Primal Journal-deMuralist page 31

[demuralist]

You are welcome, and I so happy to have a partner on the journey. The strange thing about SPEED is that in the past I have gone to that very same BMR calculator, and done the very same calculations as I did this time. But the difference muct be that I am combining it with relatively low carb and not low fat as before. And of course also that this is more whole life inclusive. Not just about what I eat, but about how I think, what I surround myself with, how I move (well I will get there I am sure), my sleep habits. I have never included all of these at the same time before.

I also like that, for whatever reason, I am good with the daily tracking where in the past I hated doing it. I think it is because now I am using more to help guide my future choices and to pinpoint what works and what to change instead of trying to justify (if only to myself) why I am not losing weight.

Also, luckily I don't feel like I am on a diet, and since I have said "this is a lifestyle change" so many times in the past that is not even what this is. It really is a total paradigm shift. A slow and steady change in the way I view who I am and what I can do really. Very exciting!

[demuralist]

261.8, that is 2.2 pounds since yesterday, the scale is a very strange machine. Now in the past 2 days I have ended up adding 2 more 12oz mugs of tea, but my food is essentially the same.

Well, no not really. I stopped the yogurt and cottage cheese and splenda and salt. I added 2 eggs to breakfast and went back to my salmon lunch. Now this morning I have added back 2T of cocoa to my mocha, I think because it is a good source of iron? I can't remember why I added it before. But I had added the last of a tin of it to my protein powder, now I am being deliberate in how much I am adding.

Last night for dinner I made a beef stew, I just added veggies to the beef (once it had browned) no starches though. Then I cooked it until the veggies became the broth. You could not recognize them, and the cauliflower looked like I had added rice. HeeHee, I am so sneaky. Now DS wouldn't touch it, but he never eats stew so no surprise there. But DH loved it and did not go looking for starch afterward. He found a piece of paper I have to remind myself what is primal and what is not. And so for dinner most nights he eats a very small portion of protein, a decent sized portion of the veggies and then after dinner he goes back into the cupboard and pulls out the last of the Oat Squares cereal his nutritionist suggested so he could lower his cholesterol and munches on that in front of the tv.

DH went to a "world renowned" cardiologist who is trying to lower dh's cholesterol with diet (no matter that we followed "his diet" by being vegetarian for the past 5 to 7 years and it is what got us here) and of course statins. So the other day when I warned DH that since I was in TTOM we would be having beef every night for dinner he said "you are going to make my cholesterol go up" to which I replied "you know darn well that your liver makes cholesterol and eating lean beef is not going to affect it". He actually does know this. He is conflicted and confused. He hates taking the statins, but his genetics point to heart disease and his "world renowned" doctor has made recommendations he feels compelled to follow. He really does have a better diet by any standard than 95% of the population, very little junk and lots of fresh veggies and lean protein sources. He also exercises 5 to 6 days a week and has for as long as I have known him. I gave him an article to take the next time he goes so that he can talk to the doc about VLDL vs. LDL and the fact that statins seems to lower HDL which they want to get and keep high. AHHH, I just do what I can.

Well, today after work I go and volunteer at the high school. I work on the bulletin boards, and I am working to add one to acknowledge Scholar Athletes. On the rest throughout the school I emphasize college information. Local college sports as well as college visits to campus and other things that the various colleges send to us. I had planned to go over once a month on my day off, but as it turns out, I don't like giving up my day off! So now I decided to go once a week for an hour or so on Friday afternoons.

I also have to go to Trader Joes, which I actually enjoy.

then I get to come home for lunch.

[athomeontherange]

curious: Does your beef stew thicken?? I am not fond of soup but like stew. Does that even make sense??? LOL Oh and I bough a "ricer" to make cauliflower rice. Can not wait to try that under like a beef stroganoff.

Looks like the scale is going down for you!! Sodium is amazing! Why is it not a drug considering what it does to the body??

[demuralist]

so for my stew yesterday I browned about 2 pounds of chunked stew meat in a big pot. Drained that then I added 4C of stock (yes, sodium I know) and 2 bags of frozen cauliflower, a bag of frozen sliced carrots, a bag of frozen diced onions, and a bag of frozen diced "mire poix". I left the lid off and simmered it for about 3 hours, stirring occasionally. The cauliflower fell apart and looked like rice and then yes it did thicken up, a lot, basically reduced I guess, and concentrated the flavor. I added a bit of a herbal seasoning mix (no sodium) and it was very good. In fact I ate it on a flat plate with salad on the side, the juices mingled a bit but not much.

I got a ricer a while back and have yet to use it. I don't really miss rice (except as a breakfast with milk, butter and sugar, but I have not had that since my kids were little). I really prefer my veggies roasted to a carmelized goodness.

Yes I admit seeing that number on the scale this morning made me smile. So I am 1.8 pounds from reaching my 10% goal, again-I had reached it just before I went off the diuretic.

[Pebbles67]

Looks like the scale is going down for you!! Sodium is amazing! Why is it not a drug considering what it does to the body??

I had Sushi with Tamari sauce last night and am up 5 lbs today.

[Pebbles67]

Chris, I was looking at the speed website yesterday. I can't tell if it is any different from what I am already doing. I may order it anyway.

[demuralist]

I think what is different about it is the whole person aspect. It kind of takes it out of the realm of diet for me. Also the author's personal involvement is really encouraging.

It is calorie counting, I will give you a heads up on that. But they explain how to figure out your caloric needs and really like I said it is about so much more than food. And well, it is working for me. Well that and the gallon plus fluid intake daily.

I personally strongly recommend it. Love that they follow up everything they say with scientific citations, and that they admit that when they started out they thought that exercise was more important and are willing to admit that they were wrong and give the science for that as well.

I had sworn that I would never buy another "diet" book after I got Mark's, but when I did not lose weight doing just Primal I broke down and got the SPEED book. And I know that this will be the last book of its kind I will ever have to get.

[demuralist]

261.4 that is down another 4/10ths of a pound. That is the pace I am looking for, because as I said that puts me on course to lose a little over 2 pounds a week. While mentally I would love to lose faster than that, I think that physically that will be a pace that will allow my skin to pull back in, so I don't end up with a flat for a stomach, well that is what I am telling myself anyway. That pace also allows me to totally ingrain this whole body style without the fear of slipping into old ways and thus regaining the weight. Again that is what I am telling myself.

Part of my maintenance plan will be to weigh in daily. The last time I had lost weight (40 pounds going to Weight Watchers) and kept it off (5 years) it started to creep back on when I decided (was convinced by people on message boards) that listening to my body and throwing away the scales was the way to go. Of course, going vegetarian at the same time didn't help either. It was a slow progression to get back up to the original weight, but how shocked I was when I stepped on the scale to see I was exactly the weight from the beginning of the Weight Watchers journey.

I have continued to end up drinking the extra 2 mugs of tea at night. I was looking at my hands last night as I picked up the cup of tea and there is a marked difference in their appearance. They are back to their more elegant, ie not puffy, look. My rings now sit gracefully on my finger, instead of looking like they are growing out of the flesh. And of course my nails look great thanks to the Primal diet!

My food yesterday was a bit off the norm. I made some coconut butter with chocolate, and I am a taste tester, so I ended up having the equivalent of 3 pieces from start to packaging. This made my carbs a bit high.

My Stats: 1,822 Calories (I shoot for under 1,700), 100g carbs, 24g Fiber (76g Net Carb), 93g Fat (I try to stay under 95), and 135g protein (technically I shoot for 170 I think, but I never get there, I hover around 150 usually) sodium was 1,336g and trying to stay under 2,500g.

Liquid was 16oz coffee, 5 mugs 12oz tea, and 3 liters of water, which totals...175+ ounces (I think a gallon is 128 right?). I know that this borders on ridiculous. And if I was reading that someone else was doing it I would think "wow that is too much", but I am not forcing it, I am truly drinking it for thirst, and I am not retaining water. I expect that my body will correct itself and I will begin to decrease that, eventually. I am listening to my body on this one.

Anyway, I have given up, for now, dairy, except butter and heavy cream, as well. We will see how that goes.

[athomeontherange]

Wow!! I am impressed with your liquid consumption. I would say that as long as you are not uncomfortable and are releasing the liquid without trouble it should be fine. I know upping my liquid intake would make a tremendous difference but I forget to drink. I go go go.. and forget to stop and drink a little something. Getting 8 glasses/day is a stretch for me.

Whoop... scale is going DOWN!!! Good for you!

[demuralist]

Well, my breakfast is liquid, I drink one liter while at work, then 2 teas with lunch, then the second liter before I eat dinner-mostly drink it while I am cooking so I won't snack while in the kitchen, then 2 tea with dinner-which I generally finish by 6:30 so there is time to drink another liter of water, if I stay up later than my planned 9:30 bedtime there is also time for another cup of tea or 2. I love the teas I am drinking now so that is easy.

I colored my hair today. I was a hairdresser for like 15 years, so now I do my own. Anyway, I have been using up color that we had used for DD's hair at various times. She was trying to get it really red for a while there-she is naturally a dark blonde and now we highlight it. Anyway, today I mixed a couple that were left. I should have paid more attention as one of the tubes must have been left over from when I colored my BFF's daughter's hair. She is a dark brunette. Anyhoo, my hair is now a dark cool red instead of a medium light warm red. I feel a little goth. Luckily the colors are semi-permanent, which is why I was so cavalier about slapping it on my head. The point is it will fade and eventually wash out, hopefully before Christmas! In the mean time I will need to wear something besides black or I am going to look like a old lady trying to do goth!