on the blahs

In the “out of left field” department, I’m struggling with a deep case of the blahs this week. Sure, some of it is post-Spring Break depression, but a lot of it stems from some minor diet changes, digressions, and the realities of life this week. Let me explain them one by one.

The Benefits of Raw

Last week we were out of town for about 5 days. During that time, we ate raw fruit and veggies along with almonds, macadamia nuts and some boiled eggs and simple grilled chicken for our meals. We digressed from this to eat meals with the family, but mainly for social reasons. Our stocked cooler provided the main source of our food. Because of this great baseline, even when I enjoyed tortilla chips and salsa at a Tex Mex restaurant and a brownie with ice cream for a birthday celebration, I still felt good. I felt light. I could feel that I was losing weight. And I did – even with the traveling and the treats I lost 1 pound last week.

Don’t Over-think Food

After a week of eating mostly raw, whole ingredients, I felt the pressure was on to provide some hearty cooked meals for dinner. In addition, I’m doing some experimentation on the paleo and primal fronts, so I’ve noticed that I tend to rely more on things like coconut oil and olive oil instead of nuts for my fat sources. The portions are not huge, but they just feel heavier than their raw counterparts. And during the day when the family was off to school I was making omelets for breakfast and generally having dinner leftovers for lunch (except for one meal, which I will discuss below). While none of this is necessarily “bad” per se, I was just left feeling worse off than I did last week.

Could it be that eating raw and whole foods as a majority of your diet could have such powerful effects?

1 Bad Choice Has Major Consequences Now

When you eat crap every day for every meal, crap for one meal doesn’t really have a huge effect on your metabolism, your body’s tendency to burn fat instead of storing it, your mood, etc. So the logic is always, “one bad meal won’t hurt.” But when every meal is one bad meal… it’s a vicious cycle.

Factor in the issue above and some stressful situations at work and I had a familiar need to escape to some bad food choices. So on Tuesday I was out and about and I grabbed a sack at Jack in the Box. I was thinking, “It’s just one meal…” And it probably would have been, but I was already struggling with the shift from mostly raw foods. Boy, it sure tasted good and it did fulfill my immediate emotional need to connect with food, but I think it compounded my body’s issues this week and as a result I’ve put on a few pounds in just a few days.

Workouts Are NOT Enough

Last week I took a break from long workouts and still lost weight and felt great. I’ve been working out this week, but my diet and other stress factors are overpowering the benefits of 2 great CrossFit WOD’s. This is just another powerful reminder about the constant need for balance in all areas of our lives.

Injuries Suck

I’ve been dealing with a shoulder injury that has now contributed to an injured pectoral muscle. It’s not stopping me, but it is slowing me down. Most of all it’s just frustrating because I’m seeing so many positive changes in other areas and I want to see them in my workouts as well. I think I’m underestimating how much stress this is causing me right now.

And so, today is another day. I’m not dwelling on the choices made this week or the realities of life right now, rather I am thankful that I am more in tune with my body now and I’m really starting to connect the dots when it comes to diet, stress, and overall living conditions. Grok would look at his living conditions and make adjustments when things were out of balance, and so will I. Grok on.

okra and tomatoes

Yesterday at the grocery store I picked up some fresh okra. I’m familiar with okra, but I’ve never worked with fresh okra before, so I was pleasantly surprised that it was so good and so was the family – it disappeared and I wasn’t able to have leftovers for lunch!

Here in the South, okra goes with tomatoes like peas and carrots, so I took some inspiration from multiple recipes and came up with the following:

Primal Okra and Tomatoes

• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt*
• 1/2 teaspoon Greek seasoning*
• 3 tablespoons butter*
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 pound fresh okra, sliced (1/4 inch)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium tomato, chopped

Mix the yogurt and the Greek seasoning in a bowl and set aside.

In a skillet, melt the butter on medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the onion and cook until it softens. Stir in the okra and the seasonings: cumin, ginger, coriander, black pepper, chili powder, and salt. Stir well to ensure the seasonings are incorporated well throughout the okra. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add the tomato and cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of the spiced yogurt.

This is one of those recipes that you can’t really mess up, so experiment with the spices and amount of tomatoes. If you like it spicier, add more chili powder. If you like it less spicy, remove the black pepper and the chili powder. Add more tomatoes if you want it to be more of a stewed consistency.

*For a paleo version of this dish, ditch the yogurt and exchange the butter for a more preferable oil.

swiss chard

Today was my first day to work with Swiss chard and as I’m sitting digesting a wonderful meal I’m wondering what took me so long? You’ve probably seen it in your local grocery store, but if you’re like me you’ve strolled right past it because, let’s face it, mom never cooked it. If spinach and a beet got together one night, played a little Barry White, had a little wine, and made some sweet music, the fruit of this unlikely (but beautiful) union would be Swiss chard. It’s no surprise, then, that Swiss chard is actually very closely related to both spinach and beets. Creepy.

According to Mark’s Daily Apple, Swiss chard delivers 716% of your recommended daily allowance of vitamin K, 110% RDA of vitamin A, 52% RDA of vitamin C, as well as a healthy dose of magnesium. In addition, he lists Swiss chard as one of his “16 Most Powerful Foods.” With that kind of reputation, how can we not include it in our weekly rotation?

Trolling around the net I found a lot of complicated recipes with Swiss chard that included many other ingredients. I tend to stay simple for my weeknight side dishes, so none of those really jumped out at me. I also saw from several sources that you can use it anywhere you use spinach. While probably true, it didn’t inspire me. So after perusing my pantry, I came up with this dish:

Primal Swiss Chard

• 1 bunch of Swiss chard, soaked and rinsed well
• 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons bacon grease*
• Crushed garlic, to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Crushed red pepper, optional

Trim the ends of the red stalks on the Swiss chard. Then cut the stalks away from the leaves. Cut the stalks into about 1/2 inch pieces. Cut the leaves across about every 2 inches. Set the stalks and the leaves aside separately.

Melt the bacon grease in a skillet (one that has a lid) over medium heat. Throw in the onions and cook them until they are soft. Add the garlic (and peppers if you like spice) and cook for a minute more. Add the stalks and cook for about 5 minutes or until they are soft. Turn the heat down to low and add the leaves. Place the lid on the skillet and let it set for about 3-5 minutes or until the leaves are wilted (not cooked!). Add some salt to taste and give it a stir until the salt is incorporated and the leaves are mixed well with the onions and stalks. Serve warm from the skillet.

Give it a try and let me know how you like it!

*The meaty taste of bacon grease goes well with the hearty flavor of Swiss chard, but honestly, you can use whatever oil you like. This is the only ingredient that makes this a primal recipe instead of paleo.

the grok-arita (caveman margarita)

When I want to cut loose and have more than a glass of red wine, I head to margarita country. The problem with most margaritas that are served in bars or restaurants is that they are loaded with HFCS. In addition, most tequila aficionados will tell you that there’s no need to bury the flavor of the tequila anymore with such strong, sweet ingredients because we have easy access to 100% agave tequila. So here is my favorite margarita recipe from many moons ago – low and behold, it’s very primal in nature (pun intended)!

• 1 1/2 oz. 100% agave tequila
• 1 oz. freshly-squeezed lime juice*
• 3/4 oz. organic agave nectar
• 3/4 oz. water

Whether you’re making 1 drink or an entire pitcher, just stick to this ratio and you can’t go wrong. If you make this drink for others, I promise that you will need to have it on hand, especially the CrossFit/Paleo/Primal crowd.

*Note that 1 average lime yields about 1-1.5 oz. of juice. Be prepared to buy and juice a lot of limes. The Chef’n FreshForce Citrus Juicer is the way to go because it’s double-hinged (trust me, you’ll be thankful after about 5 or 6 limes).

Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments.

Chef’n FreshForce Citrus Juicer

on eating by spreadsheet

When I first started thinking on what I wanted to write about and communicate here, I was very much focused on The Zone. Every CrossFitter is likely to know about The Zone thanks mainly to the now infamous CrossFit Journal Issue #21 from way back in May 2004 (our copy is covered in who knows what, the ink is smeared, it’s in bad shape from being used so much). On day two of my training regiment I was introduced to this new way of thinking about food. At first, I was drawn to the regimen and the counting and the weighing, but I burnt out on it quickly because food is and always has been more about the emotions for me. The math was ruining it! However, earlier this year I decided to hit it hard again and read up on Dr. Sears’ Top 100 Zone Foods. It worked and I began to see results again.

Even just a week ago I was deep in the spreadsheet mindset and I was working on a spreadsheet that calculated the carbohydrate food blocks by weight. It just kinda hit me like a lightning bolt: “What in the world are you doing? This is dumb. I shouldn’t have to crack open a spreadsheet every time I want to eat!” That same day I came across Mark Sisson’s website, Mark’s Daily Apple. His approach to the whole paleo/CrossFit subculture just seemed to fit me better than others. I love his approach to balance on both the food and the fitness. It just all goes together easier for me – and there’s not a single spreadsheet for download on his website. Before Mark, “going paleo” seemed to be extreme to me with no balance for living life.

I’m still plugging through his book and I plan to finish it this week, but I’ve already started to put his basic principles into practice and I feel better, I have more energy, and I’m losing weight without really trying. In just 4 days I’ve lost about 2 pounds while eating what I like! I know this is just a microcosm, but this feels very sustainable to me.

As we head into Spring Break this week we’re actually planning ahead by bringing our own food. We don’t want to be ostracized by the rest of the family or be seen as pariahs, but at the same time we don’t want to go backwards either. Just something simple like replacing the daily morning donut regimen with some eggs, berries, and nuts. Also, instead of snacking like we normally would on vacation, we’ll just grab some pre-cut vegetables from our cooler. Then for lunch and dinner we’ll eat what everybody else eats, just in moderation.

I’ll report back in and let you know how we did.  As of yesterday, my weight was 265. Posting that here will keep me honest and accountable!

on cheat meals

Since we started this endeavor 6 months ago and more earnestly in January, my goal has always been to eat well about 90% of the time. I just flat out like food too much – all kinds of food. In addition, I have 3 children ages 15, 12, and 10 and while we want to teach them about making wise food choices, we also know that they need some balance in their lives as well. This has been my mantra and I’ve made progress while sticking to it.

As I mentioned yesterday, I downloaded The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson yesterday on my Kindle. As soon as I started to read it, it was like we are kindred souls and I didn’t feel this huge gulf of “I’m much smarter than you” that some of these diet and way of life books make me feel. This is another quote of his on the topic of balance and it made me realize that part of my goal with the happy gastronomer has already been fulfilled – not by me, but by Mark! Read this:

I strongly support you making allowances for, adjustments to, and occasional deviations from the Primal Blueprint based on your particular real-life concerns and constraints. You’ll encounter many references to my 80% Rule in the book …, which basically means you can chill out and enjoy your life rather than invite the additional stress and anxiety that comes from a perfectionist approach or an overly strict regimen.”

For the record, he does say that you should strive for 100% perfection in the plan but with a realistic expectation that you will hit about 80% and that’s OK.

Anyhow, it’s always been our “thing” on Friday night to reward ourselves and the kids with a treat meal – and their favorite (and one of ours, I’ll admit) is Taco Bell. I can hear the gasps from everyone now, but suck it – I’m not competing later today in the sectionals.

But last night as I lay in bed I noticed that I just didn’t feel right. In fact, I felt like crap. I checked my blood pressure and it wasn’t bad, but it was elevated and so was my pulse. My body wasn’t starting to shut down at about 9:00 like it normally did. To top it all off I’m up at 4:30 AM writing this instead of waking up at 6:30. Overall result: cheat meal FAIL.

And it hit me: my body is finally starting to reject my drug of choice: food that’s bad for me. The challenge for me now is what next?