Back 2 Basics

Yesterday my sister sent me a YouTube link to the beginning of a series on Horizon Eat, Fast, and Live Longer ([url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSh6Ot8d7bU&feature=youtube_gdata_player]P1 Horizon Eat, Fast and Live Longer - YouTube[/url] ). Started watching the series last night and then finished this morning. It talked about the benefits of fasting and the effects it has on insulin, health and aging.

I have tried IFing in the past, but every time I came off the fast, I felt like I could eat an entire cow and on some occasions came darn close. The final segment talked about a 5/2 fast where on the 2 fasting days you cut calories down to about 500 calories. So it is not what I think of as a complete fast, but simply a big calorie restriction for the 2 days. I may have to try this. It does not seem too far out of reach as this past week I have really been trying to listen to my body and have ended up only eating twice a day.

As I usually do, I will mull this over for a bit, search out more info and then possibly try.

Until later....

Dinner was easy tonight: venison steaks, cauliflower and a side salad. Nothing too fancy, but good nonetheless. I did sample one of the banana chocolate chip muffins I made yesterday for dessert...just as I thought they would be, yummy.

Congrats on surviving the in-laws, B2B! Each visit survived is its own little victory and can serve as a source of momentum and motivation!

I've also made Paleobird's meatloaf and absolutely loved it, and loved the leftovers even more. Good stuff!

Sounds like you're doing great and that listening to your body is really working for you. My body is now requesting meatloaf! Keep up the great work. :)

GoJenGo,
Thanks for the support. It has taken me over a year to finally "hear" what my body is telling me regarding hunger...so many mixed signals!! I just have to listen and the think is that really what my body wants/needs? And the meatloaf, oh my was that good. Leftovers sound good for lunch today!!

I will not weigh myself today. I will not weigh myself today. I will not weigh myself today.

I have an extremely bad habit of weighing myself daily (and I know I am not the only one). It is crazy to think how a simple number can "weigh" on my more than how I am feeling. I try very hard to listen to my body, but sometime I think I need something more tangible, hence the scale number. Silly, I know.

The advise I have read on the forums is to ditch the scale and measure. I have done this too and have pulled out that tape measure too often as well. I have been feeling better than I have in years and so I am expecting to the results of those feelings much quicker. Patience is really what I still need.

So here is the plan, I measured and weighed myself yesterday. Wrote down the info on a piece of paper and have vowed not to step on the scale or pull out the tape measure for an entire week. Small steps. From there, we will see.

I will not weigh myself today. I will not weigh myself today. I will not weigh myself today.

One day of success without stepping on the scale. Yeah! It is the little victories and I wil hold my head high today as that silly scale kept taunting me yesterday. I kept telling myself to just walk away. :)

Spent the greater part of the day playing chauffeur for my DS (soccer practice, home, work, oath, home), but still managed to get in my 30 squat/lunge/lower boy work out AND a nice walk with the pup. Dinner was easy-peasy, grilled chicken quarters, roasted brussel sprouts and a small side salad. Couldn't help myself again last night, so for dessert, one banana chocolate chip muffin.

Today is my first contracted (real) day back to work. I am looking forward to seeing everyone again, just not the long meetings that I will be attending. I have a hard time sitting still and being attentive for that long (I will be squirming in my seat by 9:30!).

Just left "junior member" status, another milestone to celebrate. Wahooo

I guess that is what happens when your good friend shows up at your house just before dinner with a homemade German sweet chocolate cake with birthday candles. While it was delish, I could only handle a small portion before my done meter began chiming. That's how it has been all day long for me, I couldn't even finish my lunch today. Very unusual....

... and that, for some reason, scares me a bit. Growing up it was three meals a day and clean your plate before you leave the table. Lately, I have journaled that I have been down to 2 meals a day (lunch and dinner) simply because I started listening to what my body, specifically stomach, was telling me. These past few days there has been a communication issue somewhere as I have not been all that hungry and merely start eating the one meal because I think I should, not because I am all that hungry to begin with.

When I do eat, it seems like I can't finish what is on my plate and with the exception of lunch with the girls the other day and my portions are not huge. Yesterday was a pretty low activity day for me, meetings, funeral and then class at night with one meal before my evening class that I was not totally starving to eat, but thought I needed to eat something. There were male opportunities to eat primal today as well and I didn't even have to do any of the cooking! Before our morning meeting we had breakfast options, there was yogurt, mini cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit and 12 different egg casseroles that my Principal's wife made up. There were even two of them that did not contain any bread/gluten in them. Nothing there tempted me. As for lunch, again, plenty of primal options available (attended a dear friend's mother's funeral and stayed for the luncheon afterwards). Not hungry. Made it home by 4:30, and thought I had better just eat before heading out to my evening class. Two small pieces of leftover PB meatloaf and some grape tomatoes and I was done. Got home from class at 11 pm, had a cup of natural calm, went to bed and woke up this morning, still not hungry!

I feel like I should be starving by now, but I just don't feel the need to eat.

What a crazy week-ish!! The back to school shift is always interesting. Long gone are my days of leisure :). That was a bit of a joke, but my schedule is much more complicated now as I am sure most families especially with school age kiddos in the mix. Between my son's practice schedule, soccer games, school, my work, DH's newish job (transfer), my grad class and all of those little curve balls of life, I am grateful for Saturday morning, even if it is just laundry and house cleaning.

So, for the update....DH asked me if I would NOT make his his usual sandwich for lunches. After a long stare at him and a quick shake of my head to be sure I heard him correctly, I asked him what he was thinking about eating. He mentioned some tuna and wasn't sure about the rest. I came up with a few primal suggestions to which he thought would be alright. This past week his lunches were some combination of tuna salad, carrot/celery sticks, rice crackers, fruit (apples, grapes, bananas), chicken chipotle soup (I made up last Sunday), hard boiled eggs, yogurt and a couple ounces of nuts. He told me yesterday that the lunches were great and he had plenty to eat. He is very much entrenched in the SAD/CW, so this was a transition for him. I knew it would get him thinking, so I also made him an index card of all of the food items that would appear in his lunch with all of the macros. He laughed at me, but I know once he got to work he took a closer look! We shall see how this goes. Our dinners have been for almost 2 years now mostly primal. I have been transition the boys away from the processed crap and make "safe" starches as side dishes for them for the most part.

While I have not been posting much, I have been lurking around the boards. From this I ended up ordering some Crio Bru and have made it a couple of times at work to replace my afternoon tea. Yumm-O-Lishish!!! I even shared some with one of my coworkers and we are both in love with it.....highly recommend. I was also peeking in on the fasting threads and before I knew it I had gone 24 hours, so I thought I would try it for as long as I could. I managed 48 hours. I probably could have gone longer, but at the 48 hour mark I was making steak on the grill and just could not resist. I love steak and figured this would be on end on this impromptu fast. I felt pretty good the whole time so I am thinking of incorporating longer fasts maybe once a month. I will have to plan for these so I don't derail myself, but I think it is totally doable.

Off to plan the food feat for the week. With the weather getting a bit cooler, finally, I am thinking some chili for Sunday football.