My husband has commandeered my time to do some yard work today, so i'm having to put the thyroid studies on the back burner for awhile. :-( I was finding interesting stuff, too!
On the other hand, all the stuff that has been neglected during the hot weather is getting its share of attention. And it's such a pleasure being outside while the temperature is under 80! The dead canes on the rose bushes are gone, and i don't have any wounds to show for it -- now THAT is a miracle. Those roses usually "bite" when i try to groom them. You don't have to duck to get past the pin-oak anymore, and you have to duck less under the dogwoods.
I've been wearing my new Vibrams since this time yesterday, too, and i LOVE them. Two long walks with the dog, countless trips to the basement, and the pruning work have not presented any challenges they couldn't handle -- and we have those nasty sweet-gum balls all over the front yard. :-P Those hurt through moccasins, and can turn your ankle in ordinary shoes.
J made shirred eggs for our brunch, using the breakfast sausage i made from the "Paleo Comfort Foods" cookbook and the last of our duck eggs. YUM!!!
Showing posts with label "Paleo Comfort Foods". Show all posts
Showing posts with label "Paleo Comfort Foods". Show all posts
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
radical health improvement from diet X
Every time i hear about a spectacular health turn-around after a person changes his/her dietary style, the first thing i want to know is, exactly what was changed?
Yep, a Real Home Cooking diet, in which whole foods replace CIAB will make the whole family feel, look and perform better, even if it contains the worst grains and beans in the world. Most plant toxins aren't nearly as nasty as some of the man-made ones which flood the food supplies of modern countries!
I heard the success story of Terry Wahls, and i couldn't be more happy for her! Especially considering her profession, this is a coup for advocates of nutritionally-based medical treatment; she's harder to shrug off than most of us grunts. AND she's very vocal about her situation; :-D ...i do so admire the people who get out there and fight for what i believe in, but into which i am not willing to pour my whole life's-energy. But do i think that her diet is optimal for universal health? No, at least not for me.
The "wow factor" of dietary change frequently depends upon your starting point. Mine has been changing step-wise, and to see how my health has improved i have to search my memory for details that are confounded by (comparative) youth, fitness, etc.
I started out from i categorized above as a Real Home Cooking diet. I grew up eating white bread and corn oil, but at least we always COOKED. Frequent eating-out didn't happen till about twenty years ago, and i had been fighting the battle of the bulge before that. As food-and-supplement fads came and went, i never noticed a significant improvement with ANYTHING until i added systemic enzymes to my daily routine. I suspect i was developing fibromyalgia; i would sit with my feet up and vaguely ache all over. My chronic fatigue i attributed to the hypothyroidism.
So, first enzymes actually promoted some improvement, then my doctor recommended iodine supplementation, and that helped much more. I went on Atkins next, and my general improvement was immensely noticeable. No more morning brain fog, significantly improved allergies, better energy, and weight-loss without constant hunger. I was a FAN.
The biggest reason that low-carbing didn't result in all the weight-loss i could ever have wanted was the temptation to add foods in too soon. One sees all those opportunities to again eat the things the low-fat-me had been denying myself so long.... And, as an enthusiastic cook, i was also hot to adapt old recipes to the new philosophy, and got caught in the carb-creep that is so hard to resist. I screwed up.
I don't remember what led me to Mark's Daily Apple, but it was my portal to the paleo/primal world. I no longer link his site from mine, but it's still one of the first to which i send my paleo-curious friends. Like so many other eating plans, if you go straight to it from the SAD your results will be absolutely stunning: i didn't, so mine were much less noticeable. Not perfect, and nor is the Perfect Health Diet ... for me.
What DID produce jaw-dropping IMPROVEMENT for me was the Personal Paleo Code program, and the Strong Medicine protocol i tried after it. In my case, i found out that health challenges have been all about dietary intolerances and "personal toxins."
So yeah: a veg*n diet will be beneficial ... if you ate absolutely horrible things before. So will Atkins, despite the highly-questionable ingredients in their trademarked products. So will a low-fat diet, if you go from lots of omega-6 oils to almost none (and can stand the hunger).
To eat OPTIMALLY is going to take a lot of n=1 experimentation. Eat only things that are "never" toxic or allergenic for a month, then add things back one at a time, slowly. It's ILLUMINATING.
Yep, a Real Home Cooking diet, in which whole foods replace CIAB will make the whole family feel, look and perform better, even if it contains the worst grains and beans in the world. Most plant toxins aren't nearly as nasty as some of the man-made ones which flood the food supplies of modern countries!
I heard the success story of Terry Wahls, and i couldn't be more happy for her! Especially considering her profession, this is a coup for advocates of nutritionally-based medical treatment; she's harder to shrug off than most of us grunts. AND she's very vocal about her situation; :-D ...i do so admire the people who get out there and fight for what i believe in, but into which i am not willing to pour my whole life's-energy. But do i think that her diet is optimal for universal health? No, at least not for me.
The "wow factor" of dietary change frequently depends upon your starting point. Mine has been changing step-wise, and to see how my health has improved i have to search my memory for details that are confounded by (comparative) youth, fitness, etc.
I started out from i categorized above as a Real Home Cooking diet. I grew up eating white bread and corn oil, but at least we always COOKED. Frequent eating-out didn't happen till about twenty years ago, and i had been fighting the battle of the bulge before that. As food-and-supplement fads came and went, i never noticed a significant improvement with ANYTHING until i added systemic enzymes to my daily routine. I suspect i was developing fibromyalgia; i would sit with my feet up and vaguely ache all over. My chronic fatigue i attributed to the hypothyroidism.
So, first enzymes actually promoted some improvement, then my doctor recommended iodine supplementation, and that helped much more. I went on Atkins next, and my general improvement was immensely noticeable. No more morning brain fog, significantly improved allergies, better energy, and weight-loss without constant hunger. I was a FAN.
The biggest reason that low-carbing didn't result in all the weight-loss i could ever have wanted was the temptation to add foods in too soon. One sees all those opportunities to again eat the things the low-fat-me had been denying myself so long.... And, as an enthusiastic cook, i was also hot to adapt old recipes to the new philosophy, and got caught in the carb-creep that is so hard to resist. I screwed up.
I don't remember what led me to Mark's Daily Apple, but it was my portal to the paleo/primal world. I no longer link his site from mine, but it's still one of the first to which i send my paleo-curious friends. Like so many other eating plans, if you go straight to it from the SAD your results will be absolutely stunning: i didn't, so mine were much less noticeable. Not perfect, and nor is the Perfect Health Diet ... for me.
What DID produce jaw-dropping IMPROVEMENT for me was the Personal Paleo Code program, and the Strong Medicine protocol i tried after it. In my case, i found out that health challenges have been all about dietary intolerances and "personal toxins."
So yeah: a veg*n diet will be beneficial ... if you ate absolutely horrible things before. So will Atkins, despite the highly-questionable ingredients in their trademarked products. So will a low-fat diet, if you go from lots of omega-6 oils to almost none (and can stand the hunger).
To eat OPTIMALLY is going to take a lot of n=1 experimentation. Eat only things that are "never" toxic or allergenic for a month, then add things back one at a time, slowly. It's ILLUMINATING.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
hunger in this microcosm
OOOOkay: getting rid of leftovers has already taught me something. If my diet doesn't have enough protein in it, fat only satisfies me to a point.
Low-carb creamed eggs on paleo biscuits ("Paleo Comfort Foods" recipe) for dinner last night. Ditto, without the biscuit, for breakfast. Two hours later, i was hungry. Each serving had about 2.5 eggs in it, less than 16 grams of protein. There was ample fat in the meal, PLUS what my own poundage has to contribute.
As a child, i always craved protein. MEAT. We were a poorish family, and though we generally had animal protein as a centerpiece for dinner, there was not always a lot of it. On the occasions when we indulged ourselves at restaurants, i usually opted for beef. The body is wise when not addicted to carbs.
At the time of life when i started having to work at maintaining an appropriate weight, the low-fat paradigm had taken hold. I knew i could have all the food i wanted, including things like baked chicken breast and low-fat fish. Nevertheless, i always felt hungry ... even when my belly was quite full. In those days, i probably weighed 15 pounds less than i do now, and was less metabolically-challenged. But i had a hard time accessing my own fat stores, because i was trying to satisfy appetite with pasta and rice and home-made bread (any of you aging ex-athletes remember "Eat to Win"?) -- lipolysis just ain't gonna happen with all THAT insulin floating around.
Inspired by "Strong Medicine" and the ladies on PaleoHacks who report good results on a zero-carb diet, i learned that eating nothing but fatty meat is not going to set me up for ill health. I tried it, like it, and thrive on it. But the central message is: both "fatty" and "meat" have to be ample. Not enough meat, and my body rebels with hunger. Not enough fat, ditto. I don't get carb cravings, though sometimes i want "dessert" after a meal; coffee alone can satisfy this, but if my meal was smallish for some reason, a quarter-cup of cream is the perfect finish.
"The REST of the story"? :-) I just polished off the creamed eggs (no biscuit), and now am FULL as well as satisfied. Happy ending.
Low-carb creamed eggs on paleo biscuits ("Paleo Comfort Foods" recipe) for dinner last night. Ditto, without the biscuit, for breakfast. Two hours later, i was hungry. Each serving had about 2.5 eggs in it, less than 16 grams of protein. There was ample fat in the meal, PLUS what my own poundage has to contribute.
As a child, i always craved protein. MEAT. We were a poorish family, and though we generally had animal protein as a centerpiece for dinner, there was not always a lot of it. On the occasions when we indulged ourselves at restaurants, i usually opted for beef. The body is wise when not addicted to carbs.
At the time of life when i started having to work at maintaining an appropriate weight, the low-fat paradigm had taken hold. I knew i could have all the food i wanted, including things like baked chicken breast and low-fat fish. Nevertheless, i always felt hungry ... even when my belly was quite full. In those days, i probably weighed 15 pounds less than i do now, and was less metabolically-challenged. But i had a hard time accessing my own fat stores, because i was trying to satisfy appetite with pasta and rice and home-made bread (any of you aging ex-athletes remember "Eat to Win"?) -- lipolysis just ain't gonna happen with all THAT insulin floating around.
Inspired by "Strong Medicine" and the ladies on PaleoHacks who report good results on a zero-carb diet, i learned that eating nothing but fatty meat is not going to set me up for ill health. I tried it, like it, and thrive on it. But the central message is: both "fatty" and "meat" have to be ample. Not enough meat, and my body rebels with hunger. Not enough fat, ditto. I don't get carb cravings, though sometimes i want "dessert" after a meal; coffee alone can satisfy this, but if my meal was smallish for some reason, a quarter-cup of cream is the perfect finish.
"The REST of the story"? :-) I just polished off the creamed eggs (no biscuit), and now am FULL as well as satisfied. Happy ending.
Friday, February 17, 2012
being able to ensure appropriate intake is important
What with one thing and another, i haven't been eating very "cleanly" the last day or so.
My mood is distinctly impaired, and i blame my diet. If you ever read Dr. Emily Deans' blog "Evolutionary Psychiatry," you'll find many instances of documentable (because, God knows, she's a Harvard-trained and -approved "limb" and dares not break the old lockstep...) effects of nutrition (or lack of it) on mental function. Don't get me wrong -- i think well of Dr. Deans' work and respect her intellect and ability, and i understand why she has to cover her ass, but i deplore the good-ol'-colleagues' system, and she DOES belong to it....
If my experience with the Personal Paleo Code has taught me anything, it's that "clean" eating makes me feel exceptionally good, and that consuming an inferior diet makes me feel bloody awful. Most of my acquaintance doesn't believe this. My best friend, although she is also convinced that diet is important, doesn't share in my rejection of grains. I'm sure she doesn't think the same of dairy as i do (forgoing it with regret), either, and nor is she inclined to abjure aspartame. I think i've corrupted her a bit, though: i'm pretty sure she's already ordered "Paleo Comfort Foods"! :-)
Even when my husband is in town and we're eating out, i make every attempt to eat a diet that does not contain things i know are deleterious. That's not good enough for optimal nutrition. One can't be sure of what is in restaurant food, even in the best places. I have to do my own cooking -- and if that's not easy for me, it's got to be INCREDIBLY difficult for most other people.
But again, it's time to take things into my own hands once more. For the sake of my health and well-being, nothing less is good enough. Tomorrow is Day One again, and i will be deleting even more -- because self-indulgence only delays achieving what i know to be worthwhile, and indulgence isn't THAT rewarding, after all.
My mood is distinctly impaired, and i blame my diet. If you ever read Dr. Emily Deans' blog "Evolutionary Psychiatry," you'll find many instances of documentable (because, God knows, she's a Harvard-trained and -approved "limb" and dares not break the old lockstep...) effects of nutrition (or lack of it) on mental function. Don't get me wrong -- i think well of Dr. Deans' work and respect her intellect and ability, and i understand why she has to cover her ass, but i deplore the good-ol'-colleagues' system, and she DOES belong to it....
If my experience with the Personal Paleo Code has taught me anything, it's that "clean" eating makes me feel exceptionally good, and that consuming an inferior diet makes me feel bloody awful. Most of my acquaintance doesn't believe this. My best friend, although she is also convinced that diet is important, doesn't share in my rejection of grains. I'm sure she doesn't think the same of dairy as i do (forgoing it with regret), either, and nor is she inclined to abjure aspartame. I think i've corrupted her a bit, though: i'm pretty sure she's already ordered "Paleo Comfort Foods"! :-)
Even when my husband is in town and we're eating out, i make every attempt to eat a diet that does not contain things i know are deleterious. That's not good enough for optimal nutrition. One can't be sure of what is in restaurant food, even in the best places. I have to do my own cooking -- and if that's not easy for me, it's got to be INCREDIBLY difficult for most other people.
But again, it's time to take things into my own hands once more. For the sake of my health and well-being, nothing less is good enough. Tomorrow is Day One again, and i will be deleting even more -- because self-indulgence only delays achieving what i know to be worthwhile, and indulgence isn't THAT rewarding, after all.
Monday, February 13, 2012
what's working, revisited
I went to bed early last night, and today i feel great! :-) Part of the credit for that, i feel, is the half-dozen raw oysters i had last evening as a first course (the rest of the meal was a lobster tail with butter, roasted okra from the "Paleo Comfort Foods" cookbook, sweetener-free raspberry-orange sorbet and coffee -- yum). We ate comparatively early, which always agrees with me.
I had a few ounces of a good sake with the oysters -- it seemed to call for it! That, or champagne, or vodka.... Now, i haven't added champagne back into my diet yet, as i had "trouble" with chardonnay. On Saturday afternoon i had a short bloody-mary made with a bacon-flavored potato vodka, tomato juice and hot sauce, and i felt draggy the rest of the day. Perhaps even potato-based vodka isn't going to agree with me -- i'll try it again sometime later, in a mixture that doesn't include the nightshades. Sake, though, continues to be comparatively non-toxic.
My discovered "tricks of the trade" may not work with everybody. I strongly suspect that if one's middle-aged body resists weight-loss when all of the "neolithic agents of disease" (NADs) are removed, then low-carb is definitely the way to go. Some people say they've tried it and they felt terrible, but i suspect they weren't eliminating a "sensitive" food that they should have. HOWEVER: i'm not in a position to say they're wrong, either! Not everybody's body functions the same way -- a young, healthy, athletic male body's physiology is entirely different from mine: female, middle-aged, thyroid-challenged, food-sensitivity-ridden, and moderately overweight.
Having discovered, with the help of the Personal Paleo Code, what the worst offenders are against my health and well-being, i can offer this partial list of what helps me most:
I had a few ounces of a good sake with the oysters -- it seemed to call for it! That, or champagne, or vodka.... Now, i haven't added champagne back into my diet yet, as i had "trouble" with chardonnay. On Saturday afternoon i had a short bloody-mary made with a bacon-flavored potato vodka, tomato juice and hot sauce, and i felt draggy the rest of the day. Perhaps even potato-based vodka isn't going to agree with me -- i'll try it again sometime later, in a mixture that doesn't include the nightshades. Sake, though, continues to be comparatively non-toxic.
My discovered "tricks of the trade" may not work with everybody. I strongly suspect that if one's middle-aged body resists weight-loss when all of the "neolithic agents of disease" (NADs) are removed, then low-carb is definitely the way to go. Some people say they've tried it and they felt terrible, but i suspect they weren't eliminating a "sensitive" food that they should have. HOWEVER: i'm not in a position to say they're wrong, either! Not everybody's body functions the same way -- a young, healthy, athletic male body's physiology is entirely different from mine: female, middle-aged, thyroid-challenged, food-sensitivity-ridden, and moderately overweight.
Having discovered, with the help of the Personal Paleo Code, what the worst offenders are against my health and well-being, i can offer this partial list of what helps me most:
- very low carbohydrate diet;
- intermittent fasting;
- sleep! 7-9 hours of it!
- stress control (i use tincture of licorice when feeling overburdened);
- supplements, which are entirely individual, though the Perfect Health Diet website makes some good recommendations;
- high-fat and protein meal early in the day, and any significant amount of carb i allow myself, saved for dinner;
- avoiding EVERYTHING that actively disagrees with me (all the NADs, and more), no matter how much i like it!
- tabata sprints, not too often, and walking, as Mark Sisson says;
- limiting goitrogens;
- not snacking;
- progesterone creme (again, it's individual -- but it helps the thyroid, balances estrogen-dominance, and is NOT CARCINOGENIC, California!)
- ... uh ... i'm sure there's more ... oh yeah, coffee! i think i need another cup.... ;-)
Saturday, February 4, 2012
more indulgence and a postulation
I gotta get back home before i do something (dietary) i'll regret! ;-)
Actually, i wasn't THAT bad last night, and i HAD good intentions (in the absence of sake, i was going to drink a white wine spritzer when we met friends for drinks yesterday evening; who would have thought the barmaid was so incompetent that she couldn't make one). I DID have one or two glasses of wine more than i should have. I DIDN'T have any of the wicked appetizers everyone else was eating. I ordered a steak (came too well-done, sent it back, and got one that was a little less overdone than the first), which came with mashed potatoes, of which i probably ate less than a quarter-cup.
Woke up at 3am -- this was the first time i've done THAT in quite awhile. Took some benedryl and went back to sleep. "Slept hot" again (wine!). After i got up, i felt the need of more benedryl -- whether i should blame the damp weather or the wine, i don't know. Looks like i should drink only sake till it dries out, then try chardonnay again.
I find this interesting -- i hadn't thought that white wine might be an allergen for me.... I suspected red, but not white. This could be significant for weight loss.
Today, i'll be "more good." I put a rump roast in the crockpot, and when it's barely done i'll slice it thinly, make a gravy from the drippings, and put it in the oven to tenderize. The two humongo artichokes will be done by my daughter's recipe, and i'll probably make a cauliflower mash to go along with it. :-) Sounds pretty good, huh?
Incidentally, the banana bread recipe from "Paleo Comfort Foods" turned out great. Amazing, with no added sweetener besides the very-ripe bananas! My daughter, who clings to a reduced-carb version of a low-cal diet, calculated how fattening she should consider it, and it came out a lot more innocent than the Atkins zucchini bread recipe. I don't have any nut-butter on hand here, to spread on it, and i haven't added real butter back in, but the bread is so moist it doesn't really need "lubricating."
Actually, i wasn't THAT bad last night, and i HAD good intentions (in the absence of sake, i was going to drink a white wine spritzer when we met friends for drinks yesterday evening; who would have thought the barmaid was so incompetent that she couldn't make one). I DID have one or two glasses of wine more than i should have. I DIDN'T have any of the wicked appetizers everyone else was eating. I ordered a steak (came too well-done, sent it back, and got one that was a little less overdone than the first), which came with mashed potatoes, of which i probably ate less than a quarter-cup.
Woke up at 3am -- this was the first time i've done THAT in quite awhile. Took some benedryl and went back to sleep. "Slept hot" again (wine!). After i got up, i felt the need of more benedryl -- whether i should blame the damp weather or the wine, i don't know. Looks like i should drink only sake till it dries out, then try chardonnay again.
I find this interesting -- i hadn't thought that white wine might be an allergen for me.... I suspected red, but not white. This could be significant for weight loss.
Today, i'll be "more good." I put a rump roast in the crockpot, and when it's barely done i'll slice it thinly, make a gravy from the drippings, and put it in the oven to tenderize. The two humongo artichokes will be done by my daughter's recipe, and i'll probably make a cauliflower mash to go along with it. :-) Sounds pretty good, huh?
Incidentally, the banana bread recipe from "Paleo Comfort Foods" turned out great. Amazing, with no added sweetener besides the very-ripe bananas! My daughter, who clings to a reduced-carb version of a low-cal diet, calculated how fattening she should consider it, and it came out a lot more innocent than the Atkins zucchini bread recipe. I don't have any nut-butter on hand here, to spread on it, and i haven't added real butter back in, but the bread is so moist it doesn't really need "lubricating."
Friday, January 13, 2012
friday the 13th
EEEK! the dog woke me before 6:00 with an eerie howl in his sleep, and when i stepped on the bathroom scale, i was a pound up from Wednesday (i KNEW there was some inflammatory action going on after that dance class, which equals water weight gain, in me). I guess the best thing to do would be to huddle in bed, buried under the covers, till it's over....
But that ain't gonna happen. When i finish my coffee-drinking, i'm going upstairs to do those tabata sprints i promised myself yesterday, on the stationary bicycle (easier on the once-injured knee). Then i'll go downstairs and defrost and start cooking for the weekend -- oh, and update the honey-do list, because my husband will be back from his business trip this afternoon. He's always happier when he feels needed and has lots to keep him busy.
Tonight i think it'll be the chicken breasts with mushroom sauce and creamed spinach, which he flagged in my "Paleo Comfort Foods" cookbook (by the Mayfields -- i LOVE it). Tomorrow, boeuf bourguignonne with steamed potatoes; last night i decided i probably wouldn't have the same problem i had with the chilis, even though they're both nightshades. I will leave out the tomato paste, however -- maybe add a little tamarind paste instead? Hmmmm....
:-) For the record, Friday the 13th has never meant a thing to me; just something to have fun with. A lot of superstitions seem to have a basis in reality, and others are mere nonsense. Not walking under ladders, for example, sounds like a very good idea, as well as not getting upset about breaking mirrors (they're cheaper than they used to be). I do believe in astrology, though, when you get past simple sun-signs....
But that ain't gonna happen. When i finish my coffee-drinking, i'm going upstairs to do those tabata sprints i promised myself yesterday, on the stationary bicycle (easier on the once-injured knee). Then i'll go downstairs and defrost and start cooking for the weekend -- oh, and update the honey-do list, because my husband will be back from his business trip this afternoon. He's always happier when he feels needed and has lots to keep him busy.
Tonight i think it'll be the chicken breasts with mushroom sauce and creamed spinach, which he flagged in my "Paleo Comfort Foods" cookbook (by the Mayfields -- i LOVE it). Tomorrow, boeuf bourguignonne with steamed potatoes; last night i decided i probably wouldn't have the same problem i had with the chilis, even though they're both nightshades. I will leave out the tomato paste, however -- maybe add a little tamarind paste instead? Hmmmm....
:-) For the record, Friday the 13th has never meant a thing to me; just something to have fun with. A lot of superstitions seem to have a basis in reality, and others are mere nonsense. Not walking under ladders, for example, sounds like a very good idea, as well as not getting upset about breaking mirrors (they're cheaper than they used to be). I do believe in astrology, though, when you get past simple sun-signs....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)