Cleaning My Plate represents my efforts to clean up all aspects of my health, starting with diet and eventually including fitness, sleep, and mental health (braaaainz…), collected here to share with you.
In this blog I explore the methods I use to opt out of the Standard American Diet (SAD), providing resources and recipes for gluten-free, sugar-free, low-carb living, drawing from Paleo and Primal plans for learning to eat like humans evolved to eat (a necessarily loose interpretation!). I’m also interested in exploring the relationship of culture and politics to diet and health.
I happen to be currently engaged in a low-carb/high fat experiment, so many (okay, most) of my recipes are low-carb. Paleo and low-carb/high fat aren’t necessarily synonymous; Paleo’s basic tenet is elimination of neolithic agents of disease — processed sugar, refined oils, feedlot meat, processed flour and other grains — with many, many interpretations branching off from there. Low-carb isn’t always concerned with the quality of the food; Paleo is very much concerned. Paleo encourages pastured eggs, grass-finished beef, and organic, local veggies.
While Paleo can get pricey (oh boy can it), I’ve found that it’s worth it for me. Following the basic plan helped my health tremendously; chronic pain, allergies, fatigue, depression, and headaches, blood pressure and cholesterol all greatly improved when I ditched the inflammatory, fake-food products. I am thriving on this diet — something I have not experienced since I was a little girl.
Low-carb is an experiment to see if it further improves my health; Paleo is a lifestyle choice. We’ll see what happens. I expect the blog will fluctuate over time as I adjust what I eat to how I feel.
Nothing is one size fits all — most especially diet — but I hope you find something useful here. 🙂
Cleaning My Plate 
I stil love you, I have always loved you –Your Mother looks good and is acting reasonably I no longer caary a baseball bat since she went on this Paleo distraction ! Who knows in a week or so I will put down the tazer and begin to leave the house xxoo Uncle Jeff
Lol! Aww, I love you too Uncle Jeffrey. 🙂 Glad to hear you have survived thus far. I bet there’s a best-selling book in your experiences…
Hi! Thanks for your blog. How did you get off stevia? That stuff is making me so hungry but, I thought it was just me until I read what you had to say on it.
Hi! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
I pretty much had to quit it cold – just like sugar – though I do cheat now and again (rarely now). Whenever I use it, though, my calories for the day totally jump. I think it’s a combination of it being a little appetite-stimulating, and making things taste so good I over-consume calories.
Leaving a dependence on sweet behind is hard, but so worth it. I’m constantly amazed by how delicious fruits and vegetables are in their natural state. Fruit starts to taste as sweet and rewarding to me as sugary desserts once my taste buds no longer expect super sweet. Stevia was keeping me wanting over sweetened products, plus making me hungrier, so it had to go.
Try using less and less every time, if going cold is too rough. Good luck!!