so so i just started doing this paleo diet thing - feels like it should be bullshit. is it?

x-post - Oh, I'm totally eating whatever the hell I want on actual Christmas - that's a free day imo. I didn't take anything and I only really wanted to try the TJ cookies because mint chocolate is my favorite but, yeah, people bring stuff in here is hard.

And, yes, I would also like to know more about the toasted coconut chips please.

They are simple! Get some unsweetened flaked coconut (I got Bob's Red Mill), heat up a skillet over medium, put in a tiny bit of coconut oil and a handful of flaked coconut. Stir gently and watch it brown - just takes a few minutes. I did a whole bag a handful at a time, then tossed with some salt while it was warm - it's like popcorn. It would work with shreds too. The little bit of oil helps the tiny crumbs cling together once out of the pan.

oooooh. I think that's my plane snack for Thursday.

holy um yes I am so trying that

These are from The Clothes Make the Girl btw: http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2011/06/13/carmelized-coconut-chips/

I skipped the cinnamon but will add it next time I think.

The thing I find hardest about people brining stuff in is not that I desperately want it, more that I hate having to say 'oh I'm doing a sort of paleo thing...' and get into the negotiations and the 'go on, go on, go on.... '. And I don't want everyone to know that I'm trying to eat a certain way, and therefore have them be aware of whether or not I'm holding myself to my own standards. So I tend to be super-enthusiastic about the food that's been brought, in the hope that no-one notices I haven't eaten any, or I 'take some for later' and then give it to housemates. Or even bin it, which is terrible (I only do that if it wasn't a labour of love).

Anyway, I'm kind of inclined to try the Whole30 after Xmas, because eating paleo-ish is doing nothing for me. It might also help if I took even the tiniest amount of exercise.

I have a dumb question that may have already been addressed itt

What happens AFTER the 30 day period if you do the Whole30. Do you start adding stuff back in?

alllllmost to 30 lbs lost thru (mostly) paleo eating, hit a bit of a plateau late but I'm still inching downard

Yep VG - you try one group, like dairy, one day, go back to the restriction for a few days, try the next thing, etc etc. You can also stay on the stricter template for as long as you want.

interesting.

aside from a bit of dairy and a lot of legumes (and the occasional junk splurge), I already eat a lot of this stuff. Maybe I'll give it a whirl in the new year.

the key for me is totally avoiding sugar, bread and rice. period.

i could do better with avoiding sugar. i had a pink lemonade today. i've been doing GREAT with avoiding bread, potatoes, rice, and pasta tho -- although i let myself have some sweet potatoes recently.

yeah I've been kicking ass at avoiding potatoes and pasta. rice I have a harder time avoiding but I'm down to once a week. and bread maybe twice a week. no white flour anymore, no white rice. I dunno, I feel pretty proud of myself, lol

Mr Veg has vicariously lost a bit of weight too, just by the changes I've made in our meals.

i lied, i have a loaf of gluten-free raisin/pecan bread that i've been having half-slices of occasionally, with some kerrygold butter. i don't particularly like it, but i don't want to throw it out either.

I thought I'd miss cheese the most, but what's getting me more is not having our normal dressings/sauces - no vegetable oils, and they are everywhere. Also, sriracha has sugar ;_;

oh damn that could be a dealbreaker

no sriracha D:

rock climbing is the most fun exercise I've ever done, ljub - I know people who aren't into sports or gym-going often like it too. Challenging for body and brain. And super full-body muscle-building. http://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2011/04/toronto_rock_climbing_gyms/

make your own!

(sriracha)

tell me how to live, homo

(ie YES! I would like to make my own pls show me)

"tell me how to live, homo"

my fave belle & sebastian single, by the way.

xp rrrobyn - I am poorly coordinated but I will think about the climbing. The only thing is, I'm not sure how I would feel about it, because a friend lost her boyfriend in a climbing accident. She was working with me at the time, and I got very involved with the aftermath. But a climbing gym is just a climbing gym so I should consider it!

this is the same thing practically without sugar

http://www.huyfong.com/no_frames/garlic.htm

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/04/homemade-scriracha-sauce-recipe.html

even simpler than making your own sriracha is keeping around jars of prik nam pla (2 parts fish sauce, 1 part chopped birds eye chilis) and prik nam som (same thing, but with white vinegar instead of fish sauce.)

http://www.enjoythaifood.com/condiments.php

had the most delicious duck salad at the thai restaurant tonight. it was just roast duck, cashews, lettuce, cilantro, red onions, and a lemony (lemongrass?) dressing. not spicy. perfect for paleos/low-carbers.

thai is the way to go.

anyone notice you're in a good mood all the time?

I think the constant ups and downs of glucose with high carb consumption makes people cranky and they don't even know it.

I notice it if I have a cup of coffee late in the day, all of a sudden I'm raaaaaaaaaaagh hulk smash for no reason. but yeah the sugar/carb thing definitely adds or added to that, there's no doubt

yeah i talked about the good mood/cranky thing upthread. its remarkable.

I have a friend who pretty much lives on sugar. Like, she has a bagel for breakfast, candy for lunch... and like, YEAH, CANDY FOR 2 OUT OF 3 MEALS. And I am really starting to notice her insane mood swings.

i have too much energy now -- i already have anxiety issues so the extra energy just turns it into hyperactivity.

take some st. john's wort. or some calms forte. or something similar. might help.

anyone notice you're in a good mood all the time?

― homosexual II, Tuesday, December 11, 2012 6:05 PM (1 hour ago)

yeah this is a really nice side effect. makes maintaining eating this way really easy and self-motivated as well.

like im at a weight loss point where i could prob get pretty sloppy with this at this point, but i have no reason or desire to. might switch to the athletic performance meal plan from this book because more butternut squash soup, thats why.

Yeah i went the first three months very low carb and no dairy at all. But im lifting weights a lot now so i eat more sweet potatoes, squash and a little whole milk. I've put on a good amount of muscle.

Paleo chocolate chili with garlic mashed cauliflower for dinner from Well Fed. Really tasty.

Has anyone looked into intermittent fasting? I'm going to try it.

The intermittent fast pattern I use is 8pm-noon 2x/wk, so you're basically skipping breakfast Tues and Sat, which works around my Mon/Wed/Fr workout schedule. It's totally doable except that I keep ... forgetting ... to do it. Big note going to be left on the fridge Fri night so I'm not tempted to skip. The pattern I adopted from Lean Gains.

Tried this today - was easier than I expected, maybe due to eating such a hearty dinner.

Coworker handed out caramel corn as a holiday treat this morning. I have a no-go snack food file drawer now.

re: IF, janeane garafolo eats only one meal a day (dinner)
don't know if it's a paleo meal though.

christopher walken is also an (inadvertent?) intermittent faster.

After not being successful at always finding gluten free items when I crave them, I decided to just try the paleo diet. The only problem I see is corn tortillas and corn chips. However, corn tortillas have been looking really shitty since this summer when we were in Del Rio and had really awesome corn tortillas. I have made them a few times since but the whole corn gmo thing festers in the back of my mind. Corn chips have started to taste like cardboard lately too and not something I truly enjoy. So it just feels like the perfect time to go paleo.

Grocery stores and small town USA....all these towns with pop of 80K and below, below....eek! I can tell you horror stories.

its quiet in paleo land. are you all being tempted by christmas treats? I'm not, because I am grossed out by wheat and shit lately. It's all just DOUGH. I sat in a pizza parlor last night and was amazed at how many people were gobbling down flour + water in such high amounts.

frankly i'd enjoy a bowl of pizza topping without the base just as much

homoII I am a fan of yours but I am having trouble reconciling fat acceptance vs. judging other's eating tbh. Not trolling, just not getting it.

Nah she wasn't judging other people's eating, she was saying she's grossed out by dough

Me too, I've started to feel the same way. I absentmindedly put a dolmade in my mouth last week, chewed for a second, felt weird, spit it out. Starches don't have the same appeal no more