Cavewomen Don't Get Fat (13 page)
Read Cavewomen Don't Get Fat Online
Authors: Esther Blum
When it comes to meat, I suggest ordering it online at Eatwild (
www.eatwild.com
)âa comprehensive resource for humanely raised wild game, beef, eggs, and raw milkâor making a monthly visit to your butcher and stocking up. If you have the space for an industrial or chest freezer, look into buying and sharing a whole or half of a cow, lamb, or pig with friends or buying a portion from a local farm that raises grass-fed animals. The meat can be butchered into various cuts, wrapped, and labeled to keep in the freezer for six months. Thaw meat over several days in the refrigerator before cooking.
3. Prepare Your Food in Batches.
I love to cook for my family, but not every night! I double or triple recipes when I make meat sauces or soups so that I can serve or use them throughout the week in different ways. Or I make large batches of stews and braises, and then freeze the leftovers in containers and use them as needed. A
cook's tip: if you chill containers of food in the fridge before freezing them, you'll avoid accumulating those dreaded ice crystals and subsequent freezer burn.
4. Get the Veg Edge.
Jeannette Bessinger, clean food coach and creator of the recipes in
The Healthiest Meals on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What Meals to Eat and Why
, taught me that vegetables are essential for variety when it comes to low-carb eating. Plus, eating lots of vegetables fills you up, and they are great sources of fiber and water. Vegetables also provide a wide range of flavorsâsweet, salty, sour, bitter, and pungentâto help reduce postmeal cravings. And while your jaws are working overtime to chew up fibrous greens, the eating process naturally slows down, so you can taste what you're eating and allow your body to begin predigesting your food. Aim for 6 cups of raw vegetables and 2 cups cooked per day.
5. Purchase the Best Quality Food You Can Afford.
If health is a priority in your life, your grocery bill can wind up on the high side. There are plenty of ways to make good food affordable. Buy in bulk. Buy locally. Join a CSA (community-supported agriculture) to support local farmers. Cooking your food, rather than buying precooked meals, will save you tons of money. Do your best to buy grass-fed meats and organic produce; they are the cheapest health insurance plan you'll ever purchase!
6. Know the Codes.
Ever wonder what those strings of numbers mean that you find on stickers on fresh produce? These PLU (“price lookup”) codes enable farmers and produce companies to store information about the fresh produce that we consume.
A four-digit code beginning with a 3 or a 4 indicates that the produce is “conventionally grown.” This could indicate the use or presence of agricultural fertilizers, industrial chemicals and/or pesticides during production. A five-digit code beginning with a 9
means the product was grown organically. To be certified as organic produce, the product must comply with specific standards, such as the absence of synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. A five-digit code starting with the number 8 means that the produce is “genetically modified”âalso known as “GM foods” “biotech foods” or “Frankenfoods.”
7. Practice Mind-Full Eating.
Eating is one of the most intricate acts we perform as humans. Eating is emotionally and physiologically driven, and how and what we eat are direct reflections of who we are and how we think about food. If we shove food into our mouths while watching TV or arguing with our kids, then we're not allowing our food to do what it should: nourish and sustain us. If, however, we allow ourselves to think about how a certain food will make us feel after we eat it, we're likely to make better choices and take better care of ourselves. Mindful eating is about sitting down at the table without distractionsâno TV, no smart phonesâand focusing on the food in front of you. It means eating slowly and savoring each bite that someone took the time to prepare. For me, eating is also about gratitude. Whenever I sit down to a meal, I thank my lucky stars that I am able to enjoy such healthful food and take great care of my body. Dr. Deanna Minich, author of
The Complete Handbook of Quantum Healing: An AâZ Self-Healing Guide for over 100 Common Ailments
, taught me to set the tone for meals by saying a positive word before eating, such as
gratitude
,
love
, or
peace
, since pleasure can help us absorb the nutrients from our food. Now that's what I call nutrition for the soul!
8. Listen to Your Body.
Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. I advocate eating five times a day to keep blood sugar level and fend off cravings. This kind of preemptive eating keeps our blood sugar and moods gloriously stable, preventing you from becoming ravenous and inhaling everything in sight. But if you just can't do thatâsome people say that eating the Paleo way allows
more food than they want to eatâthat's okay too. You know your body better than I do. While eating protein-rich foods is important, it's even more important to know your own comfort zone. If 6 ounces of protein is too much, but 4 ounces seems right, then go with that. Bear in mind that your appetite will rise and fall throughout the month along with your estrogen levels. Be sure to trust your body on the days you feel hungrier. It all evens out in the end!
9. Enjoy a Cheat Meal Once Per Week.
A cheat meal, which allows you to eat anything you want, is a great way to boost your metabolism and your leptin levels, and ultimately regulate hunger and body fat levels. Diets, especially low-calorie ones, tend to lower leptin levels. This causes extreme hunger and tells your body to hang on for dear life to fat, thinking it needs that unnecessary fat to survive in the future. Since leptin levels are directly linked to caloric intake, spiking up those calories during a cheat meal will mix things up and keep your body guessing. If your body understands that you're increasing your calorie intake and food is plentiful, it will let go of fat effortlessly. Be judicious here, because sometimes a cheat meal can trigger cravings for a few days afterward. I personally find that drinking a couple glasses of wine is much easier for me to bounce back from than eating a slice of bread or cake. Over time, you'll discover exactly what works for you.
YOUR FOOD JOURNAL
The best way to get a handle on your eating is to keep a food journal. I recommend keeping a hunger-fullness log to check in before, during, and after a meal. At the beginning of each meal, track your hunger and fullness on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is famished and 10 is stuffed. You want to ideally start eating at a 3 and stop at a 6. Practice eating every three hours and keeping track of where you fall on the spectrum; you never want to let
yourself get too hungry or too full. Record yourself before eating, midmeal, and again at the end of the meal.
Also, it's important to develop habits that signal your meal is over. Pop a breath mint, brush your teeth, have a cup of herbal tea, or anything else that signals it's time to move on.
Next, I want you to take a close look at what's in your pantry and fridge and clean it out. Removing any roadblocks in the form of processed foods means that decision making will be oh-so-much easier when it comes to putting together your meals. If there are no crackers in your kitchen, then you won't be tempted to eat them. Ditto for all flour-based foods: cookies, snack foods, candy, cereals, pasta, muffins, bread, white rice, and processed grains. Get rid of them. They get in your way by raising your circulating insulin level and disrupting the hormonal balance that helps your body shed fat.
If family members or roommates don't want to join you in the Paleo Chic diet, keep your food in a separate cupboard. Stock your pantry with jerky, spices, nuts, nut butters, salsa, and organic canned tomatoes, olives, artichoke hearts, and coconut oil. Fill your fridge with all types of fresh produce, fats, and proteins. Here's the list of everything you'll need to get started:
HOPPING
L
IST
Proteins (Grass-Fed Meats, Poultry, and Eggs Are Best)
Beef
Beef, bison, venison, elk jerky (grass fed)
Bison
Chicken
Duck
Eggs
Elk
Fatty cold-water fish: sardines, mackerel, herring, cod
Lamb
Nitrate- and gluten-free deli meat (Applegate Farms)
Pork
Rabbit
Sausages (no fillers, gluten-free)
Shellfish (escargots, shrimps, oysters, mussels, lobster, clams)
Turkey
Venison
Wild Alaskan salmon (filet, canned, smoked)
DIY JERKY
Making your own jerky is a snap. It's delish, nutrish, and plain ol' fun! These ain't your momma's Slim Jimsâthese are the real deal. So grab a hunk of meat, flip on your oven, and let's get cracking!
Choose a lean cut of grass-fed meat such as flank steak or London broil, since cuts with more fat means that the meat can quickly turn rancid. Ask your butcher to cut 1 pound of meat into
1
/
4
-inch strips against the grain.
Preheat oven to 150°F or as low as yours will go. Heat 2 tablespoons coconut aminos, 1 crushed garlic clove, 1 tablespoon raw honey, and 1 teaspoon onion powder in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and add the meat strips. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove the meat from the saucepan and dry with paper towels.
Arrange the meat strips on a wire rack set on a baking sheet.
Bake 6 to 8 hours, turning once halfway through. The jerky is done when it turns dark and cracks when it is bent.
Cool and store jerky in clean jars, or wrap it in freezer paper and freeze it. Will keep for two to three months.
Vegetables
Arugula
Asparagus
Beets
Broccoli
Broccoli rabe
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Collard greens
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Endive
Garlic
Green beans
Kale
Leeks
Lettuces (arugula, Boston, butter, radicchio, romaine)
Mushrooms
Onions
Pepper
Radishes
Shallots
Snap peas
Spinach
Sprouts (bean sprouts, broccoli sprouts)
Tomatoes
Zucchini
Acorn squash
Butternut squash
Parsnips
Plantains
Spaghetti squash
Sweet potato (yam)
Taro
Turnips
Apples
Apricots
Berries
Cantaloupes
Cherries
Clementines
Grapefruits
Kiwis
Lemons
Limes
Oranges
Peaches
Pears
Plums
Banana
Grapes
Mango
Papaya
Pineapple
Watermelon
Nuts and seeds: Raw almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts, chia seeds, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds. (Store in airtight containers in the freezer to prevent them from turning rancid.)
Nut and seed butters: especially sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seeds, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, pecans, cashews, and macadamia nutsâall of which are rich in trace minerals and quality fats.
Almond meal
Avocado
Coconut flakes (unsweetened)
Coconut oil
Chicken fat
Duck fat
Olives
Extra-virgin olive oil
Grapeseed oil
Unsalted butter and clarified butter from grass-fed cows (Kerrygold brand)
Heavy cream from grass-fed cows
Lard
Chicken fat (schmaltz)
Beef tallow
Organic beef, chicken, and vegetable broths
Mustard
Hot sauce
Horseradish
Fresh herbs
Coconut aminos
Dried spices (gluten- and soy-free)
Organic tomato paste
Extra-virgin olive oil
Vinegar (balsamic, apple cider, white)
Wasabi
Water! Water! Water!
Green and black teas
Organic coffee
Hot cocoa made from water, unsweetened cocoa powder, and stevia
Seltzer
Almond and coconut milk (unsweetened)
Coconut water (unsweetened)
Almond flour
Butter
Cocoa powder
Coconut flour
Coconut oil
Grapeseed oil
Honey
Pecan flour
Stevia
Xylitol
CHANGE TAKES PRACTICE
After so many years as a practicing nutritionist who follows her own advice, I forget sometimes how hard it can be to change your eating habits. When I advise clients to clear out gluten, I usually hear two different responses when I review their food diaries. Client A will say to me, “Everywhere I look, I see limitations.” Client B will say to me, “Everywhere I look, I see options.”
How can two people see the world of eating from such different ends of the spectrum? I call it selective editing. Simply defined, we prioritize the work we are ready to do and draw a line in the sand for what we won't. We are our own rate-limiting reactions; although we often stand in our own way, we can also learn to clear a path to our successes.
Change can be hardâespecially if you're not ready for it. When you live on Pirate's Booty cheese puff snacks, it can rock your world when you start eating nuts, steak, and spinach instead. Becoming a hunter-gatherer takes fortitude and practice, and for most people, it's a very gradual process. Fortunately, our minds are programmable homing devices for tracking Paleo-style
foods. We may not be wired for immediate change, but we are certainly capable of gradually embracing a new lifestyle.
We are either victimized by our choices or empowered by them. So if you feel like you're following someone else's plan, then your choices will never feel like a lifestyle for you. Telling yourself, “My nutritionist told me I can't eat this,” versus “I'm going to choose foods that help me get lean,” have two very different messages. If you are ready to embrace change, and it actually feels like a choice for you, then the world is your oysterâand quite a delicious one at that!