Primal With A Side Of FABULOUS page 26

[Gay Panda]

There is a very vocal, almost militant anti-scale faction here on these boards. They will say that they are only arbitrary numbers and the scale lies because you are really putting on muscle mass, really you are, and that the scale will make you crazy so you should just chuck it out the window and stick your head in the sand and hope for the best.

The way I keep my scale as a useful tool instead of a source of insanity is that I weigh daily but I have a rule with myself that no weight, up or down, is "real" until it has been there for three days in a row. This keeps me from freaking out about a temporary water retention or getting all stoked because the scale says I'm down a pound when really I'm just massively dehydrated.

When I believed in strict calories-in, calories-out, the scale upset me a lot more than it does now. It seemed like such simple math: my body needs 2,000 calories to maintain its weight, I only feed it 1500, and so the scale should go down. But it didn't a lot of the time, and my feelings charts had nothing but sad faces and storm clouds. But our bodies aren't vending machines, as someone else pointed out, and it's more complicated than that.

I have an approach like yours to help keep me sane, looking for a few days at a weight before it is 'real'. That is a good way to put it, and it helps when the number spikes. It's just water and it will go away in a few days, and it always does. So I shrug and move on when I see it.

[Paleobird]

As the author of two monster thread about calorie counting on MDA (for which I got all kinds of flack), I couldn't agree with you more that calories do matter. But it's just not so linear. One day eat x amount less, next day see x amount less on scale. This is an interesting article on "whooshes and stalls" in weight loss that you might enjoy.

Of Whooshes and Squishy Fat | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald

[Gay Panda]

As the author of two monster thread about calorie counting on MDA (for which I got all kinds of flack), I couldn't agree with you more that calories do matter. But it's just not so linear. One day eat x amount less, next day see x amount less on scale.

Sweet Valhalla, I just spent an hour reading through one of them! It reminds me of the difference between my reaction to primal and Lady Friend's. My weight is slowly but consistently dribbling off; hers dribbled at first and then stopped almost entirely. We are thinking of mild caloric restriction, because nothing else has made any difference for her. Cutting out dairy does nothing. Cutting out nuts does nothing. Primal is PERFECT to keep her maintaining at the weight she is at, (and trust me, she is relieved to stop the out of control gaining from before), but it does not help her to lose.

She has an extremely active job, so more exercise is not the answer. Upping calories (just in case she was undercutting) did nothing. Her body just will NOT let go of the extra pounds that it carries. However, she has lost a few inches and her hayfever is gone, she feels better and is more energetic. So primal does good things for her, but she would also like to be able to lose some weight.

[Gay Panda]

Raw sirloin is extra primal!

So is peeing in public, but I just can't bear to do that either.

[KatyNC]

So is peeing in public, but I just can't bear to do that either.

You always make me laugh! I know I can count on a great read when I am catching up on your journal. I am so proud of your 189 victory! Go Panda go! I love the post about your pj pants, I was smiling to myself while reading it as I am in my owls. My loving nickname for my huge pj pants that are blue with pink, purple, and light blue owls. Although I think the only reason I am holding on to them is because they are the most comfortable pair of pants in the world. Ever!

[Paleobird]

Sweet Valhalla, I just spent an hour reading through one of them! It reminds me of the difference between my reaction to primal and Lady Friend's. My weight is slowly but consistently dribbling off; hers dribbled at first and then stopped almost entirely. We are thinking of mild caloric restriction, because nothing else has made any difference for her. Cutting out dairy does nothing. Cutting out nuts does nothing. Primal is PERFECT to keep her maintaining at the weight she is at, (and trust me, she is relieved to stop the out of control gaining from before), but it does not help her to lose.

She has an extremely active job, so more exercise is not the answer. Upping calories (just in case she was undercutting) did nothing. Her body just will NOT let go of the extra 100 pounds that it carries. However, she has lost a few inches and her hayfever is gone, she feels better and is more energetic. So primal does good things for her, but she would also like to be able to lose some weight.

Exactly my experience. But, now that the weight is off, I am finding that I am maintaining again very easily at this new "set-point". And I'm not counting anything anymore.

[Gay Panda]

The Internet is an infinite realm in which to play, which Gay Panda does for distraction when retooling a chapter for the umpteenth time has lost its appeal. Sometimes this leads to good places, like MDA, and other times it leads to the blog of Mistress Delilah, the self-styled Queen of Farts. Lady Friend has never forgiven me for that one, or for Peter Pan Pixyland (click on fashions), or for Corn Cam, in which a camera was set up in a cornfield, and took a picture of it every fifteen minutes.

Lady Friend has also never forgiven me for the forum I found of people with sneezing fetishes. I was fascinated and read every post, having never considered that anyone would find sneezing sexy. Over dinner at a nice restaurant with several friends, I shared the highlights of what I had gleaned. Lady Friend gave me The Look. But I was so excited that I pressed on, and whenever someone sneezed in the restaurant, I wondered if it was innocent or part of some quirky couple’s flirting ritual*.

But this journal is about nutrition, not sneezing on your lover to turn him/her on. In my current bout of Google indolence, first I run into the 2011 Vegan Calendar, and gag reflexively because Gay Panda tried vegan foods years ago, and hated them. Gay Panda also remembers a cashier at Trader Joe’s, who informed me while bagging my groceries that she had become vegan, and that she was going on break soon to have her Corn-Nuts and Dr. Pepper for dinner. It was the most adorable interpretation of veganism that I had ever heard, and I wished her well on her diet of Corn-Nuts and Dr. Pepper, and giggled all the way to my car.

Next, I search Cadbury Eggs, and find polls and debates about whether or not they should be sold all year long. Just as I prepare to vote my two cents YES THEY SHOULD BE SOLD ALL YEAR LONG, I make the mistake of reading a comment posted by Rod, who wants us all to know that he and his girlfriend incorporate Cadbury Eggs into their . . . well, Gay Panda will be delicate: their bedroom activities. I let out a scream of horror and forget to vote in my rush to get the hell away from Rod**.

Wondering if I should get back to work, I give myself a chance to find a palate cleanser. Bacon cures a host of ills, so I type it into Google and find a T-shirt that reads Bacon Makes Everything Better. I wish bacon were that powerful, because I’m still thinking about Rod and how I want to storm into his bedroom, steal his Cadbury Eggs (which he buys in bulk for his perverted pleasure twelve months of the year), and put them up for adoption to good homes where they will be eaten instead of abused.

Since the shirt isn’t doing it for me, I click on Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, consider purchasing an iPad Bacon Case, learn about Francis Bacon from the online encyclopedia, find bacon-flavored toothpaste, and see if Cha-Cha has answered any questions about bacon. But I’m still feeling like I need a shower, and I realize that in avoiding what I should be doing, I’ve given the Internet yet another opportunity to inflict a psychic scar. It is time to retreat into the imaginary world of my books, where my lead characters are noble and true, and maintain the innocence that I’ve lost so very many times due to Google.

[Gay Panda]

UPDATE:
(in explanation of *) And now you will always wonder, too.
(in explanation of **) You’re sick, man. Gay Panda read your whole post of what you and your nasty girlfriend do to innocent Cadbury Eggs, and Gay Panda is utterly disgusted, and plans to tell Lady Friend all about it the next time we go to dinner at a nice restaurant with several friends.

[Gay Panda]

I love the post about your pj pants, I was smiling to myself while reading it as I am in my owls. My loving nickname for my huge pj pants that are blue with pink, purple, and light blue owls.

I LOVE IT!!! How could anyone get rid of huge pajama pants with owls all over them? Well, Lady Friend could. But she is heartless when it comes to giant, comfy clothing.

[BCingyou]

Long live gay panda. There's a reason this is such a popular journal. Keep it up.

Everyone has their non-primal weakness, cream eggs are a pretty good one I suppose. I think the world is better off since they're not sold year-round, though.