Primal Progress

After writing this blog last week about the possibility of going Primal, several things happened:

1) Several people told me to "start small"
2) One person sent me several links to recipe websites containing healthy primal recipes
3) Several people wanted to know more about Primal, since I did not do much in the way of explaining it (I feel like people around me are always deciding to go Primal or Paleo, so I just assumed it was that way for everyone and that everyone knew what I meant when I referred to primal eating)
4) I bizarrely* found myself reading four different non-fiction books at the same time.  One was the Primal Blueprint, which I had mentioned.  But two others had lessons for me about living without fear and overcoming.**

So, I decided to start small by abandoning Oreos and eating primal breakfasts all week.  And, guess what? I was able to stick to this plan.  Breakfast has always been a difficult meal for me.  I don't know why, maybe because I'm not much of a morning person.  But this week, I had scrambled eggs, omelets or smoothies every morning.  Gone were my breakfast biscuits and morning BoJangles stops.  I used to have a huge egg hatred, but I seem to have mostly outgrown that. Although I still don't think I could stomach eating like a hard boiled egg or a soft boiled egg.  Blech.  The smoothies were great alternatives for me on my early gym mornings, because I made it the night before and just grabbed it on my way out the door in the morning.  I also pre-made smoothies for a trip out of town this weekend. I wasn't sure what the hosts would have available for breakfast and I wanted to be prepared.

The links to the Primal recipe websites got me at least started exploring for Primal recipes that sounded good.  I made a tasty and beautiful, Red, White and Blue Salad and I found several recipes that I bookmarked for future use.

I still should not be the one to explain Primal to you, but I am a lot farther along in the book.  It is basically, eating the way the cavemen would have eaten (and moving the way they would've moved, too).  It involves eliminating grains and legumes, but they do not call themselves a "low carb diet" because most low carb diets limit your veggie intake as well, because they contain carbs too.  Primal encourages you to eat animals and their eggs, lots of veggies and plenty of fruit. There's a lot of scientific explanations in the book that honestly read like a foreign language to me. But if you're into that kind of thing, you might really enjoy reading it.

I wish I'd written a whole blog post earlier this week about what I learned from these two books about fear and facing it and overcoming.  But I didn't and while I do have a residue of what I picked up from them, I don't think I'll be able to articulate it well now. To give you an idea, here's one quote that resonated with me from A Million Miles in a Thousand Years:

The most often repeated commandment in the Bible is "Do not fear." It's in there over 200 times...it means we are going to be afraid but we shouldn't let fear boss us around...fear isn't  only a guide to keep us save, it's a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life.***

I think what I gained most from reading these books**** was that I need to adjust my thinking.  So instead of thinking, there's no way I'm going to live without processed foods, I've been thinking, "Won't I feel so much better when stop eating so much crap?"

I've been slowly transitioning my fridge and cabinets.  I just got back from the store and cooked up a breakfast, a snack, a lunch and a dinner, so my fridge is fully of nutritious, fresh and primal foods.  It feels good.  I think this week my goal will be to eat Primal breakfasts every day, and continue to eat primal as much as I can. I'm not ready to say I'm eliminating carbs completely this week, but I am prepared for a mostly primal week.

So, that's probably way more than you ever wanted to know about me and my plans to transition to primal, but there it is. Thoughts?

*Bizarre because I never read non-fiction and very rarely read more than one book at a time
**The fourth one was about church leadership and visioning, which while helpful, did not have many applicable lessons to overcoming my eating issues.
***The ellipses mean I left out some stuff in between there, but this is the gist of it.
****The 2nd book is "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day"