Unfortunately, I have a pretty weird job and get home at 10 pm. This often plays havoc with my dinner.

Tonight, I was lying in bed when my stomach started growling because I didn’t have any real dinner. I have a hard time sleeping when I’m hungry, so off to the kitchen I went.

Fortunately, I had the perfect late night smack: wild smoked salmon.

It’s delicious, nutritious, and very fatty. The market I shop at makes some in house in addition to the prepackaged stuff. The in house version is way cheaper (good), has a milder flavor (bad), and comes with the skin (awesome)!

A little bit of salmon meat and skin, and I’m good to go. Fatty foods are fantastic for satisfying hunger.

Ugh. It’s been a bad month. I haven’t been planning my meals adequately, and with a schedule change at work, I’ve been grabbing lunch on the go.

The result: sleeplessness, lethargy, and weight gain.

So it is back on the wagon time. One day at a time.

I did pretty well today. Breakfast was bacon and eggs. I chowed down about half a stick of boars head pepperoni for a snack. Dinner was a steak. There was some dark chocolate and plenty of tea in there too.

Weekends are the hardest times though. Hanging out with non primal friends is temptation city. I really just need to load up on the healthful fats before I leave the house.

Today’s installment of paleo meals is oyster ceviche. I love, love, love oysters, and, as a side benefit, they are very good for you. So I bought a couple pounds of Appalachicola Bay oysters at the market and had the brilliant idea to make ceviche! Of course, since I got new batteries for my Flip, I took a video (or three):

• seafood
• lemon or lime
• garlic & onion
• tomatoes (optional)
• a bit of oil
• hot peppers
• cilantro (very important!)

As it turns out, I should have made more. My wife just about ate it all!

I’m on the road again today, and I realized another one of the many benefits of living and eating the primal way: the ability to fast intermittently.

Fasting is a large topic, which I don’t want to get into right now, but the short version is that predictably going without food for 10-16 hours does a body good.

But the flip side of it is that it enables you to go that time without food and not feel any particular discomfort.

I was on a Spirit Airlines flight this morning. Their deal is that they provide super cheap fares but cram you in like sardines and charge for everything else a la carte. So no free pretzels here (which I wouldn’t eat anyways).

As the stewardesses were going down the aisle offering snacks and drinks, I felt no urge to snack. And hey, I’m all for staying away from impulse buys, so in the case primal did my wallet good!

Sometimes you just need to go to the store and pick something quick and easy. That’s what happened to me today as I was out running errands.

I’m trying really hard to stay 100% primal to stop my backsliding that I’ve been going through recently, so I needed a primal snack. Inspiration struck. Nuts!

So I went to the snacks aisle and came across: Blue Diamond Almonds BOLD Habanero BBQ

I checked the stats, and there are 2 g of sugar for every 28 nuts or so. That seems like an acceptable carb count to me. The oils that are put are on the less put-a-stick-in-my-eye side: canola, safflower and/or sunflower. A trace amount of soybean oil in the liquid smoke. All in all, not too shabby for a grab-and-go sort of item.

And hey, they are tasty too!

I am on a brief road trip this weekend, and thought it would be a good time to review some snacks for road trips.

This was a 4-5 hour ride, so it didn’t require that much prepping. For two passengers, I made:

We ended up eating just a few of the eggs, a couple strips of bacon, and most of the nuts. When your food is full of fat and protein, it doesn’t take as much to get you through the trip!

We will probably eat the rest on the way home.

This isn’t any sort of exhaustive list of primal friendly road food, it just happens to be what I had available in my refrigerator when I left the house.

– from the iPad

It’s a delicate topic, I know. Most people don’t even want to discuss it. But as it turns out, like many other things in our lives, it’s related to diet. Of course, I am referring to farting.

I was unexpectedly out of the house all day yesterday. While I had some leftover stew in the refrigerator at work, I had nothing for lunch. I wasn’t particularly in a fasting mood, so I caved and got a meatball sub sandwich from Firehouse Subs. Oh, and Doritos and a soda too.

Aside from putting me in a light sugar-coma for the rest of the day, I felt fine. It wasn’t until I got home that the trouble began. Read the rest of this entry »

I made one of my favorite breakfasts this morning: eggs & guacamole. It’s easy, full of great fat and protein, and most importantly: delicious!

I should have taken a picture, but I was too busy scarfing it down.

Guacamole:

• half an avocado
• chop some onions or shallots pretty fine (great use for aquaponic onions)
• salt
• lime juice

Fried Eggs

• bacon grease for frying
• 3 eggs

In a bowl, mash up the avocado and then add the other ingredients. In a pan (cast iron is always best), heat bacon grease, then add eggs. Flip (gently!) when edges look firm.

Serve eggs with guac on top.

Today I made it with pancetta, which added a nice crispiness to everything.

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to cover some of the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival for a local magazine, Best Self Atlanta. Lots of Primal fun was had!

• I learned how to pickle and can vegetables.
• I learned the basics of how to butcher a hog along with how to store the pieces, including how to make country ham and head cheese.
• I tasted all kinds of fabulous things including great bourbon and bacon flavored vodka. OK, those aren’t strictly Primal, but they’re fantastic!
• I learned a whole lot more about grilling techniques.
• And best of all, I had lots of tasty meats.

It was a great weekend. I highly recommend everyone go next year.

One of Mark’s Primal Laws is to avoid doing stupid things that may injure you. It’s a good law.

I almost broke it today.

I met up with my buddy to go indoor rock climbing this morning. The stupid part? I didn’t have any breakfast.

Now I know all about intermittent fasting (IF) and how many people enjoy working out in a fasted state. Blah, blah, blah. I’ve only been rock climbing a few times, but I have figured out this much: it’s hard and takes a lot of energy.

I gassed out way too quickly on several climbs and couldn’t complete them.

Mainly this was because I’ve been staying up too late at night and waking up late as a result. I basically rolled out of bed and went to the climbing gym. Not smart.

Fortunately this wasn’t all that dangerous (except to my pride!) as our safety equipment and mutual checks prevent accidents.

So, Primal Law: Don’t Go Rock Climbing on an Empty Stomach.

I ended up buying a Clif Bar. Mistake.

Check out the ingredients: Organic Brown Rice Syrup, ClifPro® (Soy Rice Crisps [Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Flour, Barley Malt Extract], Organic Roasted Soybeans, Organic Soy Flour), Organic Rolled Oats, Soy White Chocolate ( Organic Dried Cane Syrup, Cocoa Butter, Soy Flour, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavors), Organic Toasted Oats (Organic Oats, Organic Dried Cane Syrup Organic Cane Syrup, ClifCrunch® (Organic Oat Fiber, Inulin [Chicory Extract], Organic Milled Flaxseed, Organic Oat Bran, Psyllium), Macadamia Nuts, Organic Soy Butter (Organic Roasted Soybeans, Organic Soybean Oil, Salt), Organic Macadamia Nuts, Organic Date Paste, Natural Flavors, Sea Salt

Here’s how I read these: Sugar, Legume, Grain, Sugary Legume, Sugary Grain, Nuts, Legume, Nuts, Sugar, Additive to make processed foods palatable, Salt

Definitely, definitely not Primal. My GI tract hasn’t been happy since.

So here’s another Primal Law: Don’t Rely on “Healthy” Snacks to Be Healthy.