Category Archives: Travel and food

Just for fun, Travel and food, Uncategorized

My (rented) bike went into the canal

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Not everyone can say this.  Nor would they want to!  We rented bikes today for a tour of the countryside outside of Amsterdam.  We were on the heaviest city bikes I’ve ever ridden…they make beach cruisers seem light! Someone got a flat about 10 minutes in, and I got a good picture of Jonathan trying to help fix it (turns out the tour guide did not have the right equipment to change a flat).

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The tour was very nice as the countryside is really beautiful.  It is very green with lots of water around, and the sheep, horses and cattle graze without fences. And the weather was perfect – sunny and around 65 degrees with no rain!

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So how did my bike end up in a canal?  We stopped for lunch at an adorable little town and we were instructed to park our bikes together on the side of the road.  There were 15 gigantic bikes trying to find space in a small area next to the canal.  My bike was closest to the canal and got bumped while another guy was trying to lock his.  We watched in horror as it slid down the side of the hill into the canal.  Thankfully it wasn’t deep and we were able to retrieve it fairly easily.  Below is the picture of the aftermath – notice all of the mud on the wheels!!

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I had to to ask if this had ever happened before and of course it hadn’t.  Makes for a good (funny) memory.  Jonathan took his bike computer and we covered about 14 miles in 1.5 hours – we were really flying! 🙂

Yesterday we celebrated our 6th anniversary.  We toured the Rijks Museum and the Van Gogh museum, had a late lunch, then took a long nap while watching the Tour de France.  We then had a terrific dinner at Bridges, followed by a late night canal tour by boat.  Tomorrow we leave for home!

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Just for fun, Travel and food

Still loving Amsterdam

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Yesterday I didn’t walk nearly as much but got completely soaked every time I went outside.  While inside shopping, I met a young man who knew all about ketogenic diets and I bought way more beauty products than I should have from him as a result!  But it was really great to talk to someone who followed a ketogenic diet and listened to a lot of the same podcasts I do.  I’ve decided it was a worthwhile investment (and I should look years younger soon as a result).

Today we started with a canal cruise:

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We then visited the Jewish Historical Museum and the Holocaust Museum. No pictures allowed, but both were pretty incredible. We ended the evening with an amazing 3.5 hour dinner in a restaurant that was tucked between a strip club and a sex shop.  Only in Amsterdam….

Now off to bed – the Rijk Museum and Van Gogh Museum are up next tomorrow!

 

Just for fun, Travel and food

Walking while surrounded by bikes

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Amsterdam has a population of around 800,000 and a bike population of approximately 1 million.  I like those stats.  Unfortunately I was not on a bike yesterday.  Instead I explored the city on foot, clocking about 16000 steps between 9:30 am and 3:30 pm.

I scoped out the Rijksmuseum, that we will tour Saturday, as well as the Van Gogh museum that we will visit Sunday.  The exterior of the Rijksmuseum is incredible:

Rijksmuseum

After consulting a city map for quite some time I decided to head to the Artis zoo, one of the top places to visit in the city.  I normally don’t visit zoos, as I have a hard time seeing animals in cages, but I made an exception today as the description of the zoo and the landscape sounded like something I shouldn’t miss.

Along the way I passed the Heineken brewery:

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And some beautiful homes along the canal:

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As expected, the zoo didn’t disappoint. Most of the animals had far more room in their enclosures than I’ve seen in the U.S. Below are a few of my favorite pictures:

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Of course it rained most of the day so I headed back to the hotel to dry off around 3:30 pm.  I met up with Jonathan a little later, and the conference he is attending sponsored a dinner at the Maritime Museum which we attended by riverboat. I met more wonderful people, several from the U.K. and one from Ireland, and enjoyed learning more about their respective countries.

Although my feet are quite sore today, I’ll be back out walking and exploring soon.  And dodging bikes!

Diet and Dementia, Travel and food

Why I’ll be eating dirt and showering less

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I’ve been on a mission for the last few months to figure out why, despite eating pretty much the same foods as I did for the last 10 months, my stomach has been in constant turmoil.  I noticed the changes beginning in January, but chalked it up to not being as diligent with my food through the holidays.  I have struggled with Irritable Bowel Syndrome since my teen years, but it had been relatively quiet when I started the ketogenic diet last February.

My stomach issues have persisted since January – bloating, gas, stomach pain…and I was eating the same food I had been eating the previous year.  It came to a head recently when the stomach pain was accompanied by an intense headache so severe I couldn’t sit at my computer and work.

I have also developed pretty severe pain in the first knuckle on my right hand that, despite accupuncture, icing, and rest, continues to worsen, leading me to fear it is arthritis.  It realized it was time to get more focused on what was going on inside my body that was creating these symptoms.

I started looking more seriously into what could be causing my stomach issues.  I did not think my hand pain was related, and it may not be – I was planning to see a regular doctor about it instead and still will if the symptoms don’t lessen.  I had already started eliminating certain types of food, like sugar alcohols, but my symptoms weren’t going away.  I won’t bore you with all the details, but my research led me to a book by Dr. Josh Axe, “Eat Dirt: Why Leaky Gut May Be the Root Cause of Your Problems and 5 Surprising Steps to Cure It.”

I was shocked at the symptoms listed that have been shown to be the result of a leaky gut:  Tired and sluggish, frequent indigestion, heartburn, bloating and gas, brain fog, cloudy memory, headaches, changes in skin like dark circles, eczema, psoriasis and acne, and joint pain.  These can turn into far more serious issues like chronic fatigue, adrenal exhaustion, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and more, and I have experienced most of those symptoms the last few months.  I have complained to my husband numerous times about persistent acne.  I never had a problem with it when I was younger, and cannot understand why I’d have breakouts now.

It turns out the problem may be in my gut and the fact that the “good” bacteria is being overridden by bad bacteria.  Apparently,  we aren’t what we eat, but rather what our food eats.  And, according to Dr. Axe, we just might be too clean – antibacterial “everything” we now use is killing the good bacteria in our gut.  Ingesting a little bit of dirt from organically grown fruits and vegetables certainly won’t kill us, and in fact, will make us healthier.  He also suggests that it is not necessary for us to shower every day (unless having worked out) and that we would be healthier if we didn’t.  There’s much more to the book than this, including some fascinating research on the effect of outside toxins on our bodies, and of course how to treat and heal your gut.

Thankfully, many of the food recommendations are very close to the ketogenic diet we already follow.  But it appears I have to give up my love affair with cheese (or at least most types of cheese).  And I have to learn to get used to drinking apple cider vinegar on a regular basis.  Both are a struggle.  But on the positive side, I was motivated to finally make bone broth soup.  I never thought I would be paying good money for organic, grass-fed beef bones, but I have done it.  It has been simmering for about 30 hours, and has another 12 or so to go.  I’ve known this is a wonder food for a while, but until now I just didn’t have the proper motivation to make it or eat it consistently.

I encourage you to read the book or the plethora of information available online about leaky gut and see if you might benefit from some of the supplements and food recommendations in the book.  I figure I have nothing to lose but a whole lot to gain if I make a few small changes and they work.  But I do promise to continue showering…

Travel and food

Why does it take an act of Congress to get meat from local farmers?

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I did not know until today how difficult it is for local farmers to sell their meat to local restaurants and businesses.  Federal requirements make it nearly impossible for them to do so.

This is extremely frustrating for several reasons.  First of all, their meat is of a much higher quality than slaughterhouse meat coming from feedlots where cows are fed grain and grain byproducts and shot full of antibiotics and hormones.  And don’t get me started on the pigs.

Secondly, I come from a small town in Nebraska and know how hard those small farmers work, often for little profit.  For our government to tie their hands with onerous federal requirements just to get their meat sold is offensive, especially when there is a growing segment of the population who wants organic, grass-fed beef, and pastured pork.

Finally, most people I know truly want to buy local, and they want to know where their meat comes from.  Let’s make it easy for all of us, not more difficult.

The PRIME Act was recently introduced and will make it easier for local farmers to sell their meat.   Please read this article and support the passage of this Act any way you can.

Ketosis, Travel and food

A geneticist experimenting with ketosis

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A friend referred this video to me a few days ago by Jim McCarter, a geneticist who has been self-experimenting with ketosis for about a year now.  He, too, has found it to be very beneficial for his overall health, and with his exercise routine.  Unfortunately the video doesn’t show all of his slides, but it is less than 10 minutes and he speaks in a way that is easy to understand.  I encourage anyone reading this to also watch his video.

A point I think he makes particularly well is the need to moderate protein input when trying to stay in ketosis.  Too much protein results in our liver converting the extra protein into glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis.  Of the struggles I’ve had with staying in ketosis, I think consuming too much protein is one of the more common ones.

We have been conditioned to eat meat that is low in fat, yet most of that meat is high in protein.  Think chicken, turkey, lean cuts of beef, etc.  When eating in a restaurant or even trying to buy meat in a grocery store, the focus is always on low fat.  My husband and I try to counteract all of the protein by cooking the meat in grass fed butter or olive oil, but on an average day we still take in more protein than we need to.  Even the Quest bars we enjoy are really high in protein, and not very high in fat.

We have come to rely more on the snack bars made with SuperStarch from the folks at Generation UCAN and less on low carb bars that are high in protein.  UCAN just released a cinnamon swirl snack bar with SuperStarch that will be arriving on my doorstep in a few days.  It reportedly has no chocolate coating that would melt, a challenge we had with taking the chocolate peanut butter snacks on a long ride – they turn into a gooey mess.

I hope you enjoy the video, and if you are trying ketosis, hang in there!  Like anything new, there can be some rough patches but if you are willing to push through those, you, too, may have your eyes opened to a whole new way of living – with sustained energy and less reliance on food.

 

Just for fun, Travel and food

Some stats from Lotoja

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There were 68 women who rode the “Cyclosportive” category (non-racing category), and 889 total participants in that category.  I placed 30/68 in the women’s category, and 439/889 of total participants.

The race category had 812 total participants, 62 of them women.

My ride time was 12 hours, 10 minutes, and my total time from start to finish was 13 hours, according to the timing chip I wore.  This means I had 50 minutes of breaks, which seems really long looking back on it!

It is estimated that each rider will burn up to 15,000 calories during the ride.  I couldn’t eat much during the ride or after, so I’m probably still at a deficit!

My average speed was around 17.1 mph.

We climbed just under 8,500 feet.

I was nervous about following a ketogenic diet during this long of a ride, but I did it!  I hardly felt hungry during the ride, and wasn’t hungry after, either.  I was, however, starving at 5:00 am the next morning…

I packed WAY more food than we needed.

Food consumed on the bike (from what I can recall):

2 Quest protein bars (it may have been 3, but I don’t think so)

1 Super Starch bar

1 bottle of powered Super Starch mixed with water

A handful of nuts

1 beef stick

I also had a lot of water, a lot of Vega hydration drink, and 2 sugar free Red Bulls.

I did not use any of the Ketone supplements for this ride, as I hadn’t been using them for any training rides and did not want to change anything.  I did not miss them and probably won’t use them in the future.  Breakfast was the usual – eggs and bacon along with coffee mixed with butter and coconut oil.

The key to completing this race in my opinion, other than proper training of course, is proper hydration.  Jonathan and I were very careful to hydrate well the entire week, and we were diligent about drinking every 10-15 minutes whether we were thirsty or not.

My lips were so burned – they hurt almost as much as my legs!  My eyes burned for the entire next day, most likely from a combination of exertion and allergies.  I couldn’t get my contacts in and had to wear glasses all day Sunday as we explored Teton National Park and Yellowstone!  Pictures below.

J and V Tetons With mom near lake

My outstanding support crew – My mom and sister, Nancy.  Aren’t they beautiful?

Mom and Nancy with Mangy Moose

Mom Nan and V with Tetons

Monday the eye pain was gone, but lips and legs still hurt.  We got to enjoy a little bit of Jackson Hole before starting the long drive back home.

Mom and V with mooseJackson Hole square

And here what it looks like to pack a Subaru with 2 bikes, 4 people with luggage for 5 days, and a large cooler:

Back of SubaruPacking in garage mom supervising

Last stat:  It took us 15 hours of driving time to get from Jackson Hole home to Huntington Beach.  And yeah, it hurt.  Still does.

Travel and food

Packing for a 1500 mile drive, 207 mile bike ride

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It is not easy to pack for this type of trip, I can assure you.  I started my LOTOJA list weeks ago and the last 3 days I’ve been frantically throwing stuff together.  Figuring out our food alone has been a nightmare. I started stockpiling Quest bars from Amazon about 2 weeks ago.  I bought about 20 gallons of water from Costco and a similar amount of sugar free Red Bull.  (Just kidding about the Red Bull, I only bought a case of it.)  And the washing machine has run nonstop so we can both have our favorite shorts for the ride on Saturday.

So what did I pack?  The highlights are below:

-32 Quest bars

-8 UCan snack bars

-12 grass fed beef sticks

-8 packets of SuperStarch

-Coffee maker (I’m cheating this time and taking my Keurig instead of the French press)

-Blender

-2 packages of Kerrygold butter

-22 eggs

-1 lb bacon

-Assorted teas

-Salted peanuts, cashews and almonds

-Vega hydration powder for me, Zipfizz for Jonathan

-20 gallons of water

-8 small cans of Red Bull (sugar free)

-Plenty of Chamois cream

-Sunscreen

-Cold weather clothing and hot weather clothing

Are we prepared?  We’d better be!  This year I’ve ridden 2,835 miles and climbed 150,000 feet, and Jonathan has ridden about 500 more miles, and climbed 25,000 more feet.  I’ve done all I can do at this point, so I choose to believe that I am well prepared and will have a great ride on Saturday!  If only we survive the road trip getting there…

 

 

 

 

Travel and food

Things I won’t do on my next cycling trip to France

1.  Suspend my diet rules the last 2 days.  After we finished our ride on Friday, I decided I wanted to be free to taste the baguettes, pastries, pizza, and other goodies that I’ve always loved in France.  So Friday  afternoon through Sunday I ate what I wanted.  I’ve paid for it every single day since.  My body declared war on me starting Monday with never ending stomach pains.  Apparently it did not appreciate me providing it with sugar and starch, then taking it away again.  Ouch.

2.  Believe my husband when he says, “it’s an easy ride.”Clearly the two of us have different definitions of “easy.”  His idea of easy is a climb that includes sustained 11-12% grade, because after a while it “flattens out” and then “isn’t so bad the rest of the way.”  This was our climb to La Berarde after a really tough day on Sunday.  I thought I had taken a wrong turn it was so steep for so long!  Needless to say, we had words when I finally caught up to him (and retrieved my lungs).

3.  Ride Mont Ventoux without eating breakfast. So it’s been described as the toughest mountain to climb on a bike.  I knew this going in.  But a combination of things outside our control (bad meat the night before for one) kept me from being able to eat breakfast, but I was determined to ride it anyway.  Built some character, I suppose, but it was a suffer-fest like no other.

4. Ride anywhere that has trees without insect spray. The flies on Ventoux were horrendous!  The only good thing was I was so distracted by the swarm trying to invade every inch of me that I forgot about the pain in my legs for a moment or two.  But man, they were annoying.  Trying to communicate “insect spray” in French was quite interesting.  The first few people we asked looked at us like we were from another planet.  Finally, a pharmacist who spoke English was able to help us.  And, insect spray in France smells really good – why can’t we figure out how to make spray here smell good?

5. Ride a crowded subway anywhere outside the US. I’ll just say that Americans apparently value hygiene more than those outside the US.

6. Binge on hard candy from Mt. Ventoux. I love hard candy. There is table after table of candy for sale at the top of Ventoux.  I’ve never seen anything like it. So of course I bought a small bag (they hand you a paper bag and you scoop as much as you want), and was very good at only eating one piece a day.  Until Thursday night.  I went a little overboard and finished the bag. I felt sugar-drunk. Jonathan had a great time laughing at me. Oh, and I won’t leave the candy bag by my nightstand ever again.  It was just begging to be eaten.

I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting about, but that will have to be for another post!!

Travel and food

How to stay ketogenic while cycling in France (I hope)

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We have 9 days in France, and 2 long plane rides there and back when we need to stay in nutritional ketosis – not an easy feat at home, and downright intimidating when traveling to a foreign country.  As a result, I have an entire bag with nothing but keto-friendly food in it!  Here’s a running list of what I’ve packed so far (for me and Jonathan):

32 Quest protein bars

18 Super Starch bars

10 Super Starch drink packets

18 grass fed beef sticks

2 lbs of coffee

French press (yes, it’s a shame I have to pack a French press but it’s true)

6 Slim Jims (don’t judge)

2 lb of assorted nuts

2 cups of coconut oil (plus a smaller container in case TSA confiscates the bigger one) A tip for those who travel with coconut oil:  Refrigerate it so that it’s solid.  I’ve had better luck getting through security when it’s not in liquid form.

14 tea bags

1/2 lb of dried cherries (no sugar added)

2 containers of KetoCaNa

Bulletproof Upgraded Coconut Charcoal (available here) for those days I enjoy a little of the french pastries or baguettes – and wine!

Anything else I think of between now and the time we leave.

We will have no problem finding fresh butter, eggs and meat at the markets, and oh the cheese we will have!  Our gite owners were kind enough to buy a blender for us so we don’t have to miss out on our “coco butter coffee”  each morning.  But of course I was prepared to pack mine if needed.

We have 2 days to relax, enjoy the good life in Provence (translation: eat some amazing food and taste delicious wine at Chateauneuf du Pape) and acclimate before the challenging rides begin.    I’m pretty sure I’ll need that Coconut Charcoal.  And a lot of KetoCaNa.