Primal Journal (Hilly Girl) page

[Hilly Girl]

This is my first week going primal, found some mention of paleo/primal eating on a few blogs about 2 weeks ago and started to read through lots of sites, including this one.
Already bought Primal Blueprint, thanks ebay and am nearly all the way through, pencil to hand for marking things i will need to reread.
Oct 20th I stopped eating sugar and all grains except oats - found it hard to let the porridge go with all the dark days and wet weather we have had lately, however by Oct 22 I had let it all go...

Today I joined fitday.com and logged in my food and activity for the last three days. I seem to find it difficult to eat enough protein - however i am not sure that I have my figures correct - i am only guessing my weight as it's about two years since i saw a scales.
I am hoping to get to use a scales this weekend when I do some visiting and then I will correctly work out my lean body mass, bmr etc and know for sure how much protein I should be trying to eat.

Nonetheless I am finding fitday really interesting as I didn't have a clue that fruit had carbohydrate properties so I am learning a lot about the food that i am eating.

I am really really surprised that i don't have sugar cravings whilst at home although I noticed that I do need to exercise discipline and avoid some aisles in the supermarket.

so far so good...

[Hilly Girl]

Still going well. I have lots of energy and am sleeping really well, which is my usual practise anyway. The energy is lovely, I look forward to being outside and doing things around the house and garden. It's so great to be feeling energetic. I have only been eating this way for a week and if this increase in energy levels makes me feel very motivated to continue.

I have had no problems with sugar cravings - still shocked by this. I think I still will have trouble in the supermarket and need to not look at my my particular areas of weakness such as cheesecakes and ice-creams...

The only marked problem that i have is intermittent bouts of sneezing, feels like allergy sneezing, not cold/flu sneezing.

It may be a coincidence (said she who doesn't actually believe in coincidences) or it may be that I have been eating too many eggs. I did have an allergy to eggs some years ago however in the last ten years or so I have been able to eat eggs again without a problem. I hope that it's not a problem with eggs 'cos I do really enjoy eating them - especially with bacon!

I am really enjoying having eggs and bacon for breakfast, it has been surprising me how much I am enjoying it. I got some organic bacon at the farmers market on thurs and will certainly be getting more of that next week - so tasty. The organic sausages and lamb chops were yummy as well.

This weekend I am going to stay in the city and will have to be well prepared. We often have a munch on something as we wander around and I need to be sure that I don't allow myself to become so hungry that I forget to eat well. The cooker in the house we stay in is not as good as our own cooker so we tend to only cook a minimal amount and treat ourselves to a good Mexican supper - will have to rethink that for myself, perhaps a burger with no bun.

[Hedonist]

Welcome. I'm glad primal is going well for you. Hang in there at the supermarket. :-)

Mexican can be primal

[Hilly Girl]

Thanks for the welcome Hedonist, had a wander through the supermarket this evening when I was hungry which was always a dangerous time for me however today I found myself laughing at all the aisles that were not relevant to what I eat now - great difference!

We both had a good early breakfast (7am, forgot the clock was changing last night and we arose earlier than expected) of scrambled eggs and bacon (himself is also benefiting from cooked breakfasts now which he loves instead of porridge) so I wasn't too worried about being tempted when, after our morning walk at the beach, we met up with some friends in a coffee house at 11ish which does a mean pancake. I enjoyed my cappuccino and watched people eat chocolate drizzled pancakes with no resentment or pancake-lust whatsoever, a completely new experience for me.

I'm loving how I am not "just wanting" something sweet simply because I see it now, as long as I have had a good feed of meat and fat it doesn't worry me now. In fact, one friend, who would have similar sugar issues to myself was so impressed that she is considering trying to eat primal herself so I am going to share some web links with her to give her some "food for thought". It would be really nice to have a friend who is trying the same sort of food-style as myself.

Himself is getting into the swing of eating more primal food, simply because he can see how much more satisfied I am with what I am eating. He felt quite left out on the first few mornings when I was eating eggs and bacon and he was eating his usual muesli and bread. I am trying to not make him feel as though I want him to change his eating ways however it does make life easier when I am cooking if i don't have to also cook rice or potatoes at every dinner for himself. We take turns cooking every other day so on the days when he cooks the evening meal he is now starting to understand more easily what I need - more meat and veg

For lunch today we were at a friends house and had a big homegrown salad with home-made salsa and home-made veg and tomato soup which although was very tasty was not altogether satisfying. I did find myself still hungry afterwards as I didn't have any protein. I chewed on a handful of almonds and took my spirulina supplements however it wasn't long before I was hungry again. Luckily we found a good butcher shop open on the journey home and had a good dinner of butcher-made burgers (grass-fed beef) and organic onion, mushroom and tomatoes - very satisfying!

[Hilly Girl]

Whilst reading through some journals I became aware of something that has changed with me - my dreams. I don't know if it 's a result of changing what I am eating however I have had some some really strong and slightly wacky dreams in the last few nights. The strange dreams are early in the morning before I awake and I can remember them well.
It's been quite some time since I could clearly remember my dreams so this is interesting. It may be related to eating primally, maybe not. I guess I am just noticing differences in myself.
I am visiting with a friend tomorrow in the city and hope that she may have a weighting scales. I am curious to see what weight I am so that I can try to work out what my lean body mass is and ensure that I am eating the right amounts of protein.
Still away from home and still managing to eat primally, so far, so good.

[Hilly Girl]

Two weeks now and still doing ok. I am still using fitday to monitor and evaluate what I am eating and am struggling a bit trying to reduce my overall calorie intake enough to loose some weight however i am trying to not become too obsessed with this, it is enough of a challenge to change how i eat.

The only problem I have had with mood or energy was last week when i cheated and had some ice-cream when visiting friends. I did find myself a little headachey and cranky for two days afterwards, luckily it passed and i will not be so easily tempted again.

Energy levels are still great, I find myself better able to work and more inclined to stick at a job until it is done. I seem to be a little more flexible despite not really doing anything different exercise wise - which means that i don't really take exercise other than what i get from working on building our house, climbing up and down the scaffolding rather than use a ladder, hammering, painting etc.

I have noticed that my knees recover quicker than they used to. After a day of climbing or being on my knees a lot i usually find that my knees are a little swollen and stiff, there is a certain change now, i recover more quickly.

[Hilly Girl]

I am still going strong and am happy with my weight loss - it's not a very fast weight loss however I don't mind that, it is a slow progression that feels steady.
I was reading through what I had written as I started on this journey and find that now I rarely have trouble in the supermarket or elsewhere for that matter. It's becoming second nature to ensure that I have a snack to eat in my bag at all times, either a Naked bar or a bag of nuts and then hunger is not a problem. I do need to consider where I am going when I am away from home and ensure that when we are staying over with friends I bring primal-friendly food with me such as the makings of pancakes and some good quality bacon - my hosts usually appreciate the yummy breakfast too.
As the weather improves I am outdoors more often and am conscious of trying to keep good posture when I am gardening, sharing the load between my right arm and left when shovelling/raking etc. I even had a go at barefoot running last week when I was at a beach over the weekend. i had been studying a video on the natural running site simply because I came across it on twitter, I didn't really intend to use the information however there I was at a beach with a beautiful headland walk of short grass and I was in my bare feet so I decided to give it a go - great fun! I had actually forgotten that running is not the same as a fast jog, that it feels completely different, liberating in fact! I think I will be doing that again when I have the opportunity and the clean, stone-free ground to practise on.