Flirting and losing

This past Saturday I mentioned I was going paleo . . . wwwweeeelllll . . . I've been more or less flirting with it since then. Not really fully committing to it.

But to be honest. Food-wise, I've NEVER really fully committed to anything long term. But I have spent the days since Saturday doing some really hard core research on the paleo diet and begun to better understand it.

I'm liking what I'm reading. The diet (by using the word diet I mean way of eating, not way to lose weight) makes sense, will be fairly easy to fully incorporate and I think I can fully commit to it. It also appears to be very well grounded in facts. There's not a lot of fluff that I'm finding. Which is good.

In addition to the research I'm doing online, I'm reading the book Primal Body - Primal Mind by Nora T. Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT.

It's a really good book, what I've read so far (and understand). It's not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination because she goes into detail what glucose and other things we ingest do to our body. This is one book I'm going to have to go back with a pen, highlighter, notebook and computer and reread. (The computer will be to google some of the terminology she uses. No comprendo!!) I feel as though I need to go to school and become a nutritionist to be able to fully understand this book.

That's not true. I'm just at the bottom of a large learning curve.

Up until now, I've not really paid much attention to my nutritional needs. Sure I toyed with various ways of eating, but never payed attention to the way they affected me, with the exception of the "vegetarian" diet that caused bruises to pop up. I was actually a junk food vegetarian. Potato chips are vegetarian . . . aren't they?

HA!

So all that to say . . . I've not been exactly up front. I've been flirting with the paleo diet. Flirting pretty heavily, but haven't made the full commitment, even though I made the declaration here.

Doing all the research is also why I've been relatively absent here. Well that and I've actually been doing work at work! Can you imagine it! Me! Actually doing what I'm supposed to at work! Ha ha ha ha! (Actually, I'm waiting for bossman . . . who apparently isn't here . . . to mark today's papers so I can copy them and cut out the marked articles. Le sigh)  I've also been hideously grumpy . . . but that's for another time . . . enough to ask if anyone wants to take the Italian for a few days while I go on vacation?

tee hee!

Now you know why I don't post this blog on my personal facebook page! My in-laws would KILL me! 

But seriously. After my 5k on Saturday (Would you believe I'd TOTALLY not realized that the Susan G Komen 5k was this Saturday? What the heck! Training? What training? Nope, not a bit. Guess I'm walking this . . . ergh . . . ) I'm racing (ha!) to the farmer's market to pick up pastured meats and fresh veggies for the week. Though the emphasis will be on the meat, because I can pick up organic veggies at the groceries around here.

And I'm gonna start.

In doing my research I came across this post and it really pointed out the hypocrite that I am. Here's the part the seriously kicked my butt.

Tough Love

Here comes the tough love. This is for those of you who are considering taking on this life-changing month, but aren’t sure you can actually pull it off, cheat free, for a full 30 days. This is for the people who have tried this before, but who “slipped” or “fell off the wagon” or “just HAD to eat (fill in food here) because of this (fill in event here)”. This is for you.

1. It’s not that effing hard. (Yes, I wanted to throw an f-bomb in there.) Don’t you dare tell me this is hard. Giving up heroin is hard. Drinking your coffee black is. Not. Hard. Substituting Sunday morning French toast in favor of a giant omelet and side of crispy bacon is not hard. Eating fresh, delicious fruits and vegetables every day is not hard. So I don’t want to hear one single complaint. You won’t get any coddling from me on this one, you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”, and you won’t get any second chances. Not in my house. It’s thirty days, and it’s for the most important cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. So shut up and do it.
2. Don’t tell me you “slipped”. Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of Krispy Kremes, you DID NOT SLIP. You made a choice to eat something of poor quality. It’s always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident. You make a poor choice, even once, you’re out. You don’t get to re-start, you don’t get to keep posting. Commit here, 100%, for the full 30 days, or go somewhere else.
3. Don’t lie to me. Don’t even try.
4. You never, ever, ever HAVE to eat anything you don’t want to eat. You’re all big boys and girls. Toughen up. Learn to say no. Learn to stick up for yourself. Just because it’s your Mom’s birthday, or your best friend’s wedding, or your company outing does not mean you “have” to eat crappy food. It’s always a choice, and I would hope that you stopped succumbing to peer pressure in 7th grade.
5. This does require a bit of effort, people. If you’re cutting grains and dairy for the first time, you have to replace those calories with something. You have to make sure you’re eating enough, that your vitamins and nutrients are balanced, that you’re getting enough protein, fat and carbohydrates. Don’t expect me to fill in the blanks for you. Figure it out. There are a ton of good resources out there. I’ll list some in my next post, to get you started. But take responsibility for your own plan. Improved health, fitness and performance doesn’t happen just because you’re now taking a pass on chocolate milk.

The author of this post was walking people through 30 days of total no-cheat paleo.

This really hit me . . . hard.

How many times do I let myself off easy because I'm just not feeling it that day? I don't feel like carrots or apples, but that's all we have in the apartment fruit/vegetable wise, so I decide to eat a bag of chips? (Individual-sized! The ones I give to my Italian for his lunch, not a whole freakin' bag . . . though I've done that too . . .)

So it's time to woman up (because we all know it's MUCH harder to be a woman) and do this.

So, for the next 30 days, starting next Saturday, May 8, 2010 I will be embarking full scale, whole hog, no cheat on the paleo diet. I'll track everything I eat (ugh . . . it's good discipline though . . . Lord knows I need it!) and post it up here (for your viewing pleasure of course . . . or you can just skip right over it).

So that's that. Now . . . on to happy dancing news!!

A.) I FINALLY called to make an appointment with the endo and am in the process of getting my medical files transferred over.

B.) I love 2.8 pounds!! I'm down to 206.2!! I've lost 16 pounds total! My lowest weight with WW was back in December right before Christmas at 205.8. Right now I'm less that 1/2 a pound away from that. I'll surpass that and then some next week! My goal is to reach 10% of my original weight (222.2) lost by the time I leave WW. My last WW meeting is May 18. So I've got 2 weeks to lose 6 pounds. I can do it! I'm pretty damn sure!

Can I ask you guys to help kick my butt if I don't post my food?