I'm a Sugar Addict

For the first year or so of this lifestyle, I was pretty strict: I only ate animal protein and vegetables.  I rarely touched fruit and wouldn't eat starches, nuts, or dark chocolate (I can't control myself around any of those).  But then when I really got into this ancestral movement and discovered things like Paleo/Primal baked goods and desserts, I loosened up a bit, thinking that my sugar addiction was long broken and I'd be perfectly content to just eat one cookie or one or two squares of dark chocolate.

Bad move.  I was so wrong.

I'm not going to deny that all of those Paleo/Primal brownies, cookies, cakes, and chocolate- or fruit-based dishes are amazing... because they're so delicious!  But what I realized right away last year is that if you give me any of those, I can't just have one-- I'll eat half the tray!  Or I'll finish off an entire dark chocolate bar or bag of nuts or bowl of fruit... and then feel disgusting afterward and say I won't do that ever again.  But guess what?  I do do it again, and I end up in a vicious cycle.  All of these sweets have reawakened my former food-addicted self, which is something I've tried very hard to suppress these last 2.5 years, and I can't live like that anymore.  Even starches (such as sweet potatoes and yams) will trigger me to go insane, because my body goes, "OMG SWEETNESS!  EAT!  KEEP EATING!"  It needs to stop!  I had all of these habits under control, but when I gave myself an inch, I took a marathon.  I've gained weight (and if I look at anything other than a plant or animal, I put on weight), my acne is back, and I just feel gross.

So it's time to stop the baked goods/desserts, starches, nuts, and fruits.  Yes, they're certainly better than eating non-Primal foods (i.e. things with gluten, sugar, and other toxic ingredients), but they're still not optimal for health.  I also need to stop snacking while I'm at it (I've noticed that I only snack when I'm eating a lot of sweet foods throughout the day).  So no more trigger foods!  I'm still-- and always will be-- a food addict, so I should know better by now not to let myself touch things that set me off.  (You'd think I would've learned a year ago when I first realized the addiction never went away, but nope.  I got back into the I'll start tomorrow mentality that's been going on ever since.)

This is the "MyPlate" I'll be sticking with from now on:

Animals and plants!  I can do that!  I've done it before, and I can do it again... assuming I can get that self-control back in order, and learn to only eat when I need to, and not because I'm bored or emotional or because it's in the house.  As much as I love all of the yummy baked goods that the Paleo blogosphere has to offer, my health comes first... and optimal health for me doesn't include anything even remotely sweet.  (If you're in my position and like timed challenges, check out the Whole30 or 21-Day Sugar Detox from Balanced Bites!)

Quote of the Day:

"If you're happy, you eat.  If you're sad, you eat.  You lose a job, you eat.  You get a job, you eat.  It's, you know, it's addiction."  -Barbara Cook

The Result of a Multi-City/Country/Continent Quest for Kerrygold

Since I first became involved in the Paleosphere, I'd been hearing about the wonder that is Kerrygold butter.  I had never seen or heard of it before-- it isn't in any of the supermarkets near my home in New York (despite what the locator on the Kerrygold website says), and it wasn't in the one near Penn's campus in Philly either.  So I figured that when I went to Edinburgh, there'd be a ton of Kerrygold, given its proximity to Ireland, right?  Wrong.  So when it wasn't in Lidl, Scot-Mid, Tesco, Sainsbury's, or the Middle Eastern markets I went to, I was pretty much convinced that the Kerrygold butter gods hated me and that I'd never find it.  Maybe it was like Brigadoon: it'd only show up once every one hundred years.  Or perhaps it was like the Loch Ness monster: a myth.

During my spring break, I went on a five-city adventure that started off in Amsterdam (Argentine steakhouse heaven-- no problems finding a good steak there!), then moved to Geneva (which is so expensive that I cooked out of my hostel the entire time).  I couldn't find Kerrygold in either place.  Then I headed to Germany, where I first encountered Kerrygold in Berlin's main train station, the Hauptbahnhof.  (Berlin is Paleo heaven.  One word: Sauvage.)  I had an "Oh my god, it actually exists!!!!!" moment of both extreme disbelief and extreme excitement.  This was the butter that the entire Paleo community has been raving about!!  IT'S REAL!!!!  But since I had a four-hour train ride (to Prague) ahead of me, I couldn't hoard a brick of it to see what the big deal was.  (Well, I guess I could've...)  So I settled on some Kerrygold cheddar cheese to snack on instead.  Nom.  However, since I didn't cook at all in Prague or Vienna, I still hadn't tried the most talked-up butter in existence by the time I headed back to Edinburgh.

Fast-forward to mid-May.  Four months in Europe, and still no Kerrygold... but a trip to Dublin changed that.  I was convinced by this point that Kerrygold leprechauns would hide all of the butter before I got there, and I'd spend the rest of eternity missing out on the one butter that puts the Paleo/Primal community into an "OMG NOM" frenzy.  But no!!  I got to Dublin, and Kerrygold was everywhere-- it's even sold in the airport!!!!  AHHH!!!!!  So after sight-seeing all day, I bought a brick of it from the grocery store and headed back to my hostel to cook dinner and finally try this practically mythical butter. It did not disappoint!!!!  It's creamy, smooth, rich, delicious... and totally worth all of the hype.  It's great for both cooking and eating, and I truly don't have words that accurately describe how absolutely incredible this butter is.

I brought my Kerrygold back to Edinburgh.  They must've thought I was insane at airport security for having almost a pound of butter in my backpack!

So I finished off an incredible semester in Edinburgh by smothering everything in Kerrygold, not knowing the next time I'd get to have this fantastical butter again.
I was in for a real treat when I ended my time in Europe with a week in Mijas Costa, Malaga, Spain, for some desperately needed Vitamin D.  (Seriously: don't take the sun for granted.  After living in Scotland for a semester, just seeing the sun makes me insanely happy now.)  I never thought I'd stumble upon Kerrygold there, but I did!!!!  I hadn't even been looking for it, and it was in the supermarket!!  Vitamin D/sun and Kerrygold in the same place??  Paradise!!  My mind was also blown by finding Kerrygold on the plane ride back to the US-- sure, it was a tiny packet of it, but still!  (But thank god for it: it was the only thing I ate... the rest of the meal served was just sad.)

So what exactly is so special about Kerrygold?  It's made from the milk of grass-fed cows!  Grass-fed butter has more carotene, Vitamin A, and Vitamin K2, has a totally balanced O3:O6 ratio, and just tastes so much better than other types of butter.  This stuff is truly incredible, and if you tolerate butter and live somewhere where you can get this stuff, do it!  Really: it's that good.  (And you can also use it to make Bulletproof coffee!)

I can't believe I just wrote an entire post about Kerrygold.  But after a semester-long quest to finally find/try it, it totally deserves its own post... and all of the hype!

Quote of the Day:
"Some people would say they couldn't do without olive oil.  I could do without olive oil a lot quicker than I could do without butter."  -Paula Deen

Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover

There is no doubt that people can be extremely judgmental about, well, everything.  From the clothes we wear to the cars we drive to the music we listen to, it seems like someone always has a negative opinion about us.  You're a slob if you're not wearing the latest fashions; you're uncultured for listening to pop music; you're a rich snob if you drive a nice car.  We spend so much of our lives being judged for our choices... yet we spend even more time being judged for what we look like.  Pick up any magazine, and chances are you'll see at least one story criticizing some celebrity for being too fat or too thin.

We are all human beings here, and I'm sure the majority of us are insecure about our looks.  So who are we to judge others?

I've struggled with weight my entire life.  I was teased in elementary and middle school for being fat (among other things), and it really sucked-- I wouldn't wish that (or any type of teasing/bullying) upon anyone!  I was ashamed of my weight and appearance, and I was an emotional eater, so I ate more to deal with that-- and until I was 13 (when I found Atkins), it was a never-ending cycle of getting picked on for my weight, and then turning to food for comfort.  (And by high school, I was overweight, the new kid, and an academic-oriented theatre geek.  Yeah... I kept turning to food.)
People (and especially kids) can be incredibly cruel and judgmental-- if you're not thin and beautiful, you're somehow a lesser person, regardless of your personality or talents/abilities.  That's not okay with me.  And it's never okay to pick on people for their looks (or anything else, for that matter!).  You are more than a number on the scale or the size of your jeans-- and we should view others with that idea in mind.

Our society is whack.  What mostly prompted this post is this article: "America's hatred of fat hurts obesity fight", which kind of hit home for me, given my life-long struggle with weight and being teased for it.  According to the article, "Children as young as 3 tell scientists studying [the stigmatization of obesity] that overweight people are mean, stupid, ugly and have few friends," and adults say "obese people are self-indulgent, lazy and unable to control their appetites."  Why the hell do looks and personality go hand-in-hand in our society?  And how absolutely heart-breaking is it that preschoolers have already been taught to judge others like this?  What are we doing to our kids?

Prejudice is taught, and clearly 3-year-olds already judging overweight people will keep this problem going, considering they'll go to school and start picking on and isolating any kids that they deem overweight/fat... and "targets of stigma often fall into depression or withdraw socially, both making overeating, binge eating, and a sedentary existence more likely."  This is a vicious cycle.  Americans are so obsessed with being thin (because obviously, thin = good and fat = lazy/stupid/bad) that "in a 2007 study, 24% of women and 17% of men said they would trade three or more years of life to be svelte."  Right.  So being thin-- focus on thin, not healthy-- is more important than a few more years of life.  Of course.  Look, I know that being overweight/obese puts you more at risk for health problems, but there are so many thin people with health problems too!!  The prescribed "eat less, move more" might make someone thinner, but that doesn't mean that'll make them healthier... so health care costs would still be an issue if they're sick/malnourished.

I don't consider myself to be thin.  I'm not a twig, and you won't see me in a bikini any time soon.  But I'm healthy-- I'd rather be a healthy size 6/8 than an unhealthy size 2.  The aforementioned article ends with this quote: "I work out, I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, and I'm still not thin."  Story of my life!  In fact, just a few weeks ago, the amazing Ancestralize Me! came out with "Paleo Women are Phat", which A) is a must-read, and B) discusses why some women in the community aren't as "lean and mean" as the men.  But what I love most about this post is the emphasis on strength, health, and personality, rather than just being skinny.
The post also features a picture of the Venus of Willendorf (which I had the pleasure of seeing on my trip to Vienna last month)-- this fat little statuette, and other "Venus figurines," were worshiped by paleolithic people.  Worshiped.  Can you imagine the majority of Americans worshiping something that wasn't thin and beautiful today?  God forbid!
The definition of beauty has been so horribly warped.  In fact, artist Anna Autopia Giordano altered some famous pieces of art (including Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus") to meet today's beauty standards in her exhibition "Venus."  Check it out.

Really, though: the saddest thing about this whole obesity crisis is that people don't seem to want to be healthy-- they just want to be thin.  The two are not synonymous.  I understand it, of course-- you'll still be judged and teased if you're a healthy size 12, because health isn't something that can be seen.  Even if your numbers are all perfect and you've cured all of your ailments and haven't been sick in months, you'll still be seen as the fat lady/guy/kid.  And that's not fair to you!  People need to back the hell off!
People's judgmental and hurtful comments also foster an attitude of Well, this is how it is, so it's okay I'm being picked on.  No.  After fat jokes were made about him at the White House Correspondents' dinner, Chris Christie stated, "When you're overweight, fair or unfair, there's going to be those who make really awful comments about you and there are going to be people who make jokes about it.  That's the way it goes." Well, that shouldn't be the way it goes!  Things need to change!  This is bullying, and it needs to stop.

Overweight/obese people are not stupid or lazy, and they shouldn't be treated as such.  You don't know their stories, and they should not be judged.  No one should be judged, bullied, made fun of, or picked on because of how they look (or what they believe in, or who they love, etc.).  What we can do, however, is educate and help others.  We can point people-- regardless of their size-- in the right direction health-wise.  We can teach people to make smart food and lifestyle choices-- to cut out processed/refined foods, to sleep and move more, to end toxic relationships and spend more time around the people they love, and to stop judging books by their covers.

Quote of the Day:
"Who are you to judge me and the life that I live?  I know that I'm not perfect and that I don't claim to be.  So before you point your fingers, be sure your hands are clean."  -Bob Marley, "Judge Not"

The Paleo Restaurant: Sauvage (Berlin)

I haven't been able to order absolutely everything off of a restaurant menu since January, 2010.  Since I first got into the real food lifestyle on February 1st of that year, almost every restaurant trip has left me frustrated with how little options I had... or has me driving the waiters crazy with the typical "No bread, no rice, no sauce, can I have double veggies instead?"  And except for during my trip to Paris a few months ago, I haven't ever been able to order dessert.

But that all changed when, last Tuesday, I experienced one of the best meals of my life in Berlin at Sauvage, the "world's first Paleolithic restaurant."  (I'd like to thank Paul from Living in the Ice Age for reminding me about it!)  Here is the sign that greeted me when I arrived, which made me fall in love with the place immediately:

Besides the fact that I was insanely excited about this place since making reservations the week before (seriously: make reservations if you plan on going, because this place got packed!), the following sign, displayed right when you walk in, made me really go into excitement over-drive:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It is so nice to walk into a restaurant and know that I won't "get glutened" or have a terrible reaction to processed crap, vegetable oil, grain-fed meat, or hidden sugar.  It's been two years since I haven't had to worry about that, and going to Sauvage has restored my faith in eating out (though now that I'm back in the UK-- and heading back to the US in a few months-- I'm going to be sad that a Paleo restaurant doesn't exist in either country.... yet).  Words seriously can't describe how excited I was for this meal!

The restaurant only seats up to forty people, and it was so cozy-- it had a very rustic feel, and dinner was 100% by candlelight, which added to the feeling that, oh my god, I'm eating in a Paleo restaurant!

Although the menu was entirely in German, the waiters were more than happy to translate every single dish for us-- and everything sounded more delicious than the next.  My mom and I each got an appetizer: cauliflower soup with their gluten/grain-free bread and butter, and the Paleo antipasti plate, which had everything from seed-based crackers to cabbage to olives to garlic to eggs.  Both dishes were so good!

  

For the main course, we ordered the "Steak Sauvage"--which was 100% grass-fed with caramelized red onion, chives, capers, garlic, and green pepper-- and a veal dish with roasted cauliflower, dates, paprika, mint, and sesame.  Nom!!   

Dessert was incredible, and it was so awesome to be able to order it!!  They offered two different desserts, so we ordered both and split them.  The first one was a dark chocolate and hazelnut tort with a wild berry sauce, and the second was a lavender-honey cake with their homemade ricotta and hibiscus sauce (with an almond crust).  So yummy!!  

This meal was amazing.  (It was also pretty reasonably priced for such high-quality food.  Our appetizers were in the €6-€9 range, our entrees from €17- €23, and desserts were €4.90 and €6.90.  They also do not accept credit cards.)  Not only was the food itself absolutely delicious, but the atmosphere, staff, and everything else about the restaurant made this an experience that I will never forget. 

Thank you, Sauvage, for a truly fantastic meal and night.

Quote of the Day:

"Paleo Cuisine is based on the dietary habits of our prehistoric ancestors, but doesn't tend to mimic how prehistoric men ate.  The Modern Paleo cook combines evolutionary science with contemporary cuisine and ancestral cooking methods."  -Sauvage website

A Paleo Poem

Many, many years ago, our ancestors gathered and they hunted--
they lived in caves, ate off the land, and instead of talking, they grunted.
No modern diseases plagued them, for they were healthy and strong:
the antithesis of today's owrld... So then what the heck went wrong?
The cavemen lived on meat and fat, yet "experts" now claim both can kill,
so why are humans sicker now with that advice and modern pills?

Our ancestors moved frequently, they walked and hiked at a slow pace--
and they certainly weren't chained to desks for the eight hours of the rat race.
They lifted heavy natural things, not just 5-pound weights in local gyms,
and sometimes they even sprinted (away from tigers to keep their limbs!).

They didn't have computers, phones, TVs and cable, or the iPad--
Apples and blackberries were simply fruits, and a jaguar was the next meal to be had.
Their circadian rhythms were perfect: no late nights or early mornings--
they slept with the moon and woke with the sun and had no need for electronic warnings.
There's no doubt our lifespans exceed theirs-- sure, theirs averaged thirty years,
but we have sanitation and modern medicine, while they had different fears:
infections and natural accidents, being chased by mammoths and bears--
so it's unfair to use that argument, for they had totally different cares!
But there was no obesity or cancer-- no Neolithic Agents of Disease,
no high blood pressure or autoimmune conditions, and no type-2 diabetes.

Those came only after Agriculture in about 8000 BC,
when humans shrunk and started getting sick, and changed was society.
We stopped following the wisdom of our previous generations--
we settled down and changed the Earth, and we are now just fast food nations.
We moved away from real food-- now we have packaged meals and bread,
which contains the evils gluten and wheat-- or "Satan's excrements" (as Robb said)--
that really mess up our bodies and health.  Go and read Wheat Belly,
which gives a lot of reasons why you should give up your PB & jelly.

Strange "products" run amok now, and weird chemicals lace our food--
Big Macs aren't really meat-- I doubt that "cow" had ever mooed!
"Low fat" everything lines the shelves, and you can blame that all on Keys,
who scared people out of eating fat-- but it does NOT cause heart disease!
And those "healthy whole grains" aren't healthy-- they cause your blood sugar to get scary,
and it's insulin issues that make you fat-- go check out these books by a guy named Gary.
Sugar is the new cocaine-- yet it's still legal (even though it's harmful!),
which is why food companies put it everywhere-- it keeps you buying things by the armful.
The obesity crisis is getting worse: people are fat, sick, and so unhealthy,
Big Pharma and Agribusiness don't want to help-- they just want to get wealthy.
Don't listen to government regulations-- Monsanto is tied to the FDA,
so take your health into your own hands and listen to what ancestral wisdom has to say.
Go back more than 10,000 years ago, go back to eating good fats and meat,
and fruits and veggies and nuts and seeds (and dark chocolate as an occasional treat!).

Purge the pantry of those "healthy" grains, of those legumes and snacks and boxes.
Eat wild, buy organic, and perhaps try the 30- or 21-day sugar detoxes.
Just say no to GMOs, and don't venture into center aisles,
go out in the sun and play-- you'll get both your daily Vitamin D and smiles.
Sleep a lot in a dark, dark room; lift heavy things and move...
Perhaps this all sounds overwhelming, but don't worry: you'll get in the groove.
Maybe you still need some help: have no idea what to eat daily?
Go on over to Fast Paleo, or buy this amazing book by Bill and Hayley.
Mark's Daily Apple is so helpful-- it's got a ton of information,
and check out Nom Nom Paleo for her latest culinary creation.
You can raise a family on this lifestyle too: check out Paleo Parents Stacy and Matt,
or Everyday Paleo (the book and blog)-- they'll all prove how you can do that!
Knowledge is certainly power, but most people have no nutritional knowledge of any kind,
so why not read The Paleo Solution, or Primal Body, Primal Mind,
or go back even further: check out the work by Weston A. Price,
who looked at nutrition and dental health (and found if you eat well, your teeth are nice!).
Learn to question everything: seek answers and find the truth,
don't listen blindly to doctors who don't know better-- they won't lead you to the fountain of youth!
Many answers lie simply in our past: in natural food and lots of sun,
in moving and playing and lifting and sleeping, and not needing technology to have fun.
Though the world has changed since the cavemen, we can still look to their lives
and find the keys to optimal health... because we don't just want to live: we want to thrive.

Quote of the Day:
"Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words."  -Robert Frost

Lemon-Ginger Chocolate Fudge

I've recently fallen in love with the combination of ginger and chocolate-- the two flavors complement each other really well!  I also love the combinations of lemon (something summery to go with this warm weather!) and ginger, and lemon and chocolate... so why not make an awesome lemon/ginger/chocolate treat, especially since chocolate is now everywhere with Easter coming up soon?  I originally thought I could make little chocolate eggs, but once this started chilling in the fridge, I decided that the egg idea wasn't going to work out for me... and instead I realized I had made fudge!!  Nom!!  (Also, cool stuff: an NPR article came out a few days ago, citing some research that chocolate consumption favorably influences your metabolism and can help keep you lean.  Whoot!)  

Ingredients:
-100g dark chocolate (I used 85%)
-1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
-25g butter
-2 1/2 tbsp. ginger
-lemon zest from 1 lemon

Directions:
1.  Break up dark chocolate and place in a bowl.
2.  Combine all other ingredients in a pan over medium heat and stir well.
3.  When mixture boils, pour over dark chocolate and stir.  (You could pour it into a small tray here, but I just kept it in the bowl.)
4.  Place in refrigerate until set (4-5 hours).  Slice up and enjoy!

Quote of the Day:

"Chocolate is the first luxury.  It has so many things wrapped up in it:  Deliciousness in the moment, childhood memories, and that grin-inducing feeling of getting a reward for being good."  -Mariska Hargitay

Primal Three-Cheese Aubergine Parmesan

I randomly bought an eggplant-- sorry, aubergine-- last week. Originally I was going to throw it in a curry, but that didn't pan out... so what the heck was I going to do with an entire aubergine/eggplant? (By the way, I love the fact that they call it aubergine here in the UK-- it sounds much more appetizing than eggplant.  The first time I saw it by this name in the grocery store, I became really confused because I had no idea it wasn't universally called eggplant in English.) Eggplant parmesan is absolutely delicious, but I hadn't had it in a long time due to gluten... but duh, I realized I could just substitute the flour/bread crumbs with coconut or almond flour! So here's my version of a three-cheese aubergine parmesan! (That sounds so much more impressive than eggplant parmesan.)

Ingredients:

For aubergine/eggplant:

-1 large aubergine/eggplant, peeled and sliced thinly

-1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

-1/3 cup coconut (or almond) flour

-1 tsp. basil

-1 tsp. oregano

-1 tsp. black pepper

-1 egg

For sauce:

-2 cans chopped tomatoes

-2 cloves of garlic, minced

-1/2 large onion, chopped

-2 tbsp. basil

-2 tbsp. oregano

-2 tbsp. black pepper

-2 tbsp. olive oil

For fillings/toppings:

-1 cup grated parmesan cheese

-1 cup full-fat ricotta cheese

-100 g full-fat mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF (approx. 190ºC).

2. Beat one egg in a bowl, and add a tablespoon of water to create an egg wash. Combine the flour, basil, oregano, pepper, and parmesan cheese on a large plate (or in another bowl). Dip aubergine in egg, then cover in flour/cheese/herb mixture. Place on a greased baking sheet.

3. Cook for 30 minutes, flipping the eggplant halfway through.

4. To create the tomato sauce, add olive oil to a pan on medium heat, then add onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and spices/herbs and stir well, then let simmer for 10-15 minutes/until sauce thickens.  (I started making the sauce after flipping the eggplant-- the timing worked out perfectly!)

5. Pour some sauce along the bottom of a baking dish (I used a 19cm X 34cm one), then add a layer of eggplant and top with ricotta cheese. Add another layer of sauce, then eggplant, then add mozzarella cheese. Add sauce, then eggplant, then finally top with parmesan cheese.

6. Bake at 400º F (200º C) for 20 minutes. Let cool, and enjoy!

Check this out:
A new book on the ancestral/Paleo/Primal lifestyle is coming out at the end of April!  Instinctive Fitness, by Oliver Selway from paleotraining.co.uk, will be released on April 27, and you should definitely check this out-- if you sign up on the book's site, you can read the first two chapters now!

Quote of the Day:
"I don't believe in low-fat cooking."  -Nigella Lawson