How much could a cookie have changed?

While I ran some errands this afternoon and The Hubbs watched the kiddos, he made some cookies for the family.  These are cookies that have been sitting for 3 months on the shelf waiting to be made.  They are SO sweet that I didn't want to eat them all, so that's why I hadn't made them.  Yet, about once every other week The Hubbs would ask me to. 

He saved me 1 because he knows my problem with sweets...I will eat them all.  I was thankful to have 1 cookie to eat after dinner, a nice treat.  I bit into one and it seemed off-tasting.  I couldn't peg it, and I certainly didn't want say anything to him.  I then walked by it again and took another bite and The Hubbs comes up next to me and says "They are really sweet, huh?".  That is what the off-taste was.  It was so over the top sweet compared to what we have been eating.  I jumped for joy inside!  We were finally rounding a corner I so desperatly wanted for all of us.  We have cut nearly all desserts and treats from our diet.  We're certainly eating more fruit and it shows.  I still make sweet things, but they're good for us, not just sugar and flour.

I'm so happy that our Primal 1-week challenge has had lasting effects :)

Primal week is over...a wrap-up

So, let me get this off my chest right now.  I had a little honey and chocolate today, and a homemade donut hole from my mom.  I made this recipe for The Hubbs because he was being crabby; he's been complaining about this since Monday, even though he agreed to it.  I was planning to make it tomorrow, but I'm unpredictable like that, haha.  He didn't like it, so I tasted it and really liked it.  Like the recipe says, it's not a sugar candy cake.  Within 15 minutes of eating it I felt like dog doo, my energy was zapped and I just felt blah.  So, that's what 7 days with out will do!

Overall I'm thrilled with the results of this experiment and I may have changed my some people's minds about all the sugar we consume with out really knowing it.  When we went to my parent's house today (where I ate aforementioned donut hole) my mom had gotten The Primal Blueprint from the library!  We talked about the meals I made and how she could maybe modify what they're eating.  I'm now making a much more concise meal plan to include only 1x a day where we eat flour and sugar (like a piece of toast for breakfast to go with our eggs, or a sandwich with lots of meat, etc).  Protein is my golden key to staying level, no more roller coaster sugar spikes for me, thanks.

While The Hubbs really did complain a lot all week, I know it opened his eyes.  His mom was just recently diagnosed as borderline Type 2 Diabetic.  She is a wonderful woman and we all would hate to lose her.  She has since lost 20lbs by curbing her carbs and eating healthy protein.  The Hubbs has been quizzing her each time we see her about what she can and can't eat.  He's soaking it up from her, which I'm happy about.

The cherry on top of this week is my weight loss, I lost 5lbs!  I hope to continue this weight loss, especially as we're entering Spring and I can get out more.  I want to thank all of you for following me along this week and for all of our comments and encouragement, it has meant a lot :)

What are you final thoughts about a Primal Diet?  Are you interested in trying it?  If you're a seasoned Primalist (I like to make up words) what words of advice can you share?

Recipe: Salty soaked raisins

Salty soaked raisins

1 cup organic raisins
1/4 cup of organic salted butter

Melt the butter in a pan over medium-low heat.  Add the raisins and stir occasionally, they'll turn amber in color.  Once 90% of them have puffed up a little, you're ready to eat.  BEWARE: The Hubbs and I may have been fighting over them, they're so good!

Linked to Far Above Rubies: Domestically Divine Homemaking Link-up

Linked to Fight Back Friday @

I love me some Sally Fallon!

http://blip.tv/file/4770667

She's not talking about primal, but it's certainly pretty close.  She's also written quite a few books, my favorite being Nourishing Traditions, again not primal, but so informative.

I love the part where she talks about "Soda in drag" aka flavored milk, hehe!

Thoughts?

Primal carb graph

One more post today that I couldn't leave out.  I just found this on MDA's site...which I love more and more.  As you can see, the graph above breaks down the amount of carbs, into weight loss or weight gain.  It's no wonder I've never been able to get this weight off.  I was easily consuming at least 300 grams per day when I was eating healthy.  Whole grain bread, natural ketchup and organic jam are just a few of the foods that come to mind.  I haven't eaten any of those foods for 3 days and my carbs for today are 139.  I log what I eat over at MyPlate which is great for figuring out how much fat, carbs and protein I'm eating.  I'm 16 points above the Weight Loss Sweet Spot, but I'm so happy to have found this graph.  It's giving me something to strive for, something to visualize.

I'd love to know how many carbs you've eaten today and I'm going to log my food again tomorrow and see what the difference is :)

Primal food blogs I like

While researching a primal diet I've come upon a few blogs I really like

BLOGS:
Food for primal thought
Grain-Free Belle
Living Primal
Pretty in Primal
Primal Journey
Primal Kitchen: A Family Grokumentary
The Food Lovers' Primal Palate

It's now Tuesday afternoon, the kids are down for nap and lunch has be eaten.  I'm not experiencing any flu-like symptoms and I think that's due to my preparation last week.  Last night we didn't indulge in any candy or chocolate either :)  I'm finding that as long as I eat meat at lunch, those pesky 2:30pm sugar cravings are all but gone.  However, after I'm done blogging, I'll be having a few dried prunes, yum!

I hope these links are helpful to you if you're interested in learning more about a primal diet.  Can you recommend any blogs or sites that you like?

Tomorrow I'll be posting our menu for this week :)

We're going flour and sugar free

I'm anxious for Monday to get here.  Wait, that sounds bad.  I'm nervous and excited for Monday because our little family of 4 will be embarking on a no flour, no sugar diet for 7 days.  Also known as a primal diet, it is free from flour and little to no sugar.  We're a mix between a traditional foods diet and primal, currently. 

I got turned on to going primal by a new friend, who has been doing TF for about 5 years.  She said she still loves to bake and does so with gluten-free flours and raw honey and other healthy, nutritious ingredients.

Essentially, eating primal is like Atkins, only better for your health, the animals and the environment.  The animals that we eat should be fed what God intended for them to eat.  Cows don't eat grains, pigs don't eat poo, and chickens don't eat feed made from chickens.  Sadly, this is what our conventional food system is like today.  Try to find grass-fed beef, pastured pigs or free-range chickens in the store, it's virtually impossible.  Unless, of course you visit a small health food store with a good butcher.  We however, can't afford to pay $6/lb for grass-fed beef at the health food store; we bought our last beef from my aunt.  It's the most wonderful beef I've ever eaten.  We're almost out and will be now purchasing from a friend of my dad's and this time we're getting a 1/4 of a beef.

I could go on and on about this diet, but seeing as this week I've already lost 3lbs by dramatically limiting my sugar and gluten (in preparation for Monday), I can tell you that I feel better and hope to keep losing :)  The point of this 7 day "detox" is to see how much better we feel on Sunday.  My hubby has never slept well and I've read numerous times that going primal has solved many sleep issues.  We're also moody when we eat crap...like many of you out there, right???  I'll be sure to keep you up to date and later this week I'll be posting a whole bunch of links to my favorite primal websites and blogs.

Does anyone else follow a primal or traditional foods diet?