Thriving on Real Food

It has been almost three weeks since I escaped the heat and humidity of Minnesota. My health and ability to move has taken a dramatic upturn.

The day before I left I could not walk across the kitchen floor without my cane in my right hand and my left arm draped over my wife’s shoulder. And just to make things more exciting, I couldn’t talk.  My doctor attributes this to the motor control portion of my neurological system being affected.  The humidity and other toxin/molds in a humid environment exacerbate the problem.

So I left in our RV trailer and headed to Pinedale, Wyoming which over the last three years has proven to be a safe and healing place for me.  There is loads of sunshine, minimal pollution and the dew point is usually in the 30s.

As you can see from the following graph, I wasn’t doing very good in the first place.  (The peak around the end of April was during a vacation in Moab, another dry and sunny spot.)  As the humidity increased in Minnesota, my ability to navigate the world decreased.  I went from at least being able to walk, to shuffling around supported by my cane.

Once I got to Wyoming I was able to walk again. I usually try to get a walk in during the afternoon.  I started out slow and was really frustrated at first.  Then my trips got longer and more frequent. Recently, between hiking and general running around, I have gotten up to more than four miles per day!  Given that three weeks ago I could barely walk, that is pretty amazing.

Since this started as a food blog, I guess I should talk about food.  Tonight I was tired so I made a really simple, yet delicious, chicken salad out of ready to find ingredients.

First, let me tell you about my day.  I went hiking at Half Moon Lake in Pinedale, WY.  Out and back was about 2.5 miles.  That doesn’t seem like much.  However, a week ago when I was back home in Minnesota I had to have my wife’s assistance to walk across a room.

I really hadn’t talked much about my health, but I am in Wyoming to escape the humidity of the Midwest (doctor’s orders.)  More later in another post.

It was a beautiful day.  About 80 degrees with a bright sun and light breeze. I am working on my stamina because I would really like to tackle some of the amazing trails around here...

A couple of months ago my doctor decided that I was getting strong enough to try a Ketogenic diet.  This is designed to convince the body to stop burning sugar and, instead, burn fat.  Since the toxins I was exposed to are stored in fat cells, this does double duty of losing weight and getting rid of stored toxins.  It also helps to fuel the brain and repair any damage done to the neurological system.

On this diet, I am supposed to eat only 5% carbs, 25% protein and 70% fat.  (I aim at keeping my carb intake down to 20g per day.  That is equivalent to 1.5 Reeses cups or a half of a medium order of McDonalds fries.  All day!)

It is hard to find that much fat without consuming carbs.   One of the cures is to make and eat fat bombs as a snack.  They are made of healthy fats and no added sugar.

The last few days have been fairly interesting.  This illness leaves a person fairly isolated from the world.

Social Introvert

I am a very social introvert.  That means that I need a lot of time alone to recharge my body, mind and soul.  However, at the same time, I have a great need for socialization.  The tricky part is striking a healthy balance.  One of the ways I accomplish that is by going to for lunch many days and often going to a coffee shop late in the afternoon. I often take my laptop with me so I can get some work done and at the same time have some social interactions.

While camping in Custer, SD, I have tried to go out for lunch a few times.  Many of the restaurants are closed as they cater to the tourists from about May through September.  A few are still open...

Sunday

Sunday was a really tough day.  I traveled from central South Dakota to Rapid City.

BTW, this is what the Sacajawea statue/sculpture looks like in the daylight.  Pretty impressive.  She is 50 feet tall.

Then came the challenging part – finding a campsite.  I am used to camping a lot on BLM land in states like Wyoming, Montana, Utah, etc.  Although boondocking (dispersed camping) is allowed in the Black Hills National Forest, it has proven to be more difficult than the BLM land.  Much of the National Forest is actually private property.  That makes the search much more interesting.

I had stopped at the information center in Rapid City.  They gave me a list of National Forest campground that were still open...

Having already gone on two other sabbaticals in 2017, I am now on #3.

My health had gotten much better spending a good part of September in Wyoming.  I returned to Minnesota two weeks ago. Immediately, my left leg quit working.  Over the last two weeks, right right leg was starting to no longer work, either.  Now walking on one leg and a cane is hard enough.  Walking with zero legs is a completely different story.  There were even times where I resorted to crawling on my hands and knees, or even just crawling on my stomach to try to get somewhere.

I also started blacking out again.  My brain and body would go limp with no warning. It was very scary for both my wife and myself.  Even last night, we were sitting watching TV after enjoying a dinner together...

This recipe presents a skin-on boneless chicken breast where the skin actually has a crunch.  Pair that crunch with a naturally sweet and sour pan sauce made with shallots, pickled cherry peppers and thyme.

Today I found the best chocolates truffles I have ever tasted, and I have tasted a lot of chocolate.

Welcome to Arrowhead Chocolates in Joseph, Oregon.  I was passing by their store today while idling through the galleries and gift shops along main street.  Since my supply of Stumptown bottled cold brewed coffee had dwindled to nothing I needed another fix for this afternoon. Entering the store and asking at the counter, they did have cold brewed coffee and it was even from Stumptown beans.  And, they have dark chocolate truffles.

Win, Win, Win.

Since changing to a grain-free diet, I have been trying different types of waffles, both sweet and savory with marginal results.  I finally found these which are very satisfying.  I would say that they even have a better flavor than typical wheat waffles.  The whipped eggs and baking powder combine to give the some lift.

They can be made either sweet by adding some cinammin, or savory by using an herb.  Thyme sounds good.