ongoing search for health and fitness

Since i began writing here, things have changed in the paleo blogosphere.  It's kinda funny, really -- some very fervent advocates have deserted the cause, some continuing believers have slowed their rate of publishing, others have largely lost their audiences (you can tell from the volume and variety of commenters), and some "anti's" have crowed that they just KNEW paleo was BS and it was only a matter of time....

Meanwhile, there are still seekers after improved health, some of whom have also moved on to other schemes, and some like me who have experienced improvement but insufficient wellness to satisfy ourselves, who keep tweaking and telling you about it.

Since returning from our son's farm in VA where our dog Spenser picked up a bacterium which nearly was an end to him, both my husband and i have also dealt with some health issues which i can't help but suspect of being related.  J (the last one to catch "something" as he usually is) ended up with what looked like a virus that settled in his lungs, and which he recalls began when i got the super-vacuum that stirred up all the nasty stuff that was living in our bedroom carpet.  I (earlier) got that horrible exacerbation of allergy which i subsequently identified as histamine/tyramine intolerance, which INSPIRED the purchase of the vacuum and bedroom super-air-filter.  My studies into histamine intolerance led me into beginning a study of "chronic fatigue syndrome" -- something i think i've been dealing with for most of my 58 years, but which i've been too "proud" to admit widely.

I haven't even finished reading "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:  a Treatment Guide" but i've learned some interesting things which i'm beginning to put into practice.  Don't get me wrong -- the book is far from perfect (like, the authors aren't very savvy about diet), but i AM a big proponent of looking at the experiences of others and considering whether their tweaks might be helpful to me too.  There's a LOT more reading to do, and i think i can safely promise to keep passing along what i've found valuable and helpful.  ;-)

For now my message is, paleo isn't wrong, it's just incomplete.  "Coincidentally," paleo foods -- "non-neolithic" foods -- ARE lower in toxins than what people have been eating for the last couple of thousand years ... ESPECIALLY the last 100.  A big part of our modern malaise is because:

• "neolithic" diet foods are much higher in histamines, tyramines and salicylates as well as overt toxins;
• modern reliance on antibiotics for TOO MANY things have completely messed up our microbiota;
• "recent" cultural ideals promote health-eroding behavior;
• expecting drugs/medicine to be "the answer" cause society as a whole to hand over our responsibility for wellness to those who have a vested interest in promoting antagonistic practices.

I won't be surprised when i find that few people besides me find this a compelling reason to limit diet and influence behavior.  My biggest problem is knowing that a lot of the suffering around me is self-inflicted, and that although i know my findings COULD help others it will be widely ignored.  :-(

"everywhere i go, there's always an asshole"

It's no secret -- i enjoy movies which my friend Jules and i describe as "charming garbage."  ...The kind which have major flaws but which are enjoyable for the mood you come away with, after seeing them.  They sometimes have a great soundtrack, or abundant eye-candy, or characters who tickle you, or witty dialogue:  whatever!  One such piece of '80s fluff was "Streets of Fire."

One character in it reminds me of my niece, the ex-WAC* -- one of those tough babies with a heart of gold.  She's sitting in a bar chatting with the hero, and the bartender becomes obnoxious, so she punches him out and delivers the line from which i derived today's blog title.

'Cause it's true -- you can't go anywhere without coming in contact with people who are a disgrace to whatever group or profession or hobby they belong to.  For every Chris Masterjohn there's a Stephan Guyenet; for every Sisson or Wolf there's a ... few people who comment on FTA.  ;-)

But to assume that the proverbial spoiled apple is reason to discard the entire containerful is faulty logic.

Speaking for myself, even though i was doing low-carb and getting good results as long as i went low enough, when i committed to a month of strict paleo-style eating ... i couldn't believe how much better i felt!  The stiffness and aches, the inflammation and allergies, the heart arrhythmia, the bloat and the occasional intestinal woes cleared up in a miraculous way.  Clearly -- those foods which have been labeled "neolithic" by my favorite paleoblogospheric writers ARE problematic for me:  gluten grains, seed oils, and even some kinds of dairy products.

THIS MUCH smoke indicates a fire somewhere -- the tiny smudge emanating from a guru's incense-burner can't be mistaken for what i'm seeing.

And now that i'm home again, i'm going back on the whole-30-style wagon.  (I would say strong-medicine-wagon, except that i anticipate eating eggs as well as my meat, coffee and "yellow vegetables.")  I anticipate feeling less like a bloated manatee within the week.
_____
* dating myself with the use of obsolete terminology again....

potty mouth

The scale is down a LITTLE from yesterday, but more progress is to come.  Right now, i'm here to talk shit about vegetables!

;-)

Just like with the Salad of Doom a few months ago, the increased "good" vegetable fiber i had over the last week is STILL making me feel weighted-down.  The paleo world is inclined to damn the insoluble fiber from grains -- it's like taking a wood-rasp to your villi, they say -- but to praise in very CW-like fashion the soluble stuff in fruits and vegetables.  My colon begs to differ.

Just like Donaldson said, when i'm eating a diet of meat and fat i don't have a retention problem -- my gastrointestinal system is like a greased chute.  I would be tempted to say that it IS a greased chute, except for the fact the fats are ABSORBED, not just sent straight through.  But although i'm eating my usual healthy quantity of nutritious satfats and omega-3s, they're not able to do ONE of their jobs ... because of the interference of the foods that Mark claims should be the major part of my diet.

If i ate "mostly plants" as ALMOST EVERYONE says, i'd be utterly miserable.  There's no excuse for needing additions of magnesium or probiotics or such aids to push out the waste-products!  Thank god i finished the soup last night, which was merely flavored with a small quantity of carrots, onions, celery and mushrooms -- today will be solid meat, fat and coffee, just what has a track-record of making me feel good!

a paleo reminiscence

When i first started exploring a reduced-toxin lifestyle, i read a little bit about the questionable ingredients in personal-care products.  I figured a lot of the hype was overblown, although staying away from "chemicals" that are known to be deleterious can only be a good idea.  After all, we KNOW that toxins as well as beneficial substances can easily be absorbed through the skin -- look at how often epsom salt baths are recommended!

I tried a few old-fashioned recipes for hair and skin care, etc.  First i tried shampooing with baking soda and found it unappealing, until i added a vinegar rinse, at which point it was ... acceptable.  Works in a pinch, at any rate.  Then i tried Bronner's soap (peppermint) and vinegar, and i LIKED that.  My hair wasn't as soft, but it felt stronger and i noticed that i shed less.  It cleansed my scalp much better than soda did.

I did that for well over a year, then kinda fell off the wagon when i was traveling so much -- i started using hotel shampoos.  :-P  But it's EASY, you don't have to pack as much stuff (and with my supplement list, i pack a lot already), and one's hair ends up softer and shinier ... but with FRIZZIES when the air is humid.

Well, it's been damp here the last couple of days.  Last night we had quite a storm, and i feared i'd need to turn the a/c back on, it was so steamy.  This morning my hair desperately needed washing -- so i went back to the Bronner's and vinegar!  Frizzies -- under control.  My hair feels thicker and denser, which just shows me how commercial shampoos strip the oils away.

I think i'll stick with the low-tech products.  Putting more Bronner's and vinegar on the shopping list....

what is it about plant foods?

This is Day Two of dealing with one of those annoying little upticks of the scale....

On Wednesday, i had to go out into the world, and i thought it was about time for the mini-binge which customarily does good things for me.  I lunched at a certain restaurant which offers a very good taco salad, and included some guacamole and sour cream instead of a commercial dressing.  I didn't get anything so wicked as a sweet-sour-laden margarita -- oh, no!  I had ONE glass of a pleasant, civilized red wine.  Next morning, i wasn't surprised that the scale had stagnated, and just hit the half-caf hard, thinking that would run the water out of my body.  I finished the take-home box of salad-and-guac; no 'rita, no chips.  Supper was a tin of sardines and a glass of wine.

The scale should have been down this morning.  It was up.  Two days in a row, i had a significant quantity of lettuce, a small amount of other salad vegetables, moderate animal protein and maybe an ounce of cheese (just on Wednesday).  I didn't exceed 1350 calories (estimated, since i didn't compile the recipes) the second day, or 1600 the first.

I swear, if i had lettuce in the fridge, i'd do a day of nothing else, and i bet the scale would be up again tomorrow.  What is it about plant foods that makes my body misbehave so?

In "Strong Medicine," Donaldson says, "Green vegetables can contain unknown irritants, aside from additive sprays, that bother some of us a great deal. Annoying intestinal gases or joint pains or sudden elevations of blood pressure may all stop when such patients are deprived of green vegetables. I have one family who love asparagus and have a big patch of it to feast on during the season. The whole family run elevated blood pressures at that time."  Now, the intestinal gases we can explain very easily, but the other symptoms he mentions are a little more mysterious in their etiology.*

He goes on to say, "No one knows why the yellow vegetables seem better tolerated by children who have a background of eczema. Onions and beets and celery can sometimes be used with no apparent ill effect, but yellow vegetables always seem to be safer, perhaps because they aren't sprayed."  Unfortunately, he doesn't list the items he characterizes as "yellow" but by inference he seems to include carrots, corn, winter squash and turnips.  He praises real sweet potatoes and the better varieties of white ones.  You'll notice that most of these foodstuffs either grow underground, or have some kind of protective "casing".

Dare i take a leap of intuition and suggest that above-ground plants (green ones) produce more self-protective toxins than edible portions which, being underground, don't need to conduct chemical warfare as much?

Amongst zero-carb enthusiasts, it's postulated that there are enough plant toxins in vegetables to make them poor choices for those of us who are sensitive.  In fact, the antioxidant chemicals, ironically labeled "protective," seem to be the ones that irritate us most.  Proponents of hormesis say these substances do us good BECAUSE they irritate us; although some people may benefit from it, i'm not sure we all do.

When doing my research on what foods are goitrogenic, a staggering array of "healthy" foods become distinctly deleterious.  As a hypothyroid, i should avoid most of the "green leafy" things that every health-fiend from vegan to paleo can agree to ... agree to.  ;-)  Broccoli, kale, apples -- kiss 'em goodbye!  Oh, they're okay if i boil the hell out of them, though....

I believe that plant toxins are a big reason why Atkins and Paleo/Primal only give outstanding results when people come to them from the SAD.  Getting the virulent poisons out of your diet only gets you part of the way.  The chronic trace poisoning that people love so much is what stands between some of us and real health.

__________

*  i have my suspicions....  more on that later.

PROTEIN!

When it comes to figuring out our optimal macronutrient intake, we get reports of a wide range of ideals.  Most agree, limiting protein becomes important when the low-hanging-fruit of the controlled-carb diet has been harvested.  Once you've cut all the carbohydrate-rich foods you're willing to forgo, reducing the amount of protein-foods adds that extra fillip necessary to get the fat burning again.  More fat is added to the diet, and the scale starts measuring downward anew.

This seems to be pretty universally applicable in the LC community.  The truism that low-carbing allows ad-libitum meat-eating is, like most of its logical kin, only true up to a point.  Ideally, eating the appropriate meats will fill you up long before fat-burning is threatened, but in practice (especially as one approaches one's goal) it seems to be easy for some people to take in too much.

There seems to be one great big exception, though -- the closer to zero-carb you go, the more protein you NEED.  Even though it's been documented that the body CAN make glucose out of fat, it appears to be easier for it to do so with protein.

Also, there are many beneficial effects of insulin that are stimulated in the ZC enthusiast by protein metabolism.  Insulin is far from being "the enemy" to people who have trained their bodies to burn fat and ketones as the primary fuels!  Going ultra-low-carb induces physiological insulin-resistance in muscle cells, particularly.  To drive amino acids into cells for muscle-building (important in us old broads), we do need a bit of an insulin spike from time to time.

And it seems to work spontaneously.  My husband, neighbors and local acquaintances see me too often to notice those body changes which happen over time, but when i was with some friends in the spring who hadn't seen me since last autumn, i was made aware of something:  after a round of hugs, somebody said, "You're turning into quite a hardbody, aren't you?"  I was surprised -- i have been very remiss when it comes to intentionally seeking a gain in strength.  My goal is ENERGY ("vitality") gain as well as fat loss.  It got me thinking....

Just as "the paleo diet becomes the fail-eo diet if you don't add enough fat," a ZC diet is not going to be healthy without sufficient protein.  And ironically, it may be all about the insulin.

yet another new beginning

All my socializing and gadding about seems to be over for awhile, so i start being perfect again tomorrow.  I know, i know -- i meant to do this exact thing last week, but it was easier said than done.  It's awfully hard to eat simply when someone else's tastes and appetites are to be considered too.  Also, my husband likes to cook, and it's darned difficult not to eat what he prepares -- you can imagine....

I started being more disciplined today (yesterday we were the guests of some friends, and i was pretty wicked). We had bacon, scrambled duck eggs*, buttered paleo toast and coffee for brunch, and after i returned from taking him to the airport, i had my beef and decaf for dinner, then had the last glass of red wine in the carafe -- waste not, want not!  Tomorrow it's back on the Strong Medicine regimen, because it controls hunger better than any means i know -- and having been corrupted with too many carbs over the past day or two, i BADLY need to get hunger back under control.  Right now, i've got a pretty bad case of the munchies ... which i will NOT yield to!

Tomorrow it's to be all meat and coffee, and i have a treat lined up -- a pastured pork roast that should last me at least four meals.  YUMMMMM!  I can see the scales readings going down already!

_____
*  it surprises me that duck eggs haven't become the new magical food in the paleo world -- they're marvelous things, containing more nutrients than chicken eggs ounce for ounce, and more yummy fat, too!

between the battles

I wanted to refresh my memory on something that J Stanton wrote quite a while ago, and of course ended up reading more than just that one article.  I also reread "Why Are We Here..." and came up with another good answer to that question, in the light of other bloggers' recent columns:  i often read Gnolls.org and Hyperlipid and some others because it's RESTFUL to do so.  I sit back and read and learn with the confidence that these people have done their homework, and are intellectually honest enough to tell it like it is, rather than how they would like it to be.  I don't have the feeling they're trying to sell me something at every turn.

As long as i stay out of the comment section (or just read them selectively), i never see BS that insults my intelligence.  I never read anything that screams "rebut this."

When one eats in a way that flouts convention and its "wisdom," one gets very, very tired of explaining things to those who would like one to conform.  Now, when i had a chance to explain paleo/ancestral food theory to my niece this last spring, it was far from tedious because she was actually interested.  She may or may not do anything with the ideas i introduced, but that's her affair -- she's intelligent and fully capable of researching it on her own if she likes.  But to others (especially older people, i note), who seem to be incapable of thinking that "authority" could possibly be wrong ... it's utterly pointless.  They eat meals that are nothing but "sugar molecules holding hands" and "food-grade paint thinner" and refuse to think that their physical ills (and they have many) could have anything to do with their diets.  It's the epitome of frustration to me.

I hate to see people killing themselves with diet, especially people i love.  NOTICE:  if i pester you about your food choices, it means i CARE.  But don't imagine that i'm having fun doing it.

It offends me to hear bad advice given to people who need to be careful about what they eat -- it brings out the She Bear in my nature.  So to remove the temptation to get out the repeating rifle and climb a tall tower, i don't EVER visit certain websites, especially the ones full of healthywholegrains and vitriol.  I leave it to the Lords of Karma to give them their just desserts -- pun intended.

No -- at times like these i go to the sites where my sense of outrage is never aroused.  Bastions of cool, gracious intellect.  It's almost as though i'm sitting with them in a shady place with a great view, and there's a glass of wine at my elbow, and nobody says anything stupid.  Ahhhhh.

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.

eat to live

:-)  This is not a new idea.

Somehow, i've gotten the impression that some people look on dietary plans as contests, in which the winner is s/he who gets to consume the most yummy stuff while maintaining an acceptable weight.  I think this point of view is problematic.

"Ha ha!" laughs the imp sitting on my left shoulder, "You should talk!  You're constantly thinking and reading and writing about food!"

"Thinking, reading and writing -- not eating and planning to eat.  I think there's a significant difference," i retort, as i flick the little bastard off and encourage my faithful Spenser to tear it apart....

I LOVE to eat yummy stuff.  When my husband was spending so much time working in New Orleans, Spense and i frequently drove down (okay -- Spense didn't help with the driving; no opposable thumbs, you know...), and DESTROYED our diets with the best food America has to offer*.  I could sing paeons of praise to the baguettes at Croissant d'Or (but FORGET the pathetic excuse of a beignet at that touristy Cafe place...).  Sad thing, though -- the rest of my body didn't enjoy it as much as my tastebuds did.

When you're not so young anymore, and your body wants to get fatter and slower and more painful, BUT YOUR MIND DOESN'T WANT IT TO, a compromise has to be struck.  Mind and Tastebuds get together and say, "there's a lot that we both approve of -- let's work on that."  Knees, intestines, and thyroid say, "THANK YOU!!!"  The baguette is bought by somebody else, while my miscellaneous parts get to enjoy a muffaletta omelette for breakfast, oysters, turtle soup, sweetbreads, more oysters, steaks, fish, wine, veggies, MORE oysters, and that excellent coffee for dessert -- *sigh*....

The virtue i've always found in low-carb eating is, hunger is conquered.  Slow mindful enjoyment of well-chosen food satisfies appetite with moderate quantity.  Having taught my body to use fat as its primary fuel, the every-two-hour urge that (20 years ago) had me prowling to the refrigerator to find something to devour no longer exists.  Morning coffee accompanied by unconsciously-burned body fat fills me up till late morning, when a meal featuring protein and some fat with a garnish of something plant-based satisfies me till early evening, and another similar meal keeps me happy till the next morning renews the cycle -- and all the while i haven't had that haunting urge to nibble!  It's almost magical.

Low-carb paleo food has "normalized" my relationship with what i eat, i believe.  I concentrate on subjects i study without visions of snacks intruding themselves.  I go about my everyday tasks without meal-timing being an issue.  I'm not limited by frequent calls by my body and gut-bugs to energy replenishment, because my food is built in, so to speak.  And considering my genetic heritage and time of life, the chance that i'll get so thin that this will all change is small-to-none.

So when people say, "it IS possible to gain weight by eating a low-carb diet," i have to wonder WHAT and HOW MUCH they are eating!  No doubt -- yes, it is possible.  But if one isn't trying to maximize the amount they CAN eat -- not trying to eat the most elaborate dishes, comprised of things like nuts and cream -- it'll be darned hard.  If most every day, one is eating normal-sized meals of REAL FOOD, it's not likely to happen, even with an occasional FEAST.  (And when i say "feast" i'm thinking of the Commander's Palace....  OMG, how i miss N'Orleans!)
_____
* in my humble opinion!  ;-)

why "paleo," particularly?

Calling what i eat "paleo" is just a convenient shortcut.  Technically, this stuff wasn't around in the literally paleolithic period -- but that really doesn't matter. 

Yes, we've adapted tremendously with the changing eons.  Yes, we're also very little different from the first hominids, on the cellular level.  (We seem to feel the need to reconcile these -- but why?  I liken it to religious people of the past, who were desperate to view themselves as "special," above the "animals" ... but was it so they'd feel okay about their inhumanity to any creature they considered lower than themselves?  I have my suspicions, but that's not in the scope of what i'm writing about today.  ...Boy, am i good at going off on tangents!)

Calling my diet "paleo" is mostly to set it apart from what we tend to perceive as neolithic -- grains, dairy, legumes, sugars of various sorts, modern fruits bred for increased sweetness, "industrial seed oils" and so on.  Another blogger describes these as "neolithic agents of disease," -- probably the most inspired thing he's ever written.  Other people prefer the descriptor "ancestral" to describe their preferred foodways, but that's pretty loose in my opinion.  I've been known to use the expression "low toxicity" to describe my ideal foods, too.

The crux of the matter is, certain foods have a bad track record when widely used in the human diet.  For centuries, "rich men's diseases" have been described and, though the actual mechanism of what's to blame wasn't always correctly identified at the time, it was ALWAYS one of the NADs.  In the past, certain NADs were INTENTIONALLY prescribed for the disrupting influence it has on the body (look up Kellogg, and monastic use of soy products, for info on their attempts to squelch sexual interest...).  That book which i continue to recommend, "Strong Medicine," makes it clear that in the early to mid 20th century, many such foods were considered problematic by thinking physicians like Blake Donaldson.

Curiously enough, when i began seeking to improve my thyroid function through diet, the foods which i repeatedly found troublesome turned out to be "neolithic" ones.  These foods also tend to be the things that put weight on me.  That made it easy -- i simply came to declare that "neolithic" foods are not my friends.

Over the past year, people have been deserting the paleolithic ship, right and left (and their squabbles have given "paleos" a bad name).  I have a whole list of reasons why i think this happened, but again, that's not my theme today.  People have been adding carbs and shouting from the housetops how happy they are....  I think they'll be back, though i've no doubt they'll be calling their "diet du jour" something else, when they do.  Eventually they'll find that "neolithic" foods cause them more problems than "paleo" foods do, simply because of the nature of the beast -- a higher toxin load.

But i STILL won't go back to reading their stuff -- they've proven that their judgement isn't reliable, by their recent goings-on.  ...Have you noticed, though, that even after they've recanted their previous declarations of faith, they're still hanging around the "paleo blogosphere"?  ;-)

***
P.S. -- I've been following rabbit trails again, and i want to recommend a post by Robb Wolf!  Seems like he was inspired by a similar spirit to the one that inspired me....

rolling in his grave

Poor Dr. Atkins!  What has happened to his company since he died....  The man wasn't perfect, for heaven's sake -- but the good he did in spreading the low-carb word is being DESTROYED by the greedy idiots who have been directing the course of his legacy since he went to his reward. 

Before i discovered the "metabolic advantage," i tried to manage my weight by means of "conventional wisdom" -- that is to say, i starved myself till i couldn't stand it any more, then lost ground when i started to eat like everyone around me.  As with everyone else, every attempt at weight loss was less productive than the time before.  I don't remember what inspired me to pick up his book, but it changed my life, and for the better.

I used to be constantly hungry on low-fat, even when my stomach was full; low-carb solved that.  I realize now, from all i've read over the past few years, that i may have been replete with water-soluble vitamins, but woefully lacking in the rest -- not to mention minerals!  I began supplementing a few things RA recommended (and my physician added Iodoral as well), and my health improved as my waistline contracted.

He died only a year or two after i started his diet plan -- before i learned that a lot of ingredients in his shakes and bars were things i didn't want in my body.  I like to think that he would have authorized a reformulation of them, had he lived:  who knows!  But i'm reasonably certain he would NOT have gone down the popularization/inclusivism road which the company has followed, since.  Really:  the new Atkins "revolution" not only makes it look like all the others ("you CAN have cookies!") ... or maybe even worse.

What foils the usual low-carb dieter, if s/he gets past Induction in the first place, is playing with all the "toys" which give them the illusion of eating their cake and having it too -- and i'm using this expression advisedly.  All the treats, snacks and faux meals are NOT going to fix the broken behaviors and metabolisms that most dieters of ALL SORTS bring to the table (pun intended).

The big difference between "paleo low-carbing" and Atkins-style LC is not just the latter's inclusion of chemical cheats (including all the soy), or that the treats keep alive the perceived "need" of cookies, candy, etc.  Really -- this is the shortcoming of lots of other diets (**cough**WW**cough**) my friends have tried and ultimately failed with:  they don't retrain the appetite and personal habits.

PaleoLC's advantage is the lack of ravenous appetite which is spurred by the semi-carb shortcuts.  Eating natural food helps restore a natural appetite -- and i'm not talking about natural almonds ground up and mixed with natural honey and natural eggs and natural mineral salts to make a natural CAKE....

(GRRRRR!)

divergent goals

Methinks there are several different main "populations" of individuals who have interest in the paleo/ancestral realm of health ... and each of them has separate, if overlapping, end-results in mind.  The lack of understanding between them can be breathtaking.  My imagination envisions it as being like a Brit, an Aussie, and a Texan all speaking their particular jargon; everyone is technically speaking English dialects, but it sure sounds like different languages.

I belong to the subgroups of "middle aged," "hypothyroid," "female," and "eat-less-move-more doesn't work anymore," of the larger set "wanting to lose weight." 

I read a variety of websites, some of which are more focused on the goals of groups with which i do NOT share characteristics:  "younger" (note, i did not say YOUNG, just youngER), "male," "never overweight," "desiring less than 10% body-weight," and "for whom, long hard workouts and rigorous calorie-apportioning are reasonable tools."  I don't assume that their advice will be useful to me as stated, but i occasionally pick up info with which i can do something.  It's distinctly possible that, among themselves, the usefulness of the prescribed regimen is generally applicable, but it's unthinkable that it might be widely important to the entire population of "wanting to lose weight."

One distinct group amongst the paleo/ancestral crowd is that which is not interested in personal weight loss, but in the theory of it.  These folks don't actually deal with overweight human bodies at all; most of them have never had a true PROBLEM with their own weight (even if they may have been a little chubby in the past), nor have they helped such a person manage obesity, as did Atkins and Donaldson, and current bloggers such as Kresser, Sharma and Briffa.  These researchers usually spend their time mulling over rodents, or other people's studies of humans.  Again, it's sometimes possible to glean immediately-useful information from their blogs, but most of it is either hypothetical, or extremely technical and over my head (note the addition of Lucas Tafur to my blog-list...) -- that's okay, i'm not the audience he's addressing, anyway.

Another group comprises people with illness, who are seeking relief that allopathic medicine has failed to deliver.  They have my respect and best wishes; they are those who are willing to ACT rather than passively drug themselves and die.  Their paths are frequently very instructive.

We make a mistake when we try to lump everyone together and generalize what is best for everybody -- outside the obvious things like "junk food is problematic for health."  ;-)  In Mr. Tafur's words, "...people who already have developed an inflammatory and/or autoimmune disorder respond differently to any diet. This means that the response to a diet is individual, and more importantly, in this case, the starting point is not a natural one."  People's tolerances vary widely.

Don't tell me i'll do better with more carbs in my diet.  Tried it -- doesn't work.

indulgence and irony

At the four-week-point weigh-in yesterday, results were disappointing but nothing to discourage me from continuing with the paleo program.  If my weight loss has stalled, part of the problem is the inflammation in my injured knee, and additionally, all the travel has encouraged water retention.  Nevertheless, i DID give myself permission to anticipate the 30-day minimum of perfect conduct:  i went out for sushi with my daughter and three friends at Chitsuru in Houston, and i had a great evening -- with sake.

I perused the menu before going -- i always like to do that when trying a new restaurant.  Sometimes, it's just impossible to read a menu with full comprehension when people are around.  I pretty well decided what i was going to eat beforehand (pending changes of mood or an enticing special...), and ended up sticking to my conclusion:  hot sake, pickled vegetables, mackerel sashimi, yellowtail, and a rice-free roll with cucumber, masago, avocado and eel.

With the first nibble of my appetizer, i was sold on this place!  I have never been a pickle enthusiast -- the nasty, vinegary stuff that comes in jars at the local supermarket has ALWAYS left me cold -- but sometimes ethnic restaurants have pleasant surprises in that department.  This outshone the best.  True lacto-fermented radish, squash, and a sweetish mystery vegetable truly blew me away.  Not only were they delicious, but my digestive tract has been thanking me ever since.  :-)

The mackerel was wonderful -- mild and meaty.  Whoever thinks mackerel is exceptionally strong, obviously hasn't had it prepared or handled right.  The yellowtail was delectable and beautifully presented.  The roll was delicious as well -- gave me a taste of the eel i love without a big dose of the "naughty" sauce that frequently accompanies it.  A taste of Gina's seaweed salad proves that this restaurant does THAT well, too.  Chitsuru is going to be a return-to place whenever i'm visiting here!

That said ... I WAS NAUGHTY.  I drank sake and used a little soy sauce (i asked after tamari, but it was not to be had).  I also had a couple of tastes of the rolls my daughter and a friend had ordered (i.e., i had a little rice).  I rationalized to myself that the small amount of sugar from the eel and the digestion of the tablespoon or two of rice was not significant, in that i had no fruit yesterday.  I "know" rice to be non-toxic to me (part of the reason why i ordered sake instead of chardonnay).  There IS no excuse for the soy sauce, though.

Last night, i didn't sleep quite so soundly as i have been doing since i arrived in Texas.  I tossed a little, and "slept hot" (had to keep my feet out from under the covers), and had another of my trademark "interesting" dreams -- i credit the sake for that.  I frequently feel hot while metabolizing off alcohol as fuel (the body has to burn it before sugar or fat, because it can't be stored).

The ultimate irony, though -- i stepped on the scales to survey the damage this morning, and found myself two pounds lower than yesterday.  It seems like an encouragement to vice, but i'm not going to fall for it.

survived....

I lived through the weekend both literally and figuratively (my living-history characters didn't have anything unpleasant happen to them...).  :-)

One VERY interesting thing leapt out at me during my long drive south -- when i stopped for gas and "essentials" at the 5-hour mark and got out of the car, i had none of the stiffness i usually feel after sitting still so long.  NONE!  Completely amazing!  I used to step out of the car and have to flex myself before hobbling about my business, but not this time.  I moved around with normal agility.  Of all the improvements my paleo diet had made over three weeks, this was a delightful surprise.

Today, however, was a whole 'nother ball of wax.  All the walking, carrying things, and standing around in shoes of the period-correct sort left my legs full of sore muscles.  I also got a bit sleep-deprived, even though fun-deprivation got caught-up-with.  I can happily live with the trade-off!

off into the wild

I've got a living history event this weekend -- YEA!  I'm heading out to Texas to play Old West with a bunch of friends.  This is one of those events that people outside the hobby almost never hear about, because these have no spectators and are not publicized; we "play" with and for only each other.  Imagine three to five dozen actors of various degrees of competence, dressed in appropriate period style, in a good-sized permanent town of more than a score of buildings.  We have a boarding house, a large barn, church, mercantile, three saloons, marshal's office with jail, two bunkhouses, various businesses and a few dwellings.

A lot of fun, and a lot of work.... 

I've spent a lot of the last two days in the kitchen, preparing paleo-appropriate food for the highway -- also the weekend's food, for when the meals provided won't be edible by those of us who eschew the "neolithic agents of disease."  Recipes out of the "Paleo Comfort Foods" cookbook feature prominently.

This event will be the only one i've ever attended while on the wagon -- THAT part is a grief!  I'll be drinking San Pelegrino water with a sliver of lime.  <Sigh>

Back soon!  Have a great weekend!  (I will.)

here. NOW.

Well, i did it!  Although i don't believe in new years' resolutions, I'm committing to a "path", my journey for ... as long as i bloody well feel like it!  Correction -- as long as i think it holds promise.  :-)

Lots of spurs led me here, not least of which was the book i began reading last night, The Flinch, by Julien Smith (thank you for introducing it, Richard!).  I realize how much my life has been formed by "pain avoidance".  My biggest character fault, i believe, is a lack of self-confidence, keeping me from leaping whole-heartedly into a lot of different things, from hobbies to life-significant pursuits.  I won't go into details about how i think i LOST said confidence....

Suffice it to say, i'm ready to leap NOW.  This blog is part of it.  Another part is, i started Chris Kresser's Personal Paleo Code program this morning.  I'm going to be PERFECT for a solid month.  No dairy, no liquor, no soda....  I suspect that cheese will call my name the loudest.

So i'm committing myself publicly, here.  NOW.