Harplady's Primal Journey page 3

[Aila]

Hi HarpLady!

Oooooh! I want to try those carnitas!! I have Well Fed in my Amazon cart but haven't placed the order yet - time to do so! I am a new convert to Melissa's blog. If you like her, you might also like Michelle at Nom Nom Paleo - great recipes and glorious food porn!

I'll be starting beef stock today too. Sounds like you have your week well planned out!

FWIW, I am not a fan of those "paleo-ized" conventional foods. I think it's hard for us, psychologically, to not expect the taste and mouthfeel of the original, so most of the time they end up disappointing. For me, I stick with the whole foods.

[HarpLady]

Hey Alia!
Yeah, the carnitas were awesome! The beef stew was awesome (it always is, I admit it, I can cook). I also baked a chicken one night this week, turning the leftovers into a pot of soup. Tonight we had scotch eggs, asparagus, radishes, and bell peppers.

I've also hung out and drooled at the nomnompaleo page. I haven't tried any of her recipes yet, but I plan to.

I have to say, it's been a great week! I've totally kicked my French Vanilla soy creamer habit, and have been drinking my black tea with a little stevia, which I've also cut back on. I've also found that I can cut back on the fat just a little and still be satisfied. I think at first I needed more, but my body has shifted, I've started losing weight again (not a lot, but I'm down to 193), and I feel fantastic!

This will be the test week. T & I are leaving in the morning for Puerto Vallarta, and we'll be there til Friday. I have a bag of nuts and some beef jerky for the plane ride. I'm going to do my best to stay on track while I'm down there, but I'm on vacay, so I also want to have fun and not stress too much about food.

[HarpLady]

Honey, I'm home!!!

The trip to Puerto Vallarta with T, which was my birthday present, was awesome! (I turned 53 last friday).

I walked around a lot! I also swam, and went on a sailboat all of one day.
I lifted heavy things (we worked out in the gym at the hotel 2 X)
I relaxed, played, shopped, and read.

The menu had a fancy leaning too it, and most things had some kind of dairy (I'm allergic), but I did manage to eat.
I had fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, steak and veggie fajitas every day for brunch (no tortillas).
Most dinners were a ribeye and salad.
True confessions:
I ate a slice of toast with apricot jelly a few times.
I had guac & corn tortilla chips (they were freshly made and ridiculously tasty) a few times
I ate beans once (a tablespoon or 2), potatoes a few times, and popovers at dinner a few times.
I drank a few squirts, and a few tonic and limes.
So there were some cheats, but I never had dessert!

I got home friday, and weighed in this morning at 194, which means I only gained 1 lb.
Friday night I had 2 eggs with sausage patties
Saturday brunch I had the Fiesta Skillet at our favorite cafe: ground sirloin, sautéed peppers, onions, tomatoes, on top of hash browns (yes, I ate a few bites, but mostly picked around them. I need to remember to ask them to leave them off), and 2 eggs on top.
Saturday dinner: stir fry of chicken, asparagus, carrot, onion, shrooms, red bell pepper. T cooked some basmati, but I left it off my plate.
Today: brunch = 2 eggs, 3 bacon, mini sausage patties, onion and broccoli
snack: a few dried cranberries
dinner: 2 chorizos, a few deviled eggs, salad, potato salad (it was my birthday dinner with my kids).

SO, tomorrow I begin my Whole30. Why not?

[HarpLady]

Lest anyone think that I ate foods on my no no list while on vacation and got off scott free, here are the facts:

By tuesday evening (day 3 of vacay) I was starting to get congested. Although I didn't feel sick, this congestions gradually spread so that by thursday night it was in my lungs. (and this is the typical thing that happens to me when I eat grains, especially wheat...). There were also certain intestinal symptoms, like cramping, etc (not montezuma's revenge).

So by the time I got home friday night I was back to coughing up green crap. I've been back on track for 2 days now, and things are starting to clear up. It amazes me how quickly my body reacted to it this time.

Today was officially day one of my whole 30:
bacon, sausage, eggs, and broccoli
greek salad with chicken, no feta (bread co)
roto chicken legs, thighs, and wings & a pile of steamed cauliflower

It's been a great day!

[HarpLady]

Whole 30 day 2:
B: chicken chorizo, red onion, red bell pepper, kale, and eggs
L:BAS: butter lettuce, baby greens, cuke, green onion, snap peas, radish, avocado, ginger lime shrimp, and a dressing of liquidated mango, lime, & ginger. Also some Nori chips
D: moroccan meatballs on cauliflower rice pilaf.

My body temp is always very low. Unless I'm sick it never goes above 97.6, and is often considerably lower than that. As of yesterday I'm taking Kelp, and it's amazing the amount of energy I had today. Not sure if that's the reason, but I will keep taking it for awhile.

[HarpLady]

I haven't been on here for quite some time, although I've been eating well and things are going great. I can't say I totally followed the whole30, but I did for a couple of weeks. I missed my Stevia, added it back in after week 2, and there were a few small cheats.

I've been following a basic pattern of:
B 2 eggs, either bacon, sausage, or sirloin, on a pile of veggies: broccoli, kale, asparagus, or occasionally carrots.
L I usually eat a late breakfast, so I often don't need lunch, but if I ate early I'll have tuna salad
D A pile of veggies and some kind of meat: roast chicken, beef stew, lamb shanks,
Sometimes I just have breakfast again for dinner!

I currently weigh 188, and have been below 190 for 2 weeks! My current goal is 185. I'm working with small goals, and of course, its seems comical to have 185 a goal when there was a time that I would have felt humiliated to weigh that much, BUT my peak weight (not counting pregnancies) was 205, so 185 looks good for now. When I get there I'll set a new goal of 180.

I am having IBS symptoms still since my return from mexico, have been eating cultured veggies, and this week I'll start drinking beef stock every morning to see if that helps.

Onward through the fog...

[HarpLady]

and I'm setting aside $10 for every pound I lose, so that I can afford to buy myself a new wardrobe when I reach my ultimate goal, which is 130 or so pounds...

[Aila]

Hey HarpLady!

What's new? I've been busy and haven't had much time to drop by journals, but just wanted to say that I'm here and encouraging you!