Primal Journal (Tindy) page

[tindystwocents]

Hi everyone! Feel free to call me Tindy, it's a nickname, an unusual one at that. I'm a college student.

I went modified primal diet this summer combined with lots of weightlifting, lost about 7 pounds and felt generally good. Then I dislocated my knee cap (I have a history of knee problems) and went back to eating SAD.

I'm not recovered by any means but since I cannot work out, I've decided to try eating primal again to lose my extra 15 pounds I've carried around for a few years + feel healthier. It's going to be challenging as I'm still eating on a college meal plan but I plan to supplement it by buying my own food and eating a modified primal diet.

I'm also vegetarian so all odds are against me in making this work but I AM determined!

These will be my staples:
-eggs (lots of them)
-heavy cream (yum, I could drink this stuff i love it so much)
-salads
-nuts
-butter
-cheese

I'm going to be drinking protein shakes (whole milk, Muscle Milk powder, ice, and half a banana is what I use) to get enough protein.

I'll do my best, it certainly won't be perfect. I'm trying to find raw full fat dairy somewhere near my college, better eggs, and once I finish my thing of Muscle Milk maybe a better protein powder, and unsalted nuts next time (I've got a huge thing of salted ones for now that I have to finish).

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Here is a look at what I had yesterday:

Chai tea with half & half + a little honey
2 egg omelet with cheese
another mug of tea with h&h
a protein shake for dinner

[tindystwocents]

So Day 1 of transitioning back into Paleo is over (I hope, when I eat SAD there is often times late night snacking)

11 am was a mug of chai tea with half & half (I need to go get heavy cream)
2 pm was the last container I had of 0% Chobani yogurt with a tiny bit of granola thrown in (yogurt has got to go completely with how many other dairy products I'm still going to be consuming)
worked out from 3:30-4:40, heavy weightlifting session
5:15 pm was three eggs with cheese cooked in a chunk of butter followed by (oops) half a cheese quesadilla

mug number 2 of chai with half & half + honey this time is in my hands. I'm sick, I've been consuming a lot of chai because the hot liquid soothes my throat.

So, not very primal at all today. It's a transition though. I'm upping the fat already with the half&half in my tea and butter for my eggs. I hope that tomorrow I can do better. My energy levels have also been low since working out, I think I might have eaten unnecessary stuff just to feel better.

[tindystwocents]

I definitely got off track today, I'm throwing in the towel and calling it a failure. I ended up needing to leave the house to get a friend from the airport which lead to a magnum ice cream bar and another cup of chamomile tea with honey when i got back. My sore throat has definitely made it harder.

But there is always tomorrow! I plan to end the day under 100 grams of carbs, I needed a more specific goal!

[U2sandrah]

Hey there Tindy!
Dont be so hard on yourself! Remember the 80/20 principle...
Seems that your overall calorie intake is way low, just looking at your intake yesterday, that is adding up to less than 700 calories!
The cold you have maybe isnt helping, and still your could up your nutrient intake with some veggies! Veggies make up the base of the Primal food pyramid: leafy greens, produce with vibrant colours are best. For instance: at your omelette throw in some spinach!
Maybe you could state your goals loud and clear. And we will cheer you up over here! For instance, for me: its to get leaner and to drop a few pounds, Ive already had people asking me why if I am already skinny, but the low down is: Im skinny fat with lots of cellulite creeping in, so Ill like to have a better body fat composition. My IBS is already under control, with the occassional wheat cheat, but trying to maintain the 90/10 principle so I dont slip off too much and start grain binging again.

The slump in energy since working out might be a spin off the low carb or low calorie intake your having. You gotta give it some time, Ive read so many experiences around this forum, and they all mention: patience and being disciplined with your goals. Making a slow transition towards jump starting the good hormones, it takes a little time.

So what is it for you? Losing weight, gaining more energy, going through an injury, a specific health condition.

[tindystwocents]

thanks for the response! that was encouraging. My goal is to lose 15 pounds, I am sick of cellulite as well and of being so unproportional because all my weight is in my hips & butt.

I will do better today! I'm still sick but recovering so hopefully I can consume more calories and definitely more healthy ones.
I had 2 eggs with cheese for breakfast
(and then still felt unusually hungry) so I had a half bowl of oatmeal with strawberry slices thrown in.
And a strawberry-oatmeal smoothie made from local Klicker strawberries, soy milk, oats, bananas and agave syrup.

Then a mug of chai with honey and half&half.
And a piece of banana walnut bread that someone made from scratch and brought to my place.

Followed by 3 squares of dark chocolate.

It's only noon, I don't know how I've managed to eat that much. It must be boredom combined with trying to eat back calories from when I was sick and lack of fat which makes me eat tons of carbs.
I will do better for the rest of the day. I think I'm going to stop eating, have another mug of tea at some point and wait till dinner to have a nice salad!

[U2sandrah]

How did the rest of your day go?
May I dare make you a couple of nutritional advices based on what you posted for this morning?
1) Stock up on coconut milk and grated coconut and almonds and heavy cream.
2) Change your bowl of oatmeal to a bowl of strawberries and heavy cream, sliced almonds and some grated coconut on top. That has way less carbs than pure oatmeal and probably fill you up more.
3) Instead of making a strawberry-oatmeal smoothie, try switching the oatmeal for some coconut milk, you'll end up having a delicious smoothie and with better nutritional profile. Keep up the agave!

For me today was:
Breakfast: blueberries and heavy cream. 2 squares of dark chocolate. 1 mug of coffee.
Lunch: Salad. Breaded chicken (sorry about the bread, it was the only choice in my work's dining hall) and steamed zucchini/peas. Fruit compote (again, sorry about the sugar in compote, tomorrow I'll see if i can get some fresh fruit instead).
Mid afternoon: Coffee and heavy cream. Protein strawberry shake.
Dinner: Homemade zucchini/tomato/beef casserole. More strawberries.
Excercise: Just under 1hr walking under plenty of sun.
All this added roughly 121g carbs and over 1600 calories. Im still trying to get under the 100g carb mark but is getting tough as hell.

[U2sandrah]

By the way, I totally understand your love for oatmeal, its warm, gooey and reminiscent of childhood.
It is possible to ditch the grain! This coming from a person that had 2 bowls of oatmeal (per day!!) with blueberries just because I looooooved the taste.

Add on to my previous post: My energy isnt that high, Ill try to get better sleep tonite!

[tindystwocents]

I love this support, this is all that keeps me going
I did what I said I would (and then some haha). I had another mug of chai with half& half.
A salad topped with small chunks of mango as a "dressing" and some EVOO.
I also had like 3 more squares of 85% dark chocolate, as it seems to help with my sugar cravings and is pretty healthy.

your meals sound awesome! also more protein than I think I'm getting which is probably easier if your not vegetarian but you seem to do the fat + protein balance really well.
do you do okay with eating a fair amount of fruit? I know some people are very against it.

[U2sandrah]

Well, I know that the amount of fruit may well be throwing off my carb content. My next step is to cut way back on fruit! For the time being Im cutting thouse things that I tend to overeat (eg. nuts, yogurt, dark chocolate... I could eat loads of that stuff). I almost never overeat fruit, they are served on a plate with heavy cream or blended in a protein shake, and that's it. So Im trying to make improvements in blocks.

[U2sandrah]

How did you do today?

I misbehaved a little, damn. I had some milk chocolate and for lunch I regretfully chose the chicken casserole with heavy carbs (rice and potato).



Im off to the gym now and Ill try and stay on track for the rest of the day! Im thinking on a rocket salad with balsamic+olive oil and a yummy protein shake after gym.