Author: Th3D0ct0r

Electrolytes & Sekanjabin

Posted on by Th3D0ct0r
I am confused as to why the cup I am holding does not contain tea or coffee.

When I started this keto diet journey back on June 1, 2020, I made sure I had done all my research. I hadn’t really had to deal with the Keto Flu that many people do. That was a bonus. In fact, within two weeks of starting, most of my autoimmune symptoms had vanished and I felt like I could safely restart my DDP Yoga program. I’m on week 6 of 13 and I’m feeling fantastic!

Except, I noticed that my blood pressure–normally 110/60 – 120/80–had crept upwards and on Monday (July 20), it was 132/98, with a pulse rate of 115-120, standing still. To the Googles! Turns out that if you’re electrolytes aren’t in balance, it can increase your blood pressure. Who knew!

I have since purchased an electrolyte powder to mix into my water, but this recipe has been a go-to. My only problem with it is magnesium has a tendency to get things moving, if you get my drift. And, for me, that can actually be a real issue since I don’t feel like I’m absorbing nutrients properly, already (celiac). I’ll try to remember to update on how the powder works for me. I’m actually going to make some this morning, once I finish this post!

Sekanjabin is a medieval drink syrup that you mix with water and it serves as a way to refresh and replenish certain electrolytes. It ranges in complexity from simple honey syrup and mint & cucumber to very complex syrups that include pomegranate and other deliciousness. Mine is super simple, keto-friendly, and made with ginger because I didn’t realize what I thought was mint was actually lemon basil.

I am eagerly looking forward to hitting my target goal (150lbs) and my stretch goal (145lbs). Not just because I’ll be in the weight range I would feel most comfortable in, but also, so I can start eating more carbs! I actually have a plan to shift into maintenance with a Mediterranean style diet (still gluten-free, obviously). I also plan on increasing my fish intake over the next few weeks (I’m not a huge fan of fish), and shifting to a thing one of my friends does called “Meatless Mondays” where it’s completely vegetarian fare. It’ll take a little bit of extra planning for me, but I think it will be better health choices.

How’s your SARs-CoV-19 lockdown going?

Keto Cheeseburger Stromboli

Posted on by Th3D0ct0r
There are some serious vibes here…

I used a recipe from a keto diet app…site. It’s not too bad; I probably won’t make it, exactly, again, though. It’s very … muchy. I definitely liked the crust and I will use that again, probably for a pizza crust. It crisps up nicely. So, I’m thinking of rolling it out (1/4″ thick), then giving it a bit of a lip like a regular crust, and then blind-baking it for about 10 minutes. Not sure what I’ll put on it yet, but I’m sure it will be tasty.

Now, with this… I wasn’t a fan of the beef. I didn’t like the way the flavors came together and it just didn’t seem to work for me. I’m not really sure how I’d change it, but probably change it by making it a calzone or a “regular” stromboli.

I’m officially down 10lbs since June 1! Hooray! But, my blood pressure has crept up much higher than I’d like, so I’m trying to see what I can do about that. I may have to add in some more carbs to my diet and switch to maintenance mode (Mediterranean diet) sooner than I’d hoped. But, I should be okay.

Short post today. It’s 11pm on June 20; I’m tired, and the 21st is going to be stressful. I would much rather cocoon, but, alas, I cannot. See ya Thursday for more videos!

“& Other Spells” – DIY Dish Soap

Posted on by Th3D0ct0r
I have no idea what is going on…

I decided to start a new section for the channel. I mean, this is Kitchen Witchery & Other Spells. But, I haven’t really done “& Other Spells.” So, I’m going to start. Rather than watch me be an idiot with cooking, you can watch me be an idiot with other things!

I’m kidding. I’m not an idiot, but I am a goof. And that’s really what this channel’s about: Having fun, being yourself, and a little bit about cooking and making things. So, that’s why I decided to do a video on how to make Dish Soap.

I will admit that my dish soap did not thicken to the level I would like, and especially not to the level Cameraman Ken would like. I added another T of super washing soda, but I hadn’t gotten my mixture hot enough to dissolve it. I ended up removing about 1/2 T of the clumped washing soda before I realized I was using a mason jar and could just…put it in the microwave.

One minute in the mic on high will make the contents hot enough to stir in the super washing soda. You’ll need to let it sit for 24 hours and check it again. If it’s still not thick enough, repeat the process by heating it in the microwave and adding the super washing soda. Once it reaches the consistency you want, then you can add your essential oils (40 drops, total).

Let me know what other things you’d like to learn how to make. I can teach you about the “magical” properties of essential oils for you to enchant household cleaners; I can teach you to make other types of household cleaners; what other things would you like to know?

I am also planning to do two videos per Sabbat. Afterall, I am a Pagan-Christian, so I do celebrate certain Sabbats. I do not have a problem, however, doing videos for the ones I don’t personally celebrate because our paths are all different. A witchling may be seeking guidance and I can provide an option for them. The next Sabbat is Lughnasadh on August 1. I will have two videos specifically four Lughnasadh releasing July 28 & 30. The first video is likely to be a Lughnasadh-specific food dish; the second, I haven’t decided. It could be a craft, it could be decorating ideas, it could be a ritual–I don’t know! What would YOU like to see?

If you’re enjoying my blog and channel, thus far, consider supporting me on Patreon.

Keto Philadelphia Cheesesteak Skillet

Posted on by Th3D0ct0r
I am very steampunk in this. Also, this is the first time I’ve been able to wear this since I bought it in 2018.

One of my favorite meals when I was little was Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches. I just didn’t like the cooked veggies that went on them (silly child). I did not grow up in Philadelphia; I did, however, grow up in Pennsylvania, so even though you can’t get a proper cheesesteak outside of Philly, you can get pretty close. I’ve since been to Philly and suffered through the stomach distress of having a very glutinous, but very authentic cheesesteak sandwich.

Cheese whiz, by the way, is not authentic. Cheesesteak sandwiches were invented in 1930 by Pat Olivieri, a hot dog vendor. Cheese Whiz was invented in 1953 by Kraft and it is nothing more than over-processed oil that is given a cheese-like flavor. It’s gross and no one should eat it, but especially not on Cheesesteak.

This recipe really didn’t want me using actual onions, but that’s how I’ve always had them, so I used actual onions. To be honest, were I to make this again (which I will), I’ll probably caramelize the onions and use Swiss cheese instead of Provolone. But, I mostly followed the recipe for the first time. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t cheesesteak.

You can make this meal in a cast-iron skillet (or another oven-proof skillet) or you can use a baking dish. Either way is acceptable. I ended up adding three more slices of provolone to cover the whole thing. Yay, more cheese!

Please enjoy and, as always, if you like what you see and want me to keep making these videos, consider supporting me via Patreon.

Keto Tiramisu for Two

Posted on by Th3D0ct0r
Lady Floppinwrist

Look at me go! Here’s a second blog post for the week! This one is for my favorite dessert, Tiramisu.

The recipe I used can be found here. As you will see if you watch the video, mine looks nothing like hers. And that’s okay. Mine tasted amazing and that’s what really matters. What I like about this recipe is that you can make just the cake part, if you are full of sadness and don’t really want to bother with the delicious marscapone part. It’s all still really good, low carb, high fat, and all delicious.

I’m going to go ahead and share my progress shots with you. I also do burlesque (or, am trying to. It’s difficult with the lockdowns in place), so you get one of my burlesque shots as a progress shot. Go you!

I can, at least, see a difference over the most recent two week period.

So, as I’ve mentioned, I have Lupus. I also have an autoimmune thyroid issue they think could be Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, but it could be Graves’ Disease, or it could be something else entirely. My TSH is low-normal. And because of that, they’re not doing anything about my metabolism/hormones. Fine, whatever. In April of 2018, I was miserable. I couldn’t move, I felt like a blimp–I was at my heaviest weight and afraid I was going to hit 200lbs. But, I didn’t know what to do. I was gluten free, so I wasn’t eating breads and pastas all that much and I cooked everything myself (or Cameraman Ken did). My joints ached all the time (bilaterally in the fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, and feet/toes); I was in constant gastrointestinal distress. And nothing was working.

I made the decision to eliminate pork completely from my diet. No bacon, ham, pork sausage, etc. I don’t really like pork, anyway, and now the only pork I eat is in the form of chorizo from The Chori-Man. Regardless, that was the only change I’d made. That was in August; by October, I had lost 30 pounds. I was excited about that weight loss, but low-key concerned, too. Doctors didn’t even question anything. It was, “Great, you lost 30lbs. Your a1c went up from 5.8% to 5.9%. So, you need to lose some more weight and watch your carb and sugar intake. Oh, and exercise.”

…

After I had lost the 30lbs, I was able to move, so I started walking 1.25mi every morning. Then I started doing DDP Yoga 3/week. And that was what I was told at my last appointment, March 11, 2020 (when I tipped the scales at 167lbs…4lbs heavier than my last appointment, which I had gained from walking and doing DDP Yoga).

I went home upset. Maybe my a1c wasn’t going up because I was eating carbs and sugars. Maybe, just maybe, it was due to the underlying thyroid issue no one wants to do anything about because my TSH is “normal”? It’s not like that is anything that has ever happened.

I continued my DDP Yoga for another 2 weeks. I should have known what was coming. When my labs came back, I was notified that they were all fine, except ONE inflammation marker was high. I should have known. What happened next was a 3-month flare in which I had severe fatigue and random illnesses ranging from nausea with eating to a sinus infection to a UTI. I had very few “good days,” and I was starting to believe my QoL was going to be reduced to being content with 75% functionality at best.

What do you do when you can’t do anything else? Research. So, besides the research I was already doing for my dissertation, I started researching diets. “Watch your carbs and sugars,” she’d said. I had a food tracker. I tracked my macros meticulously and I wasn’t over-indulging like she thought I was. I researched Paleo more (I’d done it before when I was powerlifting). I researched Keto. I did a bit of research into carb cycling and thought the best way to “watch my carb and sugar intake” was to do a Keto-Paleo diet. That didn’t go as planned because I found the Paleo meals boring when I went to make them. So, I just did Keto, starting on June 1, 2020. By June 15, I was feeling really good–I wasn’t so puffy, I didn’t wake up with joint pain every morning, and I wasn’t so fatigued by 3pm that I had to sleep. So, I restarted my DDP Yoga program. Friday will see me completing week 4 of a 13 week program and I couldn’t be more excited. The program is ramping up, as well, so that gets me even more excited.

I added MCT oil to my diet–I have it in my coffee every morning–and I’m trying to do Intermittent Fasting (IF). I bought some test strips for checking my ketones (I’m very deeply in it), and figured I was good. For funsies, I decided to check my blood pressure the other day. It’s normally 110/70, unless I have coffee, then it’s 120/80. But, I tend towards low blood pressure. With all my working out and eating healthy and all, I thought maybe it would have gone down a bit. I had noticed my pulse would start at 120bpm before my workouts, but my pulse is normally high (like 75-90bpm, resting), so I thought nothing of it. Imagine my horror when the BP reading came back as 133/90.

RESEARCH TIME!

I’m doing everything right, why is my blood pressure and pulse going up!? Is it because fats are harder to burn for fuel, so my heart–which is a muscle–is working harder? I don’t have any symptoms of high BP, so, I’m not sure. I mean, I drink 70+ ounces of water per day!

Except water isn’t enough, as I discovered. I am fairly dehydrated, as it turns. In all my understanding of diet, exercise, etc, I’d forgotten the most important thing: Replenish your Electrolytes. So, I’m making electrolyte drinks twice a day for my non-workout days and three times for my workout days (basically, rather than drink water during my workouts, I drink the electrolyte mixture because, I am not a “glow” woman, I am a sweat like moose woman).

So! What have we learned? Keto is fantastic for helping a person lose weight, as long as you are willing to meticulously log everything that goes into your mouth. If you do choose to do a Keto diet (which is different from low-carb in that Keto is 20-25g or less of net carbohydrates; low carb is over that, but under 100g), make sure you’re replenishing salt, potassium, and magnesium. We have also learned that I run on bulletproof coffee and spite. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. šŸ˜›

Look! A NEW VIDEO Post!

Posted on by Th3D0ct0r

I am endeavoring to be better with posting here. Before I go into other things, I want to first say this video comes with a trigger warning. So…

TW: EXPLOSIONS

Click! BOOM! …yes, I watched Hamilton this weekend…

July 4 celebrates the successful rebellion of angry white dudes from England who were tired of King George’s “Love” (please see at *least* “You’ll Be Back” from Hamilton). I am finding it difficult to be celebratory this year with the current administration, the rampant and blatant racism, and all the murdering of PoC. “None of us are free until all of us are free.” We still have brown children in cages; brown families separated and held hostage in a land which had the promise of a new life away from governmental oppression. Indigenous peoples are being shunted off as if they don’t belong and their sacred lands are being stolen, violating centuries-long treaties. What is there to celebrate? We’ve come full-circle from a dictatorial monarch to a dictatorial President.

But, my neighbors (who are predominately brown people) really love explosions. Cinco de Mayo, June graduations, July 4, Memorial Day…. I mean, really, just lighting off some bottle rockets really makes them happy. I’ve become numb to it, for the most part. My cats no longer flinch. They were more worried that there weren’t as many explosions as previous years.

Anyway. Enough of that. You want to know about the Keto Big Mac Casserole I made. First of all, the link is here. Second of all, the sauce is what makes this. Third of all, I’m hoping to make a Vegan version of this in the near future. Did I mention the sauce is amazing? I’m planning on making a batch of just the sauce to use on burgers, hot dogs, pretty much everything. This casserole could be made into a salad, too, if you leave out the eggs, and put it over lettuce and tomato. May still want to toss it in the oven to melt the cheese (or just melt the cheese on the stove top) and pour it on the salad then top with Dat Sauce.

This recipe really does taste like a Big Mac. The first time I made it, I only had 1lb of ground beef, so I made a half-batch and it was so good, Cameraman Ken actually asked me to make it again. We were going to make this casserole (or burgers!) and hot dogs for July 4; I ended up playing City of Heroes too long (it was an ITF that took 4.5-5 hours and I was Over It by hour 3). So, we filmed as the fireworks were starting (which, to be fair, they had started around 4pm, anyway…they just got louder by 8pm). Nothing is more American than Big Macs, right? Except blowing up illegal fireworks. But, with all the unrest and injustice going on, I agree with blowing up things that are meant to be blown up…fireworks, Confederate statues, illegal pipelines… you know. Things like that.

So, this July, remember that the U.S. was built on the backs of black and indigenous people and we need to pay more attention to them and their lives and culture. Black lives Matter. Indigenous lives Matter.

“Until we are all free, we are none of us free.” – Emma Lazarus, 1883 “Epistle to the Hebrews.”

May and forward

Posted on by Th3D0ct0r

Iā€™m very bad at remembering to update this blog. Iā€™m so very sorry.

May was a stressful and busy month. I was in a flare for most of it. I ran out of my pre-recorded videos and, because of the flare and other chaos, couldnā€™t produce two videos a week.

Now itā€™s the first week of June. Iā€™m still sick (or flaring or something) and I am, again, out of videos, so I donā€™t have any this week.

But what I can tell you is this: I am starting a ā€œcarb cyclingā€ diet for the 30 days of June. What it will be is this first week is strictly Keto. Day 1, I hit all my macro goals, but was way under on calories. That was actually awesome because I didnā€™t feel hungry. Day 2 (today), I woke up with a pain in my abdominal area that could be light food poisoning (not likely) or the effect of a deep tissue muscle spasm in my back that causes my diaphragm to spasm, as well (more likely). Regardless of what it is, it hurts and Iā€™m exhausted.

Taco Tuesday

I made Keto Tacos this morning for breakfast. Made with Impossible Foods ground meat substitute, onions, cheddar shreds, and romaine lettuce. Tasty and very filling. You can find similar recipes at PaleoLeap.com.

Enjoy!

New Video: Chester Pudding (Kinda)

Posted on by Th3D0ct0r
Does this shirt make me look fat??

Well, well. We were supposed to produce a lovely Chester Pudding for dessert. We ended up producing a huge mess and a lemon curd tart. So, one of those was awesome (spoiler: Not the Mess).

I’m terrible at making meringues. I’ve tried and always seem to fail. But, it’s okay. Someday I will learn. Everything takes a little practice!

If you’re able, hit up my Facebook Page where I’m conducting some Arts & Sciences classes, virtually, for the SCA. I have three up there, and plan to do at least two more (one on period deodorants, and another on how to make infusions). It’d be spiff to “see” you!

New Video: Jamaican Jerk Tofu

Posted on by Th3D0ct0r
“Double, double, toil and trouble…”

California has been issued a stay-at-home order. Only essential adventures are allowed (such as going to the grocery store or picking up prescriptions, etc). I live in a house that was subdivided into three apartments. We have shared hallways. Fortunately, we really like our neighbors and consider them family. We decided to isolate together for a Dungeons & Dragons session to break up the monotony of being in our individual rooms and release some pent up tension from working from home. A couple of the guys upstairs are vegetarians, so I decided to make something I figured all of us could enjoy: Jamaican Jerk Tofu with Coconut-Lime Rice and Black Beans.

It was definitely a hit.

Our adventuring went well and we did another evening of Dungeons & Dragons a few days later. It’s tough to be a bard whose primary instrument is the bagpipes. But, we had thematic music to underscore the adventure and had a lot of fun. For the second excursion, I made the Scotch Eggs, again, and made sure to make two vegetarian versions, as well. As soon as I’m able to get more of the Lightlife ground meat substitute, I’ll make some more and maybe do a taste-test video for it! According to the guys, they were all amazing.

P.S.: Hey, folks! So, I’m a Ph.D. Candidate in the field of Industrial/Organizational Psychology and my research focuses on using Dungeons & Dragons (among other games) for leadership development. I’m ramping up to start a YouTube channel for that, as well. In the meantime, you can look at the random stuff I have posted for that over on my business website, Improved Initiative.