Author Gone Paleo!
Todays' post is about food, which may surprise you. But what we put into our bodies is really a part of living and should be one of the ways we seek to please God. So, "Author Gone Paleo" is about some beneficial changes I've made recently in my eating habits that I wanted to share with you.
What is Paleo? It's an eating style--more, a lifestyle--which tries to universally reject modern food tinkering such as GMO's (genetically modified food), over-processing, pesticides, growth hormone-injected meat, etc. It's nothing new in essence, but there are new scientific findings that support this type of eating with one major new factor. Unlike the organic-food eaters of the past, the Paleo diet does away with modern grains. Yes, that means no whole-grain flours, organic wheat flour, etc. But make no mistake: this is NOT your typical low-carb regiment. With newer research showing that coconut flour (and oil) are actually good for you, that eating nuts and seeds are powerhouse nutrient sources and that these, too, are GOOD for you, the Paleo diet becomes rich in its own goodies. Almond flour is now a staple in my pantry. Squashes of all types, sweet potatoes, and fruit are important elements of eating this way, too.
For an in-depth look at what it's all about, visit The Wellness Mama . This Christian lady not only gives the first excellent argument I've ever read explaining why grains are bad for our health, reconciling it wholly with Jesus's calling himself "the bread of life," she also gives scrumptious recipes, tips and ideas that are really helpful. (Read her blog post called, "How Grains are Slowly Killing You." This one post did more to transform my thinking and get me eating better than anything else I've ever read.)
I explained my eating transformation to my friends like this: It's like when Neo (in the Matrix movies) suddenly sees the bad guys as nothing more than CODE--he realizes that they're not real beings, they're computerized code that he is seeing as real. AT that point, he becomes invincible and easily does away with the baddies. Well, reading that article on how grains are slowly killing us made that leap for me: instead of seeing a yummy bagel or doughnut, I suddenly saw POISON.Let me tell you, I love good good food and I come from a family where food is the center of our celebrations, but it was absolutely no stretch, no effort, for me to start eating differently after digesting these food-facts.
Does it work? Well, I lost twelve pounds in the first two months without even trying. I was eating a great deal of fruit and nuts. If you TRY to lose weight on this eating style, you can easily do so by eliminating most fruit, and by eating less nuts and seeds. I wasn't trying, so I ate what I wanted--and lost weight, anyway.
I'm not trying to explain the whole lifestyle here, but I did want to share my Paleo "Cereal" that I ate this morning. It's filling, and chock full of
protein, antioxidants, fiber, micronutrients, and healthy fats. (Not to mention, yummy!)
Linore's Paleo "Cereal"
In a nutshell (pun intended), this is basically a kind of trail mix that I added coconut milk to, and ate as a cereal. The best trail mixes are homemade as you can customize them to what you like best, but this is my current version. Feel free to customize your own as you like. Dried fruits like pineapple or apricots (use moderately), other seeds, nuts, and even spices like turmeric or cinnamon can be added.
Get a one or two quart container with an air-tight lid to store this in. Refrigeration is not necessary. (Ironically, I'm using a cleaned-out container that once held chocolate chip cookie dough--poison, lol!)
Three cups walnuts, chopped or not
Three cups pecans, chopped if preferred, but not fine.
One cup dried cranberries
Two cups pistachio nutmeats
One-two cups sliced almonds
Half cup pine nuts
One cup sunflower KERNELS
1/2 to one cup DARK or bittersweet chocolate chips (optional)
coconut flakes (optional)
I put in the chocolate only because it's Christmas week. But it's perfectly fine to eat a small amount of DARK chocolate every day.
IMPORTANT:
Don't eat scads of this stuff on a daily basis. It's nutrient-dense, so a little goes a long way.
I take a 4-6 ounce mug, fill it about 1/2 to 2/3 full of mix, and then add coconut milk. I wouldn't have this every day for breakfast, but it's a great energy-boosting filler and good for you, to boot.
NOTE: You must understand that if you're going to keep eating all the unhealthy white bread and grains in your diet, then adding paleo foods like trail-mix won't do you many favors.
In fact, you'll gain weight.
The key to using these foods to benefit your body is to remove the grains from your
diet, first. Don't try to do it all at once, but keep removing sugar or white flour
(or any flour) on a weekly basis.
Better health=better productivity in all areas of your life! This past Thanksgiving I made a totally Paleo feast (including grain-free stuffing), and two days later when I weighed myself, I had actually lost two pounds since the previous week. LOST weight, after THANKSGIVING! And I ate until I was more than full.
Resources: Wellness Mama 101--The Basics
Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso and Robb Wolf
Paleo Spirit
Mark's Daily Apple: Primal Living in the Modern World(Ignore the evolution idiocy--for a guy who researches everything about the food he eats, why doesn't he do the same for so-called "facts" of evolution, carbon dating, the fossil record, etc? Even scientists who aren't ready to call themselves Christians conclude that evolution is a religion, a chosen belief-system, based on interpretation of facts that skew the evidence (which overwhelmingly supports a higher-intelligence Creator). After all, evolution is a THEORY. Funny how everyone leaves that word out when referring to this widespread heart-held belief system. Since even museums uphold this theory with religious fervor, people think it must be true.)
Resources:
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (DVD)
Answers In Genesis/Creation Scientists
The Riddle of Origins Series
Warmest blessings,
Linore
Linore Rose Burkard.com
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