Stress and Busy-ness Continues...

Weight: 212.8

Apologies for not taking pictures, but I started making dinner at 8:30pm and it was 9:45 by the time we were washing dishes.  It was a crazy busy evening...

Costco had Atlantic wild salmon.  We bought some for $15 and change. It was $6.29 a lb.  We bought some fresh greenbeans, asparagus and broccoli, too.

I made a spice marinade for the salmon:
Garlic salt (two teaspoons)
Bleck Pepper (one teaspoon)
Oregano flakes (one teaspoon)
Basil flakes (one teaspoon)
Chili pepper (two teaspoons)
Diced garlic (one large clove)
Diced onions (about 1/4 of a medium onion)
Diced serrano pepper (about half a pepper)

I mixed the spices with coconut oil in a little plastic container while I readied the fish on the pan.
Added enough olive oil to lightly coat the baking pan. It was a baking pan with sides--this is important!  I laid the fish in the pan (had to cut it to make it all fit in one pan). Coated the fish with the spices, realized I needed a little more oil, so I put it in the same spice container I'd used before and "swished" the excess spices out with the added oil. The fish went into the oven at 475 for 20 minutes (I checked it at 15 minutes and put it back in for 5 more).  It came out with crispy edges and tender flesh through the middle--but fully cooked.

The stir fry was made while it was cooking:
Green beans
Asparagus
Broccoli
The rest of the onion
Two gloves garlic
The rest of the serrano

I spiced it much the same as the fish--with the added element of a splash of tamari (soy sauce).
I also added a half stick of butter (already had both coconut oil and olive oil).

I sauteed/stir-fried/steamed the whole thing for about 15-20 minutes.

(I'm an "instinctive cook" so it's hard for me to give specific times, quantities of spices and so forth--it's all estimates.  I give the food what I feel like it's asking for.)

Originally, I put in the green beans whole--but realized that chopping them would be better, so partway through the process, I pulled them out and chopped them, then put them back in.  I ended up getting a lot of the oils and spices on my fingers.  It's the first time I've ever licked and sucked my every finger, from tip to hand -- and licked my palms! -- to get all the delicious flavor!

When I served it, I also included some fermented veggies I'd made 12 days before--only one of my kiddos enjoyed the fermented veggies with me.

The whole family was *amazed* at how good it was!  *I* was amazed at how good it was! 
It was a tad expensive for a typical family meal, probably cost us about $20.  However, it took 30 minutes to prepare, it was absolutely delicious and pulled our family together for a family meal where we all ate the same food together.

I also had some cashew butter and seeded grapes last night.

My sleep is not good--I went to bed last night at 2am. I had to get up at 6:30 this morning. I have a busy working weekend planned.  I had to work on the garden last night (weeding). I'm *tired* and I haven't given my body enough rest--and no real opportunity to give it the rest it needs till sometime next week, sandwiched into my normal working schedule.

I worked in the garden last night, weeding.  Haven't been to the sauna or gym all week because of band concerts, choir concerts, weeding, and tonight I have to help my wife make her fermented veggies.  Then I'll be working all weekend. Next chance to sauna/gym again won't be till next week.

Stress and Busy-ness

Tuesday Weight: 213.6
Wednesday Weight: 213.6

I'm very stressed right now.  Work is intense. I'm doing a show this weekend in Springfield. I have some writing pressures on me from my sideline activities. My garden is in severe need of weeding. The house is still torn up in remodel.  And I am short on sleep.  *sigh*

How I can be the same weight two days in a row after last nights' feast, I'll never understand...

Okay, Monday night, I ate some leftover stir fry, two avacados (with onions and serrano), and a big container of steamed brussel sprouts, onions and cabbage. I went to my kids' band concert and then picked up 2lbs of hamburger on the way home.  I diced up some onions and serrano, and cracked an egg into the mix.  I mashed it all together and fried it up with some coconut oil and coconut butter.  I also had some cashew butter mixed with coconut milk (highly *not* recommended--it was not a good flavor mix).

I ate 4 of the 5 burgers that it created.

That accounts for Tuesday's 213.6.

Then on Tuesday for lunch, I had 12oz of salmon from the local grocery's deli, a big tub of strawberries, a small tub of raspberries and a container of grape tomatoes.  (It was a very "red" lunch.)

After the choir concert last night, I came home and fried up 5 eggs, a 0 carb polish sausage and another avacado (my daughter claims it was 2, but I think it was more like 1 and she enjoyed some snacking). I also had some cashew butter. I also had a smoothie with pineapple, grapes and coconut milk.  It was absolute, sheer delight--pure heaven in a drink!

It sat in my gut all night, apparently and didn't really start digesting till this morning.  I've been gassy all night and morning as the food basically fermented in my system. 

And no uptick in my weight.  Go figure.

So, I posted this over at the Robb Wolf forums and wanted to share it here:

 

The one thing that has been the best for me on paleo has been that my butt hurts. Yes, it may sound strange and funny, but my butt hurts.

Why does my butt hurt? Because I've lost all the padding in my buns and sitting for more than a short stint makes my butt hurt--so I have to get up and walk around or just stand for awhile. And that's a really, really good thing for you to do. Sedentary jobs are life-killers.

I have a sedentary job. However, I find that I stand in meetings, now. And I walk around more often. If I've been sitting for very long, my legs fall asleep and my butt hurts--and I have to get up and move around.

Sure, we can talk about our intense workouts with all the strange letter and number combinations (P90x, 5x5, etc.)--but if you just get your body moving, get off your butt, bend over and pick up a pencil or the trash on the floor, walk it to the trash can, greet your co-workers with a smile (yes, smiling takes muscle movement!)... You'll be amazed at how much easier life is.

I used to *dread* going up stairs. Now, I routinely take 2 flights without thinking about it, my heart rate doesn't even tick up noticeably. :)

So, I wish you the strangest thing of all...

...I hope your butt hurts! :)

Uptick: Food/Salt -- Fasting Again

Saturday Weight: 205
Sunday Weight: 209.4
Monday Weight: 211.4

Saturday I went to a friend's graduation party and I had a delicious dinner. :)

Sunday I made a stir fry and an incredibly delicious fruit cobbler using coconut milk.

And my weight took the expected uptick.

I'm back on fasting, clearing it out of my system. I'll eat again on Friday when I head out of town.

Last Night's Delight

I took strawberries and chopped them up. I added blackberries and blueberries. I layered these in a baking dish. Then I chopped two apples and a peach and added them. I took a bunch of grapes and juiced them (I also added some of the blackberries and blueberries to the juice).

I mixed the juice with coconut milk (why didn't anyone tell me this was like heavy whipping cream and incredibly thick, rich and delicious?!) and a little almond milk. I added vanilla and cinnamon.

I poured the juice-mix over the top of the chopped fruits and then smeared the pulp remains from the juicer on the top of the concoction.

I baked it at 425F for about 20 minutes.

Two mule teams and a Mack truck were needed to keep me from going back for seconds! LOL

The kids absolutely devoured it! :)  I think they licked the baking dish clean after it cooled... (or maybe before it cooled, I'm not sure...)

I had no idea that coconut milk was so ... intense! If I ever start drinking coffee again, I know what I'm putting in mine! LOL

Water-Only Fasting: Day 5

Weight: 208.0

I drank over a gallon of water yesterday--that's 8.5lbs of water. Lost all that plus 1.4lbs.

Because I'm drinking Natural Calm at the full dose, the magnesium makes me very regular. So regular, in fact, that I have no question that my intestines are completely empty. What is it that I'm eliminating, then? It's more than just liquid, There is solid residue mixed in.  Is it scraping bile off the inside of my intestinal walls?  Can the little bits of pulp and lemon seeds really produce that much residue?  Is burning my body fat producing some solid residue that was stored with the fat? 

I'm anticipating eating BBQ tomorrow (well, "fire-grilled beef" -- I won't have the BBQ sauce).  I forgot that I am going to a friend's college graduation party. Better to eat something good and healthy--like a grass-fed BBQ steak--than to be tempted beyond resistance capability and wind up going hog-wild. On the other hand, maybe just exercise phenomenal willpower and "soldier on". 

If I'm paying $40 in gas to get there and back, I might as well enjoy the trip and have a good meal. :)

Then I'm back to fasting again.  I really want to break the 200 barrier. The closest I've been is 204.

Interestingly, when I got married 23 years ago, I was at 191.  I still want to get back to my 17 year old weight of 175.  (Actually, I want to go lower--to 170, so that when I start eating again, I come back to about 180.)

Sauna last night:
30 mins sauna
10 mins cooldown
10 mins hottub
5 mins cooldown
15 mins sauna

Stress levels are high. Remodeling the house--which is in complete disarray. Summer activities are starting while school activities are winding down. And last night my friend helping me with the remodel showed up at midnight (our kids were watching his daughter, so I stayed up to wait for him) and was distraught because a friend of his had died. We stayed up talking a bit.  Then my oldest got up (she'd gone to bed really early) and we talked till 2am. I got up at 6:30.  Not enough sleep. No where close.

I'm stressed.  I'm not sleeping enough.  I'm ravenous because my body is full of cortizol.  At least the water helps to flush it out...

Going up to check on the garden again on Sunday.  This is what it looked like on Saturday.
They're coming up! :)

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Water-Only Fasting: Day 4

Weight: 209.4

Last night was really difficult. I'd been slightly struggling all day with some minor interest in food. Not enough to really call it "temptation" -- but enough to call it "interest".  It came and went, sometimes easily ignored, sometimes requiring a little more distraction. Then we went to a movie and came home to find that my kids had completely ignored their younger brothers and let them tear up the house. That sent my stress levels through the roof--I must've flooded my body with cortizol.  I was ravenous and could not stop thinking about food.

I didn't succomb, however. I was also exhausted, so I just went to bed.  Best thing I could've done.

Because of the movie, I didn't make it to the sauna last night.  I still managed a 1.4lbs drop yesterday.  Again, I'm convinced this is still water loss.  Although, it's hard to imagine me losing that much water, considering I drank *over a gallon* of water yesterday.

Yes, I drank 4 - 32oz bottles of water, plus a little more here and there. That's 128+ oz of water. Nearly 8.5 lbs of water. And I still lost 1.4lbs. I didn't pee all that frequently (from the mindset of a former diabetic)--but I peed *a lot* of volume.

The Natural Calm continues to clean out my intestines, even though it feels like there's nothing left in them. 

I may need to run up and check out my garden tonight. We havn't had rain in a few days, but the ground was still soaked on Tuesday, so it may still be moist.  If so, then I'll wait till Saturday.  I want to water my new plants and get some weeding done.  There's a big patch of what can only be called "lawn" that has cropped up (pardon the pun) in the midst of the garden. Interestingly, I think it might be wheat.  I'm tempted to let some of it come up and harvest it with my garden.  Although I'm not a grain eater anymore, I have friends who are and they might appreciate some fresh-grown, fresh ground wheat.

I'm also considering planting some Einkorn wheat.  It's an ancient grain.  It's still really bad as far as the nastiness that grain does to people's intestines and increasing their chances of serious diseases--but it's "better" than anything the modern world has to offer.

Coconut Milk Concerns

3 Reasons Why Coconut Milk May Not Be Your Friend

http://chriskresser.com/3-reasons-why-coconut-milk-may-not-be-your-friend

Coconut milk is often a staple fat source for those following a Paleo diet. From a nutritional perspective, it’s an excellent choice. It’s high in saturated fatty acids and medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), which are both easily burned as fuel by the body. MCTs are particularly beneficial in that they don’t require bile acids for digestion, and they’re directly shunted to the liver via the portal vein.
Coconut milk and fruit can be a great snack for Paleo folks, and coconut milk smoothies make a great Paleo breakfast choice – especially in the summer.

So what could be wrong with coconut milk? Here are three things to consider.

Bisphenol-A

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a chemical that has been used in consumer goods since the 50s. It’s found in reusable drink containers, DVDs, cell phones, eyeglass lenses, automobile parts and sports equipment. One of the highest sources of BPA is cash register receipts.

We’ve known for decades that BPA has estrogenic activity. In vivo animal studies and in vitro cell-culture research has linked low-level estrogenic activity associated with BPA exposure to all kinds of fun stuff, like diabetes, ADHD, heart disease, infertility and cancer.

Is BPA exposure common? You bet. This CDC report found BPA in the urine of 93% of adults. Perhaps most troubling is that companies like Nestle, Similac, Enfamil and PBM all use BPA in the linings of metal cans holding baby formula. This is scary in light of a recent study which found an association between neurobehavioral problems in infants and high levels of BPA in their mothers.
So why is BPA even legal, you ask? Its safety status is still somewhat controversial. Although I’m not sure how “real” the controversy is.

On the one side you have consumer advocates and independent researchers and scientists who claim that there’s sufficient evidence against BPA, including plausible mechanisms for how it causes harm, to ban it completely. They argue that continued use of BPA in industrial and commercial materials is akin to performing a large, uncontrolled experiment on us all. I tend to agree.

On the other side, you’ve got industry scientists claiming that there’s no significant evidence that low levels of BPA causes harm in humans. If I was a cynic, I might point out that these chemical industry groups are out to protect a multi-billion dollar market from government regulation. Global BPA demand is up to 12 billion pounds and growing at 5% per year.

Okay, back to coconut milk. BPA is used in the lining of certain canned foods. BPA especially leaches into canned foods that are acidic, salty or fatty, such as coconut milk, tomatoes, soup, and vegetables.

So what’s the solution here? In short, if you want to be on the safe side and reduce your exposure to BPA, you have to reduce your consumption of canned foods (including coconut milk) as much as possible. I made this recommendation in 9 Steps for Perfect Health-#3: Eat Real Food.
A study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that families who ate fresh food for three days with no canned food, and using only glass storage containers, experienced a 60% reduction of BPA in their urine. The reductions were even higher (75%) for those with the highest BPA levels at the beginning of the study.

The good news, however, is that there are at least two brands of coconut milk that don’t have BPA in them. One is Native Forest, which you can purchase on Amazon if it’s not available at your local store. The other is Arroy-D, which is a brand imported from Thailand. You can get it here (but you have to scroll down and order the version that comes in cartons, not the cans at the top). I’m a little suspicious of Arroy-D, though, because one Thai reader mentioned that it does contain other ingredients aside from coconut milk. I don’t read Thai, so I can’t confirm this. If anyone out there can, please leave a comment below.

Coconut milk can also be made quite easily at home, with coconut flakes, a blender and cheesecloth. Here’s a video to show you how (get a load of the soundtrack). I find that blanching the coconut flakes prior to blending improves the results.

Guar gum

The other potential problem with canned coconut milk is guar gum. Guar gum is a galactomannan, which is a polysaccharide consisting of a mannose backbone with a galactose side group. It’s primarily the endosperm of guar beans.

Beans and legumes have a variety of compounds in them that make them difficult to digest, especially for people with digestive problems (1 in 3 Americans, from the latest statistics).
In my clinical experience, many patients with gut issues improve when they remove guar gum from their diet – including canned coconut milk.

Unlike BPA, there’s no evidence that guar gum may cause serious harm. So, if you’re able to tolerate guar gum, I don’t see a problem with buying coconut milk from Native Forest or Arroy-D or making it at home.

Fructose malabsorption

Fructose malabsorption (FM) is a digestive disorder characterized by impaired transport of fructose across the small intestine. This results in increased levels of undigested fructose in the gut, which in turn causes overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine. Undigested fructose also reduces the absorption of water into the intestine.

The clinical effects of FM include: intestinal dysbiosis, changes in motility, promotion of mucosal biofilm, and decreased levels of tryptophan, folates and zinc in the blood. Symptoms produced include bloating, gas, pain, constipation or diarrhea, vomiting and fatigue (to name a few). Recent research has also tied fructose malabsorption to depression.

Lest you think this isn’t a common problem, studies have shown that up to 40% of people in Western countries suffer from fructose malabsorption.

Even in healthy people without fructose malabsorption, however, only about 20-25g of fructose can be properly absorbed at one sitting. Glucose assists in transport of fructose across the intestine, so in general foods with equal amounts of glucose and fructose will be better absorbed than foods with excess amounts of fructose (in relation to glucose).

While fructose malabsorption can cause symptoms in anyone, those with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are particularly affected. While the prevalence of FM is the same in healthy populations and those with IBS & IBD, the experience of FM appears to be more intense in the latter group. This is probably due to the increased visceral sensitivity common in IBS and IBD patients.

In fact, one of the most promising clinical approaches to treating IBS & IBD right now is something called the FODMAP diet. FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligo-, Di- and Mono-saccharides And Polyols. These include:

• fructose (fruits, honey, HFCS)
• fructans (wheat, onions)
• lactose (milk sugar)
• polyols (sugar alcohols like sorbitol, xylitol & mannitol, along with fruits like apples, pears and plums)
• galactooligosaccharides (legumes & beans, brussel sprouts, onions)
• other sweeteners like polydextrose and isomalt

Studies have found that restricting FODMAPs can significantly improve the symptoms associated with IBS, IBD and fructose malabsorption.

What does this have to do with coconut milk, you ask? According to Drs. Gibson & Barrett, experts in fructose malabsorption, coconut milk is is a FODMAP and should be avoided by people with digestive conditions like IBS & IBD.

According to NutritionData.com, coconut milk has very little sugar of any kind – including fructose. Nevertheless, I do have patients that cannot even tolerate homemade coconut milk (which has no guar gum in it), even though they are fine with coconut oil. I assume that they are reacting to the fructose in the coconut milk – but I can’t be sure.

Recommendations

Let’s bring this together into recommendations for three different groups of people:

• Women who are trying to get pregnant, pregnant or breastfeeding, children and other vulnerable populations (chronically ill): should avoid canned coconut milk products except for those that are BPA-free, like Native Forest and Arroy-D. Note: Native Forest is organic, but Arroy-D is not.
• People with digestive problems (IBS, IBD, GERD, etc.): may want to avoid coconut products entirely, except for coconut oil
• Healthy people: may be fine with canned coconut milk, provided they don’t react to the guar gum, and provided they’re willing to take the side of industry scientists that claim BPA doesn’t cause harm in humans

Want organic coconut milk – but without the BPA and guar gum?

As of the time of this writing there is no widely available commercial brand of coconut milk that is organic and free of BPA and guar gum. The good news, however, is that with a little extra effort you can easily make this at home yourself.

• Purchase coconut cream (Let’s Do Organic and Artisana are good choices) and blend with water to make coconut milk.
• Purchase shredded coconut (again, Let’s Do Organic is a good choice), and follow the instructions below for making homemade coconut milk.

Homemade coconut milk instructions

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 1.5 – 2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes

Instructions

• Heat water until hot (but not boiling).
• Add shredded coconut and water to blender (preferably a Vitamix!) If all of the water won’t fit, you can add it in two batches.
• Blend on high for several minutes until thick and creamy.
• Pour through a colander to filter out the coconut pulp, then squeeze through a cheese cloth
  or nut milk bag to filter the smaller pieces of coconut.
• If you separated the water into two batches, put the strained coconut back into the blender with the second batch of water.
• Drink immediately or store in the fridge. Fresh coconut milk should be used within 3-4 days of making it for the best flavor and texture.

What It Means When You Crave...

A good friend of mine recently posted this on the Robb Wolf Forums.  I found it most interesting.

http://www.naturopathyworks.com/pages/cravings.php

If you crave this...	What you really need is...	And here are healthy foods that have it:
Chocolate	Magnesium	Raw nuts and seeds, legumes, fruits
Sweets	Chromium	Broccoli, grapes, cheese, dried beans, calves liver, chicken
	Carbon	Fresh fruits
	Phosphorus	Chicken, beef, liver, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, legumes, grains
	Sulfur	Cranberries, horseradish, cruciferous vegetables, kale, cabbage
	Tryptophan	Cheese, liver, lamb, raisins, sweet potato, spinach
Bread, toast	Nitrogen	High protein foods: fish, meat, nuts, beans
Oily snacks, fatty foods	Calcium	Mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale, legumes, cheese, sesame
Coffee or tea	Phosphorous	Chicken, beef, liver, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, legumes
	Sulfur	Egg yolks, red peppers, muscle protein, garlic, onion, cruciferous vegetables
	NaCl (salt)	Sea salt, apple cider vinegar (on salad)
	Iron	Meat, fish and poultry, seaweed, greens, black cherries
Alcohol, recreational drugs	Protein	Meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, nuts
	Avenin	Granola, oatmeal
	Calcium	Mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale, legumes, cheese, sesame
	Glutamine	Supplement glutamine powder for withdrawal, raw cabbage juice
	Potassium	Sun-dried black olives, potato peel broth, seaweed, bitter greens
Chewing ice	Iron	Meat, fish, poultry, seaweed, greens, black cherries
Burned food	Carbon	Fresh fruits
Soda and other carbonated drinks	Calcium	Mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale, legumes, cheese, sesame
Salty foods	Chloride	Raw goat milk, fish, unrefined sea salt
Acid foods	Magnesium	Raw nuts and seeds, legumes, fruits
Preference for liquids rather than solids	Water	Flavor water with lemon or lime. You need 8 to 10 glasses per day.
Preference for solids rather than liquids	Water	You have been so dehydrated for so long that you have lost your thirst. Flavor water with lemon or lime. You need 8 to 10 glasses per day.
Cool drinks	Manganese	Walnuts, almonds, pecans, pineapple, blueberries
Pre-menstrual cravings	Zinc	Red meats (especially organ meats), seafood, leafy vegetables, root vegetables
General overeating	Silicon	Nuts, seeds; avoid refined starches
	Tryptophan	Cheese, liver, lamb, raisins, sweet potato, spinach
	Tyrosine	Vitamin C supplements or orange, green, red fruits and vegetables
Lack of appetite	Vitamin B1	Nuts, seeds, beans, liver and other organ meats
	Vitamin B3	Tuna, halibut, beef, chicken, turkey, pork, seeds and legumes
	Manganese	Walnuts, almonds, pecans, pineapple, blueberries
	Chloride	Raw goat milk, unrefined sea salt
Tobacco	Silicon	Nuts, seeds; avoid refined starches
	Tyrosine	Vitamin C supplements or orange, green and red fruits and vegetables

1. Lectures, Cheryl M. Deroin, NMD, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, Spring 2003 (healthy food recommendations)
2. Benard Jenson, PhD, The Chemistry of Man B. Jensen Publisher, 1983 (deficiencies linked to specific cravings and some food recommendations)