Delicious Progress!

Let me tell you something: having a food diary WORKS!

Since keeping records of every tiny little thing I've been eating (yes, I document those four fries I stole from Whitney's lunch) I have lost 10 lbs! I started February 29th and am now at 220 lbs, the lowest I've been since last summer.

This could be due to a number of things:

1) Keeping my carbs under 100 g

2) Started taking DCI, which has triggered weight loss for some women

3) Keeping my fat % at around 55-65%

My appetite has also dropped because I feel satiated longer. I recently added some whey protein (Cyto they sell in CostCo) so that has bolstered my protein intake and keeps me quite full. I've been drinking it in the morning because frankly, I'm a little tired of scrambled eggs.

In any case, I've concocted a delicious recipe after trudging through my fridge in hopes of something new and delightful. I found a bag of Broccoli Slaw that was on its way out -- that "I need to use this now or just throw it away" stage. I had attempted a stirfry with another bag of slaw once upon a time and had been less than impressed so I decided to try and create a primal coleslaw. Not only have I succeeded but it was so delicious it may very well become a summer staple!

Creamy Primal Slaw

1 package Broccoli Slaw

1 TB Dijon mustard (I used Hearty Spicy)

1 TB Apple Cider Vinegar

1 TB Lemon juice

2 drops Stevia -- for those who like true tang you could leave this out

Salt & Pepper to taste

1/4 cup goat cheese

1/4 of a large sweet onion, sliced and diced

4 slices peppered bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 TB mayo (sour cream or yogurt could easily suffice, I just happened to have mayo on hand)

1 medium cucumber, cut however you prefer

1/4 cu sliced almonds

Wisk together mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, stevia, goat cheese, salt, pepper, and mayo until goat cheese has been distributed and the dressing is smooth. You can adjust the stevia for the desired sweetness. Mix in the remaining ingredients until evenly coated. Chill in the fridge or serve immediately.

This recipe can easily be adjusted with different veggies, meats, or cheeses. I can see sliced apple being an excellent addition or subbing out almonds for walnuts.

Oh nooooooo :)

It's been so long! I have neglected my blog because life, as you all know, is in the way! Fortunately, during this time I have been cooking, eating, and coming up with new ways to entertain myself in the kitchen.

I've also made a change very recently that I hope will further improve my PCOS symptoms. As most of you know when I first started primal eating I lost 25 lbs in a very short period of time. However, I have also struggled to lose any weight since that initial 25. I suspect insulin resistance and my own wavering commitment to primal is behind it. SO -- I am hoping to achieve further results with some changes.

1. I've started a food diary on Livestrong.com so I can track actual carbs

2. I just finished my first week of taking D-Chiro-Inositol, a supplement that had very promising results in a clinical study with insulin resistance

3. I have added a woman's multi vitamin that contains vitex, blue cohosh, manganese, lutein, etc etc etc. I am also committing to taking my fish oil capsules more regularly.

I've been pretty good with my eating but my soda addiction has reared its ugly head once more. I wish soda would be blasted off the face of the earth. It is my Achilles heel in every

sense. However, I have found something that I like drinking almost as much as I like drinking soda.

Cue magic and angels and shyte...

Lindsay's Tea & Lemonade

2 tea bags of flavors you like (I use Wild Berry)

1/3 cu lemon juice or a whole lemon

2 dropper full additions of Stevia

1-2 TB honey (this isn't required but I like the flavor it adds)

A lot of water

You can adjust the servings to get the taste you want and just recently I've been adding a cup of POM Juice. This is refreshing and faaaaar less sugar/carbs than soda obviously. The

lemon adds a nice zing and you can easily adjust it to make it sweeter or less sweet. Since this is a soda replacement I use a lot more Stevia than some people would prefer. You can also zest this up with oranges, lemons, other citrus fruits if you can tolerate fruit. But just the plain tea, lemon, and sweetener approach is surprisingly satisfying. I prefer it iced but you can rock a hot, sweet tea if you like.

Stay tuned for further updates:

A life of a can of pumpkin

Latkes!

And of course, more recipes will continue to come your way as I develop/find/experiment with them. Hope you're all satiated and feeling primal today!

Ugh.

So the past couple of days I've been off my game quite a bit.

Sunday:

Woke up with a headache which continued to evolve into a full-blown tension headache with migraine characteristics. Nausea, light sensitivity -- luckily Whitney was able to get me to sleep with her wonderful peppermint essential oil. A dab on the neck and on the pillow really helped relieve the tension enough to sleep.

Monday:

Woke up feeling good -- fasted for most of the morning except for some cups of coffee. Felt desperate to keep that horrible headache from resurfacing. I ate a big ass salad for an early dinner then another salad at a restaurant during our rabbit meeting. I made my own salad dressing using direction from Whitney's mom. Have to play with the proportions to get it where you want it.

Delicious Salad Dressing:

- lemon juice

- olive oil

- apple cider vinegar

- brown mustard

- honey or agave

- salt and pepper

I also came to the conclusion that it is the bacon that gave me the bad headache. I had 6 slices on Sunday and today I had 1 and a half of a slice with my salad. Shortly after I started to get aura sensations and a distant throbbing in my head. Luckily it went away after I ate some more food. I think it's definitely the nitrites so going to skip the bacon unless I can find a good deal on the uncured stuff. I also had a soda at the restaurant and a couple of french fries! >.<

Came home, cleaned the bedroom and drank a lot of water. Overall, I felt much better than I did on Sunday. Eating less food seemed to help and so I'm going to try and be a little less gluttonous over the next few days.

Tuesday:

Today I woke up to a leaking bathroom -- there's a leak somewhere on the roof. When it warms up and rains it seems to leak like the dickens though I can't pinpoint where its coming from. Sigh.

Mentally: A little fuzzy but pretty good. Had very vivid dreams last night.

Physically: Craving water and feeling up to talking a walk or doing something remotely active. But I have rabbit cages to clean and we have to change the oil in the car.

Menu Check-in:

Breakfast - Made a scramble of four eggs, cheddar, avocado, and green onions. Salt and pepper to taste. Simple and delicious. Wasn't really hungry but figured I should start off with some protein and good fat. I think I'm also going to make some coffee but about half what I normally do.

No idea what I'm going to eat the rest of the day, will update later today.

Oh man.

So I have to make an amendment to my menu check in for yesterday. I had two glasses of hot chocolate. I know, I know.... DAMN THE HOLIDAYS! The in-laws brought us massive quantities of cookies, sweets, and two large canisters of Williams-Sonoma hot chocolate. Sigh. Well, it's a special treat I guess and I was having MASSIVE sugar cravings last night. I ate a ton of cream cheese too.

Today is better. I feel more normal, less cravings, less hungry. I'm a little tired of the "everythin

g soup" but thankfully ate the last of it today. I also had fun with spices and made my own spicy pepper

mix since I love hot and my wife does not.

Hot Pepper Mix

- Cayenne Pepper powder

- Chili powder

- Crushed Red Pepper

- A touch of Sweet Paprika

- A touch of Cumin

ALSO -- went to Safeway today planning to pick up coconut milk and cheese.... Huzzah! Tons of meat was on clearance. Over 50% off for all-natural organic chicken thighs. We're talking $1.29/lb for boneless/skinless. And I picked up some london broil for 50% off sticker price. We stocked up quite a bit and now our freezer

looks much happier and full of good food. Plus we got some Foster Farms chicken for the kitties because it was also ridiculously cheap. Yay!

I also... got some Bolthouse Farms stuff. I love Bolthouse, I really do. And they make for a great snack or breakfast if I'm in a pinch. Just found out about bullet proof coffee? Must try this.

Perfectly Protein Vanilla Chai Tea:
Soy milk from concentrate (water, soy milk concentrate), cane sugar, soy protein isolate, green tea (water, green tea), natural flavor, calcium (tricalcium phosphate, carrageenan, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), magnesium (magnesium oxide), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), zinc (zinc sulfate), iron (ferrous lactate), vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin).

For an 8 oz serving:
Calories: 160, Fat Cal: 27
Total Fat: 3, Sat Fat: 1
Sodium: 60 mg
Carb: 25Sugar: 21
Protein: 10

Pefectly Protein Mocha Capp

uccino:
Mocha cappuccino (low-fat milk, 100% Arabica coffee, natural flavors, vanilla extract (Madagascar), Cocoa), milk whey protein, potassium diphosphate, apple juice, pectin, carrageenan, calcium (tricalcium phosphate), vitamin C (ascorbic acid), magnesium (magnesium oxide), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), zinc (zinc sulfate), iron (ferrous lactate), vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin).

For an 8 oz serving:
Calories: 178, Fat Cal: 23
Total Fat: 2.5, Sat Fat: 1.5
Sodium: 106 mg
Carb: 29
Sugar: 28
Protein: 10

Check-in time...

Mentally: Feeling good, stable, pretty pleasant.

Physically: Lots of energy and my stomach feels much flatter today.

Menu Check-in: (please note my beautiful spice collection behind the soup ^.^)

B - Was in a hurry to get into town this morning so I had 1/2 an apple and the equivalent of two cups of coffee with coffee mate.

Snack - A serving of Bolthouse Mocha Cappuccino.

L - The last bowl of "everything so

up" enhanced with my new pepper blend. Much better. I might have a salad with turkey, cheese, and avocado. Don't feel I've had enough fat so far today.

Snack - Glass of bubbly water with Stevia. Tomato, avocado, cheese slices. A swig of the Chai Bolthouse.

D - Crock potting the london broil for dinner with leeks, carrots, and celery.

The day so far...

Thank goodness -- no headache this morning though I feel pretty low energy which is normal for me at the beginning. Had two cups of coffee instead of three and going to shoot for one cup a day from now on.

Mentally: Feeling contemplative and ambitious.

Physically: Low energy, sluggish but not uncomfortably so.

Menu Check In:

B - I went all out this morning. Four strips of bacon, two scrambled eggs in the fat, a sausage patty, and a chunk of cream cheese. Had half a cup of orange juice. Felt uncomfortably full.

Snack - Two cups of coffee with coffee mate. Drank a glass of water.

L - Had a big ass salad with lots of turkey, greens, green onions, cheese, some pomegranate seeds, and blue cheese dressing. Glass of water.

Snack - Glass of bubbly raspberry water with Stevia.

D - I'll have some of my "everything soup" tonight. Maybe some more cream cheese possibly. I actually feel pretty hungry and it's really early for me to be eating dinner. Maybe I should have a side of beef with my soup. The turkey wasn't very filling from lunch.

No pictures today because I scarfed before thinking. Ahhh well.

I AM MAKING THIS TOMORROW

I..... am speechless. I don't think I've ever been so excited about a recipe.. except maybe primal chocolate chip cookies ^.^

CHEESE CHIPS

Stay tuned for the tasty results!

Getting serious now...

So I've decided it's time to do another round of detox and recommitting to my primal goals. I've gained back a lot of the weight I lost initially since traveling over the summer. I know, it's winter so I'm less active than I was at the height of summer but still... there's wood to be chopped, lifted, hauled, animals to be fed and watered, lots of wilderness to explore.... basically, no excuses.

But the real commitment needs to lie in my eating. I have gone astray, pigging out on junk food and I've felt the brutal effects. As I explore my reasons for getting off track I think most of it points to the move from Washington to Montana. The move was stressful and we lived with Whitney's parents for the month between coming back from traveling and moving to Montana.

Whitney's Parents = CW Eating = Fat Lindsay

But that's all over now. We've been in our new place for over a month now. It's time to quit the shenanigans and get serious. I need to pick up a scale and start weighing myself more consistently to keep tr

ack of my actual progress or lack of. I have also decided to take real 'before' and 'after' photos. Tracking down the two I posted last time was really inspiring -- but I'm not at my lowest now and looking at that picture is the motivation I need. Plus I got to see some pictures taken of me over Christmas.... yeesh. Bad news all around.

How I normally go about this process:

1) Stock up on my comfort foods including lots of dairy, bacon, and baked primal goods.

2) Eat however much I want of only primal foods.

3) Pick up some flavored sparkling water to add Stevia to -- perfect for soda cravings.

4) Focus on not letting myself get hungry at all.

Letting myself eat as much as I want helps with any feelings of deprivation and the primal foods will regulate my appetite after a week or so and I won't eat nearly as much. I hope it's not as bad as the first time. I went through a major "carb flu" and it took almost two weeks to feel right again. But the eating a lot, staying full, and having the right foods on hand really helped.

I will also commit to documenting what I am eating daily -- you know, keep myself honest and all that. I will do a physical, mental, and menu check in hopefully every day.

How I'm feeling...

Mentally: Tired and frustrated. Tried to hang a heavy sliding door and failed. Repeatedly.

Physically: I have a raging headache and I'm pretty hungry from reading other's primal blogs.

Menu Check:

B - Two leftover chicken strips from last night (sooo good!) with ketchup and spicy mustard.

Snack - 1/2 apple with almond butter

L - 2 cups of coffee with coffee mate -- luckily I'm almost out of that stuff. A couple bites of leftover turkey off the bone. I also had one of those Almond Roche things from Christmas.

D - Planning on maybe soup. Having really strong cravings for meat but I need to use up the turkey stock I made... ugh.

Plus I have veggies that need to be used up. I'll follow up on what I actually end up.....

Okay, in the middle of this post I dragged myself downstairs, finished plucking the meat off the turkey carcass I had in the crock pot, threw together an "everything soup" (everything in the fridge needing to get used up) -- in this case that includes my homemade turkey stock, turkey, carrots, orange and yellow bell peppers, and broccoli. Then I made myself a big ass salad with baby green mix, cheese, turkey, 2 slices of apple, green onions, and blue cheese dressing. Yes, that is a chunk of cream cheese on the side. Yes, I eat cream cheese in chunks. No, I don't feel the need to apologize for it. If I get hungry later, I'll help myself to some soup. Man, I've still got this headache. Off to try and drink a couple glasses of water.

Before and After Pictures

Almost 245 lbs.

Okay, I've gotten inspired by the people at Mark's Daily Apple. Here's a before and after shot of me at my heaviest and lightest. I've gained some back since my lightest weight in the after picture but I'm making my way back!

At 220 lbs.

Whew! Keep on keeping on folks!

Fried Chicken Strips

I have a secret. Psst -- I love fried food! Giving up the crunchy greasy goodness hasn't always been easy. Sometimes I slip. I've learned to make do with crispy skin bits and I fry cheese on my eggs... but sometimes all I want is a good ol' fried chicken strip. With ketchup. And mustard.

Well, I felt adventurous today and I just so happened to have a package of chicke

n tenderloins in my fridge. Cue inspiration! Since I winged this recipe, I didn't mark down all the amounts I used but this is a recipe that can be easily customized to suit your specific preferences. I decided to try two types using coconut flour and almond flour.

Ingredients:

• 1-ish pound of chicken tenderloins
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour
• 1 egg
• some milk
• almond flour
• coconut flour
• lots of oil (use olive or coconut if you've got it)

Ta da! Easy enough, yes? Then you set up your stations:

1) Tapioca flour -- dredge the tenderloin (after snipping off any pesky tendon lingering) in tapioca flour until completely covered.

2) Dip the floured chicken in egg/milk scramble, covering completely.

3) Dip the eggy chicken strip into the flour of your choice: almond or coconut.

4) Place strip into pan with lots of oil. I used a cast iron pan and filled it pretty generously so the strip was about half covered with oil.

5) Flip, flip, flip. I flipped the strips every couple of minutes and at first some came out very dark because the oil was too hot. Nice and easy does it. They will brown darker than conventional flour, especially the almond flour, but it doesn't adversely affect the flavor.

6) Eat them until your tummy hurts!

• 

** Thoughts **

After testing both the almond and the coconut flour I feel the almond has a richer flavor while the coconut makes a better base if you're going to add seasonings and spices to the flour. I added nothing to either (I forgot) and liked them both plain. They are also very filling. I ate one of each then had one atop a salad -- this was pushing it. A lot. This would be a perfect food for kids (or adults) who want a fun dinner food you can dip but its versatile as is or on salad. Bagged the rest in the fridge. I'll follow up on how they turn out being reheated.