On Going Primal...

Well folks...I'm going Primal.  What is Primal?  Well, from the research I've done, my loose definition would be that it's a slightly looser Paleo.  Paleo people can sometimes be pretty hard core (at least the ones I've encountered).  However, that wasn't my reasoning behind not going Paleo.  In all honesty, they're pretty darn close to each other.  They are like the cousins that grew up living so close to each other that they end up more like siblings.  The main difference I found was that Primal seemed to be a little more understanding of what modern society has to offer and looked at a more holistic approach.  Primal also was not quite as "you may only eat these foods or you'll die!" as Paleo seemed to be.  Yes, I am over exaggerating alot a little.

My Bible for Primal Learning

Technically it's the Primal Blueprint (PB for short).  But when I say "I'm going PB" I think of peanut butter...which leads to all sorts of cravings.  Hence "Primal"...but it kind of sounds bad-ass.

80/20 Principle

What drew me to this was Mark's philosophy...."The Primal Blueprint, as we say, is all about Primal living. Living. Enjoying. Even chilling out. This is not a lab controlled experiment or a boot camp. No interns in white coats with clip boards will show up at your door or spy on you. No screaming sergeants will get in your face."  Let's be honest, with everything going on in my life, I could use some help chilling out.  Sometimes I could use alot of help!  What I don't need is an insane "diet" that will add stress or have me all paranoid about failing.  Enter the 80/20 Principle which outlines that you always want to shoot and plan for going 100%, but understands life sometimes gets in the way.  Likewise, they aim for more of a lifelong change rather than temporary cosmetic fix (like many "diets").  That, among many other reasons, is why I don't even call it a diet.  It's not.  It's cleaner eating.  It takes into consideration life and that a cheat meal every so often is not, in fact, going to kill you.  How many is probably dependant on what your personal goals are.  I read one case study who said she abided by the 80/20...and when that 20 included a cheat meal, she just made sure she enjoyed the hell out of every bite!  

Dairy

This one is a tough one for me.  Paleo is very definitively against dairy---"the cavemen didn't eat cheese".  BTW, that is the worst comeback ever...talk to me when you have something more than a tagline.  Anyyyyyway.  I like my dairy; I have no digestive issues with dairy.  Therefore, I was not willing to cut it all out 100%.  Why?  I looked and still didn't find any real reason other than people that threw out that tagline or had digestive issues.  Again, this is why I like Primal; Dairy is put in a grey area.  You can have it...just try to make it the best stuff you can.  This doesn't mean you have to spend $100 on cheese, but it does mean that some things are out.  All that high processed stuff??  You gots to go.  Really, who thought that those slices of american cheese were "good" for you anyway.  The less they have to do to it, the better!!  I had already made a switch to unsweetened almond milk, so that's no problem.  But I love my greek yogurt and an occasional cheese.  

My tweeks: 

• Opt for plain greek yogurt
• Mix in my own fruit, nuts, etc
• Don't eat it every day
• No junk cheese!
• Get the good stuff and enjoy it in small quantities
• Goat cheese, feta, a nice sharp cheddar...
• Don't eat it every day

Mark even has dairy in some of his meal diaries, so it firmly falls into that "with moderation" category in my opinion.  The exception to all this is probably kids/babies.  I have no idea how it works or what adjustments to make, but I don't really need to know :) 

Issues on my "ToDo"

Another thing I appreciate about Primal is that it's not a "cold turkey is mandatory" thing.  Example: I can't just stop drinking diet soda.  Ummm can we say rebound migraine from hell??  So I'm weaning off it.  If there are areas you know are going to be problems, take it slow.  It's a lifestyle change, not a "lose 10 pounds in 10 days" thing.  If that's what you're looking for, you should probably go elsewhere.  Don't get me wrong, I'm planning to lose weight, but I also know that I can't have an entire week or two of my life where I'm just tired-grumpy-irritable-dizzy and have migraines.  BTW, if you've ever gone cold turkey on something, those are all things that can happen (and do).  

My first step was to identify things I knew would be issues for me and research them.  Grains and legumes are out according to Primal.  Does that mean that you can never have brown rice again?  No...but the goal is that you won't want it.  I didn't think I was too bad on grains and legumes to begin with.  BUT, once I started really looking at it, I realized how much of that was in the things I do eat.  It all has to go and I have to figure out how to replace it with something I won't feel bummed about eating.  That left me with a little apprehension (what?!?! no fruit loops ever?!?!) and a little excitement, surprisingly.  I get into moods where I like to try new foods...yes, I have to be in the right mood.  And I have some weird sense of accomplishment when I try one and I like it.  It's like I just overcame something huge!  Hey...whatever works.

Sugar is going to be tough, but I know it's necessary.  I knew that before even looking at Primal.  *sigh*.  I don't think that means I'll be one of those raving crazies who tells someone to eat a can of sardines rather than have a few skittles, but I am going to have to work on this one.  Cause gosh-darn-it do I have a sweet tooth.  Luckily for me, quality chocolate is still an OK for occasional consumption.  Score!  It's all the cookies, skittles, twizzlers, and ice cream of the world that is going to bite me in the arse.  It will definitely be a work in progress.

Who am I kidding, this whole thing is going to be a work in progress...but what lifestyle change isn't???

The "Unwich" by JJ (Jimmy John's)

This week, after a bit of convincing from a coworker, I finally gave the "Unwich" a try.  Why, you ask, was this so hard??  Well....I'm a bit of a carbaholic bread-lover.  Have you ever walked into a Jimmy John's?!?!?  It smells like heaven...

Anyway, I was hesitant and pretty sure that my "unwich" was just not going to satisfy me like my good ole #4 Turkey Tom normally would.  I looked up the nutritional info...which made my decision for me.  Say what?!?!  Under 300 calories!!  Shoot...Go For It!!

Less calories actually, because I always do E-Z mayo

Like always, Jimmy never disappoints when it comes to speed.  I swear that sucker is at my office front desk before I have a chance to go to the kitchen to get an accompanying beverage!

Here she is!  #4 Unwich

After a few bites of turkey yumminess

Eating the unwich is kind of like eating a big burrito...only more slippery delicate.  For under 300 calories though, I found it pretty dang tasty and fulfilling!  I had to grab a yogurt snack about 3 hours later, but that didn't bother me at all.

Advice

• I found a great image online from inside a Jimmy John store that said "Don't unwrap it".  In hindsight, I think that is the BEST advice for eating this puppy...unwrap only enough to not get a mouth full of paper.
• Do NOT order this if you're on a date or eating with someone you don't mind looking a bit sloppy in front of.  (why are you on a date at Jimmy John's??)  There is no way to eat this and look lady-like.  Period.  I'd compare it to eating ribs...
• Add veggies.  Might as well and it gives it a little more substance!

Apple Nachos...A Friday Night Experiment

Friday night...salad...super exciting.  Yeah right. 

Soooooo in an attempt to bring a little bit of actual yumminess to an otherwise ho-hum Friday food, I created a twist on a random recipe I found online.  I bring you the most simple-yummy-can't believe this is mostly healthy-snack...ever.

APPLE NACHOS

What you need:
1 medium apple sliced in about 1/4" slices
1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter (I like Smuckers)
1 teaspoon of hot fudge (again...Smuckers)
1 teaspoon of caramel (and again...Smuckers)
Almond slivers and crumbles.  As many as you like!!

1.   Slice your apple.  Thinly.

2.   Throw your peanut butter, fudge and caramel in the microwave if you need to get them oohey-goohey    drizzle worthy.  Then GO TO TOWN!!!  Drizzle to your heart's content.  Add more if you want...it's dessert after all!!!

3.   Sprinkle your almond slivers and crumbles all over.  You could also add more twists such as: coconut, mini chocolate chips, other nut crumbles, or anything that sounds interesting.

Go crazy.  I'm pretty sure you can't mess this up.

I'm your huckleberry...

I have a confession...this post has nothing to do with huckleberries.  Or any type of fruit really (not that I'm even sure what a huckleberry is).  How I got to the topic of today's post is a small journey...jump aboard my  "train of thought"!!

If you can name the movie that title is from, then major points to you!!  You are officially cool.  For those not as awesome, it's from Tombstone (only my favorite depiction of Doc Holiday...ever).  Last night, while watching this movie, I was intrigued by the character of Mattie who, from what she tells her husband, suffers from migraines.  Her treatment of choice: Laudanum.  As a migraine sufferer myself, I was curious as to what this was.  According to wikipedia, "also known as Tincture of Opium, is an alcoholic herbal preparation containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine).^[1] It is reddish-brown in colour and tastes extremely bitter. Laudanum contains almost all of the opium alkaloids, including morphine and codeine. A potent narcotic by virtue of its high morphine concentration, laudanum was historically used to treat a variety of ailments, but its principal use was as an analgesic and cough suppressant. Until the early 20th century, laudanum was sold without a prescription and was a constituent of many patent medicines."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laudanum.  

This doesn't exactly sound like the best route to treating migraines, but then again, I don't know what options were back then.  As a migraine sufferer, I CAN say that when you have a bad one, you're willing to try just about anything.  It's rumored that, while suffering from a particularly severe migraine, Van Gogh cut off his ear in a desperate attempt at relief.  (I'm aware there are a ton of theories out there btw).  Let's just say, during some of my worst migraines, I've understood where he might have been coming from with that choice.  Desperate.  

*an odd tidbit: Van Gogh is my favorite artist and has been since grade school.  Van Gogh is a fellow migraine sufferer (which I didn't know until high school).  Many have said that if it had not been for his migraines, he would not have seen the "auras" that produced such famous paintings as Starry Night.  Ironically, this is also my favorite work of his...creepy.

Other famous sufferers: Louis Carroll (maybe the white rabbits were talking to him while recovering from a migraine), Elvis Presley (who popped alot of pills as we know), and Julius Caesar (who is noted as having epilepsy as well as migraines).

I once had a co-worker say (after I returned from a missed day of work due to a migraine), "I'm not sure if I've ever had a migraine.  Are they that bad?".  Really??  If you're "not sure", then you most certainly have not!!  You'd know.  Trust me.  For all you migraine suffers, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  And you understand how hard it was for me to not slap her right then and there...

Everyone has their own treatments and things that work.  I thought I'd share some of mine...maybe they'll be useful to someone else!  My migraines are hereditary (thanks mom & dad), but if you can figure out your triggers and learn what works for you, you're that much closer to being an "occasional sufferer" rather than "frequent sufferer".

1. Keep a diary.  This is crucial to tracking down your triggers.  Sometimes they are weird.  One of mine is too much marinara or tomato sauce.  For ladies, it can relate to your cycle.
2. Ice and heat.  Ice packs, hot packs, etc.  Keep them around.  Many of my headaches link to neck and shoulder pain; if I can alleviate their pain, many times the migraine will lessen it's hold on me.  Ice is great if you can tell it's swollen or inflamed.  Heat is good for relaxing.  My hot pack is one that you microwave and lay across your shoulders and upper back.  Lifesaver.
3. Learn what medications (otc or other) work for you...or don't work for you.  It really is trial and error sometimes.  I personally have Imitrex for the really beastly ones...but I try to use ibuprofen + heat/ice + other options before I resort to Imitrex. 
4. Caffeine.
5. Water.
6. De-stressing.
7. Pressure points.  If you don't know much about them, there are some great websites!!  Go look.  I use what you see below as soon as I can feel a headache coming on that feels like "more than a headache".  My grandma showed me this when I was little.  I still use it today.  As a side note, it's not supposed to feel good...

You want to find the fleshy spot right in front of where your bones meet. 

Like I said, there are a TON of things you can do to help with migraines.  I am by no means an expert; I just know some things that work for me.  Likewise, just because you are careful or do what you need to do doesn't mean they won't happen.  Sometimes they just do...no matter what.

Do you have migraines?  If so, what do you do?

I'll close with my second favorite Doc quote..."I have not yet begun to defile myself".  Love it!!!