I’m an Omnivore

Did you know that, out of the three big macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, and proteins), there is one that is completely nonessential? It’s true. You don’t have to include it in your diet and if you don’t, you won’t end up nutritionally deficient. You can survive without this macronutrient for a long time and many cultures have been doing just that for centuries. Want to know which one it is?

Drum roll please.

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I was trying to emulate the type of meal that is usually served up at Kanki, a Japanese steakhouse. The stir fry part is pretty obvious. I fried zucchini, mushrooms, and precooked shrimp (probably a bad idea). I assume some people have never heard of swedes, or rutabagas as they are known in the US. They are root vegetables, so I was kind of worried about if this would fit under paleo. I definitely wouldn’t count it as a “grain” which is all I’m focusing on eliminating this month, but eventually it might have to be cut. I actually found a pretty good answer to my question here. Apparently, swedes have a much lower glycemic load than potatoes. So a swede is not par for the course on a seriously strict paleo diet, but it’s probably one of the best options as far as root vegetables go. The best part about swedes is that they have a much stronger, sweeter flavor than potatoes in my opinion.

Admittedly, these were a pain in the ass to cut up, but that’s probably just due to my inexperience with cooking. I haven’t had them prepared any other way, but mashed is awesome.

Many people that get introduced to the Paleo diet dismiss it immediately as nonsense. They attempt to find quick ways to disregard the entire idea, so they can go on believing that their diet is just fine.

Understanding Evolution
One of the primary reasons that the Paleo diet hasn’t become more popular is because of people underestimating, misunderstanding, or completely rejecting the theory of evolution. Unfortunately, the latter case appears to be very prevalent here in America (where we also enjoy the highest obesity rate in the world):

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My article, Trash the Scale: How to Calculate Body Fat Percentage, was accepted on the 1st edition of the Weight Management and Fitness Forum carnival. It was hosted on the Weight Master blog. Take a look. There are some interesting articles over there explaining the difference between “0g trans fat” and “no trans fat”, running a marathon, and pilates for weight loss for example.

I’ve got three pretty awesome, or at least wierd, YouTube videos concerning the Paleo diet.

This a trailer for “The Paleo Diet.” I really found the part around 1:10 hilarious: “It was created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. IT’S MYTHOLOGY!”
Now here’s a great video explaining why the Paleolithic diet makes sense. This guy also talks about raw food/cooked food. He has some other interesting videos on health as well. This is a 10 minute long video (longest you can put on youtube usually) of a guy eating a raw chicken. I just wanted to throw that out there, so you’ve been warned! Don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not condoning eating raw meat and I’m not sure how crazy it is. I barely eat raw anything right now. That’s not to say I won’t change that sometime in the future. But in any case, this is an intriguing video to me. Some vegans actually argue that we are made for veganism because we would be repulsed be eating raw meat. I have to disagree. I think a very hungry person, especially one who hasn’t been spoiled on cooked, seasoned everything, wouldn’t have difficulty doing it at all.

BAM! This meal has flavor, and it’s quite simple too. I usually just fry up some green peppers and onions before throwing in the the kielbasa. Add some crushed red pepper or chili pepper if you like it spicy.

Here we have salmon again and one of my other favorites, zucchini. If you have a garden or are considering gardening, give zucchini a try. The plants produce like you wouldn’t believe and zucchini is such a great vegetable. Make sure you go for smaller zucchini. They have less seeds and better taste. This is a win-win at a grocery store if you pay by weight. Tips for frying zucchini:

• Cut up the zucchini. I prefer large chunks, but slices are good too.
• Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan. Make sure you put the zucchini in before the oil gets too hot or you’re going to have some serious splattering issues.
• Season with crushed red pepper and sea salt.
• Taste test while cooking. It really doesn’t need to be cooked for very long.

I want to let everyone know where I stand physically and where I still want to go. I also know that I’ve neglected photographs for too long, so here we go:

 

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