Cupcake Goes Caveman

Why we broke up with Paleo.

Its true.

Bob and I have officially broken up with Paleo.

My name is Karen and Its been 60 days since I last ate Paleo AIP. And I have never been happier in my life. 

The last two years, Paleo had started to become such a drag in my life. Every day my facebook newsfeed was full of Paleo twinkies, and Paleo cereal, and Paleo bread, and Paleo people eating white rice and white potatoes.

There were paleo dinners with Macaroni and cheese, and paleo pizza.

And Paleo would not shut up about 80/20 and 21 day sugar detox's, and 30 day Paleo challenges! (what happened to paleo IS the lifestyle ??? not a challenge to try? the hell??) Paleo was becoming so mainstream and popular-Everyone knew his name!  He was EVERY WHERE and on EVERYONE'S lips.

In conversations I would say "oh we eat paleo" and 20 other people would say "Oh we do too" as they stood there at a party eating real cake, and mexican food.  "We are 80/20. We eat paleo on the weekdays but not the weekend." Or "I've done 2 paleo challenges this year, and even though I have not lost any weight, I still feel like I am making a big difference in the way I eat." as she stands there filling her shopping cart full of non- food,  stuff full of crap, and processing, sugars and gluten.  I stand there so confused. What do you MEAN? You are not paleo. You are playing Paleo. But you! are! NOT PALEO!

PALEO is no sugar. NO gluten. NO ALL OF THIS junk. Its 100% every day. Its all the time. Its NOT THIS crazy talk you are speaking!  Its not pictures of twinkies and paleo pastry books, and Fracking Macaroni and CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!

Paleo was making me fat too.  And other posts were mocking me for it too. "7 reasons why paleo isnt helping you lose weight!" ect ect!  Paleo was a slick, tricky little devil ... and soon I was sucked in too. Its so hard to resist you know, when everyone in your once private, personal little world, is doing it. A little rice here, a little white potato there.....   I started eating that carbolicious rice, that gateway drug, and pretty soon you know what happened!  Two pounds here.... a little ounce there.  And then that adorable little carb led to "Occasional" white potatoes.   I noticed no side effects.... so where was the harm, right?  But the harm was happening every day.......... as the pounds continued to go on, and the hidden inflammation grew and grew, right along with my body.

And then sugar started making its way back in to the diet too.  Butter Coffee with maple Syrup! oh YES PLEASE!

Paleo Brownies and chocolate chip cookies- all refined sugar free, for events! Then Once a week for a Treat day and then they came to live in the fridge during the week ............ a quick grab before going to crossfit in the morning. BECAUSE HEALTHY COOKIES! YES!

NO! I knew NO. I have already been down this road. I've been lured by sugar ALL of my damn life, and that sweet little opiate was seducing me AGAIN thanks to Paleo! GAH! I hate YOU PALEO!

I started crossfit. It took me a lot of work to get to Crossfit. I had to get rid of all the pain of my previous post first. Since walking to the bathroom was debilitating, crossfit seemed like traveling to the MOON! I buckled down and did the AIP and I won!

I put endometrosis in remission! I tamed my arthritis and my ass WENT TO CROSSFIT!  Goal met! TAKE THAT FAT! But that's where I'd be wrong.  In the first year of crossfit- despite getting my sugar tooth under control again with a Paleo Challenge (I cringe. Really I do- I EAT paleo already why did I need a fracking "challenge" to stop eating the crap?) I gained 10 pounds. By the end of Year two (this very march) I was 20 pounds heavier SINCE joining Crossfit. A beastly love of a workout............... and I am fatter for it.

Where did I go WRONG? Why was Paleo treating me so bad!? Moreover, what COULD I do about this? After my third failed attempt at a "Challenge" that left me BINGING on maple syrup and  eating sugar from a bowl straight up.................... I decided to start thinking hard of something else to do and then I remembered the ONE and only time I really lost any weight in my life was when I did the Atkins diet in 2004.  I got down to #125 pounds at the time, and was actually PISSED when after 6 months I could not go any lower. I really wanted to be #100 pounds like I was in High school upon graduation.  Was this realistic? I dont know. I knew quite a few women at the time who were this weight, so it seemed realistic. But in any case... it stopped working. And Then................ we got "The food Network"  and I started loving the food, the wine, and the cookies, and my life changed forever.

(meeting Ree- the pioneer woman. Hello How Frickin fat am I? geeze!)

I would gain weight over the next several years, topping out at #172.

 

I discovered that I LOVED cooking, and cooking shows, and recipes and BAKING ALL THE THINGS! Blogs full of baking, and cooking, and cake balls started popping up all over, and inhaled them all- especially the carbs coming from them!

Getting that shit to disappear would take allllllllllllllllll the way up to 2011 (January), when I found the paleo diet. Yes I tried walking, and aerobics and eating right blah blah (ya'll know the story, some of you are living it) but NOTHING Was working until I discovered the Paleo diet. Within four months I would be #133 and it stayed that way for nearly 18 months.

And within 4 total years of eating Paleo / AIP and working out hard.............. here I would be about to crest into the #160s again. No. NO. NO NO NO DAMMIT NO. 

Flash forward to early April 2015, when an article came across a Paleo newsfeed about this Family of four who are THRIVING on eating Just meat. Just meat and water. The paleo blogger was livid. The commentary of her article was entirely negative, but I was rivited when I read the Article about the Family.  The father was saying all these amazing things about how healthy his wife is, how she put her Lyme disease in remission, how she GREW TWO AMAZING HEALTHY SONS all while eating ONLY Meat and drinking ONLY water.  I got absorbed into the site that posted the blog, (their story has since been removed at their request, due to actual THREATS against this sweet little family from really horrible people who need to learn to mind their own business for the love of all things &*^%$#@!!!!) and I spent two days reading, reading, reading EVERYTHING.

Mesmerized.

Here are some things that eating ZERO CARB help with:

arthritis

weight loss

Cravings

ending muscle cramps

Diseases

Inflammation

Skin issues

Hormonal issues

Diabetes

.....................to name a few.  Of course, a few things jumped out at me as having been problems I have already been trying to address the last 4 fracking years. And you're telling me all I have to do is eat a flippin' Ribeye for supper every day and I can address ........ EVEN SOLVE these issues? Oh. My. God.

Where do I sign up? I decided right then and there on Day two that I was going to start the VERY NEXT DAY. I mean, what the hell did I have to lose? I already knew that Atkins helped me lose weight before.......... this could only do AT LEAST that! But maybe... just maybe EVEN MORE! I was jittery with excitement. 

I had already been 30 days into YET ANOTHER run at the Auto immune diet.... and had actually, well......... with the help of my mom dying (I cant even!) lost 5 pounds the week of her funeral.  So I had a head start. It could only get better, in my mind, so I was ready to start the next day.

Then there was the Bob. I had to tell him what I was doing since it would be kind of abrupt if I stopped eating any vegetables. And making any treats. OR buying any chocolate bars. So I mention it a little, and then rushed in with all these details and when I stopped for a breath he goes "HELL YEAH! that sounds awesome lets start today!"

So on April 7, 2015 We broke up with Paleo and started our MEAT FEST.  And today is our #60th day ZC. (zero carb).

Firstly, To date I have lost 13 pounds. thirteen. I know that does not sound like much at all. The scale is a devil. Its mean. Its mocking me. But...........

 I am wearing pants three sizes smaller RIGHT THIS SECOND!

My belt has gone in 5 holes!

My weightlifting belt, I discovered yesterday CANNOT Squeeze me tight enough anymore and I am going to need to buy a SMALL. Just saying the word Small scares the hell out of me. What am I thinking? A small. I am not small. But.

I am!

I have carried with me a Box in my closet known as "The Dream pants box".  Yes I wrote that on the box. It held inside ALL of my favorite pants from the #125 days. And on top of those, the #133 pound days. And when my belt loop went in to the 5th hole on my pants, and the ass started sagging on my favorite pair of jeans, I decided to dare myself to OPEN THE BOX!

I waited until Bob was out of town. The last thing someone wants to do is try on TINY Pants in front of their husband (least he walk in on me! the horror!) and then I got the Box out and sat it on the bed, and then ripped it open.

(mister kat was very interested in the dream pants box too!)

Minutes later clothes were flying and I was dying!  I FIT IN A BUNCH OF THEM! Excited is putting it mildly.  And then when the flurry of flying fabric was over I was left with four piles of pants.

These Fit Perfectly Right Now.

These Are snug, but do-able

(those two went in my closet and the fat ones went to the donation bin! holla!)

These are CLOSE But no cigar!

And finally the #125 pants ... all sizes 4 and 2 omfreakinggawd
THE COVETED DREAM PANTS.

(here they are in all their glory! the last stack!)

 

On thursday of last week I am happy to report that I have moved ALL BUT ONE of the stacks to my closet. Yes. Even the Close but No cigar ones!

All I have left are the COVETED DREAM FRICKIN PANTS! OMG!

Thats my favorite part.

Second............ we are not losing our minds over cravings. At all. We PLAN our "cheats" if you can call it that. For instance, Sean and Joanna got married on April 18. There was to be NO cake.... nothing was gluten free there, we already knew, so I brought Bob and I our new favorite chocolate bar I had just discovered before going ZC. We brought our short rib meat and ate til we are full (the rule at ZC- eat til you are thanksgiving full - how can that even suck at all ?LOL) and then we opened up our little chocolate bars and made ourselves sick on it! haha!

It was not all that bad. Just we knew the next day that was our penance for that little transgression. Next day, back on the plan, and we didn't deviate! the next occasion was Mothers day.

We went to Sean's for dinner and we had steak. No sides, and we bought some ice cream (yes clean- grass fed you know how I am. lol) and I made a pan of our favorite paleo brownies! we were set! Except? it tasted really meh. Like yuck. The ice cream was a real let down.  And while there was no bad feeling the next day, my weight did stall for 4 days. And those of you that are scale watchers like me KNOW this is like DYING INSIDE EVERY MINUTE. 

But the best part...............there is no drag for sugar the next day. We just go right back to eating and all is right with the world.

I am having ZERO Flares of arthritis in my fingers, and hip, which occurred any time I deviated off AIP. (Nuts, dairy, ect). SO THAT Is a huge plus. PLUS I get to eat Eggs. And there were no eggs allowed on AIP and that made me cry. So NO Pain AND I get eggs! Indeed!

I was particularly intrigued with the mention of many "Vets" (people who have been zero carb for many, many years that manage our facebook pages) that they experienced relief and cessation all of their muscle cramping.  I have been searching for years for a solution to the problem. I have toes that cramp apart during the day while walking, driving, shooting, ect! My calves or any muscle that I fatigue at crossfit will lock up solid for upwards of a half hour depending on how hard I was going when it happened effectively stopping my workout dead, and leaving me with pain in my muscles as if someone hit it with a bat for DAYS! I have been to one conventional doctor (you have to stretch before getting out of bed? the hell dude.. I have been up 8 hours already why is it cramping while I am driving down the road!?) he had ZERO advice. THREE holistic/paleo/chiropractic type of doctors who suggested things from apple cider vinegar, to vitamins- all to no avail.  I finally started ON MY OWN taking magnesium, after reading a post on a crunchy site, and FINALLY got the cramping under control for the most part. But NOT AT CROSSFIT. Its daily.

So this was something I was really counting on working.

To date, I have managed to jump rope with NO cramping, and today I ran three separate 200m runs with no cramping, however after the third, (and I was finished with the wod) I was laid out on the floor with a calf cramp for 10 minutes! *SIGH* so as of this point #60daysZC ... this has not been solved yet.  But I remain hopeful!

For both of us, our moods are very energetic! I've reorganized so many things, and Bobs "honey do" list is growing longer by the minute! We are well rested every morning, and ravenous for our food!  We do not eat in between meals simply because we are NOT hungry at ALL.

Skinny hubby Bob has also reported that he has GAINED two pounds. Which is totally awesome. I will be happy to share the remaining 14 of mine with him if he wants! haha!

So.......Im sure by now, you want to know what we eat? We eat meat. All kinds of meat. We eat eggs. Some people eat dairy, or cheese, we rarely if ever do, except for butter. We eat a lot of butter.  No vegetables at all. No plant material AT ALL- yes that means NO Fruits at all.

For us its basically Steak, Eggs, and Hamburger. We are adjusting to this woe (way of eating) right now so have been experiencing aversions to certain foods during the adjustment. So at the start of it, I could NOT even look at, touch or cook our usual roast chickens. I gagged even thinking about it, and could not eat a bite. However last week on wed I think it was, I made and ate almost an entire chicken all by myself! (with some broth and butter Hells yeah!)  So that issues solved itself.  Hamburgers  are another issue for me (Not Bob - but he is with me on the chicken - he still doesn't want it though).  I discovered yesterday that I need a super thin burger... I like the grilled edges. The middle.. I cannot choke down at all. haha. So next time I am doing them thin! I like making ground beef or bison and adding in pre cooked bacon bits too, with a pat of butter. YUM!

We eat: usually 3 eggs each for breakfast- him some meat from fridge, me cut up ham from fridge OR we have bacon. Bacon is always in the fridge cooked up and ready for snacking on. We eat LOTS of thick fatty bacon every single day. Our favorite meat right now is Ribeye. we grill it in bacon grease, add some butter to finish at end and then eat the hell out of it.  We also eat beef short ribs cooked in the pressure cooker, some pork now and then, and the dreaded chickens. (of which I have 4 more of them in the freezer that we have to muscle through.haha). We tried salmon but I could not deal with it at the moment.... Bob was too hungry after, so it was not satisfying, even though we did surf and turf with some steak! 

Pork and chicken leave us hungry within an hour.  Working out at crossfit makes us ravenous the entire day. The other day we ate all our breakfast and then are in the fridge for more meat within two hours. lol  Steak leaves us the most satisfied, and full. 

We drink water and hot teas. And that is ALL!

So.... I bet you have LOTS of questions!  And I'd be happy to answer them. And feel free to click on a link to the sites to check it out for yourself if you like. But we are not open to arguments. No I don't have blood work to prove I am not going to die of a heart attack from all the fat. Studies are limited if any at all on this woe. Nobody has taken the time to study it really, even though it goes back for years.  This website has links to other folks stories and the zc pages on fb (zeroing in on health and Zero carbs-the easy way) have lots of files of information. For us...............the results we are experiencing are enough.

We love the simplicity of our meals. We love not having the urge to consume fake foods and sugars. We love not having the gas and belly pain from vegetables that are supposed to be healthiful but cause us pain! We love our energy, and my weight loss!  And are comforted by the vets stories of years of going before us with nothing but happy reports.   For us............. this works. 

So, its ADIOS Paleo. It was lovely to meet you. You were wonderful at the start, but now here in the middle of the twinkies, donuts, and plates full of white rice it is where we must part ways. We wish you much luck... it looks like things are going really well for you! 

xoxo

Bob and Karen

 

 

Ouch! My experiement with the Auto immune protocol

So..... I never post. I'm sorry! I think about a blog post about 110% of every minute of every day! But the truth is I carry HUGE guilt! I feel like if I stop working on images, or working on things around the house, or Working working working, I will feel too guilty! So blogging to me is not work! Its a pleasure to sit here and throw some words out there and hope someone reads it! I just cant live with the guilt!

Except for today. I feel somehow guilt free... I'm almost another year older, I got 5 things "going in the house", and I have lots to tell you, so what the hell...I feel like I can take a minute here and let you know whats been going on in Cupcakes Cavehouse!

First ... lets talk about the Title of this Post. What the crap is Auto Immune protocol? (AI)  Well... I am now suffering from some serious pain every day. I always knew from some past MRI tests as a younger person, that they said I'd be suffering some arthritis in my legs and ankles from all my old gymnastics injuries. I was kinda ready for it..... just not ready for it YET.  However, up until around the road trip last July, I had not really noticed much unless the weather changed! I would ache up and down my shin and ankle like someone was beating me with a baseball bat! It felt like massive pain from the inside out. But it would go away! I was like the weather vane! ha!  Only after the road trip I started having HORRIBLE pain in my hip. All day, and all night. Walking to the grocery store was as painful as falling from 40 stories and landing on one leg! I can barely tolerate the pain.

So here I am trying to be all holistic and good for my body with the food I put in it, and Im swallowing 2 aleve EVERY day... and begging for more. My MRI took 5 months to finally happen, and it was just minutes before I headed out to VA for my great nephews birth in March that I found out it was in fact ARTHRITIS. (and bursitis) And "mild"... as they wrote on my chart.  MILD! HOLYCRAP are you KIDDING ME!!!!!!?????? IF that is Mild I have absolutely zero interest into finding out what SERIOUS Arthritis is. Up to that point Sleeping, Walking, Sitting, Standing, or doing generally ANYTHING just caused massive pain,and limping. And limping... well crap, that sends the knees into a downward spiral!  The things could barely stand the surgery I had a few years ago, and now with the hip hobbling, the whole tower of Cupcake is off balance and in pain! NO BUENO!

So.............I asked Dr. Parkland what she suggested we do about it. (Insert massive eyeroll here), and her Reply was Medicine. Lots of it. *Sigh. NO thanks.

So then I started researching Paleo and Arthritis. I really thought I had read that it should HELP with that... so why am In this pain? It turns out many people ARE Helped... but that I unfortunately may require a more tweaked, refined Paleo diet to help heal me. As much as I researched, and dug through different diets and sights, it all kept coming back to the same culprits that cause inflammation in our bodies. Most people obviously can handle it, and heal. Mine is not working. So, I started working on my new version of Paleo... the Auto Immune Protocol. 

Here is a reminder of Paleo Diet- basically we eat MEAT, NUTS, & VEGGIES, with SOME Fruits. No processed foods. Nothing off the shelves. No crap.

The AI protocol further removes the following foods, which have been known to medical and foodie communities to cause inflammation in our bodies and joints-  Eggs, Dairy, Nuts, wine, and Nightshades (potatoes & peppers in my case)

So that leaves me to eat every day- Meat, Veggies and some fruit.

I cant do cheese, eggs, nuts- which include our only indulgences like almond meal brownies and muffins, or almond butter shakes, no tomatoes, no peppers, and no potatoes which I was fond of using as my occasional Cheat. And......drumroll, please... I CANNOT EVEN EAT FRICKING BUTTER! <pin drop.>

*SOB*

I cant eat a damn THING!!!!!!!!!!

So, in my typical Cupcake whiny fashion, I sat here and cried for around 5 days. No, really. I DID. Every day I ate two eggs for breakfast, with an almond butter shake made with almond milk. Its quick, and easy and nutritious!  And now............ what the hell can I eat? A chicken leg? WAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, after visiting a CHEK Counselor and getting the same advice and a smarmy little "Well, What are you going to do? Be a big girl and in charge of your body, or you can eat whatever the hell you want and hurt. Its UP to you!" comment, I decided to wipe my damn tears up and try this out.

Approximately 10 days later I was MAD, and Pissy, and HUNGRY for something awful, and STILL HOBBLING. I had been ingesting apple cider vinegar every day (which by the way does not taste bad AT ALL) because the counselor said it would help with arthritis,  and eating supper for breakfast, lunch and dinner, every day, MORE FRUIT than a carb watcher needs to be, and Skipping sweet potatoes which were my only starchy carby trade off for potatoes since I was STILL dreaming that one day I'd be 125 pounds again. And NOTHING WAS HAPPENING. (especially any weight loss! boo hiss)

I threw a major little tantrum, and bawled some more, and fired my chek counselor saying something whiny like " ITS JUST NOT WORKING I CANT DO THIS".... and gave up.

For about 4 hours. Then I put the bowl I used to sneak a 1/4 cupful of Maple syrup in, into the dishwasher, and I wrote an email to The Paleo mom, hoping she would give me a reply.

The Paleo Mom is a facebook paleo "Friend" that is a Scientist turned stay at home mom who also suffers issues with her auto immune system. I thought if ANYONE might be able to hand me a lifesaver ring she would! And much to my surprise SHE DID!

She answered all my questions and gave me honest answers that went something like this "Sometimes we have to put our health first, and our dreams of weight loss to the side, so we can heal our bodies first. It might take a LONG long time, even years, but eventually, maybe you can lose that weight, and even eat the way you want to again".  It gave me hope.

And so............... I've been doing about a 89% good job at eating properly for the last two months or so.  I'm not patting myself on the back.... because there MAY or MAY NOT have been a couple of sad days that I pulled my little glass bowl out of the cabinet and put in some maple syrup to soothe a really bad day........ and at least THREE awful days that I drank wine and was PAINFULLY reminded that its a very very bad idea to do that anymore.  Not that I was sick to my stomach. Only with the white wine one however, was I MASSIVELY sick to my stomach... but that always used to happen- even way before Paleo. I think it was the hot day, and too many commercials of people drinking glasses of wine that got me thinking it would be ok.. but I cannot handle the sweet whites.. and I paid for it.

But no................. The RED WINE, which is welcomed in Paleo, and in other food communities as a good addition to any diet, its that lovely friend of mine that makes me suddenly feel all YUCKY and gross, and sad and thick the next day now.  And add that to these headaches I've been dealing with from the Mold allergy I have or all these trees in my yard allergy... those things combined have left me feeling awful. 

So........no more wine for ME. Its not worth the feeling the next day. bleh. 

And before I go any further I know know KNOW what you are thinking!!!!! I do! You are thinking..
WHY ON EARTH would I EVER want to eat this freaking oddball way that Cupcake eats, when that means I would never enjoy food again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its absolutely not true. I love food. I love cooking food and I LOVE eating good yummy food!  What I love even more though, is something YOU DO NOT KNOW! 

What you do not know is WHAT IT REALLY FEELS LIKE TO BE CLEAN. How amazing and light and tight you feel. How clean and fresh I feel from not being bogged down with crap, and filthy food!  And how I KNOW THIS is because.....DRUMROLL............

when I eat the bad crap.............. I feel INSTANTLY like crap.

You just have no concept when you eat the traditional SAD diet (standard amercian diet) of what it feels like to ACTUALLY FEEL YOUR BODY like you are supposed to.  I am so in tune with by body SO WELL I know when I have effed up INSTANTLY!! Its crazy! But also awesome. I MISS It when I screw up, and its a solid reminder of how far I have come, and how awesome it is, when your body tells you "Please don't eat that crap again."

Truly, we are not supposed to eat candy, sugar, treats, packaged processed things that came from test tubes in a lab, and our meat should not be filled and stuffed from birth with grains that were created by mad scientists in Food Labs. 
This is not how our parents parents ate. It NOT how its always been. GMO food is SO NEW to our lives its just barely older than MY FIRST BORN BABY! We WERE NOT born and bred on this, and its wrong to feed our babies this way. 

You would NEVER EVER EVER take a bottle of Round up off the shelf at Wally world, and spray it on a bowl of oatmeal and then feed it to your baby.... would you?

So why ARE YOU?

Anyhow........................... back to my AI protocol.

I was pretty good the last few weeks......... I'd love to say that I am CURED! HAHAHAHA! And in fact I have barely noticed much decrease in pain at all. However I CAN Sleep at night. My hip is not throbbing like a hot pokers stuck in it anymore. And I am not ingesting A SINGLE Pill of any kind- and I WAS trying to overdose on painkillers before. SO there is a little progress.

And the heartburn I was experiencing with butter and dairy foods IS all gone.... unless I made Bob or Emily something with it, and dealt with the suffering. And DON'T even let me get started on the upsetting evening I had when I decided to make something with tomatoes two weeks ago. I was PROMPTLY pulled to reality about nightshades being a no no !!! And paid for it dearly!

But nothing at all prepared me for this morning. 

Last night we went out for my birthday dinner. I requested Ruths Chris- because that cheesy stuffed chicken is DA'BOMB baby! And if you have not ever had it, and it SOUNDS yummy to you cheese lovers out there.. I URGE you to get your butt over there and get you some. Yes Indeed. Mmmmmm mmmmmmmmmm Good.  Anyhow... that's what I wanted. A cheat birthday dinner with some cheesy chicken, and perhaps some ice cream for dessert. (I have a post about sugar I HAVE To TELL you about sometime soon. Holyhell that was one nightmare I shall never visit again!!!) anyhow........... That was the plan.

We got right into our dinner and I even skipped the wine! Go me! Plain tea it is!  And then the dinner came and it was EVERY bit as wonderful as I imagined and when not a bit of skin was left on my plate and my belly was nearly full of that and some mashed potatoes and butter (OH MY) she asked if I wanted a little Birthday Surprise!  WELL YES I DO, I replied.. but drew a frown and said " however I cant have cake (as I had received in previous birthday visits) because I am gluten free." And bless her wonderful heart, she said "WHY I HAVE A WHOLE PLATE OF GLUTEN FREE GOODNESS FOR YOU" and I almost fell out of my chair when she whipped this amazing plate of YUMMY in front of me!!!!!!!!!!!

The cake, she assured me, after a visit with the chef was made of only sugar, eggs, vanilla and chocolate! It was like a chunk o fudge! But sadly I was NO longer interested in it, after digging into the pot of berries and cream she laid before me. When she stopped by to ask me how it was, I could barely speak it was SO FREAKING AMAZING!!!!!!!! I have henceforth requested that ANY TIME I was in need of something special THAT I WANTED A VAT OF THIS PLEASE AND THANK YOU, and that wonderful woman, she went back to the kitchen and came back with ANOTHER POT OF HEAVEN IN HER HANDS FOR ME!!!!!!And yes, I did ! I ate two bowls of it, AND the raspberry sorbet which was also swoon worthy but nothing compared to that cream!!!!!!!!  And then, we stumbled out into the night, our bellies satisfied and full.  Although always in the back of my mind now when I eat outside of my own cave, I am worried about what if gluten got snuck in something, or whether peanuts were involved somehow (they give me a buzz...hehehehe Im a cheap date I know!) so I am always on hyper alert for some kind of reaction- just in case a potty needs to be nearby! 

And of course, not surprisingly, within minutes of getting in the car..........I'm a buzz!!!!!!!!! hahahaha! I feel like the top of my head is floaty and spinny and tied to me with a string! hahahaha! but my belly is still ok and happy!  If anything worse is going to happen, it will likely rear its ugly head about 1am ... my witching hour, so for now............ I'm excited to go watch a play!

Mister Kat is My ugly wake up call, miraculously, at 5:30 am, and NOT my belly! woot!!!!! WOOT! And.... I have no headache today (likely I suspect because our mysterious weather cap is GONE, and SO IS MY DAMN HEADACHE!!!,) and I throw my legs out of bed and attempt to get up and am SLAMMED BY PAIN!

HOLYHELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can barely move my joints. I feel like a every single joint, including my fingers, are swollen and encased in concrete filled with pain! YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!

I'm having a reaction of EPIC proportions alrighty. I am astounded. I did not realize how PAINFREE I WAS all those days, til I woke up this morning feeling like I need a steroid IV Drip just to feed my freaking cats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW. what an experiment in Auto Immune reactions I am today!

I AM Now a believer. WOW.  just WOW!!!!!!!!!

Its now 3:30 pm and Id love to say I'm feeling better.... I got up and did my shoot, which was fun and zipping around after Lauren today took my mind off it, and filled me with some much welcomed adrenaline...............but OMG I am so so so so so stiff. And fatigued and just so unable to move. For reals. This is a shocking wake up call.

Food Matters.

That's all I have to say. FOOD is such a healer!!!!!!!!!!!!   However not fast enough.. LOL because all I"ve been doing today is trying to figure out how fast this pain will leave, and my old "pain" to come back! hahahahah!  Talk about the grass is greener! Oh MY!

So...........thats what has been happening!  Before THIS adventure with AI Started, I had a WHOLE out of body experience with Sugar... that little nasty demon from hell. He and I were in a VERY toxic tango that started last summer and lasted through March... and I am HERE to tell you I AM NOW OFFICIALLY OVER YOU DEMON SUGAR! You Will not invade my life again.  SO THERE.

And when I have a minute.............. I plan on posting that whole drama for your reading enjoyment because I am SURE you are dying to know all about it. HAHAHAHA!  But, right now I need to go fold this laundry piled up on my table.......  Cry for me. If you arelly know me, You KNOW how much I love folding laundry ( I DO it is so relaxing and I love the smell of it...)..... and right now, it hurts so bad!

 

Wow. I really need to post...

SOoooooooooooo Much has happened in the last month or so since I have posted last! Good GOLLY Miss MOLLY! I I lost 5 more pounds... 4 of which were.. drumroll please........... ON VACATION! Do not ask me how that happened because I am HERE To tell you we had many, many, too numerous to count, less than desirable meals on this 18 day or so road trip. 

And Quite a few "planned cheats" as well! I am surprised we did as well as we did...........yes I am! 

Oh and this is who the "We" are that I am referring to... Emily & I! 

We hit the road on the morning on July 13th, and didn't get back home to Garland til the 30th!  We had us some SERIOUSLY BIG FUN too!!!!!!  

From Driving in the rain for days (while everything wilted and melted back here at home) to Emily's big adventure with a Beluga whale in Atlanta! 

Don't lets forget waking up at 4:45 am to watch the Sunrise off the coast of Isle of Palms

with my kid & wonderful sister Becky,

and long time friend Kari & her daughter! 

That was one of the best days yet!!!!!!!! 

Discovering the open door

at the "Caves"

was some big time adventure later that day........

The "caves" is an abandonded fort from back in the day that we all used to hang out at after visiting the beach when we were all teenagers. The place was open and there are tiny nooks and hidden doors and corridors and it was BIG SCARY FUN back in the day to bring your flashlight and creep around in them scaring the hell out of anyone else around! We LOVED IT!  ON past visits.. the place was locked up tight behind the fence. Today however it was open AND we found an open door. OHMY!

We stayed with my mom during the beach week and cooked for everyone at night. My sisters drove down from the Greenville area to spend the week at the beach so we could hang out together some.  That was nice!

Its been forever since everyone has seen Becky!  Emily fell head over heels in love with her. I think Emily was 3 the last time she might have seen Becky. 

Driving to see Miss Jacque was an impossibly long 3 hours... we could hardly wait to get our arms around our girl! 

LOVED, loved, loved spending the night and whole day with her! 

(she & Em are tuckered out after spending the day at the waterpark!)

It was all we could do not to stow her in the backseat with Emma and steal her away forever! 

The whirlwind weekend tour thru Greer, Rock Hill and then on up to Richmond about wore us out... but discovering the amazing park near my friend Liz's house made me DROOL!!!!!!!

I wish we had that kind of deal out here in Texas.. and all of it so lush and green!  Imagine Texans!!! GRASS THAT DOES NOT CRUNCH UNDERFOOT IN JULY! I swoon! 

And Goats!!!!!!!!!

Don't let me forget to mention those awesome Goats, and chickens

and great niece Amber & Nephew Troy

Oh my!!!!!!!!!!!

Loved stopping by their ginormous land-spreading-out-so-far-and-wide!!!!!!!!!!! And Emily really enjoyed her morning egg straight from the chickens........... um... poop yeah..I mean COOP!! hahahahah! 

Points if you can tell me which one of these is from the coop! 

And then............ it was on to see our little T-Ti .....

and rest and recoup a few days in one of my favorite places on earth - the Hatters house!!

(and Roanoake itself... ok.. to be super specific... Grandin.. ok. I am in love with Grandin. I admit it. I want to live there long time!!!!!!  if YOU have been there, then YOU do too!!!) 

And after a few days of feeding everyone and eating Ice cream at Pops,

and taking pictures of some precious feet

and cuddling with our baby Titus,

we were home-bound for Texas.... with one more good nights rest in Tennessee with some Facebook friends we finally met Face to Face! Waving HI!! to Chrissy, Glen and all the little kidlets!  We really appreciate ya'll letting us crash that last night and enjoyed your company,

and your little dog too!!!!

(hehehehe had to throw that line in.... more bonus points if you know what movie THAT came from! heheheheh)

I have to tell you though, that last two hours with the kid in the car about did me in! hahahahah!

 

She was a real GEM on the whole trip but we were both ready to GET HOME and GET OUR OWN SPACE BACK.... let me tell you!

Only we both arrived home with more "space" to move around in - which we have the Paleo way of living to Thank for!

Emily got started right away in Caveman Camp on July First. She surprised me right off the bat by not ever asking for ANY treats. Like NONE! I have to be honest here, .. in those first few weeks of the whole 30, I was DYING TO CHEAT. I would sneak a handful of 65% chocolate chips... or some tiny nibbles of cheese and grapes.. but NOT MY EMILY GIRL!!!!!!! Dang!!!!! I was SURE she was cheating somehow... but holy smokes within 5 days the kid lost 5 pounds, and there is NO WAY she was cheating if that was happening! 

Next thing I was worried about was her on the road trip. Now, if you guys are like we were, in the past... you know you pack a sack full of "CRAP" for the car trip.  We did too, sorta.... some freeze dried fruit snacks we happen to like, and a cooler full of her favorite homemade ranch dip, boiled eggs and some frozen grapes rounded out our "snack bag." That and a backseat full of water bottles.  And guess what? She NEVER asked for a snack.  I was ASTOUNDED.  And never got to whining or begging for one at night either, even as I sat there eating my two little chunks (ok... maybe 4 now and then) of Sea salt dark chocolate.  I was never so impressed with one of my kids. She is made of some kind of resolve.. that one. (of course I recognize this from when she is really trying to hold her ground throwing a toddler tantrum in the middle of Target... oh yes I do.. but I like its lots more in this arena!!!)   She is made of The Stuff, this one is!!!

So I need to get her current photo up........ taking it the next weekend I See her, so we can compare ... because the girl has lost another 3 pounds already since a week back, and her father has decided to let her continue eating Paleo at his house too... which is him being a total Rockstar!    I cant wait to see how far she can take this thing!  So proud of my sweet 16 year old!

By the way.......... she is the one who initiated this challenge.  Picking her up one day from her dads for the weekend, she snapped off the car radio and began by saying " Mom... I really want to eat the way you do. " and so we talked it through, discussed it with her father, and decided she could give it a try!  It was a very proud moment for me that she wanted this, and has embraced it and is actually a TEENAGER DOING IT!  WTG!!!!!!! Emma Girl! 

And eating on the Road  was a real whip let me tell you. Thats like a whole bitch post in itself... the lack of Good, Clean, Organic food on the highways across this country was just a disgrace.  Really... come ON PEOPLE..... lets DO THIS THING! 

So, What DID we end up eating? 

You'll be surprised when I tell you... really... but then People usually are when I break out my "Butter not bread" shirt.... hahahaha and my ever popular " I love Bacon" !!!   Heart attack on a plate! right? 

But no... what we ended up craving and eating a lot of was actually grilled chicken with some alfredo sauce.  I do not even WANT To venture a guess at what kind of unpronounceable crap was in the sauce at Olive Garden.... or think about what I was eating at Carrabas.... but whatever it was, it hit the spot, we educated quite a few servers, and snarfed down plenty of salad on our way to still losing weight.  So I'll have to give it that much. 

The highlight meals though.. and there WERE a few delectable ones mmm yes there were... came from Atlantas Teds' Montanna Grill

and Gabes ( I think was the name)  which I enjoyed with Liz & her daughter minutes before experiencing my FIRST  (& last.. hahahaha) Screamo concert

outside in downtown Villa Rica, were two favorites HANDS DOWN! 

We were extremely naughty at Teds and ate strawberry shortcake with ice cream for dessert- well.. Emily ate the shortcake I skipped it - it was actually too dry for me- she loved it)

The sauce with the strawberries though.......... was TO DIE FOR and the main course of Roasted Bison

was OUT OF THIS WORLD.  The green beans also were PHENOMONAL (but totally awful in Memphis!) Super highly recommend it if you are ever downtown in Atlanta. And why I say that is because Downtown Atlantas roasted Bison ROCKED... but downtown Memphis Tenn.'s Teds, DID NOT ROCK!  Weird. I know.. but the two were completely off from one another. Its totally all about the chef.. I am convinced.

We had, what I thought was, the most Amazing salad upon arriving in Roanoake at Wildflower market & bakery.... At least Titus thought so! hahahaha!

We enjoyed it SO MUCH that when we found one off an exit on the way to Tennessee a few days later we veered off specifically to eat there again!  However, we were sad to find out this particular one did not serve the grilled chicken salads... sigh*......... so we got back on the road again. Bummer!

But aside from those stellar moments... we survived on Steak- me, and grilled chicken- emily... and Salad pretty much wherever we could find it.  And Chick-fil-a grilled chicken salads.  Yeah.. we ate LOTS of those.  I have been home almost two weeks and have not had ANY of that thank you very much since coming home. So glad to be back in my own kitchen!!! (where nobody minds if the bacon is smoky and I can talk as loud as I want and don't get yelled at like Im a 3 year old!!!!!!! NAHHHHHHHHH! So there!)

And Cheating........... yes there was some cheating.  First .. its summer dagnabbit, and we do allow a little dairy in our new lifestyle.. so yeah.. Ice cream did come up now and then

(I puffy heart Pops!!! in Grandin forever!!!!!!)  but it was the GRAIN Cheats that really really kicked my ass.

In Greenville, we ate at Bin112 on our way out of town one night. I went there because they have organic and gluten free food.  Sounded good. LOOKED GOOD!!!  and Tasted good. I decided I would give some grits a little try, and a special dessert was on for both of us for having the guts to get in the car and leave that precious baby girl behind... so we drowned our sorrows in some decadent chocolate gluten free cake.

The one thing you have to remember is that GLUTEN FREE Is not grain free. In fact .. this was probably made with some other kind of flour.. maybe oat, maybe rice.. but certainly not almond.. which is what I eat.  I dont eat ANY GRAINS because I get sick.  And guess what happened.  Ohyah.  I was feeling PRETTY Nauseous and ill by the time we got into the car and headed on our way to Rock Hill. Maybe it was the grits........ maybe it was the cake............maybe I should have been smarter and not let my eyeballs do the talking! UGH!  But it was a lesson learned.  Um. Right?

Um...........no.  Stupid cravings struck me again the very next evening!  UGH! After Liz spent a good 40 minutes online searching good, organic restaurants for us to eat at in Charlotte on our way out to Richmond... we get into Charlotte, see a fancy ass pizza joint and in two seconds, we veer off the path to satisfy another stupid craving!  And oh my was that pizza good!!!!!! But oh MY GOD By the time I left, I was feeling soooooooooooooooooooooooooo sick. Ugh.  I really REALLY get the message now.  Grains, they are NOT for me.  Period. The end.

I was sick feeling and gross feeling for two more days.  And that, my friends, is SO totally why Im not going to eat them ever again.

Extreme reaction?  Why didn't I feel this way in the past? The answer is simply that in the past I was so bloated and sick feeling from so many awful things I was eating that I didn't know which awful thing it was causing it.  But when you eliminate all the things that are potential allergens; things that CAN and ARE KNOWN TO make people sick (dangerous kind of sick!!)  and then you introduce them back into a clean system.. well......... Its just like putting sugar in the gas tank!  Its going to eff a few things up!!!!!!!!!!!!  And you should pay attention.

And if you have problems........... little things you don't think even RELATE To your diet... annoying things like acne.... flushed red prickly skin......... eczema........... bloating & gas............. gerd............ a crappy lethargic feeling all the time................ bowel issues - especially RIGHT after a meal............. these are clues friends. These are signals that are telling you straight out that you are eating things you need to stop eating POST HASTE! Like YESTERDAY.  Because really.......... what are you doing that to yourself for?

That cupcakes not that good. Its a moment on lips, and forever on the hips. And cheeks, and esophagus, and liver, and I could go on and on... but I'll quit. 
I get the point, and that much is all I can hope for!

So......... I bet you are wondering what BOB ate while I was gone!? When the wifes away, the boys will play right?????? Did Bob go out to eat like a crazed man and snarf down beer and fried chicken? Um... I don't THINK HE DId... but I know that I left him with like 30 frozen meals, all hand cooked by ME, in the days before heading out, and that all but two of them were gone when I got home! So Bob .. that devil... he ate better than we did the whole time! That Lucky duck!

Ok............. I think that rounds out the Trip Review... the Restraunt Review.. and the Catching you mostly  up on the Blog post "view"............. so I Think I'll call it a day!  I'll post a little update on Emilys progress when I see her again in a week!  And in the meantime, I'll leave you with this yummy dinner we made last night.... .

It was a little outside our box... but we throughly loved it!  Hope you enjoy!

Brisket with Fried Eggs

 

And maybe someday I'll use my big mac daddy camera to take pictures of my meals. Yeah. right. probably never.. but yeah.  oh well!

 

 

 

 

Goal MET! Take that, Fat!

Yeeeeeehaw! That felt so incredibly easy I can hardly believe its already happened!! And... unfortunately.. looking at the mirror I can still see that even though the weight goal I set for myself has indeed been met - and trumped I might add by another 2.4 pounds lost today- the jiggle still remains in that gut of mine! Dagnabbit!

Of course I never intended to STOP trying to get rid of that jiggle at 135 pounds. I really just wanted to loosen up the reins a bit, and eat a little more summer fruit (YUM!!!!!) and not stress so much when I am out and needing food and not finding a suitable source.  So yeah........I'm super happy about meeting my goal, and I will let things happen from now on as they will, which I hope includes getting rid of this belly jiggle! ha!

As soon as this moving house crap gets all behind me I'll try to have Bob snap another picture so we can kind of compare things... wont that be fun? HAHAHAHAH! ~ not!

Speaking of which..........its been a real challenge moving in to a house that did not have a working stove, fridge, oven, or sink.  Try finding food in THAT scenario. And before you get snarky and say " Cave men didn't have any of that..." remember that they could build fires wherever they wanted to, and gather whatever whenever... which clearly, I am not! ;o) In fact our grill has not even arrived yet (its been like 6 weeks people .. seriously.. are you INVENTING a grill from scratch or something???) so I cant even TRY to use fire to cook!  So, what have I been doing for food?

Sending out my hunter for Coffee from Starbucks every morning for one thing!  Facing the day surrounded by BOXES that need to be taped together, filled, unfilled, torn down and then re-taped together again for the 3rd time in a week is daunting without a LARGE, JUMBO Dark Coffee, I tell ya! 

Then I managed to get our shakes made once we got the fridge hooked up. Yippee!  So that solved breakfast........... but lunches were  a lot harder! I discovered that Chick fil a has a great salad .. even though I DON'T dare look at the ingredients in the blue cheese dressing... or worry about what I'm sure is a ton of sugar sitting on that delicious southwestern chicken... It sufficed in a pinch twice in a week! 

Dinner out for steaks and sweet potatoes, and lunch at the Company cafe rounded out our meals on the go.. and we must have done well, because I lost weight. OF course........... that was probably the 45 billion trips back and forth with boxes from apartment to truck to House to rooms back to apartment repeat repeat repeat in the 100 degree heat. Maybe? HAHAHAH!  But in any case, I didn't always like what I found to eat, but I did not starve. 

I also have to tell you I freaking feel SO awesome. Listen, you dont know how awful you felt .. I mean it, til you get a few months of this under your belt. 

I am not gonna lie, those first couple of months there were some annoying things (aside from everyone on on the planet (practically)making "that face" and shaking their head at me when they find out I eat BACON to lose weight...) annoying things like Headaches when you don't eat ON TIME!

And I found for me Its super important to eat a carb AND Protein for sure every single time. Eating just fruit on the go does not last and gives me the shakes. And a massive headache. But then I know people who eat normal and get them when they don't eat so that's not really due to Paleo.

I also got annoyed at how hard it freaking is to find good effing food.  I feel sort of "awful" when I have to eat something now that I KNOW Is bad for me.. even if its lettuce at some nasty fast food place I was forced to eat a salad at out of desperation ( you know I'm not talking about chick fil a.. I love that place).  I chewed that salad feeling like I was eating worms. Ugh. I'm sure that was all mental.......right? I just had to try to forget everything I have read about that company and deal with it. But I promise you that stabbed me to my very soul.
When you are passionate about something.. it never stops getting to you.  And about that place, I am passionatly against. UGH.

Anyhow.... I feel so DAMN GOOD now. I don't even have the allergy symptoms anymore that were bugging my nose. My skin on my elbows and heels were so chapped and dry all the time too, something I attributed to being older, and GUESS What.. NOT!!!!!!!!! Look its smooth as a newborn baby's butt~! Take that!  I did have a massive run in with some acne on my chin two weeks ago, but I think that was STRESS to the max since the house thing was falling all apart, I was in school for the first time since 1985, AND I cheated one day and ate some brown sugar........ SHAME ON ME..... I know but I got zapped with some stupid zits within days and I am 100% sure it was my own damn fault.

Wanna feel this good too? EAT BACON! Hahahaha! And grass fed Meat, free range chicken, eggs (yes the entire thing please) cage free omega 3 is important and STOP EATING FAKE FOOD!!!!!!!! No SUGAR, yes you can do it. Just because its LEGAL to eat sugar does not mean its not exactly like a drug. Stop feeding it to your babies and to yourself. LOVE yourself enough to be big enough to say Dammit THIS STUFF IS STUPID!  And don't eat it. You wont die. I promise. And you might be back in those jeans from high school in a year! How about those APPLES! mmmmmmmmmm apples..........

I think I'll go eat one right now!  Organic Pink Ladies are oh so good!  I'll be back later hopefully with a photo of the New Little-er me! TTFN!

 

The things you learn...

Ugh. Did you know that it takes approx. two weeks to LOSE two pounds you picked up just because you had a busy night and went to eat a Tiny thin pizza and some ice cream?  So no losing weight and getting closer to the goal for nearly three weeks after eating the offending items. Its hard to decide if its "worth it"... but then I rationlize that well.... I DID get back to where I was, and I know how to control it.. but it is still annoying... these things  you learn.

So... Im finally back to where I was BEFORE the drinking & Pizza at Apes' party, the busy night we went to eat a pizza, and the craving for some haagen daz that finally got the best of me.  *sigh sigh sigh*.  I'll live.... but I hope to get closer to the goal by NEXT weekend!

That is........if this craving for Chocolate chip cookies would ever end!

(and ps... I so totally HAVE to get me one (or three!) of these shirts! My birthdays coming up... Hint hint! hahahahaha!)

Wow!

I am so excited!  Its so awesome to hear that some of you are going to give Whole30/Paleo a try!!! I am so happy for you..........and I hope your change is as awesome a time as ours is!  Please please email me if you have any questions about anything we have experienced.  I am here for ya!

On that note, I wanted to share a few things I've discovered we eat alot of... and some tricks we've discovered on the way to help with things that have come up.  I hope they will help you, and if you want to share some things with others, do feel free to comment !!!!!!!  I am so happy to have cavemates now! heheheheh!

AND, I'm excited to say that Emily is going to be one too!  When I picked her up one weekend, she got right in the car, and turned off the radio and started asking me questions about it! I was floored! And proud of my kid!!!!!!  And so happy she wants to eat healthy!  And even MORE Happy that her father has actually said he would support her in it too! Soooooooo proud of both of them! this is such a big thing!  I think Emily will probably start her Whole30 days in July though... but hopefully she is making better choices in the meantime. 

So........one thing you want to remember when you start your whole30 days.. is EAT! Bob often skipped meals before he started eating like a caveman, and it will nail you fairly quickly with a good sized headache if you don't. And if you want to lose weight.. you actually need to EAT. MMMMM I have no problem with THAT one either. hahahahah!  But in that regard, you do want to NOT eat the sweets! Hahahah~!  And by that I mean the fruit!

Anyhow.............. Finding time to eat is hard for some of us. What I have discovered is to go ahead and make extra while I am chopping and preparing the meals. We purchased a Food saver a while back that was just sitting there in the closet, when I realized i could be putting it to good use! Yes.. of course, you can use tupperware, but what I have found out for my own personal self is that the freezer bag food that has the air all sucked out of it, comes back to LIFE as if I made it that second!!!!!!! in those freezer bags.  In the tupperware.........yuck. It tastes like old leftovers. SO for meats you want to save... I'd go ahead and put one of those things and use it all the effing time.  Like this chili I discovered the other day.. Ohmgod. I ate that for three days. and If you know me at all you know I DO NOT EAT LEFTOVERS!!!!!!! I usually hate them. But freezing it and eating it a few days/weeks later............tastes like i just made it! mmmyum!

So yeah to save yourself some time, make twice as much, and then in a pinch when you dont feel like cooking, viola! You have dinner in the freezer!

Something we have a hard time finding alot of is cauliflower (organic I mean).  And I have to tell you we probably eat that about every other day at our house. So buy 3 when you find them!!!!!!!!!! and eat em! Unless you have an unlimited supply. I have a hard time.  What do we do with all of that? Mostly... "Mashed" like potatoes. OMG..................so good.  I've got a fab recipe ... but bob hates sour cream so I adapted it for us but either way its still awesome... so I'll share.  Emily inhales these. If we are all 3 eating, I make two heads of it so we can all get some!

Mashed Mock potatoes (Cauliflower)

One or two heads of cauliflower

glass dish and saran type wrap

two or three tbs of real organic butter

better than bullion

*optional full fat organic sour cream

Wash, then Chop into smaller pieces, at least one head of cauliflower and put in a glass bowl with a little bit of water. Maybe 1/4 cup.  Put on some plastic wrap to entirely seal it and microwave til its soft. In this crappy oven at the apartment its around 10-15 minutes depending on if I have one head of it or two in there.  Open up the wrap and poke it to check.

When its all soft put it in a Food Processor. Don't have one? You are so totally gonna need to invest in one. And a VIta mix or super duper awesome blender!  Anyhow... get your veggies on in there and put in one good sized table spoon of this miracle stuff called " BETTER THAN BULLION" chicken flavor. I have chicken, veg, and beef in my fridge right now. I use it all the time. Get some. Its in the better grocery stores on the shelf near soups.  SO one good sized dollop of that in the mix, with around two or three tablespoons of REAL ORGANIC BUTTER. Oh yesssssss butter......... mmmmmmmmm. And then flip the switch and get that stuff to mashin!  IN a few seconds really, it becomes smooth and awesome mashed potatoes.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Now you can also add in some sour cream here... around 1/4 a cup and then mix it up and put it in the oven for around 15 minutes.. that's also yum!  But we like it just fine without it. And since we are supposed to be paleo and dairy free.. why bother? Your choice its awesome either way. 

We also eat roasted veggies alot. New for me! I never would touch the things.. but April made some for our Holiday dinner and I actually LIKED them, so now, we eat them all the time .. usually with a meat ball or meat patty smashed on top of them in a bowl with a little gravy. If I wasn't full from my roast beef right now, I'd be drooling.........I swear!   Im picky though so I don't like too many types.. but what we do is Chop up cauliflower, yellow zucchini, and a green one, and a pepper if I have one around. I throw that in a bowl and drizzle on a fair swirl or two of evoo til everyones all moist and then sprinkle on some kosher salt and spices. My favorite spice is some italian kosher salt mix. I don't know where i even bought it, but man is it good!  I generously sprinkle it and stir everything up and then spread it out on a baking sheet. I have the oven on like 400 and bake it for around 40 minutes. Im still a vegetable newbie, so I like mine REALLY REALLY SOFT.. hahahaha.. so you bake em til you personally like em!  Then like I said.. we usually have this with some beef meatballs.. of which I have several kinds.  The other day I made a meatloaf with carrots and zucchini inside it ... that I had cooked til soft (after shredding) and hid it in the meatloaf. So we had TONS Of veggies for dinner that night! mmmmmmmmm !

We boil a dozen eggs every week, and keep them in a holder, still in their shells, in the fridge for quick lunches, and snacks.  I also make for lunch sometimes, a little egg salad. Yes, I eat Mayonnaise. yes its Hellman's. I have not been able to find a homemade version I like yet. However, I eat it very little.  Maybe two times a month if that.  :O) I peel three eggs, chop them up throw em in a bowl and toss in like 1/4 a cup of mayo or less really. eyeball it, with some s&P. Lunch is ready!  with a little bag of sea salt pumpkin seeds........ I'm good!

Bob eats almonds allllllllll day long it seems. We found these huge bags- no they are not organic.. and worse they are from Sams club... which is totally against my beliefs, but he goes through those pretty fast.  We WILL be letting our sams club expire when its over though. I am totally against Walmart, and will do whatever it takes NEVER to go in that store and support it whenever possible.  Walmart and the fast food places are all responsible for our low minimum wage in this country, and pretty much responsible for providing cheap food to feed the poor people that are forced to work there. Its a vicious cycle. And the only way they will get the point is for us to SHOW them we mean business ... that we MUST have a better workplace / minimum wage / life for those in this country. PERIOD.  AND the buck starts WITH US.
Anyhow.........off that soapbox.  Sams has huge bags of Almonds. But You can find good ones all over. Organic is best for you. Especially if you are growing small children. 

I am trying NOT to over do with much fruit.  I'm trying to reach a goal weight of 135 pounds and I'm happy to say I'm within 3 pounds of that! holycrap!  Once I get to that goal weight I may or may not add in more. Fruit is sugar...........no matter how you look at it. And one thing you want to do is STOP eating sugar because its reacting in your brain like a drug, begging you to partake of more. So really... try hard to limit it somewhat! :O) For the first few weeks on my whole 30 I was flipping out needing a sweet every night, when I would usually eat my ice cream or whatever. And now........... On my 4th month... I barely ever have a craving, and if I do, I can usually trace it back to eating a ton of something carby earlier in the day. Which triggers that little hotflash! hahahah! 

BUT We do enjoy this awesome shake for breakfast.. its pretty much Bobs morning meal almost every weekday. 

Banana almond butter shake- for one

One banana

One generous.. or two.... scoop of almond butter crunchy is my fave but I'll buy whichever

Almond milk

*protein powder

Some people use this some people don't. Its not paleo. but Bob is as thin as a rail .. so I buy him some. He needs as much calories as he can get. He doesn't eat enough to keep a fly alive. So we throw in protein powder for him. Recently hes been eating HEMP protein powder. We wont buy it again. its not his favorite. but we tried it b/c it was "real". 

SO toss the banana chunks in a blender (we have a single shake size one for this purpose easy to clean and ready for one person at a time) then the scoop or scoops of almond nut butter, then pour in some milk to cover it.. honestly I dont know how much .. when we are done we have a nice dinner glass full of shake. Then pulverize it all up... pour in a glass and throw in a straw! mmmmmmmmmmm breakfast!

Sometimes I dont need another thing to eat for 4 more hours. Sometimes I need an egg after two. This is a yummy quick breakfast!

I try to really eat two eggs and bacon (3 slices) for breakfast. that keeps me fed for 4-6 hours. Super yum. But sometimes I want a shake!

Fruit water is something I always have in the fridge too. I slice up oranges usually, and have a special jug (got a new one since my photo previously that keeps the fruit in this section in the center of the jug). one orange and a whole jug of water is Sooooooooooo yum !! I love it. And I don't miss the sugar in the least!

Bobs been craving lemonade I made on Easter. So I keep a jug of that in there for him too. but it has honey in it.. so if you are looking to lose......... stay away, friend, stay away!   I cut two lemons in half, and squeeze out the juices through a strainer. Then I add around two tablespoons of honey - to taste.. and water... to fill up my little jug (its the one I had the oranges in before ) and then I shake it all up!  He loves it!  and two lemons does the trick!

Another quickie kind of lunch thing is a sweet potato. You can tote that anywhere you'll be that has a microwave.  I bring  a cloth napkin along with my clean potato and then poke several holes in it, wrap it in the napkin and toss it in the microwave for 10 minutes. That usually does the trick!  I pack along butter, salt & pepper and BACON which we usually have in the oven, premade for salads and THIS !  I looove my sweet potato with bacon, butter and S&P (and somehow by a miracle I lost 18 pounds eating this, oh yum!) because it "cuts the sweet" in the potato. Im a newbie to sweet pots. I have never been a fan.. but I AM NOW! YUUM! 
I keep 4-6 sweet pots in the pantry at all times.

We make bacon a lot . Paleo is on the fence about bacon. Some eat it, some don't. We eat it! Gary Taubes says he eats it so........I'm eating it! hahahah! I probably buy 3 pounds a week.  And we make it in the oven, which is something I never did before but LOVE now. We make this foil covered tray and I fold up little ridges in the foil to drip the bacon, and spread it out on the pan. It goes in the oven at 400 degrees for anywhere from 15-20something minutes. Depends on how thick. And for the love of all things bacon.. MAKE SURE YOU ARE EATING UNCURED Organic-y type please. :O) we do not need nitrates! Oscar mayer makes one......but its so thin and it tastes like YUCK. We like applegate farms and Whole foods brand.  I usually start the oven first thing in the morning and run around 6-8 slices on it. It goes in the eggs for breakfast, and then salads or potatoes later. It keeps in a ziploc in the fridge just fine!

And seriously... there is just something so effing satisfying eating slabs of bacon for breakfast and watching a weight watchers commercial! BOOYA!!!!!!

There are probably more things I need to tell ya.............but I need to get back to editing for now... I hope this helps you out in any case! And please let me know if you have some tricks you want to share with me! Im always looking for something to eat a lunch........my least favorite food of the day!  And one more time......... WELCOME to the Cave!! Im so glad you are here!

 

 

She couldn't have said it better.......

America is an overfed and undernourished country.

About 80 percent of the population is considered overweight, and almost one-third is obese. According to the National Cancer Institute, serious diseases that are linked to what we eat kill an estimated three out of four Americans each year. These diseases include heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, some types of cancer, and diabetes.

So food is killing more people than anything else in America.

What is going on? Who is responsible for this gruesome situation?

For years, we have inadvertently been in a collaborative mission along with food and agrochemical companies to get cheaper and bigger foods, and we all did a simply terrific job. By making "Cheap" the main virtue in our food system, we dedicated our dollars to feeding ourselves in a totally wrong way that has deteriorated our collective health but also created a monster food system. Our behavior as consumers was, in my opinion, a key success factor in creating a Frankenstein that took over the health and destiny of most Americans.

What we eat has been the problem, and I think we now have a great opportunity to transform it into the solution. The best starting point to properly solve a problem is to clearly define it; therefore we should take a look to some definitions.

Real Food: I define it as food that is free of synthetic hormones, antibiotics, chemicals, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Food produced with integrity, using clean and fair farming practices, developed and harvested by socially and ecologically responsible farmers. Today, these transparent food systems represent less than 2 percent of total U.S. agriculture.

Frankenfood: It is an obvious metaphor in reference to Frankenstein, which means food that is engineered and processed to be more appealing and profitable. I consider Frankenfood to be any food that is not Real Food. Today, Frankenfood represents about 98 percent of the food produced and consumed in America.

Mercenaries: For the purpose of this article, I call all marketing people using their talents to create distribute and promote Frankenfoods in any way mercenaries. Many of them are highly educated, from world's best universities; therefore, they are extremely smart about achieving their goals while disguising their real intentions. As consumers, to be engaged in the food system, we must be very aware of them.

Food: Any substance or material eaten or drunk to provide support for the body or for pleasure. Usually of plant or animal origin, it contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals, and is ingested and assimilated by an organism to produce energy, stimulate growth, and maintain life.

It might be a good idea to ask ourselves, what is left from the previous definition in most food available today?

The problem we face as consumers is that Frankenfood is everywhere. No matter where we go, for the most part, that is all we find. When it's about food, America seems to be a country of huge contradictions. We use our tax dollars to subsidize food that is poisoning us and our children, also mortgaging the future of the next generations.

We go even further, taking our own money--yes, what's in our pockets--and giving it to food companies full of mercenaries that are producing Frankenfood just to maximize their profits. They also use the cash we give them to block any kind of change in agricultural policies, perpetuating the system to simply keep making money.

In case you did not notice it, fast-food companies are the great masters of Frankenfood, engineering and processing their products to taste and look great.

These companies are mainly powered by agrochemical corporations with big pockets, and their army of effective lobbyists in Washington is devising strategies to keep our subsidies and continue promoting more of the same products that have been contaminating our health for the last 50 years.

It is good to remark that the amount of food that we buy daily in the U.S. is so significant that at the same time that our collective health keeps deteriorating, we are also polluting the air as never before, contaminating our water streams in an outrageous way, and generating a tremendous impact in the environment overall.

Frankenfood companies have always had lots of marketing resources, so they have led us to believe almost everything they wanted.

I know it is awkward to discover that as food consumers, we have not been smart at all: We have been manipulated by the food corporations and agribusiness during the last 50 years, and in fact, our food-purchasing decisions resulted in very poor choices. However, we must now face this reality if we want a different future.

The good news is that what we eat matters big-time. Americans spend around $1.6 trillion annually in food; this is about 11 percent of the GDP.

Food is who we are. Real Food cleans. Real food creates positive jobs, helps local communities, uses sustainable resources, and most importantly, Real Food incentivizes life and well-being. The most effective and peaceful way to change the industrialized agriculture system that is killing our people is to simply stop buying Frankenfood and start supporting Real food.

Consumers' consumption is one of the greatest ways to evolve capitalism. Profits can make miracles in the corporate world. This is true change coming from within, and it is very handy, we just need to use it. If we demand food that is free of chemicals, the chemical companies devoted to agribusiness will starve and disappear in the same way rats abandon a building that is empty of all sources of food. At least they will be forced to reinvent themselves in a sector away from our food and bodies.

The revenue that we provide through our purchases is to Frankenfood corporations or to Real food farmers what blood is to the human body. Those who make it or break it depend exclusively on our food choices.

I believe that as consumers we must nurture a new generation of food producers that will eventually take care of us, in the same way a mother gives birth to a baby that at some point in life, when grown, will take care of her. Conscious food consumption is not only a great way to change our health and preserve our planet, but also a chance to generate new meaningful jobs in a very powerful industry. This is a precious opportunity to activate our economy through true, sustainable development.

Many people go to Washington to petition for change in food policies. I think that helps, however, I am inclined to believe that the current administration has some other urgent matters to deal with. Politics is the art of the possible, and in the current economic situation, what is possible for this administration seems to be very limited, so I will not have high hopes for significant food policy changes at the speed we need.

On a separate note, I know many people will argue these organic and sustainable ideas with phrases like: "How are we going to feed the world with organic agriculture?" so I say, a) organic agriculture seems to be more productive than conventional agriculture if we take into consideration all the real costs involved. And b) aside from this, shouldn't we start focusing on doing a better job of feeding ourselves before we try to feed the world? By the way, it looks like we have not been doing a good job so far, have we?

I feel that as consumers, we have somehow co-created this Frankenstein that is living among us. We should stop Frankenfood because we all deserve Real food. It looks like we now have the responsibility to pass the baton that we once gave to Frankenfood companies to the Real Food farmers.

Thinking about this food problem, I thought of this appropriate quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes: "I find that the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving." I would love to set our goal as a nation to transform together America's food system from Frankenfood to Real Food at pace of 2 percent per year. We should all be active part of this productive change, and we will surely live healthier and happier and be able to leave a better world for the future generations.

For more from Maria Rodale, go to www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com.

 

YOUR inner caveman

I bet you didn't realize it but you have caveman properties too.  You DO! really you do. The only thing is, you have let 2011 and all its busy, crazy, modern amenities take over the real you, is all!  So here.... raise your hand if this sounds like you...... (no you really dont have to raise your hand.. do it metaphorically.. )ok so here... lets pretend you get up in the morning, trudge sleepily over to the scale and step on it.

HOLYCRAPBATMAN!

Leap off.

Wipe crap from eyes. Blink a again. Step gingerly back on.

OHSHITE!  Its the same number, again. 

So you get off and you go "Man...." (here is the part where your inner cave man actually comes out, get ready for it ) you go " Man.... I really need to stop eating so much crap!"

I dare you to tell me that does not come out of your mouth.

So there. You already know the answer, and you knew it all along.

So what happens between the inner cavemans brain, and the action of reaching for something to fill the engine with every day?

What makes us decide its totally OK to eat CRAP all day long?

Are we making excuses?  Are we Lazy? Or is it really possible you know the answer to being the right, healthy size, and you (GASP!) just don't give a crap?

I wonder what happens to those people that tilts their brain that little percentage over to the realization that the answer is totally within their hands.  What motivated me to pick up the readers digest that day and actually GET what Gary Taubes said and DO IT? 

What will motivate YOU to do it?

How about starting small?  How about just removing all of the low fat items, the shelf items that are full of weirdly named foods that come out of the laboratory, and the sugar.  Just start there. Don't worry about potatoes, or pasta, (mmmm I Miss pasta sometimes....) and the cupcake or two, as long as YOU MAKE those yourself.

Do you think you can do that? Just skip the sugar bowl, the stevia, the splenda, the crazy pink package of cancer causing whatnot just for 30 days and see what happens?

Eat stuff you know the ingredients of.. in case you didnt know.. Haagen daz has a 5 ingredient ice cream! And everyone of them is something you would know! See.. I'm looking out for ya!

For 30 days try a little experiment... just a wee one, and see if you can eat some real butter, skip the sugar and make your meals. 

baby steps..................... I cant promise you will feel impressively amazing though; because in all honestly, the culprits lie in the very foods we hold back from our babies. Wheat, Peanuts, Sugar, Peppers.....

Think about that.. THINK about why we don't walk up to a one year old and hand them a peanut butter  and jelly sandwich.  GASP! There is SUGAR in that jelly, and HOLYHELL peanuts can be fatal! 

So why do you eat them? Because you CAN?
Because (puffs out chest) IM A BIG GIRL NOW! (struts around room all big assed).  Um. That's just silly.

You walk around all day feeling sick. Snotty in the head. Bloated. Gross.  And you don't know why. You stand in front of the pharmacy counter and doctor begging him to give you something for your acne, eczema, heartburn and godloveme the fat that surrounds your body like a prison.  And the answer, my friends..........is with your Inner Caveman.

You know what to do.  You just have to be big enough to do it.

And you, You can dooooooooooooo eeeeet!

So... yeah. Lately I have had some "Fail" recipes. I can tell you right now, if the pancakes do not have ANY form of sugar in them (not counting an oldish banana- those are pretty ok) Id skip them, unless you know how to add the honey or agave in without messing up the mix.  Blech.   And sadly, I'm finding out that tomatoes and peppers are nightshades for a reason.

Upon further thinking ... I had never ingested a pepper, except by force, until the year 2000.  At which time I discovered they were amazing!!!!! And coincidentally.... um.... my stomach problems started up a year later - wth!  So................... some of us may discover that things that are delicious can make you sick!

LOTS Of people love Heroin, WINE in excess, Crack, Cocaine and hallucinogens... but guess what... darn them, they cant eat those either.

You just have to decide if feeling freaking GOOD all the time is worth that two days of suffering over a stupid dinner you had yesterday with peppers and tomatoes. 

All things in balance, right?

I got my 30 clean days in and LOVED It more than a pepper. Or a cupcake.

Maybe you wont? That's cool

But you wont know til you  give it a chance.

Click here. Start tomorrow... its the FIRST Day of May!  A great day to begin your Whole 30, and if you hate it, you can have one hell of a party on May 31st! Woot!

And because I hate reading posts that have no photos.. here is some motivation for you.

These are some jeans I wore to a scrapbooking retreat less than a year ago. That really makes me smile!

But, My most favorite thing though has been belts.

I hate wearing them, mind you... but I have to because I'm too poor to go buy jeans every month to replace the ones that are too big now.  They are my favorite thing though because  I had bought a belt a couple of years ago that was a really LARGE belt. I had to pull it in only two notches. That means I was almost too big for even THAT belt. But before February was OVER (less than 30 days of eating awesome) I got to ditch that belt and pull out my medium belt.

And now.................Im about to have to buy a new belt. The medium only has one more notch all the way in and I have all this belt flapping around and I have to tuck it in. Oh yeah. I cant tell you how much that makes me smile.

I want you to smile too.  Happy last day of April.... HAPPY HAPPY First Day of May!

 

Holy Allergic Reaction, Batman!

So way back in 2001, I was feeling sick to my stomach all of the time. I happened to have an assistant at the time who was dating an Internal Dr.  I asked him for some advice.. did he think it was this,, or did he think maybe it was that..... he said, of course, if you give me some $$$ I will run some tests and tell you! ha! Of course, I did not take him up on that offer.... but I was wondering if it might be Celiac Disease... based on what kind of problems I had at the time. But since I didn't have money I just went on "living with it." Eventually a couple of years later I ended up in the ER getting food that was stuck removed from my throat.  And then the rest of that year the pain in my gut was so intense I had an ultrasound on my Gall bladder, but nope.. they never discovered what it might be (again because I did not have the funds for more tests... that whole Not having any insurance thing can be a whip!)  So............... in short, I just went on Living with it.

They had me taking a Prilosec every single day, and really that seemed to help for the most part Occassionally things got stuck, but I tried to avoid eating rice and chicken and steak ?? which often were the cluprits (remember - WITH the steak I was eating rice or potatoe.... which I know now was BAD!)

Flash forward to today........................ Innocently I am going about baking a Coconut cake for our Non- Paleo guests coming to easter brunch on sunday.  Before I could stop myself, I found the beater in my mouth and I was enjoying that lovely cake batter I have missed the last two months! MMMMMM !!! that was freaking Delicious!    I can still smell the coconut on my hands NOW as I am typing (that is strong stuff as far as smells go)  ... but I figured in any case, I would not lose any weight today, what with sneaking in the batter tastes... and Im totally ok with a sneak treat now and then so I went on about my day.

About 1 hour after eating the batter I was in the car on my way to pick up Emily for the weekend, and the strangest thing started happening!  First I was feeling SOOOOOOOOOOOOO HIGH! Seriously, I though wow!!!! Maybe I am drank a little too much VANILLA Extract or something.. hahahaha.. no really.. I was quite loopy, and I called Bob as I was pulling out of the parking lot to tell him that I think the sugar has me in its evil grips! Hahahahah!  And then, before I could make it as far as Northwest Hwy and 78 intersection I noticed my lips were SWELLING! like BIG TIME! I felt like I had gotten some free Botox or something !!!! I kept glancing in the mirror to see if they were actually blowing up - they did not LOOK like it - but I was sure talking funny! And THEN by the time I got to Centerville, my hands had swollen up so much I had Sausage fingers and I could not even MOVE my rings much less have mobility in my fat sausage fingers! I was Freaking OUT! HOLYSMOKES! What was going on!?

And then, it dawned on me.  There is FLOUR in that cake.  The sugar high, I totally understood... but the flour is a GRAIN... and I totally didn't realize what it might DO to me if I ate it! AND NOW I KNOW! I rode all the way to Nevada and it was a full two hours before I am now finally feeling normal. My fingers are still a little puffy but there is nothing more needed to convince me... I either DID IN fact suffer from Celiac Disease... (because eating a Gluten free diet is the cure!!!!!!!!)  Or I am and have been for some time, been allergic to Wheat and Grains!

This alone was enough to convince me I am doing the right thing for my body.  I am SO so happy we chose to do this. Im feeling so good about this life change.... and I urge you to try the whole30 day experiment so you too can see if your FOOD might be the very thing making you sick!

As for me............... I'm going to finish frosting the cake and make sure I don't even THINK about having a slice of that. And NOW I need to rethink what I asked Bob to get me for my Birthday in June. I think I'll have to just let that Strawberry cupcake from Spoons pass me by, after that whole experience!  Yeah.. I'm not dead. It didn't kill me, but it sure did make me unhappy. And eating a crappy cupcake full of sugar and calories was so totally not worth it to me after that.

Its all about choices.

Now, Im off to the kitchen to make Broccoli and cauliflower soup for my kid.. she is Super excited.. and Im not kidding. She actually LIKES broccoli. (I do not! hahahahaha)  For dessert, we are having a Paleo Strawberry shortcake. We'll let you know how that turns out on facebook! 

 

As I was Noshing on my black berry cobbler...

(and my apologies that I have no good food photos on my site... my apartment has no window light near the kitchen and my point and shoot is crappy for this job!  I'll do better when we move to a house I'm sure! hahahaha!)

And reading food blogs this morning, I stumbled across this site and I am totally in love with her!

She is SO momma friendly and totally shows you plain as day how to do this thing with CHILDREN, and WHY! I love, love, love her, and I hope you will grab a little bowl of fruit and sit down and give her a little read.I Think you will really enjoy her!

So, last night Bob and I tossed and turned and could not sleep. Its not like we woke up tired either.. I think we were just THINKING too much again because we spent the evening watching Fat head  (this is the blog about it he is funny great read)  on Hulu, and wow! It was SO good!

We saw Supersize me a long time ago, and in all honesty I don't even remember what my thoughts on the subject were.  However my outrage with McDonalds always makes me want to see what people are talking about concerning that shithole of a company, so I thought I would give FAT HEAD a try, since it DEBUNKS all the stuff in Supersize me.

You read that right..........this movie IS IN FAVOR of McDonalds. And I an endorsing it. WTH!? I know you are sitting there scratching your head with wonder, huh? HAHAHAHAH! Well then you have NOT been paying any attention to me whatsoever when I have spoken about McDonalds.

First of all, I seriously do not believe in their food because its just smells funny. Alright already, can you hear my daughter? She says my nose is not normal and I can smell things NOBODY else can.. but for whatever reason... I take it to heart that I was given a nose, like everyone else, to primal-ly make sure I eat only foods that are good. I dare you to take some rotten meat or cheese out of the fridge and NOT know in your heart of hearts that its BAD. You do not eat it because your NOSE KNOWS. Thats its purpose!  Go with it! So, ever since I had a kid............ and went to McDonalds ....... you would find me covering up my nose trying not to gag to death ! it just does NOT SMELL LIKE FOOD TO ME!

Now those french fries are a totally different story...............mmmmmmmmmm. However, even those have changed ... for the worse sadly.... and they don't even remotely have the same wonderfulness as they did back when WE were kids noshing on them. And if you want to know why.............. watch the movie.

Secondly.......... I HATE MCDONALDS MOST OF ALL Because McDonalds is 100% responsible for the minimum wage. Do you really think there is nothing at all wrong with the Minimum wage? I mean gosh.. lets look at it for a second. Who really works there? Our kids, right?
Well that sounds like Good Money to you if you are a teenager.. and rightly so I guess.  $7.25 an hour sounds fine for a little spending money on the side. (sure what planet are you on? but for the sake of argument, read on....)
But hey, what if you are an older person, maybe a immigrant, or person like me, for instance who never went to, or finished college.... you know... the ones who maybe " Manage" the McDonalds, or work there part time along with the 3 OTHER Jobs they have to have in order to Feed their 1, 2 or even 5 children.  They are likely to be the OTHER large amount that works in McDonalds, Taco Bell, ect ect ect....

So lets do some math ok........................ that $7.25 an hour works out to $290 a week IF YOU ARE ALLOWED TO WORK A FULL 40 Hour WEEK, which... if you ask around , and I promise you on this, is NOT HAPPENING.  The "forces that be" will do whatever on this earth it takes to ENSURE not only do you NOT work for them for a full 40 hour week, but you will not EVER get over time. Did you not ever stop to THINK about how come it works out so well for SCHOOL age kids to work there? (oh and this applies to Wally world too... ALL of this includes Wally world.......)

$290 a week works out to, (if you are lucky to have this as a FULL TIME JOB remember and very very few are) $15,000 a year. 

I wont ask you to comment in the section below exactly what YOU made last year.. but I will ask you to THINK ABOUT IT since your taxes were due yesterday, I'm pretty sure that number is Fresh in your head.

Was it 2 times that amount? or 3? or maybe 10? or 25 times that amount!?

And how "hard" was your year with all these problems we have been having... you know.. with the gas prices? And worldwide traumas? And maybe your kids were sick a lot last year, and you might have had to miss some work over it? Or your washer n dryer broke? Or you bought a new car... or upgraded your IPHONE 3 times and it cost you a fortune, or those vacations you took really tapped your wallet.....

Wah! boo freaking hoo. Be one of these people.

It may surprise you that I AM!  After paying for the studio, the photo labs, and all the other expenses that go along with it, (and having a house for another half of last year as well) I actually brought home a very very sad 4 figures last year.  I'm not even kidding here. 

So yeah.......... minimum wage is the reason that we suffer a VERY LARGE MAJORITY Of the time in this country.  If you care even the tiniest bit you will either pick up the book or watch the movie, FOOD INC.

I read the book. And thankfully it was on my kindle and I was too scared to throw it, because that would break it, because I spent 90% of the time wanting to throw things at People. People that are running those companies. People who are running our Government,  And each and every one of you who GO TO FREAKING MCDONALDS ensuring this craptastic shit will continue!!!!!!!! (pardon my french.)

The government... our lovely hand voted for collective group of assholes want it to stay Exactly that way too. And so do ALL of the fast food chains as well. It helps to keep us all right where they want us to be.

Oh look, your eyes have just gotten that sweet glazed over look, like Easter Ham.....so I think I'll stop now, and just hope with my fingers crossed that you will read or watch it, and at least become aware of things you may or may not be aware of.....  We are all grown ups here, and I think its sort of something Grown ups should do... you know.. BE INFORMED. Especially if you um, you know.. Vote or pay for shit. Or have a job, or want one, and all that jazz.

So speaking of glazed ham....... Easter is coming up this weekend. Mmmm ham....... pineapple.... deviled eggs...... Chocolate.... whoa... what!?  So I know you are probably wondering, just like My Daughter Emily is... exactly WHAT will be for dinner? OR more importantly IN OUR EASTER BASKETS!!!!!!!!!  What what what might that be like for the Caveman household!? I wonder! 

Well.......... we Will indeed be having uncured Ham, and pineapple.. cooked with honey and cinnamon which we gave a trial run to on QP day and LOVED, and deviled eggs of course, which are already part of our Paleo diet, so that's all win win.... and chocolate, well, actually IS my little treat now and then... at like 95% cacao, that is! hahahaha

Bob ate some the other day and spit it in the trash. I happen to love unsweetened chocolate.  I used to sneak off slivers of the baking bar when I was cooking. I don't know why, but I have always liked it!  So mmmm I do enjoy some now and then!

And we are having guests over that are NOT eating Paleo, so I am actually baking a coconut cake in all the traditional sense- which will be for SURE Loaded with fat!!!!!!!!!!  and sugar free coconut toasted on top! Because I WILL Skimp on the sugar as much as I can get away with, but the fat,..... well Fat is our friend, so we will definitely be enjoying some slices of THAT. 

We are also having our delicious Brussels sprouts with cashews that so many haters have dissed on facebook but man....................I have to tell you, these things are SO buttery and Delicious and crunchy and OMG The best. we eat every bite out of the bowl here. So please, don't knock it til you try it. I only tried it a month ago for the first time in my own life, and now I am craving it every week!

As to what will be in our baskets................................ I'll have to show you the post of that after Easter Sunday, so as not to spoil the surprise!  But I'm pretty sure nobody will be unhappy!

So, its my wednesday Day off, so I am headed out to get my walk on at a mall or something. I spent the last few days editing five million zits and eczema off a little mans face and while I truly appreciate that they bought the whole CD I Sure wish they had been feeding him Caveman style, so I would not have had to edit that off each and every one of his adorable faces!  hahahahah!  So I need a little break from this computer!

I hope you will take time to watch the Movies................. its like Tamara said to me on FB Last night... I only ask because I care.  And about you guys............. I do!

Have a Great day!

 

and ps.. the Cobbler was Good- but the berries could have been sweeter!  Pouring some heavy cream on them made the whole dish 100% amazing though! mmmmmmm yum!