"Life Without Bread"

[SeekinTruth]

I might be mistaking the cause and effect, but following happened:

I'm running to a job interview on a traffic-heavy part of the heavily polluted, smog-filled Budapest, capitol of Hungary, because two buses were breaking down, they couldn't deliver in time.

Normally in this case from intense breathing in a lot of car-exhaust, NO, NO2, SO2, O3, PM12 and viruses from other coughing people caused for me always collecting a coughing sickness lasting for 1-2-3 weeks. I got it as before, noticed, as soon as i got home, began to cough.

Now however, using the high-fat, meat and 2-20gr carbs diet the coughing subsided after a day (unbelievable). More, the coughing didn't came back. This is strange. Because during the one day of coughing the process showed all past years signs of having gotten a lasting coughing-sickness.

I wonder, if this protection-effect is from the new diet, because the heavy exposure of pollutants to the lungs was definitely there and one occasion of this was always enough for me, to get painfully sick in the past.

I think the diet does protect against catching bugs that are going around and if you do catch something, you can lick it really fast. Everyone we know always has some kind of cold or flu except my brother, my mother, and I; and the only thing that can explain it is our diet.

My brother did catch something from his girlfriend recently (she's a vegetarian, but is eating bacon and eggs occasionally with my brother lately) and he licked it in a couple of days, where his girlfriend gets sick often and it lasts anywhere from 10 days to a couple of weeks. So I'd definitely say it's the high fat/low carb diet.

The way I use the vinegar-marinade is to chop up the chops before submersion; so that the meat that is marinated is cut into inch-sized dices. This makes the vinegar penetrate easier, and a few hours will be sufficient.

Thanks for the tips, Iffy and Seekintruth. I may try marinating with my breakfast ham as well. It can be a little tough..

Can the vinegar be deleted with distilled water or does it need to be used full strength?

Mac

I use the vinegar full strength. I don't know if anyone else can tell you anything about diluting it with distilled water.

 

[Laura]

When I marinate, I use 1/3 each vinegar, olive oil and water. Herbs and spices are optional, but salt and pepper and garlic are very nice in the marinade for those who can tolerate them. You can also use the marinade two or three days in a row. It's easy to put it in a plastic bag with the meat in there, then just turn the bag over every few hours. If you are worried about it leaking, put it in a pan.

 

[Thomas Alan]

When I marinate, I use 1/3 each vinegar, olive oil and water. Herbs and spices are optional, but salt and pepper and garlic are very nice in the marinade for those who can tolerate them. You can also use the marinade two or three days in a row. It's easy to put it in a plastic bag with the meat in there, then just turn the bag over every few hours. If you are worried about it leaking, put it in a pan.

Thanks, Laura:

I'll try that. Marinating is new to me. But my first experiment was at least a partial success. Some of the pork was much softer, juicier and very tasty.

BTW: in a previous post I express concerns about weight loss. I was very concerned about it. Thanks to the tips from forum members I nearly doubled the amount of meats I was eating, the more fatty the better. Plus added butter with each meal. I've gained about 8 pounds.

I also found recently that in order to really feel good I need to be loaded with three things.

Vitamin C: at least 10 grams a day.

Vitamin B12: at least 3000 mcg per day. Helps keep me in a good mood for some reason.

Nicotine: I found that I can't smoke enough to get as much as I need. So I have been supplementing with extra strong snus. One extra strong snus a day, in addition to smoking, apparently bring my nicotine levels up to where they need to be. Really brightens me up. Much like having a good cigar.

Mac

 

[Laura]

Glad you gained some weight!

If you put the meat in to marinate at night before you go to bed, it's perfect by dinner time the next day. (Turn it over before you go to work.)

 

[Chacara]

When I marinate, I use 1/3 each vinegar, olive oil and water. Herbs and spices are optional, but salt and pepper and garlic are very nice in the marinade for those who can tolerate them. You can also use the marinade two or three days in a row. It's easy to put it in a plastic bag with the meat in there, then just turn the bag over every few hours. If you are worried about it leaking, put it in a pan.

I also like to add ground cumin to the marinade.

 

[hesperides]

When I marinate, I use 1/3 each vinegar, olive oil and water. Herbs and spices are optional, but salt and pepper and garlic are very nice in the marinade for those who can tolerate them. You can also use the marinade two or three days in a row. It's easy to put it in a plastic bag with the meat in there, then just turn the bag over every few hours. If you are worried about it leaking, put it in a pan.

Thanks for the tip Laura, I didn´t thought about adding some water to the marinade. From time to time, I also like adding to it 4-5 juniper berries and 1-3 cloves as it gives some woody taste to the meat and also takes the somewhat sweet taste from the pork as an alternative. I then also fry the juniper berries and cloves together with the meat and eat them as well, but it´s well probable not everybody will like it for its strong and particular taste.

 

[mcb]

I had a nice surprise this morning -- the scale came up with a number under 200 lbs for the first time in a long time. That means I have lost 15 lbs or so since going low-carb about 5 months ago, and without starving myself the way I was doing the last time I dropped below this threshold in 2004. Like so many people I dropped a number of pounds immediately after going low-carb and then seemed to stall out. This shows that the weight really is going down, though gradually.

Hopefully my health will continue to improve as I go down another 20 lbs toward my optimum weight range that I established (by trial and error, not the recommendation of "authorities") in 2005. It has been a long, slow process but well worth the trouble. At least I won't have to worry too much about how to maintain my weight.

 

[Chrissy]

Congratulations Megan! You reminded me of a dieting buddy of mine who would say once you passed the 200 mark, you were in "one-derland". ;)

 

[Thomas Alan]

Yes, well done, Megan:

You are loosing weight, I am gaining. All from the same diet. It seems this Paleo diet, with individual adjustments, brings each of us to where we need to be.

Mac

 

[Aliana]

I had a nice surprise this morning -- the scale came up with a number under 200 lbs for the first time in a long time. That means I have lost 15 lbs or so since going low-carb about 5 months ago, and without starving myself the way I was doing the last time I dropped below this threshold in 2004.

Congratulations Megan! It really is nice to lose weight without starving and to do so slowly and safely. I also lost some weight - and it seemed to happen as if by magic - never has dieting been so painless. The only downside to this is having to get a new work wardrobe w/out spending a fortune. If we could only have a virtual clothing swap, it would be great!! ;D

When I marinate, I use 1/3 each vinegar, olive oil and water. Herbs and spices are optional, but salt and pepper and garlic are very nice in the marinade for those who can tolerate them. You can also use the marinade two or three days in a row. It's easy to put it in a plastic bag with the meat in there, then just turn the bag over every few hours. If you are worried about it leaking, put it in a pan.

I tried marinating pork chops in apple cider vinegar - and the result was nasty. Am wondering if it was because I did not use a good quality vinegar, or if the secret is to cut it with water and oil. The pork chops tasted sweet and sour at the same time - I ate them anyway...but yuck :P What is a good brand to use?

 

[SeekinTruth]

Congratulations, Megan! And like Mac said, I think the Paleo diet, once all the adjustments are made, steadily brings everybody to where they need to be.

 

[Laura]

I had a nice surprise this morning -- the scale came up with a number under 200 lbs for the first time in a long time. That means I have lost 15 lbs or so since going low-carb about 5 months ago, and without starving myself the way I was doing the last time I dropped below this threshold in 2004. Like so many people I dropped a number of pounds immediately after going low-carb and then seemed to stall out. This shows that the weight really is going down, though gradually.

Hopefully my health will continue to improve as I go down another 20 lbs toward my optimum weight range that I established (by trial and error, not the recommendation of "authorities") in 2005. It has been a long, slow process but well worth the trouble. At least I won't have to worry too much about how to maintain my weight.

I had a similar surprise within the last week and I attributed it to my recent trip to Paris and all the walking we were doing ... but maybe not. I mean, I was stuck at this one spot for over a year now after initially losing about 19 Kilos. The fact that you have done it too makes me wonder if it could also have something to do with the season? I was thinking about that story from the diet book I quoted about the fat squirrels that gain and lose seasonally no matter what. And maybe if a person stops the gaining part and loses every "season", they eventually get to their ideal weight?

Dunno. It's just odd but nice. And I certainly haven't suffered to lose this weight. I eat whenever I'm hungry and eat all I want/need. And I know I won't come to the "end of the diet" and then have to be on guard and constantly limit myself as I have so many times in the past. So it is, as you say, kind of a unique experience for those of us who have battled the carb issue all our lives.

I've never had the "ketosis high" or super energy thing that some people have talked about, but I do have steady energy, have lost cravings, no mood swings, and so forth.

I know that I have more pain free days than I ever had before in my life and it is now unusual to have pain rather than unusual to NOT have pain! No more digestive upsets, no more bowel problems (though that took a little time to sort out), and so on.

Anyway, it's totally cool and, like you, it gives me hope that my body can sort out other issues over time even though I'm older and have done incredible damage to my body over the years.

 

[forge]

I had a nice surprise this morning -- the scale came up with a number under 200 lbs for the first time in a long time. That means I have lost 15 lbs or so since going low-carb about 5 months ago, and without starving myself the way I was doing the last time I dropped below this threshold in 2004.

Congratulations Megan! It really is nice to lose weight without starving and to do so slowly and safely. I also lost some weight - and it seemed to happen as if by magic - never has dieting been so painless. The only downside to this is having to get a new work wardrobe w/out spending a fortune. If we could only have a virtual clothing swap, it would be great!! ;D

When I marinate, I use 1/3 each vinegar, olive oil and water. Herbs and spices are optional, but salt and pepper and garlic are very nice in the marinade for those who can tolerate them. You can also use the marinade two or three days in a row. It's easy to put it in a plastic bag with the meat in there, then just turn the bag over every few hours. If you are worried about it leaking, put it in a pan.

I tried marinating pork chops in apple cider vinegar - and the result was nasty. Am wondering if it was because I did not use a good quality vinegar, or if the secret is to cut it with water and oil. The pork chops tasted sweet and sour at the same time - I ate them anyway...but yuck :P What is a good brand to use?

The only disadvantage with the otherwise excellent marinading i found is the same as DMSO's. I begin to perspire the vinegar smell, which isn't good for a workplace so i have to stop. Until finding a solution to 'people can smell it'.

 

[Gertrudes]

I tried marinating pork chops in apple cider vinegar - and the result was nasty. Am wondering if it was because I did not use a good quality vinegar, or if the secret is to cut it with water and oil. The pork chops tasted sweet and sour at the same time - I ate them anyway...but yuck :P What is a good brand to use?

Aleana, I would try cutting it out with water before getting another brand. Marinating with pure vinegar is too strong, osit. Since I was a child I've observed my parents marinating all sorts of meats in different ways, and water was invariably added.

I had a nice surprise this morning -- the scale came up with a number under 200 lbs for the first time in a long time.

You are loosing weight, I am gaining. All from the same diet.

 

[Miss.K]

I had a nice surprise this morning -- the scale came up with a number under 200 lbs for the first time in a long time. That means I have lost 15 lbs or so since going low-carb about 5 months ago, and without starving myself the way I was doing the last time I dropped below this threshold in 2004. Like so many people I dropped a number of pounds immediately after going low-carb and then seemed to stall out. This shows that the weight really is going down, though gradually.

Hopefully my health will continue to improve as I go down another 20 lbs toward my optimum weight range that I established (by trial and error, not the recommendation of "authorities") in 2005. It has been a long, slow process but well worth the trouble. At least I won't have to worry too much about how to maintain my weight.

Congrats :) I have lost around 5 kilos since summer (I think, as I'm not sure what my exact weight was before) but I'm starting to be able to fit some of my "skinny clothes" that I've luckily saved in case I'd one day be able to fit it again.

And I certainly haven't suffered to lose this weight. I eat whenever I'm hungry and eat all I want/need.

Me too :)

I've never had the "ketosis high" or super energy thing that some people have talked about, but I do have steady energy, have lost cravings, no mood swings, and so forth.

Me too :)