Ramblings of a madman...

[lex_rooker]

The pemmican I supplied was made exactly as shown in my Pemmican Manual.  The fat was rendered at 240F and the meat was dehydrated at 105F.  I prefer a more traditional pemmican so I grind the meat to a mulch consistency rather than turn it to dust in a blender.  Grinding also allows me to make large amounts in a reasonable time.  When I make pemmican I make between 75 and 100 lbs.  Processing 40 to 50 lbs of dry meat in a VitaMix would take forever.

Lex

[William]

  I prefer a more traditional pemmican so I grind the meat to a mulch consistency rather than turn it to dust in a blender.

Maybe not so traditional, after the post on ZIOH where she used two rocks - she wrote that it was mostly dust, and it was quick and easy.
The reason why I powder jerky in a TASIN 108 grinder is that it makes it super absorbent, and I can then put much tallow in without losing the good jerky flavour. The texture is sort of like shortbread.
(Holes in grinder plate measure 0.175")

  Grinding also allows me to make large amounts in a reasonable time.  When I make pemmican I make between 75 and 100 lbs.  Processing 40 to 50 lbs of dry meat in a VitaMix would take forever.

Wow! That reads like high tech organizing skills in use/time and motion study done/real engineering. Would you be willing to describe how to do it for the benefit of us bumblers?

[djr_81]

Time for another update:
Mostly the same old same old.

I had been very lax in exercise since November or December when I had tried to get back into running. It's just too cold out here in the winter for me to go running right now. I might be able to do it next year but not this year.
I broke down and picked up a stationary exercise bike for $100. I figured any exercise is better than none. Definitely a great investment. I've been doing a 15 minute aerobic ride every morning as soon as I get up and it's made a world of difference in energy levels. I'd had manageable, but lower than the summer/fall, energy levels this winter which made it a bit harder to focus at work. The simple act of 15 minutes of daily aerobic exercise has probably doubled my energy. I've also been feeling more rested upon waking which is always welcome. The only "negative" is I've been eating more food as a result; probably 2 1/2-3 pounds of total meat & fat per day.
Contrary to others findings though I did notice that my stamina had decreased from where it was when I left off in the fall. I don't know if I was eating too little calories but my body was definitely conservative about retention of muscles. They're coming back quickly and easily though which is all that matters.
I'm going to be increasing my exercise load now as I get more aerobically efficient. I plan on keeping the 15 minute warm-up in the mornings. I'll also be adding a 15 minute spin on most nights after I get home from work. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday I'll be doing a longer 1-hour ride with intervals of higher resistance, so I can build muscle, and longer stretches of medium resistance, so I build endurance. When it warms up I'll definitely get back to doing some running but I really do prefer cycling to running anyways so I'll be content with this set-up. Definitely looking forward to doing everything outside though.

[djr_81]

I tried some raw smelt tonight and it didn't give me any negative reactions.
Unfortunately after I'd been snacking on the fish for ~10 minutes I found my first worm (about an inch long). After reading up on them it seems they're not a problem for humans but it did ruin my appetite when I found it(and worried my wife). I'm game to give the smelt another shot when I go to the store next but I'll be fileting the fish to make sure I take out the worms.
I loved the sweet & mild taste of the flesh. Very different from the beef but almost as delicious. The crunch of the bones was fun too.

[djr_81]

Oh, and I may have found a higher quality local farmer's market with some quality foods. They're open Saturdays so I'm hoping to get out there tomorrow but might have to wait until next weekend on account of the forecast of snow overnight.
http://gossettsfarmmarket.wordpress.com/about/
High quality grassfed beef (and apparently chicken-will have to ask about that) but it's high priced.
They've also got local wild seafood and the eggs from the pastured chickens.

[djr_81]

I'm going to grow a small Calamansi tree.

We went up to my wife's father house today. While we were there I commented on the small tree that his wife (my step mother-in-law) had in her sun room. We'd been given fruit from it in the past which was delicious and I'd thought it was Kumquat. Well, apparently it's a Calamansi tree which she planted from fruit she had sent at some point in the past (she's from the Philippines). I took three ripe fruits and will cut them up, separate & dry the seeds, and plant them this spring. I've debated eating the fruit but I'm probably going to skip it for now.
I'm not sure my plans for the fruit yet. I enjoy growing things so it'll be nice to grow a small tree. I might try the fruit in a year or two. I might just enjoy the refreshing scent and give the fresh fruit to family. I'll figure that out in time.

[djr_81]

Well, that's a clincher.
I made a bunch of grassfed liver jerky this past week as they gave me a ton of fresh jerky with my primal chuck and I wasn't going to freeze all of that. I cut it all up and dried 4 solid trays in my dehydrator. I spent the weekend munching on it here and there and all told probably ate close to a third of a pound of dried liver. Yesterday I was WAY out of it and actually took a sick day as a result. Today I've had headaches here and there along with some brainfog (worsened in heat), slight muscle fatigue & pain, and just a general malaise.
I might be off base with this but I'm betting that after 6 months of no food the Candida that was still kicking around in me had a field day with the sudden influx of carbs. This is a lot like how I used to feel after eating something carby just on a lower scale.
This definitely ups my resolve even further. It also makes me think that personally carbs of any form are a long, long, long way off if ever again.
Liver in moderation though should be ok. Just nowhere near what I just ate.

[djr_81]

I've tried expanding my horizons a bit this past week with some more seafood.
I purchased a couple beautiful fresh wild swordfish steaks, a couple previously frozen wild ahi tuna filets, and a half pound of fresh large sea scallops.
The swordfish was fantastic. A beautiful mouth feel (nice and fatty) with a great texture & taste. I did notice I had a slightly harder time breathing while eating it but did not get a runny/stuffed nose or apparent stomach distress. I ate about a pound and while it didn't satiate quite as thoroughly as a fattier land animal I was content when finished. I will definitely try to get a meal of swordfish in once every couple of weeks.
I couldn't stand the Ahi Tuna. There's something in the flavor of these steaks which reminds me of a skunk. I got the same olfactory scent while eating it as I do after a skunk has sprayed. Between this and and just a general displeasure at the flavor I don't care to eat raw Ahi Tuna again. It's possible the animal wasn't from a healthy area so I will try the fish once again in the future but doubt this will be a part of my diet.
I tried the scallops last night. I'm mildly allergic to scallops (a scant rast 1) but felt since I was eating them raw I may do better than expected. Unfortunately this is not the case. I only ate half a scallop but it got noticeably harder to breathe for ~10 minutes after eating it which is a good clear sign for me to stay away. I wasn't a big fan of the flavor as well so maybe I'm ok with what they offer in vitamins/minerals and it's ok I can't eat them.

So, on the bright side there is some seafood that I can have in an emergency situation or even as a shake-up to the routine. I'll also have a much easier time finding food whenever my wife and I finally get around to traveling the world which we'd like to do some day.

[djr_81]

Colds suck.

I'm the sickest I've been in the last 6 months (since I started raw carnivore) and I forgot how shitty it makes you feel.
My wife and I babysat at her sister's on Saturday night for 6 1/2 hours. The have a dog who sets my allergies off. Between that, the poor sleep that night as a result, and the not eating that day until 11:30PM I just set myself up for a hard time. I felt ok but very tired on Sunday and began sneezing on Monday. Tuesday was more sneezing with a bit of a runny nose and sore throat by Tuesday night, Since Wednesday morning I've been very stuffed up, a pretty bad sore throat, tired, etc. On the bright side I'm feeling better now than yesterday but it's not quick enough for my liking.
I do get to enjoy the 2 day snowstorm that started this morning though so it's not all bad.

[djr_81]

My wife and I watched Food, Inc. this afternoon after the urging of someone on here (I believe it was Van).
IMO it was a good watch and resonated well with my thoughts after reading The Omnivore's Dilemma (as well it should since 3/4 of the movie seemed pulled out of the book).
I definitely think it'll be a useful tool when explaining some of my beliefs to others if they're not inclined, or are too lazy, to read. It also drove home the evils of farmed livestock to my wife so I think she's one step closer to eating grassfed/wild meats herself.

[djr_81]

Snow sucks too.
Just got the internet back on. We had a heavy snowstorm come through Thursday and Friday which wiped a lot of stuff out. Power went out at 2 in the morning Thursday and only came back on last night at about 6. Then the cable was restored maybe a half hour ago so we now have TV, phones, and internet again.
It's nice for a little bit to rough it but when you're not as prepared as you should be, and fighting a cold on top of it, it gets to be a drag. I got 14 hours of sleep Friday night into Saturday though so the cold's on it's way out now.

[Stig of the Dump]

Hi djr_81

I just noticed you had a journal, so I thought I'd return the honour.  It's great to read - you really feel like you're in someone else's shoes.

One thing I have noticed so far is how astute you are at noticing small changes in your body and linking them with variations in your diet.  I'm much more chaotic - or much more thoughtless - and would never think to notice such fine links.  It's an education.

[djr_81]

One thing I have noticed so far is how astute you are at noticing small changes in your body and linking them with variations in your diet.  I'm much more chaotic - or much more thoughtless - and would never think to notice such fine links.  It's an education.

It's been purely out of necessity Stig.
I've always been pretty good about noting correlation in other areas but with my health so poor a decade ago I didn't know what "right" felt like on an internal level. Once I found out about the original food allergies I began to get a glimmer of it and each step along the way gives me a clearer sense of it. It's much easier to see when that equilibrium is off now since my health is clouded by so little.
It's funny; I love the sciences and maths but somehow so much of what I can offer to help others just comes from the gut (literally and figuratively ). I frequently feel bad that I can't offer up studies on any of my observations because I know many want/need that backing to believe something with conviction but I'll keep adding my anecdotal observations and hope it helps others fill in those blanks they need to.
I think I should delve more deeply into Instincto. It seems the most akin to how I process things.

[Stig of the Dump]

It's been purely out of necessity Stig.
I've always been pretty good about noting correlation in other areas but with my health so poor a decade ago I didn't know what "right" felt like on an internal level. Once I found out about the original food allergies I began to get a glimmer of it and each step along the way gives me a clearer sense of it. It's much easier to see when that equilibrium is off now since my health is clouded by so little.
It's funny; I love the sciences and maths but somehow so much of what I can offer to help others just comes from the gut (literally and figuratively ). I frequently feel bad that I can't offer up studies on any of my observations because I know many want/need that backing to believe something with conviction but I'll keep adding my anecdotal observations and hope it helps others fill in those blanks they need to.
I think I should delve more deeply into Instincto. It seems the most akin to how I process things.

It's certainly useful though, as it has led you to lots of discoveries - which you share.  (I have been trying to do that "fox walking" for the last few weeks and I'm pretty sure that was you.)

I too want to be purely instinctive in the end - I don't know how long I'll be able to stick to this strict regime I am journaling, unless I start to really enjoy it.  I'm certainly not there yet.

[djr_81]

Following on the heels of that cold is an abysmally strong stomach issue.
I'd been drinking a lot of water Wednesday trying to rehydrate after my cold. Wednesday night I ate some beef and some bone marrow and started feeling really nauseous. I'm still not sure if it was diluted acid in my stomach from all the water (3/4 of a gallon that day including at least 2 cups worth 1/2 an hour before my meal), bad marrow, the final push of my body wrapping up the cold, or one of those oft-blamed detoxes but since then I've shat my brains out. Close to two dozen bowel movements (basically dry heaves at this time) in a day and a half. On the bright side the cold is gone and I feel fantastic other than my stomach issues.
I'll be glad when this is over.

[djr_81]

Hopefully I'll be done with this lovely Diarrhea soon. It's been a bear dealing with it, especially as I wake up numerous times during the night to go to the bathroom and I'm usually up for the day by 5AM.
As far as I can tell, due to the length and severity of the diarrhea it's one of two causes. There is a GI virus going around which causes multiple days of diarrhea. We also have 2 turtles and I've never been overly cautious about washing up after handling them (just rinse my hands under hot water) so it's possible I caught a case of salmonella from one of them.
Either way I do seem to be working towards feeling better (have cut down to one meal a day at roughly 5:30PM to minimize "ammo" in my gut) and hope it's all gone by Thursday which will make a week.

Since I was expelling most of my food anyways I've tried a bit of carbs the past couple days. We had some Really Raw brand raw honey in the fridge as well as some blackberries. I had one blackberry last night and a teaspoon of the honey. The honey gave me a bit of heartburn and the berry burned my throat with it's tartness. I gave them another shot tonight to see how things would go. Honey is definitely not a wise choice for me; the tablespoon I ate is sitting like a rock in my stomach leaving me queasy and it gave me a headache. I ate maybe a dozen of the berries earlier though and by themselves these do seem to be sitting fine with no overt problems. We're planting some berry bushes this year in our yard (blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries) so I'll probably give them a shot over the summer as a supplemental (1/2C once or twice a week) food and see how my body does.

[djr_81]

A few personal food findings to report:
Bison fat/suet is not a good food for me. I had bison fat before which, while quite tasty, elicited a lot of gas as well as some bloating and constipation. I gave some bison suet a shot last night and today was a repeat. I'll give the meat another shot at some point but I'm not holding my breath.
Lamb is also unfortunately a problem food for me. Raw lamb fat in the beginning of my transition to RAF caused issues similar to the bison. Last week I gave raw grassfed/finished lamb a try for the first time. It had a nice flavor and I enjoyed it but it gave me similar problems to the fat. My eventual bowel movement was entirely yellow mucus; not a good sign.

Other than that I'm good. We've had beautiful weather over the weekend so my wife and I did a lot of landscaping in preparation for this year's garden. Lots of pretty flowers, a bunch of indigenous wildflowers, and a number of berry bushes (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries). There are a bunch of other wilder fruits/veggies I'd like to cultivate but we're goign to start it slow this year as we've at least quadrupled our gardening area in the last year.
I'm also building a pond with a bog filter this year which will be fun. 3,000 gallon 4 1/2 foot deep lower pond for koi, goldfish, turtles, and floating plants. The ~400 gallon upper bog will have an upflow feed from the pump which will feed the roots of all the bog & marginal plants we'll plant in it. This will be a great area for minnows and frogs to spawn.
I'll also be transplanting all the rocks from the brook behind our house so it's loaded with lots of good bacteria.
I'll have to post photos when it's established (maybe by May?). I've been planning it since last fall and am a bit hung-up on the idea of fostering a mini-ecosystem.

Oh yeah, the Spring Peeper tree frogs are outside right now trilling a storm up. I don't think there's a happier sound after a long winter.

[djr_81]

I picked up a dozen truely pastured (no added feed whatsoever) chicken eggs yesterday and ate two of them, sans whites, last night at about 7:30. I had some slight nose stuffiness ~10 minutes after ingestion followed shortly by mild indigestion. I've got gas this morning too. While not as bad as my reactions to other foods it was still an indication that they are not to be a large part of my diet if I eat them at all.
Also of particular note was the fact that I had a terrible time getting to sleep last night. I'd wager the easily digested fat in the egg yolks spiked my energy levels at just the wrong time for my liking. While this would be quite handy at times the pros do not outweigh the cons.

[William]

I've been trying a "liver cleans" recipe by Tsetsi which is 3 raw egg yolks, 1T ghee, squeeze 1/2 lemon and 1/4t honey.
It is supposed to be drunk just before bed, makes me wake with a stuffy nose, which Tsetsi writes is a sign of detox.
Hm, questionable. But it tastes really good.

[djr_81]

I forgot to mention that I also found another local seller of grassfed/finished beef (Angus steers). I'm eating my first cut from them right now (a beautiful cut of brisket with 1/2" thick slab of gorgeous yellow fat on the edge ) and it's fantastic. The prices are kind of high to make them a regular supplier (ground is $8 a pound, brisket is $10) but it'll be a nice treat. They also sell organs and suet at a comparable price to Slankers once you figure in shipping and I can support local.

[Paleo Donk]

Willy might be right and the egg yolks could possibly be a sign of detox, so you might not want to give up just yet. I've eaten loads of egg yolks these last couple week though havent added the lime in yet and haven't noticed anything different but I will try the supposed mix with lime pretty soon.

[djr_81]

Willy might be right and the egg yolks could possibly be a sign of detox, so you might not want to give up just yet. I've eaten loads of egg yolks these last couple week though havent added the lime in yet and haven't noticed anything different but I will try the supposed mix with lime pretty soon.

William is too hung up on his proselytization of fats which have had heat applied to them (Tallow and now Ghee) for me to take anything he says at face value now. If someone else has similar experiences with something he says I'll review it with a bit less skepticism but I'm tired of all the derailment of threads and pretty much just skip his posts at this point. I feel bad about this, and do like you on a personal level William, but this is where things stand.

Maybe I'm just being stubborn and blind to the "detox" properties of the eggs but my body is doing great without them in my diet and I'm healing up just fine so I see no need to mess things up with an unknown variable that has given overtly negative stimuli upon ingestion. Hell, it might help things but at the same time it could make my gut permeable again and chance me developing food allergies to beef; not a risk I'm willing to take.

[Ioanna]

egg yolks have not worked for me in the past, and I really don't think it is 'detox'.  The scapegoat of detox is mostly becoming absurd to me. I really like them on occasion though, and was thinking of trying some from the farmer here to see how digestion goes.. still thinking about it though.   

[djr_81]

egg yolks have not worked for me in the past, and I really don't think it is 'detox'.  The scapegoat of detox is mostly becoming absurd to me. I really like them on occasion though, and was thinking of trying some from the farmer here to see how digestion goes.. still thinking about it though.   

I have to agree with you on "detox". It's a broad catch-all term which people use all too frequently.

The eggs were interesting. I really wasn't struck with the taste (I like my meat and fat much more) and then the slight problems that accompanied it really takes the luster away from adding it to my diet.
Maybe once in a blue moon I'll make a meat dish I could use them in. They might be tasty to dip jerky into or as a "sauce" for a meal. I can't see it happening more than 2-3 times a year.

[PaleoPhil]

I have to agree with you on "detox". It's a broad catch-all term which people use all too frequently. ...

I agree, I've gotten to the point of usually tuning out when detox is mentioned. It's so vague and can be twisted in so many ways that it's basically meaningless at this point. For example, I've seen it used many times to justify dangerous 811 diets to people who were doing terribly on them.