How I'm doing...

So I thought I should mention how I'm doing with regards to escaping the rut I recently discovered myself to be in.

Basically, it's going well. I'm getting out more, and meeting some lovely people at a church group I joined. I'm starting to get back into reading, which basically stopped at the beginning of the year when things went pear-shaped.

I'm probably going to start painting this weekend if the light's okay. (It's very dark at the moment because of the rain.)

I'm hopefully going to find a new vocal coach so that I can continue my singing education.

The wonderful thing about all of this is that it's actually helping me recover from earlier this year much faster. I'd thought at the time that resting and not exposing myself to more exhaustion or stress would be the better way to get through the difficult time I had with my publisher. But the truth is, I'm only now starting to feel like I'm moving on, and I think most of it is because of me getting out there and seeing new places, exploring new foods (no carbs, which means I actually have a lot more energy) and doing things I love that I haven't gotten to in months.

So here's to doing more of those and having a fuller life.

Anyone else working on escaping a rut you're in? How's it going?

About following the Paleo diet...

I've come to a decision yesterday that I won't be posting my weight every day any more. Instead I'll be doing a weekly post (starting next week since I already did week 3's on Monday.).

Basically, I needed to keep track of my weight during detox so I wouldn't be tempted to cheat.

Now, I'm enjoying my new lifestyle so much that I'm really not all that tempted. Still, I think there's value in sharing my weight loss experiences. Even if it's just to encourage one more person to take on the challenge of breaking that carb addiction.

So what exactly am I doing at the moment?

Paleo.

(Dun Dun Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn!)

A lot of people are incredibly excited about this way of eating. Others are incredibly concerned about cutting carbs out of our diets.

Now... I can go into research etc. about these issues, but since most of us weight-loss or health lifestyles aren't all that interested (sometimes to our detriment in fact), I thought I'd go into personal experience and common sense instead. Make of it what you will.

Issue 1: Paleo is about eating like a caveman, but we're not cavemen anymore. We've evolved. 

No, we're not cavemen. We're a lot less active as a rule, which means that we really don't have the justification of consuming the vast amount of sugars that we do. And really, we do. 

You know all those light foods we eat? So healthy because it's low in fat? 

No. The only reason those foods are palatable is because extra sugars are tossed into them to compensate for fats being missing. (More on fats next.)

And if we were evolved as we're being told, we wouldn't be in the situation where our generation's average life expectancies are being lowered by "life-style illnesses" like diabetes. 

Issue 2: Cholesterol! Heart Disease! 

Uhm... actually it turns out that there isn't that much of a correlation between fat intake (fat being natural fats) and cholesterol. This "knowledge" comes from a study where the "scientist" researched 22 (yes. twenty two) countries and used the results from six (yes, six) in his paper in order to show a positive correlation. The other sixteen? No correlation whatsoever. 

So why are we being told carbs have to be consumed in huge amounts, and that the study above was scientifically sound? Economics, darling. Politicians needed to find a way to lower food prices while keeping farmers happy. And that meant subsidizing the cost of grains and telling the whole world that they should be eating more grains than any other food source. (Even when it's not even remotely true.)

Personal experience fact: I've never had cholesterol, not even when I only ate proteins. The only time when I get really low blood pressure is when I don't eat refined carbs. Curious, don't you think? 

Issue 3: But fat makes fat! 

Nope. Fat gets converted as needed by the body in order to make the sugar etc. needed for it to function. If you consume natural fats (IE bacon, cream, butter, avo, olive oil etc) your body uses what it can and expels the rest. 

If you eat carbs, your body uses a tiny bit (because that's really all it can use) and stores the rest, thanks to insulin. And the problem is that insulin also prevents your body from using its own fat for energy. Which is why you keep piling on weight. 

So needless to say, fat doesn't make fat. Carbs make fat. And you know what proves it? The recommended amount of carbs saying we should eat them most of all came in in 1977. Obesity, diabetes, heart problems etc. only really became a problem since. 

Issue 4: BUT YOU NEED CARBS! 

Actually... No. And if you're overweight, HELL NO YOU DON'T. As I said above, your body actually creates its own energy from fat, whether it's already in your body or whether you consumed it with your food. 

But if it still makes you uneasy, going the paleo way doesn't imply no carbs. You can still eat fruit and a ton of vegetables. In fact, you're supposed to eat a lot more veg than fats and meat. 

The point is just that you can't eat grains, refined sugars and certain high carb fruit and vegetables. 

In conclusion: 

Yeah, I know I'm probably going to get some schlep for posting this, but I do get tired of people bringing up these issues every time I turn down consuming something obviously unhealthy. 

No, I don't think this is the only way to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but it's the only way I've tried that's actually not really difficult. And honestly, why make things harder when you could actually enjoy the way you eat? 

Day 18

Sigh. I have to say I'm a bit out of it today. Partly, it's because of a flu or something I caught in town Friday night. It's really not all that fun trying to focus when your head feels stuffy and your throat burns. 

So... I'm just going to turn in tonight and will hopefully post something more meaningful tomorrow. 

But! The scales have returned, and with it, good news: 

Weight: 100kg (220lb 7.4oz)

Total Lost: 5.7kg (12lb 9.1oz)

BMI: 34.6

Day 13

Sadly I'm still without scales, so I can't update on my weight.

I did think, though, that I should update you on how I'm doing.

To those of you who missed my announcement, I cut (almost all) carbs out of my diet in an attempt to break my sugar addiction. The plan is that I'm going carb-less until I feel bad, and then I'm re-introduce unrefined carbs back into my diet.

Diet here being what I plan to eat for the rest of my life.

And you know what? I'm at day thirteen, almost two weeks in and I'm doing great. I had one scone over the weekend because I felt my energy dragging after a fourteen hour day on Friday (carbless, I might add.). And you know what? That one scone held me up for a ten hour active day. (Arranged flowers for a wedding. We ate lunch etc, but I skipped carbs again.)

Which I think goes to show how much unnecessary carbs I've put into my system before. I mean, if one scone on an active day is enough, six slices of bread or equivalent on non-active ones are waaaaaaaay too many.

And I'm definitely feeling the difference. I have started to up my activity levels in general (more walking, mainly), but am staying away from jogging etc. for now as at my weight, it won't be good for the joints. And on next to no carbs (I do get a few in, but unrefined and not more than about 10g as a rule.), I feel energetic and much more alert than I've felt in months.

Also, more stable. It's like I have a constant source of energy going through my entire day, instead of buzzing and crashing in cycles.

So yes, I know that my body will need carbs (it's come up in the comments multiple times), but until I'm in a condition where I can exercise enough to need them again, I'm staying away. Why? Because I feel better without them.

Anyone else changing their life-styles? How're you doing?

Nope, still didn't vanish...

Hey all! Just want to let you know that I didn't disappear on you.

Remember last year when my mother, my gran and I did the flowers for my friend's wedding? Well, one of her friends liked the arrangements so much that she asked us to do the flowers for hers as well.

So that's what I did on Friday and Saturday. (In blistering cold - okay not quite blistering - I might add.)

And on top of that, the scale I use to weigh myself has died, so I'm forced to hold off weighing myself until I get into town to buy batteries. (Ah, the joys of living on a farm.)

I will say though, that so far, things are going well. I did cheat a bit on Saturday (blaming the cold, the smell of fresh scones and the place's amazing jam for that.) However, I didn't crave any more sugars after and still don't. (Yay me!) And I'm not letting myself feel bad for a minor slip because... well, I'd spent a fourteen hour day on Friday and a ten hour one on Saturday, both mostly on my feet and lugging heavy stuff around.

Now things are getting back to normal, and I hope I'll easily get myself into some sort of routine again. I let myself slack for the first four months because of the nonsense with my publishing house, but even though it's over, I'm having difficulties with getting back into the groove.

How are you doing? Been up to anything interesting recently?