It’s been a hell-uva week here. It started really on Friday when I went to the grand opening of Trader Joe’s in Mt Pleasant. The parking was awful and the crowds were crazy but in the end it was worth it to buy grass-fed beef for about $3 per pound. I filled my cart with all sorts of meaty goodness, 99 cent coconut milk and reasonably priced nitrite free bacon. I’ll still be going to the farmer’s market on Tuesday to get my fruits and veggies because there is nothing like tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peaches and cantaloupe grown and ripened locally. I’m pretty excited about getting some zucchini because my sweet, sweet boyfriend gave me food dehydrator for my birthday. Now I know most of you gals out there are probably cringing at the thought, but not me. I can’t wait to make some fresh zucchini chips and beef jerky. So, TJ’s is about 14 miles from my house, I will probably not go every week, but it’s definitely worth a trip every couple of weeks for essentials.

One of the things I bought at TJ’s was organic whole chicken, which I split into 2 separate methods of cooking. I tend to really dislike chicken breast except for in chicken salad. So I separated the breasts from the thighs, wings, and legs and poached them with herbs, whole peppercorns and two halves of a lemon. The dark meat I roasted in my cast iron pan in the oven with herbs, lemon juice (from the lemons I put in the poaching water), and TJ’s 21 herb/spice mix. A drizzle of olive oil and about 35 minutes in the oven and I was left with succulent deliciousness. I reduced the sauce and thickened with a pat of grass-fed butter and OMG – so good. I need to test the recipe a couple of more times and then I’ll post it. All I can say is I’m so glad that I eat the way I do, where I get plenty of veggies, fruits, meats and healthy fats. Which leads me to an observation on a totally different note…

Sometimes when I work out on my stationary bike I like to watch Dr. Phil – it’s totally a guilty pleasure sort of thing. As I worked out to my latest gadget (a bunch of Mp3′s for Interval training), I watched an episode about a 14 year old boy who was so afraid of eating food, especially fat, that he would become abusive to his mom if even the tiniest bit of egg yolk ended up in his egg white omelet. All I can says is Wow. I mean really. I get that this kid needs treatment, but all his parents are doing is enabling him to continue being abusive to them. The boy needs some serious help – which is of course why they were spilling their guts on national tv to Dr. Phil. Of course Dr Phil got the boy into a treatment facility to help him deal with his eating disorder. Hopefully he’ll be able to get over his fears and deal with his anger and his body image. It makes me think about my own body image, and why I’m going through the eating and exercising and how I feel about my own body. I’m not in the best shape right now, which is why I’ve come back around to eating Low Carb/Paleo and started exercising again. My goal is not really to be skinny, but to be healthy, to improve my cholesterol and blood sugar and ultimately lower my markers for inflammation. I cannot imagine going through what that kid is going through, but I struggle with my body image just like everyone else. I will say that at 44, I am more comfortable in my own skin than I ever have been. If only I could bottle that feeling and sell it to twenty-something girls, I would be so rich.