It's been a LOOOONG time but if you're still around, I hope you're all doing good! I survived last year living which is a minor miracle (considering the bike accident and later on the year there was a serious explosion in my office: luckily NOBODY was in the room at that time, would've ended up to the morgue) and doing very very well. Still not on the Zone but probably very close, doing the paleolithic diet even more carefully than before. I've cut down the dairy almost totally and the carbs are still just veggies and maybe one fruit per day, berries of course... And as you know, I'm no fanatic so if I need to, I can have a bite of anything :-)

Anyway just wanted to come and check how are you, leave a word if you're out there! And oh yes, I switched into writing in English into my cooking blog so have a look if you want to, and comment so I'LL KNOW YOU WERE THERE :-D ---> monkeyfood.net

Have the best year 2010 and may all of you be healthy and well <3

Ps. Currently reading Taubes's Good calories, bad calories, super interesting :-P

Happy New Year Meri!

The explosion at work...scary!

Glad you popped in here. I was just thinking about you the other day!

Meri, it is great to hear from you! I was also thinking of you, and I was thinking that I had to find this thread again! I haven't heard from Jana for a while, either.

Wow, I knew about your bike accident, but not the explosion! Phew! Glad you wene not in that room.

Let us know what you think of that book. Someone mentioned it on another thread, but I haven't seen much discussion about it, and I am curious.

Thanks Sue and wishing you the same! <3 I'm quite often thinking about you guys but the time's just too limited for enough surfing... And if I don't have the time to participate I usually just skip the surfing because I find the discussion the best part of web communities :-) Any brilliant new cooking ideas?

CC, glad you're okay as well! Hope Jana will appear... And Bernie! HALLOOO?! ;-D The book is hugely interesting and it does prove the misunderstandings of almost all the dieting research during last 100 years. I LOVE the fact that it brings up the common "belief": people are fat, BECAUSE they overeat and do too little exercise. NO no! It's the opposite: because of something (haven't got so far yet or maybe it's even unknown still what) CAUSES body to get BIGGER, people eat more and exercise less to survive. Like when you have a growth spurt as a teenager or being pregnant: you don't eat and then grow, but the OTHER WAY AROUND. Changes the attitudes towards heavier people a lot.

Also a good example regarding attitudes. When a person watches the telly all day lying on a sofa, they are called couch potatoes for being so inactive and still. When a person sits all day reading books, no such assumption is made. Oh my, new ideas and shaking attitudes is so interesting and important!

Anyway, I'm gonna come back to tell more about the book if you're interested... Some of the points are as a Finnish blogger reviewed them (urbaanioranki.blogspot.com):

1. Fat doesn't cause fattiness, heart problems, or other chronic lifestyle diseases.
2. The problem is the carbohydrate in a diet that causes changes insulin levels and therefore effect on the hormonal homeostasis of the body. The more refined the carbs are, the more of an impact they have on health, weight etc.
3. Sugar, especially sucrose and glucose-fructose-syrap, is specially evil since it elevates insulin levels and the same time it overloads the liver with carbs.
4. Refined carbs, starch and sugars are the dietary factor in heart disease and diabetes. They also are the most probable dietary factor causing cancer, Alzheimer and other lifestyle diseases.
5. Fatness is a failure in fat storaging in body. It's not caused by overeating and not being active.
6. Eating too many calories doesn't cause fattiness the more that eating causes a child to grow. If you use more evergy that you're eating you're not losing weight but starving.
7. Fattiness and gaining weight are caused by fat tissue's hormonal adjustment and fat metabolism's imbalance.
8. Insulin is the main factor in storaging fat. When insulin level is up, we storage fat and when the level lowers fat is being used as a fuel.
9. Exelerating insulin release carbs make us gain weight and we end up fat. The less we eat carbs, the less we put on weight.
10. While adding fat tissue in us carbs also create more hunger.

----

Phew! Hard work translating and not very perfect, hope you get the idea! I know it's a bit controversy regarding Sears's thinking but this knowledge has been "extracted" from the last 100 years of banting research so it's not all bs :-) I find it highly interesting! And for the most parts it's prbably even not contradicting Sears but supporting his ideas really? A bit different perspective.

Meri, sounds basically like what Dr. Sears has been saying for years. :-)

Yes, I've definitely got some brilliant new cooking ideas, but they're not mine. It's the SuperZone. I've been eating SuperZoned and love it!

I agree with Sue, it sounds a LOT like what Sears is saying. Very supportive. I enjoy reading books by different authors, they all offer a bit of a different perspective on it. I think the truth does lie somewhere in between everyone's theory.

Think I will have to get that one!

Well very nice to hear! I'm not as familiar as your guys what Sears is saying so it's brilliant to get back up, it's fantastic book. And it's so so so sad how the misinterpretations have been done... Makes me angry. Especially on behalf of everybody who had issues with overweight. All misery that could've been avoided... Sigh.

Yes, I think we are on the right track now as far as diet theories go, but who knows what we will come up with in the next 100 years? LOL!

Misinterpretations happen all the time, and all we really have to rely on is the past, to tell us if we were right or wrong. Kind of hard to blame the predecessors of the diet revolution, when they probably didn't have the resources to research this out, and they didn't have results of studies available to them.

Hi everyone! So nice to have you back Meri!! I've had a very hectic last month or so and FINALLY have a little time to check in here. I haven't been on the board but I have been Zoning...love the Zone! :-)

Sorry to hear about your office explosion Meri...so glad everyone was alright. You had quite an event filled year in 2009 didn't you?

Thanks for posting your recipe website address...I'm looking forward to checking it out. I haven't had much time lately for dabbling with new recipes but I do have 2 web address that I love to get recipes from that you may enjoy www.adoctorskitchen.com and www.cfscceat.blogspot.com/ This second website focuses on paleo-zone recipes so you will probably particularly enjoy it.

Hi, Jana! Good to see you around!

Jana heyyyyy! So GOOD to see you <3 It's amazing how life always gets so hectic even if you try to cut down things... Phuuh. And say no more I had a fairly eventful last year :-D I hope it's more quiet this year :-) And it's all going well, off to Thailand on the 1st of February! :-P

And eating paleo (totally ditched dairy and grains) seems to suit me, I just need to remember to eat some fruit to get at least some carbs or I get pretty tired and cranky. At least I think it's that :-D Might be just my personality O_O

I'll definetely check out your website when I get home today from the gym! ...I've been more active now posting the recipes in English as well, in Monkeyfood :-)

Take care you all!

Meri, wow Thailand! What are you going to do over there?

Yes, I agree, need a little less action this year. Ended last year with my dad's "almost" heart attack and "almost" open heart surgery--but of course he dodged the bullet--again. He is working on cardiac rehab, trying to get back in shape for some regular exercise. And, dieting is going a bit slow, but it sounds like he is maybe eating too little.

Then, today, my daughter woke up with belly pain, I jumped on it thinking it was appendicitis, but thankfully it is not. It is pyelonephritis, or a kidney infection. She got IV fluids and antibiotic, and then we left the hospital. I can think of better things to do on a Friday!

CC, well... :-D To rest, freedive, rock climb, swim, get massages, eat, read books... yoga. Aaaaahhhhhh... To enjoy the SUN! :-D <3

Oh my your last year as well! A BIT stressful. Well at least your nutrition is supporting your body even if it's being trough tough things. And I know those kidney things :-( Hopefully your daughter's okay? Warmest regards to her!

Meri, you ARE the definition of adventure!

I will take the swimming, massages, eating reading, and DEFINITELY the sun! Not so sure of the free-diving or rock climbing. I am kind of a chicken! But, I do like to go hiking, I just probably wouldn't do the steep stuff.

Thanks for the well-wishes, kind of a rough night but she is doing ok, about the same as yesterday.

Wow Meri, Thailand sounds fantastic! How long will your vacation be? Will be nice to get out of the cold Finland weather to the sunny south won't it? Hope you have a great time.

I had a green smoothie for breakfast this morning...yummy!!

Oh WILL it be nice???? Hell yeah :-D It's like 50 degrees warmer than here, quite hilarious actually ;-) A bit of a shock for the body <3 We're staying for 16 days including the travelling, so a generous two weeks ahead. Ahoy! Vacation started yesterday after a day of education at work yesterday.

And I wanna share my news with you guys as well: I was made permanently the head of my unit! I've been the head of a unit for more than a year and a half now and now the person that I'm "filling in" decided not to continue as the head ot but as a "regular" one and I applied and got it :-) I've been really enjoying the post and it motivates and suits me, as we know, the first and the most important factor in a leader is the will to lead... I love getting to handle with the big picture and to help people to perform their best <3

Anyway gotta run! Leaving only in couple of days so gonna come check you out! Take care you guys and live in the MOMENT :-)

Hi, Meri!

Sounds like just the thing for a cold winter--a trip to anywhere where it is warm! I figure your winter might be a bit colder and longer than ours, but I live in Wisconsin, so our winter started in December with some snow, and then we usually have snow through March. Today, it is very cold, and my oldest daughter and I are going to go downhill skiing. So I will be thinking of you as I am living in that moment!

Hey from Krabi, Thailand!

A wee difference comparing to Finland's degrees; in Finland, it was -20 and here: modest 38 degrees! Pretttty hot :-D Luckily it helps being underwater ;-)

I got my lab results just when I left Finland and wanted to report them for you if you had some advice or recommendations, I'm not quite sure if I should take how much fish oil based on this. My HDL was 2,78 and triglyserides 0,4. (LDL was 2,6). Everything looked very good I'd say, I mean everything else as well :-) Soon I'll be getting my hormone D value as well but it wasn't ready yet before I left. Anyway, if you have a word of advice I'd be greatful! It's very hard if not impossible to get the AA-test taken in Finland..

Oh, I listened to one of Sears's lectures in the plane, he's always so inspiring and funny too :-)

Now back to thai foods that fit (in my opinion) excellently the paleo (and ZOne): veggies, fish, meat, chicken, squid, oil, fruit and coconut milk, hardly any grains or dairy! Omitting the rice, naturally. :-)

Buy guys and hope you'll FEEL my warmest regards :-D

Nooooo! Did it happen again, my post just disappeared :-(

Well to make my long post shorter, I got my lab results and would ask any advice about fish oil quantity or else: HDL 2,78, triglycerides 0,4. (LDL 2,6)

And my warmest regards from hotter than hot Krabi, Thailand! :-D

Nooooo! Did it happen again, my post just disappeared :-(

Well to make my long post shorter, I got my lab results and would ask any advice about fish oil quantity or else: HDL 2,78, triglycerides 0,4. (LDL 2,6)

And my warmest regards from hotter than hot Krabi, Thailand! :-D

It didn't disappear :-D Sorry for multiposting, didn't intend to :-(

Hey!

I don't know how to interpret your labs as they don't use the same values that we do in the US. But if I find some free time I will try surfing the web to see if I can gain any insight.

Now, don't get a sunburn out there!

Meri, have a great time in Krabi! :-)

CC, oh I didn't think about the values! I just remember reading from the OMega Rx Zone that HDL divided by the triglycerides should be around 1. If it's more, you should add fish oil, but if it less like mine I don't quite know what should I do... My trigly value is the lowest starting point of the recommended range. But nice if you'll find something, I'll try look into it myself as well when I get back :-)

And I DID already get a bit too much sun, it's hard to avoid when swimming and diving... The face is constantly exposed, you should see my red nose :-D

Sue, thanks! I love your new pic, looking supergood!

...back to outside in the sun, loving that as well and the friendliest of the people :-) By then!

Thanks Meri!

A little info...

The ideal TG/HDL is <1. The TG/HDL is an indicator of how well you control insulin, and also whether you have the harmless non-sticky kind of LDL, or the more dangerous sticy type of LDL (< 2 = non sticky LDL; > 2 = sticky LDL). Unfortunately the TG/HDL doesn't tell you inflammation levels or how much fish oil you need. For that, you need the AA/EPA test.