Anxiety, depression, laziness...Can the nameless wonder change? page 14

[girlarchitect]

Boyfriend is still very reluctant to eat my food ......

More food for you!!

[namelesswonder]

^True. $97 on groceries this time =\ I think prices overall have gone up recently, but I did get two packs of nitrate/nitrite free bacon & 18 eggs instead of the usual dozen. Not sure what I'm going to do with my spaghetti squash this time. Also I got a coupon for my almond milk so I'll buy in bulk next time, maybe.

Next week I'll be in Santa Barbara M-F (travelling Monday, which means prolly quick breakfast sandwiches at Dunkin Donuts). My free time this week (at work) will be spent finding places that look like they have good menus, within a 2 mile radius of my hotel. Continental breakfast at the hotel means rubbery eggs and bacon, most likely. Maybe if there's a grocery store close by, I'll pick up some cottage cheese or greek yogurt, if my room has a mini fridge. Or I'll practice IF in the evening and just focus on breakfast/lunch. I wonder if the building has a cafeteria or anything, I'll have to ask my manager.

Boyfriend & I went swimming during my "lunch" break. It felt good to move. My muscles definitely swell when I work out, which I think is why I always feel better about my body at the gym. I really would like to get more lean though, I'm not a fan of this tummy fat. Time to hydrate & eat some tuna, I've got a chlorine-headache.

On a completely non-health related note, very annoyed about home situation at present. My family hired a family friend (a little younger than me, little sister of a high school friend of mine/bf's) to house-sit while they are on vacation this week, which entails piling up the mail/newspapers inside, feeding the cats, running the pool pump/making sure the water doesn't get too low. I stopped by last night and the dining room table was covered in newspapers. She hadn't brought in the mail. My bedroom light was on, which I assume means she's staying in there. Now I don't live at my parents' house right now, but my bed (which I bought with my own money) is still there, and I've let my family know that *they* are welcome to use it until it has somewhere to go (as in, I get my own real place). I didn't know that it was going to become the guest bed/room because my dad won't clear off the real guest bed that has his computer junk all over it. I just wish they'd asked, because I would've said no. Also if they'd asked to use my rug after tearing up the carpets (not a big deal, but still, asking would've been appreciated). Oh yeah, the house sitter also had her hobo (not even kidding about this) boyfriend over.

[namelesswonder]

Hm okay, no fridge in the room, but there is a Trader Joes right down the street, as well as some promising looking cafes. There's one called "Natural Cafe" that has a lot of grains, but the salads look good. If I can get to bed/get up early enough, maybe I'll pick up lunch there (probably walking to work with the other trainee).

[Finnegans Wake]

Do you do cheese & dairy?

[me2]

Maybe I misunderstand what you are saying here because this seems to be a pretty serious warning. I am very new to this and still trying to figure it all out. If I understand you correctly, I think you are essentially saying that brunch is dangerous to newbies. It might sound as if I'm mocking you ... (and it is a bit funny to my ear to say that brunch is bad for you) ... but I think that is essentially what you are implying. By my estimation, brunch could easily create a 17 hour fast (or more) between end of dinner at 7pm and brunch at 12pm - that seems to be a normal range between the two meals in my experience.
Am I off base here?

As you can see from my post I was simply relaying what Paul Chek said in the podcast "Ask Paul Chek" on Underground Wellness which you can get on i-tunes. I am not a professional, so maybe I should shut my mouth but obviously having brunch is unlikely to overwhelm your liver with toxins. Paul said that IFing forces your body to burn it's fat stores, which is where the body tends to store many toxins. HIS point was that if you have been eating meats & produce that are not organic, processed foods, & taking various medications & suddenly force your body to process these toxic fat stores you could overwhelm your liver. That is why HE recommends eating organically for a year. One can also infer that your body will respond in a more favorable way to IFing if you have been eating low carb for some time and it has learned to use fat for fuel more efficiently, but that is my own supposition using the information I have learned. I'm sorry to have alarmed you. Like I said before, in my opinion you should listen to your body.

[me2]

I really would like to get more lean though, I'm not a fan of this tummy fat. Time to hydrate & eat some tuna, I've got a chlorine-headache.

Mark recommends staying under 50g carbs if you are trying to lose fat. At one point in the winter I went VLC (very low carb) & found that my stomach seemed much flatter. Perhaps you have the same carb:stomach effect. Just an idea.

I wish we had a Trader Joes!

[girlarchitect]

As you can see from my post I was simply relaying what Paul Chek said in the podcast "Ask Paul Chek" on Underground Wellness which you can get on i-tunes. I am not a professional, so maybe I should shut my mouth but obviously having brunch is unlikely to overwhelm your liver with toxins. Paul said that IFing forces your body to burn it's fat stores, which is where the body tends to store many toxins. HIS point was that if you have been eating meats & produce that are not organic, processed foods, & taking various medications & suddenly force your body to process these toxic fat stores you could overwhelm your liver. That is why HE recommends eating organically for a year. One can also infer that your body will respond in a more favorable way to IFing if you have been eating low carb for some time and it has learned to use fat for fuel more efficiently, but that is my own supposition using the information I have learned. I'm sorry to have alarmed you. Like I said before, in my opinion you should listen to your body.

Ah. Well, I've been meaning to start looking into Chek so I will see if I run across the quote at some point.

[namelesswonder]

I feel like I'm already really low on carbs, but haven't been using FitDay on days that I eat like shit, so once I get back on track, I will start to count again.

Realistically I probably average ~90g carbs a day. Today will be super low, maybe 40g depending on how much broccoli I actually eat with dinner. Eating VLC is easy if I just focus on meat! So expensive though

[Finnegans Wake]

FitDay showed me that a lot of days when I estimated my carbs <50g., I was actually slightly over. But if you're being mindful of VLC, I'm sure you're headed in the right direction.

I've been buying grass-fed and pastured meat and eggs, but last night I needed to make a quick pit stop at the grocery store and couldn't resist a couple of 2" thick pork chops. Nice ribbon of fat on the outside. $3.89 a pound, both came to less than $5, and good-sized. Spent most of my free time chasing a stray dog (long story), so when I cooked (broiled swordfish for Mrs. FW, pork chops for me), I made a quick rub with... just whatever came to mind. Ground fennel, some coffee, coriander, S&P, paprika... threw it in a pan with bacon fat and some fresh rosemary from the garden, seared all sides, finished in a warm oven for a few minutes. Always looking for that balance between not having underdone pork and not having bone-dry pork, and voila! I think the thick-cut helped ensure it was juicy.

Anyway, guess you have to keep your eyes open for specials, and maybe I need to be less anal about only buying pastured. Although I'm getting a 1/4 cow this Friday and I still plan on getting 1/2 a pig and 1/2 a lamb this fall, and stocking the freezer. If you can afford to buy in bulk and freeze it, that's a great way to save money.

[namelesswonder]

^I don't have room to buy in bulk or freeze right now. I'm living in a small-medium sized bedroom with my boyfriend at his parents' house. We have a 3 cubic foot mini fridge with a tiny freezer inside. Wah. The apartment is DESPERATELY needed. My pantry is going to be beautiful... Anyway, situation is complicated, but that is really the only space I have to work with. Leaving food downstairs in the kitchen means it gets eaten by other people.

The steak tips last night were delicious, but waaaayyy too much soy sauce. Yeah, should've used something else, but didn't know what. Apparently a marinade for a few hours + broiling really saves that flavor. I'll look into other marinades for next time, but 6min per side under the broiler was perfect for medium-well in most places except the thickest.

I had a cookie last night Limiting to one a day until they're gone because the carbs are low enough and I just cannot resist! It's hard to say no when baking together late at night is something that boyfriend and I love to do together.

Woke up with gas pains...no BM yet =\
Sp: (supplements) Increasing VitD to 4000IU/day instead of 2k. From what I read, this should be a good amount. Also going to look into some good pre-natal vitamins since they have such a good balance for women (potassium & magnesium are what I'm most concerned about).
B: 1/2 -1 cup of cottage cheese. Tastier than I remembered! Was hungry when I first opened my eyes, but it faded within 1/2hr and I didn't feel like making bacon & eggs. Need to start making whole packages of bacon in advance (and saving that grease mmm)
L: 8oz (maybe less) of steak tip, plus 1 cup broccoli. Maybe 1 can of tuna in oil.
D: ? Have some chicken and spaghetti squash...I don't know. Bacon & eggs if I can't figure out anything else.

Cognitive abilities seem pretty good lately, nothing out of the ordinary in terms of lack or gain, but having a hard time spelling. I'm going to try to slow down a little, I'm a fast typist, and see how that helps. I've been looking into "barefoot" shoes and think I'll check out a local store that carries Vibrams. Definitely more interested in shoes with closed toes, these are just so goofy! I've been practicing my barefoot-walk in my most minimal shoes (slip-on mesh Chuck Taylors), I've found that it doesn't look odd though it feels like it should, and is much more comfortable on my knees.

Period: Hormones from ECP definitely threw me off. Got a nice clump of acne on my chin (the usual place for it) that has now faded. Can't really take this one into consideration because of the pill, so will have to see how it is next time (which reminds me, need to put that on my calendar!).