The True Beauty of Paleo

I have a farrier for my horses that I have known for probably 20 years now.  At least 4 times per year, I see this person at my farm and he and I talk about various things for the 2 hours or so it takes him to trim 1 horse and 4 ponies.   We talk about many things, but we have a common interest in food and nutrition.  For the last three years at least, I have tried to convince him to go gluten-free with an emphasis on paleo over the last two.  I've lent him a few books, which he dutifully returns and he always said he wanted to try it, but never took the plunge.  

The ponies and horse were a bit overdue for a trim this time around and so it has been a good three months since I saw the farrier last.  I knew as soon as I saw him that he had indeed taken the plunge.  We jumped right into conversation and he told me he had lost 41 pounds, his blood pressure had dropped to normal levels, his arthritis had decreased considerably and any intestinal issues he had were gone.  He looked great - no more bags under his eyes, fit and trim, and just overall healthy and happy.  His only complaint was that he felt so much better that he tended to overdo things he had avoided in the past, aggravating some deteriorated discs in his back (a side effect of a profession that is notoriously hard on the back), but overall, even his back felt better.

He had always eaten pretty well, avoiding processed foods.  An avid hunter, he ate venison and even bear meat regularly.  So the major changes he made were to eliminate all grains and most sugar from his diet.  In effect, he was eating paleo - good meats, vegetables, and fruits.  He said he regularly had eggs, bacon, and potatoes fried in lard for breakfast and was still losing about a pound a week or so.  

The beauty of paleo is that there is no extra cost to it, no diet pills or drugs, no purchased meal plans, no special bars or shakes.  It is just eating real food that we evolved to eat over 2 million years - pastured (or hunted) meats, vegetables, and fruits.  It eliminates grains, processed junk, and frankenfoods.  It is simple and the information is free.  But the true beauty of paleo is seeing someone who has suffered various maladies from the inflammatory diet of our modern age return to health again and pass on that knowledge to others so they may do the same.

Sports in Baltimore

I am not really a huge sports fan.  I can get into the occasional football or soccer game or tennis match, but I don't plan my weekends around watching sports.  But I am from the Baltimore area and I've always had a soft spot in my heart for my hometown teams - the Baltimore Orioles and, since the abandonment by the Colts, the Baltimore Ravens.  The Ravens have rarely disappointed, always being in the running throughout the season, but the Orioles have had a couple of bad decades.  I grew up in the time of Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, Cal Ripkin,  and a whole host of other players that shined.  It has been sad to see the team struggle but I've still always had faith. 

This year, the Orioles have come back and come back strong!  They have a bunch of players I've never heard of, but the names are starting to become familiar this year.  Last night, they moved in tying for first place.  I am going to go see them in what is probably the best ballpark in the U.S. - Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore - today for their last home game.  And it is bobblehead day, so I even get a souvenir!  Going to go put on some orange and black, very appropriate colors for this cool fall day, and head down to the park to watch the Birds!

Addendum:  And can I just add that the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl this year!  What a year for Baltimore sports fans!

Easy Supper

Short and sweet.  Burgers from the grassfed beef in the freezer, tomatoes from the garden, and some mayo.  Add salt and pepper, serve up on a paper plate if you want to avoid cleanup and you have it made.

Awesome Eats in Portland, Maine and Boston, Mass.

     My daughter and I love to travel and discover new places to eat and things to do.  We are not so much into the typical touristy things to do, though we have been known to visit typical landmarks and famous places. We don't participate in the usual tours, instead choosing to explore on our own and take advice and suggestions from others who have been to the same places for food and fun places to visit.
     This past long weekend, we visited Portland, Maine for the first U.S. stopover of the Mumford & Sons "Gentlemen of the Road" tour.  Portland is a great place to visit with beautiful scenery, decent weather (don't be fooled by its northern location - it can be hot, but mostly it was dry and lovely), and a plethora of foodie restaurants and boutique shops. Right up our alley.
     Our first restaurant visit was to Duckfat.  The name says it all.  Their fries are fried in duck fat and served with aioli and other spicy sauces.  We shared a large order which was way more than both of us could handle, but so delicious.  I also had a cup of a great carrot curry soup and C had a salad with shredded duck.  Almost every restaurant we went to in Portland was very familiar with gluten-free requirements, so it was easy to make most meals gluten-free if not full paleo.  Duckfat fries may not be paleo to some, but a little potato indulgence is fine with me.  I wish I had taken pictures, but alas, the food disappeared before I remembered to take any pics on this trip.
     The 6000+ influx of people into the Portland area for the Mumford festival flooded the streets during the day and restaurants were a bit hard to get into.  We tried to visit The Farmer's Table for brunch, but they were filled to the brim for the rest of the day.  We opted for a trip to a small bar/restaurant for dinner that night.  I feel bad because I don't even remember the name of it, but they made a killer salmon filet for me with asparagus and more potatoes (potatoes and Maine must go together).  C had a shrimp risotto.  The only complaint was the cloud of fruit flies that were attracted to our peach margaritas, but overall an enjoyable experience.  
     On the night of the festival, the crowds flooded Portland afterwards, looking like zombie hoards looking for victims.  C and I decided to go to a quieter location for dinner, having spent the day with the same 6000.  We went to Fore Street, arriving at almost 11:00 to an almost full house, but seated right away.  This place was amazing in a beautiful refurbished old building with rustic brick and wood.  The hostess led us past an open kitchen where a staff was hard at work.  We were seated next to a candlelit window overlooking the streets of Portland toward the waterfront.  We could watch the zombie hoards  following the limos, which they hoped contained the members of Mumford and the other bands from the day, who had promised to frequent various venues for the rest of the night.  We had a waiter with a full 6 inch beard. C commented that all of these farm-to-table restaurants seemed to have a staff that came straight out of the Daniel Boone era - always with full beards.  We shared an appetizer of the freshest raw fish I've ever had - salmon, tuna, scallops, and a white fish, each with its own topping.  The scallops and white fish were ceviched.  C then had a huge piece of pork belly.  I had an even larger pork chop sitting on a bed of sauerkraut.  We shared everything.  We were happy we did not order vegetables because there was certainly no room.  Again, this restaurant was gluten-free friendly and oh-so-paleo.
     On Sunday, we headed to Boston, a quick two-hour drive.  Once again, we did not suffer from lack of choices.   On Monday, we went to Nebo, winner of a Bobby Flay showdown.  We had the most delicious gluten-free pizza (paleo was out the window at this point).  This is possibly the most gluten-free friendly place I have ever been.  They had a complete two page, small type, menu of gluten free pastas and pizzas.  I had the Michael Diavolo pizza - bacon, pepperoni, mozzarella, tomato sauce.  Beautifully prepared and delicious.  C and her boyfriend had equally tasty variations.  She opted for a potato gorgonzola version while he had a custom margherita style.  The crusts were wonderful - as far as I am concerned they were as good if not better than most pizza crusts I have had, GF or not.
     If that wasn't enough, C and I went to brunch on Tuesday for our last meal in Boston for the week.  We went to Zaftig's.  It is a Jewish delicatessen style restaurant.  I had scrambled eggs with beef salami which came with a side of home-fried potatoes and three slices of watermelon topped with strawberries.  C had a version of eggs Benedict on GF potato pancakes with more watermelon and berries.  We ate well this week and this place just topped it off with deliciousness.  What a great finale to a fun week of eating.  Oh yeah, we also visited Walden Pond, Boston Commons, saw two movies (Beasts of the Southern Wild and the latest Batman), Castle Island, and of course, shopped Newbury Street several times.  Almost forgot chocolate hazelnut cake (all GF) from L.A. Burdick and iced chocolate.  I think I need to go to the gym a lot this week.

The OMG Purple Smoothie

     It's been hot as Hades for almost two weeks now and cooking and eating hot food is just not that appetizing.  Today, it is actually a bit cooler, but I saw a recipe for a frozen banana dessert yesterday and I decided to try it out today.  Like all my recipes, this one morphed into its own creation.  This is not really a paleo recipe but it almost passes primal muster.  Who cares?  I mean, honestly, what is with all this strict paleo nonsense?  When you get to the end of your life, feeling fit and happy from eating a MOSTLY paleo diet, are you going to regret the two months you might have earned by being strict, never-cheating paleo?  My guess is you will be spending more of that time regretting not having ever eaten a treat (albeit a real-food one) once in a while.  
     Back to the recipe.  
1.  Freeze some bananas overnight.  First hint:  take the skin off first.  I learned the hard way that a frozen banana doesn't peel well.  
2. Break or chop a banana into 2-3 large pieces and place them in a blender.  
3. Then, I added 2 overflowing scoops of the Primal Blueprint's chocolate Primal Fuel protein powder.  (I can hear the paleo screams now.)  I've had the stuff forever, so I figured I'd use some of it up and the original recipe called for cocoa.  You can use powdered cocoa if you want.
4.  Next, I added 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (mine is liquid right now due to the heat).
5.  The original recipe calls for 2 tbsps Nutella. I just happened to have some, so in it went. I bet you could sub almond butter or some other nut butter and more cocoa.
6.  I started looking around and decided a handful of those recently picked and frozen wild raspberries would liven things up, so in went a large handful.
7. Feeling guilty that I had been neglecting my greens lately, I added a large handful of spinach leaves.
7.5. Almost left this out: I also added about a cup of almond milk.
8.  Whir, whir - this lovely purple creation resulted.  The taste is amazing.  I said "OMG!" as soon as it hit my tastebuds.  Really, I did.  It's incredible.  And it made at least 2-3 servings. Maybe there will be some left for my husband later.

July, July!

We've had quite a heat wave here in the eastern U.S., but in our little corner of southeastern PA, the humidity levels have been low and we average about 5-10 degrees cooler than the Baltimore Metro area on any given day.  My raised beds are doing well with only one cucumber plant casualty. I'll have to keep an eye out for those pesky squash bugs since I suspect they might be the culprit.  My ten new Redstar hens and my three older Buff Orpington girls, and my Brahma and Buff roosters (best buddies, by the way) do a decent job of culling bugs from the gardens.  They are a bit distracted right now by the Green June Beetles who are very large and make sweeping flyovers close to the lawn.  The chickens think it is great sport tracking them down and make a very satisfied cackle when they catch one and gulp it down.  They have also discovered my porch and back patio are great places to chill when they need a rest.  

I went out yesterday and weeded the beds. Raised beds make this so easy since the dirt never gets packed down and the weeds usually pull out very easily.  I noticed crabgrass making an appearance already this year which can be a bit tougher to pull out.  Everything is earlier by 2-3 weeks.  I dug out the rest of the potatoes which are done almost a month ahead of time and pulled about half the onions.  Tomatoes are still green but we should have red and yellow ripe ones in a few days.  I watered the beds with rainwater collected in the rain barrel that my husband gave me as a Christmas present this year.  It has come in handy because, despite the frequent thunderings, we have had little rain. I'll finish up with a picture of the day's haul.  I love going out with my basket and collecting whatever is ripe that day and planning meals around it.  Yesterday, we had zucchini, white potatoes, onions, and hot peppers stir fried in lard.  Ahhh, summer.

One year later...

     I started strength training one year ago this month at McKenna's Gym.  When I started, the 15 kg women's bar seemed so heavy I could barely lift it from its rack.  My first back squats were painful literally and figuratively.  I was certain I had crushed several vertebrae in my neck that first session.  Every joint and muscle let me know the next day that I had gone far too long without true exercise.   But thanks to my daughter, who went with me for the summer sessions, a group of women regulars who are always encouraging, and Mike, the owner/trainer, who quietly and inexhaustibly corrects, cajoles, consoles, and repeats the numbers of sets and reps for those of us who never seem to listen the first time, I've stuck with it an entire year and have no intentions of stopping.
     I stopped weighing myself about four years ago because of the head games a number can play with your mind.  I burned the scale in our burn ring in our garden area and felt guilty as I did so.  I felt guilty about burning a scale!  How can an object like that hold so much power? Burning that scale was cathartic.  My worth is not based on how much I weigh - it never was and intellectually I knew that -  but society's judgement is still hard to live with. I also went gluten-free that same year which set me back on the path of eating real food, which led me to research on paleolithic eating, which got my health to a place where I feel better now than I have felt for 40 years, maybe even my entire life.  Strength training was the capstone piece that pulled it all together.
     Two years ago, my neighbor, whom I have known for 24 years, told me one day that she was lifting weights and that I should join her.  What, really?  I only knew men who had lifted weights and was only aware of professional women body builders who did not really look like I wanted to look. Nothing wrong with how they look, but it wasn't for me.  The last regular gym I belonged to discouraged women from using free weights and directed us to the machines and light dumbbells.  "No grunting or dropping weights allowed please." I was skeptical of my friend's request, but could see the improvement in her confidence as well as her body.  The location was about 1.5 miles from my house, so I had no excuse there.  It took me a year to finally get up the nerve to contact Mike.  I dragged my daughter along for backup and I've been going regularly (2-3 days per week for 1 hour sessions) ever since.   There are a lot of reasons why.  Mike is an awesome olympic weightlifting coach and trainer.  He also writes a weightlifting blog with references to Shakespeare, has an equally awesome family, likes a variety of music and good food, and can carry on a conversation about most subjects.  The women of the gym are also amazing.  Mike said once we were a community and that is an apt description.  We do our weightlifting and conditioning but we talk about our day, our families, our disappointments, and our celebrations because that is what women do.  We are quiet when we need to be.  We bitch about turkish get-ups, pulling the sled, and jumping rope, and we encourage each other good-naturedly with a nod, a "Yes," or perhaps a consoling roll of the eyes. We help each other put weights on and off the bar.  We encourage the new person as much as the heavy lifter.  It is a community.

If you've driven up I83 in Pennsylvania, you've seen this guy.

     I went through a lot of changes over this past year.  Outwardly my body changed.  I lost inches and I think weight (though I can only guess based on clothing sizes which decreased two full pant sizes).  I know I lost 2.5 inches of fat from my waist.  That is important to me because I know that belly fat indicates metabolic problems and it literally disappeared even though my paleo-based diet has remained pretty steady.  I also went through a 6-9 month period of time when one joint would act up - a wrist, an elbow, a shoulder, a knee, an ankle, maybe some back pain.  I'm not really sure what was going on here but it worked its way around my body from right to left.  Cleaning up the diet helped (dairy is not my friend) but  I feel much more balanced now and I think that is what was happening.  As muscles strengthened, they pulled on tendons and joints, causing some pain, but eventually it all just balanced out.
     I've always been a fairly confident person, but I feel much more confident now.  I like the muscles that are now defined.  I like the greater flexibility and strength.  I like that I can lift a pretty darn good bit of weight.  I'll finish up with some PR numbers for the past year.  I started keeping track last August but I started with an empty 15 kg bar.
     Back squat - 80 kg
     Front squat - 60 kg
     Snatch - 30 kg (my most difficult form challenge)
     Clean - 42 kg
     Press - 40 kg
     I'm happy and looking forward to another year.