to these questions. I really didn’t even know I should be asking them.
And so, I’ve finally accepted Mr. Tate’s challenge, because that is exactly what he has set out to teach. This book is not meant to make you an expert or convert you to be an enthusiast of any of these languages. It’s designed to familiarize you with the concepts, motivations, pros and cons of these very different languages and paradigms.
Of the seven languages (Ruby, Io, Prolog, Scala, Erlang, Clojure and Haskell) the only one I’ve had some exposure to is Prolog, and it’s been a few years. I’m looking forward especially to seeing more on Scala, which I’ve heard plenty of hype for (or against), but have learned little about the language itself.
I’m hoping to write some feedback after each week as I progress through the book, I’m sure it will be quite an adventure and learning experience!