Brother, am I tired this morning. Woke up at 2:45 am and could not stop my brain - that was it for the night. I am happy to report that I had no leg cramps at all, despite a very low carb day, but not having them was sort of pointless if I was awake anyway - apart from the pain, that is.
146.2 today, and still a bit stiff from the workout Tuesday evening. Lee says he's down a pound from yesterday, which was up a pound from two days ago or something. He seems to be oscillating around the 201 pound mark with no relief. I did check his eating from Tuesday and he had over 70 grams of carbs; reported that to him and I think his food yesterday was nearly all fat or protein - eggs and bacon for breakfast (with milk), naked burger with toppings and caesar salad for lunch, BBQ - ribs and sausage and cole slaw for dinner. With sweet tea, unfortunately, but it still should fall far shorter of the 70 gram mark. We are planning dinner at a McDonald's on the road tonight - naked burgers for both of us. I am determined that he'll see "19" at the beginning of his weight - and soon.
Well, diesel fuel number 1 (I think it is - heavy cream) is not helping this morning - and neither is English Breakfast tea. This is one of the days I wish I had a sugar-free Red Bull handy - no, they're not paleo, but they do work. I had a regular one once and never want to repeat that - the sugar crash hit so fast I almost collapsed - but the sugar-free ones are helpful on days like this.
All that said, even operating on low sleep right now, I feel a lot better than I would have in the same state while eating the SAD. I know I can function. I would just rather not, right now.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday of the world's longest week
And it's not - exactly - because Christmas is coming; it's a 4-day week leading up to time off (which happens to be Christmas). Anyway, here we are at Wednesday. Yesterday's eating (for me) went like this:
Breakfast - 2 turkey bacon and about 1.5 eggs scrambled with 1/4 pound of ground beef (leftovers from the beef, eggs, spinach dish). Tea with heavy cream to start
During the day - about 1/3 cup of walnut pieces
Dinner - ground sirloin patty with cheddar and bacon, and a tiny bit of avocado (it was really hard, so not worth eating). 2 squares of stilton cheese, about 5 dark chocolate almonds, and a piece of paleo christmas candy (coconut shreds covered with 60% cacao chocolate).
Lee had about the same thing, without the walnuts and with Olive Garden soup and salad for lunch - he picked Pasta E Fagiole, which has to be carb-city. Also at least 2 glasses of 2% milk.
The reason I'm recording this so scrupulously is that he is still not losing weight at all, and I am feeling compelled to figure out why. So I'm going to load him into LoseIt for a while to see what his ratios are. I've also suggested that he should try an IF day or two, and that he might want to get a blood glucose meter and test himself after meals to figure out what's kicking his blood sugar up - because something must be, somewhere. He was having leg cramps overnight, which seems like he's running low-carb in general, but I'm wondering about gluconeogenesis due to not enough fat calories or something. Gah!
We did the gym again last night - just weights for me; he walked a mile and then hit a few weight machines. I don't think the walking will have the adverse effects on his appetite, since it's not strenuous or highly aerobic. For me, the second session prompted body aches right away - I was pretty sore overnight and don't feel too wonderful today. But a pound of water went away, so I'm back at 146.4.
The coconut water after workouts seems to be keeping cramps at bay - I had some popping at bedtime, but nothing worse. And I'm getting used to the taste, sort of.
Breakfast - 2 turkey bacon and about 1.5 eggs scrambled with 1/4 pound of ground beef (leftovers from the beef, eggs, spinach dish). Tea with heavy cream to start
During the day - about 1/3 cup of walnut pieces
Dinner - ground sirloin patty with cheddar and bacon, and a tiny bit of avocado (it was really hard, so not worth eating). 2 squares of stilton cheese, about 5 dark chocolate almonds, and a piece of paleo christmas candy (coconut shreds covered with 60% cacao chocolate).
Lee had about the same thing, without the walnuts and with Olive Garden soup and salad for lunch - he picked Pasta E Fagiole, which has to be carb-city. Also at least 2 glasses of 2% milk.
The reason I'm recording this so scrupulously is that he is still not losing weight at all, and I am feeling compelled to figure out why. So I'm going to load him into LoseIt for a while to see what his ratios are. I've also suggested that he should try an IF day or two, and that he might want to get a blood glucose meter and test himself after meals to figure out what's kicking his blood sugar up - because something must be, somewhere. He was having leg cramps overnight, which seems like he's running low-carb in general, but I'm wondering about gluconeogenesis due to not enough fat calories or something. Gah!
We did the gym again last night - just weights for me; he walked a mile and then hit a few weight machines. I don't think the walking will have the adverse effects on his appetite, since it's not strenuous or highly aerobic. For me, the second session prompted body aches right away - I was pretty sore overnight and don't feel too wonderful today. But a pound of water went away, so I'm back at 146.4.
The coconut water after workouts seems to be keeping cramps at bay - I had some popping at bedtime, but nothing worse. And I'm getting used to the taste, sort of.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Tuesday
I think maybe Chinese food is problematic. We went out for some last night - I had some (not a huge amount) Cashew Chicken without rice. Chicken wasn't breaded, sauce was thin, so it shouldn't have added weight. I am assuming it was the salt - that and the fact that, for some reason, workouts take 2 days to register with muscle stiffness on me. Anyway, I'm up to 147.4 this morning.
We're going back to the gym tonight, before dinner, I think. I don't know if that will improve things, or make them worse.
We're going back to the gym tonight, before dinner, I think. I don't know if that will improve things, or make them worse.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Monday before Christmas
Pretty good weekend, from an eating standpoint. We ate at home a lot - stew on Friday, cabbage rolls from Everyday Paleo for dinner Saturday, roast beef and potatoes and rice-flour gravy last night. Breakfast yesterday at Cracker Barrel, which has a gargantuan low-carb breakfast - 3 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 sausage, and some sliced tomatoes. Breakfast Saturday was a second pass at the ground beef, eggs, and spinach thing - more spinach and eggs to less beef this time, and still pretty good! And we ate out for Saturday lunch - I had a Wendy's double with cheese, sans bun, and Lee had chili; we split a baked potato (with the crap they provide in lieu of butter - ugh).
Lee came really close to being below 200 on Saturday morning, but saw it go back up on Sunday, just out of caprice, as far as I can figure. He's stiff and sore right now from the cold, and that's probably part of it. We also went to the gym yesterday morning, and are both stiff and sore and swollen from that. I did a variety of machines - all weightlifting; he walked a bit and then did a bit of lifting.
Made some kinda fun, near-paleo candy this weekend - I had a partial bar of 60% cacao chocolate and some leftover coconut shreds, and melted the former and stirred in the latter. It's pretty darn tasty - worth repeating, although next time, I'll do the 85% stuff. It tastes rather like a Mounds bar, only not as sweet and not nearly as sticky.
147.0 this morning; I saw 145.something over the weekend and having eaten so clean, I tend to think that this is my muscles protesting the weight work yesterday. I took a couple of salmon oil this morning and will take some Advil if the pain increases at all; between them, the excess fluid should go away, I think.
We were laughing yesterday morning at the prospect of January at the gym, as all the folks who gained weight over the holidays make their resolutions and start to keep them. Because, so far, I think both of us have lost a tiny amount of weight over the holidays - not much, and some days, it's hard to see. But I didn't fit into a size 8 before Thanksgiving, and now I do (I'm wearing one of the skirts I made earlier in the fall and it's too big), and I think Lee's nearing a breakthrough - his "skinny jeans" were falling down while we were out shopping yesterday.
Lee came really close to being below 200 on Saturday morning, but saw it go back up on Sunday, just out of caprice, as far as I can figure. He's stiff and sore right now from the cold, and that's probably part of it. We also went to the gym yesterday morning, and are both stiff and sore and swollen from that. I did a variety of machines - all weightlifting; he walked a bit and then did a bit of lifting.
Made some kinda fun, near-paleo candy this weekend - I had a partial bar of 60% cacao chocolate and some leftover coconut shreds, and melted the former and stirred in the latter. It's pretty darn tasty - worth repeating, although next time, I'll do the 85% stuff. It tastes rather like a Mounds bar, only not as sweet and not nearly as sticky.
147.0 this morning; I saw 145.something over the weekend and having eaten so clean, I tend to think that this is my muscles protesting the weight work yesterday. I took a couple of salmon oil this morning and will take some Advil if the pain increases at all; between them, the excess fluid should go away, I think.
We were laughing yesterday morning at the prospect of January at the gym, as all the folks who gained weight over the holidays make their resolutions and start to keep them. Because, so far, I think both of us have lost a tiny amount of weight over the holidays - not much, and some days, it's hard to see. But I didn't fit into a size 8 before Thanksgiving, and now I do (I'm wearing one of the skirts I made earlier in the fall and it's too big), and I think Lee's nearing a breakthrough - his "skinny jeans" were falling down while we were out shopping yesterday.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Hungry
I have no idea why, but I have been stomach-growlingly hungry all day, to the point at which I succumbed to a cookie and some M&Ms that were left over from yesterday's party. As should be obvious to a Paleo/Low-Carb eater, neither was the least helpful.
It is now roughly 20 to 3:00 pm. A bit late to be realizing I should have had some lunch today.
It is now roughly 20 to 3:00 pm. A bit late to be realizing I should have had some lunch today.
Christmas Food
Over the past 3 days, we've received gifts from various members of our family who have developed a tradition of sending food. I think that we have discussed our way of eating with most of them - or at least, they've seen it in action, back in the spring. I suppose it's possible that they're just like my mother, who keeps asking when I'm going to stop "dieting", and figure that how we eat is in support of a weight-loss goal or something, and will go back to "normal" some day. Because here are the highlights of what they have sent us for Christmas this year:
Amongst all of this largess (lard-ess, more like), we did get some steaks and some coffee, so it wasn't all problematic. And the popcorn's original sale benefited the Boy Scouts, and I'm all for that. But now we have all this stuff in the house that we don't eat, and I need to come up with suitably enthusiastic thank-you notes for it, as well.
The popcorn came to work with me this morning - I work in IT, and have never seen an IT organization pass up free food, so I think it will be appreciated. Lee is thinking of doing something similar with the bagels at his office sometime soon. The lasagna and the cake? I don't know. Guess we'll let them stew a while.
My weight's holding steady in the mid 140s - 146.6 this morning. Lee's still not losing; I suggested he try the keto-stix a couple of times to see if he's ever going into ketosis, and we could work from there. And he wants to go to the gym more, which I think means I have to start getting us to the gym more (a role I would willingly give up, but it's mine and has been for a long time). Maybe one or the other of those will help. If we do get to the gym more, I'm going to start working on a six-pack - I think I'm about where I could do it and have it be visible.
Fortunately, I think we have received all of our food-oriented gifts. Good thing - I'm not sure we haven't exhausted our options for getting it out of the house.
- Frozen gourmet lasagna
- Bagels - it looked to be several dozen of them
- Some sort of frozen cake
- Flavored popcorn
Amongst all of this largess (lard-ess, more like), we did get some steaks and some coffee, so it wasn't all problematic. And the popcorn's original sale benefited the Boy Scouts, and I'm all for that. But now we have all this stuff in the house that we don't eat, and I need to come up with suitably enthusiastic thank-you notes for it, as well.
The popcorn came to work with me this morning - I work in IT, and have never seen an IT organization pass up free food, so I think it will be appreciated. Lee is thinking of doing something similar with the bagels at his office sometime soon. The lasagna and the cake? I don't know. Guess we'll let them stew a while.
My weight's holding steady in the mid 140s - 146.6 this morning. Lee's still not losing; I suggested he try the keto-stix a couple of times to see if he's ever going into ketosis, and we could work from there. And he wants to go to the gym more, which I think means I have to start getting us to the gym more (a role I would willingly give up, but it's mine and has been for a long time). Maybe one or the other of those will help. If we do get to the gym more, I'm going to start working on a six-pack - I think I'm about where I could do it and have it be visible.
Fortunately, I think we have received all of our food-oriented gifts. Good thing - I'm not sure we haven't exhausted our options for getting it out of the house.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
A nightmare
Just came from the holiday party at work. Here was the menu:
I was sitting there, toying with my dessert, when one of the other women at the table started to talk about problems with her insulin levels, and how she couldn't possibly miss a meal without feeling faint and seeing spots and didn't see how anyone could. I couldn't help myself; I turned to her and said, "oh, I do that routinely - I only ate dinner on Monday." And then I shut up. I try not to make a big deal of the way I eat, and I was very matter-of-fact about peeling my pizza and skipping the crust. And if I can find a natural way to slip in a remark about "heart-healthy saturated fat", I will, mostly to see if anyone actually is listening. But I won't proselytize. Maybe I should, but I can't - unless someone asks and really seems to want to know. And after my aunt's and sister-in-law's reactions ("oh, yes, that's exactly what we're already doing", as they proceed either to consume or serve flour- and sugar-laden food), I'm even a bit chary of sharing with people who act interested.
Anyway, one holiday minefield successfully negotiated. Don't know how many more to go...
- Pizza (various sorts)
- Salad with a choice of dressings (including blue cheese)
- Cake
- Cookies
- Candy
- Apple Juice
- Cranberry Juice Cocktail
- Coke
- Sprite
I was sitting there, toying with my dessert, when one of the other women at the table started to talk about problems with her insulin levels, and how she couldn't possibly miss a meal without feeling faint and seeing spots and didn't see how anyone could. I couldn't help myself; I turned to her and said, "oh, I do that routinely - I only ate dinner on Monday." And then I shut up. I try not to make a big deal of the way I eat, and I was very matter-of-fact about peeling my pizza and skipping the crust. And if I can find a natural way to slip in a remark about "heart-healthy saturated fat", I will, mostly to see if anyone actually is listening. But I won't proselytize. Maybe I should, but I can't - unless someone asks and really seems to want to know. And after my aunt's and sister-in-law's reactions ("oh, yes, that's exactly what we're already doing", as they proceed either to consume or serve flour- and sugar-laden food), I'm even a bit chary of sharing with people who act interested.
Anyway, one holiday minefield successfully negotiated. Don't know how many more to go...
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