Primal journal : Coll page 56

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First day of my FFF! Had tea with cream and a little stevia - one of those cups that works out absolutely perfect and tastes heavenly. Not too sweet and just sweet enough, tea steeped long enough, just enough cream. Aunt Flo arrived for her monthly visit yesterday ... glad in a way as it will be good to get her and the bloating out of the way early on in this attempt to lose some fat... she really can muddy the waters when trying to see if you are making progress.

I need to take more garlic this morning - feeling somewhat lightheaded and slighty congested. NOT going to give in and get this dang virus that keeps on knocking on my door!!! Grrrr! Going to do crafts and audiobooks and sing a long math today for school. Can't quite face trying to get DS motivated today. Maybe a constructive and educational break will help all of us. Going to head out in a few minutes and get some grocery shopping done nice and early so that we have plenty of primal food in the house to chow down on later.

SO grateful as hubby's work is incredibly busy for this time of the year. Usually pretty slow by now but this last month was a really good month business-wise and it is SO awesome to be shopping for our kids and family and not wondering how on earth we are going to make ends meet! I am blessed indeed!

[Judg]

9 pieces of chocolate is definitely not helpful - however it is fractionally better than a whole bar of chocolate which I have been putting away in spurts the last while!! I definitely need a chocolate technique .... I find that if I don't have any at all that is less than 70% cocoa then I do fine and can enjoy it without gorging myself. As soon as I have the 'milkier' and sweeter chocolates I can down a whole bar without thinking and be looking for more. I really think it is the sugar and cocoa combination that is so very addictive. So for my 'Furiously Focused Fourteen' (FFF) I will eschew all chocolate, except for the occasional piece of 85% chocolate. This does not trigger any issues so I feel safe allowing that.

My kale chips (which are on hold for tomorrow since DH is working late) I do at 350 F. I rinse, shake dry, tear into bite size pieces, rub with a small amount of olive oil, sprinkle with seasonings, bake for 12 minutes (high altitude here) and then stir and return to the oven for another 2 -3 minutes. If they are not quite crisp enough I will return them for a short while. It depends on a lot of things (including how young the kale is) Baby kale leaves are too soft and don't work well. I prefer the green kale with the frilly edges. It has enough texture to hold the leaf off the baking tray so it dries out better. Just my personal preferences there - and we can flatten a couple of bunches of kale with no trouble at all.

Well, it sounds like you have your chocolate strategy in place. I simply don't buy any of the bad stuff. I know when DH brought home some mint patties, they triggered a binge. He got taken in by the fact they were coated in dark chocolate. Ah, maybe that was my problem - baby kale. The last time I made it, the chips turned quite brown. I thought maybe I should lower the heat, but perhaps the greens were just too tender. This week's kale looks very dark and robust, so it's probably a good candidate for chips. Only problem is, if I make them, I will eat them all right away... Had to split the haul with DD, so I don't have a heck of a lot.

So glad to hear that the work is coming in. It is truly difficult when that's not the case.

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Kale chips go brown really fast once they are done. DS only likes them green - the rest of us enjoy the lightly browned ones too.

Today was a good one, at last!! I actually didn't snack at all - miracle of miracles. And not a speck of chocolate passed my lips. Another miracle - hope it doesn't snow tonight! I had one more cup of black tea than I had planned - had to drive back from the hospital this evening after we visited BIL. Pretty tired this evening. Large clove of garlic down the hatch earlier and going to hit the homeopathic stuff before bed. This stuff is pretty awesome ... some homeopathic stuff just doesn't seem to do anything at all. But this stuff, Hyland's Defense, is really good. Really eases any symptoms and seems to help one fight off whatever is trying to invade. I had thought it was just for kids but found out that adults can take it too - yeah! I love finding stuff that has no side effects and still works. The night time version really helps DS sleep even if he is fighting off a cold - which is an absolute godsend for me! Usually that would mean a sleepless night for both of us.

I have been trying to keep stretching my calf muscles so as to not stress my achilles tendon and get pain in my heel. Guess I am not doing enough, or the right stretches. My heel is aching again, and DD is an expert at the moment at stepping on my heel! Yikes! I think she is growing so fast that she is a little clumsy at the moment - poor kid is knocking things over and tramping on my heels. On a happier note, my pinky finger is definitely regaining the nerve function. The numbness is receding and the oversensitive spot is slightly less sensitive - yippee. Decided to freeze off a skin tag today. One of my many.... it is an experiment. If it works well without too much hassle I am going to gradually get rid of every stinking skin tag I have the delight to call my own!!! Only problem is trying to focus my aging eyes on the offending piece of skin long enough to avoid burning healthy skin! May have to enlist DH - though he needs glasses too We are quite the pair now, been doing all kinds of fine work with various crafts and we are both having a hard time seeing clearly. Guess it is time to see the eye doctor, we'll see what kind of price we are looking at there. Been a few years since our last trip.

Well, off to bed for me.

[Sabine]

Sounds like a great start to your FFF.

Now I want to make kale chips.

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Ugh, what a long day!! Kids REALLY did not want to do school and I am feeling wiped out after hours of trying to get them to refocus! I really want to keep up a good momentum on school so that I am not forced to do school while moving sometime early next year (I hope!! Planning ahead this time around ... helps when you have moved twice in as many years!) I had to really hold on to my peace at times as I really wanted to just lose my temper and blow up, amazingly I didn't. Hopefully tomorrow is better. Hubby is working tomorrow and Sunday so we are going to do school all weekend and hopefully the kids will get into a rhythm. A few days off over Thanksgiving and then the weekend was too much. It just about drives me crazy.... I have so many things to do and I end up 'wasting' so much time while DS tries to avoid work. I remember DD going through the same thing early on in school - at least she is far enough along that she doesn't require much supervision whereas DS being in his first year is needing lots of attention and help. Quite a few of his numbers are back to front (the usual - 2, 3, 5 and 7's) and his writing is pretty bad at the moment. It is like pulling hens teeth trying to get him to practice - every now and again he gets a bee in his bonnet and will do just fine. But mostly he is a little boy that would rather be bouncing on the trampoline or digging in the dirt outside. I'd love to just let him, but he has to learn his basics too. Good thing he is at home, I think he would be really struggling in a formal classroom environment!

Skipped breakfast as I wasn't hungry. Had tea with cream and stevia x2 over the morning. I had a handful of macadamias while I warmed up lunch. Lunch was leftover ground beef stew over leftover scrambled eggs. I was too full to eat more veggies than what was in the stew. Now I am getting hungry but am going to go and shovel some dirt for a little while so that I can channel some of the stress into something productive. IF I am hungry enough I may eat some veggies with guacamole while I make dinner. Going to try making primal chicken fingers (DS's request) tonight. Not sure what to do for veg ... probably do berries and cream for dessert though. Maybe just raw veggie chunks with salad dressing - real creative huh?!

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Had a handful of nuts while cooking dinner too .... and one piece of 85% chocolate, and no cravings or desire to have more. Good!

[Judg]

There is no need to be creative at every meal. Healthy and tasty will do just fine.

Congratulations on the self-control.

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Feel dizzy this morning ... weird. Decided to have scrambled eggs and sausage since DH made some and I was feeling a little weird. My weight is not budging at the moment - I am assuming because of the hormones Aunt Flo brought with her. Hopefully tomorrow will see a drop as the excess water unloads. Going to try not to eat any nuts unless they are included in a dish. Once I get started on them it is hard to not take another handful and then another. My main nut weakness is macadamias and pecans. So very yummy, but too high in nutrients for a person trying to lose fat Especially when they are added to everything else I eat. Trying to drink more today - hopefully flush my system a little. Kind of stressed at the moment, DH is working very long hours and now with BIL incapacitated he has tons of fill in work for his brother as well as helping SIL out too! He has decided to take Tuesday and Wed off as he has worked all weekend and had two days where he left before the kids woke up and got home after they were asleep. He just hates that - and so do I. Get a little taste of what it is like being a single parent - very hard indeed! Got less than a week left until the craft fair so trying to get as much done as possible in the next few days as well as school and DD birthday and a couple coming over for dinner tomorrow night! Got some serious cleaning and tidying to do - guess that should be my focus for today. Going to blow school off for today and get those final few boxes in the corner of the living room sorted and packed away.

[Judg]

Sorry you're not feeling well. You have an incredible amount of work planned anyway.

Yeah, there is no way to get the scales to budge but to eat less of what we normally do. This is assuming that our normal way of eating is decent, of course. I guess the rapid weight loss that a lot of people see when they first go primal is primarily due to decreasing inflammation - a very good thing of course. But I am no expert.

Take care of yourself. Rest when you need to.

[Coll]

I ended up sitting down and writing Christmas cards yesterday morning and the dizziness passed after a few hours. Got guests coming for dinner this evening so today is cleanup and cook day! Didn't get much done yesterday - so today is the day when it all has to happen. I am realising that I am not doing well with judging how much I am actually eating - obviously too much. So I am going to have to write down everything and use fitday 'religiously' for a while so that I can eat enough and not too much. RIght now I am sitting at 194.5lbs and my 'cutting back' is not doing anything! So going for the big guns today. I think I just need to pop a piece of paper in my pocket and a little pencil and then I don't lose track of things I eat. That may also help me think twice before putting it in my mouth. Putting together some boxes of goodies to send overseas for family and those are scattered around everywhere ... DS room is going to be the storage room for today... boxes to the East I say!