Today is the first day of the rest of a cavey little life. I hope. page

[Forgttnhrt]

I weighed myself this morning. I am at the highest weight I've ever been. Well over 200lbs. And I'm five-foot-five, and a woman. 35 years old and tired of being tired, unhealthy, plagued by migraines on occasion, and feeling a general sense of malaise and blah.

I have done the diets. I have bought the one where they deliver food to your house. I have counted calories. I have added up points for my food. I have tried and tried and tried. I usually do really well for about 20lbs. Right when people start noticing. Then I "treat" myself. Then everything goes down hill.

I love crunchy food. I LOVE nachos. That drive thru place that sells tacos, I swear I'm addicted to it. I swear I hear it calling out my name sometimes.

I tried one of those 90-day exercise programs but struggled to fit it into my busy day. Though overweight, single, and unhealthy (yet not, my blood work is all good) I'm very busy, trying to jam pack hours of cardio is rough. What I did like about that was the eating guidelines that came with it. No processed food. Lean meats only. Lots of fruits and veggies. Limited pasta.

I tried a diet that worked in several 17 day cycles. Very similar to the way I was eating, but more restrictive. I did really well on it until I decided I couldn't stand to eat another piece of chicken (people who do that one start to call it the chicken diet). But, again, suddenly eating no processed foods, very very very little dairy, no grains/starches. I felt better. I looked better. My skin cleared up. But the restrictive nature of it ... one or two "slip ups" and I was in a full-scale carb meltdown.

Then I tried low-fat, something a coworker did. But I felt... off... eating all that non-fat stuff. It was processed after processed after processed.

I didn't want another DIET. I wanted a change. The closest I had come to and the one I'd been able to stick with the longest was this idea of no processed food, lean meats, unlimited veggies, etc. I'd seen a local news broadcast about the "Caveman Diet." I'd heard about Paleo eating from someone at a Breast Cancer walk I did.

So I googled. I bought The Primal Blueprint, the 21-Day Primal Transformation, and two Primal cookbooks. My coworker fell in love with the cookbooks. She, after a lot of thought and some cynicism, bought the 21 Day Transformation too. I am looking forward to embarking on the journey with someone, but already a little nervous about her doubts. I don't want to give up if she gives up.

Right now I'm most worried about my morning coffee. I always take it with stevia and a hit of creamer. Even green tea needs that hit of stevia. I'm not sure how I will manage without either of those warm drinks in the morning (it's less about the "energy" and more about the pleasure and routine, and I just plain enjoy having a nice warm beverage in the mornings).

But: Today is Day One (and sort of Two). I'm headed out to go shopping and then it's back home to make my first Primal breakfast and complete THE GREAT PURGE. I'm going to donate the food I can. Some things I will have to stash away in a bin in the garage (I'm the resident dessert maker for all events so I have to keep some baking supplies here - but I don't have to eat them!)

I need to change my life. I hope the forum can help me because I'm in this alone on my end.

[alexkharden]

Why without stevia? I thought it was ok, maybe not primal, but not harmful either...right?

[Forgttnhrt]

I thought I saw something in the book where Mark said he preferred people stay away from the artificial sweeteners, including stevia. However, I just searched the website and found this: Is Stevia Healthy? | Mark's Daily Apple So Perhaps I was mistaken. And... Yay! If I can still have my stevia and a splash of cream (whoa, how odd to think I'll be putting half/half or heavy cream - two things I've AVOIDED FOR YEARS) into my coffee, or stevia into my green tea, one of my biggest fears is no longer a fear!

[alexkharden]

Yay! You had me worried. I can't drink tea or coffee unsweetened. I've been using stevia for years now because of the hypoglycemia. I'm glad it's still an option for me. I think that, while not sugar, it's still a natural sweetener, so therefore good to go. I know "big sugar" has been trying to make a sink about it, but to date I have seen no negative empirical data.

[Louisa655]

Forgttnhrt: Wow, that was a lot packed into your posting. I don't want to be a hard ass here, but you may be your own worst enemy. Rather than continue being the 'baker' among your group of friends, why not re-define yourself to "primal supplier' of a healthy dish. I mean, there's only so many excuses you can make for continuing to eat garbage, trash and junk. If you believe a dish is unhealthy, why would you want to provide it to your friends? Buy Mark's book, educate yourself, set a 30 day goal and commit. Stop over-thinking it and just do it.

[Forgttnhrt]

Forgttnhrt: Wow, that was a lot packed into your posting. I don't want to be a hard ass here, but you may be your own worst enemy. Rather than continue being the 'baker' among your group of friends, why not re-define yourself to "primal supplier' of a healthy dish. I mean, there's only so many excuses you can make for continuing to eat garbage, trash and junk. If you believe a dish is unhealthy, why would you want to provide it to your friends? Buy Mark's book, educate yourself, set a 30 day goal and commit. Stop over-thinking it and just do it.

Thanks, Louisa. I don't consider you a hardass, but perhaps even with all the info I wasn't clear enough.

I bought the book, the workbook (21-Day Total Body Transformation), and two of his cookbooks last week. Have read and researched them already and did the things I needed to prepare for beginning the 21-Day booklet today.

I have already been eating in a way very close to Primal. I am keeping the baking supplies as I make "specialty cupcakes" and, yes maybe that makes me a bad friend/family member, but I don't usually eat the things I bake as I don't care to eat sugar. While I may be going primal, I don't expect all my friends will. And, frankly, if someone wants to have a cupcake on their birthday, I don't think that's a big deal. Keeping those things wasn't an excuse, it was a reality. When I purged my kitchen today, I put them all in a bin and away for the next time someone wants cupcakes - they were all already on the bottom shelf of my pantry, which is the shelf I never go to save for maybe every other month. Other than that, most of the "trash, garbage, and junk" in my kitchen was whole grain pasta, fat free salad dressings, yakult probiotic, and corn/beans.

So I did educate myself and today was the day I was committed to beginning my 21 days and "just do"ing it.

[Warmbear]

Greetings, if you dont mind a suggestion, add more fat to your diet. That's what we always tell everyone who starts and then discovers they are hungry all the time. Everyone starts thinking ok, lean meat, lean lean lean has to be better right? Well it aint better. Glory in a higher fat content, for the next few weeks even add more fat and less carbs than seems possible. Once you are fat adapted, you can add more carbs as your body finds out what it needs.

Butter makes this so much easier to stick too while your body gets used to this way of eating (WOE).

[Forgttnhrt]

Thank you Warmbear for the advice!! - I bought some Ghee, Coconut Oil, and Butter at Whole Foods today (though I stared for a long time trying to debate between salted or unsalted butter).

For lunch (I skipped breakfast as I woke up pretty late) I had 1/2 avocado, some cherry tomatoes, and two slices of bacon wrapped in lettuce leaves (like a tasty BLT!). I haven't had the time to try and make Mark's mayo yet, but I want to tonight. That meal seems like it should be good on the fat spectrum?

It's been interesting, trying to wrap my head around the "go ahead and eat that fatty stuff" when for so long it's been NO! nuts, bacon, avocado, etc. etc. That lunch seemed too good to be true. Bacon AND avocado? Who cares about bread!