Labels

First, @Gingerzingi: Did you see my response to your garlic question?

Second: Cto5K. Last week I did the first two days. Tuesday I repeated Day One. Hoping to repeat Day Two today. Which is really boring, since they (and Day Three) are all the same. OH WELL. Party prepping got the best of me last week, thus the lapse.

Now. Labels. No, not food labels. Very little of my food has a bar code slapped on it these days. I'm thinking of the "caveman" label that Diandra objected to in a recent comment. (I appreciate the comment, Diandra, you really made me think.)

I haven't studied what it means to Be Paleo. I would guess, from what I've skimmed on the interwebs, that such a lifestyle includes weight training or kettlebells or crossfit. (I could be wrong.) What I do know, for me, is this:

We can’t return to the paleolithic. We’re not cavemen. This isn’t about reenactment, and it never has been. We’re all here because we recognize the value in viewing our health, our food, our exercise, and our everyday behaviors through an evolutionary lens.

Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/12-easy-ways-to-primalize-your-everyday-life/#ixzz2YjXgcQZN

This isn't about reenactment.

It's just easier to type paleo or caveman/woman than it is to type grain-, legume, dairy- and sugar-free. I suppose I could start calling it my GLDS plan, but I'm okay calling it paleo or primal or caveman. It's descriptive, and I know what it means.

And I think you do, too.

No one out there in Whole30 Land is suggesting we kill and field-dress a deer before dinner. (Although that happens pretty frequently out here in the Middle of Nowhere.) What I get from the philosophy of the primal lifestyle is to avoid processed foods whenever possible, to eat as close to the source as one can afford (grass-fed, organic) and to move your body. (Is anyone hearing that song from Madagascar?)

My lifestyle leaves MUCH room for improvement.

My food budget is not infinite. I cannot afford to go completely organic, nor do I even buy and process my own fresh produce all the time. If pineapples are too dear, I buy canned in juice. I'm still eating regular grocery-store chicken, but my beef is grass-fed and my bacon is preservative-free. My go-to intentional activity is walking; I've yet to pick up a kettlebell, or even a dumbbell since I switched my eating plan in April.

Yoga is back in the mix, though, at least once a week.

I am, for sure, eating more healthfully than I did beginning the day after Christmas, when I started pursuing yet another weight-loss goal. I was thinking, as I was making egg salad yesterday morning before work, how easy it used to be to grab a chunk of cheese and a handful of crackers for breakfast. I nevereverever went anywhere without a snack tucked into my purse.

God forbid I should ever feel hungry.

Hunger is okay. Especially hunger first thing in the morning. It's a sign of good health to be hungry after a good night's sleep. I'm not going to die if my stomach growls. And my metabolism is not going to die if I don't feed myself every three hours.

I truly think (I hope this doesn't come back to bite me) I've found a way of eating that works for me. Whatever it's called, it's helping me reach a healthier weight. The less I weigh, the more easily I can move and thus I move more often.

I'd label that GOOD.

So easy, even a cave(wo)man could do it

Warning: This is long. Grab your coffee.

This morning's weigh-in results are in, and I'm about to break a promise to myself. I was going to wait a month to tell you about the tweaks I've made to my eating plan, but I've decided today's the day. Why today? Because I weighed in this morning and lost three more pounds, for a total of 16.5 since December 26, 2012. I'm slowly inching up to the one-pound-a-week goal I set for myself the day after Christmas.

April 6 was the beginning of the end of sugar, grains, dairy and legumes here in the Middle of Nowhere, as my husband and I dipped our forks into the world of paleo eating. (There's much more to the paleo lifestyle than the menu. But that's where I'm starting.) A combination of factors pushed me to this point, and I'm dragging him along for the ride. (He has not given up his slimy sugar-free/fat-free yogurt, which I never cared for anyway and which never appears at mealtime, only for snacks.) Those factors were:

• at least three real-life or blogging friends who have been eating primally for more than a year
• my husband's cousin, who has recently completed Whole30 and hasn't looked back
• Bloody Head Syndrome (which I'll explain)

Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. (This quote has been attributed to several famous people, including Einstein and Twain, but the first written instance of it is in the 12-step book for Narcotics Anonymous, published in the early 1980s.) Hmmm.

I'm one of those weight-loss bloggers who has had marginal success off and on over a number of years, until last year, when I found myself staring at a truly scary number on the scale. If only I'd decided 20 years ago that 140 was the truly scary number, I may never have gotten to the much higher one I saw in December.

And so I began counting calories in earnest, putting in the effort to exercise daily (have missed only a few days this year) and keeping a closer eye on the scale. (Well, at least after the first month.) From December 26 to April 6 I lost seven pounds.

Bloody Head Syndrome (don't bother Googling, it's not there) is kind of like the definition of insanity but there's the additional factor of actually hurting yourself. One could argue that I wasn't really hurting myself by simply eating less and moving more. But as time went on, I not only felt worse physically I was becoming completely demoralized emotionally.

All. That. Work.
All. That. Effort.
All. That. Time.
Seven pounds.

That doesn't just hurt, IT BITES!

It's been said and sung that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Seven pounds in 15 weeks is tough, my friends, and it was time for me to get going.

You'd truly have to have lived in a cave to never have heard about the paleo/primal/caveman diet. (I dislike the word "diet" but, as the young folk say, it is what it is.) I knew about it, thought about it, and promptly dismissed it, saying,

OH, NO, I COULD NEVER GIVE UP CHEESE, BEANS OR QUINOA!

(I've given up sugar before, once for five straight years, so I knew that one was at least possible.)

Well guess-effing-what? I can and I have. In the three weeks and two days since we started I've dropped 9.5 pounds, gotten significant relief from the aches and pains I've blamed on aging, zipped up those jeans and actually worn them and am heading for my own personal Whole60.

Because if it ain't broke, why fix it?

The quick-and-dirty theory behind Whole30 is to go cold turkey on sugar, grains, legumes and dairy for 30 days, giving your body a chance to recover from the inflammation caused by sugar, grains, legumes and dairy. You then re-introduce them, one at a time, and assess. If you feel worse or have less energy after eating beans, well then that's the culprit. Or a culprit. I didn't buy the book or even the support for the program. All I did was print out the food list and go shopping.

Because that's really what the tough do when the going gets tough. Heh.

That list, as well as several other helpful guides, are available for download by clicking this link. (Scroll down the page to the Free Downloads section.)

I really don't expect to see many out clicks on that link. After all, it took me well over a year to mull this around in my cavewoman brain. Most likely it doesn't work for everyone. But everyone I know has seen positive results (not necessarily weight loss) and, more importantly, they haven't missed (for the most part) the missing ingredients.

As for me, I miss cheese. But you know what? I'll get over it.

Last night's dinner: grass-fed beef burger topped with homemade mayonnaise,
homemade sweet potato chips (oh-so-yummy) and cucumber/onion/tomato salad.