Tag Archives: Paleo

Jan 15 2015
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Daily Life

Paleo for Schmucks

paleopicThis Paleo malarky is taxing my brain.

I’ve read everything I can get my hands on, I’ve raided the local fruit and veg shop and The Teenager can’t find his yoghurts in the fridge without foraging through bags of curly kale and spinach.

I’ve scoured Gumtree and am now the proud owner of a juicer (ok, not strictly Paleo, but I’m easing myself in gently). I have also bought a spiralizer gadget thing which I tried out yesterday; after grating my fingers over and over I finally figured out how to make carrot ‘spaghetti’, yum.

I made a packed lunch for work today, eschewing my usual carb-laden fare and pulled out my brand new salad box (with detachable dressing pot) and started munching away on my carrots before moving on to four chicken drumsticks. I also turned down a pastry and snacked on nuts instead. Unheard of.

So far, so good. I’m feeling virtuous and renewed, and it’s only Day Two. I’ve read that Paleo can be excellent for MS although some of the internet posts verge on the fanatical and are a little worrying. According to some of them, by not doing Paleo before, I’ve been compromising my health and making my MS worse. I even – if you can actually believe this – read that the Paleo lifestyle, i.e. living clutter-free and calmly, can cure MS. Oh, really?

I like the idea of Paleo, eating a more natural diet, cutting out the wheat, etc. It’s basic and it makes sense. And that’s where it stops for me. None of this forum nonsense with people posting questions such as, ‘I weakened and had a Dairylea Triangle and now I’m devastated, how can I overcome my feelings of shame?’. Or, ‘can I feed my cat a Paleo diet?’

For now, I’m going to stick to the 80/20 rule, i.e. for newbies like me, Paleo 80% of the time and treats the rest, even a Dairylea Triangle if I fancy it. Or some chocolate cake. Sigh. Will I stick to it? I reckon so, as long as I relax about it. Since my thyroid’s been playing up I’ve had the unparalleled joy of losing two stone rapidly then piling most of it on again. I spent a couple of weeks in my skinny jeans and loved it, but it was the wrong way to lose weight.

This time, I’m going to do it properly. And reward myself along the way …

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Jan 13 2015
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Blogging

Lost In Time

PaleoI’ve been thinking about turning my blog into a book for a while now – pulling together a series of posts into a (hopefully) coherent diary. My aim is to help other people see that, despite MS,  life goes on.

What could be simpler? I have two years of blog posts and there’s a plot. Plus The Teenager has a starring role.

Well, who knew the whole process could be quite so emotionally draining? I’ve read every single word of my blog. I’ve laughed, I’ve cringed, I’ve cried.

To go through the whole ‘journey’ again has been hard, but rewarding. It’s great to see how far I’ve come, but it’s upsetting to see what I had to go through to get here.

But isn’t that the same for all of us, when we look back? We thought we’d never get through it, but somehow, we do. Life is very different, but often in positive ways, not just the negative. Although I am now acutely aware just how much I talk about chocolate. And cake. And bacon butties.

Anyway, I have whittled down the blog posts by around 60% (I also talked about my cat far more than I should have). Easier than it sounds, as I had to still keep the thread going so people don’t read it and think, ‘huh? Why is she suddenly driving around on a mini-digger?’

So, I am in the middle of proof-reading (very, very embarrassing – my grammar is often appalling) and cover-designing. And writing an author bio without sounding pretentious (moi?). I also have to write an introduction, choose a price, choose layout, page size, photograph, etc. And all before Uni starts back next Wednesday, when I will once again be drowning in a sea of books I haven’t read beyond the back covers.

In a bid to super-charge my life through this period, I have been flirting with the Paleo diet, after so many people recommended it for MS. I thought it was the answer to everything – an eating plan focusing on meat, vegetables and fruit. Visions of Kentucky Fried Chicken boxes with fries popped up in my mind, as did apple cake. And my beloved bacon butties. The books I had eagerly ordered from the local library soon put paid to that idea.

As I write and ponder upon my book introduction, I am munching on a chicken drumstick, skin removed, no batter. For dinner, I am having grilled salmon with mushrooms and spinach. I’m easing myself in gently though (the book says 80% for newbie-Paleo-fatties like me), so my 20% will be a handful of After Eights, left over from Christmas….

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