Rachel's June 2011 page

[RachelZoe]

And welcome to my June Primal journal. I started eating primal again in March--and lost about 9 pounds. Since then, I've stopped eating primal (in April and part of May) and returned to it (mid-May to now.) Now I'm back for another month and am hoping to get back into my goal weight range of 132-137. At the moment, I'm avoiding the scale for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's a horrid TOM. And second of all, I don't want to get frustrated when I see my scale weight. I'm about 5-7 pounds away from where I want to be, which seems like my journal would be easy. It's not. However, one of the things I need to learn is how to maintain weight loss, so maybe losing at an extremely low rate is actually good for me.

Here's what I eat: meat, coconut oil, olive oil, butter, greek yogurt, heavy cream, cheese, all fruits, all vegetables, all raw nuts, dark chocolate, and all spices. I also do eat potatoes and rice, designated as safe starches according to the Perfect Health Diet, once a day. I've given up sugar and artificial sweeteners (except I'm still working on giving up diet coke) and use a little bit of coconut sugar to sweeten yogurt.

I'm excited about sourcing my food locally. My boyfriend found a source of organic grassfed meats for us, and it's the season to be able to buy fresh produce. I believe I've also found a local dairy. If I could skip the regular grocery store each week, I'd be thrilled.

I know people say that diet is the biggest part of weight loss, but I feel that my diet is as dialed in as it will ever be. I feel like I'm eating healthy satisfying amounts of food, and I rarely overeat or binge (I'm good at reading my full signal.) I haven't eaten gluten for over a year, and I don't eat fast food.

So, I think my key is going to be getting consistent about working out again. I was very inconsistent this winter, and I think that's what hurt me the most, not an occasional gluten free cupcake.

In June, my goal is going to be getting primal with my workouts--more walking outdoors, more heavy lifting, sprinting. And being consistent with my workouts.

[secretlobster]

I understand. I don't get on the scale for the entire week during that time. Even though you burn more calories, the temporary weight gain is just not worth seeing on the scale. I have to give my body a couple of days to come back down from it and if I've eaten relatively well, I usually see weight come off afterward. Farmers market season!! It's exciting to use fresh local produce this time of year. Good luck with your workouts!

[RachelZoe]

Thanks SL! I am really looking forward to going to a local strawberry patch and picking fresh strawberries in a few weeks.

Just a few random thoughts this morning.

1. I should not try and make food substitutes. Yesterday afternoon at work, I started reading about Rivven bread. It's all I could think about. I went straight home and made the recipe (1/4 cup almond flour, 2 TBSP coconut oil, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 egg, all mixed together and cooked in the microwave for 1:20.) I ate the first one. Then I warmed up some quiche. Then I made a second one...seriously. I was already full, and I didn't need the extra calories. I have had this "problem" before with the one minute flax seed muffins.
2. I was reading a great post yesterday about slow weight loss. The poster (sorry, can't remember the name) was talking about how he gained 75 pounds over 5 years by gaining just 1.5 pounds a month average. This was kind of a light bulb moment for me. Always seems like weight GAIN is super fast and weight LOSS is super slow, however, with the 10-12 pounds I put on between March 2010-March 2011, I was gaining at the rate of about a pound a month. In reverse, I should probably be happy to lose a pound a month now. Some of those pounds are going to be hidden in water weight, hormonal changes, and a little bit of muscle. However, if I could sit here a year from now and tell you that I weigh 130, I would be very pleased.
3. So, my new goal is this: to eat my version of Primal (see what I typed above) for a year. And to lose an average of one pound a month. This would put me into a solid maintenance program starting next June, in which the goal would be to neither lose or gain a pound a month. Give my body the gift of eating just right. What a mental and physical relief that would be.

I'm exhausted this morning. I hate it when I have nightmares that I can't remember. I did walk last night, and I did wake up with stomach grumbling hunger this morning, even after over-eating the almond flour bread. Had quiche and some grapes for breakfast and am drinking an Americano.

Therapy today.

[RachelZoe]

Therapy was very good today. I connected some dots between different situations. My therapist is going to give me some specific things I can do to feel safer and more empowered. Very good one today. She's thinking I may have fewer nightmares after this breakthrough session. We'll see. Downloading a meditation and eager to try it tonight.

I wasn't hungry for lunch, so I just had a large coffee with cream, then a packet of almonds. I have been buying the 100 calorie packets of natural almonds. Not because I'm counting calories but because it's a good amount for me and it's pretty cheap to buy the packets.

For dinner, I had a large burger with blue cheese and bacon and some sliced potatoes, tossed in olive oil and salt. Two squares of dark chocolate for desert...and too much Diet Coke.

Came home and did a light workout of about thirty minutes.

[RachelZoe]

Breakfast was quiche and grapes. I was hungry when I woke up this morning, so I ate early.

Drinking a hot Americano this morning...it's chilly here today.

Oh, and I got on the scale today. Big mistake as it read 142.6. Seriously? I know, I know. See the post I wrote earlier in the thread. Am I being active? Yes. But need to increase my intensity and weight training. Am I eating whole foods? Yes. Therefore, no reason to freak out about the scale.

[RachelZoe]

happy weekend! enjoyed ribs and red wine with my boyfriend on Friday. Didn't feel like having breakfast, so I just had coffee. Lunch was steak fajitas...I did have two corn tortillas. Dinner was steak and half a red potato and a piece of dark chocolate.

am babysitting my boyfriend's dog for about a week, so I'll be doing a lot of dog walking...it's good exercise.

[RachelZoe]

Was starving when I got up this morning, so I had greek yogurt with blueberries, honey, and a package of almonds. I went home to let the dog out over lunch and decided to make myself bacon and eggs for lunch, as I'd been craving it all morning. Seems like my body needs a high fat breakfast--if I don't have it, I crave it. Seems like that is the only time of the day that I crave a really high fat meal. My plan was to switch things up this week and have the greek yogurt for breakfast, but it seems like that's not what my body wants. Cooked up all the bacon at lunch, so I'll be ready for a high fat breakfast tomorrow.

[RachelZoe]

I read a lot of stuff about nutrition on the internet, and I disagree with most of it. However, I found this quote here on Mark's Daily Apple and wrote it down to put up in my cubicle at work. I think this attributes to primalprincess or a similiar user name with princess and primal in the title:

"Every day that you are able to get up, eat well, and move your body is a blessing."

This very much goes along with my new (newest) decision to do as low stress of a whole foods lifestyle as I can. I am not in any health crisis due to weight, so there's no urgency to lose scale weight just to satisfy an idea in my head. I've decided to be done with the idea of dieting...although I'm not done with the idea of eating well (yummy, nourishing whole foods.)

And here are a couple of random thoughts I've been havng:

My personal history shows a history of being the leanest when I'm doing one simple thing on an almost daily basis and that is plain old walking. Even when I worked jobs when I was on my feet all day long (teaching, working in a bookstore), I always weighed less than I do now. I feel that consistency in regular walking (as opposed to daily sessions of killing myself on the elliptical and/or doing nothing at all) is going to get me to where I want to be. I really feel like exercise is where I'm going to find my sweet spot.

because...I don't have anything left that I want to modify in my diet. I've been gluten free for a year. I don't eat processed foods or fast foods. And the only grain I eat is rice on occasion. I only eat sugar in the form of dark chocolate, and I only buy one dark chocolate bar a week. I'm pretty good at knowing when I'm full, and I'm not afraid to leave food on my plate or cut it up to take to work the next day.

What I do have room to change is my stress levels and the quality of my sleep. Which I'm working on with my counselor.

[Hedonist]

I read a lot of stuff about nutrition on the internet, and I disagree with most of it. However, I found this quote here on Mark's Daily Apple and wrote it down to put up in my cubicle at work. I think this attributes to primalprincess or a similiar user name with princess and primal in the title:

"Every day that you are able to get up, eat well, and move your body is a blessing."

This very much goes along with my new (newest) decision to do as low stress of a whole foods lifestyle as I can. I am not in any health crisis due to weight, so there's no urgency to lose scale weight just to satisfy an idea in my head. I've decided to be done with the idea of dieting...although I'm not done with the idea of eating well (yummy, nourishing whole foods.)

And here are a couple of random thoughts I've been havng:

My personal history shows a history of being the leanest when I'm doing one simple thing on an almost daily basis and that is plain old walking. Even when I worked jobs when I was on my feet all day long (teaching, working in a bookstore), I always weighed less than I do now. I feel that consistency in regular walking (as opposed to daily sessions of killing myself on the elliptical and/or doing nothing at all) is going to get me to where I want to be. I really feel like exercise is where I'm going to find my sweet spot.

because...I don't have anything left that I want to modify in my diet. I've been gluten free for a year. I don't eat processed foods or fast foods. And the only grain I eat is rice on occasion. I only eat sugar in the form of dark chocolate, and I only buy one dark chocolate bar a week. I'm pretty good at knowing when I'm full, and I'm not afraid to leave food on my plate or cut it up to take to work the next day.

What I do have room to change is my stress levels and the quality of my sleep. Which I'm working on with my counselor.

Great thoughts!

[RachelZoe]

Thank you, Hedonist!

I was having a "thin" morning, so I decided to check the scale. It's up. Which is immaterial as long as I'm eating well and moving my body. I'm not entered into any fitness competitions, so it really doesn't matter if I weigh ten pounds less at this moment in time or not. I was tempted to get a gourmet cupcake (they are gluten free) last night but decided to just keep walking past the shop. I had a piece of dark chocolate and a tall glass of iced green tea instead.

The weather turned around last night, so we got to take the puppy (actually not a puppy, a fifty pound very protective boxer) for a walk last night. Walking and spending time outdoors is really good for my spirits, so I'll consider that part of working on my stress levels!

I did have a nightmare last night. It was a bad one, however, when I woke up from it, my heart was not pounding out of my chest. So, I think that's an improvement. I'm writing down all my dreams and nightmares as they happen so that I can review them with my counselor in a couple of weeks.

Iced Americano for breakfast...a friend of mine saw me in line behind her at the drive through espresso shop and bought mine for me. How sweet is that?