Breakfast

I got this one from Jonny Bowden’s.

Fry up a small apple in grass-fed butter. I added a bit of cinnamon as well. Scramble in 3 eggs and a bit of heavy cream. I had some ham leftover from our CSA so I added that as well. At the end, I added a big handful of baby spinach and then sprinkled with turmeric. Green tea and lemon was the beverage.

Tweet your weight

Despite the fact that worrying about your body weight is misguided (you should be worried about your body composition), the nerd in me finds this scale interesting. Social support and accountability can be very motivating if you are having trouble sticking to plan.

Healthy Living

We had a “healthy living” presentation at work today. I knew it would be chock full of humorous conventional wisdom so I couldn’t resist going. I learned about how saturated fat is going to kill me and how I should eat small meals throughout the day to keep my metabolism stoked and my blood sugar stable. There were some great tips on getting 5 servings of fruit a day – fruit juice included and that I you should always eat breakfast because you have nothing in the tank after such a long fast.

I was enthralled by the diabetes discussion which went on for 5-10 minutes but never once mentioned sugar or HFCS. It turns out the real problem is lack of exercise.

Best of all, my confusion over anaerobic vs. aerobic exercise was cleared up – anaerobic exercise is like trying to sprint for 50 yards while holding your breath.

Seriously.

One more tip – if you can’t afford a gym membership, one thing you could do is curl soup cans. I plan to integrate that into my regimen.

I went home and celebrated with a grass-fed eye of round from Chestnut Farms and some sautéed squash. My wife might have used grass-fed butter to sauté the squash – I’ll have to have a talk with her about that.

It’s been a long time

I haven’t posted or even been interested in posting for quite some time. I really needed to step away for a bit. I’ve spent an enormous amount of free time over the last year pouring over blogs, reading books, posting, and commenting. Obsessive would be a good description – and I needed a break.

Part of the beauty of the primal / evolutionary fitness lifestyle is that you aren’t supposed to obsess over things – no calculating macronutrient requirements, no excessive and rote workouts, avoidance of stress. With all the energy I was spending learning and participating in the community (blogging, commenting, tweeting, etc), well, it just didn’t feel all that primal. I felt a little TOO focused on it.

Sometimes it’s good to back off and relax.

Anyway, first a picture of last night’s dinner which was too pretty to not capture. This is Peloponnesian Shrimp straight out of The Paleo Diet with cauliflower and grass-fed butter.

 

As for blogs, have you checked out Nephropal yet? Wow, what a cool blog.

September’s Exercise Slate

We’re back at home after a nice summer at Old Orchard Beach. That means I can get back to the gym and start pushing free weights around. Don’t get me wrong, I love doing KB and body weight stuff but after a while, I just want to get back to the heavy stuff.

For the month of September (at least), I decided on the following structure. Thanks to Jeff for the advice on constructing this workout.

• Sat – Big 5 workout (super slow to failure) as described in Dr. Doug McGuff’s Body By Science
• Sun – Off
• Monday – Supposed to be off, though I have been doing a 20min set of max number of dead lifts/1 arm shoulder presses in sets of 2.
• Tuesday/Wed/Thurs – On one of these days (depending on how I feel) I’ve been doing a workout a la Arthur De Vany combining hierarchical ascending sets, alactics, and negatives using compound movements like squats, dead lifts, rows, presses, etc.
• Friday Off

This is my second weak on the program. My hunger is way up which is a bit unfortunate as I still need to burn some fat and find myself eating a lot more. But I like the workouts – short, intense and very different from each other. I should probably drop the deadlist/press workout as my back bothers me when I finish it.

Crepes Recipe

We hit GOLD this weekend. We tried out a crepes recipes from the Grain-Free Foodies blog (see below) for the kids dinner. BINGO! they loved it. Saturday night, they made pizza crepes (double batch)– tomato sauce, pepperoni, pineapple, and a bit of cheese. We did it again Sunday night (another double batch), filling them with apples & onions sautéed in butter, more pizza sauce, and even a bit of strawberry jam.

Crepes

via Grain-Free Foodies by Teri on 9/5/09

I am always pleased when I find a food that my whole family enjoys. This definitely fits the bill. I brought these to a non-GAPS brunch recently and was told that they are better than regular crepes. I think they are virtually indistinguishable. The key seems to be generous amounts of vanilla, plus delicious fillings of course.

A lovely lady named Millie, from the GAPSHelp group, posted this recipe http://www.tiana-coconut.com/coconut_flour_recipes.htm recently. I modified it slightly to work for GAPS and my taste buds
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon honey
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons coconut flour
Method
Blend together butter, eggs, honey, vanilla and salt. Stir in coconut milk. Thoroughly mix in coconut flour. Heat 1/2 teaspoon butter in a small skillet. Pour one tablespoon of the batter into the skillet; immediately rotate skillet until there is a thin even layer of batter. Crepe should be about 4 inches in diameter. Cook until batter is bubbly and cooked (I find it easier to flip if they are slightly browned) around the edges. Turn and cook the other side for a moment. Cover one side of crepes with your choice of chopped fruits, nuts, honey lemon curd, apple butter or homemade jam. Roll up and serve.

Protect yourself from the flu

We got an email at work today about protecting yourself from the flu. Here’s the list of things they suggest:

• Wash your hands with soap and water several times a day.
Wash thoroughly (for at least 30 seconds) using hot water and plenty of soap. If you don’t have access to soap and water, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with 60–95 percent alcohol will work, too.

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you sneeze or cough.
Or, be sure to sneeze or cough into your elbow rather than your hands. Be sure to clean your hands and dispose of tissues properly.

• Avoid touching your mouth, nose and eyes.
This is how germs are spread.

• Don’t Spread the flu!!!!  Stay home if you are sick.
Symptoms of flu include fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit or 38 degrees Celsius) or chills and cough or sore throat. In addition, symptoms of flu can include runny nose, body aches, headache, tiredness, diarrhea, or vomiting. CDC recommends that sick workers stay home if they are sick with flu-like illness until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever without the use of fever-reducing medicines.

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

• Regularly disinfect your desk at work and in your home.
Wipe down doorknobs, handles, telephones, remote controls, headsets, your computer keyboard and mouse, and other items or areas that are frequently touched.

• Do not use other workers’ phones, desks, offices, or other work tools and equipment.
Avoid sharing towels, utensils, cups, and anything else that can spread the flu to another family member or someone else.

• If you have children, teach them good hygiene practices, too.

• Get vaccinated against seasonal flu.
Get vaccinated against seasonal flu, when vaccine is available in your area. If you are at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 flu complications you should receive the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine when it becomes available. People at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 flu complications include pregnant women and people with chronic medical conditions (such as asthma, heart disease, or diabetes). For more information about priority groups for vaccination, visit www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/vaccination/acip.htm

Other than the last item, this is a decent list but it’s missing some critical things in my opinion:

1. Make sure you aren’t deficient in Vitamin D. See www.grassrootshealth.net for how to get tested. If need be, supplement Vitamin D3 to get your levels into the 40-60 ng/ml range.
2. Make sure you get a lot sleep.
3. Stop eating sugar.
4. Replace grains with fruit and vegetables. My immune system got much better when I stopped eating grains.
5. As Mark Sisson says, lift something heavy once in a while.

Anything you’d add?