Jodi Goes Primal

Ratios:

1604 calories

56% fat

23% protein

14% carbs

Ate breakfast (3 eggs), Salad with Chicken Breast for lunch, Spicy Pork Stuffed Bell Pepper for dinner.  Fat intake was from eggs, chicken, heavy cream, pecans, ground pork, dark chocolate almond spread and avocado.  Working to eliminate the need for heavy cream in my coffee or at least reduce to only one cup.  Will be ordering different coconut products (oil, vinegar, aminos), which will give me me some variety.

990 calories

51.1 g Fat (48%)

54.3 g Carbs (22%)

35.9 g Protein (15%)

Trying to get back on solid ground again.  Menu made, groceries bought…house/pantry/family still not primal/paleo, but going to hold myself to at least 80% primal for this week.  Only alcohol will be red wine, no more than twice this week.  As usual, biggest challenge will be to get enough calories and the right ratios and eating breakfast.

B – coffee only

L – 3 oz. deli chicken breast, 1/2 cucumber, 10 Organic banana chips (dried bananas and coconut oil)

D – Homemade chili, 8 oz Pinot Noir, 1 teaspoon Dark Chocolate Almond Spread

Numbers were too low so added a snack:

8 small frozen strawberries, 2 oz. Coconut Milk, Whipped Cream

Today’s FitDay numbers:

I skipped breakfast and forgot my lunch.  I had honey.  Protein definitely low and carbs high in comparison to the amount of protein.

So having pneumonia and not being able to exercise gave me an excuse to have a three week lapse in judgment (which means I was primal maybe 50% of the time).  But, I’ve slowly introduced exercise back into the mix…only strolls around our property.  I intend to go back to full time exercising on Monday and I already have my menu planned for next week (three of the meals are courtesy of recipes found at FlyNavyWife’s site, Joyful Abode!  (Thanks for the inspiration!)  So here is the Menu for next week and I’ll reiterate my challenge (that I was supposed to start 3 weeks ago, but will begin this week instead.

Monday, April 26th, I will do the following:

1. 80% primal eating (or better);
2. Alcohol only two times in 30 days (no sugary drinks like margaritas);
3. P90X resistance workouts 3 x week (1 each – Shoulders & Arms, Chest & Back, Legs & Back);
4. P90X cardio and stretch workouts 2 x week (1 each – X Stretch, Cardio X);
5. Reduce fruit intake (small amounts of berries and melon only – no bananas, dates, etc. once per day) and reduce nut intake (only one nut snack per day);
6. Weigh and measure ONLY on Day 1 and Day 30 (will have to have my daughter hide the scale);
7. Play outside at least twice a week, work in garden at least three times per week;
8. Tighter control on insulin intake, glucose monitoring;
9. Record all food in FitDay;
10. See doctor at end of 30 days for new blood work.

Tuesday, March 16th

Breakfast – 1 cup Coffee w/Xylitol and Heavy Cream; 1/2 cup Coffee with Coconut Milk Creamer

Snack – 2 oz. beef jerky

Lunch – Sushi (Dr. Keaty roll – crabmeat, jalopeno, masago wrapped with baked salmon and topped with red tobiko…not sure what the numbers are for this, but sooo sooo good and not typical sushi…no rice!)

Dinner – Turkey (I actually ate a piece I never eat…a leg with all the skin, still freaking about the tendons and veiny bits *shudder*) and 1/3 sweet potato w/a pat of butter

Snack – 1 oz dessicated coconut, 1 oz pecans, 2 dates (damn dates!!!!)

Estimated Numbers (because of sushi):

Total Calories/Fat/Protein/Carbs

1647/102.9g/101.9g/74.9

Percentages: F56%/P26%/C18%

Exercise:  My right knee is bothering me (supposed to do stepping) so going to do sit ups and push ups tonight and wait and try to do stepping or maybe walking instead tomorrow night.

Monday:

Breakfast – coffee with coconut milk creamer, 1 xylitol

Lunch – Grilled steak with steamed veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots) tossed with a tablespoon of  Balsamic and Italian Herbs Olive Oil Dipping sauce (a new find and oh so good), Frozen banana, Lemon-Ginger Tea

Dinner – Ground beef and homemade smoked sausage spaghetti sauce over zucchini ribbons sauteed in butter

Snack – mixed about 1/8 cup coconut milk, 1 oz pecans, 1 oz coconut flakes (unsweetened) and some melted dark chocolate pieces together and ate with a spoon (had to share with my husband).

Fit Day Numbers:

1442 calories, Fat 64% (106g) , Protein 17% (62.5g), Carbs 19% (70.9g) – yeah not enough protein and too many carbs (would be perfect without the banana).  I think I figured out that I need about 112g protein, so definitely need to up the protein.

Exercise:

Push/Press – 12 reps @ 20lbs x3

Sumo Squats – 12 reps @ 10lbs x3

Planks – 6 holding for 20 seconds each

Yes, I did say my FIRST whole 30, because I’ll probably do it at least two more times after that.  I’m thinking after a whole 90, I’ll be in a really good place.  I’ve been visiting many paleo/primal/fitness blogs for a while now (as you can see by my ever growing list on the right).  One of those is where I found the Whole 30…go to Whole9 and follow the links.  This is what I am starting tomorrow.  I’ve been “dabbling” with clean eating for a while, but never fully committed because I continued to have “cheat” days and planned non-primal days.  But for the next 30 days, at least, I’ll be fully committed.

For me to be successful with that, I needed to plan.  So plan I did.  We shopped Friday night.  My meals and workouts are planned for the next 30 days.

Yes, even my workouts.  I’ve also been “dabbling” with working out.  In January, I committed to working out every single day for 31 days.  It was hard for me, but I did it.  Since then, I have been researching fitness blogs and sites, trying to find something that will work for me.  As much as I’d love to be able to do CrossFit workouts, I have to be realistic.  An obese 44 year old, full time working, mother of three teenagers can’t just jump in and start doing CrossFit workouts, not this one at least.  But I can learn and modify a plan that will work for me and that is what I have done.

Failure is not an option.  There will be no cheating (in spite of the fact that my home is not Paleo as my husband and children have not come over to my way of thinking, so there are still dairy and grains in my cabinets and pantry).  There will be no excuses for not working out.  This is going to happen and when, not if, but when I get through the first 30, there will be a next 30 and a next.

So things I won’t be doing:  No grains, No dairy, No legumes, No sugar, No processed foods, No alcohol and No coffee (since I can’t bear to drink it black).  Things I’ll be eating:  meat, eggs, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruits and Oils (like Coconut Oil or EVOO).  Some of the things I’ll be tracking:  weight, of course, my blood sugars and the amount of insulin I need to take.  Tomorrow I’ll post the plan for the next 7 days.

So my goal for January was to do some sort of workout every day of the month of January.  In a few minutes I will do a stepping/yoga workout to complete that goal!  I literally did some type of activity for 31 days straight.  This is huge for me.  I actually took time for me, something I haven’t done in over 20 years.  I’ve been too busy mothering, wifing and working and have completely ignored Jodi…no more.  So now that the month is done and I’ve done my research, I will plan 3-4 workouts and one sprinting session per week.

My goal for February is to continue to do healthy workouts consistently.  I need to make sure the habit sticks.  It is one thing to tell myself I need to work out every day and be accountable for it to my family and Facebook friends, but another to plan and stick to workouts on a regular basis “on my own”.

The food business is still a struggle.  Especially this past weekend.  I did not eat clean.  I did not go way overboard, but did eat grain.  On date night with my husband, it was hummus and pita.  Of course the actual meal was a wonderful greek salad and gyro and completely primal, but I chose not to forego the hummus/pita.  I’ll keep striving for clean eating, but I’m not going to beat myself up for it either.  Right now my main focus is physical activity since it was where I was most lacking.  I think by the end of March, I’ll be in an excellent place as far as activity goes and then I can begin committing better on clean eating.

Thursday

B – IF

L – Eggplant/italian sausage mixture, avocado

S – Small tangerine, pecans

D – was a complete primal failure (burger and onion rings with my son)

Exercise:  Situps/pushups

Friday

B – IF

L – Chicken breast stuffed with prosciutto and cheese with mushrooms

D – Eggplant/italian sausage

Exercise:  Arms with weights

Saturday

B – IF

L – Eggplant/italian sausage (a lot leftover and no one else is eating it!!)

S – pecans

D – Gyro plate with salad and meat and hummus with pita

S – Pistachios

Exercise:  Stretching/abs

Sunday

B – Eggs, 1/2 banana

S – Pistachios

L – Eggplant/italian sausage (the end of it), orange

D – Pork/Beef stirfry (fresh broccoli, celery, onions, garlic, green beans)

S – “Almond Joy” (coconut milk, almonds, unsweetened coconut flakes, dark chocolate mixed together and eaten with a spoon)…my non-primal husband loves this stuff.  I’m going to play with it a little more and make some bars.  He wants to bring them to work.  I’m going to drag him to primal (like in that picture above), if I have to!

Exercise:  Stepping/yoga

Monday

Breakfast:  Fast

Lunch:  Fast

Dinner:  Mexican (Ground beef/chicken, onions, tomatoes, black olives, guacamole – ALL PALEO and cheese NOT PALEO)

Exercise:  Stretching/Yoga

Tuesday

Breakfast:  Fast

Lunch:  Deer sausage, grilled asparagus, grilled squash

Dinner:  Smoked sausage (homemade), tomatoes, pecans

Exercise:  Ab/Torso workout

Wednesday

Breakfast:  Fast

Lunch:  Cucumber wraps with snowcrab, asparagus, guacamole, 2 crab rangoons (skipped most of the outside non-paleo part)

Dinner:  Husband made a primal meal for me.  He called it Italian Eggplant Sausage Bake.  He took some homemade fresh sausage (removed the casing), seasoned it and put it in a pan with some chunks of eggplant, onions, celery, green pepper, baked in the oven, then a little parmesan cheese and back in the oven.  Yummy, spicy goodness!

Snack:  Protein shake (coconut milk, banana, chocolate whey protein, ice)

Exercise:  Cardio

So Saturday was Sprint day.  My oldest son was here, so he timed me.  The sprints (read: jog) that used to take about 60 seconds, I am now doing in 15 and 16 seconds!  6 sprints with about 60 second rests between, except for between #4 and #5, had to take about a 2 minute rest (needed to catch my breath).  My son, who played football, showed me a trick…lift my arms and put my hands behind my head.  It helped…he said it opened up my lungs.  I was bending over with my hands on my knees and he said that was closing my lungs off.  He was right.  After my sprints, he suggested I try to bench press some weight.  I did six reps with the just the bar (45 pounds) and then he added 10 pounds on each side and I did six reps with the 65 pounds.  I got to talk to him about what I was doing.  I told him my goal was to do a pull-up eventually.  He did a few in front of me and said, you’ll never do it if you don’t try.  Well, he didn’t laugh at my attempts…I’ll keep trying!

Breakfast:  Eggs cooked in coconut oil, mixed fruit

Lunch:  Ham, dates, pecans

Dinner:  Toppings off four slices of pizza and one thin crust edge (yeah…)

Sunday, I washed and folded clothes all day and cooked.  Waited for the husband to get home from work so that we could watch the Saints game.  I was supposed to do cardio, but somehow never got around to it.  I realized it after all the celebration once the Saints won.  So I did an arm workout with weights at nearly 11:00 pm so that I didn’t break my challenge.

Breakfast:  Sausage, mixed fruit

Lunch:  Ham, pecan, dates

Snack:  Chips and salsa

Dinner:  Rump roast (seasoned, seared on the stove in coconut oil, then dumped into the crock pot with onions, garlic, a little soy sauce, Chinese 5 spice and some grated ginger root – cooked all day), smothered okra and beets

Snack:  2 margaritas

I think, beginning February 1, I am going to try to give up the alcohol (at least for a while) and lower my fruit intake.  I need to plan better.  I need to up my veggie intake.  I need to get closer to 100%, which is hard when you live with non-primal people.  The chips and salsa call me and I can’t stop them from buying the stuff.  They only buy them for special occasions (like the recent football playoffs) and then no one eats it, it just sits there.  As of right now, there are no chips and salsa in the house.  At least I know, I’ll be good this week.