Ok, so no bacon in this post, however, every couple weeks I like to spice up the morning gruel with smoked oysters!
Two of the biggest challenges I faced during the onset of my "missing gallbladder healthy eating" adventure was figuring out what to eat and how to navigate the kitchen.
In Rob Wolf's book entitled Wired to Eat, he has some simple advice for people just starting out who may be confused about what to eat: "If it has a label on it don't eat it"!
The basis of his 30 day challenge and his book in general focuses on the ancestral or "Paleo" diet by modern nomenclature.
A quick primer: Paleo is basically limited grain products like cereal, bread, rice, limited dairy including milk and cheese, limited legumes (peanuts) or starch from potatoes.
Based on my diet pre-gallbladder surgery, the only thing left for me to eat would have been water, coffee, nuts and meat. I was never huge on vegetables or fruit and craved anything with sugar or vitamin F & G (fat and grease). I could eat cereal for every meal if given the chance.
I am thinking this might be why my gallbladder resigned?
His book also provides some good advice on navigating the kitchen. Prior to this journey, my experience in the kitchen centered around cereal bowls, the microwave and fast and friendly food!
The first thing I re-learned was how much time preparing fresh non-processed food could be at every meal. Fortunately, some helpful advise from Wired to Eat helped me solve this problem as well.
Typically on the weekend, my wife and I prepare fresh cut vegetables that we store in a compartment style container in the refrigerator.
Cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers, celery, broccoli and carrots are some of our favorites. We use these throughout the week in various dishes.
Every morning, I start the coffee, then typically grab some of each of the cut vegetables, throw them in a frying pan with some olive oil and a little butter, season with some garlic salt and pepper and sauté them with a protein source like sausage, bacon, oysters or whatever we had for dinner the night before.
While this hot mess is coming up to temperature I cut up fresh seasonal fruit and make a small fresh fruit bowl.
By the time I am finished making the fruit it is time to drown the hot sauté mixture in a couple of eggs and cook until ready to serve.
It may not look like much but I can tell you it tastes fantastic! If the photo makes it seem like that's a lot of food to eat for breakfast then the photo is accurate.
Here are some personal observations/facts regarding this way of eating:
Zero portion control, I eat until I am full.
This breakfast satiates me until about 2pm. I do not crave anything in between and don't even think about eating again until that time.
I eat two more meals each day, following about an 85% ancestral diet comprised of meat, vegetables, fruit, and nuts. I also eat these two meals until I am full.
I no longer have the digestive issues I was dealing with, I take no supplements and I feel great!
My height and weight on July 30th, 2023 was 5'-7" tall and 192 lbs. As of this post I am still the same height and my weight has stabilized at 176 lbs. I graduated from college in 1989 at 175 lbs.
I have lost 16 lbs., I am never hungry, I successfully killed the sugar and crap food cravings and haven't counted one calorie nor even cared about any of that craziness since taking the challenge and changing my eating habits!
I will cover more of my personal insights in future posts.
Stay tuned and thanks for reading.....Paul
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