some thoughts after a month

More or less a month ago I started some form of Whole30. I slipped a few times and to be honest, got bored with very strict keeping with the rules. But still, I was eating much better, which really paid off. I slipped again yesterday with my typical vice: chocolate ;-) But got up again.

Today I took some measurements of my body. And even with my, non-strict, version of Whole30, I have some nice results in the field of fat reduction. I lost one inch under my breast, an inch in waist, half inch in tummy and over an inch in hips. yay! what's funny that my weight actually went slightly up ;-) go fat, come muscle!

I added heavy cream only in terms of dairy and it seems like my body is totally fine with it. I am not missing cheese that much, so I will wait with adding any of it. But I think sour cream might appear in my fridge soon... I love it!

I picked up in my local library DVD with "Billy's Boot Camp Basic Training", and my, does it kick butt :) I had to do three days off after it, my whole body was sore. In a good way! I will do it again today and see if I can actually do it properly with no breaks! I like that it's very simple, basic moves, no super coordination necessary which is a must for me :)

Delicious hot cocoa/protein shake

I just made myself a delicious protein shake. I was getting tired of the taste ("gourmet vanilla"), I don't like very sweet things. I was generally diluting it with much more water than asked for, but my body started to rebel.
So just now I decided to add some cocoa and cinnamon.  It was very hard to mix it, so I warmed it up in the microwave a bit. To make it just perfect I added about one tablespoon of heavy cream. It's delicious!

I am planning on doing a few push ups just to remind my body I need all the protein I eat, so it will (hopefully) keep burning body fat. I am cooking now some chicken quarters (without skin) for the next few days. I can't switch to white meat, never liked it. It's just too dry! I was a passionate chicken leg eater since my early toddlerhood, so it should stay that way. I think it's very low on fat anyway (I can't believe I am actually saying this!).

"healthy" knish

In the faculty lounge during lunch we often comment on each other's choices of food, exchanging ideas and sharing struggles (a few people try to lose weight). Today the hero of the hour (well, 20min) was home made knish. It looked very good, had no crust and according to the maker was also delicious. The person got the recipe from cardiologist which in the opinion of all present gave it a stamp of approval. Everyone assumed it must be healthy... I said nothing when I started to hear the ingredients... Apart from spinach and spices I wouldn't touch anything else in it. Egg beaters? Tofu? fat free mozzarella? Sad. I didn't say anything because I knew it was pointless. Between weight watcher, newborn conventional (fat is evil) healthy eater, cancer survivor on low-fat "healthy" diet and a couple others SADers* there was no point. It would only upset everyone, especially that most of them really think they know best. Obviously I also think I know best :) The only reason I feel better is that I have been researching nutrition and evolutionary science for quite a while now and don't take my health advice from color magazines.

I have decided to give PSMF** a try. Even though I didn't get into paleo in order to lose weight, I do want to shed the waist and legs/buttocks fat that I put on about a year ago. I switched then to a new anti-anxiety medicine and it caused enormous carbs cravings, no control in eating sweets and cakes, and made me 30Ibs heavier a month and a half later. I would like to get back to my wardrobe from the days before that.

I let myself eat too much of healthy and  paleo foods. I forgot that paleo means also eating according to the body's needs. Which means I should eat when I am hungry and enough to be satiated, not because I feel like it would be fun to eat a bowl of sour cream with coconut and banana. I think it is clear what I am talking about ;-)
So for a few days I am trying to keep on the low carbs but also cut on fat, with the minimum protein that is needed per day. This way the body is not starved, receives enough necessary nutrients but also is prompted to kick in serious fat burning. I will let you know how it goes - it's only day two.

*SAD - Standard American Diet.
**PSMF - Protein Sparing Modified Fast