Day 2: Chocolate cravings and berry binge

Quick post.  Yesterday was another success in my adherance to primal rules: I didn't cheat and I did exercise (slow pace).

I ate: Bacon and egg casserole with veggies, chicken and veggies, and then beef and pork chili (with veggies), berries, cheese and olives.

I drank: coffee, green tea and sparkling water.

I moved: by taking two walks with the three doggies (about 2x20min walks).

What is okay to do but I should NOT have: I had cream and a bit of raw sugar (Grok and I have a rule that we can do whatever we want to our coffee as our only vice), and binged at 10pm on shredded mozza cheese, berries and olives.  Meh, I don't really feel that guilty.

I suffered: massive chocolate cravings and sluggish energy and focus.

I reaffirmed rules for myself: (1) lay off the food after 8pm; (2) no more coffee after 12pm (exception - weekends).

Happy Friday!

Back to Day 1 - A butt-dragging success



Photo: Maggie Smith

 Yesterday, I did not want to be primal.  Well, I did and didn't.  I wanted to be primal, but I didn't want to live primally.

The first few days of getting back into a primal routine is always the hardest.  Your energy sucks, and you're craving your favourites.  When I got home from work, it took every ounce of my being not to open a bottle of red wine or shake myself a martini.  I'm going to admit that last week, I had a drink (or two…) every night.  Why?  I was in love with a bad routine, and I used the excuse of after-wedding slack. 

But yesterday, I made it through.  And I dragged my butt the whole day.  I ate veggies and eggs and bacon and beef and pork and nuts and more veggies.  What helped was that my sister had dinner ready on the stove (beef stew!) so my evening routine included an earlier-than-8pm workout.

Unfortunately, my workout sucked.  I just didn't want to do it.  I went downstairs to my gym and looked at my workout log (lifting): October 8th.  HOLY CRAP!  It had been a whole month and a half since I last lifted!  (Not that the date made me put any more into my workout since I still didn't wanna.) 

Here's what I did: 

• 10 minutes of sprints (5 x 20-30 seconds) on the elliptical
• 3x12 of squats at 30lbs on each dumbell (60lbs total)
• followed by 3x15 butt lifts (no weights). 

And then I quit.

I can't wait until my body is back to normal so I can actually enjoy a workout and do a lot more than I did.

But, at least it's a start.  Again.

I miss things. And then they hurt me.

Carlos Porto

It has been about two weeks that Grok and I have been trying to keep ourselves in ketosis.  What is ketosos?  It's means that we've been keeping our carb count pretty low at a weight-loss level as opposed to weight maintenance mode.  For the first couple days we were counting on our respective calculators (I have a Blackberry app that I use, and he uses LiveStrong). 

It's really hard to count absolutely everything all the time.  While eating primally, you don't normally need to count a thing but for ketosis you really should count what you're feeding yourself to make sure your efforts aren't going to waste.

...KEEP READING

Today's Feasts

Sual Nualpradid

Today was a very primal day, and it was all thanks to my wonderful Grok.  I love you honey!

My feasting was a little low in overall calorie count, but my proportion of fat-protein-carbs was optimal for ketosis.  I had three large meals yesterday so it took some time for hunger to set in.

I woke up to the wonderful scent of coffee and breakfast being prepared by Grok (actually, it was the sound of the fire alarm that woke me, but it's the thought that matters!).  On my morning menu was a 2-egg omelette, fried in coconut oil with mushrooms and onions, and a 1/2 of a top sirloin steak on the side.

After cleaning the house, I kindly asked Grok to assemble my elliptical machine that had been collecting dust since September.  The monster-sized clothes rack was missing a washer, so Grok and I decided to give assembly a whirl without the missing piece.

I had a 30-minute workout of light walking on an incline with resistance.  I was also very happy to find out that my little netbook fits perfectly on the holder so I can watch something entertaining as I walk miles in the same spot.  I don't know how people read and workout at the same time... I honestly think they just look at the pictures!

When I was finished, I had a pork back ribs and a spinach salad waiting for me. 

Besides the wonky almost-cold that my body is fighting, it was a GREAT, relaxing Sunday.  I only need the summer weather to hit for the day to be a perfect one.

Here's a breakdown of today's feasts:

Breakfast
3.5oz Beef top sirloin
1tbsp Coconut oil
2 large Eggs\
30g of Mushrooms
20g of Onions
Salt and pepper to taste

1.5 cups of Coffee
44g Coconut milk (with my coffee)

Dinner
200g of Pork back ribs
40g of Baby spinach
65g of Tomatoes
8g of Green onions
10g of Extra virgin olive oil
A squirt of lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Breakdown
Fat - 101.45g
Protein - 69.35g
Carbs - 10.63g
Calories - 1234
Workout - 218cals

This is NOT an average day.  I'd normally have three full meals (as breakfast would be earlier during the work week).  However, I'm very happy with this for a very relaxing day.