Thursday, December 22, 2011

Healthy Substitutes R US

Champagne has  me sneezing with in seconds of  a swallow.. Wine gives me a skull crushing headache with in minutes of the first sip. I love bubbled dry drinks. Very dry Shiraz , Dry champagne,  My body doesn't . Perrier water with a slice of lemon makes a pleasant substitute...and I can be the designated driver.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Paleo GOULASH!!

 The grandkids voted for lasagna Friday evening . They are coming over to celebrate the oldest grand blessing turning 17 (EEEKKKK!!! How did she get that old so fast!!)  They also voted for Chocolate cake. I will make them what they requested and on the side I'll make it Paleo. They will have a choice. Who knows, maybe they will like it Paleo .


 Goulash made Paleo :   Spaghetti sauce of your choice, or home made with tomatoes,onions,
 garlic, basil, mushrooms, green pepper, celery...make it your own. Add browned ground meat of your choice.   But,  instead of  macaroni....add steamed chopped cauliflower. I do not do dairy as a rule, but a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese tops it off.

Good stuff Maynard...

Monday, December 19, 2011

http://www.diatruth.com/

New forum site For Type ll Diabetics and metabolically challenged folks!! Take a look!! This site helps you wade through all the lies of the medical establishment and tells the truth about diabetes,  and the ADA . It takes a look at  how to take control of your diabetes and get off of medications. The administrators Dusty and Wade guide you through a  dietary cure in a no nonsense way.

Macaroni!!!

Goulash used to be a favorite meal of mine. I have not eaten it in a couple of years. Last week i received the latest issue of Family Circle magazine. The last section of the magazine and the cover story is macaroni and cheese recipes... I slammed the magazine shut and wondered if I should cancel my subscription. Then I remembered  how cauliflower seems to work for potatoes...why shouldn't steamed cauliflower work for a macaroni substitute?  I'll be trying some of the recipes this week from the Family Circle magazine substituting the cauliflower. I'll let you know how they turned out.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Where does insulin go?

The more I read, the more questions I have.

IF insulin resistant people are that way because we are metabolically challenged....our body's output of insulin is higher than what it should be, to get the job done,,,,than we have excess insulin floating around in our blood stream....What happens to it. How does it dissipate??

How long does it hang out in my blood stream?

What uses it up?

Where does it go?
Does it just hang around wreaking havoc to my kidneys or causing inflammation in my joints?

I know now that excess insulin in my blood stream prevents me from burning fat for fuel. I get hungry when I have too much insulin floating in my blood stream. Hungry is an understatement. My muscles scream for food like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  When my carbs are low enough...I do not get hungry...at all. my body switches over to fat burning...like a Hybrid.... electric car that runs out of an electrical  charge and switches back to burning gas. The muscles get continuous fuel. Even better, my brain gets continuous fuel.

I can lower my blood sugar just by walking after dinner.  How do I lower my insulin level once I screw up and eat too many carbs? The only answer I get is ...Just don't eat too many carbs....

How many is too many? So far barely any seems to be the right answer to me . 20 maybe. a day.

More than 20 a  day wakes the monster.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

No potato... potato salad.

Trouble is..there are too many carbs in potato salad . So... we simply substituted Cauliflower for the potatoes.
This is so easy,  My husband  loves it so much that he has learned to make it. He took it to a cook out some of his friends were having. He came home with an empty bowl.

It can be a meal in a bowl..after you try it,,,, then  try adding other things. Use your imagination. chopped mild banana peppers, sliced grape tomatoes...etc

We tried them steamed and cooled...kinda blehhh.... My mom likes it that way. Then we tried it raw. raw and crunchy...mmmm then we loved it.

I use organic if I can find it of course...

Stir together...
1 head of cauliflower chopped small.
4 stalks celery sliced thin
1 small sweet onion  diced small
6 to 12 hard boiled eggs chopped
1 cup of real mayo...or make your own
squirt of mustard
dash salt and pepper


mayo:

1 tablespoon of lemon jiuce and a raw egg in a blender. put the lid on and take the center out, turn the blender on high
and then  while the blender is going, drizzle very slowly a cup of olive oil or macadamia nut oil... add a dash of dry mustard...

I take this to house parties to make sure that there is something I can eat.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Pizza Peppers

Last August, my husband and I met a friend, Greg, at a farmers market in Chesterton early one Saturday morning.  While we were walking around looking at the produce, we noticed some huge banana peppers on a table.  Greg told us about an appetizer he ate at a restaurant in Michigan that were made with large yellow peppers.. So I bought them and made a modification of what he described to me.

Pizza peppers

I bought 4,  8 inch long peppers
I washed them, cut off the tops, sliced them lengthwise  and de seaded them.

I placed the peppers on a foil lined baking sheet and stuffed the 8 halves with  about a pound pizza sausage
divided between them. I baked them in the oven at 350* for about a half an hour. The meat was cooked through and browned on top.

While the peppers baked, a sliced about a
quart of button mushrooms and sauteed them in coconut oil in a sauce pan.
I diced about
8 Roma plum tomatoes very small and added them to the pan.
Then I added
a pinch of salt and pepper
a tsp of  basil
a pinch of oregano
Let them simmer a bit until all the flavors blend. The Roma tomatoes are not juicy, so they do not create a  lot of water. They are just right for this.

When the peppers came out of the oven, I put two on each plate and spooned the tomato and mushroom mixture on top of  each of them.
I next sprinkled some shredded mozzarella cheese and a shake or two of Parmesan cheese on top of that...and stuck them back in the oven for a couple minutes until the cheese was melted.

We no longer miss pizza




Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Fathead

My friend Jimmy told me to watch a movie on Hulu...so...I did... We had been discussing how a Paleo diet works, when we discovered that we were both eating a Paleo diet.
 When I tuned into HULU to watch the documentary FATHEAD, I was greeted with  this....
"Hulu is  proud to support the efforts of PETA." ............It was funny already!
 

Fathead is a  documentary film that Tom Naughton made as a rebuttal to the documentary "Super Size Me" which Tom thought was ridiculous.  Most of Toms film seems ridiculous, but seriously, Tom makes a point and proves himself and his ideas right. He eats a diet of fast food for a month and loses 12 pounds. He eats responsibly. He limits his carbs to 100 per day and he walks 5 miles 6 times a week. Tom's doctor visits, both before and after , and Toms blood work is included in the dialog.
The next part of his film explores diets. Tom explains and acts out some of  the diets he tried and how he felt on each diet. Tom also interviews Michael and Mary Eades, who wrote  "Protein Power Life Plan" .   Toms  blood work improved with a low carb natural Paleo diet.
There also is a  cartoon of  Toms blood stream where he showed what happens when insulin will not allow fat to be burned. The muscles are wanting to be fed. When they are not, they become lethargic and tired.

Yep, that used to be me.

Tom also has a blog. My friend Jimmy found that blog and told me about it.
 Jimmy subscribes to Toms blog. Fathead made sense to him.  Jimmy has decided that Paleo is a good way to lose weight and become healthy. He has four children to whom he is setting an example for.  Jimmy told me that he cannot weigh himself because he weighs more than a scale will show. A couple weeks ago, Jimmy informed me that he had lost 4 pant sizes in a couple of weeks. .  Jimmy is eating and cooking healthier for his whole family. I am very proud of his efforts. Toms blog has been  informative and entertaining.

Like I said in my last blog, there is so much out there on websites about Paleo/Low carb

My mother has always said.."If you do not know how to do something, there is no excuse. There are books in the library for every thing."  Now we have the internet and kindle and we do not even have to leave the house to find information. Mom is 75 years old and has both. She has also been eating a low carb/ mostly Paleo diet for 12 years. Both of my parents have great blood work. I can't argue with that.

The proof is in the pudding.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Don't Wake The Monster!

Hmmmm...how do I begin?
20 years ago a visit to the doctor confirmed that my cholesterol was 202. ( now,,, I know that is not such a terrible reading) My doctor strictly admonished me to go on a low fat diet, handing me stapled sheets of mimeographed paper with low fat diet information on them. I weighed 125 pounds at that time and  I wore a size 6-8. I felt great, and I was very active. I determined to follow my doctors instructions to the letter. Why not? He was a doctor.

5 years later, I had gained 20 pounds, most of it was around my middle and my cholesterol was higher. I worked harder at it.  I became a vegetarian.  I walked and worked out daily. I joined an aerobic class at the YMCA . 5 years later I had gained another 25 pounds. I yo-yo'd for a few years.... I began to have sleep apnea, and allergies....to everything...... I had chronic sinus infections and candida. My knees ached. I broke my leg and foot and began to have  an auto immune disease called  RSD,  Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. I craved food constantly.  I felt like a monster was living inside of me, making me feel starved every two hours. There was.

That monster was insulin. My family genetics...My father and brother have type two diabetes. I think I was well on my way.
Altogether, by the time I reached 56 years of age, I gained about 50 pounds.  All the while I was dieting and working out. I could bench press 130 pounds. I was leg pressing 500 pounds. I was doing 100 push ups daily, and walking 3 miles, or swimming swam a half a mile at the YMCA , and I was still gaining about a pound a month. I became a strong fat person.
 A couple of years ago, I  joined a diet/exercise web site and followed the program there, eating 6 small,  low fat meals a day.  Shrinking my portions, working out 6 days a week.  I lost 12 pounds in a 4 month challenge. As soon as that challenge ended, even though I still did aerobics, lifted weights and watched my portion sizes, I gained the weight back.I could not understand why. I was still working out hard.  The monster was still there. I was hungry constantly.
 Can you say...FRUSTRATED! boys and girls???
 That same website, of which I am a member, holds weight loss challenges. There are some pretty amazing  people on the website who have changed their lives and done well.  There is one team on the website called a "diabetic and food addicts team".  I begrudgingly joined them, thinking that I needed some sort of behavior modification.  The leader of the group, who has lost over 170 pounds, suggested I get a book written by Dr James Carlson, called  "Genocide, How your doctors dietary ignorance will kill you."  After reading that, I got out an old book my mother had given me called  "Protein Power" By Mike and Mary Eades. Dr Carlson had recommended it. I read through the book before, but I did not pick up on the why of the diet. I never lowered my carbs enough. I did not realize that everyone is different and everyone has their own critical level that causes a rise in insulin. . So I began to do some Google research on the Ancestral  Paleolithic Diet that the Eades had discussed in their Protein Power book..  I found Angelo Coppola. His "Latest in Paleo" podcasts are like a Paleo news broadcast. . Angelo's blog lists many of his favorite Paleo  blogs. He has some great books in his book list and there are archives of his podcasts . I enjoyed listening  and learning about the Paleo lifestyle on Angelo's podcasts.. I decided to help fund his podcast. Next  I bought a book  he recommended called  "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes, after hearing about it during one of the podcasts.  (what a book to wade through)  I forced myself to read through all of the research. There was one section in the chapter on insulin resistance that goes something like this..... " some people are so insulin resistant that any amount of carbohydrate creates insulin and insulin is so powerful that they cannot burn their own fat because (insulin gets left over in the blood stream) insulin is a fat storage hormone." I had read that before in Atkins and Eades books, but never understood it. Or just was too dense to get it.

 A free day once a week was sabotaging me. A bite of cookie here or there, a piece of chocolate a couple times a week.  Gary Taubes says all that is needed to gain 10 pounds a year is one or two bites more calories then  I expend each day. That is crazy. How can I control or keep track of that?
If  I understand  it right, after reading Gary Taubes book, when ever excess insulin is in my blood stream, no matter how hard I work out, I won't and can't burn my own fat for fuel. Because I am insulin resistant, my body floods itself with more insulin  than I need when ever I eat carbohydrate, so there is left over insulin in my bloodstream.   Insulin will not allow the fat I have stored  to feed my muscles. The muscles stay hungry and cause me to get hungrier. So Carbohydrate wakes the monster...
  After understanding that,I became my own guinea pig. I stopped all carbs for a couple weeks. It made every muscle ache.  I quit working out. It took a good  month before my body stopped hurting. I stuck with it because I was convinced it was right.   I could look in the back of "Good Calories, Bad Calories and  find where any of the research was written..

I decided to go strict Paleo on Memorial weekend.  I  lost a couple of pounds the first month. I did not feel good enough to work out.  I did not lose water weight like everyone says happens when a person goes on a low carb diet. ("Oh, you only lose water weight on a low carb diet) I kept my carbs low during the next two months and  I lost 22 pounds.  I started walking again. Since then I have lost a pound or two a week. So far  I have lost 34 pounds.  I resumed  lifting weights last week . I have also begun to do a high intensity bike workout 3 days a week and  I am swimming laps at the YMCA.

A few months ago,  if I needed something out of the bottom of my closet, I would have to think about it for awhile, or ask my husband . The pain in my hips and knees was enough to stop me from squatting .
I have an auto immune disease called RSD, that I mentioned before. It can be very painful. I hardly notice I have it now.  A neurologist at the University of Chicago Hospital said RSD is  incurable.  Ha!

I keep investigating.  Amazon really likes me now.
I  bought Mark Sissons," Primal Blueprint" and "The Primal Blueprint cook book".  I found  a website called "Livin' la vida Low Carb " Jimmy Moore. I listen to his podcasts. He interviews many interesting real folks. I ordered Nora Gedgaudas book "Primal Body, Primal Mind" .  I began to listen to some of  Nora's podcasts.  I bought Robb Wolfs, "The Paleo Solution." Each person in the Paleo/low carb community has a different take . I get something from them all.
I have  listened to the Vimeo's of all the Ancestral Health Symposium speakers in LA last August.That is a great resource.

My next order from Amazon is "Wheat Belly" and Dana Carpenters Low/carb  cookbook.

There is so much information about Paleo /low carb diets out there on websites now. I am on a quest for health. I appreciate every blog and podcast.

I have gone from a size 14 to a size 8 jeans...but that is not the only good thing by far....most of it surprized me.
..I am off of my blood pressure meds. I am off all of my allergy meds and off my inhalers.  I can breathe through my nose. I no longer have post nasal drip.  Stomach bloating and pain is gone.  Heart burn has stopped.  I quit having hot flashes...(I did not expect that)  My knees and hips no longer ache.
 I danced all evening at my sons wedding this last weekend. I woke up the next day and felt great, with no aches and pains.
My energy levels  have returned. I bought a couple kayaks this summer and a stand up paddle board. I take them out a few times a week in the early morning during the summer.
 Normal living no longer hurts. I am very grateful to be able to do things that are adventurous again..From what I have gathered ..stopping grain and sugar stops inflammation. I believe that cause I am living it.

When my husband and I  get hungry for something I used to make, it is a challenge to try and remake it into a Paleo food. Sometimes it works. It is worth it.  No guilt. No behavior modification needed.   Every week I step on the scale and there is another pound gone. I am still amazed.

So this blog is an attempt to write about my progress. When I make up a new recipe that is a hit with my husband and I,  I will write about it on here, or talk about what is happening in the Paleo community or tell about some special people I know who are succeeding at this. .

Maybe someone might read this who is as frustrated as I was..I hope you just try it for thirty days . That is not too long of a time.

It's working for me..Maybe it'll work for you.