paleo
And from Scotland…
Sister’s day was a little different to mine!
Banting day 3 from Scotland
I fear that I am on rebellion 101!! I don’t like green tea, I miss my Ceylon tea with low fat milk.
I don’t like my bacon done in the microwave and I cannot use my kitchen.
I am so indoctrinated into eating low fat high fibre that I find fat off-putting.
I, believe or not, am laughing through all of this because I have a sense of humour and I realise that I have probably chosen the worst week in my life to start Banting….a member of the household is very ill, I have no kitchen as the AGA is in but the cupboards and shelves and plumbed goods are only going in today and they will be finished tomorrow (I hope).
My microwave is in the laundry/scullery which has been called the galley kitchen, but I am too fat to slide past my lovely svelte partner in the galley!!
The knives and forks are in the passage, the butter and meat etc is in the fridge in the kitchen on the other side of the house….so actually it is very much a case of laugh while you can. If I can survive this I can survive Banting! And all this without a glass of wine…the only whining I am doing is at the top of the page!!
The up side is I already feel lighter and smaller, and of course I am peeing like a well hydrated horse!!
Breakfast this morning was bacon cooked in the microwave (don’t you hate the idea of all those little nuclear molecules dancing around creating some kind of fission to cook your food???)
Egg with organic coconut oil. Organic! What’s the point if you are going to nuke it anyway…please see lightness and laughter, no criticism in this!
Spinach added, served with loads of cracked black pepper.
2 eggs, 3 rashers of bacon and a handful of spinach.
The breakfast was very tasty, and I am sure that I will only have a late lunch or supper now.
I got a note later to say that my sis had lamb and broccoli soup tonight. I think that’s pretty cool, and I am proud of her for hanging in there in the middle of what must be pretty nightmarish!
Tuna salad was my supper and it was more than adequate. I dressed it with some olive oil and verjuice and sprinkled a little Tabasco over it. Yumness.
Marching on with The Revolution!…
(The Real Meal Revolution by Tim Noakes, Sally-Ann Creed, Jonno Proudfoot and David Grier)
Banting with a Sister Across the Seas…
It is amazing what accountability does to one’s whole demeanour. My sister needed some encouragement to go the Banting way and I was so happy, I jumped at the chance to mentor and accompany her. I say mentor only in that I have been doing it for 4 months and have lost 14 kilos and am so in the groove now, it feels solid, and it is a treat to help anyone to achieve something at which we are both working. This is not unlike going to gym with a buddy. You can talk the same language about muscle building and toning, groan and moan when you are taking strain, appeal for help when you need a lift, and generally be there for each other. Here we talk nutrition, weight correction and general health.
Sis and I have both had weight issues most of our grown-up lives. We both suffer from the apple shape, insulin resistance marker tum and are both very keen cooks. This has led to many calories over the necessary and the proof is in the size of our clothes. Too big! In the past we have talked about doing a project together which involved writing, and what better project than this. With this we can reach and teach others as well, those who are walking the same journey to Oh-So-Sassy!
I have been on go-slow for a fortnight now. Not stalled, but the weight loss is crawling along. I decided to start at the beginning again in order to make sure my system is truly changed and is a roaring fat-burning furnace! So I am joining my sister with that goal in mind for both of us. She will now have the delight of all that water weight loss in these next two weeks. Hopefully I will drive those ketones on and out and stoke my furnace once again.
The first two weeks are what I call Austerity Fortnight. A bit like Atkins induction when I did that some years ago, except no dairy, no nuts and lots of fat. Nothing but eggs, fish, poultry, red meats, venison…anything under the protein column on the Green List in The Real Meal Revolution by Tim Noakes et al, and vegetables from that same list. That’s it. And of course fats. Coconut oil, butter, ghee, lard (pork fat) and tallow (beef and mutton fat). Drinks include water water and water, herb teas, preferably green tea or rooibos/redbush with a slice of lemon and/or mint, and ginger tea which I make with slices of fresh ginger steeped in boiling water which I keep in a flask and drink as needed. Another drink I keep on my desk from which I frequently sip, is filtered water with apple cider vinegar. The benefits of ACV are too numerous to mention here, so I will save that for another post. Just believe me when I say it is good for you!
The Sisters Day 1:
Lamb Fingers with Kale and Egg Scramble spiced with Turmeric, Black Pepper and Cayenne
This was my meal number 1 in the mountains of Limpopo Province and Sis had eggs and bacon and a grilled tomato in Scotland. We will both be making bone broth tonight, mine in my slow cooker and hers on her new AGA! Bone broth is my chosen top-up food or snack mid-afternoon if I get the slightest bit peckish. I decided that bone broth was the easiest way to keep my fat intake up without having to even think! So instead of a cup of coffee or tea, bone broth is it. And water, or have I said that already? 
We leave 6 to 8 hours between eating because we eat breakfast to satiety. This I learned from my mentor, Charles Lubbe from The Big Breakfast Banting Debate on Facebook. Eat until you are FULL! And he means really full. By the way, if you ever want a really good Facebook Banting Group you cannot go wrong with Charles’s The Big Breakfast Banting Debate. He has all sorts of good information at his finger tips and the support is awesome.
Tonight’s meal for me will be a handful of spicy beef meatballs, salad dressed with olive oil and lemon, with a gorgeous mix of broccoli, cauliflower and courgette, while Sis will be eating pork with crispy crackling and buttered spinach for her supper in the Northern Hemisphere.
This in from Scotland:
What a fabulous idea. Ever since I moved to Scotland I have felt quite far from my sister, and now we have the same goal! What a pleasure, and the fact that I have been on a different diet and not really lost a thing, and that M has lost 14kg’s means it works. Sure I am in trepidation, my basic lifestyle has been vegetarian most of my life, but I do enjoy meat. I have been eating low fat EVERYTHING and was surprised to see what a challenge it is to find full fat milk/cheese/yoghurt in the shops.
So now for my comments very quickly! I am not properly prepared for the austere 2 weeks, the only thing that is working in my kitchen is the new AGA, the worktops have not been installed and I have bought loads of cheese! I have also not been able to get into the kitchen to put the pork roast into the AGA! There are workmen sanding the bamboo work tops so I cannot do anything. I might land up having cucumber and boiled eggs for supper tonight. I have learned my first lesson in Banting, BE Prepared!
I did walk to the butcher and buy some lamb bones for a broth which I will put in the oven when the workmen have left. The broth is a basic one, a few sticks of celery, a carrot, 6 black peppercorns, an onion and a clove of garlic.
My tea of choice will be green or ginger tea, I am not really keen on herb teas, but will aim to try some new ones soon.
I love it! Here’s to our journey to Slim and Healthy…
Rocking with The Real Meal Revolution!!!
Banting, Budget and Bone Broth…
Hello fellow Banters!
Today I am going to sing the praises of the humble bone broth. Cheapest way to fill your tum. This morning I bought some meaty venison bones from the local store. Venison has to be organic, right? I was so excited I bought 5 packets, they were R17 each. Bit by bit I browned two packets of bones in coconut oil in a heavy bottomed pot until they were smelling really good. I then added filtered water to cover, an onion studded with 3 cloves, a stick of celery and a carrot cut up in chunks, two bay leaves and about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. After bringing it to the boil I turned it down and left it to simmer for about 3 hours or more.
For lunch I had the marrow from four bones and a soup cup of bone broth. It was so delicious I went back for another cup! Of course it is up to you as to what herbs or spices you add but it was the simplest combination and it was so flavoursome. I removed no fat and drank it the way it came out the pot.
Afterwards I poured the remaining stock and bones into the slow cooker and added more water to cover and another squirt of ACV (it helps to draw out the minerals from the bones) to cook overnight so that that the flavours really intensify and it becomes a rich, nutritious broth.
I truly believe that bone broth can make the Banting diet more accessible to those who are on a really tight budget and they will be getting great nutrition from it. I for one will be using this as a standard beverage/food on my Banting Journey. It is filling and tasty and that is what counts for me, and it has no carbs as I strain out all the vegetables and drink only the broth. The meat and gelatine on the bones is tasty and good for you, so indulge! I do
In fact I had the meat that fell off the bone this morning for breakfast around 10.30. The slow cooker ROCKS!
Just
Banting and Ketogenic Diets…
Food Journal 22 October 2014
All is beginning to fall into place now. I have spent a few days and nights researching ketogenic diets, which is what I believe Banting is, and come away with meal plans, recipes and good advice. Here is a link to an article I found helpful. http://www.ketosisdietplans.com/what-to-eat-on-a-keto-diet-plan/ The trick is to keep the ratios more or less the same every day. I have read differing ratios so here are two. You choose what suits you or go between them. The carbs stay at 5% for both plans.
75% Fats/25% Protein/5% Carbs
65% Fats/30% Protein/5% Carbs
As you can see, the fat percentages are high and this is what helps me keep my appetite in check and it keeps me feeling full. Below is my intake for the day. I get the numbers from my nutrition tracker on SparkPeople and they also have a pie chart which shows you the percentages. Very useful.
4 rashers bacon – 1 carb/19g protein
3 scrambled eggs – 3 carbs/18g protein
Parmesan Cheese 25g – 1 carb/10g protein
Spinach .5 cup – 3 carbs/3g protein
Fresh cream in two coffees 30g – 1 carb/1g protein
Milk in tea 50ml – 3 carbs/2g protein
Breakfast Total – 12 carbs/53 protein
6 Macadamias – 4 carbs/2g protein
3 tsp coconut oil – 0 carbs/0 protein
Snack Total – 4 Carbs/2g protein
Green Beans 50g – 4 carbs/1g protein
Rump Steak 250g – 0 carbs/58g protein
Dinner Total – 4 carbs/59g protein
TOTALS
Carbs 20 – 6% of calories
Protein 114 – 35% of calories
Fat 87 – 59% of calories
There will be food trials coming up in the next couple of days, so watch this space. I am keen to do some LC Bread!
Onward with the Revolution…
Banting Foods – Making Wise Choices…
When the Atkins Diet was all the rage, first in the late seventies and then again in the nineties, it was criticised for its lack of vegetables. Those same critics most likely did not read the Atkins Diet Revolution too well, because they would have seen the three cups of vegetables recommended daily. Two salad and one cooked vegetable. And that was only in the first two weeks of induction. After induction you could add more vegetables until you reached your CCL (Critical Carbohydrate Level) where you would no longer be losing weight. Unfortunately there were a whole bunch of low carb products (fake foods) being touted as well, and a low carb candy bar seemed much more exciting than a stick of celery. No vegetables meant more constipation as people were not getting enough fibre. The diet was blamed.
There are also those who complain they cannot eat fruit on a low carb diet. If you read the orange list in The Real Meal Revolution by Prof Tim Noakes et al, you will see a comprehensive list of fruit from which we can choose to eat, as long as we include it in our carbs for the day. The decision is ours to make. A little pineapple or apple in the chicken salad does make a difference every now and then. And strawberries and cream are a true treat. However, I am beginning to see the value of noting the carbs on a daily basis. Munching meats is cool because there are no carbs to count, nor in fat. Milk, cream, cheeses, nuts and seeds (which means crackers and breads) all need to be counted, along with the more dense vegetables. Unless it is high fat such as butter and lemon, sauces need to be limited and some archived for the moment.
The simple rule would be to choose our carbs wisely.
I think it was in a Paleo article where it was suggested that we should eat only those things that you could pick, dig out or kill with a pointed stick while naked on the plains, or was it the savannah? Now I don’t know about naked with a pointed stick, but I do get their meaning. It all boils down to real, natural food. Stuff that you could mostly eat raw actually. Raw meat? Come on, you know steak tartare don’t you? Well, you get my drift. You can’t eat rice raw, or wheat, or legumes unless sprouted. Sugar would be sucked from a cane and if the bees didn’t get you, honey would be a rare delight. Real food is what we need to keep healthy. Our bodies are made for it. They thrive on natural organic foods.
Sweets don’t grow on trees.
Not long ago in a meditation course with Osho, the one thing that stuck with me was the word “mindful”. Eating mindfully has become another reminder from my nagging but caring inner voice. We cannot eat mindfully in front of a television. In fact, I think we eat most mindfully when we are alone. Osho declared it would take much longer to eat our meals if we did so in a mindful manner. Slowly, chewing well, savouring and focusing on every mouthful. When the inner voice gets through to me and I practise that mindfulness, it works. It is then that a stick of celery delights.
Slow and steady with the Revolution…
Banting and a new Facebook Page…
Banting Babes and Boys. That’s it. My new Facebook page with for everyone who is committed to changing their food lifestyle in order to be healthy, healed and filled with energy.
This blog records my journey which has only just begun. You can follow me on Instagram (marloescottwilson) and Twitter (@marloepink) as well, but this is where I pour my heart out over food! This is where I share my food experiments and recipes. This is where I celebrate the changes I am making on my journey. My guide is The Real Meal Revolution by Tim Noakes et al. I love cooking (and eating!) and I love really good food that is organically grown and humanely reared. I garden and grow organic vegetables and in my kitchen there is never a shortage of green leafy goodness. New vegetables are being planted and new seed is being sown in this awesome Spring season. It is such an awesome feeling when eating one’s own lovingly grown produce:)
I get my free range eggs from a neighbour but am working on designing my chook dome and getting a rooster with a harem. In the meantime I am sorted. A nearby organic dairy farm offers cheeses, yogurt, raw cow and goat milk, free range eggs and free range pastured pork. How amazing to have such a place in my area.
OK. Enough rambling. Here’s my Food of the Day…
Meal 1: 3 Zucchini Fritters with a difference. I added 1/4 cup of finely grated Parmesan, 2 small tsp tomato paste and a leeeetle cream to the recipe I made yesterday. (Check yesterday’s blog entry for the basic recipe. Very yum.) This was served with two free range eggs fried in butter and olive oil.
1 filter coffee with cream
Meal 2: Herring with Ina Paarman’s Blue Cheese salad dressing. (She don’t use no MSG and it is way low in carbs. So cool.)
One chicken leg left over from last night
(Gotta tell you, two hours later and that 4 o’clock hunger time has passed and I am truly not hungry, so the diet discipline and the fat intake is working…)
Meal 3:
Going out to a friend for the evening. She has kindly cooked food that I can eat! Awesome. It is wonderful to have friends who care. Roast chicken and salad is goooood! I will take my own beautiful bottle of water spiked with Bitters. It looks just like a pink blush wine! And I believe bitters is good for the digestion. Yeh!
Cruising on with the Revolution…
Here is a “Before” pic. Mmino and me. First kiss.
Banting – Why am I Doing This?
My food life is becoming very interesting, what with all this Banter! It keeps me on the edge of my seat of addiction (read carb addiction) as I try to remember why I am doing this.
Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this?
I have been at first plump, then overweight, plain fat and finally obese during most of my 64 years. For a brief, shining moment, with the help of a bariatric doctor who gave me injections and a 500 calorie diet, I was thin. Without going into all the psychological possibilities of why I might have eaten my way out of stress or depression, (I would spare you that) I am totally and utterly convinced that my weight gain is from carbs. Mostly breads, grains, starchy vegetables, legumes…and too much red wine. Mine was not a sugar addiction. I never liked Coke or fizzy drinks and got onto the vegetarian whole-foods wagon while in my early twenties in London. They were after all, “healthy” peace and brown rice hippie days.
When, after seven years of vegetarianism, I returned to my carnivorous ways, unfortunately the carbs came with me and so did the weight gain. I had a hysterectomy and put on weight, I gave up smoking and kilos piled on and then I just ate more and the kilos finally overwhelmed me. Of course I was eating more and more carbs and not doing too much exercise. I had become insulin resistant, had leaky gut syndrome and was pre-diabetic. Pharmaceutical medication was suggested which I refused as I am more into supplements and holistic healing than that which Big Pharma offers. I believe that food is indeed our medicine. But what food? I knew it needed to be natural, real food, but up until lowcarb I believed that brown rice, whole wheat pasta and beans were natural and healthy.
In the early turn of this century, I turned to Atkins and successfully lost 16 kilos and put on 22 when I gave up on the diet. I cannot remember what turned me, but I really missed bread and potatoes. I liked quinoa and millet, good alkaline grains, but they were only used when I entertained and needed some healthy grain or seed to put on the table. Pasta was a rare food but I did so enjoy it when it was put before me. “Healthy” seed bread, rice cakes and crackers, those were my quick go-to foods if I needed to assuage my hunger in a hurry. A main meal at night was the ubiquitous meat, starch and veg…and red wine.
I recognise my addiction to carbs and wine, but the memory of a good sourdough bruschetta topped with olive tapenade or delicious chilli coriander pesto still haunts me. This is the one thing that made me fear going back to a lowcarb diet. Every time I would try it out again, I made it to the second day and then sometimes not. Just plain freaked out. All I could see coming were extra kilos that would pile on if I ever dared to go back to eating bread.
What convinced me to change my food lifestyle again were the scientific facts put before me in The Real Meal Revolution. That and my brother’s success with the diet, (he of bygone bread and pizza making fame). Perhaps I am also a little better armed at this point in my weight shedding journey. My focus has moved from only weight loss to being healthy and I have continued to research alkaline diets, paleo, primal, GAPS, ketogenic, raw food and Ayurveda. My journey has led me to this juncture and I am now searching for as many Banting-friendly recipes as possible to fill the carb “hole” in my taste memory. Coconut breads, Atkins rolls, seed crackers, pasta and pizza made from cauliflower and the list goes on. This is a Banter’s search for tasty substitutes for starch and sugar comfort food carbs. Without those replacements I do declare I might fold.
I am still in favour of chlorophyll rich vegetables and green juices and I do think about the acidity of meat and the mucus forming properties of dairy but right now I have my sights set on doing this right according to the Banting way, which should be for life. I need to make it so for the sake of the years still left me, to enjoy life on this planet in good health.
So I shall eat fat and soldier on…