The Look Great/Feel Amazing Journey of Grokalicious! page

[Grokalicious]

I joined this website two years ago, bought the book and walked the walk for a short while. Little by little, most of the tenets of primal living fell away from me. And, here I am again on day 3.

I've always worked out, never was into chronic cardio, always a heavy lifter (full body, periodized workouts). Love HIIT, adore hikes. My whole life has been a conscious effort to live the axiom "garbage in, garbage out" but earlier this year I fell prey to over zealous refeeds doing Keto diets and, more recently, Eat Stop Eat.

I am 54 years old, do not look (or act!!!) my age. I'm pretty fit for an older broad and, aside from wanting to feel and look as awesome as possible, I would like to do 5 unassisted pull-ups and up my unassisted dips from 7-10. All of this before the end of the year.

Even without eating primally over the first half of this year, I still avoided wheat/gluten like the plague. Until a month ago when I started allowing little treats. Really? Not so much of a treat when you noticed my wheat belly! Plus, I felt sloggy and wanting more, more, more. Who knew that cinnamon crunch cereal from WF would be my downfall?

Anyway, I was cleaning out my bookmarks on my computer and found this website again. And lo and behold, I also found Mark's book nestled against my bed stand! Today is day 3 and I feel great aside from the incessant peeing!
Am down 1.4 lbs (likely all water) but psyched up! Aiming for high fat (from sat fat and good fats like avocado) and super low carbs for first 2 weeks (30 or less). After that I'll bump it up as needed.

I am 5'4", small boned and weigh 138.4. Extra weight really shows on me, although my friends think I'm "fine." Aside from feeling great, and my goals of unassisted pull-ups and dips, I have no clue what I should weigh. Time will tell. Catherine Deneuve once said that after the age of 40 women had to choose between a great as* and a great face as we look gaunt when too thin when older.

I leave for a business trip to wine country in the morning which will be interesting as I am in the wine biz and wining and dining a major part of it. I say, no prob. And I say, watch out world!

Comments and support are most welcome! Oh, I do have a question, if any of you can answer. I am tracking my food on Paleotrack (which is awesome, by the way) and I am only at 900 calories for the day. Just not hungry and wonder how big a deal that is, or isn't.

[Grokalicious]

Made it through! Whilst co-workers gorged on flatbread at lunch, I savored salad. Dinner was lamb chops and tomato salad which was yummy. I only winced a teeny bit as they ate their apple tarts and cheese.

One more day of it tomorrow. Then, back to the real world where I can grok out more easily.

[Grokalicious]

And, upon awakening, my workmates (with whom I shared a guest house last night) were enjoying their breakfast of toasted homemade bread that was slathered with organic marmalade. I found some very fresh, very organic blackberries and was actually quite content with that and a bit of freshly ground black coffee.

We toured a couple of wineries that we represent and were taken to lunch at a restaurant on the trail. They all ate bread, lots of it! Dipped in olive oil with hot flakes and then had pizza and pastas while I had some fish. At least my energy didn't flag!!

Now I am back home and can walk, work out, etc. There will be more temptations as they are a never ending part of my industry but i think I'll be just fine once you think of how very well I did in Napa the last two days.

I'm tired and emotional and considering some major life changes and taking some big risks so I can do what I really enjoy for a living. Time will tell. But, I'm excited.

[Grokalicious]

Still at it. Going for a long hike tomorrow with a good pal. Can't wait. Yesterday and today have been okay, just super muggy! Really difficult for me to eat in this heat, though so can't wait for it to break!

No more bloaty belly! No sugar cravings! Just craving fat. Avocados and coconut milk rock my little world. And 2 lbs off mah wee body. S'all good.

[RaeVynn]

Hi! I think I'm going to enjoy following your journal.. glad to see you here.

[Grokalicious]

Thanks, RaeVynn! Good to be here!

Let's just say that planks have shown me the true wussiness of my fitness level. Humbling? Oh yes. I made it 30 seconds with scads of muscle trembling for 3 sets. You have to start somewhere and that's where I am. I don't think I've done any direct core work for oh, ever. I've always worked my back but would just be a lazy git when it came to abs work. No problem and no worries, the future starts here today. The rest of my workouts have been perfect. Fun, challenging, inspiring! Did my sprint work today. Tomorrow eve will find me walking blithely at dusk with, hopefully, nary a care in the world.

I'm making chicken for dinner. Not nuts about chicken but I am somewhat burned out on meat and I don't trust that fresh fish deliveries are made on Sunday. So, I shall be dredging chicken tenders in coconut flour and then sautéing in coconut oil that has already had fresh garlic cooked into it. And, I am going to try to roast some cauliflower.

I am craving something but don't know what. Sounds odd but nothing sounds good to me right now. Bread? Nah. You know what would be cool? Some sort of primal cracker. For the crunch! Crunch is what I'm craving! Crunch and fat. Together at last. Ha.

Had dinner out last night. Grilled organic NY strip steak. Nothing rubbed onto it in terms of oil, etc. Not grassfed but, oh well. Cooked rare as I like it with some roasted veggies. Really yum. I ate the whole thing!

Weight is slowly going down. Am at 137. Yes, sounds great but, again, I am short and small boned so weight really shows on me. I feel leaner and that's what matters most to me. All I want is to feel "bien dans ma peau." Good in my own skin, as the French say. Usually I do. I want that feeling all of the time and it doesn't just hinge on how I look physically but also how I feel. I believe that eating and working out primally will keep me in the right head space. I also believe in ghosts, so who knows...

[Grokalicious]

My tummy is not happy tonight. I just feel so full after dinner and all I had was what I wrote about previously. Maybe the cauliflower was too much. Ugh. Just feel not so great. Am sure I will be better in the morning but feel crummy right now. Still not enough calories in the Paleo tracker. According to it:

975 calories
48 g protein
22 g carbs
80 g fat

Wasn't so hungry at lunchtime today. I WILL get this down. I will strike the right balance. Just have to remember that Rome wasn't built in a day...

[Grokalicious]

Down another pound. 3 lbs in 9 days. Must be water weight but clothes are definitely looser. Just can't psyche myself up for work today. This job reminds me of the old saying:

No matter how far you've gone down the wrong path, turn back.

Will walk this evening. No clue what I shall eat today...still working on that first cuppa Joe.

[Grokalicious]

Another scorching day that the weather-folk touted as not being too hot. Ha, I scoff at them all. Since when is 102 degrees not too hot? I can't eat much in this heat. Wanted to walk this evening but when I got home it was still 90 degrees out. Was going to go to the gym and walk on the dreadmill (ha!!!!) but got involved in learning about Sake for a presentation tomorrow. Sake. Dunno. It's kinda cool but the only one that's kinda yummy to me is Nigori (cloudy, sweetish, perfect with spicy food). Hopefully, I learned enough to sound intelligent as Sake is not my forte.

Tomorrow is due to be hotter. Am getting up early and "lifting heavy things." Am a bit sore from yesterday's planks so will give that a miss but squats, deads, pull ups, dips and push ups are on the agenda. Bright and early, baby, bright and oh-so-early. Early enough that I can make it home while it's still cool enough to eat breakfast. Then I'll just hydrate a lot and wait to have dinner. I have to get these calories in.

Oh, and through reading some posts on the forum here, I've decided to make my own coconut milk/cream! I quit eating anything from a can a long time ago but eased up on that restriction when I started back to primal eating so I could enjoy coconut milk. But now, I find I can make it myself (yes, yes, tomorrow night will tell).

Friday will be the test. Am flying to see my Mom for Labor Day weekend. She kinda eats primally which is cool for an almost 82 year old. Never has eaten anything from a box (really considers that blasphemous to her cooking from scratch abilities), works out every day, takes no meds (never has). She kicks arse! But, let's just say that she is quite the cook. I've already warned her. Ha. Problem is that she loves to bake. Bread particularly. I might just get her to try one of the primal bread recipes I've found because if anyone can do something offbeat to perfection, oh my, it's her! She makes a pineapple dessert that I adore but am not sure if it could be done primally. It's meringue (egg whites, non?) with pineapple and fresh whipped cream. Sigh. It's really amazing. (is stevia primal?). We shall see.

Anyway, get this. My grey trousers are HUGE on me. Especially at the waist. Even with a belt they sag and droop at the waist. They are loose in the bum too and my legs are swimming in them. I remember trying them on in February and they were too tight in the legs when I sat down. Progress! I bought some cheapie jeans from Old Navy to tide me over because nothing fits. The new jeans are a 6 regular but too short. WTF. Maybe that's just something from Old Navy. I can't afford to buy new/good/decent jeans with each drop in weight and size. God bless Mark Sisson, eh?

[RaeVynn]

Yay for needing smaller jeans!!