Primal Journal - Grok in Japan (JPGrok) page 2

[JpGrok]

Hi honeybuns, it's a bit more exciting to know I'm being watched! Thanks for the reply. Friday's weigh in post coming soon.

[JpGrok]

Friday weigh in

Body weight: 78.0 kg (171 lbs) -> 78.6 kg (173 lbs) GOAL: 85 kg (190 lbs)
Body fat: 19.8% -> 18.8% GOAL: 15%

Lean body mass: 62.5 kg (137.8 lbs) -> 63.8 kg (140.5 lbs) increase of 1.3 kg (2.8 lbs)

Wow, I was impressed with these results. Dropped 1% body fat whilst putting on 0.6 kg. Long may this continue. Had some extra butter in my eggs this morning to celebrate!

Distance left to 1st goal. Weight: +17 pounds to go. Body fat: -3.8% to go.

I have a busy weekend away with the very non-primal in laws (lots of rice/sweets and belief that meat is evil) so will forage accordingly and probably lose a little weight. Might not update this for a day or two. Have a great weekend everyone.

[honeybuns]

One thing I have found very helpful when going to a situation full of tempting, non-primal foods is to have a high protein meal before going. When you are there you just won't want the wrong stuff because you are not hungry. It will be much easier to say no, thank you!

[JpGrok]

Thanks HB, great idea.

Quick update before we start the drive.

Breakfast: 3 egg omelette with cream, flax seed oil, fried in butter.

Pre-lunch: sprints! 7 x 100 m at the back of my house, slightly uphill on uneven and pot-holed ground. Lots of jumping and instantaneous movements. All I needed was a bear behind me to really be Grok.

Lunch: Ate out at a restaurant that often serves wild venison. They were out of stock (boo) but had grass-fed lamb (yeah). I asked them to skip the rice, sweet soup, the dessert and the coffee but give me a big-assed salad and more meat. They charged me a little more for the meat but I got a lot, guessing around 300 grams of tasty lamb. Broccoli, cabbage, carrot, red onion, daikon (big radish). Came home just now and finished off the plums and cream. Yum. (HB, that should fill me up for my trip to the sugar-laden in-laws).

Dinner will be hit and miss but had lots of food already and will take some nuts.

Enjoy the weekend!

[JpGrok]

OK, back from my CW (conventional wisdom) weekend with the in-laws and I picked and foraged quite successfully.

Friday night dinner: Avoided rice, ate lots of "umani" which is chicken thigh, carrots, beans, fish paste, locus roots cooked in a soy/sugar/fish broth. Not perfect, but I doubt it raised my insulin levels too high. I had a handful of nuts I had taken with me and drank green tea. I did have one small can of local beer to celebrate the Obon holidays with the old man but stopped there.

Saturday breakfast: said I would cook myself some eggs, ate with chopped cabbage, some more nuts and two kiwi fruits.

Lunch: ate out at a Japanese family restaurant, had freshly cooked mackerel, salmon sashimi, miso soup and fried vegetables.

Dinner: Fried up a load of sliced pork and ate with a big salad of spinach, tomatoes, lettuce. More kiwi.

I went food foraging with my wife on Saturday and bought loads of great foods from a couple of import shops in Sapporo: coconut oil, organic olive oil, flax seed oil, unsalted macadamia, walnuts, pecans, 5 bars of 86% chocolate, canned black olives, some dill pickles, and more. Also found some organic/fair trade body wash which is a rare find in Japan. Walked around the shops for a couple of hours which was good exercise. Also found a pair of vibram 5 fingers for my little boy, slightly too big now but perfect for next summer.

We also took a detour to an organic farm and bought a load of tomatoes, blueberries and other fruit. This place also sells home made smoked bacon (not organic but with no added preservatives, flavourings or colour) so we picked some up. Awesome.

Not much sleep last night (2 small kids) but plan to either: go for a long walk OR squat depending on my energy levels. Probably the former. Will post later. Hope you're all having a great weekend.

JPGrok

[JpGrok]

Forgot to mention: went for a walk with my 2-year old and found a plum tree in season so we foraged the fruit. Delicious!

Also, took him to a large Jungle Jim and had a lot of fun myself: did about 15 pull ups, did a few crosses of the monkey bars, climbed the fireman's pole and went down the slide a few times too. Good fun.

[honeybuns]

Sounds like you did GREAT on avoiding what you don't really want to be eating. Way to go!

[JpGrok]

Thanks HB, it wasn't too bad - I don't like plain rice anyway and made myself do something else when everyone tucked in to the good-looking cheesecake.

Today's food/movements:

Breakfast: 3 rashers of the bacon we found yesterday (slow pan fried) with 2 scrambled eggs with butter/flax seed oil and sliced cabbage. Finished with organic blueberries.

9:00 Walk around the lake with my son. He was sleepy so took a ride on my shoulders. Nice addition of 15 kg (33 lbs) to the exercise, it felt like a was carrying a little wild boar home from a kill. Took around 45 minutes. Home to:

Push ups: 55 (20/10/10/10/5). 5 more than last time! Will do 60 next time.
Pull ups: 15 (5/5/3/2) Less than last time but did do a lots yesterday too.

Lunch: Being holidays here, don't have too much fresh meat in; 2 cans tuna with cabbage, pickles, tomatoes, olive oil, nuts. Two big chunks of 86% chocolate for desert.

Dinner: Chicken thighs slowly fried in the fat from this morning's bacon with salad and selection of wild mushrooms cooked in a spicy sauce. Handful of pecans and peppermint tea.

Tomorrow is a holiday too: plan to squat, overhead press and hanging leg raises tomorrow. Squats were at 50 kg last time, will do 55 tomorrow. If the weather is nice, it'd be great to get out with the family somewhere and wear the little one out.

[JpGrok]

Heavy rain most of today, very humid.

Breakfast: Hand made sausages - the real deal made with sheep's intestines, no artificial flavours or preservatives. 3 eggs and a small salad. Had a strong cup of coffee (first for ages) and it sent me into warp speed: I used to drink 5 strong cups a day but this one had me feeling shaky all morning. Perhaps caffeine is best avoided.

Morning: sun came out briefly so I got outside and kicked a football (soccer) around for 25 minutes, followed up by "lifting heavy things":

- Squat: 55 kg (121 lbs) 5/5/5/5/5 (5 kg/11lbs and one set more than last time. Strangely, the first two sets were hard, the last three were pretty easy, will go for 60 kg next time)
- Hanging leg raises: 10/10/5

Post workout was only around 10 am and I was hungry so I had a protein shake and a small bowl of walnut/pecan/Brazil nuts and pumpkin seeds.

Lunch: Fried up the last of the bacon and had a huge salad: sliced organic cabbage, tomatoes, black olives, dill pickles, mozzarella cheese mixed with pesto/dill pickle jar juice/avocado oil and balsamic. Half an apple. Have kept the bacon fat for frying something up soon.

Afternoon snack: a handful of nuts and small block of 86% chocolate

It cleared up briefly again this afternoon so I took my boy outside and let him get all muddy in the puddles whilst I ran around throwing a ball against a wall pretending I was 8 again.

Dinner: 300 grams (10.5 ounces) of Australian skirt flank steak (I love this cut with its hint of liver - and it's cheap) with some vegetables and mushrooms.

Just finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, someone gave it to me as a gift whilst I was in hospital. I rarely venture into fiction (but read a LOT of factual books) but really enjoyed this book. Just downloaded the next one on my iPad.

Tomorrow I have a busy day at work but plan to either go for a long walk or do some sprints. No weights tomorrow. I have some sirlion steaks in the fridge and tonnes of vegetables/fruit. Can't wait!

[JDough MO]

JP - thanks for stopping by my journal. It sounds like we have a lot of the same pitfalls. OK well at least the beer part. I used to home brew and still enjoy the process (hooray chemistry) but the habit of a couple nightly post-work carby, grainy, boozey beers has been nothing but a stumbling block for me. I purged the beer fridge this morning and put labels with specific dates/anniversaries/accomplishments on the select few "celebration" beers I chose to keep.

I'm glad I have somebody rocking the PB with me! Feel free to keep me accountable. From the looks of it I need to up the level of detail of my Journal posts. Excellent detail!

JD