Uncured bacon seems to be easy enough to find around here, but I'm struggling to locate bacon (or sausage for that matter) without any added sugar. Why is there sugar in my meat? :eek:
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Uncured bacon seems to be easy enough to find around here, but I'm struggling to locate bacon (or sausage for that matter) without any added sugar. Why is there sugar in my meat? :eek:
Wow..I am trying to eat more but I am just not hungry. It is pretty tough to do. Maybe it is because I am used to eating "smaller" amounts. People at work always pick on me for eating like a bird. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by GLC1968
I have this problem as well, my body adapted to eating so little for so long that it no longer complained at the lack of calories (probably just gave up) and I became accustomed to eating a certain volume of food. It makes it challenging when we try to start eating more. After just a couple of days or easing into this new way of fueling my body, I've realized that I dealt with the need to increase my calories by 40% earlier this year by simply adding grains, some oil and nuts but mainly grains :o I've been told the answer is to consume more nutritionally dense foods - which we both are - but we need more of them ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by solobiker
Thanks for the input. I don't have much weight to lose, so I'm really just looking to see if Paleo or Whole30 would work for me to just clean things up a bit.
I think that it would. I didn't really have weight to lose either. And honestly, I am the same weight now as I was this time last year, but I'm significantly leaner (less %body fat) and way more muscular.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pedal Wench
This is what I am after as well, my weight isn't much off my desired target.Quote:
Originally Posted by westtexas
I'm not sure if it is the same with store bought bacon, but from curing Bacon at home I know that you can use either a special salt for curing that contains nitrit, or you use sugar: this prevents the meat from becoming grey during pickling (? not sure if it is the right word. The step before curing/smoking where you add salt and herbs) when curing or smoking.Quote:
Originally Posted by Becky
Sugar is the better alternative in my opinion. I don't think that there is a lot of sugar IN the bacon after curing, or you would taste it.
Interesting information, thank you! I notice my package of uncured bacon still has Turabino sugar in it - unsure why since it is uncured, but obviously there is still some processing. Nothing I can't pronounce however :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan
Wow, after only 3 days of no grains and bumping up fat, protein and veggies I've lost almost 3 pounds! I've read that grains promote water weight and bloating (among other things), but this seems to prove that. My calorie intake is consistent so it wasn't from starving myself, indeed yesterday I ate a little more than normal. Felt great, no energy problems, and also no early-afternoon crash that I am accustomed to - and it was like that the day before as well.
Friday I only had a short, though hard, 30 minute workout and yesterday just had a really short recovery road ride. Today I've my usual "Funday" workout this morning and a good ride planned for late afternoon.
I bought regular (pork) bacon at Trader Joe's yesterday. About to test it out now. It has no sugar or nitrates. I looked for beef bacon, but none. I can't find that, anywhere. I've been eating turkey bacon for years, and really prefer the taste, but I'm willing to try the additive-free pork.
I've been craving grains like crazy since I got back from my vacation, where I ate with no abandon. My weight has been up and down, still not in the "danger" zone, so I am not sure what is going on, except that I've been sick with sinus stuff and this often makes me want comfort foods, like bread and bagels. I've given in, mostly, although all whole wheat stuff, except for the pancakes DH made yesterday morning :).
And what are coconut aminos? I see this in almost all of the recipes in the Paleo cookbook I bought. I assume they add fat to make you feel full. Really don't like the taste of coconut and I have no idea where you would buy them. I've made the recipes without this addition.
I tried that same bacon this morning, pretty good! I don't know anything about coconut aminos, but have read very good things about the quality of coconut oil and what it does in the body. As I slowly rebuild my pantry I want to add it to the mix.
I am really liking Mark Sisson's website. All I am really concerned about right now is the calcium part of the equation, given my age and lack of a reproductive system, I may just add a daily supplement.
Coconut aminos are a soy-free alternative to soy sauce. I haven't bought this yet, but my understanding is that it's rich and salty in flavor.
Re: calcium: my health coach at work sent me this list of dairy-free that contain decent amount of calcium.
I enjoy MDA too. Find it interesting and have enjoyed trying some of the recipes I have found. Initially I lost about 3 pounds (I think it was water weight) after my first week. It then went back up to the orginal weight...which I think is because my body was getting used to the way I was eating. I have been taking measurements and my waist and thighs have gotten smaller:D. I have not had any processed foods in over a month and I feel great. Unfortunately my fridge has been having issues and this morning I woke up to it sitting at 65 degrees. Grrrrrrr.
I am going to try dairy elimination to see what my body thinks about it, but not just yet - not trying to change everything at the same time ;) I have backed off on it however and trying to get more calcium-rich veggies and fish in my diet. From what my reading tells me, the latter two choices appear to often be more easily accessible to the body anyway, but we shall see.Quote:
Originally Posted by Syndirelah
My trainer has recommended the book "Slow Burn" as well. The author is an endurance runner (571 miles in 6 days!), not a cyclist, but it should be interesting as I am sure there is more common than not to fueling for endurance activities in general. My library has it so I've requested it.
I have been considering giving Paleo - at least the grain-free (gluten free) part of it, I can't imagine giving up milk and yoghurt - a shot for quite a while now. The reason I didn't commit myself to it fully is that it is really complicated if you eat out or with other people. I do cook gluten-free myelf most of the time and don't terribly miss grains or bread. But at my parents home there is just no meal that is gluten-free. And you never really know what you get when you eat out.
How do you deal with this problem?
I'm slowly easing into eating Paleo.
It hasn't been as hard as I thought. Dairy was affecting the ezcema on my hands, and eliminating it has significantly improved it. I found that out accidentally -- I went a week without eating any cheese and I didn't itch! That made me look into elimination diets and that brought up Paleo for me.
I wasn't a big grain eater anyway -- I had avoided breads for a while, although when I traveled, I would eat some in restaurants, or just occasionally in my home city, but at good restaurants. It was never significant. I was eating a lot of legumes and brown rice and I've eliminated those as well. I'm replacing it with more vegetables and fruit and my carb % has gone down significantly, around 150-160 grams (which I know is NOT that low) and it's made me realize that what I thought was medium to low carb diet was not really... Denial, not just a river in Egypt.
Anyway, I haven't had an issue eating out in restaurants, because I will try to go with a protein and a vegetable. Yes, maybe they are using some kind of gluten product in the cooking, but I am not sensitive or celiac, so I am not rigid about my eating to insist that they prepare "clean."
As for eating with my parents, who are big legume eaters, we just had a conversation about it. I told them what I was doing, we talked, they understood and were willing to accommodate IF.... and only IF... I would help them cook so that they could be sure I was getting what I needed. Love them!:D
(For dairy, because I saw a reaction, stopping eating yogurt was easy -- I didn't want my hands to flare up. Same thing with cheese. I had a couple of instances where I would forget the effect, eat cheese, and then wake up scratching my hands in the middle of the night. Doing that a couple of times has made me hyper aware of the situation and if I eat cheese from now on, it will be with the full knowledge that I am going to hurt myself by doing so.)
So, this was a hang up for me too. I love going to restaurants and trying new things, and it can definitely be difficult sometimes to find something paleo-friendly on the menu. You just have to make smart choices. Go for meat and veggie plates that have no breading. Or salad (hold the croutons, of course). The idea of Paleo is not that everything has to be 100% perfect all the time. I still drink when I go out (especially with my mom!) and if the place has great dessert, I often splurge. You just have decide if it's worth it for you, your health, your personal internal system.Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan
What I have found for eating out though, is that I have to go to real places - not chains. Chilis, Cheddar's, Olive Garden... those places make (in my opinion) fairly terrible food anyway. I go with my co-workers every now and then (for staff meetings and such), and do the best I can. If it's me and friends, I suggest a place that meets my needs. Everyone is always saying they don't want to decide, so now I do it for them. You just have to explore and find those great places that have good, high quality food. There are plenty here that have that, and it's not any more expensive than eating at a chain or what have you.
I've also found that by telling my friends about what I'm doing - they support me in it. They try to find places where we can all go and find something to eat that we like. And their support helps you stick to it and keep on that road to better health.
I agree with westtexas about dining out. Nicer places are easier too because they are more willing to bend over backwards for you, if you ask. I have at least one item that I can order at just about every local restaurant, so it's not that difficult. I do find that we eat out a lot less, so when we do, we pick nicer places and make a point of enjoying the environment, company and service as much as the food.
As far as bacon goes, it must be cured with either sugar or nitrites. In the US, 'uncured' on the package means that it was not cured with nitrites. Uncured and sugarless bacon is kind of ugly and it tastes different than what one expects. Only trace sugar is left in the meat after the sugar curing process, so it's a personal choice as to what kinds of sugar you are ok with. Bacon is cured with regular sugar, turbinado sugar, honey, maple syrup or even corn syrup...so read labels. Personally, I'll take trace amounts of natural sugars over nitrites, any day.
A bigger concern with bacon is what is in the fat. A big problem with high fat, industrial meat is that the bad things an animal is exposed to ends up concentrated in the fat. So since bacon is so high in fat, a pig fed a lot of antibiotics or hormones will produce bacon full of this stuff. This is why most paleo diet proponents recommend only lean meats if you are buying traditionally raised (ie factory farmed) meat. If you can get pastured grass-fed meat, then the fat is actually healthy for you, so eating it is no big deal. This is my long way of saying that more important than how your bacon was processed is how the pig was raised when it comes to heath.
Honestly, I've become so incredibly particular about the products that I'll buy since doing this Whole30 that we do our grocery shopping at 4 different places every week. (plus our CSA and our own raised stuff) It is kind of a pain, but it's worth it to me.
I can imagine eating out is not so much trouble because you can order whatever you like. I think my usual order - some kind of salad with some kind of meat - is already quite paleo. Still, if you want to go strictly gluten free you never know if the maybe used flour or anything like that...
The bigger problem I guess would be family and friends. You don't want to be disrespectful and eat what they offer... this is a big problem for me anyways, glutenfree would make it even more of an issue. On the other hand... it would be an obvious reason not to be able to eat cakes :D
I'm often astonished what cooks - at home or in restaurants - make out of simple dishes. Sometimes you don't quite get what you expect. Vegetables get drenched in sauce or salad comes with strange dressings... my mum regularly asks "And what do we do with the vegetables" (will we cover them in breadcrumbs? will we drench them in oil? could we add flavour enhancer? ;))
The friends thing can be a little difficult at first. We actually had plans to dine with some friends we don't see that often during our super strict Whole30. They are kind of 'foodies' (I hate that term, but it really applies to them!) so we knew they would go all out for us. I stressed about it for a week wondering how we were going to handle it and then I decided that it would be easier to have them to our place. So I explained our special diet needs and asked if we could do the cooking and they agreed! Dinner was fun, somewhat fancy, delicious and totally Whole30 compliant.
These same friends asked us a lot of questions about our meal choices and when they led a kayaking trip a month later, purposely chose a meal that was mostly compliant to our diet for us. In fact, the other couple that went also did the same thing (ie, asked our needs when planning their meal), so really, it wasn't nearly as difficult as I expected it to be.
It would be tough if someone made a lasagna dinner with cheesy garlic bread on the side, but typically, if you let friends know ahead of time what you are avoiding, most things people put on the table are ok. And really, regular people don't hide gluten, soy or seed oils in their dishes, so it's usually not too difficult for them to just avoid serving pasta dishes on the night you'll be a guest. :)
I will say that for the first month or two we were paleo, I avoided a lot of invitations because I felt like a burden. Once I got a better hang of eating this way, it was easier to ask and easier to deal with on my end. Even my mom was willing to accomodate me and she's VERY anti anything that limits bread and/or wine from her diet. ;)
I have not run into too many problems with going out to eat because for the most part we really don't do it all that often...maybe 1x/month. Lately my trouble has been that our refrigerator has not been working great. About 2 weeks ago the freezer was working and the refirgerator stopped..it was sitting at 65 degrees. After 2 days we were able to get a repairman out to fix it and when he got here it was working. He could not find anything wrong so we had him change the timer out. Well come this Saturday the same darn thing happened again. I had to try to put lots of food in a cooler and I go to get some of my chicken that I had cooked and it is sitting in a pool of water from the melted ice. :( But I am holding strong despite not having a fridge to use for close to a week if you count both times it went out. We did get another one but they delivered the wrong one. :mad: Sigh....
Keep in mind that in America, pigs cannot be given hormones. Any antibiotic given puts that hog on a Withdrawal list - meaning they cannot be slaughtered before a certain number of days determined by regulatory agencies after administration of that product. Generally this allows for any drug residues to be "washed out" of the tissue. The only major antibiotic I know of that is in regular use on most swine farms is Tylosin, which treats the chronic diarrhea these guys can get.Quote:
Originally Posted by GLC1968
Of course pasture raised and grass fed is better in all respects, as those animals are not likely to have been exposed to antibiotics at all - but I assure you, any farmer who cares for their herd will treat those that need to be treated, with antibiotics if that's what's needed.
The reason confinement operation (CFO) beef is bad for you is because those animals eat a crap ton of corn, which they aren't designed to digest. This puts them in a constant state of ruminal acidosis (ie chronic heartburn) which makes the animal sick. Sick animals aren't good to eat. Corn also has 0 nutrients so all the good Omega-3s these guys have been building up out on pasture in the cow-calf operation gets depleted and replaced by oxidized omega-6, of which too much is very bad for you.
This is true of course, but I'm also disgusted at the idea of eating meat from animals that live in rivers of their own refuse. That just cannot be healthy no matter what they are fed. Have you seen some of the feed-lot conditions? Ick! :( And animals raised on pasture generally have less of a need for antibiotics because they get sick less both because they aren't fed corn and because they aren't kept in such ridiculously close and unnatural confinement (same for chickens, actually).Quote:
Originally Posted by westtexas
I'll take happy animals raised on grass/pasture and fed a varied diet (in the case of pigs) any day!
THIS :)Quote:
Originally Posted by GLC1968
There is a weekly farmers market in front of my office building and I found a vendor last week who was new to me. They sell grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chicken and turkey AND grow all of the food they feed their animals when at all possible. Some of their cows do get a small amount of corn and they keep that meat separate. Prices appear reasonable ($5/lb for grass-fed ground beef compared with $8-9 that I've seen elsewhere,
Guess where a good amount of my meat is going to come from :cool: I did ask them what they've been feeding their cows during this drought and they had the right answer...hay!
BTW, I am amazed at the amount of energy that I now have after 6 days of no grains...
Interesting. For me, if I get a high calorie breakfast with plenty of fat and protein, I'm good to go almost until dinner with a snack in the afternoon. (My parents, who seem to have this oatmeal fixation, think I'm crazy. I can't eat oatmeal at all. I'm hungry again in an hour.) I wonder if the benefits are less from eliminating grains/legumes (unless you've got hidden gluten sensitivity, etc) and more from a shift in where you get your calories from a rapidly-burned source to one that takes longer to use.
What is your typical breakfast?Quote:
Originally Posted by Owlie
Normally it's a whole-grain cereal with pecans and 1% milk, with tea with sugar half-and-half; or a whole-milk latte from Starbucks, depending on what mood I'm in and how well I slept the night before. :D Other times it's Greek yogurt with granola, a generous drizzle of honey, almonds and either pomegranate seeds or strawberries.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogmama
However, the one that do best for me generally consist of a 2-egg omelet with whatever I can find that would taste good in it (salsa, sour cream and cilantro is good); or 2 saucer-sized pancakes with fruit and 3-4 strips of bacon. Or a fried egg and 2-3 strips of bacon, a slice of whole grain toast and fruit. Tea or coffee with all of these, of course.
I don't get these breakfasts very often, though. That would require more work than I generally care to do first thing in the morning. :D
The cereal, especially if I supplement it with extra nuts, works pretty well for me if I'm not riding. If I am riding more than 20-25 miles, I try to add at least some extra protein and fat to the mix.
This reminds me. Must buy more bacon.
It's been ~2 weeks since DH and I embarked on our paleo experiment, and I've entered that "craving bad-for-me food, gonna kill someone" phase. We've been eating a lot of fantastic, creative, delicious stuff (thank you, Melissa Joulwan!), but dangit, I want ice cream and a peanut butter sandwich RIGHT. NOW.
Someone please tell me that it gets better.
Becky, it gets better. This is where discipline comes in. I was miserable for the first two weeks, and then I started feeling great and very energetic. I was/am not doing strict paleo, but I work hard to eliminate refined sugar and most grains. I think the sugar cravings are the worst, and it sounds like that's where you are. I craved angel food cake. I think you can at least partially address those cravings with some foods that are higher in fat, since they tend to be satisfying. Avocados work wonders for me when I feel the need for a treat.
I should add that I used to bake my own bread, and I really loved that whole process. I miss it, too, but I feel alot better without it and I've lost some weight (about 9 lbs since March).
When I crave pasta, I make up a big plate of spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and cheese and basil, and that satisfies quiet well.
I've dropped all grains from my diet, I knew that something less wouldn't work for me since I love bread so much. It's only been a week but my energy levels are already much higher/more stable than they were. So grain, no processed food (outside of Trader Joe's uncured bacon), and my dairy consumption has gone way down.
I haven't really been craving sugar yet...however in a weak moment I had some ice cream Monday which turned out badly. While I know that the assumption is one doesn't have to be 100% Paleo 100% of the time, but obviously I can't be trusted with ice cream right now. The ice cream monster took over...though to be honest I probably ate less than a cup so I shouldn't beat myself up. The rest of it went to the dumpster.
Tulip, thanks for the reassurance. I felt great initially, and I need to remember that feeling and that this is temporary. It's been very drizzly and gray here, and I have no doubt that the weather is a contributing factor.
I managed to walk past the donuts this morning and have a cup of tea and some almonds instead. Every good choice that I make is one less bad choice that I could have made. (Self, listen up!)
Becky, I found that once refined sugar was off-limits, it was pretty easy to not eat a whole bunch of formerly-tempting foods. Sugar is in so much food, and most of it does not contribute to my health and well-being. The doing away with grains pretty much eliminated everything else that was tempting.
The lost weight and increased energy has been great, and well worth the effort. You might want to set an initial time period so that you have a goal to reach. I started out with 30 days of no sugar and no grains, and it was hard the first two weeks, but having that goal was very helpful. It's something I will likely do again when I notice that I'm getting a bit lazy around the edges and letting things creep back in.
Catrin, I also had an ice-cream incident about a month ago. It just doesn't agree with me anymore and I have not been tempted to go back to it since. Renting ice cream just isn't that much of a draw, if you know what I mean.
I haven't read any paleo books, and I'm certainly not going to start eating platefuls of bacon. But I will once-in-a-while have a bit of bacon, and I do enjoy my chicken and the occasional steak. My breakfasts are usually smoothies with fruit and yogurt. My lunches are usually turkey and veggies (sometimes in a low-carb wrap, which is fine by me) or a big salad with avocado and salmon or chicken. My dinners tend to be some variation of chicken, sweet potato, and veggies (like greens, broccoli, or green beans--legumes are not off my list). Avocados go with everything!
I like hummus with carrots for a snack. And I do drink tea and coffee with milk or cream. No cereal or oatmeal, though. Just as well since I never liked oatmeal and was choking it down because it was "good for me." So glad that's over!
I really don't have a problem with eating out, as I just choose things that are appropriate. Salads with meats are good, as are fish and chicken, and I get a salad instead of rice or potatoes. Skip the bread, that's easy. I don't feel comfortable asking people who invite me into their homes to make any special changes for me, however. If they serve lasagne or pasta, I'll happily eat it because they went to the trouble and are offering to share their bounty with me. It won't kill me and I can get back to my way of eating easily enough. But that's just me; other people have no trouble asking hosts to make accommodations.
Becky - like the others have said, it totally gets better. Just stick it out and do NOT try to kill a sugar craving with a high sugar fruit as a substitute. That will only prolong the agony! Your best bet is to squash it with something super filling and preferably full of healthy fat. Avocados are a great idea!
Tulip - it sounds like you've captured the best parts of the paleo diet without going crazy about it. Good for you!
Just to clarify, I joke a lot about bacon but really, I don't eat it all that much. I've got a few recipes that use it for flavor but it's not a major component and when we do cook bacon to have with breakfast, I usually have only a piece or maybe two. I haven't had any at all since last Friday, so it's not a daily thing for me at all. I will say that bacon is MORE delicious now than it used to be precisely because when I do eat it, it's guilt-free and feels like a total indulgence.
For me, the biggest deterrent to eating things like wheat, oats, sugar and the like is my inability to STOP eating them. I don't know what those things do to me, but I lose my sense of satiety almost instantly so I almost always over eat even if I am actively listening to my body. And then I find myself craving the same things for days on end once the 'episode' is over. It's not worth it.
That said, if I really want ice cream or chocolate, I'll allow myself some immediately after a meal. This will satisfy the urge without creating a nasty cycle of cravings. I think the meal food already in my stomach keeps the typical sugar reaction from occurring. In addition, because I've already eaten, the danger of over-eating the treat food is a lot less.
I will NEVER eat crap when I am hungry. I've learned how badly I react to that and it's a huge mistake for me. If I'm hungry, I eat something healthy first, even if it's just a handful of carrots or a piece of cold chicken.
This is good to know. The banana with breakfast hasn't done much to alleviate the "want to kill people" or the "hit by a bus" feelings.Quote:
Originally Posted by GLC1968
Interestingly enough, DH is feeling the same way today. I'm surprised that we've entered this stage at exactly the same time. I at least expected a difference of a day or two.
I eat pretty much like Tulip, but in the past 2 months, I've let more things like Ezekial bread, whole wheat bagels, and the occasional waffle back in, as well as frozen yogurt/soft serve ice cream. All was fine until I came back from vacation, where I didn't restrict myself at all. I initially lost all of the weight (3lbs.) gained there, but it's been up a pound or two since then. Not critical, and where I was at may be too low for me, anyway. The thing is, I haven't noticed any difference in the way I feel when eating less grains. I've never been a junk food or sugar eater since I've been about 25, when I initially lost 25 pounds I gained in the years after graduating college. I hear all of you saying how great you feel, but I haven't felt any sudden burst of energy. I'm not tired, either.
I do eat 2 squares of dark chocolate a night after dinner and that seems to stop any dessert cravings. I've been doing this for years. I cut down on meat in April/May and that coincided with my weight going really low. I didn't stop eating fish or chicken, though. I've added beef and pork back in, but I don't eat that much of it. I've never been a dairy person, I hate milk, and have cut way down on my cheese consumption.
Overall, a "low glycemic" approach seems to work well for me. I enjoy the Paleo recipes I have from the one cookbook I bought, but I know when 3 PM comes and I am craving a slice of Ezekial bread and hummus, no matter how many carrots I eat, I won't be satisfied until I have the bread. I find it fairly easy to eat this way in restaurants, as long as I stay away from Italian and Asian, which I do.
I've decided after my week long experiment going Paleo to try a full 30 day experiment. We shall see, but I was encouraged by differences I saw in just that time period especially where energy levels were concerned.
As far as dark chocolate and red wine (which I don't drink anyway), I like Mark Butler's approach (Mark's Daily Apple and The Primal Blueprint) that these are things that can be enjoyed in moderation. No reason to give up good quality >75% dark chocolate. So I will report back on September 20 to say whether it will change from experiment status or just become part of my lifestyle. My personal crack is good quality ice cream, and that really isn't good for someone who is insulin resistant anyway...
I think it's Mark Sisson, isn't it?
Yeah, I kept dark chocolate in my world but found that eventually (it took awhile) even the 75%+ dark stuff would trigger sugar or sweets cravings. Now I find it easier to stick to the plan if I don't eat it, but I still have it occasionally.
Wine doesn't bother me digestively, but it does mess with my sleep patterns so I keep it as a very occasional indulgence as well.
Your experiences/reactions could be completely different from mine.
It's amazing how much one can learn about how their body reacts to certain foods from simple elimination and controlled reintroduction! I feel like a walking science experiment! :p
It will be interesting to see how this goes, and I actually rarely eat chocolate. I do like the occasional craft beer and I will have to see if that causes cravings. I find I don't miss bread at all - which is a total surprise! At least not yet...
Catrin, I'm glad it's going well for you. My current fixation within the Paleosphere is bone broth. I cook some meat in coconut oil or ghee, add it to a simmering pot of bone broth I've already prepared, and then sautee my veggies of choice in the meat drippings/remaining oil. Stick all that on top of some raw baby spinach or kale in a big bowl and pour the broth and meat on top. Yum.
The guy at Whole Foods is always giving me the weirdest look because I'm always buying center cut marrow bones. Once he asked if I had a dog, and I went all veterinarian on him and told him why dogs shouldn't have bones. When I told him it was for bone broth, which is super nutrient rich (especially minerals!), he wigged out.
I eat "weird" food and I love it. I love how it makes me feel, and I'm glad you are finding it works for you too.
I tried coconut oil this evening for the first time, and I really like it! The jar at Trader Joe's wasn't cheap, but it took so little that I can see it will last for some time.
Bone broth sounds interesting...once I get used to eating beef again. Outside of the grass-fed ground beef I had last week, I've not eaten beef in years. Looking for a grass-fed source that won't break the bank. I succeeded with pasture-raised chicken and ground beef, will likely get some other beef from the same farmer. I just froze the organs/neck from the chicken until I am brave enough/figure out what to do with them.