Hey – I’ve been published (sorta)

From time-to-time I read things. I also write about them. This time, the words are up on a different blog. Check them out [here]

Cookbooks in Our Kitchen

I’ve been asked on a couple of occasions recently which cookbooks I have, or that I like; and by “I” I mean “We” and by “We” I mean my wife who does MOST of the recipe oriented cooking (she’s the mathematician, I’m the improvisor).  [ProTip] We frequently use the library if we are unsure about cookbooks, and if we find more than one or two meals that we like over the course of an average check out, we’ll by the book.  If not, we jot down the one or two that we might like and send it back. 

What follows is a list of the specifically Paleo cook books that we use the most or from which we’ve pulled inspiration:

1. Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat (This book is Whole30 Approved)
2. Make it Paleo: Over 200 Grain Free Recipes For Any Occasion
3. Practical Paleo: A Customized Approach to Health and a Whole-Foods Lifestyle
4. Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook: Real Food for Real Life
5. The Paleo Diet Cookbook: More than 150 recipes for Paleo Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Beverages
6. Paleo Slow Cooking: Gluten Free Recipes Made Simple
7. Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook: Real Food for Real Life
8. Paleo Comfort Foods: Homestyle Cooking for a Gluten-Free Kitchen

Also, not specifically Paleo, but with Recipes that are EASILY converted to Paleo, we recommend:

1. The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook
2. Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals: Delicious, Primal-approved meals you can make in under 30 minutes (Primal Blueprint Series)

I might get a chance to update these with feedback from the both of us on each one, but honestly, I encourage you to hit your local library and get them and try them each on for size.  What works for my family of four might not work for a single dude living in a dorm room (See my thoughts on THAT predicament here) or a newlywed couple trying to figure out dinners for two.

Tags: Paleo, Recipes, Cookbooks, Whole30

A Paleo Thanksgiving Special

Just a really quick post about Thanksgiving as it is coming up on us pretty fast.  We have been cooking this way for a couple of years and we have our favorites, but it’s always nice to have new recipes to try or at least ponder as we come into a new holiday season.  Of course, when we go visiting we don’t go too far astray from the well known classics, and if we do, we make sure to bring a dish containing bacon to raise the acceptance factor; but when we’re cooking for just us (or friends and family that know that if it is ‘paleo’ it will be good food that is good for you whe it comes from our kitchen)

The fine folks at Whole9 have tackled the idea of Paleo and Whole30 compliant food on a couple of occasions, and have several excellent resources, including

• The 2011 Thanksgiving Guide
• Steal This Meal – Thanksgiving Edition

1. Part 1
2. Part 2
3. Part 3

There are also some WONDERFUL recipe lists and guides to be found at

• Everyday Paleo
• The Clothes make the Girl
• Primal Palate
• Paleo Diet Lifestyle
• Cooking Caveman
• Elana’s Pantry

And these are just the tip of the iceberg.  A little Google searching will also turn up a myriad of other sites with other, wonderful recipes.  Experiment, live and enjoy.

Fat Shaming

By now, I’m surer you’ve seen the story about Jennifer Livingston, a local TV anchor (well, local to me, anyway), who spoke out against an offensive email she received that basically used fat shaming to ridicule her in reference to her ‘responsibility to the community.’ If not, go and watch the video, I’ll wait.

Today, Jezebel ran an article/post about being comfortable with your size, and while I agree, I’m motivated to ask, “What is the line between being comfortable in your body and ignoring the significant health risks of obesity and unhealthy eating patterns? How do we give people the confidence to accept themselves and to make healthier choices without ‘fat shaming’?”

And I understand the argument, and I applaud the ideal that your size should NOT define your character or describe your intelligence because, let’s face it, Character is epigenetic. But ‘intelligence’, now, intelligence can (and should) be a part of the argument. People who go from obese/overweight to ‘normal’ have seen significant improvements in cognitive performance, memory and even improvements in brain disorders like Dementia, Alzheimer’s, etc…

And, as far as a ‘better citizen’, fit people have fewer sick days (keeping costs to labor down), fewer trips to the doctor (keeping health/sick care expenditures down), fewer diseases later in life (long term health/sick care, insurance premiums, etc) and they tend to have healthier kids, who do better in school.

There is a HUGE societal impact, and we are seeing the costs played out in productivity, insurance/health/sick care and education. So, how do you have (or even start) the discussion with someone you care about? Or, as a trainer, how do you approach the subject with a potential client?

The line between concern and shame, of course, is different with each person – and VERY specific to language. As Ms. Livingston so elegantly put it…”Do you think I don’t know?” You have to know the person, and seek to understand their specific situation. You are going to be opening the door to all their empty places, and if you shame them, you will lose them.

Is shaming Parents the only way to Save our Children?

From NPR:
“This week, a new anti-obesity media campaign launched in Minnesota has been getting a lot of attention, and not necessarily the good kind.

One ad [...] features two kids bragging about how much their dads can eat, and trying to one-up each other. A dad walks up, hears the kids, and looks down guiltily at his tray of burgers and fries.”
Until pediatricians look at parents and say “You are killing your child and setting them up for a lifetime of health problems, disease and financial strain – you might have destroyed your body, but how about giving your kid a chance at a he
althy life? Feed your child real food, encourage your child to play and exercise and set for them an example that will guide them for a lifetime.”

Yeah, this is probably the only way to get through to them.

That being said, the USDA has a food system that isn’t scientifically backed and is more designed to highlight the foods we grow in the US and less foods that will keep you healthy and nourished, our children (and adults) are pummeled daily by a media onslaught of products that are, literally, poisoning them – but they’re packaged well and have HUGE budgets, most hospitals and Doctors are funded and driven by the pharmaceutical industry – which would not exist if we, as a people, weren’t in a constant state of malaise and the alternatives are so fractionalized that it takes a blow horn and a steam roller to be heard…so even if the message gets through (regardless if its shame or directed education), there isn’t a coordinated effort on educating parents to the alternative to the norm.

So what then?

In the News

This just in, Experimental Type 2 diabetes drugs offer patients hope in midst of global health crisis, meanwhile the most effective lifestyle treatments for Type II Diabetes are being disregarded or completely ignored.  In New York this week, the mayor plans to Ban Sale of Big Sizes of Sugary Drinks, meanwhile funding for public school physical education is at it’s lowest in decades.

And now for the bedroom report:

Junk food stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain, which is Why You Crave Junk Food When You’re Sleepy.  Finally, a Lack of sleep increases stroke risk; Bad sleepers over the age of 45 have quadruple the risk of stroke symptoms.  So Go the F!ck to Sleep.

 

Fast Paleo Chili

Fast Paleo Chili (Serves 2-3)

1 lb Grass fed Hamburger
2 Medium or one Large Red and/or Orange Peppers (it adds a little sweet to offset the spicy) Chopped into 1/4-1/2 in pieces
1 hot pepper (I like Anaheim, personally, but use what you like)
1 medium Yellow Onion, chopped
1-2 tbsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp cumin
3/4 bottle of low sodium spicy v8
1 small 6oz can organic tomato paste

Brown onion, peppers and hamburger in coconut oil (I’ve recently started saving about 1/3 of the hot pepper back to drop in after everything is combined to simmer into the chili, it changes the flavor profile), add tomato paste and V8 and bring to simmer, simmering 30-60 minutes, stirring periodically. 

To be honest, this is the chili I make about once every other week during the winter, so I pretty much eyeball the spices at this point, but this should give you a good idea of how easy it is to get a tasty pot of chili on the stove in VERY short order.  I encourage you to toy with the ingredients (my wife likes to throw in a can of organic diced tomatoes or use Organic, low sodium Tomato juice instead of V8).  If I’m making it for just myself, I’ll also use spicier chili powder as well as red pepper flakes to kick it up a notch.

Don’t Get an ‘F’ in Food

A question about living on a budget or with limited access to a functioning kitchen
has come up recently, specifically from someone living in a college dorm situation.
The student was really feeling like he was without any options, especially since
he had a meal plan and was at the mercy of the cafeteria and their ‘food’. As someone
who lives on the road and out of hotel rooms, I think I have a good idea of what
it means to be at the mercy of someone else’s menu when it comes to the food that
is immediately available to me, that being said, I also have a little more
economic freedom than most college students, but I think I can offer at least a
little advice to our wayward caveman.

As a frequent traveler, I do my research both before I travel and after I arrive,
and try to find the stores nearby where I can source good food. WholeFoods, Co-ops
and even regular grocery stores are obvious choices some even try to provide
better choices, like Florida’s Publix and Byerly’s in Minnesota.  But,
depending on the location and the season, you can even find Farmer’s Markets that
offer great opportunities for fresh, local food.

It’s all about control

Control as much of your diet as you can, within your budget.  Work with your
dorm cafeteria and tell them you can’t eat grain.  If all they can do is gluten
free, then take it.  After that, eat the freshest food that you can, made from
as little grain as possible (ie.  most animals don’t eat grain naturally, so
if it’s in their food chain, it’s a lower quality choice).   Eat from
the salad bar early and often.  If you are putting things in your fridge, buy
your food as locally as possible.  Regardless if you are buying it or picking
it up from the cafeteria, examine your food from a “Good, Better, Best perspective”.

Food is fuel, and you don’t put Diesel in a Ferrari. , so first, DON’T EAT GRAIN
(or grain oils or legumes) avoid dairy and minimize your exposure to High Fat, Corn
Fed animal products in general.  Then, take your fishoil and follow the Good/Better/Best
rules:

Eat as high on the scale as you can afford.  If all you can do is Good, then
eat good food. Higher Quality Protein is worth more to your overall health and longevity
than organic fruits and veggies (except for the “Dirty
Dozen” fruits and veggies - you’ll want to eat organic in the dirty
list if possible), so use your dimes wisely toward good health. If you have access
to a communal kitchen, then be the most common fixture in there, next to the stove
and lights.  Cook in bulk.  If you can only get in there twice a week,
make them the most productive hours you can.

I don’t live in a dorm, but I do live out of hotel rooms, and unless I happen to
be in an extended stay hotel, I typically have a mini fridge and a microwave.
If that is the case, then this is what a week might look like for me:

On Mondays, when I fly into town, I do my shopping and cook my lunches for the week.
Chicken or burgers on the foreman or the BBQ grill (I’m in tampa right now, so if
it isn’t raining, it’s grill weather year round), a dozen hardboiled eggs and I’ve
even cooked a whole chicken if I have an oven and then used it as food for a couple
meals  and then made soup with the carcass the night after, threw it in the
freezer in single serve containers and took them with me for lunch.

Then I bring EVERYTHING with me to work and put it in the fridge.  I’m the
guy people hate, moving things around and making order out of the chaos that is
a communal cold space.  For the rest of the week, I eat from my fridge at work
for snacks and lunch.

Here are some other tips and tricks that make life much easier when it comes to

 

limited cook and storage space:
• Buy steam in the bag veggies.  Stores for several days, microwaves up in about
  4 minutes.
• While they’re still in season, find the local farmer’s market and get Fruits and
  veggies.  It’s almost ALWAYS cheaper than the grocery store
• There’s no shame in eating from Walmart.  They keep their prices LOW and as
  a student, that’s priority one.
• Use nuts, but don’t ABUSE nuts.  Almonds and macadamia nuts are great periodic
  fat sources.  For travel I actually use Justin’s Nut Butter packets for an
  easy to carry and contain fatty snack.
• Coconut Products are the BEST, all around, fat source for the guy on the go.
  Coconut oil to cook in, coconut flakes for a snack, coconut BUTTER is heaven on
  a spoon…true story.
• When you are cooking, use coconut oil as your first choice of oil.  NO CANOLA
  OIL, drizzle olive oil on your vieggies, but try not to cook with it too frequently.
• Avacado is tasty

Sometimes, your dorm might give you access to a stove, but no utensils or pots and
pans…Pots and Pans are simple.  I always suggest a cast iron pan…they last
forever, are multifunctional and make for tasty food.  Go to target or surf
on over to amazon and get a lodge 8″ or 10.25″ skillet (with lid if it’s in stock),
you can also get an ‘essentials‘ pots and pans set which is just the basics (though I would probably add a larger pot for making soups and chili – you can’t live without chili).  As of this writing, I’m staying at a Residence Inn, which means I get a stove AND a full sized
fridge (which I typically only put a weeks worth of food in anyway, but it’s good to know I could stockpile if I wanted to, and while it does have pots and pans, it isn’t a good selection.  I bought a new cast iron, small chefs mate fry pan and two knives for under $50 (and I’ll ship them home to myself should this project in hell ever end…), and I don’t even use the pans that come with in the hotel anymore.

Tags: Travel, Dorm+life, Paleo, Grocery

But I can still snack, right?

I’ve been asked a couple of times recently what I snack on with this paleo schtick.  I’ll first actually answer the question, but be prepared for a discussion after on why you maybe _shouldn’t_ be snacking so much.

About the Food

I have a couple of places that I get snacks from:

My Fridge and Pantry

with real, I just (or recently) picked/bought/fixed this food

• Hardboiled Eggs
• Nitrite/-trate and Gluten free lunch meat
• Shredded Coconut
• Coconut Milk
• Left Over Anything
• Cashews/Almonds/Hazelnuts
• Carrots, Apples and Almond Butter
• My wife also makes a KILLER Paleo Crunch ‘Granola’
• Anything from the Whole9′s post What’s in your Cooler?

 But I travel a LOT (four days, and at LEAST four flights, a week), so I’m always looking for easy travel food.  I will pack my own food, and I buy food once I get to my location, but I also use a couple of different websites to provide good, Paleo approved food to put in my carry-on.

Steves Club

If you’ve been around CrossFit for more than a minute, you should be aware of Steve’s Club and the wonderful things the organization does, including making tasty, tasty snacks.

• Coconut Paleo Kit
• Paleo Kits
• Apple Pie Paleo Kit
• Grassfed Paleo Stix
• Paleo Krunch Bars (Guilty Pleasure)

Gourmet Grass fed Meats

The chef, Andy, is a friend of mine, which allows me to say that everything about this company is quality.  

• Bold Original Jerky (Whole30 Approved)

YouBar

This can be tricky as they have a lot of NON Paleo ingredients, so you need to read.  But once you get a recipe that works, you get a reorder code that will give you the same recipe every time.  I have a strict Paleo kind as well as a “Treat” that includes Coco powder

I’ve also created an egg protein based shake on their YouShake site that has come in handy in a pinch.

Why are you Snacking?

I just threw out a ton of food suggestions, but it’s important to know _why_ you are snacking.  You might actually be underfed, but if you’ve been eating your good, Paleo foods to satiety, then more than likely you’re bored or thirsty.  Have a big glass of water, make a cup of hot tea and ask yourself _why_ you’re reaching for that handful of nuts.  If you aren’t really hungry, don’t eat.  Get up, stretch and go for a walk, drink some water and ride it out.  You don’t have to give in to the gremlins of boredom that love to eat.

Whole30 – Again

Sara is starting a Whole30 tomorrow and of course I’m along for the ride. 

I have a few tweaks to make this time around, but really, I need other things to fall into line. This time I’m going to be focusing on eating for performance and spending a LOT more time in the gym. 

My number one, most important focus during this Whole30, however, will be SLEEP!!! Oh, how my sleep has suffered over the last four or five months and before my health will REALLY improve, I need more ZZZzzs. Sleep quality is good, but VOLUME is way too low.

So, while I’m only loose around a couple of food edges (mostly due to lazy eating while I’m traveling – still sticking to the letter of the law, but not too strict about what my food is cooked in or near), I’m going to be REALLY focusing on my sleep schedule.

The good news is that I still have travel snacks left over from vacation, including some tasty, tasty Gourmet Grassfed meat sticks that will be going into my bag.

If you’re interested in joining me in this journey I would be honored to guide you through it.  I’ve helped several others successfully complete a Whole30 program, and consider it one of the smartest thing I have done for my health and fitness since losing sixty pounds (which is why I do one or two a year).

Tags: Whole30, Gourmet+Grassfed+Meat, Sleep