eveheart's Journal

[eveheart]

There is so much good advice here in this forum!

I'm still doing my Egoscue Method exercises, with steady progress. I'm not claiming a miracle cure, but in 2 weeks I've had such an increase in range-of-motion and reduction in pain that I just finished sweeping and mopping my apartment, whereas a few weeks ago, I could barely brush my own hair.

I'm 99+% RVAF, with a weight loss of 60 pounds since April. I take my lunch to work and eat in the staff lounge, where my food is generally referred to as "steak tartare" if it's red meat, or "sashimi" if it's fish. Mostly, nobody takes notice.

I've been following the discussion about sungazing, and I decided to start it tonight. I was going to go out at sunrise, but it is usually cloudy that time of day. I followed a link here that led me to a page that listed a Yahoo group sungazingtheHRMmethod. When I joined, they sent me a Sungazing Manual that was very interesting and informative.

I'm continuing to see two butchers. At home, I eat organ meats and slightly high beef or lamb. I don't cut up the meat and put it in jars. I just store it between two plates so it doesn't dry out, and turn it over every day so each side gets aired out. When it's "aged to perfection" in just less than a week, I eat it. I feel better when I eat slightly high meat, which is when it has a slight slime on the surface.

[eveheart]

I've been prompted to make some changes to my food so as to eat less fruit, and that has led to me thinking, "How much of what should I be eating each day."

Truth is, I don't even know how many calories I should be eating, much less how much of each type of food to use to make up this intake. I like three meals per day. Before, I was eating fruit for breakfast, meat/avocado/fermented veggies for lunch, and meat or liver with fermented veggies, egg yolk and beef marrow for dinner. Sometimes a fruit smoothie for a snack. Also, I like homemade coconut butter as a snack. I bought suet, and I have to clue how much or when to eat it.

I've lost weight eating RVAF without any plan at all, but I suddenly feel chagrined because I'm looking for a diet plan when I don't need one. OTOH, I have so many sources of fat in the house, so I wonder when to fit them all in.

How does anybody "balance" all these options? Or was all that fruit really okay in the first place?

[ys]

i don't have any plans.  when i get hungry i open refrigerator and get what i feel like at the moment meat or fruit or even potatoes(cooked).  and i don't count calories or bother to weigh it, when i feel i'm getting full i stop.  the key is to spend least amount of time thinking about food.

[eveheart]

i don't have any plans... the key is to spend least amount of time thinking about food.

That would work if I were at home all day, and if the food somehow got itself into the refrigerator without any planning on my part. What I am really asking, I suppose, is what I should put into my refrigerator and lunchbox. I've been buying some fats through a CSA, with monthly drop-offs. Again, it would help to know how much to order, based on how much fat I plan to consume daily.

Another thing: I want to start noticing what foods make me feel great, and what foods bog me down. What I'm mostly unclear about is foods that are fats.

[ys]

Another thing: I want to start noticing what foods make me feel great, and what foods bog me down. What I'm mostly unclear about is foods that are fats.

no one can answer that question for you.  you have to try different things for yourself to see weat kind of food and in what amounts makes you feel better.  i suggest read Lex's journal, he specifically suggests to introduce small changes one at a time and keep those changes for a while.  making change every few weeks or so may not be effective.

as far as what to put in the refrigerator/freezer?  mostly animals, grass-fed or wild, preferably head to toe.  every week i take chunks of animal parts(meat and organs) and chop them into small packs (maybe 3/4-1lb, never measured it).  that's what I take to work and maybe one-two fruits as a snack.  if meat looks lean i add some fat to it.  when at home i may eat the same thing or if i feel like it fry me some eggs or have potato salad.  i think my body recovered to the point where cooked paleo foods do not give me any negatives.  raw is still my staple but now i don't mind cooked once in a while.

[KD]

my diet has more or less remained a 'diet' for years and yet that is what allows for exactly what ys, lex and others talk about. that kind of health transparency where doing what you do has such little element/anxiety/mark in your daily functioning other than allowing you to feel good. Ideally this means being able to shift in change in responding to environment...lack of food you like..fit in socially etc...IMHO anyway but more or less stay true to that 'diet'.

This is a tough one because of course this was only when it was working well..at other points 'diets' were definitely more of a burden or suspension of disbelief. Sometimes it was indeed the 'wrong diet' other-times it was sticking it out through various necessary transitions and hardships. It really is hard to say. Certainly if I just ate what I felt like..it would be fairly different and one could extrapolate that things would go alot differently if not poorly. At this point I can indeed tell when I do enough of the things that goes against my ideal..or whatever (even amongst 'health' food) and how that alters how I feel and perform.

of course the questions you are asking remain to some degree. how much of this is optimal?..what would happen if I ate more of this less of that? etc...but these arn't particularly pressing..sort of intellectual musings.

I put alot of stock in physical/noticeable changes and of course you can't see these over a short period in one self....so one can usually only look to how certain things are panning out in nature...and since nature is moderated by human fowl and obstructions this is more accurately seen in other people. Usually I'm asking myself: OOOK is this thing really giving this kind of 'edge' (even over other people eating crap) that makes jumping through those health hoops even worthwhile?... perhaps I'm overcritical sometimes.

I guess it gets confusing. Normally because this is a discussion based forum I think its important to discuss the realities of what kind of things/changes MIGHT be important for people to follow given their position. For others they might seemingly do well on a variety of things that arn't deep fried. It does seem to me as well that people sweat the small stuff while marginalizing things that actually are important..freaking out over salt or 2 oz of vodka..when eating in ways that by many accounts go against healing. Still one can't discount what may be necessary diet or otherwise...at least for others....to progress.

It sounds like you reason well and pay attention to things. all the other 'desires' in the last few posts sounds plenty logical and obtainable and likely will happen to some degree in the future.

But I would say it is better to stick to one particular program (with some slips/'cheats') rather than just eat whatever every day that is supposedly raw and healthy. This in my book would be 'dieting' or eating with a particular philosophy that has some kind of variety within it. or I guess the experimental consistency of no variety..

[eveheart]

In the olden days, I always had a lot of rice and beans in the pantry. I got to looking around my kitchen and realized that I have very little food stored for a rainy day. So, I made one of Lex's $10 Jerky Dryers, which nowadays cost $14.00, including the shop light. My first batch was small, using beef sirloin steak that I had lying around, and no seasoning. I just ate some for breakfast, and it was perfect. I prefer unseasoned food, so I do not plan to use seasonings. My daughter, OTOH, is going to make batches of various recipes, so I'll sample some of hers.

I've cut way back on carbs. Before, I was eating all-fruit for breakfast. Now, I'm having a quick few chunks of meat. There has been no dramatic effect, but the result is okay.

I asked my butcher about brains. He says that beef brains were banned because of mad-cow disease. Is this true? (I'm in California.) He's asking his supplier about getting lamb brains.

[eveheart]

SUCCESS with two batches of beef jerky - plain and very lightly seasoned (vinegar, lime juice, ground pepper). Next up: tallow. After that: pemmican. Then, I'll feel better about emergency preparedness.

I work in an office with a staff of people who share the same germs, if you catch my meaning. Since I have been raw paleo, I have not experienced any of the cold symptoms - until last week. Last week, we had two staff dinners in which I ate cooked paleo. A day or so later, I started to feel a sore throat and body aches. After two days of my regular raw paleo foods, I feel fine. My conclusion is that eating right is powerful medicine. (I don't claim that this is an original thought, I'm just rejoicing in the simplicity.)

I talked to the manager of MY butcher department about brains. The answer was "Yes" he can get some!

Another thing I want to try is raw shrimp. I can get many kinds of shrimp, such as farmed, wild, domestic (US), imported, frozen, and previously frozen. I'm not in shrimp country, so I don't think I can get really fresh shrimp. I'm a little squeamish about shrimp, so I want to know I'm getting the right kind. Is there a right kind? Opinions are welcome.

[magnetic]

I asked my butcher about brains. He says that beef brains were banned because of mad-cow disease. Is this true? (I'm in California.) He's asking his supplier about getting lamb brains.

Beef brains are not banned, but it is a common misconception among butchers (and even USDA inspectors).

This is from the UDSA website (http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Slaughter_Inspection_101/index.asp):

# Livestock slaughter and processing establishments must maintain written procedures for removing, segregating and disposing of specified risk materials (SRMs) so they do not enter the food supply.

# SRMs are high-risk tissues that pose the greatest risk of containing the agent associated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (also known as BSE or "mad cow disease").

# Some examples of SRMs are the brain, skull, eyes, trigeminal ganglia, spinal cord, vertebral column, and dorsal root ganglia of cattle 30 months of age and older; the tonsils of all cattle; and the distal ileum of all cattle.

If the cattle are under 30 months of age (according to the USDA, which has certain guidelines for determining this), then the brain is considered suitable for human consumption and can be sold.

See this thread:

http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/carnivorous-zero-carb-approach/braaaaains/

[eveheart]

Thanks for the info, Magnetic. I talked to the manager of the butcher shop, and he had better information, too. He can order grass-fed beef brains from his supplier. I know I'll like them.

He had a nice chunk of achilles tendon today, and some marrow bones. He sells me marrow bones for $1.39/pound, compared with $3.99/pound at WF. That's why I love my butcher! It took me a few months of going to every little market in the area before I found this one. The meat department gets its meat whole and cuts everything up each morning, or to order. The market is located in a very nice neighborhood, which is why I am getting such good customer service.

I had success with my first small batch of pemmican. I dried the beef with my Lex-style jerky dryer, rendered the fat from suet, and TA-DA!!! I think it's a good idea to have an emergency stash of the right kind of food in case anything disrupts the distribution of food into the city.

[magnetic]

He had a nice chunk of achilles tendon today, and some marrow bones. He sells me marrow bones for $1.39/pound, compared with $3.99/pound at WF. That's why I love my butcher! It took me a few months of going to every little market in the area before I found this one. The meat department gets its meat whole and cuts everything up each morning, or to order. The market is located in a very nice neighborhood, which is why I am getting such good customer service.

I am jealous, I gave up trying to find a good butcher around here. Maybe I gave up too soon?

[eveheart]

Maybe I gave up too soon?

I live in a large city near San Francisco. Finding grass-fed beef wasn't a problem so much as finding a butcher who was willing to order the parts I want. I have Whole Foods nearby, but they couldn't order items that weren't on their order sheet. My back-up places are Mexican or halal markets, which carry lamb and goat, but not grass-fed beef. Also, I can order monthly from Marin Sun Farms, a CSA that does drop-shipments nearby.

Your local area may offer less choices, so I won't say that you gave up too soon. Just keep your eyes and ears open... ya never know!

[eveheart]

If there are stages of going raw paleo, then I'm in the stage of confusion, which I define as the passage between reading everything on the topic and deciding what is right for me. Since I cannot follow every path, I'd better find my own.

I am resolved to eat raw animal foods, primarily beef and lamb, including offal. This has been working well for 5 months, and I have no regrets.

My uncertainty is about FATS and CARBS: how much and what kind? I've mentioned this before in my journal, but I am still undecided.

My fats choices are: beef/lamb fat, coconut cream, avocado, walnuts, beef/bison marrow, egg yolks. All these taste agreeable to me.

My carb choices are honey, fresh fruits or fermented vegetables, such as homemade sauerkraut.

I tried 100% animal food for a week, and I felt sad that I couldn't eat berries or watermelon. I'm indifferent to vegetables, but I often take them in my lunch so that my co-workers can see that I'm eating vegetables. (LOL, they do not care, and they can see that what I am eating is restoring my health.)

Honey is one of my big debates because AV mentioned honey a lot. I don't use it in recipes, and I'm not sure if I need it or not. It is nice for a sweet treat, though.

I'm not asking for advice - KD and ys gave me good advice (below) that applies well. I'm just writing this to acknowledge that my emotions are looking for instant results and perfect answers and telling me that I am confused if I don't have them. As I re-read what I have written today, I realize that I am developing a good philosophy, what KD called 'dieting' or eating with a particular philosophy that has some kind of variety within it.

Okay, so maybe I'm not as confused as I thought I was.

[magnetic]

I still have cravings for carb foods, mainly fruit and dairy, and I am not committed to my current way of eating. Right now it is an experiment. It is the experiment I am committed to. I overloaded my body in the past with so much grains, sugar and vegetable oils, I need to eat raw zero carb. But I am unsure if I will eat this way for any extended period of time. Right now it is working, the experiment is going very well, as far as health and well-being. After awhile I may make some changes, or I may forget that this started as an experiment, and I may not want to eat anything but raw animal foods.

Everyone seems to face the fat/carb conundrum at some point. I am still dealing with this issue, if I weren't I would be set on raw zero carb and wouldn't think about it any more. At some point I may tire of my experiment, or I may feel that I have healed enough to allow raw dairy or raw fruit into my diet. When that time comes, though, I am going to do it in a controlled fashion, such as introducing just one kind of food and see how I do. It is kind of the opposite of those allergy elimination tests. I know I do well on beef, so I would try beef + heavy cream, for instance. Heavy cream is low in carbohydrates and high in fat, as is butter. I have grass-fed sources for these. Or if I were to introduce fruit, I would find a high-brix fruit, just one kind, and add that, eating a small amount each day, but otherwise only eating beef. This is my current approach, at least.

[eveheart]

WARNING! I have procured and ingested grass-fed beef brains! Henceforth, my journal will demonstrate at once an enhanced intellectual content and an irrepressibly brilliant wit.

My big news of late is that I have found more economical cuts of meat. I had been buying grass-fed beef in the $11/pound range, but I find that I enjoy the $5 - $6 cuts even more. I'm learning about the cuts by watching butchers break down beef carcasses on youtube, and by watching my own butcher break down lamb carcasses. One of these days, I will learn butchering - probably not to do it myself (it's not an urban hobby for an old lady who lives in a studio apartment), but certainly to learn more about the parts of the animal I am eating.

Well, that's all I'll say for now... gotta go eat some more brains!

[Inger]

I am so jealous right now.
I have only eaten brains once in my life, last fall, my moms Sheep that we slaughtered. I ate the whole brain alone, raw. It was delicious.
I got great energy and focus from it! Now I miss it terribly. I asked at the market if they could sell me some lambsbrain, but they told me it is "problem-waste" in Finland. They would never sell it to me. So sad. But I will not give up, and search further!

Inger

[eveheart]

I am so jealous right now.
I have only eaten brains once in my life, last fall, my moms Sheep that we slaughtered. I ate the whole brain alone, raw. It was delicious.
I got great energy and focus from it! Now I miss it terribly. I asked at the market if they could sell me some lambsbrain, but they told me it is "problem-waste" in Finland. They would never sell it to me. So sad. But I will not give up, and search further!

Inger

That's how it is here, too. I've asked dozens of butchers for 6 months now. They all "check on it" and say yes, but this is the first time I've actually gotten an order of brains.

[eveheart]

I have a ten-day vacation coming up, and I'm wondering what to do. Egg yolk liver cleanse comes to mind. I'm open to suggestions for a good ten-day regimen.

[eveheart]

I'm looking for someone local to share an animal - lamb, probably, but I don't really know what I'm doing yet. I don't even know if I can manage a carcass in a small kitchen, but I have to try. It makes so much sense, and I'm sure it's not that hard to learn and adapt. The main advantage would be getting the whole animal, all the parts.

I didn't post this in Personals because I need more advice before I actually carry it out. If I can find someone who knows what they're doing, either in my area or via online advice, it might be easier. I'm in San Jose, south of San Francisco. There is so much suitable food around here, if only I find out what I'm doing.

[Ioanna]

have you tried the brains yet? i have not found a source for them near me, so i have yet to experience.

10 days... i bet GS would have a good idea! my ideas are more along the lines of packing in as much activity as i possibly can, lol... friends, yoga, swim, hike, sun... 

[zeno]

I'm looking for someone local to share an animal - lamb, probably, but I don't really know what I'm doing yet.

Eveheart, I live in Reno, Nevada, which is 4 hours away (quite close, relatively speaking). If you feel it would be beneficial to meet or if is something I can do to assist you, please let me know.

Just so you know, I plan on buying an animal soon, too. There is lamb and goat available here in Nevada.

[eveheart]

have you tried the brains yet? i have not found a source for them near me, so i have yet to experience.

I got 5# of beef brains. They're okay, not my favorite, but they're no problem to eat. It was a big hassle to get them, though, so I won't try to buy them from the market again.

10 days... i bet GS would have a good idea! my ideas are more along the lines of packing in as much activity as i possibly can, lol... friends, yoga, swim, hike, sun...

I've got one more vacation day left. I did a 4-day egg yolk cleanse, but it was uneventful. GS did give me some good ideas - one of which was a general cleansing. I tried a product called Colosan, and I did a watermelon day. It was the watermelon that cleaned me out good - "do not try this on a work day!"

I also tried a Korean bathhouse. I liked it even more than getting a massage. Basically, it's a hot tub  followed by a 40-minute scrub down by an old Korean lady with scrubbing mittens. A lot of dead skin gets rubbed off. Nobody there spoke English, except the scrub-lady could say front, back, side, and tip.  The only Korean I know is how to say "thank you."

It was a nice, relaxing vacation. Oh, and I ate raw meat every day!!

[eveheart]

Eveheart, I live in Reno, Nevada, which is 4 hours away (quite close, relatively speaking). If you feel it would be beneficial to meet or if is something I can do to assist you, please let me know.

Just so you know, I plan on buying an animal soon, too. There is lamb and goat available here in Nevada.

Reno is a bit farther than I was thinking, but tell me more. I want to get to the point that I can prepare my own food. There's a lot I need to learn about the meat I've been eating. Are you going to slaughter the animal yourself? Butcher it? I want to learn where all the glands are, and generally know more about what's what besides what I've learned from Youtube videos and posters about the cuts of meat.

[zeno]

Yes, I'm going to slaughter, skin, gut, and butcher the animal myself. I'm more than willing to do it with you--kind of like a butcher class.

If we bought two animals we could go through the process side-by-side.

[eveheart]

I read all the new posts here every day, so, in response to recent talk about mussels, I ran over to the good seafood market and bought some. They are goo-oo-ood, and so much easier to open than oysters. I got oysters, too, while I was there.

I have decided to ease myself into getting a whole lamb by buying an uncut loin and a leg. I'm experimenting with aging and storage in my refrigerator, with an eye to getting a dedicated meat refrigerator.

The loin of lamb has a pair of tan glands along the spine, about 3/4" - 2 cm long. Taste is okay. Wonder what it is.

I think I'm falling in love with one of the butchers at the market. Yeah, I know, I'm too old for him. But, he knows everything about meat. "Hi, honey, I'm home, and I brought you an adrenal gland...." <sigh>