Do not miss these encores of the Paleo Summit for great info if you have 1. cholesterol issues and/or 2. gluten or autoimmune issues

Okay! So happy there's an encore, as I was busy the day Chris's interview was up and I missed it! These encores may only be up for a matter of hours, so go listen. Go, now!

So, why am I so eager to hear Chris? Well, I've got high LDL. I am also not euthyroid, and my thyroid going bonkers is probably part of this problem. We'll see once I'm euthyroid.

A lot of folks doing Primal, Paleo, low-carb, or high fat diets like to dismiss high cholesterol (like high LDL, which is not so rare on this type of eating),  because HDL and Triglycerides tend to become amazing eating this way. For this reason, it's good to hear what Chris has to say.

Chris Kresser on cholesterol
description:

The cholesterol hypothesis has its staunch proponents as well as its skeptics. So who’s right? Chris presents the latest research demonstrating why elevated cholesterol scores should not be dismissed by the skeptics. He also explains why a high cholesterol score is not always cause for a prescription.

Presentation Correction: The ideal total cholesterol:HDL ratio should be between 3 – 4. A ratio of 2 would be too low. (Submitted by Chris Kresser)

I plugged Dr. Tom O'Bryan's interview on gluten last week. I'm plugging it again. Very much worth listening to.

Description:

The most basic Paleo Diet recommendation is the removal of gluten. But did you know that gluten sensitivity goes well beyond the digestive tract? Dr. O’Bryan reveals the latest research on how gluten consumption may lead to autoimmune disease, osteoporosis, and muscle pain without digestive symptoms.

If you are a science person, seems like you can easily skip the third encore lecture by Dr. Jack Kruse on leptin circadian cycles. Or read the critique and overview here and decide. Note, there is a lot of sarcasm and scoffing at bad science, so if that's something you're very sensitive to, there ya go. It's also really funny in a snarky way.  
Evelyn also critiqued Doc's blog post that coincided with his paleo interview date. 

Paul Jaminet, Matt Stone, Dr. Thomas Bryan at Paleo Summit--and worth listening to for varying views. Note: If you even mildly suspect or wonder about GLUTEN sensitivity, listen to Dr. Bryan's segment.

Dr. Paul Jaminet, co-author of THE PERFECT HEALTH DIET --and one of the more gracious persons online discussing how we ought to eat for health and weight loss-- is interviewed HERE. You can listen for free for a limited time (maybe just today).

You can also hear Matt Stone--whom I strongly recommend simply for the clear warning not to base your identity around ANY DIET, so that you stop listening to your own biofeedback, which is a super-dangerous thing for anyone-- and other speakers as the summit continues. If you've eaten in a particular diet style--high carb, low carb, Paleo, etc--and it has stopped working for you or you are having increasing issues with metabolic resistance to that way of eating, his talk is very worth listening to for a dissenting view.

Got gluten issues, suspect or wonder about this? Got autoimmune issues and wonder if diet is related to it? LISTEN TO DR O' BRYAN. The synopsis of his discussion is "The most basic Paleo Diet recommendation is the removal of gluten. But did you know that gluten sensitivity goes well beyond the digestive tract? Dr. O’Bryan reveals the latest research on how gluten consumption may lead to autoimmune disease, osteoporosis, and muscle pain without digestive symptoms." I have autoimmune issues--as does my family, and an AI disease killed my mom-- and my hubby HAD digestive ones. Going gluten free helped us both (my allergies/asthma overall improved, hubby's bathroom woes cleared up and he dumped many pounds.)  Autoimmune disease is the NUMBER ONE CAUSE of morbidity and mortality in the industrialized world, and it seems to underlie cardiovascular disease (which a lot of folks THINK is our #1 m&m cause). If you have MS, migraines, osteoporosis, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, Parkinson's, eczema, cardiomyopathy, gallbladder disease, etc...please listen ALL THE WAY through.

The tabs for each talk are near the top part of the pages. 

I figure it's worth to hear the different voices out there, those doing research, working with folks, reviewing the science. You may learn something that helps you on your journey. Ya never know. :D

The Challenges Are Gearing Up! Which One's For You? Primal, Dress Goal, Other? List your challenge in the comments for others to check out!

Hey, everyone.

The bloated one is here. :)  I'm back from Pilates--good!--and I'm 2 pounds bloated from the Labor Day feta cheese/olive/cheddar cheese/chorizo/salty soup array yesterday. Interestingly, didn't have a whole lotta calories. Didn't have any of the cake or any of the pasta. But I did nibble on the protein/salty stuff, and I feel it.  It's not gonna be helped much by the egg and avocado negiri I had for lunch (used coconut amino acids instead of regular soy sauce, but still...).

I'm allowing myself some salty indulgences this week--bloat be damned--because my Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge begins Sunday. If I'm gonna have bokchoy sauteed with pseudo-soy-sauce and toasted sesame oil, my beloved Greek salads (oh, you salty kalamata and feta), my few slices of Cantimpalo, then it better be NOW. Hah.

Anyway, the day after my challenge kicks off, Mark of Primal Blueprint fame sets out his Primal Challenge. It looks like a lot of fun for folks doing the primal way of eating and exercising. He lays out a very simple chart of what to eat/not eat and what to do exercise wise (general guidelines), and if that interests you (there will be prizes for those who compete in the challenge) head on over and read about it. He's got a 21-day transformation book coming out in October, so that will be right after his 30 day challenge is over, nearly. :)

I know there's another challenge starting up on the 18th, but I forgot the name and the leader. And I think Thursday's Child (from the StS challenge) has a holiday outfit challenge of her own in the planning.

ETA: Okay, remembered it was Thrice-Blessed's challenge that I was thinking about in the previous paragraph. Find the announcement HERE.

ETA: Yes, Thursday's Child is also hosting a Christmas Dress challenge--less strict than mine, too. So, for those who didn't wanna post their weight, maybe that one is good for you. See the challenge info HERE.
Please, if you are hosting a challenge or know of a good one for bloggers to use, post it in the comments--including, ideally, a link to the challenge host/info page. That way, folks can find one that will suit them as we head into that super-dangerous time of the year--The HOLIDAY FOODFEST MADNESS!!!

I made it unscathed through the holidays last year--and LOST weight--with the help of Allan's DDDY Challenge. I hope to do the same this year with my own CDCC.

Let's all make it sanely through the caloric nuttiness of the last part of 2011 and emerge slimmer and stronger on January 1, 2012, rocking some new outfit and, maybe, a whole new attitude for a whole new year of getting healthier and wiser!

A nicely thought out definition of what is "a paleo diet"...

A paleo diet is:

• Eating foods that best support the biochemistry of human animals with a multi-million year history of hunting and foraging, primarily on the African savanna.
• Avoiding foods, such as grains, grain oils, and refined sweeteners, that actively disrupt the biochemistry of these human animals.

The whole article is fun reading. If you're doing Paleo, how's it doing for you? Drop me a line in the comments or a link to your blog or post discussing its effect on you.

We aren't strict Paleo, but we've moved closer and closer in that direction compared to our diet a year, 10 months, 9 months ago. We eat a lot differently than we have most of our married life. And I am reversing some of the damage I've done in those decades.

I'll be honest: I don't see myself giving up butter, cheese, or yogurt anytime soon--though I did ditch milk. ; ) They're not taking away the sucralose for my coffee. But ya never know...we continue to ...er...evolve... in how we eat here....

Nice, concise round-up of AHS Ideas

Summary of Important 2011 AHS Ideas

I Have Officially Lost 100 Pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay, made it. I wanted to badly so make it by today, and I did.

198.8

100.2 pounds off from highest weight I saw on my HOME scale: 299

Yesterday was a planned feast meal day (the Primal/Paleo people talk about mixing up IF with feasts, the way hunter-gatherers would have experienced). Since I've been doing some IF, I figured I might as well throw in a feast day.

I ate nearly 1800 calories yesterday. I normally eat in the range of 1200, but I decided to do the feast meal and ate a big dinner. I wondered if it would derail my progress. Instead, I lost.

That's 2.6 pounds off this week.  

If I told you what I had for dinner, you'd be amazed. It really was a feast. You would say, 'No way you could lose after eating that?" I did. I'm a bit amazed myself. Hint: We went to a barbecue place. There was more than one type of animal involved. There was scads of butter and animal fat. Some blue cheese. Some cheddar cheese.

Anyway, today, back to my 1200 calories. You can't follow a feast with a feast. That's not how it works. The feasts are rare, and the IF is part of it. I'm in IF mode right now, and ready to have my meal as soon as I blog this.

Milestones need to be marked, right?

So, today, May 15, 2011, I finally lost 100 pounds.

Fourteen (14, count em, 14) more pounds to no longer be obese at all.

I can do it.:)

Interestingly, was just chatting with hubby about the groceries for the week. We need to increase his food. He's lost about 5 lbs a week the last few weeks he's been eating no bread/no pasta/minimal sugar/minimal rice and tubers. He's dropping weight like mad. And he's at risk of becoming TOO SKINNY within one week. So, we're gonna up his protein and fat (I'm encouraging him to eat more nuts), and he needs to expand his veggie/fruit vocabulary. He plans to add more dairy, too. He's been having sugar-free ice cream for his treat at night. He's already eating 4 meals, so he may need to up the snacking. How nice to say, "Gee, I gotta eat way more or I'll look bony." hahahah

Anyway, I'm way happy to pass two milestones in the last couple days.

Next milestone: Get to 185 and NOT be obese.

Happy Sunday, folks!

Am Still Melting with Fasting Workouts, Walnut Butter with Cinnamon rocks, some Paleo Friendly Fast Food....on day 81 of Phase 5

Tanita-san: 203.4

Yep. Dat's right! Even with two days of some extra calories, even with eating roast pork, steak, shredded beef, guacamole, and yesterday, some sour cream with that shredded beef. And gluten free cookies. Today, no cookies, no beef. But it was great to have a change and make sure I get a kick of dietary iron and carnitine.

I also had walnut butter with my apple snack. I mixed in some true cinnamon (thanks, Anne H, for the tip to it) and a sprinkle of splenda to get a paste that made the apple with it combined taste like apple-walnut torte. So nice. If you haven't ever tried any nut butter other than peanut, try walnut,almond and macadamia. Better for ya than peanut.

(Note on cookies: I hadn't had a treat in a while and got these from Netrition thinking, eh, they will likely suck. Wrong. They were amazing. Had three with my coconut milk for dessert last night. They are named Island Lime, but I call em Island Coconut. I don't taste any lime. Which is fine. I love coconut flavor.) They're not Paleo. They are pricey (so incentive to not eat them often or a lot). For the occasional about 120 calorie low-carb treat, works. Lotsa fiber is a plus.

Honestly, I thought weigh-in would suck given the sodium blast in the guacamole and beef (it was from CHIPOTLE, so you know, fast food salt!). And for those doing Primal/Paleo/Primarian--one of those salads from CHIPOTLE with the greens, salsa, guacamole, fajita veggies, and protein (chicken, beef, or pok) is plan-friendly. Just skip the wraps, beans, rice, corn. If you're Primarian, you can have some of the shredded cheese as an option. I got two salad bowls. One with beef and one with chicken. Had one for lunch and one for dinner. No cooking day!

But I can see my body changing when I examine it naked. I can see the fruit of my core-work starting to show as the belly fat burns-burns-burns away. I look "normal" to my eyes when I spy myself in a shop window reflection. I don't see the Fat Princess (though I'm still obese). I see...kinda normal woman looking back.

I'm psyched!

But....

I haven't been able to do my walks in the last couple days (rash is healing and must reduce sweating and exposure to heat/sun/humidity), so I made sure to go fasting into my Pilates session yesterday. She had to put refrigerated wet towels on me periodically during the workout, but we got through it and I did fine. Flexibility has increased with less fat in the way. Strength is going up. I feel good!

But I miss walking. I miss it bad. This is a mindset change. I used to--for years!--have the hardest time motivating myself to do any exercise, and especially anything remotely cardio. Now, I want my walk. Damn rash!

For those who gave suggestions, thank you! (And for the compliments, cheers, encouragement.) I think mall walking seems the most Princess-Friendly, as long as I can reverse my sleep schedule to the morning walking time pre-shoppers. I hate dodging shoppers and dealing with horrible parking traffic at the local mall. It's a popular one.

So close to Onederland. Here I cometh!

Well, please remember the tornado victims today in prayer and donations. Let's take care of our own... and let's pray that storms will be calm this summer in all regions. I know in Miami, hurricanes are a big fear of mine. In other area, tornadoes. In others, fires. In others, mudslides. And so on....let's pray for benevolent weather....

Have fun this weekend. Go listen to festival music. Go to a park--and, heh, we have a retro hippie festival near us this weekend, but hubby has to work on book. I might yank him away for an hour or two and take a parasol.

Be well...

Ground Regained, the starch experiment at lunch (Insulin Resistant folks, take note), and a cool new "Paleo Diet" book is out... on day Day 78 of Phase 5

Tanita-san said: 206.0
Doc's scale said: 208.0 (and I had clothes, shoes, jewelry on).

So, my scale seems pretty darn accurate. That's the Easter bloat GONE and .2 lbs down from official weigh-in. Now, to make better progress! Only 6.2 pounds off to be in ONEDERLAND! Only 20 pounds to be NOT OBESE!

~~~
Okay, for the IR among you, here is me being a guinea pig again:

I did an experiment, a perhaps foolish one, when I went out to eat with sis today after my MD appt. We headed to a Mexican joint. We ordered veggie fajitas and mixed chicken/steak fajitas, so we could share. This allowed me to have my usual protein plus veggies. I also ordered unsweetened tea, water, some no-sugar espresso to finish up (no dessert, natch).  Didn't use the sour cream. Had the dollop of guacamole for my healthy fat (and cause it tastes num). Had the pico de gallo, again, cause it's num. They don't serve cheese with theirs like I've seen some restaurants do.

But today, I had some beans. I had about 1/3 of a cup. Not a lot. No other starch. (I asked the waiter to not bother bringing tortillas --neither sister or I eat them--and I had no chips--sis has some, and the rest are bagged for hubby. I ignored the rice that came as a side.)

Well, today is the FIRST afternoon in quite a while that I got the sleepy-slumps. I don't believe this is at all a coincidence.

Normally, lately, since ditching starches, I am revved up and energized ALL DAY from the get-go. I have no slumps. I am sometimes SUPER-CRAZY -TOO-DARN-MUCH energized. I even had one person ask me recently, a tad jokingly, a tad not, if I was on something.

NO.  I'm OFF something.

Seriously, I don't do drugs unless they're Rx for a condition. I've NEVER EVER EVER done any illegal drug, not even in my teen years. I was a goody-two shoes like you would not believe in High School. I mean, when the vice-principal reprimanded me, it was for reading my Bible at lunch break. Yeah, I got harassed for that. Snarf.

Needed to clarify it wasn't drugs, too much caffeine, or too much thyroid meds. (They've been checked often and my levels are within limits and excellent.)

It's the Lacto-Paleo/Primarian way of eating I've had. That's what makes me seem hyper at times. :)

When I eat starch-free, I have:

No yawning.
No loss of pizzazz.
No desperation in hour-long workouts.
No lethargy in front of the TV prime time.

I have:

So much energy I sometimes wanna workout again after my trainer-led hour of Pilates is done. Or I want to go out walk again after I get back from 40 mins. And a healthy sex drive. And low appetite. And no cravings (beyond mild normal desires). And no binge-ing. And no dips in good mood (which is a blessing).

Even at Easter, when the family members (other than the children and my hubby, who had no starches, either) were slumped on the sofa or dozing off or yawning or calling for Cuban coffee to perk up, I went to play Frisbee with my vim in zoom-drive.

But today...I had a starch. Not even a full 1/2 cup serving. And blam: reaction.  I started getting the dozies as I checked email about 15 mins ago. That's about 2.5-to- 3 hours hours after eating.

Dat ain't no happenstance. I believe the beans caused my insulin to spike, and now I am paying the price for it with the yawns-and-dozies.

I hope this doesn't jam up my newly restored momentum. But I cannot guarantee. One thing I've read over and over is that not only are starch-sensitive/insulin-resistant folks messed up about carbs to begin with, when carbs are restricted, there is an increased-sensitivity to them, so ingesting them can cause even GREATER spikes in insulin than previously.

Well, nothing to do now but back to avoiding the stuff my pancreas does not like. Post-meal slumps suck. I want my ENERGY BACK. NOW!!! Give it back to me, you stupid pinto beans!

Yeah...I had forgotten how much the slumps suck. My brain feels slow and my whole face feels like it wants to shut down for a nap.

Okay, will drink more water, move around a bit, splash my face, and refuse to go down without a fight. If I have to walk with this sleepiness, I'm not gonna have fun. And I like having fun-walks.

Speaking of FUN: I bought the new book EVERYDAY PALEO on Saturday at Barnes & Noble, and Amazon began shipping it out yesterday. So, if you've heard the buzz and want to check it out, I liked it a lot and wrote a review. You can find my review HERE--I'm "Mir"--and if you can click "helpful" , I'd appreciate it. I like to keep my ranking under 200. (I sure did my best to be informative and helpful, which you'll see when you check it out.)

If you're a mommy and like more "clean" food and lower carb type eating, this is for you. If you have kids and insulin resistance, this is for you. Lots of pics. Nice recipes. No nonsense workout info. More pics. Shopping lists. Well, read the review I posted at amazon and I go over what the book covers.

Dat's all for today (prolly). I'm gonna go try to unslump.

Throwing blessings over all of you. See them sparkle in the spring air....Catch one!

Another drop, hoping to report 2 lbs off in tomorrow's weigh-in...Amazon.com sold out of Everyday Paleo and not in my local B&N...Sustainable Diet for Maintenance Later?...Broccoli Binge?...all on what is likely day 68 of Phase 5 (lost count)

Tanita-san= 210.6

So close to being in another "decade". Argh. Can taste it!

I rested yesterday to give my heat rash a break. Have one welt that is still crazy itchy and really pink, but I'm easing off using too much of the steroid cream. I'll grin-some and bear-it-some and see.

I was hoping EVERYDAY PALEO would be on its way to me next week, but when I went to order it (yeah, didn't preorder), it was out of stock at amazon. It was not available for Kindle or Nook. And my local B&N (I called) didn't have it.

So, I left it in my shopping cart and will order when it's back in stock. Maybe it'll have some more reviews available by then. Meanwhile, I will peruse the yummy recipes over at the EVERYDAY PALEO blog 

Hubby and I are moving towards fewer (in his case) to nearly no (in my case) grains and legumes and sugar, and Paleo/Primal/Primarian dishes fit that profile. It's easy enough for me to add some rice or potatoes or bread to his meals when he wants that, in lesser portions. I just mostly skip them altogether. And that's really easy for breakfast and lunch (as my dietitian's meal plans are quite happy with me having eggs/veggies and protein/salads for those meals.)  I do watch portions, measure, and don't go nuts with the fats.

It seems to be a sustainable diet (Primarian is what I'm doing with dietitian recommendation, /Paleo/Primal inspired sorta, but with dairy allowed as well as sugar free treats allowed), that maybe I can use on maintenance. I'm learning more and more about it NOW, cause when maintenance comes, I wanna be armed and ready. (Remember, target and weapons from that Warrior book?) I gotta get my weapons in a row.

And if a diet/eating plan is not sustainable, what's the point? If you can't KEEP eating in a way to maintain weight loss, why did we even bother to lose any weight? Right?

So, for me, I'm finding ditching most of the starch is not as onerous as I once thought it would be. (I had tried South Beach when it first came out and ATKINS shortly before, and hated doing both. I simply defaulted to a lot of processed, easy, low-carbing, and that isn't tasty). Primarian and Paleo/Primal IS tasty. This is hugely important.

It's dinner when I tend to crave starches (ya know, pasta, rice, potatoes, beans, yuca). The only starch I really miss at breakfast is oatmeal, and once in a while a nice bit of toast. Otherwise, I'm fine with veggie egg white omelettes or scrambles (or whole eggs occasionally) with fruit and java. Makes me feel good. Lotsa energy. No weird afternoon energy crashes since I ditched most (nearly all) starches.

I joke about how we don't binge on broccoli, but last night, I wanted to. I had two cups of steamed broccoli lightly sprinkled with parmesan, and it was so amazing, I wanted more and more. No, I didn't have more and more, but I WANTED TO JUST EAT buckets of the stuff. I didn't have any dessert or treat (sugar free or otherwise) last night. Just my unsweetened tea, broccoli, chicken, asparagus, and some carrot puree soup. I was happy. And happy with the scale. Yes!

Today's breakfast was my standby egg white omelette with organic spinach, mushrooms, onions and some Jarlsberg Lite Swiss and fresh papaya with squeezes of fresh lime juice, water, coffee. Satisfying.

I have leftover chicken for supper. Probably just throw some veggies next to it--maybe artichoke hearts and a broiled tomato-- or throw it on a salad. Not sure. I have it all spiced up with Shawarma spicing and may garlic it up even more. (Loooove garlic) If hubby wants a starch, he'll get some potato, likely.

I want to have a nice brisk cardio-walk with him later, when it's cooler, cause I don't wanna go another day without moving. Hopefully, the rash won't get all riled up again.

On to Sunday's weigh-in. Fingers crossed I can stay away from the sodium (that'll mess up a weigh-in but good) and report more than 1 lbs. I've lost 1.4, but I have to ROUND the number....If I lose a fifth of a pound or more by tomorrow, I can report a 2 lbs loss (rounded). And hey, if my body wants to be freaky and actually lose .6 of a pound, that'd be super. No rounding needed.

I hope your Saturday is going well and you're eating well and you're moving well and you're FEELING WELL!