why we get fat.

thanksgiving came and went. i decided to set my paleo ways aside for a few days (not just turkey day, i kind of started a little before then), and now i'm back at it.

here are a few pictures highlighting the indulgent pleasures polotek and i enjoyed over the holiday...

i baked brie in crescent roll dough with apricot preserves, and i made a slammin' crab dip. 

instead of roasting a whole turkey, i opted for one of olivier's turkey roti. it was delicious. obviously.

the spread. 

we had some friends over for dinner potluck-style, and it definitely worked out great. the line up: turkey roti, honeybaked ham, mac-n-cheese, greens with smoked turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, salad with pomegranate seeds and homemade biscuits. also an amazing pumpkin gingerbread and mulled wine were in the mix. at the end, there was still a crap ton of food left, but we gave away generous take-home containers of all the food, since most of it we can't eat.

my curiosity of the damage done was killing me friday morning, so i jumped on the scale. i was up two pounds from my lowest weigh-in couple weeks ago. not terrible. i got back on track with eating paleo since then, and today i scaled up. turns out i'm now down more than i was before last week. six and a half pounds -- how do you like THEM apples?! i like them a LOT.

a couple interesting observations:

my plate. full of yum.

* i tried really hard and could NOT eat all the food on my plate. my major effort got me through a little more than half of the food you see above. i've noticed that i can eat significantly less food than before going paleo and be really full. mind you, i have NOT been starving myself in any way. when i get hungry, i eat. and i don't count calories. i eat until i am full. but once i am full, i stop.

* eating starches and grains during the few days i did, i could notice some differences in the way my body behaved. most notably, i was getting really tired really fast. i also felt sick to my stomach a couple times after eating carb heavy foods.... coincidence?

* eating potatoes, pizza, pasta and sweet things just didn't seem as rewarding as i had hoped. i mean, sometimes i can really fiend for these things, but actually giving myself the chance to eat it was much less climactic then i thought it would be. this makes me hopeful that i will eventually be able to easily overcome my urges. knowing that the reward is not worth the cheat... it's all about the mental challenge. if you can put the cookie, bagel, or muffin down and pick up a piece of sausage, strawberry, or an egg, you will do yourself a great service.

this brings me to the title of my blog post -- "why we get fat"...

i'm at the end of reading the book by that title, which has pointed out and driven home many things that i have considered and questioned about what is preached to us about how and what we should eat.

i could probably fit those things in several blog posts, and i very well may, because there was so much important and interesting information in that book about how we in westernized cultures are as fat as we are today and don't know any better. clearly there are a number of factors that come into play, but there are some simple things that people can do to improve their health, lose weight, increase their energy, and better their brain function - but they are not things that are told to us from the powers that be, like the national institutes of health, or the american heart association, or the government.

the things we should be doing are too often dismissed as quackery or gimmicks, but this book highlights study after study, scientific and historic evidence of how our bodies and biochemistry work. i'll admit that things get a bit redundant at times so the author can drive his point home, but in the end, i consider myself much more enlightened than before i downloaded this to my ipad.

it's a read i highly recommend, and intend to discuss with the world in the coming weeks.

getting my caveman on.

as i mentioned before, polotek and i are easing into the paleo lifestyle, but the changes we have made have been dramatic, based on the things we ate a month ago. and he sometimes has to remind me that this IS a major transition for us. we can't expect to be perfect or not have slip-ups or rough days. we are now firmly in week 3, and i am down five pounds.

and i couldn't be happier about this, because this has been a very celebratory week -- namely, due to polotek's involvement with launching yammer pages this week. but also, it looks like i may soon be growing into a role of my own within the tech industry, and we have had some happy things happen on the wedding front, AND we have had friends come to visit us the last couple weeks... so, between all that celebrating and partying, it can be hard to keep a tight grip on what we put into our bodies. yet, we've still managed to come out on top!

i had a whole dungeness crab broiled in butter last week <3

and yes, my motivations for making this change have been primarily fueled by wanting to drop some LBs, but in doing this and learning about it, i have realized that these changes are good for other reasons, such as having our bodies operate the way they are intended to, reducing the toxins in what we eat, and being educated about where our food comes from and what is in it.

this morning polotek mentioned that a few other people he knows are interested in trying out or learning more about going paleo -- and that i should share some helpful info about what we've been doing to get them started. and i'm happy to oblige.

i'd like to start by saying that this is inevitably going to be easier for some people to do than others. i won't lie in saying that we are fortunate, because (1) we live in san francisco and have all kinds of fantastic businesses that make a point of selling local, ethical, healthy and socially-conscious foods. and (2) we can afford to purchase the high-quality foods that the paleo lifestyle requires. pastured eggs and butter from grass-fed cows DOES NOT come cheap compared to their conventional counterparts. on the same hand, i have been pleasantly surprised at how much grass-fed beef and pastured pork i have been able to get with my dime. just know that if you are seriously considering this lifestyle change, you will probably have to make some initial investments in changing over some items in your kitchen.

after some conversation and a lot of questions to my paleo friends, and a lot of googling, i have to say that i firmly believe that the best change people can make in the beginning (without going full-out cold turkey), is to cut as much grain, starch, and sugar out of what you eat as possible.

those things will keep your blood sugar high, and your body WILL use it for its first go-to source of energy. so if you want it to burn the fat, be extremely conservative with consuming bread, pasta, beans, rice, SOY, white potatoes, CORN, certain fruits and their juices, DRIED FRUIT, peanuts, candy, and even certain dairy.

i know you are probably thinking...what the flip can i eat?!?!
everything else. including fat. love the fats that nature intended for us to eat. it's good for you.

an example is my lunch today. i needed food fast, but was determined not to give in to the urge to eat something from our food blacklist. this is very difficult when you are hungry in a supermarket. but in some strange moment of clarity, i ended up getting a piece of pot roast they had in the hot foods section, and some mixed greens from the salad bar...and presto! awesome (and quick) paleo lunch.

really yummy, and it smelled SO good!

and with all that protein and fat, i got full pretty fast. below is a photo of what remained, and i really was stuffed at this point.

mmmm, leftovers.

so i think the key is, whenever humanly possible, to know what is in your food, and where it comes from.

i have been loving and enjoying: burgers (sans bun), slow-cooked beef and pork, meatballs (no breadcrumbs), greens, sausages, BACON, avocados, raw almonds, seafood, eggs, and so on...

i also know it has been significantly more difficult for polotek to stay on track while at work. his office caters lunch and dinner, and from what i can tell, the food options are not "trying-to-keep-low-blood-sugar" friendly. so i actually made him a sort of "snack pack" or "care package" of paleo-friendly snacks to keep around (kale chips, raw nuts, seaweed snacks, etc.). it's only been a week and he needs a refill.

the bulletproof diet.

it will take lots of adjustments to get to the level of the bulletproof diet as outlined by dave asprey. but polotek and i are determined to make some serious changes in the long run. 

for now we are hoping to ease into it, making one change at a time, with the hope that these things will stick or at least help us make better choices in the long run.

my understanding, based on the various things i've read is roughly this: the food the average american eats (read: carbs and sugars) keeps our blood sugar at higher levels than our bodies like. our bodies use the hormone insulin to keep our blood sugar in its preferred range. insulin lowers our blood sugar, ultimately converting excess sugar into fat to be stored away for later use. but because we keep feeding our bodies more foods that convert to sugar in our blood, it doesn't really get to burning that stored fat for fuel since it's always using the sugar first.

paleolithic diets generally focus on eating the types of food our cavemen ancestors ate -- though there are some variances from person-to-person about how they adapt this for a modern lifestyle -- suggesting minimal grains, starches, and sugars, and more dietary fats, protein, and vegetables.

the first step we are taking in making changes is to cut grains, starches and sweets - with the exception of up to one cup of rice a week. this includes (but unfortunately is not limited to): pasta, bread, corn and corn products, candy, juice, soda... 

we will be doing this for about three weeks, and then see how we feel, whether we have noticed any differences in the way our bodies operate and weigh, and if we feel confident that we can continue with the change.

so far we have been following these eating habits for a few days, and while there have been annoying moments of us contemplating things we want but can't have, the change overall doesn't feel so bad. one of the things i really like about it is not having to count calories or points as in previous diets. i eat until i am full, and i feel like this is significantly less than i ate before, because fat is filling. instead of sitting down with a waffle with the works (usually sweet stuff on top), i've had an egg over-easy with a piece or two of sausage, and felt full for hours. i can snack on a handful of almonds instead of a bag of potato chips, and feel quite content and significantly less guilty.

we'll see how things progress. right now we are taking it one day at a time, and trying to be a step ahead of our hunger by knowing what our next meal is going to be. i find that if we wait until we are hungry to figure out what to eat, we are more likely to give into bad choices.

...more to come on what we've been eating. ;)