Primal Journal-deMuralist page 179

[demuralist]

Well, the fitbit is telling me that my sleep efficiency is getting a bit better.

It generally takes me about 10 minutes to fall asleep. Then I have 3 long stretches of sleep, with the first being the longest and last night it was actually 90 minutes!!!! So then the next long stretch is the second longest, most often an hour or slightly more, then most of my wake-ups occur after this with about a 50/50 break up of sleep and awake. My average number of wake ups a night is 7 to 10 but they are mostly short, and I don't usually remember most of them. Then I generally have another long stretch around 4ish and it is usually about an hour, then I am back to 50/50 or so until I get out of bed.

So Last night I slept 6:48! I was in bed for 9:09 so the efficiency was 78%, but that is a fantastic number of hours for me. One thing though is that I started TTOM late yesterday so I took naproxin just before bed, pretty sure that helps. In fact my best night's sleeps have been when I have had to take something. Which I don't do very often.

[demuralist]

So I figured I would split this morning's post let the sleep post stand on its own.

ok, yesterday was a fantastic day food wise. All afternoon, both before and after my nap, I was jonesin for a sweet. But what my plan now is that I will keep myself too full to be able to fit a sweet in. So while I was definitely too full to have anything I was still pining for it. So for dinner I had the rest of that beef/cabbage soup and I made myself a Shamrock smoothie. I brewed a strong cup of Vanilla tea and let it cool down, then I put that along with 1/2C of cottage cheese, 3/4C frozen broccoli, Vanilla Whey Powder, Stevia, a bit of Almond Milk, a few drops of mint extract and Xanthum into the blender. So yummy and filling and the milkshake consistency fulfilled my need for 'dessert'. I know it is not totally Primal, but it is way healthier than what I would have put in my mouth had I not had it!

I found this site....Dashing Dish | Shakes...with some great ideas, not primal but adaptable, for stuff like this. I am very excited about it.

So the STATS:
Calories...1,946
Carbs...100
Fat...80
Protein....210
Fiber....26

I stopped tracking sugar for now and am going to be taking turns tracking different vitamins, yesterday it was C, and I got 540% of the RDA thanks to all the veggies and the clementine I had with lunch.

All of the carbs are from the veggies, 2 fruits (blueberries & a clementine) and a serving of pistachios. No sugar or flour or grains at all.

the only thing I am trying to control is to get at least 177g of protein, and 10 veggies with 1 or 2 (at most) being a fruit. Again, the main point is to have enough nutrition and quantity so that I am too full to stuff in junk. It seems counter intuitive, but it certainly is keeping me out of the junk (and believe me the kids are making sure I am being tempted!).

Still not getting on the scale, so far, so good for me! Going to try the prescribed eccentric exercises today or tomorrow with DS. They are really very similar to Mark's essential movements so we shall see. Of course either of them will work as long as I do them right?

[athomeontherange]

Movement is good for the body and mind. Good for you! Yeah for the no sugar or grains!! I am impressed with your goal and consumption of veggies. I must admit that I have not been using my fresh veggies before they go bad sometimes. I need to up my game.

[demuralist]

What I am doing now is much like what we did on SPEED but with more emphasis on being full from eating nutrient dense foods. This may be the final piece of the puzzle...how to not crave/binge on non-nutrient rich foods? Keep yourself too full with the nutrient rich ones!

When I do my BMR (basically the calories I need if all I do is stay in bed all day) it is 1850. Then if I assume that I am sedentary (I am not, but lets go with the lowest number possible scenario) I mulitply that by 1.2 I get 2220. Now if I want to lose a pound a week, I subtract 500 a day (this is all BS, because I know it doesn't come down to calorie in vs. calorie out, but lets play along)...that is 1720. And yet, I have been trying to get down into the 1400 range and I wonder why the heck I get cravings and binge?

So while the suggestion is to ignore the calories, I am trying to get them down into the 1700's while still hitting my protein and veggie goals. If nothing else I feel pretty darn good. Well except for the TTOM yucky tummy.

This week I will be doing the treadmill on the days that DS goes to school too, NOT for cardio but for the slow movement aspect of it all. The 4 exercises will take about 10 minutes, and once a week DS and I will be doing that. There is also a suggestion for the Sprint type activity, which in my case would likely be a jog up the stairs, they have a 'routine' they suggest as to time sprinting and time resting and repetitions, i will get there. As I sleep more I feel more inclined to do things like that.

[demuralist]

Finding the "shakes" blog is perfect timing. With TTOM I really like sweet things and these are a great way to feel like I am indulging and yet being so good to myself!

Today's was 1/2C cottage cheese, 1C Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, 2 clementine cuties, 1/2C frozen spinach, stevia, 1 scoop of Jay Robb Vanilla Whey, spritz of vanilla. Holy creamsicle batman! It was yummy. I am excited to try and see how I can replicate her flavors with veggies and fruit and none of the pudding mix type things she throws in.

[RMS123]

Mmmmm, that does sound good. I need to figure out something like that when I need it. Frankly, I'd probably eat some dairy if I could tolerate it...

What a nice way to sneak in a service of veggies (and some protein!). I had gotten pretty darned lax about my veggies (you know, I'm not losing weight anyway, so why bother attitude). It feels good to start again.

[demuralist]

You could just skip the cottage cheese the xanthum does a pretty good job of getting the creaminess. If the whey is a problem you could switch to egg white protein powder, egg whites or straight up eggs.

[RMS123]

I always thought xanthum was a thickener. Interesting... I do use egg whites sometime. I dump it in my homemade ice cream

[demuralist]

yeah, I think it is, in the smoothie it gives it that sort of milky smooth thickness that is very milk shake like. If I remember correctly its carbs are all fiber.

[athomeontherange]

So glad the shakes are working for you. I love the combinations you are using.

Ruth- the egg white protein is good. When I use protein powder, that is what I use.