lifestyle changes.....

i've known,  for at least the last 15 years,  that i feel better when i eat a diet lower in carbs.    i have done it,  periodically,  and while i feel so much better,   and lose some weight each time,  it's been hard to maintain....especially since i live with a carb fiend.....       lately, though,  i had been thinking about giving it a go again.   my friend, rachael, suggested trying paleo.   she and her husband have been working their way into a paleo lifestyle for a while now,  and are very pleased with their results.   so i started thinking about paleo and doing some research.   it sounded good,  although i'll admit that i was more attracted to primal,  which encourages as much meat as you want and dairy products.    eventually i found that there are as many versions of paleo as there are people doing it,  and that it's more of a template which makes suggestions about what to eat,what not to eat and why.  you are left to make your own choices,  for your own reasons.     so far, so good.     but diving in head first seemed daunting.   i decided i'd ease into it but wasn't sure where to start.  after a conversation with some other friends,  who i had no idea were also exploring paleo options, i decided to start by eliminating wheat.  my mom is very allergic to wheat, so it stands to reason that it might be affecting me as well.  i don't know why it hadn't occured to me before.

after the first day of being wheat free,  i could already notice differences in how i felt.  after a week,  i could go up and down the steep stairway at work, one foot after the other, like a normal person.  i noticed that my posture was better without having even through about it. during the following week, while out with a friend,  i had a spicy chicken sandwich at chick-fil-a....   as an experiment....    i could feel it the next day.  my joints were sore and my muscles felt fatigued.   a week ago i did another experiment,  and again, noticed a huge difference within a day.    it seems that it takes about six days for me to recover from these 'experiments'.    and i am quickly coming to the conclusion that it's just not worth it.    i am guessing that my cheats are going to be few and far between,  and i'm going to have to really convince myself that it's worth it.

so.   i am still easing toward paleo...    after starting by eliminating wheat,  i am easing into being gluten free.  i am thinking i will probably eliminate corn as well, but still thinking on that one.

last night i decided to try out this recipe for paleo pancakes.   i had all of the ingredients, and it looked pretty simple...    the picture looked yummy, lol.   wellllll.....   my first one looked more like this:

they were way too crumbly.    once i figured out how hot the pan needed to be,  they got better,  and i actually got a few, toward the end, that were round....   

my opinion, though, is that they are way too sweet,  and very rich/heavy.    i don't think i'll make them again.     i have quite a lot of buckwheat in my food storage,  so i will continue to perfect buckwheat pancakes instead.   i have found several recipes for them that are gluten free.

my next quest is to find a gluten free recipe for sandwich bread that meets my expectations.