My new favoirite bread

After the holidays, I slipped into some poorer eating habits: more snacking, mindless eating, and huge sugar cravings. I was eating ice cream daily, usually standing in the freezer hiding from the farmhands. 

My jeans were starting to be uncomfortable, my joints were hurting more, sleep was poor again. I know better, but it was hard to stop. The 'treats' from the holidays were becoming less like treats and more like something I was going to every couple of hours.

I know this about myself: when I start to let processed food in my diet, especially sugar, it starts to take over. When that happens, I need to make a reset. I don't care for the term "diet" because healthy eating should be integral to your daily life. Diets tend to be seen as a short-term fix. I do best if I follow a pretty strict protocol for a few weeks so my body and mind can fully kick the sugar habit. 

On April 1, I started a "Carnivore Diet" for three weeks. I only ate meat, eggs, and fats (lard, butter, avocado oil mayo). I also increased the duration of my daily fasting window. So I ate two meals a day, breaking the fast in the afternoon with a later lunch. Then dinner in the early evening. We aim for a reasonable time before dark but that can be difficult around the farm. After the three weeks, I transitioned to a "Keto Diet," introducing high-nutrition, low-carb veggies: brussels sprouts, dark leafy greens, leeks, celery, and more. I maintained the same fasting window.

Now I didn't have what I'd call epic weight loss, only about 5 pounds, but I need a belt with my jeans now, my sleep is more restful, my joints feel great and emotions more balanced. 

I was also better able to handle stress. The first couple weeks in April also aligned with many sleepless nights with a hard litter of piglets, a new puppy, a couple of ER visits with mom, and general spring-on-a-farm stress. I felt SO much more able to deal with it all when providing my body with more appropriate fuel. 

I even spent a week in Wisconsin, a place that tends to really feed into my poor eating, and did not have even a bite of ice cream! Quite frankly I was not even tempted to have any. Right now I can say I have almost zero sugar cravings which makes it really easy to just skip the sugary foods altogether. I know for me the only way I get to this point is to completely ax sugar for a period of time. 

I also found a new recipe that I love for something called Chaffels. High protein waffles. These are SO easy to make and can be used as a replacement for buns, toast, mini-pizza base, or just a grab-and-go snack.

Here's how you make them:

4 eggs

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 

1 Tablespoon beef gelatin 

4 Tablespoon ground pork rinds (Optional) 

Pepper to taste 

I sometimes add a small handful of herbs or leeks to add more flavor.

Heat a waffle maker and coat with some lard.

Blend everything in a blender.

Cook in the waffle maker for 2-3 minutes. Eat right away or cool on a rack and freeze for later. Just reheat in the toaster or air fryer. 

I like to keep the waffle iron on a baking sheet to make clean up of any lard or batter that leaks out extra easy.

I've also used the waffle maker to cook up some breakfast sausage to make sandwiches with the chaffels. 

Even if you are not carnivore or Keto this is a great recipe to get an extra boost of protein. 

Is this something you would try?

Aila

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