It is almost a year ago that I posted last to this blog. I got tired of eating eggs and (to be honest) I still believed that eating fat was going to make me sick and kill me.

So, what have I been up to you may ask? Well, April 5th of last year I went raw vegan!

Yes, I gave up coffee, sugar, all dairy, all meats, all processed foods, processed carbs, chocolate, fats/oils, nuts and eggs.

What did I eat then? Fruits and vegetables and nothing else. I juiced fruits a lot, I drank a lot of smoothies, I ate salads with no dressing and I felt crappy. I learned how to make raw mashed potatoes with cauliflower, I made “pasta” with zucchini noodles, and all of the tricks to trick one into eating a high raw, vegan, no fat diet and not miss regular food.

HA!

I didn’t lose any weight. I didn’t have boundless energy. I lasted 6 months and then I had to eat something cooked, potatoes or rice or something warm! I was going to go nuts if I ate one more banana or drank one more date smoothie.  I just felt worse and drained of energy and I felt cranky pretty much of the time, not to mention feeling socially isolated.

Once the gates were re-opened, more and more cooked food found its way into my daily meals until raw fresh fruits and veggies were an afterthought.

So, after much thought and soul searching, I have resolved to eat fat again, but I plan on staying vegetarian. I will be following a modified LCHF way of eating that is quite popular in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries, eggs, cheese and some dairy will make up the fat/protein portions of my meals, coconut oil, olive oil and raw nuts will round out the rest, but I won’t make the mistake of not eating vegetables and salads this time around.

I want to be honest here, I had expected some increase in energy but I have about the same low energy as I did before I switched to full on eggkins.  I am sleeping more than 8 hours a night, I go to bed when I am tired (usually about 9 or 9:30) and wake up before the alarm goes off at 6 am, so I am getting enough sleep. But I still feel like I’m dragging my ass all day and don’t have much else at the end of the day.

This is like a double edged sword, feel great overall but don’t have the energy to enjoy feeling better.

Weird conundrum.

Most people I know who diet say they want to be skinny. And not much else motivates them to try the different diets out there that promise to get the weight off in record short time. A little secret; If it took you years to put the weight on, it ain’t coming off in 30 days, not without major surgical intervention and major side-effects (like malnutrition and death).

Low fat, low-calorie, low taste, low nutritional diets are successful at being low success – hence the reason there are so many. People get addicted to the hype and promise of beauty and success that the models used to portray “real” results show you. So you try again and again only to fail again and again – but hey, there’s another diet just around the corner and maybe that one will work if you can just figure out the key to unlocking its success.

Here’s the skinny on skinny:

source: ebaumsworld.com

The last time I saw skinny people like this they were POWs.  This example of skinny is probably not what most of us have in mind when we try to lose weight, but that’s what skinny looks like. To get to look like that takes a lot of time and effort to override your body’s survival instinct to eat. And that is why no one can sustain a diet that is low in nutrition. If you have failed at countless diets, congratulations! You are a successful failure at letting your body eat itself for survival and you get to live a little longer.

So, your set point, let’s get to that. Your set point is a natural range that your body naturally goes to when you don’t starve it or abuse it with countless diets that don’t work. And even overweight people can be starving for nutrients when they eat dead foods (which I am not implying cannot be cooked and must be raw to be living foods), on the contrary. Dead foods do not provide your body with any nutrition and only fills you up emotionally but temporarily as emotions cannot be dealt with by eating. We know that, but we do it anyway, just like diets, we do them even though we know they don’t really work.

If you were to resume eating nutritious foods that fed your mind, your cells and your body and your body settled on a certain number that in your mind didn’t fit with what you think you should weigh, but you were the healthiest you had ever been and you felt great and loved life again, would you accept your set point?  Even if it meant going up a few pounds (if you have been skinny but miserable)?

Everyone has a different set point based on their genetics and genetics can be very hard to change. Tall people are tall and short people are short. Two people can be the same weight but one looks thinner and one looks more curvy. But both are at their optimal set points and both are healthy, happy and feel alive.

Do not be so concerned with a number when you start to eat right, your body may in fact decide that this is too good to be true and hold on to some weight  initially, but  then release the weight once it accepts that the crazy dieting has stopped and it can relax and let go and enjoy the moment. And you will too.

Are there sacrifices to eating better? Sure. Just as there are sacrifices when you don’t eat well. Life is about sacrifices and benefits. Benefits become evident quickly when you start to nourish your body and what you initially saw as a sacrifice doesn’t seem so anymore. It becomes a trade-off, a willing omission of certain behaviours that never did anything good for you in the first place, but now you can see that clearly and the burden of sacrifices eases and dissipates and you’re left wondering what you ever saw in that kind of eating before.

Your set point isn’t a goal to achieve, it’s a place that you get to naturally and you realize you’re there after you’ve been there for a while. It’s that comfortable place in your body that you have always tried to get to by dieting but could never find the key to open the door until you’re there.

In response to ClownonFire’s question; “Who’se your doppelganger?” I think I look like my mother.

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How this masterpiece came about.

Dans la pan

I had a few little bits of many things.

A couple slices of prosciutto from when I made the Broiled Prosciutto Asparagus spears, ditto for some asparagus spears. I had a pepperoni stick. I had some sliced mushrooms, chopped onions and green peppers. I have a couple pieces left of No egg cup for you broccoli casserole.

I sauteed the onions and green peppers in about 2 tbsp of aroma free coconut oil until onions were almost translucent.
I added the chopped prosciutto and I sliced the pepperoni stick and sauteed a bit more.
I added the mushrooms and sauteed a little bit longer.
I added the asparagus spears and the cubed slice of the the No Egg cup for you blah blah blah.
I whisked an egg with cream and poured over the whole thing and lowered the heat to about 3 and covered it for a few minutes.
When the egg was almost set, I added some cubed feta cheese ( a 1/4 inch thick by 3 inches by 2 inches piece) and covered again but turned off the heat.
About 5 minutes later…

And OMG! I had that first bite and could have sworn I was eating a pizza! The whole mouth feel was incredible, like a pizza!

Sur l'assiette

Anyone following Budget 2012 saw that there was going to be {{{{{*****HUGE*****}}}}} budget cuts and loss of jobs in the public service.

This morning I had an interview and I was told that until they figure out how the budget will impact them, transfers were on hold.

WHAM! BHAM! Thank YOU MAM! Bend over and take it like a ?? What exactly? A good egg I suppose.

So I can’t help but feel that my shell is cracking ever so slightly and I am in need of some TLC (totally luscious crap) . I decide to go for a walk to clear the egg whites in the noggin and as I walk along I see a store and I immediately think (chocolate and lots of it! or cake! or anything high in sugar and will get me buzzing forgetting – screw the resolve I need some comfort!)

So I shush that little brat about to throw a tantrum (in my mind of course) and cross the street all the while talking myself off that sugar ledge. I got back to my office, made myself a tea and then ate some of my No Egg Cup For You Layered Broccoli Casserole and then I felt much better…

So, isn’t it interesting the brains need for comfort and what it grabs on to for soothing?