Monday, October 3, 2011

Week Four Down

Well, it's been almost a month since I started the Primal Blueprint and the Paleo way of eating and I feel fantastic. I have lost 10 pounds and two sizes in clothing. I have way more energy and have finally started sleeping well too (I was hyper the first couple of weeks). The sleep probably has to do with the fact that I'm exercising more. After today's walking with intermittent sprinting, I know I'm going to sleep like a baby!

I was going to write this great post with pictures of all the awesome things I've been eating. About how I love this way of eating and never, ever want to go back. And how great I feel. But I noticed something this past week. My weight loss screeched to a halt. Don't get me wrong, 10 pounds is great and I'm not complaining, but I was also hoping to see a little more come off the first month. I do think I stumbled across the reason why I haven't. And it's a big fat DUH. Some things I'd forgotten when I was on Atkins, that some of the Paleo books kind of skim over. Like the amazing amount of carbs in fruit.

Sure, we can eat all the fruit we want once we are at our goal weight, but probably not when someone has 40-50 pounds to lose like I do. Sigh. I plugged a few of my wonderful fruit salads (that I've been meaning to take pics of and write up to post here) into dailyburn.com and was shocked to discover I've been eating about 90 carbs a day...just at breakfast! Sob! I guess they are going to have to go or only be a special treat, maybe on a day like today when I'm doing cardio.

So yeah, no wonder the weight loss slowed down! I've also been enjoying the nuts and almond milk a bit TOO much. They have been great diversions from the junk I used to crave, but I think it's time to cut back and find some other alternatives. Fruit has become my candy, and nuts have become the chips. Looking at Paleo food porn doesn't help. There are a lot of AWESOME recipes out there that really need to be put in the "occasional" or even "cheat" category rather than every day fare.

Time to crack open the Atkins and low carb cookbooks too and see if there are some good induction-type paleo-friendly snacks I can eat without feeling like a bunny. When I was on Atkins, I relied too much on their shakes and snack bars. This time, I intend to stay as Primal and Paleo as possible.

This isn't an entirely bad thing. I love a good challenge! It helps that right now I have two pans of Sticky Chicken in the oven that smell incredible. And it's totally Paleo. Will post the recipe asap- it's an old family favorite that smells and tastes amazing (and almost no carbs! WOOHOO!)

Once the Primal Blueprint challenge is over around October 12th, I'll be starting my own personal low carb challenge to see if I can lose another 10 pounds in a month. Judging from my past experience on Atkins, that shouldn't be a problem. I had forgotten how carb sensitive I am. There may be good calories and bad calories out there, but a carb is still a carb- even the good ones!

Anyone is welcome to join me. I'd love the company! I think it's a great time to do a challenge like that...just before the holidays but not during the holidays. That way, if we have a couple of extra carbs, they won't do as much damage, right? So who's with me? I'm thinking of starting around October 15th- November 15th or something like that.

Let's get creative, have some fun, and get into great shape before those holiday parties! We'll see what happens. Stay tuned!

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