Make Paleo your drug

It's not easy.  It's a huge life change.  Maybe the biggest one you will have made in a very long time.  But I PROMISE you it is worth it.  You're going to have loads of cravings.  You have to be strong.  You can't give in.  There are billions of testimonials out there about Paleo saving lives and reversing disease.  Don't you want to be able to share your own story?  Our  doctors and the pharmaceutical industry want us on their drugs to put some dollars in their pockets.  Drugs only mask symptoms but food can reverse and cure what ails you.  You have a choice.  The drugs WILL kill eventually.  They are not natural.  Our bodies are strong and can fight illness if we give it the proper fuel.  The most-used drugs in America are, primarily, used to treat conditions that can be better treated without drugs.  

While uncontrolled high blood pressure is a very serious health concern that can lead to heart disease and increases your risk of having a stroke, it's important to understand that natural approaches are very effective for this condition.

Following a healthy nutrition plan and limiting fructose along with exercising and implementing effective stress reduction techniques will normalize blood pressure in most people.

You'll also want to be sure your vitamin D levels are optimized, as vitamin D is a negative inhibitor of your body's renin-angiotensin system (RAS), which regulates blood pressure. If you're vitamin D deficient, it can cause inappropriate activation of your RAS, which may lead to hypertension.

The first thing you need to do is remove all grains and sugars, particularly fructose, from your diet until both your weight and your blood pressure have normalized. Eating sug­ars and grains -- in­cluding any type of bread, pasta, corn, potatoes, or rice -- will cause your insulin levels, and your blood pressure, to remain elevated.

It's simple. Avoid all that is processed.

"If a product does not naturally occur in nature or has to be chemically processed, it is NOT natural and cannot be called all natural even by a major stretch of the imagination."

"Stick with organic foods as-much-as-possible (which are healthier for you anyhow) and avoid all processed foods. It's really not even about the money; it's about your health."

False labeling

Here's a bit of what we've been eating this week:

Boston butt and garlic...

Boston butt became pulled pork bbq with carrot souffle

Taco salad with homemade buffalo sauce

"green juice"

Noatmeal with coconut and berries

Balsamic chicken and red onion

AND just last night we met up with a lady who works with Candy's Cats and adopted this little guy :)  His name is Nimbus and he's a little over 3 months old.  Humphrey is slowly learning to accept him...

It's Not Me- It's YOU

I just came across this article on whole9life's site that sounded all too familiar.  Or, "hit home" and they say.  I find it challenging and somewhat difficult to enjoy an evening out with friends or even lunch break at work as there is always someone making negative comments about my eating and drinking choices.  

During lunch one day at work I had a friend comment on my paleo packed meal from home as he chowed on his cheesesteak sub with a side of fried cheese sticks and a giant cookie for dessert.  He had asked what my purpose was for eating paleo and after giving a brief explanation of wanting a healthy lifestyle he said: "I have a purpose too and it's to ENJOY life."  Obviously my idea of enjoying life is very different from this person's.  I'd rather live a long, HEALTHY life free of hospital bills and medications than to feel the brief high of a sugar cookie or a carb-loaded lunch.

I have learned I can't speak of paleo without receiving negativity.  People don't seem to want to give me the time of day.  I do want to preach and push and show the world how much paleo can improve the way they look and feel and that it's not just a fad but I am always biting my tongue.  

Here's the article I can relate so well with.  Enjoy.

It's not me, It's YOU

Vegetarianism=hazardous

I can still be found reading this morning.  More of The Paleo Answer.  I started at the beginning last night and have just arrived at the chapter on vegetarianism. 

I assume many of you (if there were people actually reading this) have numerous friends and/or acquaintances who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet. I certainly do.  Heck, there was a time when I chose vegetarianism and surely believed it to be THE way to eat.  The healthiest choice.  Now, I definitely don't think it is a healthy way of living but who am I to convince the world otherwise?  

Loren Cordain on the other hand, now he's a bit more qualified.

VEGETARIANISM

"Any lifelong dietary plan that requires nutrient supplementation on a regular basis makes no sense from an evolutionary perspective."

"One of the most destructive changes in our bodies caused by vitamin B12 deficiency is the appearance of a toxic substance in our bloodstream known as homocysteine.  Without sufficient dietary sources of vitamin B12, a chemical reaction within our bodies is impaired and causes blood concentrations of homocysteine to rise."

"Because vegetarian diets cause vitamin B12 levels in the bloodstream to plummet, which in turn makes homocysteine levels rise dangerously, you might expect to find high rates of cardiovascular disease in strict lifelong vegetarians."

"Phytate is not a good thing because it prevents the absorption of essential minerals.  Whole grains and legumes are rich sources of phytate, and our bodies have great difficulty extracting certain minerals from these foods because they are tightly bound to phytate.  ...phytate in whole grains impairs calcium absorption and may adversely affect bone health; phytate also binds zinc, interfering with its assimilation and incorporation into our cells.  To this list, you can add iron and magnesium."

"Because vegetarian diets are virtually impossible to follow without including lots of whole grains, beans, soy, and legumes, they are inherently high in phytate.  This is why it is difficult or impossible for vegetarians and vegans to maintain adequate body stores of calcium, zinc, and iron."

There you go.  And I still am only about half way through the chapter.  

Library De Paleo- in the making. And some grain bashing.

I want to own every paleo book out there.  This seemed achievable when Evan and I first began our switch to paleo lifestyles but now we are lagging behind as more and more books are being published and more and more people jump on the paleo bandwagon.  But, this is definitely a GOOD thing.

I have read:

The Paleo Answer

The Paleo Solution

Primal Body Primal Mind

Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar and Survival

Plus have several paleo cookbooks.

And I follow numerous paleo-minded blogs.

Still on my WANT list:

Well Fed

Practical Paleo

Paleo Slow Cooking

It Starts With Food

Deep Nutrition

Ancient Bodies, Modern Lives

ETC...  

You see, it's tough keeping up but I'm so thankful for so many good reads and the abundance of information available.  I still have much to learn and will forever be expanding my knowledge for both personal and public use.

Not only have I enjoyed the initial cover to cover reading of my paleo books but they make excellent reference tools when asked questions on whole grains or autoimmune diseases or anything paleo related.  Obviously.

Today I pulled Loren Cordain's The Paleo Answer from the shelf and skipped ahead to the chapter "Grains are antinutritious."

Just to clarify, here are some excerpts :)

Fiber: "Although whole grains have four times more fiber than refined grains do, they are lightweights when compared to either fresh fruits or veggies.  Furthermore, the insoluble fiber found in every whole grain except oats does not have a blood cholesterol-lowering effect as does soluble fiber present in fresh fruits and vegetables."

Phytate: "It may seem as if whole grains are a great source of calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc.  Not true.  All whole grains contain an antinutrient called phytate or phytic acid, which binds these minerals and makes them unavailable for absorption in our gastrointestinal tracts.  ...the more whole grains you eat, the more likely you will become deficient in these minerals"

"Excessive whole-grain consumption adversely effects skeletal health by impairing vitamin D and calcium metabolism.  The more whole grains you include in your diet, the less calcium will be available to build and maintain a healthy skeleton."

It's a choice.

Evan and I have been struggling recently (big surprise) in our life goal or quest to consume strictly paleo foods.  Last night we sat in front of the computer to listen to some Robb Wolf podcasts and then watched a food documentary to give ourselves the slap in the face we needed.  It's on!


This was the film we found on Netflix: Food Matters

"Good health makes a lot of sense.  But it doesn't make a lot of dollars."

"It's a choice.  You don't have to be sick."

"If everybody ate lots and lots of fresh, organic food that was minimally processed I think we'd have an epidemic of health.  I think the stock market would tremble. The drug industry is a half trillion dollar a year worldwide conglomerate.  Almost 300 billion dollars just in North America.  This is really really big business.  What would happen if everybody were well?"

It's so frustrating for me to watch documentaries like this one.  It would be SO EASY to make ourselves, our entire world, healthy but basically because of money we are sick and fat.  We are killing ourselves.  With the help of our medical doctors and pharmaceutical drugs, we are killing ourselves.  I won't be a part of this.  I know the truth and I will do what I can to let others know as well.   It's Less Complicated Than You Think

Please Mr. Postman look and see if there's a letter in your bag for me

You know what's cruel?  The mailman leaving us this note and there not really being any sort of parcel/package/large envelope/box of any size waiting in the office.  

Let down.

I wish we had this guy for a mailman.  I realize he's made of clay and is only a mailman on television and that he couldn't really be our mailman but, I can dream.  And I dream of this guy as our mailman.

Our real life mailman looks more like this.  He talks to himself while stuffing mailboxes and seems to injure himself often.  He's a bit kooky.  

Hopefully our missing parcel doesn't really exist because I'd hate to think that the kooky mailman could be a thief!

Here's what I've digested today.  

Veggie scramble with turkey bacon

spices, onion, grass-fed beef

grass-fed beef burgers

bacon AND burger

bacon burger and sweet potato fries

iced americano

I look like a caveman and might as well eat like one.

It might be a little ridiculous how excited I get when someone approaches me with interest in Paleo.  As I've said before, one by one, we change the world ;)

I am often posting links on Facebook leading to paleo sites, paleo blogs, paleo articles, my blog, etc. and I daily wonder how annoyed people must be with all of it.  I mean, the last thing I want is to sound preacher-esque.  

But the way I see it, if I keep posting about it maybe eventually someone will click on an article and learn a little more about the paleo diet lifestyle and jump on board.  A friend just yesterday commented on a link I put on Facebook: Fitbomb's What is the Paleo Diet?  He said he was giving in and questioned my daily meal intake.  His reasoning?  "I look like a caveman and might as well eat like one."  Ha!  Of course I said I'd LOVE to help him.

Josh, this is for you.  But of course the rest of you can read it too. 

April 10, 2012

Dear Josh,

Evan and I plan things out a little more than most people probably do but we've realized it's what works best for us.  You may find something totally different works for you but hey, as long as you're eating the right foods, it doesn't really matter how you plan or don't plan your meals.

Grocery shopping takes place once a week for us.  Prior to our drive over to Whole Foods we make a menu of things we want for the week and then a grocery list from that menu.  When the week comes to an end we have used everything in our fridge and nothing goes to waste.  Yeah, it's weird seeing an empty fridge when it used to constantly have something inside.  

"Just Say No" fridge

Our fridge after weekly shopping.

Our pantry is quite empty as well.  No more boxes of grain-based crap or canned goods or snack/junk foods.  When eating paleo you'll notice you basically shop on the perimeter of the grocery store- vegetables, some fruits, meat, eggs.  

Easy, right?  The only time you'll really need to venture down those troublesome, Frankenfood aisles is when you're in need of oils (coconut and olive) and certain canned goods (no salt added tomato sauces and salsa)- but you can also make your own!

We typically buy 7 lbs of meat per week to account for lunches and dinners (1/4 lb per serving) and then if we want meat with breakfasts as well (which we often do) then we'll add that on.  When people hear that paleo won't allow them to have cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, toast, poptarts, french toasts or toaster strudels for breakfast they tend to close the door on the idea.  The thought of meat for breakfast is just weird I guess.  It used to be for us too.  Cereal was my favorite meal before I saw the paleo light.  Our lunches are very similar to our dinners.  Another challenge for people "going paleo" is the realization that they can no longer have their sandwiches at lunch time.  I was a big consumer of turkey sandwiches on bagel thins or whole grain bread.  No more.  Here are a few meals ideas we might have throughout the day but if you just do some simple searching online there are hundreds (probably a lot more than that) of easy recipes for every paleo meal.


* There is no need for calorie counting nor any restrictions.  Eat till you're filled.        

Breakfasts: Noatmeal, Sausage & veggies with avocado, coconut flour pancakes,  bacon and eggs with veggies, salmon, steak.  Lots of options!  

Start to think of breakfast like this.

Not this.

Lunches:  Salad with grilled chicken, veggies of your choice and balsamic vinegar, leftovers from dinner,  tacos on lettuce leaves, paleo pizza 

You can still have a burger and fries- hold the bun and make fries from sweet potato instead

Need I say anything about this?  Gross.

Dinners:  spaghetti squash spaghetti, grilled, wild caught salmon with asparagus, beef curry over cauliflower rice (so good), crock pot shredded chicken and salsa (make some guac and coconut tortillas and have enchiladas!)

I hadn't heard of spaghetti squash until I began eating paleo.  It's fantastic!

I know this tastes good but it is doing NOTHING for you.

Basically, follow THIS strictly for 30 days and then see how you're feeling.    

Please feel free to send any and all questions my way.  Also, there are LOADS of paleo sites out there on the internet and lots of paleo cookbooks on the market as well.  This one I've linked to is my favorite that we own.  Short ingredient lists and easy to follow instructions.  Check out Nom Nom Paleo's mega list of food blogs as well as paleo resource blogs.  


I do hope this blog post dedicated to a Facebook comment response has been nothing but helpful :D Trust me, it's going to seem impossible at first but once you get through the first week or two of feeling tired and fighting cravings for foods our bodies were not meant to eat you're going to be saying "I'm never going back!"  Well, at least I did.  

Sincerely/your friend,

Tara

  

P.S. And then there's crossfit.  I have yet to get on board with this partner to paleo but I realize I'd be in the best shape of my life if I added this to my paleo way of eating.  We looked into a paleo gym and they're super expensive to join but I know several people that have created their own crossfit routine/WODs and work out from home.  No machines necessary- it's the paleo way.  

(Autism) Awareness month

April is Autism Awareness month.  To be honest, I was unaware of this until today.  Every April for the past 15+ years SeaWorld has worked with the Autism Society of Greater Orlando in "Sea of Dreams."  I was able to be a part of this event today and it made me do some thinking.  

I have been blessed with good health throughout these (almost) 29 years and am embarrassed to say that I am not well-read on many disorders/syndromes/diseases/health issues that a large population of people are living day to day with.  What I have learned, however, is that many disorders/syndromes/health problems, etc. can be corrected/helped with proper diet and nutrition and I want so badly to get that word out there to EVERYONE.

Research is now showing that 1 in 88 children in the U.S. have autism spectrum disorders and this number is only INCREASING!

I like believing that this number can stop climbing and maybe even decrease.  Please take a few minutes to read this amazing testimony about Autism and Paleo of how changing what you eat can make a world of difference.

Dang.  Now I need to end on a cheery note.

Oh! How about this.  My sister (older sister) and her husband just celebrated their 10 year wedding anniversary yesterday.  My other (younger) sister took pictures of them to document the occasion :)

I'll share a few.  Enjoy!

dream BIG

Breakfast today consisted of several donuts for dunkin' and lots of Easter candy.  Mmmm. 

Just kidding :)

As Robb Wolf said in reference to all the death food that will be piled into baskets on Easter morning: "HOLY HYPERINSULINEMIA!!"  You really want to give your kids the "best" this year?  Choose these deadly morsels and they'll give you and that fat ol' Easter bunny a hug.  My boss was nice enough to treat all of us this morning so I did give a sincere thank you but alas, none were consumed.   

This is what I actually had for breakfast.  Turkey sausage patties with zucchini squash, yellow squash, mushroom and green pepper along with some avocado.  Yeah, that's more like it!

Lunch was grass-fed beef with broccoli and cauliflower rice (I ate it before I even thought to photograph it...)

And post-work I rapidly devoured this spinach, cucumber and raisin salad.  

I found something pretty exciting (more exciting if you live near or in Portland, Oregon) while I was wasting minutes on Facebook after work this afternoon.  These two kids, Heather and Joe/Cultured Caveman, want to start up a Paleo Food Cart in Portland and they're raising money on kickstarter.com to make it happen. I wanted to give them lots of money to get them started right but because I am typically living the frugal life and recently quit my second job and have bills to pay, etc I gave $5.  But hey, every little bit helps, right?!  Now, if we could only get one of these in Orlando, or better yet, a for real 100% Paleo restaurant.  I'm dreaming big.  OR, forget Orlando and I'll just move over/out there to Oregon.  I like the sound of that :D  Plus, I do LOVE:

Made us some tor-tillas

One of my most favorite people in this world is Mariel Garcia.  If you recall, she was in a few of my posts not too long ago in regard to taking on paleo for the observance of Lent.  

She had Evan and I over for dinner last night and we left there with our bellies filled to the brim (if stomachs had a brim, I guess).  She has mastered a delicious balsamic chicken and served it with oven-roasted asparagus and egg-drop soup.  She also prepared us some strawberry smoothies and had a nut and berry mix AND kale chips available for snacking.  

One of the best parts about going to Mariel's house is that she is our neighbor!  We are less than a 2 minute walk from her door :)  And even though this is factual, we see each other far less than I'd prefer.   

Evan had to go back to work today so we weren't able to sleep in.  Boo.  We sleepily made our way into the kitchen to prepare nothing short of a mega breakfast.  We put together a veggie scramble with a couple slices of turkey bacon.  And some slap-you-in-the-face Costa Rican coffee from Barnie's Coffee Kitchen.  

I drove Evan to work this morning just so I could pick him up for lunch time at home together.  We had a meal we hadn't tried before!  Coconut flour tortillas filled with crock-pot salsa chicken and guacamole with cauliflower rice on the side.  It was heaven in my mouth.  AND we made some carrot souffle to have as dessert.  Sweetest tasting bit of food that I've had in quite some time.  Wow.  Loved this lunch!