W30D8

I'm sure I mentioned this the other day, but I've been listening to some of the interviews available through PaleoCon for the past week. I definitely recommend heading over there now to check out the interview with George Bryant of Civilized Caveman before the interview gets removed from the website. Go now! It's a really personal interview that covers some of George's struggles to turn his life around and be happy and healthy.

While I haven't had the same struggles as George, I've been thinking lately that I have an unhealthy relationship with food. I think about it A LOT, whether it's planning my next meal, or feeling bored or upset and wanting to eat something to break up the monotony. I'm also pretty terrible at moderation. One of my "healthier" weaknesses is dried mango. I used to dislike the taste of mango, but I learned that I am kind of obsessed with unsulphured, unsweetened dried mango. And though a serving size is maybe a couple slices, I can down an entire bag in one sitting, which is something like 4.5 servings. While I'm devouring the mango, I mentally tell myself Okay, this is your last piece. You really are full. You don't need another piece. So I stop, for like 15 seconds, and then I'm reaching in the bag again to grab more mango. Before I know it, the entire bag is gone and I'm left feeling slightly over-full, but also craving more. Hello, sweet tooth! It's a bit ridiculous how little self-control I have sometimes. I'm the same way with chocolate and gluten-free crackers. I can't have "just one."

I feel like I'm programmed for all or nothing. I'm good at restrictions or going hard-core into a sport. But if I let myself slip once and tell myself It's alright, you'll get back on track tomorrow, I start slipping all of the time. I had one piece of chocolate yesterday, so one more today won't hurt. I didn't actually have any chocolate yesterday in case you were wondering. This overeating trend also ties into the fact that sugars and grains are addicting. In one of the PaleoCon presentations today, the interviewee mentioned that sugar is more addicting than cocaine. WHAT?!?! And sugar is in so many things that you wouldn't expect, like bacon. There were at least five people that I talked to this weekend alone who were shocked to hear that there's added sugar in most bacon. Yep. Sorry folks. If I'm buying bacon at the store, I spend at least five minutes reading the labels of all of the brands and end up settling for whichever option is the most organic and is nitrate-free. It's tough. And I think most people in the Paleo world end up buying their meats online, such as U.S. Wellness Meat.

Chocolate Chili

1 lb grass-fed ground beef

1 onion, diced

3 cup bone broth

1 1/2 cup tomato sauce

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 Tbls cumin

1/2 Tbls chili powder

1 oz. unsweetened chocolate (pure chocolate is kind of OK by Whole 30 standards if used as a spice, not a sweet)

1 Tbls apple cider vinegar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1. Heat 2 cups bone broth and ground beef over medium-high heat in a large stock pot. Cook for 30 minutes or until little liquid remains.

2. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, stir, and cook covered for 2 hours.

3. Remove lid and cook for another 30-45 minutes or until desired thickness is achieved.

4. Serve with green onion or avocado.

W30D7

What a disappointing Superbowl game! Normally, you'd expect the game to be much more evenly matched, right? Oh well. If you're a fan of my facebook page, you'll know that I attended a superbowl watching celebration where there were significant amounts of chips, breaded snacks, and desserts. One of my friends brought some gluten-free sugar cookies that were calling my name, but I restrained myself. I ate some leftover organic hamburger and then kept myself snacking on celery and carrots with guacamole or salsa. I'm a snacker when I'm bored, so it's always best for me to have pre-chopped veggies around for me to grab instead of chocolate or nuts. While this upcoming recipe isn't a good finger food sort of snack, it's still a good vegetable side dish that's super easy to put together.

Baked Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus

2 Tbls extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

2. After rinsing the asparagus and cutting off the bottom inch of stem, put the asparagus into a gallon-sized plastic bag.

3. Add in the olive oil, seal the bag, and shake until the asparagus is evenly coated. Then sprinkle in the salt and pepper. Shake again.

4. Spread over baking sheets and bake in the oven for 17-20 minutes. Serve with hollandaise sauce or by itself.

W30D6

I don't know what it is about weekends that make me feel so darn lazy. I still worked out, cleaned, cooked, and did laundry. But I did spend 30 minutes of the day just relaxing on my un-made bed. It seems as though the dryer at my house decided to stop working after I started washing my bedding. So it's taking me hours with a combination of hanging the sheets and running the dryer on timed dry to get my sheets close to being somewhat dry. Fun, huh?

My friend Jay (of Health Nuts Anonymous - go check it out!) is doing this Whole 30 with me. It's not quite the same as having a support system with you, but it's the next best thing. It keeps me a bit more accountable than if I were just doing this alone. During our brief conversation today, we talked about our communal love of chocolate and our associated sadness in not eating chocolate for the next three weeks. Can there be a version of Whole 30 that requires the consumption of a limited amount of dark chocolate every day? Please? I think that's the thing that I've been wanting the most over this past week. Especially because it's so easy to snack on. Anyways, we also discussed fish, in particular sardines. Jay has found some excellent sardines that come in olive oil with sea salt, and because the sardines have been roasted, you can eat the spine. Um, not exactly my cup of tea, but props to him for choking that down. I'll allow that it may be good for you, but I think I'm going to need to work on Paleo for at least another couple years before I make it to eating sardine spine... if I ever get there. Don't count on it.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that even if your support system doesn't physically see you, it's still helpful having someone else do Paleo/Whole 30/21DSD with you. Sign up for newsletters, join online forums, or even just comment on blogs. Give it a go!

Paleo Hollandaise Sauce

2 egg yolks, room temperature

1 Tbls lemon juice

1/2 cup melted ghee, this should be warm, not hot

pinch of salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

1. Blend the egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and cayenne pepper on low for 30 seconds. Keep the blender running...
2. SLOWLY add the ghee drop by drop to the blender. If you add the ghee too quickly, the emulsion will fall apart and then you'll just have a yellow mess. No bueno. After the emulsion has formed, you can speed up a little bit to a trickle, then to a steady, but slow, stream. Continue until all of the ghee has been incorporated.

Poached Egg with Hollandaise