A Foodie Living with PCOS

I know I have been on a hiatus for, what, a few years now? It has been a while. And in those years, life has been very interesting, to say the least and I feel like I owe everyone an explanation. Let’s start from where I left off (kind of).

November of 2015, I got foot and ankle surgery to help correct my stretched out ligament and my bunionette. I went back to work at my crazy busy job, only realizing that I couldn’t mentally take the stress anymore. I quit and decided to eat, pray, love in Napa with a wonderful internship working for four different wineries during the Summer of 2016. After four months, I embarked on a 3-week trip to Asia with my family. I returned being the heaviest I had ever been in my entire life, gaining probably 25 pounds in the span of 6 months. At this point, I noticed significant changes in my body. My periods became more painful than they had ever been in my life (to the point where I couldn’t talk at times for the first two days), and I had noticed a decrease in energy levels, despite being “healthy” in almost every other way (working out regularly, eating a balanced diet, etc) to name a couple. In December that year, I knew that I had to make a change, so I went to the doctor (thank goodness for Obamacare) and was diagnosed with PCOS. What did this mean? Well it meant that I had a bunch of cysts growing in my ovaries, which affect my hormone levels and, subsequently, all the functions that are regulated by my hormones, and can cause rampant weight gain. It also meant that I was insulin resistant. The solution? Take birth control to regulate the hormones and eat a low-carb diet. That was all that I was told. I had no idea the extent of how this was going to affect my life.

Retrospectively, this now all makes sense. I didn’t realize that I had been struggling with this for years. I had always wondered why the weight gap between my identical twin sister and myself kept growing bigger and bigger. I never understood why my menstrual cramps were debilitating (and borderline demonic). I never lost weight, no matter how hard I tried and even pushed myself to the point of starvation and overworking my body by eating 1200 calories a day, working out 2x a day while sleeping on average 4-5 hours a night. It was torture. I was in a prison of my own making because I had no idea what I was up against.

And you know, I am sure I am not the only one who has been in the dark this entire time. Did you know that PCOS is actually fairly common? 10 percent of of childbearing age in the US have PCOS — yet it is rarely talked about in the mainstream media and there is a LOT of misinformation out there. With this statistic, this makes PCOS the most common endocrine disorders in women, yet you barely hear a peep about it. More people should be talking about this.

Anyways, after finding out, I felt empowered. I decided to take charge and start the Ketogenic diet, a high-fat, low-carb diet that forces your body to rely on ketones as its main source of energy, rather than carbohydrates. I did this diet, coupled with a strict weight lifting / workout regiment, for 9 excruciating months. Everyone talks about how great the diet is because when you do it and are strict about it, because you will drop weight fast. But, no one really talks about the negatives, like irregular bowel movements (sorry, but it’s true). So after 9 months and a trip to Italy (I mean, this puts a new meaning to “When in Rome”, plus who can say no to all the pizza, pasta, and wine??), I decided to slowly incorporate a more “normal” diet in my life. I had thought that the low-carb diet was more of a suggestion than a necessary lifestyle adjustment. Well, I learned the hard way and that change back to “normal” eating habits had backfired. I quickly gained back all the weight that I had so meticulously lost. And after that, it slowly spiraled to the point where even the Keto diet wouldn’t work. I felt so sluggish to the point where I would crash and feel narcoleptic (I literally could not keep my eyes open and would feel an overwhelming wave of exhaustion hit me to the point where I almost fell asleep while driving). Which brings me back to present time.

Feeling defeated and at my wit’s end, I realized that I couldn’t do it by myself anymore. I then enlisted the help of a nutritionist and she gave me many suggestions on how to manage PCOS and the resulting insulin resistance. She told me that I had to eat a low-carb diet yes, but there is more to it than just that. It wasn’t as simple as eating under a certain amount per day; she had told me that I had to be mindful about how much I ate during each sitting — it was that granular. I am limited to 25 grams of carbs total per meal, not to exceed 100 grams of carbs per day. To put that into perspective, that is 1 slice of bread per sitting (and that is if I am not eating any veggies or anything else with carbohydrates in them, which I have found to be a lot of things you wouldn’t normally think of).  I am currently incorporating her advice and seeing how my body will react to slight changes in my diet.

Anyways, you’re probably wondering why this matters? Well, my world has been turned upside down. Being a foodie who loves a good carb-fest of noodles, rice, sandwiches, desserts, BOBA, etc, the news devastated me. I kept thinking, what are the implications? Will I be able to be able to grab something quick while in a pinch? What about snacking on the go? Am I going to be one of THOSE people who have to modify every single dish while eating out? What is going to happen when I travel? Will I be able to enjoy the foods native to the places to where I am traveling? And the list goes on. I felt, and still feel, like I have to give up a huge part of what makes me, well, me. And frankly, I still feel like I am mourning. But, realizing that this is part of the bigger picture of making me feel better, I am determined to make it work. How? I don’t know, but I will make it work. I am literally and figuratively tired of feeling sluggish, lethargic, moody amongst a slew of other things. But most importantly, I am not going to let this affect the way that I live my life.

So join me in this journey as I navigate the challenges (opportunities!) that a foodie with PCOS/Insulin Resistance will face. Explore the different foods that we can enjoy. Experiment with me on attempting to modify “normal” dishes into insulin resistant-friendly ones. Celebrate the little wins. Let’s eat!

In good taste,

Shannon

 

Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!

I know everyone is always looking for another reason to celebrate so I will give you one – August 4th is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. Yep, you read that correctly – there is an entire day dedicated to that All-American sweet delectable that we find at almost all potlucks or picnics. You can never go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie. I mean, what’s not to like about them? There are so many kinds of chocolate chip cookies – thin, crispy, thick, dense, cakey, and the list goes on. There are so many ways to eat them – cram some ice cream in between two cookies to make an ice cream sandwich, grab a spoon and eat the raw cookie dough straight out of the bowl, or half-baked out of the oven. In short, they are amazing.

So, to celebrate, I am going to share with you my chocolate chip cookie recipe. It looks very similar to most other chocolate chip cookie recipes but the difference is in the methodology – baking cookies is truly a science! I can get to more of that later, but first, here is my recipe:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Servings: 24 cookies
• Time: 2 hours
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients

• 2 – 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup of shortening
• 3/4 cup of white sugar
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. of vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. of salt
• 1 tsp. of baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter flavored shortening, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture.
4. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips – do not use a mixer or the chocolate chips will break.
5. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour or up to 24 hours – THIS IS IMPORTANT
6. Shape the cookies by rolling them into a ball and then flattening them into the cookie shape (think hockey puck).
7. Place them onto the parchment paper or aluminum foil covered cookie sheets.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven, until light brown.
9. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

The ingredients.

What you will need to make these chocolate chip cookies

To point out a few things: First, I only use shortening. Why? I think the shortening gives the cookie the thick, dense texture that I absolutely love. Plus, I think it tastes a lot better. If you are missing the butter aspect, use butter flavored shortening (yes, that exists) to achieve the same texture while getting that buttery taste. Second, underbake, underbake, underbake. If in 9 minutes, rather than 10 minutes, the cookies look slight golden brown, take them out! The cookies will still continue to bake after you’ve taken them out of the oven as they sit on the pan to cool. And third, did I mention underbake?

Now onto the science! I use baking soda as it gives the cookie a dense and cakey texture on the inside.Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours before baking the cookies! THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE COOKIES TO TURN OUT GOOD. This prevents the cookie dough from spreading so much during the baking process and allows for the cookie to keep its hockey puck-like shape. You can predict how much space you will need and how many cookies you can have on a baking sheet. If you want to know more about the science behind baking the perfect chocolate chip cookie, I suggest you read Ozy’s article on The Secret Behind Baking the Best Cookie Ever which delves deeply onto how each ingredient affects the outcome of the cookie and which ingredients help achieve your preferred cookie.

Look at the different outcomes of the cookies

Look at how different these cookies turned out

Side note: My sister’s dog, Waffles, who is half Beagle half English Bulldog, makes an appearance as she also cannot resist a good chocolate chip cookie. Don’t worry, all she got was a sniff, and nothing more, since dogs cannot have chocolate (duh!). Anyways, celebrate this wonderful day by eating (or dreaming about, in Waffles’ case) as many chocolate chip cookies as you can – don’t worry the calories don’t count today.

Waffles realllyy wants some cookies.

DineLA: Abigaile

It’s that time of year again where I fork over wheelbarrows full of money so I can get a glimpse of LA’s best restaurants. Yep, it is DineLA. DineLA this time around is in July for two weeks (July 14-27), right smack dab in the middle of summer. I had no idea that DineLA happens twice a year and occurs only a few months between each other, so I definitely didn’t prepare to take such a hit on my wallet. Since I was so unprepared on all accounts, I definitely had NO IDEA where to go. Mix that with my indecisiveness and that is a recipe for disaster with frustration over a place to eat (those decisions are really important, okay). Anyways, thank goodness for best friend number 2, aka Eater LA, for already doing most of the brunt work by recommending what they thought was the 20 Best Picks for DineLA July. So, what did I do? What every indecisive yet fastidious foodie would do… heavily research the restaurants on the list and pick one from there, duh.

Eater LA really does know how to compile a solid list (click above link for proof), so I trust their judgement in that regard. There were a few repeat winners, such as The Bazaar by Jose Andres, Craft, and Gordon Ramsay, but there were other ones that were obscure but seemed promising. Being as adventurous as I am when it comes to food, I went for the path less taken and went for obscure yet promising – I ended up choosing Abigaile located in Hermosa Beach. I have never heard of Abigaile nor have I ever been to Hermosa Beach so I was excited to make this DineLA experience into a foodie excursion. Of course I couldn’t go on this adventure alone so I took my foodie friend, Vinh, as he also is down to try just about any kind of cuisine/restaurant.

My first impression of Hermosa Beach was that it reminded me a lot of Del Mar combined with La Jolla in San Diego. Hermosa Beach is a quaint and cute little beach town that has tall streets like San Francisco but has the serenity of San Diego beach cities – two places  that I hold near and dear to my heart. Needless to say, I instantly fell in love with the place. It is quite unfortunate that I live about 45 min to 1 hour away from there. The restaurant had a very rustic feel – lots of dark woods, metal chairs and sheets, and a chalk wall. The back of the restaurant had large glass windows that has views of the ocean and the pier, which is only 1 block away – it was stunning. Abigaile is cozy enough to take a someone to on a date but was also open and spacious enough to fit a fair-sized party – very versatile, if you ask me.

Okay, now on to the food. I already knew what I wanted before I got there because I like to know exactly what I am getting into (although sometimes I surprise myself and select things on a whim). Abigaile is described as New American style food, it is like America food with a bit of a twist from cuisines around the world (Asian, Brazilian, Canadian, etc). Their menu was extensive, with plenty of choices that can statisfy the picky and the open-minded eater. Abigaile’s DineLA dinner was priced at $45, a bit on the pricier side, but it was worth every penny – let me tell you why. First of all, you get a 5 course meal. Second, Abigaile does NOT skimp on the quality and definitely not the quantity, so you will not leave full. And third, the service was impeccable. Finding a restaurant that participates in DineLA that has all of that criteria is near impossible. I think Abigaile achieved what very few restaurants achieve when participating in DineLA, that is to retain customers and to get them coming back. You can say that I will definitely be back soon. See, this is why you go with the obscure yet promising ones, you tend to find hidden gems that way. Did I mention that Abigaile also brews their own beer – and good beer might I add! I am not a beer drinker, but their beer was good enough to convert me into one (I still love my wine though). Their Cacophony IPA had a lychee taste to it – and I am not mad at that.

Abigale’s DineLA Menu

Beer Flight

Starter: Pao de Queijo – Cheesy gooey balls of doughy goodness.

 

Foraged Wild Mushroom with Creamy Polenta and Truffle Oil. Heavenly.

 

Tuna Tartare with Lotus Chips

Salmon BLT with chips

Fried Chicken with Kale Slaw

Braised Lamb Belly Poutine topped with a Fried Egg

Homemade Snickers for Dessert

I felt really full and guilty eating the Snickers. But I finished every last bite.

Happy 1 Year Anniversary

Today is the 1-year anniversary of my blog, Shannon the Foodie. My goodness, has it already been a year?! Time flies when you are having fun. I remember when I first conceived the idea of starting my own blog in a coffee shop in Downtown Las Vegas. It was a Sunday and I was getting tired of working so hard at my then soul-sucking job without having any sense of fulfillment, so I grabbed my computer, posted up in one of the trendiest/hip coffee shops in Las Vegas, The Beat Coffeehouse and Records, started typing away, and never looked back. I have definitely come a long way since last year.

I have said this many times but I will say it again, I wouldn’t be here without all the support, encouragement, and inspiration of my friends and family. It has been a roller coaster of a year since June 30, 2013, from leaving Las Vegas to starting a job in an unfamiliar industry in a brand new city, but I wouldn’t have changed it for anything else. I have grown so much and have learned a great deal about myself (and have honed/expanded my palette, to boot).

With that said, thanks again for all the support, laughs, and memories, and here is to many more years to come! For your enjoyment, here is a few (ridiculous) pictures that I have taken since the inception of my blog to commemorate this tumultuous year.

This is probably one of the most unflattering pictures of myself. To be fair, I was caught off-guard but hey, I hope y’all think it’s funny.

My sister trying to take a picture of our drinks, but I insisted on photo-bombing, because, you know, I like being in as many pictures as I can. I am NOT a camera-whore, I swear.

Napa Valley wine tasting with a few of the bests! Gotta throw the peace sign up with the wine glass. #classy

Another unflattering photo of me stuffing my face with a donut. Standard.

Caught off-guard, yet again, while trying to take a cute picture with my food. #Asianstakingpicturesoffood. You’re welcome.