I'm Thirsty

I realized something yesterday about being Primal.
I am more in touch with my thirst. I remember hearing once that when you feel hunger you might actually be thirsty. To try to drink something and see if that doesn't help.
Well, I am not confused about how I feel. I listen to my body a lot more than I used to. I can tell when I am hungry and when I am thirsty and I've never been this aware of my thirst.

I only drink water (and that's all I've had for about 6 weeks now) and I used to get thirsty on hot days but now the weather is cold and I still crave water. I love it. If I have water in front of me I will drink it and when my body wants more, it tells me.

You might wonder what I am talking about but trust me, it's a pretty cool feeling to be more connected to what your body needs. I am rarely hungry. I eat breakfast because it is the morning and I know that I should but since I didn't have to work today I just did what my body wanted and that meant a couple pieces of bacon around 10am and some chicken at 1pm.

I tell everyone I am not hungry on Paleo/Primal but that isn't entirely true. I do get hungry and I know when I am hungry...I just don't go hungry like I have with other weightloss plans.

It's a good feeling.

Slippin'

I guess this is going to be a challenge for me for awhile.

We had a weekend away and I wasn't sure what to do as far as paleo goes. We had no means of cooking food on the long weekend and couldn't afford to buy steaks and seafood along the way. We did have snacks consisting of salami, cheese, and nuts. But we mostly ate fast food. I stuck with salads with chicken and sandwiches and burgers with no buns. I wasn't ever hungry but I know this was straying some.
By the last day I ate a chicken sandwich, bun and all. It wasn't worth it. I didn't end up feeling sick but it didn't taste as great as I remembered. No need to try that again.

I have been sticking with my lunges, calf raises, etc. I do them three times a week. I added in a couple different weight exercises with my arms today. I want to come up with an arm routine to do in addition to the leg one. I want to see if what I did today makes me sore. I will know where to go from there....I think.

Threw out all of the Valentine's candy yesterday. After eating four Hershey kisses. I don't even like the Hershey kisses. Dammit. But it's all gone now.

Going to eat my eggs for breakfast. Yum. =)

Hamstrings, more Frozen Yogurt, and Strength

I have been good about my 1,000 Challenge. I did all of my lunges and such this morning before work. It feels good but, honestly, not as good as the first two times. Guess my body is already getting used it.
Oh, except for last Friday. I tweaked my hamstring while doing lunges and it hurt SO bad. I had twelve more to do and I pushed through ten more before being sure I was going to die from the pain. (I just added the leftover two to the next session). I took a break for a couple of days and was back on track on Monday.

I keep eating frozen yogurt. I am not even feeling guilty about anymore. I should feel guilty. It's not paleo but I am starting to customize this to what works for me. Could I be losing more weight? Yes. I am sure of it. But when my husband ordered a large pizza yesterday, I ate chicken and didn't touch it. Even though it looked so damn good.

So, I do have some strength in me. I stick to the plan more days than not. I read today that it isn't enough to have more good days than bad but going from someone who ate crackers, cereal, pasta, bread, and cookies on a regular basis, I disagree. Going from no good days to mostly good days is going to have to be good enough.

Still Primal

I have been doing this for 4 weeks now. I am not perfect. I sneak a sweet here and there but I am still convinced that this the life for me.
I am down 9lbs since I started. I am sure that if you took out the dark chocolate and a few cookies that have entered my system over the last month I may have seen more progress but I don't know that I would feel as good as I do. I don't believe in deprivation, as I believe I have stated before. It isn't good for me to crave things to the point that it is all I can think about. You gotta do what you gotta do.

With that said, I gotta do this...1,000 Challenge. I found this on a Paleo board and I think it is what I need. I love a challenge and I am in! I did the first workout on Monday (21 lunges, 21 squats, 21 side lunges, and 21 calf raises). I could barely move from sitting to standing and vice versa yesterday. It was crazy. But I did it all again this morning, despite the soreness. I will have to say that I am doing my calf raises on my fireplace bricks because I don't have a step so they are slightly modified.

I am hoping that once they get easy (I am assuming that they will), I will add weights in to the routine.

Pressing On

I believe I am completing three weeks of Primal tomorrow.
Still not 100% there. I would say I am about 90% Primal. Not sure if my goal is 100% or not. For my health, it should be. I know that much but I want to be realistic too.

This weekend was crazy and I ate out a few times. It was hard to make it work and stay Primal.
On Saturday I had Wendy's for lunch. I got a hamburger and only ate the patty. I also got a Chicken Ceasar Salad with low carb dressing. I ate about half of the salad.
Then for dinner we went to Rubio's. I thought I was being smart by ordering shrimp tacos. They were prepared with shrimp, guacamole, and bacon. Triple Primal Score! Two tacos for $8. I threw away the tortillas and ended up with six (SIX!) shrimp, two small slices of avocado (not guac) and a few little specks of bacon. Big FAIL. Shame on you Rubio's.

We went out to lunch on Sunday too. I did pack strawberries, almonds, and pistachios for snack and I had bacon and eggs for breakfast. For lunch I ordered a pulled pork sandwich. I didn't eat the bun. I also had sweet potato fries. I know they aren't the best choice but I figured they were better than regular fries? I have no idea if that is poor logic or not. I tried.

Of course, I drank water will all meals. No more soda for me.

Pressing On

So, I weighed in on Tuesday and I didn't lose or gain any weight. I was surprised. I have been awesome (with the exception of the frozen yogurt last week).

I am pushing forward and crossing my fingers that the weight drops. I am not asking for dramatic differences. 1/2 of a pound would have been enough to assure me that I made a good choice.

Today, three eggs for breakfast. Lunch is a spinach salad. Dinner is steak with spaghetti squash. Lots of water through the day. Snack, if needed, will include almonds and string cheese.

In an effort to clean things up a little I have dropped fruit from my diet for now. I have also made cheese pretty minimal. I have been eating cheese but I find that it doesn't satisfy my hunger much so there is no benefit to it right now.

Having family over for dinner on Saturday. We are making carne asada, which I think it is a good choice. We will have the fixings for carne asada burritos but I will make mine without the tortilla. Meat, maybe some sour cream, and guacamole. Plus salad!

Chin up!

Some Good Things I've Eaten

Here is a typical dinner to the left. Chicken cooked with EVOO, garlic, and pepper, next to steamed carrots and broccoli. Breakfast is usually quickly prepared and sometimes is just hardboiled eggs but this is what I had this morning on the right. Two cooked eggs with leftover pulled pork. Cooked pulled pork in the crock pot on Saturday with chicken broth, salt, pepper, and garlic.