The Journal of Jen's Death Wish to Sugar, Grains & other Evils page

[jenh]

Well, Sunday was my start to the 30-day challenge...going well so far. I decided that in order to not cheat with non-primal foods I'd bring some fruit back into my diet as that's gotta be a whole hell of a lot better than for reaching for the damn Mountain Dew.

Lunchtime today will be some leftover ground turkey, bacon, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and celery that I mixed all together... I found a good sale on some ground turkey so thought I'd try some and a neighbor highly recommended to put something in with it like celery so it's not so dry - so of course what else did I add? BACON!

Now I don't eat as much bacon as some might think primals do, but about 3 lbs might last me about 4 weeks...just depends... I tend to go through spurts on many things in life.

I only had a Gala Apple for breakfast; should've had at least a cheese stick or a couple slices of bacon or some sausage...

Time is limited today to journal, but I'll be back from time to time.

BACK OFF SUGAR!!!!! I'm gonna win this battle if it's the last thing I do!

[jenh]

oh dear. what a day.

It all started well until I stopped at the public works for an open house where they were serving free food. And you know exactly it was 99% junk food. HOt dogs, chips and soda. So of course I ate TWO hot dogs w/ ketchup and of course the bun. 1 pkg of cheetos and an entire can of Pepsi.... ugh.

So tomorrow is a new day and hopefully by then this incessant burping will be gone.

[Hedonist]

oh dear. what a day.

It all started well until I stopped at the public works for an open house where they were serving free food. And you know exactly it was 99% junk food. HOt dogs, chips and soda. So of course I ate TWO hot dogs w/ ketchup and of course the bun. 1 pkg of cheetos and an entire can of Pepsi.... ugh.

So tomorrow is a new day and hopefully by then this incessant burping will be gone.

Hehe. Oh, well. Just get back on track.

Cute pup.

[jenh]

Hehe. Oh, well. Just get back on track.

Cute pup.

Thank you :-) Yes, I am back on track today, but am having cravings. So this afternoon I will hit the apple and/or Tangelo in the fridge rather than soda. And I have cheese available for protein kick :-) And yes, the darling lil' beagle knows she's cute. Her name is Lia...I got her in February as a rescue dog and she has already grown on me more than I imagined. Part of my success is due to her. Originally I thought her necessity for walking so much was just to make her go potty.... As the spring and summer came in, I've also realized it's more about her being social. Every night after work she pulls/drags me to the neighbor's house who has either a bone and/or another snack. This neighbor loves to hunt, so he shares bites of things like jerkey, deer sausage and the like with her...She just LOVES that neighbor...and I'm forced to do some slow moving :-)

[jenh]

Well another month down and while the scale didn't show much, I did lose 2.2 lbs of fat and gained 1.6 lbs in muscle. I need to find ways to stop the cheating so I can see the total weight below 250 and I desperately want to fit into non-plus size woman's clothing. Ugh.

More reading on PB and am getting inspired to try to do some quicker movements/sprints... did some relatively quicker movements this weekend as I was jogging to catch up with a neighbor... I actually felt a lil' adrenaline or something kicking in. Now if I could only read at the speed of a sprinter....

[jenh]

Okay, here I go again. I did see a lot of small changes last year via my primal stints, most notably was my A1C level going from 6.4 to 5.7 in just one year's time. Even in 2005 I was 6.1 - so that is a remarkable change though my cholesterol did go up and my carotid ultrasound wasn't good so even though my doc is primal they have strongly suggested to go on a cholesterol med and I have done so though reluctant. My family history for heart disease, stroke etc is not in my favor... I want last year's little things to start adding up to show some bigger results this year which means I've got to do a lot less cheating and being honest with myself. If I have a bad day then go right back the next and not beat myself up; it does no good. I did lose 3" last year on my bust measurement alone so "the girls" were not happy and I had to purchase a size smaller bra. The other good thing is my pants aren't of course tight, not quite a full size loss; for me it's a slow process unlike many other success stories, but I am bound and determined to not follow in the same health steps as my parents, grandparents, & great grandparents. (Yes, I know some death causes of family members back that far.)

I've had my largest kidney stones this year - I had to have blasted and I need another CT to ensure they are now gone and hopefully ward off another surgery. I am thinking this is due to the increase I did in vitamin D supplements & also possibly some bone loss I may have incurred while taking Lupron as extra calcium would then have to deposit somewhere...

The current plan re: kidney stones is adding in a banana here and there for potassium and continue the 500 mg of magnesium to help with calcium absorption. I've read higher Vit D and bone density loss can equal high chances of kidney stones. Higher magnesium & potassium less chances of kidney stones...not to mention citrate. So the fruits I will focus on are lemons, oranges & bananas. A few apples may come to see the light and perhaps more berries.

I believe my cheats I cant give up are root beer floats & my mom's beefy noodles (I typically only visit her 1-2 times a year). I've gotten through more than 1/2 of the primal blueprint and apparently there are even cheats Mark is not willing to give up. So I will try to remember it's not the end all if I want a root beer float from time to time. I haven't taken potatoes yet back out of my diet but will likely do so as I progress.

Onward and upward!

-B- 1 large banana (should've had more to eat or had the snack part with breakfast)
-S-Walnuts, almonds, dried cranberries
-L- leftovers from prev night dinner: grnd beef, mushrooms, garlic powder, parsley, black pepper, Himalayan salt, sage, marjoram, carrots, broccoli, onions.

[jenh]

Well yesterday didn't end up as well as I wanted. I was so dang hungry that I had to resort to that stupid vending machine. argh.

I can't face the details of it at this time, or I'll just keep beating myself up.

So I've realized I must have a lil' carb flu going and that means I may need more food to suffice me until I get over this. Luckily working at home today so I can make food as I need it...

[jenh]

Okay - yesterday was pretty successful though I should've ate something earlier in the evening as I was hungry at bedtime so I resorted to some cheese as I knew I couldn't eat until late breakfast due to a CT scan I had this morning.... Hoping that it's all clear so the kidney stones are gone and hoping for no more surgery. I feel as if I've got my own scientific experiment going on between the kidney stones, my cholesterol/carotid narrowing & weight loss concerns. Well at least yesterday there were 0% cheats. Hoping for same today.....

[jenh]

Yesterday was another successful day :-) No cheating. However in the afternoon I needed a snack and chose for some almonds in my desk drawer - I about flipped because I guess I hadn't read the label previously. It had VEGETABLE OIL! I mean what's up w/ that? Since when do you put almonds in veggie oil? Really? I am sooo disappointed but yet again I am reminded I must read EVERY LABEL EVERYTIME! How discouraging our food supply is....and what should be simple can be tainted.

I am almost done reading PB, but forgot it on my desk at work last night so I read a few pages of Wheat Belly instead last night. Perhaps keeping the reading going and reading the "shocks" of crappy wheat will keep me from cheating.

I am proud I was able to get motivated to make dinner last night and have plenty of leftovers for my lunch today. I was also able to remember my other items for snacks...cheese sticks, walnuts, cried cranberries & dried apples so I can avoid the vending machine. I feel like I'm sooo hungry sometimes, but I don't find myself eating 3 meals a day. I don't think that's a huge issue, but I don't let the clock control my timing of eating. If I'm not hungry - I'm not eating... In fact, that goal pic of mine was taken when I was eating that way in college. It might be a 15? year old pic (shhh! don't tell anyone), but I was the thinnest I'd been and lightest since I was in jr. high.... But I believe the vegetarian diet I was eating caught up with me - all that pasta, bread and processed crap. I certainly was walking plenty due to walking on campus to/from classes, riding bus to get off/on campus and back to my appt. And I lived on a 3rd floor with no elevator and I was active doing community theater on weekends.

Okay enough history lane...onward and upward!

[ELCO14]

Hey Jenh- can you post what a typical day meals are?

You hit the nail on the head- you have to read every label or better yet, buy food without labels ;-). Food manufacturers will never put your health before profits.