(Mostly)

First things first! I'm having a wonderful day. I don't get these very often but I'm making the most of my three day weekend and after working some over-time I have a little extra pocket money so I'm doing some things for me!

My morning started off with an hour long deep tissue massage (thank you Groupon!). It feels even better after having hit the gym a little harder than usual last night. So shoo, go treat yourself! And here's a tip: Groupon takes up to 50% of what you spend on a service, so if you call up a local self-owned place, they will often give you the Groupon price right in the store. No coupon needed! This even occasionally carries over after the coupon is no longer available. Not everyone will be on board with this but it never hurts to ask!

Let's see, what next? That's right, shopping!

I started out at our local whole foods grocery store which happens to be Sprouts. It's not a big store but if you know where to look and when, you can usually find what you need. I picked up another container of fresh made toasted almond butter and I can't wait to use it for lunches and maybe a dessert! I also picked up some black plums and red pears. Mmmm.

Then I went to the mall, walked around the food court and looked at all of the stuff that I don't even want to eat! I just wanted to check my mentality which I do every month or so. If I have a whopping craving for something "bad" it's usually because I did a little more than "cheat". Nothing happened, I passed on samples of battered, deep fried, Asian chicken with super sweet sauce made from who knows what with no problems. Go me!

Then I went to my local World Market which is probably my favorite store of all time and I even ran into someone else who is Paleo! That really made my day! (Hopefully he'll check out my blog and pass it on). I went in, as usual, for ONE thing. Well, that NEVER works out, but who cares? I love their stuff! I went in for a plate, ended up with a plate, a bowl, and a personal crock which looked really nice, plus it was all on sale. Who can beat that? I also left with two bottles of pinot noir, a Sea Glass and a Castle Rock. Both of them are great wines and both are under $10.

Now back to the title of this post.

What am I that (Mostly) Paleo girl? I do try to follow Paleo all the time. However, I am one of those Paleo people who occasionally eats dairy. Many people do, some of it drop it all together. I would consider myself middle ground on this one. If I can find good, high quality cheeses that are minimally processed then I don't mind adding those to what I eat. But my other rule of thumb is that if it doesn't contribute to the experience of the meal or if you can't even taste it, why add it? What a waste of good cheese! I also occasionally use some whole fat milk in a recipe. Now you know!

This week I have come across several people who are not Paleo but do not eat gluten for one reason or another. Because of that I may occasionally put up a gluten-free-not-paleo recipe. I will do my best to add tips for substitutions to make it Paleo if I can.

My mother has gone "low gluten" over the last few weeks and has noticed that her blood sugar is much better controlled and she has to take less insulin. She also says that she feels less bloated and she has more energy. I'm so happy for her! (Now let's see if we can get her to drop the rest of the gluten!)

Why do people who don't have celiac disease drop gluten?

"Our data shows that the gluten-containing standard diet modifies the cytokine pattern of both Foxp3(-) T cells and Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells towards a more inflammatory cytokine profile."

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=22913724

What does that mean? It says that gluten actually modifies the body (at the cellular level) in a way that causes increased inflammation.

Other major causes of increased inflammation are processed sugars, hydrogenated oil, and grain-fed meats.

Also, with fewer ready-to-go carbs like those you get with grain and processed sugar based foods, your body will use more of its own fat for energy and you will get less severe sugar/insulin spikes which will actually decrease your appetite over time.

So, after all of that, the moral to the story is I got new plates which means more recipes are coming soon! Yay!