Sunday, October 28, 2012

1st week lessons learned on a primal diet.

Things I've learned over the last couple of days. There's a lot to say so I'm putting it out there shot gun style.

1. Poached eggs without toast aren't worth it. They need to sit on things. I'm sticking to boiled eggs covered in hot sauce. Which I like better anyway.

2. I can make my own pesto! My crop share came in with a load of basil and a recipe. Easy enough to remember. Enough basil to fill a colander, juice of 1 whole lemon, 1 cup choice of walnuts/pine nuts/sunflower seeds, 2-4 cloves of garlic, 1 cup olive oil. Put in blender and go crazy. It's good.

3. I came across a miracle to save myself from my candy cravings. Chop up an apple, then cover it in cinnamon and cocoa powder. After a daze of chocolate cravings that I was just barely able to ignore, eating this was wonderful. I could feel a wash of relief over my entire body. And when I was done, I just sat there in the calm and soaked it in, savoring the last bit of bitterness on my tongue. Which is a bit screwed up in terms of reactions and leads me to my next bit of education.

4. I am most certainly addicted to chocolate. Specifically, the cocoa powder. I'm willing to make this a sometimes food for myself. It seems like the more militant paleo people like to throw around that cocoa powder (along with coffee and alcohol) didn't exist in paleolithic times, I'd like to throw out that neither did the great array of spices we use. Cocoa powder is a spice. Then again, you never see anyone jonesing for oregano or cumin, so I guess the their point stands on a different angle.

5. Last Thursday and Friday (Day 4 and 5 respectively) I was in a terrible, depressive mood. Completely overwhelmed by socialization, and had a very low tolerance for any sort of crap. This is very unlike myself. My tolerance for crap is quite high, and I like people. I skipped my last lecture on Friday I was so miserable and burnt out. Also very unlike myself. I'm one of those people who shows up rain or shine, and plunks my butt in the same spot every time. The mood went away after spending one on one time with my boyfriend but I don't have any explanation for it that makes a ton of sense to me. Maybe it was the stress of a new diet change, maybe it was being burnt out with yet another nonsensical microbiology information dump delivered by a monotone lecture, maybe I was just feeling lonely. But I'm much better now.

6. Starting yesterday I was done with the yogurt. The dairy is gone from the fridge. I found out there was a name for that as well in the community. Paleo + organic whole fat milk products = Primal. The more I look into this way of eating, the more you realize you're learning about an entire subculture, complete with the self righteous weirdos that have to take it to religious levels. You know, like vegetarianism.* Along with the food, there's an entire life style connected to paleo. Paleo is the white rabbit hole. Painfully simple on the outside, but with an entire wonderland inside it, driven by a variety of personalities. And really, it all depends on how deep you want to go. I've already decided that I'm gonna stick to 30 days of paleo and then I'm introducing food groups one by one. I'll probably settle on a primal diet because I want my fatty yogurt back and an excuses to get samples from the lady that sells the really good milk at the farmer's market.

7. I was listening to some pod casts and they say that paleo dieters typically see a performance drop that can last up to 3 weeks. 3 weeks to change your epigenetics to run on a higher percentage of fats. It feels like a long time, but it's nice to have a set point I can look forward to.

8. It's really nice not being bloated. I've lost 2 pounds of water weight and my stomach has really flattened out. It makes me wish I took some pictures in the beginning.

------------------

*In case you were wondering, here are the 7 levels of vegetarianism  Presumably you get more super powers of self righteousness as you get higher. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, you really should watch Scott Pilgrim Vs the World. Excellent comedy if you were ever a fan of video games or the arcade era.

Level 1: The "I don't eat red meat" vegetarian. But they do eat bacon. And chicken. And maybe lamb. And sometimes McDonalds when they're craving it. Hey, I had a cousin who was allergic to beef but still manages to eat McDonalds once in a while because they thin it out so much. In fact, you never knew that they didn't eat red meat util that night you made a roast for a dinner party. P.S. This person isn't a vegetarian, they're just irritating.

Level 2: Pescatarian. Not technically vegetarian, but it gets throw in with them a lot. Cut out all animal products but sea food, eggs, and milk.

Level 3: Lacto ovo vegetarian. Only eggs and milk. This is typically the highest level nutritionists are comfortable with putting children at. Kid's have higher protein requirements, but eggs are good enough stuff to do the trick.

Level 4: Lacto only vegetarian. Dairy only. This is what the Hare Krishna's eat. But they also cut out garlic and onions too along with anything too spicy because they believe flatulence interferes with meditation. They make good food. I used to eat a lot of lunches with them.

Level 5: Vegan. No animal products. Including honey. That's stealing from bees. Any vegan who is vegan for spiritual or humanitarian reasons gets my respect. But if they say it's for health alone, I'm going to roll my eyes at them.

Level 6: Raw vegan. Everything vegan, but never raise the temperature above 118 degrees F! That means cutting out your legumes, tofu, and grains, unless you sprout them. That chops out a lot of your protein, unless you supplement with powders. Yeah...don't put children on that diet. Unless of course you like your wee ones placid and developmentally delayed.

Level 7. Fruititarian. You only eat fruit that naturally falls. Anything else might hurt the plant. Only vegans that wish to ascend to vegan heaven go fruititarian. Because with the vast amount of nutrient deficiencies you're going to get with this, that really is the only place you can go.

4 comments:

  1. I'm level 0.5 on th veg scale -- I do meatless Mondays and try to minimize my meat intakes hen possible for ethical reasons, but if I'm at a dinner party, I eat what's served. I try to buy humanely raised meat and eggs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On day, I'd really like to buy meat and eggs directly from the farmers too. I've always thought that was really cool. But I'm not there yet. The eggs they sell at the farmers market are 6 dollars a carton...sigh.

      Delete
  2. Nice post, I learned a lot about Paleo/Primal too! The apple snack sounds pretty awesome and easy to make.

    Which podcast do you listen to?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was listening to Robb Wolf's podcast on his website.

      http://robbwolf.com/podcast/

      When I get frustrated with what I'm eating, It always helps me suck up as much info as I can to keep myself motivated. But it's getting easier.

      Delete