aboutsaffron: beginning again. page

[aboutsaffron]

i first started the path to primal in december 2009. i felt awesome, for awhile. i discovered my wheat allergy, & the many issues it gave me for many years disappeared. i stayed mostly true, avoiding grains (always wheat!) and focusing on eating real food. the weight loss was easy, i had tons of energy, & i felt pretty satisfied most of the time. i was so happy & i felt so alive. i lost thirty pounds fairly easily, & about fifteen more over the next few months.

then i started digging into the details, focusing on carb counts, creating complex meals based on this research or that report or this blogger's suggestion. i started to become obsessed, & the weight stop coming off. we ran into some money problems, & we survived on potatoes & eggs for a few weeks. i read that rice & rice products were okay, so i started purchasing those. one thing led to another, & i just became so obsessed with food that i wasn't even eating healthy, despite everything i was reading & obsessing about. i started eating more & more gluten-free, but not necessarily healthy, products, & re-introduced so many things back into my life. things that aren't healthy on anyone's plan, let alone someone who found health eating primal. i'm not sleeping well, i have almost no energy, & i've been sick at least four times this year.

i want back in. i want the energy back. i want sunshine & good food & god, i want that feeling of being ALIVE back.

i know i need to do this more freely, like when i first started. i can't deny myself the occasional hamburger with a gf bun, but i have to realize that that needs to truly be occasionally. but i also can't let myself get too hung up on rules - 80/20 must become my mantra.

i know how to cook, & cook well, but somehow i've fallen out of the habit of doing it. i need more vegetables, more color, more meat! i need healthy fats & good carbs & no more packages. i need to fill my fridge with bags of produce, not my pantry with boxes of crap. i need to walk in the evenings, not sit watching tv.

i need to follow this advice, which i found back when i first started this thing, & just focus on that.

"Let’s keep it simple: Eat real foods, preferably in their natural state. I think it’s pretty easy to figure out what is “food” and what isn’t. A few things to remember:


- Food grows and dies. It isn’t created.
- Food rots, wilts, and becomes generally unappetizing, typically rather quickly.
- Food doesn’t need an ingredient label (and probably isn’t in a package either).
- Food doesn’t have celebrity endorsements.
- Food doesn’t make health claims.


Eating real foods virtually eliminates one of the hardest parts of maintaining your weight: counting calories (or carbs or fat). Real foods have a built-in feedback mechanism to keep you from overeating. Protein and fat stimulate appetite-suppressing hormones. Fruits and vegetables tend to be bulky for their caloric content. Some may want to argue about Glycemic Indexes and other fun things, but no one gets fat by eating carrots. People get fat by eating fake foods. Just eat real ones and I guarantee that you’ll shed fat and feel better.”

source: Nutrition 101: The Basics That Will Keep You Healthy : Fitness Spotlight

i found my original primal journal, from back when i first started, & wow. it's no wonder i was so vibrant & happy then - i was eating salad, shrimp, mushrooms, spinach, chicken, brussels sprouts, green peppers... so much healthy stuff, & i loved it so much. my next shopping trip is going to be very different from how it's been for a long, long time.

i'm going to try to check in here daily, but we'll see.

[aboutsaffron]

so, let's see, today's meals:
brunch: salad with steak & veggies
dinner: ground chicken & spaghetti squash with marinara

i'm still feeling a bit under the weather - i still have this annoying cough of death. my husband is trying to give up dairy, so i'm going to do my best to join him, as i do have issues with dairy intolerance. i think it's just so much harder than wheat because the reaction isn't nearly the same, and i mean, cheese! but i'm definitely going to try, at least cut way down on it.

[aboutsaffron]

now, if only i could make this cough & ensuing headache go away, i'd be 100%! the most annoying bit of this is that i actually feel fine, i just can't make this cough go away, apparently. ergh.

but! last night was good - i had what i planned, & had only enough to feel satisfied, no more.

today's eats:
b: peanut butter & banana smoothie (i'll switch to almond butter next time i get to a store)
l: leftover spaghetti from last night
d: chili

i'm feeling really quite good about everything - i found the article over at Whole9 about this being hard for some people, & it really resonated with me. i can't go hardcore with this lest i go to a bad place, so i'm doing this on my own terms, simply focusing on real food.

[aboutsaffron]

i slept almost soundly last night! looks like i am getting over this thing, one way or another. we picked up some hardcore mucinex stuff, & i only had a couple coughing fits last night, so i guess it's working. my voice is stronger today, albeit still not really my voice. looks like i'll be feeling nearly back to normal come the weekend!

speaking of which, we're going to be spending the weekend in columbus, but i'm determined to be mostly primal there. we're going to the mongolian bbq place at least once, so that should be easy.

today's food:
b: peanut butter & banana smoothie
l: shrimp & a small salad
d: burgers

[aboutsaffron]

it's GLORIOUS outside, but i'm stuck inside. boo! but i am going to take a walk in a few minutes, so there's that. i'm so excited for this weekend - we're going to eat so much good stuff & do so much walking. the weather is supposed to be just as beautiful as it is now, & just... oh i can't wait.

today's eats:
b: stir-fry with mushrooms, jalopeno, shallots, corn, bacon, & leftover rotisserie chicken. 'twas quite tasty!
l: shrimp
d: tuna & broccoli

thank god it's payday tomorrow - we're out of a lot of staples! but i'm definitely looking forward to shopping primal-style again - i'll be curious if i pay more, less, or stay pretty much the same. my guess is the latter.

i will probably NOT be updating this over the weekend, but we'll see!

[aboutsaffron]

well, we're back! we had a blast & ate such wonderful things. many non-primal, but lots of yummy, delicious food. honestly, we ate a good breakfast every morning of meat & eggs, then had a late lunch around 4, so we didn't actually do so badly. but now it's time to jump back on - that's how to do the 80/20!

today's eats:
b: veggie stirfry - mushrooms, peppers, onions, bacon, bit of apple, spinach, & bacon
l: salad with steak
d: turkey & broccoli

we went to a williams-sonoma store this weekend & picked up a zoku pop maker. i have such a thing for ice cream, & unfortunately, all the coconut ice cream gives me gas (so annoying!), so i think this will be just the thing. we can make lots of yummy things with pureed fruit & other yummy things, & should i feel like it, i can make stuff with almond milk, which i like the best. methinks i'll wear it out by the end of summer!

[aboutsaffron]

checking in for today - things are weird around the forum these days, at least in the places i've looked. but whatever; i'll do what i can to help keep the sanity.

today's eats!
b: peanut butter banana smoothie with cocoa powder. for those curious, it's 12oz unsweetened almond milk, a frozen banana, two tablespoons or so of nut butter (i have pb at the moment, so it's what i'm using), & a tablespoon of plain cocoa powder. it's so good, & absolutely keeps me satisfied until lunch.
l: salad with assorted veggies & bacon.
d: tonight we'll have the turkey; i didn't realize it was going to take at least an hour to cook last night, so we had tuna steak instead. so, turkey & baby broccoli! then i think we'll crack into the zuko pop maker. yay!

[drssgchic]

Hi! I think it was 2010 when I discovered The PB and like you dropped 30#. Then, well, life happened and I slipped and slid and gained. I'm just re-starting myself.

Isn't it funny how you learn so much and it works so well, but you slip away from it anyway?

Good luck with the re-boot! It seems to be going well so far!