Ah…a quick visit with my dear friend yesterday, who was recently diagnosed with diabetes.  He’s been following a paleo-ish, gluten free diet, and he looks amazing!  He’s lost some weight, said he feels awesome, and he even said that his vision is coming back.  It was starting to get bad, and now that he’s following a healthy lifestyle and taking care of himself, his body is repairing itself naturally.  Now, I don’t have something of that nature going on, but I do feel like my body is “repairing” itself to some extent.  I went to this Green Life Market close to my house to see if I could find him a sugar free, zero carb, gluten free bread…I found “Net Carb Zero Bread” by Julian Bakery.  Upon further research, I read on the site that it’s good for diabetics…so there ya go!  I had to look it up because it had Organic Gluten Free Oat Bran, and I wasn’t sure what that was; this is what I found, “We use gluten free oat fiber which is scientifically proven to control blood sugar all day long.”  That’s awesome!  Next, I need to try these Paleo wraps!

I can’t believe how much there is to discover on this diet.  I think I’ve said it before, my plan is to go full Paleo.  I’m there for the most part, but it still needs some tweaking.  Over 2 full months in, and loving every second.

…it’s that feeling when you grab the wrong jeans, put them on, have them fit, then realize you haven’t been able to fit into them for years!

“Misery loves company, but company does not reciprocate.”

-Addison Mizner-

Let me first state that I am not a doctor, nor am I an “actual” scientist (I only play one on TV, haha).  These views expressed here are based on minimal research of these topics.  I will try to deliver the information to the best of my ability, and if I can’t, that’s what Dr. Noah’s input is for. (c:

My love of science has lead me to start googling all the items on the list of “Things to Avoid if You Are Paleo”.  In this post I’ll focus on Lectins.  Lectins are a class of proteins known for their ability to bind to the carbohydrates found in animal cells; they protect plants from predators, as well as support immunological fuctions in plants and animals.  Basically they are found in pretty much everything that we consume on a daily basis.  Lectins are found in a lot of GMO food (many are hidden), you should try looking for foods that are non-GMO.

There are many different kinds of lectins, and we consume them on a daily basis.  There are good, beneficial lectins, and harmful lectins.  Nuts and seeds are foods that contain beneficial lectins, if and only if, eaten in moderation.  Lectins affect the digestive system, so they say if you’re more sensitive (such as gluten intolerant), you should just avoid these altogether.  On Paleo, foods like legumes and grains, which contain the harmful lectins, are definitely not allowed.  Lectin containing items, such as beans need to be boiled to reduce the levels of orally toxic lectin in them, meaning that if eaten raw, some of them can make you sick.  These orally toxic foods could potentially cause your body to reject all of the good nutrients you put in it, and nobody wants that to happen.  Heart disease and obesity are said to be two serious illnesses that could occur from the rejection.  Many vegetables contain lectins, but those are not harmful to human cells, such as tomatoes, zucchini, sweet peppers, and mushrooms.  Although, some people are more sensitive to eating these raw, that when cooked, can digest them much better.  Some fruits contain lectins, as well as some spices.  The spices are generally cooked before packaging, which eliminates the lectins.  Gluten is another lectin that is harmful.  Gluten causes damage to your digestive system.  High sugar and high fat foods contain gluten, and on Paleo, these are avoided.  The immune system can be completely destroyed, and if that should happen, there is a higher risk of developing diabetes.

So these lectins I speak of, are said to be of the “sticky” nature, and what happens is that they bind to the lining of your intestines;  this causes nutrients to not be absorbed as they should and can lead to obesity.  Here is an article I read about the reduction of the nutrients leading to a pre-diabetic conditon: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6823/5/10.

What do you think of when you hear the term “leaky gut“?  I think of a challenge on Double Dare (remember that show?).  Whatever you think it could be, I bet it doesn’t sound too pretty.  In fact is a very serious ailment that can come from the damage of the lining of the intestines, which are a main component to the immune system.  Basically, the damaged intestines become porous, and this allows for “bad stuff” to get into your bloodstream.  All these toxins that enter the bloodstream cause the liver starts to work overtime, but eventually the workload is too much.  Leaky gut is bad news and consuming high quantities of refined sugars, preservatives, processed foods,and flavorings that cause leaky gut is even worse news!  It’s going to be close to impossible to get rid of all of the lectins we consume, but the amount should be decreased greatly.  Paleo is a perfect way to do this…nobody wants a leaky gut.

Now, one more quick thing I want to touch on…lectin is different than lecithin.  I’m sure you’ve looked at ingredients and have seen “soy lecithin” in almost everything you picked up off a shelf.  Lecithin doesn’t primarily come from soy though, but we see that the most because it is inexpensive to manufacture (that’s the root of the all the problems).  The soy plants that they come from are mostly GMOs.  Lecithin is an additive that has a lot of use, but isn’t exactly healthy to consume in large quantities because in it’s natural form it does have some health benefits.  It’s mainly used as an emulsifier, and this helps to extend shelf life, which makes it a preservative, and Paleo says no to preservatives.  It’s also used as a wetting agent in things such as cake batter, helping the water stir in better to get rid of the clumps.  So basically, what I gathered is that lecithin makes your food more aesthetically pleasing.  Hmph…awesome health, or nice looking “food”?  No brainer.

People, take care of yourselves!  Be aware of what you’re putting in your body!  Do the research!

“Any politician or scientist who tells you

these [GMO] products are safe is either very stupid or lying.”

-David Suzuki, CC, OBC, Ph.D, LLD, Geneticist-

Another weekend has come and gone.  Down another pound or so…yippee!  I’m feeling so great, I can’t even describe it.  Had some masterpiece eggs for breakfast, and tonight for dinner I made a steak with yummy seasoning.  Attempted to make mashed cauliflower…and succeeded!  They were DELICIOUS.  Put the cauliflower in a pot…broke it up with my hands, then I mixed a cup of chicken broth, some smashed up garlic, and a 1/2 tsp of black pepper…threw it all it…let it go for 25 minutes or so…then MASHED it.  🙂  I can’t even believe that this existed before now, and nobody ever told me!  I’m a mashed potato kid so I figured nothing could compare **Nothing Compares 2 U playing in the background**, but this far surpassed my expectations.  I thought the cauliflower rice was pretty awesome, but this beat it by a landslide.  I will be making this much more often.  🙂

I realized that for two months, I haven’t really had any repeat meals.  I had some leftovers, and maybe one or two repeats (pizza), but I have searched far and wide for different things to try, and it worked.  Paleo is good…life is amazing.  No complaints here.

“Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get.
But if you work really hard, and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.
I’m telling you: Amazing things will happen.”

-Conan O’Brien-

Today (yesterday) was a good day.  One, it was Friday (it’s Saturday now) and two, all the food I ate was AWESOME.  Plus, I weighed myself at the end of the night, after eating dinner, and my weight was at my 23.5 lb. loss…which means…I’m probably a pound or at least a half pound lighter than that!

For breakfast, I ate the pumpkin pancakes with an egg and a strip of bacon.  Then for lunch, I ate my hamburger with almond butter/bacon mashup on top.  Both of those meals were prepared last night!  Then for dinner I made sausage, peppers, and onions with a radish salad as a side.  I’ve never really ate radishes before, but when I saw them in the supermarket, I was compelled to buy them.  I knew I’d figure out what to do with them later.  I looked up some things online about radishes and found out that horseradish is actually made from chopped up radishes.  I don’t know why I never put that together.  Then I wanted to know why it was called horseradish; this site says:

I thought that was pretty interesting.  Tomorrow I think I’m going to attempt my own Paleo horseradish!  Anyway, back to my radish salad…I found a recipe for a simple radish salad.  I plan on doing more things with radishes.  I’m so excited, and I don’t know why.  Oh, maybe it’s because it’s almost 3am!

So I leave you with this question, what was your “a-ha!” moment that made you decide it was time to change your lifestyle and live Paleo?

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to leave the shore.”

Cheers to the weekend!

I was a busy bee cooking yesterday…oh, by the way, did I mention that I now own my first apron??  So cute!  It’s definitely a good investment, especially when you spend 2-4 hours a day cooking!  For lunch yesterday I made hamburgers.  I put them in a pan with some pizza seasoning I had made, then put some diced tomatoes.  It’s like a Paleo comfort food for me.  Then for dinner I went with a sirloin steak, seasoned with salt and pepper, then cooked in a balsamic, honey, garlic marinade.  I threw in some green beans, and VOILA!

Then while watching the Giants/Bears game, I made some pumpkin pancakes with eggs to enjoy for breakfast today…and I definitely enjoyed them!  Paleo pancakes are so much better than any other pancakes I’ve ever had.  Wish I made some more!  Maybe tomorrow morning.  🙂  I was feeling productive so I decided to also make lunch for today.  Hamburger with an almond butter bacon mixture on top, with tomato, lettuce, and onion.  Wowza!  Can’t wait to eat it!

Found some recipes for pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie…as soon as I get to them, I’ll let you know how they come out!

I’m trying to figure out how I feel about cheese.  I’ve used goat cheese on salads, but I don’t know if I can include that much cheese, because I can eat cheese by the pound.  I’m afraid that if I really introduce cheese back into my diet, it will be detrimental to all the progress I’ve made.  Maybe in another couple weeks I’ll consider it again.  For now, I have some goat cheese left that I want to use, because I don’t want to be wasteful.

“Enjoy life now, this is not a rehearsal.”

I know what you’re thinking…I have totally gone off the rails on a crazy train! (Ozzy reference) But seriously, think about it for a second…for anyone who eats an average American diet, do they eat because things taste good (or they are fooled into thinking things actually taste good), or is it the texture of things? After doing Paleo for 2 solid months, I think it’s got a lot to do with texture of food. That’s one of the things that keeps me from not missing my old ways…and the food tasting better on Paleo is just a bonus. 🙂
While it’s not exactly pasta…spaghetti squash certainly does the job, same with cauliflower “rice”. I think it’s the texture that gives us most of the satisfaction, or maybe that’s just me!
I am just trying to figure out the perfect explanation as to why Paleo works for me. I love the meals, I love the challenge, and I love the discipline. I also love that the way I feel has completely changed from 3 months ago.

“Nothing is work unless you’d rather be doing something else.”

-George Halas-

Still trying to gather more information about diabetes and Paleo, and how they work together.  I also want to start doing some research on Paleo and people with thyroid disease.  If you put good food into your body, then good things will come of it.  I used to wake up with cramps in my legs, and it was getting to the point where it took 20 minutes for the feeling to go away, and ever since I started Paleo I haven’t had the cramps.  Also, I used to get migraines from food, too many nitrates, Paleo has definitely “cured” this. My migraines were so bad that I would have to lay in bed for an entire day with no lights or sound, and ice on my head…usually ending with me throwing up, but I haven’t had anything like that since I started.  I need to get my brother into Paleo, because he suffers from debilitating migraines as well.

As far as what I’ve read on thyroid problems and Paleo, I’ve read so many wonderful things.  There are different kinds of thyroid diseases out there, so of course, the formula you may use to fix it, may not be the same formula someone else should use.  I keep reading that a lot of people who do change to paleo that have thyroid disease, end up getting off their medications eventually, or greatly decreasing the dose they take.  I have to look further into it.

Now, doing Paleo, I see that nearly everything the general population consumes contains some derivative of soy, corn,wheat, or a combination of all three!  It’s awful!  I’m being much more conscious about preservatives in food, too!

Let’s talk about dinner!  For dinner last night, I made coconut ginger chicken and shrimp stuffed mushrooms!  The shrimp stuffed mushrooms were AMAZING!  They went way beyond my expectations, and they were easy to make.  I found the recipe on NomNomPaleo’s blog.  I made more than enough to eat for the next few days.  Yum.  I also made a bowl of tuna with avocado and jalepenos-goes great on salad!

I love all these Paleo discoveries!

“As long as you live, keep learning how to live.”

-Lucius Annaeus Seneca-

I have been doing a lot of research, and no, I do not personally have Diabetes, but someone close to me does.  Of course there are views from every side of the spectrum as to whether Paleo is good for someone with Diabetes, but more sources say that it is.  Having done Paleo for a solid two months, I can tell you that it is definitely something to consider if you have diabetes.  Basically, for anyone that is diagnosed with Diabetes, they are told to lose weight…Paleo for weight loss?  Check.  Fructose…big no no.  Paleo has no fructose.  For someone on Diabetes, their diet should be high in nutrients, low in fat, and moderate in calories, which is all part of living Paleo.  Diabetics need to monitor their carbs!  Something I read online was this, “MYTH: You have to cut way down on carbs.  Fact: Again, the key is to eat a balanced diet. The serving size and the type of carbohydrates you eat are especially important. Focus on whole grain carbs since they are a good source of fiber and they are digested slowly, keeping blood sugar levels more even.”  These seemed like a fairly helpful site in case you want to check it out, http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_diet_diabetes.htm.

Paleo won’t cure this, but it will certainly keep it at bay and help you feel better (and probably enjoy life and eating a little more), at least that is what I believe.  Luckily, I don’t have major health problems, but I know how I feel living this way, and I think other people who may have health issues, could certainly benefit.

I’m still learning about Paleo, like I’ve said before, but I’ve been doing all my reading and trying to get as much information as possible.  My plan is to go completely strict Paleo.  I really love the way I feel, and even more, I love the way people perceive me now.  People who know me well tell me that I look more awake, and that I have more energy…that’s awesome, because that’s exactly how I feel.  I feel so much more productive because my energy levels have greatly increased.

Upon further research, going out to eat and staying strict Paleo, isn’t exactly possible, but you can make it work.  🙂

“If you look good, you feel good, and if you feel good, you do good.”

-Georges St-Pierre-

Sorry for the delay…Paleo life can get a little busy!  I got a lot accomplished this weekend though.  Anyone see Miley Cyrus on SNL?  haha

Anyways, Thursday night before dinner I went to the grocery store and picked up some pork tenderloin and itty bitty potatoes.  I seasoned the pork with salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, and garlic powder; then, I threw it on the grill for about 45 min. to an hour.  I boiled the potatoes until they were soft, I picked them up at Trader Joe’s.  I added some sweet  onions and pineapple salsa…it was SO good!  Even my mom loved it.  Friday morning, I had some coffee at work for breakfast because I forgot to pack a lumch, but when I got home from work I made scrambled eggs, and added the leftover itty bitty potatoes.  Yes folks, they are actually called “itty bitty potatoes”.

Friday night for dinner, I ordered sashimi, and used my coconut aminos with it.  I cannot tell the difference between that and regular soy sauce, so yet, another discovery that I don’t actually miss the soy sauce.  I love all the alternatives with Paleo.  Does anyone have a good “Philly Cheesesteak” recipes they could share?

Breakfast saturday morning was delicious!  Made some scrambled eggs with a slice of bacon with pancakes.  I found pumpkin butter at Trader Joe’s, so I added a little to the pancake batter; then, smeared some on top!  Ended up not really having much for lunch because I had to do a lot of running around yesterday, but when I got home I took out some chicken I had marinating in taco spices, and grilled them.  I cut them up, put them on salad, and added pineapple salsa!  Man, was that good.

Last night, I cooked all the food I was going to eat today.  I made pizza, green beans with almond butter sauce, and…wait for it…wait for it…2 LOAVES OF PALEO BREAD!  So I found a fairly simple recipe, unfortunately I’ll have to find another one.  The one I used called for flaxseed meal.  This is the first time I’ve ever used it, and I’m not even sure how “Paleo” it is, but I gave it a shot.  It looked prettttty good, almost like 12 grain bread.  This morning when I woke up I mixed up some tuna and Paleo mayo, and put it on some of the bread I made.  Within a few minutes, the roof of my mouth and my throat were so itchy!  I have a couple food allergies, and now I guess I have to add flaxseed meal to that list.  That was the only ingredient that I never had.  Next weekend I may try a new recipe.  For lunch I ate the pizza!  Then, dinner was beef and pork meatballs with sauce, and spaghetti squash, which I will be eating for breakfast tomorrow!

Okay Paleo friends, does anyone use Walden Farm products?  I know they aren’t Paleo because they have preservatives, but they are zero carbs, zero sugar, zero everything…thoughts?  I have used the syrup and dressing before, but not during Paleo.  Also, does anyone know anything about people with diabetes and Paleo?  It seems like a good option for them if they can find low carb, no sugar meals, right?  Thoughts on that?  Any info would be greatly appreciated.

“Eat less sugar.  You’re sweet enough already.”

Weight loss total to date…23.5 lbs.!  I’m in complete awe of myself.  I’m so proud of the discipline I have with this diet, it’s also kind of exciting.  I’ve come a long way in such a short amount of time.

I didn’t want to keep my followers waiting, but I’ll write more tomorrow about yesterday’s dinner (pork tenderloin and itty bitty potatoes).  I had a lot of running around to do, and I also did the food shopping, which is proving to be a much more easy task now. 🙂

“If it came from a plant, eat it.  If it was made in a plant, don’t.”

-Michael Pollan-