3 Good Things (Up edition)
1. We finally saw the Pixar award-winner last month. If you can take the first five minutes, you might enjoy the rest of the movie. I laughed out loud at the characterization of the dogs and I couldn’t help but love the unfailing optimism (except when hungry) of the young protagonist. What remains is the overwhelming feeling that even now, more than a week later, I want to cry when I think of the old man putting his hand over his wife’s handprint on the mailbox in an effort to be near her.
3. Things are looking that way as the needle on my scale goes down! Now don’t get too excited, ‘cause the pants are still a problem, but at least things are going in the right direction and with nary an issue in the craving and binge department. How? Reversing how I got here. For the last twelve days I’ve had no refined or added sugars (that includes the one, season opener ice cream), no grains, lots of protein, including dairy (emergency cheese ™) and meat (pass the bacon, please), carbohydrates from veggies, homemade green juice, and nuts. Nuts, I say. I don’t care how packed full of fat they are, I won’t put nuts on my verboten list unless it is discovered that Thin Mints are the key to cellular efficiency. Only with that substitution could I possibly manage without their particularly crunchy goodness.
Comments
Re: your diet changes... bravo! Now, just stop worrying about fat content. Embrace the sat fat, and drop all vegetable oils. Low carb, lots of meat, butter, heavy cream, and, like you're doing, no refined sugar or flour. No grains at all.
The pounds will melt away. (Join OEvolve. It's good for you(TM)!)
The thing that really got me into this and kick-started my journey into paleo was reading Kurt Harris' PaNu blog. No dogma, no attempt to "be like a caveman," just hard science and medical advice. And he has 12 steps to get started that have become the way I eat and live now. 25 lbs gone and counting, and I just had a physical with near perfect blood work. Good stuff! Get Started. Browse his various blog posts if you have specific questions.
What I like best about eating this/that way is how much more energy I have.
Regarding counting, forget it. I can, I just choose not to when it comes to food intake. Unless nuts are actually bad for me (allergies, triggers for something else), having to count the number I eat would tip the balance from doing something good for myself to casting a pall over my life.
Part of what makes the PaNu way of eating very attractive is that it's not about deprivation. And that's why the ModernPaleo, OEvolve, Sous Vide groups are a great resource for those who have decided that eating this way contributes to their joy and want to share it.
I'm not there yet. I have a lot more reading and eating to do - part of which I hope to gain from lurking.
My oldest, who is usually sensitive only regarding the fate and treatment of dogs, couldn't talk for a few seconds during the sad parts, and the youngest thought part of it was really sad, but overall funny and good. She also noted that it was a movie both adults and children could enjoy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut
Nuts--pecans, almonds (especially slivered ones for salads), walnuts, macadamias, Brazils (easily the best, I had never heard of them until learning about Paleo)--are fattening and good. Overall though, animal fats like bacon, pork chops, and steaks are much more filling.
Salt helps too, especially on chicken (without salt chicken to me is bland, with salt I very much enjoy the taste; roast chicken with fatty skin is far superior in the chicken category though). Salt is fine and brings out the natural taste in foods.
The most important thing is to eat big meals until you are full. Even with my occasional indulgences in peanut butter, ice cream, and all sorts of crackers and grains (Cheeze Itz, Saltines), eating mostly naturally fatty food has gotten rid of that constant bloated, puffy, twitchy sugar-craving feeling, and allows me to focus better and for longer periods of time.
The best resource:
http://freetheanimal.com/
It's been walnuts and almonds, but I almost forgot that I really, really want to eat peanut butter at least twice a week - and do. I've been eating it by the spoonful here and there in the past few weeks. It ain't pretty, but celery holds only so much charm for me as a peanut butter carrier.
When you do eat crap, accept that it's crap, do not feel guilty, enjoy it, and eat enough to feel satisfied. My diet is so good overall, so full of animal fat, that even when I do eat ice cream five nights in a row or have chocolate, I still feel exceptional.
As well, I do quick 10 minute workouts roughly twice a week of pushups and free-standing body squats. Whenever I'm feeling especially energetic, the quick workouts are a blast and easy to do regularly, because they are short, intense, and a way to release that energy.
It's better to occasionally eat ice cream and peanut butter (treated as dessert or a luxury, as a pick-me-up) than to regularly have meals of pasta, rice, potatoes, grains, etc.
I just know that if I start with the Ritz and peanut butter, I am much more likely to forgo eating well for at least a week.
What I need to figure out for myself is what works best for me both in feeling good and keeping my blood pressure low. So far, my weight seems to be the only thing that affects my blood pressure. And bread/cake/crackers cause my blood sugar to spike and plummet which is never good.
I'm staying away from the push-ups for now, but am interested in the Cross-Fit and BSS methods of exercise. The one set of Tabata sprints I did last year left me wheezing for 2 hours. Sad,I know.
But onward and UPward!
Loved UP. Agree with child #3 on that one--def. one both adults and kids can enjoy. And the hand on the handprint--sob!
Okay. What is emergency cheese TM? And how the h*** did you figure out how to superscript in comment mode?
I didn't superscript in the comments. The html code "< sup >" is not allowed.
O. has been eating emergence cheese for years, then, and I didn't know it. He'll get a kick out of the title.
Still can’t do it™ in the comments, though.
Hey, that worked (before publishing anyway)!
Here's to learning something new everyday.