Magnolia1973's Primal Journal page

[magnolia1973]

Gonna start a journal...
Today, weighed in at 202lbs. I have some errr.... monthly bloat. It happens. But since starting primal, I haven't had the "I want to eat a giant bag of candy, some donuts and half a pizza before I kill you" urge.

I feel great, excellent energy. Yesterday I took my dog (fed grain free food btw), on a walk in the woods and he tore around like a nutcase. That's the plan again today for exercise.

Breakfast- 3 slices bacon, omelet with two eggs, asparagus, local goat cheese and a cup of coffee
Lunch- chicken thighs with dijon mustard and asparagus
Dinner- alaskan salmon, probably seared. salad with local arugula and carrots, home made vinegarette and cauliflower puree with butter and cream (lol, that will make you never want to eat mashed potatos again).

Right now I am working on keeping carbs low, grains and sugar out of the picture, while allowing a little full fat dairy, from local, grassfed sources. Last night I picked up a couple of steaks and porkchops plus some eggs from the farmers market. It's all pastured. A little expensive. Also got some amazing cheeses (probably my new vice) but have noticed that I sure eat a lot less when there are no crackers involved.

For me, lifestyle and social eating kills me, so I am VERY proud I threw out some oreos someone brought for me, particularly considering it was a umm, PMS day. I am also proud that I am ignoring the godiva in the office, hoping someone takes it home.


That's me and my horse... The irony is that she flourishes on her veggies (grass) and a diet pretty high in fats for a horse. She barely eats any grains and the sugar in sweetfeed makes her nutty. LOL, she is happy to have me lose some weight, but no so happy about the increase in my energy and availability to ride now that I abandoned chronic cardio.

[magnolia1973]

Yesterday went well! So happy I made something Primal that hubby enjoyed- LOL, he ate 4 helpings of mashed cauliflower and dubbed them the best mashed potatoes of all time..... The salmon was also a hit.

Today-
Breakfast- 2 eggs, 1/2 an avocado, salsa, amazing local goat cheese, 3 strips o' bacon. Coffee
Lunch- chicken thighs, the mashed cauliflower leftovers (not much left) and perhaps some asparagus
Dinner- turket burger (nice fatty one) the rest of the avocado, salsa, goat cheese and some brussels sprouts

Exercise- gonna do the bodyweight workouts in the free exercise guide. I started those monday and an aiming for 2-3 times a week

I really want to make all my meats and dairy local organic. The dairy *should* be easy as the goat cheeses and raw milk cheeses are very hard to overuse vs. a handful of grocery store cheese. I bought $25 worth of local cheese that should last 2 weeks, 3 if I forget to by crackers for the hubby. The meats are harder- for $35 I basically got a weeks worth of breakfast, and 4 dinnesr. (a dozen eggs, pound of suasage and 2 steaks and 2 porkchops). I need to buy the larger cuts of meat and learn to prepare them as they are about half the price per pound. Though damn... nothing beats pasture raised pork chops....I will say- my old daily lunch out routine was about $30 a week... however, the old vegetarian way was so cheap at the grocery store- $80 a week for 2 people. So gonna try and have a budget of $120 a week to eat local organic meat and dairy, conventional produce and supply hubby with what he wants.

[Melisa]

How is it that you started to eat primal after being a vegetarian? How long have you been eating primal?
I LOVE how you decorated your barn for Christmas!
I absolutely understand the meat is expensive thing. We are a family of 6 (4 boys!, my husband and I), and our 1/2 beef in the freezer isn't going to last us more than 6 months! We'll know to buy a whole beef next year. lol My husband throws a fit when I buy all organic veggies because of the price, but I reminded him that every time we eat out, it's at least $30 for both of us and the 4 year old for lunch and probably close to $50 if we eat dinner out just the 2 of us. Taking the whole family out is dropping $90 after drinks and tip (at least) so it puts everything into perspective.

[magnolia1973]

My brother had the paleo book and success with it and I was burned out on eating nothing of pleasure and working out too much and dealing with sugar binges. Stopped sugar and white flour in late October (don't miss it, and whole grains do nothing for me- I can't deal with the taste of gluten free bread or whole wheat pasta), started full on primal after Thanksgiving. Was a vegetarian for 15 or so years.

The barnowner decorates- such a fun lady!

[magnolia1973]

Great day yesterday- did my bodyweight workout and had improvement in all the exercises. Was "tempted" by sweets two times and said no, without guilt, remorse, tapping into willpower or feeling the need to give myself a reward. Just err- that salted caramel hot cocoa not worth it, and snickers... why bother? It's gotten so easy- it's like turning down an offer of someone's dirty laundry. This is probably why the mainstream doesn't want Primal eating to catch on.... there goes the demand for fake foods. LOL, it would probably crash the economy- unless someone capitalized on all the empty subdivision yards to raise pasture beef, pork and chicken.

Today:
Breakfast- 3 egg omelet with avocado, salsa and a few slivers of raw cheese (the kind that does not include cornstarch.... and oil.... like my old cheese). 3 strips o'bacon. Coffee.
Lunch- gonna skip- I often skip Friday lunch as I get off work at noon and enjoy going to ride my horse.
Dinner- Pasture pork chop (been looking forward all week!) the last of last nights brussel sprouts (made wih butter and dijon, roasted 'til crispy) and a local grown sweet potato.

Activities- gonna walk the dog and ride my horse.

A very funny notable thing: It track on fit day and have for a long time. So I used to eat the whole grain diet of "awesomely unsatisfying" which among other things was "high in beloved fiber", except looking back, I get more fiber now because I eat more veggies. A lot more. Like 2-3 servings per meal.

[magnolia1973]

Today the plan is to do some sprints in the woods. The funny thing is we have coyotes, so LOL, how funny would it be to run away from wild animals just like cavemen did. update: did my sprint workout. It was fun in the woods, and hey, I stayed upright sprinting down hill and my last 3 sprints were in nice flat sections, so I was able to run really fast. No coyotes.... but my dog tried to race me.

Meals:
Breakfast-- local sausage (YUM!), eggs, aspargus, goat cheese, blueberries, coffee. Tell me- is that a diet breakfast? I think not! It was a bit higher in calories.
Lunch- had a salad with lots of chicken and veggies and local arugula.
Dinner- I owe my husband a dinner out at the vegetarian restaurant. So... lotsa veggies (they have great salads), maybe some local cheese, but all their proteins are soy or beans. So... well, I;ll get my vitamins and minerals and leave hungry most likely. The good thing is that there is little tempting on the menu by way of desserts.

[magnolia1973]

My sprinting was so much fun yesterday. Dinner out went OK... I had too much cheese carried by gluten free crackers, an amazing salad then shared dessert which was a whole wheat crust apple tart with some ice cream that was clearly low fat. It was that kind of an unsatisfyying sweet that makes you want more and more to get to the treat aspect. When I went to let out the neighbors dog, I finally ate one of the mini snickers she left- that I ignored all week. And that people, is why it takes me a whole lotta willpower to do low fat, because sugar makes me eat sugar until I get the fat I want. It's funny- one of the cheeses was full fat goat drizzled with honey. That would have been an amazing dessert and satisfying.

The aftermath- this morning the scale was lower, I have a headache, and I just wanted my primal breakfast and no carb cravings. I realize how not satisfying those dessert calories were (now I know the cheese is wrong.... but every calorie or effect of that local cheese plate was 100% worth it!), just like every calorie of this mornings breakfast was. And the snickers lacked flavor.

Today the plan is to lift something heavy- either the bodyweight workout or something more novel.

Breakfast- sausage patty, 2 eggs scrambled with avocado and salsa, pineapple, coffee
Lunch- If hungry the plan is some chicken and cukes
Dinner- Lamb chop, salad, sweet potato

My plan is to have more carbs on the weekend- fruits and sweet pos, then cut back on them during the week. I like having something to look forward to on the weekend- a new recipe or a treat and some pineapple chunks or a sweet potato seem to be good treats at this point! I did not eat fruit most of last week during the week and was fine, didn't miss it, so it was a big treat this weekend.

[magnolia1973]

Weighed in at 199.6. I think I am past the drop 10 lbs a week of water phase, but hey losing 2.4lbs while eating like a king and not being superactive works because I am looking FORWARD to another week of the lifestyle and not dreaming of carbs (I used to dream about food when I did low fat...)

I was going to start cutting dairy out, but will give it a month. What I am eating is allowing me weightloss and I feel great, so not eager to change.

Today:
Omelet with a bit of cheese, avocado and salsa, sausage, pineapple, coffee
Probably skip lunch or chicken and broc
Dinner-lamb chop, sauted spinach= may curry that up with some coconut milk and curry and get some calories in

Exercise
This week is tough= a lot of afterwork stuff- goal is to lift twice (should be able to do it no problem), walking may be curtailed by a lack of light, so maybe do some pilates or yoga or a fitness DVD on days I can't walk. My goal then is 2 lift heavy things days and 4 other exercise sessions. Plus my normal activities.

[magnolia1973]

Going good- got in a good walk yesterday with the dog. Ended up not having lunch, but was hungry around 4- I had an egg and half an avocado. My lord- fried egg and avocado is decadently yummy.

Today I have some lifting heavy things on tap and a trip to the market to buy a pork shoulder to make pulled pork to share with a friend.

Meals:
Omelet with asparagus and goat cheese, bacon, pineapple, coffee
chicken and broc
Sauteed greens with poached eggs and garlic.... one of my fave meals from vegetarian days. And I can share with hubby.

Feeling great- one big change is that I get up at 5:30 ready to go. Good energy all day- yesterday I was hungry late afternoon, but not tired, just belly rumbling. I used to want to doze off at my desk.

[magnolia1973]

Nice workout last night= making progress on my body weight exercises. I love seeing the numbers go up and graduated to a few new moves. Also stopped at the farmers market and got a pork shoulder and spice rub to attempt a pot of pulled pork this weekend. BBQ is kind of demonized by the healthy in the south. I love it- and I think what makes it bad is the side of hushpuppies, fries and texas toast... oh ya and banana pudding. I plan to make some sugar free slaw for my pork, no fried carbs.

Todays exercise is maybe not gonna happen.... rain and late at work may deep six it.

Eats:
Breakfast- omelet with avocado salsa and goat cheese and bacon, coffee
lunch is a ? = going out for lunch= hopefully a salad with protein...not BBQ people, LOL!
Dinner- grass fed strip steak, mashed cauliflower and brocolli

As I type these meals out it cracks me up that they are a "calorie reduced diet". But I enter in the calories and without linch- breakfast and dinner are about 900 calories. (the steak is 8 oz and I'll have half). Each meal looks like it's 900 calories or more! Therre are more calories in a smoothie from some places than in my breakfast.... more calories in many coffee drinks.....