I've Become THAT Person

I've spent almost my whole life as the type of person who can, and did, eat almost anything. I felt fortunate in that I didn't have any food allergies or religious restrictions or new-age ideals against any types of foods. Sure, there were those years of "dieting" to lose weight with the occasional indulgence. And, yeah, I did discover a slight intolerance to lactose, leading me to greatly reduce (but not totally eliminate) my cheese and ice cream intake.

When I began the Paleo/Primal lifestyle I was delighted! Food was full of flavor and I still got to eat many of my favorite foods. It was a relief to eat bacon and eggs without the guilt. Steak became a healthfood (as long as it was grass-fed, of course). Trips to the farmers' market were an adventure as Froody and I harvested familiar and new fruits and vegetables. I was eating things like chard, kale, and kohl rabi along with organic heirloom tomatoes. Ah, life and eating were good!

The only downside was the fact that I wasn't losing any weight. Granted, I hadn't gained any, either, but I really, really, really wanted/needed to lose at least 25lbs. So I became more strict. In doing so, I changed. No longer the person who ate anything I was the one at the restaurant who asked all those annoying questions: "Is it unsweetened?", "Can I get that without the bread?", "There's no rice or pasta in it, right?", "No cheese, please, and can I just have oil and vinegar on the side?" "Can I have the side salad instead of the french fries?"

Seriously, it's that strange for me. We even had dinner with some friends, one of whom only eats raw fruits and vegetables. While she was making the salad she asked me if I wanted corn in it. I said I could pick it out, but she basically said it was the first time she had to deal with someone else's diet. For a change. That really got to me!

Honestly giving up the breads, cereals, rice, pasta, corn, tortillas, etc. wasn't all that hard. Cutting my alcohol back to a drink once or twice a month isn't that terrible, neither was giving up sugar and chocolate. The most difficult thing was cutting out all dairy (you've already messed with my coffee MoFo!! curse you for taking my creamer!!).

I feel like I'm the weird one making sure what I eat is gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free; that it's wholesome and organic; that it's locally grown (a plus). If I eat gluten or dairy, I feel bloated and nauseous. Even if it's a little bit. :( Now, I have to think about each bite of food and ask myself 1) Will this make me sick? and 2) If so, is it worth it? Because I will. get. physically. ill.

The longer I follow this lifestyle the more I come across folk who also have wheat and dairy sensitivities. (OK, lets' call them what they are: allergies). I've even heard of some restaurants having allergy-free menus. Gee, if so many are sensitive to gluten, maybe it's time to put down that bagel and have some more bacon.

The 12 Days of Christmas- CrossFit Style

Merry Fitness to All, and to All a Good Workout!

Today, our gym co-hosted a Holiday Workout and Pig Roast. At first, I thought it was so awesome that our gym has created this amazing and fun community, one where we'd love to participate in a sort of "workout/party".

When we arrived, we discovered that this Holiday Workout had a theme: The 12 Days of Christmas. This is what was posted on the board when you walked in:

1. Weighted 100m run- run as fast as you can carrying a weight (I used a 10lb medicine ball. One of my trainers carried a 50lb keg)
2. Pistols- one-legged squats
3. Knees-to-elbows - hang from the pull-up bar and bring your knees to your elbows or as high as you can
4. Box jumps
5. Burpees- ugh... basically, fall on the ground, do a push-up (I do planks), bring your feet under you into a squat, then jump up and clap your hands above your head
6. Pull-ups
7. Sit-ups
8. Ring dips- I did regular dips on a tall box
9. Kettle bell swings (I used a 12lb kb)
10. Tire flips- flip a tractor tire. Choice between large and super large (I did the large one)
11. Hollow rocks- lie on the floor and curl up, keeping your abs tight, then rock back and forth. Is harder than it sounds
12. Hand-stand push-ups- yup, get upside down and do a push-up. (I did it kneeling on a box)

So, you had to do the workout like the song: 1 100m weighted run; 2 pistols and a 100m weighted run; 3 knees-to-elbows, 2 pistols, and a 100m weighted run....

I think you get the point. And you should've seen everyone's face as soon as this workout sunk in. I was none too happy about it, but I was determined to do it.

Man, there was a lot of cursing involved. At least on my part! (Hey, isn't Jesus the reason for the season anyway??). The trouble is that at first it's not so bad, but that 100m weighted run gets harder and harder. The worst part, for me, was the 10 tire flips. Jesus Christ... Goddamn f***in' tractor tire... Yeah, you're flipping a tractor tire 30 times!!!! Some of the middle ones also were deceptive. You're like, "*pshaw* 7 sit-ups... that's cake!" But you're doing 6 sets of 7 after all the kettlebell swings/pull-ups/and tire flips which are all things that require solid cores. It was also hard on my hands because you're doing 7 sets of 6 pull-ups and 10 sets of 3 k2e. For the first time in my life, the burpees were not the suckiest part of the workout, and that's saying something!

In the end, a lot of people showed up for this workout and we had to do it in two heats. I joined the first heat. It took me 50 minutes to do this 12 Days of Christmas Workout, which is very long for a Crossfit workout. But, after a little cry I felt better and am very, very glad I did it. :)

Farewell to Cream

Dear Cream-

We've been together for a while now. Without you, I don't know if I could have dumped sugar out of my life. But my friends are telling me that you're no good for me and that I should give you up. :(

This is hard for me, too, Cream. It's not you- you're great- it's me. Somehow you're keeping me from reaching my goals. I decided that losing my excess weight is more important to me than how you make my coffee taste in the morning.

I see this as a temporary split. Maybe, in a month's time, we can try again. I hope that in the meantime we can still be friends.

Good-bye and God bless,
Janola

So Sensitive

Well, the first month is almost over. How did I do?

Oh, man! I feel like a new person! Life is great and food tastes better. Ripe fruits taste like candy! I never knew how sweet tomatoes and carrots could be! Unsweetened sun tea is my new indulgence! Yes, life is sweet!

Last weekend, I had a glass of wine and dinner with friends where they cooked so I ate what they made. I didn't want to be "Oh, thanks for cooking but I'm not going to eat it." We had summer rolls, good conversation, and homemade brownies for dessert. They offered (and I accepted) tequila and juice. The next day my tummy was a little upset. But, it went away and I still felt good.

Yesterday I did Happy Hour with my friends. I started out with a diet soda and said no to the chips for about 45 min. But then, I ended up having 2 beers and about 2 cups of nachos/chips/salsa. Later on that evening I felt completely annoyed, angry, and frustrated. Fortunately, a part of me realized I was being irrational so it kept me from picking an argument with Froody. I felt so bad I just wanted the day to end. So, I went to bed early. In the middle of the night, I was awakened by a tummy ache. This morning I'm feeling a little better tummy-wise, but my mood is altered. I'm not as positive as before. :( What happened? Was it the nachos? Too many beers? Hormones?

However, I'm fairly certain that I'll be all perky again after another few days of eating right. Will I do Happy Hour again? *scoff* Of course! But I'll be sure to avoid the chips and stick with a glass of red wine and water.

No Sugar Week 1- Done!

Well, I finally made it! When I first thought of going a week without sugar, I thought it would be hard, that I'd be dying for chocolate or unable to enjoy unsweetened coffee.

But, I did it!

OK- I did have 2 glasses of wine on Friday and two more on Saturday. Eh. I'm still calling it a success. And I'm still riding that wave of positivity. What other differences have there been? Not too many, but I'll tell you anyway.

1) My "digestive system has been, shall we say, busier. Not wanting to get into any details, I've been going to the bathroom a bit more often than before. 'Nuff said.

2) I've been feeling "friskier." Again, not to get too personal but I do want to make note of this for myself at least. I think Froody has noticed and responded. ;-)

3) Not sleeping as well. It's been taking me longer to fall asleep and then I wake up in the middle of the night and it takes a while to all asleep again. :(

I talked to my trainer about the sleep problem and he suggested I give it three weeks. That should give my body a chance to readjust to the new sugar-free diet. I'm not entirely sugar-free. Some nights I've chosen to consume two ounces of fruit. Believe me...I savor every little bite.

Oh, and, yeah, I'm going another week without sugar.

NO SUGAR- DAY 3

In case you forgot, this is the band Sugar Ray. "Every morning there's a halo hanging from the corner of my girlfriend's four-post bed."

OK. As you know, I've been trying to do two things: Follow the Primal Diet and Lose This Friggin' Weight. Again.

According to the PD, if you consume between 50-100g of carbohydrates a day, you should easily and effortlessly lose weight. So began my month-and-a-half long journey of weighing and measuring everything. Which I did. And I was good about it; just ask Froody.

Well, I didn't really lose any weight. OK- I lost 3 lbs for all that effort. Not the 8-10 that the PD leads you to believe. So, like any other normal, American woman... I got desperate.

Just how desperate????

So desperate that I figured I needed to be eating less than 50g of carbs a day. Like 30-40g. But, I didn't want to eat any less than I'm already eating. (Seriously- measuring out 1/3c of mushrooms or 2 oz of chicken per meal is kinda depressing.)

So desperate that I chose (ugh) to stop. eating. sugar. *groan* And wine. *gasp* And chocolate. *sob*

I KNOW. I KNOW. As a normal, American woman that's unthinkable. Especially since I only used 1 3/4 tsp in my coffee (morning and afternoon). And I would only eat 1 square of extra dark chocolate most nights. And I would only have 4 oz of red wine at night. (Yeah, when you pour wine into a Pyrex measuring cup and then into a wine glass, a lot of the romance goes away.)

But, let me reiterate: I. AM. DESPERATE. And I decided that cutting out those things would accomplish 2 good things: 1) I'd finally be strict PD and 2) I'd be cutting out 14-24g of carbs per day.

So that's what I did on Tuesday. I figured I'd give it a week and then reassess.

Now that it's Day 3 I have to say that so far, everything is pretty OK. I actually like unsweetened iced tea. Unsweetened iced coffee isn't that bad, either. I haven't heard the chocolate sitting in my fridge calling my name, either. But do you want to know the weirdest and strangest thing to happen since I stopped eating sugar?

Those negative voices inside my head have stopped. My self-esteem has climbed and my attitude is pretty positive. I know, I know...this sounds crazy. But I did come across an article that says there has been some research that suggests link between sugar and depression and anxiety. Obviously, there are all sorts of variables at work here, but I felt so good yesterday that it made me wonder. Some of you don't know this, but depression (and addiction) seem to run in my family. What if my body is just hyper-sensitive to sugar? Or, with my decreased carb-intake, the relatively high percentage of sugar was messin' me up?

Anyway, I'll continue to monitor myself. If there really is a link between sugar and feeling "happy", it may make giving up these things a bit easier to do.

Still Counting

Well, one and a half months in and I'm still weighing and measuring. Go me!

Have I lost 25lbs? Gone down several dress sizes? Full of vim and vigor???

Sadly, the answer is no.

But wait! I have noticed changes in my behavior towards food, and that's what I want to tell you. It'll be good for me so that I don't focus on what isn't happening.

1. Tummy talk- This time around, I realized that I use to my mouth or eyes and not my stomach to determine whether or not I'm full or satisfied. My mouth tells me how tasty something is and how it's a shame to not finish it, because who knows when I'll have it again? Then, my eyes notice how there's not that much left on my plate, so go ahead...finish it. Now, I've decided to give my stomach a good listen and if it says it's full, then I stop. At first this was hard, because, hey, who doesn't like to eat tasty food? But it's gotten easier.

2. Make it a choice- Not only am I tuning in to my stomach, but I'm putting a positive spin on this Primal Diet. I tell myself that, really, I can eat ANYTHING I want (chocolate, pasta, beer...) but I CHOOSE not to. It's my decision. That has really made a difference. I'd rather eat something (or not eat it) because I want to, not because I feel like I have to.

3. It's smaller!- OK, I'm not talking about my pants-size. I'm talking about portion size. You know, I really don't need to eat big meals anymore. Even with WeightWatchers, I'd eat large portions. I could stretch a "point" like you wouldn't believe! But on PD it's not points but grams of carbs and proteins, and sadly, I can't fudge those. :( To my surprise, that's OK because I'm ....

4. Less hungry- My trainer asked me if I felt hungry during this past month, and that's when I realized I didn't. Three meals a day and one snack is all I need, amazingly enough. I used to need to eat more often, snacking in the mornings and evenings, grazing in the afternoons. For me, a snack is a cup of coffee with cream and 1 3/4 tsp sugar and a hardboiled egg. Or an ounce of almonds. Sometimes my mouth wants to chew on "something", even if I'm not hungry. I try to drink water at those times.

Alright, body! Seems my brain is adjusting to these diet changes. Now it's time for you to drop some lbs. Pretty please. :)

Weights and Measures

bleh. As a lot of you know, I've been trying to lose weight for ever. Seriously. For a while now I've been half-heartedly following several diet tenets. Of course, that approach doesn't work. At least, not for me.

So it's back to focusing on one diet- the Primal Diet. What I like about the PD is that it's about eating food that's real food, not processed and full of bad chemicals. It means only consuming a certain amount of carbohydrates and proteins. That, in turn, means breaking out my trusty collection of measuring spoons and measuring cups, my food scale, and the Internet.

Part of me balks at all this fuss. It takes the fun out of eating. I can no longer just grab some of this and a handful of that and put it in my mouth. :( I have to actually think about what I'm about to eat. :-o

But, another part of me is all for it. At least when I'm measuring out an ounce of nuts, researching how many carbs are in 3 grape tomatoes, and deciding how many ounces of steak will give me 23g of protein I feel like I'm doing something towards losing this weight. It forces me to take control of this part of my life. I know that someday (next week? tomorrow?) I'm going to curse at my measuring equipment but right now it feels pretty good. Besides, I've already 1.5 lbs since I started 2 days ago, and that's very encouraging!

Is It Just Me???

While wandering around the internet I found an ad for Bonobos which looks like a fancy-pants men's store. It's got pics of good-looking guys in khakis and polo shirts, posing in expensive flip-flops.

But when I think of bonobos, I think of chimps. Seriously, doesn't everyone think of monkeys when they hear that word? Why would you name your male shi-shi company after a bunch of chimpanzees? Maybe it's just me, but the word "bonobo" does not make me think of adventures with a man wearing madras shorts. It makes me think of the only non-human animal that has face-to-face sex.

hmmmm.....sex.... Maybe the company's PR people did know what they were doing.

New Beginnings

"It's hard to think about your life when one life is made up of so many lifetimes."

Or something like that. I remember a friend of mine said this once. It made a lot of sense when I was 25. I was on life #3 or 4 by then, and I thought that was a lot!

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you all that I have decided to change my life. I am leaving teaching (for now? for good?). I am a good teacher, but it has been very stressful. To be a good teacher you need to invest a lot of yourself, heart and soul, into your lessons, school, and students. After my year off and my year back in the classroom, I've discovered that I don't have much to give anymore. Even less to bring to my relationship with Froody. He's the main reason I've chosen to change careers. For 9.5 months I'm too tired to go camping, hiking, even out to dinner with family and friends. It would be so nice to be able to do all those things I like doing- alone and with Froody- for more than just 2.5 months out of the year.

Now is a good time to leave. Teachers seem to be coming under fire in this country. Even my current good and supportive district is planning on increasing class-size to 34 (hell, who wants to be locked in a room full of 13 year olds all day everyday for 9 months!?), not give us the next step in pay, and add more "furlough" days (no school = no work = no pay). Not only that, but did you hear about the school that fired all their teachers because the kids aren't scoring well?? True, I think teachers do need to be accountable, but so do the students, parents, and school district. How can the government expect me to teach these kids when they keep giving me less and less $$ and resources to do my job??? How can I teach these kids when their parents are unable or do not want to be positive contributors to their students' education?

bleh. I'd rather be an animal nurse.

End chapter 8. Start chapter 9.

Farewell, Tastebuds

As you know, all year I've been trying to follow a more healthy diet. With such a reduction in processed foods and grains, I thought I'd treat myself today with a diet coke and a bag of popcorn at the movies. (!) I also brought a small bag of nuts and my sister brought a bag of carrots. We had all the bases covered.

So, I buy a small bag of popcorn. With butter. Can you smell it? mmMMmm.... I'm so looking forward to this!!!...

Anyway, I sit down and have a kernal. then another. and another. Eventually, I put the bag down and reach for my sister's carrots and the bag of nuts. I was ssssooooo disappointed! I think after months of no grains my tastebuds have changed. The popcorn was OK, but I couldn't even finish it, not even with my sister's help. :(

*sigh* I used to derive so much pleasure from foods. They were my greatest comfort. Now it feels as if they are deserting me. Or, perhaps, I'm learning to live without them.

Rat Walk

My sweet girls! From left: Lysia, Lily, and Lottie (or, as my husband calls them: Black Rat, Little Rat, Fat Rat)

Rats, like people, have different gaits. Their style and speed depends on their moods and purpose, just like us. So far, I've identified 6 different gaits

*Waddle- This is a slow walk. More like a human saunter. If they wore pants, they'd have their hands in their pockets, whistling, not really paying attention to anything.

*Speed Walk- I saw this one tonight. It's a much faster walk. Legs and tails are held high off the ground and they spend a lot of time sniffing. I think at this pace they are making their mental map of the area.

*Skulk- This is when they are trying to be sneaky (more likely, trying not to get caught). They usually hug the sides of the walls and stay low to the ground.

*Prance- They are so cute when they prance! My rats do this when they've found something (nesting material, nut, seeds) and they want to take it somewhere else. Their heads are held high and they do little jumps, trying to keep their treasure from touching the ground.

*Scurry- I love the sound of teen-tiny feet scurrying across the floor. :) Obviously, this is done when they are in a hurry. It looks like a fast skulk in that the rats seem to stay close to the ground.

*RUN!- Now, normally I see them running when they are chasing each other or if they get scared. Or, when they hear the snack sound and they want to get their snack RIGHT NOW. :)

Whence from Art Thou, Chard?

Today, Froody and I returned from a long weekend of camping. It was great, and as soon as the pix are ready, I'll share them with you. The home larder was bare, so I went to buy fruit and veggies for the rest of the week.

Normally we do all our produce shopping at the local farmers market. But since we missed it, I had no choice but to go to a grocery store. I planned on making a recipe that called for capers, so I decided that the local Safeway was the best choice (more likely than Trader Joe's to have capers, and cheaper than Draeger's).

My hand stopped midway to the kale, immobilized by the thought, "I have no idea where this kale came from." I pulled my hand back and scanned the produce aisle. Much of the veggies had come from Mexico. I had to look at the bands holding the bunches of chard and dandelion greens together to see where they were from, but they only said they were from the USA.

Then, I realized that I've never thought about where my food comes from until this January.

Next, I thought it was strange thinking it was strange not to know where my food is from. Anyway, I bought about $100 in produce. I had to suck it up and buy some stuff from who-knows-where.

The checkout guy started in on me about how kids these days don't eat enough vegetables or fruit, yadda-yadda-yadda. Blame it on the parents, blah-blah-blah. It took me a while to realize he was impressed with the amount of vegetables my family obviously ate.

Hardest Thing

Teaching is a hard job. You work and work at it, with the understanding that it'll take you about 10 years before you're really good at it. You are under-appreciated and overworked. There are those satisfying moments, but they are oftentimes out-numbered by bad times.

I've bemoaned this before, but I find myself again thinking of other job options. yeah, my friends say I'm a good teacher, but I don't enjoy working this hard for so little return. My sister, Dre, left teaching to pursue her dream- middle eastern dance. My passion is knitting. Could I make a living knitting? I like painting, too. Could I do that instead of teach? Who'd pay me to knit or paint them stuff?

Dre loves her life and it shows. She works very, very hard but feels like it's worth it. I think that's the difference. I work just as hard, but don't feel the worth.

So Out of IT

OK-being an adult in a teenage environment, you get used to the fact that "they" will always see you as grown up and uncool. I'm used to it and can handle it.

But yesterday one of my students said that his absent partner had their assignment (the downside to assigning group-work) so he couldn't turn it in. I said, "That's OK, just email him and remind him to bring it tomorrow."

The kid kinda half-laughed and said he wouldn't email him, but would most likely text him. A text!

Sheesh, I didn't think I was that out of it.

So Much Chard

Went to the farmer's market today for our weekly supply of produce. Turns out everyone is selling the same two things: chard and beets. I never knew there were so many leafy greens that were not lettuce.

We did find one farm selling bell peppers and tomatoes. Bought a bunch just so we could eat something that wasn't green.

Primal Blueprint- week 2

Rainbow chard- almost too pretty to eat!
Well, as of last week I had lost a total of 1.2 lbs, which made my week. Today, I'm up 1 lb. :( Froody suggests it's due to my weekend in Vegas (omg- it was so much fun!). And, if I think on it, I did happy hour with some friends last night (read: margarita with chips and salsa) before going to the gym (I wasn't drunk, but I didn't push myself as hard as I could have). Also, my muscles (all over) are tired and sore which means they are full of lactic acid, so I guess that 1lb gain is easily explained away.

My goal is to remain a bit more faithful to the primal way of eating this week. I'm also going to try to stay around 50g of carbs/day. Not so easy.

Anyway, part of our new eating habits includes local, organically grown foods. I'm surprised at how challenging that is. I mean, I live in California, the "promise land" of produce. We grow everything here!

But, it is "winter" time, even for us. A lot of fruits and veggies are not in season, so the ones available at the store (even at Whole Foods) are imported from Mexico and South America. So, sticking to our resolution means having to eat a lot of produce we didn't really eat before. Such as:

1. Chard, in all its colors
2. Beets- they do have a lot of carbohydrates, but they are in season. Their flavor is very earthy, but better than canned beets which had been my only beet experience. Note: golden beets are not as strong as red beets, but still beety.
3. Fennel bulbs
4. Mustard greens- I picked some up at a farmer's market because it looked like a small bouquet of yellow flowers and smelled nice. I thought it would be interesting to eat something with flowers.
5. Carrots- I guess they are always in season.
6. Spinach
7. Bok choy- adds a lot of texture to all those hardy, leafy greens.

That's about it for California winter foods. Not much selection. Honestly, I only get the beets to add some color to all those greens. Also why I like to get swiss chard- such a nice red.

It's going to be so nice when spring and summer get here and other veggies will be available again!

Fat and Ugly

That is how I feel right now, and how I've been feeling for a while. I know that those of you who know me are telling me how wrong I am, and that I'm not fat or ugly. And, as much as I appreciate your thoughts, they're not enough to counter the voices in my head.

In fact, I have my own voice telling me the same thing, but for some reason it isn't loud enough. Or, maybe I'm just not listening to it. I don't remember ever feeling this bad about myself, or having such little self esteem. Maybe when I weighed over 200lbs, but that was a long time ago.

My good voice ("Betty" I call her) does try to talk to me. For some reason I can't believe what she tells me. I know that to make her stronger I have to more attention to her and less to that critical voice. (I don't have a name for that bad voice.) That ugly, awful, hurtful voice that is so loud and strong. Betty is more quiet and loving. She's also patient. I think she knows that someday I'll listen to her more carefully and that I'll trust what she's saying. She's not going to push herself on my like the other voice.

I wish she would.

Maybe she doesn't want to take power from me, but is waiting for me to give it to her. Not like the other voice who forces herself on me and takes my power from me. It's strong now because I feel bad, and by feeling bad I'm vulnerable and unable to fight her off. :(

But I think writing this down is Betty's way of helping me put my feelings in order, because it reminds me that she is there and that she doesn't think I'm fat or ugly. She knows I'm not happy but believes that I am strong enough to see things through. She knows that things will get better. She reminds me that I am surrounded by people who love and support me and who think I am worthy of being happy and loved. She's waiting for me to love myself again. Like a seed in the desert, waiting for the rain to come wake it up so it can bloom.

Thinking of her makes me feel peaceful. I'm not fat or ugly in this moment. My rats are playing at my feet and my Froody is working next to me, happy to have me back home after my weekend away. The sun is even out, letting me see that my life is good and that I am good, too.

The Great Experiment, Week 1

OK, so this was my first week on the Primal Blueprint. I continued going to my Crossfit gym (3x this week!) and even did an extra walk early in the week. I hope to go on another short walk today.

I feel OK for the most part. I have been greeting the days with a slight tummy ache, mostly after a heavy dinner (that coconut and veggie curry was ssssooooo good, I couldn't help myself). Today (Saturday) is the worst: slight dizziness and moody tummy. I had breakfast anyway, but the yuckiness hasn't abated. :( According to Mark's book it's not unusual to feel crappy for the first 2-3 weeks. This morning's funny tummy (NO, I am NOT pregnant you guys, sheesh) could stem from a couple of things: overall change in diet, slightly acidic dinner (veggies in tomato sauce. also yummy), and my first school happy hour in a while (1.5 beers, french fries). So, who can say??

Anyway, just wanted to make a list of some of the changes I did this week:
1. cut back on carbs- Before reading the book, I had already cut out or cut back on a lot of grain-based foods, mainly pasta and rice. I did have the occasional slice of bread and would have a bowl of whole grain cereal/granola for breakfast.

2. cut back on sugar- I had cut out artificial sweeteners over a year ago, which meant using real sugar in my coffee. I was using 2 tbsp of sugar per 16oz of coffee *gasp*. But, I'm down to 1 tbsp per 20oz. Yay, me!

3. cut back on veggies and fruit- The book says that if you really want to lose fat, you should have 50-100g of carbs a day. This past week I cut back on the amount of veggies and fruits I normally eat, meaning I eat a little less volume. Surprisingly, I survived. :)

4. eat more healthy fats- Well, what helped with the reduction in the amount of foods was probably eating more fats, like cooking with butter, snacking on nuts, adding avocado to eggs and salads, and using heavy cream in my coffee.

5. no soda- No, not even diet soda. I did buy some sparkling water and lemon, which seem to help. Also, just plain ice water and lemon really hit the spot on those occasions when I really needed a soda.

6. learning to stop- I'm still having a hard time with this. Mark says to stop eating once you stop feeling hungry. I like the way my food tastes, so I want to eat it all, even if I'm no longer hungry and feel full. But, what I've learned from the book is that if I'm hungry later on, I can eat again. Amazing! No one's every said that to me before. Of course, lots of you are probably saying, "No, duh", but I never looked at food that way before. So, this week I'm going to concentrate on stopping when I feel satisfied, knowing I can eat a little later if I have to.

The result of this week is that I've lost 0.6lbs, 0.3% body fat, and my BMI went down by 0.1. I think that's pretty good.

What Will Power!

Didn't even know I had it in me! There's been leftover Christmas candy, cookies, and cake in the staff room all day. Even chocolate, and I didn't have any of it. :)

Man, if I don't lose weight this week, it's not my fault! I'm being so good!

Primal Blueprint- Day 3

What a happy fruit bowl! The fennel actually lives the fridge, but wanted to have it's picture taken. Oh, and the pineapple is from the grocery store, not the farmer's market.

Today, Froody and I went to the farmer's market. The author of Primal Blueprint is big on organic, locally grown foods. (As are a lot of other authors and environmentalists, etc. We think it's a pretty good way to go. Of course, it helps that we live in California where we grow everything.) We're definitely fortunate to live in a place that has a few farmer's markets a week with lots of variety. Ours also has folks who sell locally caught wild fish and locally raised chicken, eggs, and beef. We brought our full (reusable canvas) bags home and managed to find a place for all that produce. Our large wooden bowl looks awesome, full of luscious, colorful fruits and vegetables. Don't you feel healthier just looking at it?

The next step is....what to do with all that stuff! We bought some veggies we don't normally eat, like the fennel bulb, bok choy, and some rainbow chards. So for lunch I did our fallback cooking method: throw everything in a pan and cook it up. I heated up about 2 tsp of olive oil, 1 tbsp of butter, and some pine nuts. Chopped up a fennel bulb and a couple of baby bok choys and some swiss chard for color (another "new" veggie, from last week's purchase). Tossed them all in. Once they softened up I added in some chopped garlic and a couple of tsp's of seasame oil. Then, I chopped and threw in the leftover pork tenderloin from last night's dinner. And, some salt and pepper. Froody and I really liked it.

Man, is there anything olive oil, butter, and garlic can't do??

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Ok, so if I'm going to follow the Primal Blueprint, I have to do this right, right? That meant getting on the scale and calculating my lean body mass. I'll tell you right now, it's not pretty. But, if you want to at least have a guideline as to how much you should be eating, you need to know. Mark does say to leave it to your own appetite to tell you what's what, but I know from personal experience that that will only make me fatter. :( It's hard for me to eat only when I'm hungry. I just like food too much. :)

Anyway, according to the Primal Blueprint, since I want to lose weight, my goal is to eat less than 100g of carbs a day (from fruit and veggies, no grains, bread, pastas, etc.) and about 100g of proteins. I'll admit that I don't eat nearly that much protein in a day, so while I'll be eating less produce, I'll be eating more meats and healthy fats. I'm going to try it for January and let you know how it goes.