Antiochia's Primal Journal (Ruth) page

[Antiochia]

Well, I thought I would try a Primal Journal - I don't know if I can stick to it -- We'll see. When I am being conscientious, I track my food on Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople which has an excellent food tracker, recipe calculator, and notes section, although on Sparkpeople I keep most of my diet stuff private, because I don't need comments from people who don't have the same goals as I do (you'd be surprised how many people think Paleo/primal is unhealthy). Anyway, the Sparkpeople food tracker keeps track of the nutrients in the food I list, but I use the notes section to describe my actual day, so I will copy the notes section and share it here.

For example, here is yesterday's notes:

Saturday
CW: 191.4

(I couldn't get to sleep last night -- carb count may have been too low but because it was Friday I probably did not have enough protein either. I finally got up around midnight and had 2 pieces of oopsie bread with butter = 1 egg, 1 oz. cream cheese, and 1 T butter - not included on tracker.)

Started the day with 1 cup water and juice of 1/2 lemon. And then 1 cup coffee, and 1.5 tablespoon coconut milk.

Breakfast was 3 pieces Oopsie Bread French toast (since I didn't know how much bacon fat I fried it in, or how much egg wash stuck to the French toast, there is more fat in this breakfast than is recorded in the tracker).

3 pieces of Applegate bacon

About 1.5 teaspoon cultured butter, and 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup, and strawberries.

1 cup coffee

10:00 Walk dog and husband -- DH is recovering from surgery and needs to walk.

11:00 Snack - 1 piece leftover oopsie French Toast
3 cups water and supplements

1:00 Lunch
Big salad with Romaine, avocado, tomato, onion, radish, celery leaves, olive oil and coconut vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper
Leftover rotisserie chicken
2 cups water
1 square Lindt 85% chocolate

2:15 glass of water

3:00 Started making Prosfora (Holy Bread for Sunday)-- forgot until now that it was my week! (Nibbled on a small amount of bread dough)

5:00 1/4 cup walnuts to tide me over until supper after vespers tonight. And 1 piece of leftover Applegate Bacon that I happened to see in the fridge when I opened the door.

I had 1 smoked string cheese while I was getting supper ready.

8:00 Supper
1 large bowl of Broccoli Cheddar Soup
1 stalk celery stuffed with tuna mixed with sour cream
1 glass water
1 square 70% Dark Chocolate

Totals: 9 glasses water
Fat: 66.9%, Carbs ll.5 % (57 carbs) Protein 21.6%

I think I actually ate more fat -- it's hard to track fat because you don't know how much fat sticks to the food that you saute. I decided I would be more interested in tracking my carbs.

WOD: Walking the dog AM & PM

That's it for now!
God bless,
Ruth

[Antiochia]

Since I will be referring to Oopsie Bread a lot -- Here is my version. It isn't Paleo because of the cream cheese and is probably borderline Primal, but it is a transitional step after quitting grain based bread, and we can make sandwiches with it -- necessary for us especially when traveling:

Oopsie Bread

8 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1/8 teaspoon salt

Optional Spice additions
1. For Sweet Oopsie bread add: 4 teaspoons maple syrup, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, to the yolk mixture

Or:

2. For a Savory Oopie bread, add 1/4 teaspoon onion powder and 1/4 teaspoon dried dill.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300. Grease 2 jelly roll pans and line with baking parchment.

Separate the yolk and whites (keep both) Mix the whites and cream of tartar till stiff...

Then in a separate bowl: mix yolks, salt and cream cheese, and optional spice addition if using.

Fold the the white mixture into egg yolk mixture being careful not to break down the whites.

Divide mixture between the two prepared jelly roll pans, and even out with the back of a spoon.

Bake @ 300 for 30 mins. When done, remove from the oven and gently take out of the pans by pulling on the baking parchment. You may have to loosen the edges with a knife. Cool each big piece on a rack.

When cool turn upside down on a large cutting board and peel off the paper. Cut each large piece into 8 rectangular pieces. (1 large cut down the middle the long way, and 3 cuts across making 2 X 4 pieces)

Nutrition Info for 1 piece (1/16 of recipe): Calories: 84.3; Fat: 7.4g; Carbohydrates: 0.4g; Protein: 4.2g

A couple of days ago I made some "French Toast" with the cinnamon version, and ate it with cultured butter, a few drops of real maple syrup and a sliced strawberry per "toast." Really yummy. I haven't had French toast in months! This hit the spot!

God bless,
~Ruth

PS: The nutrition information does not include the optional spice additions. If you use the sweet version you will need to add info for 1/4 teaspoon of maple syrup per slice.

[Antiochia]

Here are yesterday's notes:
Sunday
CW: 192.4

I won't bother to track my foods today, but I'll list them here.
I fasted before Liturgy as usual. Then at the coffee hour potluck at church after Liturgy I had:

Coffee with cream & a glass of water
Small portion of egg-sausage casserole
Hard boiled egg with salt and pepper
a couple of pieces of sliced sausage
a scoop of potato sausage casserole
some cucumber-tomato salad

I'm proud of myself -- I totally bypassed the dessert table!

When I got home from church I snacked on some leftover rotisserie chicken and 1 square of dark chocolate (70%)
and an apple.

I also had a glass of water and my supplements

Then we left to go to an outdoor Shakespeare play, and brought a picnic lunch:

Oopsie Bread
Egg salad
assorted cheeses
Apple
1 square of 70% dark chocolate
water

We got home around 10:30 pm. I felt a bit hungry so I had a slice of oopsie bread folded around some sliced cold cultured grass fed butter.

Then I had a glass of water and supplements.

No totals today -- I didn't track.

WOD: Walked Dog AM and PM, also walked up and down a large hill for the Shakespeare outdoor play.

God bless,
~Ruth

[Antiochia]

Good Morning everyone --

Here is my report from yesterday. After some initial loss of PB, I've been at a plateau or slight gain now for the past few weeks. So I've decided three things: I would try journaling, tracking, and limiting my carbs to the 50-75 range. At least I haven't gained back to 233 which was my high point before trying various other dieting methods. Since taking off about 30 pounds, I am no longer pre-diabetic, and I no longer take BP meds, however if I go much below 203 I start losing and gaining back the same pounds it seems -- then my discovery of PB. So we'll see.

Yesterday I discovered a recipe for Rutabaga Faux-tato Salad - like Potato salad but with less than half the carbs. I didn't follow the recipe I found online, I just substituted rutabaga for potato in my favorite potato salad recipe. I cook up 4 cups of rutabaga (instead of 4 cups of potato) and then drain and mix it with the dressing while hot. My standard dressing is 1/4 cup mayo, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, salt to taste - about a teaspoon if you didn't salt rutabaga or potato while cooking - and some pepper. I also throw in some chopped celery and onion (sorry I don't measure), and 2 chopped hard boiled eggs. Chill thoroughly before serving. Wow! It turned out amazingly well. The rutabaga gives it an unusual radishy taste, which I like.

Although not strictly primal, I'm thinking about throwing in some frozen peas (they'll thaw in the salad) and a small amount of diced sharp cheddar cheese.

I didn't get a WOD yesterday -- DS was home to walk the dog. But I did a lot of cooking and food prep -- which I always do standing, and some cleaning.

Anyway -- here are my food notes from my Sparkpeople tracker:

Monday - Labor Day
CW 192.8

7:30 - 8:15 1 cup water with juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cup coffee with half and half cream

8:30
DS made Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs (in bacon fat) with grated cheddar cheese and a splash of half & half cream
1 sliced tomato
1 slice of Oopsie bread with butter
1 cup coffee with H & H

10:00 1 glass water and supplements

12:30 Lunch
Romaine salad with onions, strawberries, and chicken
with cold pressed sunflower oil, coconut vinegar, salt & pepper
1 glass water
1 square 85% chocolate

3:30 1 orange
1 piece string cheese
3 cups water

6:30 Supper
5 oz. Broiled Salmon
1 cup steamed broccoli with butter and grated cheddar cheese
Rutabaga Faux-tato Salad
glass of Selzer Water
1 square70% dark chocolate and 1 square 85% dark chocolate

1 glass water and supplements

Totals: 9 glasses water
Carbs: 70
Calories:1782 (not counting frying fat)
Percentages: Fats 61%; Carbs 14.8%; Proteins 24.2%

[Antiochia]

Well, here's my report on yesterday. With my continued emphasis on low carb, higher fat, my need for snacking is diminishing. And I seem to have dropped a pound or so. I wonder if this will continue in the long run. Actually, I'm hoping for the increased energy that others report to have -- and the desire to use that energy in a fun exercise. At this time in my life, I hate exercise -- but when I was younger I enjoyed biking, hiking, and swimming. None of that stuff is much fun any more -- just work. To me, increased energy is worth more than the weight loss. Anyway here's my sparkpeople notes from yesterday:

Tuesday's Nutrition Notes:
CW 191.4

7:30 am
1 cup warm water with juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cup coffee with 2 tablespoons coconut milk

8:30 Breakfast
2 hard boiled eggs, warmed and mashed with a little grated asiago cheese and 2 teaspoons of butter
1 more cup of coffee (black)

9:30 Walk dog and husband

10:30 3 cups water and supplements

1:00 Lunch
Salmon Salad Sandwich: Oopsie Bread, Salmon, tomato, mustard, mayo.
Rutabaga Faux-tato Salad: rutabaga, celery, onion, mustard, mayo, vinegar, crumbled bacon
Sliced tomato and 4% cottage cheese
Water
Coffee with a splash of H & H
1 small orange

7:00 Supper
Half a 10" low carb Margherita Pizza (crust of eggs, cream, cream cheese, other cheeses, spices & herbs; baked and topped with fresh sliced tomato, minced fresh basil, and sliced fresh mozzarella and baked again)

Tossed salad (Romaine, radishes, cucumbers, tomato, onion) with olive oil, vinegar, avocado, lemon juice, oregano)

1 glass water

1 square dark 70% chocolate

Amazing -- I went from noon until supper without snacking except for a few nibbles of cheese as I was making the pizza

8:30 1 glass water and supplements

WOD: Walk dog AM (PM it was thunderstorming so we just let him out.)

Totals:
Water: 8 glasses
Calories 1834
Carbs 60
Percentages Fats 63%, Carbs 13 %, Proteins 24%

[Antiochia]

Hmmmmm – seems odd to start a journal entry talking about yesterday, but today hasn’t happened yet – how can I talk about today? So, here’s my report on yesterday. It was Wednesday and for Orthodox Christians that means Lenten foods. For us, most Wednesdays and Fridays are “Fast Days” – days when we fast from meat and dairy products with some kinds of seafood allowed. Consequently, I end up with a lot of dietary concerns on Wednesdays and Fridays. First of all, I’m cooking for my husband. He isn’t able to fast at the moment – he just got out of the hospital and needs to be on a soft foods diet. Then there’s me – I’m trying to eat more primal – then there is the Orthodox Fasting suggestions (not exactly requirements – we observe the fast voluntarily, as much as we are able, as an ascesis –“exercise”— to strengthen our wills), and yesterday to top it all off, we had a non-Orthodox friend over for lunch, so there are the demands of hospitality – it would have been strange for me to cook a meal and then eat something different than my friend or my husband, so for lunch the fasting suggestions went out the window, and we ate a non-fasting lunch that had soft foods for my husband and primal foods to choose from (we ended up with a lot of food on the table – lol ).

Anyway – my breakfast and supper were Lenten, I stayed mostly primal and I was able to keep my carbs below 100. I ate enough fat at my meals so I was able to keep from snacking between meals – except for nibbling on the ingredients I was using as I was preparing the meal – hard to keep from tasting!

Conclusions: Yesterday’s weight had not gone up from the previous day, so I think I managed okay considering everything. I do think writing in this journal is keeping me attentive to my goals, whether anyone responds or not, so I’ll keep it up.

Here are my Sparkpeople food notes from yesterday:

Wednesday's Nutrition Notes:
CW 191.4

7:30 2 cups coffee with 2 T coconut milk

8:30 Breakfast
Green Smoothie: apple, green tea, avocado, lemon, and collard greens
1/4 cup walnuts

10:30
3 cups water and supplements

1:00 Lunch
Cream of Tomato Soup
Rutabaga salad
Fruit Salad with cinnamon and walnuts
Quesadilla Quiche
Cottage Cheese
A few pieces of pickled herring
Iced Tea with lime
Coffee with H & H
1 square 70% dark chocolate

6:30 Supper
Cold cucumber-avocado soup
hummus with celery and cucumber
5 shrimp
2 glasses iced green tea
1/4 cup walnuts
1 square 70% dark chocolate

7:30 Walk with dog and husband

8:30 1 glass green tea and supplements

WOD: Dog walking AM & PM
Totals: 9 cups water (includes iced tea)
Calories: 1770
Carbs: 98
Percentages: Fats 62.5% Carbs: 21.1%, Proteins 16.4%

[Antiochia]

Journal entry for Thursday, Sep 6

Beautiful weather today! Perfect for eating out on our screened-in back porch and enjoying the wooded landscaping between the homes. We also enjoyed going to our local dog park and walking the trails there. Someone had a great idea for making a dog park in a wild area with a lot of brush, trees, and several small grassy meadows. Our dog loves it – and so do we!

As to my progress, keeping track of and limiting carbs seems to be helping. I dropped about another half-pound. Unfortunately, I had leftover fruit salad to eat, and DH is on a soft foods diet, so he can’t eat it. ZOWIE! There were a lot of carbs in it – at least they were all clean carbs – nothing processed – no dressing – just cinnamon and walnuts. Hard to believe this should have been a case of letting food go to waste rather than going to waist. Hopefully it won’t go to MY waist this time! Lol

Here’s my Sparkpeople notes –

Thursday's Nutrition Notes:
CW 191

7:00 2 cups coffee with 2 tablespoons Coconut Milk

8:00 Breakfast
Scrambled eggs with feta cheese (for the two of us I used 3 eggs, 2 yolks, scrambled in bacon fat with 1 oz. feta)
2 strips bacon
1 orange
Another cup of coffee (black)

9:00 Walk with dog and husband

9:45 3 cups water and supplements

12:15 Lunch
1 oz. cheddar cheese while fixing lunch
Leftover quesadilla quiche
Leftover fruit salad (apple, orange, strawberries, cinnamon, cinnamon, walnuts)
Leftover rutabaga salad
1 square 70% dark chocolate
2 glasses water

4:00
3 cups water
2 tablespoons whole almonds

5:45 Dinner
Romaine Salad: Romaine, tomato, avocado, cucumber, onion, radish, lemon juice, cold pressed sunflower oil, salt and pepper. Topped with:
Salmon salad - broiled salmon mixed with mayo, and mustard
1 glass of 1/2 Kombucha mixed with 1/2 selzer water

6:45 Go to Dog Park with dog and DH

7:45 1 cup water and supplements

WOD: Walk with dog and husband AM & PM

Totals: 10 cups water
Calories: 1848
Carbs: 82
Percentages: Fats 64.1%, Carbs 16.9%, Protein 19%

[Antiochia]

Journal entry for Friday, September 7

Today is the eve of the Nativity of the Theotokos i.e. the birth of the virgin Mary. A Blessed Feast to all who are celebrating this special day! If anyone wonders where Orthodox Christians (and for that matter Roman Catholics) get this stuff, you can find an account of the story in the Protoevangelium of James:
CHURCH FATHERS: Protoevangelium of James
(Note: this book did not make it into the canon of scripture because it was not written down by James - it was his story passed down by word of mouth and was written down much later - but it is a book beloved by Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians)

Anyway – we celebrate that tomorrow, but we will have the service commemorating the event tonight, because – as in the Jewish faith – the next day starts at sundown. For us this is especially true if we begin the evening with the next day’s Liturgy.

So – what does this have to do with my eating? Well, today is Friday, so it is a Lenten day – no meat or dairy products today (except certain seafood). Then because we have a service with Eucharist tonight, we will fast after lunch until after the service. Then after the service, we may observe the feast, so we will no longer be fasting from meat and dairy. Whew!

Following these rules is voluntary, and my husband can’t fast because of health problems, but when I do, it helps me remember how much God is a part of my life. Also as I’ve said before, Lenten fasting is an ascesis – a way to exercise or strengthen one’s will.

That said, here are my sparkpeople notes for the day:

Friday’s Nutrition Notes
CW 191

7:00 1 cup warm water with juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cup coffee with 1 tablespoon coconut milk

8:00 Breakfast
Green Smoothie (apple, avocado, green tea, lemon pulp, collard greens)
1/4 cup walnuts
1 more cup of coffee (black)

9:30 Walk with dog and DH

10:30 3 cups water & supplements

12:30 Lunch
4 oz. cooked shrimp (with salt)
1/2 cucumber, sliced (with salt)
Chunky Monkey Shake (some frozen banana, coconut milk, almond butter, stevia sweetened cocoa powder)
1/2 cup coffee

1:00 3 cups water

Fast until after Liturgy for the Nativity of the Theotokos

2 pieces Antidoran (blessed bread) equivalent to about 1/4 large slice of bread

8:15 Supper
Poached swordfish with a topping made of cottage cheese, dill, basil, and lime juice blended together
Rutabaga Salad (leftover)
Tossed salad (romaine, radish, cucumber, tomato) sunflower oil and vinegar, salt, pepper, and oregano
1 square of 85% dark chocolate
Kombucha mixed with selzer water

Totals: 10 cups water
Carbs: 90
Calories: 1457
Percentages: Fats 55.4%, Carbs 23.7, Protein 20.9%

[Antiochia]

Journal entry for September 8
Blessed Feast! Nativity of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary)

Well, today dawned a beautiful Saturday. I made buckwheat pancakes for breakfast (but only ate one) along with bacon and leftover hard boiled eggs. I didn't do much else food-wise to celebrate the feast except we did have wine with dinner. Normally I am avoiding alcohol until I get my weight under control. We only drank half the bottle, so will finish the rest tomorrow evening. The weather was so nice today - cooler than it has been. We took a couple of long walks with the dog.

I was delighted to see that, this way of eating - normal amounts of meat and protein, lower carbs, higher fats, no grains, very few sugars seems to be working. I dropped another 1/2 pound this morning. I was going to go back to my other weight loss method (which would be heretical to my Primal peers) but since this seems to be working, I'll give it a little longer.

Here are my Sparkpeople notes for today:

Today's Nutrition Notes:
Saturday, Sept 8
Nativity of the Theotokos
CW 190.4

7:00 2 cups coffee, 2 tablespoons coconut milk

8:45 Breakfast
1 buckwheat pancake with butter and 1/4 teaspoon maple syrup
2 hard boiled egg warmed and mashed with butter, salt, and pepper
3 strips bacon
1 more cup of coffee

9:30 Walk with dog and husband

11:30
3 Brazil nuts
3 cups water & supplements

12:30 Lunch
Pea soup (from frozen peas)
1 piece of string cheese
1/2 ounce gorgonzola cheese
2 oz. swordfish & herb & cottage cheese topping
1/2 cup rutabaga salad
6 oz. Kombucha & 6 oz. selzer
1 piece 70% chocolate
1 cup black coffee

4:30 Walk dog

6:30 Vespers

8:00 Supper (after Vespers)
1 cup warm V8
Leftover Quesadilla quiche
Broccoli Stir Fry with butter
Dollop of cottage cheese
about 6 oz. of Cabernet Sauvignon in honor of the feast day!
1 square 85% dark chocolate
A couple of inches of banana as i was assembling my husband's ice cream sundae

9:00 2 cups water and supplements

Totals:
water: 6 cups
Calories: 2107
Carbs: 85
Percentages: Fats 62.4%, Carbs 17%, Proteins 20.6%

[Antiochia]

Journal entry for Sunday, September 9

Today is a more relaxed day – I don’t track my food on Sundays – partly because lunch is always a potluck meal at church. I think I’ve gotten pretty good at choosing Primal-friendly foods, and I’ve learned to walk past the dessert table. I don’t feel deprived because I know there is a square of very dark chocolate waiting for me at home. I don’t have a lot to say about today so I’ll just add my Sparkpeople notes:

Nutrition Notes for Sunday, September 9
CW 190.4
(I'm not tracking my food today, but I will try to remember what I ate and list it.)

8:00 Walk Dog
9:00 Leave for church (No breakfast -- we fast before communion.
During Liturgy: 2 pieces of Antidoran (equivalent to about 1/4 of a large slice of bread) and a few sips of wine.

After Liturgy, we had our coffee hour potluck. I had:
2 cups coffee with H & H
Greek Style Salad (with feta and Greek olives)
egg and chard casserole
cheddar cheese
sausage slices
1/2 hard boiled egg
Russian style eggplant & tomato salad
carrot sticks and cucumber slices
a couple wedges of apple

We had a church school teachers' meeting and got home around 2:00 pm.

I snacked on one leftover buckwheat pancake with butter and a few drops of real maple syrup, and a handful of walnuts.

Then I had supplements and a couple glasses of water; later I had a handful of almonds, three Brazill Nuts, and a piece of 70% chocolate and a cheese stick.

Then I left to visit a friend, recovering from a broken hip, in a rehabilitation center. I was reminded of how blessed I am to be able to choose and prepare my own food. She has to eat what they serve her.

6:00 Supper from Culver's (with additions)
chicken cashew salad
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon raw ACV
salt & pepper
1 hard boiled egg
1 piece string cheese
about 6 oz. cabernet sauvignon
1 piece chocolate (85%)
1 piece chocolate (70%)
1 glass water.
A few spoonfuls of frozen custard when I scooped out a dish for DH

9:00 water and supplements

WOD: Dog walking AM & PM
No totals today -- I didn't track my food.

Oops -- I just ate some raisins and more walnuts. I better go to bed. I'll get back on track tomorrow!