Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Doing it allll wrong!

Tonight was my night off from work. I had the option to go in for some overtime but instead I avoided the phone and slept part of the night away.

When I woke up I was pretty hungry so I polished off my leftovers; stirfried chicken and portobello mushrooms with fresh homemade guacamole. It was pretty satisfying... but then it happened.

Bored cravings. One of the problems of working the night shift is when your day off comes around, you're stuck being awake all or most of the night with nothing to do. And when I have nothing to do and nowhere in particular to go, my mind and stomach get together for a little pow-wow. Hey, let's bug her for some action! they conspire and then proceed to poke and prod at my senses until I give in and eat something extra.

Luckily, I haven't had this problem since I went primal two weeks ago... but then again, this was the first time my brain and stomach and I were really alone together. I'm not hungry, I told them, but they bullied me into agreeing on a shopping trip to the 24-hour grocery store down the road.

Shopping List:
Bacon (5.5 lbs) $23.50 omgwtf
Jar of Sun-dried tomatoes
Jar of Roasted Red Peppers
Jicama
Mushrooms
Cherry tomatoes
Greek Honey Yogurt (not so primal, sadly... the sugar in it makes it a decadent now and again treat)
Almond butter (freshly ground thanks to the machine at the store)
Total Bill: $47 bucks


Considering I was wanting to eat eat eat, this shopping list isn't that bad. What's bad about it is the price tag, especially since I haven't figured out how to budget my shopping trips appropriately yet. It's a skill that I never learned on a convenience food diet, unfortunately.

When I came home I swallowed some yogurt with a couple spoonfuls of bedtime blueberries and then made a B.A.S. with leftover meat hash made from the Everyday Paleo cookbook. The salad was too big, unfortunately, thanks to my brain and stomach plotting against me, and I forced down the whole thing. I feel a bit ashamed but this is a habit that I am always fighting to stop. At least it was a salad.

So. Going into my third week, I've learned these things: I need a better food plan that doesn't involve me purchasing things on the fly, and I need an emergency plan in case of random food cravings.

In a random side note, I've started taking Vitamin D and fish oil supplements, since I'm convinced I don't get enough sunlight living like a vampire and because I've probably had a lifetime of Omega-6s.

Enough about food, what're my plans for today? Well, I go back to work tonight so I guess I'll hit the hay in another hour or so and sleep off that freaking BAS. And then walk the dog before work.

Note to self: Start working in Primal movement!

Primalizing My Life


I don't know what pushed me to make the change; in retrospect it feels like a snap decision along the lines of 'Well, why the heck not?' While it is unfortunate that many of my life decisions are made this way, this particular choice has been the most interesting and beneficial (so far).

What am I talking about? I went primal. As of now, it's been two weeks and in three weeks I will finish my 30 day experiment. Perhaps I'll continue with it. Essentially, I've changed the way I eat and the way I move. Since talking about the paleolithic or primal lifestyle eventually comes down to it, here is the food rundown:

1. I no longer eat grains. Breads, pastas, oatmeal, etc.
2. I've cut out sugar and more importantly, high fructose corn syrup. Most of the sugar in my pre-primal diet came from bread and pasta, it has to be admitted. I was never a sweet tooth.
3. Processed foods are out! If the nutrition label list is longer than five natural ingredients, it's probably too processed to eat.
4. No more corn or corn products. (It's a grain, but I thought it deserved its own bullet). Corn is in practically everything nowadays and though it's been a bit difficult to avoid it, I think I've been better off.

What I have been eating:

1. Vegetables! I'm rediscovering the plant world one vegetable at a time. First it was salad greens, then it spread to nightshades, and this week it seems to be avocados (or is avocado a fruit? lol).

2. Meat! I wasn't really a big meat-eater before, passing it up in favor of grains more often than not, so I'm also experiencing some new things with meat. For example, at one of our favorite restaurants I recently ordered the prime rib 90z steak instead of my normal grilled sandwich. It happened to be a delicious decision.

3. Fat! Everyone is so afraid of fat, myself included. This has been the hardest thing to swallow--that I need more fat in my diet. I've come to understand that it should come from healthy sources, however, like avocados and olive oil, coconut products, meat. Frying my eggs in bacon grease drove against the grain, but I did it anyway (and it was delicious.

4. Dairy! Well, in limited amounts. I sprinkle cheese here and there and that's about it.

5. Water! And more of it.


So why am I eating like this? At first, I couldn't tell you for sure. I stumbled across Mark's Daily Apple through a random link on the interwebs and just casually read up on what it meant to be primal; a different outlook on food and a relaxed but fun exercise regime. He claimed that being primal had a myriad of benefits; losing weight, getting toned and fit, improved health, happier life. It sounded a bit like he was selling snake oil, to be honest. I thought to myself that nothing that easy could do that much. He was giving out so much information for free though that I kept reading. In fact, after a while I realized there wasn't anything he left out for his book... it was all available on this website for free. This guy must really believe in it, I thought.

In due course, I came across his 30 day challenge. Try it for 30 days and see how your life is different. I laughed. The idea of being able to stick to something for 30 days? I'd fall off the wagon in three. But then that idea wouldn't go away. I kept going back to Mark's website and rereading about the primal lifestyle. Finally, I realized I either had to try it or never go back.

So on August 8th, I went primal. I went through my private stash of food and threw out or gave away my processed meals and breads and pastas. I winced a little bit when I handed over my new packages of toaster strudels and goldfish crackers, but I knew I had to be serious about it if I wanted to last thirty freaking days.

I bought nuts, meat, vegetables at the store and brought it home. I spread it all out and asked, "Now what?" I was so used to convenience food that I didn't know how to prepare any of it. It was a sad reminder of how dependent I am on others for food. It gave me new drive to teach myself to live better, to be able to feed myself from scratch.

Fast forward two weeks-- I'm doing better. I had some issues at first with giving up soymilk and I'm pretty sure I had a carb withdrawal on the third day of eating primal, but I've noticed many improvements already.

1. I've lost ten pounds. This in itself is amazing, especially for two measly weeks.
2. I had a marked increase in overall energy that first week after my carb withdrawal (called the carb flu). I had so much energy that I actually had a hard time sleeping sometimes. Now it's leveled out to a reasonable level, thank goodness.
3. I don't know that my health has gotten better since I haven't been able to afford a doctor checkup for a couple years, but I know that I feel better for some reason. Like a mist I didn't realize was there has disappeared from my vision. It's an odd feeling.
4. My tastebuds are changing. Instead of craving toaster strudels, I crave chicken and avocado or bacon and feta. Tonight the missionaries brought over cookies and they sat out on the counter in front of me for hours. They looked delicious, but instead I wanted bedtime blueberries They were delicious by the way.

So now, I have less than three weeks to go on this 30 day experiment, and I'm excited to see what's at the end of the tunnel for me. Maybe it's the not-so-snap decision to go even deeper into the primal lifestyle.

Peace.

Monday, February 2, 2009

School

I'm having a really interesting time at this new university and I especially love my classes. More and more though, I wonder if I should've given up my writing interest so quickly. I keep thinking about the story I've been wanting to write for years and the longer I go ignoring it, the more I feel like I'm missing something.

I guess I need to decide if I can find some time to get a bachelor's in science and also write a book or three.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Learning from the Wise

General Conference is such a wonderful thing, I wish the whole world would watch it. It can only be a benefit, that's what I truly think. Like it says in Mosiah 2, the people prepared themselves to hear the words of a man who loved them, wanted to guide them, and truly could. And we get to have that experience twice a year! God is great.

I am going to rewatch a conference talk a day, until I run out. Yay for conference!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Life's pretty nice

Well, it's taken some time and waltzes, but things are okay with almost everything I can think of. School started today, my health is fine (school doctors are not my friends), I'm looking for a job but I might have one sometime in the near future, and church is going well also.

It's TOO good. Something is wrong here. :O I should start poking at things to see if it's a false wall or facade or something. Haha, or I can wait and enjoy things while it lasts. Yay for me.

Shout out to the writer Alan Campbell (one of my favorite authors currently) for signing the first editions of his novella, one of which found its way into my hands. I am stoked that I have a signed first edition of something for once. More props for also replying to my thank you email concerning the signed book. I feel like I can't get any more excited about things, unless he were to suddenly show up in Oregon and offer to sign my other two books as well. Haha, I can wish.

Time to start my studying for the day, cheers to all.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

I'm a diseased piece of meat.

Someone didn't cook me long enough.

Went to the doctor's today to talk about some results (had blood work done) and was just kinda expecting nothing in particular since nothing in particular was all it was about, and came away feeling overwhelmed, freaked out, surprised, and yet not so much.

I don't feel like going into details about the possible diagnosis, but I'll be undergoing some various testing in the future and hope for the best.

The main thing for me to focus on right now is school, church, and losing weight since I'm in a very unhealthy state at the moment. This is an unpleasant extra thing, but it'll probably work out. It's not usually fatal at least.

ARUGSHFSDFJHASsdgfjldj

Sunday, April 20, 2008

If My Life was a Movie

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?

So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend your cool...
7. When you're finished tag some other people to do it!

This would be my soundtrack:

Opening Credits:
"DAYS" by Flow (Eureka 7 OST)

Waking Up:
"Doggy Dog III" by the Seatbelts (Cowboy Bebop OST)

First Day At School:
"Still" by the Foo Fighters

Falling In Love:
"In Like a Lion (Always Winter)" by Relient K

Fight Song:
"Half the Man" by Nirvana

Breaking Up:
"Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Prom:
"Susanne" by Weezer

Life:
"Worry Rock" by Weezer

Mental Breakdown:
"Monkey Wrench" by Foo Fighters

Driving:
"Minis Tirith" by Howard Shore (LOTR soundtrack)

Flashback:
"Life is Like a Boat" from Bleach ending ST

Getting back together:
"Color the Night" by A Love Not Lost

Wedding:
"Conversation" by Motion City Soundtrack

Birth of Child:
"Sarabande" by Johann Sebastian Bach

Final Battle:
"Dark Shines" by Muse

Death Scene:
"Possibilities" by Weezer

Funeral Song:
"Cosmos" by Steven Berstein (composed by Yoko Kanno, Cowboy Bebop OST)

End Song:
"Where does this ocean go?" by Ilaria Graziano (GiTS:SAC OST)