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~Tanisha
Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
A Little Low-Carb Experiment
formerly Livin' a Little Low-Carb
Over the past few days I've decided to go low-carb. I picked up 'Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution' which I had never read all the way through and decided to actually read what it had to say. I got a large way through the first part of the book before I got a little impatient and flipped through to the 'Induction Phase' chapter. I understood a lot of what Dr. Atkins was trying to get across and decided that low-carb would be interesting to try again for a little while. I had done Atkins' once before and had lost 12 lbs. in 2 weeks, so I thought I would see how well I could do this time.
I started 3 days ago, Sunday night with a dinner of organic sausage and eggs. That dinner seemed to really kick-start it because the next day I did started out a bit lighter and started the day out feeling good. On Monday I started the day with organic uncured bacon and eggs, and did pretty well eating high protein throughout the day. I had a few pitfalls as I snacked on natural chips and organic yogurt, and had a few glasses of Organic Pastures raw milk throughout the day, and I even had a small bowl of sprouted granola. Even with that my body successfully went into ketosis, burning fat for fuel, and I started Tuesday morning about 5 pounds lighter than I was Monday night.
I kind of fell off the band wagon on Tuesday as I accidentally ate a banana, which my brain kept telling me was off limits, but I had not yet read that far into Atkins' so I caved. Later I had a slice of sprouted cinnamon raisin bread, and by late afternoon I had a large bowl of organic oats and honey granola with Organic Pastures raw almonds. I felt the change in my body fairly quickly and could tell that my body was pretty much out of ketosis. At this point I went to the Atkins' book and read more thoroughly what was and wasn't allowed. I wasn't supposed to have fruit, bread, nuts, grains, or dairy products other than cheese, cream, or butter. I had consciously made an exception to the rules for the raw milk, but not so for the other foods. I had remembered upon previously glancing through the Atkins' book that I was supposed to limit to 20 grams of carbs, which I did well the day before, despite eating from the don't list, but not so much for Tuesday.
I started today at the same weight that I was Tuesday morning, thankfully, but not with further weightloss as I had idealistically hoped. I was a bit discouraged. We're a bit low on some of the tastier proteins that I enjoyed the days before, and I was bit more dependent on eggs and natural hot dogs than I'd prefer. I ended up starting the day with local, organic strawberries that were getting soft, that we didn't want to go bad. I then had scrambled eggs with with organic chicken sausage, bell peppers, green onions, tomatoes, and cheese. I had organic, grass-fed hot dogs with real relish and sauerkraut for lunch, snacked on yogurt with organic dark chocolate, and had chicken sausage and eggs for dinner. I'm feeling pretty good today, not as great as I did on Monday but, certainly better than I felt on Tuesday. I'm up late (yes, I know, sleep is important for health and weightloss!) but, here's hoping for some positive results Thursday morning.
Good Night/Morning!
Over the past few days I've decided to go low-carb. I picked up 'Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution' which I had never read all the way through and decided to actually read what it had to say. I got a large way through the first part of the book before I got a little impatient and flipped through to the 'Induction Phase' chapter. I understood a lot of what Dr. Atkins was trying to get across and decided that low-carb would be interesting to try again for a little while. I had done Atkins' once before and had lost 12 lbs. in 2 weeks, so I thought I would see how well I could do this time.
I started 3 days ago, Sunday night with a dinner of organic sausage and eggs. That dinner seemed to really kick-start it because the next day I did started out a bit lighter and started the day out feeling good. On Monday I started the day with organic uncured bacon and eggs, and did pretty well eating high protein throughout the day. I had a few pitfalls as I snacked on natural chips and organic yogurt, and had a few glasses of Organic Pastures raw milk throughout the day, and I even had a small bowl of sprouted granola. Even with that my body successfully went into ketosis, burning fat for fuel, and I started Tuesday morning about 5 pounds lighter than I was Monday night.
I kind of fell off the band wagon on Tuesday as I accidentally ate a banana, which my brain kept telling me was off limits, but I had not yet read that far into Atkins' so I caved. Later I had a slice of sprouted cinnamon raisin bread, and by late afternoon I had a large bowl of organic oats and honey granola with Organic Pastures raw almonds. I felt the change in my body fairly quickly and could tell that my body was pretty much out of ketosis. At this point I went to the Atkins' book and read more thoroughly what was and wasn't allowed. I wasn't supposed to have fruit, bread, nuts, grains, or dairy products other than cheese, cream, or butter. I had consciously made an exception to the rules for the raw milk, but not so for the other foods. I had remembered upon previously glancing through the Atkins' book that I was supposed to limit to 20 grams of carbs, which I did well the day before, despite eating from the don't list, but not so much for Tuesday.
I started today at the same weight that I was Tuesday morning, thankfully, but not with further weightloss as I had idealistically hoped. I was a bit discouraged. We're a bit low on some of the tastier proteins that I enjoyed the days before, and I was bit more dependent on eggs and natural hot dogs than I'd prefer. I ended up starting the day with local, organic strawberries that were getting soft, that we didn't want to go bad. I then had scrambled eggs with with organic chicken sausage, bell peppers, green onions, tomatoes, and cheese. I had organic, grass-fed hot dogs with real relish and sauerkraut for lunch, snacked on yogurt with organic dark chocolate, and had chicken sausage and eggs for dinner. I'm feeling pretty good today, not as great as I did on Monday but, certainly better than I felt on Tuesday. I'm up late (yes, I know, sleep is important for health and weightloss!) but, here's hoping for some positive results Thursday morning.
Good Night/Morning!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Path I've Chosen
The dietary path that I have chosen is to follow the dietary pattern of the Weston A. Price foundation by eating real, high-quality, traditional foods and by learning and connecting with my ancestral dietary heritage. Dr. Weston A. Price was a dentist that traveled around the world studying the diets of indigenous, non-industrialized peoples. What he found throughout the world is that people that subsisted on a traditional diet had low to no chronic diseases and nearly perfect teeth with well-formed dental arches. He found that each culture had a source of animal food in their diet, and even those that ate more plants would seek out insects or animal products such as milk, eggs, etc. Dr. Price tended to find the most incidence of dental caries (cavities) among those cultures that were most dependent on plants and the least amount of dental caries among those who were more dependent on meat such as the Masai of sub-Saharan Africa that subsist on meat, milk, and blood (which they have a technique for extracting without needing to kill or even seriously injure the animal).
My ancestors are most likely to be from West Africa as I am African-American and that is where the strong majority of the slave trade took place. As my ancestors in America on both sides of my family appear to have been share-croppers, my ancestry is highly likely to be connected the trans-Atlantic slave trade. My family on both sides also has a tradition of cooking and eating soul-food when we get together for family gatherings and holidays. Many of the foods considered soul food today can be connected with West-African cooking and dietary habits with some influences from Native American and European-American cultures. Some West-African foods that still survive today as a part of soul food include: greens (collard, mustard), gumbo (a seafood stew whose name is derived from the African word 'gombo' meaning okra), yams, okra, black-eyed peas, and the use of meat as seasoning in vegetable dishes and slow-cooked stews. West-Africa is also a coastal region with high access to seafood such as fish and shell fish that can also be found in soul food today.
I am currently learning all about our food system, researching soul food and West African foods, and learning about the benefits of traditional eating. I am learning about the importance of eating organically, avoiding the toxins, poisons, and unnecessary cruelty that are prevalent in our food system. I am learning about greedy, monopolistic companies like Monsanto that want to corrupt and control the world's seeds, as well as the supposed "philanthropic" entities that fund this unethical onslaught. I am learning the power of voting with my fork in order to support the best practices in our food system, of knowing my farmer, eating sustainably, going local when I can, buying fair-trade products that do not exploit the people that grow, harvest, and manufacture them.
The life that I want is a vibrant, healthy, energetic one, and eating the right things will power me to live that life. I live in the Central Valley of California that has been referred to as 'the bread-basket of the world' with all that it produces. It would make sense for me to investigate that, and partake of the local bounty of goods that is available to me in this area. California is like a self-sustaining system when it comes to what is produced here, and it would be good for me to learn more about what is produced here and how it plays a part in my journey in taking care of me.
My ancestors are most likely to be from West Africa as I am African-American and that is where the strong majority of the slave trade took place. As my ancestors in America on both sides of my family appear to have been share-croppers, my ancestry is highly likely to be connected the trans-Atlantic slave trade. My family on both sides also has a tradition of cooking and eating soul-food when we get together for family gatherings and holidays. Many of the foods considered soul food today can be connected with West-African cooking and dietary habits with some influences from Native American and European-American cultures. Some West-African foods that still survive today as a part of soul food include: greens (collard, mustard), gumbo (a seafood stew whose name is derived from the African word 'gombo' meaning okra), yams, okra, black-eyed peas, and the use of meat as seasoning in vegetable dishes and slow-cooked stews. West-Africa is also a coastal region with high access to seafood such as fish and shell fish that can also be found in soul food today.
I am currently learning all about our food system, researching soul food and West African foods, and learning about the benefits of traditional eating. I am learning about the importance of eating organically, avoiding the toxins, poisons, and unnecessary cruelty that are prevalent in our food system. I am learning about greedy, monopolistic companies like Monsanto that want to corrupt and control the world's seeds, as well as the supposed "philanthropic" entities that fund this unethical onslaught. I am learning the power of voting with my fork in order to support the best practices in our food system, of knowing my farmer, eating sustainably, going local when I can, buying fair-trade products that do not exploit the people that grow, harvest, and manufacture them.
The life that I want is a vibrant, healthy, energetic one, and eating the right things will power me to live that life. I live in the Central Valley of California that has been referred to as 'the bread-basket of the world' with all that it produces. It would make sense for me to investigate that, and partake of the local bounty of goods that is available to me in this area. California is like a self-sustaining system when it comes to what is produced here, and it would be good for me to learn more about what is produced here and how it plays a part in my journey in taking care of me.
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