Category Archives: Health

The best thing I ever cooked

If you don’t like lamb, I don’t even know what to say to you. I don’t even know who you are.

Lamb is a delicious meat. I particularly like ground hamburger lamb. Scrumptious!

Buy local if you can. You know, just because. If you can’t buy local then you definitely want New Zealand lamb. Don’t get Australian lamb, it’s old and tastes like mutton.

Form the ground lamb into patties. Cook on medium heat in your favorite skillet. Add salt and pepper and garlic to taste.

When the patties are done, remove from pan. Add some of your favorite red wine to the leftover fat and crispy bits. Pour over the patties.

For bonus points add some deli mustard, pickles, and slices of fine Irish cheddar (like Kerrygold). If you really want to turn it up to 11, add some slices of pastured bacon.

This. This is the best thing I’ve ever cooked. Lamb is rapidly becoming my favorite meat.

Paleo-Primal Eating Out In Manteca

Since changing my diet over a year ago, I find it very hard to eat out. Most restaurants in this area of California serve pretty cheap food. And by cheap I don’t mean the price that they charge you–I mean the quality of the ingredients.

There are not many places I can eat in Manteca. I try to be as paleo-primal as possible. I avoid grains and other starches, legumes, and refined sugars. And this is a big problem here.

Manteca restaurants are mostly taquerias and chain restaurants. We’ve got Chilis, Applebees, Panda Express, and all the common fast food joints. These places put flour and sugar in just about everything.

So I’m looking for dishes that don’t contain the foods that I’m avoiding, and this is extremely difficult here. So where do I go? I can think of three establishments in Manteca, CA.

Chipotle is my go-to restaurant of choice in Manteca. The service and the portions are hit-or-miss but the quality of the food is always good. It’s easy for me to eat gluten-free, grain-free, and sugar-free at any Chipotle. I just get a bowl and skip the tortillas, rice, and beans.

In-N-Out is my budget restaurant. I get Double-Doubles without the bun, and skip the fries and soda. There are lots of other burgers in town, but I like In-N-Out the best. I think their burgers have the most fat–tender, tasty, juicy, and always delicious.

And finally, there is just one affordable restaurant here in Manteca where I can sit down and get some good ol’ traditional American food. And that is Johnny’s.

Johnny’s serves typical diner food. They close at 8:30pm every night. On Sundays they are full of people from various churches. Johnny’s is open early enough for truckers, seniors, and other early-risers to come in for breakfast. All the omelettes are good. For dinner I like the liver and onions with chopped bacon.

And then there’s the hot wings.

OB’s in Truckee (now closed) used to have the best hot wings I’ve ever tasted. But now that OB’s is closed, that award goes to Johnny’s. The sauce is perfect, not too hot. And the wings aren’t too greasy. I think they bake the wings instead of fry them, but they won’t tell me.

So that’s about it. Chipotle, In-N-Out, and Johnny’s. If you are trying to eat paleo, primal, or low carb in Manteca these are your best choices. You can just about skip everything else here.

One year free of grains and refined sugars

It’s been over a year since my lifestyle makeover, so it’s time for some updates and some thoughts on my experiences.

I never thought I would feel healthy again. I never thought I would feel good again. But I do. It’s amazing. Giving up grains and refined sugars was the best thing I’ve ever done for my health.

I’ve lost over 60 pounds, despite conventional wisdom. I don’t exercise any more now than I ever have. I’m as active as ever. I walk daily, hike hunt and fish in my spare time. I have never counted calories, measured portions, or starved myself.

All my unpleasant digestive issues are gone, and have been gone for a really long time. I’m off all my medications. No more heartburn, GERD, acid reflux, bloating, gas, burping, IBS, etc. No more proton pump inhibitors, Prilosec, Tums, or Pepto Bismol.

My blood sugar levels are consistently in the normal range. In the last six months I’ve rarely seen it over 100, and never over 109. Diabetic levels are over 125 (12 hour fast) and 200 after eating. Pretty easy to do when you don’t eat foods that spike your blood sugar, like grains and refined sugars!

My clothes fit better now, actually they are baggy. At some point I should buy new clothes, but I’m still losing weight. So that will have to wait a bit longer.

For the first time in my life I didn’t gain a single pound over the holidays. In the past I have typically gained anywhere from 10-20 pounds in the October-January timeframe. This year, zilch.

I’m still not hungry in the morning, so I don’t eat breakfast. However, I do drink coffee with heavy cream.

For lunch I eat stuff like bacon double cheeseburgers without the bun, piles of meat at Chipotle, assorted Italian cheese and cured meats, leftover steak and chicken from the night before.

Dinners vary, but are always heavy on the meat and vegetables.

If I’m craving something sweet after dinner I’ll have a bowl of berries and heavy cream.

I turned 40 last month. Feels weird to be 40. Two years ago I was sure I’d be 400 pounds by my 40th birthday and miserable. Boy was I wrong! I weigh less than 300 pounds for the first time in over 10 years and I feel healthy.

Life is good. I can’t complain =)

PS: fuck you, gluten. You made my life miserable for years. Never again!