Kabute's Toadstool

Vitamins, Minerals, and Beta Carotene!

2011-02-08T18:52:00.000-08:00

I used to think I was allergic to vitamins. I know that sounds absurd, but hear me out. For some reason whenever I tried multivitamins they made me itch and I would get breakouts. Not just ordinary breakouts but the cystic kind. I tried different OTC brands and even "organic" brands but something was amiss. Vitamins made me paranoid so I just stopped taking them. I thought to my self that I can get my vitamins through the food I eat anyway. That is true, but that may not always be the case. We definitely need a boost of vitamins especially with all the stress that is going on around us. This is where proper research and diligence comes in.

It turns out that I really am allergic to multivitamins. Not the vitamins itself but the ingredients of the pills. Most pills have corn, rice, wheat, dyes, and other ingredients that people may tend to neglect but are actually allergenic. I am so lucky that my nutritionist helps me out and recommends products to use. I have really learned to read labels not only with food but with supplements cause you never know what they stuff in there until you read labels and ask.

The Blue Bonnet brand makes vitamins that are milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nut, peanut, wheat, soy, corn, yeast, gluten, barley, rice, sodium and sugar free! (phew!) I was almost hesitant to try it out due to past experiences but I'm glad I did. There are probably more brands out there that cater to people with allergies. I will try to see if I can find some and review them. But for now, I think i'm good with this brand.

The only thing that I don't like about the product is that it is a little pricey, and they don't make multivitamins and minerals that don't have rice. So I have to get INDIVIDUAL vitamins and minerals to take. (It's a lot of pills, son.) >_<

So, moral of the story, eat your vegetables! Hehe ;)

Carpet Cleaning

2011-02-07T09:36:00.000-08:00

I caught Honey doing some "carpet cleaning" while I pretended to sleep.

Craptastic!

2011-02-05T19:35:00.000-08:00

As a nurse, we deal with a lot of crap (both literally and figuratively) in the unit. I guess you can say we have been "desensitized" from being grossed out at the sight of bodily secretions and excretions, including excrement >_<. We can talk about bloody and/or explosive diarrhea on our lunch break without cringing or getting nauseous.

Oddly enough, I have also found humor in poop. I found these key caps on the internet and thought these were awesome accessories (to me anyway, haha). Adorable poop FTW!

LEAP Phase 1 Day 1-7 Part 1

2011-01-24T12:22:00.000-08:00

On the first phase, they started me off with a few food selections to go by. The first phase lasted for seven days. You can get really creative and cook your food however you like but you can't have any other ingredient that is not on the list. I am not a chef so I do apologize if the pictures aren't too appetizing. ;p

This was what I had to begin with.

Chicken:

This was my main source of protein for that week.

Nutrition facts about chicken:
Chicken meat contains about 150 calories per 100 grams.
Chicken is low in carbohydrate, low in fat with a moderate protein content.
Chicken contains all the B Vitamins, especially B3, but only trace amounts of B12.

Tuna:

The chicken of the sea. I like tuna but didn't really use a lot of it cause it is too expensive for my budget. But I like seared tuna with some vegetables as seen on the picture.

Fun facts about tuna:
A diet rich in fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, like canned tuna, can curb or prevent cognitive decline, dementia, depression, neuropsychiatric disorders, asthma and inflammatory disorders.

Cassava:

Cassava or yucca or kamoteng kahoy (in tagalog), makes a really healthy snack. I like making cassava fries or chips and adding sea salt. The starch is made into tapioca flour, which I use to replace cornstarch with.
Nutrition facts:

Cassava is Low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, and Sodium

High in Vitamin C and Manganese

Quinoa:

Pronounced as keen-wa, it is a high protein seed that is used as a grain. The plant was cultivated by the Inca Indians, and used in religious ceremonies for centuries in South America.
This was my rice replacement. I grew up eating rice, and at first it was really hard but I got used to not eating rice after a while. Quinoa has to be soaked in water at least 15 minutes because it has this bitter taste if you don't.
Quinoa has many nutrients, and is recognized widely as a good source of complete protein as well as magnesium, Vitamin B6, Vitamin E, dietary fiber, phosphorus, iron, copper, zinc, and manganese.

Beet:

We got the beet! Yeah, yeah, corny I know haha. I've never tried beets before I went on this program, but roasted beets aren't half bad.

Nutrition facts:

Beets are loaded with vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and C. They are also an excellent source of calcium, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, sodium and iron.While the sweet beet root has some of the minerals in its greens to a lesser degree, it is also a remarkable source of choline, folic acid, iodine, manganese, organic sodium, potassium, fiber and carbohydrates in the form of natural digestible sugars. This renders it highly effective in treating many ailments caused by our toxic environment and surrounding.

Using all parts of the kill, the stem and leaves can also be mixed with stir fry dishes and soups.

Broccoli:

Broccoli is probably one of my favorite veggies. They are very easy to cook. You can just steam or boil them for a few minutes and voila, you have something to munch on.

It is loaded with antioxidants and protective phytochemicals. Broccoli can prevent some types of cancer. It also contains generous amounts of folic acid, which may prevent some birth defects and be beneficial in warding off heart disease, strokes and some cancers. Broccoli also contains some of the highest levels of vitamins A and C of any food.

Avocado:

Ahh, avocados. Love 'em. I was so glad I was not reacting to avocados since I was already sensitive to mangoes, peaches and pears. They are just so good, even without adding sugar or milk.
Fun fact:
Avocados have over 20 vitamins and minerals and therefore considered to be one of the world’s most healthiest foods. An avocado has 60% more potassium than a banana on a per ounce basis. Avocados also have the most protein of any fruit.

Cabbage:

I didn't have any cabbage pictures available, sorry about that :D
I'm not really that much into cabbages but I like mixing them in soups and stir fries as well. I also made chicken cabbage wraps a few days ago. I should really take pictures.

Next is part two of phase 1 ^___^

sources:
chicken
tuna
quinoa
cassava
beets
broccoli
avocado
cabbage patch logo

Dog Day

2011-01-21T11:08:00.000-08:00

Cute picture of the day: A bouvier des flandres and a shih tzu came by at the hospital and brightened everyone's day :)

Turtle Power!

2011-01-13T19:25:00.000-08:00

It is super cold outside and I just randomly thought of taking pictures while wearing a turtleneck shirt! Cause I'm insane! Keep warm! And yes, I know the first picture is creepy ^_^.

Unproductive Day

2011-01-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

Today was just a day where I did absolutely nothing but eat and lie down and be in front of my laptop. The ultimate sloth. It's amazing how my metabolism has not given up on me and that I somehow manage to stay stick thin -- which is not by choice, BTW. But on the bright side, I got to blog again. Yay! Happy new year! I'm sure most of you have your new year's resolutions for this year. I've actually desecrated 2 resolutions today. Wait, make that 3.

Anyway, here are mine:

1. Drink more water. I find this hard to do especially when I'm at work. I just never get to find the time to just drink. SO, every time I'm in the "nourishment" room, I will make sure to try and drink a cup of water or two.

2. Update this blog as much as I can. I am a little behind, but I give my self a pat on the back for the effort :D

3. Try to read more and stay current. I also plan to go back to school by September.

4. Move. Stay active.

5. Be nicer. Sometimes (yes, sometimes hehe) I let my hormones get the best of me and I just snap at someone like a crazy person. I really want to be a more calm and collected person this year and hopefully throughout.

6. New hairstyle. I don't know why but I always fuss about my hair every new year. I'm thinking of getting it cut really short but then again I want to braid it. Maybe I should just shave my head and get a wig. Hmm....

7. Save up.

8. Be more organized.

9. Last but not least, to be on time. I live like 5 minutes away from my work but somehow I always end up being 5 minutes late.

Well, wish me luck!

LEAP For Health

2010-12-17T11:07:00.000-08:00

After finding out what food I was reacting to, It was time to eliminate and reintroduce food. Lifestyle and Eating Performance created this program to help calm the immune system, which is why it is called immunocalm diet.

The program has 6 phases where you slowly introduce food and see how you react to them. My nutritionist made me fill up a survey and made me list down what I ate to help facilitate the healing process.

I never used to enjoy cooking but I had to make everything from scratch, and I had to eat separately from my family since they eat food that I react to. At first I was craving a lot of food, but as of now, I learned how to be content. It was really challenging to come up with meal plans, budgeting and doing grocery shopping, but over time, I am actually enjoying it.

To know more about LEAP, you can go to this website: LEAP

The Results Are In

2010-12-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

Bommmmmm. And so the day finally came and I was able to find out what food I was sensitive to. By the way, as with any test, this test is 94% accurate, so it has room for error. The test results look like the example chart below. Green means you're not sensitive to the food. Yellow means you're moderately reacting to it, And red means stay away from it. Stay away!

I have already deduced some of the results beforehand to be reactive like citrus, dairy, soy etc. My gut feelings were on the ball with those but I was surprised to find out what other food I was sensitive to. Pistachios, mango, rice, watermelon, tea, yeast, pork, garlic, onion, mint, oat, ... T_T ohohoh and the list goes on! I'm also allergic to dyes, which explains a lot why I get hives and breakouts whenever I take medications or just plain vitamins.

When I got home, I looked at our pantry, my toiletries, and I was shocked. Everything I was using, I was reactive to. I had to throw out my dental floss, my mouthwash, my lotions. I did not want to eat anything. I guess you could say I got a little paranoid. Hahaha. I had to start the LEAP program earlier than planned....

sources:

picture

Mediator Release Test

2010-12-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

I am way way way behind in blogging about this, i'm already on the third phase of the program, but it is better late than never, right? Remember when I was talking about food sensitivities and how they can affect our skin? Well, sometimes your gut feelings aren't always up to par with what you are sensitive to. Even if I was very careful with what I ate, I was still breaking out. It was about time I got some help. I was searching on the internet about something-- can't really remember what, but I stumbled upon a nutritionist that does Mediator Release Testing here in Austin. What is it you ask? Well, this test determines food sensitivities, not food allergies. The good thing about this is that food sensitivities don't appear as quickly as food allergies, and they come in different forms such as fatigue, headaches, constipation, and many other symptoms that we don't really think of as having to do with food sensitivity. Which is why we don't suspect these certain foods that are actually harming us. x_X

The test is a little pricey, $350, but my nutritionist was nice enough to show me a link where Hershey's (yes, the chocolate makers) partnered with dieticians to help people become more aware of their health. They sponsored upto 250 dollars for a first time visit to a nutritionist or dietician, which saved me a lot of money, since my insurance doesn't cover this testing.

Here is a link if you want to know more about Hershey's and good nutrition: Hershey's

As I have said, I did the testing a few months ago and was not able to document it, but here is a crappy representation of what I did.

1. Get kit. Make sure to keep the box in a cool area.

2. Get your blood drawn. You need to fill up 4 vials so drink up! The blood draw has to be after 1 pm, and you should have eaten before having your blood drawn.

3. Send blood. The kit contains a fedex bag so all you have to do is seal up the blood, fill up the papers, label the box and send it to a fedex store that accepts blood or blood products.

The test took about two weeks and my nutritionist emailed me and I set up an appointment with her to find out what the results were. Bom bom bommm...

Updates Part 3!

2010-12-07T20:35:00.000-08:00

It's December! My how time can fly like... Like a G6? Haha, corny I know. But yes, lots of things have been happening. Well no, not really, but for some reason I just like saying that :) It's almost Christmas! Any holiday plans? Me, I have no idea. No plans yet.

How did you spend your Thanksgiving?

This turduckie had fun but met an untimely demise x_x.
Nah, he's hanging out on one of the shelves here along his other duck friends.

Earlier, we went to Black's barbecue at Lockhart. They say it's one of the best barbecues in Texas. The place looks like a quaint little area. It wasn't crowded when we went there. I wasn't able to get a lot of pictures, but the food was pretty good.

Their barbecue sauce was super good. I really liked their turkey.

What else did we do? Oh yeah, we just got our Christmas tree the other day! We got it at South Congress, right in front of South Congress Cafe.

While waiting we looked around and me and my dad saw a boot shop. And boy did we have fun!

Hopefully we can decorate the tree soon!

Updates part 2

2010-11-09T16:44:00.000-08:00

For Halloween, me and my sister decided to go to Elgin Tx to pick some pumpkins to carve.

Elgin was pretty far from Kyle, but it was worth it. We felt like a kid again when we saw the Christmas tree farm.

Entrance

They also had a mini farm that had llamas, pigs, goats, ducks, a donkey, and bunnehs!

Llama!

They had mini squash that children can decorate for halloween

We got these two pumpkins to carve and my sister made pumpkin pie out of the leftovers.

Updates

2010-11-09T12:23:00.000-08:00

Hi there! I have not been able to write anything on this blog lately, but rest assured I was doing something productive and that my wee little fingers are back to blogging. Been busy with work, and with life in general. But some fun little things happened along the way:

Probably a month ago, there was an event in Dripping Springs, Tx regarding saving rainwater here in Hays county. Hays county is developing at a rapid pace, but out water supply is slowly getting empty. There were a lot of presenters that had great ideas on how to conserve rainwater and make it available for home use.

I was there to volunteer for a few hours at the first aid booth, making sure things were a-ok medically. :) It was a quiet day so not a lot of things happened when I was there.

These are some of their inventions. They look kinda weird but they all serve a good purpose.

Lost

2010-10-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

Mannequin

2010-09-28T16:48:00.000-07:00

Four days off is really nice. I needed that time to just lay around and do nothing. Usually that's the time when my creative juices start to flow. I've been wanting to buy a mannequin ever since I was a kid. I want to use it so I can try on clothes without actually trying it on. Does that make sense? Anyhoo, I tried to look online and boy were they expensive. I saw this site threadsmagazine which shows you how to make a mannequin out of duct tape, and I thought, why not? All I used was:

an old large shirt
2 old pillows
2 rolls of duct tape
long cardboard tube
box

The instructions on the website was clear enough. My only problem was that I didn't have a partner to help me. My fiance who I usually dupe- err persuade to help me is not here, and my baby sister grew up and thinks my ideas are wackadoo. If you had to do this by yourself, you have to have a pretty big mirror, and be flexible. I think I pass as flexible, I can lick my elbow! Haha :)

And so I started wrapping myself up with duct tape.
It gets a little tight and hot so hang on!

Stuffed the mannequin with stuffing from old pillows
and placing the rounded cardboard below before sealing it

And ta-daa! It is done.
I call her Bessy the mannequin with the slight boobage problem ehehe

Just be careful with duct tape, I accidentally put it on my lips and boy did it hurt! I did this little project for around 4 hours. It's a lot of fun to make.

Review: CieAura Pure Energy

2010-09-22T11:26:00.000-07:00

For the past few months I have been experiencing some fatigue. I don't know if I'm just really lazy or what, but I tend to get really really tired. I do know that my job can get pretty stressful at times, but even if I sleep for more than 10 hours, I still don't have the usual pep and energy to do things. My fiance's aunt, who is a holistic care nurse recommended these cie aura chips.

The cover looks like this

the chips look like this

When I first opened it, I was surprised because they were a bunch of shiny stickers. I thought to myself, how can shiny stickers give me extra energy? It was just too weird to be true. But then again, holistic medicine can get pretty weird sometimes. It says on the package that this chip is the product of 3000 years of research, which again, is we-heerd to me, but as much as I have doubts, I do like to keep my mind open for possibilities. The instructions say to place the stickers on either your upper chest, inner thigh, or wrist. I put mine on my upper chest. It felt weird at first, but after sometime you forget that it's there until you see it and say "oh yeah, I have a sticker on my chest."

After a few days of using it, I noticed that did have more energy, but I don't know, it could be a psychological thing, or it could be the sticker. I'm not really convinced yet. The instructions say that I'm supposed to keep the sticker for 5 days to maintain "balance" but dang it, it just doesn't want to stay, especially when I'm in the shower. They should make stuff that stick if they want me to wear it for 5 days. I will be using it more to see if it really is effective. It says it doesn't have any side effects, so stick me with energy!

Sugarland

2010-09-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I scribbled something here. Last last week, I wrote an email to a company called Veintlite, which sells illuminators. Illuminators are gadgets that help insert IV's better, especially with people we consider to be "hard sticks". I asked them if they had any retailers near our area. I did not want to buy something online and go through the hassle of returning it if I didn't like it. The company replied and said that they do not have retail stores but we were welcome to see the product in Sugarland, Texas. I really wanted to see it, so I asked my mom to come with me for a road trip.

I really like this water tower picture

The route to Sugarland had a countryside scenery and it was awesome. When we got to the Sugarland downtown area, there was a huge factory....

... Which was of course, making sugar!

When we got to the office, the man was about to leave for lunch but he was nice enough to stay and explain how the product was. We had illuminators where I used to work at before but they were not up to par in terms of quality and innovation.

I bought the EMS version, which was cheaper and within my budget. Their top of the line product was around 500 dollars! x_X Also, another funny thing about the guy we were talking to, he is actually a physicist, and was the man who invented the product! We felt so honored to have talked to someone so smart and nice. He gave me a discount and gave the illuminator pouch for free!

We were getting hungry and my mom was in the mood for Japanese food and asked him where we can go. He recommended Benihana.

I love their plates with the flower design

The chefs would cook your food right in front of you. They would do these tricks and bam! Their spatulas are up in the air and stuff like that

The lunch boat. For 10 dollars you get all these! Not bad!

We also had some yakisoba to go with our boat lunch. We were so stuffed! After that we went to cheesecake factory and bought some yummy yummy cheesecake (my favorite!) to go. We were too full to stay and eat.

With our bellies filled and our palates excited to taste the cheesecake, we merrily drove back home. Sugarland was a beautiful city, and I think it won't be my last time to see it.

I Need A Shy Guy

2010-09-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

My room needed a pop of color and some art. Plus with the spare time I had, boredom really got to me. I was really impressed with the post-it art going around and wanted to do one of my favorite Mario Bros characters - Shy Guys! They're so cute, I just had to make em. Not all of it is post-its but construction paper because I had limited colors to work with, but it turned out well. I hope you enjoy looking as much as I enjoyed making it :)

Night Shift

2010-09-08T18:33:00.000-07:00

Ever since my boss put me on night shift, I have been having funky clock cycles. My body feels like I'm floating on mid air, and I stay up all night even on days off. I love the night shift! Well, maybe except for the part where my schedule is that of a vampire's. I never really worked 12 hour night shifts before, and I get really cranky if I sleep past 10, so I never thought I would actually like it. It it is less stressful to work nights, plus you get paid more for doing less! It's too bad I told my boss I wanted to go for day shift if we had an opening. I just had to open my big mouth. Alas, my bioclock will go back to normal after this week when I start working days again.

Attachment

2010-09-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

Today was my first visit to the orthodontist after starting my invisalign for a month. I was going to have my attachments placed. Attachments are these small button like structures that are stuck to the teeth and help the invisalign anchor better and also help move the teeth to where they should be. The idea of putting these attachments on my teeth was a little weird cause they are like bumps, like I have an excessive growth of enamel or something. But the attachments are pretty hard to see unless someone is really looking at your teeth, so I was ok with it. The dental assistant told me I would be out within ten minutes, but lo and behold, I left the clinic after two hours. Aside from the horrible taste of the glue that they place, those darned attachments did not want to stick to my teeth! After 4 tries they managed to get 11 out of the twelve. This one tooth was pretty stubborn and they had to call the orthodontist to do it for them. He had such soft hands, haha. Anyway, he managed to get the attachment. They jokingly called me the "troublemaker" cause I made them work hard.

Thankfully, these attachments don't hurt when I'm wearing the invisalign, but when I try taking them off to eat, they hurt really bad. I hope after a few days I can get used to it.

Craving

2010-09-02T06:07:00.000-07:00

I am having the munchies for something... Have you ever had one of those cravings where you know you want to eat something but not really know what it is? Well, I'm having one of those right now. I just ate breakfast - honey wheat bagel with almond butter and scrambled eggs on top. Normally, that wouldn't sound too good but it tasted alright. I guess my high school English teacher (who was kind of crazy and had a humongous rack) was right. There comes a point in time where you will actually like eating bananas with rice, or some other food that you wouldn't dare mix together. But I am still craving for something. Something sweet I suppose... Hmm... Or something salty maybe.

Will I ever get to satisfy my craving?

Eye Drops

2010-08-26T17:57:00.000-07:00

I hate eye drops, or anything that involves putting something in my eyes for that matter x_x

Jiminy Crickets

2010-08-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

I don't know why but whenever I go to work I always see crickets inside the building. I guess they want to get cooled off too n__n

Harvest

2010-08-25T18:21:00.000-07:00

Picture of the day: The white fluff on the big truck is cotton that they're starting to harvest. We were wondering when they would come and that day finally came :)

Not Too Hot, Not Too Cold, All You Need Is A Light Sweater

2010-08-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day to go around and run some errands. I never like going out when it's hot unless I really have to (hence the paleness), but it was not that hot at all.

Fall is just around the corner, and I can't wait!