Thursday, May 9, 2013

Breakfast of Champions

Well, breakfast of this champion, anyway:


Yesterday morning I had a GINORMOUS fruit bowl for breakfast. Tiny Kroger had pineapples for a buck, so I had two of those cut up and ready to eat, along with a couple quarts of sliced strawberries, a bunch of bananas, some kiwis and some oranges. I peeled and sliced and diced and got my five servings of fruits or vegetables all in one swell foop. (I know it kind of sounds like I had two pineapples and two quarts of strawberries for breakfast. I didn't. Half a cup of each.)

Then I went to work, where I dragged around all morning. I came home, ate and rested. A lot. Fixed dinner and took a short walk afterward, then ate a little more. Then went to bed. EXHAUSTED. And HUNGRY.

My normal breakfast looks like that photo: two or three slices of bacon and two eggs, sunny side up. The difference in protein between the two days' morning meals is night and day, and I learned a lesson from it.

I. Need. Protein. Especially in the morning.

It's been a month since I went paleo-crazy, and I've noted a few things:

  • I've taken maybe two Aleve this month. I had previously taken two or three each day.
  • The right hip pain I thought was IT Band Syndrome or arthritis is almost completely gone.
  • I don't (usually) get hungry between meals and I'm appropriately hungry at mealtime.
  • I'm especially hungry when I wake up, which I think is a good thing.

And, of course, from January to April I'd lost seven pounds, and since then have lost 11.

A couple other animals showed up
on this morning's walk, as well.
I went walking this morning instead of writing a post for the blog. My intention was to go three miles, but I stopped to visit with a neighbor whose dog had surgery recently. He (the dog) used to come visit us and play with Hershey and we've really been missing him, so it was worth a half-mile shorter walk to play with Toby and find out how he's doing. His left rear leg is held in place with pins – he looks like a bionic dog – and he was sporting a cone of shame. I felt bad for him, but he seemed happy to see me.

Work this week has been very physical, and yesterday was especially difficult, as it was cold and poured down rain the whole time I was there. We unloaded a truckload of new stock. The flood we expected didn't happen, and today was bright and sunny and the customers just kept on coming! That's just how we like it in early May.

2 comments:

Vickie said...

Protein really holds and makes a big difference, I agree. I had food sensitivity testing a few months ago. One of the reasons was looking for inflammation causes (preventively as I age). Sounds like something or somethings you cut/eliminated were causes for you. I am not sure I have noticed an inflammation difference, but have noticed a big GI improvement. I could also have a migraine every single day if I were not careful in what I eat. Very interesting isn't it? We truly are what we eat.

Anonymous said...

I have the exact same response to fruit - I started noticing it even before I "went paleo." It makes me furiously hungry and I always have a massive afternoon crash. Like a sledgehammer to the back of the head crash. So although I love fruit, I eat it in small quantities, and not in the morning.

I ate bread yesterday and today my knees hurt. And ankles and elbows and wrists. That's the thing that keeps me with paleo - I'm *allowed* to eat whatever I want, I'm not on a DIET. I've just discovered which foods have positive and which have negative consequences for me, and choose accordingly.

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