Paleo and Juicing

Weight: 215.2  (Friday: 212.6)

So, I'm up a little, but I was expecting that.  It was a working weekend and these always seem to jack me up a bit.  Plus, I made some mistakes and I'm paying for them.  More on that in a bit.

First off, however, is a change in decision and strategy.  I'm including more paleo elements to my juicing.  What this means is the inclusion of some animal protein and fats into my diet.  The Paleo Solution Diet by Robb Wolf is really making a lot of sense to me and I'm going to include the principles into my lifestyle change.  As with anything, I'm not going to become a sychophant and a disciple (as I've met a few of them already on the forums).  Rather, I'm going to approach this with moderation and sensibility.

Bottom line: I'm going to juice during the week and might have some eggs, chicken or lean beef in the evenings *with* my juice.

This weekend I didn't have any juice.  I was on a strictly paleo way of life--though I made some mistakes. I think my weight gain was due primarly to those mistakes. 

For one thing, I had some beef-sticks.  Only *after* I bought them did I notice that they used some flour and sugar (not to mention some preservatives) to make them.  Mistake #1. 

My second mistake was in choosing the garlic salt that I used to make some dinner, I selected some that had corn starch and sugar in it.  I never would have imagined that cornstarch and sugar would be added to garlic salt!  This is a mistake I won't make again--but now I have a bottle of garlic salt that has cornstarch and sugar in it and it needs to be used up. *sigh*

Cheese was another issue. I made some omlettes for the family for dinner (which I used the bad garlic salt for seasoning) and I added some shredded cheese.  This was also a mistake and I should've avoided the cheese.

Fourthly, I "grazed" this weekend.  Instead of eating at defined periods and avoiding snacks and before bed eating, I ate whenever I wanted. 

Lastly, I had a bunch of cashew butter.  Only after I ordered the cashew butter did I realize that the ingredients included safflower oil (which is way too high in Omega-6).  Now I have two cases of this stuff to work my way through. *sigh*

Oh, a minor mistake, I ate at Ponderosa and Denny's over the weekend and I'm not sure what they used to cook the foods I ordered, so I probably got everything from margerine to bad cooking oils.

When I got home last night, I was tired, I was listless, I was foggy, I was thirsty.  I drank a lot of water (and even lemon water) over the weekend, but I didn't feel like I'd had enough to drink.  While I was working on re-ordering for my next show, I asked my daughter to make me juice. 

After *one drink* of my juice, my fog began to clear.  I drank about 25oz--I was full of energy, the fog was gone and yet I was still tired enough to sleep immediately when I went to bed an hour later. 

So, here's what I'm going to do moving forward:

1) Juicing is the basis of my diet program. I get the nutrients from the food so fast into my system without waiting for the whole digestive process. It clears the fog.  It gives me energy. 

2) I'll add some occasional (not sure of the interval) food that includes animal protein (chicken, eggs, fish, lean beef) and fats (avacado, coconut oil, olive oil). 

I'm still on track for my 40 days of juice-fasting--but I'm going to temper it with occasional protein and fat. 

I also make a killer guacamole. :)

2 avacados--mash em up till they're smooth.
1/4 large onion, minced (make those little chunks of onion as tiny as you can)
1 medium jalepeno (seeds, flesh, everything) diced (I minced mine really tiny, too)
1/2 can of Rotel Original Chunky tomatoes and chilis (pour off the juice to add to another dish, only use the solids)

Mix it all up.  Season it with garlic salt and a dash or two of chili powder.  If it's not hot enough, give it a few dashes of tobasco. 

Eat it with celery.  Yes, I said *celery*.  Remember, no grains!  That means corn is *right-out*.  Or, alternately, spoon it up. :)

I'm tempted to add chicken to my guacamole and see how that tastes. I imagine it'll be quite tasty.

The chicken dish that I made was very easy, too.

2 chicken breasts -- bonesless / skinless
3/4 large onion, diced/minced
2 large cloves garlic, diced/minced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 can of Rotel Original Chunky (all the juice, half the solids)
1 Jalepeno, diced/minced
2-3 tablespoons coconut oil
Garlic salt, chili powder, tobasco

Over low heat, melt the coconut oil.  Add all the veggies.  Let them simmer a little until they have a chance to release some of their juices into the oil. 

Increase the temperature to medium heat and put the chicken breasts on the grill.  Let thim simmer and cook in the oil and veggies.  Dust the top of the chicken with the garlic salt and chili powder. Add a dash or two of tobasco if you want.

When the chicken flips over, repeat the dusting with spices and tobasco. 

Slice into the chicken to be sure it's cooked all the way through--or, alternately, cut it up while it's in the pan and let the spices and veggies get absorbed into all the exposed slices of the meat.  Cook until the chicken is white all the way through.  Then serve.

Now that I've typed that up, I want to do it and then add the guacamole to the diced up chicken and stir it up into a tasty casserole. :)