Buffalo Turkey Slow Cooker Meatballs

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Some epic wins in the Paleo meatball department! These are some of my favorite Paleo lunches.

paleosherry's avatarOur Daily Bacon

I mentioned in my last post that I’ve been looking for more recipes with ground meats because they reheat so well in the microwave.  It seems that I’ve always got at least one in rotation each week – chili, meatloaf, shepherds pie, etc always make great lunches because they’re hearty and they reheat nicely without losing too much flavor or texture in the process.

In the last couple of weeks I’ve been continuing that research by diving into the diverse world of Paleo meatballs.  If you look at my Favorite Recipes page, you’ll find several versions that have received enough high marks to be listed:

And now I’ve got a couple more to add to the list.  This week I made these Spicy Chipotle Meatballs  with canned chipotle peppers which gave them a real kick, with a nice flavor profile.  And last…

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How do I eliminate stress eating?

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This is something I think all of us do to an extent: when we are stressed out, we tend to eat more. This is because eating is, in and of itself, a pleasurable experience. It’s hard-wired into our heads that we enjoy eating. When we are uncomfortable from stress, a quick and easy way to feel better is to eat something. It doesn’t solve problems, but within our brains, it sure does make us feel better. The problem is for people who are under a lot of stress, this can equal a lot of eating.

I haven’t had to deal with too much stress eating like my wife Sherry has. Not because I don’t get stressed nor is it because I don’t feel stress; I most certainly do. It’s because I have used another coping mechanism for stress relief: video games. I escape into video games to solve problems. The more stress I’m feeling, the more I dive into games. Or read books. Or research things online. Either way, I use escapism to relieve stress.

The key to cutting stress eating is to identify the cause. I’m not talking about identifying the cause of the stress. It is likely out of your power to get rid of stress altogether. But once you realize that the cravings are coming from stress, you can find something else to do to get your mind off of it. Something to give you a feeling of satisfaction or comfort. I’ve found running is an excellent way to get rid of stress.

Find something that will occupy your mind and allow you to feel a sense of satisfaction when you’re done. Maybe knitting, quilting, engraving, wood working, gardening, reading, playing basketball, playing video games, biking, running, hiking, or even walking. The list is endless. But when you are feeling stressed, and then you find yourself craving some foods to comfort you, engage in one of these activities to get your mind off the stress or to help relieve it.

When being good pays off, it feels good

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Sherry and I did a wine tasting tour a few weeks back. The sugar in the wine made my weight spike for a few days, but afterward, it went right back down to the normal range.

I’ve been monitoring my portion sizes and I’ve actually increased them in recent weeks in a bid to lose more weight. My theory was that I wasn’t eating enough, and that my body was in conservation mode. Well, it turns out that I was right. This Saturday morning, I weighed in at 172.2 lbs, my lightest since active duty. Heck, I think I haven’t been this light since I was promoted to Staff Sergeant.

Most people look for scale victories (SV) and don’t place as much importance on the non-scale victories (NSV). I try to take any victory where I can find it, but I have to admit that SVs are more satisfying at times. It’s a relatable and quantifiable measure of our success toward getting healthy. Everyone uses a scale to measure their overall health level. It’s universal.

I’ve had lots of NSVs over the past six months including getting into shape, hitting sub-9:30 miles regularly, doing 80+ push ups, and even a shrinking waist despite my weight hovering between 174 and 177. Now, that trend is lower as my new normal is between 172 and 174.

The main difference has been the volume of food I’ve been eating and some small changes to certain specific foods. As I said earlier, I eat a little bit larger portions, but only slightly. It turns out I was barely under-eating. As for what I’ve been eating more of, the biggest area has been Protein. Also, I’ve been laying back on the sweet potatoes where I know I have a propensity toward overeating. I still eat them, but I try to eat smaller amounts of it. I’ve had some salads here and there as well to give me some fiber without a lot of nutritional value (eating lettuce is like barely eating from a nutritional sense) and to help fill me up.

Last night’s dinner, for example, was 10 chicken wings followed by a small chicken thigh that I was taste testing (Paleo Chicken Adobo: I need to tweak this more). The result was being down a pound from yesterday.

Hitting a plateau doesn’t always mean it’s time to eat less. It can mean just the opposite. You need to do the work and approach your weight loss scientifically and log data to analyze. I know, that seems like a lot of work, but if you want to be serious about losing weight and getting healthy, then you need to do the serious work and do it right. Otherwise, the benefits won’t last long. The last thing you want is to gain back everything because you undertook an extreme bandaid method to drop some pounds.

It’s been a very long time since I posted this, but here it is (and it feels good!!!):

Current stats:
Weight: 172.2 lbs (Started 289.9 lbs on 9/1/15)
Body fat: 14.1% (Started 47% on 9/1/15)
BMI: 27 (Started 45.4 on 9/1/15)

A note on the body fat and BMI measurements: I am using Fitbit’s calculations for both, and in the case of the body fat measurements, I am not using tape or water immersion. It’s an estimate. I’m pretty certain that the actual body fat percentage is a little higher (closer to the low 20’s), but I’ve been using their calculations since the start (when it was at 47%).

How do you keep from getting cravings between meals?

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This is a common concern for people who are trying to adopt a healthy lifestyle. In my experience, when Sherry and I began our Whole30, the first few days were the toughest not only because of the change in the food we were eating, but because of cravings. Our brains were going crazy with wanting to eat foods with sugar and carbs in them. These cravings, at times, were pretty severe. I had to snack on nuts a few times in the first few days. Fortunately, that passed and I no longer feel like snacking between meals.

Here are the things that helped me get over being hungry:

  • Got rid of sugar and carbs. These are what really drive cravings.
  • Adjusted serving sizes. I no longer was eating for calorie targets, but to sate my hunger.
  • Along with the previous point, eat foods that are high in satiety. These are foods that make you feel full quicker.
  • When I do get to feeling a little hungry, I think about it. Am I hungry because I need food or because I’m bored? I find something to do to take my mind off the hunger. If I’m still hungry, then it’s time to get some food. Normally, though, the hunger passes and it was just boredom hunger. Protip: Exercise is great for getting rid of a craving.
  • Drink some water, tea, or coffee. If I’m within an hour of a meal time and I’m genuinely hungry, I will drink some tea or a cup of coffee to hold me over.

You can employ those tips to help you get past cravings. It works best when you limit your sugar and grain intake and adopt a Paleo lifestyle, but it’s not necessary.

 

Focus on Foods, not Calories

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I don’t count calories. Sometimes, I will look at a label because I’m curious, but I don’t look at calories in food anymore. I look for sugar and I read ingredients to make sure there aren’t any that are bad for me.

When I hear people say that counting calories and moderation are the keys to weight loss, I feel that they miss the mark. Even at its most basic level, calories in < calories expended misses the mark. The quality of those calories is every bit as important because of the way the body handles and processes those calories.

I eat foods that are heavy on protein and nutrients. I avoid foods high in sugar, contain artificial trans fat, contain additives, have grain, soy, or beans, and that contain dairy (for the most part). Fats are not the enemy as long as they are saturated contain omega-3’s. Eggs are GREAT for you!

Here’s something novel: I eat meals that would fit into both my hands if I cup them. It doesn’t seem like a lot, and compared to how much I used to eat, it’s not, but it’s enough to fuel my body from meal time to meal time. I eat three times a day, not all through the day. I don’t snack or eat between meals unless I am going to have to delay a meal by a few hours. Then, I’ll eat a snack and eat that much less at the following meal.

I focus on eating food that fills me up, not on meeting some calorie number. Calories are typically underestimated for foods anyway, so it’s not even a good starting point when trying to determine how many calories you’re eating. Then there is the fact that different foods have different satiety regardless of caloric content. That means there are high calorie foods that don’t fill you up versus foods with a reasonable amount of calories that will. Natural foods (meats and vegetables) are typically higher in satiety, and (who’d a thunk it!) are better for you overall.

Skip the calorie counting and concentrate on eating quality foods. You will be surprised at how much better it is for you, how much better you will feel, and how much more filling it is.

How did a 6 oz steak get to be enough?

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When I would go to a steak house to eat while at my heavy weight, I would typically order the largest steak I could get (without going broke). This meant an 11 or 12 oz steak at a minimum. Oh, and there would be lots of bread before the meal, a large salad, and baked potato and perhaps some mushrooms and onions on top. Then, maybe a crumble or bread pudding for dessert. And this one one meal.

Today, a typical meal for me at a steak house is a Caesar salad with no croutons, a 6 oz filet medium rare with a baked sweet potato and butter (unsweetened). I may have 6 grilled shrimp added to the order depending on how hungry I am. But for the most part, this fills me up. When I leave, my stomach feels full and my hunger is sated.

What happened to allow me to feel so satisfied after such a meager meal as compared to my former meals? A few things.

First, I no longer eat sugar which curtails my cravings. When I go to eat food, I am no longer in OMG I MUST EAT ALL THE THINGS I’M SO HUNGRY mode. Now, I eat to fuel my body. That the food is delicious is a bonus. I’ve eaten plenty of bland or not-so-awesome meals just to put fuel into my body, and I’m totally okay with that, too.

Second, the food I eat now is more filling than in the past. Bread, which is hyper-nutritious, doesn’t quite fill me up the same way a steak does, so it’s easy to eat too much of it and get a metric ton of calories*.

Third, I eat slower. Not as slow as some of my friends (looking at you, Kenny!) but I try to eat smaller pieces which makes eating take longer to give my body a chance to adjust to the food that’s being put into my body and for it to give me the sensation of no longer being hungry.

Fourth, my stomach is now smaller. It holds less as I’ve learned to eat proper serving sizes. I fill up quicker now eating more protein, and the reduced capacity of my stomach allows me to fill up quicker.

It’s nice to be able to eat normal portions and actually feel full afterward and not feel hungry again two hours later.

* I know it’s not a metric ton. But it seems like it.

Friday Paleo-friendly lunches with friends and the constant struggle of portion size

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On Fridays, I usually have lunch with some friends as we celebrate the end of the work week and the beginning of the weekend. We typically go to Logan’s Roadhouse or Saltgrass Steak House. At these two places, I can order a very Paleo-friendly 6oz Filet steak with a baked sweet potato with regular butter. As my pre-meal food, I usually order a Caesar salad with no croutons and I pull most of the cheese off of it and set it to the side. I know that the Caesar dressing is probably not the most Paleo-friendly, but it’s a small indulgence I allow myself once a week.

When we don’t eat steak, we go to Mexican restaurants where I can order some type of fajitas with grilled onions or grilled mixed vegetables. The looks on the faces of the wait staff as I tell them I don’t need beans, rice, or tortillas is always pretty hilarious.

It is possible to eat lunch at restaurants that are Paleo-friendly. Most restaurants have some sort of meat and vegetable option unless you’re at a sandwich shop (in which case you might just have to eat a salad). I’ve had to ask for something off the menu only once, and even then, it was only a slight change.

Incidentally, today’s lunch marks an important turning point for me: I didn’t eat my entire sweet potato. I have a hard time not eating an entire sweet potato because they are so delicious to me. I often eat the whole potato which makes me feel over-fed. Today, I stopped short of eating the whole thing, leaving about 1/4 of it on the plate. I felt full and decided that I was only going to finish it for the sake of how much I liked eating them, and that wasn’t good enough. Three hours later, I feel sated and actually, I feel great about having not eaten the whole thing.

You’d think that by now, 16 months after staring my Paleo journey, I would have had this licked by now, but you’d be wrong. Sweet potatoes have been my Achilles heel. It’s one of the very few foods that, while Paleo, I have a hard time controlling myself over. Sherry is very good about only giving me one half of a sweet potato with any meal we eat, but if I’m left to my own devices, I’ll grab an entire sweet potato. It’s not good for me to eat the entire potato with a regular-sized portion, so I typically compensate by getting less protein to go along with it, but not always.

When you have a bad relationship with food, you have to always remain vigilant. The fight never ends, and you must always be looking not only at what you eat, but also how much you eat. For me, the struggle is real, and I’m always learning something new about myself and how to control my relationship with food. I feel good about today’s victory and I will cling to it to push me into the future.

Slow and steady wins the race: We’ve heard it before, but do we really do it?

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Slow and steady wins the race. We hear it time and time again. Tortoise and hare. It’s a concept taught to us since kindergarten. But do we really live it? Do we really embrace why it’s so important?

In our high-tech modern culture, we want everything right now. Yesterday isn’t soon enough. People get impatient after 2.3 seconds when clicking a hyperlink online. If it takes longer than 2.3 seconds, the majority of persons who clicked that link will either scroll on or click another. We are an impatient people. That works against us in many ways.

I am only going to concentrate on diet and exercise here. When I set out to lose weight and get healthy, I set some pretty aggressive goals for myself. I wanted to lose 20 lbs the first month, and 50 lbs total four months later. The crazy part is that I was able to do it. That wasn’t a good thing, though, because it could have set me up for disappointment and failure later.

You see, when I weighed nearly 300 lbs, it was easy for me to lose a lot of weight quickly because the weight I was losing was actually pretty small compared to my total weight. When you weigh 290 lbs, 20 lbs isn’t that much. When you weigh 173, 20 lbs is a lot! As I was losing weight at a rate of 10 lbs per month, it felt like it was taking forever. I weigh myself every morning, and seeing the weight fluctuate as it went on its downward trend ever so slowly was, at times, a little disappointing. However, upon reviewing those trends at the end of each month and finding I had lost the 10 lbs was always a great feeling.

And then it stopped.

My weight hovered around 177 for a very long time. Months, in fact. I had the toughest time reaching my penultimate goal of 175 lbs, and my ultimate goal of 165 lbs was beginning to feel like it was going to be out of reach. But, through the long plateau, I persisted. I kept eating right, and I introduced exercise into my regimen.

Even after five months of exercise, I managed to only lose about 2-3 lbs (depending on which average weight I used as a starting point). It wasn’t until last week that I finally dipped into the 173 range. This is a big deal for me, as it means I’m finally making progress again on the scale, and the hard work is paying off.

So, what changed? Nothing, really. Just perseverance. I decided that I didn’t want to engage in any drastic activity to try to drop any weight because any weight lost that way would be temporary. I needed to lose it naturally in a way that would be sustainable in the long run and in keeping with my lifestyle. I made a mental picture of this last block of weight being a huge piece of errant stone on a statue. I was the artist holding the chisel working to get the errant stone off without damaging the work I’d done so far on the statue. I knew at some point, the errant stone would fall away, and it seems it finally has.

With that said, I have been seeing changes in my body that haven’t been reflected on the scale. My waist has shrunk as has my face. My cheeks are deeper, and my fitness levels are soaring. I’m running sub-9 minute miles regularly now, and I find myself able to do physical tasks without exertion or minimal effort. It’s truly amazing how rejuvenated I feel as a 49 year old man. I can only imagine how someone in their 20’s or 30’s would feel after losing the amount of weight I’ve lost and begun a fitness program.

It’s taken me a long time to get where I am at today, but at the same time, it feels like it happened in a moment. That’s the tricky thing about time, effort, and delayed gratification. While you’re going through the transition, it feels like it’s taking forever. But then you finish, and you realize that the time and effort were well worth it. For me, the journey never ends, but at this spot on the road I find myself on, I’m very happy with the results so far, and I am optimistic for the future. I can’t wait to see where I’m at by September. How fast I’m running, what I weigh, how many push ups I’m doing, and what other fitness or exercise I’ve added to my routine. I have no firm goals other than eventually reaching 165 lbs. All in good time. It’s been a great ride so far.

What a great morning and full of good (and big) news!

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I wrote yesterday on my running blog about how I wasn’t looking forward to a run because I felt worn out, tired, and just unmotivated. I went ahead and ran anyway and it turned out to be one of my best runs in terms of how I felt. Sure, it’s not easy, and there is struggle involved, but the amount of effort I put forth was solid but not so much that I felt I was going to die at any point, and better yet, when I finished the run, I felt great without serious muscle pain. Sure, there was the post-run burn, but even still, it wasn’t horrible.

I am a light runner. I run three times a week for about 30-40 minutes each time. I know, to be a serious runner, you’re supposed to run 5-6 times a week for an hour each time, but I just don’t want to do that (yet). I have been avoiding injury and shin splints by running one day and resting the next, so I’m going to continue on this plan for the time being. Also, the motivation for my runs are the following:

  • Get my cardio three times a week for at least 30 minutes (check!)
  • Build up slowly without injury (check!)
  • Bring my run times down for the two-mile run Army PRT (check!)

The final point is huge. For my age, I am now in the top third (1st class) of the Army physical readiness test classifications which is a goal of mine. Why does that matter to an old Marine? Because I’ve been accepted to rejoin the military. I’ll be joining the Army National Guard and swearing in within the week. Yes, even at my old age, because of all my active duty time, I will be able to join the National Guard and complete my 20 years of service toward retirement by the time I’m 60. This is great news because that means my 12 years of Marine Corps active duty service will not go to waste. This is exciting! As for my run times and physical readiness tests, I never want anyone to be able to say I’m not physically able to do the job. I also found that I’m well beyond the requirement for push ups (so I will max that out) and I am close to maxing out sit ups. This is all part of what made this morning great; realizing how far I’ve come in the past five months toward making this all a reality.

People my age tell me that I am inspiring them through my example. That makes me feel great, because I feel that we are not too old to be in shape! We are not to old to be healthy! We can feel young, energized, and capable at our age! It just takes eating right and getting outside for a little bit a few times a week. I did it, and I’m not the type of person who loves exercise. I enjoy running now, but I’m not a gym rat. I don’t LOVE working out and pushing myself (but I love making good, solid progress even if it’s slower than what other people do or have done). What I do love, however, is how capable and fit I feel all the time now. Climb some stairs? No problem. Walk a few miles? Easy. Help lift something heavy? I’m in! I am no longer limited by being fat and out of shape.

Life-changing diets: Whole30 and Paleo

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In September 2015, we set out to change our lives and to get healthy. Our short-term goal was to lose weight, while our long-term goal was to adopt a lifestyle that would keep us healthy, keep our weight down, and allow us to do so while enjoying delicious and filling foods. We never thought it would actually work, yet here we are.

It’s not that we were pessimists. To the contrary, we were both very optimistic. But we are realists, and every other “Diet” had failed us before. Even increased exercise wasn’t enough to put a dent into our weight. So you can understand why we had misgivings. What we didn’t have was an understanding of just how important it is to eat right to maintain a healthy weight. We didn’t realize just how much of our weight depends on our food intake.

It seems like common sense enough, yet how many people do you know who are always dieting, always trying to eat in moderation, or working out at the gym 6 days as week only to never get close to what they would consider an ideal weight? I know lots of people like that. Sherry and I were two of them. We couldn’t keep doing that anymore.

Whole30 and Paleo saved us. It’s not hyperbole. Our lives have been forever changed for the better because of these two. I know people who have been successful at losing weight using similar carb-restricted diets, and others who do their own version, so it’s possible that we would have stumbled upon something similar ourselves. But, as I’ve said before, Paleo is just the name for how we eat. We have not begun wearing bear skins and hunting with spears. Yet.

Get past the name or any negative information you may have read or heard. Whole30 and Paleo really do work, and really can change your life in a great way. It transformed us into the people we always wanted to be. Life is so different now; it’s as if I’m living in someone else’s body. The changes are dramatic and positive.