Back in the Saddle!

I did it! We all know what to think when we hear the phrase "The diet starts Monday!" But I actually did it this time!

As you might have read in the previous post, I had a bit of a bumpy start to this Paleo endeavor. But every day is a chance for a fresh start!

Monday morning, the only things I had in the fridge were a head of lettuce and some fruits. I also like to stash almonds at work, so as far as scrounging days go, I've had worse.

I was good yesterday. I stayed away from temptation during the day and resolved to shop properly after work.

I rode my bike to and from work, too, which made me feel like a bonus level champ. A very TIRED champ. Day one of Paleo, I felt very drained for a good chunk of the day. I wonder if it was psychosomatic, or if I legitimately felt some sort of rice withdrawal. I have no clue. Maybe one monster head of lettuce isn't enough fuel for a person to live on for a couple hours. Whatever the reason, I felt really burned out after my ride home. So I took a day-nap, which I never do, and I didn't hit the food store until late on Monday.

But when I did, I hit it HARD!

Broccoli, green peppers, tomatoes, 4 cuts of steak, 2 pounds of chicken, bacon (YEEEESSSS!!!), lettuce, raspberries, pears, bananas, and a head of red cabbage. I've never cooked a red cabbage. It was on sale. What better time to try!

The shopping was the easy part. The subsequent "kitchen prep" was grueling.

But I was not deterred! I threw on the Nerdist podcast and for the next three episodes, I washed, sorted, cut, cleaned, packed, seasoned, and froze every last scrap of the treasures I'd bought. I'm pretty sure I'm all set for at LEAST a week. Definitely longer on the meat, but veggies don't keep as long.

For dinner, after all this work, I made myself a beef and green pepper stir fry with cut up tomatoes on the side. My only sin was soy sauce on the meat, which, woopsie, I didn't read until later was on the no no list. Agh! But it wasn't even a whole tablespoon, so I'm letting it go.

I also prepped lunch for work today -- broccoli and raspberries and bananas. Which, I guess sounds more meager than it felt like to me. Full disclosure, I'm wired funny when it comes to broccoli. Always was. I absolutely love the stuff. I bought 4 giant domes of it and it might not be enough. I like eating it just as it is. (Hey man, everyone's got their thing.)

Today was a good day, too. I had stuck to the lunch I prepared and I had a tomato salad for dinner. There was an event at work and I did have some chicken. Not a criminal sin, I think :-) I had tons more energy overall today, and the bike ride home was awesome. I rode pretty fast and I felt great.

I left some beef out from yesterday for dinner tonight, but I didn't feel like eating it. I read somewhere that eating Paleo was like that sometimes. Some days you feel like eating everything on the planet, while others, you don't feel hungry at all. They encourage people to eat when they're hungry instead of sticking to a schedule.

I don't agree with that. That's fine out in the boonies or on a hiking trail. But there is a lot of research that shows that eating just one meal at the same time every day can dramatically help improve your results for losing (or maintaining) weight. Over time, your body will learn when it's about to be fed, and you'll naturally retain less in fat stores as a result. It's a big help in regulating your metabolism.

I already eat a lot of my food on a schedule, just because that's what fits my day. I started it deliberately, years ago, and it helped me lose weight. It's a habit I never gave up. At this point, my metabolism is trained pretty well, so I genuinely get hungry at predictable hours. (I suppose that works out for me then :-)) But I definitely encourage anyone out there trying to lose weight to try eating at least one meal on the clock, no matter what your dietary poison is, and no matter how you're feeling. I promise you won't be sorry.

After work, I went back to the store today to pick up eggs, red peppers, avocados, onions, an eggplant and a pineapple.

I tried making a pineapple banana smoothie once a while back, and it was DELICIOUS. Incredibly filling, too. So when I saw the pineapple at the store today, I couldn't resist.

The eggplant, much like the red cabbage, is going to be a totally new experience. I like experiments!

Speaking of which, I'm thinking of trying to make a coconut and egg tortilla. I can't handle this 'no bread' thing forever, I'm going to start experimenting with what almond meal and coconut flour can really do! Someone mentioned omelets in one of the forums, it sparked an idea for a recipe I'm going to try later this week. I will, of course, report my findings. :-)

It feels good to be on track!
I mean, so far, right? It's only day 2. Har har har....

False Start, A.K.A., "The Bachelor Party"

This past weekend I got a chance to visit with friends and family I hadn't seen in forever and a day. So my grand, ambitious plans for food prep in committing to this Paleo thing got.... uhm, deferred.

What did I eat, you ask?
Oh, pretty much everything on the do-not-eat list. And it was GLORIOUS.

Ice cream, pizza, toast, maple syrup covered pancakes, sausages, sandwiches, rice, noodles, ravioli, sauces, more ice cream, more toast (PS, 15 grain), and then MORE ice cream. But there was salad and beef in there, too! THAT's Paleo, right?

Ok, ok! Let's just call it... the bachelor party before the wedding.

Everyone was totally calling me on it while I was enjoying all this deliciousness, too. Which I absolutely deserved. Among the quips, however, some interesting questions came up.

Dairy is verboten, so why is butter allowed?
According to this article I found, the structure of butter is very similar to healthy animal saturated fat. Interesting. Sounds like it could just be an elegant excuse to cheat, but if they say it's ok, I'm taking it.

Is Maple Syrup allowed? Technically, cavemen could chew on trees if they wanted to...
I had to look this one up. Yes, it's allowed. (Not that processed chemical stuff, though, obviously.) Real maple syrup, like Agave nectar and honey, can be gathered and is therefore allowed.

Oatmeal is healthy. So why is it not allowed on Paleo?
Turns out this is quite the debate! This article in particular has lots of voices chiming in about the pros and cons. Arguments against oatmeal include that it's technically a grain, it's high in carbs, fiber (how is this a con?), and it contains something called phytic acid, which most grains have and which is really bad for your digestive tract. Also, apparently, other wheat gluten contaminates oatmeal during the processing stages.

One proponent of oatmeal consumption offers a recipe for clearing the gluten out. (Same article above, second comment down.) It reads like a chem project and takes 24 hours to complete. I... I think I'll just skip the oatmeal for now....

To Salt or not to Salt?
Funny story, salt is another point of debate. The loudest anti-salt argument says that salt was technically not available to cavemen. My first thought is that I'm pretty sure anyone near any ocean knew that the big waters were salty. I like to think someone thought to dip a bit of dried meat into it and see what happened. Or maybe dropped it in by accident and was the first ever user of the '5-second-rule'.
And even if they didn't...
My second thought is that if we're determining whether foods should be labeled Paleo or not based on their availability, I could easily argue that any number of Paleo foods should be stricken from the list because of the limited regions in which those foods grow. So, booyah. I'm keepin' my salt.

As I run into more and more questions like this, I'm realizing that this diet's rules are somewhat open to interpretation. The whole idea that butter is okay because it's like an animal fat, sounds shady to me. If you think about it, isn't that how we got to this processed-food society in the first place? Splenda is like sugar and Lean Cuisine is like real food. Crisco is like Lard. (Crisco is also like plastic, but let's not go there.)

So I'll try to stick to the basics my own way and see what happens. Last weekend might have been a false start, but you know what? It wasn't a binge and I have absolutely no regrets!!!!!

Yesterday I went food shopping and got this project actually rolling as I planned. I'll report on that next. :-)

The Adventures Begin!

So I decided to give this Paleo thing a try. I've heard a lot about it, a couple people at work tried it and report good things, so I was already interested. I started this blog to record my journey without being "That Guy" who spams my friends' Facebook feeds. :-p

The basic idea of the eating plan is that you eat what a Paleolithic caveman would eat. (Thus, "Paleo"). Basically, if you can hunt it or gather it, you can eat it. 

There's so much more info about Paleo out there! Pages upon pages that go into all the sciency reasons for avoiding legumes and wheats and grains... articles describing processed sugars and carbohydrates and lipids in dairy... Some info I believe. Some I don't. (One page said cavemen didn't have wine. Come on! You know that almost as soon as the first berry was plucked off the first shrub, someone accidentally fermented it ;-p) 

Anyway, every bit of that research was engaging for a bookworm like me. Enough to blow the mind and burn many hours in front of a computer. And, now that I know there's no one golden recipe playbook, I've at least done enough reading to build my own plan of attack :-)

Rule Number One: Diet changes aren't supposed to be too crazy unless you're asking for yo-yo results. 

My friends were giggling to me that this Paleo thing was going to be a bit hard to adopt. They're right. 

Here's a shortlist of the stuff you can't eat:

• grains (including oatmeal)
• breads (unless you made it from a Paleo recipe! yay, loophole!)
• any type of alcohol (siiiigh)
• all legumes (including peanuts)
• junk food, sodas (which, well, duh)
• all processed sugars
• all packaged/pre-made desserts & meals -- basically, anything that comes out of a box or bag
• all dairy
• all nut oils, vegetable oils, and mystery oils (what the heck is 'canola' anyway?)

What you can eat:

• vegetables
• meats
• eggs
• fruits (not a lot)
• nuts (not a lot)
• coffee (black), tea, water
• coconut oil & olive oil & some nut oils.

(This site has more details if you like.)

I'm lucky to be starting where I am. For a lot of people, giving up cookies and chips and soda and crackers is a monstrous ask. I've been there. It took a while, but nowadays I try to eat healthier, so those things are already wired as "treats" in my brain.

For me, the biggest ask now is giving up oatmeal and peanut butter. And, of course, bread. I mean, bread??? Aaaaagh!

Now What?

Last week I ate all the cereals and breads I had kicking around, all the leftovers of pastas and cookies, freezer-burned ice cream, and all the other delicious nom noms I either cooked or bought -- all gone. My kitchen is a bare canvas. I am ready.

This weekend I start my game plan. Phase one: food shopping! Veggies and meats and fruits. I'm going to spend a lot of time prepping my kitchen Gordon Ramsey style. Chopping up chicken, tossing supplies into the freezer so I don't have to invent every single meal this week. Pre-cutting veggies now so I don't grumble later. My goal is to plan out easy access to deliciousness so I don't feel like I'm dieting ;-)

Here I go!