Hi,

Just now back. My husband was home for the week from school and we had a great time. Have stayed on plan all this time, but haven't been around to post.

I did have a scoop of ice cream and am calling that my 20%.

Bisy Backson

spanky

Rschroed - what a thoughtful post. I like this group, too, because we are actually thinking about the foods we are eating and recognizing that eating "real" food is a fundamental principle in getting whole and healthy no matter what our weight.

This seems like such a logical concept, yet it escaped me for many years. I remember as a teenager my Mom used to make us "Tang" to drink - a powdered orange-flavored drink that the astronauts supposedly drank in space. Going off to college, I continued to make "Tang" for myself. Then, I took some type of nutrition class where we recorded our food and I remember the teacher correcting me because "Tang" and orange juice were pretty much the same thing in my mind ... and she pointed out that was not true. Up until then, it had never occurred to me that a real food like orange juice and a highly-processed food like "Tang" were any different.

I do like the reliance on whole foods and have really gone in that direction myself. Of course, I also track macronutrients and try to keep my carbs lowish. And I do think meats and fish are particularly healthy if prepared well. I read something recently that said most vegetarians don't eat meats because of ethical reasons (not health reasons) and I respect that and think the answer is to move towards more ethical treatment of animals raised as food.

I am baking bacon in the oven right now 'cause my dh is not willing to wait until the uncured stuff cooks in a pan. The directions say to put it in a cold oven, turn the heat on to 400` and then forget about it for 17 to 20 minutes. I am going to cook it less than that and then package and freeze for him to quickly pop into the microwave and have with his eggs. I have a goofy oven so it may take longer.

My dh wants to do primal without reading up on it. He has an enormous sweet tooth and when he gets hungry, you have to get the **** out of his way. I told him that I needed to concentrate on me. I am doing all the research, I am preparing the meals etc. but I cannot convince him of stuff I am just trying to digest myself. I do not have the energy for that.

Am I mean?

What is the "good stuff" on primal? Uncured in general, or no sugar? No nitrates/nitrites?
On a tangent, what is the general primal opinion on other processed meats, such as salami, pepperoni, sausages, deli meats, etc?

I was a vegetarian for years. At first I cut out red meat from ages 12-16. Went vegetarian at 16, and spent 16-27 all over the spectrum, from lacto ovo, ovo-veg, vegan, raw vegan, back to vegan, back to ovo vegetarian, to no-dairy omnivore, to everything-omni. I went through phases of being healthy, and other phases of just being a junkfood veg. My primary reason for my vegetarianism was not health, but ethics and being disgusted by factory farming. I also said if I knew at the beginning what I knew then, I'd have cut out eggs and dairy WAY before cutting out meat itself. And the last few years of my vegetarianism, I always said my not eating meat was more of a habit than anything else, and if I ever felt the desire to eat meat again, I would. One day last year I thought about having some chicken, and I did. And then I added other omni-foods back into my diet. And consequently gained 25 pounds within a couple months. Apparently I made up for lost time.

I digress... I was posting this to say that just because I'm omni again doesn't mean I think vegetarianism is inherently bad healthwise, at all. I've always said the ideal diet is one where the bulk is made up of vegetables and leafy greens. This is quite possible for vegetarians and omnis alike. I DO think dairy is not a healthy choice for us, for the most part, although I do eat it again I am considering weaning off it and staying off except for, perhaps, butter. ANYHOO... I think you can eat a low carb, mostly whole food vegetarian diet while avoiding most (all?) grains.

I've tried uncured bacon and just don't like it. Some nicer ones have less nitrates/nitrites. I, personally, would like to always eat the ones with very few unpronouceable additives
I'm not sure what the official Primal preference is. Has anyone read up about it at MDA?

Here's a couple on MDA.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/a-quick-guide-to-bacon/

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/sodium-nitrite-meat/

Well I stumbled upon the great-EASY world of curry this weekend!

I got curry paste, and I would not pay the 6-7 dollars at the grocery store, I went to cash and carry (restaurant food supply open to public) I got a tub of it, about 6 cups worth, for 3.50.

Anyway the first day I roasted some red peppers and green peppers and zuchini, I chared the peppers and pulled the skin off them, chopped everything up into bite size pieces. I sauteed mushrooms, chicken pieces, and onions in butter. Added 2 cans of coconut milk and a huge spoon of curry paste, wisked it till smooth, added the zucchini and peppers and heated through. YUM

THEN I made a soup to take to work, peppers, onions, mushrooms and sweet potato chunks, coconut milk and curry paste, so simple, so good!

Grilled porkchops last night, with garlic and cinnamon on it...again YUM ate it with a lil peach salsa, fresh peach, onion garlic, japeleno and red pepper and lime,--needed cilantro, but I was out

Tonight, london broil on the BBQ....

YES we are eating alot more meat, eggs, butter......but WOW, we are eating alot less in total, and the garbage, the literal garbage....almost in half, no boxes, very little cans, etc

Mikkie -- Pretty cool the savings we are making...

I am back Primal today full force, I'd really fallen off the wagon the last 3-4 weeks... I feel good today too ...

Today is the first day of school here and it'll feel good to get back on track with everything, work, food, exercise... Routine is good

OMG... being back at school is so overwhelming! The kids don't come until day after labor day, but there are not enough hours in the day to do all I need to do. I have book club tonight and my good friend who is my exercise bud (not so much this summer, as we've both been out of town and busy) told me about a soup she discovered that would be great for school lunches. I told her (again) that I was eating low carb now and that I wasn't eating things like bread, pasta, rice, and couscous is pasta. She asked what I do eat, and I said protein, lots of veg, some fruit. Her response was, "I can't live without fruit." I repeated that I do eat fruit. Argh. Anyway, I have book club tonight with said friend and others who are all about the calories ("These crackers only have 7 calories each!!!!") and am bringing caprese - tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and olives. I will have to do lots of resisting.

I will catch up on everyone's posts here later. Hope all are well!

Hey There,

Still on track here, losing very slowly this week but still trending downward. I am sitting here at a weight where I thought I'd look great but all of a sudden Irealize that this was the weight at which I started to dislike my body. I've been dissatisfied with things so long [actually some 15 years now that I think back!!!] I'd forgotten that my ideal is some 10 lb lower than where I am now.

That's OK, this is a comfortable way of eating and I think I can just keep going. Exercise is going well...

Sandy, just give your DH the quick version and let him take a shot at it. Does he actually need to lose weight?

I will absolutely NOT give up my CuppaJoe! Black coffee is simply one of my favorite things on this planet!

So what about Bob and is he gonna weigh in Wednesday?

Onward,
Spanky

Is there a Primal "What did you eat today?" type thread? I'm eating the same thing, not that I'm complaining, but curious to see what others eat while losing fat.

Spanky,

DH is very naturally muscular for an old fart (70), he looks great from the back. He has a belly that is hard as a rock but big. So the fat is in the inside around his organs and dangerous. I just fixed him a beautiful steak (I am fasting) and he said that although he ate a lot, he craves a dessert (which I do not have in the house). I told him he could have anything he wanted but he needed to wait 15 minutes. It's 15 minutes and all is quiet (he's watching football.)

He is constantly asking me how many carbs does this or that have. I now say I don't know. I log all my food into myplate on the livestrong site. He is not ready to give up bread, although the last time he had pasta, he felt awful.

Unless he is pure, (like me LOL), I just cannot let him influence me or I will be eating bananas and high fiber bread etc. etc. He tends to want me to say it's OK to eat things that "really aren't that high in carbs". I am trying to absolutely stick to the program until I lose the weight. With the idea of then slowing adding in more carbs (never grains) until I reach my ideal ratio.

I bet Bob has dumped us for a gout forum and I miss him. We need a man's perspective here. Anybody's husband up to the task?

That's a good idea Brown, we can start one for the month of September... But I can give you an idea of what I ate today...

1. filet mignon and yello beans, left overs from last night
2. cherries and walnuts, whey protein powder shake
3. same as no. one except I had an ear of corn with butter
4. salmon and a red pepper dipped in Italian dressing, 2 peaches

More fruits than I usually have but being it was my first day back on Primal I was craving carbs, I'll do better tomorrow...

I love my coffee too drink 2 or 3 cups per day...

Had a good leg workout tonight too

Uh... work again. Waah! We get to go in late today and tomorrow because we have to be there till 7 -- freshman open house tonight and upperclassmen tomorrow. I need to get it in gear. Not get much exercise in this week and food is not easy either. Need to get organized or school's going to make my healthy lifestyle rough!

Have a good one gang - sorry no personal responses!

A weird breakfast of sardines and cottage cheese, but that's me! Black coffee, of course.

Yesterday we ate at one of those Chinese buffets and I thought I did pretty well sticking with meats and fish and vegetables. Afterwards, though, my heart was racing a little and my hands swelled up some so it was hard to get my ring off (even though normally I'm afraid I'll lose it it's so loose).

Could that be MSG?
---------
CJ