The Whitness

I started this experiment on July 14th, and the experimentation period ends this Friday. I’ve been pretty loyal to the dietary guidelines that I set out to observe with two exceptions: alcohol and one significant cheat day.

Alcohol: I’m not supposed to drink any.  If I do it’s supposed to be wine (since it’s not made from grain).  I’ve had a good bit of wine to drink in the past few weeks, as well as a martini here and a vodka & soda there.  Nothing too crazy, but definitely enough to keep me from claiming perfect adherence to the regimen.  I truly believe a glass of wine now and then is good for you, so I don’t feel too guilty about this.

Cheat Day: my fiancee has been a great sport to go along with me in this experiment, and about two and a half weeks in we decided we should plan a cheat day to keep us sane.  i know lots of people who try to follow dietary guidelines are able to do so easier by “falling off the wagon” once a week or so.  The peak of our cheat was at JCT Kitchen here in Atlanta, and it was spectacular.  We had delicious bread, Parmesan truffle french fries, “angry” mussels (which weren’t technically a cheat, but were delicious), a few bites of mac & cheese, and dessert of cake and ice cream.  It was all fantastic!  If you’re in Atlanta and you’ve never been, I highly recommend it.  The cheat also served its purpose, and we had an easy time getting back with the routine afterward.

Measurement: There will be lots of physical tests at the gym after Friday to see if our performance has improved in a number of areas.  I’m adding an extra measurement tomorrow – I’m going to get my cholesterol tested.  Conventional wisdom might suggest that eating 120+ eggs in the past six weeks might be bad for my cholesterol, but I’m expecting this diet and our rigorous exercise regimen to produce good things inside and out.  If I find out anything interesting I’ll let you know.

Here are a few  more recent food pics:

Full Breakfast

On the back right there are some paleo pancakes.  I thought they sounded disgusting, but they were actually delicious.  Those were the banana ones.  Give them a try!

Salad from Fresh 2 Order

Tried some mushrooms in the eggs

Chinese food, no rice

is egg drop soup Paleo Kosher?

sometimes I fry my eggs

At a minimum I’ll post some closing thoughts after the conclusion of “the lockdown” on Friday.

More of my photographic food log of my adventure with a (loosely) Paleo diet.  I’ve recently crossed the one month threshhold, and I’m feeling good!  Only one serious cheat day so far, and it was totally worth it!  (fodder for another post).  On to the food:

Snacks:

I’m hungry most of the time so I eat a lot of snacks like:

The dried cranberries are made with sugar, but let’s ignore that please

Pistachios

...and seeds

PaleoKits are a genius product.  They are basically the perfect paleo (and zone) friendly snack.  It’s just beef jerky, nuts, and dried fruit in a vacuum-seale bag.  Despite the fact that all that stuff is smushed in there together, they’re deicious.

Small PaleoKit Nutrition Info

more nuts

Also – lots of fruit.  More than “some fruit” actually, but I don’t beat myself up too much about it.

(not pictured – Fuji Apples, Clementine Oranges, Blueberries, Ranier Cherries, Bananas)

Dinner:

I like to cook, so I cook a lot, but I also eat out a decent amount and it’s not too hard to stay loosely paleo:

Trader Joe's Beef Bul Kogi

Trader Joe’s has some awesome stuff.  This is pre-marinated think steak Bulkogi style (I had thought it was Bulgogi).  Anyway, it’s delicious and easy.

that's home made zucchini soup in front

leftover flank steak and a spinach salad

Steak & Sweet potato

Meatballs & veggies takeout

the turkey meatballs probably had some flour in them.  They weren’t that good either.

Chili's Baby Back Ribs

I think this is the first time I’ve ever ordered these.  Tasty, but a bit greasy.  I also got the memphis dry rub instead of sauce – also not bad.

I promise I eat lots of non-red meat too, I guess I just don’t get as excited about it.

Now that I posted all that, I’m starving.

I promised pictures a while ago (it’s the easiest way to keep a food log, thanks iPhoone).  So let’s get right to it:

Breakfast
Breakfast is pretty darn consistent: Bacon, Eggs, and maybe avocado:

Every day!

I also eat fruit when it’s available:

even if/when we go out to breakfast it’s pretty similar:

brunch at West Egg, mmmm

Lunch:
This one is the most challenging since I like to go out to lunch just so I can get out of the office.  My staples are:

Panda Express, to go

Panda Express, dine in

salads are a last resort

I love Red Lobster (I didn't eat that rice)

fajitas

I may not be the strictest follower of the Paleo diet, but it’s all pretty good and enjoyable food.

Snacks & Dinner will be covered in a later post – posting pics takes a long time…