Primal Journal (Isis) page

[Isis]

Hello all!

Very excited to start Primal! I'm 25 female from Perth, Australia. I've just joined the Primal Australia Group too. I don't know if I'll be able to journal in daily, see how I go, I'm already finding MDA addictive when I'm at work and should be, well, working!

I'm interested in the primal lifestyle as I feel its the next thing I'm ready for to be healthy and in good mental and physical shape. I have never been overweight, always ate sensibly based on CW, and went exercised a few times a week.

Previous changes to diet:
Within the last couple of years with new corporate job and moving out of home, I gained a couple of kilos, and just wanted to feel 'better' and understand my body more. In July 2010 discovered a great book 'Sweet Poison: The Quit Plan' written by an Aussie, which opened my eyes about the evils of sugar, namely fructose in the form of one half of table sugar (sucrose) and how sugar is in almost EVERYTHING you buy! I then effectively gave up all sugar and got through withdrawels and felt free from my old chocolate bar once/twice a day addiction and ate less fruit. I lost a couple of kilos or so, but I had started to substitute my sugary snacks with carbs- potato crisps, savoury pastries, arnott's shapes, popcorn... so then I realised something wasn't right, Need to look further into what I should be eating..

then I discovered the Dukan Diet (November 2010). I didn't agree with its low fat ideas (Sweet Poison already educated me on the false fat theory by Ancel Keys), but hey I was willing to try this fad diet as it said I could lose 7.5kg by the first week of January 2011! vain i know. so i started eating loads of protein/veges/low fat dairies, no fruit/nuts, but allowed oat bran and for the first time in my life i said goodbye to all other carbs (rice, pasta, bread, legumes etc)! wow i never thought i could do that! anyway by Christmas I was had slimed down nicely, didn't miss carbs, but was eating non-stop, trying to fill up on protein and fibre with no fat (Dukan recommended to trim fat from meat) I then stopped loosing weight, threw in the towel and fast tracked through the remaining Dukan stages because I was fed up, had lost self discipline, and just wanted to eat like a normal person, whatever that was. I suddenly found myself eating chocolate! Weird as I had already overcome my sugar addiction last year, but going low carb and low fat was a disaster and created cravings for calories in which chocolate bars started calling my name.

I did like the no carbing I had been doing lately, and I also strongly believe saturated fats are not evil, they're natural and meant for us. What diet could I follow that has this same principles? Meanwhile I continued only eating oat bran/veges as my carb intake, 1 fruit daily, and of course coconut oil, full fat dairies and avocado and nuts! I did some internet research about saturated fats, and happened on the Paleo Diet, then MDA!

I feel because I've already got my head around no sugars and no carbs from previous dieting, I feel I can enter the primestyle with ease. just need to cut down dairies, nuts and fruits as my only vices.

Exercise:
my usual activities include yoga twice a week, gym weights I do once to twice a week followed by 20min cardio, and 30min cardio alone I try twice a week. Now I will step up my weights program, I already do low impact cardio for 20min max (cross trainer, walking, jogging, interval jog sprint), but look forward to trying those Tabata sprints

Here we go:
I already use MyFitnessPal.com so I might keep at it to check my carbs as want to loose just a few kilos. I started Primal eating 2 days ago as a quick trial run to get myself prepared and quite liked it! Only questionable things which I will need to restrict going forward if I'm serious about toning up were dark chocolate 99% unsweetened, some fruit, some nuts. NO dairy. so proud of me!

Yesterday was primal breaky and lunch (eggs, turkey, nuts, coconut milk, salad etc). I couldn't follow Primal for dinner as HAD to attend friend's birthday, and because it was organised weeks prior along with a once in year huge cheesecake I made the decision to let that be my last night of indulgence (desserts, cheese, bite of rice, wine, vodka) after I ate my veges and meat. It was a late night so I'm kind of devo starting Primal TODAY feeling run down from that sugar hit last night. I hadn't drank in a while too (couldn't on Dukan) and so sugar rush and alcohol tipsy was pretty interesting

so yes TODAY is the day to start Primal, so far ate:
B: Eggs, bacon in butter, mushrooms, rocket and olive oil
L: Coconut milk with blueberries, flaxmeal, chia seeds, cracked open my own brazils/walnuts
Leftover homemade custard (low fat yoghurt with eggs, xylitol, nutmeg) - I've got so many leftovers in my fridge and no-one wants to take this off me! Would be more primal if it was full fat yoghurt dammit!

wow this is a long first post, hope I don't bore anyone!

[Isis]

continuing with yesterday's food post:
B: Eggs, bacon in butter, mushrooms, rocket and olive oil
L: Coconut milk with blueberries, flaxmeal, chia seeds, cracked open my own brazils/walnuts
Leftover homemade custard (low fat yoghurt with eggs, xylitol, nutmeg)
then had
s: rhubarb & nutmeg and diet sugar free jelly
d: same as breakfast lol, plus coconut milk again with flaxmeal and cocoa powder as craving sweet, and unsalted roasted cashews. Oh and then I had a small bite (or two) or leftover cheesecake (homemade by a friend, ingredients philly cheese, cream, nutella.. you get the idea). I suppose I could use the 80/20 rule, but geez day 1 is a bit early to start!

I only put estimates in My Fitness Pal if I can't be bothered weighing and measuring. Yesterday I ate:
Total Calories 2,184
Carbs 89g
Fat 158g
Protein 98g
Fibre 20g

[Isis]

ok so I suppose xylitol and sugar free diet jelly is not exactly PB, is it? I've got old Dukan diet snack ideas stuck in my mind, so need to get my head out of that. I'm stoked I'm allowed sweet potato again (wasn't previously on old diet). I'm guessing xylitol would be ok for PB occasion?

Ok leftover cheesecake at home, I need to convince my partner to eat the whole remaining thing as it keeps calling my name, not its sugary evils, but the yummy creaminess of the philadelphia cheese is on my mind...

Time for some stats about me, on Day 2 of easing into primal eating:

This mornings Weigh in:
Age: 25
Height: 173cm
Weight: 67.5kg
Fat %: 23.7%
Water %: 55.6%
Muscle: 35.6%

Yesterday was 66.7kg- I tend to fluctuate between 66-67, on last fad diet I got down to 63kg! And it was fat I had lost, not muscle as I ate truckloads of protein, and still usually do. I would like to get down to that again or lower, but happier to have more muscle weight and look toned and slim.

Measurements from 11 February 2011 which was around the time I gave up on the Dukan Diet and started cheating on nuts and fruit
(until I find time to re-measure myself!)
Waist: 69cm
Hips: 95cm
Right bicep: 29cm
Right calf: 36cm
Right thigh: 52cm
Chest: 91cm

[Isis]

Day 2 (yesterday) report:

1st thing: Gym 8min cardio on cross trainer,
weights using dumbbells light weights, 3 sets x 12 of:
-squats with bicep curls 4kg in each hand
-chest press lying down 5kg in each hand
-leg curls of fitball (pretty easy this one)
-dumbbell row 7kg in each hand
-overhead press lying down 7kg both hands together
-overhead tricep whilst standing 5kg both hands together
then:
-crunches, toe touch crunch, reverse sit-ups 3 sets of 30 each
all up 25min on weights and crunches
Cardio 15min cross trainer intervals

B: egg, bacon, tomato, butter
S: bacon, sunflower seeds, plum
L: tandoori chicken leftover with cucumber yoghurt dip, huge salad
S: carrots and tahini (YUM!)
D: bacon, mushroom, egg, rocket
S: coconut milk, flaxmeal, walnuts, almonds, brazil cracked open myself, bite of philadelphia cheese

Total Fat: 113g
Total Carbs: 101g
Protein: 105g

Do I eat too much? I'll try reduce carbs to 80g next day. I think I snacked too much. A bit of a habbit, especially after lunch/dinner I 'feel' like snacking on something sweet. Also at night after dinner, I snack. But I did really good at work I thought, I ate less then I usually did, tried to listen if I was hungry, and waited til I was before tucked into lunch. But then I needed the tahini to make me feel 'snack satisfied'. hopefully this improves.

this gym weights program is new, second time i've done this. Will change this up in 4 weeks, I'm sooooo scared of bulking up tho! I've done heaps of martial arts in the past and looking at photos when I was a teenager I had overdeveloped upper traps I probably still do, as my neck is ALWAYS tense, I crack it throughout the day. My shoulders were weak when I used to do dancing in high school, and on the advice of my old physio, I did HEAPS of shoulder strengthening exercises = overdeveloped upper traps and shoulders, not good for a female. My new physio advised this made me top heavy, my lower back is too weak to support my upper back and I have lousy posture (tho yoga helps). So I try to strengthen my lower back, and less attention to upper back exercises at the gym. I'm forever scared of bulking up. I like muscle and toning, I think once I loose some FAT in my arms then I'll feel less bulky..

[Hedonist]

Welcome Isis! Good luck with primal.

Sugar free is not exactly primal, no. But Mark is a realist. His recent post.

[Isis]

thanks Hedonist yeah I realised that.. I used to use glucose/dextrose powder to avoid fructose, then when I started low carbing I switched to xylitol. I'm getting better tho, not having it every day. I want to save it for when I bake something on the weekends.

Day 3 of starting PB:

Struggled to get up, yet strangely not sore from yesterday’s work out. First thing this had yoga 1 hour session, then ate breakfast. Then constipated, which made me late to work. Oh dear. Then at work dizzy and light headed and soreness and tiredness hit me from both gym and yoga last 2 days. Lacking concentration. Or was it because of a big last weekend..? Hope I perk up with some energy real soon.

Weigh in 67.5kg still

Throughout the day drank roobis, ginger, and ginseng teas. Avoiding coffee, as although not addicted to caffeine, at one point I drank 2 black coffees a day as I was trying out the new nespresso machine…

B: egg, bacon, tomato, mushroom, butter
S: capsicum and tahini, sunflower seeds
L: tuna, bacon, huge salad
Nap / siesta 40min 
S: nectarine with more tahini; bacon
D: miracle noodles (I've got HEAPS from my last order, so need to use these up), homemade pesto (rocket, basil, pinenuts), bacon
S: philly cheese, yoghurt with flaxmeal and chia seeds

eating too much again when I get home after work! and should have had more protein with dinner.
Total calories: 2,762
Fat: 209g
Carbs: 127g
Protein: 108g

[Isis]

Day 4 (last Thursday):
was sore from previous days' workouts weights and yoga, so had a rest day but still walked to catch public transport in the 35C degree heat :/
being a rest day, decided to try Leangains fasting to better prepare myself on workout days. I have an 8 hour eating window from 12pm to 8pm. I did quite well, so surprised, especially coming from CW where I MUST eat breakfast even when not hungry lol

Day 5 and 6-
I continued with my new fasting for another 2 days, whilst doing a morning gym weights workout, I was starving afterwards tho so had a fried egg, to get me through til lunch. so yep broke the fast...
come night time on Day 5 I started to feel quite dizzy/tired like almost a drunk feeling. I've gladly given up calorie counting on MyFitnessPal so I can't check how my nutrient levels were.

The next day I slept in, woke up dizzy/disorientated still. weird.
B: at 12pm a huge mango, walnuts, omelette, bacon, mushroom, coconut milk to try give me an energy boost for yoga that day. at that point was pretty sure I would pass out doing a downward-dog pose.
Workout: Extended yoga session, still felt dizzy/crap afterwards
S: pistachios, coconut milk with flaxmeal and chia. Some lolly snakes (I thought maybe my brain needed glucose?)
D: Kangaroo mince, capsicum.
S: At friends- glass of champagne (went straight to my head), cheese, oilves. was so not with it I forgot to stop eating at 8pm!
Did I feel so disorientated from not eating enough iron/veges (glucose)/protein during the last 2 days?
Will try more veges, and still keen to continue with my new eating window as I used to eat non-stop upon waking. I hope I'm onto a good thing with this small fasting

[Isis]

ok been a while since I've had free time to post. Unfortunately am busy with a project at work, so might be a while til next post.

Bad news since I've last posted- I fell of the primal wagon. big time. that along with my new weights program at the gym, I now tip the scales at 69.3kg. wtf. This is the heaviest I've been on the scales. My jeans feel a bit tighter too, I'm ridicously bloated (also TTOM which I almost forgot to do as I'm on the pill and forgot to start taking the sugar pills and so TTOM came a week too late yet I already had FULL SUGAR cravings and have been consistently eating too many nuts, fruit, a bite of sticky rice, a slice of cheesecake here and there this past week).

ok no more excuses. I really have a problem with trying to eat primal strictly, and I think I eat too many calories in the form of fats (coconut milk, nuts). I manage my exercise fine, its the FOOD that caused me to gain weight this week

I know what I have to do:
-keep up my yoga, gym, walks, sprints (I'm still working up to my potential in tabata sprints)
-NO fruit
-NO nuts
-reduce my coconut milk intake perhaps?
-I already eat salads/veges, meats, no dairy, no grains of course
-Increase protein... I think that has what let me down this week as I started eating more fat than protein, which still allowed for giving into dark chocolate temptations and more nuts.

I found a solution today with dealing with 'sweet' cravings at my desk at work: I bought a can of organic cocoa powder, organic cinnamon in convenient shaker, stocked up my drawer with coconut cream, and ha! I'm now prepared to just eat a small cup of this whenever I 'feel' like dark chocolate. Good, no?

With MDA's recent post on sedentary behaviour at work, I'm trying to use the back of my chair less. I'm tempted to ask about a standing work station! And I vowe to never sit on the train to/from work!

[Isis]

some musings of recent primal life:
-I've finally tried Meatza! omg, anchovies on top and bam tasted exactly like (well pretty damn close) to the pizza shop near me
-Ayam Premium Coconut Cream (canned, Woolies and Coles) is 100% coconut kernel extract and is damn good, better than coconut milk in a can. AYAM Australia Homepage
I'm in primal heaven

[Isis]

extremely sore from weights 4 days ago and doing my yoga class 3 days ago. yep still sore. must have worked really hard in those planks/push ups using my triceps because my upper traps and between my shoulder blades KILL! its times like this (extreme muscle soreness in my upper traps causing stiff neck to the point I've felt nauseous for the last two days) where I feel like giving up on doing weights altogether, because I can in mirror I'm already bulky -over developed traps, really sore neck and shoulder blades, defined pecks that my tops/jackets feel tighter around my chest yet I've lost in bra cup size HELP!

in the past I would then given up on weights and done CW of doing lots of cardio to slim down (lose muscle) and of course refrain from lifting anything. but then of course I would start binging with an increased appetite. and the vicious cycle of eating..

now that I'm primal, is there any way to reduce my muscle mass in this particular area being upper traps? should I stop doing chest presses and lifting weights at the gym? and just stick to body weight stuff (i.e. yoga)? I'm definetly sticking to my yoga, once a week sprints and treadmill walks. I think I might be doing weights wrong. I'm going to visit my physio some time soon, I know he'll give me some strengthening exercises for my posture to help my weak lower back and neck to deal with my top heavy body =/

when people (gym trainers) say 'don't worry girls don't have enough testosterone to gain that much muscle' i'm like whatever, have you seen my upper back? its too muscular for my frame, and just makes me a size bigger in clothes than i need to be. my body fat is currently 24%, but I can tell you theres no fat in my upper back (I gain weight/fat is in my hips and bottom, I have a toned tummy already). So yes this is MUSCLE I'm whinging about, not fat in my back. I've already had a read of some articles on MDA re women and weights, heck even testosterone articles.

sorry for the rant, I just get so fed up going to the gym and just bulking up, getting sore inflamed muscles, and not loosing any weight in the process. grrr.