So I definitely believe that Paleo is the healthiest diet there really is. But I will also say that I believe that it’s not the best for cutting weight, IF you are already at a healthy weight. Which I am. But… I need to get a tad bit lighter to be in the appropriate weight class for Jiu Jitsu. So lately I’ve adjusted my diet. I eat MOSTLY paleo but I am supplementing protein, so that I can get higher protein levels with less FAT so I can keep my calories lower and hopefully.. lose weight.

For months I’ve been adjusting and toying with this and it’s TRICKY. Mostly because my job is incredibly sedentary. And I lack willpower often. And also the training I do does not take me nearly as much effort as it used to since I’m in so much better shape now, so that means I’m burning far less calories. 

2 weeks ago I talked to my coach and adjusted my macros. 1500 cal on days I don’t train. And 1900-2100 cal on days I do. Out of that I eat 50% protein. 30% carb. and 20% fat. This is far more protein than I was previously eating and far less fat. About the same in carbs. Which is funny beacause for months all I’ve been doing was adjusting my carbs and nothing else. Which mostly just resulted in a lot of fatigue. Now.. I squeeze 1600 cal in before training and have a few hundred left over for protein and veggies. On a day where I eat 2100 cal… that’s A LOT of protein. And I have to say… I stink. My gas is terrible. And I’m not sure I think that’s a good thing. I’m even debating on bumping my protein down to 40% and upping my fats by 10%… but I’m going to stay on these ratios for another 2 weeks so I can really see what’s happening. So far it seems to be working. Time will tell. If in 3 weeks I’m still at this weight, I know I can expect to come up off 4-5 lbs after my cycle. Which would put me w/in cutting weight of my weight class. I’m so close…. I just have periods where I fall off the diet completely and then I set myself back by a few pounds. And it’s frustrating. My body craves food because I’m at a perfectly healthy level as I am now. 

Anyways… my farts won’t stink forever. I’m doing to do a little research on what exactly it means when you have protein farts and what your body is doing. I know this type of diet is tough on your kidneys, particularly if you don’t eat enough vegetables with it, but I am. I’m saying 90% gluten free but sometimes it’s hard when you are with people who don’t understand and they serve food and you don’t want to be rude! Like… older people. They just don’t get it.

Anyways just a log. I’ll post progress. Also some recipes would be good but I’m never cooking anything DELICIOUS lately. It’s all just… meat and veggies and low fat seasoning. I did mix my greens and whey protein with almond milk and freeze it in ice cube trays to blend and make protein ice cream… that’s exciting. (:  Any input on the flaws in a lower fat higher protein diet would be appreciated! I am still eating grassfed beef everyday so at least I get my tallow!

OSS

Holy Sh*t… what I just ate was better than sex. Literally. I haven’t logged in in quite some time, but this was so good I just had to. My brian feels like mush after that meal.. so i’m not gonna write much. Just pictures. Maybe i’ll come back through later and fill in words. Maybe not. 

This is from the quarter cow I bought last year sometime. I’m down to the last cuts, which are the big ones. So this was roasted for 4 hours after being rubbed with herbs. After 1 hour to crisp the rub, I put in 1/2” of homemade bone stock. I’m such a nut for bone stocks. 

It fell apart and was so juicy. Last night I had it with speghetti squash. Today, I made coconut flour tortillas (pancakes?) and used that shit to sop up all the juices. I threw some spicy peppers on the side for good measure.

I had gone for 10 mi bike ride and only had about 100cal in whey and green and flax beforehand… so crap was I hungry. 

Ahhhh real food! I like playing with combos of solids and liquids. And honestly… coconut flour may be my favorite thing in the world right now. Bone stocks are like magical potions. Tallow and gelatin. I sustain a lot of sprains from jiu jitsu and grappling, so the more bone juice I get, the better. 

I just wish I had time to cook like this every day.. 

Walmart carries this Flax milk that I buy as a standby when I don’t get raw milk. Try it. It’s pretty delicious. The sugar content is kinda iffy but ok..

Tonight I heated some in a pan on the stove and added dark cocoa powder while it was heating. Pretty good. This was probably better than when I made it with raw milk actually.

Apparently I make beef soup a lot… I really don’t, it just would appear that way from this blog. I’m GOING to making a lot of beef everything soon after I get my 1/4 cow.

So I got a recipe from Paleo Hacks for Pumpkin Sausage Soup - but I didn’t have half the stuff to make it, so I substituted. I used raw milk in place of cream, diced fresh pumpkin instead of canned, powdered onion instead of chopped, and I had no mushrooms. Also I had grass fed ground beef instead of sausage so I threw in some fennel and a lot of seasoning.

Homemade bone stock, of course. I seriously injured my knee (jiu jitsu leg submission gone wrong, it happens) last night in class. I think I may be outta training for 2-6 weeks. At two weeks I could probably start boxing again, but who knows. I will try and do conditioning as soon as possible with a good knee brace. My joint is popping and doesn’t support much anymore, plus it’s very painful. So I’m upping my Omega3’s and I’m gonna ingest a lot of bone stock and see how that helps.

Sprouts always go bad so quickly, and I have a bunch of these local radish sprouts so I threw a TON of them in the soup and I have to say.. they reminded me of NOODLES! It was pretty delicious. Not gonna lie.

So I’ve been eating more carbs just to experiment and see how I feel. Just brown rice mostly, I still won’t touch wheat. I avoid potatoes too. A lot of the bobs red mill gluten free stuff is brown rice flour based and  they are pretty delicious. When I do make pancakes with the stuff though I do add flax to it to help bring up the fiber. It’s a little white for my tastes.

I’ve been finding A LOT of gluten free mixes in discount or closeout stores like biglots - so I would say check there before you spend 9 bucks on a bag of pizza dough mix.  I think I paid 4 dollars? Honestly I didn’t look, think I got like 5 things for less than 20 bucks.

So I had this idea because at the local market I’ve been grocery shopping at they had ground chicken for meat and they also had these thai eggplants, which I had never eaten before. They have a very “green” flavor - sort of like an unripe banana? mixed with an eggplant.. but you cook it and then it just tastes like whatever. I got the green curry from biglots also (they will have weird spices and sauces sometimes that can be good, just read the labels) and it has a green chili base with lemongrass and other herbs. So I grabbed up all this, pinched some basil from my plant, and this is what I came up with:

I made the dough extra thin crust because I wanted to get a lot of meat and vegetables on top of those carbs. :D While I baked the crust 7 minutes, I cooked the chicken and mixed it with raw veggies, enough coconut oil to keep it all moist, and added curry paste to taste. Then I piled it all on top (there was some mix leftover which makes for a good meal in and of itself) and baked it another 15 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 package of bob’s red mill gluten free pizza crust
• I package ground chicken (8oz or so?)
• Carrots
• SnowPeas
• Red Bell Pepper
• Thai Eggplant
• Mung bean sprouts
• Fresh Basil
• Small amount of feta cheese
• Sea salt
• Cracked Pepper
• Green Curry Paste
• Coconut Oil  

The package of pizza crust mix makes 2 crusts so I’m coated the other one in olive oil, rosemary, and celtic salt and I’m baking it as a loaf for bruschetta or whatever.

Tender greens are a nutritious canvas for this pungent, garlicky dressing.

I don’t have much to say but a glimpse of my weekend via crappy cell phone snap shots seems appropriate.

This is the venue from the fight I photographed in Charlotte last night. I had a few hours to kill before I was needed to photograph so I brought my computer and managed to work on some graphics for one client and a logo for another while I watched everyone get ready. I have to say the guys working the venue were super nice. I didn’t catch too much static going in and out of places. Carrying a nice camera will get you into just about anywhere it seems.

OMG raw milk. I definitely didn’t consume this, and it definitely wasn’t delicious! I’m never going back to regular milk again!!

And yes… today is bone stock Sunday. I’ll make soup in the next few days. Bone stock and shrimp, I think that constitutes winning.

nom?

So these don’t have sugar. I used Agave. It’s not really that much better for you, it’s still sugar, but at least it’s less refined and because it’s liquid it helps moisten the coconut flour. My theory is pairing the sugar with the fiber in the coconut flour will help reduce the blood sugar spike. Plus I added whey to boost the protein, plus it has a delicious flavor to help cut back on the coconut flour-ness.

This is basically an adapted version of a Coconut Flour Cookie recipe I pulled off Jamie Oliver’s website. I sacrifice flavor for health and still can enjoy it because I don’t constantly consume a crap ton of garbage food. That’s the nice thing about being disciplined and eating healthy, simple cheats can go a long way and something like an Oreo will start to taste like overkill (disgusting anyways… I crave cheesecake tho).

Also, because I only cook for myself I decided to quarter the recipe and what I made created 7 cookies in the end, which is perfect for me.

• 1/4 c. coconut flour
• 1/8 c. butter
• pinch of salt
• splash of vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. agave
• 1 scoop whey protein
• handful of chocolate chips (i’m not a total prude)
• small pinch of slivered almonds

My main goal with my food is to keep it Low GI and high protein. I think this does it. Problem is, I still want to eat a ton of it, hence the tiny batch.

When I softened my butter, I accidentally melted it to death so when I threw it in, the chocolate chips melted, which I’d consider a happy accident because then the cookie dough ended up chocolate throughout with only bits of chips here and there. Works for me. I just added a bit more flour to dry up the dough. Don’t add too much more flour though because it’ll totally dry it out.

With the almonds and chocolate, these are pretty amazing. Just the right amount of sweetness (not much at all!) They’re like freakin mini high protein/high fiber chocolate scones.

I wish I could give you a nutrition facts break down, but I really just don’t have the time. (;

Oss!

becomingsuperhuman:

If you are new to the wonderful world of chocolate avocado mousse, prepare to be blown away! It may sound crazy to you now, but someday in the near future you are going to give it a shot, and it will change the way you look at dessert forever! (Feel free to thank me later)

I got the…