You Are What You Eat...

I've been following the Primal Blueprint for a bit under 4 months now, and I've had my ups and downs, as far as weight loss is concerned.  At last measurement, I had lost around 7kg, which isn't actually a bad effort over 4 months.  The thing is, I could easily have lost more, as there was a period during winter when I wasn't losing weight.  I actually put a kg or two back on.

I was thinking about why this happened the last few days, and it all comes down to food.  In The Definitive Guide to the Primal Eating Plan, Mark Sisson states that "80% of your body composition is determined by your diet".  So, it should really be no surprise that my weight loss slowed down when I stopped eating lots of veggies, in the form of salads, and switched to eating pumpkin soup and curries almost exclusively.  Initially we'd tried a few vegetable stir fries, which were great, but one thing and another made this difficult, so we stuck to the tried and tested soup and curry.

Now, neither the soup or the curry were particularly unhealthy, so why did I stop losing weight?  I dare say it was mostly a case of losing track of macronutrient ratios.  What the heck is a macronutrient?  Basically, we require three kinds of nutrients to survive, carbohydrates, fact and protein, and these are macronutrients.  A typical diet might consist of upwards of 40% carbohydrate and 40% protein, as fat has been getting a bad rap for so long.  Take a look around a typical supermarket shelf.  You'd be hard pressed to find one without some sort of low fat product.

However, according to the Primal Blueprint Eating Plan, for optimal health, you require 2 grams of protien per kg of lean body mass, and no more than 100 to 150g of carbohydrate.  If you're wanting to lose weight, then carbohydrates need to be kept under 100g.  So, what makes up the rest of the calories?  Fat, preferably saturated fat, or mono unsaturated fat.

It turns out, our bodies are really good at burning fat for energy, and not so good at using carbohydrates.  Too much leads to the excess being stored as fat.  Keep the carbs down, and your body begins to get its energy from fat, either from your diet, or stored body fat.

So, what does this have to do with my poor weight loss over winter?  I imagine that by cutting out most of my vegetable intake, and only eating starchier vegetables (like pumpkin and sweet potato), I unwittingly added too much carbohydrate back into my diet.

Fortunately, now that I'm aware of this, I can be prepared for next winter.  I'm already planning to have a good variety of winter veggies planted int he garden, so hopefully we'll be able to throw together a few more stir fries.  I've also recently taken delivery of The Primal Blueprint Cookbook, which should also give us plenty of ideas for winter meals.

Food for thought...

The last week has been an interesting one.  I've gone back to daily monitoring of my weight, with the proviso that I'm not interested in exact numbers, just that they are going down.  This has been working out fine for me.  I haven't been so worried if my weight has fluctuated, and  just watching a downward pointing line has been quite refreshing.

I did notice one unusual ting over the weekend, though.  My rather impressive weight loss line flattened out on Saturday morning.  Not exactly unexpected, given that I'd indulged in some non-primal food the day or so before.  The plateau continued through Monday, and by Tuesday I'd actually gained weight (not much, but still, that's just not right).

Now, as I said, the plateau on Saturday wasn't unexpected, due to more than a few pieces of bread eaten on Thursday and Friday, but I couldn't explain why it continued for so long, and indeed turned into weight gain.  I looked over what I ate over the weekend, and couldn't fault anything.  I'd been active, and so didn't think lack of exercise was to blame.

So, what was different over the weekend?  Well, I hadn't hadn't had any green tea at all.  I've taken to drinking green tea recently, in an attempt to increase my intake of anti-oxidants.  As it turns out, I started tapering off drinking green tea on Friday (thanks to messing up a cup by mistakenly adding milk, whoops...).  I also forgot to bring some more to work on Monday, and so was left with drinking black tea.

So, is it just a coincidence that my weight loss stopped while not drinking green tea, and started again when I went back to drinking it?  It almost seems too good to be true, but at this stage, that's what it looks like.  I think further experimentation is required.  Perhaps I'll try leaving off the green tea one day later in the week, and see what the weight loss does.

Primal Nachos

Yesterday I was perusing the Daily Apple Forums (Fora, er, whatever...), when I found a thread about people's preferred comfort foods.  Bacon and eggs were a common theme, along with dark chocolate.  One that caught my eye was "Cold Cut Nachos", which has simply cold meat, topped with cheese, and microwaved until the cheese melted.

Well, that got me thinking, because Nachos have long been a favourite, easy to make snack food of mine.  Of course, not eating grains means that corn chips are out of the question, so no Nachos for me any more.  Up until yesterday, I hadn't really been missing them, but the "cold cut nachos" got me thinking about a primal alternative.

So, what's a good primal alternative to corn chips?  Why not try some crispy fried bacon, I thought.  What else can I throw on top of the bacon besides cheese?  Well, there's always capsicum, avocado, tomato and chillies.  Oh, and why not throw in an egg for good measure, too?

So, the end result is Bacon Nachos, a nice easy to prepare meal, which is tasty and healthy to boot.  Tried them out last night, and they were magnificent.  Unfortunatley, I have no pictures of them, because we'd finished them before we realised that we forgot to take a picture.  Whoops, well, I guess there's always next time...

Here's how to make them:

Bacon Nachos:
Ingredients:
6 (or so) Rasher of Bacon (allow 2 or 3 rashers per person being fed)
1 Egg per person
2 Tomatoes (allow an extra tomato if feeding more than 4 people)
1 Avocado
1/2 Capsicum
Chillies to taste
Grated Cheese

- Pre-heat the oven to 180° C.
- Fry the bacon until it is just starting to go crispy, and place in a baking tray or casserole dish
- Chop the tomato, avocado, capsicum and chillies finely, mix together and place on top of the bacon
- Crack the eggs over the top of the tomato etc.
- Top with grated cheese
- Place in the oven, and bake until the cheese is golden brown.

Fitness, Fun and Sore Muscles

Wow, what a weekend.  It's been an eye opener for sure.  Yesterday started with complaining muscles, after Friday's Lift Heavy Things session.  Thankfully I've got the weekend to recover from that one.  It's quite surprising the number of different muscles that have made their presence felt this weekend, which makes me confident that the 5 Essential Movements workout is working out just about every bit of my body.

Yesterday was pretty much a rest day.  A short 45-50 minute walk in the morning, followed by some fishing in the afternoon.  Today, I wanted to experiment with something different.  I've invested in a Frisbee recently (Only I haven't, seeing as what I always called a Frisbee as a kid is actually a trade mark.  Apparently what I did in fact buy was a Flying Disc, which in no way, shape or form sounds as cool as a Frisbee...).  Today's exercise came in the form of throwing a Flying Disc (god, that sounds lame...) between myself and The Cat's Mother.

As it turns out, this was pretty much the best thing we could have done, as we were both looking forward to it, despite the continuing aches and pains.  Not only that, it was so much fun, that we didn't want to stop.  We'd spent 40 minutes happily throwing the Flying Thing, and it seemed like hardly any time at all.  The best thing is that we can't wait to do it again, as it's made exercising fun.

Primal Blueprint Fitness

Last week saw the release of the Primal Blueprint Fitness eBook.  Seeing as I had been seriously lacking in the fitness department, I made sure to download it.  The book expands upon the three basics of primal fitness, move frequently at a slow pace, lift heavy things and sprint once in a while.

I didn't jump in straight away, even though I was dying to.  I decided I would at the very least read the whole book first.  Fortunately, that didn't take long.  Even so, I still waited a bit longer, and went back over a few sections in detail first.

This week was the chosen week to begin the fitness plan.  Wednesday is my designated day 1 for the 7 day cycle, and it began with sprints.  Now, while I'd love to actually do some running sprints, common sense told me that it wouldn't be a good idea to go and bust out a few sprints with no build up.

Instead, I put my bike onto the trainer, and did some sprints on that.  I didn't go as hard as I possibly could, due to the alarming creaking noise the trainer started making as I started pedalling as fast as I could.  Looks like I might need to find an alternative sprint exercise.

Fortunately, this week I also signed up to the Mark's Daily Apple Forum.  I put the question to the forum members, as to what sort of low impact sprint-like workout I could do instead.  I got a number of suggestions back, which included walking/jogging up a hill, to simply just jogging as the sprint, and walking to recover.  Both of these ideas sound like a good way to ease into running, and definitely sound like a lot more fun that grinding away on the bike trainer.  Of course, once it becomes light enough of an evening to go riding, I'll be able to put in some sprints on the bike, as well.

Yesterday was spent taking it easy, as tonight was the first of the lift heavy things workouts.  The eBook outlines what are called the 5 essential movements, and a lift heavy things workout utilises all five of them. Now, I'd imagined that while I wasn't exactly fit, I could at least do a few pushups, and maybe a pull-up or two.

Well, I was in for a bit of a shock, as I couldn't do anywhere near as many pushups as I used to be able to, and I couldn't even manage a single pull-up.  Still, my squats were good, which is something.  I guess all the distance on the mountain bike has paid off.

Tonight's workout was something of an eye opener.  Having done the preliminary test to determine what level of exercise I should start at, I had a fairly optimistic view of how I would perform.  Suffice to say, I was rather humbled by my performance.  Still, I have to start somewhere, and I've definitely left room to improve.

Primal Fitness

Yesterday I jumped on Mark's Daily Apple, for my daily dose of all things Primal.  Rather than the usual post, I found that the post for yesterday was announcing the Primal Blueprint Fitness (PBF) eBook.  Intrigued, I checked it out.  One quick signup to Mark's newsletter later, I was happily downloading the book.

Currently I'm reading my way through it, but I'm happy to say that at long last, it looks like I've found a fitness plan which will be easy to follow.  The PBF builds on the three core ideas of the Primal lifestyle, Lots of moving at a slow pace, some lifting of heavy things and a bit of sprinting for good measure.  The one thing that I was very happy about was how easily I'm going to be able to fit the exercise plan into my lifestyle.

The suggested plan splits the different areas over 7 days.  One thing I was apprehensive about is how I'll be able to fit mountain bike racing into the scheme of things.  As it turns out, if I assume that the race takes the place of the sprint workout once the racing season resumes, then everything else just fits nicely around that.

Although I'd dearly like to, I'm not going to jump straight into the PBF workouts.  I'd like to give the whole book a read first, so that I can get a better idea of how everything will work.  At this stage, I'll be starting the workout plan in one weeks time, as that will give me time to learn more about the workouts involved.  It will also give me a chance to see how this will work in my increasingly busy schedule...

Healthy Pizza is not an Oxymoron...

This week's experiment has been making a Primal pizza.  After the success of the almond and flax meal bread, I've been looking out for other uses for Almond meal.  I found a recipe over at Mark's Daily Apple, submitted by Son of Grok, for a pizza base made from almond meal.

The recipe looked pretty simple to make, and didn't require any special ingredients, so I decided to give it a go.  Now, this was my first attempt at making a pizza from scratch, as I've always been a bit lazy, and normally would just use a pre-made pizza base from the supermarket.  Fortunately, this recipe is dead easy to make.

The actual pizza wasn't completely primal, as I cheated a bit, and used barbecue sauce, rather than tomato paste, but I figured that two or three spoonfuls of barbecue sauce wasn't going to be too bad for me.  Rather than simmering the sauce, I simply watered down the barbecue sauce until it was at a nice consistency, and then mixed in some Italian Herb mix.  Two or three dessert spoonfuls of the sauce covered the pizza quite well.

On top of the sauce I added a thin layer of cheese, followed by pepperoni (another non-primal ring-in that I couldn't resist), ham, crispy bacon, mushrooms capsicum and another thin layer of cheese.  I think that in future, to make the pizza truly primal, I'll stick to a tomato sauce, and leave of the pepperoni, but I'll have to add some chillies, and some other spices to the sauce to add some zing.

Having topped the pizza, it went back into the oven until the cheese started to brown nicely.  The end result looked fantastic, and smelled amazing.  The taste was as good as it looked and smelled.

The recipe is supposed to feed four, and I have to admit, I didn't think it would.  The plan was to have half of the pizza tonight, and save the other half for tomorrow's lunch.  Sadly, the pizza didn't survive tea tonight, so I was forced to make a second one for lunch tomorrow (it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it).

Bread Heaven

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've been struggling recently with cutting certain foods out of my diet.  The main one has been bread.  I don't know what it is, but it just doesn't seem right, not eating bread at all.

Early on, when we first started eating primal, we attempted to make a primal alternative, a carrot and walnut bread.  This attempt was not successful.  After that, I gave it up as a bad joke, and didn't bother again.

Maybe I should have persevered, because on the same page that I found the recipe for the walnut bread on, was a link to a gluten free bread recipe at Elana's Pantry.  Having decided that I really needed a good alternative to bread, I decided to give this recipe a go.  Finding some of the ingredients was interesting, after all, I'd never even heard of arrowroot powder and agave nectar.  Still, after a visit to the local health food store, I had all the ingredients, and I was ready to bake some bread.

The bread is very easy to make, certainly nowhere near as much hassle as the bread I'd made in high school cooking classes.  As it was cooking, the smell coming from the oven was just amazing.  Although I'd intended to have the bread for breakfast, I just couldn't resist trying some last night after it had cooled off.

As for the taste, I can't even begin to describe it.  It's got so much flavour, making ordinary bread seem rather bland and boring by comparison.  I tried toasting it under the grill this morning, which worked okay, but really, toasting it is unnecessary.  I can see this one being made regularly from now on...

Savoury Bacon, Onion and Tomato Pancakes

Two posts in one day, what is the world coming to?  Quite simply, I can't wait to post this recipe up.  First a bit of background, though.


I can't claim all the credit for this recipe.  It's originally based on the Savoury Vegetable Pancakes over at Joyful Abode.  My girlfriend and I made these for tea one night during the week, and absolutely fell in love with them.  We were talking about how we could use them, and the suggestion was made to have them with bacon for breakfast.  My girlfriend than suggested we could replace the carrot with bacon and onion, and I suggested some tomato as well.  Thus the Bacon, Onion and Tomato Pancakes were born.


I've just made our first batch, and they are simply amazing.  There are a few difference from the Joyful Abode recipe, namely the substitution of Almond Meal for Coconut Flour, simply because I've been unable to find anywhere that actually sells coconut meal.  Research on the 'Net indicated that when Coconut Flour is used, only 1/3 of the amount is required, because it absorbs a lot of moisture.


With that in mind, I've been experimenting with the amount of Almond meal required.  As a result, the amount in the recipe is necessarily vague, because I've been making it up as I go along.  Anyway, enough talking, here's the recipe:


Savoury Bacon, Onion and Tomato Pancakes

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

3 eggs

3 tablespoons of milk

1/2 - 2/3 cup almond meal

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

4 rashers of bacon

1 medium brown onion

2 shallots

2 tomatoes

Mix the oil, eggs, milk, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl.  Add the almond meal slowly and mix until a smooth batter is formed.  The batter will thicken slightly when it is left to stand.  Add more almond meal if the batter is too thin.

Chop the bacon into small pieces, and fry in a little coconut oil until it is crispy.  Transfer the bacon into the batter (but do not tip the coconut oil and bacon grease in).  Discard the bacon grease, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the frying pan.

Chop the onion, shallots and tomato, and fry them until the onion is golden brown.  Mix the onion and tomato into the batter.

Heat butter in a frying pan, and spoon lumps of batter into the pan, cooking for a minute or two on each side.

Here's a shot of the final product:

Staying Positive

It's amazing how much of an effect your state of mind plays in achieving goals.  I haven't been doing much posting lately, simply because I've not felt like it.  I haven't been able to achieve my next weight loss goal, and have simply been hovering around the same weight.  I've also been finding it extremely hard to eat properly, and I've found non-primal food sneaking into my diet once again.

So, it's time for a change of tactics.  I've decided to discontinue keeping track of my weight and body fat percentage.  I'll still keep an eye on things, via WiiFit, but I'll only be checking for weight loss, I won't be keeping tabs on my exact weight.  The theory is that it'll be one less thing to worry about, making it easier to stay on track.

I'm also going to be focussing more on all the great food I can eat, rather than the food I can't eat.  This last week has been something of an eye opener in that regard.  I'd been craving simple things like bread over the last couple of weeks, and it eventually became too much, so I decided to look for primal alternatives.

It's amazing the number of primal recipes out there on the Internet.  I've managed to find what I hope will be a good Primal bread, and my girlfriend has been finding the most amazing recipes as well.  This week we started to sample them, and it's simply amazing how good some of these recipes are.

As a result, I've decided that I need to blog more about what it is that we're eating.  This gives me a good excuse to try new recipes, so that I've got something new to write about.  Also, I hope it will mean that I'll not struggle with trying to eat the right things, as there will always be something new to try.

In hindsight, I think that's been part of my problem lately.  We found some nice recipes, and they became favourites.  Unfortunately, even the nicest meal will tend to lose its appeal when you're eating it for the third or fourth week in a row.  Here's to variety, the spice of life...

The Power of Fun...

The last 3 weeks or so haven't been the best for me.  I've been struggling with food, weight and motivation.  I've either not had time, or not had the inclination when I had time, to post here, and I've been struggling to keep to the Primal diet.  The trigger point was one afternoon at work, when I thought it would be okay to treat myself to a chocolate.

It's amazing how hard it was to stop doing that each day.  It also made it rather difficult to eat the right things elsewhere, and my weight has suffered as a result.  I've spent the last week or two hovering around 99kg, and not making any progress.  This is because of a combination of slack diet (too many small treats here and there really add up...), and just not exercising enough.

However, just this weekend, I've had a breakthrough.  I got a phone call from my parents last week, asking for help setting up my father's new toy.  It seems Dad had been introduced to the Wii console, and the WiiFit system while he was visiting some relatives, and he thought it would be a good thing for him and Mum to get.

So, Saturday night, we went to Mum & Dad's and set up the Wii.  Of course, we were obliged to have a go, just to make sure the thing worked, of course.  Well, blow me down if it wasn't the most fun I've had exercising, ever.  The Wii Sports games are a hoot, and it's surprising how quickly you can work up a sweat, especially playing the boxing.

Yesterday being a particularly poor day for weather, we decided another visit to the parents was in order.  This time we tried out the WiiFit program as well.  It's amazing how much of a workout you can get just doing fun games.  The best bit is that I've still managed to lose weight, despite eating, not to put too fine a point on it, utter crap this weekend (pizza, chips, pudding, the list goes on...)

So, now the challenge is on.  I've got two goals, keep up the progress using the WiiFit system at Mum and Dad's, and save up enough money to buy my own Wii, and a TV to connect it to...

It's the little things...

This last week has seen a worrying trend emerge, and then stop.  Early in the week I started to gain weight, instead of lose it.  It wasn't much, and only added up to about an extra kilo over the course of the week, but it was worrying anyway.

The cause of the weight gain, as far as I can tell, was simply the fact that I indulged in one chocolate bar at work each day.  I wouldn't have thought that one chocolate bar would have caused so much of a problem, but it did.  I think the problem was compounded by my lack of activity caused by the bad weather last week.

The worst part is that the effects of just one chocolate a day didn't stop at the weight gain.  I found that each day I was suffering from cravings, and was surprisingly lethargic.  What was meant to be a small indulgence on one day at work quickly turned into a vicious cycle.

Fortunately I was able to get back on track over the weekend, and I'm back to losing weight again.  Still, this was a very good reminder to me that even something as apparently harmless as a small indulgence can lead to problems.  It will be much easier for me in the future to stick to primal foods if I want any form of indulgence, maybe a small amount of dark chocolate would be a better idea.

Falling off the wagon?

I just realised that it's been nearly two weeks since I posted here.  Maybe not so much of a problem, if it was simply a case of not having anything to post, but I think the lack of posting is a symptom of a wider problem.  Over the last week I've noticed a few worrying trends.

I believe this all started around the time we stopped eating wholly Primal in an attempt to use up food that was cluttering the cupboard.  Since then I've noticed a few things, to start with, my appetite, which previously had been well behaved, was back with a vengeance. I'd got to the stage of being able to get through a whole day without excessive food cravings, but this last week, they've been back.

I've also let my standards slip, as far as my food choices go.  Twice in the last week I indulged in sweet snacks, which while the gave me a short term boost, really messed me around.  So, it's back to the drawing board.

I've also been very slack with monitoring my weight.  It's now been three days since I jumped on the scales.  I'm almost scared to look, in case I've slipped above 100kg again.  This is a real possibility, since my last measurement was over 99kg.

I think that I need to take stock of my current situation, and look for ways of getting back on track.  It's definitely worth making the effort, as my weight loss so far shows.  I think the hardest part is keeping to the diet.  It almost seems far too easy to slip back into bad habits...

Looking Back...

Today marks the 30th day since I made the decision to adopt a primal lifestyle.  I decided to take this opportunity to look back over the last month, and think about what I've achieved, compared to what I expected.  Without a doubt, I'm extremely happy with how things are going, for the first time in longer than I can remember I'm consistently losing weight, and it doesn't feel like I'm struggling to do it.

As I started out on the Primal Blueprint, my main concern was how I was going to cope with cutting out almost all refined carbs from my diet.  I've been pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't as hard as I expected, at least form a cravings point of view.  I've found this hard in the past, as my weight loss efforts have been centred around cutting back on carbs, not cutting out.  Surprisingly, once I'd made the decision to cut out refined carbs wherever possible, it was very easy to cope with.  I'd look longingly at the box of fundraising chocolates at work, and then just think "Nope, don't eat them any more", and walk away.

One thing that did take me by surprise was my energy levels.  I'd read plenty of testimonies on Marks Daily Apple from people exclaiming about how much extra energy they had since going primal.  Unfortunately for me, the reality was that I didn't see any boost in my energy at all, and in fact probably felt worse some days.  As it turns out, this is not an uncommon feeling to have when making such a big change.

Indeed, it was only two days ago that a post appeared on Marks Daily Apple regarding the "Low Carb Flu".  As I read the article, I began to understand exactly why I'd been feeling the way I had.  It meant that instead of questioning if things were working, I could just concentrate on what was important, and not worry about how I was feeling.

As it stands now, I'm just feeling like I'm starting to have more energy.  Hopefully this marks the end of my "Low Carb Flu", and the beginning of a more energetic me.  I'll be interested to see how things have changed in another 30 days...

The Many Measures of Success

This morning as I jumped on the scales, and noted that my weight had not dropped, again, I began pondering the many ways that success could be measured.  The easiest way in this endeavour is just how much weight I lose.  Or, alternatively, it could be seeing how my percentage body fat drops.  Or, as I found this morning, it could be as simple as going down a notch on the belt.

So, this morning saw me at 99.7kg for about the fourth day in a row.  Still, my percentage body fat was down to about 28.2, which is about the lowest it's been since I started measuring it.  Considered in the grand scheme of things, that's not too bad.  The best bit, though, was the fact that I was able to do my belt up a notch.    I haven't been able to use the smallest hole on my belt for longer than I can remember, so being able to use it again is a nice confirmation that things are going the right way.

It's been interesting to see on a graph how my weight loss has progressed.  I've noticed a trend over the last two or three weeks.  During the week, when I don't get as much of a chance to exercise, my weight is mostly static, and doesn't change much.  On the weekend, though, when I do more exercise, I can lose up to a kilo.

Clearly this is indicating that I need to be paying more attention to the exercise I do during the week.  The plan is to be going for a walk each evening after dinner, as that is going to be the easiest way to add in extra exercise.  I also want to start doing bodyweight exercises 2 or 3 times a week as well.

Dammit...

Well, apparently the next week or so will be interesting times.  An unexpected bill last week means that money is tight for a bit, so we're trying to eat as much of the food in the cupboard as possible.  Of course, this also means that we'll be eating less primal food, and more non-primal food.  Still, we're going to try to make as much of our diet primal as we can, regardless.

This weekend saw me get under 100kg for the first time in a long time, and, what's better, remain there.  I'll have to be extra vigilant this week, so as to not let the weight creep back up again.  I'll be trying to fit in some extra walking to balance out the extra carbs I'll be eating.

Going Down...

This morning I was greeted by the welcome news on the bathroom scales that my weight is going back down again.  Again I'm back to 100kg exactly, and I want to be able to get my weight back into double digits this weekend.  So, when I discovered I'd locked my keys in at work last night, I took the opportunity to get out for a walk before someone else arrived at the office to let me in.

Again, I've tried to cut back on the fruit a bit today, and have packed a big salad and curry for lunch and dinner.  I'll be trying to eat sensibly tonight when I'm at our D&D session as well.  I'm well and truly prepared, with some grapes and spicy almonds, as well as some emergency dark chocolate if the urge for sweet stuff is too much.

Stuck on a Plateau...

Today was the third day in a row where my weight has been 100.5kg.  It's doubly frustrating, since not only am I not losing weight, I'm just over half a kg from my first target of getting under 100kg.  I can't even finger one specific part of my diet that would be the culprit, as I've been eating fresh fruit and veggies almost exclusively.

Having read a bit on Mark's Daily Apple about weight loss, I can think of two remedies.  One is to cut back on the fruit a bit, as that contains plenty of natural sugar, which could be holding me back.  The other is that my body has now adapted to my new diet, and consequently, I'm not losing weight as quickly.

To resolve the issue with too much fruit is easy, as I just need to cut back on how much I eat.  This will be nice and easy, as I would normally have 3 or 4 servings of fruit a day.  If I can cut back to 2 servings a day, I'll be limiting the amount of sugar in my diet.

Still, even if that works, I could still find myself back on a plateau, as my body adapts again.  If that happens, then one solution is to trick it into losing weight again.  From what I've read, the easiest way to do this is by Intermittent Fasting (there's a couple of good articles to read: Article 1, Article 2).  Basically, intermittent fasting can trick your body back into burning fat, by making appear as though food is scarce.  The theory behind this is that as humans evolved, they did not have a steady supply of food.  They went through periods of excess food, followed by periods with little food.

Hopefully, if I do find myself on a plateau again, a skipped meal of two should do the trick.  If not, then there are other options for fasting.  I can simply go a whole day without eating, a rather scary concept I'm not sure I could handle.  I could also limit eating to specific times, i.e. early morning and late evening.  Depending on what works, I may end up trying all of these.

A Change is as Good as a Holiday

Last night we allowed ourselves a bit of a break from our usual Primal fare.  We had some cheese and bacon rolls in the freezer, and we figured we were going to have to use them up some time, so why not tonight?  It was a nice change, but that's all it was, no need to go back for more.

Hmmm, maybe I might have the carbohydrate addiction thing under control at long last.  I can now go days without even so much as a craving for some forbidden sweet concoction.  Hell, I can even look at the fund raising chocolates at work without twitching these days.

Let Me Off This Rollercoaster...

Currently my efforts at weight loss seem like a rollercoaster.  One day I'll have lost weight, the next it's back, and it's brought friends along as well.  After Saturday's weigh in, I was rather shocked yesterday to find that I'd put on over a kilo.

Granted, I'd not been able to go riding as planned on Saturday, due to the bad weather, but I certainly wasn't expecting such a dramatic weight gain.  I'm at a loss to explain the weight gain, as I'd tried eating as healthily as possible.  Still, if I look at the big picture, I'm still weighing less than I used to, and that's got to be a good thing.

Nearly There...

Today's trip to the scales yielded a pleasant surprise.  My discipline the day before had paid off, and I had hit 100kg exactly.  I am now poised to reach my first minor weight loss goal of getting back under 100kg.  One thing I find interesting is that even as I lose weight, my percentage of body fat hasn't really changed much.

Now, I guess to be fair, our bathroom scales attempt to measure body fat by measuring how easily the body conducts electricity, so anything that would change that (e.g. my feet being drier on morning compared to another) is going to mess up the results.  Still, it's kind of a bummer to see the weight go down, but still be around 28-29% body fat.

This afternoon was my first major gaming session where I would be eating primal where possible.  I was expecting a hard time trying not to eat food that I shouldn't, but I was pleasantly surprised to have no cravings at all for chips or chocolate.  I will admit that I didn't abstain completely from chocolate, but at least I did limit myself to dark chocolate only.  I'll be interested to see if the chocolate I did eat, along with the grapes and nuts, has had any effect on my weight...

Hitting a Plateau?

This mornings trip to the scales was a little dispiriting.  While I hadn't gained any weight, neither had I lost any.  After the small weight gain I experienced earlier in the week, I'd specifically tried eating correctly yesterday, expecting the weight to come back down.  Looking back at what I ate yesterday, I can only point the finger at the chocolate that I indulged in last night, and a general lack of exercise as the culprits behind this.

Whit that in mind, I'm going to avoid chocolate today completely, and see how that affects things.  I am expecting to be losing weight over the weekend, as I'll be heading out for a bike ride on Saturday, and I'll be shifting a rather large amount of dirt around home on Sunday.  As long as I don't over indulge in snack food on Saturday afternoon, I should be right.

I am considering trying what is known as Intermittent Fasting.  This is essentially going without food every once in a while.  The theory is that the body adapts to a particular lifestyle, causing weight loss efforts to slow down and plateau.  By depriving the body of food for a day, or even just half a day, this can kick start the metabolism back into losing weight again.

I do wonder if Saturday's gaming session might be a good point to start with this.  Typically we don't eat any meals, and just live on snacks and junk food, so simply cutting back on the snacks will be as good as a fast for me.  The only question is whether I will have the will power to resist snacking once I start getting a bit hungry...

Back on Track

After yesterday's not terribly surprising weight gain, I made a conscious effort to stick to primal food.  I was hoping that would get me back on track with my weight loss. My hopes were realised this morning, when I found that my weight was back down to 108.1kg, with 28.9% body fat.

Last night's meal was an interesting experiment in quick, easy and tasty food.  Not having a heap of time between getting home and having to go back out again, I decided to throw together a quick veggie stir fry.  In a departure from my normal method of stir fry making, I didn't bother with a packet sauce mix, and opted to make my own.

The veggies I threw in were spinach, capsicum, onion, tomato, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, broccolini, and some mushrooms for good measure.  The sauce consisted of some beef stock, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, honey, curry powder, cumin, garlic and ginger.  I started by frying the onion, garlic and some of the cumin in coconut oil.  I then threw in the harder vegetables, along with the vinegar, soy sauce, curry powder, ginger and honey.

After cooking the harder vegetables for a minute or two, I threw in the softer vegetables, along with approximately 1 cup of beef stock.    I then let everything cook for another couple of minutes, so that everything was hot, but not over cooked.  Unfortunately, I didn't bother to keep track of exact measurements, so trying to make a repeat of this particular stir fry is not going to be easy.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well the stir fry actually turned out.  I was a little concerned at the lack of meat, but in the end it wasn't necessary.  I'm now looking forward to heating some up for a quick, healthy tea tonight.

Psychics R Us?

So, as it turns out yesterday's post title was quite accurate.  A quick trip to the scales this morning showed that my weight had gone back up to 102.4kg, although my body fat had decreased to 29.1%.  At this stage I'm not worried by the increase, as I'm still weighing less than I have for a long time.

Still, I think this should definitely act as a wake up call.  I've had a look back at what I've eaten over the last few days, and the only cause I can see for weight gain is the inclusion of pasta and potatoes in my meals (hey, they needed using up, that's my excuse...).  Pasta is definitely a no-no, as it contains refined grains, and the potatoes aren't exactly a good choice, due to their high starch content.

So, tonight's meal is going to focus heavily on green veggies.  We're doing a vegetable stir-fry, so I'll be using plenty of spinach and bok choy.  Throw in some tomato, capsicum, celery, carrots and bean sprouts and we'll be good to go

What Goes Down...

What goes down must come up, apparently.  At least that's the case with my weight if I don't adhere to the Primal Blueprint.  Today's trip to the scales did not really yield the results I was expecting.  My weight was the same as yesterday, while my percentage body fat had increased slightly to 29.4%.

Still, this is neither unexpected, or really a matter for concern.  I honestly expected to gain weight after Saturday night's splurge on fish and chips  Given that I've had rice two days in a row, followed by pasta last night, the fact that I've not gained weight is actually quite good.  Still, it's a handy reminder as to how easy it would be to slip back into bad habits.

Keeping Track of Progress

This morning when I jumped on the scales, I found I'd lost a further 200g since yesterday.  I actually managed to work out how to drive the fancy bathroom scales, so that I can measure my percentage body fat as well as my weight.  As of this morning I weigh 101.7 kg, and have 28% body fat.

If things keep going the way that they have so far, I should be at my first minor goal of being under 100kg in 9 days.  The next goal is 95kg, although I may also set myself another goal of getting under 25% body fat as well.  I'll determine the exact number once I see how my % body fat has changed when I go under 100kg.

Last night I made spicy almonds, as a different kind of snack.  I have to say, as a way of having a snack that you can't eat too much of, they are great.  The best bit is that they taste great, too.  I can see these will quickly become a favourite for gaming day snacks.  They're also dead easy to make, and don't take too much time to prepare.

To Splurge, or Not to Splurge...

It had to happen at some stage.  Last night was just one of those nights.  We didn't want what was easy to make, and we couldn't be bothered going to the effort of making something we did feel like eating.  The solution was to just say "Fuck it" and go get fish and chips.

Sure, fish and chips are the antithesis of the Primal Blueprint, but what the hell, it was easy and took no effort.  We figured, as long as it was just this one meal, we could forget about trying to eat Primally, and let it all hang out (so to speak).  The other thing we decided was that if we did have fish and chips, we definitely had to go for a walk to following day.

Now, fish and chips would have to be one of my favourite "indulgence" meals, but as it turns out, last night I just couldn't enjoy it.  I'm not sure what it was, but although the fish tasted no worse than any other I'd eaten, it was definitely not nice.  Maybe it was the fact that it was the first greasy food I'd eaten in over two weeks.  Still, it did make it easier for me to face the next challenge, sitting in front of a plate of fried food at the pub tonight.

Sunday night has, for a long time, been the night when a bunch of us would get together at the local pub, drink lots, eat crappy fried food, and play irish tunes.  Tonight was the first night where I haven't either drunk beer, or eaten the fried food.  Not drinking beer was easy, as I simply switched to red wine, with no problems other than a few comments about me suddenly becoming cultured.

The food, on the other hand, was a lot trickier.  I was still a bit hungry, despite having had some nicely primal pumpkin soup not an hour before, and it made the food look that much more inviting.  It was only through the application of some subtle bribery (no fried food now = being able to have chocolate later) and the fact that last nights food was not exactly fantastic that I managed to resist the urge to indulge in some deep-fried goodness (I use the term loosely, of course).

Tonight sets the stage for the next big challenge, being able to survive the two monthly gaming sessions I take part in.  These events are fuelled completely by junk food and soft drink, and can last upwards of 8 hours, so I've got a tough job ahead of me.  I've just finished preparing a batch of spicy almonds, which, if successful, will most likely become the backbone of my gaming menu.  Add in some fruit, and maybe a handful of veggies like carrot sticks and celery, along with a nice bottle of red and some chocolate should see me able to survive even the worst junk food cravings.

Is it a Bird, Is it a Plane?

Over the last couple of days I've been pondering the nature of the Primal Blueprint.  Even though I keep telling people about my "new diet", it's not so much a diet as a new way of life.  I can't help but feeling that a diet is just something you do to lose weight before going back to old, bad habits.  What I'm aiming for, though, is not a temporary measure, but a permanent change, which will lead to a healthier life overall. 

I have to admit, I've been enjoying seeing people's reactions when I say what I've been eating (bacon and eggs, scotch fillet steak, yum...), and how much weight I've lost.  Of course, I haven't just been living on bacon, eggs and steak, there's been plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.  Even so, despite eating what plenty of people would consider incredibly fattening foods, I've seen a steady reduction in weight.

At this morning's weigh in, my weight had dropped to just below 102kg, easily the lightest I've been for over 12 months.  I'm thinking that what I really need to be doing as well as monitoring my weight is to monitor my % body fat as well.  I'll be interested to see exactly how my body is changing as I lose weight.

Steady Progress

This morning I jumped on the bathroom scales, to be pleasantly surprised by my weight.  I'd lost about 0.5kg since the previous morning, and I'm now just over 102kg, almost half way to my first minor goal of getting my weight back under 100kg.  I'm doubly pleased, because this is also the lowest my weight has been for quite some time.  I can't remember a time in the last 12 months where I've weighed less than 103kg, so this is very encouraging for me.

The next big challenge for me now is how to handle gaming sessions.  A typical gaming session sees half a dozen of us guys sitting around for up to 8 hours, munching away on whatever junk food we've brought to share.  Even with a certain amount of leeway to eat some unhealthy food, I'm concerned that I'll splurge at the next session, and over do things.

With this in mind, I've been thinking of some alternative food that I could take,  which is going to be a good substitute for chips, chocolates and other such junk.  First up on the suggestion list are humble nuts.  I discovered a very nice sounding recipe for spiced almonds (recipe # 3), which I'll definitely be trying.  I'll also be taking along a bunch of grapes, as they're nice and convenient, and also healthy.  Finally, I'll add in some dark chocolate (either 70 or 85% cocoa), just in case the lure of sweet food is too much.

Steady Progress on a Long Journey...

This morning I've been reflecting on the changes I've made to my lifestyle, and the progress I've been making.  I'm surprised by how easy the diet changes have been.  I've had limited success in the past with trying to eat healthy, but I always seemed to slip back into bad habits.  This time, though, I've had no urge to do so.  I can only put this down to cutting most carbohydrates (especially the processed ones) completely out of my diet.

I no longer have the rapidly returning hunger pangs that I used to while I was still eating lots of processed carbohydrates.  Any hunger pangs I do get between meals are quelled with a handful of almonds or cashews.  Something else that's made me happy is the 1.5kg I've lost since last Wednesday, despite switching to high fat foods.

There's only one aspect of my lifestyle that's proving difficult to change, and that's my exercise habits.  I do walk fairly frequently, although I'm sure I'd benefit from more.  It's trying to get myself doing the other aspects of Primal exercise, the lifting of heavy things and sprinting, that are difficult.

To a certain extent I've been getting some of my heavy lifting from work around the house, but that's not going to be a reliable source of exercise.  I tried setting my alarm five minutes earlier this morning, with the express intent of doing some body weight exercises (push ups, sit ups and squats), but unfortunately I squandered the extra five minutes in my morning reading the news, not exercising.  I guess dark mornings in winter aren't exactly the best for getting up early to exercise.

Still, the exercise is something I need to work on.  I'm considering riding to work on the weekends that I work to give me a combination of sprinting and moving slowly, but I'm still missing out on the lifting of heavy things.  Ideally I'd like to be walking most days after work, and starting the day with a few sets of push ups, sit ups and squats perhaps 3 days a week.  A quick bike ride can fill the sprint role, at least until I lose enough weight to make running an option.

No, I won't have any carbs, thanks...

Well, last night was yet another eye opener.  I made curry, and with the exception of the rice I cooked to go with it, it was pretty much primal.  Now, I love my curries, and I don't think I'd ever be able to give them up, but the plan is to leave the rice out for good, at least once we've finished what's left.

So, there I was, munching away on my curry, and loving it.  Except for the rice.  I don't know what it was, but I just didn't want any.  I ended up sitting there, staring at the pile of rice in my bowl, until I said "Stuff it, I can't eat that."

Now, I'd only eaten about half of what I normally would, but I wasn't particularly hungry, even later in the evening.  So today, as a bit of an experiment, I had some of the left over curry for lunch, but left out the rice.  I'll be interested to see if I end up feeling hungry during the afternoon at all...

Too Much, Too Soon?

The plan was to ease into a completely primal lifestyle, and slowly replace non-primal food with primal alternatives.  I realised yesterday, though, that I've been rather more enthusiastic about this.  I realised that over the weekend, we were attempting to cut out almost every non-primal food possible.

While this really isn't a bad thing, I can't help wondering what the sudden reduction in my carbohydrate intake is doing to my body.  The last two days at work have been tough, as I've been tired, despite having had what was apparently a good night's sleep.  At this stage, I'm guessing it's just a reaction to a severe reduction in the simple carbohydrates that I've been feeding my body up until now.

Tiredness aside, I'm really looking forward to the day when there are no non-primal foods in the cupboard. I'm also looking forward to growing my own veggies, as an alternative to buying from the supermarket.  This will be a double bonus, as not only will we be saving ourselves quite a bit of money, but I'll have a fair idea that my veggies don't contain any harmful chemicals.

Plans are already afoot to build compost bins, so that our gardens can hopefully remain fertiliser free.  We're also prepared to put in the hard yards weeding the veggie patch, so that we don't have to spray any weedkillers, either.  It's just a shame that a project like this takes time, because I'd prefer it if I didn't have to hand over so much of my hard earned cash to the supermarkets...

Preparation: The Key to Success

This morning highlighted just how important it is to be well prepared.  The day started well, up early in spite of wanting to stay in bed a bit longer, lunches had been prepared the night before.  Breakfast was on the go nice and early, and all seemed to be running smoothly.

The breakfast was a bit of an experiment, Banana and Almond pancakes (made with home made almond butter) with bacon and a hard boiled egg.  The pancake mix was nice and easy to prepare, and while I heated the water for the egg I started to cook the bacon.  That's where things fell off the rails.

In hindsight, I should have got out the big electric fry pan, rather than trying to cook the bacon in a small fry pan in batches.  Half an hour later I'd finished cooking the bacon, and it was now around the time that we'd be leaving for work.  The pancakes cooked a lot quicker, and while I was cooking them, I threw in the hard boiled egg.

That was when things went screwy fro the second time.  Somewhere along the way the egg had cracked, and was quite happily making a mess in the cooking water.  Oh well, there looked to be plenty of pancake mix, so maybe I could go without the egg.

We eventually sat down to eat a good 15 minutes after we would normally have left for work.  My goodness, it was definitely worth being late for.  The pancakes were delicious, and nice crispy bacon is a perfect accompaniment to just about any meal.  Next time, though, we'll save the bacon for the weekend, and cook something quick and easy with the pancakes so we're not running late.

I also took the opportunity this morning to see how kind the weekend had been to my weight.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that I've lost about 1.5kg since last Wednesday.  Given that Saturday night involved lots of alcohol and chocolate, to have lost that much weight is encouraging.  The hard part from now on is going to be resisting the urge to eat carbohydrate laden food.

Edit:
It's now 10:50, and I'm starting to feel the first food craving for the day.  I'm going to try following the advice on the Primal Blueprint website, and have 10 or so nuts to stave off the cravings until lunch time.  I'll be interested to see how it goes.

Internal Conflict (and Supermarket Meltdowns...)

Before writing this post, I contemplated several times what to write. Spud pretty much covered how we were starting out on the Primal Blueprint and every time I thought of something that was post-worthy, it was gone before I reached the computer.

To be honest, I have found the first few days both the easiest and hardest days of the diet.

I started off on with high blood pressure and a terrible migraine with some not so nice mood swings in-between. I did do the right thing and visited my doctor and he gave me the ok to continue and wished me luck (with the warning to come straight back to the Medical Centre should the headaches worsen).

On the third day, the headache finally started to subside though I was exhausted from almost no sleep. However, despite feeling tired, for the first time in a long time, I went through an entire day of not craving soft drinks, chocolate or any other junk food or breads. Without intending to, Friday became my first "Primal Only" day. And I felt great.

Come Saturday, I was on a roll. While not wanting to waste any non-primal food in our cupboard, the cup-of-soup that was to accompany our leftover salad just didn't do it for me. And I'm talking about my favourite cup-of-soup ever. Two mouth-fulls later, the remainder of the soup went into the rubbish bin.

And then, came Sunday (bloody Sunday). The day started great. A refreshing morning out in our garden and then off to visit family.

And then I crashed. While making a flying visit to the supermarket for a couple of things, I saw every single thing that I can't (or shouldn't) eat and it was everything I was craving. Chocolate, chips, bread rolls, soft drink, you name it, I literally salivated over it. I reached for so many items but managed to pull back at the last minute knowing once it hit the basket, it wasn't going to leave. Admittedly, I did pick a couple of things up but I managed to put them back before fleeing to another aisle.

And then it became too much. I reached the confectionary aisle to get some dark chocolate for my first attempt at a Hot Chocolate not made from powder and I caved. I did everything I could think of to try and talk myself out of purchasing the delicious treat. I compared the ingredients list to normal dark chocolate. I put it down then picked it back up again. I thought about ringing Spud for moral support but, in hindsight stupidly, didn't for the simple reason that I wanted to resist the temptation all on my own.

I am ashamed to say it, but the treat is now sitting in the cupboard, taunting me. I was so angry with myself when I got home (I really could have cried when I got into the car to drive home). I am so disappointed I couldn't say no in the end.

So, for the first few days of the diet, I have learnt the following things...

* Be prepared to go through withdrawal when you start phasing out the processed foods. Along with possible headaches and other bodily symptoms along with severe and horrible mood swings. I feel utterly horrible for Spud for the past few days as I don't think that I have been the easiest person to live with.

* Eat before visiting the Supermarket. Feeling the hunger pangs while wandering the aisles (unfortunately, they do not have Primal Food aisles so trying the avoid the sight of the chocolates, biscuits, chips and soft drinks is futile) is a fast way to fall off the wagon.

* If you don't trust yourself, don't go alone. I have now found out the hard way that, at least for the next few weeks, I don't trust myself alone in a supermarket. I need the moral support right there with me to physical move me away if need be.

* Prepare in advance. Prepare meals that you can freeze for those nights for when you get home and just don't feel like cooking (as we speak, I am boiling up a big batch of my family pumpkin soup recipe - which just very handily happens to fit perfectly into our new Primal living). Also, try and get your breakfast foods as organised as possible the night before ie chop any vegies you intend to use. The more preparation you do ahead of time is reducing the risk of just going with the easy option.

Time to Check in...

I decided to check my weight this morning, to see how things were working out for me.  I was expecting a lower weight, simply from having sweated so much yesterday while working in the garden.  I was rather gobsmacked, then, when I jumped on the scales, and discovered that I'd lost over 2 kilos.  Of course, some of this weight will go back on as I rehydrate, but if everything goes to plan, I'll see a steady weight loss over the next few weeks.

Today saw me continue yesterday's trend of getting a workout, simply by doing stuff in the garden.  After yesterday's work shovelling dirt and lifting rocks, I didn't think I needed to do the sledgehammer workout.  Still, as I was in the garden pulling out shrubs with the mattock, I figured I could combine both.  Switching sides for swinging with the mattock felt strange, but at least I evened up the workout my body got, which can only be a good thing.

The Joys of Salad...

Last night was our first attempt at a Primal evening meal, and it was, for the most part, a roaring success.  Main course was an Avocado, Bacon and Chicken salad, with a Balsamic Apple Vinaigrette dressing.  Desert was Berries with Marscapone Cheese.  We also made Carrot and Walnut Bread.  The salad was a resounding success, the berries and marscapone were nice, but unfortunately, the carrot and walnut bread left a lot to be desired.

Breakfast today was fantastic, bacon and scrambled eggs, and lunch consisted of the remains of last night's salad, with a Cup-a-Soup (not strictly primal, but we're trying to finish them up).  It was funny, but after only a couple of days easing off carbohydrates, neither of us felt like having the soup.  Let's hope that this is a trend that continues.

Todays exercise consisted of building a dry stone retaining wall, and filling in the ditch we dug to have our drains replaced.  I certainly feel like I've done my fair share of lifting heavy things for the week.  Tomorrow's bike ride should round off the exercise nicely, assuming that I'm able to get out and do more walking during the week.

Exercise and Falling of the Wagon...

This weekend marks the first chance that I'll have to do any of the Primal exercises beyond "frequent slow movements".  The "lift heavy things" portion will partly be covered by rebuilding the dry stone wall that we recently removed while fixing our drains.  The "sprint" portion of the exercise will come during a bike ride planned for Sunday.  If the wall building doesn't give me enough heavy lifting, then I'll be throwing in some squats, pushups and situps, and may be a bit of the Sledgehammer Workout.

Last night also opened my eyes to how easy it may be to fall off the wagon.  It was a typical Thursday night, I got home from work, and had only about 45 minutes before I had to go out again.  In that time I needed to get changed, eat, and prepare stuff to take with me.

As I stood in the kitchen, pondering what I could make for tea in the limited time available, I decided to go for quick and easy, and just made toast, with jam.  Now, while I'm easing into the Primal lifestyle, that's not such a big issue, but I can see that if I'm not organised in future, that it will be far too easy to slip into bad habits. 

I guess the key to success is to make sure I have as much preparation as possible done in advance.  That, in turn, means I'll have to have an idea of what I want to do for tea in advance, so that the preparation can be done beforehand.  It's amazing just how much of a shake up my life is getting, just through wanting to eat healthier...

Let's Start Already...

Despite the fact that all I've been thinking about lately are the things I like, and will have to give up (beer, toast for breakfast, chocolate, ice cream etc.), I'm actually very keen to go completely Primal.  It's only the knowledge that there is still plenty of non-Primal food in the cupboard that would go to waste that's stopping me.  Still, it's not going to take too long to eat what's left, and things like the light beers in the fridge can always be left for visitors to drink...

Today's lunch is going to be my first proper Primal lunch.  I'm planning on having salmon and salad wrap, assuming that the lettuce in the fridge has leaves big enough to use as the wrap.  If not, I'll just have a salmon salad instead.

Yesterday's experiment with nuts as a snack was a resounding success.  I probably had a few more nuts than I needed, but at least I didn't fall prey to those dastardly sugar cravings.  The nut mix from the supermarket isn't exactly the best (I'm really not a a fan of walnuts, and there were plenty of those in there), so I think from now on, I'll just make my own mix of almonds, cashews and macadamias, and maybe some pistachios.

I've not bothered to jump on the scales again this week.  I think I'll put that off until after I finally go completely Primal.  Based on current usage, with the exception of a large bag of potatoes, we'll be completely primal some time next week.  I can't wait...

Good Grief...

It finally dawned on me this morning just how big the changes in my lifestyle are going to be.  As I was preparing breakfast, it occurred to me that the only food that I would be able to continue to eat for breakfast was the butter that I was not in fact using, as we'd run out.  Everything else was not allowed under the Primal Blueprint.

No bread, no raspberry jam, no hot chocolate, hell, I can't even have breakfast cereal.  Still, if I look at the bright side, it does mean I can have bacon and eggs for breakfast.  It also gives me more encouragement to get off my butt and build that chicken coop, so that we can save money on buying eggs.

Despite the drastic changes I'll be making to my lifestyle, I'm actually looking forward to the change.  Despite not being able to have some things that I enjoy, I'll be allowed to have things which I've previously not been able to have (hello, full cream milk...).  Diet's not the only thing that's changing, either.

From now on I'll be needing to make changes to how I exercise.  Under the Primal Blueprint, exercise consists of three things, moving around a lot at a slow pace, lifting heavy things and running fast every so often.  So, to take care of these three things I'll be taking daily walks and running on the weekend.  The lifting heavy things is rather harder to do, though.

I don't own any weight lifting equipment, nor can I afford a gym membership.  So, with that in mind, I'll be doing plenty of body weight exercises. I'll be using the Prison Workout, a workout designed for people with no special equipment, as a guide for this.

Let the madness begin...

It's Tuesday, May 11th, and it's slightly more than 24 hours since I discovered the Primal Blueprint, and decided to make a drastic change in my life. The first thing that struck me about the Primal Blueprint was the similarity to "Paleolithic Diets", which I'd first read about nearly 12 months earlier. Initially I was tempted to skip reading the site in any detail, and continue merrily on my way, ignorant of the possibilities.

For whatever reason, though, I read on, and found what I was reading fascinating. Having struggled for many years to lose weight, I read on, curious to know how the Primal Blueprint could help me. What I read echoed information I'd found elsewhere, namely that an excess of carbohydrates in our modern diet seemed to be responsible for all sorts of common problems, like obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Working on the theory that limiting my food intake to fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, eggs and dairy foods would be no worse than my current diet, I decided to give the Primal Blueprint a go. In theory it should be easy, until you realise that the Primal Blueprint restricts carbohydrate intake by cutting out all carbohydrates from sources such as grains, beans and legumes, and starchy plants such as potatoes. As I started to tally up the foods I'd be cutting out that I currently enjoy, I started to get somewhat disheartened.

Fortunately, I read on through the Primal Blueprint website, and found a wealth of alternative foods to replace the things I would miss the most (bread, pancakes and pasta...). With the realisation that things weren't going to be as bad as I first thought, I vowed to give the Primal Blueprint a determined effort. Unfortunately, I can't afford to just throw out everything in the cupboard that's no longer allowed, so the process of starting the Primal Blueprint is going to be gradual.

The theory is simple, to start with I'll just continue to eat what ever is in the cupboard, bread, potatoes, rice etc. Then, as these "forbidden" items are used up, they will be replaced with food that adheres to the Primal Blueprint. One thing that I find intriguing is the notion that things that have long been considered "bad" for me, as a guy with a family history of heart disease, are now not only allowed, but considered good. What's more, there seems to be a wealth of research supporting this, too.

Whatever the case, as of tomorrow, I will be easing my way into the Primal Blueprint. The first step is to replace my snacks with a Primal alternative. Normally I'd have fruit, along with some sort of cake or other sweet item. However, the days of brownies and biscuits are over, and they will be replaced with nuts as my snack of choice. The cupboard has been stocked with almonds and cashews, plus a mix of hazelnuts, macadamias, almonds, cashews and pistachios.

As it stands now, I currently weigh 104kg, and I have been at that weight, giver or take a kilo or two since the start of the year, when I decided that I wanted to lose weight. Despite my best efforts, I have not made any progress at all. Even with an improved diet, at best all I have managed to do is maintain the same weight.

So that I don't find the going too hard, I'll be setting myself some goals over the next few months. The first short term goals are to get my weight below 100kg, and to try and combat my craving for sugar. The two goals are related, as it's by controlling and mastering the cravings for sugar and sweet snacks that I'll be able to lose the weight, and keep it off.

So, the next few weeks are going to be interesting, and I look forward to seeing how I cope with going primal...