Changes Around Here

It's been a while since I've updated this blog. A few different things happened rather all at once a few months ago.

1. I ran out of well-tested recipes
I began posting to this blog after about three months of low-carb eating. During those first months, I'd built up a pretty good stash of recipes that had been working well for us. Unfortunately, posting a new recipe every day, I quickly ran through my collection of go-to goodies. I tried to keep up for a few weeks, making sure I had at least one untried recipe on the menu every day, but that only worked so long as the recipes turned out well the first time. I do have a pretty good knack for "sight-eating" (figuring out how a dish will taste just by reading the recipe), but I'm not good enough that I can make it fabulous each and every time I try something new.


2. I was feeling depressed about not eating very well for a few weeks (and having the not-so-great end-of-month measurements to show for it)
The first couple of months after I started eating low-carb, I was overjoyed by the drops in weight and inches I was seeing. "This isn't so hard," I told myself. "How can anyone not stick to a diet that encourages eating bacon cheeseburgers?" Still, like many people who have spent years battling their weight, knowing what foods to eat and stocking the house with them isn't the whole issue. The fact that Adam discovered he could gorge on Halloween candy and still be losing weight did not help me one bit. I didn't actually eat any of the kids' Halloween candy, but even my favorite homemade chocolates ceased to be a low-carb treat when I ate enough of them.


3. I decided to really start following a more paleo/primal concept, which meant I've been having to revise a lot of my recipes to cut out dairy, legumes, and so forth
Just when I thought I had down this new way of eating, I had to come to grips with the fact that I really can't have dairy--especially the quantities in which I'd been consuming it! Even sticking to just cream and butter made from cow's milk and restricting cheeses to goat's or sheep's milk was leaving me with allergy symptoms. Finally, I broke down and bought a jar of coconut oil. For every use other than buttering my morning muffins, it has worked really well. I also found that almond or coconut milk can be substituted for cream is almost every instance, though some recipe tweaking is often necessary. Going without cheese is a little sadder for me, but it's at least a battle I've gone through once before. I've heard good things about the cheesy taste of nutritional yeast from my vegan friends, so maybe I'll try some of that eventually. Meanwhile, I've put the search for the perfect pizza crust on hold indefinitely.


4. Since all that, I mostly just haven't gotten back into the habit
I won't be going back to make changes to all my old recipes, but I do plan to revamp my categories a bit. For recipes that have changed significantly, I will post the new versions as I'm satisfied that they're fully tested. I've also decided to scrap the weekly menu lists. Given the regularity with which I've been creating new recipes, I plan to post only once or twice a week, so before long a weekly list of foods would end up overwhelming the actual recipe content of the blog.

All things considered, the past few months haven't been a complete waste. Since my last check in, I've lost another 15 pounds. My body fat has gone down by 3% and my BMI has dropped 3 points. I've also lost 2" at my waist and 2½" from my hips.