This morning's weigh-in results are in, and I'm about to break a promise to myself. I was going to wait a month to tell you about the tweaks I've made to my eating plan, but I've decided today's the day. Why today? Because I weighed in this morning and lost three more pounds, for a total of 16.5 since December 26, 2012. I'm slowly inching up to the one-pound-a-week goal I set for myself the day after Christmas.
April 6 was the beginning of the end of sugar, grains, dairy and legumes here in the Middle of Nowhere, as my husband and I dipped our forks into the world of paleo eating. (There's much more to the paleo lifestyle than the menu. But that's where I'm starting.) A combination of factors pushed me to this point, and I'm dragging him along for the ride. (He has not given up his slimy sugar-free/fat-free yogurt, which I never cared for anyway and which never appears at mealtime, only for snacks.) Those factors were:
- at least three real-life or blogging friends who have been eating primally for more than a year
- my husband's cousin, who has recently completed Whole30 and hasn't looked back
- Bloody Head Syndrome (which I'll explain)
Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. (This quote has been attributed to several famous people, including Einstein and Twain, but the first written instance of it is in the 12-step book for Narcotics Anonymous, published in the early 1980s.) Hmmm.
I'm one of those weight-loss bloggers who has had marginal success off and on over a number of years, until last year, when I found myself staring at a truly scary number on the scale. If only I'd decided 20 years ago that 140 was the truly scary number, I may never have gotten to the much higher one I saw in December.
And so I began counting calories in earnest, putting in the effort to exercise daily (have missed only a few days this year) and keeping a closer eye on the scale. (Well, at least after the first month.) From December 26 to April 6 I lost seven pounds.
Bloody Head Syndrome (don't bother Googling, it's not there) is kind of like the definition of insanity but there's the additional factor of actually hurting yourself. One could argue that I wasn't really hurting myself by simply eating less and moving more. But as time went on, I not only felt worse physically I was becoming completely demoralized emotionally.
All. That. Work.
All. That. Effort.
All. That. Time.
Seven pounds.
That doesn't just hurt, IT BITES!
It's been said and sung that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Seven pounds in 15 weeks is tough, my friends, and it was time for me to get going.
You'd truly have to have lived in a cave to never have heard about the paleo/primal/caveman diet. (I dislike the word "diet" but, as the young folk say, it is what it is.) I knew about it, thought about it, and promptly dismissed it, saying,
OH, NO, I COULD NEVER GIVE UP CHEESE, BEANS OR QUINOA!(I've given up sugar before, once for five straight years, so I knew that one was at least possible.)
Well guess-effing-what? I can and I have. In the three weeks and two days since we started I've dropped 9.5 pounds, gotten significant relief from the aches and pains I've blamed on aging, zipped up those jeans and actually worn them and am heading for my own personal Whole60.
Because if it ain't broke, why fix it?
The quick-and-dirty theory behind Whole30 is to go cold turkey on sugar, grains, legumes and dairy for 30 days, giving your body a chance to recover from the inflammation caused by sugar, grains, legumes and dairy. You then re-introduce them, one at a time, and assess. If you feel worse or have less energy after eating beans, well then that's the culprit. Or a culprit. I didn't buy the book or even the support for the program. All I did was print out the food list and go shopping.
Because that's really what the tough do when the going gets tough. Heh.
That list, as well as several other helpful guides, are available for download by clicking this link. (Scroll down the page to the Free Downloads section.)
I really don't expect to see many out clicks on that link. After all, it took me well over a year to mull this around in my cavewoman brain. Most likely it doesn't work for everyone. But everyone I know has seen positive results (not necessarily weight loss) and, more importantly, they haven't missed (for the most part) the missing ingredients.
As for me, I miss cheese. But you know what? I'll get over it.
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| Last night's dinner: grass-fed beef burger topped with homemade mayonnaise, homemade sweet potato chips (oh-so-yummy) and cucumber/onion/tomato salad. |
