Last week Bear decided we were going to try a new challenge. Very much like The Caveman Diet. We will be eating nuts, fruits, vegetables, and lean meats only. No processed foods, no dairy, no cow or pig, and no grains (that means no riceballs for me). I'm a bit nervous about this one. Our last challenge was only 4 months ago and has been working wonderfully. We are both down about 34 lbs. However, challenges like this make us watch our diets more carefully and help keep us on track. The meals should look like this; half of the meal is vegetable, a quarter will be protein, and a quarter will be fruit. We might switch it up so our snack might be fruit and our meal might only have protein and vegetables, but we will figure it out as we go along. Starting today and for the rest of the month I will be posting our daily meals. I'll let you know how we are feeling and if there is any additional weight loss. Wish us luck and Enjoy!
I'm all for getting rid of processed foods--we've actually almost entirely eliminated them from our diet, and it's done wonders for us. But you need SOME grains. Grains contain materials that help your body process sugars. Americans eat FAR too much in the way of grain, but eliminating grains entirely from the diet isn't the answer, either.
ReplyDeleteI'd suggest instead discarding anything that's not a whole grain (which still fits in the caveman idea, to some extent). No processed grains, like bleached flour (not that you can use that, anyway!). Try to stick with rices, and brown rice, if possible, and only at perhaps one meal a day. I'd also stay away from most breads, which include added sugar. Maybe even make your own tortillas from whole grain gluten-free flour or rice flour.
I'm still on the fence about the milk thing. I love my milk, but after thinking hard about HOW milk is produced (they keep cows pregnant constantly, keep them standing 24 hours a day and take away the calves for veal), I've been trying to reduce its involvement in my life.
It's funny--I grew up around cows and understand the process for creating meat and how a cow can be properly cared for in order to make good meat (in essence, the happier the cow, the better quality meat in the end). A well-cared-for meat cow really only has a relatively short period of misery (a week, perhaps a couple), and they don't feel the killing blow (they're knocked unconscious so they don't feel pain). So I'm much less reticent about meat. But an entire life of pregnancy and birth and losing your offspring and painful nipples and bloated breasts constantly? Just don't know that we'd be cool with that idea if it was our pet in that barn, and I'm still on the fence about that on an ethical level, especially since my abstinence won't really make much of a difference to the process as a whole.
Hi GG, Actually the funny thing about grains is that Americans eat WAY to many of them. Remember this is only for a month, I could never give up my rice balls forever ;)
ReplyDeleteHere is an awesome link: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-grains-are-unhealthy/
They're just not necessary. Everything that makes grains 'good for you' can be found in other foods. I can't remember where I read it but grains are the original fast food. Fast, filling, cheep. Our bodies even after all this time don't do that great of a job processing them. They are at the end of the day 'Filler'.
As for milk (shudder) Only read on if you are brave of heart. We are not meant to drink milk after infancy. We are the only species that drinks the milk of another animal. Eww. My choice to give up milk was more of a health factor than moral (cheese was a lot harder to give up). Milk I actually gave up about 5 years ago. In milk you have all the medications and growth hormones that are given to the cow and pesticides that are in the feed that the cow ingests. Cows unnaturally produce more milk that nature would allow due to our meddling. There is a whole slew of added chemicals in your milk because of that and because of the constant pumping on tender nipples with metal machines cow's nipples get sores that fill up with pus. The pus gets into the milk so more antibiotics are added to the milk to kill off bacteria. So, the next time you sit down with a freshly baked batch of cookies think of this as you pour your nice cold glass of chemical sterilized pus stew. mmmm That did it for me. Enjoy! ;)
Eeeew. That's gross. I'd call you by your (former) middle name, but then you'd come all the way down to Kansas and beat my butt.
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