Archive - October 2013

My weight loss is still happening, and I couldn’t be happier with myself.  I’m almost at the first goal I’ve set for myself!  Last night, Paleo pizza for dinner (red onions, Paleo cheese, hot peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes), including a dessert Paleo pizza (half pumpkin butter with Enjoy Life chocolate chips and half with an almond butter bacon mix).  Yum!  Leftovers for lunch today…can’t wait!

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about Paleo and Autism, and how this diet can potentially help people suffering with autism.  I don’t know much about Autism, except a generalization about it.  I’m starting to gain a better understanding now, having done some research.  There isn’t really a definitive case stating what actually causes Autism, but most sources seem to link it to genetic and environmental factors.  What I thought was really interesting was the fact that diabetes and thyroid problems in mothers during pregnancy were prevalent factors in children with Autism.  Based on everything I’ve read about Paleo and a Gluten Free diet, both are said to help prevent/control diabetes and thyroid conditions.  While there are many different theories as to what causes Autism, I’m only focusing on ones that perhaps a Paleo/gluten free diet could prevent from happening, or repair.

Many children with Autism are said to have “Leaky Gut”, and leaky gut can be prevented by living a Paleo lifestyle, or at the very least gluten and dairy free.  Now what I don’t understand is how easy it is for me to just Google “Paleo and Autism”, and come up with all of this information, but still it seems that doctors turn a blind eye.  I get that sometimes people who are into holistic medicine, and healthy living are viewed as a little bit off (myself included), but what do we have to lose?  Changing your diet a little is a lot safer than taking the latest drug or “miracle pill”, is it not?  All it is, is eating differently.  I understand this takes a lot of time and effort, but still.  Remember, Google is your friend.  You can find anything…try Googling “kid friendly Paleo”…go ahead, I’ll wait for you.  …see, you can find ANYTHING!

Still need to do more research…

Check out Dr. Emily Deans blog…there’s a lot of information on Autism and Paleo on there.

“Everyone is a genius.  

But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree,

it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

-Albert Einstein-

Hello loyal blog followers, and new followers!  Just wanted to write a quick entry…

I really enjoy doing research on certain topics along with paleo.  I like to see what I can come up with, currently doing some research on a specific topic, but I’ll tell you more about it once I gather my thoughts.  I know, the suspense is killlllling you…you’ll live.  haha

Okay, so I was told, and I do stress the word TOLD…to read this book called “Grain Brain”.  Well, I purchased the book and I’m glad I did.  I didn’t get too far yet, but it’s a really interesting read so far, (thanks Mike).  I think I’m finding it more interesting because I’m starting to make the same discoveries on my own, from my experience.  I will tell you this for now, as a person who suffered with severe anxiety for half my life, living Paleo has significantly decreased my anxiety.  I’ll talk about that more in a later blog.  I just think that this (Paleo) may be the thing that has to potential to change a lot; obesity, disease, and mental health issues.  I recommend this book to anyone, it will make you think.

I’m glad I’m already well into this journey…can’t wait to see what the future holds.

“Part of starting your journey to health and fitness begins with seeing yourself as you want to be.  Believe it, then go after it!”

-Stephen Luke Fitness-

Ah…a quick visit with my dear friend yesterday, who was recently diagnosed with diabetes.  He’s been following a paleo-ish, gluten free diet, and he looks amazing!  He’s lost some weight, said he feels awesome, and he even said that his vision is coming back.  It was starting to get bad, and now that he’s following a healthy lifestyle and taking care of himself, his body is repairing itself naturally.  Now, I don’t have something of that nature going on, but I do feel like my body is “repairing” itself to some extent.  I went to this Green Life Market close to my house to see if I could find him a sugar free, zero carb, gluten free bread…I found “Net Carb Zero Bread” by Julian Bakery.  Upon further research, I read on the site that it’s good for diabetics…so there ya go!  I had to look it up because it had Organic Gluten Free Oat Bran, and I wasn’t sure what that was; this is what I found, “We use gluten free oat fiber which is scientifically proven to control blood sugar all day long.”  That’s awesome!  Next, I need to try these Paleo wraps!

I can’t believe how much there is to discover on this diet.  I think I’ve said it before, my plan is to go full Paleo.  I’m there for the most part, but it still needs some tweaking.  Over 2 full months in, and loving every second.

…it’s that feeling when you grab the wrong jeans, put them on, have them fit, then realize you haven’t been able to fit into them for years!

“Misery loves company, but company does not reciprocate.”

-Addison Mizner-

Let me first state that I am not a doctor, nor am I an “actual” scientist (I only play one on TV, haha).  These views expressed here are based on minimal research of these topics.  I will try to deliver the information to the best of my ability, and if I can’t, that’s what Dr. Noah’s input is for. (c:

My love of science has lead me to start googling all the items on the list of “Things to Avoid if You Are Paleo”.  In this post I’ll focus on Lectins.  Lectins are a class of proteins known for their ability to bind to the carbohydrates found in animal cells; they protect plants from predators, as well as support immunological fuctions in plants and animals.  Basically they are found in pretty much everything that we consume on a daily basis.  Lectins are found in a lot of GMO food (many are hidden), you should try looking for foods that are non-GMO.

There are many different kinds of lectins, and we consume them on a daily basis.  There are good, beneficial lectins, and harmful lectins.  Nuts and seeds are foods that contain beneficial lectins, if and only if, eaten in moderation.  Lectins affect the digestive system, so they say if you’re more sensitive (such as gluten intolerant), you should just avoid these altogether.  On Paleo, foods like legumes and grains, which contain the harmful lectins, are definitely not allowed.  Lectin containing items, such as beans need to be boiled to reduce the levels of orally toxic lectin in them, meaning that if eaten raw, some of them can make you sick.  These orally toxic foods could potentially cause your body to reject all of the good nutrients you put in it, and nobody wants that to happen.  Heart disease and obesity are said to be two serious illnesses that could occur from the rejection.  Many vegetables contain lectins, but those are not harmful to human cells, such as tomatoes, zucchini, sweet peppers, and mushrooms.  Although, some people are more sensitive to eating these raw, that when cooked, can digest them much better.  Some fruits contain lectins, as well as some spices.  The spices are generally cooked before packaging, which eliminates the lectins.  Gluten is another lectin that is harmful.  Gluten causes damage to your digestive system.  High sugar and high fat foods contain gluten, and on Paleo, these are avoided.  The immune system can be completely destroyed, and if that should happen, there is a higher risk of developing diabetes.

So these lectins I speak of, are said to be of the “sticky” nature, and what happens is that they bind to the lining of your intestines;  this causes nutrients to not be absorbed as they should and can lead to obesity.  Here is an article I read about the reduction of the nutrients leading to a pre-diabetic conditon: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6823/5/10.

What do you think of when you hear the term “leaky gut“?  I think of a challenge on Double Dare (remember that show?).  Whatever you think it could be, I bet it doesn’t sound too pretty.  In fact is a very serious ailment that can come from the damage of the lining of the intestines, which are a main component to the immune system.  Basically, the damaged intestines become porous, and this allows for “bad stuff” to get into your bloodstream.  All these toxins that enter the bloodstream cause the liver starts to work overtime, but eventually the workload is too much.  Leaky gut is bad news and consuming high quantities of refined sugars, preservatives, processed foods,and flavorings that cause leaky gut is even worse news!  It’s going to be close to impossible to get rid of all of the lectins we consume, but the amount should be decreased greatly.  Paleo is a perfect way to do this…nobody wants a leaky gut.

Now, one more quick thing I want to touch on…lectin is different than lecithin.  I’m sure you’ve looked at ingredients and have seen “soy lecithin” in almost everything you picked up off a shelf.  Lecithin doesn’t primarily come from soy though, but we see that the most because it is inexpensive to manufacture (that’s the root of the all the problems).  The soy plants that they come from are mostly GMOs.  Lecithin is an additive that has a lot of use, but isn’t exactly healthy to consume in large quantities because in it’s natural form it does have some health benefits.  It’s mainly used as an emulsifier, and this helps to extend shelf life, which makes it a preservative, and Paleo says no to preservatives.  It’s also used as a wetting agent in things such as cake batter, helping the water stir in better to get rid of the clumps.  So basically, what I gathered is that lecithin makes your food more aesthetically pleasing.  Hmph…awesome health, or nice looking “food”?  No brainer.

People, take care of yourselves!  Be aware of what you’re putting in your body!  Do the research!

“Any politician or scientist who tells you

these [GMO] products are safe is either very stupid or lying.”

-David Suzuki, CC, OBC, Ph.D, LLD, Geneticist-

Another weekend has come and gone.  Down another pound or so…yippee!  I’m feeling so great, I can’t even describe it.  Had some masterpiece eggs for breakfast, and tonight for dinner I made a steak with yummy seasoning.  Attempted to make mashed cauliflower…and succeeded!  They were DELICIOUS.  Put the cauliflower in a pot…broke it up with my hands, then I mixed a cup of chicken broth, some smashed up garlic, and a 1/2 tsp of black pepper…threw it all it…let it go for 25 minutes or so…then MASHED it.  🙂  I can’t even believe that this existed before now, and nobody ever told me!  I’m a mashed potato kid so I figured nothing could compare **Nothing Compares 2 U playing in the background**, but this far surpassed my expectations.  I thought the cauliflower rice was pretty awesome, but this beat it by a landslide.  I will be making this much more often.  🙂

I realized that for two months, I haven’t really had any repeat meals.  I had some leftovers, and maybe one or two repeats (pizza), but I have searched far and wide for different things to try, and it worked.  Paleo is good…life is amazing.  No complaints here.

“Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get.
But if you work really hard, and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.
I’m telling you: Amazing things will happen.”

-Conan O’Brien-

Today (yesterday) was a good day.  One, it was Friday (it’s Saturday now) and two, all the food I ate was AWESOME.  Plus, I weighed myself at the end of the night, after eating dinner, and my weight was at my 23.5 lb. loss…which means…I’m probably a pound or at least a half pound lighter than that!

For breakfast, I ate the pumpkin pancakes with an egg and a strip of bacon.  Then for lunch, I ate my hamburger with almond butter/bacon mashup on top.  Both of those meals were prepared last night!  Then for dinner I made sausage, peppers, and onions with a radish salad as a side.  I’ve never really ate radishes before, but when I saw them in the supermarket, I was compelled to buy them.  I knew I’d figure out what to do with them later.  I looked up some things online about radishes and found out that horseradish is actually made from chopped up radishes.  I don’t know why I never put that together.  Then I wanted to know why it was called horseradish; this site says:

I thought that was pretty interesting.  Tomorrow I think I’m going to attempt my own Paleo horseradish!  Anyway, back to my radish salad…I found a recipe for a simple radish salad.  I plan on doing more things with radishes.  I’m so excited, and I don’t know why.  Oh, maybe it’s because it’s almost 3am!

So I leave you with this question, what was your “a-ha!” moment that made you decide it was time to change your lifestyle and live Paleo?

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to leave the shore.”

Cheers to the weekend!

I was a busy bee cooking yesterday…oh, by the way, did I mention that I now own my first apron??  So cute!  It’s definitely a good investment, especially when you spend 2-4 hours a day cooking!  For lunch yesterday I made hamburgers.  I put them in a pan with some pizza seasoning I had made, then put some diced tomatoes.  It’s like a Paleo comfort food for me.  Then for dinner I went with a sirloin steak, seasoned with salt and pepper, then cooked in a balsamic, honey, garlic marinade.  I threw in some green beans, and VOILA!

Then while watching the Giants/Bears game, I made some pumpkin pancakes with eggs to enjoy for breakfast today…and I definitely enjoyed them!  Paleo pancakes are so much better than any other pancakes I’ve ever had.  Wish I made some more!  Maybe tomorrow morning.  🙂  I was feeling productive so I decided to also make lunch for today.  Hamburger with an almond butter bacon mixture on top, with tomato, lettuce, and onion.  Wowza!  Can’t wait to eat it!

Found some recipes for pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie…as soon as I get to them, I’ll let you know how they come out!

I’m trying to figure out how I feel about cheese.  I’ve used goat cheese on salads, but I don’t know if I can include that much cheese, because I can eat cheese by the pound.  I’m afraid that if I really introduce cheese back into my diet, it will be detrimental to all the progress I’ve made.  Maybe in another couple weeks I’ll consider it again.  For now, I have some goat cheese left that I want to use, because I don’t want to be wasteful.

“Enjoy life now, this is not a rehearsal.”