Tag: paleo

whole60: done!

one of the items on the latest 101 things in 1001 days list was to do a whole60, ie, to go 60 days without dairy, sugar, grains, legumes or alcohol. it’s a stricter version of how we normally eat.

why do it? to test an hypothesis. i knew i could do it, since i had done it before, in smaller, 30 days periods… but i wanted to see if there were any effects of running a longer experiment.

well, the two months have passed rather quickly! my back pain abated and i think my hair is falling slightly less… but with hair this long, it’s hard to say. the experiment felt a bit inclusive, but i felt great — so who cares! :)

even though it is a challenge, it’s not a hard one. the people behind the program tell it to you straight: “quitting heroin is hard. beating cancer is hard. drinking your coffee black… is not hard.” which i think helps put things in the right perspective. i find the program rather freeing, and tend to forget that there are rules in place: after a while, the choices i had made had become automatic, thus not requiring me to think about them. and the less choices, the better!

i’ve also discovered portugal is a pretty easy country to do paleo in, as there’s always a grill restaurant somewhere nearby… add some salad or steamed veggies on the side, and voilà, dinner is served in a pinch.

i’m happy it’s done, but now i’m eager to start exploring the local gastronomy! :)

foooood just life

the story of the lactose-intolerant meiadeleite

i feel like this blog (ergo, me) is in need of a swift kick in the butt, to set it back straight. there’s so much to tell you… let’s just get to it!

friends who stay with us often seem surprised to discover that i, miss meiadeleite, cannot stomach milk. it wasn’t always this way. i used to love drinking milk with everything, up until about 3 years ago.

but then, in early 2011 i stopped drinking milk, as part of our diet experiment. i didn’t really miss it, so i skipped it for months and promptly forgot about it. later that year, i received my 23andme dna test results and was a bit intrigued to see this:

“who, me? lactose intolerant? nonsense!”, i thought – i drank milk my whole life!

but then i started to think about it… and some things started making sense. in the last few years, every time we went back to portugal, we ate whatever our parents put in front of us – not wanting to burden them with too many rules and restrictions on our short time there. so we drank meiadeleites for breakfast and ate leite creme to our little heart’s content… and invariably, while we were there, i’d get stomach problems. i would write it off as the consequences of general unhealthy eating… but then it got me thinking… could it be that when i stopped drinking milk every day, my body just gave up on dealing with the lactose? (i imagine it doing it in a overly dramatic fashion, with a big sigh of relief…)

this was a valid hypothesis, so, as scientists that we are, we experimented. the results were quite… striking. a glass of milk? immediate disaster. a tiny yoghurt cup? disaster. cheese was ok in small doses, as was butter, but all the rest was off the table.

and this is how i found that i’ve made myself lactose intolerant. the name of this blog hasn’t made sense for quite a while now, but i don’t mind. i know i could probably re-introduce it in the diet if i wanted, but truth is, i just don’t miss it all that much – and when in doubt, there are usually lactase pills nearby! :)

Post author By ana
Post date January 25, 2014
6 Comments on the story of the lactose-intolerant meiadeleite

foooood

banana ice-cream

for the longest time i had this dream of making ice-cream, but somehow the dream always got pushed aside… turns out, ice-cream making is a finicky business, requiring more patience, special equipment and room in the fridge than i currently possess… or so i thought, until the day i heard of the this fantastic one ingredient ice-cream recipe!

it goes like this:

– cut a banana in slices, spread it on a surface
– put it on the freezer for an hour or so
– once it’s frozen, blitz the pieces with an immersion blender or a standing mixer until smooth
– et voilá! :D the banana takes on a custardy consistency which is just like ice-cream! it’s… magic!

seriously… who eats bananas in summer when they could be having ice-cream?! :D

eggeusia foooood in germany

and speaking of eggs…

…meet our awesome egg cooker! yes, i know what you’re thinking: a machine that only cooks eggs?! when i first started seeing these at big appliance stores, i looked at them with a sceptical raised eyebrow. why would anyone need a machine to boil eggs?

and yet, and yet… the perfect egg was always elusive for me, always tricky to get. too cooked, not cooked enough… the results tantalisingly close but always just slightly off the mark.

i might have mentioned this before – we go through a lot of eggs in a week. if i think about it, they’re probably my favourite everyday food. breakfast? eggs. middle-afternoon snack? eggs. too-hungry-to-go-to-bed-but-don’t-feel-like-cooking-a-meal? eggs. omelets, scrambled, fried, boiled, poached… with kimchi, mushrooms, salmon, caviar, bacon… they’re just so versatile and delicious! *sigh*

and so after a while, the idea of this magical machine and its promise of perfect boiled eggs starting chasing me in my dreams… until we finally caved in and bought it. it’s ridiculously easy: put eggs, put water according to desired consistency, cover and wait. when the water is all boiled, it beeps and voilá.

the results? perfect boiled (or poached) eggs – every single time. that, and a very happy ana! :)

ps – the plastic egg holders in the shape of chickens are another classic from the ddr. those guys sure loved their eggs!

foooood

whole30: done!

yay!

i’ve just finished my first whole30, which means, i went a whole 30 days without:
– grains of any kind
– milk products
– legumes
– sugar, or sugar substitutes
– white potatoes

truth be told, it isn’t that different from how we usually eat when we’re home in berlin – just stricter. normally, i’d have a bit of cheese here and there, an occasional piece of black chocolate or cook with butter – and wouldn’t think too much about what i ate outside of the house. that doesn’t mean i usually go out of my way to eat pasta and bread when we go out – but for the most part i don’t care if the sauce has flour in it, or what kind of oil was used to cook my food.

alas, the whole30 puts all that into question, and makes you think about everything that goes into your plate.

(whenever i tell people we eat paleo, i get saucer-eyes and a concerned “no pasta? no bread? but what can you eat then?!” well… real, unprocessed food, like eggs, fish, meat, vegetables, fruits and nuts!)

anyway, it’s done! how do i feel? freaking fantastic! :) i’ve lost about 5kg – mostly weight i put on during christmas’ glutenfest. also, nothing aches (not even my dodgy back), nothing’s swollen and my energy levels are good!

was it hard? it wasn’t hard per se, or not in the way most people imagine. i didn’t really get cravings… not even while the boy indulged on baskets of bread & cheese next to me. but i missed going out and being with friends without over-thinking it. this level of attention to what you’re eating seriously limits your dining choices – and i’m not sure it’s worth it.

so, i’m happy i’ve done it, but i’m also glad to be back to a reasonable middle ground that works for me. bring on the cheese! :D