Primal Journal - lpeppersauce page 2

[lpeppersauce]

Sadly, I haven't managed to get out for a walk this weekend. All the trails around here close at sundown, which is entirely too early this time of year. I did go grocery shopping today, so at least I did something useful. Hopefully I'll get a little more exercising in next week.

I was down another pound this morning. Yay!

[lpeppersauce]

I'm officially at the 1-week mark today, and I'm down 4.8 lbs, from 178 to 173.2. Not bad for one week!

My bellydance classes started back up again last night. I'm taking a techniques/drills class, veils (dancing with a 9-foot long silk veil), and Gypsy fusion (big fluffy skirts, yay!). These are all back-to-back-to-back on Monday nights, which means I have 3 hours of dance in one night. As my teacher put it, techniques is about muscle isolation and strengthening, veil is upper body, and Gypsy is just cardio. Very fun, but very very tiring.

At least all the dancing seemed to make up for my not-nutritionally-balanced dinner of a banana, strawberries with whipped cream, and 2/3 of a dark chocolate mint bar (this is why I generally don't leave it laying in front of me while I eat my couple squares). Nothing really non-Primal, but not the best combination. I was a bit sick to my stomach after lunch and didn't want a full fat-and-meat dinner, and the strawberries were starting to go squishy and needed to be eaten (that's my excuse, anyway).

On an unhappy note, my alma mater, Notre Dame, just didn't bother showing up to play in the National Championship last night. We lost badly and it was pretty embarrassing to watch. I've only been at work for an hour, and I'm already catching crap about it from my coworkers. I pointed out that the game didn't end until almost midnight, I'm running on less than 6 hours of sleep, and I'm in a bad mood. It might be a better idea for them to just leave me alone. They haven't caught on yet, but they will, though it may take punching someone in the face to get the idea across (just kidding ... mostly).

[lpeppersauce]

I think I'm talking to myself here, but I'll check in anyway. It's nice to have someplace to write everything down anyway.

The past couple days have gone pretty well. Tuesday I ate a really big dinner (two nice juicy 1/3-lb hamburgers, a bunch of peas in butter, and, because I was still feeling peckish, some leftover home-made chicken soup filled with veggies and butter). Later that night I did my second Four Essential Movements workout, and got my BF to do it with me. Afterwards I was pretty sore, and he was laying on the floor complaining that I killed him.

I have to say, the cravings have been a lot less of a problem than usual this time around. Tuesday night I went to an Italian restaurant with some friends (I ate that big dinner beforehand because I don't like Italian food). They put the bread basket down right in front of me. Normally I would have been really tempted to take a piece, because as soon as I smelled it the cravings would start, whether I was hungry or not. And, of course, once I took one piece, no one else would get any because I would eat the whole basket by myself. This time I just looked at it, said, "Eh, not hungry," and passed it down the table. Maybe it's because I'm not eating VLC this time (more fruit, root vegetables, etc.), so my body doesn't feel so desperate for the carbs? Whatever it is, I'm enjoying the feeling!

My weight has started bouncing, which I expected once the initial water weight whoosh was over. As long as it keeps moving in a general downward direction, I'm good. Also, my pants are already fitting better, so I'm a happy camper. According to the tape measure, on Tuesday morning I had lost 1" off my hips.

[bangarang1971]

Great job week 1 pepper :-) I finished week 1 on Tuesday and weighed in Wednesday morning down almost 6lbs. At first I wasn't going to weigh myself, but after my clothes seem to be looser, I could see my belt buckle for the first time in awhile, and even my shoes seemed loose lol I wanted to see if the scale was going to confirm what I thought or at least hoped was happening. Keep up the great work.

[lpeppersauce]

Quick check in:
I got in both LHT workouts last week, but only one walk. My goal for this week is two LHT and two walks. I have three hours of bellydance classes tonight, so that'll be plenty of exercise for today!

I've been mostly good about food, but overdoing it a bit on fruit. I'm going to work on cutting that back some this week.

My weight is still bouncing and, sadly, hasn't bounced any lower than it did last week. I'll pull out the tape measure tomorrow morning (the end of week 2) and see how that's going.

[lpeppersauce]

Well, it's officially the end of week 2 for me. No change in the scale or the tape measure, but I'm feeling pretty good, so I'm not worried. I've been sleeping better, haven't had heartburn, and my skin is starting to clear up (I get acne when I eat too much wheat and sugar).

I think part of what's stalling me right now is hormonal. (Sorry if this is TMI) My ToM started a week early today, which really shouldn't happen while I'm on birth control pills. I'm weaning myself off Metformin, which screws with hormones, in the hopes that that will help things balance out again. Because of my PCOS, going off birth control is just not an option right now. When I'm not on it, I get depressed and unmotivated, my hair falls out, and I grow a mustache. If this keeps up, though, I'll talk to my doctor about trying a different type of pill. I'm hoping that when I'm in better shape (lost enough fat and gained enough muscle) I'll be able to go off the pill, but I just can't right now.

On a happier note, I'm done with my part of all my grad school applications! All that's left is making sure my recommendations get in on time. I won't hear from any of them until late February/early March, so now I have at least 6 weeks to wait and worry.

[lpeppersauce]

I have a very tasty full-fat greek yogurt and berry smoothie most mornings, usually with about half a tbsp of honey thrown in because I like my smoothies sweet. This morning I decided to break out the coconut oil for the first time and throw some in the mix. Problem: I don't like the taste of coconut, and this gave a very distinct coconutty taste to my smoothie that got more pronounced the more I drank. I'd really like to be able to use coconut oil, because I'm always looking for a good way to get more fat into my diet, but this isn't going to work for me. I don't drink coffee or tea, either, so that's out.

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to use my coconut oil? Maybe a microwave mug cake? Something with chocolate that might mask the flavor better? Is there a different type of coconut oil that has less flavor? I'm currently using a whole kernel, cold-pressed, unrefined virgin coconut oil. Should I try refined? Does it have the same health benefits? Is anyone even reading this?

[bangarang1971]

Hi pepper, I am reading your posts. I actually like them quite a bit lol. I do not know anything about coconut oil, I have never used it. Hopefully someone following does though :-)

[lpeppersauce]

Thanks bangarang! I figured that, even if no one is reading, it's helpful to me to keep track of things on here, so I'll keep writing anyway.

I was thinking about posting the coconut oil question in the recipes section as its own thread. I figure I might get more responses that way.

[lpeppersauce]

Hit a new low today, woohoo! I almost always weigh less on weekends than weekdays, because I sleep longer and weigh myself several hours later. Still, I'll take the win here.

I'm also happy to report that the coconut oil has been helping tremendously with my digestion. I've made sure to get at least a couple tablespoons every day for a few days now, and I've almost become (*gasp*) regular! This is going to sound strange, and probably TMI, but I didn't realize bowel movements were supposed to be this easy. I've always had to work for it, so to speak, so this is a new thing for me.

Weaning off Metformin is still going smoothly. I'm on my last day of two pills, and then I'm going to one tomorrow. I'll probably keep that up a week and then go off of them completely.

On a more unhappy note, my hormones are still screwy. After doing a bit of reading, though, I've found out that a lot of women have wonky cycles when first going primal, so I'm not too concerned. I just want things to settle down some, because I retain water during my ToM, and some days I feel like I should be sloshing in my shoes.

As for exercise, I went for a walk last night instead of my LHT workout, which I'll probably do this afternoon. I do the LHT workouts with my BF, who was over last night, but not in the mood to work out (his grandmother just got sick). So we walked instead, and I'll do my pushups and such today on my own. Along with laundry, dishes, and vacuuming. Gotta love cleaning day!