Aoife's Primal Journal page

[Aoife]

Day 0.

I'm saying day 0 because today I've made the decision to go primal, but I haven't "really" started yet. I'm 254 lbs, 27 years old & after spending the past few weeks devouring diet books & studies, the Primal/Paleo way of living is the only one making sense to me.

Gary Taubes, William Duffy, & Robert Lustig can take credit for cementing my views on sugar & processed carbs. Up until today I though Joel Fuhrman's "Eat To Live" (essentially grain-free vegan) diet was the way to go ...I was so hungry all the time but he says that's "toxic hunger" & you just need to stick with it for 6 weeks to recognise "true hunger". Well I couldn't & so at the weekend I read Rob Wolf's book & have been devouring articles here & at Whole Health Source. So I got some beef (I'm in Ireland so it's all grass-fed) & organic full-fat dairy & for the first time I can remember I'm not hungry, I eat something & I'm done. Best of all I'm not obsessing about food, it's off the brain!

This though is what convinced me there's no advantage in avoiding meat: The China Study critique

[Aoife]

Food:
Calories - 1873
Carbs - 35.1% (161g)
Protein - 16.35% (75g)
Fat - 48.56% (99g)

Exercise:
40 minute walk

It's such an eye-opener to see the marco-nutrient breakdown of what I'm eating. Tomorrow I'll be bringing those carbs down, and getting that protein percentage up some more.

[Calibunny]

Good for you, Aoife! I too made the mistake of going vegan, then vegetarian. I was always hungry and kept gaining weight. Since I started PB 4 weeks ago, I've lost 13 lbs.

You are so lucky you have access to all that grass-fed beef. It's so expensive here in the states!

How are you getting all the percentages of your food, with Fitday or something? I need to start keeping track too.

[Aoife]

Hey Calibunny! Yeah, the vegan thing wasn't working for me at all so I'm well glad I found this site.

I'm using livestrong to track what I eat, it's free & gives a nice macro-nutrient breakdown.

[Aoife]

Day 1

Food:
Calories - 1255
Fat - 70.35% (97g)
Carbs -18.37% (57g)
Protein - 11.28% (35g)
Fibre - 11g

Exercise:
Went walking twice today.

Observations:
It's really weird not being hungry all the time, not wanting to snack between meals. But weirder is my sudden inclination to move - granted I've only been walking & playing games with my brother's dog but I really wanted to get up and move. My diet isn't right yet, gotta go shopping tomorrow & get some beef & veggies.

[Aoife]

Day 2

Cals - 1691
carb : protein : fat - 32.5 : 13 : 54.5

Analysis:
went a bit overboard with the carbs today, need to get that protein up a bit too

[Aoife]

Day 3

Cals - 1310
carb - 128g (39.88%)
fat - 48g (33.64%)
protein - 85g (26.48%)

...too much carb, not enough fat.

Still find it hard to break the "fat is bad for you" feeling. Using full fat greek yoghurt for breakie with fruit & nuts, usually put a bit of butter on steamed greens, and using coconut oil to fry meat. But I don't like the fat on meat.

Also fruit is killing me carb wise, will prob just stick to an apple in the morn until berries come into season.

Sugar's weird for me, any time I go off it I get the same irritated or kinda burning sensation (temporary) at the back of my throat when I have something sugary like chocolate ...dunno what that's about.

[Aoife]

Down 2lbs today!

I haven't been all that Primal yet, but I'm getting there. Tracking what I eat helps a lot.

[Aoife]

eek, ok so went off track there the last 2 weeks ...was super stressed with college, but all done now so time to get back to being primal. I should have made the effort really because I felt the difference right away, I got really hungry & tired (not good when doing exams).

One of my friends had a baby recently (the first of our gang, we've been best mates since we were 12) & I must say for the first time in my life I'm feeling broody. I don't want a kid right now, but someday. So, I've really got to sort my weight out & get healthy. It does still feel weird to be eating so much fat and expect to lose weight, but I haven't stuck with weight-watchers or vegetarianism so finger's crossed I make it work this time.

I'm also learning to pay more attention to my body. I find if I close my eyes when eating my "favourite" foods, crisps, chocolate, chips & the likes, that I don't really care for them at all. Also I find when ever I stop eating chocolate & try it again it really irritates the back of my throat ...I just need to keep reminding myself of that & hopefully I'll kick the habit.

No one enjoys being obese, so why is it so damn hard to lose to lose the weight? I've been overweight since childhood & never wanted anything more than to feel "normal", so why am 27 & still like this? I was reading 59 seconds yesterday & the chapter on motivation struck home with me. I'm a fantasist. I can easily imagine & dream of being slim but don't make the sustained effort required to get there. So, I have to plan.

Overall goal: 10.5 stone.

Mini-goal #1: 16.5 stone:
I believe I can achieve this goal because I have the time to focus on making real lifestyle changes this summer.
To achieve this sub-goal, I will eat primally & move daily. I aim to keep my daily carbs within 70g.
This will be achieved by the following date: July 31st 2011.
My reward for achieving this will be wearing my as yet unworn size 20UK jeans.