getting back to living

Bev in Cambria 

One week ago today, we boarded the Sapphire Princess in San Pedro Harbor and began a 7-day cruise.  Today, we get off this ship and face life again. I'm feeling more each day that it's a true possibility. That is a shift I hadn't seen coming but welcome with open arms.

I have to remind myself with regularity that living life entirely in grief simply serves no one. Living is not forgetting, and grief and remembrance are not one in the same. I'll never forget. I do intend to live.

This cruise has helped in so many ways. The ease of being cared for, the crazily enormous choice in food, the entertainment we mostly ignored, the balmy weather (at least some of the time,) the cordial, helpful staff all gave me the chance to live in a safe cocoon for a few days. Did I mention we never got off the ship? We literally went to one show onboard, avoided most activities, took lots of naps, and soaked up the sun in short bursts. No sun burns, no hangovers, no vacation exhaustion.

Every night during dinner, our head waiter brought me the menus for the next day. My job was to choose what I'd really like to eat. Theirs, he assured me, was to be sure it was prepared safely. I did loosen my dietary restrictions a bit. Gluten was totally out, as was soy, but I didn't push the fruit intolerance. I decided to play that one by ear, keeping it limited on my own. I did consume some fruit, a little lemon here, a bit of olive oil there. And my biggest indiscretion of them all, sorbet for dessert on occasion. And the night he insisted they would make gluten-free tiramisu for me, I gave in and ordered it. No, it's not remotely healthy, and I'm not even a fan of tiramisu, but I love the gesture and their concern that I not only have safe meals but some fun with food, as well.

This morning I'm on my own with my food choices. Our last meal on board will be breakfast, probably at the buffet so I can see it first, before we disembark in a few hours. Then home by way of Whole Foods, a stop at Erika's to pick up Coco, and back to our own kitchen. I'm ready to give living another shot.

lemons, too? phooey

There are few flavors I love more than lemon and lime, and lemon tops lime in my book, though maybe  only by a hair.

While wrapping my head around eliminating fruit, I've realized this may be the hardest. Funny, isn't it? Not apples or peaches or grapes or pears or avocados or even wine. Nope, for me it's citrus fruit that causing the most grief. I used to cut lemons in half and eat them out of hand, sometimes with salt, sometimes without. The lemons and limes in my fridge were the last fruits I gave away. It was hard. I knew I would not eat them or cook with them, and still it was hard. I must admit, I did something else that I normally NEVER do when removing a food I find I can no longer eat from my home. I kept a few limes, well, 2 limes. And half a lemon. It was a beautiful specimen: perfectly juicy with the most gorgeous pale yellow flesh. I couldn't send it down the garbage disposal or toss it into the compost looking like that. So I left it in a small open bowl on a refrigerator shelf where it could taunt me until it got all dry and brown and withered.

Have you ever put part of a lemon in the fridge to use later? In my experience, they don't usually hold up too long. They dry up or get kind of junky, and I rarely ended up using them, though I had the best of intentions. Not this last one, I pulled it out this morning, and it was just as beautiful as the day I put it in there, well over a week ago. I have since determined that was one evil lemon. It is now sitting by the sink where GK can use it to freshen the garbage disposal.

The limes will go today, too. Keeping them was just silly. What will remain is the void left by this exodus of citrus from my life. For years I've used it so often and in so many ways, every single day. Lemon juice in salads, on fish, in soup, on virtually every vegetable, brightening the flavors in lamb dishes. I'm hard pressed to think of a food not improved by lemon juice. Still for me and the rest of us who are fruit-less, it's history. And there truly is a void. White and red wine vinegars, Champagne vinegar, and cider vinegar are also fruits, as is citric acid.

Little by little I'm working through this fruit-free thing. And dish by dish I'm finding substitutes or rethinking the flavors. Distilled white vinegar holds some promise, though I will have to stop thinking of it as a cleaning product.

are you serious?

Where to start...

I thought my diet was already pretty restricted, what with no gluten---no grains at all, really, no dairy, no legumes, no FODMAPS, few nightshades, almost nothing processed in any way, certainly nothing artificial or "food-like." I really thought there was nothing much left to remove. What can I say? I was wrong.

In the short time between her receiving the results of my blood tests and our appointment to go over those results, my doctor sent me a quick message. She said she thought I'd find the results quite interesting and cautioned me against doing too much advance food prep because much would be changing. My first thought? She must have forgotten I've already removed most offending foods. We're just fine-tuning. There's not much left to change or remove. Again, I was wrong.

When we met, she smiled at me gently, took a quiet breath, and handed me the paperwork she'd prepared with my results and recommendations. She explained I had one primary food intolerance and one combination issue, foods that were okay as long as they were not consumed at the same time. For me it's a need to allow a full four hours in between potato, including sweet potato even though they are different plants, in any form and grains or their derivatives. Okay, I can do this.

But, but, but---fruit intolerance, I'd never heard of such a thing. And, trust me, I still wish I hadn't. Apparently, my body doesn't treat fruit as food, to oversimplify a bit, never has, never will. This isn't short term. This is a lifetime reality. When I first viewed the list she gave me, I'm sure I was still in a fog of disbelief and relief. After all, we'd done the tests because I had not been able to resolve digestive issues completely---ever. I wanted---still want---to fix that. But...all fruit?

I've since asked a million questions and pretty much divided the fruit list into the four different categories below.

1. Well, this isn't so bad.
pears, plums, cranberries, bananas, berries, kiwi, apricots, mango, fruit barks, citric acid, acetic acid, malic acid

2. Darn it!
Oranges, pomegranates, apples, cherries, grapes, cashews, cloves, nutmeg, mace, allspice, cream of tartar, palm oil

3. You're joking, right?
lemons, limes, fruit peels, avocado, honey, wine and apple cider vinegar

4. Okay, now this is just mean!
all coconut products: shredded, flour, cream and oil, olives and olive oil, wine

And again, I am so far out of water, it's laughable. I must laugh, or I'll cry. I'm starting to do what I advise others. I'm looking at what I can eat and choosing what I truly, truly love for now. I'm being a bit indulgent and gentle with myself as I make this adjustment, while adhering vigorously to the guidelines. I've also given away almost every fruit-related food in the house, except for those that GK particularly likes, as he will eat those. This is far easier than getting rid of food-like products because these should not harm the recipients.

My blog posts will likely focus on the ways I'm making this work, while I'll continue to share lots of general Paleo-friendly food ideas on my Facebook page, Aseafish Out of Water. My attention right now is on a Thanksgiving Day treat. I'm determined to create a foodie-lovers' sweet potato pie with maple syrup and a nut crust. I can do this.

an accidental book review

I am such a creature of habit. I didn't know that about myself until fairly recently, though, I'm sure my friends and family were well aware.

One habit I've had for some time concerns cookbooks. I have lots and lots and lots. I often buy new ones, especially Paleo cookbooks, but I rarely use them. Mostly, they sit on one of many, many shelves. And worse, I often don't read or use them at all until they've been around awhile. I'll often open them, glance at a few pages, maybe the table of contents, then set them aside. This has become such a habit that I talk myself out of each purchase many times before I succumb to the temptation.

Yesterday, I bought a new cookbook, Quick and Easy Paleo Comfort Foods, by Julie and Charles Mayfield. I had almost ordered it half a dozen times on Amazon. I think at least once I even ordered it and then cancelled the order two minutes later. Yeah, that's another dumb habit I'm not so proud of.

Still yesterday, when we came home tired and hungry and not really wanting to cook, I actually opened that brand new book. Just look at its title, Quick and Easy Paleo Comfort Foods. And staring at me to the right of the Table of Contents was meat on a stick; okay, they called them Beef Kebabs. I love the look of almost any food on a stick. And I just happened to have thawed a package of beef filet chunks from US Wellness Meats. Before we even put away the groceries, I was making the marinade. A couple of minutes later (seriously) the tender chunks of filet were soaking up those lovely flavors. GK fired up the Big Green Egg, and we were off and running.

I still didn't know what I'd serve with the beef. When I am tired and hungry, I'm at my least creative. But somehow I opened the book to Greek Salad. It sounded perfect. And it was.

This morning, feeling more relaxed and less rushed, I've been turning the pages, oohing and awing over the pictures as much as the recipes. I've got a long mental list of dishes I want to try. Seriously, for those of us who cook virtually every meal we eat, quick and easy sounds like a siren's call. Possibly, the only thing better is comfort food, but we don't have to choose. Buy the book. Or ask your local library to get it for you.

life as a guided missile

Lately, I've done a lot of reassessing and reevaluating. For me, possibly for many of us, though I can only speak for myself here, finding direction has never seemed a natural thing. For much of my life, I heard "Do what you love, the money will follow." I always liked those words and despised them at the same time. Sounds easy enough, only what did I love? It didn't stay constant, and for everything I love, to this day, there's a flip side. It's not all sweetness and light.

I've always loved cooking, but not every day. Not when I was tired or grumpy. Not just because we needed food on the table. Not when someone else directed the menu. Not when I'd rather sit in the sand at the beach. Not if I had a great book that had captured my imagination. Not when I had to.  In my wildest dreams, I would not want to plan, prepare, or cook food for a living.

I love to write: fiction, nonfiction, poems, articles, journals. Except, of course, not every day. Not when I'm tired or grumpy. Not when I'm feeling reclusive. Not when the thought of a pen or keyboard makes my skin crawl. Not when I just want to hide from myself or my thoughts. Not when I have to. And it's not just cooking and writing, I find those feelings and attitudes everywhere in my life. So, do what I love? That's a hard one.

So, I've decided to give up the whole do what you love thing. I will do what I do. Being a bit self-indulgent, I know the truth is, if I'm doing it, I love it. At least I love it right now. And I won't promise to love it or to do it tomorrow. Clearly, that makes long term planning a bit more difficult. Or, just possibly, it makes it easier. I'm becoming more and more convinced that we do little, if anything, in life that is truly wrong. I see how my seemingly poor choices, along with those of which I am pleased, have led me to where I am today. They'll continue to lead me. I'm not always proud of my choices, but they have served me. When I'm off course, I correct. And really, like a guided missile, I'm usually off course. I find that amazing about guided missiles. Except for the moment they hit their target, they're virtually always off course. They simply correct, and correct, and correct once again. And that is my plan. I will keep correcting, tiny corrections, not whole new targets, I sure hope. As much as I admonish myself for not having clear, concise, meaningful goals in my life, I'm far more directed than I admit, even to myself. Off course, a lot, unsure of the target I've chosen sometimes, and yet never so far off that a minor correction won't get me back on course, even if I'm not totally aware of the target.

My intention, where Aseafish is concerned, is to be much more outspoken and directed in my posts. I tend to be a somewhat guarded and reserved individual, especially when it comes to what's important to me, personally. I'm working on breaking through that a bit at a time. When I first began writing a blog that was food directed, I thought it also needed to be recipe and menu driven, though I rarely use a recipe or a menu. I thought I should have something new and different to say, even profound. The voice is my own, but I cannot promise that everything I say will new, and let's not even visit the idea of profound.  I even thought I had to lecture. (ugh) I also didn't get too personal or revealing, though it could have sounded as though I did. I thought I needed to be vague and try for some universal appeal, even though many of my favorite bloggers are up-front and direct. Some will even tell you not to read their posts if you don't agree with them. I enjoy their candor, though that's not my philosophy.

Saying "goodbye" to teaching high school and "hello" to lots more time in the kitchen.  Yay! retirement!

I'm pretty sure we all know in broad terms that the Paleo community is not made up entirely of 20 to 30 year old cross fitters. Not everyone looks like a model or even wants to. Not everyone is just starting a family or looking for her first apartment. Many of us are settled in life with families and careers. I retired this year. I have grown children and grandchildren. That's a far cry from the college kid who is playing with meals for his first time ever. We all have different voices. We all, I do believe, have something to say. Go! Guided missiles.

i should have known better

I've mentioned that I rarely buy food at Costco. I simply don't trust them. It's not that I never buy anything there, it's just that, normally, I'm super-cautious and don't expect much. Still, I almost always look.

Given my usual caution, I don't know what I was thinking today. I saw some beautiful T-bone steaks. Seriously, they were beautiful, and we are not even T-bone fans. I carefully selected an especially nice package of two steaks which weighed a little more than 3 pounds. I was thinking grand, fun-filled BBQ and leftovers. I was really kind of jazzed.

When we got home, I quickly went to the steaks to salt and refrigerate them, my usual routine. That's when I noticed the small print, explaining they had been "blade tenderized" and should be cooked to a minimum temperature of 180F for safety. Geez! 180! That's a joke, right? Even GK, who eats well-done meat, wouldn't want a steak cooked to that temperature. I, personally, am a rare meat fan. I'll tolerate medium-rare if I have to, but I don't relish the thought. 180F, no way.

Still, I do not feel bound to follow labels where safety is concerned. This label was a different situation. You can easily bring the temperature of the outside of a large piece of meat, like a steak, to a very high temperature, well over 180F without overcooking the interior. At least if a careless food industry has not poked holes all through it, you can. Blade tenderization stabs meats in mass, introducing the likelihood of bacteria being moved from the surface inward. The result is a bit like ground meat in terms of safety issues.

So now I'm sulking and trying to talk GK into taking the damn things back.

of crock pots and childhood

I've been enjoying my crock pots a lot lately. Possibly the best part for me is having hot, moist, long-cooking sorts of meals that take only minutes of my attention.

I love, really love, hanging out in the kitchen and spending all day on a sauce. I truly do. But I absolutely, positively do not enjoy coming home tired and hungry and grumpy after a day of work and hoping for a creative impulse. I'm not going to find creativity then not matter how hard I look. So instead, especially in winter, I try to keep something simmering and ready. Something that satisfies on all sorts of levels. Winter is serious comfort food time.

My favorite food memories are almost all of Syrian or Lebanese meals, the food my grandmother cooked (and my mother, though mom was always a southern girl at heart.) I don't make many of these dishes anymore, unfortunately. Many, if not most, use grains as a mainstay and gluten is abundant. Still,  I long for those flavors.

 One of my favorites was a long, slow cooked dish we simply referred to as green beans and rice. It started with ground lamb or beef (most often beef during my childhood years due to relative costs) that we browned with chopped onions, salt, and pepper. Next we added lots of green beans, fresh or frozen, and a can or two of tomato sauce and an equal amount of water. This simmered, covered for hours and hours and hours. Seriously. The green beans almost, but not quite, melted into the sauce. This was then served over mounds of rice, first browned in butter (probably margarine when I was a child) and steamed. I loved it, still do to this day, though when cooking in my own kitchen I made it with diced lamb or beef more often than ground. These days, of course, I don't eat rice and I also can handle only the tiniest amount of tomato. In reality, I should probably stay as far away from any tomato as I possibly can, but every once-in-awhile I use a little. Just a little. Still, that means no tomato sauce at all, since it's pretty darned concentrated.

A few tomatoes in a large pot of food can add the flavor without so much tomato.

While trying to find a good lazy-day plan for a leg of lamb from Lava Lake Lamb, I inadvertently discovered an easy dish that is becoming one of my favorites. I love their lamb, and while I was not in the frame of mind for hours in the kitchen, I was sure as heck not going to waste that lamb. I decided to put the lamb in the crock pot and hope for the best. Then those green bean thoughts started dancing in my head. What if I put a couple of pounds of green beans in the bottom and layered the other ingredients? Now, when I say layer, I mean toss in randomly for the most part. They just end up in natural layers. I used what I had. Not wanting to chop an onion, seriously I was feeling that lazy, I used frozen pearl onions. I grabbed 3 small Roma tomatoes from the freezer and tossed them on top. Then I plopped the lamb on top of the veggies. I figured with that many watery vegetables, I would not need to add any more moisture. Good call, since there was plenty of broth produced without the addition of liquid.

What a delightful surprise. It was far better than I ever expected. The flavors were wonderful and even reminded me a bit of stuffed grape leaves, another childhood favorite. I have made this dish since, evening starting with a piece of frozen meat. I did mention the lazy part, right? It's virtually foolproof and not time-sensitive. It can cook 6 hours or 10 without issue.

I still love to spend hours in the kitchen when I have hours to spend, but it is utterly delightful to come home to dinner that's hot and ready and a house that smells like childhood.

a bit of year-end nostalgia

I can't remember a time in my life, aside from a few bouts with depression long ago, when I was not enamored of food, just about every aspect of it. Cooking has long been my claim to fame, even though on a quite miniscule level. While there is much that I love about the way I cook and eat these days, I do miss a good deal of what I've left behind.

I miss coming home tired from work and starting yeast dough for a pizza that night. I've always made my own sauce, and it was ready and waiting in the freezer for the mood to strike. On several occasions, I made batch after batch of pizza dough from a recipe that had become muscle memory.  They were certainly not perfectly round, and the toppings were a bit esoteric for some tastes, I'm sure---artichoke, eggplant, feta cheese, fresh tomato, jalapeno peppers, anchovies, fresh herbs from the garden as well as the expected and accepted. I will never forget some of the children in our family discussing my pizzas. They all agreed they were the best they'd ever eaten. I loved that. And I miss it.

Yesterday, I served a lasagne as part of a buffet lunch. It had to be gluten-free so that I could even handle preparing and cooking it. I had to ask GK and my daughter to taste the sauce as I made it. It was big and heavy with several kinds of cheese, a bit of eggplant still hanging on in our garden, thin slices of summer squash, spinach, and of course, the somewhat spicy homemade sauce. As it came out of the oven to oohs and aahs from a few nearby family members, I was almost simultaneously sad that I could not enjoy it myself and guilty that I was serving something I don't look upon as healthy to people I love. It's a weird one, like pouring another drink for a friend who's had too many.

So I'm giving myself a few days to reminisce about foods of days past. At the same time, I refuse to fall victim to my own mental ramblings. Right now, I have the rear half of an organically raised turkey browning in the oven before I put in in a crock pot to simmer a bit with some vegetables. I'll remove the meat when it's done and let the rest continue to simmer. It may not be pizza, but it's still playing with food. And at the end, I can serve it guiltlessly to my family and enjoy it myself.

I won't deny feeling a little deprived occasionally, not so much by what I can't eat as by what I can't cook, but I wouldn't change a thing at this point. Well, maybe I'd speed up my progress with some new cooking skills. I'd like for people to look forward to what I'm serving, and pizza is sure off the table.

my best breakfast yet

I used to love going out to breakfast, especially when I was presented with a meal that looked like a work of art. Eggs Florentine was a favorite, with all those spiffy garnishes and pools of delightful hollandaise. Those days are over for me, and I don't miss the pain one little bit. I do, however, miss pretty meals.

At home I'm sure I could make our table and plates look lovely, I just haven't gotten there. I'm still in the whining about preparing from scratch every single bite that goes into my mouth phase. It's been more than two years, so I hope I get over that soon.

I am over thinking of my meals as limited or limiting. I've mentioned one of my favorite things about this Paleo adventure is that I get to enjoy cooking and being a foodie again with no guilt, pain, or regrets. Yes, I'm still mourning the loss of really good cheeses but only slightly.

My mind started wandering down this path, the breakfasts out path, this morning as I ate my very ugly breakfast. This one did not even sort of look nice. I must have been REALLY hungry to serve myself a pile like that. (I did take the time to make GK's look pretty, partly to make up for forgetting to cook dinner last night.)

The thing is that lumpy bumpy pile of food was one of the best breakfasts I can remember eating. I sat there just savoring the flavors that almost took me by surprise. Not one thing on my plate was there for the first time: sweet potato hash browns cooked crisp in coconut oil, oven-baked and perfectly finished Beeler's bacon strips, two soy-free eggs cooked in bacon fat to just barely past over-easy. I don't think I've ever combined them all before. That's probably because sweet potato hash browns are fairly new to me and bacon, even safe humanely raised bacon, is not an everyday protein choice for me. Whatever the reason for the delightful flavor combo, I savored every bite.

I really should start working on the aesthetics, though. Flavorful and healthy may come first, but pretty meals are such fun.

If you've never made sweet potato hash browns, you're in for treat. With the use of a food processor, they are almost effortless. It certainly possible and not at all hard to make them without a food processor, though I can't make the effortless claim when a dish involves grating or shedding by hand.

Sweet potatoes vary in size, of course, and when shredded seem to grow in volume more than I ever expect. This is more of a method than it is recipe for that reason.

I usually peel one or two, since I keep them on hand for awhile. If your sweet potatoes are fresh and thin-skinned, you can certainly leave the peels on. Using the shredding disc or small julienne disc, shred potatoes. I use the pulse button, usually, as it give me more control. This takes approximately 45 seconds. To a preheated griddle or low, wide pan add an ounce or 2 of coconut oil and shredded sweet potatoes. I like to mound them in piles that touch but can be turned independently. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. All that's left is to turn them occasionally, keeping a close eye as sweet potatoes can burn quickly.  As I turn them, I often add a little more oil to the pan around the edges. The result is crispy, slightly sweet and salty goodness.

what i love most about paleo

All my adult life, and a fair amount of my childhood, has revolved around food and cooking. Not just the necessity of eating, the sheer joy of it. I simply adore it.

Much of that time has also been dedicated to health, though not always in ways that turned out to be so healthy. I've followed Adele Davis, Atkins, Fit for Life, vegetarian diets, low carb, low fat, high protein, low protein, low sugar, no sugar, all natural, mostly artificial. I've consulted with herbalists and a medical intuitive. Geez! At one very odd point in my life, I even tried Nutrisytem and ate food from little packets. That doesn't sound too foodie-like, most certainly.

One of the hardest aspects of food and health in my quest was the business of giving up food for health. Every healthy step forward seemed to involve doors slammed in the face of foods, all kinds of foods. More than eating them, often, I missed cooking those no-no foods. I missed playing in the kitchen, even cleaning and chopping, but mostly roasting, braising, and simmering. I missed turning the pages of Bon Appetit and Gourmet. I missed Martha Stewart and Ina Garten. So, often, I'd stray. Just a little at first, then before I knew it, I was making gourmet pizza again. And huge, fluffy cinnamon rolls, and lasagne.

Out of nowhere, it seemed, I slammed head first into a wall I couldn't ignore. The pain was unbearable; the other symptoms had become undeniable. It wasn't new, none of it was new, but now it was in my face in a way I could not ignore.  Maybe it was an age thing, maybe environment, could be stress-induced, I have no clue. I only know that there came a time when I simply had to sit up straight and listen to my body. I wanted to cry that day, that week, that month, that whole first year.

I followed the advice that I still give others, "Eat what you love that really works for your body. Ignore everything else on those food lists. Don't eat the "avoid" foods, but don't dwell on them either. And don't even consider trying to force yourself to eat foods you don't like just because they may be good for you. Ever!" As I did this, I found more and more and more foods I could not, cannot eat. Damn! Gluten-free alone has never worked for me. I had to eliminate all grains, all dairy, anything and everything artificial or enhanced.

Then I bumped into Paleo, that weird sounding world, oddly fixated on WOD and fat. Gee! This was the food I ate, and almost everyone was excited about it. Almost everyone on the Paleo sites and blogs and pages, I mean. Sure, occasionally there's some butter or potatoes or cheese. No big deal there, I can do a little subbing. I could read cookbooks again without getting teary. And magazines. And blogs! Lots of blogs!

As I was looking over recipes, food pics, and ideas from other bloggers this morning, I had a crystal clear vision of what really draws me almost magnetically to Paleo meals, food choices, and lifestyle.
I get to work toward healthy and healthier. I get to mostly avoid pain. I get to eat real food. And best of all! I still get to be a foodie while doing it.

I get to do this with little sacrifice, really no sacrifice. Have a hard time believing it? Check out these delightful recipes and articles from and about other bloggers.

Pumpkin pie bars
What's in the fridge, Whole9?
warm apple onion relish
Balanced Bites' Pumpkin Pancakes 

Next time I'll focus on the beast.

lots of right ways to do paleo

Sometimes I can be a little dense. I don't know how else to explain it.

I began following a Paleo diet because it just seemed to click. I had been telling people who asked, often those in restaurants or generous friends trying to cook for me, what I could and couldn't eat, what was in and what was out, for what seemed like forever. Then there was Paleo: no grains, no dairy, no legumes, no artificial crap, all the obvious. The "yes" list was short but abundant: quality proteins, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats. Perfect!

I was never committed to the historical aspects. I didn't care what Paleolithic women and men actually ate or whether they cooked it or if anyone would ever have eaten this meat with that produce. I liked the workability of it from a practical health standpoint. And I loved it from a foodie standpoint. The blogs and cookbooks were delightful. I could read Paleo recipes and know I could eat most of them. It seemed obvious. It seemed easy. I felt I was home. It was great.

Then, the way it always does with anything living, the picture changed. More and more and more recipes and pics included copious amounts of butter. People were writing odes to goat cheese. Processed meats were everywhere. I was seeing BACON BACON BACON. Discussions of how easy it is to eat in ethnic restaurants or even food courts abounded. Then the grains were randomly interspersed: rice or corn, mostly. Lots and lots of recipes with chocolate. Yes, it was dark chocolate, but it always contained a bit of milk. And then I started noticing how much people were talking about cheat days and percentages and ridiculing anyone adhering closely to the basic premiss. Here I was going, "but...but...but..."

While all these things were likely there all along, I mostly didn't notice. I do admit to some surprise when a highly anticipated cookbook came out with a huge dessert section. And I, of course, have seen the myriad of discussions about what is truly Paleo and whose version is most accurate. I just didn't ever find them very interesting.

Finally, while reading a well-written account of a blogger's off-the-grid restaurant meals, it really registered. I've seen post after post and photo after photo detailing restaurant, even fast food meals. I would often think "Where do they find these places? What about cross-contamination? What other ingredients are in there?" But, of course, these questions don't come up for everyone choosing Paleo. She can do this occasionally. It doesn't mean she's failed or has to go on some sort of silly binge. It means she chose to eat something fun or special. But she also will not get sick as a result. I would. And it would normally not be short-lived. It's just too scary. And yeah, I'm a coward. Eating in restaurants is virtually non-existent in my life because I follow this plan out of necessity. It's neither better nor worse. It's just the way it is.

I still contend wholeheartedly that I am not severely tortured by my food choices. By some standards, sure, they're limited. Not by mine. I have stopped thinking of artificial anything as food. I can't imagine wanting cereal for breakfast. And while I may wistfully look at a take out Chinese menu or a beautiful, thick lasagne, I'll get more excited by a perfectly cooked lobster tail or a rare rib eye steak, believe me.

As always, a work in progress...

yikes! my diet just got more restrictive

Several years ago now, in an attempt to discover what was causing pain so intense I entertained the idea of my image on a voodoo doll, I removed gluten completely from my diet. I was delighted and a bit surprised when the symptoms that had been cutting my work days short, leaving me whining in bed in the mornings, and generally disrupting my life morning to night, went away. I mean really gone. In a matter of days, I was no longer in pain. It felt like a miracle.

As many of you know if you've been through this scenario, the miracle doesn't exactly last. The intense pain didn't come back, thankfully, but other aches and discomforts started slowly manifesting. My feet were swollen or I was having new digestive issues or foods I hadn't thought of as problematic became so. I tried gluten-free grains for awhile, and while they taste good and are fun to play with in the kitchen, they just didn't work for me. Ouch! Over time, I removed more and more foods from my safe-eating list. It was scary; it was frustrating, but it helped for awhile. I no longer EVER consume dairy products, grains, legumes, sugar or sweeteners. I do still whine about a few absolutely wonderful artisan cheeses, but I wouldn't eat them on a bet.

I still love to cook and love to eat. Finding my way to a Paleo approach to food has been a lifesaver. People in this community share recipes, silly stories, amazing food pics, and encouragement. A funny thing goes along with all this support. I doubt that any of us want to say, "Hey! Something's still not working here." When we do say it, it's almost always accompanied by an apology of sorts. It seems like it should work just fine. Period. I follow a really strict program when it comes to food, so it's not that I've taken a 80/20 concept and turned it into 50/50. If I eat something "non-Paleo," it's because I didn't know it was there. Like relaxing with friends and forgetting for a heartbeat that I'm not at home where nothing crosses the threshold unless it's safe. Or so I thought.

some of this can stay

I don't cheat. Really, not ever do I eat or drink something knowing it to be something I do not tolerate. I do, apparently, miss some of the rules of the game as they apply to me. For instance, the whole autoimmune issue just kind of aluded me. I just assumed it didn't apply to me. Irresponsible as this may sound, I had not paid much attention to what that term means. Clearly, I should have, since several apply directly to me. I knew I had those issues. I just didn't know they fell under that category. I know, irresponsible and rather stupid on my part. As I spent hours last night pouring over the whole autoimmune issue and foods that are likely problematic, I just wanted to cry. Seriously. I already prepare 98% of all the food I eat, never touch anything packaged or artificial, buy local and organic whenever possible, eat only vegetables, grass-fed meat and wild-caught, sustainable fish, a few local fruits, and high quality fats.

going

Oh! I forgot for a moment the point of my whining here. I eat a lot of eggs and have spent unbelievably huge amounts of time over many, many months finding safe (ha!) soy-free and pastured eggs. Nuts, also, have been too big a part of my diet because I can grab a handful and eat them as I do any number of other things. And then there's our garden. We haven't had much of a garden in several years, so this has been a treat. We have at least 9 different heirloom tomatoes, 3 types of eggplant, 8 different pepper varieties, and tomatillos. They are beautiful, starting to be harvestable size, and completely off-limits to me if I want to tackle this health thing before it lays me out. Wah!

going

So yes, working with the autoimmune issues means just saying "No!" to eggs, nuts, tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant, and both sweet and hot peppers. Crap! I'm working hard right now to do what I always advise others to do when faced with food limitations. I'm trying to focus on what I can still comfortably and safely eat. I know I still have lots and lots of great tasting options that lend themselves to creativity in the kitchen. I'm going to start working on coconut instead of almond meal. (Funny how the ingredient that replaced grains becomes a no-no.) Good meat and seafood are still appealing options. A couple more days of whining and I may be there.

going

an (almost) paleo birthday party

When I decided to start the Whole30 on March 1, it was partially because March would be an easy shot. I saw nothing ahead that would throw a wrench into the works.

We have a huge, really huge, party on Easter with dozens and dozens and dozens of eggs to be hidden and found, more food than eggs, a sacrificial lamb (cake), Champagne and wine. This is not a kids-only kind of party or egg hunt, clearly, though the little ones are well represented, usually. It's a fun day. I want to fully participate. And it's in April this year. March looked great.

In the past, too, I've loved to simmer corned beef and cabbage in Guinness and make black and tans for St. Patrick's Day. That's not happening anymore for lots of health-related reasons. No conflict there.

March 11 is my son's birthday and March 14 is his son's. Sometimes we get together on his birthday but not every year. Sometimes he has a kids' party for the little one, not always. This year we invited Jeff over here for his birthday. I was thinking small family Bar-B-Que. I always seem to forget, however, we don't have a small family. As his birthday approached, I finally realized we weren't really talking small BBQ; we were talking party. Birthday party. The reason you can handle being a year older party. And with Adam's birthday only a few days later, it was also a child's party. Kids live for their birthdays. Yikes!

BBQ to me meant steak, maybe chicken or salmon, on the Big Green Egg. We'd toss a salad, add a veggie. Easy. Kristen offered to make some cupcakes for the little one, complete with Angry Birds. No biggie.

Not Paleo, the only exception in fact, but too darned cute.

 

Party meant PARTY. Lots of choices, probably a buffet since people would come and stay awhile. Goodbye BBQ. That's way too much hands on during the PARTY.



Fresh veggies piled on a platter lined in lettuce leaves looks fancy and is SO easy.

My current go-to where parties are concerned is a meat and veggie buffet that is becoming more and more Paleotized with each event. A year ago I would have been scrambling to find something I could eat in the mass of food I presented as party fare. This time, other than the cakes, we only had one item I skipped, the marinated mushrooms. They were perfectly Paleo, but the bare pinch of sweetener in the marinade kept them out of Whole30 status. No problem. Mushrooms are not leaving the planet.

One of the easiest party foods for me is a big, bright, beautiful platter of fresh vegetables. Virtually all of these can be cleaned and trimmed in advance. I like to blanch some like the French green beans and asparagus. Carrots and cauliflower do well with a quick blanching, too, but it is not required. When I say quick, I mean 30 to 60 seconds in boiling water---no more, followed by a dip in ice water. We usually wrap each type in paper towels and store them in plastic bags or storage containers in the fridge. A large platter, like a turkey platter, or even a cookie sheet works beautifully when lined with fresh, leafy lettuce. This is a great use for those big, heavy leaves from lettuce that has begun to bolt. It isn't great in a salad, but it's perfect for a lining. I'm always looking for uses for lettuce in this condition because that's what I usually get in my farm box. It's too tough and bitter to be a good salad option, but neither of those qualities are a problem here. Veggies look a bit artistic, too, in piles showing off their color, shape, and textures.

Without rare meat, no one would know it was our house.

Crudites is fine, but prime top sirloin, grilled in large chunks and sliced, is just plain fun party food. We also had a small platter with well-done meat for those who prefer it, including one of the birthday boys.

In addition to the beast, I grilled lemon chicken, which we served in half inch slices on skewers, and my take on Ginger Lime Shrimp from Melissa Joulwan's Well Fed. Also from Well Fed came baba ghanoush, ranch dressing, and the inspiration for adding sun butter and coconut milk to the base of our (formerly peanut) sauce.

Mixed olives and two types of almond flour crackers inspired by Elana Amsterdam's Elana's Pantry rounded out the food. Oops, almost forgot our marinated mushrooms---a hit at every party.

Our buffet just needs a few finishing touches and we're good to go.

It turned out great. It turned out Paleo (if we ignore the adorable cupcakes.) It turned out comfortably Whole30 safe for me. I never eat everything at a party, anyway.

I'm pleased with the direction my party planning is going. I'm getting closer and closer to serving only good, healthy, great tasting food. I love it, too, that my guests are expecting just that.

Happy birthday Jeff and Adam.





day 1, round 2

Somehow this seems so much easier this time. I weighed myself this morning for the last time this month. Interestingly, to me at any rate, my weight is precisely two pounds less than when I completed my first Whole30 in early November 2011. I meant to do measurements, but I am simply not that organized.

The food has really been easy. Inspired by Carrie, Ginger Lemon Girl, who has posted about pantry meals for a few days, I decided to eat as much from what we already have in our kitchen as possible, even as I'm starting this Whole30. I'm a bit of a pack rat where food is concerned, and we pretty much eat this way routinely, so it's not as big a stretch as one might think. GK is not doing the Whole30 with me, but he has been making gradual changes for some time now that are bringing our eating styles closer together. That is darned near miraculous in my book. It sure makes meals easier, since I do almost all the cooking.

My breakfast, today, was a small top sirloin steak from the freezer. This time I remembered to thaw it first. That is not a given. I browned it in a pan as I got ready for work this morning, seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. After the steak was out of the pan, I threw in a couple of thickly sliced mushrooms. When it cooled, I cut the steak into strips and took it and the mushrooms to work with me along with a cup or so of sauteed Napa cabbage. I am a notorious breakfast-at-my-desk person. It helps me ease into the day.

For lunch, I filled my trusty warming Crock Pot with leftover beef stew from a few days ago. This was possible since I rarely eat anything non-compliant, anyway. Note, I did not say never. For me the Whole30 is not a major change; it's a tightening of the reigns. That is, of course, where food is concerned. Wine is a different issue. I enjoy our wine ritual, but I'm fine without it. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Dinner tonight was simple, mostly because I was pooped after a frustrating work day. GK had the rest of the chocolate chili with an egg, avocado, grape tomatoes, and scallions. I had three scrambled eggs, a bit of avocado, and a few bites of the chili. I couldn't resist. I'm hoping I can handle just a bit.

I'm comfortably collapsed on my bed right now, and as soon as I can drag myself away from my trusty MacBook, my plan is to pick out a few new recipes to try from Well Fed.

getting ready, part two

The two things I focus on when preparing for a Whole30 are (1) getting the foods I need and (2) getting rid of those I won't. That sounds simple enough, right?

Let's start with getting the foods we'll need. It's much more fun than step 2. I'm guessing most of us have started diets or detoxes or training programs and discovered we don't have the raw materials on hand. No amount of good intention is going to make up for a refrigerator devoid of vegetables when you need to fill your plate with them.

For me, protein was the easiest thing to have on hand. You can freeze meat and poultry for one thing. Cans of tuna and salmon and sardines stack easily in the pantry. Eggs will last weeks in the fridge. But fresh vegetables? Not so easy. And not so forgiving.

A few days (or hours if you plan like I do) before you start, head to the store to stock up on frozen (we'll get to fresh soon) veggies like broccoli, spinach, squash, green beans---whatever you like. If you don't pretty much love them, don't buy them. This is critical. Also buy several onions, whole heads of garlic, half a dozen sweet potatoes, a jar of coconut oil and one of olive oil, and a few of your favorite spices and herbs unless you're fully stocked already. If you can handle dairy, get a stick or two of pastured butter to clarify. I, personally, would skip this one. It's pricey and a bit of effort, but a lot of people love it. This is your getting ready to get ready shopping trip. I know, at this point we're all seeing dollar signs, so may I mention briefly the things you will NOT be buying this month? We're skipping prepared foods, breads, cheese, milk, cream, yogurt, ice cream, potato chips, and pricey "gluten-free" foods. If this plan is starting to sound expensive, I challenge you to start adding up those products we're skipping. I cringe at the thought, myself.

During this first round of your shopping, you could also pick up canned protein that you love. This is dangerous territory. You have to read these labels like your life depended on it. Oh yeah, it does. Why anyone would put gluten or sugar in canned fish is beyond me, but they do. They also add some yucky oils and seasonings sometimes, too. Just read your labels. Yes, fresh, perfectly raised meat and fish may be a better choice, but you need a safety net. In your pantry. Just in case. Grab a few dozen eggs while you're at it, if you can.

One of the hardest things for me to follow, initially, was their suggestion that sticking with organic, grass-fed, perfectly raised, local, etc. not get in the way at this point. While you won't find Whole9 suggesting grocery store, factory farmed pork (quite the opposite, in fact), they say for now, for the most part, it's your food choices that matter. Eat the chicken breast or thigh, not the frozen "chicken dinner." Don't worry about organic, necessarily. Don't worry about grass-fed, necessarily. These words are hard for me to write, but this latitude makes these 30 days much more approachable.

Next post, we'll talk fresh stuff.

getting ready for a whole30, the easy way

First, may I say I'm starting a Whole30 on March 1 and invite you each to join me in this?

This approach to simple, healthy, and ultimately tasty eating is the best I've encountered, and believe me, I've tried lots. This is not the only approach; it's just that it's my favorite, so I'm sticking with it for awhile. This will be my second Whole30, and while I do not pretend to be an expert on the subject, I have found a few tricks (for lack of a cooler word) and tips for focusing on the good stuff and abandoning any sense of deprivation. I'd also like to share some money-saving ideas.

I don't know about every one of you, but I'd venture a guess that you are no more fond of spending more and more and more while you work toward your health and fitness goals than I am. The Whole30 and the information you need to complete it are completely free of charge. (If you'd like lots more detailed information, check here.) Yes, there's a Success Guide that you can purchase, and no, it is not needed to get results you will love. The whole cost thing can be scary, and protein, fresh vegetables and fruits, and healthy oils can be a bit pricier...unless you spend a little time in the kitchen. And I do mean a little; you won't have to live there unless you choose. What I have noticed is that when our purchases of processed foods and ready-to-eat meals decreased, so did our overall spending. I'm not suggesting any of you are buying junk food, though I have certainly been known to do that myself at times. Some foods that do not really do much for our bodies have somehow made it into the indispensable category for many of us. If you're not buying cheese or ice cream, frozen entrees, or jars and bottles of sauces and spreads for awhile, there's a lot cash freed up. I'm not even addressing cookies and chips. If you've been adding gluten-free or Paleo "treats" to your shopping cart, your savings will be even greater.

You won't be needing sugar or other sweeteners, processed foods, grains, beans, potatoes, juices, sodas, or liquor. If leaving some of these items behind sounds scary, remember this is the Whole30, not the Whole365, as its creators, Dallas and Melissa, often point out. You can do this for 30 days. We can do this for 30 days.

Now for the fun and easy part. We'll be eating meats, poultry, seafood, eggs, piles of fresh vegetables, some fruit, and healthy fats like nuts, avocados, coconut oil, olive oil, lard, and tallow. The food is good, really good, because it is comprised of your favorite things from this list. There's no reason in the world to add something you don't love. Okay, very few reasons and none really compelling. Still, don't like fish? Don't eat it. Like beef but not pork? You choose. And the very best part is there is also no significant reason to be hungry. Good fats are healthy and filling, and if you've ever done a low-fat diet, you know first-hand how hard it is to get really full on low-fat stuff. Goodbye, deprivation.

Next post will cover in detail some of my suggestions for making this as easy on yourself as possible. And, yes, it will be in plenty of time to get ready to start this with us on March 1.

birthdays are fun, getting older? hmm...

About this time every year, I really start thinking about my age and about my mortality. Not so much in gruesome terms, more like a startling afterthought, as in oh! forgot that for a moment. As much as I think, talk, and write about health and diet issues, I often forget that we are all transients on earth.

Obviously from my morose verbiage, I'm guessing one can tell my birthday is coming up, February 20th to be precise. I love birthdays---I think. It could be more like how I love giving parties and celebrating holidays. It's mostly the idea I like. The actuality, not so much. I love looking forward to birthdays, for sure. I love giving myself permission for little indulgences that I might forgo other times of the year. Yesterday for instance, I spent half the day at a spa after having breakfast with my daughter, Kristen, and followed all that with pampering from my hairdresser, Michelle. This whole day thing was a first for me.

Yes, the little indulgences part of birthdays is not the rub. The getting older part? It can't be all bad. It has it's good points. Compared to the alternatives, older is better. As I mulled this post over in my mind, I thought of talking about my age, my specific age in years, as part of a whole picture, full disclosure sort of thing. A this is who I am kind of thing. Then I remembered something my sister, Beverly, shared with us recently. She said a spiritual leader and teacher who we both respect said one should never tell her (or his) age. Not to be secretive or deceptive, not to pretend to be younger or older, but because we limit ourselves and others enough as it is. We label and define even without meaning to do so much of the time. He said not to add yet another meaningless bit of data to that limiting mess. So I am not talking specific numbers.  I may stop that entirely. For much of my life I have felt the need to reveal more than was needed, probably more than was wanted. For now I'll refrain and rethink those habits.

I will say, for me this is a significant birthday in many ways, my age being only one of them. In recognition of this, my daughter is planning a small celebration with my family. We met yesterday to talk about what we might do and what we would serve. As she started with a list of favorite party foods that we've loved and served over the years, I realized I could no longer eat any of those dishes. Wow! Times have changed. I now control everything that comes into my kitchen and as a result, everything that comes out of it. I focus on good foods I can eat and enjoy and all but forget about the rest. I tend to forget that not everyone cooks or shops the way I do. Not even those very close to me. Of course, if this were a party for someone else, I'd just eat first and no one would notice. Since the birthday celebration is for me, it feels a little different. We have worked it out, I think. Works well for me, anyway.

I love grilling or broiling shrimp even for cocktails. These are from US Wellness Meats.

So far we're planning lemon chicken sate with Sunshine Sauce via Well Fed, lots of beautiful fresh veggies like asparagus, cucumber, sugar snap peas, red peppers, grape tomatoes with a dairy-less dip as yet to be determined. We'll also have rare, grilled steak strips or chunks, shrimp in some form, baba ghanoush, mixed olives, our marinated mushrooms, fresh fruit, and a couple of versions of almond flour crackers. Did I mention this is a very small party? Well, my family is not all that small, but if we didn't overdo the food, we wouldn't recognize ourselves.

On what I find an interesting note, Kristen often says she's afraid to cook for me, even before I knew I had major dietary issues. She is especially hesitant to cook in my kitchen. I don't think I'm that picky, but we never know those things about ourselves, do we?

yet another struggle: sleeplessness

My diet is darned near perfect, as far as I can tell. I do not claim that it is perfect, but it's close.

I completed my first Whole30 in early November. Since then, I've eaten foods containing sugar on a total of three occasions, each was a special occasion, and each time I had a couple of bites. I have a couple of cups of black coffee early in the morning. The ratios of my foods aren't perfect. Sometimes I eat more protein or fat than I'd like, simply because it's easy. Fresh vegetables are part of every day but not always in the abundance I'd prefer. I've had a little potato with a meal a couple of times in three months. Still, primarily, I eat high quality meats, fish, poultry and eggs, fresh organic vegetables, a bit of organically grown fruit, and healthy fats.

My one more pronounced deviation from healthful consumption is wine, not tons and tons, just some wine.

Exercise is another story, and I'm working on that one. Well, I'm seriously thinking about it at this point. I'm also using the bar that GK installed for me for pull-ups. My pull-ups are pitiful, but I'm finally off the floor at least.

I'll do another Whole30 soon and see if I can banish the wine thing, though it's the ritual, not the alcohol that I find appealing. I've got to find some good replacements. We tried tea, but most hurt my stomach. (Interesting that wine doesn't.)

Still, I don't drink so much that it worries me. I know it adds nothing to my health, that's about it. My real concern these days, and for a long time now, is that I don't sleep. I certainly don't sleep enough.

We are notorious at our house for going to bed early and getting up early. Four or five AM is not unusual, but it's getting worse. Some nights I'm in bed before seven and wide awake by nine or even earlier. On a good night I may get four to five hours of sleep, though never in succession. I am sometimes awake, looking at the clock every 20 minutes throughout the night. Seriously. I read continually about the need for sleep, plenty of sleep. I just don't know how people do it. I would love to. On those nights when I get five hours, I celebrate. Those are the good nights. On the rare occasion when three of those hours are joined, I am ecstatic. I cannot even imagine nine hours, and I know I need that.

This is a less-than-veiled call for help. What's your trick for sleeping? Any special preparation?

a house divided

Maybe it was too good to last. Maybe I was asking too much. Though come to think of it, I didn't ask. He offered.

Whatever the cause, things are changing at my house, and chaos is in the air.

I can't eat gluten, dairy, soy, corn, and a bunch of other things that escape my mind at the moment. GK seems to be able to eat anything he pleases without obvious repercussions. For the first year or so, he was completely up for clearing out our pantry and freezer and fridge of foods that might make me sick. He is a sweetheart for sure, but I still think some of his motivation came from a desire to not have to listen to me in pain half the time. Anyway, year one was pretty easy around our house. I was still struggling to determine what I could safely eat, but he was willingly eating what I cooked and forgoing sandwiches except when he went to lunch with friends. I went through the usual grain substitutions, trying lots of interesting sounding flours and adding sugar into my diet for the first time in years. I also started cooking with xanthan gum and guar gum and all sorts of yucky stuff. I was determined to find food I could eat, and that was the direction much of the gluten-free literature was sending me. It was only after months and months of trial and error, mostly error, that I put enough puzzle pieces together to rule out lots of culprits in my diet in addition to gluten and dairy.

As I added to my list of "must avoids," the Paleo approach to food, drink, and lifestyle started to become an obvious choice. Obvious for me, anyway. Like many of us, I'd gone through phases of avoiding red meat, trying on vegetarian, toying with vegan, low-fat, low carb, low protein, high protein, heavy supplement use. Still, in my heart of hearts, I'm a meat-eater, a happy carnivore. I can easily fantasize about thick rare steaks, carpaccio, lamb shanks, and lobster. I grew up eating raw lamb and frog legs. Paleo sounded perfectly fine to me. I could easily do without grains and legumes.

Uh, what was I thinking? GK would happily, very happily, forgo meat entirely. He will eat it, but he most definitely did not want, does not want, any association with a diet that revels in it. Though Paleo is certainly not all about gnawing on knuckle bones and emphasises real food, including lots of vegetables, it may elicit visions of cave men with clubs eating raw flesh. And did I mention this man practically lives for potatoes and beans? Seriously, I could serve beans twice a day, every day, and he would be thrilled. I didn't even think of all that as I talked excitedly about finally finding a grove that seemed to fit, about bloggers and cooks who used ingredients I could actually eat and shared recipes I could use without constant substitution. I also missed what should have been an even more obvious shift. I was now talking about a personal choice, a positive move toward something I wanted, not just escape from the pain of the last few years.

So as I embraced Paleo foods, GK quietly took another stand. He didn't ask me to change the foods I bought or ate. And thankfully, he's not one of those scary people who likes to slip offending foods onto your plate just to show you. No, it wasn't horrid; it was just weird. He started picking up cheeses when we shopped, stood looking longingly at the bread section before slipping a loaf of sprouted grain bread into the cart, and asked for oatmeal. The contents of my kitchen started changing.

And then came the big guns; he wouldn't eat the meals I'd cooked. He said there was too much meat or too much fat. He asked for beans and sandwiches and oatmeal with raisins. Yikes! Who was this? What happened to the man who said he didn't mind at all? The one who said he could just eat those foods when he was in a restaurant? The one who was happy to eat scrambled eggs instead of his beloved oatmeal?

We are working out the kinks in all this still. Since I cook and he cleans, I've agreed to add some meals where meat is optional, others where it plays a less significant role. Though our meals had never been meat-fests, they must have seemed that way to him. It is, of course, more complicated now, and I worry sometimes about cross-contamination, but heck, ya do what ya gotta do. I guess I should still count myself pretty lucky.

time for another whole30?

grass-fed beef, sauteed mushrooms with onions & garlic, fresh salad with lemon & olive oil---no sacrifice

I had not really planned on starting the new year with a Whole30 commitment. It's not like my diet is much different on a daily basis anyway. I still eat 99% clean in any given week, 100% in most. My only food indiscretion during the holidays was one piece of home-made divinity from my sister-in-law, Tara. BUT I have occasionally been having a glass of wine, sometimes two or three, and that's simply not working for me. I guess I really like or need the structure, though there really is little, and the sense of accountability that goes with saying I'm going to do something and following through.

While I don't necessarily plan to start this on January 1st or 2nd, it will most likely be the first week or two. We have a Las Vegas trip planned over the holiday weekend mid-month. It's for a CTA conference, and I'll have less control over food choices, so I've considered putting the Whole30 off. Problem is there's always something. New Year's Eve this week-end, Valentine's Day and my birthday (yay!) in February, Saint Patrick's Day in March, Easter in April---we do a HUGE Easter party. Every month has a reason not to commit. So what the hell? It may as well be January. And probably another 30 sometime in February with Carrie, Ginger Lemon Girl.

The thing about the Whole30 is that while it may be considered a strict plan, even rigid by some, it involves no sacrifice. Seriously, I don't see the sacrifice. I see wonderful food without the chemicals and GMOs and plastics or processed junk. Actually now, I'm starting to view this as an on-going, intermittent routine that could very simply keep me on track and feeling good. I do like the sound of that.