I'll admit, I didn't think it was the year of the cat at the Brash household. I spent so much time nursing one cat to her eventual death that I didn't realize how bad the other cat was doing until the sickest one went off to the sweet hereafter in April.
It was then that we realized how old and thin and sick our last kitty was. He was losing the use of all four legs, just like our other cat. He didn't run around anymore, and his coat was getting pretty shabby. I thought he probably had some kidney disease as well.
Around this time, we started eating the epi-paleo diet in earnest. That means lots of seafood. Our vet had told us to put the other cat on a lower protein diet because of the kidney problems, but then I got to thinking about what that diet would be for a cat, specifically. Neither liked the low protein food our vet carried, so I started giving both of them bits of cream and butter, especially the frail cat who had trouble keeping any other kind of food down.
Now with all the seafood around here, there is lots of salmon skin, shrimp cooking water, sardine cans and other seafoody goodness. I have quit cooking meats in any kind of spices and seasonings so he'll eat the leftovers. He is especially fond of lamb fat and salmon skin cooked in coconut oil. He also has a seaweed fetish and goes nuts over chlorella so much that I have to keep it on a high shelf. I give him as much as he wants.
He always has a cat-smile on his face after a meal of salmon. Since we have salmon 4-5 meals a week, this means he is quite happy most of the time. I noticed an immediate improvement in his fur and energy level. He's still not all that good at grooming anymore, and so has trouble with his claws, but he has started to run around again, and howl at the imaginary beings in all the corners of the house.
Honestly, I didn't think he would be alive by Thanksgiving and he seems to just be getting better and better.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Gaines Burgers
..Continuing with my series on food-like products. Remember Gaines burgers?
I just loved the Gaines burgers commercial when I was a kid. The burger-shaped product, and like most food-like products, suitable only for dogs, came in an individually-wrapped package, just like today's cheese-products in our kids lunchbox.
Even though I was young, I thought it would be really fun to open one up and crumble it up, just like playing with jello or tapioca pudding. It was always opened up by a housewife with an immaculate manicure that surely she kept that way by not opening up all those stinkin' cans of regular dog food.
When the crumbled burger went into the bowl, the dog, starved for days, wolfed it down.
I wanted to buy these, crumble them, and feed the dog. Unfortunately, we didn't have a dog. Maybe we could get one. The neighbors had dogs, but nobody had enough money for these burgers. They were in another class, along with those packets of laundry detergent you just toss in, central air conditioning, and sugar-sweetened cereal all-you-can-eat every every morning.
What I never got is how they stayed so fresh in the cupboard and why they went to the trouble of creating a burger and then always served it crumbled. When I got older, I realized that unlike Denise Minger, these burgers were not made of meat. I also found out that dogs would eat anything. I also found out that there is no end to the creativity of the food technologists, giving us novel, dopamine-increasing fun stuff like pop rocks, chicken nuggets, Happy Meals and Cracker Jacks prizes. Unfortunately, I also learned that when you start by making mud pies and then graduate to modeling clay, baking bread and making your own pasta isn't far behind.
I just loved the Gaines burgers commercial when I was a kid. The burger-shaped product, and like most food-like products, suitable only for dogs, came in an individually-wrapped package, just like today's cheese-products in our kids lunchbox.
Even though I was young, I thought it would be really fun to open one up and crumble it up, just like playing with jello or tapioca pudding. It was always opened up by a housewife with an immaculate manicure that surely she kept that way by not opening up all those stinkin' cans of regular dog food.
When the crumbled burger went into the bowl, the dog, starved for days, wolfed it down.
I wanted to buy these, crumble them, and feed the dog. Unfortunately, we didn't have a dog. Maybe we could get one. The neighbors had dogs, but nobody had enough money for these burgers. They were in another class, along with those packets of laundry detergent you just toss in, central air conditioning, and sugar-sweetened cereal all-you-can-eat every every morning.
What I never got is how they stayed so fresh in the cupboard and why they went to the trouble of creating a burger and then always served it crumbled. When I got older, I realized that unlike Denise Minger, these burgers were not made of meat. I also found out that dogs would eat anything. I also found out that there is no end to the creativity of the food technologists, giving us novel, dopamine-increasing fun stuff like pop rocks, chicken nuggets, Happy Meals and Cracker Jacks prizes. Unfortunately, I also learned that when you start by making mud pies and then graduate to modeling clay, baking bread and making your own pasta isn't far behind.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Improving on Edible Food-like substances
On a whim, I picked up a package of turkey bacon at a really great price. Upon further inspection, I realized that the turkey meat was re-formed. I checked the label and it was the regular pork label. (Gee, hope there isn't any gluten!!!!)
I put a few slices into a frying pan, and a couple of minutes I realized that THIS JUST WON'T WORK and that the bacon was burning instead of frying. I always thought people bought this stuff because they were keeping kosher, but now realize that most folks probably buy it because they think it has a "healthier" level of fats. For this formed product, I think that meant no fat.
So, hey, I know how to rescue this sorry meal. I went into the fridge, grabbed a tub of pork fat carefully saved from the last batch of ribs. The bacon was OK, and at least it quit sticking to the pan.
This morning, I didn't horse around, and added the necessary pork fat right at the beginning. This step made a perfect non-curling strip of bacon-like breakfast-like product.
I ate it anyway.
I put a few slices into a frying pan, and a couple of minutes I realized that THIS JUST WON'T WORK and that the bacon was burning instead of frying. I always thought people bought this stuff because they were keeping kosher, but now realize that most folks probably buy it because they think it has a "healthier" level of fats. For this formed product, I think that meant no fat.
So, hey, I know how to rescue this sorry meal. I went into the fridge, grabbed a tub of pork fat carefully saved from the last batch of ribs. The bacon was OK, and at least it quit sticking to the pan.
This morning, I didn't horse around, and added the necessary pork fat right at the beginning. This step made a perfect non-curling strip of bacon-like breakfast-like product.
I ate it anyway.
Monday, December 10, 2012
More Winter recipes - Hatch Bombs
This time of the year brings a bit less "garden variety" than in the summer months, but I still have plenty of peppers, both hot and medium. I don't fertilize in the later months because you never know when a deep frost will take anything out. So, the peppers are smallish, but a few hot days will create a still really hot pepper even in December. I have plenty of New Mexico, or Hatch, peppers, in varying stages of ripeness, so there is a seasonally-appropriate mix of red and green.
Hatch Bombs
Take several Hatch peppers (or Jalapeno if you can't get the good stuff)
cream cheese
green olives
bird peppers for garnish
Cut the hatch peppers lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
Fill the peppers with cream cheese
Top with a slice of green olive (this is the only "doughnut" you will find in my home!)
If you are brave, replace the red pimento thingy from the olive with a ripe bird pepper.
Down the hatch!
I can eat dozens of these around the holiday time.
Hatch Bombs
Take several Hatch peppers (or Jalapeno if you can't get the good stuff)
cream cheese
green olives
bird peppers for garnish
Cut the hatch peppers lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
Fill the peppers with cream cheese
Top with a slice of green olive (this is the only "doughnut" you will find in my home!)
If you are brave, replace the red pimento thingy from the olive with a ripe bird pepper.
Down the hatch!
I can eat dozens of these around the holiday time.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Try my new Fave Winter Recipes!
This first dish was just something I whipped up after discovering that the sale package of chicken gizzards I snagged contained a few chicken livers. I fished the livers out of the pile and set them aside, but I didn't have enough to make it worthwhile to package them away for another day. I added them to the dish-in-progress instead.
I don't have much coming out of the garden right now, but I am trying to harvest all of the sunchokes before the gophers get them and before we get another warm spell that causes them to sprout. They were confused about winter several weeks ago, and I have noticed that some of the recently-harvested roots are sporting sprouts on top and have become a bit pithy.
I seem to have lots more of these puppies, as the gophers and other ground animals take a few and spread them all over the garden. Oh well, maybe that was me, with my non-standard composting routine. (EPIC FAIL! on turning the windrow 5 times or reaching the appropriate temperature in my in-vessel or static aerated pile system~)
I harvest my sunchokes well after the stems start to dry out, wash and drain them carefully, and pack them loosely in large plastic containers in the fridge. The bulk cookie containers from Costco work great (after you have thrown away the cookies - you weren't going to eat them, were you?)
Just a few weeks ago I was cleaning out the fridge for Thanksgiving, and discovered a large container of sunchokes way in the back, from last season. They were still in very good shape, though they were sprouting. I "planted" them in the ground in an out-of-the way place until I get the time to amend the soil at their final destination.
Sunchokes and Liver Soup
(This is for two servings, and works great if you have purchased a whole chicken and have only one liver.)
1/2 cup chopped Jerusalem artichokes
1 T lard or bacon fat
1 chicken liver
1/4 cup chicken broth
4 T heavy cream
4 T parsley
1/4 t dried thyme
1/4 t dried hot red pepper
salt and black pepper to taste
Fry the sunchokes in the fat until they are tender. Add chopped liver and cook for a minute. Add broth, thyme, salt and hot pepper. Simmer for a short time until the liver is cooked. Pour mixture into soup bowls, add the heavy cream and top with chopped parsley.
OK, it is a bit grey, and it sounds pretty awful on paper, right? Try it anyway. I could eat this every day in the winter. Really. I couldn't even tell it was liver. I like liver anyway anyway and feel no need to hide it, but honestly, if I hadn't made it myself, I might never have guessed.
One serving contains 233 calories, 7 grams carb, 20 grams fat and 6 grams protein. One of the carb grams is fiber, but I usually count sunchoke carbs as half, since they are mostly inulin. YMMV on how you react to sunchokes. The C/F/P ratio is 12.4/76.6/11. Each serving contains a whopping 11 grams of arterycloggingsaturatedfat, which is why it tastes so good and I didn't eat much else for supper.
Coming up: part 2: Hatch bombs
I don't have much coming out of the garden right now, but I am trying to harvest all of the sunchokes before the gophers get them and before we get another warm spell that causes them to sprout. They were confused about winter several weeks ago, and I have noticed that some of the recently-harvested roots are sporting sprouts on top and have become a bit pithy.
I seem to have lots more of these puppies, as the gophers and other ground animals take a few and spread them all over the garden. Oh well, maybe that was me, with my non-standard composting routine. (EPIC FAIL! on turning the windrow 5 times or reaching the appropriate temperature in my in-vessel or static aerated pile system~)
I harvest my sunchokes well after the stems start to dry out, wash and drain them carefully, and pack them loosely in large plastic containers in the fridge. The bulk cookie containers from Costco work great (after you have thrown away the cookies - you weren't going to eat them, were you?)
Just a few weeks ago I was cleaning out the fridge for Thanksgiving, and discovered a large container of sunchokes way in the back, from last season. They were still in very good shape, though they were sprouting. I "planted" them in the ground in an out-of-the way place until I get the time to amend the soil at their final destination.
Sunchokes and Liver Soup
(This is for two servings, and works great if you have purchased a whole chicken and have only one liver.)
1/2 cup chopped Jerusalem artichokes
1 T lard or bacon fat
1 chicken liver
1/4 cup chicken broth
4 T heavy cream
4 T parsley
1/4 t dried thyme
1/4 t dried hot red pepper
salt and black pepper to taste
Fry the sunchokes in the fat until they are tender. Add chopped liver and cook for a minute. Add broth, thyme, salt and hot pepper. Simmer for a short time until the liver is cooked. Pour mixture into soup bowls, add the heavy cream and top with chopped parsley.
OK, it is a bit grey, and it sounds pretty awful on paper, right? Try it anyway. I could eat this every day in the winter. Really. I couldn't even tell it was liver. I like liver anyway anyway and feel no need to hide it, but honestly, if I hadn't made it myself, I might never have guessed.
One serving contains 233 calories, 7 grams carb, 20 grams fat and 6 grams protein. One of the carb grams is fiber, but I usually count sunchoke carbs as half, since they are mostly inulin. YMMV on how you react to sunchokes. The C/F/P ratio is 12.4/76.6/11. Each serving contains a whopping 11 grams of arterycloggingsaturatedfat, which is why it tastes so good and I didn't eat much else for supper.
Coming up: part 2: Hatch bombs
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Wheat Permutations
I have had the opportunity this week to sample what regular people are eating out these days. This is the time of the year for Christmas parties, recognition luncheons, anniversaries, birthdays and other celebrations. Eating out is the common way.
Our food is starting more and more to resemble variations on Hyperlipid's crap-in-a-bag, but with a variety of extruded shapes, sizes, colorings and flavorings to keep the food reward high and to trick us into thinking we are eating some sort of variety.
Here are some the wheat offerings on the menu recently:
Boiled longish extrusions of ground wheat and water coated with a tomato-based puree.
Boiled spiral extrusions of ground wheat and water coated with a yellowed fat-based emulsion, chopped vegetables and chutney.
Boiled tubular extrusions of ground wheat and water coated with a garlic-based puree.
Boiled tubular, curved extrusions of ground wheat and water coated with an orange casein-based puree.
Boiled longish flat extrusions of ground wheat and water coated with a casein and cream-based puree.
Boiled short, flat extrusions of ground wheat and water served floating in a liquid described as having been made from chicken, but seems to contain no real chicken.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy and chewy, served with a selection of real and/or fake "butters".
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy and chewy, flattened and covered with an extruded casein product and tomato puree.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy and chewy, flattened and covered with a grated casein product.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy and chewy, then diced and served with celery, sage and more chickenless chicken liquid.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy, crunchy and chewy, then diced and served with lettuce, a grated casein product and anchovies.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy, crunchy and chewy, then diced and served with spinach, red onions and apple.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy, crunchy and chewy, then diced and served with baby greens, pecans and pear.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy and chewy, then mixed with high fructose corn syrup and artificial blueberry pieces.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly crunchy and chewy, then mixed with high fructose corn syrup and bits of chocolate.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it crunchy, then mixed with high fructose corn syrup and shaped into a Christmas tree, sprinkled with red sugar and white icing.
Ground wheat and water, mixed with oatmeal and processed in a way that makes it slightly crunchy and chewy, then spread over a mixture of fruit and fruit-like bits and high fructose corn syrup.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly crunchy and chewy, then served under an extrusion of frozen fermented casein emulsion mixed with high fructose corn syrup and flavorings.
Nom nom nom. (Just kidding. And I really hate that word nom and the people who invented it.)
Next up: Gaines burgers.
Our food is starting more and more to resemble variations on Hyperlipid's crap-in-a-bag, but with a variety of extruded shapes, sizes, colorings and flavorings to keep the food reward high and to trick us into thinking we are eating some sort of variety.
Here are some the wheat offerings on the menu recently:
Boiled longish extrusions of ground wheat and water coated with a tomato-based puree.
Boiled spiral extrusions of ground wheat and water coated with a yellowed fat-based emulsion, chopped vegetables and chutney.
Boiled tubular extrusions of ground wheat and water coated with a garlic-based puree.
Boiled tubular, curved extrusions of ground wheat and water coated with an orange casein-based puree.
Boiled longish flat extrusions of ground wheat and water coated with a casein and cream-based puree.
Boiled short, flat extrusions of ground wheat and water served floating in a liquid described as having been made from chicken, but seems to contain no real chicken.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy and chewy, served with a selection of real and/or fake "butters".
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy and chewy, flattened and covered with an extruded casein product and tomato puree.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy and chewy, flattened and covered with a grated casein product.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy and chewy, then diced and served with celery, sage and more chickenless chicken liquid.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy, crunchy and chewy, then diced and served with lettuce, a grated casein product and anchovies.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy, crunchy and chewy, then diced and served with spinach, red onions and apple.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy, crunchy and chewy, then diced and served with baby greens, pecans and pear.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly puffy and chewy, then mixed with high fructose corn syrup and artificial blueberry pieces.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly crunchy and chewy, then mixed with high fructose corn syrup and bits of chocolate.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it crunchy, then mixed with high fructose corn syrup and shaped into a Christmas tree, sprinkled with red sugar and white icing.
Ground wheat and water, mixed with oatmeal and processed in a way that makes it slightly crunchy and chewy, then spread over a mixture of fruit and fruit-like bits and high fructose corn syrup.
Ground wheat and water, processed in a way that makes it slightly crunchy and chewy, then served under an extrusion of frozen fermented casein emulsion mixed with high fructose corn syrup and flavorings.
Nom nom nom. (Just kidding. And I really hate that word nom and the people who invented it.)
Next up: Gaines burgers.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
I'm such a loser
The first time this happened, I thought it was an outlier, and like every good researcher, I threw it out.
(Nawwwww! Just kidding. Regular readers know I don't throwup out any data points because they don't agree with preconceived notions.)
I was on the phone with sis the other day, talking about Thanksgiving.
"I lost a pound over the weekend, " I crowed.
"I gained your pound and then some. Guess I'll have to exercise more this week," she lamented. "It was all the stuffing....."
And, this is from the skinny one, the one they tried to bulk up all those years. The one exercising alot and eating a low fat diet because her doc wants her to lower her cholesterol. At around 220 total, she is teetering on the edge of severe heart disease or stroke. Or so he sez.
This happened at the last holiday we shared. I lost a couple of pounds. She gained four.
Oh, I ate the stuffing alright. And a sliver of pie. And some potatoes. Then I got busy with the dishes and pouring more wine and forgot to have seconds.
"I'm stuffed!" the guests declared as they pushed themselves from the table. And I thought to myself,
"Hey, I am not stuffed."
And the next day we went back to a regular fatty breakfast, turkey salad over a bed of greens for lunch, seafood for dinner.
Now here is what else I learned. Corn chips give me zits and make me achy, especially my big toes. And it isn't about the salt, because the next day I can eat a dozen green olives and have no problem with my joints. Pumpkin pie made from my own real home-grown pumpkins is better than when it is made with pumpkin pie filling from a can. And if you bury a turkey carcass in the garden, the gophers stay away.
(Nawwwww! Just kidding. Regular readers know I don't throw
I was on the phone with sis the other day, talking about Thanksgiving.
"I lost a pound over the weekend, " I crowed.
"I gained your pound and then some. Guess I'll have to exercise more this week," she lamented. "It was all the stuffing....."
And, this is from the skinny one, the one they tried to bulk up all those years. The one exercising alot and eating a low fat diet because her doc wants her to lower her cholesterol. At around 220 total, she is teetering on the edge of severe heart disease or stroke. Or so he sez.
This happened at the last holiday we shared. I lost a couple of pounds. She gained four.
Oh, I ate the stuffing alright. And a sliver of pie. And some potatoes. Then I got busy with the dishes and pouring more wine and forgot to have seconds.
"I'm stuffed!" the guests declared as they pushed themselves from the table. And I thought to myself,
"Hey, I am not stuffed."
And the next day we went back to a regular fatty breakfast, turkey salad over a bed of greens for lunch, seafood for dinner.
Now here is what else I learned. Corn chips give me zits and make me achy, especially my big toes. And it isn't about the salt, because the next day I can eat a dozen green olives and have no problem with my joints. Pumpkin pie made from my own real home-grown pumpkins is better than when it is made with pumpkin pie filling from a can. And if you bury a turkey carcass in the garden, the gophers stay away.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Daily Mail
Schizophrenic fer sure. (At least the popular definition.)
Yesterday's mail included a welcome dearth of political ads, and an extremely early edition of my favorite porn mag, the High Mowing Seeds 2013 catalog. Ahhhh, food heaven!
I also got a fat letter from the Department of Agriculture. Thinking......hmm, I didn't apply for a job there, did I? Fat envelope would then be OK, right? Did I get back on the organic junque mail list? Perhaps they discovered my stance on prop 37 GMO labeling and they invited me to be on a steering committee to evaluate the initiative in preparation for implementation after it wins next year?
Turns out that a citrus pest has been discovered in my neighborhood and shortly, white-suited and masked exterminators will be "visiting" my backyard to spray quick-kill neurotoxins and endocrine-disruptors on my fruit trees, and then follow up with a known contributor to colony collapse disorder that will effectively poison the surrounding soil and bio-food-web for about 3 years.
Yes, there is going to be a meeting, but not for approval, of course, since they already seem to have obtained the authority to enter my backyard without my permission. And, it sucks that I have spent lots of time and energy de-disrupting all my endocrines, especially getting rid of all those pesky estrogen-mimicing compounds that they are now going to spray back into my life, and with repeat applications if necessary. (And, it WILL be necessary, since the horse already got out of the barn.....)
More food fascism, though I am conflicted. I would like to save and/or rescue local agriculture, even though the authorities won't let me do much local agriculture in my backyard, and now, NO organic agriculture, at least in the vicinity of the fruit trees, and anything downwind or downstream from them.
But Jeez Louise, what about the bees? I don't see how mass-spraying of entire towns will help local agriculture, if the spraying greatly contributes to the collapse of the bee community that the agriculture depends on. Then again, what if this nasty neurotoxin stuff works against the bagrada bug????
And, it sucks that I am prevented from taking a propagative cutting of basket rush from a local pond per EPA regulations, and yet the department of Agriculture can run around and spray stuff that is extremely toxic to aquatic life all around said pond?
A few years ago, when I read my big permaculture book, I got a bit overwhelmed, until the author said to just start small, so I picked just one square yard to focus my initial permaculture effort, and, unfortunately, that one square yard is right under the lemon tree, and that culture is about to be destroyed.
In a fit of hope, I Googled "pyrethroid bagrada" and came up with absolutely no matches. I don't know what the word for it is, that thing that they call it when you search two keywords on Google and come up with no matches. It is rare, and I would Google the term if I knew the name. Anyway, where was I? Oh yea, looks like I am sol on the bagrada situation.
One bright spot is that High Mowing has several new varieties of parthenocarpic squash. That's the fancy name for squash plants that produce decent squash without the need for pollination, which I won't be getting as much since the department of agriculture is killing the bees.
P. S. Turns out I am a Googlewhacker. And for your weekend entertainment, check out this charming paper.
Yesterday's mail included a welcome dearth of political ads, and an extremely early edition of my favorite porn mag, the High Mowing Seeds 2013 catalog. Ahhhh, food heaven!
I also got a fat letter from the Department of Agriculture. Thinking......hmm, I didn't apply for a job there, did I? Fat envelope would then be OK, right? Did I get back on the organic junque mail list? Perhaps they discovered my stance on prop 37 GMO labeling and they invited me to be on a steering committee to evaluate the initiative in preparation for implementation after it wins next year?
Turns out that a citrus pest has been discovered in my neighborhood and shortly, white-suited and masked exterminators will be "visiting" my backyard to spray quick-kill neurotoxins and endocrine-disruptors on my fruit trees, and then follow up with a known contributor to colony collapse disorder that will effectively poison the surrounding soil and bio-food-web for about 3 years.
Yes, there is going to be a meeting, but not for approval, of course, since they already seem to have obtained the authority to enter my backyard without my permission. And, it sucks that I have spent lots of time and energy de-disrupting all my endocrines, especially getting rid of all those pesky estrogen-mimicing compounds that they are now going to spray back into my life, and with repeat applications if necessary. (And, it WILL be necessary, since the horse already got out of the barn.....)
More food fascism, though I am conflicted. I would like to save and/or rescue local agriculture, even though the authorities won't let me do much local agriculture in my backyard, and now, NO organic agriculture, at least in the vicinity of the fruit trees, and anything downwind or downstream from them.
But Jeez Louise, what about the bees? I don't see how mass-spraying of entire towns will help local agriculture, if the spraying greatly contributes to the collapse of the bee community that the agriculture depends on. Then again, what if this nasty neurotoxin stuff works against the bagrada bug????
And, it sucks that I am prevented from taking a propagative cutting of basket rush from a local pond per EPA regulations, and yet the department of Agriculture can run around and spray stuff that is extremely toxic to aquatic life all around said pond?
A few years ago, when I read my big permaculture book, I got a bit overwhelmed, until the author said to just start small, so I picked just one square yard to focus my initial permaculture effort, and, unfortunately, that one square yard is right under the lemon tree, and that culture is about to be destroyed.
In a fit of hope, I Googled "pyrethroid bagrada" and came up with absolutely no matches. I don't know what the word for it is, that thing that they call it when you search two keywords on Google and come up with no matches. It is rare, and I would Google the term if I knew the name. Anyway, where was I? Oh yea, looks like I am sol on the bagrada situation.
One bright spot is that High Mowing has several new varieties of parthenocarpic squash. That's the fancy name for squash plants that produce decent squash without the need for pollination, which I won't be getting as much since the department of agriculture is killing the bees.
P. S. Turns out I am a Googlewhacker. And for your weekend entertainment, check out this charming paper.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Pining for Bacon
I stopped by Trader Joe's today, and after enjoying a small cup of artercloggingsaturatedfat half and half with a homeopathic amount of coffee, I went to the meat aisle to pick up a package of bacon ends.
My clerk was friendly, but she eyed the bacon a little too long, and a little too lovingly. I grabbed the air with ALL my fingers, spelling out the universal symbol for BACON. Gimme gimme gimme!!
"I hope you aren't a vegetarian!" I pleaded as I started to feel I had gone a little too far on the sign-language thing. She continued to stare at the bacon as I swooshed it out of her hand and into my shopping bag, and I knew her mind was far far away, back to the place where she used to eat it.
"I don't eat bacon or any red meat," she sighed as I looked sympathetic, "but I do eat chicken and turkey only. I really miss bacon."
"Well, I was a vegetarian for 26 years, so I know how you feel!! I eat bacon all the time now."
"Can I ask why?"
"Sure, I started eating a paleo diet. I ditched the grains and added the bacon. Can't go without my bacon." I didn't go into all the details about losing weight and improving my health, yada yada yada, because an impatient man was in the line behind me. She'll have to look up paleo on her own.
I think I'll go back tomorrow and get a pound of butter, just to mess with her.
My clerk was friendly, but she eyed the bacon a little too long, and a little too lovingly. I grabbed the air with ALL my fingers, spelling out the universal symbol for BACON. Gimme gimme gimme!!
"I hope you aren't a vegetarian!" I pleaded as I started to feel I had gone a little too far on the sign-language thing. She continued to stare at the bacon as I swooshed it out of her hand and into my shopping bag, and I knew her mind was far far away, back to the place where she used to eat it.
"I don't eat bacon or any red meat," she sighed as I looked sympathetic, "but I do eat chicken and turkey only. I really miss bacon."
"Well, I was a vegetarian for 26 years, so I know how you feel!! I eat bacon all the time now."
"Can I ask why?"
"Sure, I started eating a paleo diet. I ditched the grains and added the bacon. Can't go without my bacon." I didn't go into all the details about losing weight and improving my health, yada yada yada, because an impatient man was in the line behind me. She'll have to look up paleo on her own.
I think I'll go back tomorrow and get a pound of butter, just to mess with her.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Now exactly, where does Health Start?
After my letter to Whole Foods the other day (and oh, they never wrote back....) I got ahold of an interesting flyer from Whole Foods. It's called the whole deal. Just so you know, this whole deal thing is trademarked, just like their vegan propaganda health program they call Health Starts Here.
Then again, it is pretty difficult to tell exactly where health starts from the flyer. There is a chicken on the front cover, and hints of more animal things to come, with a container of chicken broth right next to the chicken and a stream of text at the bottom announcing that chicken is on sale too.
I open the flyer, and on the inside cover is a plate o' shrimp. And so I am thinking, OK, plate o' shrimp, guess they are in on the joke, but then there were lots of animaly things in the flyer, including goat cheese in nearly about every recipe, except of course the recipes with the health starts here logo near them, cause they are vegan.
It didn't seem like health really started until about page 12, where the grainy foods and the tea were featured and the foods featuring flesh or animal secretions fell away. This was several pages after the coupon for the artercloggingsaturatedfat coconut oil that they call "health supportive".
So what is up with that? Does health really start here, after all the ads supposedly sponsored by all those evil meat, milk companies, and other profitable conglomerates Dr. MacDougall has declared war against? Does health start with plain vegan and then settles into just plain coconut oil right out of the jar after a few months?
Maybe Whole Foods isn't as hostile a place as it was over a year ago, the last time I visited. Maybe I'll give them another chance if I need some tea.
Then again, it is pretty difficult to tell exactly where health starts from the flyer. There is a chicken on the front cover, and hints of more animal things to come, with a container of chicken broth right next to the chicken and a stream of text at the bottom announcing that chicken is on sale too.
I open the flyer, and on the inside cover is a plate o' shrimp. And so I am thinking, OK, plate o' shrimp, guess they are in on the joke, but then there were lots of animaly things in the flyer, including goat cheese in nearly about every recipe, except of course the recipes with the health starts here logo near them, cause they are vegan.
It didn't seem like health really started until about page 12, where the grainy foods and the tea were featured and the foods featuring flesh or animal secretions fell away. This was several pages after the coupon for the artercloggingsaturatedfat coconut oil that they call "health supportive".
So what is up with that? Does health really start here, after all the ads supposedly sponsored by all those evil meat, milk companies, and other profitable conglomerates Dr. MacDougall has declared war against? Does health start with plain vegan and then settles into just plain coconut oil right out of the jar after a few months?
Maybe Whole Foods isn't as hostile a place as it was over a year ago, the last time I visited. Maybe I'll give them another chance if I need some tea.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Dear Whole Foods:
Wow, this is an old topic! Why haven't I posted anything about it yet? The answer is in my letter:
Dear Whole Foods:
Hey, a bunch of people have been writing about how they want you to change your policy on vegan and/or paleo diets. Initially I didn't want to say anything because I rarely shop at your store.
But, wait a minute! I used to. What happened? When I moved to California, the first thing I did is find a natural foods store, and my very first grocery trip was to Mrs. Gooch's. But then we moved, and a Mrs. Gooch's/Whole Foods wasn't nearby and we quit going as much.
Then I switched from a vegetarian diet to Paleo. The last time I went into a WF was to check out some new Paleo books and grab a package of meat for a road trip. I was surprised that they had a greatly-reduced book section (no Paleo books here, ma'am), but even more surprised by the wall of vegan books and propaganda that accosted me at the store entry.
All those years as a vegetarian, and I never felt uncomfortable walking into a store, a barbeque, or a meaty eatery. And now this?
Gee, I just switched from eating 99-cent black beans to eating 10-dollar-a-pound grass-fed meat that I don't buy at your store because your propaganda creeps me out. This seems like a weird business decision on your part.
Please reconsider.
Sincerely, EB
P.S. I started driving all that way to WF to get my favorite tea after the local natural foods donated a bunch of $$$$$$ against the NOH8 campaign. Please don't make me go back. Then again, there is mail-order.
Dear Whole Foods:
Hey, a bunch of people have been writing about how they want you to change your policy on vegan and/or paleo diets. Initially I didn't want to say anything because I rarely shop at your store.
But, wait a minute! I used to. What happened? When I moved to California, the first thing I did is find a natural foods store, and my very first grocery trip was to Mrs. Gooch's. But then we moved, and a Mrs. Gooch's/Whole Foods wasn't nearby and we quit going as much.
Then I switched from a vegetarian diet to Paleo. The last time I went into a WF was to check out some new Paleo books and grab a package of meat for a road trip. I was surprised that they had a greatly-reduced book section (no Paleo books here, ma'am), but even more surprised by the wall of vegan books and propaganda that accosted me at the store entry.
All those years as a vegetarian, and I never felt uncomfortable walking into a store, a barbeque, or a meaty eatery. And now this?
Gee, I just switched from eating 99-cent black beans to eating 10-dollar-a-pound grass-fed meat that I don't buy at your store because your propaganda creeps me out. This seems like a weird business decision on your part.
Please reconsider.
Sincerely, EB
P.S. I started driving all that way to WF to get my favorite tea after the local natural foods donated a bunch of $$$$$$ against the NOH8 campaign. Please don't make me go back. Then again, there is mail-order.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Looking Ahead (no, really)
There is trouble in the eat-less-move-more camp. Water is pouring into the tent, and they are forced to move out of the wash they placed themselves in, running for cover.
Ah, yes, the Look Ahead study. Here's a nice re-cap. I went to theHeart to get their latest blurb, and it mentioned that in addition to NOT reducing strokes, heart attacks or losing much weight, there wasn't even a reduction in death either. They go through all that crap and lose like 10 pounds?
Eleven years of exercise, and listening to a registered dietitian droning on about healthywholegrains and satiating-whatever. Satiating. Wow, do I hate that word! Who else uses that word? One more reason to ban (most) dietitians from my life.
I loved some of the comments. Like, surely the sucky results are because of poor study design that failed to show what we all know to be true. Like, surely not that it could be the sucky recommendations.
One hundred and seventy five minutes of exercise a week, time they could have spend meditating on and eating bacon, and for what? Just thinking of how many [redacted] points what would amount to. All that wasted time racking up points that can't be traded in for any actual anything, just like the real [redacted] goodies. Good for a memory, or for a laugh, but it is not a real goody.
OK, today's post is chocked full of amusing personal stories. I used to work with this guy who just got another MBA, and he used to wave his hands and throw out the word "salient" when he wanted to weasel out of his responsibilities and evade the point I was trying to make. Nobody uses that word except a few months after some MBA class. And, it is always used as a redundant set, a "salient point". Hear the word, and you know BS is sure to follow.
Oh, anyway, where was I?
I used to work at this place where they had creativity workshops, and one day we were supposed to do this visualization and imagine we were in a hot air balloon drifting over the company. Now, if we weren't being so meditative with the new age music accompanying the directive, this would have been a hilarious metaphor for the company, since it was so full of the hot-air of the newly-minted MBA's and the company was so adrift. Oh, anyway, where was I? Oh, and we were supposed to look into the imaginary windows and see what was going on five years into the future.
Well, that was fun, as I drifted above, and saw some interesting things. When we were asked to share, I jumped at the chance to recount the salient points of my balloon ride. As I described what I saw, the leader looked visibly surprised. Yep, I nailed it. I accurately described a current super-secret project going on in the very building that I floated over, even though I didn't consciously know anything about it.
OK, fast forward to about 16 years ago, when we were sitting around a large table enduring a lengthy design review. It was time for lunch. "Should we order pizza?"
So I say, "Well, soon you'll be able to order a pizza and then the pizza place will just send a wireless message to your insulin pump for just the right amount of bolus." And, hardy har har, we all had a good laugh over that until the VP of engineering said, "Hey, you're probably not too far off," but he wasn't as alarmed about it as that visionary balloon guy.
Of course, now we all have wireless and smart phones and cloud computing and everything is sent all over, but at the time, closing all the loops seemed undoable.
Oh, anyway, where am I? Well, there used to be lots of talk about diabetes and its progression, and the prevailing viewpoint at the time was just coming on the horizon, that T1DM was an autoimmune thing. And I remember some people arguing violently against this concept and arguing violently for their illness. The thinking at the time was that T2DM was caused by overeating pizza, being overweight (and also inactive.) After hearing that again at the pizza party, I just blurted out,
"No, getting fat doesn't make you diabetic. Diabetes makes you gain weight." And we all looked around at each other and realized that we were all getting fat and probably creating our own diabetes and secretly thinking that we had better get cracking at a cure for diabetes before we all got it and had to take our own medicine and get our feet cut off or something.
So, people tried to eat even more diet yogurt, washed down with Diet Coke, and entering bike and road races sponsored by the American Diabetes Association so we could lose weight and be more healthy. And for what?
So, today I am reading here and there about diabetes and wondering why so many of the comments are still peppered with the idea that drinking lots of sody made us this way, and wondering when people are just going to look ahead more carefully.
OK, where am I? Try this visualization.
Now, look at me, look at Stan's post, now look at me again, now go back to Stan's post and click the link on the training materials. Imagine yourself sitting with a group of fat pre-diabetic people listening to a presentation of this material by a big balloon of hot air. Imagine yourself poking holes in both the presenter and in the concepts. Imagine the balloon of hot air collapsing and the sucky training materials getting smaller and smaller, and soon out of view.
Wow! Imagine yourself feeling better and better. Your cortisol is already reducing, along with your weight and insulin level. Now you are thinking of satiating bacon, only it isn't satiating. In fact, you don't even know what that word means, only that you are enjoying the bacon and then put the package away and then don't think about eating anything for awhile. You imagine walking on the beach with your friends and not having your exercise-tracking software update itself. As you get closer to the water, you hurl your fitbit into the waves and watch it bounce up and down with every wave.
Ah, yes, the Look Ahead study. Here's a nice re-cap. I went to theHeart to get their latest blurb, and it mentioned that in addition to NOT reducing strokes, heart attacks or losing much weight, there wasn't even a reduction in death either. They go through all that crap and lose like 10 pounds?
Eleven years of exercise, and listening to a registered dietitian droning on about healthywholegrains and satiating-whatever. Satiating. Wow, do I hate that word! Who else uses that word? One more reason to ban (most) dietitians from my life.
I loved some of the comments. Like, surely the sucky results are because of poor study design that failed to show what we all know to be true. Like, surely not that it could be the sucky recommendations.
One hundred and seventy five minutes of exercise a week, time they could have spend meditating on and eating bacon, and for what? Just thinking of how many [redacted] points what would amount to. All that wasted time racking up points that can't be traded in for any actual anything, just like the real [redacted] goodies. Good for a memory, or for a laugh, but it is not a real goody.
OK, today's post is chocked full of amusing personal stories. I used to work with this guy who just got another MBA, and he used to wave his hands and throw out the word "salient" when he wanted to weasel out of his responsibilities and evade the point I was trying to make. Nobody uses that word except a few months after some MBA class. And, it is always used as a redundant set, a "salient point". Hear the word, and you know BS is sure to follow.
Oh, anyway, where was I?
I used to work at this place where they had creativity workshops, and one day we were supposed to do this visualization and imagine we were in a hot air balloon drifting over the company. Now, if we weren't being so meditative with the new age music accompanying the directive, this would have been a hilarious metaphor for the company, since it was so full of the hot-air of the newly-minted MBA's and the company was so adrift. Oh, anyway, where was I? Oh, and we were supposed to look into the imaginary windows and see what was going on five years into the future.
Well, that was fun, as I drifted above, and saw some interesting things. When we were asked to share, I jumped at the chance to recount the salient points of my balloon ride. As I described what I saw, the leader looked visibly surprised. Yep, I nailed it. I accurately described a current super-secret project going on in the very building that I floated over, even though I didn't consciously know anything about it.
OK, fast forward to about 16 years ago, when we were sitting around a large table enduring a lengthy design review. It was time for lunch. "Should we order pizza?"
So I say, "Well, soon you'll be able to order a pizza and then the pizza place will just send a wireless message to your insulin pump for just the right amount of bolus." And, hardy har har, we all had a good laugh over that until the VP of engineering said, "Hey, you're probably not too far off," but he wasn't as alarmed about it as that visionary balloon guy.
Of course, now we all have wireless and smart phones and cloud computing and everything is sent all over, but at the time, closing all the loops seemed undoable.
Oh, anyway, where am I? Well, there used to be lots of talk about diabetes and its progression, and the prevailing viewpoint at the time was just coming on the horizon, that T1DM was an autoimmune thing. And I remember some people arguing violently against this concept and arguing violently for their illness. The thinking at the time was that T2DM was caused by overeating pizza, being overweight (and also inactive.) After hearing that again at the pizza party, I just blurted out,
"No, getting fat doesn't make you diabetic. Diabetes makes you gain weight." And we all looked around at each other and realized that we were all getting fat and probably creating our own diabetes and secretly thinking that we had better get cracking at a cure for diabetes before we all got it and had to take our own medicine and get our feet cut off or something.
So, people tried to eat even more diet yogurt, washed down with Diet Coke, and entering bike and road races sponsored by the American Diabetes Association so we could lose weight and be more healthy. And for what?
So, today I am reading here and there about diabetes and wondering why so many of the comments are still peppered with the idea that drinking lots of sody made us this way, and wondering when people are just going to look ahead more carefully.
OK, where am I? Try this visualization.
Now, look at me, look at Stan's post, now look at me again, now go back to Stan's post and click the link on the training materials. Imagine yourself sitting with a group of fat pre-diabetic people listening to a presentation of this material by a big balloon of hot air. Imagine yourself poking holes in both the presenter and in the concepts. Imagine the balloon of hot air collapsing and the sucky training materials getting smaller and smaller, and soon out of view.
Wow! Imagine yourself feeling better and better. Your cortisol is already reducing, along with your weight and insulin level. Now you are thinking of satiating bacon, only it isn't satiating. In fact, you don't even know what that word means, only that you are enjoying the bacon and then put the package away and then don't think about eating anything for awhile. You imagine walking on the beach with your friends and not having your exercise-tracking software update itself. As you get closer to the water, you hurl your fitbit into the waves and watch it bounce up and down with every wave.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Am I in the Binder?
I haven't blogged for a time here because I am busy with other projects.
The bagrada bug is on my mind recently, and whether it is OK to put fertilizer with ground-up cottonseed into an organic garden.
If agriculture isn't the reason for our demise, well, then maybe complicated agriculture policy is. I still will probably vote for prop 37, to label foods with GMO's. It is interesting to see the list of donors against the prop. Bumble bee tuna? Isn't that just tuna? Um, tuna with all that wonderful natural vegetable broth made with GMO-soy? Mars also donated to stop the plan, which is really fascinating since they bought an organic seed and food company, which nobody buys from anymore cause they got so expensive and they are really a candy-bar company.
I acquired a button (perfect for the farmer's market basket, no?) shouting, "GMO-free hottie". Not sure on either fronts, but I think I do know the reason for a 5-dollar head of organic broccoli and it is not due to all that fancy and expensive labeling.
It's this bug. Apparently, fresh broccoli is like msg-laden trans-fatty gliadin-laced red-hot Cheetos food-reward-wise to these visiting critters.
Seaweed. Yes, seaweed is in our future because the bagrada bug hasn't figured out how to eat it yet. Those epi-paleo folks will be missing their cilantro this winter, too. Lovin' me's sea-spinach!!
Anyway, I haven't had any time either to search for my name in any of the binders full of women that the paleosphere keeps handy just in case anyone actually wants to hear anything pertaining to women that doesn't involve reproductive status. I am sure it is there, just that it is easier to search amongst their own kind and continue to have all the boys speak for us, while they trot out Joel Salatin like they invented him or something.
The bagrada bug is on my mind recently, and whether it is OK to put fertilizer with ground-up cottonseed into an organic garden.
If agriculture isn't the reason for our demise, well, then maybe complicated agriculture policy is. I still will probably vote for prop 37, to label foods with GMO's. It is interesting to see the list of donors against the prop. Bumble bee tuna? Isn't that just tuna? Um, tuna with all that wonderful natural vegetable broth made with GMO-soy? Mars also donated to stop the plan, which is really fascinating since they bought an organic seed and food company, which nobody buys from anymore cause they got so expensive and they are really a candy-bar company.
I acquired a button (perfect for the farmer's market basket, no?) shouting, "GMO-free hottie". Not sure on either fronts, but I think I do know the reason for a 5-dollar head of organic broccoli and it is not due to all that fancy and expensive labeling.
It's this bug. Apparently, fresh broccoli is like msg-laden trans-fatty gliadin-laced red-hot Cheetos food-reward-wise to these visiting critters.
Seaweed. Yes, seaweed is in our future because the bagrada bug hasn't figured out how to eat it yet. Those epi-paleo folks will be missing their cilantro this winter, too. Lovin' me's sea-spinach!!
Anyway, I haven't had any time either to search for my name in any of the binders full of women that the paleosphere keeps handy just in case anyone actually wants to hear anything pertaining to women that doesn't involve reproductive status. I am sure it is there, just that it is easier to search amongst their own kind and continue to have all the boys speak for us, while they trot out Joel Salatin like they invented him or something.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
The Tuna Boat just Sailed In!
What a nice half-way-around-the-year reminder of my "Paleo on 100 dollars a month" challenge.
A friend called and mentioned that her friend's son went out fishing near San Diego and caught this huge tuna. She was offered some, but was unprepared for two details.
First, she was given a ton of it.
Second, she found she doesn't like tuna.
Did I want to take it off her hands? Sooooooo, here I am, after an unsuccessful market run looking for suitable epi-paleo eats on a budget, and an entire platter of freshly-caught tuna just drops into my lap, right before dinner. Already perfectly seasoned. She told me to keep the platter, too.
Since it was already seasoned in a rich blend of garlic, lime and some kind of Middle-Eastern seasoning blend, I decided not to eat it raw. I didn't have to do anything except plop the huge slabs of tuna in a pan and lightly steam it until it was cooked enough to flake.
Mmmmm! Tuna for dinner. Tuna for breakfast. Tuna all week. Tuna coming out of my ears. Tuna making me friends with all the neighborhood dogs and cats. Tuna making me happy, too.
A friend called and mentioned that her friend's son went out fishing near San Diego and caught this huge tuna. She was offered some, but was unprepared for two details.
First, she was given a ton of it.
Second, she found she doesn't like tuna.
Did I want to take it off her hands? Sooooooo, here I am, after an unsuccessful market run looking for suitable epi-paleo eats on a budget, and an entire platter of freshly-caught tuna just drops into my lap, right before dinner. Already perfectly seasoned. She told me to keep the platter, too.
Since it was already seasoned in a rich blend of garlic, lime and some kind of Middle-Eastern seasoning blend, I decided not to eat it raw. I didn't have to do anything except plop the huge slabs of tuna in a pan and lightly steam it until it was cooked enough to flake.
Mmmmm! Tuna for dinner. Tuna for breakfast. Tuna all week. Tuna coming out of my ears. Tuna making me friends with all the neighborhood dogs and cats. Tuna making me happy, too.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Real Housewives of Paleo
Thanks Woo, for saying what needed to be said.
Yes, we have our Kelli, and the bat-sh$t-crazy New Jersey. Someone put the book on the table, some prostitution whore?
It took an "anonymous" blogger to finally say HEY! THIS IS NOT OK!
I am going to go and eat my meat, veggies, and seafood now. Not tuning in to Watch What Happens either.
Yes, we have our Kelli, and the bat-sh$t-crazy New Jersey. Someone put the book on the table, some prostitution whore?
It took an "anonymous" blogger to finally say HEY! THIS IS NOT OK!
I am going to go and eat my meat, veggies, and seafood now. Not tuning in to Watch What Happens either.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
C-C-C-Cold?
The ocean temps this time of year are still warm, but that didn't stop me from trying to get my cold on at the Crystal Cove and other Orange County beaches.
I hadn't really been a fan of the OC before, since I associate it with Irvine traffic jams, but the coast is still quite pretty.
At first I didn't want to get in the water near the rock outcroppings, but soon realized that the waves are calmer there. I could just sit in the water and not get washed away.
There weren't many swimmers, just me and the kids and some surfers with wet suits. The water wasn't as cold as I can get from the tap, but it was still fun.
We also visited Laguna Beach, so if you are the type that saves the live feed from the Laguna Beach cam, you can see me out there swimming. I wore my bright orange swim cap, and some beach bum rode by and commented that it was the best hat on the whole beach. I looked sort of like a water polo player minus the ear things.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmhps0uktrY&feature=related
I hadn't really been a fan of the OC before, since I associate it with Irvine traffic jams, but the coast is still quite pretty.
At first I didn't want to get in the water near the rock outcroppings, but soon realized that the waves are calmer there. I could just sit in the water and not get washed away.
There weren't many swimmers, just me and the kids and some surfers with wet suits. The water wasn't as cold as I can get from the tap, but it was still fun.
We also visited Laguna Beach, so if you are the type that saves the live feed from the Laguna Beach cam, you can see me out there swimming. I wore my bright orange swim cap, and some beach bum rode by and commented that it was the best hat on the whole beach. I looked sort of like a water polo player minus the ear things.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmhps0uktrY&feature=related
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Here's a Benefit - Eat Less Clean Moore
One of the nice things about being kicked off [redacted]people is that now I have time for my real life. Instead of handing out goodies, I am handing out excess produce to casual friends in grocery store parking lots. Yum. A whole trunkful of eggplant and thyme seedlings has much more fiber than any of the virtual goodies.
I am also free from searching for un-banned peanut butter. Yippie! We do have some peanut butter left from the last trek to Costco. But, I need to get back there now that, like some other independent countries, I have run out of butter. I did get some non-organic Challenge butter on sale, but it is insipid. I don't know what they feed those Costco cows, but their butter actually tastes like food instead of a stick of fat. Costco is always out of peanut butter, and that is fine with me.
Anyway..........I think it is due to the re-introduction of progesterone in my beauty/wellnessregime regimen. (Been reading too many lipstick magazines????) Since I have been using it for almost two weeks now, I have had fantastic sleep, have been completing all my daily action items, have reduced my appetite and changed my body composition.
Here's the weird thing. Am I normal? I few weeks ago, I discovered something really unusual. I was out for the day and had a piece of fruit and some other carby stuff, and found that I was no longer hungry. Hey, this was just like the experts say happens. You eat, and then you aren't hungry anymore so then you don't eat any more.
Yesterday I cheated by having a pastry bite. I like to call it arugala because it sounds so healthy, but we all know that those concoctions of wheat and fat, filled with a homeopathic amount of fruit and topped with chunky sugar does not contain any real arugala. Yep, I ate it, and then had a burst of energy, so ran around for ten minutes or so, decluttering and clearing out a bunch of projects. Lunch time came and went, and oh, did I forget to eat again? Off to the store, and the distribution of the turnip-truck of veggies, and another free baby coffee. Still not hungry. I ate a handful of nuts around 4 pm. Then, someone mentioned,
"What's for dinner?" Dinner? Oh yea, the reason I went shopping. OK, I think I got some chicken. Guess somebody should go into the kitchen and start making some. OK, that would probably be me. Maybe by the time it is done I'll be hungry.
It took me a long time to peel and chop all the tomatilloes, yellow tomatoes and long fresh cayenne peppers. I also had the last zucchini of the season, and a fresh red onion. I ate a bowl of chicken with the vegetables, and then a few extra pieces of chicken, but I was really too full for much else. I don't think I even got 60 grams of protein for the day.
Oh, weight? Hmmm, I think I am losing, hey, don't care. I haven't been weighing myself because I am too busy getting up before dawn, organizing the yarn closet and then making a 4-alarm breakfast for anyone who is also up that that hour.
Oh, now on to Moore. It's really about More magazine. I got an old copy from friends, and read all about the right and wrong ways to do a detox. Here's a sampling of More's clean detox, developed by a venerated RD, Keri Glassman. Day one is a bunch of tofu, green tea, lemon, pear, kale, salmon, walnuts, lime, edamame, spinach salad with other veggies, olive oil, broccoli, turkey, raspberries. If this sounds a bit like Perricone, that is what I thought too. Notice the abundance of healthywholegrains. Except for all the nasty soy, it looks pretty much like paleo/low carb, except for the third day, which introduces dairy and turns it into a primal-type/low carb thing.
Here's what Leslie Bonci, RD, says, "There's something to be said for limiting choices. You're giving your body a chance to rest, and that's a good thing." Of course, unless you are "resting" with a good paleo or LC diet and you are eliminating entire food groups, and then the coaches[redacted] seez its dangerous for you.
Thank goodness it is only for three days. 'Cause after that, the diet that makes you feel better and "more energetic" will kill you due to the loss of B vitamins in enriched healthywholegrainfoodgroups that you have eliminated entirely from your diet. But no worry, the article says. "This 1,000-calorie-a-day regimen is loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, lean proteins, omega-3 fatty acids and fluids -"
I am impressed just with the fact that they call it a regimen and not a regime. That is a pet peeve of mine. A diet regime would be the ADA or the academy or whatever they call themselves these days.
I am also free from searching for un-banned peanut butter. Yippie! We do have some peanut butter left from the last trek to Costco. But, I need to get back there now that, like some other independent countries, I have run out of butter. I did get some non-organic Challenge butter on sale, but it is insipid. I don't know what they feed those Costco cows, but their butter actually tastes like food instead of a stick of fat. Costco is always out of peanut butter, and that is fine with me.
Anyway..........I think it is due to the re-introduction of progesterone in my beauty/wellness
Here's the weird thing. Am I normal? I few weeks ago, I discovered something really unusual. I was out for the day and had a piece of fruit and some other carby stuff, and found that I was no longer hungry. Hey, this was just like the experts say happens. You eat, and then you aren't hungry anymore so then you don't eat any more.
Yesterday I cheated by having a pastry bite. I like to call it arugala because it sounds so healthy, but we all know that those concoctions of wheat and fat, filled with a homeopathic amount of fruit and topped with chunky sugar does not contain any real arugala. Yep, I ate it, and then had a burst of energy, so ran around for ten minutes or so, decluttering and clearing out a bunch of projects. Lunch time came and went, and oh, did I forget to eat again? Off to the store, and the distribution of the turnip-truck of veggies, and another free baby coffee. Still not hungry. I ate a handful of nuts around 4 pm. Then, someone mentioned,
"What's for dinner?" Dinner? Oh yea, the reason I went shopping. OK, I think I got some chicken. Guess somebody should go into the kitchen and start making some. OK, that would probably be me. Maybe by the time it is done I'll be hungry.
It took me a long time to peel and chop all the tomatilloes, yellow tomatoes and long fresh cayenne peppers. I also had the last zucchini of the season, and a fresh red onion. I ate a bowl of chicken with the vegetables, and then a few extra pieces of chicken, but I was really too full for much else. I don't think I even got 60 grams of protein for the day.
Oh, weight? Hmmm, I think I am losing, hey, don't care. I haven't been weighing myself because I am too busy getting up before dawn, organizing the yarn closet and then making a 4-alarm breakfast for anyone who is also up that that hour.
Oh, now on to Moore. It's really about More magazine. I got an old copy from friends, and read all about the right and wrong ways to do a detox. Here's a sampling of More's clean detox, developed by a venerated RD, Keri Glassman. Day one is a bunch of tofu, green tea, lemon, pear, kale, salmon, walnuts, lime, edamame, spinach salad with other veggies, olive oil, broccoli, turkey, raspberries. If this sounds a bit like Perricone, that is what I thought too. Notice the abundance of healthywholegrains. Except for all the nasty soy, it looks pretty much like paleo/low carb, except for the third day, which introduces dairy and turns it into a primal-type/low carb thing.
Here's what Leslie Bonci, RD, says, "There's something to be said for limiting choices. You're giving your body a chance to rest, and that's a good thing." Of course, unless you are "resting" with a good paleo or LC diet and you are eliminating entire food groups, and then the coaches[redacted] seez its dangerous for you.
Thank goodness it is only for three days. 'Cause after that, the diet that makes you feel better and "more energetic" will kill you due to the loss of B vitamins in enriched healthywholegrainfoodgroups that you have eliminated entirely from your diet. But no worry, the article says. "This 1,000-calorie-a-day regimen is loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, lean proteins, omega-3 fatty acids and fluids -"
I am impressed just with the fact that they call it a regimen and not a regime. That is a pet peeve of mine. A diet regime would be the ADA or the academy or whatever they call themselves these days.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Butter and a Movie
It's better with butter!
Check out this movie trailer. This movie about having fun with butter is now on my viewing list.
Sculpting with butter is an art form I can embrace. Wouldn't this be fun to do while doing CT?
Check out this movie trailer. This movie about having fun with butter is now on my viewing list.
Sculpting with butter is an art form I can embrace. Wouldn't this be fun to do while doing CT?
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Coconut Cream
Hi folks! Here's my take on coconut, and coconut "manna".
This stuff comes in either a small jar or a larger bag. Either way, it will probably have melted and solidified many times, and the coconut oil will have separated from the dried coconut meat. If you buy a bag, it has to be split up and stirred and then put back away into smaller containers.
Before you eat it, you need to stir it, and in order for that to work, it has to be warm enough for the oil part to be liquid. It works sort of like almond butter. You stir a bit, and realize it is not mixing well, and so dig a spoon all the way down to the bottom and then the slippery stuff on top goes sailing right on the counter (or worse, your computer screen!) so you have to lick it up or get a dog to do that for you.
Here's what I do. First, get it warm, then stir the top portion carefully. The bottom will be dry, almost flaky. To get to it, put a dull knife straight down and cut across. Lift the knife up, move it, and cut again. It is just like making cheese, when you want to preserve the curd, only for the coconut, you just don't want to try lots of stirring from top to bottom at first or there will be a mess.
When all the dry chunks at the bottom are small, then take a strong spoon and mix the chunks with the more oily part at the top.
I waited until summer to stir up one container. I stir it every few days just to keep it mixed well. When I am away for a few days, I just stick it in the fridge so it doesn't separate out again.
I don't know how much of this stuff people eat. When I first got it, I was limited by how hard it is. Now in the summer, I can eat quite alot of it if I want to. But, really, I don't care that much for the texture and prefer grated or shredded real coconut. Real coconut is cheaper and waaaaaay easier to eat. I didn't care for it in coffee either, preferring either coconut milk or real heavy cream.
What I looooove about coconut manna is that it is one of the few products these days that comes in a wide-mouth glass jar. These are keepers! I use them for small batches of sauerkraut or pickles.
This stuff comes in either a small jar or a larger bag. Either way, it will probably have melted and solidified many times, and the coconut oil will have separated from the dried coconut meat. If you buy a bag, it has to be split up and stirred and then put back away into smaller containers.
Before you eat it, you need to stir it, and in order for that to work, it has to be warm enough for the oil part to be liquid. It works sort of like almond butter. You stir a bit, and realize it is not mixing well, and so dig a spoon all the way down to the bottom and then the slippery stuff on top goes sailing right on the counter (or worse, your computer screen!) so you have to lick it up or get a dog to do that for you.
Here's what I do. First, get it warm, then stir the top portion carefully. The bottom will be dry, almost flaky. To get to it, put a dull knife straight down and cut across. Lift the knife up, move it, and cut again. It is just like making cheese, when you want to preserve the curd, only for the coconut, you just don't want to try lots of stirring from top to bottom at first or there will be a mess.
When all the dry chunks at the bottom are small, then take a strong spoon and mix the chunks with the more oily part at the top.
I waited until summer to stir up one container. I stir it every few days just to keep it mixed well. When I am away for a few days, I just stick it in the fridge so it doesn't separate out again.
I don't know how much of this stuff people eat. When I first got it, I was limited by how hard it is. Now in the summer, I can eat quite alot of it if I want to. But, really, I don't care that much for the texture and prefer grated or shredded real coconut. Real coconut is cheaper and waaaaaay easier to eat. I didn't care for it in coffee either, preferring either coconut milk or real heavy cream.
What I looooove about coconut manna is that it is one of the few products these days that comes in a wide-mouth glass jar. These are keepers! I use them for small batches of sauerkraut or pickles.
Monday, September 17, 2012
The State of Research - (and the Elephant in the Room)
Last night I visited the NuSI site to read a bit about the current state of obesity research before retiring to my yellow bedroom to read a recent issue of Scientific American. I was reading all about how the brain works, and then drifted off, and later, drifted into this dream.
I thought, "Hey, this isn't good!"
Apparently, the students had learned some very bad habits from the first teacher. They had felt that it was not necessary to approach research methods seriously.
I pulled out some paper, and asked the remaining students to pass the sheet around and sign in a second time. While getting ready to elaborate on the class project, I noticed that the remaining students weren't signing in. I reminded them several times. I also went to the adjoining classrooms, looking for lost students.
A couple of professors who would teach the later sections were hanging around, shaking their heads. They told me that my expectations were too high, if I actually wanted attendance or participation.
"The students do everything by cell phone now, they don't feel they have to attend, listen to the instructions, or sign their name on any roster," they said. Well, I knew they know how to do a roster, they weren't fooling me. How could they possibly complete a project adequately if they would not receive instruction, or be accountable?
One of the professors pulled me aside, explained to me about mediocrity and then handed me a glass-blown elephant.
"Here. This will help you in your class."
I went back to class and put the elephant front and center on my desk. The elephant didn't do any good, so decided that I would rather wake up than accept the current situation.
I woke up, thinking, gosh, do I need some more carbs? What a nightmare!
Hey obesity researchers, there is a new teacher in town. Will you listen to instructions, or continue to hand in the same tired papers, expecting credit?
P.S. It appears I was channeling Adele Hite last night.
It was the first day of a new class. I taught the second section of a multi-part research methods course. After sign-in and introductions, the room broke out into several groups to discuss their projects. When I brought everyone back to the main classroom, I noticed that many of the students had ditched class.
I thought, "Hey, this isn't good!"
Apparently, the students had learned some very bad habits from the first teacher. They had felt that it was not necessary to approach research methods seriously.
I pulled out some paper, and asked the remaining students to pass the sheet around and sign in a second time. While getting ready to elaborate on the class project, I noticed that the remaining students weren't signing in. I reminded them several times. I also went to the adjoining classrooms, looking for lost students.
A couple of professors who would teach the later sections were hanging around, shaking their heads. They told me that my expectations were too high, if I actually wanted attendance or participation.
"The students do everything by cell phone now, they don't feel they have to attend, listen to the instructions, or sign their name on any roster," they said. Well, I knew they know how to do a roster, they weren't fooling me. How could they possibly complete a project adequately if they would not receive instruction, or be accountable?
One of the professors pulled me aside, explained to me about mediocrity and then handed me a glass-blown elephant.
"Here. This will help you in your class."
I went back to class and put the elephant front and center on my desk. The elephant didn't do any good, so decided that I would rather wake up than accept the current situation.
I woke up, thinking, gosh, do I need some more carbs? What a nightmare!
Hey obesity researchers, there is a new teacher in town. Will you listen to instructions, or continue to hand in the same tired papers, expecting credit?
P.S. It appears I was channeling Adele Hite last night.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Rowing for dinner
What a heat wave we have been enduring! I had the opportunity to spend one of the hottest days on the other side of carmageddon, at the ocean, kayaking and paddle boarding near the Channel Islands.
I had hoped to get in a bit of CT, but the water wasn't too cold. Granted, I wasn't out in open water, where the cold water and most of the waves reside. When I got hot, I just dunked my feet into the water to cool down. When I tumbled off the paddle board, the water felt so refreshing that I stayed in, and swam the board to shore.
There is something both relaxing and serene about personally powering a water craft, and it is more than just the lack of a gasoline motor. I was able to glide into a flock of resting seagulls without causing them to fly away. If I had a net, there could have been something on the grill that tastes like chicken.
There is time to think when out on the water, and time to pull up the oar and just keep gliding. My thoughts drifted to the first people, who would have traveled this area in straw kayaks for food and fun. I could do this. The water is not too cold.
It was also a time to have fun with physics. I tried paddling the board while on my stomach, butterfly style, hoping to get enough speed to pull along another surfboard, to go so fast that the kid on the surfboard could stand up and start surfing. If you have lived in a very cold climate, you have probably attempted the same thing on a frozen pond. The last kid on the chain can get pretty fast.
This morning, as I watched the local news, I had to grin at the coverage of a local triathlon. All the world-class people lining up for their day in the surf. Every single athlete had a wetsuit on.
I am not sure where I am going with this.
I had hoped to get in a bit of CT, but the water wasn't too cold. Granted, I wasn't out in open water, where the cold water and most of the waves reside. When I got hot, I just dunked my feet into the water to cool down. When I tumbled off the paddle board, the water felt so refreshing that I stayed in, and swam the board to shore.
There is something both relaxing and serene about personally powering a water craft, and it is more than just the lack of a gasoline motor. I was able to glide into a flock of resting seagulls without causing them to fly away. If I had a net, there could have been something on the grill that tastes like chicken.
There is time to think when out on the water, and time to pull up the oar and just keep gliding. My thoughts drifted to the first people, who would have traveled this area in straw kayaks for food and fun. I could do this. The water is not too cold.
It was also a time to have fun with physics. I tried paddling the board while on my stomach, butterfly style, hoping to get enough speed to pull along another surfboard, to go so fast that the kid on the surfboard could stand up and start surfing. If you have lived in a very cold climate, you have probably attempted the same thing on a frozen pond. The last kid on the chain can get pretty fast.
This morning, as I watched the local news, I had to grin at the coverage of a local triathlon. All the world-class people lining up for their day in the surf. Every single athlete had a wetsuit on.
I am not sure where I am going with this.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Decluttering!!!!
Yesterday I cleared out and donated the bread pans.
I know to some, this seems small, but maybe their lives didn't revolve around bread and other healthy whole grains as much as mine did.
As soon as I went out on my own, I get several popular vegetarian cookbooks, a grain grinder, some bread pans, a few sifters, and a whisk.
I started grinding the flour and making bread weekly. I made at least four loaves of wheat bread a week, and a dozen or so oat flour muffins that were to last the week but usually lasted only a few days. I usually made two large sheets of thick-crust pizza several times a month. When I was too busy, I just went to the bread outlet store and filled my freezer with stale Bobolis. Later on when I became a consultant, my schedule was flexible enough for me to make some kind of bread every day. Real authentic bagels, pita, chapatis, tortillas, nut roll.
Pretty soon I started receiving all sorts of bread-related gifts for every occasion: fancier whisks, kneading boards, spring-form pans, fancy cast-iron muffin tins, baby loaf pans, cinnamon-roll forms, a gingerbread house mold, crumb-catchers, cutting boards, fancy artisan bread-slicers. I was easy to buy for.
During the 2009 Locavore challenge, I even grew wheat. And if the movie is ever finished, you'll get to see me stomping all over the stuff in my crocs, trying to remove the chaff. What fun! It is just like making wine, only drier.
I realized a couple of weeks ago that I was finally finished with bread when I offered to help a friend with a party. She needed food. What could I make? She suggested cookies and I had that deer-in-the-headlights feeling. I couldn't even articulate how I felt about it. Speechless.
All I could think about was trudging to a conventional grocery store. What do I need? Flour, chocolate, baking soda? Of course, I would complain about the prices. I would make tons and they would smell wonderful and we would eat the broken kinds and fall back into the wheat abyss. I would gain 40 pounds before Christmas. It would be very ugly.
OK, time to do something about this. I feel lighter already.
I know to some, this seems small, but maybe their lives didn't revolve around bread and other healthy whole grains as much as mine did.
As soon as I went out on my own, I get several popular vegetarian cookbooks, a grain grinder, some bread pans, a few sifters, and a whisk.
I started grinding the flour and making bread weekly. I made at least four loaves of wheat bread a week, and a dozen or so oat flour muffins that were to last the week but usually lasted only a few days. I usually made two large sheets of thick-crust pizza several times a month. When I was too busy, I just went to the bread outlet store and filled my freezer with stale Bobolis. Later on when I became a consultant, my schedule was flexible enough for me to make some kind of bread every day. Real authentic bagels, pita, chapatis, tortillas, nut roll.
Pretty soon I started receiving all sorts of bread-related gifts for every occasion: fancier whisks, kneading boards, spring-form pans, fancy cast-iron muffin tins, baby loaf pans, cinnamon-roll forms, a gingerbread house mold, crumb-catchers, cutting boards, fancy artisan bread-slicers. I was easy to buy for.
During the 2009 Locavore challenge, I even grew wheat. And if the movie is ever finished, you'll get to see me stomping all over the stuff in my crocs, trying to remove the chaff. What fun! It is just like making wine, only drier.
I realized a couple of weeks ago that I was finally finished with bread when I offered to help a friend with a party. She needed food. What could I make? She suggested cookies and I had that deer-in-the-headlights feeling. I couldn't even articulate how I felt about it. Speechless.
All I could think about was trudging to a conventional grocery store. What do I need? Flour, chocolate, baking soda? Of course, I would complain about the prices. I would make tons and they would smell wonderful and we would eat the broken kinds and fall back into the wheat abyss. I would gain 40 pounds before Christmas. It would be very ugly.
OK, time to do something about this. I feel lighter already.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Serendipity
Yesterday, I ranted to myself for my memory lapse. While out doing some errands, I discovered that I had forgotten my purse, so I didn't stop by my favorite food store on the way home.
After enjoying a nice cup of winter squash soup for lunch and attending to other life details, I ventured out again, much later than usual. Oh, I hate using up more gasoline, but it was just too hot and miserable to walk, and I was still on a 24-hour exercise restriction after the blood donation.
Just as I wheeled up to the meat counter, they were putting out the quick sale items. I got a couple of packages of salmon for $1.99 a pound and a buffalo "london broil" for $3.99 a pound. Score! The price of the steak was half what I usually pay for ground buffalo.
I am still venturing into the land of the meat-eaters, and had never cooked london broil before, and never eaten a buffalo steak. Good thing for the internet. My internet search made the process even more confusing, and I had no clue as to the actual cut of the meat. I decided to just throw some salt and seasonings on it (cumin, cinnamon, garlic, my own very hot pepper), let it sit on the counter for half an hour, and then fry it in a pan with coconut oil. NOT a french recipe, then again, buffalo meat doesn't come from France, so there. I grilled some San Marzano tomatoes. (I cooked some additional San Marzanos in the pan drippings, for some soup for a later time.)
OK, now I get what the fuss is all about. The rare steak was delicious! I can't believe that I am here, eating bloody meat with a few vegetables, and loving it. I imagine myself as Suzanne Pleshette, gliding through my modern kitchen appointed with a set of chrome-finished appliances in avocado and harvest gold, waiting for Bob Newhart to return home from the clinic, serving just steak and salad. Then I glide along to change from my apron to my caftan, and we are ready for the evening.
After enjoying a nice cup of winter squash soup for lunch and attending to other life details, I ventured out again, much later than usual. Oh, I hate using up more gasoline, but it was just too hot and miserable to walk, and I was still on a 24-hour exercise restriction after the blood donation.
Just as I wheeled up to the meat counter, they were putting out the quick sale items. I got a couple of packages of salmon for $1.99 a pound and a buffalo "london broil" for $3.99 a pound. Score! The price of the steak was half what I usually pay for ground buffalo.
I am still venturing into the land of the meat-eaters, and had never cooked london broil before, and never eaten a buffalo steak. Good thing for the internet. My internet search made the process even more confusing, and I had no clue as to the actual cut of the meat. I decided to just throw some salt and seasonings on it (cumin, cinnamon, garlic, my own very hot pepper), let it sit on the counter for half an hour, and then fry it in a pan with coconut oil. NOT a french recipe, then again, buffalo meat doesn't come from France, so there. I grilled some San Marzano tomatoes. (I cooked some additional San Marzanos in the pan drippings, for some soup for a later time.)
OK, now I get what the fuss is all about. The rare steak was delicious! I can't believe that I am here, eating bloody meat with a few vegetables, and loving it. I imagine myself as Suzanne Pleshette, gliding through my modern kitchen appointed with a set of chrome-finished appliances in avocado and harvest gold, waiting for Bob Newhart to return home from the clinic, serving just steak and salad. Then I glide along to change from my apron to my caftan, and we are ready for the evening.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Drawing a Pint
I gave blood today so be nice to me!!
One of the recent topics at that [redacted] place was blood pressure reduction on a low carb diet. After posting some (research-related) sites explaining how blood pressure can be reduced on a low carb diet, I never did get around to the topic on this here blog, so here it is.
This week marks my two-year anniversary of going on a lower carb diet. One of the nice things about giving blood is that you get a mini-physical. It gives me an opportunity to check up on a few things in between doctors visits.
Hmm, did I eat today? Check
Feeling OK? Good to go
Weight? Yep, within 10 pounds of my goal weight after a year and a half in maintenance
Pulse? Pretty low, especially since I have discontinued chronic cardio
Iron? 14, whatever that means. Really, it means they smile and continue. This is not like in the vegetarian days when half the time I would be sent packing.
Temp? Hmmmm, the thingy beeps. Could it be that my metabolism has been lowered and my T3 has tanked? She looks unconcerned.
Blood Pressure? Hmmm, the same pressures I had as a teen the first time I gave blood at a high school blood drive for an ailing teacher.
Track marks? Nope
As I go through the questions, I am realizing how stationary I have been, and not just in the cardio way. I haven't been to any of the long list of banned counties recently. Then I remember what Coach [redacted] says about blood pressure. A low carb diet doesn't do anything for blood pressure that simple weight loss doesn't do. I remember when I saw that, thinking "hmmm, did she just admit that you can lose weight with the disastrous and dangerous diet?"
When I started on the lower carb plan and lost a bunch of weight, the blood pressure went down, too. Not that it was all that high, but like many, over the years it started to inch up, along with my weight. For a time, I even tried removing the salt from my diet., and had a tough time in the early weeks of lower carb until I added back the salt. My blood pressure went down immediately, and it has been going down gradually ever since, even though I have been in maintenance for such a long time.
I love n=1'ing, another myth exposed.
One of the recent topics at that [redacted] place was blood pressure reduction on a low carb diet. After posting some (research-related) sites explaining how blood pressure can be reduced on a low carb diet, I never did get around to the topic on this here blog, so here it is.
This week marks my two-year anniversary of going on a lower carb diet. One of the nice things about giving blood is that you get a mini-physical. It gives me an opportunity to check up on a few things in between doctors visits.
Hmm, did I eat today? Check
Feeling OK? Good to go
Weight? Yep, within 10 pounds of my goal weight after a year and a half in maintenance
Pulse? Pretty low, especially since I have discontinued chronic cardio
Iron? 14, whatever that means. Really, it means they smile and continue. This is not like in the vegetarian days when half the time I would be sent packing.
Temp? Hmmmm, the thingy beeps. Could it be that my metabolism has been lowered and my T3 has tanked? She looks unconcerned.
Blood Pressure? Hmmm, the same pressures I had as a teen the first time I gave blood at a high school blood drive for an ailing teacher.
Track marks? Nope
As I go through the questions, I am realizing how stationary I have been, and not just in the cardio way. I haven't been to any of the long list of banned counties recently. Then I remember what Coach [redacted] says about blood pressure. A low carb diet doesn't do anything for blood pressure that simple weight loss doesn't do. I remember when I saw that, thinking "hmmm, did she just admit that you can lose weight with the disastrous and dangerous diet?"
When I started on the lower carb plan and lost a bunch of weight, the blood pressure went down, too. Not that it was all that high, but like many, over the years it started to inch up, along with my weight. For a time, I even tried removing the salt from my diet., and had a tough time in the early weeks of lower carb until I added back the salt. My blood pressure went down immediately, and it has been going down gradually ever since, even though I have been in maintenance for such a long time.
I love n=1'ing, another myth exposed.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
How to reset your leptin - part 1
Hi folks, yes, I AM reading.
Recently I saw a commenter wanting to know of other ways to do a leptin reset. Both Drs. Rosedale and Kruse feel that they have the answers to this. Their plans are quite similar. Both call for a low carb paleo/style diet, limiting feedlot meats, cow's milk, and fake foods. Both limit snacking after dinner and don't recommend lots of exercise. Both would agree that a can of sardines is the most ideal meal/snack, although it looks like Kruse would rather you have them raw, with the heads on, and in the blender.
They differ in the amount of protein. Rosedale's protein recommendation is quite low compared to Kruse's. Their passionate arguments are on Paleohacks, if you even dare to go over there, but here's the gist. Rosedale thinks protein should be kept low to limit gluconeogenesis, and that doing so can also reduce the risk of cancer. Kruse says that doesn't matter, because the diet already reduces the risk of cancers.
To me, the Kruse argument is a little bit of "if you do what I say, and get so-and-so into balance, then it is not a problem". I think he might be putting the cart before the horse. It doesn't really address the transition phase. Rosedale's plan also limits fat in the early weeks. He said that he is a big fan of coconut oil, but did not put that in his book due to the editor/publisher pressure.
Kruse is trying to elicit certain outcomes by limiting food during certain intervals. In order to keep from being hungry during that time, he front-loads with plenty of protein at breakfast. Rosedale says not only is that not necessary, it is detrimental, since it encourages gluconeogenesis. He feels people would be better off if they ate when they were hungry and that snacking is not a problem as long as there aren't many carbs in the snacks. I think he might be putting the cart before the horse, too. When people get adapted to the lower-protein, low carb approach, they are fine with fat-burning, they lose their hunger and then it is easy to not constantly snack or to constantly be snacking on protein. The first few days can be really tough for people.
Rosedale's book came out in the 90's, and to me at least, it is the first "paleo" diet book out there. He is working on two new books, but seriously, Rosedale, you need to finish them.
My personal experience with both diets I will cover in another post. But I'll add here that I follow a modified Rosedale plan now. I did well on the leptin reset, but after awhile I gained all the weight back. I found that Kruse's leptin reset plan elicited many positive changes for me, but lots of weight loss wasn't one of them. Restricting my protein has been more helpful.
If you want to learn more about the two protein approaches, read Jimmy Moore's posts about his n=1 experiment with the ketone blood monitor, and also his recent ATLCE podcast featuring Dr. Layman. Dr. Layman is an expert in protein.
Recently I saw a commenter wanting to know of other ways to do a leptin reset. Both Drs. Rosedale and Kruse feel that they have the answers to this. Their plans are quite similar. Both call for a low carb paleo/style diet, limiting feedlot meats, cow's milk, and fake foods. Both limit snacking after dinner and don't recommend lots of exercise. Both would agree that a can of sardines is the most ideal meal/snack, although it looks like Kruse would rather you have them raw, with the heads on, and in the blender.
They differ in the amount of protein. Rosedale's protein recommendation is quite low compared to Kruse's. Their passionate arguments are on Paleohacks, if you even dare to go over there, but here's the gist. Rosedale thinks protein should be kept low to limit gluconeogenesis, and that doing so can also reduce the risk of cancer. Kruse says that doesn't matter, because the diet already reduces the risk of cancers.
To me, the Kruse argument is a little bit of "if you do what I say, and get so-and-so into balance, then it is not a problem". I think he might be putting the cart before the horse. It doesn't really address the transition phase. Rosedale's plan also limits fat in the early weeks. He said that he is a big fan of coconut oil, but did not put that in his book due to the editor/publisher pressure.
Kruse is trying to elicit certain outcomes by limiting food during certain intervals. In order to keep from being hungry during that time, he front-loads with plenty of protein at breakfast. Rosedale says not only is that not necessary, it is detrimental, since it encourages gluconeogenesis. He feels people would be better off if they ate when they were hungry and that snacking is not a problem as long as there aren't many carbs in the snacks. I think he might be putting the cart before the horse, too. When people get adapted to the lower-protein, low carb approach, they are fine with fat-burning, they lose their hunger and then it is easy to not constantly snack or to constantly be snacking on protein. The first few days can be really tough for people.
Rosedale's book came out in the 90's, and to me at least, it is the first "paleo" diet book out there. He is working on two new books, but seriously, Rosedale, you need to finish them.
My personal experience with both diets I will cover in another post. But I'll add here that I follow a modified Rosedale plan now. I did well on the leptin reset, but after awhile I gained all the weight back. I found that Kruse's leptin reset plan elicited many positive changes for me, but lots of weight loss wasn't one of them. Restricting my protein has been more helpful.
If you want to learn more about the two protein approaches, read Jimmy Moore's posts about his n=1 experiment with the ketone blood monitor, and also his recent ATLCE podcast featuring Dr. Layman. Dr. Layman is an expert in protein.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Do Carbs cause cancer?
Hmmm, well maybe they do! Or, at least, the elimination of carbs can stop cancer in its tracks.
One of the probably most-offending links recently provided to [redacted]people consisted of Dr. Feinman's wonderful blog linking a paper he co-wrote with Dr. Fine and others. I posted both the blog post link and the link to the paper on the main message board's "pros and cons of carbohydrates" or something like that. That post has probably been removed, so you can read the link here.
When the topic came up, I had remembered that there was some research done on the connection between carbs and cancer, so I went looking. Concidentally, Dr. Feinman posted his blog that very day.
Folks who follow Jimmy Moore might remember that since checking his blood ketone levels and adjusting his diet, his skin tags fell off. Now it turns out that high levels of sugar cause the skin tags to grow. Turns out that higher sugar also causes some cancers to grow.
Dr. Feinman's paper outlines a study using a ketogenic diet for people with resistant cancers, and the types of cancers that they thought would probably respond favorably to lowered amounts of sugar in the blood. Turns out the patients did better when they had a bunch of kidney-trashing ketones running about.
I hope you will check it out. Here's the plan. Here's Dr. Feinman's blog. And here's the results of the study. After so much fixation on the low carb diet and weight loss, it is time to really take a look at the data indicating that the diet not only is not disastrous and dangerous, it may be more health-promoting than some "experts" want it to be.
One of the probably most-offending links recently provided to [redacted]people consisted of Dr. Feinman's wonderful blog linking a paper he co-wrote with Dr. Fine and others. I posted both the blog post link and the link to the paper on the main message board's "pros and cons of carbohydrates" or something like that. That post has probably been removed, so you can read the link here.
When the topic came up, I had remembered that there was some research done on the connection between carbs and cancer, so I went looking. Concidentally, Dr. Feinman posted his blog that very day.
Folks who follow Jimmy Moore might remember that since checking his blood ketone levels and adjusting his diet, his skin tags fell off. Now it turns out that high levels of sugar cause the skin tags to grow. Turns out that higher sugar also causes some cancers to grow.
Dr. Feinman's paper outlines a study using a ketogenic diet for people with resistant cancers, and the types of cancers that they thought would probably respond favorably to lowered amounts of sugar in the blood. Turns out the patients did better when they had a bunch of kidney-trashing ketones running about.
I hope you will check it out. Here's the plan. Here's Dr. Feinman's blog. And here's the results of the study. After so much fixation on the low carb diet and weight loss, it is time to really take a look at the data indicating that the diet not only is not disastrous and dangerous, it may be more health-promoting than some "experts" want it to be.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
How I get into fat-burning mode
I promised to get back to y'all about what I have learned about getting into fat-burning mode.
First, just want to remind newer readers who haven't read all the history, I lost most of my weight on a lower carb diet, and did not get to the 20-30 carb gram level until much later in the process. But eventually, even while on LC plans like Protein Power, I found I couldn't lose weight, maintain my weight or even contain cravings.
It wasn't really carb creep in my case. Well it was sort of. What it was was that I just couldn't quit eating, just like how I was before I started losing weight, only this time, I was eating protein and fat all day instead of grilled cheese sandwiches.
What was going on? Well, I read that after a while, people on LC get used to it and are able to extract more glucose out of whatever very efficiently. It was probably the case that I went out of fat-burning mode, stayed out, and didn't even realize it, because, "well, I'm on a low carb diet, aren't I?"
Just two or three carby meals in sequence would knock me out of whack for weeks or even months. I tried to get back on the plan, but just couldn't. Eventually I went on the VLC Rosedale plan, but after a couple days of hell, I realized how much different I felt. How could I have been on a LC diet for most of the time and probably not be in ketosis all that time?
Diving into that state was very difficult, resulting in a night of anxiety and agitation. No wonder I wanted to eat food to calm it down. Eventually I knew what to expect, and so would white-knuckle my way back in. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night with dread, my heart beating. Not too fun, but I already knew it was coming, so learned to handle it.
Last year I took advantage of Dr. Eades offer for free Metabosol. While I didn't lose much weight for the week I used it, it did curb food cravings enough to get me back on track. I eventually abandoned Metabosol to start the leptin reset. I gave one free container to my sister, who was also having trouble with carb cravings. The other container I guarded with my life, because at the time, Metabosol wasn't available. I used it to get back into whack. I had to only drink about two or three servings, and then I would enter this nice state where I was no longer hungry. For some reason, taking Metabosol also made me relaxed and sleepy enough for a great night's sleep. (Something I never had whenever I tried Rosedale.)
Eventually I tried CT, and found that it worked much the same way. I started CT'ing every time I ate a carby meal, kind of like the exercise recommendation recommended by Rosedale, only I didn't have to worry about over-exercising and the accompanying exhaustion. CT was just wonderful. I would start hungry, but end up relaxed, pain-free and no longer hungry, and all that was topped off with the most wonderful night of sleep ever.
Now I use both the Metabosol and CT to get back on track, and find that while they both help all by themselves, if I am having a particularly tough time (like after a holiday!!!), I'll do both.
Another interesting thing that I have noticed about CT is that ever since I have been doing it, I never get cold when I restart a low carb diet. I used to always get cold, and though not as bad as when I did calorie restriction diets in the past.
In the future, I'll do posts on several of my n=1 experiments with different diets. It is not really a set of fair comparisons, because I confound everything with my life, the seasons, advancing age and my continual improvement.
First, just want to remind newer readers who haven't read all the history, I lost most of my weight on a lower carb diet, and did not get to the 20-30 carb gram level until much later in the process. But eventually, even while on LC plans like Protein Power, I found I couldn't lose weight, maintain my weight or even contain cravings.
It wasn't really carb creep in my case. Well it was sort of. What it was was that I just couldn't quit eating, just like how I was before I started losing weight, only this time, I was eating protein and fat all day instead of grilled cheese sandwiches.
What was going on? Well, I read that after a while, people on LC get used to it and are able to extract more glucose out of whatever very efficiently. It was probably the case that I went out of fat-burning mode, stayed out, and didn't even realize it, because, "well, I'm on a low carb diet, aren't I?"
Just two or three carby meals in sequence would knock me out of whack for weeks or even months. I tried to get back on the plan, but just couldn't. Eventually I went on the VLC Rosedale plan, but after a couple days of hell, I realized how much different I felt. How could I have been on a LC diet for most of the time and probably not be in ketosis all that time?
Diving into that state was very difficult, resulting in a night of anxiety and agitation. No wonder I wanted to eat food to calm it down. Eventually I knew what to expect, and so would white-knuckle my way back in. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night with dread, my heart beating. Not too fun, but I already knew it was coming, so learned to handle it.
Last year I took advantage of Dr. Eades offer for free Metabosol. While I didn't lose much weight for the week I used it, it did curb food cravings enough to get me back on track. I eventually abandoned Metabosol to start the leptin reset. I gave one free container to my sister, who was also having trouble with carb cravings. The other container I guarded with my life, because at the time, Metabosol wasn't available. I used it to get back into whack. I had to only drink about two or three servings, and then I would enter this nice state where I was no longer hungry. For some reason, taking Metabosol also made me relaxed and sleepy enough for a great night's sleep. (Something I never had whenever I tried Rosedale.)
Eventually I tried CT, and found that it worked much the same way. I started CT'ing every time I ate a carby meal, kind of like the exercise recommendation recommended by Rosedale, only I didn't have to worry about over-exercising and the accompanying exhaustion. CT was just wonderful. I would start hungry, but end up relaxed, pain-free and no longer hungry, and all that was topped off with the most wonderful night of sleep ever.
Now I use both the Metabosol and CT to get back on track, and find that while they both help all by themselves, if I am having a particularly tough time (like after a holiday!!!), I'll do both.
Another interesting thing that I have noticed about CT is that ever since I have been doing it, I never get cold when I restart a low carb diet. I used to always get cold, and though not as bad as when I did calorie restriction diets in the past.
In the future, I'll do posts on several of my n=1 experiments with different diets. It is not really a set of fair comparisons, because I confound everything with my life, the seasons, advancing age and my continual improvement.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
My Final Letter from [redacted]Coach Jen
"In June, 2011 you
were given a final warning about giving members advice that goes against [redacted]People’s program recommendations. Many of your posts link to
non-research supported sites, and I know you’ve also been giving members
unsolicited advice through [redacted]Mail when they post about something on
the general Message Boards. It’s great if you’ve found a style of
eating that works for you, and it’s fine that you don’t agree with our
recommendations. But because we believe our guidelines are based on
sound research and they are being applied to a wide range of people with
a wide range of medical histories, we consider it dangerous to be
giving advice outside of these guidelines. Therefore, your account has
been closed.
I suspected a set-up when I started getting unsolicited [redacted]mails from people, asking me for advice. This is weird, since I don't give advice but only tell people to keep reading. There have been a few people on the main message boards who have been saying that I have been giving advice and putting other words in my mouth, so I am not surprised at all. I think the main message boards have become infested with some seriously mentally ill people who have been demanding compliance to their way of eating.
So, goodbye [redacted]peeps, and I hope you will come over here more often.
Here's the last "non-research supported" site that I posted. I think some of y'all will find this very funny.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
My reply on Dr. Rosedale's blog
Dr. Rosedale recently posted an interesting "finale" to the latest AHS12 safe starch debate. This response is from js 290:
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Data White-Out
Dang! This is unfortunate. It was always a joke in the halls of statistics. If you don't like a pesky data point that seems to blow holes in your fave theory, just get a little bottle of white-out. Apply liberally. Poof! Problem's gone.
Trouble happens when it is MY data point. Now, to compensate, I am going to write a series of blog posts. I hope you read them and send a link to EVERYONE YOU KNOW who has anything to do with the low- and lower-carb world because they really need to read this stuff.
I posted a thoughtful reply on Ron Rosedale's end-of-safe-starch-discussion blog, and eventually it got past the moderator, but while I was waiting, I thought it best for me to collect my thoughts here, where I have some control over what is included. (You can find Ron's post by finding the link on the right.)
If you have always wondered what it is like to actually live in a place such as Morovia, untouched by any 7-country study, 22-country study or other serious anthropological inquiry, well, stay tuned. You'll be able to see that lost demographic right here, eating, sleeping, struggling with both.
Here's a general outline of what I intend to cover:
1. Review my original comment on Rosedale's blog.
2. Elaborate on the tricks I now use to get back into VLC-fat-burning mode.
3. Respond to another poster (somewhere?) who mentioned he thought that people who tried many diets carefully were just neurotic. Yep, I hope I don't get too Portia on you, but this topic deserves a blogpost all on its own.
4. A post on the general state of "discussions" about carbs and the lack of science. From a certain point of view, there is really no difference between many of the luminaries who coo to their audience segment, kick out the comments of those who have a different experience and otherwise ignore or discount their data. They all deserve some time in the science doghouse.
So, to get started, I hope new readers will visit some of my earlier blogposts about what happened to me. You can find them here and here.
Trouble happens when it is MY data point. Now, to compensate, I am going to write a series of blog posts. I hope you read them and send a link to EVERYONE YOU KNOW who has anything to do with the low- and lower-carb world because they really need to read this stuff.
I posted a thoughtful reply on Ron Rosedale's end-of-safe-starch-discussion blog, and eventually it got past the moderator, but while I was waiting, I thought it best for me to collect my thoughts here, where I have some control over what is included. (You can find Ron's post by finding the link on the right.)
If you have always wondered what it is like to actually live in a place such as Morovia, untouched by any 7-country study, 22-country study or other serious anthropological inquiry, well, stay tuned. You'll be able to see that lost demographic right here, eating, sleeping, struggling with both.
Here's a general outline of what I intend to cover:
1. Review my original comment on Rosedale's blog.
2. Elaborate on the tricks I now use to get back into VLC-fat-burning mode.
3. Respond to another poster (somewhere?) who mentioned he thought that people who tried many diets carefully were just neurotic. Yep, I hope I don't get too Portia on you, but this topic deserves a blogpost all on its own.
4. A post on the general state of "discussions" about carbs and the lack of science. From a certain point of view, there is really no difference between many of the luminaries who coo to their audience segment, kick out the comments of those who have a different experience and otherwise ignore or discount their data. They all deserve some time in the science doghouse.
So, to get started, I hope new readers will visit some of my earlier blogposts about what happened to me. You can find them here and here.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
AHS12 and the Search for the Lost Demographic
Just as I predicted earlier this year, the ancestral health community is still embedded in the throes of discovery and re-discovery!!!
This just in: The Paleo's are uncivilized. They don't like fat old ladies. Oh Wait! This is a repeat post, isn't it?
I just have to share my experience of AHS11. I was a fly-on-the-wall. I met or saw EVERYONE. I found all the speakers cordial and friendly, even folks who are absolutely not that way on their blogs and websites. I was actually surprised that some of the participants even acted human, except of course, right before their talks, when they were deep in thought and pacing around. I tried to not confuse concentration and intensity with unfriendliness.
It was a slightly different story with the participants. Many were friendly, chatty and nice (and grateful for the fresh veggies I brought). Others were not friendly. Young men obvious with their Robb mancrushes encircled him the whole time like burly bodyguards in some conflicted country and wouldn't let anyone else in. The folks on paleohacks who said they were so eager to meet everyone were nowhere to be found. I met a doctor who was quite rude and condescending
Oh, I know, if you are thinking that was Jack Kruse, you are wrong. He was friendly and talkative. He didn't seem to have a problem chatting it up with the little people, either during someone else's presentation or on a grassy knoll in some quadrangle.
What I don't get about this volunteer's post is that she and her angry friends feel left out of the overall paleo community, but they also try to kick out the low carb people and others they feel don't meet the requirements. I know in my case, I have had lots of difficulty with several of those "whiners" attacking me because I follow Jack Kruse's recommendations.
Call me silly, but I think if you are a neglected demographic looking for a lost demographic, oh yes, that group you just voted off the island, you aren't going to find very many buddies. Simply, it is more likely that the lost demographic is on a more low-carb version of paleo, and also entertaining Kruse's and others' cutting-edge ideas that the self-appointed paleo hall-monitors reject. I read the exchanges of this bloggers "feminist" friends, many paleo luminaries and the paleohacks participants, and then said to myself, "Nope, I am done with this," and then went on over to the low carb community, where they are more friendly to my demographic.
Seriously, it is just like what they say in kindergarten. If you want friends you have to be a friend. The uncivilized paleo community will never get anywhere if they keep excluding people.
Note: Since I first posted this, the person who complained about AHS12 has deleted her blog. I am so sorry I did not get to read all of her posts before she took the whole thing down. I think she had some really valid points to make about the paleo community, even though my experience hasn't been totally the same. The responses to her post were an eye-opener, hopefully, for some people who say that they value the direction that the paleo community has taken. Hey paleo community, if you really want to include the fat old ladies in your tribe, it is probably better to not call them ugly, undesirable cunts. It is also not OK to attempt to take an entire community hostage to certain infantile demands, no matter what side they are on. Just sayin'.
This just in: The Paleo's are uncivilized. They don't like fat old ladies. Oh Wait! This is a repeat post, isn't it?
I just have to share my experience of AHS11. I was a fly-on-the-wall. I met or saw EVERYONE. I found all the speakers cordial and friendly, even folks who are absolutely not that way on their blogs and websites. I was actually surprised that some of the participants even acted human, except of course, right before their talks, when they were deep in thought and pacing around. I tried to not confuse concentration and intensity with unfriendliness.
It was a slightly different story with the participants. Many were friendly, chatty and nice (and grateful for the fresh veggies I brought). Others were not friendly. Young men obvious with their Robb mancrushes encircled him the whole time like burly bodyguards in some conflicted country and wouldn't let anyone else in. The folks on paleohacks who said they were so eager to meet everyone were nowhere to be found. I met a doctor who was quite rude and condescending
Oh, I know, if you are thinking that was Jack Kruse, you are wrong. He was friendly and talkative. He didn't seem to have a problem chatting it up with the little people, either during someone else's presentation or on a grassy knoll in some quadrangle.
What I don't get about this volunteer's post is that she and her angry friends feel left out of the overall paleo community, but they also try to kick out the low carb people and others they feel don't meet the requirements. I know in my case, I have had lots of difficulty with several of those "whiners" attacking me because I follow Jack Kruse's recommendations.
Call me silly, but I think if you are a neglected demographic looking for a lost demographic, oh yes, that group you just voted off the island, you aren't going to find very many buddies. Simply, it is more likely that the lost demographic is on a more low-carb version of paleo, and also entertaining Kruse's and others' cutting-edge ideas that the self-appointed paleo hall-monitors reject. I read the exchanges of this bloggers "feminist" friends, many paleo luminaries and the paleohacks participants, and then said to myself, "Nope, I am done with this," and then went on over to the low carb community, where they are more friendly to my demographic.
Seriously, it is just like what they say in kindergarten. If you want friends you have to be a friend. The uncivilized paleo community will never get anywhere if they keep excluding people.
Note: Since I first posted this, the person who complained about AHS12 has deleted her blog. I am so sorry I did not get to read all of her posts before she took the whole thing down. I think she had some really valid points to make about the paleo community, even though my experience hasn't been totally the same. The responses to her post were an eye-opener, hopefully, for some people who say that they value the direction that the paleo community has taken. Hey paleo community, if you really want to include the fat old ladies in your tribe, it is probably better to not call them ugly, undesirable cunts. It is also not OK to attempt to take an entire community hostage to certain infantile demands, no matter what side they are on. Just sayin'.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Can we really have a cheeseburger?
I read the article about how impossible it is to make a real burger. And about all I can say about THAT is that if you are going to use a cheeseburger as the gold standard recipe, and all the stuff you put on it identifies it as a California burger, it might be a good idea to try it in California first before declaring that it is impossible.
I am sure the typical hamburger can easily be made in the fall.
Although I don't have a steer to slaughter this fall, I am sure people could butcher a goat at any time. Of course, with goats being about the only local livestock, one would expect an abundance of goat milk in the spring and summer. No need to wait a year to harvest some rennet. Goat cheese can be made in a couple of hours with plain ole goats milk and some lemons. Now if you insist on that square orange stuff, there is no hope for you anyway, and it is probably best that it is impossible for an average person to make just so you don't hurt yourself.
Cucumbers come into harvesting from June to September, giving any cook ample time to make pickles and store them hassle-free until the rest of the ingredients are ready.
Lettuce grows extremely well in the fall, and people here harvest lots of lettuce right about the time when the last of the summer tomatoes are harvested. Of course, the tomatoes can be picked and the vine hung up right out on the patio, and you can have a fresh sliced tomato up to and including New Years day. (Ask me how I know this....) If that isn't good enough, you can grow tasteless winter varieties that will mimic the one they put on your fast-food meal perfectly.
Mustard is just about the easiest condiment to make. My mustard seeds would be ripening by now, had the goldfinches not stripped the plants clean of all seed pods and flowers. If I really had to have mustard, I would have planted more. If I hadn't gotten around to fermenting last fall's apples into vinegar, I'd just make mustard with sauerkraut or pickle juice. It works really well. The reason I didn't get around to planting more mustard for seed is that I grow plenty of hot mustard plants in the fall, and a nice hot mustard leaf can do double duty on the hamburger instead of the mustard and the lettuce. And it is much easier since after the goldfinches get into all the seed, they toss it all around and it reseeds itself everywhere and all I have to do is sit around and marvel at the efficiency of laziness.
The hardest thing to duplicate is the bun, but that is easy for me since I don't eat that stuff much anymore and would just leave it out entirely. But in earlier times I have actually planted, harvested, winnowed, ground and baked wheat. Believe me, the people who say our diet should be based on healthywholegrains and other seed foods just don't know diddly-squat about growing and securing their own food. It is really hard to grow seeds. You might plant a whole row of something, and then have mice come by and take much of it at the last minute, or have it shatter all over the place. Even for something super easy like amaranth, gathering even a cup of the seeds takes many hours and it tastes like red poi. (Ask me how I know this...) There is good reason why the Chumash put a much higher price on chia seeds than on acorns. If you have actually tried to harvest chia or basil seed or acorns, you will immediately notice the difference in time needed to get a cup of seeds vs. nuts.
Around here, I might be able to make a steamed pile of acorn flour, and this would take quite a bit of time. I don't know how it would taste because every time I attempted to make food from acorns, it was a failure. There is a good reason why the Chumash acorn-grinding stones were near the ocean. They could have just grabbed more seawater for soaking, bypassing the moldy stage that my acorn mess got into. And they did. Acorns made up around forty percent of their diet.
Actually, the hardest food around here to replicate in a fast food meal is the potatoes. They only grow in the spring, and are usually rotten by summer. I grow a few of them, but mainly it is "you want sunchokes with that?" And if you want to supersize THAT, well there is still no hope for you.
I am sure the typical hamburger can easily be made in the fall.
Although I don't have a steer to slaughter this fall, I am sure people could butcher a goat at any time. Of course, with goats being about the only local livestock, one would expect an abundance of goat milk in the spring and summer. No need to wait a year to harvest some rennet. Goat cheese can be made in a couple of hours with plain ole goats milk and some lemons. Now if you insist on that square orange stuff, there is no hope for you anyway, and it is probably best that it is impossible for an average person to make just so you don't hurt yourself.
Cucumbers come into harvesting from June to September, giving any cook ample time to make pickles and store them hassle-free until the rest of the ingredients are ready.
Lettuce grows extremely well in the fall, and people here harvest lots of lettuce right about the time when the last of the summer tomatoes are harvested. Of course, the tomatoes can be picked and the vine hung up right out on the patio, and you can have a fresh sliced tomato up to and including New Years day. (Ask me how I know this....) If that isn't good enough, you can grow tasteless winter varieties that will mimic the one they put on your fast-food meal perfectly.
Mustard is just about the easiest condiment to make. My mustard seeds would be ripening by now, had the goldfinches not stripped the plants clean of all seed pods and flowers. If I really had to have mustard, I would have planted more. If I hadn't gotten around to fermenting last fall's apples into vinegar, I'd just make mustard with sauerkraut or pickle juice. It works really well. The reason I didn't get around to planting more mustard for seed is that I grow plenty of hot mustard plants in the fall, and a nice hot mustard leaf can do double duty on the hamburger instead of the mustard and the lettuce. And it is much easier since after the goldfinches get into all the seed, they toss it all around and it reseeds itself everywhere and all I have to do is sit around and marvel at the efficiency of laziness.
The hardest thing to duplicate is the bun, but that is easy for me since I don't eat that stuff much anymore and would just leave it out entirely. But in earlier times I have actually planted, harvested, winnowed, ground and baked wheat. Believe me, the people who say our diet should be based on healthywholegrains and other seed foods just don't know diddly-squat about growing and securing their own food. It is really hard to grow seeds. You might plant a whole row of something, and then have mice come by and take much of it at the last minute, or have it shatter all over the place. Even for something super easy like amaranth, gathering even a cup of the seeds takes many hours and it tastes like red poi. (Ask me how I know this...) There is good reason why the Chumash put a much higher price on chia seeds than on acorns. If you have actually tried to harvest chia or basil seed or acorns, you will immediately notice the difference in time needed to get a cup of seeds vs. nuts.
Around here, I might be able to make a steamed pile of acorn flour, and this would take quite a bit of time. I don't know how it would taste because every time I attempted to make food from acorns, it was a failure. There is a good reason why the Chumash acorn-grinding stones were near the ocean. They could have just grabbed more seawater for soaking, bypassing the moldy stage that my acorn mess got into. And they did. Acorns made up around forty percent of their diet.
Actually, the hardest food around here to replicate in a fast food meal is the potatoes. They only grow in the spring, and are usually rotten by summer. I grow a few of them, but mainly it is "you want sunchokes with that?" And if you want to supersize THAT, well there is still no hope for you.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
What's in YOUR shopping cart??
Every time I go to the local "healthy" farm-like store, I run into some other healthy person I know. Today I ran into my doctor. At least I think it was him, as he was in a rush. Since he was not wearing a white coat, I wasn't quite sure until I caught another glimpse of him at the checkout container.
Just as well that I didn't say hi. He was in the fruit aisle, snapping up the stone fruits on the 5-a-day plan. I, on the other hand, was armed with a package of bacon and a bag of salt-infested cashews. Never mind the yard full of healthy organic vegetables, berries and paleo-approved tubers, I would have been busted fer sure.
I have this sort of love-hate relationship with my doctor. I love that he is smart, but I hate that he knows all the wrong things really really well. The next time I will probably visit him, it will be past my 2-year anniversary of going lower carb. At the two-year point, of course, my "good" diet that helped me lose weight, keep from gaining, improved all lipid, blood sugar and inflammation values will become "bad" and send me down the certain path to heart disease.
That's right.
"If it is working to lose weight, that is fine, but after awhile, if you stay on that diet you will be at a higher risk for heart disease."
I am wondering, will I gradually slide down into metabolic disrepair and lipid-nonoptimality or will it be a like a step function? Or, will I be humming along perfectly one day, and rushing to the hospital clutching my heart on day 731? Well, whatever happens, I'll report it here, if I am still alive. I am betting that I will be fine.
Just as well that I didn't say hi. He was in the fruit aisle, snapping up the stone fruits on the 5-a-day plan. I, on the other hand, was armed with a package of bacon and a bag of salt-infested cashews. Never mind the yard full of healthy organic vegetables, berries and paleo-approved tubers, I would have been busted fer sure.
I have this sort of love-hate relationship with my doctor. I love that he is smart, but I hate that he knows all the wrong things really really well. The next time I will probably visit him, it will be past my 2-year anniversary of going lower carb. At the two-year point, of course, my "good" diet that helped me lose weight, keep from gaining, improved all lipid, blood sugar and inflammation values will become "bad" and send me down the certain path to heart disease.
That's right.
"If it is working to lose weight, that is fine, but after awhile, if you stay on that diet you will be at a higher risk for heart disease."
I am wondering, will I gradually slide down into metabolic disrepair and lipid-nonoptimality or will it be a like a step function? Or, will I be humming along perfectly one day, and rushing to the hospital clutching my heart on day 731? Well, whatever happens, I'll report it here, if I am still alive. I am betting that I will be fine.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
OK, here's the long-awaited low-down on our Fave Doubly-Labeled Water Study!
Lots of times I don't get around to finishing a series of posts that I had planned. Well, this is the third and probably final post on the popular study where energy expenditure was measured while folks tried various weight maintenance diets.
Lots has been said about it all over, and I was really waiting for Hyperlipid to say more about it, but that will probably go on for weeks. I hope people are reminded that I am not a research biochemist. I can analyze data, but I don't really KNOW anything, and so rely on folks like Peter to do some of the heavy lifting on those parts.
I have read lots about how small the sample size used in this experiment, and I find those arguments to be sub-optimal, especially when significant differences were noted. My take on this is that the researchers already sort of knew what they were looking for and had picked the sample size so they could detect minor but statistically significant differences between diets. The sample size problem would really be more of a problem if they had declared there to be no differences between any of the diets. This is a favorite trick.
People sure like to hone in on the sample size, and it is important to get that right, depending on the cost of the study and other factors. Another favorite trick is to bowl them over with lots of n's, and with lots of meaningless charts and graphs, hoping that nobody will really read anything and discover under the thin-veneer of a high-sample overly-charted masterpiece, everything underneath is rotten. Getting crappy data on 100,000 people, with a crappy food questionnaire, a notable lack of doubly-labeled water, doing a crappy epidemiological study and then doing a crappy job of "adjusting" for all sorts of variables that should have been controlled in the first place gives one, in the end, a bunch of crap. I would rather have a smaller experiment well-done. For this experiment, they kept pretty good track of the people in it, retention was high, parts of it were in-house and more carefully controlled.
There are a couple of issues I do have with this study. First, there is lots of talk that this is a test of the Atkins diet. I wish people would quit invoking Atkins when it isn't Atkins. The Atkins plan recommends VLC for a few weeks, and then on to a higher-carb plan, and when the weight is lost and they go on maintenance, which usually involves even more carbs. Additionally, the Atkins diet never attempts to be isocaloric. The plan recommends you eat when you are hungry and when you are full, stop. There is no prescription for it to be isocaloric. In fact, calorie-counting is discouraged.
I don't know a single person in the whole wide world who lost a significant amount of weight on a conventional CW diet and then decided to go on a VLC ketogenic diet for maintenance. Nope. Nada. Just doesn't happen. So, all the media attempts to say that this experiment somehow is representative of anything that actual dieters will ever actually experience is, well, an attempt and that attempt will hopefully not be successful.
My second beef with this study is that it has been reported as a comparison of weight-loss diets. Many people reported this experiment as a test of three different weight loss plans. It was not. It was a test of three different maintenance plans, after the participants lost weight successfully on the CW prescription. If they were not successful in this first phase of the experiment, they did not progress to the second part and did not get to supp the doubly-labeled water. So, unless you want to settle a university playground brawl, who cares? We really all just want to figure out how to lose weight. We don't really want to find a diet that will allow us to eat more, we want to find a diet that will allow us to not want to eat ourselves silly all day long, and not allow us to store all of the excesses we desperately crave and cave for. As for myself, I was too old to be enrolled in this study, and I would have failed the first part for sure, and would not be allowed to supp the doubly-labeled water either.
My third beef with this study is the crossover aspect. Very few reviews of this study seemed to notice that each diet was followed for a time by each person. Now I understand why they wanted to do it this way, because it minimizes the between-subject error due to individual metabolic differences, but SHEESH!, each diet was supposed to be followed for a few weeks, and then the participants were to magically adjust to the next plan?
I tried to comment about this same phenom on a Ned Kock blogpost, and he just didn't get it. These young guys and their fixation with the theory of balance They are like Tim Ferris and all their little boy-friends who try this or that for a day or so and then everything settles down back to normal. Meanwhile, I can try a few tweaks to my diet or exercise regimen and then try to get back into balance after WEEKS or MONTHS. Things just don't work that balance way. Anyway...... I was going to give Ned the benefit of the doubt for awhile, and he just never did rescue himself from his own confusion, despite my hints. At least he removed the half-naked sunburned paleo-required mugshot from his blog. Maybe there is hope for him yet.
...Anyway...oh, where was I?.....Oh, I would love to see this study done with the three plans tested after a weight-loss program modeled after the Atkinsarterycloggingsaturatedfat plan, and then start to supp the doubly-labeled water, and/or a longer time period on each plan and/or a longer wash-out period between plans (which of course, for people like me, would create a whole host of new problems). I don't right now remember reading if there was any transition time, but I am sure that whatever it was, someone like me would need more time, or perhaps it would be infinity.
Gosh, wouldn't it be cool to do this with people who have totally stalled out on either CW or the Atkinsarterycloggingsaturatedfat plan, and then finally put to bed for good that meme that we all fail because we can't use a measuring cup and we lie on our food logs? Now, that would be a cool study.
Lots has been said about it all over, and I was really waiting for Hyperlipid to say more about it, but that will probably go on for weeks. I hope people are reminded that I am not a research biochemist. I can analyze data, but I don't really KNOW anything, and so rely on folks like Peter to do some of the heavy lifting on those parts.
I have read lots about how small the sample size used in this experiment, and I find those arguments to be sub-optimal, especially when significant differences were noted. My take on this is that the researchers already sort of knew what they were looking for and had picked the sample size so they could detect minor but statistically significant differences between diets. The sample size problem would really be more of a problem if they had declared there to be no differences between any of the diets. This is a favorite trick.
People sure like to hone in on the sample size, and it is important to get that right, depending on the cost of the study and other factors. Another favorite trick is to bowl them over with lots of n's, and with lots of meaningless charts and graphs, hoping that nobody will really read anything and discover under the thin-veneer of a high-sample overly-charted masterpiece, everything underneath is rotten. Getting crappy data on 100,000 people, with a crappy food questionnaire, a notable lack of doubly-labeled water, doing a crappy epidemiological study and then doing a crappy job of "adjusting" for all sorts of variables that should have been controlled in the first place gives one, in the end, a bunch of crap. I would rather have a smaller experiment well-done. For this experiment, they kept pretty good track of the people in it, retention was high, parts of it were in-house and more carefully controlled.
There are a couple of issues I do have with this study. First, there is lots of talk that this is a test of the Atkins diet. I wish people would quit invoking Atkins when it isn't Atkins. The Atkins plan recommends VLC for a few weeks, and then on to a higher-carb plan, and when the weight is lost and they go on maintenance, which usually involves even more carbs. Additionally, the Atkins diet never attempts to be isocaloric. The plan recommends you eat when you are hungry and when you are full, stop. There is no prescription for it to be isocaloric. In fact, calorie-counting is discouraged.
I don't know a single person in the whole wide world who lost a significant amount of weight on a conventional CW diet and then decided to go on a VLC ketogenic diet for maintenance. Nope. Nada. Just doesn't happen. So, all the media attempts to say that this experiment somehow is representative of anything that actual dieters will ever actually experience is, well, an attempt and that attempt will hopefully not be successful.
My second beef with this study is that it has been reported as a comparison of weight-loss diets. Many people reported this experiment as a test of three different weight loss plans. It was not. It was a test of three different maintenance plans, after the participants lost weight successfully on the CW prescription. If they were not successful in this first phase of the experiment, they did not progress to the second part and did not get to supp the doubly-labeled water. So, unless you want to settle a university playground brawl, who cares? We really all just want to figure out how to lose weight. We don't really want to find a diet that will allow us to eat more, we want to find a diet that will allow us to not want to eat ourselves silly all day long, and not allow us to store all of the excesses we desperately crave and cave for. As for myself, I was too old to be enrolled in this study, and I would have failed the first part for sure, and would not be allowed to supp the doubly-labeled water either.
My third beef with this study is the crossover aspect. Very few reviews of this study seemed to notice that each diet was followed for a time by each person. Now I understand why they wanted to do it this way, because it minimizes the between-subject error due to individual metabolic differences, but SHEESH!, each diet was supposed to be followed for a few weeks, and then the participants were to magically adjust to the next plan?
I tried to comment about this same phenom on a Ned Kock blogpost, and he just didn't get it. These young guys and their fixation with the theory of balance They are like Tim Ferris and all their little boy-friends who try this or that for a day or so and then everything settles down back to normal. Meanwhile, I can try a few tweaks to my diet or exercise regimen and then try to get back into balance after WEEKS or MONTHS. Things just don't work that balance way. Anyway...... I was going to give Ned the benefit of the doubt for awhile, and he just never did rescue himself from his own confusion, despite my hints. At least he removed the half-naked sunburned paleo-required mugshot from his blog. Maybe there is hope for him yet.
...Anyway...oh, where was I?.....Oh, I would love to see this study done with the three plans tested after a weight-loss program modeled after the Atkinsarterycloggingsaturatedfat plan, and then start to supp the doubly-labeled water, and/or a longer time period on each plan and/or a longer wash-out period between plans (which of course, for people like me, would create a whole host of new problems). I don't right now remember reading if there was any transition time, but I am sure that whatever it was, someone like me would need more time, or perhaps it would be infinity.
Gosh, wouldn't it be cool to do this with people who have totally stalled out on either CW or the Atkinsarterycloggingsaturatedfat plan, and then finally put to bed for good that meme that we all fail because we can't use a measuring cup and we lie on our food logs? Now, that would be a cool study.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Dirty Eating
Two topics caught my eye recently. First, I saw a copy of Clean Eating at the bookstore, and wondered why so many seem to be obsessed with cleanliness. This is the season of clean food, detoxing, cleanses, and eating lots of lemons.
In contrast, I listened to Joel Salatin on Patrick Timpone's One Radio network. I got a kick out of the way Dr. Joel described cows. Portable sauerkraut-making machines? Priceless!
I am a sauerkraut-making machine, too, but I no longer make it in my intestines. I make sauerkraut on my kitchen counter, right where it belongs. When it gets good and tasty, I serve up a dab of it on practically everything, and this week it has been exceptionally good with thinly-sliced tri-tip.
There isn't any disinfecting wipe action going on in my kitchen, but yes, I do wash the dishes and wipe stuff down. The kale leaves are stacked in old yogurt containers like a bouquet of flowers. The pickles are fermenting nicely, and I can have a slice or two once I wash off the slime. I try to keep the companion animals off the counters.
Recently while watering the garden, I saw some ripe fruits, and so I gathered them and ate them in-situ, before washing. A strawberry, a yellow tomato, a red hot pepper, a few holy basil leaves, some mint, a leaf of black kale. Lunch.
In contrast, I listened to Joel Salatin on Patrick Timpone's One Radio network. I got a kick out of the way Dr. Joel described cows. Portable sauerkraut-making machines? Priceless!
I am a sauerkraut-making machine, too, but I no longer make it in my intestines. I make sauerkraut on my kitchen counter, right where it belongs. When it gets good and tasty, I serve up a dab of it on practically everything, and this week it has been exceptionally good with thinly-sliced tri-tip.
There isn't any disinfecting wipe action going on in my kitchen, but yes, I do wash the dishes and wipe stuff down. The kale leaves are stacked in old yogurt containers like a bouquet of flowers. The pickles are fermenting nicely, and I can have a slice or two once I wash off the slime. I try to keep the companion animals off the counters.
Recently while watering the garden, I saw some ripe fruits, and so I gathered them and ate them in-situ, before washing. A strawberry, a yellow tomato, a red hot pepper, a few holy basil leaves, some mint, a leaf of black kale. Lunch.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
This Just In - For your Emmy Consideration
Interrupting my regularly scheduled episode where I put myself and a certain statistical study together in the ring and see what kind of entertainment we can deliver.
Y'all know all about the knitting group, but what you might not know is that there is this table of free stuff right outside the classroom, and I take advantage of it freely. It has all sorts of stuff, not just stacks of Diabetes Educator magazines and other offerings from the "Academy", but great fluffy stuff I can take with me into the cold tub and not worry if I dunk it a couple of times.
Yesterday was a score: an actual timely copy of Oprah, Martha Stewart Living and Real Simple magazines, all admonishing me to take advantage of seasonal produce, lower my fat and declutter my life. 'Course, that isn't working when I just clutter up my life again with free magazines. Interspersed with articles telling me to get rid of the junk are ads for closet organizing "systems", featuring women who are much younger and thinner than I, and seem to have a whole lot more clothes, including an entire row of beige jackets. And I am thinking that despite the air-brushing and great make-up, do they work for some insurance company or airport car rental kiosk to have all that beige? I am happy to report that my closet indicates that I have never worked for said companies.
One great find was a recent issue of Southern Living, all about barbeque. This I could get into, even though the back of the issue was littered with 30 kinds of "icebox" cream pie.
Anyway, I am off track again, just can't resist another helping of irony, I guess. The REAL reason for this post is that it looks like a member of the Academy took Martha's advice and started decluttering. The REAL Academy, not the fake dietary Academy. Well, not actually the Academy, but close enough. People not from around here probably don't know this, but around awards time, members of the Academy or other trade associations get mountains of mail, chocked full of CD's of movies, TV shows and other promotional material. I know all about this because the guy who lived in my house before me was a member of the REAL Academy and didn't get around to changing his address, and I got a whole lot of free movies that year, all with warnings not to share with others. This year, some industry member just decided to unload his junk mail on to the free table.
I picked up the copy of "The Weight of the Nation" mostly because I am a packaging junkie and I love to see how these promo items are put together. I wasn't disappointed. Right under the picture of the United States cracking into a million pieces under all that weight was written in a tasteful font, of course, "FOR YOUR EMMY CONSIDERATION". I already watched part of the series until I got bored. Anyone else think it was kind of like those biblical prophecy videos, which pictures of the world cracking or being blown up into a million pieces along with ominous music and snippets of some spiritual light-related thing like a stained-glass window or stonehenge? BTDT, sooooo derivative. This series that an industry insider was supposed to consider was contained in three CD's in a nice sturdy holder I might use for my other CD's. I might recycle the CD's also. (I certainly won't actually WATCH them again, who wants to sit through a half hour of material crammed into a 4-part series?) I really need a larger spindle to spin some bulky yarn Navajo-style. The extra weight of all 3 CD's will give me the extra weight I need for this project. So for THAT, I would like to thank the Academy.
Y'all know all about the knitting group, but what you might not know is that there is this table of free stuff right outside the classroom, and I take advantage of it freely. It has all sorts of stuff, not just stacks of Diabetes Educator magazines and other offerings from the "Academy", but great fluffy stuff I can take with me into the cold tub and not worry if I dunk it a couple of times.
Yesterday was a score: an actual timely copy of Oprah, Martha Stewart Living and Real Simple magazines, all admonishing me to take advantage of seasonal produce, lower my fat and declutter my life. 'Course, that isn't working when I just clutter up my life again with free magazines. Interspersed with articles telling me to get rid of the junk are ads for closet organizing "systems", featuring women who are much younger and thinner than I, and seem to have a whole lot more clothes, including an entire row of beige jackets. And I am thinking that despite the air-brushing and great make-up, do they work for some insurance company or airport car rental kiosk to have all that beige? I am happy to report that my closet indicates that I have never worked for said companies.
One great find was a recent issue of Southern Living, all about barbeque. This I could get into, even though the back of the issue was littered with 30 kinds of "icebox" cream pie.
Anyway, I am off track again, just can't resist another helping of irony, I guess. The REAL reason for this post is that it looks like a member of the Academy took Martha's advice and started decluttering. The REAL Academy, not the fake dietary Academy. Well, not actually the Academy, but close enough. People not from around here probably don't know this, but around awards time, members of the Academy or other trade associations get mountains of mail, chocked full of CD's of movies, TV shows and other promotional material. I know all about this because the guy who lived in my house before me was a member of the REAL Academy and didn't get around to changing his address, and I got a whole lot of free movies that year, all with warnings not to share with others. This year, some industry member just decided to unload his junk mail on to the free table.
I picked up the copy of "The Weight of the Nation" mostly because I am a packaging junkie and I love to see how these promo items are put together. I wasn't disappointed. Right under the picture of the United States cracking into a million pieces under all that weight was written in a tasteful font, of course, "FOR YOUR EMMY CONSIDERATION". I already watched part of the series until I got bored. Anyone else think it was kind of like those biblical prophecy videos, which pictures of the world cracking or being blown up into a million pieces along with ominous music and snippets of some spiritual light-related thing like a stained-glass window or stonehenge? BTDT, sooooo derivative. This series that an industry insider was supposed to consider was contained in three CD's in a nice sturdy holder I might use for my other CD's. I might recycle the CD's also. (I certainly won't actually WATCH them again, who wants to sit through a half hour of material crammed into a 4-part series?) I really need a larger spindle to spin some bulky yarn Navajo-style. The extra weight of all 3 CD's will give me the extra weight I need for this project. So for THAT, I would like to thank the Academy.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Repeat After Me: An editorial is an Opinion
What can I say? Hey, FreetheDick isn't the only media whore. I want readership, too, and was just so bummed when I realized that Dr. Bray did just another "brayscapade" on JAMA without reading and heeding my earlier posts. OK, maybe I can cut him a break, maybe he just forgot that I told everyone that he shouldn't be abusing his position as editor of a prestigious medical journal by undercutting researchers armed with data that isn't in concert with his position. Perhaps if he had cut the carbs a bit more, he wouldn't have so much memory loss.
It has become just such a joke, when these crazy, rigid obesity researchers are presented with paper after paper after paper that shows that a low carb diet isn't all that bad, hey, maybe even better, and so try to spin it back their favorite way by using their editorial privilege instead of providing any new data or anything relevant.
Here is the accompanying editorial: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1199129
It's Bray's way of saying, "Blah blah blah, obesity sure is big and bad, .... hey, shove it, Ebbeling. I am still right despite your fancy new data. Blah blah blobbity blah blah......in the end, Oh!, it is STILL SO UNCLEAR,...Oh! its WAAAAAY too complicated........ but really in the end, it is still all about calories."
Dr. Ebbeling et al, I hope all this isn't raising your cortisol levels too high. After all, reading this Bray stuff is like, going to make you gain weight or have a heart attack or something. This is even after you bothered to use the controversial doubly labeled water.
[Sorry, but I had to add that part about doubly labeled water. Ever since Peter Hyperlipid gushed about the miraculous water I have been wanting to include it in a post to increase my readership.]
It has become just such a joke, when these crazy, rigid obesity researchers are presented with paper after paper after paper that shows that a low carb diet isn't all that bad, hey, maybe even better, and so try to spin it back their favorite way by using their editorial privilege instead of providing any new data or anything relevant.
Here is the accompanying editorial: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1199129
It's Bray's way of saying, "Blah blah blah, obesity sure is big and bad, .... hey, shove it, Ebbeling. I am still right despite your fancy new data. Blah blah blobbity blah blah......in the end, Oh!, it is STILL SO UNCLEAR,...Oh! its WAAAAAY too complicated........ but really in the end, it is still all about calories."
Dr. Ebbeling et al, I hope all this isn't raising your cortisol levels too high. After all, reading this Bray stuff is like, going to make you gain weight or have a heart attack or something. This is even after you bothered to use the controversial doubly labeled water.
[Sorry, but I had to add that part about doubly labeled water. Ever since Peter Hyperlipid gushed about the miraculous water I have been wanting to include it in a post to increase my readership.]
Thursday, June 28, 2012
"One must be [mis]reading Research"
Our researchey, geekie fascist "friend" over at [redacted]people always likes to say that "one must be reading research" as it rolls off her keypad frequently, probably more frequently than the times she actually does read the research, based on, you-know, the "academy" talking points statements she makes.
Actually, does anyone really know what time it is, does anybody really read the research anymore? It seems to me that Marion Nestle doesn't. When asked to comment on a recent nutritional study showing than when following different types of diets, a calorie isn't really a calorie, she pretty much says, "hey, just eat less." The thing is, the research study being actually studied was about macronutrient ratios, not weight loss. Oh who knows, maybe her quote was taken out of context by the author of the news piece. But, along with her comment about the research, she is basically telling folks not to read the research or even pay attention to it. So, it is really something more like, "read the research as long as it agrees with me and if it doesn't, then it is not applicable and you should just do what I say!"
Here's the actual research paper: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1199154
And, here's the widely-linked, incorrect (except politically), and misleading popular article about it, including "Dr." Nestle's most amazing recap comment: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-06-27/calories-low-carb-weight-loss/55843134/1
I just gonna have a whole lot to say about this study, once I read all of it carefully. Careful readers will note that I labeled this post "good studies". So far I like it, but just for what it is, not for what it is not and certainly not for what the popular press and the greater paleo community are saying about it. I reserve the right to change the label once I rip the paper to shreds.
Actually, does anyone really know what time it is, does anybody really read the research anymore? It seems to me that Marion Nestle doesn't. When asked to comment on a recent nutritional study showing than when following different types of diets, a calorie isn't really a calorie, she pretty much says, "hey, just eat less." The thing is, the research study being actually studied was about macronutrient ratios, not weight loss. Oh who knows, maybe her quote was taken out of context by the author of the news piece. But, along with her comment about the research, she is basically telling folks not to read the research or even pay attention to it. So, it is really something more like, "read the research as long as it agrees with me and if it doesn't, then it is not applicable and you should just do what I say!"
Here's the actual research paper: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1199154
And, here's the widely-linked, incorrect (except politically), and misleading popular article about it, including "Dr." Nestle's most amazing recap comment: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-06-27/calories-low-carb-weight-loss/55843134/1
I just gonna have a whole lot to say about this study, once I read all of it carefully. Careful readers will note that I labeled this post "good studies". So far I like it, but just for what it is, not for what it is not and certainly not for what the popular press and the greater paleo community are saying about it. I reserve the right to change the label once I rip the paper to shreds.
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"I’ve often wondered if the people claiming to have thyroid (typically low energy) problems on a VLC simply are not eating enough? That is, the claim is that by adding back carbs into the diet, they miraculously solved their low energy/thyroid problems. Perhaps all that really happened was they ate more, which happened to have been carbs. My guess is they would have experienced the same effect by eating more fat.
This is really a very fundamental concept that anyone who’s gone through a differential equations class should pick up very quickly: the concept of a coupled system. That is, energy input and energy output are coupled in the mathematical sense; therefore, they cannot be treated independently. Changing one affects the other, probably in very non-linear ways. So, if one understands coupled systems, then one can immediately reject the notion of “eating less and moving more.” Because eating less may cause one to move less. And, in order to move more, it may absolutely require eating more.
As an unqualified skeptic, that’s my guess on the supposed “thyroid problems” that people claim to experience. They either aren’t fully keto-adapted, they aren’t eating enough, or both."
Gotta luv it when diffyQ is invoked, like that makes the argument sound more plausible, especially for those folks who cover their eyes during the mathy parts. Clearly, this person hasn't a clue with what is happening to some of us on this type of diet. JS also seems to be quite caught in the lure of thermodynamics.
I was on the leptin reset for several weeks with little weight-loss success, and feeling colder and a bit tired. When I went off the diet with one carby meal it immediately kicked me into something that worked better. My energy was better, my mood was better, sleep got better and I started losing weight. Yes, the calories were higher than a typical evening meal, but overall not as high as many other days on the plan. On days I was eating the Big A$$ Breakfast featuring fatty hamburgers lots of un-drained bacon, the overall calorie level was relatively high compared to the caloric level on a more typical pre-leptin-reset day.
I responded:
"Your calorie explanation sounds plausible, but untrue in my case. I think one of the problems with many of the theories and chatter about this effect is that it is very difficult for people who have few problems transitioning to the diet to understand or even believe that the issue exists.
The problem with the explanation by many low carb experts is that it oftentimes does not adequately address that transition phase. I know in my own case, had I not backed into a lower carb diet accidentally, I would never have stuck with it. Returning to the “safety” of a high carb diet can really make a difference to people who are on the edge hormonally, at least adrenally.
It doesn’t help much when people continue to insist that we are all doing it wrong. I followed a number of plans religiously. Now that I know how it feels on the other side, I have no problem going through a bit of hell to get back into a fat-burning state if I get out it for some reason. I have developed short cuts. Before I did Kruse’s leptin reset with CT, re-entry meant certain loss in weight, but also loss of sleep ability, libido, energy, and feeling constantly cold.
I do not think it is wise for the low carb community to ignore such data. There are plenty of people in the high-carb community who are more than ready to bash us for their perception of the failings of our diet. Let’s not give them any more ammo by not dealing with it. Instead of sweeping such data points under the rug, it would serve us well to stir them up, take a look, and make the diet more workable and successful for everyone."
And, lucky for the state of my low carb journey, adding back carbs more than a meal here and there always makes me feel much worse. I would never want to pitch my tent in the "safe starch" camp for very long, preferring to view the extra carbs as more of a temporary drug with significant negative side effects. Better, ya'know, in those one-pill-per-prescription bubble-packs so it is hard to overdose and kill yourself.
I read Animal Pharm's leptin reset post with great interest. She was unable to successfully do the leptin reset as written. It sounds like her experience was similar in some aspects to mine, and people should be reading and talking about it.
I would suggest that Dr. Rosedale and others not have his post be the final word in this matter. Just take a look at his quote picture at the top of his post. People who don't do as well on VLC aren't even fully into the ridicule stage yet. It is still pretty much total denial. Nobody over on his "team" even responded to my comment.
I listened to Jimmy Moore's podcast with Dr. Phinney, and came away disappointed in the range of the doctor's answers to stalls. When a questioner mentioned thyroid and adrenal issues as possible players, he strongly denied any thyroid issues based on his experience, but he never even approached the adrenal question. And another thing that really bugged me is that he discounted one thyroid comment that he heard because the comment was from someone who had a "terminal" degree. Hey, Dr. Phinney, Dr. Schwarzbein does not have a terminal degree. Maybe you should stroll on over to her site and see about what she has to say.