September Whole 30 - Paleo Peeps (Closed Group)

Back from camping.This city girl earned her wildernes survival badge.Our van broke down the day we were suppose to leave.. hubs spent the day fixing it but was leery of taking it on a trip after that . so after borrowing a jeep and both bil and sil cars we loaded them up, stopped at the store for supplies and got on the road about 7 pm that night .. when we arrived at the lake it was dark and getting cold.. first order of business was to get the tents set up and build a fire while keeping the kiddies from runnin off in the dark.The nights were really cold. even with a fire going.We faced wild animals-daddy long legs and bees that were in vading our space lol, Lots of wild life to observe- deer, opposums, chipmunks collecting nuts, ducks,coons that tried to get our food at night, skunks that were patroling the campgrounds- we didn't get sprayed thank God . It made me really glad we had 2 dogs with us! oh and a snoring bear( my hubs)., hiking with children to the bathrooms 10 times a day , collecting fire wood,and the daily quest for decent coffee.we had to settle for instant. and of course lots of scrapes and boo-boos to tend to. Our new air bed was damaged, so we slept on the ground the first night and dealt with hateful customer service employees when it was returned to the local wal-mart the next day..but in the end they gave us our money back We added a few dollars and bought a nicer air matress. second night was better., though we had leaky tents,raging allergies for a few of us/ I borrowed some zyrtec from my sil it ..knocked me on my butt , I was loopy, felt stange and extremely sleepy for 24 hours no matter how much I slept. my sil had a horrible allergy attack the second day and took a second zytek in 24 hours.. knocked her on her butt also. the second afternoon the men wanted to stay and fish.. us girls were wore out and beyond ready to come home, so we loaded up 2 of the cars, the kids, the dogs and headed home.. since we both felt like zombies from the allergy meds and both were driving it made the ride home very interesting.. had to crank up the A/C and sing to stay awake enough to drive lol We all came home dirty, a little sun burnt and tired but no worse for wear. Our camping itch was definitely satisfied for another year.. at least if we have kids with us. today enjoying real coffee, cleaning the house and doing the mounds of laundry and blankets we brought back home that were covered in dirt and mud. We had fun, enjoyed the great outdoors but I am very glad to be home.

Tuesday -

Had Greek Gods Full Fat Greek Yogurt, 2 packets of sweet leaf stevia, black berries and beef summer sausage. 12 hour fast was broken.

Supper having fresh made polska kielbasa (the lovely polish lady makes it fresh - meaty heaven and no nitrates) and cabbage.

Feeling a bit better today, but still depressed. Ordered some evening primrose oil and upped the Vitamin D to see if that will help with my blah feelings.

Are you considering any type of digestive enzyme, herbal bitters or Betaine HCL to help you digest your fats, proteins and Vitanin D. Really helped my mood to not be depleted and (unknowingly) starving all the time. Almost never felt 'hungry'. I felt starvation as social stress, general anxiety, depression, irritability, frustration and rage. All my moods evened out to patterns that made sense (reasonably sized, manageable, responsive) when I had been on these together for about 2 months. I feel much happier, on a more even keel and hopeful now.

update.. I made the "cheese" and wow is all I can say

I think I am in love!.. ((sobbing))
I did it.. it tastes like real cheese!!!!!.. nacho cheese to be exact... happy happy dance.
Ok in full disclosure.. I have not had cheese in any form in almost 6 months and nacho cheese even longer than that, to a true cheese-a-holic it may not taste like cheese to at all.. but for a dairy free person like me, this stuff is amazing!!! Can you say spaghetti squash and cheese?.. Oh yeah!!! It's what's for dinner tonight!!
here is the recipe in case you’re interested

3/4 cup water
1/2 cup of nuts- original recipe called for raw cashews that have been soaked over night- couldn’t find raw cashews and I‘m too impatient to soak in advance and wait 24 hours, I used unsalted dry roasted almonds
4 oz jar pimentos
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
dahs of garlic salt
dash of hot sauce
2 tbs lemon juice
put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth..
optional you can add nutritional yeast flakes.. the recipe called for them but I left them out because I don't like it personally.

I'm sorry you are having such a rough time. Small town life can definitely be an adjustment when you are coming from a large city.Some areas the people are just odd and hard to deal with. The town I grew up is the second largest in my state.. the people are rude, snobbish, stressed and down right mean.. Out of all the people I went to school with that I am sitll in contact with most of them have moved to smaller areas and say they will never go back .. go an hour south where we live now and everything is at a slower pace , the people are warm , friendly down home folk.

i'm so fkn mad, depressed and upset. I hate this village I'm living in and hate the people here. *sigh* I suck at living in a small town, and Thank God that a gold's gym just opened.

Where are all the smart, nice, polite women? I need to vent, and I'm breaking my diet with some alcohol tonight. I need to find some good people!!! Where are all the nonracist people? reading the stupid posts from the immature idiots on the message boards makes me crazy, so I stopped, but now I have no outlet for laughs. I dare not post anything after a warning..... man.

anyhow. That receipe for the cashew cheese sounds good. You really need to try the cashews. seriously. soaked cashews is like butter. Creamy and cheesy. I can totally see how that would work great.

found eggs on sale at the store this am, and I'm really into eggs right now. I love eggs. Beef is good too, and I'm taking enzymes for digestion. This weekend I'm bringing snacks to a ladies' meeting, so I don't want to surprize them with crazy food, but I was thinking of soaked nuts and dehydrated bananas and papaya. I will have cinimon sugar on the side. The majority of the women are very overweight and sugarholics, but I don't want to keep them from eating the nuts and fruit. I hope they will like it. Many of them have commented to me that they are binge eaters, some of the older women have said they are jealous of how tiny I am. I can't help but feel sorry that they feel ashamed of their bodies. I wish that they would be serious about taking care of themselves and thier families. Really, my heart is breaking that these women.

My husband an I are in shape and dress well (modestly though) for our body type. I am fustrated that so many women in this town are so overweight, and standoffish - admiting to me that they are jealous of my body. That's crazy talk!

I'm not it tip top shape, I'm curvy, but I'm a 36 - 24 - 36 and short. I totally stand out from the very fat, diabetic women down here. There are beautiful women down here too, don't get me wrong. But so many are not staying healthy or keeping their family healthy. It totally breaks my heart. I've been here 1.5 years and hope to move to a big city soon. My first, and hopefully last, experience of a small town has been depressing. Where are all the happy, exercising, food loving people at?

thanks ladies. I def will checkout a paleo seminar. I love to travel and deal well with New England, NYC, and Europe, and the larger cities in CA (though the attitudes of the LAites scares me), but the TX middle of nowhere thing is getting to me. My husband and I had a good chat and laugh at our experiences here, which helped allot.

Jut got back from a wonderful sashimi buffet and did a bit of exercising this am. It's only going to be 95 today, and the cooler weather is such a relief!

I love the raspberries and nuts thing I'm doing in the am for breakfast (thanks to mom of 8 for the idea), and I am happy to say that my clean eating has totally eliminated my mental addiction to Earl Grey tea. I've been doing rubios with carob and stevia in the am and it's great. I feel a huge difference in my ability to get up and go. Wow.

uggh, It's so easy to over do exercising when you love exercising!

how about gentle, long walks or chi kung? soft yoga where some inverts to get the blood pressure up (heat below the heart does that) and stay away from inflamatory foods like chili pepers, tomatos, egg plant... And Ibuprophen!

Meditate on healing and calming postitive things in the am and at night when you go to sleep. Meditate on being a beautiful and better you!

Set up an exercise regimine that is balanced: flexibilty, strength, meditative, cardio. That's what I do, and it helps so much.

Chi kung is calestenics where you focus on the core abs and back muscles to tense and relax in conjunciton with your breathing. It is soothing and intense at the same time. Try this:
feet shoulder width apart, inhale and lift your arms up in front of you like you are lifting a beach ball, exhale and contract your ab muscles as you slowly squat down and lower the imaginary beach ball. Relax. Focus on gentle rhythm of breathing and match your graceful movements with your breath.

Any tension/relaxation alternating left to right, up and down, forward and backward in a simple way can be chi kung. Keep it simple. Nice music in the background for positive thinking, and surround yourself with soft light and living plants helps.

I picked up digestive ensymes Saturday and I can already tell they are making a difference. I am pleased to report that my long time plateau has finally broken. I got on the scale a few days ago and was very pleasantly suprised by a 4lb loss! Not a huge amount but so wonderful to see after literally being stalled for months. I admit I have not been 100% on this challenge or on the leptin reset . I think the biggest thing that has helped is increasing my fat in take to at least one whole can of full fat coconut milk and 3-4 tbs of coconut oil a day. I feel so much better when I do.

For the biggest losers here I have some questions.. I have lost 61 lbs in 2 and half years .it has been a major uphill climb and the first time in my life I've had a hard time loosing weight.. I have about 65 more lbs to go before I reach my goal weight.. The realization that my 40th birthday is approaching(March).. and like I always do I look at my birthday as a major mile marker - setting a goal that I want to be a certain weight by that time. this have never worked for me in the past and only served as undue pressure on myself ending in disappointment and frustration. So my questions are these.. is it realistic to think I could loose 50 or more lbs in 6 months doing Paleo considering my age, and health issues? For those of you that have lost a huge amount of weight.. please walk me through this.. how long did it take? what things helped you the most?.. or should I not set this goal at all instead just keep going at it with the long term goal being health and feeling better no matter what the scale says or how long it may take?

Momof8,

Are you doing any kind of strength training? If I were you, I would go take a look at Lauren Brooks' website and her Ultimate Body Sculpt and Conditioning with Kettlebells DVD. In as little as 5 minutes/day, you can create a body more fit and functional than you have ever had. Your 40th will rock!

BWB, My challenge right now is that I heal faster and shed more weight when I do kettlebells with very little to no other cardio. Without a car, I have to hike steep hills for so many hours a week that I tear my body up simply trying to survive (taking my kid to school and back, getting food & other supplies). My daughter and I are 'exercising' way too much but don't have a choice, it's that or starve. Our normal hiking, plus my daughter's play (she's focusing on rings, chin ups and arm hangs on the play ground) is creating beautiful hamstrings and glutes on my almost 6 yo but harming me.

Imagine if you wore a weighted vest of over 100 lbs (I still have 65-85 lbs to shed plus carrying all our food, water, groceries in a backpack) and ran up and down hills so much that your body was being torn up by it. The advice I'd give my clients is to 1) reduce load [but I don't have that as an immediate option] and 2) slow down [distance/time limitations are also beyond my control at this time].

The consequence of too much 'survival-driven' cardio is that I regularly fail to consume sufficient calories. I'm ok on fats but protein has been difficult to get enough of in this economy.

Also I teach my clients to listen to their bodies and find the sweet spot between too much intensity and too little. My body is saying, 'curl up in a cozy spot with a good book' and (sometimes) 'take a nap'. As a single mom, solopreneur, currently trying to hack my primal way out of the jungle of abject poverty and human indifference, my survival needs are relentless and crushing. My attitude tends to stay positive because my daughter bases her expectations about life on my expressed outlook. Daily life is currently a lot like being on the front line of a battle on good days and being behind enemy lines on tougher days.

I think that the smartest adjustments I can make right now are more focus on breath work, meditation and some specific chi gung - maybe '5 organ smiles'. Foot massage/acupressure/reflexology and having a little down time with my feet elevated at the end of the day seem non-negotiable.

I will get through this. I have already gotten through enough of the same circumstances to shed over 100 lbs. Originally not having been able to walk for over 3 years but now able to hike for hours per day hauling supplies without a car.

I want *all* the extra pounds gone, as much functional muscle as I need to thrive at whatever I'm doing and already having increased my lean body mass to around 150 lbs, I'll eventually fulfill my potential.

I just started using hand weights. I have been hearing a lot about kettle bells.. I will check them out. You're in a a tough situation having to walk miles to fill every need.. have you thought of adding some good carbs like canned pumpkin, winter squashes and sweet potatoes to your evening meal.. it may help you not feel so racked by all the activity and probably will not hinder your progress since you are burning so many extra calories.. or carry some paleo trail mix- jerky, dried fruit and nuts and coconut water with you..to give you more energy and replenish your system. You may consider ordering some of your food staples on line from amazon.. they do give free shipping with a larger orders. or ask a neighbor if you can ride along on their grocery days. This may sound like a strange suggestion..an affordable transportaion option are golf carts, sounds weird I know... they are legal to drive in town in many areas, require no insurance and very little gasoline. Quite a few people drive them around town where I live.. granted we are in a very small rural town. I hope things turn around for you soon.. you really deserve things to start going your way.

Momof8,

Are you doing any kind of strength training? If I were you, I would go take a look at Lauren Brooks' website and her Ultimate Body Sculpt and Conditioning with Kettlebells DVD. In as little as 5 minutes/day, you can create a body more fit and functional than you have ever had. Your 40th will rock!

BWB, My challenge right now is that I heal faster and shed more weight when I do kettlebells with very little to no other cardio. Without a car, I have to hike steep hills for so many hours a week that I tear my body up simply trying to survive (taking my kid to school and back, getting food & other supplies). My daughter and I are 'exercising' way too much but don't have a choice, it's that or starve. Our normal hiking, plus my daughter's play (she's focusing on rings, chin ups and arm hangs on the play ground) is creating beautiful hamstrings and glutes on my almost 6 yo but harming me.

Imagine if you wore a weighted vest of over 100 lbs (I still have 65-85 lbs to shed plus carrying all our food, water, groceries in a backpack) and ran up and down hills so much that your body was being torn up by it. The advice I'd give my clients is to 1) reduce load [but I don't have that as an immediate option] and 2) slow down [distance/time limitations are also beyond my control at this time].

The consequence of too much 'survival-driven' cardio is that I regularly fail to consume sufficient calories. I'm ok on fats but protein has been difficult to get enough of in this economy.

Also I teach my clients to listen to their bodies and find the sweet spot between too much intensity and too little. My body is saying, 'curl up in a cozy spot with a good book' and (sometimes) 'take a nap'. As a single mom, solopreneur, currently trying to hack my primal way out of the jungle of abject poverty and human indifference, my survival needs are relentless and crushing. My attitude tends to stay positive because my daughter bases her expectations about life on my expressed outlook. Daily life is currently a lot like being on the front line of a battle on good days and being behind enemy lines on tougher days.

I think that the smartest adjustments I can make right now are more focus on breath work, meditation and some specific chi gung - maybe '5 organ smiles'. Foot massage/acupressure/reflexology and having a little down time with my feet elevated at the end of the day seem non-negotiable.

I will get through this. I have already gotten through enough of the same circumstances to shed over 100 lbs. Originally not having been able to walk for over 3 years but now able to hike for hours per day hauling supplies without a car.

I want *all* the extra pounds gone, as much functional muscle as I need to thrive at whatever I'm doing and already having increased my lean body mass to around 150 lbs, I'll eventually fulfill my potential.

Working on a bike for me, a trail-a-bike for Kidling & drumroll, maestro XXXXXXXXXXXXX .....I booked my first client for Thursday morning! This could be the beginning of all my hard work paying off!

I hope the pills are helping..I've read that ST. John's wort and High levels are of niacin are good for treating depression naturally. don't feel bad about taking them... if they are making you feel better than it's worth it .

Hey all. I am hanging in there. I don't have much to say............

I am aggravated at myself because the Dr prescribed "happy pills" for me and I am not happy about it. I really don't want to take them, but she said until I get my hormones in a better place to take them in the interim and then we will work on weaning me off of them.

My eating is good and I am still getting some exercise in. I am going to check into that kettlebell exercise. 5 minutes a day along with my zumba and yoga maybe will help me out.

congrats on the new client! It's always a pump up to the good spirit vibe to be able to work with someone. Keep up the positive energy and be truthful.

Grok, thanks for the coconut milk idea in the tea. I've not thought of that! At 700 calories in the am I usually feel full until 12 or 2pm. Trying to stay on a strict timeschedule, but rethinking my 12pm timeslot because I'm not that hungry. I do want to keep my energy up....

Fun experimenting with a new schedule for dieting, and this is the first time in my life that I'm trying to eliminate carbs to under 100g. a day. But, when I don't exercise myself to death, like I used to, I see how unnecessary and harmful all the carbs and overexercising is.

Did some acupuncture at the Chiroprator's office yesterday, and the small intestine point was very tender. Hopefully, it's a sign that it's healing up. Sucks being Celiac sometimes, because any little bit of contamination from gluten when I'm unaware of it still gets me in the long run. With the full paleo diet and eliminating all carbs to the best of my abilty is the kick in the butt I've needed. I feel like I can do this more strict lifestyle easily, but I really want to see if I can get under 100g. carbs for a full 30 days, like I originally intended. Milk, my last addiction, lol. Whole, organic, non processed dairy farm locally makes eliminating creamy milk from my diet harder than weaning a crackhead off the ice...... AAAAGGGGGGHHH lol, Iove whole milk. I love cooking with it, drinking it, adding it to my teas..... Someone needs to slap me. lol.:grumble:
[/quote





yes it does suck being celiac sometimes.. I am still at that stage of finding what works and what doesn't.. my system is so weird.. I never know how I am going to react to a new food or new supplement, not to mention the huge job of staying safe..feels like walking through a land mind at times .. as far as the dairy.. coming from the perspective of being lactose intolerant myself.. I know dairy is not paleo but I say if the dairy goddess is still smiling on you and it's not hindering your health and weight goals then go for it and enjoy!.. I would if I could lol To get your carbs lower try heavy whipping cream instead of whole milk. I can also second the full fat canned coconut milk..it is a rich and creamy alternative to dairy.. it has become one of my closest friends since going dairy free.

Last day of our challenge .. how did everyone do?