Carnivory Challenge Update

2 days carnivorous. Today, no - had some salsa :) Tomorrow, I've got a nice order of meat coming from Beretta Organic Farms - steaks, bacon, sausages and other good stuff - so I'll have more variety to choose from. Makes carnivory easier.

Here's yesterday's menu (click on it if you can't see it in detail). I was seriously nibbly. Better cheese than cigarettes.


And today - salsa, cocoa and a square of dark, dark choccy. Though, since tea and coffee aren't counting against carnivory in this "contest", can I squeak cocoa past? I'll have to confer with the judges on this one.

Note the 5 - yes, 5 - slices of processed cheese. Normally, I don't "do" processed cheese but today, in a fit of enthusiasm, I decided to try making taco shells out of them. How? Basically, you melt them in the oven or microwave til bubbly, then remove and hang over a rolling pin to cool and harden. It is best to do this on parchment paper, which I did not have. So I just bunged the cheese on a silicone sheet and let 'er melt. Unfortunately, the point at which the cheese goes from melty and bubbly to blackened and burnt comes quickly, and I was left with a crusty, gooey mess of cheese. So, as with all other failed kitchen experiments, I ate them anyway. Not bad.

What did turn out, however, were the little cheese crisps I made from organic cheddar - make little piles of shredded cheese on parchment paper/silicone baking sheet, and bake at 350 or so til they melt and bubble. Scrape 'em off, cool on a paper towel, and they're ready to go.

Someone asked me about cholesterol while doing this challenge. Well, that's a whole post in and of itself, and will have to wait until tomorrow! Suffice to say that cholesterol isn't something I worry about, based on my research and understanding of the subject.

My brain is still running a tad slow - all this damn fresh oxygen! It's a bit like being buzzed all the time. But it's really interfering with my ability to write; to communicate at all, actually. I vary between grunts and giggles. Quitting smoking is a total trip. It's not as severe as last time, since my relapse was only about 2 months or so - last time, I was totally oxygen drunk and tripped over my words for a week. This time, I'm just kinda goofy and it's fun.

Yep...I said fun. Quitting smoking does not have to be so hard. It's not at all like "they" tell us it is, what with "hell week" and all. Nicotine is an extremely addictive drug, it's true - but the actual withdrawal from it is so slight, smokers barely notice it at all. Think about it - do you wake up in the middle of the night to smoke? Or do you go 6-9 hours a night without smoking? Your body starts to withdraw within an hour of smoking your last cigarette, depending on how quickly you metabolize nicotine. Even then, the actual feeling of withdrawal is slight - it's like being hungry, kind of, a slightly empty feeling. Maybe a flutter here and there.

What's hard is the mental aspect - if you're convinced that smoking is something you enjoy and can't be without, then you'll crave it. If you change the way you think about smoking (and learn WHY you smoke), the mental aspect becomes a non-issue. That's why this book is so, so amazing - it's a whole new way of looking at smoking, one that I'd not ever thought of. If you smoke and want to quit, or know someone who does, get this book.

Carnivore Challenge!

The Magic Bus, one of my favorite food forums, is holding a February Carnivore Contest. The aim of the contest is pretty obvious - to see how many days we can go eating carnivorously. The eating rules are as follows:

* any part of any animal (muscle, flesh, fat, organs, bone, whatever)
* VLC dairy (butter, cheese, cream, cream cheese, sour cream, etc.)
* eggs
* herbs, spices, seasonings, salt, VLC sauces (hot sauce, etc.)
* water, tea, coffee

* no vegetable oils, mayo, salsa, bbq sauce, etc.
* no half & half
* no coconut oil/milk
* no vegetation (except herbs, spices, seasonings, sauces)
* no artificial sweeteners
* no wine/alcohol

Since I was a bad gal over the holi-daze (and haven't been all that great this month either), this is a super-duper chance to get back on track and eat normally. I've been drinking way more diet pop than I'd like, and sneaking in too many non-food cheats (damn those Cheat-os and their zesty pseudo-cheeziness). So, it's meat, meat and more meat for me. Oh...and cheese, of course.

I'm elated to report that dairy products, at least so far, are sitting quite well with me. I suspect my gut has healed up. No more little dairy-related accidents for this gal ;)

So for the month of February, I'm going to eat and post meat! Menus, recipes, and hunks of carnivorous info. I just placed an order with a local farm so I'll have lots of flesh around - grass-fed beef, chicken wings, belly bacon. All easy stuff, because I want to make this as painless as possible and lately, I've been too damn lazy to do much grand cooking. Nitrate-free organic hot dogs? Sounds good to me. I just have to *gasp* skip the ketchup.

I am also going to track my calorie and macronutrient intake. Not that I really want to - I am so over weighing and recording every morsel that passes my lips - but I'm curious to see where I end up and what effect, if any, it has on my weight and/or body composition. As of this morning, I am 114lbs, my lowest adult weight ever (highest: 140lbs. Thank you, low carb!). Nothing wrong with that, but I still have excess body fat I'd love to shed and I am hoping that this, combined with some strength training and maybe a little HIIT, will melt the rest away for good. If I get around to it, that is. It's winter - and I'm a real bear in winter. As much as I love the snow, I tend to hibernate.

The time seems right to make changes, and that first involves a confession: after two years smoke-free, I relapsed over the holi-daze. I know, I know. I've been smoking again for almost two months, and bloody miserable about it.

I mean honestly, it's ridiculous. I avoid gluten, and other foods, like the plague and it's no problem. It's not as if I'm at a party and I see other people gathered outside on the patio eating buns and feel I have to join them. I don't keep a pita in my purse and eat little chunks of it every hour or so. But smoking? It doesn't even TASTE good. If I want to kill myself, I might as well do it with a croissant or Black Forest cake and get some enjoyment out of it. So as of tomorrow, that's done and over with. Cigarettes=gluten, in my mind. I am re-reading my Allen Carr book, and feeling positive and excited about breathing again. The only thing smoking in my house is gonna be my cast iron grill.