Primal Blueprint Journal DCarr10760 (David) page 31

[Siobhan]

Yeah, if I lived closer to you, I could come by and pick up sauce. You could be in the sauce business!

I grew up in Southern California, that was common among Mexican families. One grandma/auntie would make huge batches of sauces every week and other family household would come by and pick their share. Great system.

[DCarr10760]

I'm mystified by the Sugar and the Canola oil in every bottle of Tikka Masala Sauce I've seen. Why sugar? Even in the Stuff from TJs and Whole Foods? I wonder if Stevia would be a reasonable substitute. I imagine it's there to kill the tomato tang. The oil could easily be replaced by Coconut oil I would think. The flavors are compatable.

So Cal? Wow, you are a long way from home! About as far as you can get and still stay in the US! I've lived in CT all of my life except for the decade that included college. I've been all over but like it here.

[Pedidoc]

Yeah, if I lived closer to you, I could come by and pick up sauce. You could be in the sauce business!

I grew up in Southern California, that was common among Mexican families. One grandma/auntie would make huge batches of sauces every week and other family household would come by and pick their share. Great system.

Sauce business!! Salsa verde, pico, Indian flavors - imagine the possibilities!

[DCarr10760]

Dave the sauce guy... Possibilities.

So right now my weight has stabilized at right about what's in my signature block, and my average temperature throughout the day is 97.8, over a full degree over what it was over the weekend. My hands and feet are no longer always cold. All good news. I've been keeping my calories around 2500/day.

It's strange, when I plug my weight and activity level into FitDay or any of the other online BMR calculators I always get minimum caloric requirements of well over 3k a day. So even dropping it to 2500 a day should give me a weight loss of a pound or more a week. But I don't lose weight. I maintain at 2500, I lose slowly at 2000 but then I plateau. The fasting was an attempt to break through the plateau in a purposeful way.

The trouble was that while I did break through the plateau (250s), in my zeal I thought I could do it regularly and that threw me into starvation mode. I had hoped the potato fast would act like a carb refeed while still maintaining or losing weight and I was wrong about that.

So I'll go another week like this and try to maintain my current weight and then see how my temperature and energy level is. I am still feeling rather weak and lethargic. Though as Ecks points out, there may be seasonal things going on as well. I really have been enjoying sitting by the fire and drinking broth!

But at 237 lbs, I am the lowest weight I have been in some years. I look better and except this past few days, I feel better. I can wait to take off the last sixty pounds a few weeks to get the metabolism stable.

[Judg]

It's funny, but unless I am fasting (potatoes or no potatoes) I really don't notice strong feelings of hunger. I'm not yet very attuned to the signals my body sends to me. It's getting better, since PB, but I still am eating to a set schedule rather than in response to feelings of hunger. Unless I have really overeaten, I am slow to notice satiety too. I stop eating when I believe I've had a reasonable amount. I could always eat more. The other night with the masala, because I was concerned about the drop in temperature and of eating too little for too long a period of time, I decided to eat until full. I ate approximately 3x what I would have normally eaten and was uncomfortable as a result.

I have to pay attention to appetite, hunger and satiety more than I do now. I'm not sure to go about it though.

Well, you are "blessed" with a healthy appetite, as am I. If I eat till I'm full, I've usually overeaten. And it shows on the scales. Several years of watching myself has at least shrunk my stomach somewhat; I really am no longer capable of indulging as much as I used to. Good thing. Eating enough is generally eating until hunger has been relieved, not until we are full. Stomachs are very elastic. Having said that, I find that once a week or two I feel almost driven to feast, and I rather think there's nothing wrong with that. There is something so satisfying about having a full tummy occasionally. Occasionally being the operative word. I feel really rotten if I do it too often, and it loses its psychological impact too. Seeing as we have weekly biorhythms, in addition to the daily and seasonal ones, I think it makes sense to pick a day for feasting. Moderate feasting. It's like every other holiday, it makes a return to routine feel welcome.

Dave the sauce guy... Possibilities.

So right now my weight has stabilized at right about what's in my signature block, and my average temperature throughout the day is 97.8, over a full degree over what it was over the weekend. My hands and feet are no longer always cold. All good news. I've been keeping my calories around 2500/day.

It's strange, when I plug my weight and activity level into FitDay or any of the other online BMR calculators I always get minimum caloric requirements of well over 3k a day. So even dropping it to 2500 a day should give me a weight loss of a pound or more a week. But I don't lose weight. I maintain at 2500, I lose slowly at 2000 but then I plateau. The fasting was an attempt to break through the plateau in a purposeful way.

The trouble was that while I did break through the plateau (250s), in my zeal I thought I could do it regularly and that threw me into starvation mode. I had hoped the potato fast would act like a carb refeed while still maintaining or losing weight and I was wrong about that.

So I'll go another week like this and try to maintain my current weight and then see how my temperature and energy level is. I am still feeling rather weak and lethargic. Though as Ecks points out, there may be seasonal things going on as well. I really have been enjoying sitting by the fire and drinking broth!

But at 237 lbs, I am the lowest weight I have been in some years. I look better and except this past few days, I feel better. I can wait to take off the last sixty pounds a few weeks to get the metabolism stable.

We live and learn. Getting to know our own bodies and their requirements is part of the journey. And I do think that backing off and just going into maintenance mode is a good way to handle things every now and again. We have to refind our balance occasionally. And reassure our bodies that the craziness isn't permanent... LOL!

[Siobhan]

David, if you go into the sauce business, let me know. I am available for recipe testing.

But I know why sugar and canola oil is in everything. It's cheap. Sugar is a great way to boost flavor. Put a bit of sugar into just about anything and people will rave about it, especially tomato-y things. Canola oil is practically free for food processors, right down there with HFCS, but people are getting more and more anti-HFCS these days so quality foodmakers won't touch it. (Although I am cynical enough to wonder if they don't sneak it in sometimes)

This whole weight loss thing is pretty weird. Just when we think we have it all figured out it tends to turn around and bite us somewhere. It is either tantalizingly easy or maddeningly difficult.

[ecks]

You should try the leptin reset with me next week!

[DCarr10760]

Thanks for your comments everybody! :-)

Well today is my weigh-in day and I managed to lose a pound, which I am happy with because it's a new official low for me, and because I have really just been trying to maintain my weight around 238 until my temperature stabilizes. As to that, yesterday my temperature was in the mid 97 degree range and today it is also. So it is still below normal, but I haven't a clue what is normal for me.

I would guess that I would be somewhat hotter than usual, based on my "warm" blooded-ness, but I really don't know if it works like that.

Eating has been good, last night SWMBO and Boy went to dinner with friends from his School on the spur of the moment leaving me on my own hook. I had thawed pork chops so I broiled one to just done-ness and devoured it. It was bone-in and pastured and was just incredibly good. I put more cayenne pepper on it than normal because I read that this increases metabolism by raising core temperature. Apparently, I cannot help tinkering...

Anyway, it was delicious and I chomped and chewed on the bone in a manner most Primal. :-). I grazed for the rest of dinner, a handfull of macadamia nuts, part of an apple that Boy left uneaten, some leftover zucchini. I didn't do the calorie totals, but it counted as feasting. I wasn't full to busting, but I had plenty. I still have thawed pork left (intended for SWMBO and Boy) and I may give the pork and butternut squash dish that Mark posted last week a try tonight.

I'm usually not given to following recipes, there are flavor combinations that I like and I work within those, but I do try new things periodically to expand my repertoire.

I do really like cooking with interesting spices. I order spices from Penzeys catalog. In fact, I just ordered a quantity of Garam Masala, which is the spice mixture that is the basis of Masala sauce, so that project is moving along.

@Ecks I'll look over your journal where I think you wrote about the principles of the Leptin reset. But I think it will fit in nicely right about now. I will be traveling to Ohio next week Tues-Thurs and will therefore have less control over what, and particularly when I'll be eating. But count me in and I'll do my best!

A side note on footwear... I have been looking for minimal running or walking shoes. I can't wear the vibram five-fingers because my ginormous wide, flattish, high instepped, size 13 feet do not fit them. :-( But I did order a pair of New Balance Minimals, which are really light and small (comparatively). I wore them last evening to break them in a bit and they are the most comfortable shoes I ever had! I don't know how they'll hold up, but I'm going to buy a couple more pairs today!

M'gosh I'm rambling... :-)

[Judg]

It's your journal, you're allowed to ramble.

Spices are so much fun. And they practically all have some wonderful property or two, so they're fun and virtuous at the same time.

[Siobhan]

Ramble away, that is what we regular readers come here for. I get pretty bored with those journals that say "Ate two raw eggs, lifted heavy stuff, ate raw beef, weekly HIIT on bike. The End" Don't get many ideas from those!