Contest: What’s Your 20?
UPDATE: This contest is closed. Visit the 30 Day Challenge Contest Page to find out which contests are still open, and to view winners.
The Prize:
It’s Sensible Vice time…
Chocolate. The Malibu farmers’ market sets up shop about a half block from my office every Sunday, and one of the regular, irresistible booths is Choco Vivo. Organic, fair trade, fermented less than 3 days – this is chocolate for people who like cacao, not chocolate for people who like candy bars. Winner receives an assortment of 100%, 85%, 75%, raw nibs, and the cherry, almond, peppercorn blend. For those outside the LaLa Land farmers’ market circuit, you can find ChocoVivo here.
Coconut Juice. Today’s second sensible vice comes with or without pulp (or with a hint of lime). In the pursuit of all things coconut, the winner will receive two mixed cases of coconut juice, courtesy of Amy & Brian Naturals. That’s over a gallon and a half of liquid. For all the athletes out there trying to bridge the gap between ideal Primal living and endurance training, this is good stuff for the days when you clock the extra mileage. And to clarify, coconut juice and coconut water are the same thing.
Miracle Fruit. Say what, now? No, it won’t cause rapid weight loss. No, it won’t cure cancer. No, it won’t make the Giants fumble on the last down of the game. But it will make a lemon taste like candy, a Guinness taste like a chocolate milk shake, and a blueberry taste like God pouring heaven’s manna down your throat. It’s a fruit that plays a delightful game of chaos with your taste buds. And ThinkGeek, the folks who donated the Homo Sapiens kitchen tool last year, are offering up a packet of miracle fruit this year.
The Contest:
For those unfamiliar with the 80/20 rule, I’ll discuss it in depth later today, but in brief: if you align your life with the Primal Blueprint principles 80% of the time, consider yourself on course. While you should strive to be Primal 100% of the time, 20% happens. And today it’s time to share 20% stories…
So, what’s your 20? Mine is beer. And I’m not talking about Bud Light Lime. I like a beer dark enough to make motor oil jealous. An no, beer is not made from meat and veggies. Despite Michelob Ultra’s ad campaign, beer will not improve your performance time. It’s made from wheat and barley. My 20 is an Old Viscosity Ale from Port Brewing Company. While I very rarely imbibe, I never have regrets when I do.
Now it’s time to tell me yours. Today’s contest isn’t designed to celebrate the bad or knock all the beginners off the Primal wagon. It should serve as a reminder that even the most Primal of us have unPrimal moments, and that when we do, we shouldn’t be ashamed or embarrassed about those moments. We should simply recognize them for what they are – that 20% – and keep on striving to live Primal the next day. So share your moment. Your best (or worst) 20% moment. Do so in 150 words or less in the comments section of this post.
We’re not just picking a winner at random this time. The Worker Bees and I will pick our favorite moments and then hold a poll next Sunday where you’ll pick the winner. A good moment is one that either shows excellent use of sensible vices, or a moment that exemplifies how you can pick yourself up and keep going Primal after a moment (or crazy night) of vices that are anything but sensible.
The Deadline:
September 16, 9:00 am. Only one day!
Who is Eligible:
As with most of the other perishable prizes, this stuff ain’t crossing borders. A substitute prize of equal value will be offered to an international winner. Sorry, Swedish readers. Next year I’ll have a Swedish prize just for Swedes.
Subscribe to the Mark’s Daily Apple Newsletter and Get Challenge Updates All Month Long
Posted By: Mark Sisson
My 20% is the urge to snack – especially when stressed. To avoid complete derailing of my eating and especially the temptation of junk snacks (candy bar machines or plates full of biscuits in committee meetings, anyone?), I have slowly built a personal repertoire of sensible snacks and try to keep at least some of them handy. They are not all exactly primal but a far cry from the jaffa cakes and crisps I used to munch in the old days. So without further ado, here are my 10 faves (sweetened with a little erythritol or stevia where needed): primal trail mix, kale crisps, creamed coconut with lemon curd or apple sauce, cheese with sesame & sunflower crackers, dark chocolate, ice cream cubes (made with berries & cream or choc icing), whipped cream and cocoa “mousse”, primal energy bars, cured meats, almond & flax brownies. Recipes in my journal!
French toast with maple syrup,m fried banana, fried eggs and bacon – every Sunday brunch after a ‘perfect week’. I follow it with afternoon Bikram Yoga which makes me feel clean again
When I partake in my 20% it is always for social reasons, whether it is going out every now and than for a beer with my friends at school, or eating some wings at during a football game. But my favorite 20% is as follows: About every other week my dad will come down to school to visit (usually because I forgot something) and we will go out to the local dinner. I will get my favorite meal: Chicken tenders (homemade) and we will split the worlds best cheese fries! These fries are perfectly crispy, and they use real cheddar cheese upon. But they finish it off by throwing it into the broiler so the cheese has two layers, nice and melty on the bottom, and baked and stiff on the top! Not the best thing for me, but hey it most likely a lot less than 20% of my diet
So far, I’ve stuck to dark chocolate and red wine as my 20. I’ve been wary about trying anything else because I wonder if it will wreak havoc with my system.
My vice is anything that’s likely to stain my teeth. Red wine, dark beer, chocolate, cigarettes (that’s really about 0.05% these days, thankfully, but always accompanied by the the beer). It’s unfortunate how most of these go so well together, tempting me into a huge bender.
I also have a bad weakness for brownies. Is there a great primal brownie recipe out there/on here?
My 20% is usually used for social reasons. In fact, it’s kind of ironic, but the day this contest debuted, I chose to exercise my 20% for the first time during the challenge. I went to the rescue of my neighbor who was murdering a cat, I mean playing the trumpet. She was attempting to make her daughter feel better after getting discouraged trying to learn to play. Having played the trumpet throughout my middle and high school career, I offered my services before the other neighbors came running with baseball bats held high. I was subsequently invited to dinner which consisted of homemade pesto pasta, fresh tomatoes, and bread with oil and vinegar. I felt not a pang of regret as I dug into the pasta. The company and conversation were impeccable, and it was totally worth a non-primal meal.
So many vices to choose from
I think my biggest weakness is definintely cheese. I love all kinds of strong, mature cheese. Blue cheese, goats cheese, Brie and even the humble chedder. Give it all to me now!
My 20% is my dessert:
half a banana
1 tbsp organic peanut butter
a drizzle of honey
Mix all together in a bowl and enjoy.
(can substitute raisins when bananas are gone)
I ate an entire jar of almond butter (about 4,000 calories). Almond butter is my Kryptonite.
My yummy sweeet love is homemade coconut oil fudge made with coco oil and dark chocolate with lots of walnuts and cranberries and shredded coconut!
My 20% changes, mostly depending on the season. Since fall is coming, it’s very quickly changing into mulled cider with spiced rum. A cup of mulled cider, the fire pit, maybe a s’more every now and then.. now that is autumn!
Big, warm, chewy cookies. Usually peanut butter, molasses, or chocolate chip. When I come across this beautiful confection I have to try it. I enjoy it’s perfectness when it melts in my mouth, then I remember what a disgusting taste the sugar leaves in my mouth and I move on!
I have no problem whatsoever giving up bread, pasta, rice, cereal, juice, corn, and potatoes. What really gets me is the sweets…and there’s a laundry list of them. At the top of that list is ice cream. Fortunately, I have the ability to have one oreo cookie and call it quits, or a couple of spoonfulls of ice cream on my way out the door in the morning. I think the sweet treats will always be part of my life, I just need to keep the portions in check
Christmas Eve and Christmas with my family: Last year I gave myself free reign for these two days. I stuffed myself with all the homemade pierogies, halushki, battered and fried fish, pies, cookies, and Mom’s mashed potatoes as I could hold. What I didn’t expect: the two-week cold/flu that ensued after I totally wrecked my immune system. This year I’m still giving in, but I’ll probably keep it to 2 pierogies instead of 16.
Beer! DARK chocolate! Nachos!
My 20% usually consist of two things, pizza and beer.
Living in the NY metro area offers a multitude of choices! My favorite is Rose’s pizza in Garield NJ or Lodi Pizza. They both have very thin crusts and usually get a meat topping so I can rationalize with myself that it is less dough than othe pizzas and plenty of real mozzarella.
As for beer, stronger and the darker the better! I usually drink dark German brews.
Well my 80 is good ole tuna I love fish, even from the can if I can’t get fresh. My 20 is cheese queso from a local mexican restaurant called Ted’s Es Condio, it is amazing!
Thank you Mark for all the help going Primal and for these awesome months of contests, challenges, and give aways!
Well my 80 is good ole tuna I love fish, even from the can if I can’t get fresh. My 20 is cheese queso from a local mexican restaurant called Ted’s Es Condio, it is amazing!
Thank you Mark for all the help going Primal and for these awesome months of contests, challenges, and give aways!
Chipotle. I always get the fajita bowl with (fajita) veggies, a double helping of steak, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and tomato salsa. I love this meal with a good beer, which usually means an imported beer because most American brands taste like what really strong piss smells like.
My “usual” 20% is dark chocolate with Riesling. My usual 20% probably happens 80% of the time.
But then… once a month or so… there’s sushi. With an order of edamame. And with Plum wine so sweet it would make a kindergartner mistake it for Koolaid. I’m going into a blissful diabetic coma just thinking about it.
A few days after completed the August Primal Challenge conducted by some primal Twitter folks, I went to the farmer’s market. My friend who raises beef (I bought a 1/4 cow from her back in February) was eating a bag of fresh-popped maple popcorn made by another vendor. She offered me a handful. At first I declined; my cravings for sweet foods had nearly disappeared during the month of August after having no added sugars or grains at all. Then I thought “What the heck, I’m between challenges at the moment” and tried some. It was all over. I bought a “small” bag (which was huge) and ate most of it while driving home. My tummy did not appreciate it! I’ll stick to dark chocolate and the occasional ice cream from now on.
After a couple weeks of being primal at school and indulging in some typical indulgences, my favorite 20% is going home to my mom’s home-cooked Indian food. In my book, no indulgence beats a hot plate of tandoori chicken, fried chana (chick peas) and garlic naan (like a garlic chapati but very easy to chew). Then we finish off with some bhaat daal (rice mixed in a lentil soup) and a sweet small desert called gulab jamun. Since I’m not home that often anymore, it makes those indulgences even rarer and more rewarding. I often try to recreate those dishes in a primal way but I’m no master Indian chef (yet).
I’m from New Mexico so when I splurge it’s on green chilie cheese burger with fresh roasted New Mexican green chilie’s. It’s heaven in a toasted bun! I wash it down with a Mirror Pond pale ale and promise to be 100% for the next week
On a regular basis, it is definitely dark chocolate, 85% or higher. I also do eat dairy; I love cheese and plain yogurt. Apple slices with brie cheese are amazing, as is cheddar cheese with pickles.
On a not so often basis, I like to have miso soup and sushi occasionally when I go out for Japanese food with friends.
My 20 is rice. I indulge on it here and there when I’m craving Korean food and I whip up an old korean dish from my childhood. Having grown up eating traditional korean cooked meals everyday, has had some lasting impressions on my taste buds. I got intense cravings for it if I go a month without korean food. Most korean food is best accompanied by rice. You need that sticky chewy consistency to go along the spicy stews, pickled veggies or salty veggies and meats… Cauliflower rice just doesn’t work with korean food. I usually try to time it on days of heavy lifting and refeed on carbs and usually have an intermittent fasting session the day after and get on with life…
due to the nature of my job and volunteer work, I often attend banquets and other events where I have no control over the menu… even so, I can usually pick an choose from the food presented and eat primal… however, my vice at these events is a glass of Glenlivet on the rocks
Whipped cream with cinnamon and vanilla, frozen mixed berries, and a piece of dark chocolate.
Next week I’m heading up to see my grandmother in northern Québec. She won’t understand my primal ways, (I doubt she knows what a carb is) and I rarely get to see her. I have the utmost respect and love for her and would hate to refuse anything she makes (not to mention she makes the tastiest of foods with limited funds (I really need to learn how to stretch a buck and these depression-era elders are masters at it!). She’ll use juice from the pickle jar to make a salad dressing and half a pound of butter for… everything!
So, I imagine my 20% (ahem ??%) will be filled with sugar pie (a Quebec staple – brown sugar melted in evaporated milk… in a pie – not primal at ALL), poutine (fries, gravy and cheese CURDS), pea soup, maple baked beans, and lots of mashed potatoes)).
Being new to primal, I am afraid it will reverse all the work I have been doing to change my gene expression (day 3 of a splitting headache due to sugar withdrawals no doubt and weight remains stagnant) but I feel she has less time than I left on this earth and I can’t bear to sadden her in anyway. I will definitely cook HER dinner one night and on my night, we’ll eat primal.
Outside of that, I think my 20% vices are rich chocolate ice cream or gelato and great tasting beer (Trappist tripel or quadrupel beers are my favorite) as are Guinness and Kilkenny.
Most of the time, if I take “20%”, it’s in the form of borderline foods like dark chocolate, Greek yogurt, good cheese, better whiskey, or too much almond butter.
A couple times a year, though, I dive off the wagon with gusto: Pepperoni pizza, beer, and moose tracks ice cream! Planned, executed, enjoyed, penalized by bloating and acne…and right back on track. Yee haw!
My office is usually packed with primal no no’s, yesterday was huge chocolate chip cookies, and rather than give in to those I helped myself to a cup of coffee with heavy cream and raw cane sugar.