December 11, 2010

Week One of Paleo

I went to Friday night no-gi tonight and had a pretty decent class.  I rolled with Mark, who is the usual combo of bigger, stronger, blah blah blah.   I passed his guard twice, got the mount once and went for a triangle a couple of times, but unfortunately did not execute my technique correctly and wound up in a position of DISadvantage.  Then he tapped me out.  Coupla times.  grrrrr

I'm mad about getting tapped out, but the silver lining was that I got tapped whilst seeking out my own submission, and I was working on a new submission; going from turtle to a triangle.  I just re-read this last statement and I realize I sound like Pollyanna or Mary Poppins, all tweeky optimistic.  But for heavens sakes, I don't want to be sucked into a din of misery every time I lose a fight.   I am embracing the process, letting go, taking risks, taking risks, taking risks.   I'm finally starting to get submissions, just, not, tonight.

In related news, today marks my first week of the Paleo Diet.  I won't bore everyone with every single meal I ate this week, but here is a brief overview of my meals:

Breakfast consist mostly of smoothies.  Two bananas, almond milk, and one small scoop of egg protein powder.  Today I substituted strawberries for one banana.  Two days ago I mixed it up and scrambled two eggs with spinach.  

Lunch has the most variety.  The other day we had lunch at a place called Mongolian Hot Pot, which serves "Shabu Shabu."  This is a cauldron of delicious simmering broth, served with your choice of vegetables and thinly sliced meat.  Very Paleo, save for the sodium in the broth.  I had my husband's crock pot vegetable concoctions a few times, and today I had his crock pot chili.  The chili recipe came from the Food Renegade, which has a ton of excellent healthy recipes that are fairly simple to make.

Dinner has been anything from a heap of vegetables baked in the oven, to tuna salad with sauteed spinach, tomatoes, red onion and bell pepper.  Oh! Speaking of tuna salad, I made mayonnaise this week.  I mixed three eggs, about 3/4 cup (or so) of olive oil, and a dash of cornstarch, with my hand mixer.  I used a glass french press container, as it was tall and narrow enough for the hand mixer.  I cheated a little with the cornstarch, but it was tasty!  I don't recommend this if you are squeamish about raw egg, but if you are someone that can eat mayo out of the jar (like, um, me), then home made mayonnaise is simple and flavorful condiment choice.

Snacks have been mostly 1/4 cup of almonds and sunflower seeds, raisins, or dried apples.

The first two workouts after I started Paleo were fairly rough going.  I felt more fatigued and out of breath than usual, but I kind of expected a breaking in period.  Tonight, despite getting whooped, I felt back on the energy track.  My movement was fluid and flowing again.  I feel good.  I definitely do not feel deprived or starved.  The abundance of vegetables is satisfying and delicious.  So far so good.

Train well,

Dag  



    




















3 comments:

  1. Like to here that the Eating lifestyle is going well. (Don't like to use the word Diet sound to negetive) keep up the good work and pip pip and cheery ho and all that. (Don't no why I was trying ot a British accent while typing in a blog.)
    ;-/

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  2. Dude [I know, I know, so Bill and Ted, but that's how it sounded in my head], why, why, why didn't it occur to me to make my own mayo...thx.

    I treated myself to a Calphalon grill (sort of overgrown George Foreman) in support of moving toward Paleo since I just finished reading "The Paleo Diet" and "The Paleo Solution" and am so drinking the kool-aid.
    So, rock on, I'm right behind you. I received my 5 lb bag of Almond Flour yesterday...

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  3. Lynn- No problem! Yeah, I had my own "duh!" moment the day I made it. It took me all of 3 minutes to throw some eggs and oil in a glass container and beat them with a hand mixer. I did not add any spices to mine, but there are several recipes out there with ideas for different spices.

    I have to say, I am really loving this eating style. I am eating a ton of vegetables. I love that Paleo is not all about being obssesive about every little ounce of fat. I can include a delicious avocado in a meal, I can snack on nuts, and I can drizzle olive oil on my vegetable concoctions.

    Husband and I are going to attempt eggplant lasagna with almond flour this weekend, let you know how it turns out!

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