Primal Journal (alwaysgettinglost) page 5

[alwaysgettinglost]

Argh. My brain hurts. I finally broke down and went to the doctor yesterday because it had been almost a week and my symptoms were getting not-better and weirder. (Did anyone else know a sinus infection can make your teeth hurt? I didn't.) So I took a sick day yesterday, ate a lot of soup, drank a lot of tea and watched almost the entire first season of Glee from the library. Now I am back at work and going to try to remember what I ate for four days. Oi.

Day25 (Friday, 10/01/10)
Food:
B: 3 turkey sausages - Coffee (half&half, tsp sugar)
S: Chocolate
L: Bacon cheeseburger - Sautéed mushrooms and red onion - Apple - Apple Donut
S: -
D: Grandma's: Chicken in some sort of creamy sauce that had mushrooms in it - Rosemary potatoes - Coffee w. cream&sugar
S: -

Exercise:
Nephew-wrangling.

Bedtime:
Something lateish like 1130.

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Day26 (Saturday, 10/02/10)
Food:
B: 3 turkey sausages - Butternut Squash Soup - Coffee (half&half, tsp sugar)
S: -
L: Olde Mohawk: Bratwurst w. caramelized onions, sauerkraut, swiss cheese - Potato pancakes w. sour cream - Hard Cider
S: Caribou Coffee: Dark Chocolate Mint Mocha
D: - (I don't recall eating dinner)
S: -

Exercise:
Walking all over the OSU campus in the rain.

Bedtime:
Seriously no idea.

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Day27 (Sunday, 10/03/10)
Food:
B: Bacon - Water or Tea? I don't know.
S: -
L: Mom&Dad's: Hotdog, 1/2 bun, ketchup - cheese - Iced tea
S: Mom&Dad's: Apple pie
D: Mom&Dad's: Potato bacon soup
S: -

Exercise:
Nope, laundry.

Bedtime:
1115ish

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Day28 (Monday, 10/04/10)
Food:
B: Bacon - Tea (honey&cream)
S: -
L: Ugly Soup - Tea (sugar)
S: Tea (sugar&cream)
D: Guacamole&chips - Orange juice
S: -

Exercise:
Newp.

Bedtime:
10?

[alwaysgettinglost]

Oh. I forgot to mention that I'm in the secret contest rotation of Grok tattoo pictures. I've got my back turned, tongue out and a rawkfist. And I juuuust might be dating that crazed-looking weirdo with a "spear."

[alwaysgettinglost]

Day29 (Tuesday, 10/05/10)
Food:
B: Bacon - Coffee (sugar&cream)
S: -
L: Potato/Bacon Soup - Carrots
S: -
D: 2 HBE - Asparagus - Water
S: -

Exercise:
On the mend, but no.

Bedtime:
1030ish

[MeatMe216]

heh nice tat pic

rraaaawwwk!

[alwaysgettinglost]

heh nice tat pic

rraaaawwwk!

Lol, thanks 216. I figured if I had a fake tattoo I may as well pretend to be a badass while I'm at it.

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Ha. It figures I would post relatively-faithfully throughout the contest, then get to the LAST day and totally forget. I went to my friends' house and had Chinese food and made cookies that night though, so yeah, not so primal.

Day30 (Wednesday, 10/06/10)
Food:
B: 3 turkey sausages - Coffee (sugar&cream)
S: -
L: Guacamole&chips - Carrots - Water
S: Dark orange chocolate - Walnuts - Coconut - Dried cranberries
D: -
S: Sweet&sour chicken - 2 cookies - Water

Exercise:
On the mend, but no.

Bedtime:
1030ish

I was thinking of doing a "what I have learned from this challenge" post, but don't have time right now, so I'll get back to it later. Peace!

[alwaysgettinglost]

hi all. still feeling weirdly which is why i haven't been around much. and i probably got the bf sick too, which is sad. that is all for now.

[alwaysgettinglost]

Aww... hope you and yer dude feel better soon!

thanks bones, meeee tooooo.

[alwaysgettinglost]

What I Learned from the Primal Challenge
Obviously, if you've followed my journal at all, you've noticed I didn't exactly go hardcore on the challenge. I look at almost everything in life as a learning experience (or as my friends who were education majors would say, "a teachable moment"). So what I wanted to do was to put together what I learned from the challenge, at the very least for my own sake to be able to come back and reread it in the future.

1. Being Primal Is Not Really Hard
The most things I had trouble with resisting were things I've grown up with as tradition or "comfort food." However, even though I would say I'm generally about 80% primal, things like bread and sweets are becoming somewhat less appealing. I know I can eat it, and still like it, but that I'll be hungry again soon. Or you have that weird feeling of being full (physically) but feel like you didn't really eat anything (satisfactionally... which is now a word). For example, the bf wanted to go to an Indian restaurant over the weekend, so we did and I didn't like it much, so I ate a lot of naan. And I was tired hungry about an hour later.

2. Exercise Is Not As Horrible As I Used to Think
I still don't enjoy it, but it doesn't make me hate life like high school gym class either. When I do get in enough exercise to actually tire me out, I sleep better. And I eat more. I really do like walking, some sprinting and the lifting things I've done haven't been too bad. It's nice to not feel guilty about hating to run long distances. And hey, I might still take a Zumba class just for the heck of it.

3. Sleep Is Good
Okay, actually I learned that one in college. I'm getting better at going to be early so I don't need heavy machinery to get me out of bed in the morning. Because the doctor thinks I have an early case of mono, I got prescribed taking naps the other day, which was kind of funny.

4. Eating This Way Just Feels Better
C'mon. Everyone loves bacon. And I'm not getting hungry at 9am because I didn't feel like eating breakfast. Or because all I had for breakfast was a cookie and coffee. I might be more like 70/30 than 80/20, but I'm okay with it. Here are my new favorites:
- A recipe I made up that I'm calling Deluxe Creamed Spinach
- HWC in my coffee instead of milk
- Cold coconut milk is almost the consistency of pudding and I ate some this morning with my breakfast
- This is more like a 20, but I made a risotto-type thing with coconut milk and ginger the other day when my stomach was upset and it was tasty

5. Maybe It's Time for A Change
I was also told by the-doctor-who-thinks-I-have-mono that young adults get it from being too stressed. She asked me how things were with my boyfriend and with my job. When I mentioned not being the biggest fan of my job, she said maybe this was a sign that I should start looking for something I like better. Which I found ironic, because this challenge had me thinking about that under the categories of "Use Your Mind" and "Avoid Poisonous Things." Aside from the chemicals in the building, some of the attitudes here are highly toxic and apparently, so is stress. Not to mention the days when a brainless monkey with one arm could do my job.

So that's all I've got for now, and I should probably stop rambling.
Happy Thursday y'all.

[shannon]

happy thursday to you! stress is evil, don't do it. easier said than done, i know. feel better<3

[alwaysgettinglost]

Hmm, so I haven't been here in forever. :-\

Here's the quick update: I fell of the caveman wagon shortly after that last post. Whatever I had that was making me sick took FOREVER to go away. I still don't know what it was, because the test came back negative for mono, even though the doctor said she still thought that's what it was. Between wanting 'comfort food' and the advent of the holiday season, I was pretty much shot primal-wise.

Fast forward to now: I've been more like 50/50 or 60/40 primal in general. I know in my head that it's the way to go because when I eat crap (fast food, etc.) I feel like crap, but sometimes it's still easier or more convenient blah blah blah, I know. But in the good news is, I rarely buy bread or pasta anymore (usually only have them eating out or at someone else's house), and I am continuing my love affair with avocados.

So I'm back to collecting primal recipes to try (cauliflower pizza crust? surprisingly good!), packing salads for lunch (need to start making my own dressings though) and getting off the couch on purpose. I used google maps to figure out what streets I can walk around town to make a mile loop. :-P I don't know if I'll go back to keep a food journal, because it just makes me feel guilty when I eat stuff I know is bad, and guilt is not something that motivates me or seems healthy for me.

I hope you're all doing well, and I'm sorry for falling off the MDA planet!