Monday, June 27, 2011

well, hello there! -Brigitte

I feel like I haven't posted since '89.

According to Megs, that's about correct. (teehee)

I feel like poo today. Not from my food/workout/diet stuff, just trying to legitimately catch a cold, I think. (My dear friend Kelli, an herbalist, says, "When doing a detox (which Paleo basically is at the start), your immune system might get a little screwy. Lots of onions, garlic, echinecea, and lemon in your water will help.")

Lots to say...where to start...

*SLEEP
I don't sleep enough. Lots of Paleo blogs I've been reading in the last week talk about sleep being one of the cornerstones of a healthy body. I'm just sitting with this concept a bit; I kinda like that I run on minimal sleep. Let's face it...there just aren't enough hours in the day for most of us. I'm supposed to sleep EIGHT HOURS?! That's crazy talk. But...maybe I need to rethink this. And work on it. If changing to a Paleo lifestyle is about health and strength like I say, I suppose I owe it to myself to become aware of how more sleep might affect me, and how a lack of sleep does affect me.

*SCALE
Did anyone else see the blogpost on Everyday Paleo about throwing away your scale?? Sister, I know your primary goal going Paleo includes losing some of the excess baby weight...so I get the weigh-ins. Hell, I weigh myself 3 or 4 times a week, and I'm not really trying to lose any more pounds (although I won't complain if I do!). Check out the blogpost if you didn't see it, and let me know what you think. Another concept I'm gonna work on...because, for me at this point in my life, the scale may not be all-knowing. Radical thought.

*BALANCE
Sister, I loved your post about "all or nothing". As for me, I uber-suck at "everything in moderation"...and not just about food. Whether it's cleaning, or spending money, or eating healthy, or exercising~ if I'm not doing it to the nth degree, I feel like I'm not "good enough", and then I stop. I am getting better at this...thank you to my therapist, and my Al-Anon group!...but I have discovered some truths about eating Paleo within the last week, as it relates to me (and maybe me only?) in regards to balance.
--I do best if I don't cheat. At all. When it comes to grains FOR SURE. Gluten makes me binge now. It's not pretty. I'll describe in a bit.
--Fruit actually does cure my sugar cravings. So I need to stop whining about chocolate chip cookies, and eat some cherries.
--If I am gonna cheat, a bit of cheese usually is okay. Baked goods~ a no-no. Alcohol~ iffy.
Again, disclaimer...this may just be me.

*BOOZE
I love vodka. And I don't see anything wrong with drinking a vodka soda or two on occasion. But here's my discovery (again, for me): my favorite little cocktail bloats me. And makes me more likely to cheat the next day (on gluten, the DEVIL.). Therefore, I've decided...booze only on special occasions. A real occasion, not just like "it's Thursday and I like Thursdays" or something like that. :)

*LAST WEEK
Whooooaaa Nelly, last week pretty much sucked for me eating Paleo. Until Thursday. Then I pulled it together....but the first part of the week I crashed and BURNED. Hard.
On Monday, I was the "sweet treat" girl at my small group. I made a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. I took most of them to group. I encouraged said group to take the cookies home with them. I still had almost two dozen at home (for the kids. Riiiiight.). I didn't eat enough dinner Monday night, because I was at group. I went to bed at normal time. ~and then, I woke up around 1:00am with a blood sugar crash, and I ate like 7 cookies. I woke up Tuesday with a sugar hangover, but determined to make better choices. I did the exact same thing Tuesday. Wednesday? A new day, right? I did the exact same thing Wednesday. Right down to the not eating enough dinner (ooh and Wednesday I had a cocktail too...) and getting up in the middle of the night and gorging on cookies.
Thursday morning, I again looked 5 months pregnant, and I was violently pissed with myself. I filled an entire garbage bag with shit from my pantry and refrigerator... and I've been just about 100% clean since then. Thank heavens.

So. That's what I've been up to.

I'm having a bit of difficulty meal-planning on this "diet"...mostly because I usually have a hard time meal-planning, period. I hate sitting down and figuring out what is going to sound good in like three days for dinner. It's always really lovely when I do it, to have a grocery list already planned, or to know what to expect for the dinner hour~ but it's finding the motivation to sit down with a pencil, my computer, a pad of paper, and my cookbook and figure it all out. Also, I'm pretty new at using veggies for the only side dishes for dinner. It's so much easier to add "potatoes" to a meal...harumph.

Lastly, a couple of food-type observations and/or ideas:
~The chocolate coffee Larabar is BOMB. Try it. You'll thank me. (Second fave: Cherry Pie.)
~Kerrygold butter is AMAZING. And, because I use it rarely, I can justify the ridiculous expense. It's the only dairy I use these days. And it is so, so good. I mixed a couple tablespoons with some fresh-chopped chives and some minced garlic and shoved it under chicken skin and baked some chickies...dreamy, easy dinner. And just as good for leftovers the next day.
~When I can't figure out a side dish, my go-to has become...an avocado. YUM.
~I'm finding that when my fridge only includes Paleo foods, dinner isn't such a chore anymore. Cook some protein, cover it with veggies or top some veggies with it, add some fat (olive oil, avocado, chopped nuts), and dinner is done! Dessert is whatever fruit I'm craving that is fresh in the fridge. Or maybe a smoothie, made with said fruit and coconut milk and ice.

Today (feeling like crap), I bought a rotisserie chicken, deli-style (natural) roast beef, some cabbage, a cucumber, and some bananas. Dinner is gonna be either cabbage/carrot/green onion salad with shredded chicken, or roast beef slices rolled around red pepper and cucumber slices (maybe dipped in guacamole?). Or maybe I'll just rip chicken pieces off with my fingers and eat them while standing at the counter. Whatever it turns into...it's all super healthy. And I feel really good about that.

I'm really going to try to meal plan this week. You can keep me accountable! :)


3 comments:

  1. I admire your quest and am so glad to see you writing again! I stumbled upon the following site and this may be a great place for inspiration - the food looks so darn purdy and tasty.

    www.greenkitchenstories.com

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  2. Oooh Ryan the brownies on that page look scrumptious! I'm definitely gonna look through more of their recipes :)
    I still have the other blog too...but recently the musings of my mind have not necessarily been fit for public comsumption ;)

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  3. The musings of my mind are rarely fit for anyone's consumption, including mine sometimes. Hope you're feeling better!

    ReplyDelete