Going primal was an eye opening experience. I had to give up eating all grains and beans to make it work. The easy part was eating meat. It's very convenient to cook up a bird and eat it for the rest of the week. The hard part was adjusting to hunger timing. At first I thought I was giving up a great source of energy by giving up bread, but after I got through the initial week, I realized that the bread was using more energy than it was giving. Bread is filling, and by using it as a staple, I measure hunger by how full my stomach is. When I cut bread out of the diet equation, I had to use my energy level to determine my hunger. The body processes meat, vegetables, and fruit much faster than grains and beans. Also, when I eat primal, I can access the energy from food more readily.
When the Primal Blueprint worked for me, I thought that meant that vegetarian/vegan was not the answer. Lately, I have been reading some about the raw food diet (since Steve Pavlina keeps talking about it on google+). The parts I like about primal eating are also the strengths of the raw food diet: no grains and no beans--just lots of fruit and vegetables. The thing that really intrigues me about the raw food diet is how it provides constant energy. Ultimately, the holy grail I am searching for is a more steady energy flow that doesn't interfere with my ability work and live.
The down side to eating primal is I need lots of sleep. Naps just don't cut it. When I sleep, I'm out like a light for hours on end. This would be fine if I could keep my energy and attention up all day, but after lunch, I get extremely tired. While I may be awake, my attention span is shot. I have been thinking lately about trying polyphasic sleep again since spring is here. Polyphasic sleep is an excellent way to stretch out a season. I tried polyphasic sleep last fall, but I had problems with dehydration which is exacerbated by the cold of winter. One of the benefits of the raw food diet is that it would allow me to not need as much sleep. In fact when reading about Pavlina's success with polyphasic sleep, he attributed a big chunk of sustainable energy to eating raw.
I realize that going raw means giving up meat and essentially becoming vegan, but I really can't put much stock in the vegan opposition until I've tried raw for myself. I have talked about raising chickens and rabbits for food in previous posts, but I haven't invested in livestock yet. So it seems there's no time like the present to try going meatless. I can still get a garden rabbit to help improve my garden's soil. I think the raw food diet is worth a shot because organic, ethically raised meat is extremely expensive, whether I raise it myself or buy it from someone else.
Showing posts with label primal blueprint. Show all posts
Showing posts with label primal blueprint. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Every Goal is Daily
It doesn't matter how many times you have done something good. Doing the right thing today is a conscious choice. Making the same choice day after day is not always easy. A choice becomes routine, then it becomes a part of life. If something comes along later that makes you question why you do something a certain way, will you still remember the answer? A lot of what people do on a regular basis is habit, either to build toward a goal or to pass the time. Part of reaching a goal is remembering why that goal is necessary. If you were trying to lose weight and became malnourished, then you would have to stop adjust your plans.
Sometimes while working to attain a goal, interruptions occur and throw us off track of sensible reasoning. What seems feasible one minute may seem completely impossible the next due to some tiny detail that sticks out. Often I have to reevaluate what I really want as I work toward a goal. Working on improving my safety becomes irrelevant when it involves staying home and never doing anything exciting. Maintaining a budget seems irrelevant when I can't pay off my debt. I've created so many budgets in the past and given up on them because I wasn't making enough to cover my expenses let alone support my own creativity. Watching my finances slip further into the red was not a fun thing to do, but attempting to manage them was still good practice. Sometimes goals have the right idea behind them, but they aren't the right tool at the right time for creating the solution. For example, all my budgeting was not going to pay off my student loan debt, but going back to college and finishing my degree has put me in a position that makes freedom from debt possible. I made school harder than it had to be by focusing on the debt instead of what I really wanted. Getting out of debt is not a goal, it's a side effect.
This year, my goal is to grow food in my yard that I can eat. I started planning this goal last year, and since then I have added on other mini-goals as bonuses. I started following the Primal Blueprint which influences my food choices and stamina, encouraging the possibility and desire to garden. Every time I do something that puts me noticeably closer to my goal, I get a new wave of excitement and energy to fuel me forward.
Then there are times when my faith in the goal completion waivers. My mental and physical energy lull and motivation seems rather pointless. It is during these times that I have to remember what makes me happy. I stop to analyze the routines in my life and look for the fun and the fulfillment in them. I look back on what feels like tedium in repetitive actions and paint those memories in a good light for activities that have been rewarding and a dim light for those that were just time sinks. By strengthening the perception of helpful occupations and intentionally forgetting useless pastimes, I can engineer my reflexes to react differently next time these opportunities come up. This method has helped me to spend less time on computer gaming and more time on real successes.
If the monotony of repeating so much every day doesn't seem worth it to achieve a goal, try Polyphasic sleep and you will feel like you are only repeating daily activities once a week.
If the monotony of repeating so much every day doesn't seem worth it to achieve a goal, try Polyphasic sleep and you will feel like you are only repeating daily activities once a week.
Busy Weekend
I've finished my 30 day trial of Primal Blueprint. I am very happy with this plan. It's one I'll be keeping for the long haul. Speaking of long hauls, I bought a bicycle this weekend! My fanny hurts from riding it, but that's not enough deterrent to keep me from riding it. I rode a bike all the time when I was a kid, but when I outgrew my back pedal braking bike, I could not tolerate the atrocious squeal caused by the rim brakes or the gears that jammed every time I shifted them. My new bike is totally awesome: disc brakes and gears that change easily with the push of a button. I have to accept the loss one of my favorite past times from my old bike which was to slam on the brakes and see how long of a skid mark on the road I could make with the tire. I can live without that and other silly stunts because now I can explore more of the river trail. Weee!!!! I'm so excited!
I will still be jogging since I still have to walk my dog. Despite my exhilaration from having a new exercise vehicle, I cannot neglect my dog because he will drive me insane if I don't take him out at least once a day. I have all my heavy lifting cut out for me with the bike. Loading it onto the car and back off is not terribly difficult, but the bike is not exactly light as a feather. The real problem is finding a parking spot at the pedestrian bridges by the river. I find it strange that bikers will park their car on the bike trail when they could just as easily park at the lot half a mile down the road. I can take the extra mile on foot, yet those with wheels refuse. More parking for me, I guess.
I will still be jogging since I still have to walk my dog. Despite my exhilaration from having a new exercise vehicle, I cannot neglect my dog because he will drive me insane if I don't take him out at least once a day. I have all my heavy lifting cut out for me with the bike. Loading it onto the car and back off is not terribly difficult, but the bike is not exactly light as a feather. The real problem is finding a parking spot at the pedestrian bridges by the river. I find it strange that bikers will park their car on the bike trail when they could just as easily park at the lot half a mile down the road. I can take the extra mile on foot, yet those with wheels refuse. More parking for me, I guess.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Food Snob
Not only does following a diet plan require the ability to stand out from the crowd, it also requires the pride to rise above the crowd. That is how peer pressure is defeated. Now that I eat so differently from my peers at work, I find that I don't enjoy the free food that is offered any more. The truth is, I haven't been enjoying it for some time, it just took a while for my actions to catch up to my beliefs. Yesterday, I passed up free fresh pizza for a chicken salad. I even refused the delicious smelling mini apple pies. Usually when food is provided for me at work, I leave my homemade lunch for the next day. However, I was really looking forward to eating my salad, and last week's pizza temptation showed me that pizza is really not worth the taste. I was rewarded last night when I had a smooth jog around the neighborhood and rewarded again this morning when I woke with plenty of energy.
By snob, I mean that I'm not afraid to turn down free gifts of food. I don't discourage other people at work from eating pizza and cookies. I don't have to. My enjoyment caused from eating healthy food speaks for itself. If you are trying something different in your life, just remember: people who ridicule you are only jealous that they either don't have the willpower to change or that they didn't think of it first! You can encourage them by showing that true enjoyment is worth a little extra work.
By snob, I mean that I'm not afraid to turn down free gifts of food. I don't discourage other people at work from eating pizza and cookies. I don't have to. My enjoyment caused from eating healthy food speaks for itself. If you are trying something different in your life, just remember: people who ridicule you are only jealous that they either don't have the willpower to change or that they didn't think of it first! You can encourage them by showing that true enjoyment is worth a little extra work.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Pizza invasion
Much as I had a problem giving up ice cream, I am having some trouble giving up pizza. Not only did I buy a frozen pizza on my last grocery trip, I also cooked it that day. I ate half of it Sunday for lunch, and have been eating the remaining slices throughout the week. Once it's cooked, it becomes a convenience food. Convenience foods have a way of convincing me not to cook something more healthy.
I strive to give the Primal Blueprint a fair try, but I could be failing worse than eating high gluten pizza. I rationalized the bread component by blaming my exercise. I have been increasing my jogging time this week. I can now run most of the path around my neighborhood without feeling like I'm on a death march. I'm still walking on the really steep hills because slopes are tricky on my joints. Each day I go out to jog, I find it easier to start up running again after a pause. Last year, running was an all or nothing activity. I would jog until I was worn out, then I would have to calm down significantly to be able to jog again. Now I use a different approach. I jog until I feel it crosses the line between leisurely stroll and chronic cardio. At that point, I slow down to a walk. This keeps my stress level down, and I find that by staying calm, I can actually run farther simply because I worry less about running out of fuel.
There is a good thing that came from my pizza detour: I find that pizza is no longer helpful compared to my meat and plant focused meals. Bread digests very slowly. I spent the first two weeks on my Primal Blueprint trial feeling hungry all the time. When I filled up on pizza, I found that I couldn't eat dinner later because I was still full. Essentially, I find bread to behave like Dexatrim: all filler, no fuel. When I fill my plate with vegetables and meat, I am getting a lot of nutrients. When I load up on bread, I feel like I'm eating empty calories. It may keep me alive, but it's not helping me grow more healthy.
It's far easier to give something up after seeing the downside. Pizza's downside is the enormous amount of bread it contains. That doesn't mean I have to give up pizza forever. When I went vegan for a week, I made a pizza from scratch that had whole wheat crust and soy cheese. I found a recipe for pizza crust that uses ground cauliflower, eggs, and cheese. I will have to try this sometime because I love pizza. I love the idea of pizza. It's a food that can contain everything you need in one dish and still tastes amazing.
I strive to give the Primal Blueprint a fair try, but I could be failing worse than eating high gluten pizza. I rationalized the bread component by blaming my exercise. I have been increasing my jogging time this week. I can now run most of the path around my neighborhood without feeling like I'm on a death march. I'm still walking on the really steep hills because slopes are tricky on my joints. Each day I go out to jog, I find it easier to start up running again after a pause. Last year, running was an all or nothing activity. I would jog until I was worn out, then I would have to calm down significantly to be able to jog again. Now I use a different approach. I jog until I feel it crosses the line between leisurely stroll and chronic cardio. At that point, I slow down to a walk. This keeps my stress level down, and I find that by staying calm, I can actually run farther simply because I worry less about running out of fuel.
There is a good thing that came from my pizza detour: I find that pizza is no longer helpful compared to my meat and plant focused meals. Bread digests very slowly. I spent the first two weeks on my Primal Blueprint trial feeling hungry all the time. When I filled up on pizza, I found that I couldn't eat dinner later because I was still full. Essentially, I find bread to behave like Dexatrim: all filler, no fuel. When I fill my plate with vegetables and meat, I am getting a lot of nutrients. When I load up on bread, I feel like I'm eating empty calories. It may keep me alive, but it's not helping me grow more healthy.
It's far easier to give something up after seeing the downside. Pizza's downside is the enormous amount of bread it contains. That doesn't mean I have to give up pizza forever. When I went vegan for a week, I made a pizza from scratch that had whole wheat crust and soy cheese. I found a recipe for pizza crust that uses ground cauliflower, eggs, and cheese. I will have to try this sometime because I love pizza. I love the idea of pizza. It's a food that can contain everything you need in one dish and still tastes amazing.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Time is what you make it
Jogging proves to me that the Primal Blueprint is working. I actually have the energy to jog for long distances without completely wearing myself out. This energy is self-perpetuating. I spend time cooking, and in return, I have enough energy to do what I need to do quickly when I need to. The only sacrifice I have made so far is spend a little more money on food lately. I justify the extra expense by labeling this blueprint trial as my current project. Compared to what I was buying before this trial, it's really not much more since I had been getting very tired all the time and going out to eat more often. Taking the time to jog, cook, and perform hard labor on lawn care no longer feels like a sacrifice. Now it feels more like the parts of my day that make life more vibrant.
This extra energy has an effect on my work, too. I can concentrate much better than I used to. I can make faster decisions that don't feel like they are panic driven. I am happy to go to work now. I feel good when I am there because I know that I have good food to eat, and all my needs are met when I get there. I don't feel tired from working out too hard, nor do I feel agitated from not exercising at all.
Last year, at this time I was stressed out about finding a job. When I started working, I was tired all the time from learning a new job and getting used to the 9 to 5 schedule. Now I consider myself adjusted to the time requirements, and I have enough energy to do what I didn't have time to do last year: grow food at home. Today I will start my gardening project without the excuse of no time and no energy. Managing my nutrition has given me time, energy, and the will to use them wisely.
This extra energy has an effect on my work, too. I can concentrate much better than I used to. I can make faster decisions that don't feel like they are panic driven. I am happy to go to work now. I feel good when I am there because I know that I have good food to eat, and all my needs are met when I get there. I don't feel tired from working out too hard, nor do I feel agitated from not exercising at all.
Last year, at this time I was stressed out about finding a job. When I started working, I was tired all the time from learning a new job and getting used to the 9 to 5 schedule. Now I consider myself adjusted to the time requirements, and I have enough energy to do what I didn't have time to do last year: grow food at home. Today I will start my gardening project without the excuse of no time and no energy. Managing my nutrition has given me time, energy, and the will to use them wisely.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Primal Blueprint Week 2 Update
I think I can safely say I am fully adjusted to the primal eating plan. I still have to work on other components such as lifting heavy things and getting sunshine. I don't miss bread at all, or beans. Last night some coworkers were having pizza as I left work, but I was not tempted to steal a piece. In fact Monday, in a team meeting, I was surprised by the unanimous "No, bring fruit!" everyone shouted when the boss suggested bringing donuts for breakfast. That was my immediate reaction, but I did not expect to be joined in such an emphatic chorus of agreement. I feel lucky to work with such health-conscious people.
I will definitely be continuing the primal eating plan for a full 30 day trial. That would put the next milestone on January 27. The diet transition has been far easier than I had imagined, at least socially. I have no problem going out to eat with friends, and occasionally people get a little envious over my delicious salads. I don't eat this way for attention, but I am glad to share my results and recipes. The other day, I saw a chili burger on TV and found that modifying it to be primal was not difficult. I just took out the beans and bun and added lots of salad greens. Last week I ate a lot of slow cooked chicken for lunch and omelets for breakfast so one day for lunch I switched it up and had hard boiled eggs with my salad instead of chicken.
Whenever I explain to someone that I don't eat bread, I make the distinction that it is grains that I avoid, not carbs in general. This is not Atkins. This is not South Beach. This is Primal Blueprint.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Getting into the primal groove
I am finally starting to get a hang of this home cooking diet. My body wants food more than it wants to sit around and watch television. I don't feel like cooking and cleaning is as much of a chore because the reward is worth it. I feel compelled to cook. I don't have to force this action on myself as much as when I started.
My frugality has resurfaced as well, due to the massive amounts of lettuce I go through. It's no longer worthwhile to get the pre-washed, pre-cut salad greens any more. I stock up on raw, unprocessed ingredients. Washing and cutting don't seem like a time sink now that I enjoy my time spent cooking. I go to the grocery store more often because fresh veggies takes up a lot of space, but I eat a lot of them. Going through greens so fast is motivating me to push up my gardening plans by starting out with a cold frame, a mini greenhouse that will let me cultivate spinach, cabbage, and lots of other staples.
I was thinking about building a cold frame, but after comparing the price of materials and a prebuilt cold frame, I will go ahead and order one online. I really want to kick myself for not buying one when I saw it at the hardware store last summer. I convinced myself that since I was there to buy a not-so-cheap shed, that all other expenses could wait. Unfortunately, waiting caused me to lose out on a perfectly good deal. The cold frame I plan to order is a double wide, though, so the extra expense is more like I'm buying two at once.
My frugality has resurfaced as well, due to the massive amounts of lettuce I go through. It's no longer worthwhile to get the pre-washed, pre-cut salad greens any more. I stock up on raw, unprocessed ingredients. Washing and cutting don't seem like a time sink now that I enjoy my time spent cooking. I go to the grocery store more often because fresh veggies takes up a lot of space, but I eat a lot of them. Going through greens so fast is motivating me to push up my gardening plans by starting out with a cold frame, a mini greenhouse that will let me cultivate spinach, cabbage, and lots of other staples.
I was thinking about building a cold frame, but after comparing the price of materials and a prebuilt cold frame, I will go ahead and order one online. I really want to kick myself for not buying one when I saw it at the hardware store last summer. I convinced myself that since I was there to buy a not-so-cheap shed, that all other expenses could wait. Unfortunately, waiting caused me to lose out on a perfectly good deal. The cold frame I plan to order is a double wide, though, so the extra expense is more like I'm buying two at once.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Cooking is a hurdle
Cooking has to be the hardest part of transitioning to a new diet plan. Not because it's difficult to do, but because it is so time consuming. It takes real talent to fit cooking time into a busy schedule when you are trying to cook all your meals from scratch. This is true regardless of whether you are changing to any whole foods diet whether it is primal, vegetarian, vegan, or standard. I could go out to eat for every meal, but that is far more expensive than fixing everything at home and doesn't always save time. I could by prepackaged meals, but that would only increase my intake of preservatives which are abundant in any preprocessed food.
I love the food I cook. The effort I put into cooking makes every bite taste sublime. Occasionally, my appetite gets ahead of my food prep and I go hungry for a few hours while I find and prepare more food. I've heard that if you want to loose weight, you should buy groceries only when you are full. Weight is not my issue. I do better when I shop on an empty stomach sometimes. As I browse fresh produce and meat, new meal ideas start spinning in my head. I try to get a variety of fruit and vegetables throughout the week so I don't get bored of one flavor. I have chicken or eggs as the default meat option for most meals, but when I shop hungry, I can almost taste other meat options just by looking at it. I am often tempted to just buy a pizza for dinner, but I'm honestly trying to give the Primal Blueprint a fair test. I can delay pizza until I feel it would be nutritionally advantageous (i.e. indefinitely). The temporary nature of this primal trial is really helping me to stay focused on the changes I am trying to make.
I don't have much time for cooking in the morning when I make both my breakfast and lunch. This morning I did that and loaded the dishwasher, something I have been putting off for most of the week. I feel like one of those chefs on Chopped or Iron Chef when I start running around the kitchen throwing food in pans, washing dishes, chopping more food, steaming, sautéing, and generally playing with food. Today I figured out I have to really pack lettuce into a container to have enough to satisfy my appetite.
I don't make everything from scratch. I like prepackaged salad greens because it saves me time on food prep and it's prewashed. I also like salad dressing because making condiments from scratch is a level of cooking I have not reached yet. If I want my olives or mushrooms to be sliced, I buy them presliced just to save a few minutes of work. Sure I could save a bit by slicing them myself, but my willpower is more focused on diet changes right now than extreme frugality.
I love the food I cook. The effort I put into cooking makes every bite taste sublime. Occasionally, my appetite gets ahead of my food prep and I go hungry for a few hours while I find and prepare more food. I've heard that if you want to loose weight, you should buy groceries only when you are full. Weight is not my issue. I do better when I shop on an empty stomach sometimes. As I browse fresh produce and meat, new meal ideas start spinning in my head. I try to get a variety of fruit and vegetables throughout the week so I don't get bored of one flavor. I have chicken or eggs as the default meat option for most meals, but when I shop hungry, I can almost taste other meat options just by looking at it. I am often tempted to just buy a pizza for dinner, but I'm honestly trying to give the Primal Blueprint a fair test. I can delay pizza until I feel it would be nutritionally advantageous (i.e. indefinitely). The temporary nature of this primal trial is really helping me to stay focused on the changes I am trying to make.
I don't have much time for cooking in the morning when I make both my breakfast and lunch. This morning I did that and loaded the dishwasher, something I have been putting off for most of the week. I feel like one of those chefs on Chopped or Iron Chef when I start running around the kitchen throwing food in pans, washing dishes, chopping more food, steaming, sautéing, and generally playing with food. Today I figured out I have to really pack lettuce into a container to have enough to satisfy my appetite.
I don't make everything from scratch. I like prepackaged salad greens because it saves me time on food prep and it's prewashed. I also like salad dressing because making condiments from scratch is a level of cooking I have not reached yet. If I want my olives or mushrooms to be sliced, I buy them presliced just to save a few minutes of work. Sure I could save a bit by slicing them myself, but my willpower is more focused on diet changes right now than extreme frugality.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Primal Blueprint 1 Week Update
I've been doing my best to stay primal for a whole week now. It's only getting easier. I didn't exercise much this weekend so yesterday my nerves were shot. I went for a long walk last night and threw in a sprint for good measure. It felt really good.
Yesterday evening I had some Chinese take-out. I'm accustomed to smothering my entree with rice and filling my egg drop soup with those little fried crunchies (no idea what they are officially called, I just know they are grain based). Beef and broccoli was very delicious without the rice.
My mind is starting to catch up with the trend of not filling up on grains. The hardest thing to get used to in this transition is how fast I get hungry after feeling so full. There's not really a hard and fast rule with the Primal Blueprint about how much food is right for you. You just listen to your body. What is nice about eating so much meat and vegetables is that by the time I am full, I have no worries about getting enough nutrition. I learned from my trial run as a vegan that filling up on bread is a terrible thing to do, so cutting out bread feels like a healthy choice.
I had a pizza last weekend. It was my emergency food stash if I ran out of groceries before the week ended. The pizza nearly evaporated I ate it so fast (it was not that big to begin with). However, after the pizza was gone, I did not feel satisfied. I could have eaten more pizza if there was any. It reminds me of when I used to be hooked on cookie dough ice cream. I would eat so much of the vanilla ice cream just so that I could get to the delicious cookie bits. I didn't even want the ice cream, I just wanted the cookie dough. Primal eating feels like I'm cutting out the filler so that I can get to the good stuff - meat and veggies.
I realize that grains have a purpose in providing energy when you're burning a lot of calories. If I were to go camping, I would bring along plenty of oats because that's one grain that feels healthy no matter how you fix it. However, in my every day, mostly sedentary life, I can afford to cut out grains since I get enough calories from the nutrient dense array of meat, veggies, and fruit available to me.
I look forward to the second week of my primal trial.
Yesterday evening I had some Chinese take-out. I'm accustomed to smothering my entree with rice and filling my egg drop soup with those little fried crunchies (no idea what they are officially called, I just know they are grain based). Beef and broccoli was very delicious without the rice.
My mind is starting to catch up with the trend of not filling up on grains. The hardest thing to get used to in this transition is how fast I get hungry after feeling so full. There's not really a hard and fast rule with the Primal Blueprint about how much food is right for you. You just listen to your body. What is nice about eating so much meat and vegetables is that by the time I am full, I have no worries about getting enough nutrition. I learned from my trial run as a vegan that filling up on bread is a terrible thing to do, so cutting out bread feels like a healthy choice.
I had a pizza last weekend. It was my emergency food stash if I ran out of groceries before the week ended. The pizza nearly evaporated I ate it so fast (it was not that big to begin with). However, after the pizza was gone, I did not feel satisfied. I could have eaten more pizza if there was any. It reminds me of when I used to be hooked on cookie dough ice cream. I would eat so much of the vanilla ice cream just so that I could get to the delicious cookie bits. I didn't even want the ice cream, I just wanted the cookie dough. Primal eating feels like I'm cutting out the filler so that I can get to the good stuff - meat and veggies.
I realize that grains have a purpose in providing energy when you're burning a lot of calories. If I were to go camping, I would bring along plenty of oats because that's one grain that feels healthy no matter how you fix it. However, in my every day, mostly sedentary life, I can afford to cut out grains since I get enough calories from the nutrient dense array of meat, veggies, and fruit available to me.
I look forward to the second week of my primal trial.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Dining Out Primal Style
Friday night I ate at an Italian restaurant called Izzy's . I was wondering if I could hold up the primal eating plan. When I think of Italian food, I think of pasta and endless refills of bread loaves. Then I remembered salads. I don't eat salads often, but I found a delightful one at Izzy's, a salmon Nicoise salad: salmon, hard boiled egg, tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives, lettuce, and a tasty vinaigrette.
Saturday night I ate at the Tex-Mex restaurant On the Border. It was hard to watch my friends eat the chips and salsa and not have some. I just had to remind myself that the entrees are filling enough so resist snacking on corn chips. Corn is a grain, which is not part of the primal plan. Every entree had rice, beans or both. I ordered something off the health-conscious menu which had chicken, salsa, sauteed squash and peppers, and rice. I ate the chicken and veggies and skipped over the rice. There was so much black pepper on it that I could barely taste any of it. All in all, it was filling and a decent fit for primal eating.
I went to a friend's house after dinner and had some fudge. They brought some of that fudge to a party we had last Monday and I ate at least seven pieces. Last night I nibbled on one piece and made it last over an hour. I needed the fudge to stay awake until midnight because I usually sleep much earlier.
My year ended with a lot of dining out, but I was able to easily stick to the primal eating plan very easily. Exercise was a different matter--I ended the year as a couch potato. I never said it would be an overnight change! The food plan is enough of a change for now, and I like the energy it brings. The only time I get really, really tired is around the time I normally go to sleep anyway, and I only have trouble waking up at my usual early time when I've stayed up later than usual.
Saturday night I ate at the Tex-Mex restaurant On the Border. It was hard to watch my friends eat the chips and salsa and not have some. I just had to remind myself that the entrees are filling enough so resist snacking on corn chips. Corn is a grain, which is not part of the primal plan. Every entree had rice, beans or both. I ordered something off the health-conscious menu which had chicken, salsa, sauteed squash and peppers, and rice. I ate the chicken and veggies and skipped over the rice. There was so much black pepper on it that I could barely taste any of it. All in all, it was filling and a decent fit for primal eating.
I went to a friend's house after dinner and had some fudge. They brought some of that fudge to a party we had last Monday and I ate at least seven pieces. Last night I nibbled on one piece and made it last over an hour. I needed the fudge to stay awake until midnight because I usually sleep much earlier.
My year ended with a lot of dining out, but I was able to easily stick to the primal eating plan very easily. Exercise was a different matter--I ended the year as a couch potato. I never said it would be an overnight change! The food plan is enough of a change for now, and I like the energy it brings. The only time I get really, really tired is around the time I normally go to sleep anyway, and I only have trouble waking up at my usual early time when I've stayed up later than usual.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Primal Blueprint Days 2 and 3
I stopped eating grains a few days ago, and one thing I can say with certainty is that I feel hungry a lot. That does not make me feel weak, however, as it would if I were eating bread all the time. Normally, when I am hungry, I feel like the only choice left is the sleep since my brain feels so completely drained of energy. When I got hungry before, my stomach wouldn't bother me. If I didn't follow a schedule to eat, I could go hungry and not feel a thing until I was miserable with headaches. Then I would stop and remember that I had nothing to eat in a while.
For the past few days, I have eaten meat, vegetables, fruit, and dairy. When my stomach empties, I know it right away, and I have to drop what I'm doing to find some food. I also fill up faster, though, because I eat a lot of meat and plenty of cheese with the plethora of veggies I consume. Being full doesn't rob me of energy now. When I would eat cereal, bread, or pasta, I would get very tired afterward and creative thinking was off the table. When I don't eat grains, I don't feel the blood rushing out of my head and into my abdomen. There are still times when I feel tired, but my energy is more accessible than it used to be. Mark Sisson talks about insulin a lot in the Primal Blueprint. Eating too much grain can cause an insulin spike and crash which just becomes a cycle when grains are treated as the staple of every meal. It's only been 3 days, and I am already experiencing what it is like to not be a part of that cycle. Now, when I need energy I have it. When I want to rest, I feel calm. I don't feel like my energy cycle is controlling me like a bus schedule. My energy is more like a bicycle now and I can get moving when I need to instead of waiting for the next energy spike.
I'm also in a good mood more of the time. There's something about having readily accessible energy that can lift the spirits of a person.
For the past few days, I have eaten meat, vegetables, fruit, and dairy. When my stomach empties, I know it right away, and I have to drop what I'm doing to find some food. I also fill up faster, though, because I eat a lot of meat and plenty of cheese with the plethora of veggies I consume. Being full doesn't rob me of energy now. When I would eat cereal, bread, or pasta, I would get very tired afterward and creative thinking was off the table. When I don't eat grains, I don't feel the blood rushing out of my head and into my abdomen. There are still times when I feel tired, but my energy is more accessible than it used to be. Mark Sisson talks about insulin a lot in the Primal Blueprint. Eating too much grain can cause an insulin spike and crash which just becomes a cycle when grains are treated as the staple of every meal. It's only been 3 days, and I am already experiencing what it is like to not be a part of that cycle. Now, when I need energy I have it. When I want to rest, I feel calm. I don't feel like my energy cycle is controlling me like a bus schedule. My energy is more like a bicycle now and I can get moving when I need to instead of waiting for the next energy spike.
I'm also in a good mood more of the time. There's something about having readily accessible energy that can lift the spirits of a person.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Primal Day 1 Recap
Reviewing my activities yesterday, I say I followed half of the Primal Blueprint laws.
1. Eat lots of plants and animals
2. Avoid poisonous things
6. Get adequate sleep
9. Avoid stupid mistakes
10. Use your brain
The diet part is most of the challenge for now. The others were pretty easy. Recently I've been playing the Star Wars MMO which would be a challenge for law #6 except that I lost my attention span for the MMO formula when I played Warcraft. Sure it's a new story and the profession mechanics differ, but the combat is essentially the same: find items, kill things, and balance your group with the proper mix of class roles if you want to complete the hard content. This game still leads you down a predetermined path, although it tries its heart out to make you think you have a hand in the storyline by giving conversational choices. I've written about choice before and how it can be arranged so that the choice you think you are making is really not a choice at all. In the case of the Star Wars MMO, my perception of truth leaves with only the choice to stop playing because this is a road of distraction I've been down before, and I know it leads to a dead end and lack of sleep.
These laws I did follow, but they could use some real work.
3. Move frequently at a slow pace
4. Lift heavy things
7. Play
I don't walk enough at work. I sit at a desk and work with a computer. There's no denying how sedentary that is. I do walk around some, but only short distances. I went shopping so I got a bit of extra walking there. When I got home yesterday, I decided not to walk my dog, but later I changed my mind. I felt tired, but it was more mental fatigue than physical so walking was more fun than sitting down playing computer games. Walking my dog felt more like play than exercise. It's his favorite thing to do. I'm just glad that I'm well enough to walk him on a regular basis again.
Then the laws I did not follow:
5. Sprint once in a while
8. Get adequate sunshine
I have not done much running since fall when I used my running app at the river trail. I have plans to return to jogging soon, and at that point I may throw in a few sprints. As for sunshine, I work in an office all day. The only sunshine I get is when I drive to work in the morning, and that light is filtered through my car windows. Lack of sunshine is my biggest irk about winter. I almost wish I could switch to a night shift at work just so I could have some sunshine hours to spend in my yard.
I plan to keep up with law #1 for at least 2 weeks. At that point, if I'm still doing well, I will continue for a full 30 days. I'm mostly doing this to increase my energy. If that is what I have at then end of 30 days, then I will commit longer.
1. Eat lots of plants and animals
2. Avoid poisonous things
6. Get adequate sleep
9. Avoid stupid mistakes
10. Use your brain
The diet part is most of the challenge for now. The others were pretty easy. Recently I've been playing the Star Wars MMO which would be a challenge for law #6 except that I lost my attention span for the MMO formula when I played Warcraft. Sure it's a new story and the profession mechanics differ, but the combat is essentially the same: find items, kill things, and balance your group with the proper mix of class roles if you want to complete the hard content. This game still leads you down a predetermined path, although it tries its heart out to make you think you have a hand in the storyline by giving conversational choices. I've written about choice before and how it can be arranged so that the choice you think you are making is really not a choice at all. In the case of the Star Wars MMO, my perception of truth leaves with only the choice to stop playing because this is a road of distraction I've been down before, and I know it leads to a dead end and lack of sleep.
These laws I did follow, but they could use some real work.
3. Move frequently at a slow pace
4. Lift heavy things
7. Play
I don't walk enough at work. I sit at a desk and work with a computer. There's no denying how sedentary that is. I do walk around some, but only short distances. I went shopping so I got a bit of extra walking there. When I got home yesterday, I decided not to walk my dog, but later I changed my mind. I felt tired, but it was more mental fatigue than physical so walking was more fun than sitting down playing computer games. Walking my dog felt more like play than exercise. It's his favorite thing to do. I'm just glad that I'm well enough to walk him on a regular basis again.
Then the laws I did not follow:
5. Sprint once in a while
8. Get adequate sunshine
I have not done much running since fall when I used my running app at the river trail. I have plans to return to jogging soon, and at that point I may throw in a few sprints. As for sunshine, I work in an office all day. The only sunshine I get is when I drive to work in the morning, and that light is filtered through my car windows. Lack of sunshine is my biggest irk about winter. I almost wish I could switch to a night shift at work just so I could have some sunshine hours to spend in my yard.
I plan to keep up with law #1 for at least 2 weeks. At that point, if I'm still doing well, I will continue for a full 30 days. I'm mostly doing this to increase my energy. If that is what I have at then end of 30 days, then I will commit longer.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Primal Blueprint Day 1
Today I start eating according to the Primal Blueprint. I cooked a giant turkey this weekend and still have plenty of meat leftover. That leaves me plenty of time to experiment with vegetable dishes. Last night I cooked cabbage for the first time. I've eaten cabbage before but most of the cabbage I've eaten has been in the occasional egg roll. I waited until the holidays were over to attempt this eating plan because communal meals with family and co-workers can make it very hard to stick to a plan as different as paleo diet. Grains and beans are extremely difficult to cut out of a diet. I've heard that the first two weeks will be the hardest. I plan on stuffing myself full of things I can eat, like meat, fruit, veggies, and delicious fat during this time so that I don't feel hungry. The body takes a while to adjust to getting energy from fat instead of carbohydrates.
I'm also breaking out the barefoot shoes for running again. Last year I participated in the Little Rock Women Run Arkansas clinic and 5k in Conway. This year I volunteered to be a group leader in the clinic. There's also the Little Rock Marathon to train for. I have no plans to train for the actual marathon this year, but they have replaced the relay with a 10k so that is my goal. I have the Couch to 10k app on my phone. Early this fall was running that program twice in a row three days a week along the river. I stopped when it got too dark to see other pedestrians on the trail and too creepy to walk to my car at the end of the run. The river trail is a real spoiler since there are not many hills (only one section forces an incline because it's a quick and dirty detour around construction). My neighborhood is very hilly, and when I run near home I take my dog which adds an additional challenge of having him dart in front of me occasionally. To train for running, I will start running and walking multiple laps around my neighborhood instead of just the one I usually walk.
I'm also breaking out the barefoot shoes for running again. Last year I participated in the Little Rock Women Run Arkansas clinic and 5k in Conway. This year I volunteered to be a group leader in the clinic. There's also the Little Rock Marathon to train for. I have no plans to train for the actual marathon this year, but they have replaced the relay with a 10k so that is my goal. I have the Couch to 10k app on my phone. Early this fall was running that program twice in a row three days a week along the river. I stopped when it got too dark to see other pedestrians on the trail and too creepy to walk to my car at the end of the run. The river trail is a real spoiler since there are not many hills (only one section forces an incline because it's a quick and dirty detour around construction). My neighborhood is very hilly, and when I run near home I take my dog which adds an additional challenge of having him dart in front of me occasionally. To train for running, I will start running and walking multiple laps around my neighborhood instead of just the one I usually walk.
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