Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Me! It's me! I'm coming to dinner! Did you guess right?

As you may or may not know - I think I've said it on here before but I forget (we'll get to that); I don't really do the dinner thing all that often since becoming a full fledged grown up. I did have dinner more often before my n=1 Paleo experiment to be sure. But now that I'm a fat burner and not a sugar burner (and um, still being single is probably a contributor too), it's a rare occurrence. Why the change of heart? Glad you asked...please to continue!

So I mentioned a little while back that I'm pretty sure I'm dealing with some adrenal fatigue action. Since that post, like everywhere I look in Paleoland is all "adrenal fatigue!" Granted, some of that is due to me going to my trusted sites and look for their posts on the matter (semantics, whatever ;P), but other times it really is just popping up. Now I'm not saying that the Universe thinks I have adrenal fatigue and wants me to know about it or anything hippie dippy like that. Ok, so maybe I am. Don't judge me; I cannot help that deep deep deep within myself lives a dirty stinkin hippie that tells me crazy things.

I know it's actually much more likely that since I feel like this is an issue for me, I'm noticing it more in my little world. Like when you get a new car and all of a sudden EVERYONE in your whole town got the same car on the same day...It's just like that. Those cars were always already there, but you didn't notice because they weren't like yours.

Back to the matter at hand. I had an epiphany last night (or was it the night before? Memory ugh! We're still not there). In It Starts With Food, the beauty wonder duo Dallas and Melissa talk a bit about when you can't trust what your body is telling you. Now for me, I'm a big believer that your body wants you to be healthy and we should listen to what it tells us. But what if we've messed it up so much that it doesn't know which way is up any more than you do? How can you trust it to tell you the right things? Their -ahem firm - advice? Eat anyway. Eat three squares a day until you can trust what your body is telling you. I was pretty sure this part of the book (they also said it in their seminar so I guess they really do mean it) didn't really apply to me so I've never really thought about it until now.

I don't eat dinner because I'm not hungry for it. But I got to thinking (and now that I'm thinking about when I got to thinking, and it was the night before last. Good job memory!), I didn't eat breakfast for years either. Years people! Know why? Wasn't hungry. But what about now? You already know. I'm on day 18 no eggs, and eggs have been what's for breakfast since I started Paleo. I've been eating breakfast for years now. So I thought to myself, now you can't imagine life without breakfast, but you didn't have it for years and years. Maybe your body IS confused!

Then I started thinking about how out of sorts I've been (currently suffering from a severe case of CRS, also known as Can't Remember Shit, no matter how much I sleep it's never enough, no energy for my walks but that's ok because due to the CRS I've once again forgotten to bring my workout clothes, by the time I get off work I feel like I could lay down and sleep for hours... you get the idea) and how not eating enough is stressful to the body; which is why Dallas and Melissa say to eat anyway until you can trust the signals your body gives you. My not eating dinner could be contributing to this suspected adrenal fatigue. Oy. Breaking myself down and not even giving it a second thought! Good job lady.

I had dinner tonight (my current favorite meal: ground beef with a smidge of garlic powder, a hefty dose of salt, and a poop ton of cinnamon plus a bunch of baby spinach). I was going to have dinner last night but I came home to a power outage and it didn't kick back in until 4:30 a.m. For a normal person (read non-mega high strung) that probably wouldn't be a big deal, but it really messed with my sleep. When I did sleep, all I could dream about how I had over slept because the power never came back on and I was super late to work and where I'd have to get breakfast since there's nothing ready made in my home anymore. But mostly I was awake because I was worried I'd over sleep and be late for work because the power never came on and OMG where am I going to get breakfast?!?!?!

But I digress.

The weekend is coming up and this dinner thing is going to be a challenge. I am hard pressed to have two squares on a normal Saturday or Sunday, let alone 3. I forget to eat ALL THE TIME over the weekend.

And did you know I have a week long stay-cation starting in 8 days? I am already planning my meals (hint: see food above and lots and lots of bone broth to heal my tummy) so I will not be allowed to miss any meals for lack of planning.

Ok. I'm tired. And unfairly enough, hungry. I ate already! Stupid stomach...

Night night.

Egg Free-Day 5

I forgot to tell you! I'm doing a Paleo Autoimmune Protocol. I eat this way most of the time since going Paleo as it is, but the big thing was eggs. You may remember, I wasn't a fan of cutting them out the first time round. But that was in my first 30 days and I was trying to find my way through.

I've never been a big fan of nuts, so that's not been hard. Though I do still have almond milk in my morning tea. However, what people tend to react to in almonds is the outer skin, which is removed in the process of making almond milk. Plus, it's like a whole 1/4 cup of almond milk a day. Big friggin woop. It's not going anywhere yet is what I'm getting at.

I gave up tomatoes a while back. I have never liked raw tomatoes, so really my only source was in chili as tomato paste, or pizza sauce. Since I've not been eating pizza since going Paleo, and since I just don't eat chili all that much (I made the conscious decision to have Melissa's Chocolate Chili last week. Seriously so worth it. Buy the damn cookbook! You can thank me later.) it wasn't hard on me either.

Peppers...that was kinda hard and I only officially cut them out as well on Monday along with eggs. Not long after (maybe a week or two?) starting Paleo, I made fajitas with red and green bell peppers. My stomach protested. I was sad. So I gave those up - with the hope of reintroducing them after a long period of healing. But I have Chalula hot sauce on my scrambled eggs every morning. Didn't seem to be having a reaction, but that's the only time I eat any form of nightshade now, so it was automatically cut when eggs went out the window.

This week has been hard for breakfast. I've basically been having the same salad I have for lunch at breakfast. But it's a lot of food, and my tummy is not ready for that volume first thing in the morning. I eat as much as I can, but end up having a good portion of my breakfast at lunch too. Problem? I'm starting to get hungry again by 10:30. My egg and bacon breakfasts had been keeping me comfortably full until around 11:30 and lunch is noon, so that wasn't a problem. First world problems I know, but getting back to good health (though I question when I was ever actually truly healthy...) is my number one goal. I'm also not much of a snacker. Thankfully Dallas and Melissa think that's good :) Maybe I'll add another strip or two of bacon! :) For the fat you know... Keeps your stomach satisfied longer. I love bacon.

This is going to be a sad thing to admit. I'll start with the good. My psoriasis seems to be clearing more. I should be jumping for joy over that. And don't get me wrong, it does make me happy. But I love eggs! I obviously can't conclusively link the healing directly to cutting them out. I just finished paying up my girl club dues, and my psoriasis always seems a bit better after that for some reason (something else to research) so it could just be that. Or it could be that even though I didn't think I was reacting to the seriously miniscule amount of nightshades in Chalula, maybe I was. Doubtful, but a girl can dream can't she? I'd much rather give up peppers than eggs.

I'm doing this for at least 30 days before I do any reintroduction. Then I'll know. Cross your fingers I only have to give up hot sauce!

Paleo is not for weight loss (at least not for me)

I commented to a couple people at work today that as of Saturday, I'm going to be very strict Paleo for another 30 days. I've been pretty good (though I've decided I don't like to tie values of good or bad to my food choices anymore thanks to those Hartwigs) since my last posting, but chocolate is still my serious boyfriend. I'd say I'm about to do a Whole30 but screw you if you think I'm giving up the teaspoon and a half of sugar in my tea in the morning. Seriously, that's my daily gift to myself and I love it so be quiet.

Anyway, their response was "You don't need to lose ANY more weight".

Ok, Huston, Hussy has a problem (or two).

#1-You're both men. Shush about what I need/need not do with my weight. I'm not normally one to get all "oh you men and your oppression of women with your man's world and blah blah blah" I take the Marilyn Monroe stance on that. "I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it." However, I don't think a couple - nice but - overweight men need to tell me about my weight. Just no. No no no no no no no.

#2- When have I ever said this was about weight loss? You can't tell me when, because it never happened.

This is about my health. Did I think weight loss would be a side effect? Check my first Paleo post. Uh yeah, I did. And no, I was not opposed to losing it. While I certainly wasn't obese or what most people even think of as having a little extra sumpthin' these days - I was the heaviest I'd been in my life. I know many women would be thrilled with my before being their after, and that's ok for them, but it was not a good place for my body. Which is why I started losing weight so fast. Eat how your body wants you to, in the amounts it needs, and don't feed it stuff that makes it defensive, you'll lose some junk from your trunk. But first and foremost, I was sick of being sick.

So. Chocolate and I are taking a break from each other after tomorrow. It's ok. Absence makes the heart grow fonder yes? Yes. Or something. Whatever. After my 99.9% clean paleo month, we're moving to full immune protocol (but again, you can stuff it about my tea).

Which means... no eggs! WTF?! No freakin eggs. I love eggs!!!! And exclamation points! Oh goodness, I'm worried. Thankfully, "Practical Paleo" is here to rescue me. 30 day autoimmune food plan? Why thanks very much Lady! I'll be making use of that.

Off. The. Rails.

Yep.

Totally off the rails for like the last 3ish weeks. Well not totally totally. Didn't feast on gluten bombs or anything extra stupid like that. But I did eat an entire box of mini York Peppermint Patties. Yes, you read that right. Box. A whole Costco sized box. I do believe the box read 175 delicious patty yum yums inside (though I could be paraphrasing. That really should be on the box though. You want to hire me now don't you York makers? Mmm hmm, I know. Sorry, I just can't, but I appreciate the love.)

Mind you, I didn't eat them all at once, I don't actually have a death wish. It's seriously taken 3 weeks to do it. Please do not try that at home. No one should ever do that. Your insides will hate you. Your tongue however will think you're awesome. Keep in mind though, the tongue is only a small part of the body. And the rest of you will think...well it just won't be too happy with you ok? No, I don't know why I did it. I know better.

That's not all I've done to myself.

You see, I moved. That's all fine and dandy, the move went as smooth as moves can go, but the eating that resulted from every day for the last 3 weeks having to do with moving? Um, not pretty. Had some Qdoba (still delish, but not as delish as I remembered a mere 5 months ago...) By some, I mean 3 days in a row. Only Qdoba obtained foods entered my tummy. Not cool. Would I like a Dr. Pepper with my 3 cheese chicken nachos too? ?Como se dice "Hell yeah I would!"? Because lets be honest here, water does not wash down the yum that is Qdoba queso like Dr. Pepper does. It just doesn't, that's actual and it's factual.

Oh, and you know, you sleep like crap when you're brain won't shut off at night thinking about all the things you need to take care of. So then at work, you make bad choices. Like you drink soda. Even if it doesn't have caffeine because you want any sort of energy you can get your hands on. I'm not going to lie here and try to play off like I gave up soda forever when I went Paleo. No. I still have it now and then. Except when I had at least a months worth of it in one week. Yeah, except for that disaster it's a now and then thing.

When you're moving, you don't have time to cook. At least not when the you here is me. Nope, sure don't. So you order a salad (delivered). Not a bad choice I know, of all the choices I could have made. But the lettuce? Not organic. Chicken? Hahahahahaha! You are funny. No, that's for sure not meat from a happy chicken who led a fulfilled little chicken life. Dressing chock full of inflammatory Omega 6 Canola oil? You betcha! As those beautiful Hartwig's say: less healthy. Less healthy than what I make for myself on a regular day. By far.

Supplements! Yeah, didn't take those for the last two weeks either. Sigh.

The last 3 weeks turned into an n=1 experiment. What will happen to The Hussy after eating pretty well and making really great progress over the last five to 6 months if she goes on a sugar laden stress eating canola oil chugging (ok, exageration there) 3 week crap food and stress binge?

Well, let me tell you. Psoriasis. Big surprise with that one I know, seeing as how I was still flaring on a pretty clean diet as it was. Crap sleep. It wasn't ALL due to my overactive brain. No, you eat like crap, you sleep like crap, that's how these things go. Anemia? Yeah. I don't have any blood tests to show it, but my nail beds were a lovely bluish white tinge and my fatigue was not just a reflection of poor sleep I know. As I've said before, there is a particular tiredness that only comes from a lack of red blood cell oxygen action.

I'm also more hair triggerie than usual (it's a word. Look it up. No, don't. We both know that will be a waste of time. But you still know what it means so it's a word! Logic -1, real words - 0). I'm anxious and extra cranky! That's just wonderful for everyone around me. I'm sure they've been so happy to share their days with me.

Oh and how bout this for the topper? My hair is falling out. Awesome huh? Love it. No really though, it is. Not in clumps. Just more. More when I comb my hair in the mornings. More when I take a shower. More when I brush. Just more you know? Heavy sigh. But after catching a glimpse of the flare I'm having on my scalp from this stupidity, I can't really say I'm surprised.

On a related note, kinda, minor acne. This is only notable because I do not break out. Can you imagine? An esthetician with breakouts? Ugh. And when I say minor, I seriously have 2 little itty bitty zits. On my chin. Hormones. Chin is hormone related, so my hormones are sad. Big surprise. Eat like crap, get sad hormones.

But!

I'm mostly settled in. By mostly I mean hardly at all but I can walk around without bumping into things and cook without having to remove boxes from the stove so we'll call that good for now. This means I'm back to cooking for my lunches. Getting back into my normal routine. Today was my first normal day since the move. Except I forgot my lunchtime supplements. Oh well. I had my morning dosages, and I'll remember them tomorrow.

And I'm super excited because I ordered "Practical Paleo" and it should be in tomorrow! The reviews of it are all around great, and she's apparently got a good autoimmune protocol and meal ideas to go with it (main reason for the purchase really), so Ima check that out!

Sorry for all the terrible grammar and non words, but I'm still "off". Thanks for not hating me :)

Whole 9 Review

Ok, it's a slow day at work. Friday before a long weekend always has me hearing crickets at my desk. So I figured it's a good time to tell you how super cool my Sunday with Dallas and Melissa Hartwig was.

So to start off with, a little background on how I found out about this seminar. As I've said before, I can be a little obsessive when I've found something great. Paleo is great! I've been reading like crazy for the last few months. Every now and then I'd see something about "I finished my Whole 30" or "Melissa/Dallas at Whole 9 said..." But for some reason I'd not looked into their site until one day I was at nom nom paleo and she'd posted about going to a Whole 9 nutrition seminar. Nutrition seminar thought I? For me that's almost like a day at Disneyland, so I took myself right on over to their site.

The third post down on their front page read "Colorado for a Cause". Since I live here, well, I just had to click on that. They presented the story of a lovely woman who's beloved mother had passed due to cancer. It was very moving, and at the end, they wrote that they were extending an invitation to anyone that was coming to their Denver seminar to bring a loved one at no charge. After I stopped crying all over myself at my desk, I called my step-mother to see if she'd be interested in attending. I have been trying to get her (and therefore my dad) on board, and they've been making some changes, but I thought maybe if she could come and hear a couple well respected, knowledgeable (and pretty) people talk about it, it would help keep them going on the good path. There have been several studies that suggest we think pretty people are smarter, so it's probably helpful that they travel the country with their attractive selves giving the scoop on all things Paleo nutritious to help convert the masses. I wish my mom lived here, I would have taken her too.

So number one, that's the kind of people these two are. Which is to say more plainly: they care. They want to help people.

Let me tell you something. They know their stuff! And they know how to explain it in simple terms that nearly everyone can understand. Basic, straightforward, honest. You don't have to have a degree in anything science related to understand what they're telling you. You don't already need to be on the Paleo bandwagon to get it either. They explain from the bottom up. "Sugar does this. Insulin does that. Blood sugar works this way. Put it all together and you can see why maybe consuming massive amounts of sugar (including "complex carbs") is maybe not so great." They also had come up with a really helpful visual that showed the vicious cycle of insulin resistance leading to health problems leading to more insulin resistance and on and on.

They talked about everything from insulin to cortisol. Who needs to fuel back up after a workout, who doesn't, and why you would/wouldn't (something that's been a bit confusing for me, but now I get it!). Why understanding the basic underlying mechanisms of the way your body processes food can help you to lose weight or gain muscle. Why eating grains does not lead to better health and why eating meat and veggies and fat does.

They took turns on different subjects, which was nice, because they each have their own presentation style. They're both also really well spoken. That's probably good since they have to talk for 7+ hours at these things. And they're funny!

And they didn't just talk AT us all day. Lots of "experts" are only experts because they like to hear their own voices. No, not these two. They talked TO us. You gots a question?! Ask away!

That brings me to my statement that they're honest. I know they're honest because I've been doing the reading myself. But if you haven't done so, a good rule of thumb is when someone is willing to say "I don't know", I'm pretty sure they can be trusted. No one knows EVERYTHING about anything. Especially when it comes to nature and the human body. It's just not possible. There were a couple questions (good questions) that came up and both Melissa and Dallas were given the opportunity to say they didn't know. They also said, "I will try to find out. Email me and I will get back to you on it." And I'm sure that they will. I did not have one of those good questions, so they won't be emailing me anything...

All in all, it was totally worth it. They're great people who are out there trying to help as many people as they can achieve optimum health. If they come to your neck of the woods, I'd highly recommend you try to make it. You'll be glad you did!

Oh, and I preordered their book...super excited for it!

I'M SO EXCITED, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!

Why am I so excited I used all caps and an exclamation point? Let me tell you!

This Sunday I'm going to a Whole 9 seminar! Don't know Whole 9? You should. They're nifty. And come on, not hard people to look at (and you know how I feel about attractive people). That's a good thing, since I'll be looking at them from 9 am til 5 pm.

I've been kinda bummed that it is likely I'll never get a Robb Wolf nutrition seminar since he's trying to change the world in other ways at the moment (yay for the world, boo for little ol' me). I discovered this Paleo thing a bit too late in the game for that. Sigh. So when I found these folks and shortly thereafter found out they'd be coming to town, I was stoked.

Yes, I am from Southern California...why do you ask?

Anyway, I'll be waking up bright and early on Sunday to drive super north to soak up massive nutrition and lifestyle knowledge delivered by pretty people with dry erase markers. Don't worry though, I'll still be sleeping later than a normal work day, so I won't be sad.