Primal Journal - Siobhan page 14

[dancermom09]

Came over to check out your journal, you are a lovely writer!

Sounds like you are getting into the Bed, Breakfast, Dinner business! How lovely to have a friend in beautiful Maine that will cook delicious Primal food!

I use lots of coconut oil too, inside and outside, all kinds of places. I mixed some up with my expensive Cellex-C cream and it makes it last much longer. Except then I read somewhere that putting coconut oil on your skin at night can interfere with your sleep, so I only use it in the morning now. Seems to be true for me.

[Siobhan]

Yes, be careful with that! But no, the coconut isn't making me greasy. It is greasy when it goes on, but in the morning it is all absorbed and my skin looks like a baby's. No breakouts, no clogged pores. Love it!

Well, this is the moment of truth. I fell off the wagon. Last night I was trying to go to sleep - it was after midnight - and I was hungry. Maybe didn't eat enough, maybe it was all in my head - anyway, I was hungry. Here is what I ate:

3 spelt crackers
1 tbsp butter
2 hot dogs
1 large strawberry
10 pistachios

Is it okay to say the crackers with the butter were delicious? 22g of carb, and of course a grain. After eating that stuff, I felt satisfied, went back to bed and slept like a log. Woke up not hungry at all. Not planning on making of habit of this.

Planning a purge of refrigerator today - not just non-primal foods, but I need to get rid of some old primal foods. I over-bought, being a bit worried about running out of primal goodies. I hate to throw away food, but this one time I will chalk it up to experience.

Going to make some beef stew today - very simple, carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, grass-fed beef. And I feel like turkey. Would you believe I have a large frozen turkey from Christmas that someone gave me? That needs to get cooked.

Still spending too much time on the computer - need to cut back and get some movement into my life -

[Siobhan]

Last week I experimented with walking barefoot - the first night I walked around the deserted hallways for 10 minutes. The next night I felt so good I walked around for 30 minutes. Need I say it was a bit much, and my left achilles tendon got a bit sore. I've been stretching it carefully, wearing my boot for about 30 minutes every so often, and today it seems completely better. Whew. Takes a while to get used to barefoot. I have been wearing Dansko clogs for ages. Is it okay to say that I like that they make me taller? At work I need to protect my feet (and every other body part). Last week my right foot got run over by a stretcher - my shoe was badly munched, but my foot was okay. There are lots of shoes in the world, but only one Siobhan's right foot.

Well, I had better get to the housework -

[Judg]

The occasional cheat is not the end of the world. I have found it helps me immensely to give myself permission in advance to cheat. Because I've done that, it's so much easier to say to myself "But it can wait a while longer." And then have a controlled cheat instead of a major binge. And then not have to deal with guilt and so get right back to eating better. For me at least, those permissions have been a major part of my finally succeeding with weight loss. My scale and my clothes let me know when the occasional cheat is becoming too frequent.

[Siobhan]

Hi dancermom, thanks for reading my jottings! I will have to check into the coconut oil disturbing sleep, can't have that! Sleep is of paramount importance for me, and I feel that getting proper rest is the bedrock of good health.

I'm not too worried about being hungry and eating last night - I'm more interested in why I felt that way, because that hadn't happened to me yet. I did have a busy, active, fun, and yes, stressful weekend. Although it was great having guests, it is stressful in some ways. I'm not used to having people around - I like being alone, although I can be very social at times. I was surprised how sad I was when they left. Also some stuff happened with my ex-husband that was very sad - stuff I haven't revealed here in my journal.

It has been 12 hours since I last ate, and I'm not hungry...hmmm...maybe I've got myself on a weird schedule...

[ragwort]

Mmmmm beef stew sounds good! I have decided on salmon tonight with courgettes and kale with some sort of herb butter. I will do a few new potatoes for my husband who has practically joined me in this way of eating. Unfortunately my youngest daughter (17) who probably needs it most only half joins in - depending on what I cook. She will have a fish cake and probably something sweet afterwards, but it's a start.

Have you tried coconut oil on your hair? I'm lucky to have very good skin (for 56!) but my hair looks rather dull, I wondered if coconut oil would be a good conditioner. I'm not keen on it to eat much and have stuck to butter, olive oil and lard.

I'm glad others have a small 'cheat'. I had a mochaccino this weekend as it so vile whilst out shopping on Saturday - cold, driving rain ..all day. Same yesterday, but sunny this am so have washed towels which are drying beautifully in the garden. Tomorrow till Friday ... more cold, more rain less cold = Spring!!

Wanted to 'graze' today but I think it's because I've been sat at the PC catching up on school work. Managed not to, so feel quite pleased with myself. Making endless cups of tea instead helped!

Thinking of you all in Maine and Canada x

[Siobhan]

Thank you for thinking of us! I love it here but often feel a bit forgotten in national news, etc. Of course there aren't many people here.

I have put coconut oil on my hair, it is quite wonderful. Concentrate on the ends. For myself, it takes a couple of shampoos to get it all out, so I wonder if I'm negating the benefits by overwashing. But I do it once a week, it makes my hair very, very soft.

Just had two beautiful pastured eggs scrambled in butter with a handful of chives thrown in and about a cup of leafy greens sprinkled with BV. Despite my midnight meal, I am doing alright today. Drinking a lot of water, for me that is. I have never been a good water drinker.

Cleaned the bathroom top to bottom! It is sparkling!

[Judg]

LOL, I should not be reading these posts when I am fasting.

Thanks for the kind thoughts for Canada, ragwort.

The non-fanatical 80/20 approach was one of the things I liked about Primal, and made it easier for me to decide to try it. I think it's more respectful of human psychology and more realistic too. Small cheats actually help keep us on track. When I feel overly deprived, I end up bingeing. When I give myself permission to cheat small, I am actually much less tempted and can go for longer without cheating. And I suspect most people are like that.

[Judg]

Siobhan, sorry to hear there is sad stuff happening. *hugs*

[Siobhan]

Thank you! I am tough, hard paleowoman now, paleowoman does not cry. Paleowoman just fetches more firewood and gnaws on a rib. (Well 80% of the time. The other 20% she might cry sometimes.)

I'm getting to be a big fan of smoothies, something I never saw the point of before. Just whirled up a banana, strawberries, leafy greens and some yogurt. Quite the nutritional powerhouse. I have a small Krups chopper/processor that makes perfect-sized personal servings. Is it really hard to find whole milk yogurt in your grocery? Why is everything low-fat and non-fat? What is the point? I didn't notice any stick-thin or even particularly healthy people purchasing those items. In fact everyone I saw was a bit chunky - me included, but I rooted around for the full-fat stuff, down on the bottom in the corner behind the artificially sweetened stuff. Hey, does that count as exercise?

Well, I have to get cooking. Beef stew and I'm going to make up the chicken kiev, although that won't be eaten until tomorrow.