Sasha and the Great White Potato

So while on vacation last week, I decided that it might be time to allow a food back in my life which I had abstained from eating for 6 months, and one that used to be among my favorite foods - the Great White Potato.

Yes, it deserves to be capitalized.

I reintroduced it back into my diet with style (style meaning about 3 heaping tablespoons of real butter and 3 tablespoons of whole-fat sour cream atop the great baked beast).  Man, was it freakin' good! 

Which brings me to my next point - last night, I convinced Josh that since he's in the clear, he should try nightshades again (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, etc).  So we bought red potatoes, and I sliced them up to look like McDonald's french fries.  They were pretty darn good - even the slightly burnt ones had a great taste, especially smothered in ketchup.

Only one small problem with all this.  I've started getting heartburn symptoms (which for me means I'm not producing enough acid oddly enough), and I can't help but wonder if it might be the potatoes.  Okay, I lied.  There's another problem - I'm also VERY scared that I might get on a potato kick and gain all my weight back (This was not encouraging to see on googlenews today "Pound for Pound, Worst Foods for Weight Gain").

What's the plan, then?  I'm thinking for now, I'll limit my white potatoes to a max of 2 times a week and only on days I exercise a decent amount (moderate cardio for around 30 min should be good).  I also need to take my Betaine HCL on a more regular basis...ugh.

Do you have heartburn problems?  Have you ever tried taking Betaine HCL to see if it helps with heartburn symptoms?  You might give it a try - you'd be surprised how many people inhibit their stomach acid thinking it'll help, when in turn it actually hurts the stomach/gut. 

(Note - I'm not a doctor; I'm just sharing what I know. Below are some informational links on low stomach acid and Betaine.  If you're not sure, ask a doctor.)

http://www.modernherbalist.com/betaine.html
http://www.leakygut.co.uk/Hypochlorhydria.htm
http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?libid=13388

Paleo eating while...traveling. Good times...

I don't know how many of you are seasoned Paleo enthusiasts, but I'm a mere 6 months into this commitment, and I haven't yet had the extreme joy of having to figure out how the heck I'm gonna eat while flying 9 hours across the country.  No more stopping at airport restaurants!

Needless to say, the very idea of having to meal plan for a trip to TN sent my head spinning and my eyes bonking out of my head like a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

Then I took a breath, remembered that the Paleo blogging community is swimming with oodles of ideas, and started searching.  That's when I came across this idea:

http://www.primal-palate.com/2011/01/beef-jerky.html

It's so simple, so perfect for a long plane ride.  I was a bit intimidated when I saw that it called for Coconut Aminos, but our local health food store, PCC, came to the rescue.  And, the best part of all??  It's not a liquid food, so I don't have to worry about TSA examining it and deeming it unfit or more than 3 oz or whatever.  Hurray!

Another thought, which looking back, I can't help but wonder why it didn't immediately come to mind... 

TRAIL MIX!

Here's my plan:

1/2 cup organic raisins
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
3/4 cup dried apples
1/2 cup dried banana chips
1/2 cup dried strawberries

We have a food dehydrator, so whatever else I can think of tossing in it will probably also end up in our trail mix.  (By the way, I totally just made up the numbers on the fly - you can put in whatever you want however you want, but I think this will be a good ratio of nuts to fruits to coconut.)

I also plan on bringing some Larabars - they're fantastic.  The only draw back is, they're loaded with sugar, and while it's natural sugar from the dates and fruits they use in the bars, it's still a bit much.  Especially when you're strapped to a plane seat for 4 hours at a time and your only exercise is climbing over people and seats to get to the bathroom.

I could kinda use a veggie to round out Friday's day of snacking, so I'm thinking I might bake some kale chips.  Surely between the jerky, trail mix and kale chips, we'll have enough chow to get us through until we get to my mother's house at 11pm Friday night. 

What snacks do you take with you on trips?  Anyone have any Paleo traveling tips you'd like to share?

Tea time

One of the ladies at church is holding a tea party at her house today.  Naturally, the first thing that comes to my mind isn't so much what am I going to wear - it's more like what am I going to eat???

Food is my vanity.  Wait...does that even make sense?

Whatever.  Anyways, I don't have a ton of Paleo desserts in my repertoire yet.  So off to the internet I go!  And what do I find, you ask?

Yummy things.  When I first saw "Vegan Avocado Scones" in my search results, I gagged a little.  Then I wondered why in the world that would make me gag (I think it was probably the Vegan part).  I mean, avocado is an amazing fruit.  Why not throw one of those magical foods into a scone recipe, seriously?!

If you're interested in the recipe, check it out:  http://www.familyfreshcooking.com/2011/05/04/avocado-scones-vegan-and-gluten-free-recipe/

I would also love making these, if only I had enough time today...

http://www.paleoplan.com/2010/01-04/almond-macaroons/
http://www.paleoplan.com/2011/04-14/paleo-ice-cream-2/
http://www.paleoplan.com/2010/01-04/almond-muffins/

EDIT:  Just found this recipe, and it looks AMAZING.  Obviously, one would need to swap out Oat flour and corn flour for something more "kosher" like almond flour, coconut flour, (rice flour if you're okay using rice products), etc.

http://www.familyfreshcooking.com/2011/04/06/gluten-free-ratio-rally-strawberry-snack-cake-recipe/


Alas, there's only so much time in the day, and that time happens to be only 2 1/2 hours from when I've gotta leave.

So enough chatting - TIME TO GET MY BAKE ON!

The Chart

I just happened to be playing around on SparkPeople.com - taking a look at some old data, etc.  I happened upon something quite eye-opening.  It made me realize how long I had been in denial over my weight; how long I was complacent with being obese. 

It was my weightloss chart.  I've been using the website for about two years trying to lose weight.  There were chunks of time I chose to stay far away from the tool that was my mirror, the tool that tried to show me I was so unhealthy.

Here it is.  Can you tell when I started the Paleo diet?

This chart makes me sad, and in the same breath makes me joyful that I found a way to finally get healthy.

Here's some pictures of me in 2009.  I didn't take many of myself...

Yeah...chubby.

Here's the most recent picture of me.

I wish I had better pictures to show how I've gone from a fluffy puffy obese chick to a leaner, healthier, only-14-lbs-overweight gal.  These will have to do for now.

Besides, once I get down to 155ish, you guys might get tired of my new found vanity and over-taking of pictures of myself...mwhaha!  ;)

Are you label literate? I'm guessing no...

It's shocking what hides in our food. Are you drinking a soda right now? Maybe eating a candy bar or some chips? Take a look at the nutritional label, and read the ingredients. No, go ahead, I'll wait...

Do you really know what most of that stuff is? Or do you assume that since someone put it on the shelf, it has to be benign?

I challenge you to take one of those weird words you found on the label, and type it into a search engine. That's right - learn what you're putting into your body. Because whether you choose to believe it or not, you most definitely are what you eat. And I personally don't want to be "partially hydrogenated soybean oil."



Here's a picture of a can of refried beans I found in our cabinet. As someone following a Paleo lifestyle, what are some of the things that stand out to you that make this food a no-no?





Alright, so after taking a long look at the picture above, what are some of the no-no foods/ingredients you found?

You should have found that:

1. BEANS - no-no on Paleo! Beans, part of the legume family, are an off-limits food. If you don't know why, Google it.
2. Autolyzed yeast extract. My rule of thumb is, if I don't know what it is, I probably shouldn't be eating it. Click here to learn more about autolyzed yeast extract.
3. Partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Two bad things here - one, no one should eat anything with any degree of hydrogenation, partial or otherwise. It's not natural, and it's not healthy. Two, soybean oil - soybeans are another food group Paleo dieters stay away from. Again, if you don't understand why, Google it (you need to learn some of this stuff for yourself).
4. May contain Soy. Okay, the very idea that they would say "may" when they list "partially hydrogenated soybean oil" as one of the ingredients just cracks me up. DUR.

There are probably a few other things I would add to the list as something I personally avoid (excessive sodium, non-organic, etc.), but those things aren't worth going into right now. The whole point is to show you what is in your healthy food.

BTW: If you are avoiding gluten, it's really important that you read ALL the labels and packaging that comes with your food. Gluten is in nearly everything, and if it doesn't specficially say "Gluten free" somewhere on the label, there's a really good chance that there's gluten in the food.

Take a look at that soda or that can of Pringles you're consuming. Having second thoughts yet? Oh, and heaven help you if you're drinking a diet drink. Might as well chug a few beakers from a chemistry lab. Nasty.

Working on some posts...

Sorry I've been so slow with updates the past couple of weeks. I've got three posts I'm working on right now - hope to have at least two finished this weekend.

Just letting you know that I haven't fallen off of the face of the earth fully yet - stay tuned!

And now, I'll leave you with this clue as to what I'm doing this fine Saturday.

...everyone is here getting gas today. If you're here, too, look around. I'm waving!

...yeah.







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

From 14 to 10

I can't believe how my body has changed - I expected to lose some weight, but I never imagined that I would be two sizes smaller in three months. Oh, and I feel really amazing in general.

Here's a picture of my size 14 jeans.







Here's a picture of my size 10 jeans.







And even more impressive, here's a pic of the jeans together.







Did I really lose that many inches?!