Monday 14 December 2015

Juicing...



Two weeks 'til Christmas and I'm back to juicing. 
I lost a total of 1lb on Primal Blueprint! I have heard men do better on it and there are loads of brilliant success stories online. 
But for me, keeping a low carb intake is the only way I lose weight when on a High Fat diet and Primal tends to use quite high carb, fruit and veg.
But some targets were reached e.g.I now only step on the scales about once a month and so far I've maintained the weight I've lost this year.  So still able to wear my size 14 jeans.  I know for some people that may sound enormous...but it's two sizes down for me...yay!!
Hopefully, I've finally broken the yo-yo dieting lifestyle.
I thought I'd juice for the next 10 days and then just relax and enjoy Christmas.

Sunday 30 August 2015

Primal Blueprint Day 13

So far so good. As I'm not weighing in 'til day 22 I really don't know what my weight is which I'm finding difficult (I'm itching to get on the scales!) But on the plus side it's freed me up to just eat as suggested in the Primal Blueprint (PB) without kind of editing things and restricting myself.  E.g  after reading personal journals on 'marks daily apple'(MDA) (Which is where PB comes from,)


I began to question the way I restrict myself... not having breakfast so I can have more food on my plate at lunchtime, constantly worrying about portion size etc. Often this is influenced by what the scales are showing that day. 
After reading one of the journals I found that the writer said she just put her salad together with what was handy in her fridge. She didn't seem to worry about working out carbs fat and proteins.( And she's been so successful she has to make sure she now eats enough to stop her losing more weight!!)
 So I thought right stop worrying about it just make a meal to enjoy!! It was a real lightbulb moment. So I made my salad with everything I fancied, mixture of salad leaves, spring onions, avocado, olives, sun dried tomatoes and some mackerel both pieces. Made a simple dressing out of olive oil and wine vinegar and salt. and enjoyed (I've never really enjoyed salad before, just eaten it so I'd eat less of something else.) I actually put my fork down and thought OMG this is delicious I'm enjoying every mouthful. I even allowed myself some blackberries with cream afterwards. I felt great but also free. Didn't eat until 8pm and again ate freely butter chicken and cauliflower rice with coffee and cream after. Amazing So thanks, to reading about someone else's experience on MDA, something clicked. 

Woke up today and I didn't feel hungry at all, and apart from a cup of coffee with cream, I didn't eat lunch until 3pm. When I say I didn't get hungry, I didn't fancy anything, despite the fact that I was cooking all morning in the kitchen...this is a first! When I did eat I just had 1 portion of mackerel and a dollop of homemade coleslaw. Dinner tonight (8pm)was bolognaise, made with lots of garlic, butter and fresh basil. I had to go on a 2 hour walk beforehand to work up an appetite.Even though I'd been gardening all afternoon (quite physical stuff)
I'm wondering if using more fat in cooking means I have less appetite in other words my body doesn't need as much food. E.g. yesterday for dinner I had butter chicken curry which uses loads of coconut oil/butter

 and I'm wondering if that's what made me feel full until late afternoon. So I'm upping the amount of fat I cook in, also making sure I have plenty of protein. Tonight I added extra butter to meat bolognaise sauce and it was lush. I'd also made courgette spaghetti but the sauce was so good I think I'd eat it on its own next time

So finding this plan is, if nothing else, helping me look at myself and my attitude to food. 
My plan is to eat only when I'm hungry, eat until I'm full and enjoy!!
Will I lose weight...I'll find out on Day 22...meanwhile I'm enjoying every mouthful!!

Monday 17 August 2015

Primal Blueprint 21 day challenge - Day 1

Okay so weighed in as soon as I got up, good I'm the exact weight I was on Zanna's diet before maintenance set in!

No more weighing until Day 22!



Breakfast- bacon and eggs plus mushrooms, fried in butter plus cup of creamy coffee.



Lunch - made a crustless broccoli and cheese quiche from Mark Sisson's cookbook.  Very simple, and quick to make and delicious. Had it with salad and chopped a red chile in the dressing, worked well.


 Dinner - made meatballs from a Paleo cookbook and then cooked courgette spaghetti made with my spiraliser
(love my spiraliser!)

It felt really strange eating breakfast as i've not done this for a few weeks in an effort to keep carbs down. But I was hungry so I ate.  

Feeling great tonight, not hungry but not feeling stuffed!!

Aims at the end of this challenge in order of priority:

  • To be relaxed about food
  • To lose weight
Be great if I achieve both!!

Sunday 16 August 2015

Primal Blueprint 21 day challenge...thinking about it!

Ok so how did I do on Zana's High Fat diet...lack of recent blogging probably tells a story.  Everything was fine then I had a tooth out and felt very sorry for myself so cooked an everyday LCHF meal, steak with lots of lovely fried onions, mushrooms and courgettes cooked in butter plus several cups of coffee with double cream (all pure comfort food)

Basically, after that didn't go back to Zana's miniscule meals with all the weighing.  I've just stuck to LCHF...
oh except for a lovely day out last Wednesday at  Alexandra park. 











A beautiful warm summer's day,
family walking and bike riding in the shade, so could count walking as exercise ( but, truthfully it was a gentle stroll  enjoying the fresh air)

Had pot of tea for two and I had a delicious rhubarb flapjack, then followed it with an ice cream (salted caramel of course) Ok not so bad, but then had two delicious barbecued lamb burgers with the bread buns I've not eaten bread for months! So definitely not LCHF!

Finally braved the scales today and the Good News is I've not gained weight, the Bad News... I've maintained.

So I need to kick start my weight loss again!!
What I really want to do as well as lose weight is get relaxed around food.

I've re-read Primal Blueprint(PB) and I'm going to take the 21 day challenge. 
He suggests you begin on a Monday so today is a good day to decide.
PB is more generous with the carbs up to 100gs for weight loss, but I think I'll look at 50-60 (so this is upping what I'm having now.)
 A look at the PB food pyramid shows it's very close to a LCHF eating plan.




My main concern is that most people who begin on PB are on a SAD diet at the begining, whereas I'm on LCHF which in comparison is pretty healthy already. So will I lose weight?? What I do like about PB is it allows me to have more variety of veggies, also fruit but I have to watch the fruit because of the fructose. It's worth a try as there's no weighing of food, just eat according to the pyramid when you're hungry until you're full. Not hungry don't eat...simple?? 

The other thing I'm going to do is....big breath...ditch the scales...and breathe!! 



Well at least for 21 days. Will weigh in tomorrow and then not again until day 22 eeek!
I already walk an hour a day, so will begin pilates on Tuesday and add to that swimming. So here goes, either I'll gain, lose or maintain!!
Time will tell...the proof is in the eating!

Thursday 6 August 2015

High Fat Diet Day 4...oops


Weighed in again lost another lb...yaay!


Ok todays food,  
So after losing another lb I was determined to keep up the good work. 

Breakfast: 
a lovely mug of creamy coffee
Then as today there was a 
farmer's market in Buxton (our nearest town about 10 minutes by car) I decided to visit it. 


two views of Buxton's farmer's market




There were lots of stalls today and I had a great time tasting different cheeses, olives and pickled garlic. 

Lunch: (this is where things went a bit awry) a huge bowl of courgette and cheddar cheese soup...so far so good, but then I succumbed to temptation and had a tub of Bradwell's luxury salted caramel ice cream, delicious But 30g of carbs in a tiny pot! A whole day's worth of carbs.

Dinner: just stuck to cheese and salmon
 (but had to add some olives 
bought at the farmer's market yum)




Went for another 3 mile walk with Taffie not sure if it burned off the extra carbs but helped with the guilt!!



Taffie sitting to command...she was delighted to get an extra walk.





Well tomorrow's another day, don't think I'll weigh in for a day or two or three!!

Wednesday 5 August 2015

Day 3 High Fat Diet...



Weighed myself today (couldn't wait) because I'm enjoying the food so much and not feeling hungry, I couldn't believe anything was happening..... I've lost 2lbs...yaay!!!

Ok today's food:


  • Breakfast: 40g smoked salmon, 45g of full     fat  cream cheese and 20g of walnuts
  • mug of ground coffee with double cream 

gorgeous, wrapped the salmon round the cream cheese, crunchy walnuts made a good contrast.
Love being able to have creamy coffee!

  • Lunch: skipped this as I wasn't hungry...(Eating only when hungry  is one of the things advised on the LCHF eating plan)
  • Dinner: lamb steak,guacomole (made with avocado,cream cheese, coriander and a green chili) and courgettes. (added extra mushrooms as I skipped lunch
 every mouthful was yummy! loved the creamy guacomole... courgettes and mushrooms fabulous cooked in butter and I love, love, love being able to eat the fat on the lamb! 


Drank lots of water today and had 4 mugs of coffee with cream.

Walked Taffie around the reservoir again good day for walking, a light breeze with occasional sunshine.  It was busy with walkers today as it's the school holidays, but great to be out in the open air.

Taffie, waiting for me to catch up!






Paws for thought...
Taffie at the end of a long walk.





So far so good, looking forward to Day 4 the High Fat Way!

Tuesday 4 August 2015

High Fat Diet - Day 2










ok....so today's food












  • Breakfast: one soft boiled egg, 2 slices of crispy bacon cooked in butter, half an avocado

This was delicious, cooked the bacon really crispy and used as soldiers to dip in the egg, avocado made a nice contrast to the saltiness of the bacon. I used good quality smoked back bacon from Able and Cole  


it was delicious...real comfort food!!

  • Lunch:  80g tuna  with homemade mayonnaise, 2 lettuce leaves and 30g walnuts
(oops missed this, just busy and not hungry just snacked on mug of coffee and cream and on baby bell cheese)
  • Dinner: grilled salmon with lemon and butter, 60g courgettes fried in butter,  70g of cream cheese
added some mushrooms sauted in butter to this meal as I'd missed lunch.  Finished with a lovely mug of coffee and cream.


      Drinks: 4 glasses of water, 4 coffees with cream, herbal tea


      
      Exercise: long walk with Taffie 


Taffie,waiting for me to catch up on our favourite walk, Fernilee Reservoir



Experienced no health issues (bad back has improved...yaay) and good energy level. Definitely didn't feel hungry!!   So looking forward to Day3!


Monday 3 August 2015

High Fat diet...Day 1

begginning next phase of losing weight
starting weight 11.10
Ok so planning meals, have just had coffee with cream for breakfast (2 mugs) Needed to take 2 ibuprofen due to pulled back.




lunch omlette with cream cheese cooked in butter and avocado






evening meal: peppers and chorizo with pine nuts,
 cooked in plenty of olive oil.


Alll courtesy of Zana's recipes absolutely delicious!


Exercise: walked the dog (I've a bad back at the moment probably pulled while clearing the debris from removing the hedge in the back garden when putting the fence up. ) so not far.



some of the rubbish, underneath are a lot of heavy root clumps


I'm attempting some gardening today but nothing strenuous due to bad back...









So far so good, not hungry have drunk  glasses of water and two herbal lemon and ginger teas.  Will probably have a coffee with cream before I go to bed, (I have no problem with sleeping.)

Sunday 2 August 2015

The Primal Blueprint...disappointed!!

Have finally received the Primal Blueprint.  Which I've now read from cover to cover. I really like the layout, colour photos and clear practical advice.


So why am I disappointed?  Well basically there was nothing new if you've been following LCHF for some time.  (For me that's since April) No grains and limit carbohydrates. Most of the information easily gleaned just by surfing the net!!
 Mark does suggest some carbs that my husband and I no longer eat, because we're trying to keep to 30g of carbs a day.  Why?  because of the diabetes and the imprtance of keeping BS stable. This is in line with Dr. Bernstein's 'Diabetes solution' considered to be the bible on diabetes by many who've had terrific results following his advice.
And I wonder if it really is possible to lose weight if carbs were upped by eating fruit, carrots etc.
So some interesting ideas re exercise and encouragement to purge your pantry of all non primal foods. (I'd already done this by a change in shopping habits.) There's also a journal at the back to log 21 days of changeover but I'd rather blog. So this one is going to be resold via Amazon.

After logging on to the active low carbers forum  http://www.lowcarb.ca/  I found a really interesting article that compared most of the LCHF diets and I was amazed to find that published LCHF diets have been around since the sixties at least, with all the latest ones just really tweaking what's gone before. So unsurprisingly, there's nothing revolutionary about this (The Primal Blueprint) unless it's the first time you've heard it. The cookbook is useful especially as it details how many carbs in a portion and I really like the the bog Marks daily apple http://www.marksdailyapple.com/ although I'm finding it difficult to get on the forum still waiting for the email to allow me to activate it 3 days later (and yes I have looked in my junk mail!)
So for me I'm going back to 'The High Fat diet' by Zana Morris it promises 10lbs in 14 days,
last time I lost 7....
Day 1 begins tomorrow!! 


Saturday 18 July 2015

debunking the Paleo diet

Watched a Youtube clip which debunked the Paleo diet


Debunking the paleo diet | Christina Warinner | TEDxOU 









It's interesting rather than entertaining, like a mediocre lecture, I was switching off at the end of the video.

Although I know that The Primal Blueprint ( PB) is an ofshoot of Paleo I wasn't concerned.  Quite honestly I'd skimmed through all the stuff (only read the sample first chapter of PB so far) on caveman, ancestry, evolution (I don't even believe in evolution...it's still only an unproven theory) I felt that most of what was suggested about how man lived millions of years ago had to include a lot of supposition and guesswork. I was more interested in the food that made up the diet plan and I liked the way it matched up to a large extent with LCHF.

And the reason I'm choosing this way to lose weight is because of the massive benefits it has for my husband who's a diabetic/ recovering carboholic.  It's just easier to cook the same meals for both of us and the food is delicious.

Made my first meal from PB quick cookbook today, sausages wrapped in cabbage leaves with a creamy mustard sauce.

mustard sauce
LUSH !

Friday 17 July 2015

Serial dieter

I'm beginning to think this blog should be called 'confessions of a serial dieter'...
As I seem to be trying one diet after another. 


I'd love to follow the intuitive eating plan  https://www.intuitiveeating.com/

But just can't let go of those scales!

The main reason I persist in trying to lose weight is because I've an ideal weight in mind and when I get there I'll feel as though I've got a buffer against my weight spiralling up again.

So weighed myself today maintained (I hate that word)  Meanwhile my husband who gives very little thought to his food, just eats what I put in front of him has lost another 4lbs!


So looking on the bright side at least I've not gained weight. The book detailing the Primal Blueprint should arrive soon and hopefully I'll begin losing again. Meanwhile it's crossed toes and hanging on in there until my next weigh in.


Thursday 16 July 2015

The Primal Blueprint cookbook



I've just got the 'Quick and easy' cookbook.  Wow! It's exactly what I needed.
 I love it !






I love

  •  the way not only the final cooked dish is illustrated, but there are two more photos. One shows all the ingredints laid out then another shows the food prepared for cooking



  •  the simple instructions
  • that most recipes are quick to prepare and cook
  • carbohydrates are clearlystated for each recipe (very important when following LCHF)
  • that I will try most of them

I'm still waiting for my copy of the Primal Blueprint... I'm hoping that it'll quick start my weight loss again as I seem to have stalled with no weight loss this week. I'm still sticking to LCHF and motivating myself by reading the success stories on Mark's daily apple.

Tuesday 14 July 2015

My journey to health: 7lbs in 7 days Day...10!

My journey to health: 7lbs in 7 days Day...10!: No I've not hidden in the chocolate aisle in Tesco, I'm still in there...Did 7lbs in 7 days work? Well on day 8 I stepped on the ...

The Primal Blueprint...next stage of the journey...

Sometimes it seems to have been along journey and I've stopped of at different locations along the way:
Juicing with Jason Vale
Flirted with raw food diet with Alison
Would have loved to have thrown out the scales and ditched dieting with Jon Gabriel but hadn't got the nerve (felt a bit like bungee jumping and I don't like heights)
Have stayed sometime now with LCHF and like all the benefits particularly my husband's health improvements.
Now I'm at the next point going Primal...with Mark Sissons.

 This link takes you to an interview with Mark where he explains The Primal Blueprint.


 He's also got a really good daily Blog, Mark's daily apple 


It it still low carbs, high fat and protein but NO grains!
I really don't think this will be too difficult as I've already stopped eating bread, rice, pasta, potatoes and most things made with flour and I'm sure it'll get me to my destination...just 2 more stones to go!

And to inspire me on my way  my fat photos, now I've never posed in my bikini (long time since I wanted to be seen in one of those) I never really wanted to be on the photo so head and shoulders are about it, but I'm seeing the difference.  Here goes my fat photos:

Me at 14stone 2 give or take a lb, 
as you can see I didn't want to reaveal the bulges







Eating out in San Francisco can't believe I tried to lose weight before this holiday!   I'm 13 stone something...












And now I'm 2 stone lighter, not the best photo as I'm squinting into the sun, but it inspires me to continue on this weight loss road



Soooo let's go Primal...

Monday 13 July 2015

My journey to health: Paleo diet, the primal diet, intuitive eating and more...

My journey to health: Paleo diet, the primal diet, intuitive eating and more...http://www.marksdailyapple.com/ketosis-testosterone-dehydration-hormesis-isomalto-oligosaccharides/#axzz3fiieTsJC

Paleo diet, the primal diet, intuitive eating and more...

So many differing viewpoints/philosophies around what you should and shouldn't eat. All of them sounding so rational and yet which way to go... 
confused you bet.












All I want is a healthy eating plan to:

  • lose weight (big factor)
  • maintain good health, particularly as I get older...it's not how long I live but the quality of life which is important.





















I began this journey as I watched my husband's health deterioate.  The diabetes with high sugars has had a detrimental effect on his health. Leg ulcers, chronic heart failure, difficulty losing weight, exhaustion etc. Also all the medication he daily takes produces their own side effects. I refuse to accept that it's inevitable as you age. 

SO first things first I Have to continue to lose weight!! BUT I'm also concerned about eating the right foods.

Currently I'm following LCHF which I found on the diabetes forum  http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/ there's loads of different ideas on nutrition but I got hooked up with the low carb diet forum. 

I now blog under timerich detailing the success of LCHF on my husband's health.

But what I really want is to get to the place (another 2 stone) where I'm not constantly on the scales and watching every mouthful...I just want to relax around food!!!







Tuesday 7 July 2015

Lose 10lbs in 14 days

I've bought yet another book in my quest to lose weight and keep it off. 'The High Fat diet' by Zana Morris.




Does it work? Well maybe not 10lbs but six was pretty good. The best part of the book was the recipes as I'd begun to run outof ideas for LCHF meals.

However, the book was definitely based on a diet and not intended to become a lifestyle so there was a whole section on maintenance.....Maintenance... wouldn't that be great, just one problem I'm still 2 stone short of my target. By the time I'd reached this section I was down to 2 meals a day, no fruit and restricting my coffee to two a day as I like it with cream. Plus I was having a problem with constipation...I know too much information, but believe me if it happens to you then it's a problem!!



So I'm back to the drawing board or I should say surfing the net...to find more ideas as I know LCHF is not just a one off.


Nearly there...

Three years on...                                       and the end is in sight... Finally,  within 2lbs of my target ...