Success in small places... page 2

[thaijinx]

A few days early, but almost at my 4 month mark. Hurrah!

Weight loss to date is now 6 kg. It's crazy because this month I have been eating so well, and so much! Really loving my food - fried eggs, and bacon wrapped prawns, soups and curries with yummy NZ lamb and beef, and vegetables! I've been really getting into cooking and BBQing.

New food I've tried this month: frog, ox-tail, deep fried crab shell (crunchy and yummy!)

I have still been keeping to my higher intakes of rice and potatoes, and energy wise I've been absolutely fine. Great in fact.

My dairy intake has crept up. I've been dolloping cream into everything, adding butter, and enjoying home-made ice cream and cheese. It all tastes so good, yummy fat! I hadn't noticed that I was eating so much until my latest period. And oh boy! This was the worst I've ever had!

A bit or research suggested that it might be the dairy - so I'm going to cut it out this next coming month. A whole month dairy free, and I'm already have dairy withdrawals! I didn't realize how difficult it would be, or how much I love dairy! I suspect my problem is due to endometriosis - which is strongly affected by dairy. I don't know if it will help, and I am a hopeless dairy addict it seems... but I'm willing to give it a go if it can get rid of the pain. So for my next month, some of steps I'm going to try are:

No diary
Even more seafood!
Seaweed!
My usual meat, veg, fat...
Limit/avoid inflammatory increasing foods
I'm going to also increase very slightly (to make up for the loss of dairy) my fruit and nuts.
Continue with the higher rice/potatoes.
To introduce an iodine supplement
To try and reduce my use of plastic (difficult!)
To remove or limit any bleached paper products (herbal tea bags, really!) (including unbleached sanitary products for next month - difficult/impossible to get here, but I'll find out if I can)
To swap out as many shampoos and deodorants for natural ones, herbal toothpaste.
To find out if I can get my one and only mercury filling removed.
To make further research into strengthening my liver (without adding more estrogens) (Chinese bitters?)

Not that all of these are necessarily contributing to the period pain, but just because I feel like I need to take a further step towards really cleaning up my life of toxins. (Taken alongside my usual routine, this is turning into quite a full-time job! My boyfriend is going to freak when I start breaking open hearbal teabags, so that I avoid the bleach.)

I feel like I am definitely on a journey towards great health, and along the way I am learning so much about food and the human body, disease and illness. I never though I would have discovered all this just because I wanted to loose a bit of weight... and watched the Nourishing Traditions video.

I am striving to find an equilibrium between eating like this naturally and not having to over-think everything, and curing my existing health problems (by being obsessive and creating my own strict protocol). Hopefully in the months to come, as I knock out these health issues, and remineralize with great nutrition and sups, I can find more balance.

This has become like my primal journal - a monthly round-up place that I can reference back to, and see where I'm at, and what progress I've made for the month. So I will keep updating, even though now, in theory, I guess I should be posting this in the journal section.

That's all for now, till next month.

[thaijinx]

5 months down...

And the whole Primal/paleo lifestyle thing is beginning to seem like second nature.

I am in a routine of going to bed early, sleeping great, making food choices naturally, and generally feeling good.
I feel healthy, I have a *level* energy level (though I would say I'm bursting with exuberance, and vitality... more like a slow and steady, peaceful energy level). But, I definately have a lot fewer darker thoughts and fears.

I'm worrying less about the why's and how's of Primal, the macronutrients and slight deviations. I'm more used to it now and I'm just 'getting on with it'. I'm cooking and eating much more at home (which makes everything easier) and I know what I'm eating when I've cooked it myself!

I'm also growing a lot more vegetables and herbs in pots, at home. It's all a big learing curve at the moment, but if I can learn in pots I'll be happier doing it on a larger scale on an allotement. Kale, tomatoes, spinach, carotts, lettuce, as well as chives, basil, garlic, and chillis.

Two things I've been slack with:

Not enough sunlight and not enough exercise.

Other than my own slackness I blame two other things: the heat and the pollution. Both are pretty bad at this time of year, and it does NOT inspire me to go out and be active. Excuses, excuses... I know!

So, my goal for next month = MORE SUN. MORE EXERCISE!!!

Month 5 recap and progress:

Finished off one month dairy-free, to see if it would improve my period pains. It didn't. Another painful period! Not good. So I'll be back on small amounts of dairy next month (Make sure this doesn't creep up!)

Still eating rice and potatoes and feeling fine.

Have definitely upp'd my intake of seafood - a concious decision away from meat (bad practices in Thailand and several incidences of foul smelling meat from my supermarket! EW! And not pastured to boot!) Seafood healthier and possibility of it being wild caught.

New foods I've tried include: surf clam, raw octopus, fish curry, turmeric and coconut oil rice, turmeric tea, beetroot juice.

Suppliements and protocols include:

I began taking iodine (but it caused weight gain). I'm waiting to get Lugols Solution before resuming.

Cold therapy, (cold was easier than I thought) but not easy is having no bath tub and warm tap water. Am using ice-packs.

Began taking pro-biotics, finally! (which I've been meaning to do for months). I haven't noticed anything either way in terms of taking these. I'm still regular, and not bloated... maybe if anything, I'm less hungry when taking them?

Bought a 3-step water filter for my kitchen, which reduces my exposure to plastic bottles (though I'm still confused about my now exposure to chlorine and flouride).

Do onwards and upwards towards month 6...

[thaijinx]

I made it to 6 months! Hurrah!

That in itself is a BIG success, I think!

So, 6 months in. My weightloss has stopped, I guess I'm at my ideal weight at 61 kg. My stomach is flat and the 'roll' I used to have hanging over my jeans is completely gone. I'm not a size ZERO (I never have been) and still have fatter thighs, arms, and bigger boobs than I'd like... but I don't think I'll ever be a waif! So I have to just learn to love what I've been given.

Primal is so second nature now that I don't even hav to think about it any more. And, to be honest I've even stopped having to post on this formus, cause I don't really have that many questions anymore. Primal is just the way I eat. It's easy and I like it. I like the way I feel, I have way more energy, no need for afternoon naps and no sugar crashes.

I still have a sweet treat every once in a while, ice cream or tiramisu... sugar doesn't seem to cause me too much grief in small doses.

I don't eat grains at all, except white rice, which I enjoy freely (along with potatoes).

My fats are mostly lard, which I render at home, butter and olive oil on salads.

I cook a lot more at home now, making bone broth, and soups and currys. I love slo-cooking, and I'd say it's my preferred cooking style, with the BBQ coming a close second. But, what I've found is that EVERYTIME, no matter the restaurant, if I eat out I get indigestion. I'm assuming it's because they all seem to use soybean oil here, and because I've cleaned out my diet so much, I now am extrememly sensitive to it. It does not agree with me at all. (It's a shame that I can't go out and enjoy meals with friends and family like I used to, even with making 'paleo' choices - which is really jsut avoiding grains and sugars and anything processed - it's just not paleo if it's cooked in bad oil!

I wish I could get more organic, free range, grass fed, but I can't. it's unfortuante, but I try and make the best choices I can with what I have. i will save that for later on, when/if I move to a country where it's more accessible. for now, I'm jsut glad to have found Primal, and glad to have made the switch.

I'm not doing any supplements at all now. I wanted to take iodine, but for some reason it just didn't agree with me. I've also given up the cold therapy, and anything else that i was 'trying'. I do still try to get some sunshine, though I should do more exercise than I do... I'm a bit slack with that.

I don't miss eating processed junk (and if I DO fancy something, as I said, like icecream or tiramisu) I'll have it as a special treat. I also don't miss alcohol at all. I thought I might, but I can honestly say I don't think I'll ever drink agaain. Feeling clear headed and wide-awake and HEALTHY is a far nicer feeling than being hung-over, bloated, sluggish, tired.

So, if you're reading this, just starting out, keep going! It's so worth it!

[lssanjose]

Awesome, thaijinx. I hear ya, on the no alcohol part. I'll still get a quick sip of wine at church, but I rarely drink, unless the occasion to do so is worth it. As far as the cuts, and types of meat, it's something I'm learning to come around on, too. I can't always afford grass fed, but I make do, with what I can.

[Ayla2010]

YAY for 6 months primal!

[Jamilyn121]

Awesome for you! I'm sorry it took me so long to catch up to your journal. So happy that you are doing so well and that it is second nature to you. I look forward to that day : )

[zoebird]

way to go, congratulations on 6 months!

[mommymd]

Looks like we started at the same time. I too seem to have stopped losing. I agree that eating this way is so simple and has become second nature. Please keep up the monthly updates to help document that this way of eating is sustainable in the long run.