It occurred to me today that in just over two months it will be exactly one year since I decided to go primal. While I've learned a lot about what healthy eating and living is, I've found it hard to put into practice. What's been most surprising to me is how easy things were initially, and then, once I'd fallen off the wagon, how hard it was to get things back on track.
Thinking about it, I should probably be more surprised at how easy I found things initially, rather than how hard it was to pick up the pieces when it all fell apart. Thinking about it, I've been trying to undo eating and living habits that have been formed over 30 years, and it's not something that I'll be able to undo overnight. So, the challenge for me now is to try and get back to where I was early last year, when I was eating primally, and losing weight steadily.
I've tried to start with small steps, reaching some small, achievable goals, which will hopefully lead to achieving the harder goals. Goal number one was to stop indulging in the fund-raiser chocolates at work. At the end of today it will be one week since I last had any, a small goal, but one that was harder than I anticipated.
My next goal will be to try and curb the amount of junk food I have at our regular gaming sessions. This one is harder, because there's typically a bag of chips or lollies open on the table, sitting in front of me. Tonight's challenge is to say no to the crap, and stick with small amounts of 70% cocoa chocolate when I do get the urge to indulge.
The next goal I have is to cut stop buying non-primal food at the super market. I'm fully expecting this to be tough, because it's so easy to think "Damn, I can't be bothered cooking, let's grab some cheese kranskies and rolls, and have them to eat." I have two rolls to eat today, which I intend to be the last wheat based rolls I eat. If I can find a suitable primal alternative for bread, well and good, but I think the easiest solution is actually going to be just giving it up completely.
On a positive note, I've found an excellent alternative to pasta (one thing, along with bread, that Ive found hard to live without). I've seen several references to using zucchini as a replacement for pasta. I have to admit, I've been skeptical about it, but last night I finally decided to give it a try.
The hardest part about using zucchini as a pasta replacement is the preparation. In order to be a successful replacement, the zucchini needs to be cut into thin strips. Rather than mess around with a knife, I used a vegetable peeler, which did a great job of making some nice thin strips of zucchini. In the end, the preparation wasn't so much difficult, as more time consuming than I expected.
The zucchini noodles don't need to be cooked long. Boil them for a minute, then run them under cold water to stop them cooking. After that, simply drain, and toss the sauce through the zucchini and server. The heat of the sauce is enough to make the zucchini a good temperature for eating.
I made a carbonara sauce to go with the zucchini last night, and I have to say, aside from being a bit runny (I'm a bit out of practice making carbonara sauce), it was fantastic. I was a bit worried the zucchini would taste strange, but it wasn't the case at all. This one is definitely a permanent addition to the recipe book.
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