From the Internet: Mark Sisson on Play

Posted on October 24, 2011 by paleopassage

Living a healthy and fulfilling life is not just about diet and exercise.  Lifestyle is a big factor.  The Ancestral Health movement also considers how our forebears lived and spent their days.  Mark Sisson in his book Primal Blueprint  outlined 10 Laws to follow if you want to live a healthy, primal life.  One of these laws is Play.

Here’s a video of the presentation Mark Sisson made at the Ancestral Health Symposium in August 2011.  The topic is play and it’s importance in a healthy life.  I think there’s a compelling message in this video.  We need to take time out of our hectic and busy lives to recharge our  batteries.  Play is an effective way to do this.

“Play: A lost art” by Mark Sisson from Ancestry on Vimeo.

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Paleo and the Wild Thing

Posted on October 23, 2011 by paleopassage

WARNING:  IF YOU ARE MY OFFSPRING, SIBLING, PARENT OR IN-LAW YOU MAY WANT TO STOP READING THIS BLOG POST.  TODAY’S TOPIC CONTAINS A FRANK, BUT NOT EXPLICIT, DESCRIPTION OF MY SEXUAL FUNCTIONING.  IT MAY BE TMI FOR YOU.

Today’s post will discuss some differences I have noted in my sexual functioning since starting Paleo.  I felt it might be too distressing for my offspring to read since they all believe the Immaculate Conception is a miracle that occurred four times.

I am a post-menopausal woman.  I have officially been post-menopausal for a year, but before that there were 3-4 years of peri-menopausal delights leading up to the big event.  Changes in sexual function and libido are commonly reported during menopause.  When I experienced these changes, I wasn’t pleased, but I chalked it up to normal aging.

It’s actually been quite a significant change for me.  All my life, for as long as I can remember, I have been sexually responsive.  I was not one of those women who had difficulty achieving orgasm.  It really didn’t take much.  I could rock my world by hanging on the jungle gym in elementary school, while exercising, etc.  When I hit puberty and discovered there was an activity with the sole purpose of creating “that” feeling I was an eager and willing participant.

When the Menopause Fairy (my BFF, She-ra created the concept of the MF.  I am borrowing it to illustrate some points in this post) began coming around, I noticed that it was taking some focus on my part to have an orgasm.  This was a foreign concept for me.  Normally when TMOTH (The Man of the House) and I started cavorting I was almost instantly catapulted into a near orgasmic experience.   It was becoming a lot of work for me to have my world rocked.  TMOTH was the attentive, giving lover that he has always been, but my body was not responding in the way it used to.

The reality of life is that both TMOTH and I work full time.  We are often busy doing things in the evening.  When we go to bed and start thinking about getting frisky, it’s at the end of a long day.  I enjoy our playtime a lot, but I was finding that most nights I just didn’t want to expend the energy and focus it required for me to have an orgasm.  I was enjoying the closeness and the connection, but my world was not rocking the way it used to.

I started following a Paleo lifestyle 2 months ago.  About 2 weeks into it, I noticed that my vaginal secretions were at a level I hadn’t seen since the MF came to town.  At the time I wondered if this was due to upping fat and/or protein.  It’s something I’d like to research, but I work full-time and haven’t gotten to it yet.

About 6 weeks ago, TMOTH and I retired to our Paleo Love Den (blackout curtains on the windows, all electronics covered, door open for cool air inflow).  We started cavorting.  I was tired, and decided I’d just enjoy the closeness and not do the work required for the orgasm.  All of a sudden SHAZAM I was slammed into a near orgasmic state.  There was no extra focus required.  The first time this happened, I was pleasantly surprised.  I didn’t really think anything of it at the time.  However, this has happened every time TMOTH and I have gotten busy since then.  I feel like I’ve recovered from an illness.

On Robb Wolf’s Forum and Mark’s Daily Apple I have seen posts from people claiming that their sex lives have been enhanced and their libido has increased since going Paleo.  I didn’t really pay very much attention to these claims since most of them came from young men.  The women who reported increased libido were not menopausal.  I had accepted my issues as a normal part of menopause and aging.  Apparently they were not.

I do not have any idea what mechanism caused this change.  I do not really care.  The Paleo diet focuses on good nutritional content.  It is also anti-inflammatory.  Somehow this has boosted my hormones in a very positive way.  I plan to enjoy it for as long as it lasts.

NOTE:  IF ANY OF MY OFFSPRING IGNORED MY WARNING AND READ THIS POST ANYWAY, I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW.  DO NOT CALL OR EMAIL ME TO COMPLAIN THAT I SCARRED YOU FOR LIFE.  YOU WERE WARNED.

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Paleo Dessert Recipe: Chocolate Triple Bypass

Posted on October 22, 2011 by paleopassage

Last weekend the family got together and celebrated all the October birthdays.  Since one of the birthdays was mine, I decided that I wanted to indulge myself with a birthday treat.  I did not however, want to stray too far afield from eating within the Paleo lifestyle template.  I especially did not want to eat anything with gluten or tons of sugar.

I pulled out this recipe which is a favorite of mine.  It’s chocolatey, creamy, and not too sweet.  The only sweetener in the recipe comes from the chocolate..  I used 54% cacao, which was all that I had on hand.  If 70%+ cacao chocolate was substituted, all the ingredients would be Paleo.  However, this is an indulgence, a treat.  My primary motivation was not to eat anything that would give me gastric distress, or unstable blood sugar.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup coconut milk (I subbed this in.  If you do dairy, you could use regular milk)
  • 1 TBSP instant coffee powder
  • 1 pound semi-sweet chocolate,  broken into pieces
  • 1 TBSP Vanilla extract
  • 1 TBSP Orange liqueur
  • ½ lb. Butter (2 sticks)
  • 5 eggs
  • Berries, for garnish

Makes 16 servings.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Grease the sides and bottom of a 9-inch springform pan, and line the bottom with parchment or wax paper.  Grease the paper.

In a large heavy saucepan, heat the coconut milk until simmering.  Turn the heat to low, add the coffee powder and chocolate, and stir until the chocolate has melted.  Remove from the heat.

Add the vanilla, liqueur, and butter and stir until smooth.  Mix in the eggs.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 23 minutes.  The cake will look undone.  Remove it from the oven, let cool and refrigerate until firm (allow several hours).  Run a knife around the sides and remove the springform.

Serve with berries.

Note:  This is the place where I intended to insert a photo of a FABULOUS piece of Chocolate Triple Bypass topped with some beautiful raspberries.  Unfortunately, when I got hoe from work and went to take the photo, I discovered that TMOTH (The Man of the House) had eaten the last piece.  You have to use your imagination until the next time I make this.

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Five Finger Friday Redux-10/21/11

Posted on October 21, 2011 by paleopassage

Guess what?!!!  It’s Five Finger Friday again.  Last week went better than I expected at work.  It took a few hours before anyone noticed, but the remarks were generally positive (at least the ones I could hear).

Here is my ensemble for this week.

Muffie Stuffie Sucker wanted to get a good look at them.

Last weekend the family was over.  My MO (Middle Offspring) came over in his VFFs in a show of solidarity (or as proof that insanity runs in families).  Here’s a shot of both of us rocking our VFFs.

I’d love to feature some of my loyal readers rocking their Five Fingers along with me. If you would like to be featured in an upcoming Five Finger Friday post, email me a photo of you rocking your VFFs at paleopassage@gmail.com


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My Venture into the Realm of Science (or OCD)

Posted on October 20, 2011 by paleopassage

One of the things that keeps me motivated and compliant with the Paleo Lifestyle is the desire to see if making these changes in my nutrition and lifestyle will get me the same results I see touted around the internet.  Here’s a representative sample from Mark’s daily Apple.  I don’t want to skew the results of the experiment by not following the plan.  It’s a very compelling motivation for me.

I have mentioned before that I am a frustrated scientist.  I love to experiment with things.  As I listen to podcasts and read blogs, I get ideas about more things I want to test.  I make an effort to resist many of these things.  I have ADD, and it’s really tough for me to not grab on to a new path or idea and lose focus on what I am trying to do.

I have been valiantly resisting my desire to obtain a glucometer so that I could see how my blood sugar reacts to different foods.  The primary reason I have been resisting this is not because I think it’s ridiculous to do this, but because I do not want my loved ones (TMOTH and my offspring) to think that I have gone over the edge into obsessive-compulsive behavior.  I’m already pretty close to the edge with this since I use Keto Stix to check my urine every morning to verify that I am in ketosis.

I first became fascinated with the idea of having a glucometer when I happened upon Jimmy Moore’s n=1 experiments with various foods in his blog.  Then I heard a podcast with Dr. William Davis.  He recommended testing after every meal and eliminating foods that made the blood sugar spike above a level that caused Advanced Glycation End Products  (140 mg/dl).  A chance remark by my BFF, She-Ra, nearly threw me down the slippery slope.  After I posted about my food fail, She-Ra asked if I tested my blood sugar.  I thought to myself, if She-Ra can ask me if I do that like it’s completely normal, maybe it is…  However, I managed to resist.

The thing that tipped me over the edge was listening to Jimmy Moore’s Livin’ La Vida Low Carb podcast with Jenny Ruhl.  Ms. Ruhl has a website called Blood Sugar 101.  It details how to keep your blood sugar at a healthy level.  The procedure involves testing with a glucometer.  Once again, resistance was futile.  I ordered a glucometer.  I should be receiving it any day.  You will all be subjected to my n=1 experiments with it.

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The Caveman Diet vs. USDA Dietary Guidelines

Posted on October 19, 2011 by paleopassage

This first appeared in Investor’s Business Daily 5/13/05

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Time to Reassess my Paleo Diet

Posted on October 18, 2011 by paleopassage

I’ve been eating Paleo for two months now.  I’ve was eating low carb for a month before that.  In these three months I have lost half of the weight I want to lose.  My weight loss is 10% of my starting body weight.  I am quite happy with these results.  However, for the past two weeks I have been stalled.  Since I’d like to reduce my body weight by an additional 11% of its current weight, I decided it was time to scrutinize what I have been doing and see if there is anywhere that improvements can be made.

I have been eating an unweighed, unmeasured Paleo-style diet.  Weighing, measuring, counting macronutrients and recording them is not something I want to do on a regular basis.  It’s very tedious.  Still, it can be useful to do this from time to time to see where things are in comparison to the desired plan.

I used a food journaling program called Paleo Track to journal a typical day.  Paleo Track is nice because it evaluates the diet entered based on the Paleo principles, rather than comparing the food eaten against the “ideal” of the USDA My Plate.  The charts featured in this post are copied from my Paleo Track food journal.

Here’s a chart of my macronutrients for last Friday.  The first thing that I noticed is that my protein intake is under my target for this macronutrient.  I am trying to fall into a range between the Mark Sisson recommendation of 1 gram protein per pound of lean body weight and the Robb Wolf suggestion of 1 gram protein per pound of body weight.  That would put me at 110-135 grams of protein.

I have also been trying to keep the carbs under 50 grams per day.  My total of 79 grams still falls into the Mark Sisson weight loss sweet spot of 50-100 grams, but I’m definitely getting some carb creep.

I decided to focus on hitting the daily protein target.  I am using the USDA Nutrient database to look up my protein items and adjusting them upward until I am in the desired range.  I bumped the protein up by adding 2 oz. of salmon to my omelet filling and doubling the size of my protein portions at lunch and dinner.  Here’s how my numbers looked yesterday.

I’m going to focus on the protein intake for the next two weeks and see how this affects my weight and energy levels.  I’ll keep you posted on the results.

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From the Internet: Sweden’s New Diet Revolution

Posted on October 17, 2011 by paleopassage

This is a post that Andreas Eenfeldt, MD made at the Ancestral Health Symposium in August 2011. He discusses the growing LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) diet movement in Sweden. The presentation is about one hour long, but my favorite part is the first slide. Check it out.

“Evolution of a Diet Revolution” by Andreas Eenfeldt, MD from Ancestry on Vimeo.

Dr. Eenfeldt’s presentation makes a lot of sense to me. If you liked what you heard in the presentation, check out Dr. Eenfeldt’s blog.

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Foraging at the Farmers Market

Posted on October 16, 2011 by paleopassage

On Saturday we like to go to the local Farmers Market and forage for the food we will eat during the next week.  It’s a lot of fun to see what everyone has brought to the market.  There’s live music and ready-made food (not generally Paleo) for those who ran out of the house hungry.  It’s fun to talk to the farmers about their products.  The people watching is excellent.  The energy there is good.

A beautiful array of peppers to choose from.

The Farmers Market is a great place to find produce that you don’t normally see in  the supermarkets.  Bohemian WellBeing Farm has a wide variety of unusual and delicious mushrooms.  I love the trumpet mushrooms sautéed and used as omelet stuffing.

Local cheeses are available.

Look at these beautiful tomatoes!  I don’t know how much longer they’ll be available, but I intend to enjoy them as long as they are.

Now to find something to have for dinner tonight.  The salmon looks pretty good..

Here are our provisions for next week:

From left to right (sort of): Wild King Salmon fillets, Pork Andouille  Sausage, shallots, trumpet mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, grass-fed London Broil,  cilantro, zucchini, red onions, basil, beets spring mix, pastured eggs, broccoli and duck wings.  The duck wings are for the Airedale Terrierists who are raw fed.  Queen Barktifah and Muffie Stuffie Sucker will be ecstatic when they see their Sunday breakfast.  Duck is like crack for the Terrierists.

I love to shop at the Farmers Market.  I’m getting tasty, fresh food, grown by local people who I can talk to.  I have a lot of fun every week figuring out what to make from the bounty I have foraged.  It’s a creative outlet for me.

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My Paleo Plate

Posted on October 15, 2011 by paleopassage

Most of you are probably familiar with the plate icon that has replaced the old food pyramid.

The folks at Fitbomb came up with a Paleo version.

When people find out that I’m not eating grains, legumes, dairy or processed foods they often ask “What do you eat? Don’t you get bored?”

I eat tasty, real food.  I don’t get bored.  The possibilities are endless and limited only by my own creativity.  From time to time I’ll do a post on My Paleo Plate and show you what I eat in a day.

Breakfast:  Farmer’s Market Omelet: Two pastured eggs with coconut milk, cajun seasoning, bell pepper and onions.  The omelet is stuffed with spinach and bacon and topped with Farmer’s Market Pico de Gallo.

Lunch:  Kobe Beef Burger and Yummy Yam Spears*: The burger is sitting on red onion and lettuce from our garden.  I added Tequila Jalapeno Mustard to the burger.

Dinner:  Spicy Speedy Stuffed Peppers*: The filling is packed with vegetables, including tomatoes, onion, celery, carrots and crookneck squash.

*The recipes for the Yummy Yam Spears and the Spicy Speedy Bell Peppers came from my current favorite cookbook Everyday Paleo

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