Primal Journal - onalark page

[onalark]

Having given 4HB its 6 week due, I think I'm ready to go Primal and ditch the beans and "free" day. Going crazy with carbs just isn't working for me like Tim intended. I inevitably gain back everything I lose during the week, and since Tim's big on self-exploration, it's time to admit that it's just not working for me. (The "free" day, that is. The diet in general is.)

Not that I won't be following the 80/20 rule but...I'm hypothyroid. Even treated, pretty much every calorie that doesn't come from animals, vegetables, or fruits sticks to me like glue. It sucks, but I think that's what I'm discovering in all this.

Onward!

Meals Today

• Breakfast - 2 organic eggs, 1.5 pork sausage, mixed veggies (mushrooms, peppers, onions)
• Lunch - Roasted vegetable salad with shrimp from CPK, no corn.
• Lame-ass cheat: 3 bites of coconut cake brought in by the department -- had to try it! (Went for a 20 minute swift walk immediately after.)
• Dinner - Liver with bacon and slivered leeks and onions, plus a generous portion of salad with assorted veggies and a small (4 oz. glass of wine). We liked the liver, but the taste is STRONG. We felt it could have used more "garnish" (i.e., more onions). My mom suggested mushrooms. Will try that next time.

Exercise

• 20 glute activations, 15 flying dogs, 20 squats, 20 crunches, 5 reverse crunches (it's been a while), 20 modified pushups, 40 x kettlebell swings w/35 lb weight
• Afore-mentioned walk.

Heading home! Time to cook that liver and onions. Yum.

[onalark]

April 30th was rough. I got my teeth drilled, then I took my 15-year-old cat to the vet and we put her to sleep. She was my best friend and companion and I miss her. I am glad I was there in the end. I am glad I got to say goodbye.

Food

• Breakfast - Sausage and egg scrambled with peppers, onions, mushrooms and spinach. 1 cup of coffee.
• Lunch - Went to Nick's in San Clemente. Ate the avocado-tomato-tuna salad sandwich sans bread and cheese. The tuna had a really good herb mayo and grapes slivered in! It also came with a wonderful side of roasted vegetables. When we'd finished eating, I built a replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa out of our leftover bread.
• Afternoon snack - 10g 85% cacao chocolate
• Dinner - Total cheat because...goddamn, I loved that cat. Shared penne bolognese and cream-sauced tortellini with myMike. Ate bread. Had a bacon-sundae dessert. Drank white wine and, later, a portion of lambic. Did not feel a lick of guilt.

Exercise
Got home from eating ourselves silly and walked walked walked! The beach is less than 5 minutes walking distance from our home, so we walked almost to the pier and back. Google maps tells me it's 3.2 miles.

We talked about wonderful pets and how much better we feel not eating grains (despite having just consumed a meal full of them). myMike also said he's more comfortable now with going primal, so yay! No more beans except when we want to.

[onalark]

Happy May Day!

Feeling better. Clearing out the last of the stuff that was the girlcat's, washing the blankets she slept on. Keeping her collar on the keyrack for good luck.

My coconut flour came in, and I'm excited to give it a whirl. I'm a huge baker, and I'm always up for new challenges.

Food

• Breakfast - Primal pancakes with a touch of maple syrup, chicken sausage. 2 cups of coffee. Pancakes were VERY delicate and I think they really needed fruit or something. Next time.
• Lunch - Chipotle-chicken salad from Boudin SF. Meh.
• Mid-day snack - small handful macadamia nuts, vegetable scraps from dinner prep, 1 hardboiled egg, 1 cup of tea with cream.
• Dinner - Short Ribs and Red Wine with cauliflower "rice", a lovely salad, and about 5 ounces of red wine. 10g dark chocolate for dessert, and 5 blueberries.

Exercise
Nada, unless you count fighting your way through Sprouts on a Sunday.

[onalark]

Work, work!

I have four quarts of chicken stock cooling in my fridge. I cooked it all night in a low oven, and about five hours on the stove before that. It had chicken feet in it, which freaked out myMike a little, but he'll live. Cannot wait to see it wobble!

Food

• Breakfast - The morning scramble, with avocado, tomato, spinach, and sausage, plus the morning coffee with cream and stevia.
• Lunch - Big ass salad with luncheon meats, a smidge of bacon, sunflower seeds, balsamic and olive oil dressing
• Afternoon snack - 2% fat Greek yogurt, 6 almonds
• Dinner - 1 Hofbrau brat, cooked spinach and cauliflower with walnuts and dried apricots, salad with tomatoes, cucumber, and avocado (dressing: white balsamic, blood orange olive oil, grainy mustard), grilled zucchini (aka: Use Up the Veggies Night)
• Evening snack - 5g dark chocolate

Exercise
The usual M-W-F routine. Will probably also walk briskly to lunch.

• 40 x 35lb kettlebells
• 20 modified pushups
• 15 squats
• 20 situps
• 20 glute activations
• 15 pointing dogs
• 10 lunges

[lucyh]

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat, I hate that part of having pets (we have 2 dogs, 2 cats and a bunch of chickens & ducks). It never gets easier, but I always remind myself how lucky we, and they, are to have each other for even the briefest time. I hope you are healing well

I look forward to hearing what you do with the coconut flour, I've got some in the cupboard, but haven't decided what all I am going to do with it!

[onalark]

Oh, I miss her badly. Especially at dinner. She used to sit with us on one of the chairs and she loved liver and ham and steak. The other two cats are total weirdos who don't eat that stuff, but she loved it. My fellow feline foodie.

So, I was thinking about that coconut flour...and then I was thinking about fish...and fish dredged in coconut flour and fried up in a cast iron pan, maybe served on a bed of cabbage with lime juice and mayo, a la fish tacos. I'll be sure to post if I decide to go through with it!

And thanks. Part of the reason I think I'm coping so well with losing my 15-year-old kitchen buddy is all the support I've received at work, on Facebook, from family....

[lucyh]

We used to have a Corgi, he was the coolest, best dog ever. We had to have him put to sleep when he was 15 too, it's been three years, and I still miss that little guy. Now I have a sheepdog named Winston, and he, too, is one of the best dogs I've ever known. You can't replace a well-loved pet, but sometimes, eventually another one comes along when you don't expect it, and helps fill that hole

So, I was thinking about that coconut flour...and then I was thinking about fish...and fish dredged in coconut flour and fried up in a cast iron pan, maybe served on a bed of cabbage with lime juice and mayo, a la fish tacos. I'll be sure to post if I decide to go through with it!

I coated some chicken tenders (that I had first pounded flat) with egg & almond meal and then sauteed it and made chicken parmesan. I used a vegetable peeler to make long, thin slices of zucchini "fettucine" and tossed them with Trader Joe's marinara sauce (no sugar, and only ingredients you've heard of), set the chicken on top with more sauce and a little cheese, and baked until everything was warm and bubbly. It was really delicious.

[onalark]

That sounds awesome! I keep meaning to try and make zucchini "noodles". Just need the right motivation!

[onalark]

Hmmm. Scale is up today, but pants feel fine. Possibly reflecting muscle gain, or possible that the yogurt and fruit I added recently isn't being well received by my body. I'll know on Sunday.

Also: today is CSA basket day! And I'm dropping off a ton of my old SAD foods at a food bank. Also threw the last of the rolls out (they were hiding in the freezer where I couldn't see them). Wheeeeee....

Food

• Breakfast - 1/4 c. full-fat Greek yogurt sprinkled with blueberries, 2 eggs, 1 pork sausage link, pan-cooked onions, mushrooms, peppers
• Lunch - Souplantation with coworkers. Marking it off the list of "friendly" restaurants. The salad bar is gorgeous, but the protein is slim pickings. Also, not much fun watching coworkers slurp up noodles, muffins, pizza, ice cream, and bread. Also also, I feel pretty tired, which doesn't happen much post-meals anymore, so I suspect sugar hidden in the beef chili I ate in an attempt to get something protein-wise. Blargh.
• Dinner - The CSA has been good to us. Pork steaks done on the grill, sauteed swiss chard with garlic and vinegar, and a composed salad of snow peas, hardboiled eggs, grated carrots, grated radish, chopped kalamata olives, avocado, tomato, cucumber, white balsamic vinegar, and basil oil. Honestly, there was probably more in there, but I just threw in everything that wasn't lettuce. Om nom nom.
• Dessert - 5g 85% dark chocolate

Exercise
Off day.

[onalark]

Scale is still being stubborn. Pondering trying IF on Saturday.

Have I mentioned I have a wedding in September, and that it's mine? Yes...well. There's that.

Food

• Breakfast - morning scramble: 2 eggs, ham, avocado, tomato, onion, peppers, mushrooms. 1/4 cup full-fat Greek yogurt and 3 small sliced strawberries.
• Lunch - big ass salad with turnips, broccoli, jicama, bacon, sunflower seeds, almond slivers and a tin of smoked sardines dipped in mustard.
• Dinner - Out. Ate chicken, sauteed spinach, spaghetti squash, and ahi tartare at a local swanky joint. Was good, but not awesome. I think the spaghetti squash had cinnamon in it! Interesting idea....

Exercise
The MWF routine.

• 20 glute activations
• 15 bird dogs
• 20 crunches
• 20 squats
• 10 lunges
• 5 raised lunges
• 20 modified pushups
• 2 x 25 reps kettlebells @ 35 lbs