Writing on the Cave Wall - Cave Woman's Journal page 14

[Cave Woman]

Hello again, everybody!

I haven't been around much, but I have been plodding away at being primal. I have been in the habit of too much wine, too much chocolate. I just re-discovered a trick that helped me in the early stages - have a bit of chocolate with a spoonful of coconut oil. It tastes incredible and makes the chocolate go so much further. It is as satisfying as a big handful of chocolate!

The good news is that I am down to 128 pounds! I haven't seen the 120s since I was in my 30s! I've still a good ways to go, as I am less muscular than I was in those days. 15, possibly 20 pounds. But it is certainly not a struggle eating this way.

I finally got The Primal Blueprint Cookbook from the library. Even the Caveman thinks it looks good, and he's quite the snobby chef! We pretty much eat the same, but he adds pasta or rice, and several waffles daily. Now they don't even look good to me. Whenever I have some rice or other grain it may taste good, but I feel kind of yucky the next day. Not sick, just less than prime.

I've ordered the PB quick meals cookbook. But eating this way, I no longer feel that I must eat NOW!!! I must be a fat burner! It is such a wonderful change from the bad old days of the previous 54 years.

An where did the cravings and taste for candy go? My mother in law (the kindest person in the world) sent us a big box of assorted chocolate bunnies and eggs for Easter. I was craving milk chocolate. I took a bite off of the ears of one bunny. MMM, no, WAIT! YUCK!!! And spit it out. These are the same bunnies she has always sent and I have always loved. WOW! I am a real chocolate snob now. I thought I was before, but my tastes have become more refined. Zounds!

Now that I've started I have so much to say! I will save it for later and go visiting in some other journals for a bit.

[theprimalcajun]

Yeah Cave Woman!!! Great to hear from you!!! And I'm so impressed with you weight loss!! Even as busy as you are you've managed to keep primal!!! Congratulations! That's awesome.

please do come back & tell us more!! What strategies have you been using...have you been exercising...how you've been feeling...you know...all the good stuff!!

hope you can stick around with us for awhile, I think about ya alot!! {{{{hugs}}}}

[Cave Woman]

Hey, PrimalCajun! You are just the sweetest! Thanks so much for the good thoughts. I think about you often, and am so happy you saw my post. I have been afraid to spend any time on the forums because it is so addicting! I have much reading to do to catch up with you, much less with Gay Panda, WinenCandy, and the rest!

I have been doing the usual. Long walks daily, LHT only once a week or so (regardless of my intentions), sprints even less often. IF pretty much daily, as I have never been much of a breakfast person (well, I love breakfast, but not until 10am or noon). I have loved reading Mark's series on fasting and having my natural instincts verified. Yesterday I wasn't hungry until dinner, so I didn't eat until 8pm when it was time for steaks sauteed with the season's first morel mushrooms and accompanied by a Caesar salad. Then a few bites of my favorite new treat, Stonyfield Farms vanilla ice cream. Oh, my god!! So wonderful! I know sugar isn't good for me, but it doesn't make me feel bad like grains do.

Hunting for wild morel mushrooms is one of my favorite springtime activities. I can walk into the woods for many miles from my house and have several prime morel areas around. It feels so wonderfully primal to spend hours in the woods searching for these meaty delicacies. I've got my neighbors hooked as well. If only we could get the dogs to find them for us! I'll be hunting morels for the next month or so, several hours each day. They are good in everything! Sometimes we stuff them with goat cheese and sautee them in butter. Heaven!

Later in the summer, we pick wild huckleberries and raspberries in the same areas. We carry our bear spray, and talk enough to warn the mountain lions and bears that we are in the area. We go out in the middle of the day, so we don't run into all the moose, bears, and big cats that the early morning runners do! It feels so wonderfully primal!

I don't have a great area for a garden living in the woods as I do, but this year I am filling the pots on my deck with kale and chard, along with my usual tomatoes and basil. Maybe a few flowers. The Caveman delivers produce to restaurants and can bring home most anything, but they rarely have kale and chard. They can be so expensive in the store! I've gotten hooked on them. It is so easy to add these nutritional powerhouses to so many meals, and they are so easy to grow.

[Candy in Wonderland]

Hi CW, glad to see you're back! I love hunting for mushrooms too! Used to do it when I was living in Italy, it's very common over there. Here in Belgium it's forbidden in most places (but I do it anyway sometimes ). I love ceps!

[Cave Woman]

Hi Candy!

Thanks for stopping by! I only pick morels. I worked with a mycologist once who picked all kind of mushrooms, did spore tests, etc., but that's more than I want to do. I have friends who pick shaggy manes and chanterelles, but I am not confident of identification. In Europe you have a great tradition of mushrooming that is passed from one generation to the next, so identification is more well known. I'm so sorry you can't pick (legally).

[Candy in Wonderland]

Hi Candy!

Thanks for stopping by! I only pick morels. I worked with a mycologist once who picked all kind of mushrooms, did spore tests, etc., but that's more than I want to do. I have friends who pick shaggy manes and chanterelles, but I am not confident of identification. In Europe you have a great tradition of mushrooming that is passed from one generation to the next, so identification is more well known. I'm so sorry you can't pick (legally).

Well, not in Belgium sadly . And I only pick ceps now, because I'm really only sure about those ones. In Italy we had a friend who really knew many kinds of mushrooms, so we had ours checked by him.

[Cave Woman]

I must say I have been a bit of a slacker. I have not been losing weight much lately, but I just took my measurements and I've lost 6 inches off my torso while staying about the same weight! Wow! I definitely like this! I didn't have a starting measurement on my thighs, but I really have lost inches there. I didn't even realize they were very fat! I tend to put my weight on around the middle. Or maybe it's just that my boobs were so big that I couldn't see my thighs! (*chortle*)

Last night I made enchiladas from the Primal Blueprint cookbook. Instead of egg white tortillas, I used whole eggs. I didn't have a recipe for the yolks and didn't want to waste them. It ended up a bit like the eggy chile rellenos that I like so much. So tasty. And the sauce was perfect! I used turkey from the breast I cooked last week. Yum! I'll make more tonight with the leftover sauce and meat.

[Candy in Wonderland]

Hurray for the loss of inches!

[theprimalcajun]

Cave Woman!!! Good to hear from you!!! And wowzer's on the inches lost! Doesn't it feel great??

come back around when you have time!!! {{{hugs}}}

[Cave Woman]

I just read the most interesting article on fascia. Since I'm away from home I thought would leave the link here. I learned about fascia in massage school about 30 years ago, though not much was known and only the Rolfers gave it serious consideration. I saw this book at my acupuncturist's this week and asked her about it. Then yesterday a friend posted this link on Facebook. Great stuff! The Web of Life : Experience Life