Wow-what A Difference!

[caroline]

I thought of something else: my skin is glowing. So something good is happening. Also, I did not wake up bloated at all. Despite eating piles of cheese yesterday and the whole eggs cooked AND potato. And I swear I am not imagining it; my waist is smaller. Like the part that curves in; mine doesn't do that too much b/c I am built like a swimmer, but it is actually tinier. Something good is happening. And I think there is a difference from when I was eating all meat, no carbs, etc. I looked dried-out. And drinking any coffee made my skin flushed, dry, patchy, and peeling-like. Not now; so clearly, the milk, etc. and lack of PUFA is working.

Also, I think keeping food amounts to a minimum at one time seems to work the best, including even the gelatin. Less more often is best.

 

[charlie]

Tried potato last night. Boiled and then fried in absolute piles and piles of coconut oil. I felt fine when I woke up but I did notice a tiny bit of stiffness in my hands.

My sweet potato experience was terrible. Stopped me up completely for a day. Today things finally moving along.

 

[caroline]

Sorry to hear that, Charlie. I find the starch to be harder in general as well. Sweet Potato was far worse than regular potato. I kind of liked the regular potato, bc it felt so nurturing, etc., plus it gives me something to put butter on.

I still am not convinced that starch is easier than sugary things. Also, I did kind of notice I had greater craving for something sweet after the potato, which I don't usually get.

I got something new that is not optimal--chocolate with soy lecithin. I have been looking for chocolate I like for a while; not that excited about it anymore. I can't really rationalize that the soy is a good thing, but I figured I would try it and see if I have a reaction. I LOVE this particular chocolate; super creamy and yummy. It is milk chocolate--I absolutely love this particular one. I got it at Fresh and Easy, and it is their brand of chocolate. This is a market that has lots of lower-end products with hydrogenated soybean oil in just about EVERYTHING, etc. They have unpasteurized orange juice, but it looks weird to me. Like piles and piles and piles of pulp in it. Why does it have so much pulp? It looks very different than all the other juices I have seen that are unpasteurized. It is their brand and since other things I got there have been sub-part (by their brand), I felt unmotivated to get it. Instead I got a big navel orange and just ate that and spit out the pulp, etc, chewing it for juice. I think I like this way better unless I get the unpasteurized at Trader Joe's.

I am loving how I feel from the eggs; yolks are easier, they just are. I can do yolks no problem, whereas the cooked and the egg white adds another component of challenge. I will just suck it up and not b**** about the cost of them and if I find I can do the whites, I will, but I don't notice anything at all when just eating the yolk raw. It is that easy.

Still want to do potato; would also like to try white rice, but I really don't want piles of arsenic in my rice. Sounds like that's an issue. Might try oats. That would be yummy with butter and honey, etc. Maybe that is what I"ll try next...

 

[caroline]

Oh, also wow on the carrot and getting things moving. I don't have that much, and today I didn't feel like having it with coconut oil and vinegar. I didn't like it like that. I just chewed some plain, but boy does that send me running to the bathroom. Not like upset stomach or anything; it just has an immediate effect. And I do seem to like having it along with protein like eggs, etc.

 

[loess]

Hey that's great that you figured out how to get the eggs to agree with you. I am the same way, I don't bother with the white and just eat the egg yolks. I try and make sure to always get some sugar in me (OJ or honey or white sugar or whatever) at least 5 minutes or so before I eat the yolk. After some experimentation I found out that the easiest way for me to get at the yolk without consuming any raw egg white is to crack the egg and dump the yolk into my hand, and then I let the white drop through my fingers in the sink. Then I take a piece of a paper towel and put the yolk on it. If you take the paper towel and roll the yolk around, the rest of the white will absorb into the paper towel. Then I just suck out the yolkiness outta there, leaving behind the "casing" that held the yolk (it's called the vitelline membrane).

 

[caroline]

Wow, Loess, awesome specifics re: getting rid of the egg white. I just crack the egg and move it back and forth between the shells to get rid of egg white, but your way sounds even better.

Actually, I experimented again today. I like contrasting what I am doing to really get a sense of the difference. Today I cracked 2 entire eggs raw, but instead of eating it separately, I put it in the blender with orange juice (from whole tangerines), milk, little oj unpasteurized blended. Also I put in a bit of carrots finely grated into the mix. Salt, too, and a touch of honey. I did two whole eggs in the drink. It definitely seems like uncooked is better energetically. So now, we will see how that goes. Had my coffee along with gelatin, too. I keep getting the sense that eating a little carrot along with my protein is helpful for digestion. No supplements.

 

[caroline]

OH, and my chocolate I got. I don't like it as much anymore. I think now that I"m getting enough magnesium, that may be why I"m not nuts about chocolate anymore. I just don't like it that much. I didn't notice anything funny this morning from the soy lecithin in the chocolate. No pain or stiffness in hands after not having potato last night.

Still might want to try oats. Ixnay on the arsenic-laced iceray. No idea why I"m speaking pig-latin. Too many math problems I guess.

 

[HDD]

Obablypray the ugarshay! Uvlay itay!

 

[Peata]

OH, and my chocolate I got. I don't like it as much anymore. I think now that I"m getting enough magnesium, that may be why I"m not nuts about chocolate anymore. I just don't like it that much. I didn't notice anything funny this morning from the soy lecithin in the chocolate. No pain or stiffness in hands after not having potato last night.

I don't like chocolate much anymore either. I don't mean the flavor - I still like chocolate ice cream for example, I just mean I've lost the cravings I used to get for actual chocolate.

 

[caroline]

Very interesting, Peata! I purposely got the milk chocolate b/c I found I didn't like the dark chocolate anymore, which used to be my favorite. So I figured it was b/c I am now eating sweeter things and got the most decadent chocolate I could think of--which was this milk chocolate. Enh. Perhaps it is a result of our getting what we "need". I was a serious chocolate addict prior to this. I don't feel that great eating it. I don't feel bad; I just don't feel much.

Oh, p.s. your evaluation of your diet is SO helpful. You really seem to evaluate and pay attention to symptoms, which I find very helpful, b/c many of them are similar to what I have experienced at points, so I am able to identify similarities in terms of determining merits of foods/ etc.

Also on a peripheral note, I took niacinamide today and I must say, I do notice a difference. It is subtle, but it is a sense of well-being and clarity without the high amplitude that can come from something that is too intense. I am going to continue with the B1, and niacinamide, etc. It seems like 1500 at once is a nice dosage for me with the niacinamide.

 

[caroline]

And coffee ice cream is my favorite treat. Chocolate just doesn't do it for me anymore.

Also, I am still ambivalent about coconut oil. As I mentioned, we use Nativa. It is not refined. My husband eats absolute tons of it, and I used to eat tons of it. But over the last day or two when I upped my amounts, I noticed much more white stuff on the tongue. I am not convinced that it is beneficial for me. I'll have to investigate more.

 

[caroline]

Obablypray the ugarshay! Uvlay itay!

hahahahahhah!

How did I miss that? FUNNY!

Unnyfay. Uessday ouyay alsoay (not sure about that one) eatay ugarshay, too!

 

[caroline]

OOps. Uessgay. Not uessday.
Guess I should eat more sugar. Maybe my P-latin will improve. :)

 

[caroline]

effect of "stuff":
niacinamide. immediate improvement. clarity with smoothness. Also, it is causing less laxative effect starting today. I assume this is a good sign since Haidut mentioned constipation from it could be positive? I just figure that if something makes you "remove it" (polite way of saying it) rather quickly, perhaps this is not a good sign. So maybe I am tolerating it better.

Second. MIxing of milk with orange does not seem to be optimal with me. Makes no sense to me as I drink orange juice and have milk, or eat oranges and have milk all in the same eating period. Like one right after the other. But "smoothie", i.e. mixing the two at once seems to make me feel sleepy. No idea why, but I have noticed this several times. So on the one hand, it seems very helpful for the egg digestion thing, but on the other, the effect is a slight heaviness, which feels different than say, the calm that comes from eating something like sweet.

I am going to try tomorrow, eating the egg completely, raw, just on its own. Then having the milk, then having the orange and see how that works.

 

[caroline]

YUM. That is my newest response to my newest snack. So I decided since I already tried potatoes and felt sort of "meh" about them (I don't really like mushy things that much anyway, though I love drinking my meals (except for smoothies). I had a hunch about oats. Thing is, carrot really seems to be amazing. I notice it drastically reduces any breath symptoms from eggs, which are very challenging for me, especially as I ate two whole eggs today (raw, which is easier for digestion). Therefore, I was thinking that if I were going to do a starch, instead of arsenic laced rice (also mushy), I would try oats.

I got some organic oats at the health food store. Came home, put coconut oil and my kerrygold butter in a pan on the stovetop. Melted this. Put oats in. Did not soak them b/c I wanted them to be more fibrous like the carrots. Put honey in the pan along with lots of salt. And some vanilla. Was so good, I had a second helping. So we will see how I feel tomorrow, but this may be my new favorite. I like coconut oil in this concoction along with butter.

Also, I got some dark chocolate (like 70 %) discs at the health food store. I think the reason why I did not like the milk chocolate that I got at the cheapo store the other day IS actually BECAUSE of the soy lecithin, and not for the reason that it's "not good for you." I think soy lecithin gives the chocolate a greasy waxy-like taste, which is not the same as a wonderfully creamy taste. Bc I immediately noticed the difference in quality when I had the discs. And they do not have soy lecithin. After I had my oats concoction, I had a nice glass of milk. I didn't have it all together, bc as I said, I didn't want mushy oats. If this works, I would prefer this snack over potato, b/c since I am so f********* impatient about having to spend any time cooking things, oats are much more up my alley the way I made them. Takes like 3 minutes, which is about the max time I am willing to spend preparing food.

Also, I had liver today and realized I absolutely need it, and will probably have it 3 or more times a week. I felt amazing after eating it. I don't feel that way with ground beef. Ground lamb feels slightly better but the energy I felt after the liver was great. And it doesn't take much. Also had 3 oysters. Again, with these foods, I find a little goes a long way. Feeling great.

 

[caroline]

Hmm, there was something else. Let me think..oh yeah. So I checked out the ice cream at the health food store. Strauss was the only brand that didn't have soy lecithin. However, the pint size was like 5 dollars and the bigger size (was like 946ml) was 6.50. Also, they only had the bigger size in vanilla, which I don't really like. I like coffee. So I sat there like a weirdo, using my math skills (ha) to calculate the price per ml. Here's the conclusion I came to: only vegans would penalize a person for buying what would typically be an economy size by charging MORE for it than the smaller size. They actually charged 50 cents more for the bigger size. It took me a bit b/c it wasn't so easy to divide the price by the ml and move the decimal over in my head. And to begin with , I mixed it up and divided the ml by the price. ahhhahahaha.

Actually, the Haagen Daaz must really be overpriced, b/c I just checked my coffee ice cream, and it was 6 dollars for 828 ounces. So the Strauss is not really more expensive even. That is very interesting. I will have to look at the smaller sizes and compare, but if it's the same price, I am going to get the Strauss instead of hormone milk Haagen Daaz. After all, I notice breast size increase when eating milk that is not organic. And despite this being touted in our society as a wonderful thing, I DON'T THINK SO. Smaller is better for me.

 

[loess]

I can't even tell you how many dozens (probably hundreds by now) of times I have found myself at the store staring into the hypnotic ether of mathematics that knows no finite depth as I frantically attempt to figure out how to save a buck or two.

Nine times out of ten, if I don't have my phone with me to use the calculator I am lost, haha. That situation is soooo stressful for me...there is the first step of figuring out if the ingredients are OK, then trying to block out the fluorescent lighting piercing through my skull, the elevator music spilling out of the damn ceiling, and the distraction of people passing by me while I stand there looking like a deer in the headlights. Gimme the beach and a beautiful sunny day instead and I will throw down long division in my head all day long!

I have had that Strauss ice cream in vanilla, it's gooood. I will have to try the coffee flavor. One thing that sort of bugs me is that bet they are putting palmitates in there since they use their nonfat milk in the ice cream. But this is really not that big of a deal and if I really cared that much I could just make my own ice cream using milk that I skimmed myself.

 

[caroline]

Zero pain, zero stiffness this morning. I think oats may be a hit! Also, my husband said I had absolutely no smell (i.e. egg breath) when I woke up before brushing my teeth or anything, and that was after 2 whole raw eggs yesterday. I am pretty excited about this.

Today I made an adjustment to my drink with the eggs. Since the mixture of orange juice with milk, etc. made me feel so tired yesterday (had the same effect as if one were to eat 2 bowls of pasta with bread), I tried a sort of "eggnog." However, whereas before I could only tolerate my milk scalding hot and foamed, now I only like it cold, even with my coffee. So I put egg in my foamer (Capresso brand-excellent) and dropped in two whole eggs, and a salt and honey. Drank that and then a coffee with cocoa powder and sugar and milk. Feel great. Not sleepy at all. Not too full. Also, I had a little gelatin, but not that much. I am pretty excited about the eggs. And I had a carrot, which seems to be key with any protein I eat. Have no idea why it works, but it does.

The biggest clue that this is working for me is that prior to eating this way, any eggs would cause immediate constipation, pain, horrible breath. Now--nada. And I am continuing my niacinamide and B1 b/c I do notice a marked improvement when I take them.

I also feel more calm, less nervous. The difference is that I do not have to "try" so hard to stay calm. I had all kinds of techniques I used before; while this is great, it is also tiresome. Much easier to start off with more calm, and then grow that calmness more deeply.

As for exercise, I am really watching my energy levels. The idea of exercising all the time is nice, but what I notice, especially since I feel less amped/conflicted/with alternating energy levels is that right now, my body doesn't feel ready for everyday exercise. This also takes a level of calm in order for me to really notice and pay attention to this. So despite the wonderful boost it gives me when I exercise, I just am doing so only when it feels right.

 

[charlie]

Also, my husband said I had absolutely no smell (i.e. egg breath) when I woke up before brushing my teeth or anything, and that was after 2 whole raw eggs yesterday. I am pretty excited about this.

So you did yolk and whites? I might actually give this a shot because as Ray Peat mentioned there is some useful stuff in the whites.

 

[caroline]

Hahahaha. I am laughing b/c we are all just lovely collaborating information trains! I was even more motivated to do whites too, after reading an exchange between you and someone else about the whole egg topic and how whites are beneficial. Yes, I am doing all of it raw. I did read that whites might be 50% less digestible this way (someone else on this forum wrote this info), but doing the egg raw appears the most effortless in that I feel nothing after eating it, which is a good sign. Eating less meat on this diet means it is somewhat more challenging to get the protein needed, so why ignore the whites? And I have tried the cheese, but I don't find it as easy to digest--I feel more heavy after eating it and have mini-cravings--it is not really satisfying for some reason. I don't get this with milk. Also, as I have mentioned, it irritates the heck out of me to toss part of an egg out. So while I may not be "using" all of it without cooking it, I'll take my chances. I would venture to say that if I don't experience fatigue when eating it raw, via my eggnog route, then that is preferable to cooking and heating which seems to cause more problems. Also, again, I want to mention that eating carrot along with it seems key. Every time I have done this, it massively improved my digestion of the protein. And though Ray does the whole lots of OJ with his egg, I have not found this to be helpful; in fact, it seems to have the opposite effect on me. Makes me feel like cr**p. Tired and lethargic. I tried all that he suggested, but in this case, NOT having OJ or oranges along with the eggs seems to be much better for me.