Elizabeth did try to eat clean for about 2 days before flying, and while the flights were a bit odd for her, she managed them fine and - and this is amazing! - woke up on Friday in New Orleans without the tilting sensation that had been her "good days" companion since just after New Years. She was feeling good the whole time we were there - but had a sensation of something being a bit off as we got to the airport to leave - and a combination of Meclizine and TV on her second flight (she had a connection to get home) made it, in her words, "good" - not survivable, but apparently the best of the 4 flights she had to take over the weekend.
I don't know what to attribute it to because we threw a lot at her over the past few weeks, including a really helpful acupuncture session on Wednesday, but she got it to go away for at least a while. Progress!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday after our weekend in New Orleans
Wow.
First off, let me just say that we had a fantastic time and partied like it was nearly Lent. I'm just a bit (!) stiff and achy as a result - partly from throwing on Saturday and partly from the dancing at the after-party, I think.
Second, I never managed to eat either beignets or King Cake, oddly enough. We did run into bread pudding several times, and I had a lot of Jambalaya and some Red Beans, and Lee and Elizabeth had a breakfast of biscuits and gravy on Saturday that were worth every bit of the cheat - no fake ingredients there!
New Orleans is a food paradise. I don't think we had a bad meal. And I'm willing to bet real money that the hash browns I ate at Saturday's breakfast were cooked in animal fat of some sort - they were amazing! I had a couple of seafood omelets (shrimp and crawfish), some cold shrimp and crab salad, a perfectly cooked filet with two amazing sauces (must learn to make real Bearnaise!), stuffed eggplants, as well as the aforementioned Jambalaya and Red Beans.
Hardly any snacking - we had no time! More drinking than a typical weekend, but not a binge. And it was nice to take our high-altitude red blood cell count down to sea level and drink - I had two beers in rapid succession at the after-party without really noticing either one, except as thirst-quenchers.
Yesterday was a complete garbage food day, though. My sole eating up to 7:30 pm consisted of a donut (raised, glazed), two glasses of orange juice, a bag of airline honey peanuts, and a bag of airline crackers (which were pretty tasty, actually, tho' made of nasty stuff). Once I got home I had some cheese, and, I'm sorry to say, some potato chips.
So, after all that, and with a lot of swelling to go along with the muscle stiffness? 143.6 this morning. I may not be done - I'm expecting a mild rise tomorrow as well - but really, that's not all that bad, for such a carb-laden weekend. I loaded up on the salmon oil today to help with the swelling.
Both Lee and Elizabeth mentioned their approximate weight loss on this way of eating over the weekend, and between the three of us, we've lost 120 pounds. That's an entire person (well, a skinny one). Crazy!
First off, let me just say that we had a fantastic time and partied like it was nearly Lent. I'm just a bit (!) stiff and achy as a result - partly from throwing on Saturday and partly from the dancing at the after-party, I think.
Second, I never managed to eat either beignets or King Cake, oddly enough. We did run into bread pudding several times, and I had a lot of Jambalaya and some Red Beans, and Lee and Elizabeth had a breakfast of biscuits and gravy on Saturday that were worth every bit of the cheat - no fake ingredients there!
New Orleans is a food paradise. I don't think we had a bad meal. And I'm willing to bet real money that the hash browns I ate at Saturday's breakfast were cooked in animal fat of some sort - they were amazing! I had a couple of seafood omelets (shrimp and crawfish), some cold shrimp and crab salad, a perfectly cooked filet with two amazing sauces (must learn to make real Bearnaise!), stuffed eggplants, as well as the aforementioned Jambalaya and Red Beans.
Hardly any snacking - we had no time! More drinking than a typical weekend, but not a binge. And it was nice to take our high-altitude red blood cell count down to sea level and drink - I had two beers in rapid succession at the after-party without really noticing either one, except as thirst-quenchers.
Yesterday was a complete garbage food day, though. My sole eating up to 7:30 pm consisted of a donut (raised, glazed), two glasses of orange juice, a bag of airline honey peanuts, and a bag of airline crackers (which were pretty tasty, actually, tho' made of nasty stuff). Once I got home I had some cheese, and, I'm sorry to say, some potato chips.
So, after all that, and with a lot of swelling to go along with the muscle stiffness? 143.6 this morning. I may not be done - I'm expecting a mild rise tomorrow as well - but really, that's not all that bad, for such a carb-laden weekend. I loaded up on the salmon oil today to help with the swelling.
Both Lee and Elizabeth mentioned their approximate weight loss on this way of eating over the weekend, and between the three of us, we've lost 120 pounds. That's an entire person (well, a skinny one). Crazy!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Day Off Number 1 (aka Thursday, I'm pretty sure)
Had to report a new milestone. When I stepped on the scale at 6 am today, it told me that, since the cruise 11 months ago (roughly), I have lost 50 POUNDS! 141.4 this morning, to be more specific. My mind is boggling. This was never even a goal when I started changing the way we ate, after the cruise, after Easter, and after Lee came back from the doctor with a diagnosis of early Metabolic Syndrome. I'm nearly speechless. But I will add, that the goals I did have, have all been achieved in spades - we are much healthier than we were a year ago - more energy, more ability to roll with the punches, really.
On the Elizabeth front, it occurs to me this morning that migraine is an inflammatory sort of thing, and she might benefit mightily from the bona-fide anti-inflammatory diet - the one Lee's brother is nominally on for RA (he cheats a lot). I think I'll urge her to eat more fish, which she likes, fortunately, and really avoid seed oils and grains, as a part of removing the triggers. I may even go look for that book in a bookstore this morning.
50 pounds. Fifty. One half of one hundred.
Golly.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Wow.
Or maybe, Duh: http://hunter-gatherer.com/blog/health-problems-disappear-when-captive-gorillas-fed-wild-diet
Next up - humans? (Okay, I'm dreaming...)
Next up - humans? (Okay, I'm dreaming...)
Positively creepy commercial
I think I saw this over the weekend.
Kid picks up package of Coffee Mate or something like it (that's what it looked like to me, anyway), and asks parent, "What is Non-Dairy Creamer?"
Parent starts reading ingredients out loud and has an epiphany of sorts - That's. Not. Natural.
Switch to pitch for new product - some sort of dairy-based creamer - packaged, apparently manufactured, and obviously, marketed. Not cream, though.
I can't recall the name of the product, fortunately.
The alternative to non-dairy creamer is, surprisingly, CREAM!!! How hard is this, anyway?
Sheesh!
Kid picks up package of Coffee Mate or something like it (that's what it looked like to me, anyway), and asks parent, "What is Non-Dairy Creamer?"
Parent starts reading ingredients out loud and has an epiphany of sorts - That's. Not. Natural.
Switch to pitch for new product - some sort of dairy-based creamer - packaged, apparently manufactured, and obviously, marketed. Not cream, though.
I can't recall the name of the product, fortunately.
The alternative to non-dairy creamer is, surprisingly, CREAM!!! How hard is this, anyway?
Sheesh!
Wednesday
I'm checking carefully to see that I label the days correctly this week. Today, especially, since I'm dragging. I think peri-menopause is catching up at last - I've spent the past two weeks sleeping at the wrong temperature - either drenched with sweat, or freezing, trying to un-drench. It's not horrible, but it is making a good night's sleep a rare jewel. I wish there was a switch one could just turn off somewhere, but I guess this is sort of part of life. Wonder if paleo-era women went through this, or if it's somehow related to neolithic practices of some sort? Practices I could drop, perhaps.
I ended up not wanting to cook last night, so I ate some cheese spread on pecans and called it dinner. It wasn't really, but when it's just me and the freaked-out dogs (they hate it when one of us isn't home), I get uninspired pretty quickly. As I was this morning - having fallen asleep at last around 5 am, I finally felt like getting out of bed around 6:15, so I skipped breakfast and will just IF today. Don't need it for weight control, but I'm just not into eating this morning. I may get lunch, if the mood strikes me. I'm back at 141.6 this morning; not too surprising, really. Probably a good thing to be at a low point going in to our weekend Mardi Gras-ing.
I got a book on migraine control for Elizabeth, that has a very paleo-like diet in it (he doesn't rule out flour or sugar as dietary triggers, but strict paleo would pretty much eliminate all of them). Between us, I think she and I have read every internet article on Meniere's and Migraine-Associated Vertigo, and, in our humble don't-even-play-a-doctor-on-TV, opinion, she is suffering from the latter, no matter what her doctor says (apparently, the former). I advised her to eat very clean between now and getting on the plane tomorrow, to see if that helps her get through the flight and back on her feet after, since the book indicated that food triggers can persist for several days and that flying can be an additional trigger, and the whole managing migraines thing is about keeping the cumulative triggers below one's tolerance threshold. Made sense to her, so I think she will be eating "ingredients" today and tomorrow - identifiable whole foods, basically. Maybe it will help; it certainly can't hurt.
Had something funny happen yesterday. I had bought a case of Girl Scout cookies for charity from the daughter of a co-worker, pleading our diet as a reason that I didn't get any for us. She felt so bad that I'd paid all that money with no cookies to show for it, that she brought me some gluten-free cookies (ginger snaps) and crackers yesterday, so I'd have something. I haven't tried any of them yet - they were uniformly 20+ grams of carbs per serving. But gluten-free! I'll hold them in reserve in case I need something crunchy that coconut chips won't satisfy, I guess - and eat partial servings.
Lee agreed with me on the 72-oz steak challenge, but he didn't get into Amarillo until around 10 pm local time, so it wouldn't have been practical. Maybe one day we'll IF, leave early from the house, and try it as a dinner option (what weird vacations we have!).
I ended up not wanting to cook last night, so I ate some cheese spread on pecans and called it dinner. It wasn't really, but when it's just me and the freaked-out dogs (they hate it when one of us isn't home), I get uninspired pretty quickly. As I was this morning - having fallen asleep at last around 5 am, I finally felt like getting out of bed around 6:15, so I skipped breakfast and will just IF today. Don't need it for weight control, but I'm just not into eating this morning. I may get lunch, if the mood strikes me. I'm back at 141.6 this morning; not too surprising, really. Probably a good thing to be at a low point going in to our weekend Mardi Gras-ing.
I got a book on migraine control for Elizabeth, that has a very paleo-like diet in it (he doesn't rule out flour or sugar as dietary triggers, but strict paleo would pretty much eliminate all of them). Between us, I think she and I have read every internet article on Meniere's and Migraine-Associated Vertigo, and, in our humble don't-even-play-a-doctor-on-TV, opinion, she is suffering from the latter, no matter what her doctor says (apparently, the former). I advised her to eat very clean between now and getting on the plane tomorrow, to see if that helps her get through the flight and back on her feet after, since the book indicated that food triggers can persist for several days and that flying can be an additional trigger, and the whole managing migraines thing is about keeping the cumulative triggers below one's tolerance threshold. Made sense to her, so I think she will be eating "ingredients" today and tomorrow - identifiable whole foods, basically. Maybe it will help; it certainly can't hurt.
Had something funny happen yesterday. I had bought a case of Girl Scout cookies for charity from the daughter of a co-worker, pleading our diet as a reason that I didn't get any for us. She felt so bad that I'd paid all that money with no cookies to show for it, that she brought me some gluten-free cookies (ginger snaps) and crackers yesterday, so I'd have something. I haven't tried any of them yet - they were uniformly 20+ grams of carbs per serving. But gluten-free! I'll hold them in reserve in case I need something crunchy that coconut chips won't satisfy, I guess - and eat partial servings.
Lee agreed with me on the 72-oz steak challenge, but he didn't get into Amarillo until around 10 pm local time, so it wouldn't have been practical. Maybe one day we'll IF, leave early from the house, and try it as a dinner option (what weird vacations we have!).
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tuesday
It is, really. I checked.
Holiday yesterday, so I spent the day around the house, puttering. And eating - at the end of the day, I classified it as a "crap eating day", which isn't so great considering we're on the brink of a "moderate cheat weekend" (these terms sound like they should be copyrighted or something). But this morning, the scale told me I was at 142.2 - nearly a pound down from yesterday, I believe. So then I started going over what I'd eaten yesterday.
The flank steak was very good - we have traded out our giant 3 burner grill with side burner thingie for a very small, portable Weber gas grill - suitable for tailgating, but it can be hooked up to a full-size propane tank, which is what we have done. It works really well (of course, it's new, and the burners haven't been exposed to a couple of winters around here). I used a marinade recipe from one of the big Williams-Sonoma cookbooks - this one was for Meat, Pork, and Poultry. Lots of good stuff in there - most of it paleo, more or less, or easily adapted.
Lee's on the road today, heading to New Orleans. I will probably have leftovers for dinner tonight - might try pan-searing the remaining flank steak slices in a bit of butter and adding some sauteed mushrooms. He says he can eat lunch by "drinking" a cup of Wendy's chili - um, okay. Not perfectly paleo, since it has beans, but probably the least offensive eat-while-driving option they offer (sorry, but you'd need a fork to eat a bunless Single). He's hoping to make Amarillo - but probably well after dinner or I'd point him toward the 72-oz free steak offer - these days, we might just manage such a thing. Maybe.
Holiday yesterday, so I spent the day around the house, puttering. And eating - at the end of the day, I classified it as a "crap eating day", which isn't so great considering we're on the brink of a "moderate cheat weekend" (these terms sound like they should be copyrighted or something). But this morning, the scale told me I was at 142.2 - nearly a pound down from yesterday, I believe. So then I started going over what I'd eaten yesterday.
- No breakfast, but a couple of cups of tea with heavy cream
- Several forays into the cheese - cheddar and gruyere, I believe
- Some walnuts
- Some Trader Joe's dark chocolate almonds - maybe 5 of them
- A bag of Boy Scout popcorn (aha! crap!)
- About 3 triangles of Toblerone (Valentines candy - but more crap, because it's extremely sweet)
- Flank steak marinated in red wine and olive oil and herbs
- Southern-style green beans with bacon
- A glass of white Bordeaux (I think)
- Chips
- Cookies
- Crackers
- Cheese
- Drinks with sugar
- Toast and butter (maybe even jelly) - breakfast on non-work days used to be 4-6 slices of "wheat" toast
- Popcorn
- Fruit (to convince myself it wasn't all crap)
- Caramel dip (to make the fruit taste better)
- regular meals involving sandwiches and pasta, no doubt
The flank steak was very good - we have traded out our giant 3 burner grill with side burner thingie for a very small, portable Weber gas grill - suitable for tailgating, but it can be hooked up to a full-size propane tank, which is what we have done. It works really well (of course, it's new, and the burners haven't been exposed to a couple of winters around here). I used a marinade recipe from one of the big Williams-Sonoma cookbooks - this one was for Meat, Pork, and Poultry. Lots of good stuff in there - most of it paleo, more or less, or easily adapted.
Lee's on the road today, heading to New Orleans. I will probably have leftovers for dinner tonight - might try pan-searing the remaining flank steak slices in a bit of butter and adding some sauteed mushrooms. He says he can eat lunch by "drinking" a cup of Wendy's chili - um, okay. Not perfectly paleo, since it has beans, but probably the least offensive eat-while-driving option they offer (sorry, but you'd need a fork to eat a bunless Single). He's hoping to make Amarillo - but probably well after dinner or I'd point him toward the 72-oz free steak offer - these days, we might just manage such a thing. Maybe.
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