Salutations from Raincloak

[Raincloak]

Good morning/afternoon/dead of night/insert time here. Also please insert obligatory witty remark.

I'm 25 years old, I live in San Diego, and I'm a girl nerd. Also, I'm addicted to Internet forums. But this one seemed worthwhile given my current goals of Getting In Shape, Making New Friends, and Living Better. I really want to travel the world someday like Steve is doing, and I like this workout approach of "get it done in 20 minutes and go play video games." Efficiency in the name of having fun is good. Video games, also good. I can't wait till the next generation of gaming systems comes out and I can get a workout by waving my hands to kill goblins.

I'm 5'5.5" (that's five feet, five and a half inches) tall and weigh about 142 lbs, give or take a couple. (Being female, the weight goes up and down a bit with the monthly tides.) I'm not overly concerned with the scale numbers but I don't like the shape my middle is, I weighed less and looked better a few years ago (didn't we all), and I know I consume more refined carbs and sugar, and less veggies, than I should. (Also, hydrogenated fats scare me. But they're in so many tasty things.)

My hopes by joining here are:

- meet some fellow nerds and have fun

- improve both my cardiovascular endurance and muscle/bone tone

- form habits of regular workouts (the key word here is "habit")

- lose about 10-15 lbs (I'll know I've lost enough when I look and feel good)

- improve my cooking repertoire and corresponding eating habits.

The fact is, I'm already a fairly competent cook and I know my way around labels and ingredients, but I'm also fundamentally lazy (efficient, that is) and a habitual grazer. I used to avoid eating too much junk by simply not buying it often. Unfortunately, I currently live with several people who are addicted to sugar and carbs and since I am not the resident Responsible Adult, I do not have the power to ban the junk from the premises. The trick for me is learning to resist the easy snacks and to cook myself a proper meal (or reach for unappetizing leftovers) when I'm either bored or already starving. I'm convinced I can make this a habit, but I'm going to need support.

I've been doing some reading on this paleo diet thing, and it looks interesting but I have my concerns and critiques. To me, grain is the basis of a meal (it's what you put the protein and veggies ON), but I am interested in reducing the grain and boosting the veggies. I figure weight loss will naturally follow if I do. I'd also like to learn more ways to approach meat and fish, since I find them intidmidating, and (sorry) get the hang of cooking legumes.

p.s. I'm pretty sure "Salutations" comes from the same root as "salud," which means health. so, I'm wishing you all good health.

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

Welcome to the Rebellion!

[Alethea]

Hallo! We have lots of neat recipes for you to try, and I hope you share anything great you find.

If you're kinda on the fence about paleo, maybe try a few meals a week so you can discover that the sun will continue to rise even when you don't put your meat, fats and veggies on grains. Think of it this way: grains are kinda tasteless. So if you cut them out, you get to have more of the good stuff!

Speaking as one who lives with 4 rediculous-diet-and-metabolism-men, I've found that cooking a bunch of chicken/ham/whatever and freezing it to be a godsend. When the boys order pizza, I make myself a chicken ceasar salad in 5 minutes or less, and I'm eating before the pizza even gets here! Also, eggs are your friend. : )

[Raincloak]

Ohhhh, grain is not tasteless. Good grain, anyway. Supermarket bread is no good, but crusty slow-risen artisan bread from a good bakery is better than chocolate. I used to hate tortillas until I went to Mexico and discovered how to eat them properly (corn only, not flour, and they must be fresh and hot). Brown rice is lousy if you cook it in a pot, but I recently had soaked and pressure-cooked brown rice that opened up the grains, it was fluffy and delicious. And as for hot cereal: don't try to pass off a bowl of the instant crap on me, but I'll go for the cooked rolled oats or grits with dried fruit and honey and nuts and cream and ... the only problem is it's such a pain in the ass to clean up. You get the picture. This is why I'm on the fence about it.

I've found that I feel happiest with meals that are a mix of carbs, fiber, protein and fat. If one of those is missing, either I don't feel satisfied, or the food sits like a rock, or it goes down fine but I get a crash later. My reading has convinced me that a diet should never be more than 30-40% calories from protein, and the rest from fat or carbs, but the balance can vary widely (native Alaskans live on fat and they don't get heart attacks, but Mediterraneans live on grain and veggies and neither do they).

One thing's for sure, I don't want to be downing protein powders or fake artificial sweeteners. Tofu is about as manufactured as I want my dinner to get. I believe very much that food should be "real." I am all in favor of doing the work in advance and freezing stuff, though. I will have to think about more ways to do that.

[Alethea]

Well, regardless how you go, I just opened up a Paleo/Primal food subforum and a Whole Foods/Localvore/Natural subforum, so I expect recipes from you, missy!

Also, your artisan bread description made my mouth water. Don't torture a primal foodie!