My Primal Journal - his_chick page

[his_chick]

Hi all,

I'm a 23 year old, female, married to a wonderful non primal man who inspires me to be the best I can be.

This post is my first in many of me learning and nourishing my body the primal way. I began my journey back in May 2011 when I joined a boot camp class run by a good friend. As a result of this organised activity I began to become more interested in my health, nutrition and fitness. By following conventional wisdom and exercising lots and eating little I succeeded in my first goal of losing 5% body fat and meet my goal weight of 57kg. Although with the extreme dieting and high stress of high intensity cardio on a continual empty stomach as soon as the goal was reached I fell apart both physically and emotionally and with one week of relaxing my diet I had put all my losses back on to see me back up and feeling miserable.*

Fast forward 5 months to October 2011, and after continual struggles with bloating, cramping and stomach aches after eating, I visited a naturopath who along with natural remedial pills and potions and a lot of my money suggested I follow a strict vegan diet with my only source of fluids coming from alkalised water. Although I enjoyed the new challenge of cooking interesting, nutritional meals I found my new eating regime very limiting and it left me exhausted. I wasn't sleeping well and altogether I found it too hard to sustain.*

What I did learn from the naturopath experiment was that my body works a lot better without dairy and gluten. I began to follow a mostly gluten and dairy free diet and also began to look into other sources of nutritional irritation. I read both David Gillespie's 'Sweet Poison - Quit Plan' and Sue Shepards 'Food Intolerence Management Plan, whose intention is to reduce fermentable sources of digestive discomfort.*

To say I learnt a lot from both these books would be a huge understatement! The effects that sugar addiction were having on my body were very noticeable. My first week without sugar had a huge impact on my appetite and cravings and even added to the motivation of becoming the best I could be.*

As I continued to learn and gather information on recipes and alternatives to the mainstream 'normal diet' I've linked myself in with several health and wellness sources. I'm a big Facebook user and so having those people and their healthy intentions flashing up in my newsfeed often has been another huge motivator to stay on track. It was through a link on a health and wellness blog 'GET ZOMT' that I happened across Mark's Daily Apple and reading through the first 7 days after subscribing and the related e-books was like a light globe going off! I was already trying so hard to be dairy, gluten and sugar free so the addition of grains and legumes to that list didn't seem to be that big an ask. I loved the attitude that Mark conveys of exercising and working out to be functional and for long term health. The success stories are so inspirational and even though I haven't experienced the weight loss benefits of the primal lifestyle as yet I'm really looking forward to it!*

So after a very long first post, what are my goals?

- to eat primally at every meal.*
- to notice when I'm feeling weak to temptation and match it with positive strategies*
- to try to notice when I don't need any more food. This is one thing I'm struggling with. Even with primal foods I never seem to feel full. Is there anyone out there feeling this too?
- to begin working out primally. Sprints, body weight exercises, long walks and learning how to play again!*

What I ate today:
Breakfast: roma tomato, 3 large silver beet leaves, 1 egg, 80g BBQ chicken, 10g butter. All mixed together and cooked in the microwave.*

Morning Tea: half a dozen each carrot and celery sticks, 10 or 20g of basil, cashew and Parmesan dip, 10 or 20g of pumpkin pine nut dip, 1 very small square of chocolate coconut slice, handful of grapes and 1 slice of watermelon.*

Lunch: 50g BBQ chicken, 70g rump steak, 30g potato bake (cream, potato, bacon, onion and beef stock) tabbouleh, and lots of salad!*
Dessert: 50g of lite raspberry jelly and 20ml of thickened cream.*

Afternoon tea: handful of cashews, 5 large grapes, cup of tea with soy milk.*

No dinner tonight as I think I ate enough today. *

Thank you so much for reading if you made it all the way down here!*

My aim for this journal is to be accountable to myself and track changes and improvements and hopefully some results. *

Thanks for reading!

[kkarrolle]

Hi, if you haven't already purchased it, I would suggest you read the primal blueprint book or make use of the 'start here' link above as well as the FAQ. The info will help you re-assess your pantry and fridge.

If you are really keen to do primal well..there a number of food items in your menu that would not be considered to be primal/paleo - diet jelly for instance as well as the tabbouleh, the dips (I assume bought dips), soy milk.

It is a steep learning curve and it may be that you are phasing out the not so primal/paleo foods and in that case you can ignore what I've written.

[his_chick]

Hi, if you haven't already purchased it, I would suggest you read the primal blueprint book or make use of the 'start here' link above as well as the FAQ. The info will help you re-assess your pantry and fridge.

If you are really keen to do primal well..there a number of food items in your menu that would not be considered to be primal/paleo - diet jelly for instance as well as the tabbouleh, the dips (I assume bought dips), soy milk.

It is a steep learning curve and it may be that you are phasing out the not so primal/paleo foods and in that case you can ignore what I've written.

Thanks for your advice! I totally agree with you as well! I definitely see that there are some changes that I will need to continue to make. Today's intake will hopefully be more regimented as I'm at work all day and not home where all the yummy things are. I think I ate the jelly just as a 'finish the meal craving' that I'm definitely going to have to drop. Reading through other peoples journals it seems that they exist on very little. I'm always hungry so I'm really hoping with a close to as possible Paleo switch this might change. Thanks for the input!

[his_chick]

Vitals*

I had an assessment at the gym first thing this morning so now I've got some numbers to track my improvements and changes from.*
Height: 166cm
Weight: 62.8kg - wow, sounds like so much. Is it realistic to really want this to be lower?
Body Fat %: 28.2%
Chest: 87cm
Waist: 76cm
Hips: 99 cm
Bio Age: 24 - I'll be 24 in September so at least it isn't too much older than what I am chronologically.*
Hydration: 53.3% - it's hard to be hydrated first thing in the morning!*
Lean Mass: 42.8kg
Basal Level for Maintenance: *1389 cal or 5811 kj.

A whole lot of numbers. Making realistic goals is my next plan.*
I'm hoping to reduce my body fat percentage whilst maintaining my curves. I'd also like to reduce my weight but am aware that building muscle in place of body fat may mean I stay the same.*

Today's intake:
Breakfast - green smoothie on the way to work from the gym. (banana, whole egg, silver beet, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water)
Morning Tea - 25g steak, approx 10 each carrot and red capsicum sticks, 1/4 cup diced cucumber
Lunch - a HUGE salad with 1/2 avocado and 110grams steak.
Afternoon Tea - (planned) 15g raw almonds, 15g raw brazil nuts and white chai tea with almond milk
Dinner - (planned) steamed veges (carrot, broccoli, eggplant, silver beet) with 120g BBQ chicken and 1/2 avocado.
Water is my only other drink. Aim is 2L each day.

I enjoy work days, eating is so much easier when there isn't a full fridge or pantry tempting you!

EDIT: went to the gym after work so had 15g of brazil nuts and my tea as an after dinner yummy.

[lucy1984]

Hey, in regards to your question about appetite:
I still eat a fair bit, but one thing I've found that helped more than anything was daily IF (I just skip breaky, eat at lunch). Before that I was having a massive breakfast of eggs, stir-fried veg, lettuce, another massive salad for lunch, and another big salad/steak and stir fry/protein + baked veg for dinner, plus snack in between of nuts, or cheese, or ham etc. I was just never really satiated after my meal, and could just keep eating and eating.
After a few days IF by skipping breakfast, I then tried to eat the old breakfast/lunch/dinner that I ate (described above) and I felt full and yuck all day, even got stomach pains from being too full. And I even experienced a few times when I went out for dinner and couldn't finish my meal (usually I finish mine and everyone elses), and couldn't even think about dessert. And the anxiety/irritableness that came from always wanting food diminished.

Unfortunately, I went back to small breakfasts following different advice, and my cravings came back, I binged, and I stopped feeling full after my (still) big lunches and dinners. So I just started back IF. It may not be for you, but it's worth trying it to see? I started with doing it 3 days per week, but quickly went to every day when I started feeling too full.

[his_chick]

Thanks Lucy1984 for your advice. I've definitely thought of using IF and seeing if that might help but the thing that holds me back is that I do most of my exercise first thing in the morning and hunger pains hit quite soon after I've finished. Might try it tomorrow as I'm planning only a low impact weights session so won't hopefully feel too bad from it. Willing to try anything.

Results of today:
According to PaleoTrack my calorie breakdown for today was 943 calories total with 33% protein, 40% fat and 27% carbs. Does this sound ok?

[kkarrolle]

You are probably feeling hungry all the time because you are not eating enough, especially if you are exercising. 943 calories is not enough to sustain you.

[his_chick]

Slept in today to help my husband get ready for a huge day at uni and so missed my workout but the hunger pains popped up and so I ate. Planning to try IF tonight by skipping dinner.

Today's intake:
Took on your advice kkarrolle and have added some more calories in today.
Breakfast: silverbeet and left over steamed veges from last night with an egg and 120g BBQ chicken.
Morning Tea: 6 each carrot and celery sticks with an egg and a slice each of pastrami and ham, 40g of almonds and brazilnuts.
Lunch: (planned) HUGE salad with 1/4 avocado and a can of tomato and onion tuna.
Afternoon tea: black tea with a friend and if hungry a banana.
Dinner: IF. Hopefully.

Really enjoying my PB lifestyle. Looking forward to getting the book when the budget allows.

[lucy1984]

Hey I was going to suggest just doing your IF at night instead, but looks like you figured that out! Good luck

[his_chick]

Hey I was going to suggest just doing your IF at night instead, but looks like you figured that out! Good luck

Lol. Sure did. I thought that waking up and being able to eat after my 12 hour fast would be heaps easier. Just made my husband dinner and it was completely primal and he loved it! Big win for me!

Big confession though, I had a piece of sugar filled, flour filled, dairy filled cake. It was yummy and I haven't had any in ages so I'm not gonna beat myself up too much but it did break my 100% for April vow.

Final intake stats for today:
1068 calories total

59g or 48% fat
77g or 28% protein and
66g or 24% carbs.

Excited for tomorrow!