I think among other problems I’d gotten us too carb-short. We’ve been eating very little carb (I’ve dropped 5 pounds in a few days, but heck, I’ve got summer pants I want to fit into!) and I think I just over did it. Last night I added brussel sprouts, cauliflower and carrots and broccoli instead of the usual spinach salad, and felt better an hour later. You really have to watch it on Atkins: you have to drink 8 glasses of water a day and you have to take vitamin/mineral to make up for what you’re not getting, and if you’re getting all your permitted carbs (20 a day, during this phase: your typical frozen dinner has 40-50 a meal) from nuts and vegetables, you have to be careful which veggies, and green leafy ones can be treacherously short on carb. My fault.
I am still adding hyper-salted water. slowly.
You just can’t push salinity up and down fast or you can screw up coral tissues and fishy kidneys, not to mention osmotic shock for shelled creatures like crabs, who can’t ‘sweat’.
Hi, CJ.
I can’t help but wonder if some of your brain fuzz may be due to allergies. I was up in Moscow last Saturday picking up The Offspring from college and the air was positively mucky (slash burning, no doubt, and fields as well). Yesterday here in Boise the airborne pollen was so thick it might as well have been snowing.
When they’re burning the cane fields here, we get thick black clouds that look like they nuked the nearby town, and charred wisps of burnt cane leaves. Sometimes it’s so thick, it blows in small drifts. We call it ‘threadfall’
Lord, yes, allergies. Plus the carb problem, which will also do it. But I’m feeling much more me today! THings are blooming like crazy now that our spring has just started, but I think the trees are calming down—trees are the worst thing for me: that’s aches and pains as well as fuzziness.
Got a good recipe for you: Pkg thin-cut pork chops. packet Hidden Valley Ranch dry dressing. Heat olive oil in skillet (a very little: porkchops supply their own)–coat back side of chops in powder. Lay that side down in hot pan. Sprinkle another 3rd pkg dressing atop chops. Lid, cook until it forms a gravy. Remove lid. Continue to cook. When ‘gravy’ cooks down and brown crust forms on bottom of chops (check) then turn them, do not lid, and sprinkle remaining powder on chops. Cook a shorter time (they’re mostly done) and once slightly brown, serve with crust. It goes well with a side salad or rice or veggies. It’s NOT that calorific, NOT that fried-food grease-heavy: I use about a tablespoon of olive oil, and that’s all that’s added. Takes about 20 min. Very high flavor.
Doesn’t that dry dressing mix have dried onion in it?? And MSG. Aren’t both things you react badly to?? Unless I checked out the ingredients in the wrong Hidden Valley Ranch dry dressing mix….
For your consideration:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-keywords=misto+sprayer
Misto sprayer: Fill with the oil of your choice, and pressurize by pumping the cap. May be refilled as needed, lays down a nice spritz of oil (comparable to cooking spray but sans preservatives), and pays for itself relatively quickly.
Not surprised you “had the dumb and couldn’t brain” the other day. The brain is a real calorie hog. Too few calories and it’s zombie time.
CJ, you might want to check out using coconut oil. It’s got a lot of pluses and minimal downsides. Been using it as a substitute and haven’t noticed a discernable taste change — neither husband or myself particularly like coconut (alhought olive oil can add a nice one). Saute’s wonderfully, makes glorious relatively guilt-free scones and works well for sauces.
Haven’t seen that oil here: got walnut, sesame (toasted), peanut, and olive, but haven’t found coconut oil, as well as Crisco. I’ll look for it.
I think you mentioned you have Fred Meyer there, I’ve found cocoanut oil there in the health food section. Its not a liquid at room temperature, so you have to program your eyes for something that looks more like crisco than olive oil! Can’t say as I use it for cooking, but it makes an interesting hand cream.
Coconut oil is high in saturated fat, though. It might be more tasty than the olive oil, but I don’t think it’s more healthy.
I usually use peanut oil to cook, especially stir-fry, since it can take a higher heat than olive oil. (BTW, don’t use your extra-virgin olive oil to cook).
Vegetables I was told by my dietician to watch: corn, garden peas, potatoes. High in carbs, which for me translate to more on the muffin top. Root vegetables are good, and surprisingly, sugar snap peas are also good.
I first had eggplant parmesan in Italy during a tour that my ship (U.S. Navy) provided for us. I found it to be pretty good, and I had never had eggplant before.
One of our Shejidan members asked me for some beeswax to use for her hands after she got done working. I’ve had several other people ask for it, too, for the same reason. I can’t sell beeswax, unless I have certain containers, labels, etc., but I can give it away as gifts.
Sorry, I’m rambling, must be the after effects of the Versed from yesterday’s double-ended scopes.
joekc6nlx – You do know that all saturated fats are NOT alike, right? Key word = medium chain fatty acids (coconut oil). Since learning about all the positive benefits (with very few downsides) of coconut oil, I’ve been trying to incorporate it wherever possible. But it’s not like I use that much oil anyway.
Eggplant (and other nightshade veggies) = solanine (glycoalkaloid poison). It’s so hard to avoid tomatoes and peppers in my own life (I don’t like potatoes or eggplant), but the side effects can be debilitating.
“Coconut oil has some heart-friendly fatty acids (myristic) but more heart-unfriendly fatty acids (lauric), says Roger Clemens, DrPH, spokesman and incoming president of Institute of Food Technologists and member of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines committee.
A meta-analysis of 60 studies evaluated the effects of individual fats on risk of coronary artery disease. A few studies looked at coconut oil and found the combination of fatty acids improved the ratio of total cholesterol: HDL (good) cholesterol but they also raised LDL (bad) cholesterol.
“Saturated fats can increase LDL (bad) cholesterol and even though a few studies showed it may improve the ratio of cholesterol to HDL cholesterol, they also showed an increase in LDL cholesterol and bottom line, any food that increases LDL cholesterol should be limited because LDL cholesterol is the main treatment target for heart disease,” Kris Etherton says.
Their bottom line is that a saturated fat is a saturated fat, whether it’s medium chain or not. Anything that increases my Low Density Lipids is something I’d like to avoid.
I think we all are interested in making educated choices.
Here’s the bad news about keeping weight down after dieting. From an article in the Mail Online:
I’ve learned I have to be careful. I need a certain amount of protein and carbs, or I get in danger of an energy drop, shaky. (Last time I was tested, many years ago, I was borderline hypoglycemic.) Lately, I seem to be craving carbs and fats, which worries me. But a break and a big pot of pintos, supplemented by canned chili, with a bit of cheese, has kept me mostly happy the past few days. First time in ages I’d fixed a pot of beans, and they’ve hit the spot. Yes, veggies a few times too. Lunch or supper will be hamburger, a serving of beans, and veggies. Diet-wise, I’m not sure what I’m doing. I’m not thinking much about it and I’ve not been in any real mood to cook the past week or two. Feel sure that will improve when I’m ready. Plenty in my fridge and pantry, and in fact, I’m delaying going to the store, though it’ll mean a bigger bill when I do go.
The ‘keeping it off’ technique is largely true, I suspect, but it diminishes over time. Cells die and get replaced. The way we’ve found that works is slipping from a crash-diet type like Atkins over to a South Beach approach. South Beach still doesn’t allow sugars and starches except in very limited ways, and it moderates your intake: for instance, on South Beach, Jane and I may have, during the day, one slice of bread split between us, or one dry ounce of oatmeal each, cooked with mil; we may have one can of soup split between us for lunch; only one chicken breast fillet between us…but each of us may have 2 cups of veggies a day, and an ice-cream scoop of rice—or one ounce of nuts, or one ounce of carefully-chosen chips. We prefer Terra-brand krinkle sweet potato chips. You’re not going to lose rapidly on that, but you’re not going to gain, either.
A lot of people feel that one can equals one serving. And it doesn’t.