If, perchance, there are any Australian teachers/students reading my blog, they will understand when I say that the year is getting to its very pointy end and it's not surprising that updating the blog is slipping further and further down my priority list. School holidays begin in 68 hours (who's counting?) although I will also be involved in work things during our break, since my seniors will be finishing up their scheduled classes shortly thereafter. Apart from those small obligations, I will be resting free and easy for the break, with a trip to the farm, lots of cultural activities (such as finally going to the Titanic Exhibition at the Melbourne Museum, woohoo!), and hopefully some gorgeous spring weather to lap up. With some more playtime available, I hope to also have some fun in the kitchen, getting some fresh and zingy spring recipes ready for party season!
In the meantime, here's a quick run-down of my latest shenanigans:
I'm currently trying to crack down on my weight issues by sticking to a meat-based diet once more, adding some veggies with dinner if I want them. Today I had beef sausages for breakfast and lunch, some salmon sashimi when I arrived home from work, and then a BAS of silverbeet, onion, garlic and mushrooms, sautéed in butter. Since a more relaxed approach to carb intake and calorie consumption is clearly not working out for me, despite going dairy- and nut-free on top of everything else, I'm getting stricter. No fruit, carbs under 50g (including fibre), and calories under 2000kcal except on more active days. I'm trying to keep my fat intake around 150g per day, which translates to me trying to keep my protein intake at a reasonable level. Time to defrost some lamb chops...
On Mondays, I have my belly dancing class. I'm still really loving it, and am transitioning into learning extended choreography with the girls who have been training for 6+ years! It's a little full-on since they don't teach me the dances step by step; I'm expected to just follow along and do as much as I can. It'll be different when they're not preparing to perform in a festival, and are learning a new dance from scratch. I've bought a few DVDs so that I can learn choreographed sequences from those, for my own enjoyment. IF only I had a more dance-friendly space in my house - the TV is in a room with a low-hanging lampshade - not terribly conducive to arm flourishes!
I'll be skipping meals when I'm not hungry, and I plan to occasionally fat fast through a meal (i.e. take a hit of coconut oil instead of cooking up a full meal). Hopefully these revised efforts, on top of what I hope to be a healed and balanced metabolic/hormonal system, will help kick-start my fat loss once again. I'm sick of being so fat! I want to be able to wear a sexy belly dancing costume, for one thing! A sparkly, embellished bra, with a low-slung hip scarf to match... Yum! At least now I have a bit more of a goal than just to look good naked - if I want to perform on stage, I want to wear the real gear and look hot! I want my shimmies to look controlled and sexy, not like jiggly fat wobbles! I want my 'fish'/'camel' stomach/spine waves to look smooth and gorgeous, not like I'm sticking my gut and my butt out in counterpoint!
I've been running (but not leading) a yoga session each week at my school, and this being the last week of term means this Wednesday is also our last yoga session. I don't think we'll be continuing next term, since attendance has been varied thanks to it being the pointy end of the year, so I'll be going back to my yoga vodcasts and leading myself through sessions at home. If I join the gym where my belly dancing sessions are held (the classes are past of their group fitness offerings despite the teacher being a proper belly dance teacher - I don't feel like I'm paying enough for her expertise! - and cost about the same amount per session as I would pay for a weekly membership there), then I could go to their evening yoga sessions, and maybe even some Pilates, which I used to love. They have a pool, too...
Simon Says...
Stephan Guyenet says... Dogen Zenji says... The world is complex, as our are bodies and our environments, so keep your nutritionism and reductionism in context.
Pål Jåbekk & Matt Stone say... Think positive! It's good for you!
Ned Kock from Health Correlator says... When we consider the China Study data, we see wheat is associated with some pretty evil stuff, and rice isn't great either, but it's hard to define why...
Mark Sisson says... You don't have to live with joint pain!
JP from Primal Journal says... Carbohydrates in large quantities and from bad sources are to be avoided.
& Girl Gone Primal says... Ciao!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I cut out grains, sugar and starches at the beginning of 2009. I have been keeping a journal as I have progressively shed my bulges and my processed foods. I am aiming to live a clean, primal lifestyle, and I wish to share my eating habits with those who wish to clean up their lifestyle and live happily and healthfully. As the cliche states - if I can do it, so can everybody else.
4 comments:
Hi!
I read your blog all the time! I love your musings and your culinary experiments. I just read this last post, and I wanted to let you know that I used to have similar problems losing and controlling my weight. I had other problems as well, but the weight was so frustrating because it just wouldn't budge. You should get your thyroid checked. I had to go to a couple of different doctors before I was properly diagnosed, but low thyroid function -- even if your doctor refuses to call it hypothyroidism because it doesn't show up as such on their TSH test -- can prevent you from losing any significant weight even while eating primal and/or low carb. I went through the same thing -- I'd lose weight, gain some back, lose some, gain some back. I was put on natural desiccated thyroid and the weight finally came off and stayed off. Of course, I also eat primal, which helps your thyroid function properly, but without the thyroid replacement therapy even eating primal won't solve your weight problems. Check our stopthethyroidmadness.com. I'm not affiliated with them, don't them at all, but their website saved my life. Hope this helps!
Hi Anon. I've been tested. My thyroid is fine. I supplement with iodine anyway. My issues have been based on leptin and gherlin, which I hope are now under control. I was on a nerve desensitiser which screwed them up, leaving me starving all the time. That has stopped fully, so I'm cracking down - I've been very relaxed whilst work has been stressful and my body has been sorting itself out. I lost weight easily last year, and only gained after this drug interference, so thyroid issues have been ruled out in practice as well as diagnosis. I wish I could just take something and the weight would pour off, but no such luck for me.
Hey Jezwyn!!
I just had to say Thank You! You're actually the first blogger I've come around who explicitly says how much grams of fat they try to achieve daily! And I am so happy about that - since it gives me something tangible to aim for, you know?
So thanks! Oh, and I was wondering - did you come by the amount by anything particular, or just trial and error? And is it weight based? as in should a skinnier\heavier person have less or more or anything, do you know?
Gosh.. I never thought it would be difficult to get fat in my diet - unfortunately at my job, we eat at work - so I don't eat much at home - and the choices aren't that fatty (darn popular opinion on fat - blah!) lol.
anywho - hope evrything is working out!
Thanks!
G'Day Aeruynh!
I can totally relate to the 'how much fat??' question - it's certainly a long way from being discussed in the mainstream health circles, and everyone requires different caloric amounts, so no one's willing to put exact figures on it - even though every man and his dog has advice regarding protein and carb intake!
My figure (double-meaning alert!) comes from both a mathematical and anecdotal standpoint. I log my intake on SparkPeople, so if I make sure to limit carbs within a certain range, and have a protein minimum (and maximum, though it is usually ignored), then the rest is going to be fat. However, I'm more interested in calories, so I watched that figure and then noticed how much fat it took to reach it. If I'm keeping my carbs low, and getting at least 65g protein, I know I need at least 150g fat to cover my energy needs. And my experiences confirm the accuracy of this figure - but it's post-intake analysis - I don't think about fat proactively, I just eat what I want and look at the data later. If I worry about consumption too much, I lose contact with my satiety levels.
Fat intake is weight-based in as much as energy intake (BMR) is partially governed by weight. After that, your activity levels may require more or fewer calories, and this adjustment should be made with fat if you're keeping carbs low and trying to stay in a positive protein intake range. Beyond that, your digestion and alertness will tell you whether you're getting proportions or sources wrong.
If you have a fridge at your work, you could always keep a bit of butter there to add to your work meals. Otherwise, you could store some coconut oil at your workstation and add it to your food to up your fat. I've given up trying to find edible content at catered work functions - I usually fast through them. At food-focussed events, I just kick up a stink about having the caterers provide healthy food options in advance - Christmas last year was a glorious feast of meats!
All the best!
Post a Comment