Paleo Challenge

Oh yeah... 2 cups frozen berries 2 cups coconut milk 1 tsp pure vanilla extract Puree in blender until smooth, and then freeze. Great for dessert after a paleo-rific dinner! Jer

I almost forgot... 4 fully ripe organic avocados 1 cup agave juice or organic maple syrup (or a bit of both) 1 cup organic dark cocoa powder (or carob) 1 cup coconut milk 1 tbsp organic pure vanilla extract Puree ingredients in a blender or food processor and serve with fresh berries and mint leaves. Unbelievable!

The 31 days is up. The Paleo Challenge is over. The way I eat has been altered forever. There has certainly been some highs and lows, but eating this diet has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for me - mentally, physically, and emotionally - and I will probably continue with it. I will certainly reintroduce some whole grains and a little dairy (can you really live without cheese?), but I will keep eating like this because it feels great. I feel better now than I did when I was 20 years old (18 years ago). Because I am a geek, I have compiled a Harper's style index, below, to summarize my Paleo Diet experience... 31 days  - length of time I ate like a cave man $650 - approximate grocery bill for the month 20 - number of meals that I prepared and cooked from scratch in the last month 100% - percentage increase over all previous months of my life combined 195lbs - my weight prior to the challenge 178lbs - my weight at the end of the challenge 75 - approximate number o...

I'm back on top. Last week I think I bottomed out. I felt tired, cranky, sore, and sick. I felt weak and frail. I was beginning to doubt the whole paleo diet thing. I thought I had felt the worst of it about two weeks in, but last weekend was hell. I think I was starving to death! I stuck with it, though. A challenge, after all, is a challenge. I started eating more, and more often. Lots of between meal snacks. Mini carrots are great, for example, or a few (dozen) handfuls of almonds and sunflower seeds. I am the 'Smoothy King', as well. A handful of Europe's Best frozen field berries, some fresh strawberries, a kiwi, a banana, some pineapple, and some water makes a pretty tasty pre-breakfast snack. I'm eating a lot of omelets, too, with red peppers, tomatoes, onions, and crab meat. I started eating much bigger portions at dinner, too. More meat! It's starting to consume a lot of my day, hunting and gathering for meals, but I guess people didn't have m...

Wow. The days have gone by fairly quickly. Forget all of the other stuff, 22 days without beer is a major accomplishment for me ;) I think I'm too skinny, though. My muscles are definitely more defined and I've dropped 15 lbs in the last three weeks, but I don't feel as 'healthy' as I used to. It's hard to describe, but I feel kind of like I'm wasting away. Perhaps I'm not eating enough. I went for a 60k cycle on Saturday morning, from my house in Deep Cove out to Lighthouse Park in West Van and back, as part of my training for the upcoming Ride to Conquer Cancer. I felt pretty good the whole time. I actually had a surprising amount of energy in the latter stages, but I felt really fatigued for the rest of the day (and on the following day). I did play hockey on Sunday night, though (4 point night), so I guess I wasn't that fatigued, but I don't feel as though I'm getting enough fuel.  As I said in an earlier post, I was no cook prior t...

Granted, Oprah has limited credibility when it comes to diet and nutrition. Her struggles with weight and fad diets are well documented. Nonetheless, she is an incredibly influential person in the United States. In April of 1996, for example, Oprah mentioned on her show (discussing mad cow disease in Britain) that she would never eat another hamburger. The beef manufacturing industry immediately launched a lawsuit claiming that Oprah's comment had cost them $11 million. That's influence! If an off-handed comment stings big business to the tune of $11 million, you have power to make change. About a month ago, Oprah had Michael Pollan on her show to discuss the film Food Inc. and the food industry in the United States. It's pretty eye opening stuff with lot's of shock value. Hopefully it will bring about a transformation in the American food system and the way people eat. As for my own personal transformation, I believe I am starting to see some of the benefits of eat...

I've been a little hesitant to post pictures of the food that I'm making on the internet. It seems akin to dressing up your pets for photoshoots, or remodeling your house to look like the bridge on the original Star Trek series (it happens). A little on the geeky side. I guess this is my coming out party, though, because I am about to post a picture of the chips and salsa I made from scratch last night. There. I did it. It's official. I'm a food geek. I didn't actually take the picture (my sister in law, Alison, has enabled me in that regard), but I posted it. The chips are made from sliced yams, dipped in egg whites, sprinkled with onion and garlic powders, and baked for 30 minutes in the oven at 425 degrees (flip once). I couldn't eat them (I guess cavemen didn't like starch), but I assumed they would work better as a chip than the zucchinis I bought. I did make some zucchini chips, as well, but they weren't photo worthy. They tasted great, but they...

I've noticed that there aren't many cavemen out there in the world today. It's not easy to eat Paleo outside of the house. It's awesome and super practical when I'm controlling the menu and all of the ingredients, but that's obviously not the case in the 'real world.' I went out for dinner with my wife and kids to another couple's house the other day. They are our daughter Maggie's friend's parents, so we didn't know them too well. I was a little nervous. Could I eat anything they were going to serve? If not, how would I broach the subject of coming over for dinner and not eating? I was feeling pretty low, too (It was day 6 of the Paleo Challenge); I didn't know if I could even fake being social. Being new to this idea of thinking about what I eat before I eat it, and not just shoveling whatever's in front of me into my gullet, I didn't know how to act. How awkward! I managed to work it into the conversation early. We star...

I believe I'm through the worst of it. Quitting sugar, salt, grains, cereals, dairy, and beer cold turkey is tough to do, but totally doable and worth doing. On Saturday, I felt the worst I've felt in a long time, but Sunday was a good day, though. I went for a 52k bike ride in the morning, hit the Safeway, cooked dinner for 10 people, and then went and played hockey later that night. I must've been feeling better. My body is changing, too. I look and feel very lean, and the 6-pack is making a comeback. I went for a Crossfit workout this morning and I felt pretty good. Still a little sluggish, but much improved over last week. I've lost a little weight. I was about 190lbs, but have slimmed down to 182lbs in the last week and a bit. I've been doing a lot of cycling lately, so I'm sure that's a contributing factor, but the complete lack of bacon, beer, and chocolate in my diet is having the biggest impact, I'm sure. I've turned into quite the che...

I'm on day 5 of the Paleo diet. Being the culinary novice that I am, my diet has consisted of lots of raw fruits and vegetables, nuts (not peanuts or cashews, though), water, eggs, and barbecued meat. I'm drinking more wine now, too. Apparently, Paleolithic man did not combine yeast, barley, hops, and water into a delicious miracle beverage, but he did chow down on fermented grapes. Eating raw and basically cooked foods keeps you alive, but it's no match for butter, salt, and grease as far as my taste buds are concerned. I've got to get better at making food that tastes good. Luckily, my wife's parents, Don and Jean, are in town for a few months. Jean is a master chef. She loves to cook and she's amazing in the kitchen. My plan is become her apprentice. It gets me out of washing the dishes, too, which was my primary role in the kitchen, prior. The other night, we (she) made a fish stew. Basically, onion, skinned and chopped tomatoes, fennel, garlic, white ...