Paleo & Pilates

[zeke]

2014 wasn't a great year for my weight. A back issue I was having became significantly worse over Christmas 2013 - so I started walking a lot and then I developed Plantar fasciitis . I've had physio and both a significantly better but a whole year of not being able to take control and go on walks/ other types of exercise that I normally do have seriously taken their toll on not only my weight but also my mental health.

My weight is now just 1 lb off my heaviest ever. The gain has to stop and the yo yoing has to stop. I need a lifestyle change not a diet.



2015 - time to take control!

I've had two sessions of 1-2-1 pilates now and intend to carry on with this every week or so until I am ready to join a very small group class or two (maybe even a reformer class). I am also practising a couple of the exercises daily at home. Really hoping that this is what I need longterm to sort out my back (physio recommended it) and foot issues so that I can not only do pilates in a more advanced way but also start doing other types of exercise.

I tried eating in a paleo type way a couple of months back and it really seemed like a way of eating that suited me, and the pounds were falling off - the mistake I made was to then try the whole30. I just wasn't ready for that. My biggest struggle was with drinks. I've decided I am still going to have milk in tea/coffee and I will still have the odd glass of squash - go for a 90:10 approach to start with.

I've already ditched the wine (that was becoming a big source of daily calories for me) - I don't drink it Sun - Thu now. May not seem a big deal but I was drinking quite a lot. I don't drink as much at the weekends. I probably won't drink at all or very little now but I don't want to go all out and make big claims.

Anyway, I feel happy that I have hit on two things that I want to embrace as a new lifestyle. I am also pleased that I remembered MiniMins - I think it is going to help a lot.

 

[zeke]

Had a good look at my paleo cookbook yesterday and stocked up on some ingredients.

Food was healthy yesterday (lots of veg etc) but not paleo - simply due to finishing up things in the fridge (healthy soups that I only made a couple of days ago). Also I had wine last night (planned) - not as much as I would normally though. I probably won't want any by the time next weekend arrives. A STS on the weight front. I did some pilates practice and new gadgets have arrived for today

Breakfast - 2 egg omelette, coconut oil, smoked salmon and an entire leek

 

[zeke]

Just put a batch of lemon and blueberry muffins in the oven (from the book Practical Paleo). Nice to actually use some of the coconut flour I bought a couple of months back (it too so long to arrive that I wasn't actually in the zone anymore - which was the problem with the whole30 for me).

Obviously, I will need to restrict stuff like this if I am going to lose weight. I mainly made them for DS though - I am hopeful that I can get DS and DH eating a bit more paleo too in the coming months.

The recipe called for either coconut oil or butter. I had both but opted for the butter (cheaper for a start when it needed 1/2 cup!) - it was bog standard butter though. I looked for grass-fed butter in the supermarket yesterday but it wasn't immediately obvious what to choose - so I've done some internet research:

The takeaway: None of the butters are 100% bona fide grass-fed. Kerrygold wins in terms of the amount of time an animal is fed on a grass diet (312 days). Yeo Valley and Rachel’s Organic both feed their animals a 60% minimum grass-fed diet. We’ll be sticking to our Kerrygold for now, it’s good value and available in most supermarkets. It’s just nice to be aware of what’s in the food you’re eating.

I started off my saying that 2014 wasn't a great year for dieting and it wasn't - however, on close inspection I only gained 8.4 lbs in 2014 (naturally, as it is me - that means starting off the year losing some and then putting it back on plus more) because I started off the year heavy! The bottom line is that NO year has been a great dieting year for me because I have never been able to maintain any losses - I've never actually changed my lifestyle for good.

On a more positive note - I have finally got my 'dream kitchen' (as far as the restrictions of the house will allow anyway) in 2014. It is so much nicer to cook in than before - so no excuses on that front.

Now I need to do some proper menu planning - not just for me but for DH and DS too. Unfortunately, one menu won't fit all - for a while at least. We've been consistently rubbish at this. Spend a fortune in the supermarket (daily shopping/every other day) but somehow never seem to have anything to eat?!

 

[zeke]

I'm not convinced about the muffins - they were nice but...maybe the whole30 had the right idea with not allowing this kind of stuff...

I also think I need to set myself some kind of weight loss target. I'm going back to WI every day - I will set FG target at another 2 lbs every Saturday and try and achieve this.

I've spent some time doing my exercises this afternoon - including the cold roller for my foot.

I cannot stand how fat and frumpy I look! ARGH! Also the answer is NOT sitting at my desk on the internet. Maybe this diary wasn't a good idea? Ummm...

 

[zeke]

Seems to be working?

I had a couple of muffins (they were small - honest) around lunchtime but didn't want anything else (yes, I know I should have had a 'proper' lunch but this is what happened! Now I am starting to feel a bit hungry so I'm going to try a chicken thigh recipe out of the paleo book - looks very quick, easy and tasty - just the kind of thing I need to commit to memory. I will have it with the fattoush I have in the fridge (minus the baked pitta bread).

Still feel a bit 'lost' but I am pleased that I dusted off my IPL this afternoon - hopefully I can get back into the weekly routine with that. I know it works! Very boring though so I am being sensible and keeping the areas small.

Anyway, time to start cooking up a storm. I will probably prep the sweet potatoes too for roasting.

 

[zeke]

Weight went down this morning Always a boost.

Today:

Breakfast: Spinach 2 egg omelette - cooked coconut oil
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Homemade veg soup (from hairy biker 3 book - has a tiny amount of pasta in but otherwise ok)
Dinner: Buffalo chicken cooked in coconut oil with salad
Snacks: half melon + 3 small paleo lemon and blueberry muffins
Drinks: Mainly water, 1 glass sugar free squash, couple coffees with semi skim milk

Am I really trying to be Paleo? No, not 100%

I am aiming to mainly eat veg, protein and good fats though. I will have a splash of milk in my coffee, the odd glass of 'sugar free' squash, the odd yogurt.

I don't think my diary belongs here really.

 

[Mis-behave]

Be welcome .. It looks ok to me., not everybody can be 100% all the time some people go cold turkey, others make better choices over time . As long as you feel your making progress in the direction you want to go.. which is I'm assuming paleo/ primal eating .. Stay, chat, read.. Enjoy the journey

 

[zeke]

Be welcome .. It looks ok to me., not everybody can be 100% all the time some people go cold turkey, others make better choices over time . As long as you feel your making progress in the direction you want to go.. which is I'm assuming paleo/ primal eating .. Stay, chat, read.. Enjoy the journey

Thank you Mis-behave

I've been thinking about what to do a fair amount - I ate more last night after I posted. Evenings!

I've been thinking about combining paleo with SW red. I'll come back to this properly later to have a look later to see if they are compatible - syns to be used for good fats etc. I definitely need to lose weight at a reasonable rate. ARGH!

I could definitely be accused of over-thinking this but that is my MO.

Today - not good so far:

Breakfast - small bowl of food doctor granola + semi milk (finished the packet off - just had what was left)
Snack - apple
Late lunch - 2 x melba toasts, half avocado, butter, ham finger roll (white), quavers

gtg - will be back later for more ramblings!

 

[zeke]

Last night I was reading the things that successful dieters do - the one that sticks out is to 'keep it simple' with the food cooking. On that note, in the supermarket today, I picked up a few different types of frozen fish that you can cook from frozen.

I've gone off the whole SW red thing too, for now at least.

Boden order came today - yet another Ravello top (I find them pretty perfect for work and flattering - I've had quite a few over the years!) and a coordinating cardigan. Nice to have some new clothes that fit and are fairly nice for a change!

One thing I am going to have to do is stop the evening munchies - I have no problem at all during the day being 'good' (especially if I am at work and organised) but the evening - not so good.

I didn't practise my Pilates yesterday - I must not let this slip. I shall do it at 4.30 pm - no excuses. I really, really want to get active again. On that note I am currently using my cold roller for the plantar fasciitis...

 

[zeke]

Weight went down a lot today - probably because I popped round to a friend's house last night to drop something off and ended up staying for nearly three hours chatting (= missed dinner but I did have a couple of clementine and some quavers when I got in).

I thought that the night before - when I was eating too much - it simply wouldn't happen if I was kept occupied! I'll have to build that in to the plan (not skipping dinner but immediately being occupied in some way afterwards).

Had breakfast already - Weetabix with chocolate chips - I know, I know! This week is definitely a 'transition' week. Working from home this morning so I should manage a better lunch!

Just realised that I didn't do my pilates Son wanted me to take him for a hair cut when I picked him up, then I did a bit of work/cooked his tea when I got in...then popped round to my friends... I shall do some this morning as a break from work.

 

[zeke]

Remarkably my weight STS today, despite not having a particularly good day yesterday (well, definitely not Paleo).

Husband has been away on business and work has been really busy so I'm afraid organisation went out of the window!

I also haven't done any Pilates since last Sunday, despite my promises. Pilates instructor advised to do it in the morning - I hate getting up though! Tough I guess! I would like to try a small walk each day (and see how foot holds up) and then come in and do Pilates routine. That would be a good habit to adopt.

On that note I am going to have to give some serious thought into making some new routines and habits...

 

[Mis-behave]

I had a mild form of heel pain a few years ago and used to rub arnica anti inflammatory cream into my feet 2x a day, which helped control the pain. A podiatrist also suggested I buy some brook control trainers to help control my inward rolling of my feet. I also went and saw a chiropractor who has helped me loads as my hips were out of alinement which was causing some of the issues I had with my Achilles' tendons. The trainers were great, expensive but really worth it.
http://www.pharmacydirect.co.nz/Anti-Inflammatory-Rubs-1/

http://www.runnersworld.ltd.uk/acatalog/Brooks-Addiction-11-womens.html

 

[zeke]

I had a mild form of heel pain a few years ago and used to rub arnica anti inflammatory cream into my feet 2x a day, which helped control the pain. A podiatrist also suggested I buy some brook control trainers to help control my inward rolling of my feet. I also went and saw a chiropractor who has helped me loads as my hips were out of alinement which was causing some of the issues I had with my Achilles' tendons. The trainers were great, expensive but really worth it.
Anti Inflammatory Rubs - Pharmacy Direct

Brooks Addiction 11 Running shoes womens

Thanks Mis-behave for the suggestions

I've had this a year now (and it is a LOT better ). I've had ten sessions with a physio, where we tried quite a few things. I have two pots of Neal's Yard Arnica salve (which you have reminded me to start using - I used it when the pain was worse). I wear go walk trainers in the house and often out of the house for casual stuff as well, which helps. In my trainers/walking boots I have moulded foot supports and in my work shoes plantar fascia bar inserts! The pilates is supposed to help too.

Oh, and I almost forgot, apparently a paleo diet helps!

I just know that if I went on a good walk then the next day it would flare up a bit That's the frustrating bit. I used to do a lot of walking, especially when trying to lose weight.

I shall and put the pot of arnica on my desk now to remind me to use it!

I fear I am going to have wine tonight - as DH is back from Switzerland and it looks like the 'no wine during the week rule' has been abandoned as a consequence...

 

[zeke]

WEEK 1 REVIEW



I started at 209 lbs and I ended up at 209 lbs. Goal line was at a 2 lb loss, and mid-week it was looking like I would exceed that goal.

Last two nights I have been drinking wine and the last two days I have made no attempt to eat paleo (poor organisation - not because I don't like it or craved anything in particular - just old habits).

The question is what am I going to do about it?

The answer is a need a definitely plan with distinct rules that I follow to the letter. I didn't want this to be the answer but it is slimming world red and the time to start it is now (and count that tassimo latte as just had a syns...). I hope that I will try and use the syns for good fats rather than junk.

 

[zeke]

I'm still figuring out a plan for myself...

I had a slight dabble with SW red yesterday. I had a spinach omelette cooked with coconut oil (the difference being that I measured the oil - 1/2 tbsp. = 3 syns) for breakfast. Looked up the syns for avocado (14 for an entire average sized one) - I guess having a quarter one as a fat serving would work fine. I had a (tinned) salmon salad with avocado for lunch (no attempt to syn). I started a diary in the SW section. Bad idea - I'll let that one get lost...

On SW you are allowed 5-15 syns a day. A syn is simply 20 kcals of food not on the superfree (veg/fruit) or free (fish/meat/poultry/natural fat free cottage cheese/yogurt/quark/fromage frais & eggs) list. In addition you are allowed (on red) - 1 or 2 choices from healthy extra 'a' (milk/cheese) and two choices from healthy extra 'b' (high fibre or 1 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil). A healthy extra choice is 6 syns (120 kcals).

I think the bottom line is that I CAN use SW and some Paleo principles - namely meals being protein/veg/good fats. There are enough syns and healthy extra b for me to have plenty of healthy fats - and using them in this way will naturally cut down on the amount of junk I could be spending them on.

I'm just going to have to try it!

I am going to attempt to climb a hill with DH and DS in a bit. This is a BIG deal for me with my plantar fasciitis (and the fact that I am massively unfit due to not doing any real exercise for a year...). I hope that is works out...

Then it will be time for a shopping list and a shopping trip. The added complication being, of course, that it won't just be for me.

 

[zeke]

Hope you keep posting here as I like reading your diary.I'm not 100% Primal but my diary will be staying in this section of the forum.

Good luck with climbing the hill.

Thank you

The hill thing didn't quite work out as the small car park was completely full and there was no where else to park, so we drove to another nice place for a walk. I wore my hiking books with inserts and my foot was fine - I'll see how it is later! It wasn't a long walk and it was flat but it was a walk and we all really enjoyed it. The dogs, naturally, got covered in mud but it was nice to make the effort to take them somewhere other than pavements. Hopefully we will be doing a lot more of this now! We had such big plans 20 months ago when we bought a campervan - lots of walking and geocaching in new places - then my back/foot issues struck and DH's knee/ankle issues flared up too! Poor DS! I can only hope that this summer coming will be a lot better than last year.

I bought a new phone yesterday (finally time to retire my old iPhone 1!) with a view to using my phone more to keep organised (and spend less time at my desk on the internet...like I am now - for a start, it isn't good for my back). We all set up gmail calendars last night and shared them with each other.

Next step I think is tracking my food. DH 'does the money' pretty much daily and I leave it up to him. He mentioned a few weeks that I am still paying for weight watchers every month - I asked him to cancel that back in June I think (he can't remember that). Just checked and yes, my account is still active! Now WW do have a great mobile site...

ARGH! So now I am looking to see if WW would fit/I could be bothered to point things.

 

[Mis-behave]

Myfitnesspal is great for tracking foods

 

[zeke]

Myfitnesspal is great for tracking foods

It seems a fair few people have tried to combine Paleo with WW and it doesn't work (WW point fats high - so total calories becomes too low) well.

Thank you - yes, I will have a look at MyFitnesspal - I've almost certainly already got an account! I've used spark people in the past too but I think myfitnesspal probably will be better.

 

[zeke]

I have now cancelled my weight watchers account! OMG to paying £11.95/month since June without using it at all! Oh well...

I have installed MyFitnessPal on my new phone (as discovered that, yes, I do already have an account - don't think I have ever really used it though)

I have also installed 'Out of Milk' - in an attempt to get much better at the whole shopping thing! It is going to take a while to upload my store cupboard to it but I guess it will save a lot of time after that...Last week I bought some chipotle paste (and opened it and used some) before putting it in the fridge next to the one I bought the week before (yep - needs to be used within 28 days once opened!). I've shared my shopping list with DH so that he can add things to it too...

Haven't done much else though. No work. No ironing. No Pilates. No Shopping...

 

[zeke]

Just had a lovely chat with my friend (and hairdresser) - we used to go to SW together ages ago. Along with many other things we discussed losing weight. ARGH! Our conclusion was to keep it simple and don't over analyse it!

I've started using myfitnesspal to record what I am eating - just to focus the mind really. I have decided not to bother weighing etc and go with standard portion sizes - for today at least. This needs to be very quick and very simple as the priority.

I started WI daily nearly 5 years ago and recording it on fridgegraph (I am less strict now but I've rarely gone as long as 2 weeks without WI - I used to just do it when I was dieting, so this is an improvement) - to stop me burying the head in the sand over my weight and then reaching every increasing 'new highs'. Well, actually, that worked. I don't get shocks when I step on the scales after a 6 month non-dieting phase anymore and as a consequence my highest weight ever was still 5 years ago (just!). It hasn't worked in stopping the yo yoing though, as I hoped it would.

So, I think it is time to adopt another habit that I will do whether 'dieting' or not. I think that habit is recording what I eat and drink on myfitnesspal. Crucially it does NOT need to be accurate as I know I won't be able to maintain that. When the mood takes me then, yes, I can have 'accurate recording days' but that really isn't the priority - which will make other days more accurate too. The priority is recording everything everyday - not the exact masses and calories. I just need to be consciously aware of what I am consuming - especially on the 3 packets of crisps and 5 large glasses of wine days. The calories will be close enough to be sobering I'm sure.