The Staff of Life

Recently I got into a debate with a close friend, who is concerned for my health, over my Primal Blueprint lifestyle. We talked about how in the scriptures, grain is ordained as the staff of life for man, and meat should be eaten sparingly. Honestly, this upset me, as I felt like I had been disobedient to the Lord somehow. I argued that eating the foods the Lord provided here on Earth was the way to go. That he put both flora and fauna on the planet to nourish and strengthen us. And what about those people with autoimmune disorders who can't have grains like those with Celiac's? She said "Yeah, but you're not one of those".
So later I talked it over with both my husband & my brother in law. I do have a metabolic condition (diabetes) that makes life without grains a healthier choice. Additionally, the grains that Joseph Smith ate when the Word of Wisdom was written are not the same as they are today. If people wanted processed grain, they went out to the field, harvested it, brought it home, and smashed it up by themselves. These days it's done for us, run through a machine, combined with a bunch of CRAP, and then force fed to us. There's a clear difference there.
I think it is more important to live healthy so we can be happy, because the Lord knows if we're happy, we'll be more focused on His plan and returning home to Him. "Ordained for man" does not mean you're required to do something. Ordained means it's there if you need it. It's APPROVED. A covenant, on the other hand, is a promise one makes between themselves and the Lord. I don't remember ever making a covenant with the Lord to eat grain and avoid the creatures he provided for my sustenance. I do, however, remember making covenants to harken to the counsel of my husband, dedicate my time and talents to the service of others, and take care of my body and its needs so that it can be a worthy temple to house the Holy Spirit.

Meat and fat is delicious, my friends, embrace it! The Lord's design on all creations is without flaw and unquestionable. He provided animals, fruits, vegetables, and so on, for our sustenance. Why, then, would he put fat and meat on animal if it were not to be exploited to our benefit? I know he put grains on earth, too... but he also put weeds down here to quelch out the living. I think of grain as a weed. If it makes me weak and wither, surely I should avoid it. I feel stronger and healthier without it. I wish everyone would view grain as a weed, to try Paleo & Primal and just see how they FEEL. Grain would not be the king of foods so much anymore. It would no longer be the staff of life, but more the serpent that slithers up and around it, choking out what would be a total healing of mankind.

Rising Blood Sugar

So since I started eating meat only, I've noticed my fasting blood sugar steadily rising every morning. I asked some Primal/Paleo cohorts about it, and it was suggested that my body is converting the protein I'm exclusively eating right now into glucose. How interesting.
Dear body, why can't you convert my belly fat into glucose the way I want you to? I'd really like that.

Day 6 of Whole 30, still going strong. Suddenly concerned about going out to dinner w/hubby on Friday. Was excited for it several days ago, but now not so sure. What if there is stuff in my food that's not Whole 30 approved? Going to see Jane Eyre afterwards.

I've Won

I confess to breaking the Whole 30 no baking rule (you knew it was going to happen), BUT! I will have you know I did not having a single bite, lick, or taste during the entire creation process. Hubby was my guinea pig. Every two seconds I had him licking the spoon, telling me what it needed. He asked me why I was making something I couldn't have. Because it makes me happy & I wanted to do something nice for him & the 2yo.

ANYWAY. I just wanted to try out a nutella knock off cookie, but the nutella I was making got too soupy, so I ended up taking the cake batter route. Here's what happened:

ground up some organic raw hazelnuts
added maybe 1/4 cup coconut oil (probably added too much)
added 4 tsp dutch process cocoa powder
added 1 tsp carob powder
added liquid stevia vanilla cream
added 4 eggs
added 1 cup stevia in the raw
poured into large bowl & stirred well
added ghiradelli semi sweet chocolate chips (was tempted to add macadamia nuts as well)
turned out batter into greased baking dish
put in oven, 350 degrees. 15 mins or until knife comes out clean. Cut immediately, then allow to cool.

So I know I broke a Whole 30 rule, but I feel like I still have some integrity. It took SERIOUS will power & focus not to lick my fingers or anything. In my mind, I've already won Whole 30!
10 more days of meat only? No problem, I got this!

P.S. I made up the entire recipe pretty much myself. Hubby says they're almost like the real thing! The 2yo loves them.

YESTERDAY'S PRIMAL EATS:
Breakfast: IF
Lunch: 1 lb ground beef
Afternoon snack: Ham shank (I was cooking a ham shank so I could have ham steak breakfast today)
Dinner: Swordfish steak with black pepper, sea salt, ghee, and parsley mashed together with some lemon rind. Way tasty! Made hubby some broccoli in bacon fat with a twist of lemon & pepper. He really liked it

TODAY'S PRIMAL EATS:
Breakfast: 1 lb Ham steak & 2 poached eggs
Lunch: preparing a rack of spare ribs for tomorrow's lunch, lol
Dinner: Chicken breast (hubby is having bacon wrapped chicken breast, but bacon is off my diet this month b/c of the added sugar in it)

Dear God

Dear God,

Hi, it's me. Could you kindly make all of my loved ones & I immortal, plz? K, thx! Oh and it would be great if the Greek yogurt didn't scream my name every time I opened the fridge, and the same for the bathroom scale whenever I go pee.

Amen

"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next."

How Many Days?

What do you mean we're only 3 days into April? Are you sure it's not the 15th yet? I already feel like 3 days should be 6 days. Forgive my wimpy whineyness. Counting the days until I can eat vegetables again. Hubby accidentally burned my dinner last night. We were having spareribs. His were spared, probably thanks to bbq sauce, but I just wanted mine dry. I ate what meat I could salvage. Counting the days until I can eat bacon wrapped in lettuce with tomatoes and mustard. 27 days. Counting the days until I can have chocolate again. 27. Counting the days until I can have a sip of super nog and custard. 27. Days until I can have veggies again: 12.

What Grace ate today:
Breakfast: 1 banana, 1 container strawberry chobani, 3 pieces bacon
Lunch: Leftover spare ribs with veggies & hot chocolate, made with almond milk, coconut oil, and cocoa powder
Dinner: tri tip steak and veggies

My primal eats:
Breakfast: IF
Lunch: 4 eggs, scrambled over bacon grease, served with some ghee
Dinner: Tri tip steak

Gutting Myself

Today I took 8 black trash bags full of ill-fitting clothes to Plato's Closet. I walked out with $2 (they bought a pair of shorts), and gave the rest to the D.I. (goodwill). So now not only have I gutted the closet, but myself as well, lol (buh-bye, 80-lbs-ago gut!)

Then we went to the park for some Vitamin D osmosis, and Walmart to get me a new phone cuz I fried my other one, thanks to an unfortunate swim in the toilet.

Day 2 of Whole 30 going well... although fruit is looking more and more like a gateway drug.

TODAY'S PRIMAL EATS:
Breakfast: Big ol' bowl of IF
Lunch: 1 lb wild caught shrimp cooked in bacon grease and served over 2 poached eggs
Dinner: 1 mighty rack of St. Louis Spare Ribs

The Joke's On You!

Happy April Fools! Yesterday we bought a 2011 Kia Soul with 7 miles on it. Believe what you want. We've named him Radd after the Silver Surfer, cuz he's silver.
Today begins my Whole 30 journey. I haven't eaten since 2-ish yesterday. Trying to hold out a few more hours so I can just do lunch & dinner today. Need to go to Walmart to get scallops for dinner. Mmm-mmm, bacon wrapped scallops! I just realized this morning that there's sugar in my uncured bacon. Hmmm. I'd be breaking the no added sugar rule in W30 if I had it. *Sigh*.
Beautiful day here today and yesterday. Grace is watching Rainbow Brite & The Star Stealer for the umpteenth time on Netflix. Will go get our vitamin d fix afterwards.
Can't wait for the insurance to kick in so I can drive me brand spanking new car!

Goals for April:
Take my kid to the park on days with acceptable weather, thus getting plenty of Vitamin D
Work on fleshing out The Subtle Beauty (my NaNoWriMo from last year)
Date my husband

What I'm giving up for the month of Whole 30:
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Bell Peppers
Chocolate (This is going to be tough. I sell chocolate. It's in the house daily.)
Nuts
Chewing gum (you don't realize what a life saver this candy is until you try avoiding the worst possible thing you could crave)
Bacon
Paleo-fied goodies like coconut milk custard and super nog
Fruit
All dairy (*Pines for full fat Fage*)

Will have to modify W30 a little. It says no processed foods, but we can't afford organic/grass fed critter, so we'll have to eat whatever meat we can find.

TODAY'S PRIMAL EATS:
Breakfast: Big fat bowl of IF
Lunch: Leftover ground chicken sausage from when we had stuffed peppers
Dinner: Scallops cooked in bacon grease (hubby & kid are having bacon wrapped scallops with veggies)