Monday, January 30, 2012

Every Goal is Daily

It doesn't matter how many times you have done something good.  Doing the right thing today is a conscious choice.  Making the same choice day after day is not always easy.  A choice becomes routine, then it becomes a part of life.  If something comes along later that makes you question why you do something a certain way, will you still remember the answer?  A lot of what people do on a regular basis is habit, either to build toward a goal or to pass the time.  Part of reaching a goal is remembering why that goal is necessary.  If you were trying to lose weight and became malnourished, then you would have to stop adjust your plans.

Sometimes while working to attain a goal, interruptions occur and throw us off track of sensible reasoning.  What seems feasible one minute may seem completely impossible the next due to some tiny detail that sticks out.  Often I have to reevaluate what I really want as I work toward a goal.  Working on improving my safety becomes irrelevant when it involves staying home and never doing anything exciting.  Maintaining a budget seems irrelevant when I can't pay off my debt.  I've created so many budgets in the past and given up on them because I wasn't making enough to cover my expenses let alone support my own creativity.  Watching my finances slip further into the red was not a fun thing to do, but attempting to manage them was still good practice.  Sometimes goals have the right idea behind them, but they aren't the right tool at the right time for creating the solution.  For example, all my budgeting was not going to pay off my student loan debt, but going back to college and finishing my degree has put me in a position that makes freedom from debt possible.  I made school harder than it had to be by focusing on the debt instead of what I really wanted.  Getting out of debt is not a goal, it's a side effect.  

This year, my goal is to grow food in my yard that I can eat.  I started planning this goal last year, and since then I have added on other mini-goals as bonuses.  I started following the Primal Blueprint which influences my food choices and stamina, encouraging the possibility and desire to garden.  Every time I do something that puts me noticeably closer to my goal, I get a new wave of excitement and energy to fuel me forward.  

Then there are times when my faith in the goal completion waivers.  My mental and physical energy lull and motivation seems rather pointless.  It is during these times that I have to remember what makes me happy.  I stop to analyze the routines in my life and look for the fun and the fulfillment in them.  I look back on what feels like tedium in repetitive actions and paint those memories in a good light for activities that have been rewarding and a dim light for those that were just time sinks.  By strengthening the perception of helpful occupations and intentionally forgetting useless pastimes, I can engineer my reflexes to react differently next time these opportunities come up.  This method has helped me to spend less time on computer gaming and more time on real successes.

If the monotony of repeating so much every day doesn't seem worth it to achieve a goal, try Polyphasic sleep and you will feel like you are only repeating daily activities once a week.

Busy Weekend

I've finished my 30 day trial of Primal Blueprint.  I am very happy with this plan.  It's one I'll be keeping for the long haul.  Speaking of long hauls, I bought a bicycle this weekend!  My fanny hurts from riding it, but that's not enough deterrent to keep me from riding it.  I rode a bike all the time when I was a kid, but when I outgrew my back pedal braking bike, I could not tolerate the atrocious squeal caused by the rim brakes or the gears that jammed every time I shifted them.  My new bike is totally awesome: disc brakes and gears that change easily with the push of a button.  I have to accept the loss one of my favorite past times from my old bike which was to slam on the brakes and see how long of a skid mark on the road I could make with the tire.  I can live without that and other silly stunts because now I can explore more of the river trail.  Weee!!!!  I'm so excited!

I will still be jogging since I still have to walk my dog.  Despite my exhilaration from having a new exercise vehicle, I cannot neglect my dog because he will drive me insane if I don't take him out at least once a day.  I have all my heavy lifting cut out for me with the bike.  Loading it onto the car and back off is not terribly difficult, but the bike is not exactly light as a feather.  The real problem is finding a parking spot at the pedestrian bridges by the river.  I find it strange that bikers will park their car on the bike trail when they could just as easily park at the lot half a mile down the road.  I can take the extra mile on foot, yet those with wheels refuse.  More parking for me, I guess.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

January reading

Last year I bought a Kindle 3.  One of the interesting features it has is text to speech.  I'm guessing this is not an official feature of the device because it's located in the menu under "Experimental".  The voice is male, and he reads mostly well.  The voice has trouble with some punctuation, such as speeding through a bulletted list with no pauses.  For standard text, it reads comprehensibly enough that I can listen to it while I'm driving to work and back.  I've read several books this way, including Urban Farming by Thomas Fox, Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina, and Time Warrior by Steve Chandler.  All were very enlightening.  I'm currently reading Power vs Force by David R. Hawkins.

These books are all good for consciously changing my perspective.  Steve Pavlina is one of my favorite authors.  He writes about conscious growth.  His website www.stevepavlina.com has tons of articles that are each mind expanding on their own.  He also has podcasts on this site, and they are very eye opening as well.  Steve wrote a review on Power vs Force focusing on the levels of consciousness.  Just reading about these levels helps to put some logical understanding to reality.  The article inspired me to start reading this book.  It's a delightful read considering how much I love philosophy and mind-bending ways of thinking.

Professional Development for Smart People sounds like a snide title, but essentially conscious growth makes you smart, so really the title could be Personal Development for the Consciously Aware.  Steve Pavlina first ran a computer gaming business, and then switched gears to go into the personal growth business.  I connect with his writing very well because I am a computer programmer with a philosophical streak.

Urban Farming was an excellent book.  The first part fires up the reader with the grand cause of urban farming to save the world.  The second part gets more into the how-to and includes an mini encyclopedia of plant information.  If it's not enough information, then it's certainly enough to get a quality search started.

Time Warrior was just an excellent book.  Steve Chandler has a very common sense way of looking at all of our excuses for not doing what we really want and tearing them down.  This leaves a clear path to a goal more obvious and lifts the extra weight off your shoulders so you can get there.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Food Snob

Not only does following a diet plan require the ability to stand out from the crowd, it also requires the pride to rise above the crowd.  That is how peer pressure is defeated.  Now that I eat so differently from my peers at work, I find that I don't enjoy the free food that is offered any more.  The truth is, I haven't been enjoying it for some time, it just took a while for my actions to catch up to my beliefs.  Yesterday, I passed up free fresh pizza for a chicken salad.  I even refused the delicious smelling mini apple pies.  Usually when food is provided for me at work, I leave my homemade lunch for the next day.  However, I was really looking forward to eating my salad, and last week's pizza temptation showed me that pizza is really not worth the taste.  I was rewarded last night when I had a smooth jog around the neighborhood and rewarded again this morning when I woke with plenty of energy.

By snob, I mean that I'm not afraid to turn down free gifts of food.  I don't discourage other people at work from eating pizza and cookies.  I don't have to.  My enjoyment caused from eating healthy food speaks for itself.  If you are trying something different in your life, just remember: people who ridicule you are only jealous that they either don't have the willpower to change or that they didn't think of it first!  You can encourage them by showing that true enjoyment is worth a little extra work.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

What happened to Winter?

I spent so much time bracing for a freezing winter that I can't believe it's almost February already.  We had snow in Little Rock in December, but I'm wondering if we are going to get any more this winter.  It's strange that I think of the 40's F as warm.  Strange...and wonderful.  I'm able to enjoy the outdoors out of sheer stubbornness by conditioning myself to run even in cold.  Fortunately for me, I don't have to try as hard as I would have last year.

According to weather news, it's warm because there's not enough precipitation to keep the ground cold.  If snow doesn't fall, then the ground isn't shielded from the sun's heat.  If the ground gets plenty of sun in the winter, then it stays warm enough to keep the atmosphere warm.  With a warm atmosphere, precipitation that would be snow is just rain.

I would like a couple weeks of thoroughly cold weather just so I can trim my Crape Myrtle without fear of bug infestation.  I also enjoy the challenge of walking my dog on icy streets.  I did that last year before we learned to walk cooperatively, and it was an adventure.  I have been putting off planting any seeds because I'm waiting for the "right time".  I admit this is folly simply because of the wide range of plants that thrive in different climates.  Spinach, for example, can be sown directly into snow.  One thing holding me back is an experience last year in which I planted some seeds in my yard and that same night, the state was inundated with mass flooding.  This year, I am taking my time and over planning rather than just making half-hearted attempts.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Cold Frame Construction

My cold frame arrived on Tuesday, but I hit a snag when trying to assemble it.  This particular cold frame is from the Palram brand, and just in case you find yourself buying one, I figured out a trick to operating their weird hardware.  The tip of the screw used for the aluminium parts looks like a drill bit.
I had a problem getting it all the way into the aluminium pieces of the door frame.  I had to use the screw to pre-drill all of those pieces because the slot was too tight for the tip.  I found that I could pry the slot wider by wedging it open with the screwdriver.

All slots need to have all the screws in all the way and taken out before trying to actually assemble anything.  

Take out the screw, and fit the side piece over the longer bar.  It helps if you start it at an angle, but you can also use pliers to pinch the wedged open bar back to its original shape.  Now you can put the screw in and leave it there.  It won't be falling apart.  

Here's the finished product.  I put it next to a tree since the cold weather plants inside the cold frame can have extra shade during the summer.  

At last, I was done, and glad of it.  My hand now has a couple extra blisters from operating the manual screwdriver.  The power drill did nothing because it automatically stops when the pressure gets too high.  This was a construction of pure brute strength, along with a little bending of parts.  When I was done, I was left with a big cardboard box to dispose of.
It seemed a waste to just throw it away, so instead I am using it to break down the grass and leaves under the cold frame outside.  I cut it into four pieces and put a piece in each corner of the cold frame.  Later I can use it for mulch by ripping it up some more and putting it on the ground around stems to keep moisture in and weeds out.  

Friday, January 20, 2012

Pizza invasion

Much as I had a problem giving up ice cream, I am having some trouble giving up pizza.  Not only did I buy a frozen pizza on my last grocery trip, I also cooked it that day.  I ate half of it Sunday for lunch, and have been eating the remaining slices throughout the week.  Once it's cooked, it becomes a convenience food.  Convenience foods have a way of convincing me not to cook something more healthy.

I strive to give the Primal Blueprint a fair try, but I could be failing worse than eating high gluten pizza.  I rationalized the bread component by blaming my exercise.  I have been increasing my jogging time this week.  I can now run most of the path around my neighborhood without feeling like I'm on a death march.  I'm still walking on the really steep hills because slopes are tricky on my joints.  Each day I go out to jog, I find it easier to start up running again after a pause.  Last year, running was an all or nothing activity.  I would jog until I was worn out, then I would have to calm down significantly to be able to jog again.  Now I use a different approach.  I jog until I feel it crosses the line between leisurely stroll and chronic cardio.  At that point, I slow down to a walk.  This keeps my stress level down, and I find that by staying calm, I can actually run farther simply because I worry less about running out of fuel.

There is a good thing that came from my pizza detour: I find that pizza is no longer helpful compared to my meat and plant focused meals.  Bread digests very slowly.  I spent the first two weeks on my Primal Blueprint trial feeling hungry all the time.  When I filled up on pizza, I found that I couldn't eat dinner later because I was still full.  Essentially, I find bread to behave like Dexatrim: all filler, no fuel.  When I fill my plate with vegetables and meat, I am getting a lot of nutrients.  When I load up on bread, I feel like I'm eating empty calories.  It may keep me alive, but it's not helping me grow more healthy.

It's far easier to give something up after seeing the downside.  Pizza's downside is the enormous amount of bread it contains.  That doesn't mean I have to give up pizza forever.  When I went vegan for a week, I made a pizza from scratch that had whole wheat crust and soy cheese.  I found a recipe for pizza crust that uses ground cauliflower, eggs, and cheese.  I will have to try this sometime because I love pizza.  I love the idea of pizza.  It's a food that can contain everything you need in one dish and still tastes amazing.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Money is a side effect

Money is a side effect of doing what you feel is right.  If you don't like what you do for a living, you are more likely to sabotage your success.  If you enjoy your livelihood, then it won't matter how much money you make. You could be a starving artist or have the biggest house on the block.

If you focus on money as your meter of success, you're only driving yourself in circles.  Focusing on that next raise or promotion is meaningless if the only thing it means to you is getting a shinier car or a fatter number in your bank account.  Money is meaningless when you take it out of the context of social value.  It's just a bartering tool.  There are other things that have social value as well.  Contribution of time and skill is one very valuable commodity.  Production of useful items is another.  These can be traded for each other or traded for money.

If you ask yourself what you really want, is the answer money?  Unless you are very short sighted, it probably isn't.  Money may be needed to reach certain goals or attain things, but in the end, the money will be traded away for something else.  Focus on what you really want, not the dollar amount, and you will begin to see more opportunities to get it.  There are a lot of schemes and ploys to make people think they can make money fast, but these always turn out to be a big let down, either because you don't make money or because you wasted a lot of time trying.  Go for what you really want and contribute what you can to get it.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Better than a protein shake

Hard boiled eggs are very easy to make, affordable, and very high in protein.  My mother used to cook them by boiling them until they were fully cooked--DON'T DO THIS!  Egg yolks turn green and taste like sulfur when they are overcooked, which they will if you boil them too long.

Cooking hard boiled eggs:
  1. Put the eggs in a pan and cover with cold water.
  2. Cook on high heat until water comes to rolling boil.
  3. Remove pan from heat, and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 12 minutes.
  4. Drain the water and rinse the eggs in cold water until they are cool enough to handle.
  5. Remove the shells.
  6. Enjoy tasty hard boiled eggs! Or put them in a container to enjoy them later.
How is this easier than a protein shake?  For starters, I don't need 12 other ingredients just to make the egg edible.  Hard boiled eggs taste good on their own or with a salad or just a bit of mustard, salt, and pepper. They also taste good plain.

I especially like eggs for a protein boost because I know the ingredients and how it was processed.  Protein powders are made from derived milk or plant proteins.  It's really just a supplement that is too big to hide in a tasteless capsule.  I prefer the natural approach: egg + heat = protein.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Time is what you make it

Jogging proves to me that the Primal Blueprint is working.  I actually have the energy to jog for long distances without completely wearing myself out.  This energy is self-perpetuating.  I spend time cooking, and in return, I have enough energy to do what I need to do quickly when I need to.  The only sacrifice I have made so far is spend a little more money on food lately.  I justify the extra expense by labeling this blueprint trial as my current project.  Compared to what I was buying before this trial, it's really not much more since I had been getting very tired all the time and going out to eat more often.  Taking the time to jog, cook, and perform hard labor on lawn care no longer feels like a sacrifice.  Now it feels more like the parts of my day that make life more vibrant.

This extra energy has an effect on my work, too.  I can concentrate much better than I used to.  I can make faster decisions that don't feel like they are panic driven.  I am happy to go to work now.  I feel good when I am there because I know that I have good food to eat, and all my needs are met when I get there.  I don't feel tired from working out too hard, nor do I feel agitated from not exercising at all.

Last year, at this time I was stressed out about finding a job.  When I started working, I was tired all the time from learning a new job and getting used to the 9 to 5 schedule.  Now I consider myself adjusted to the time requirements, and I have enough energy to do what I didn't have time to do last year: grow food at home.  Today I will start my gardening project without the excuse of no time and no energy.  Managing my nutrition has given me time, energy, and the will to use them wisely.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Cooking fat of choice

I used to be obsessed with olive oil. It did not occur to me that it breaks down at high temperatures, making it just as bad as trans fat. It's perfectly healthy for salad dressing. Using olive oil to sauté everything is not the most healthy way to cook.

The primal blueprint suggests using lard as the healthiest cooking fat. However, the blueprint also states that only grain fed organic animals are okay to eat. Butter is one of the borderline okay foods (as are all dairy products). My current take on the primal blueprint is the stick to the main laws and iron out the details later. I can adjust my palette to eating the right foods now, and when I am ready for a new challenge, I will work on improving the sources of my food.

For now, butter -- real butter, not margarine -- is my choice cooking fat. One thing that I didn't understand at first is the portioning. Olive oil is liquid, and I'm accustomed to using about a half tablespoon for a single serving omlet. Butter is solid, so I didn't gauge the serving size right the first few times I tried it. Today I doubled what I had been using, and the food cooked much better. It certainly tasted better than olive oil.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Primal Blueprint Week 2 Update


I think I can safely say I am fully adjusted to the primal eating plan.  I still have to work on other components such as lifting heavy things and getting sunshine.  I don't miss bread at all, or beans.  Last night some coworkers were having pizza as I left work, but I was not tempted to steal a piece.  In fact Monday, in a team meeting, I was surprised by the unanimous "No, bring fruit!" everyone shouted when the boss suggested bringing donuts for breakfast.  That was my immediate reaction, but I did not expect to be joined in such an emphatic chorus of agreement.  I feel lucky to work with such health-conscious people.

I will definitely be continuing the primal eating plan for a full 30 day trial.  That would put the next milestone on January 27.  The diet transition has been far easier than I had imagined, at least socially.  I have no problem going out to eat with friends, and occasionally people get a little envious over my delicious salads.  I don't eat this way for attention, but I am glad to share my results and recipes.  The other day, I saw a chili burger on TV and found that modifying it to be primal was not difficult.  I just took out the beans and bun and added lots of salad greens.  Last week I ate a lot of slow cooked chicken for lunch and omelets for breakfast so one day for lunch I switched it up and had hard boiled eggs with my salad instead of chicken.

Whenever I explain to someone that I don't eat bread, I make the distinction that it is grains that I avoid, not carbs in general.  This is not Atkins.  This is not South Beach.  This is Primal Blueprint.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Avoid Trauma...fail

My dog has serious A.D.D. So last night when I was trying to mix in some jogging with my dog walk, he got distracted, and I got cozy with the pavement. I'm fairly certain it was my fault. I dressed for a long cold walk, not bursts of overheated jogging. I started out with a scarf, jogged a bit, took off the scarf, and jogged some more while carrying the scarf in my left hand. It only occurred to me much later after I fell over my dog that it may have been the scarf flopping around that distracted the dog. At first I assumed he saw a rabbit-shaped shadow. I shall endeavor to layer more wisely next time.

I'm seeing distraction training in my dog's future and solo jogs in mine.

I'm just glad that I got away with only scraped hands and a bruised hip. Even though I failed to keep my feet on the ground, at least now I've experienced a fall so I don't have to fear it anymore. I know I have the reflexes to handle it, and I don't have to keep up my flawless no-fall streak anymore. Less fear and worry is always an improvement.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Getting into the primal groove

I am finally starting to get a hang of this home cooking diet.  My body wants food more than it wants to sit around and watch television.  I don't feel like cooking and cleaning is as much of a chore because the reward is worth it.  I feel compelled to cook.  I don't have to force this action on myself as much as when I started.

My frugality has resurfaced as well, due to the massive amounts of lettuce I go through.  It's no longer worthwhile to get the pre-washed, pre-cut salad greens any more.  I stock up on raw, unprocessed ingredients.  Washing and cutting don't seem like a time sink now that I enjoy my time spent cooking.  I go to the grocery store more often because fresh veggies takes up a lot of space, but I eat a lot of them.  Going through greens so fast is motivating me to push up my gardening plans by starting out with a cold frame, a mini greenhouse that will let me cultivate spinach, cabbage, and lots of other staples.

I was thinking about building a cold frame, but after comparing the price of materials and a prebuilt cold frame, I will go ahead and order one online.  I really want to kick myself for not buying one when I saw it at the hardware store last summer.  I convinced myself that since I was there to buy a not-so-cheap shed, that all other expenses could wait.  Unfortunately, waiting caused me to lose out on a perfectly good deal.  The cold frame I plan to order is a double wide, though, so the extra expense is more like I'm buying two at once.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Eating outdoors in January

Today it's in the upper 50's outside so I'm enjoying my lunch on my patio. It is especially nice that there are no bugs trying to get my food - just my dog occasionally sniffing at my plate. I know this warmth will be a faint memory soon because February always freezes, so I am thoroughly enjoying what warmth I have.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Cooking is a hurdle

Cooking has to be the hardest part of transitioning to a new diet plan. Not because it's difficult to do, but because it is so time consuming. It takes real talent to fit cooking time into a busy schedule when you are trying to cook all your meals from scratch. This is true regardless of whether you are changing to any whole foods diet whether it is primal, vegetarian, vegan, or standard. I could go out to eat for every meal, but that is far more expensive than fixing everything at home and doesn't always save time. I could by prepackaged meals, but that would only increase my intake of preservatives which are abundant in any preprocessed food.

I love the food I cook. The effort I put into cooking makes every bite taste sublime. Occasionally, my appetite gets ahead of my food prep and I go hungry for a few hours while I find and prepare more food. I've heard that if you want to loose weight, you should buy groceries only when you are full. Weight is not my issue. I do better when I shop on an empty stomach sometimes. As I browse fresh produce and meat, new meal ideas start spinning in my head. I try to get a variety of fruit and vegetables throughout the week so I don't get bored of one flavor. I have chicken or eggs as the default meat option for most meals, but when I shop hungry, I can almost taste other meat options just by looking at it. I am often tempted to just buy a pizza for dinner, but I'm honestly trying to give the Primal Blueprint a fair test. I can delay pizza until I feel it would be nutritionally advantageous (i.e. indefinitely). The temporary nature of this primal trial is really helping me to stay focused on the changes I am trying to make.

I don't have much time for cooking in the morning when I make both my breakfast and lunch. This morning I did that and loaded the dishwasher, something I have been putting off for most of the week. I feel like one of those chefs on Chopped or Iron Chef when I start running around the kitchen throwing food in pans, washing dishes, chopping more food, steaming, sautéing, and generally playing with food. Today I figured out I have to really pack lettuce into a container to have enough to satisfy my appetite.

I don't make everything from scratch. I like prepackaged salad greens because it saves me time on food prep and it's prewashed. I also like salad dressing because making condiments from scratch is a level of cooking I have not reached yet. If I want my olives or mushrooms to be sliced, I buy them presliced just to save a few minutes of work. Sure I could save a bit by slicing them myself, but my willpower is more focused on diet changes right now than extreme frugality.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Primal Blueprint 1 Week Update

I've been doing my best to stay primal for a whole week now.  It's only getting easier.  I didn't exercise much this weekend so yesterday my nerves were shot.  I went for a long walk last night and threw in a sprint for good measure.  It felt really good.

Yesterday evening I had some Chinese take-out.  I'm accustomed to smothering my entree with rice and filling my egg drop soup with those little fried crunchies (no idea what they are officially called, I just know they are grain based).  Beef and broccoli was very delicious without the rice.

My mind is starting to catch up with the trend of not filling up on grains.  The hardest thing to get used to in this transition is how fast I get hungry after feeling so full.  There's not really a hard and fast rule with the Primal Blueprint about how much food is right for you.  You just listen to your body.  What is nice about eating so much meat and vegetables is that by the time I am full, I have no worries about getting enough nutrition.  I learned from my trial run as a vegan that filling up on bread is a terrible thing to do, so cutting out bread feels like a healthy choice.

I had a pizza last weekend.  It was my emergency food stash if I ran out of groceries before the week ended.  The pizza nearly evaporated I ate it so fast (it was not that big to begin with).  However, after the pizza was gone, I did not feel satisfied.  I could have eaten more pizza if there was any.  It reminds me of when I used to be hooked on cookie dough ice cream.  I would eat so much of the vanilla ice cream just so that I could get to the delicious cookie bits.  I didn't even want the ice cream, I just wanted the cookie dough.  Primal eating feels like I'm cutting out the filler so that I can get to the good stuff - meat and veggies.

I realize that grains have a purpose in providing energy when you're burning a lot of calories.  If I were to go camping, I would bring along plenty of oats because that's one grain that feels healthy no matter how you fix it.  However, in my every day, mostly sedentary life, I can afford to cut out grains since I get enough calories from the nutrient dense array of meat, veggies, and fruit available to me.

I look forward to the second week of my primal trial.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Dining Out Primal Style

Friday night I ate at an Italian restaurant called Izzy's .  I was wondering if I could hold up the primal eating plan.  When I think of Italian food, I think of pasta and endless refills of bread loaves.  Then I remembered salads.  I don't eat salads often, but I found a delightful one at Izzy's, a salmon Nicoise salad: salmon, hard boiled egg, tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives, lettuce, and a tasty vinaigrette.

Saturday night I ate at the Tex-Mex restaurant On the Border.  It was hard to watch my friends eat the chips and salsa and not have some.  I just had to remind myself that the entrees are filling enough so resist snacking on corn chips.  Corn is a grain, which is not part of the primal plan.  Every entree had rice, beans or both.  I ordered something off the health-conscious menu which had chicken, salsa, sauteed squash and peppers, and rice.  I ate the chicken and veggies and skipped over the rice.  There was so much black pepper on it that I could barely taste any of it.  All in all, it was filling and a decent fit for primal eating.

I went to a friend's house after dinner and had some fudge.  They brought some of that fudge to a party we had last Monday and I ate at least seven pieces.  Last night I nibbled on one piece and made it last over an hour.  I needed the fudge to stay awake until midnight because I usually sleep much earlier.

My year ended with a lot of dining out, but I was able to easily stick to the primal eating plan very easily.  Exercise was a different matter--I ended the year as a couch potato.  I never said it would be an overnight change!  The food plan is enough of a change for now, and I like the energy it brings.  The only time I get really, really tired is around the time I normally go to sleep anyway, and I only have trouble waking up at my usual early time when I've stayed up later than usual.