Paleo Flow Chart

90 Day Ultimate Challenge

I took three months off from the gym and boy oh boy did it show when I went back.  Not only was I pathetic during my workouts but, I also went up to 25% body fat!  Ouch.  Luckily for me, AST (All Strength Training) was starting a 90 day challenge.  I just finished the first two weeks and am down to 24.1% body fat. 

I thought it might be fun to document my 90 day experience and results.  During the 90 days you have to complete a 14 day diet bootcamp.  This entails eating lean meat, low carb veggies, nuts, seeds and that's it.  Basically, you are teaching your body to use fat for energy instead of carbs.  Not going to misslead you, the first week was tough.  Thank God we can drink coffee because I would have fallen asleep at my desk.  The second week gets better and cravings subside. 

Here's the low down:

Workouts: 3-4x a week (lifting weights)  no cardio during the 14 day boot camp
Food: Strict Paleo eating with the exclusion of fruit in the 14 day boot camp
Beverages: water, water, water, tea, coffee
Supplements: Protein powder with glycine and glutamine, fish oil (1g per % body fat), multi-vitamin, vitamin D, magnesium

During those 14 days I really wanted a diet coke and chocolate almost everyday.  I didn't crave alcohol or bread.  Instead, I wanted a bowl of blueberries and a banana.  By the end of the two weeks I didn't really crave anything which was rather unfortunate because on day 15 you get to eat whatever you want.  I went out with a work out buddy and had a hamburger with pancetta, cheese, and an egg on top.  When the burger arrived, I took one look at it and thought 'I really don't want that bun' and I took it off and ate the hamburger with a fork and knife.  It was delicious but the stunning part to me was that on the one day I could have eaten the bun and stayed withing the rules of the program, I didn't eat it.  I didn't want it.  I did have two beers though! 

Now that I'm done with the bootcamp I can add fruit back into my diet.  Next Saturday I'll have another biosig to measure my progress and hopefully I can report success.

To help me stay on track, I cook a lot of food on Sundays so I can make up lunches and snacks for the week.  Another aspect of the eating component is eating protein and veggies together.  Well, guess what?  After 20 years of vegetarianism, the last thing I want is a vegetable.  Funny thing I discovered after I started eating meat again, I don't really like vegetables.  ha!  Zach, my coach, told me that I have to eat veggies with each meal/snack.  So, I'm going to try.  Today I had 1/2 a cucumber with my chicken burger.  And I ate 3 stalks of celery with nut butter and turkey slices wrapped around avocado.  It might not be perfect yet but I did pack a lot of veggies to take to work the next two days.  Salad, cucumber slices, celery, and carrots.  Dinner is still in the works, bacon wrapped scallops and I haven't figured out the veggie maybe I'll just eat some carrots and call it a day.

Sibling Rivalry

I have had a blast trying different animals and experimenting with cooking.  While game meat did not deter me, the thought of organs did.  Thinking over and over in my head “why does it matter?  Organ or muscle?”, when you really think about it, they are both pretty disgusting.

My dear friend Paulette suggested we catch a movie and a bite to eat a few weekends ago.  After the movie we grabbed a table at a little French place called La Creperie.  Earlier that week, Paulette had suggested escargot.  Now, the thought of snails grossed me out.  All I could imagine was slime.  But, I knew I needed to try them.  After all, animals eat animals.  They were awesome; to me anyway.  Paulette informed me they are better at other places.  After we ordered wine, the waiter inquired as to whether we would like some pate as it went particularly well with the wine we had selected.  Why not?  Slime and liver!  Bring it on.  And of course, as usual, it was great!

After dinner and quite a bit of wine, we strolled down the street to meet up with my Brother and Sister-in-Law at a neighborhood bar, Jakes.  Ever since my brother, Brian, joined me as a carnivore, we tend to talk about meat and our latest meat eating adventures.  So, I was rather excited and proud to tell him about the dinner I just had.  His response, priceless……”When I was in Germany”, he had just returned from a month in brewing school in Germany, “I sucked marrow out of a bone.”  No shit! That was his exact response. Talk about sibling rivalry! 

There's no Kool-Aid in the Paleo Diet

Interesting conversation I had at work today.  A colleague walked by and stated that she had read some article that ranked the Paleo Diet as the second worst.  I said “they don’t know what they are talking about”.  My vegetarian cube neighbor piped up that I had “drank the Kool-Aid”.  That set me off.  Well of course I had to defend it.  I’m not on a ‘diet’, I have a diet.  I eat the human diet.  Just like cows are supposed to eat grass, homo sapiens are supposed to eat meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds.  I explained that many people have blood work prior to eating Paleo and then have the same blood work after eating Paleo and the blood work after is perfect.  And, that now I feel so much better!  They decided they needed to get their blood work done.

How come when I ate a vegetarian diet nobody came up to me and said “you know what Mary? You are eating a diet that is causing depression, digestive issues, low energy, insomnia, insulin spikes, etc.”  We don’t look at “diets” as what they do to our bodies from a biochemistry view point.  It’s not just about the macro nutrients, it’s about the type of macro nutrients.  We need protein from animals, carbs from vegetables, and fat from nuts and animals.  Yes, we need fat!  And yes, we need carbs.  But they need to be from the sources that our digestive systems can process for the other systems in our bodies to utilize.  Grains and wheats may contain protein but; it is so wrapped in fibrous material that our digestive system can’t even break all that fiber down to get to the protein.  And, the protein known as gluten that it may get to will wreck your intestinal lining in addition to the carbohydrate factor breaking down into glucose that spikes your insulin levels.

Every now and then, I get a little delusional and believe I can eat a sandwich.  About one to two hours later, I have abdominal pain.  Ironically, the whole time I was a vegetarian, I was so afraid of accidentally eating animal fat in something because I thought it would give me abdominal pain and digestive issues.  I thought that my system was no longer able to digest animals.  Well, remember what happened when I first ate meat?  The exact opposite happened.  This is because our digestive system is designed for it.  It’s not designed to eat wheat, grains, soy, beans, legumes, dairy, etc.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I like bread and I love cheese.  Also, must admit I still put cream in my coffee.  The majority of Paleo eaters don’t eat 100% Paleo.  But we know that those dietary components will make us sick.  If not today or tomorrow or even in a year from now, they will continually wreak havoc on our bodies.

I ventured on this dietary lifestyle after researching it.  I changed my diet after 20 years of vegetarianism.  I didn’t decide to go on a diet based upon some article I read.  I continue to educate myself and I haven’t doubted my decision.  In other words, I didn’t drink the Kool-Aid because Kool-Aid is not how you have a Paleo Diet.  For those of you who eat Paleo, I am sure you get the humor.  For those of you who do not, sorry but, you are drinking the "Kool-Aid"

Bacon

I’m going to state the obvious:  I love bacon!  I love bacon by itself, I love it with eggs, I love bacon and an egg on a hamburger.  I love bacon wrapped buffalo wings!  Scallops wrapped in bacon are fabulous.  I’ve seen chocolate bacon but haven’t tried it yet.  The next time I see it, I am definitely snatching some up.  So, when I saw this picture on a friend’s Facebook posting, I couldn’t help but share it with you!

Eat A Steak!

Once upon a time, not really that long ago, I had a little party.  My good friend Lisa brought a little box of cards with questions printed on them for people to answer and this would be a sort of ice breaker.  The idea was that each person would tell a story to explain their answer to the question which would in effect get conversation going at the party.  The first card pulled asked "If you could write a book what would it be?"  Well, remember I was a vegetarian.

When nobody responded, I decided as the hostess I would start the conversation.  I went on about a book I would write explaining how vegetarians could get protein.  Now, understand, I totally went on and on about this as I though it would be a great book.  And, quite honestly, if I would have wrote that book, it probably could have easily taken up three to four hundred pages.  I know this because I have read some long books that claim the same thing.  And, this book may have actually sold quite a few copies.  But, it wouldn't have been effective for any of the readers.

Now, I dream about writing that same book.  It would have one page and three words, EAT A STEAK! I realize that this book would not sell.  But, it would do a world of good and save your life!

Paleo Eating While Traveling

Eating a healthy balanced diet while traveling is challenging enough and applying a Paleo diet on top of that can be next to impossible.  From time to time I have to travel for work.  This equates to eating out for every meal and at times with clients.  Finding something on the menu at each restaurant without grains, wheat, or dairy is not a common occurrence.  Somehow, last week, I did it!  Surprisingly, with a little creativity and cooperation from servers, I was able to either order something that fit the description of Paleo or have it altered a bit to remove the wheat or dairy.

Here’s how it went.

Thursday:  I arrived in Denver and met up with a colleague for dinner.  We went to Outback Steakhouse.  You would think hmmm…chain restaurant?  How did that work?  Well, Coconut Shrimp for an appetizer and Grilled Mahi Tuna with a topping of artichokes and sundried tomatoes.  Fantastic!  Order it the next time you are there you won’t be disappointed.  It is delicious!

Friday:  Breakfast was an omelet with veggies and a small bowl of fruit. For lunch the client ordered out from Jimmy Johns.  I know, you’re thinking bread.  Jimmy John’s has this great thing called the Unwich.  It’s a sandwich wrapped in lettuce instead of using bread. You can also hold the cheese.  I decided to stay in Denver for the weekend and get in some time hiking in nature.  So, for dinner, I stopped off at California Pizza Kitchen and got a chopped salad without cheese. 

Saturday:  I had enough Marriott points to stay at the JW in Denver Friday and Saturday night so Saturday morning I thought I’d have a big breakfast at their highly acclaimed restaurant to fuel my day of hiking.  Their brunch menu did not have anything on it without wheat or dairy.  So, I ordered the crab cake eggs Benedict without the English muffin.  The server asked if I would like tomatoes substituted for the English muffin.  I said “That sounds great”.  And, it was great!  Probably one of the best breakfasts I have ever had.  Slices of roma tomatoes topped with a crab cake and a poached egg.  The dish came with a side of grilled asparagus.  I have to conquer this recipe!  Then it was off to the spa for a much needed deep tissue massage.  Have to give a call out to their spa.  It is one of the best hotel spas I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing and I have tried out quite a few fantastic hotel spas.  In fact, some travel magazine recently ranked it as one of the top five hotel spas in the country and I believe it!  Ventured off for my afternoon of hiking in Colorado Springs.  On the way, I stopped at a grocery store and picked up some water and nuts to snack on.  My afternoon was so zen after my massage.  Hiking in Seven Falls was so beautiful and majestic.  Also wandered around the Garden of the Gods and stopped off at the Pueblo Dwellings in a cliff.  You can bet the inhabitants of these dwellings ate meat and vegetables, nuts and fruit.  I definitely thought about that while I was touring their ancient homes.  By the time I started getting hungry it was around 6 O’Clock.  So, I hopped back in the car to drive back to Denver.  Many tourist brochures and magazines I had picked up and read mention this pub called The Cherry Cricket that had the best burgers in Denver.  Lo and behold, it was right behind the hotel I was staying at.  Score!  Ordered take out of a burger with avocado, tomato, onion and lettuce.  Took my burger back to the hotel and took the bun off and ate it.  It may sound a bit dry but if you have a great burger, you don’t need all that sauce and junk to make it taste good.  It will taste good all on its own.

Sunday:  Funny thing when you have nourished yourself for a few days so completely, you’re satisfied and not so hungry.  I grabbed a few nuts left over from the previous day, checked out of the hotel, and went off to enjoy the Botanical Gardens.  Now, I do think that the Chicago Botanical Gardens has a leg up on Denver’s but, it was very beautiful none the less.  Took a break from viewing the gardens and stopped at their restaurant to have a salad.  (with meat of course)  After I made another lap around to my favorite places in the garden it was time to depart off to the airport and reluctantly make my way back to reality. 

Here is what I really learnt.  You can eat at chain restaurants or highly ranked exclusive restaurants or take out from a pub for that matter and still eat healthy and Paleo.  It’s really your choice.  They want your money.  They will accommodate.

In hindsight, when I was a vegetarian, I never had any issue requesting a vegetarian dish at a restaurant that didn’t have one on the menu.  They always accommodated.  Why did it take me this time to realize that I could also request a Paleo dish?  After all, they are just removing ingredients; they don’t even have to create a new menu item.  Perhaps the moral superiority one feels for ‘saving’ the animals makes one feel the right to request that dietary request.  The irony of that thinking was explained to me in a book I also read throughout this weekend titled The Vegetarian Myth  written by a woman who was a Vegan for 20 years. I plan on explaining this in more detail in another blog entry but the bottom line is, a cow can feed you with a lot less loss of life in the same amount of time and with a lot less damage to the environment than the amount of grain it would take to feed you in that same amount of time.  Again, I will write more about this later and this is probably another statement that will garner me some unpopularity.  Oh well, sometimes the truth is hard but it is necessary. 

Come on, you knew I couldn’t stop at the beautiful scenery and great food and not resist relating this to my vegetarian days!