DoingTheCaveman

Meaty week diary

Start weight = 13 stone 8 lb/87.5 kg

Finish weight = 13 stone 3 lb/83.8 kg

Well it's been a pretty unimaginative week in terms of food choices as you see with quite a bit of bacon (questionable paleo meat that I don't usually eat at all!) and probably far too many eggs.  However, it's had the result I was looking for and, finally, I'm off the 2 month plateau.  My blood sugars this week have been recording between 4 & 5 which is pretty low (that's good).

*** This week I had ***

Wednesday 5th March

• Breakfast - mushrooms, 2 rashers bacon, 1 egg.
• Lunch - Salad (2 spring onions, 2 eggs, 1/2 tin of tuna, handful of spinach)
• This was the first day of action, planned for the evening so finished what was left of my green smoothie (1 banana, several leaves of spring green cabbage, 1/2 mango)
• Evening meal - Absolutely huge piece of steak and palm sized serving of cabbage.

Thursday 6th March

Well what do you know this morning weighed 13 stone 6 lb.  Last night I had to retire early from a migraine and this is still lingering (?? ketosis).  I'm going to work on my fluid intake today which I often forget to keep up.

• Breakfast -   2 rashers bacon, 3 large mushrooms and 1 egg.
• Lunch -  Salad (2 spring onions, 2 eggs, 1/2 tin of tuna, handful of spinach, olive oil and lemon).
• Evening meal - liver and bacon, cabbage (palm sized portion).

Still have a headache and very tired all day.

Friday 7th March

• Breakfast cooked 1 egg omelet cooked in tsp coconut oil.
• Handful of cabbage  between lunch and dinner had 5 small lamb chops!!
• Scrounged half a segment of orange.

Feel exhausted from 3 day headache.

Saturday 8th March

Have woken feeling totally unrefreshed.  The headache is gone.

• Breakfast - handful of mushrooms, 2 egg omelet (+ half left over roasted onion which I guess could be a little sugary).
• Roast lamb and a handful of cabbage.
• Evening meal - Egg custard (3 eggs, agave, nutmeg and cream. Of course I don't usually eat dairy, bit more Atkins than paleo, plus I wasn't planning on anything sweetened).

I usually have a clear complexion and I've had a outbreak of spots under my chin and a painful one on my leg.  I know this can happen with a detox but I didn't think of this week as a detox.

Sunday 9th March

• Breakfast - the egg custard was lovely last night so had the same thing for breaky
• Lunch - Left over roast lamb & six brussel sprouts.
• Evening meal - Couple of slices of roast chicken, spring greens & brussel sprouts.

Monday 10th March

am weighed 13 stone 4 1/2 pounds

• Breakfast - mushrooms, 2 eggs, 2 rashers of bacon.
• Lunch - chicken wrapped in spinach leaves.
• Evening meal - More chicken on a plate of cabbage.  Mmmm

Spots disappeared as mysteriously as they appeared.

Tuesday 11th March

• Breakfast - mushrooms, 2 eggs, 2 rashers of bacon
• Lunch - Chicken (yes again) wrapped in spinach leaves.
• Evening meal 2 small lamb chops and loads of cabbage.

Wednesday 12th March

• Breakfast - None
• Lunch - 2 chicken drumsticks
• Evening meal - will be lamb & green vegetable.

I'm going to conclude the week with a piece of fruit.  Mmmmm, can't wait to devour an orange.

two days

Just keeping track

Tuesday

• Breakfast - Omelet cooked with Argon oil
• Lunch - 1/2 baked squash
• Evening meal - small Pork chop, carrots, cabbage,  small roast parsnip, broccoli
• nibbles - 21 hazelnuts + 3 dates (supplies almost gone)

Wednesday

• Breakfast- Omelet, 2 eggs, cooked in coconut oil
• Americano with a homemade banana/spelt flour muffin - Yes, a weak moment for a colleagues baking.
• Lunch - apple, banana
• Snack - banana (again)
• Evening meal -2 pieces roast chicken, roasted root vegetables (onion, carrot, parsnip) broccoli, garlic, 1/4 baked butternut squash,
• 1/2 small mango

Who's whispering in my ear?

On Friday night I went shopping hungry and wandered off down the sweet isle.  I ended up coming away with a 100 gm chocolate bar, although with the intention to share.  I gave away two squares and then on Saturday hid away the empty wrapper of the entire bar!

It must be a sign of the double sided personality of the Gemini I am. I'm fine as long as I don't start but once I get started but - me- the person who's writing this story isn't the same person who demolished that bar.  

Over the last couple of days I've been reflecting about why these events should happen, although they do happen less.  What it brings to mind is more that it's to do with an addiction problem that belies the weight problem.

With this in mind, have you ever been on a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD)?  I started one a couple of years ago and lost an almost unbelievable amount of weight (35 lb within 4 weeks)!!! As you can imagine I was completely high with exitement of the weightloss.  However, please don't rush off and go on a VLCD as one things for sure this *isn't* a recommendation! 

My experience was that, in addition to the prohibitively high cost of this diet, every bit of the weightloss was gained back when I took a seasonal break from the regime. 

If you haven't heard of a VLCD it consists of a soup and milkshake powders but absolutely nothing else except water is allowed (and at last 4 litres a day to stay safe on this diet).  The lack of carbohydrates then sends your body into ketosis. This is what promotes weight loss and the burning of fat. Be warned, this type of diet can be a strain on your kidneys and liver.

For me, the first few days on the diet caused migraine and sickness but you have to go through this pain as you move into ketosis.  It was also the sole reason I couldn't' get back on to the plan, the second time round going into ketosis left me so totally debilitated to the extent that I was in bed sick for two days. Alongside the regime was (hmmmm) CBT therapy.  I say this because, for the price, it was just someone who had a franchised into the scheme and by no means a professional counsellor.

OK, so now I've had a little moan about one of my failed diets I give credit to something that I did take away from this diet -- finally starting to acknowledge the concept that my weight problem could be due to a kind of addiction problem.

Eating is afterall essential to life, but unlike other vices you can't completely stop eating - you have to learn to manage a healthy eating regime into your life.  The underlying principle of the VLCD was that you simplify choice and take a break from your 'normal' eating regime.  Therefore, reducing the range of food takes away the responsibility of making choices; initially simplifying your diet  and rebuilding it alongside lifestyle.

Overall I think this is why I've so embraced this paleo lifestyle, as at the end of the day my diet is no longer a juggling act.  What I haven't really decided is whether it's down to me having some sort of addictive personality or whether something in the food itself was driving the bad habits. 

*** TODAY I HAD ****

• Breakfast: 1 Egg omlette
• Snack: 1 apple, 1 clementine
• Lunch: Didn't really eat lunch but through the afternoon had about 2 handfuls of my sweet nuts + 1 date.
• Evening: Roast lamb with carrots and brocoli                  

As it was my day off I also had a long brisk walk along the seafront.  Stretches and attempted some press-ups.  I can't do these yet but I've set them as a goal - they're something I've never been able to do before even when I was at a healthy weight.

Paleo the veggie way

I was rather disorganized and unprepared with my food today, I ended up being trapped at work with no food and empty vending machines (thank goodness). 

• Breakfast was a clementine.
• Nothing at lunch.  I meant to grab an apple on the way out apple but forgot (slap wrists).  I arrived home at 6pm with a banging headache.  But, instead of reaching out for Ibuprofen I had a handful of almonds and the headache abated within 15 minutes.
• Dinner was half a baked butternut squash - mashed with a dash of argon oil, caramelized onion, 1/2 tsp cumin and 1/2 tsp coriander served with peas.
• 1/2 an apple.
• A handful of sweet roasted nuts (recipe described below adapted from www.paleofood.com).

I made a batch of sweet roasted nuts to snack on over over the rest of the week and hopefully break the date habit.  I'm not really a measurement cook so roughly 4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon mace, 1/2 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger.  Whisk 2 egg whites, 2 tbsp honey.  Mix together and then add mixed nuts.  Use enough nuts to be well coated but use up the mixture.  Bake until crisp.

As you see from the peas and onion again today the cupboards are bare.  Hopefully tomorrow meat will be back on the menu.

1st day of keeping paelo food diary

To keep myself accountable to myself and my little blog I've decided to recall and start recording what I may eat in a day.  Anything I know not to be paleo I'll highlight in red but feel free to point out anything that I may not have noted or adaptions I could make.

So, today I had:

• For breakfast omlette made with 2 eggs, with peas and 1/4 of a small onion caramelized in a little coconut oil.
• I was at work today so no lunch but a handful of pecan nuts.
• In the evening I had salad with baby leaf lettuce, cucumber and a tomato salsa salad (tomato, spring oinion and tons of fresh coriander).  Dressed with a red pepper pate (blended 1 red pepper, 1 clove garlic, pumpkin seeds, 1 tbsp cold pressed olive oil and pepper).
• Snacked in the evening on 3 dates and more pecans probably another handful (I have small hands).

Basically a veggie paleo day and the following is NOW very unusual as I finished the day with a 100 gm chocolate bar!!!!  Nooooooooo...

Dear blog - I'm working again tomorrow so I'll have to revisit this then.