My Mom

I talked with my Mom today and tried a bit harder to convince her to switch to paleo. It is not easy, as first, we talk over typed chat (she's in Poland), on Sundays, sometimes once a week, sometimes we have a break for whatever reason. My Mom also has old convictions, and is not very critical towards pseudo-science articles in various magazines. Some time ago I tried to convince her to eat more beef, but she said that she can't because according to her blood type she shouldn't eat red meat. The damage that such idiots make... I am so annoyed. anyone can write whatever s/he want, and it sounds all sophisticated and academic, so people like my Mom, without strong science background, buy it. I also need to be very careful how I do suggestions, I dont' want to be disrespectful or sound patronizing, as if she was a child. She is my mother and I have to accept that she is the one with authority and honor, even if I know I might know more on that particular subject than her.

But today I was able to explain more and it looks like she is willing to give it a try. It is really hard to change decades of habit. She is used to the old, poor socialist way of eating: bread, margarine with a slice of cheese or luncheon meat. And whatever is easy to take to work (she has no way to prepare or warm up food at work).. sometimes a roll with "fruit" yogurt.
Some time ago I got her a slow cooker to help with cooking more meat.
She doesn't use extra sugar, but does eat regular ice cream or processed stuff like cookies and sweets. I might not be able to completely switch her way of eating, but I hope that at least lowering her consumption of grains and upping the meat should help. I told her how much better I feel, and she was impressed. I am planning on buying a thermos for her, so she could take warm food to work. I got one for myself and it made my life much easier.

I really care for her, and she's been having health issues all her life. Joints, bones, surgeries on spine and legs, GI, neurological issues, fighting depression, cataract operation... Name it, my Mom suffered through it :( She's had a rough childhood in orphanages, and probably has celiac (I have, she was preparing my gluten-free diet when I was a kid and there was no food in stores. She had to get corn flour from pharmacy). I wish I was living closer to her, to take better care of her.

some thoughts after a month

More or less a month ago I started some form of Whole30. I slipped a few times and to be honest, got bored with very strict keeping with the rules. But still, I was eating much better, which really paid off. I slipped again yesterday with my typical vice: chocolate ;-) But got up again.

Today I took some measurements of my body. And even with my, non-strict, version of Whole30, I have some nice results in the field of fat reduction. I lost one inch under my breast, an inch in waist, half inch in tummy and over an inch in hips. yay! what's funny that my weight actually went slightly up ;-) go fat, come muscle!

I added heavy cream only in terms of dairy and it seems like my body is totally fine with it. I am not missing cheese that much, so I will wait with adding any of it. But I think sour cream might appear in my fridge soon... I love it!

I picked up in my local library DVD with "Billy's Boot Camp Basic Training", and my, does it kick butt :) I had to do three days off after it, my whole body was sore. In a good way! I will do it again today and see if I can actually do it properly with no breaks! I like that it's very simple, basic moves, no super coordination necessary which is a must for me :)

dealing with stress

Just a couple days ago I found out that my contract will not be renewed for the new year. The blow was hard, I was completely sure the job is secure. I am learning to deal with my severe anxiety every day and have done amazing progress over the past two years. But when something so hard hits, it's very difficult to stay calm. I was "grieving" the first day, crying and being very depressed. I was exhausted and went to sleep pretty early. The next day I was much better, looking forward to the new challenges and researching new job opportunities. But the heavy headache, squeezing my temples and punching my forehead inside, didn't let me forget how anxious and terrified I am. I am not doing well with the process of changes. The decisions, planning, details, "what ifs", calling, job interviews... organizing moving (why have I accumulated so much stuff???), paying for all of it... all of that is really scary. I know I will do fine once I move - I won't be missing my old place, I will be all directed forward, no part of me left behind. That's who I am. But the upcoming months will be very stressful.
I hope that after couple weeks I get better, calmer, as I dont' even want to think about living for months with that heaviness, dizziness and migraine-like headaches. I am planning on taking proper care of myself, eat well and sleep more than usual.

I reintroduced cream today to see how I react to dairy after about three weeks of none. I hope ok, as I really want cream in my coffee, it's an easy way to add good fat.
In other interesting stuff, I had a great conversation about evolutionary eating with my senior class. It made a lot of sense to them, and because they were boys (mostly) they were very interested in the idea of a woman eating so much meat and not being afraid of fat. I wonder where it takes them :) I also found out today that one of my colleagues is taking statins... so said, he's younger than me. I know that he is trying to eat well, but of course it means CW "well". I know also that I won't help him - he is a science teacher so he thinks he knows it all in terms of human body, he was patronizing smirking at me when I tried to explain why "calories in calories out" theory doesn't make sense. Lost case, I am afraid... :(

slipping....

It's difficult. Today is Purim, and I allowed myself a glass of wine yesterday to keep with the tradition of Purim celebration. I didn't eat too bad, strawberries and a few grapes... But I feel sugar cravings are seriously too big. Where do they come from? But I was punished on Friday - I ate a small piece of chocolate with caramel. Too sweet! YUCK. But I am dreaming (well, metaphorically speaking) of dark chocolate. I have no problems with refusing baked things (like the traditional hamantashen cookies), or obvious sugary crap like snickers. But the "in-between" things are more difficult. Like too many fruits. I will have to work on it.

I am planning to eat today's breakfast as late as possible to make it a small fast. And maybe tomorrow will skip lunch. I feel I need to get back to more strict, pure eating again.

It must be fate...

What are the sweetest words one can hear from a crush? "I am so glad you eat meat!!!"

How romantic. First thing I prepared for her was a nice paleo turkey wings :D

restarting the machine in 3... 2...1...

I failed. And I got up :)
I had a girls night out and got myself two glasses of wine :-/ and some cream to coffee. I really tried to keep it off, but I go out so rarely (I actually can't remember the last time) that I thought i should allow it to myself. Other than that I am pretty good, eating delicious cooked beef with tomatoes (my favorite, cooking a batch right now), eggs, beef franks, kale, some other veggies... I also ate one orange and some strawberries (on sale! really cheap!), which I hope isn't too much of a "cheat". I kept on working out, and yesterday we had a field trip to DC so we walked miles and miles over the course of the day. We had meals prepared for us, but I took my own lunch. I am very proud of it :) Everyone had pasta, I had about a pound of ground beef in delicious tomato souse. I just bought a food thermos and it works great! Kept food hot from 7am to 1pm. I will be using it more often, to have proper paleo lunches for work.

I thought that maybe I should just cut off two days from the counting, but I think it will be more honest to start counting from zero. So, today is day one, the second time. I hope there won't be any need for third first day :)

almost a week

I "officially" started my Whole30 challenge on Sunday, so it's been almost a week. I am surprised how easy it's been. I was afraid I would have much stronger sugar cravings, after a period of over-the-top consumption of chocolate, fruits and other semi-Paleo food.
I am eating mainly meat (in various beef,lamb and chicken versions) with some veggies like spinach, kale, broccoli and cauliflower. To ease my snack cravings (as I got accustomed to it), I've mixed coconut oil with a lot of shredded coconut and cooled, to make it kind of a bar. It's very lightly sweet, when cold not that oily, and I think it should help in the meantime.

I've made finally my own mayonnaise, but I am not sure it's all that great. I will have experiment... coconut oil gives too strong a flavor.
I even managed to do one 12-h fast and fasted workout! I am proud of myself :) Next day I skipped lunch as well, but had dinner earlier, so only about 9-10h fast.
I am also surprised how well I switched to a black coffee. I thought I would have to use coconut milk, but nope, all good. This is great not only for the dairy-free challenge, but for my wallet ;-)
I am working on including a workout more often and also on my sleep. For whatever reason it's been difficult for me to get up in the morning, even after almost 8h sleep, and on weekends without alarm clock I was waking up by myself only after almost 11h of sleep! That's really too much.

I took all my body measurements even though I don't really expect some significant body fat changes. Of course it would be nice to drop the muffin top, especially as it grew on the extra sugar provided by yours truly, but that's not the goal. The goal is to get back on healthy track and stay there.

Whole 30 - preparation

I am getting ready for the challenge - at least mentally. I generally knew what to expect but just in case (or if anyone is interested) the main points:

The Whole30 Program, As Outlined
Eat real food – meat, fish, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re natural and unprocessed.
More importantly, here’s what NOT to eat during the duration of your Whole30 program. Omitting all of these foods and beverages will help you regain your healthy metabolism, reduce systemic inflammation, and help you discover how these foods are truly impacting your health, fitness and quality of life.
Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in all kinds of ways.
Do not eat processed foods. This includes protein shakes, pre-packaged snacks/meals, protein bars, milk substitutes, etc.
Do not drink alcohol, in any form.
Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, millet, oats, corn, rice, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. (Yes, we said corn!) This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Again, read your labels.
Do not eat legumes. This includes beans (black, kidney, lima, etc.), peas, lentils, and peanuts or peanut butter. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).
Do not eat dairy. This includes all cow, goat or sheep’s milk, cream, butter, cheese, yogurt, whey, ice cream, etc.
Do not eat white potatoes. It’s arbitrary, but they are carbohydrate-dense and nutrient poor, and also a nightshade.
Most importantly… do not try to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold. This means no “Paleo-fying” less-than-healthy recipes – no “Paleo” pancakes, “Paleo” pizza, “Paleo” fudge or “Paleo” ice cream. Don’t mimic poor food choices during your Whole30 program!
One last and final rule. You are not allowed to step on the scale for the duration of your Whole30 program. This is about so much more than just weight loss, and to focus only on your body composition means you’ll miss out on the most dramatic (and lifelong) benefits this plan has to offer. Give yourself a well-deserved, long overdue break from fixating on that number on the scale! Absolutely NO weighing yourself or taking comparative measurements during your Whole30.
The Fine Print

A few concessions, based on our experience, and those of our clients. These are less than optimal foods that we are okay with you including during your Whole30. Including these foods in moderation should not negatively impact the results of your Whole30 program.
Fruit juice as a sweetener. Some products will use orange or apple juice as a sweetener. We have to draw the line somewhere, so we’re okay with a small amount of fruit juice as an added ingredient during your Whole30… but this doesn’t mean a cup of fruit juice is okay!
Processed Meat. On occasion, we are okay with organic chicken sausage (those that are nitrate, dairy, gluten and dairy-free), and high quality deli meat, packaged fish (like tuna or smoked salmon) or jerky. Read your labels carefully, because Whole30-approved processed meats, especially jerky, are hard to find.
Certain legumes. We’re fine with green beans, sugar snap peas and snow peas. While they’re technically a legume, they’re far more “pod” than “bean”, and we want you to eat your greens.
Processed goods. We’re okay with cans or jars of olives, coconut milk, sauces and spice mixtures like tomato sauce or curry, or vegetables like sweet potato or butternut squash, but only if the labels prove they’re “clean”.

So that's what I am planning on eating:
- meat. Mostly ground beef in various ways as that's the cheaper way to eat beef. But also "stew meat" and some kalky. For convenience, grass-fed, preservatives-free beef franks.
- poultry. I am not a big fan of chicken, but it's cheap and it's meat. I will try to focus on organic only. And cook a soup once in a while.
- fish sometimes. I will try to include more fish, but that's mostly either from frozen or cans. It's hard to get fresh and to be honest, I don't even know what to do with it. I like preparing fish-cakes, with various can fish, they can be very tasty and practical (to take for a lunch at work).
- eggs. I probably should make a test if I am ok with eggs and stop eating them for a few weeks... but this is such affordable, delicious and easy food, that it's hard to cut it out! Maybe later :)
- green veggies. Mostly from frozen - cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, kale, brussel sprouts. I am still not sure about the night shades, like tomatoes and peppers.
- black coffee and water only as drinks.
- coconut oil as the main fat source (other than meat), with possibly using coconut milk/cream and dried sugar-free coconut.

In addition to products I already cut off from my diet, like grains, processed foods, legumes, I am planning on cutting also:
- dairy (now that will be really painful!)
- fruits
- chocolate (o_0)
- any sweeteners or chemical additions (I already use it very little, but for a month I will cut it completely out)
- nuts (I am still thinking about macadamias)
- seeds

I think that's for now... I might add something or change later on.

off the wagon, on the wagon

I've fell off a bit... Not that I started to eat all nasty SAD-y things, but stopped being careful, or simply eating proper. I started to eat too many fruits, and too much chocolate. As if when I allowed myself chocolate as almost-paleo treat (it's Lindt 70%), I can't stop and eat much too much, like a tablet a day.. o_0 I have no idea where this chocolate urge came from, but it might be from generally eating more carbs in the form of fruits. I need to finally get back on, as I started to be more sluggish, my skin isn't as clear as it's been before.


I think the best would be to just go cold turkey and very strict for a while. I am thinking about doing the Whole30 and cut even dairy. I will switch to black coffee, no cream (cutting sour cream is painful), and only meat, fish, eggs and greens. I want to get back on the right track, and lose the tummy that suddenly appeared over the past few weeks... I haven't been IFing as well, so will have to find a way to include fasting in the program. If everything goes fine, I will slowly reintroduce dairy and see how I feel. I love dairy and it's a great, cheap, addition to the diet. I can't afford eating meat only (with some greens).

I will finish up all the cream and half$half I have, as I don't like wasting, without buying anything new. And I need to restock with meat. I hope to begin in a week or so... or maybe even earlier?

Wish me luck, as I am not good with being very strict on myself... :-/

The China Study

I admit I haven't read it. I've read all the criticism which successfully turned me off from even trying. I admit I am not a scientist and it's probably pretty easy to full me around with lab-lingo. I am glad there are people out there who are very critically thinking and have the knowledge, intelligence and passion to help me understand the fallacies of pseudo-science.
Just today I got in my email a newsletter from dr.Mercola with additional information on the subject.
I guess there are people who are all well on vegetarian diet, but there are no scientific discoveries that would support the idea that animal protein is dangerous. I know that my example is just anecdotal, but it serves enough as a proof to myself that animal protein is health promoting, not the opposite. I am thriving on high-protein, high-fat diet. I add to it carbs from veggies, some fruits and even chocolate here and there. But the base of my diet now is meat and eggs, and I can't remember when I felt better than now.

Dr. Mercola's conversation with Christopher Masterjhon, his earlier article on the China Study, and an article by Christopher Masterjohn discussing the supposed animal protein causation of cancer.

painful return to a workout routine

I've had quite a break in working out. There were many factors that contributed - a lot of work, mild cold/sinus infection, cold weather which made me change fast into warm fleece instead of shorts... and simple old-style laziness. But today I finally did some basic body-weight workout. Boy, am I weak! it's scary. I will have to work steadily to get back in shape... And I am afraid tomorrow will be painful as well! It's good I have to walk to work anyway, it's a good, mild, form of warming up.

I found that generally the cold, dark weather makes it more difficult to keep healthy. I am more tempted to eat chocolate, snuggle in warm robe and watch Buffy or Bones. I haven't fasted in a while as well... But at least I didn't fell of the wagon (other than eating too much dark chocolate), I just got lazy and haven't been much creative in preparing meals, so there has been a lot of hard boiled eggs, slow-cooker beef, beef franks and similar. But it's ok, I fine with that. Maybe I just need to get used to the change in seasons, or simply accept that in the winter it's time to hibernate, slow down, relax...

eating at work

Is not easy. Most of the times I eat during lunch in our faculty room, with my colleagues. I really like that time, as I am lucky to work with a really good bunch of people, so this short break is filled with snarkiness, laughter, serious advice and discussions, small talk... A real break. The problem is that everyone sees what the others are eating. A few of my colleagues are taking dieting very seriously, either weight watchers or main stream understanding of "healthy diet", filled with carbs, low on fat and so on. A few times I engaged in a discussion about nutrition, but I gave up on it and simply sit and work on ignoring when they talk about the new system of weight watchers or low-fat low-calories bs.
But unfortunately it doesn't end there. They have to comment on my food. When I bring things like fish balls or similar then it's fine, the problem begins on the days I bring last-minute lunch, like hard boiled eggs with a small can of smoked sardines. or just eggs. They just can't stand the image of me eating four boiled eggs at once. They stuff themselves with ready to microwave "healthy" pockets, amy's and other crap with the list of ingredients longer than some of my students' essays. But then they ask "aren't you worried about your cholesterol?" to which I generally say simply "no". When I got annoyed with another question of that kind, I said, "You wish you had the cholesterol levels I have". Another time I eat my eggs (btw, we can't have meat at work, that's why it's more difficult to just bring leftovers) another lady doesn't even ask, but states "one of these days you will have a heart attack". Really? Because as much as being overweight is not necessarily a sure tell-all about the person's health, being obese gets much closer to that. And she is far beyond the chubbiness or normal roundness of a woman after giving birth or simply regular, average. I look and behave healthy, I am active and never complained of any health issues other than allergies. I don't think she knows about my Fibromyalgia, so in general I think I look healthy. But based on the fact of me eating four eggs (and rebelliously stating that sometimes I eat up to eight eggs a day) she is sure I eat unhealthy and am killing myself slowly.

I try to keep my mouth shut, because I don't like to be preached to myself either. And I don't want to look like a typical zealous neophyte. I was eating crap just a year ago... but I wasn't telling others what to eat, or that they are killing themselves.

There was only one person who approached me later on and simply stated that she was curious as to why I wasn't worried about my cholesterol. Now that is an intelligent approach. Ask for information, think about it and then make a judgment. I told her how much better I feel, how great my blood work came up, and summarized the basic minimum of the evolutionary argument. I gave her the Primal Solution, and probably will give her Good Calories, Bad Calories, because she asked why the "main stream" preaches something so opposed to what I was saying. I don't try to pretend I know everything, I don't have a background in science, I have troubles with explaining all the details... But I understood enough to feel good about my choices. And the results speak for themselves.

dealing with heavy workload

I work a lot. This year I teach one extra course, which really made a huge difference. While at school I often have no spare time to even make a cup of coffee. I use each and every minute for prep. And even though I have great kids who cause much less stress than some of the last year's students, I am stressed all the time about slipping. I worry I forget something crucial, I fall behind with grading, prepare day by day, with very blurred vision of big picture of each class.
All of that drains me. I come back home tired, don't feel like doing anything. Often I have something extra to do anyway... All of that caused me to slip with my healthy lifestyle. In the past month I worked out maybe.. three times? I started to have cravings for chocolate, and because there is somewhat of a soft spot for dark chocolate among the primal community, I let myself indulge... too much.
I am trying to get back at least with eating right. But I feel I need to get back on the wagon with exercising. I just... don't feel like. *sigh*. Maybe it's a winter thing?

vaccines

I've read a few different discussions or blogs trying to figure out if vaccines are paleo or not. There are people who think eating right will protect them from flu. There are people who believe vaccines are unnatural, and generally an evil seed of fascist government imposing its ideas on free people. There are people who believe vaccines cause autism or other deformations. There are people who simply don't like to see their babies cry of feel miserable for a day so endanger them to diseases that not only can make them miserable for life, but simply can kill them.

I find the anti-vaccine movement selfish and very dangerous. It's one thing to push the big pharma to provide the best, the safest and purest vaccines possible. To push for trials checking the safety of vaccine combinations or best time of vaccine. But to promote no vaccine whatsoever? This is child abuse and selfishness. Vaccines are one of the most amazing achievements of medicine, saving millions of lives. But now there are people who think they know more than the hundreds of professional researches and doctors (hey, I know there are under-educated doctors and biased researchers... but not all of them and not even majority of them!), who can decide about the health and death of not only their own child, but also the health of children around him or her. There needs to be 93% of vaccination in the society for it to protect properly. If it exists, even the not-vaccinated are protected. Saying that the kid is all fine and not sick as a proof for lack of need for vaccine is not just idiotic and ignorant, but also abusive and parasitic.

This article takes on the whooping cough epidemic as one of the signs of dangers of the anti-vaccine movement. Do they really want to go back to the life with polio, measles, small pox and dozens of other horrible diseases?

spreading the paleo gospel

I found that whenever I tried to somehow open the subject of paleo/primal living, it was a failure. But when I have a chance to share how much my health has improved, I get people's full attention. Of course it doesn't happen that often, I don't like to share my private life and health issues with random folks, but if the subject gets around and it makes sense for me to make a comment, I do. Today I was talking with my boss and a nurse who came to our school to do some flu shots. The boss's daughter has a variety of health issues which are difficult to diagnose. She mentioned that some doctors thought she might have fibromyalgia, because of constant fatigue. So I said that the only thing that helped me was going paleo. Both of them got interested, but the nurse got especially interested and the evolutionary base of it all really made sense to it. She wants to google it to check it out. One by one! :) I really hope she gets interested.

I was thinking also about giving the new Robb Wolff's book (after I finish) to another of my friends, who just recently went through breast cancer operations and treatment. It looks like she recovered fully, but of course she is very health conscious - unfortunately in the main stream low-fat way. She is a smart woman, and quite interested in evolution... so I hope that would be a good way of introducing the paleo to her.

My best friend, who lives in Poland, just recently told me how much she feels better since she made some paleo changes. She's had constant health issues, for years has been fighting with too low body weight, and many painful problems, which the doctors can't even figure out. She said that since she incorporated the changes for the first time in months she stopped having horrible stomach pains. That really convinced her, and she wants to try and go 100% paleo when she gets a chance (now she is in the middle of moving apartments, with 10h long work days). I am really happy about it! At least in Poland it's easier to get really free-range eggs, raw milk and "directly from the milkmaid" products. Meat is probably as processed and stuffed with hormones like everywhere else, though.. It's good EU has pretty strict rulings and Poland has to obey.

In our local Russian store I found a real heavy cream, the kind I remember from Poland - 35% fat. It was expensive - $3.99 for 500ml, but the taste... heaven. It is thick like a sour cream, but is deliciously, naturally sweet. It has no additives whatsoever, pure cream. I think I will be getting it more often :)