Mindset page

[Mr. O]

I went Primal on 2/6/2012. I geared my diet towards weight loss with high protein and fat and little fruit or nuts. I'm certainly under 50 carbs a day. In the past 10 days, I've gone from 221 to 210. I'm not hungry. And more importantly, the idea of having a non-paleo "treat" doesn't even really appeal to me anymore. All of this after 10 days.

My only struggle is not to want it all now. I know that's the ghosts of diets past speaking to me. Those ghosts tell me that my deprivation is temporary until I get to a goal and then I can do what I want. Shifting from that mentality to a mentality of "this is who I am now" is the biggest challenge. I, however, can see it happening slowly. As this slow process of re-wiring my brain takes place, I have to be disciplined. Discipline is the key at this point as the days turn into weeks.

[Kakes]

I hear you on the 'ghosts of diets past'!
It will come. I'm only just over a month ahead of you going Primal, but that feeling of a non-primal "treat" not being appealing has only gotten deeper and more set for me. Besides, once your body adapts, you FEEL it when you cheat and it isn't worth it!! I can't/won't eat cookies anymore without a headache and my body "flushing things out". My idea of non-primal treats are things my body can still handle without obvious damage- whole garlic edamame at the sushi restaurant (not often), white rice, maybe a fresh corn on the cob in the summer, an extra piece of fruit and some not-quite-as-dark chocolate, or greek yogurt with some raw honey. As my "treats" gear more toward the primal direction anyway, it's totally gratifying to know that I CHOOSE this lifestyle and I love it- not just to be skinny, but to feel amazing be healthy! I'm not sabotaging myself anymore!

[Corvidae]

I went Primal on 2/6/2012. I geared my diet towards weight loss with high protein and fat and little fruit or nuts. I'm certainly under 50 carbs a day. In the past 10 days, I've gone from 221 to 210. I'm not hungry. And more importantly, the idea of having a non-paleo "treat" doesn't even really appeal to me anymore. All of this after 10 days.

My only struggle is not to want it all now. I know that's the ghosts of diets past speaking to me. Those ghosts tell me that my deprivation is temporary until I get to a goal and then I can do what I want. Shifting from that mentality to a mentality of "this is who I am now" is the biggest challenge. I, however, can see it happening slowly. As this slow process of re-wiring my brain takes place, I have to be disciplined. Discipline is the key at this point as the days turn into weeks.

I think one also has to learn to accept the fact that part of you will always want the ghosts of diets past, in some little way. And thats ok; its only to be expected for something that 1) we spent most of our lives eating and identifying as being something normal and ok that 2) has real neurological addictive effects.

[Primal kenny]

I started with similar results on Jan 1st at 225 and got to 215 by mid January. That initial loss seemed to propel my motivation and not make me want to "cheat". But then the next 10 lbs to 205 took me until last weekend. (6 weeks vs 2 weeks) which seemed much slower and has got my motivation down a bit. I have a special dinner and busy weekend coming up but then I am going to try and recommitt to a sort of "whole 30" and see how that goes. (I have still been drinking once a week and indulging in a little too much milk chocalate). So I want to avoid that completly for a month

[CattyB]

So funny! The DH and I were discussing this very thing over breakfast this morning. Our son keeps asking when we're gonna be done with this 'diet' -- we told him that it's a forever thing, which is helping to entrench it in OUR minds that this is going to be our Way Of Living for the rest of our lives!

We've been at it for 7.5 months now and STILL I have those feelings of "when I get to that target, I can go back to 'normal' eating" ...then I remember how I felt last June wearing a size 24/26/3X, how my joints ached constantly, I was always hungry - even after a "good" meal of pasta or a foot-long sub, how it hurt to climb 10 stairs and waking up every morning with my mouth full of glue from snoring all night.

Now I've had to give away clothes that will never fit me again (can we say "tent"?), I run up the 20+ stairs at work at least 8 times a day, I'm satisfied with a can/pouch of tuna and small salad for lunch (and may not eat dinner), and only have 'glue mouth' when my nose is a bit clogged from allergies and I breathed through my mouth all night (twice during last September).

Yeah, I still want a grilled cheese sandwich followed by a pint of Dreyer's choc chip cookie dough ~~ but the few times I've given in to those types of cravings, I've regretted it so awfully thoroughly...

--and THAT is the best motivator in the world!