Ok folks, I'm still in the process of designing / cooking up good cave-worthy ideas for my new blog name / design since I'm definitely not "reluctantly primal" anymore (I'm more like "totally 100% primal, and I'll find you at night and kick your ass primal). But until then, this is still my blog, and I need to share that Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations is having a TOTALLY EPIC 10,000 FAN GIVEAWAY!!! and no, it's not the 10,000 fans that he's giving away. He's giving away totally awesome paleo essentials like MEAT, Coconut cream, cookbooks, avocado oils, and much more!
You can check out this awesomeness HERE!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
DAY 32!!! I made it!! I made it!
Yes folks, I made it through 30 days of the Paleo diet!! I didn't die from not being able to eat Doritos or cake or cookies. I didn't die from not being able to eat "healthy whole grains" which actually slow me down and make me tired and hungry all the time. I feel better than I ever have, and I'm going to keep this up!
I lost 7 pounds (this is from not cutting out sugar entirely - I still had 1 tsp of honey every day or two, as well as about 100 grams of carbohydrates a day from fruit and vegetables), my attention span is much better, I no longer have that "blah" feeling, I no longer wake up feeling sore and groggy, my moodiness and irritability is totally gone, I have more energy, my cellulite is going away, my sex drive went up, my skin isn't dry anymore, I can go longer without eating without it affecting my mood, ummmm what else? LOL. To make a long story short, I love eating this way and I'm going to stick with it.
I hope you all enjoying seeing what 30 days of the Paleo diet was like for me. I've loved every minute of updating this blog. However, due to the name of this blog I no longer feel like this is the right blog for me!! I want to keep this blog up and available for people to read who might be skeptical of the Paleo diet and want to see what it was like for a total junk food addict to try it. But I am no longer "Reluctantly Primal". I definitely think I'll miss blogging, but I have a lot of thinking to do as far as the blog name and content. I'll post and update you all as soon as I decide. But until then...
STAY PRIMAL!
I lost 7 pounds (this is from not cutting out sugar entirely - I still had 1 tsp of honey every day or two, as well as about 100 grams of carbohydrates a day from fruit and vegetables), my attention span is much better, I no longer have that "blah" feeling, I no longer wake up feeling sore and groggy, my moodiness and irritability is totally gone, I have more energy, my cellulite is going away, my sex drive went up, my skin isn't dry anymore, I can go longer without eating without it affecting my mood, ummmm what else? LOL. To make a long story short, I love eating this way and I'm going to stick with it.
I hope you all enjoying seeing what 30 days of the Paleo diet was like for me. I've loved every minute of updating this blog. However, due to the name of this blog I no longer feel like this is the right blog for me!! I want to keep this blog up and available for people to read who might be skeptical of the Paleo diet and want to see what it was like for a total junk food addict to try it. But I am no longer "Reluctantly Primal". I definitely think I'll miss blogging, but I have a lot of thinking to do as far as the blog name and content. I'll post and update you all as soon as I decide. But until then...
STAY PRIMAL!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Days 24-27: Think I'm going to stick with this!
It's been a couple days since I posted last. Part of this is just due to being busy, but also I think I am starting to make the transition between talking about food nonstop to just adjusting to this as my new way of eating. I definitely think I'm going to stick with this lifestyle. This diet has improved pretty much every issue I was concerned about and some that I hadn't even thought about as a problem in years. On top of that, when I started this diet I was worried about spending too much time in the kitchen. Now it's true that I make more meals from scratch, but after 27 days of eating this way, I now spend less than 45 minutes a day in the kitchen. This is because I got my strength back I am on a fat burning metabolism and I now have the ability to go 8-10 hours without eating without it affecting my mood, sometimes longer if I make a point of it. In other words, I am no longer a slave to the kitchen and planning meals. Even though I love cooking and that's fun to do sometimes, it is kind of nice to just be able to go about my day without worrying about my next meal.
If you think about it, our species never would have survived very long if we had to reach out for a 100 calorie pack or an equivalent caveman snack every 2 hours! Oh no! We were made to be tougher than that! If you change how you eat and you avoid all these foods that mess with your blood sugar and cause carb crashes, hunger, and cravings, pretty soon your body is perfectly able to do anything you ask from it, and more, all without you grazing all day.
Anyway to make a long story short I am loving this diet! I'm going to start working on my 30th day post so stay tuned. I'll write about what these 30 days have taught me, the symptoms that improved on the paleo diet, and how I feel about eating this way and being "different" and being a "health nut". I'll also give some thought to whether or not I want to keep up with this blog, start a new one, or stop blogging altogether. I don't really identify so much with the "I love junk food" theme anymore. I feel like I don't need those foods anymore.
If you think about it, our species never would have survived very long if we had to reach out for a 100 calorie pack or an equivalent caveman snack every 2 hours! Oh no! We were made to be tougher than that! If you change how you eat and you avoid all these foods that mess with your blood sugar and cause carb crashes, hunger, and cravings, pretty soon your body is perfectly able to do anything you ask from it, and more, all without you grazing all day.
Anyway to make a long story short I am loving this diet! I'm going to start working on my 30th day post so stay tuned. I'll write about what these 30 days have taught me, the symptoms that improved on the paleo diet, and how I feel about eating this way and being "different" and being a "health nut". I'll also give some thought to whether or not I want to keep up with this blog, start a new one, or stop blogging altogether. I don't really identify so much with the "I love junk food" theme anymore. I feel like I don't need those foods anymore.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Day 23: Too much energy?
Today I caught myself complaining because my "mind was going a mile a minute after lunch" and I "didn't want to sit still anymore". Lol. Ok, first of all, 30 days ago, I used to miss the feeling of my mind being really active. I always felt like I was in a fog for part of the day. Second of all, how cool is it to feel like that AFTER you eat? So the minute I heard myself complaining about it I stopped myself and went back to day dreaming about finding a local farm to buy grass fed beef.
The other thing I'm noticing is my bad habit of staying up late is even worse now since I have more energy. Instead of being forced to nap several times a week from my poor sleeping habits I'm now able to stay up without it affecting my day too much (although it does make me hate getting up). But, to be fair I have no bedtime routine whatsoever. I use my cell phone up until the last minute I fall asleep, which is not recommended in Mark's 30 day challenge. I also couldn't turn off the computer if I tried. All those lights mess with our body clocks.
The other thing I'm noticing is my bad habit of staying up late is even worse now since I have more energy. Instead of being forced to nap several times a week from my poor sleeping habits I'm now able to stay up without it affecting my day too much (although it does make me hate getting up). But, to be fair I have no bedtime routine whatsoever. I use my cell phone up until the last minute I fall asleep, which is not recommended in Mark's 30 day challenge. I also couldn't turn off the computer if I tried. All those lights mess with our body clocks.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Day 22: LARD! and my new favorite grocery store!
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| Shopping while hungry at Sunflower Market was like foreplay! |
I finally made my way over to Sunflower Market in Colorado Springs for the first time today, and I'm really excited about it! It's like Whole Foods but cheaper! I found grass fed beef for cheap, plantains, wild caught clams on the half shell, kale, avocados for 75 cents each, chicken thighs for $1.29/lb, all kinds of stuff. Plus they even had a "make your own almond butter or peanut butter" station, which was a machine which ground up almonds or peanuts and dispensed the creamy goodness right into your plastic tub. Yum! I guess I grew up under a rock because I've never seen something like that before. I actually considered hanging around near that thing all day making myself more peanut butter one squirt at a time. I know peanut butter isn't "paleo", but I think it tastes better than almond butter, so when the fantasy played out in my mind, I was thinking of the peanut butter.
These grocery stores are fun, but I'm going to make it my goal in October to try to find a local farmer to sell me grass fed beef in a quantity that my small freezer can handle. I'm also going to see if I can find a good source for grass fed beef stock bones, bacon, pastured whole chickens, and grass fed fat. Ok, this might sound kind of gross to 90% of my friends, but cooking in animal fat--grass fed fat, not grain fed--is supposed to be good for you! Yes, it actually helps you absorb fat soluble vitamins like vitamin E, and yes, it helps keep you full longer, and yes, it's a lot better than the vegetable oils of today which turn rancid and are treated with chemicals over and over again so you don't taste the rancidity. I might stick to bacon fat for now, but I'm willing to branch out and investigate other forms of lard and render it myself. Lol. The more fat I eat the more I'm losing weight and the more energy I have. Hate all you want, the primal foods are working!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Day 20-21: Will people think I'm weird if I stick with this?
Hi guys! Well I had another good Paleo weekend. I tried liverwurst for the first time (it's yummy!), and I had such an insanely fat-heavy breakfast on Saturday that I was able to go shopping in Denver for 8 hours without eating or feeling hungry. I basically stuffed myself with eggs, meat, and even loaded up my coffee with coconut milk and even a healthy dollup of coconut oil (don't gag--it's actually pretty tasteless, although you kind of have to ignore the oil floaties, haha). I did this because I learned a new Paleo trick in the last week -- if your meal is 60%-70% fat, you can go hours without eating. I couldn't believe I was able to go without eating for 8 hours afterwards! I would never have been able to do that a few months ago, I would have been whining for food at the 3 hour point. So I really got to see the powers of SATURATED FAT as an energy source. You can run a lot longer on that shiznit than you can carbs!
Anyway, I'm up writing this post because I really can't sleep. But there's also something on my mind. I was just thinking about things, and quite honestly, I wonder if people are going to think I'm weird if I stick with this diet. I mean really. I'm excited about the health benefits I'm noticing, but I don't have a geniune life threatening disease to mention during social occasions as an excuse to eat what I want. I'm not diabetic, I don't have celiac disease, etc. All I am is somebody who noticed how AMAZING I feel when I eat this way!
I feel kind of bad for whoever takes me on. My poor boyfriend. Suddenly I realized I'm going to be "that girl", the one who talks about organic food and crap like that, and would prefer to eat only certain things even if she doesn't always say so. My God, what if I end up being the girl who takes 2 minutes ordering her food because she wants to know if her steak was grass fed and what oil it will be cooked in. I'm not that picky yet, but I can just imagine scaring off tons of people that way. On top of that, I probably will get to the point where I can't eat cake or ice cream without getting sick. On one hand I feel like I'll just end up looking like a freak. On the other hand I guess I'm willing to be weird if that's what it comes down to, because no one ever accused me of being normal anyway.
Anyway, that was what was on my mind today. That and the gigantic pot roast I'm going to eat tomorrow. I started it marinating in a red wine / garlic / onion mixture in the fridge and I'm going to stick it in the crock pot tomorrow. No idea how it'll turn out, but I'm excited!
Anyway, I'm up writing this post because I really can't sleep. But there's also something on my mind. I was just thinking about things, and quite honestly, I wonder if people are going to think I'm weird if I stick with this diet. I mean really. I'm excited about the health benefits I'm noticing, but I don't have a geniune life threatening disease to mention during social occasions as an excuse to eat what I want. I'm not diabetic, I don't have celiac disease, etc. All I am is somebody who noticed how AMAZING I feel when I eat this way!
I feel kind of bad for whoever takes me on. My poor boyfriend. Suddenly I realized I'm going to be "that girl", the one who talks about organic food and crap like that, and would prefer to eat only certain things even if she doesn't always say so. My God, what if I end up being the girl who takes 2 minutes ordering her food because she wants to know if her steak was grass fed and what oil it will be cooked in. I'm not that picky yet, but I can just imagine scaring off tons of people that way. On top of that, I probably will get to the point where I can't eat cake or ice cream without getting sick. On one hand I feel like I'll just end up looking like a freak. On the other hand I guess I'm willing to be weird if that's what it comes down to, because no one ever accused me of being normal anyway.
Anyway, that was what was on my mind today. That and the gigantic pot roast I'm going to eat tomorrow. I started it marinating in a red wine / garlic / onion mixture in the fridge and I'm going to stick it in the crock pot tomorrow. No idea how it'll turn out, but I'm excited!
Would a Caveman, aka "Grok", use Crockpots and Blenders?
The mythical caveman who ate the diet which all of us Paleo peeps try to emulate is named "Grok", a name first created by Mark Sisson on Mark's Daily Apple. You can read about this hairy dude whose hobbies include running around with a spear and dragging women back to his cave here. But the question burning in everyone's minds is, if Grok lived in modern times, would he mess around with kitchen appliances? Would he attempt the elaborate cooking methods of modern times?
Grok's life is interesting to think about. In some ways, we all have a little "Grok" in us, such as when we're cooking bacon and there's that moment when instinct takes over and we devour 10 pieces before we even get to the table. But it makes you realize that food can be as complicated as you want it to be. You can either A., throw food on the modern "fire" (skillet) and call it a day, or B., you can make an effort to use traditional and sometimes complicated cooking techniques that have tried and true tasty results. I usually opt for option B. On a normal day, it's totally normal for me to use my oven, crockpot, blender, coffee pot, and dehydrator. Would Grok really use all this stuff? Of course not! First of all, he was too busy hunting wild animals, and second of all, one look at the pile of dishes to do and he'd probably yell out "UGGGGHA!" and chuck them one by one over a cliff. But I'm one to think that adding variety and creativity to the Paleo diet can only be a good thing, because I thrive on creating things.
I think creativity is just as much a part of the human experience as running from a really hungry saber toothed tiger was. I don't want the foods I eat to be boring, and I have that luxury, because last time I checked I wasn't being chased by hungry carnivores (although there's a couple of people in the office who are certainly similar). There's plenty of times when I'm so hungry that I could devour a plate full of ground beef even if it wasn't seasoned, but most days I do want to try something new, and I don't have any qualms about putting some effort into it.
Anyway, in unrelated news, tonight on the Discovery channel there's going to be an interesting show in which a group of people see if they can hack it as cavemen!! Check it out!
I'll definitely be watching it, if nor no other reason than to watch the humorous effects of people switching to a low-carb diet with no warning. I'm sure that 90% of the irritability in this documentary was caused by people going without donuts and ice cream (a horrible ordeal which ends rather quickly). Had they been Paleo before shooting, they probably would have been like, "What? It's totally normal for me to skip a meal or two without noticing! And by the way, your fur is sexy! Get over here! Rarrrr!"
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| I don't see any campfires, spears, or slaughtered game in this picture. Image: winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Grok's life is interesting to think about. In some ways, we all have a little "Grok" in us, such as when we're cooking bacon and there's that moment when instinct takes over and we devour 10 pieces before we even get to the table. But it makes you realize that food can be as complicated as you want it to be. You can either A., throw food on the modern "fire" (skillet) and call it a day, or B., you can make an effort to use traditional and sometimes complicated cooking techniques that have tried and true tasty results. I usually opt for option B. On a normal day, it's totally normal for me to use my oven, crockpot, blender, coffee pot, and dehydrator. Would Grok really use all this stuff? Of course not! First of all, he was too busy hunting wild animals, and second of all, one look at the pile of dishes to do and he'd probably yell out "UGGGGHA!" and chuck them one by one over a cliff. But I'm one to think that adding variety and creativity to the Paleo diet can only be a good thing, because I thrive on creating things.
I think creativity is just as much a part of the human experience as running from a really hungry saber toothed tiger was. I don't want the foods I eat to be boring, and I have that luxury, because last time I checked I wasn't being chased by hungry carnivores (although there's a couple of people in the office who are certainly similar). There's plenty of times when I'm so hungry that I could devour a plate full of ground beef even if it wasn't seasoned, but most days I do want to try something new, and I don't have any qualms about putting some effort into it.
Anyway, in unrelated news, tonight on the Discovery channel there's going to be an interesting show in which a group of people see if they can hack it as cavemen!! Check it out!
I'll definitely be watching it, if nor no other reason than to watch the humorous effects of people switching to a low-carb diet with no warning. I'm sure that 90% of the irritability in this documentary was caused by people going without donuts and ice cream (a horrible ordeal which ends rather quickly). Had they been Paleo before shooting, they probably would have been like, "What? It's totally normal for me to skip a meal or two without noticing! And by the way, your fur is sexy! Get over here! Rarrrr!"
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