Primal newbie, wheelchair athlete page

[Katja]

Hi, everyone!

After about a month of sort of eating Primal partway, with no particularly useful results (except for not being hungry, which is good, and arguing with my husband, which is bad), I'm going all the way, starting today

The Questions:


Your location: Longmont, Colorado

Age (If you want): 51

How Primal are you: Shooting for Very (is there a list of categories?)

Do you consume dairy: Yes (cream in my coffee and some cooking, some cheeses, that's about it)

Do you drink coffee or tea: Yes

Motivator for switching to Primal: Weight loss, health, curiosity (probably in about that order)

Favorite exercise: Weight lifting

Favorite Primal food: There are an awful lot of good ones.....

Best part about being Primal: Veggies, butter, bacon

Worst part about being Primal: Let's not talk about the bread.

I'm Katja. I've been reading here and other sites obsessively for about a month. I'm about a third of the way through Gary Taubes Good Calories, Bad Calories. I'm astonished at how effortlessly my brainwashing has switched from steel cut oats, good! to steel cut oats, bad!

My weight history (hopefully adequately condensed): I was always the chubby one. 130# when I got married at age 24, 150# when I got pregnant with my first child a year later, 210# by the time I was 40, 6 years after my MS diagnosis (more on that later). At this point I was enrolled in a Phase III diet drug study, which I was in for 2 years, and on which I was very successful. This study included both the drug and nutritional counseling. I lost 55 pounds. I regained about 15, but kept the rest of the weight off and maintained a weight around 180# for a number of years.

My diet at this point was very good by CW standards - low in fat and calories, high in whole grains, very little packaged food, I didn't drink my calories.

Last year in what seemed to be an awesomely difficult effort, I got down to 155#. Three years earlier, I'd started exercising really seriously, and keeping my calorie intake down around 1200-1400 was vastly harder than it had been the first time around.

My health history: at age 34 I was diagnosed with MS, after several episodes of vertigo and muscle weakness. At this point there were no long term treatments for the disease, and exercise (exertion) was viewed as potentially dangerous by neurologists. A lot of my subsequent weight gain was because I was really, really good at following doctor's orders not to exert myself. At 210# and close to using a wheelchair, that was super scary, and I parted ways with my doctor's opinion.

Losing weight and increasing my activity level didn't fix my MS, but I'm fairly sure it would have been much worse if I hadn't done those things. I now use a wheelchair fulltime, but it's a manual wheelchair, not a power chair, and I still do lots of things.

My exercise history: I was the world's best couch potato for 45 years. Then I discovered weight lifting, which I love. I've been lifting regularly for 3 years. Two years ago I discovered wheelchair sports. I now handcycle and run (push) track, and do triathlons and road races.

Why primal? Calorie and fat restriction isn't working for me anymore. Gary Taubes makes a lot of sense.

A primal anecdote: A couple of weeks ago, I was at a conference with my husband, who still hasn't quite figured out what I'm doing. The dinner was a buffet, and I didn't feel like scrimmaging, so my husband offered to get me a plate. He said, "Remind me again what you want?"

I said, "Protein and vegetables." He looked at me funny. I repeated it firmly, "Protein and vegetables."

"Ok," he said, and off he went, and the man sitting across the table leaned over and said, "Primal?!" and I smiled and said yes.

But starting today I really mean it, and I'm looking forward to being part of the community.

[SoccerGrok]

Hi Katja, and welcome to the Primal Family. This place is great for support, information, humour, and all things Grok:-)!!!

[ldygeko]

Welcome, Katja! This is a great place to be - everyone is so helpful! Good luck on your primal journey!

[Hedonist]

Hi Katja. Welcome!

[Kimelah]

and the man sitting across the table leaned over and said, "Primal?!" and I smiled and said yes.

Ahhh, if only that could happen to everyone...

[Katja]

Sugar—the other addictive white powder?

I swear, I don't eat that much sugar!

So why is it so hard to give up the teaspoon of sugar in my coffee? Well, maybe 2 teaspoons. Krista was right, coffee without sugar tastes like dirt.

[SoccerGrok]

Try adding 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, and some heavy cream:-) Takes that dirt taste out!

[TheDarkMistress]

Greetings. Your writing is entertaining!

I just started lifting weights yesterday. I hope I will fall in love as well. Any tips? I started small with 5 exercises- I have found the baby-steps strategy to work well for me (as opposed to going all in with a complicated and time-consuming workout program).

[jfreaksho]

I swear, I don't eat that much sugar!

So why is it so hard to give up the teaspoon of sugar in my coffee? Well, maybe 2 teaspoons. Krista was right, coffee without sugar tastes like dirt.

Try adding 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, and some heavy cream:-) Takes that dirt taste out!

You two need to find a better source of coffee. Starbucks doesn't count.

[Katja]

Try adding 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, and some heavy cream:-) Takes that dirt taste out!

I'm already putting in the heavy cream, which does help. I'm kind of freaking out at the idea of the coconut oil, but I'll give it a try.

Greetings. Your writing is entertaining!

I just started lifting weights yesterday. I hope I will fall in love as well. Any tips? I started small with 5 exercises- I have found the baby-steps strategy to work well for me (as opposed to going all in with a complicated and time-consuming workout program).

Baby steps are good, and starting small is good. For me, the two biggest factors were hiring a trainer, and recognizing that as a person with MS, my adaption to weight lifting probably wasn't going to be like a fully myelinated person's adaption (and boy, howdy, was I right about that!). The second one probably isn't applicable to you. At first I thought I'd work with a trainer for a couple of months, and then, when I knew what I was doing (ha!), go it alone. I still lift with my trainer every week - knowing that he's expecting me (and needs the money!) gives me accountability, and he's just been very good at adapting to my varying capabilities week to week.

On the adaption side - I had given weight training a whirl a couple of times before, and always gave up because of the subsequent fatigue and muscle soreness. I never gave it enough time. This time around I decided that I was sticking to it no matter what, and I did. If you're super sore the next day, go out and move a little bit to take the edge off, but nothing really strenuous.

You two need to find a better source of coffee. Starbucks doesn't count.

Or give up coffee. I'm drinking coffee I make at home every morning by grinding my own beans and using a Melitta filter. Not Starbucks.