Pre-Paleo Countdown: More Emo Koko, Now with Skin!

Koko Day T-minus-three

Oh, feelings. Some major things I'm eager to see affected on this paleo experiment are mental. I have depressive tendencies and some post-traumatic stress, according to my cadre of social scientists. I'm still nursing a toddler so I'm not a great candidate for pharmaceutical enhancement. That's all well and good; I generally love to go it au naturale. I'm trained as an herbalist and I avoid so much as an aspirin when I have a headache. But for depression and anxiety, I've had my best successes in the following ascending order:

Wellbutrin worked well.

Acupuncture worked better

Training for a half marathon worked by far the best.

Problem is, when you're down you're down and even brewing up a strong happy-making tea feels like a hell of a mountain. Getting in for twice-weekly acupuncture and running every day are great ideas but pretty much not going to happen.

So I expect and hope to decrease blood sugar spikes and dips while increasing energy. I went through a somewhat manic period concurrent with my last paleo experiment so I don't know if it was the great food or the crazy in my brain that made me want to jog and yoga at all hours. Now that I'm in a decidedly more reflective place (reflective: that's a nicer word than sad, isn't it?) I am curious to see how the dietary change affects my mind.

On the skin front, I am in the depths of monthly hormone-itis but left the house without feeling the need for even a speck of concealer. The pimplage that was in constant eruption during most of December's sugar- and booze-fest has died down into something not yet luminous but no longer looking like gravel paved over. So there is encouraging progress already.

A roast is slow cooking in a heavy french pot; oxtails are thawing for some later project; meatloaf is baking and smelling delicious if I bothered to sniff.

Amazing that I can eat a cow for breakfast and still feel like the bottom of the food chain.

Yours,
Koko

The image above came from this site.

Pre-Paleo Countdown: Feelings Edition

Koko, Day t-minus-four

Today was an excellent paleo day but this evening finds me sad, wracked with pms and regret and an empty bowl that until moments ago held frozen raspberries, spiced coconut milk and a fistfull of chocolate chips pulled from the way-back of the freezer. So tonight I am learning the same valuable lesson I've learnt countless times before: if I don't want to consume it, it can't be in my house. Also? I tend to be a bit of an emotional eater.

Which brings me to feelings*.

Lolo and I had a brief chat this morning about the relative merits of sublimating hard stuff like heartbreak and disappointment into meal planning and taking charge of our health. I'm not going to lie- it's been a Capital-H, -on wheels, Hell of a year for both of us. So there is a lot to sublimate if you happen to swing that way. Lolo does amazing work with people around food and psychology, so I am very eager to read her thoughts on the subject if they come up.

For my part, I notice that meal planning and writing these blog posts gives me something productive to think about instead of dwelling in the mind-space of Emo Koko: Now with Kleenex Action Grip! (I mean, here it is not even Day 1 and I am already overposting like a maniac.) There is an element at work of controlling food when everything else feels out of control. And I wonder about the wisdom of intentionally not feeling my feelings. Is it smart to distract my brain with meal plans and prep work all day if nightfall brings sweet dreams that dissolve into waking tears?

Will a healthy body lead to a strong mind, as the Buddha said? Or am I deluding myself a la Operation Ivy?

What do you think, Lolo? What do you think, Ghosts of the blogosphere?

Yours,
Koko

*holy COW this clip well and truly knocked me out!