I have been MIA lately and for that, I apologize. However, I’m working on some upcoming posts and thoughts for you. In the meantime, I wanted to share an amazing read I had this morning.
Eat to live well
Changing our lives, one bite at a time
Category Archives: General musings
The proof is in the pudding. The meat kind
Excellent article – read it when you can.
The finish line
Today is the first day of the rest of your life. We’ve all heard that before but today is the day when the BC challenge officially ends and you are free to go back to where you came from. The question is, do you?
For those who want to return to the previous life, here are some tips – reintroduce those things you cut out, slowly. Add only one per day or two. So if you cut out soda, sugar, dairy and refined carbs, add them back in, slowly, one at a time. Notice how you feel and then decide if you want to keep them. Nothing says you can reintroduce them and banish them at once. I promise you that you won’t feel nearly as good as you think you will and my guess is, most of you will continue on this path.
My apologies for being light on the postings of late. I am 5 weeks from my wedding and I have been tied up at work with a large project. But I’ve been on this journey with you and I think I’d like to stay right here for a while.
I’m going to continue to post when I can with a greater emphasis on endurance sports and Whole 30/Paleo. I wish you all success in your endeavors and I hope that life find you well. Remember to eat well to live well.
The results are in…
Two months on Paleo. My body fat percentage is 13.4%. My cholesterol is 160, HDL is 100 and my non-fasting glucose is 112. I also crushed my 5 – 1 mile repeats this morning with a consistent 6:48ish time.
So don’t tell me eating fat makes you fat. And that fat raises cholesterol. And that food doesn’t have an amazing effect on our bodies.
Each of you on this plan has already shared your success story so far. We’re coming to the end of our current journey and are gearing up to start a new one. You can decide what you want to do next but I think I know where most of your heads are at and I’m excited!
Keep it up. We’re in the home stretch and you’ve made it through the hardest part. Congratulations. You all are amazing.
Comfort foods
One of my besties and I were chatting over email today. Over the weekend, she had decided to fix her husband “paleo spaghetti” (if you don’t know what it is, well, it’s not spaghetti) Anyway, he was rather disappointed because the “noodles” were not real noodles. They were spaghetti squash.
At the same time, on the other side of the beltway, I was attempting to convince my fiancee that the paleo cupcakes he was tasting from our potential wedding baker were just as delicious as traditional, gluten filled ones. He too, refused to agree.
So this got me thinking about Whole 30 and what it’s all about. Whole 30 (and Paleo, in general) isn’t about taking bad things out of your diet and switching them for less bad things. It’s not swapping white sugar for honey in your tea, or buying gluten free cookies instead of traditional ones. It’s bigger than that. It’s about changing your behavior.
Since we were young, we have become conditioned to want things and often, that “want” is confused with “need”. My friend’s hubby didn’t want the substitution, just like my fiancee didn’t want the “fake cake” but we all have food needs. So what we are learning to do, as I’ve already said, is give our bodies what they need. Part of learning to do this is to overcome cravings for things we don’t need. Pasta and cakes are toxic. They’re filled with stuff that makes us crave them and for this reason, when we attempt to substitute something else, our minds are smart enough to call “bullshit”. Craving spaghetti won’t be sated with a plate of squash covered in meaty sauce, just like craving a golden baked fat bomb won’t be placated with almond flour and agave.
So what to do? The best way to get around this is to learn to eat things that aren’t attempts at replacing other things. Yes, spaghetti squash and meat sauce are good but only when you don’t have Muellers on the mind. So my suggestion is to learn to cook and eat new foods. Tonight, I’m trying a dish called Machaca con Huevos. It’s pulled Mexican beef with jalapeño and scrambled eggs mixed in. It has a little spice and it’s served over ground cauliflower. Notice, I didn’t say “cauliflower rice” which is what it’s called. I’m tring to work on disassociating the comfort food with paleo food. I want paleo food to become my new comfort food and by trying new things that I’ve never had, this happens all by itself.
So I invite you to explore totally new dishes, keep cooking from Well Fed and explore some of the many online recipe sites.
Oh and if you still want something to put some nice beefy dishes over, I definitely invite you try ground cauliflower. It’s outstanding.
http://nomnompaleo.com/post/1626071845/another-simpler-version-of-cauliflower-rice
Mirror, mirror on the wall
So I was talking with a co-worker yesterday about his budding interest in yoga. He’s never taken a class but he wants to get into better shape. I suggested he start with my own yoga studio, Unity Woods. I started to explain the virtues of this studio, one of which is that it has no mirrors. Of course, he immediately asked “Well, how do you know if you’re doing the pose right if you can’t see yourself?” And hence started a reflective process that, if you bear with me, will tie into what we are doing here.
As a little back story, Unity Woods is one of the few Iyengar studios on the East coast. Without taking up too much space here, Iyengar is a type of yoga that is less about flipping oneself into a fast flow-y pose and more about experiencing each pose. To that end, each class consists of a very well trained instructor (the minimum instructor training period is 10 years, I’m told) who takes time to explain and demonstrate each pose, before we put ourselves into that pose. Because there are no mirrors, you are required to learn to “feel” the pose. To experience the pose and to listen to the little clues your body gives you to let you know that it’s happy in the pose. To tune out the distractions like “Am I doing it right? Oh god, my butt looks huge. She looks perfect in her pose” In short, you really do have to channel that inner zen. Practice, practice, and more practice will eventually have you doing it perfectly, on your own, but it takes time and patience, patience, patience.
Now, let’s talk about boot camp. The same holds true here, right? You all show up wearing whatever clothes you don’t mind mucking up, just having gotten out of bed. You have no earthly idea what you look like to others as you’re doing the exercises and as an instructor, I don’t want you to care. I want you to focus and to work on your form and to experience the process, without seeing whether or not you need to suck in your belly (sometimes you do) or need to push out your booty (and other times you should) In short, you’re learning to listen to what you can do and what I’m telling you, and going off of that. With time and practice, you get better and more efficient at the movements.
So, to bring this back to the original purpose, when we learn to eat clean, we’re doing the same thing. You’re learning to listen to what your body wants (not your head) and to live in that moment. You’re learning to make selections that will put all your parts into their happy places. You’re working on slowing down and relishing your eating experience. You’re learning that over time, you’ll get better at this and it will come easier. At which point, like yoga or boot camp, you’ll be doing it perfectly, without thinking.
So next time you want to learn to become one with food, put down that external distraction (scale, mirror and body weight recommendations) and live in the moment. In short, find your inner eating zen.
I couldn’t have said it better
I know I’ve been MIA but I am back from vacation and ready to check in. How is everyone doing? Have you made it into this third week feeling good and healthy?
I came across an outstanding article a couple of days ago to share. I can’t really sum it up any better so here it is:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/wheat-gluten_b_1274872.html
More to come later.
Homework assignment
Tonight, when you eat dinner, I want you to do an experiment. Fix your plate with all the right things, then sit at your dinner table. Regardless if you’re with someone or alone, I want you to take 25 minutes to clean it. No eating fast and sitting there for 20 more minutes. Just. Eat. Slow. Chew everything a bunch of times. Focus on the experience. Enjoy what you’re doing and see what happens as a result.
Packing heat
So when packing for a trip, the first thing I do now is plan my food and snacks. This is actually easier than picking clothes and shoes! This trip involves going out of the country to a very warm island which means several things. One, there’d will be good stuff there like fresh fruit and fish but it means snacks are harder to come by and more expensive. When you’re traveling, think about a game plan. Going somewhere cold? Pack healthy comfort food and fruit which may be harder to find. Think healthy fruit power bars. In a hot environment, keep in mind melting and humidity. Opt instead for nuts and individually wrapped treats. If you’re going somewhere remote, make sure you take anything you would want because chances are, you will not find those lucious lemon Lara bars. Fresh fruit is usually off-limits when going abroad so don’t bother trying to smuggle on that banana unless ye eating it on the plane.
Speaking of, remember the plane rule. Aim for at least one 8 ounce glass of water per hour in the air, AT A MINIMUM. also, steer clear of the plane peanuts and cracker mix. And I shouldn’t have to mention the booze. 🙂
Eat to live well 