Tubby Tuesday: Lying scale finally told some truth

The scale finally went down a bit, to 175.0. Interesting thing is, it seems that when the scale moves, the tape measure doesn't, and when the tape measure moves, the scale doesn't.

Yesterday (2/6) picture:



Compare to 1/3 picture (same clothes):



I also bought two more Paleo cookbooks - Well Fed and Make It Paleo. Well Fed looks good. I haven't read much from Make It Paleo yet.

Today it is snowy and cold. Boo.

Better get some work done...

Tubby Tuesday: Lying scale is lying

Updated picture. I guess I'll post my pic updates on Tuesdays, and since I'm still taking them in front of the tub it will be Tubby Tuesday.

Today: (ignore the bad hair)



Compared to January 3:



The scale is floating around 177. Damn liar scale. The tape measure is showing me numbers I last saw when I weighed nearly 10 pounds less. I have lost an inch off my waist in the last 6 days alone. And half an inch off my butt in the same time frame.

Brain bowl, and paleo progress

Will and his team didn't make it to the elimination round at Brain Bowl, but he said he had fun. I'm glad he had fun. I managed to keep my sanity despite chaperoning a bunch of middle schoolers.

I managed to stay mostly on track with paleo. The Paleo Kits helped. They tasted pretty good too.

Today's picture:



(3 weeks ago, for comparison:)



I brought knitting with me to Boulder (hexipuffs) but didn't knit at all. My wrist has been hurting which makes it kinda hard to knit. Then I rearranged office furniture yesterday, which didn't help matters much. I probably just need to get a splint on this wrist and immobilize it, but I'm resisting. (It's been bothering since probably October.)

Paleo-a-Go-Go

So this weekend I will be going out of town as Will has a Brain Bowl competition Saturday. I made the mistake of volunteering to chaperone. Friday night will feature a trip to... Dave and Buster's. Oh yay.

There is some Paleo-ish stuff on the menu at D&B's (mostly steaks), but just in case I am bringing along some provisions...

I'm gonna go boil some eggs in a minute, and pack them in my Tony Stewart cooler bag.

Plus, I bought this:



from Steve's Original. It's kinda spendy, but I figured I'd give it a try. At least it'll give me something to eat whilst the kids are knocking themselves out.

I bought the sample pack, which contains all the lovely things in the picture. More specifically, it contains:

1 Original Large Paleokit (jerky, nuts, and berries)

1 Grassfed Small PaleoKit

1 GrassFed Just Jerky (self explanatory)

1 PaleoKrunch Bar (Grainless granola bar made with coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, and honey)

1 PaleoKrunch Original Flavor Cereal (Grainless granola cereal made with coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, and honey)

1 Coconut Small PaleoKit (jerky, coconuts, and strawberries)

I'll report back on how I survive a weekend with a bunch of middle schoolers.

If I survive.

This one's for you, Brian

And any of my other faithful readers (both of you! Thanks for reading!) who are wondering what the hell this Paleo/Primal thing I keep nattering about is.

In a nutshell, Paleo/Primal/ancestral eating means eating as closely as possible to how people likely ate before the agricultural revolution. Back in the day (Fred and Wilma's day, that is) it is believed that people ate mostly meat, bugs 'n' grubs (yum!), fish, and whatever in-season fruits and veggies they could gather. And many anthropologists argue that Paleolithic humans were likely healthier than humans since the agricultural revolution - bigger skeletons, bigger braincases (a sign of bigger brains), stronger bones, virtually no cavities.

Aaaand then the agricultural revolution came along, between 10,000 years ago (e.g. Mesopotamia) and 5,000 years ago (eastern North America). Grains, starchy veggies, and more grains. This led to civilization, and art, and culture, and all that. It also led to poorer health - weaker bones, higher infant mortality, cavities, blah blah blah.

And then along came the Great Corn Explosion of the 1970's to the present. High fructose corn syrup in eVeRyThiNg! Yay!

Soooo..... we're fat, sick, diabetic (Paula Deen, I'm looking at you here), still getting heart disease despite 50 years of being preached the low-fat gospel.

Enter ancestral eating. There's a plethora of studies suggesting that hunter-gatherer populations have lower rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease etc. than agricultural populations. I won't bore you with this, go read Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.

Robb Wolf's website has a good overview of Paleo. I'll let him explain it. He's a strength coach and gym owner who used to be a biochemist, and who credits paleo eating with his return to health after several years of sickness and poor health when he was following a vegan diet.

There's a bunch of other good resources. Loren Cordain, Mark Sisson, Sarah Fragoso for starters.

Happy reading!

2 weeks in.

First off, let me just say that I detest Manchester Orchestra. SiriusXM Alt Nation is playing "Virgin" right now, and I REALLY HATE THIS SONG. :::grits teeth whilst waiting for end of song:::

OK, good. The song is finally over.

Anyway.

So this was my day 2 photo (1/3/12). Remember this lovely pic?



This is from day 12 (1/13/12): Different sweater, but same pants.



Still pudgy, but not as bad. And NO, I was NOT standing in the bathtub!

I also decided to get on the scale Saturday. I hadn't weighed when I started, but am reasonably sure I was somewhere in the 180's. (I didn't weigh because I knew I'd get depressed.)

Saturday's weight: 176.0. So at least I have a definite number.

Also I have more energy, and fewer headaches.

Entering week 3 of Les Mills Pump. My knees are feeling a lot better.

I'm seeing improvements all the time.

Now SiriusXM is playing Beck. Lots better than Man Orchestra.

Rascal, or How Diet Affects Kittehs

Here is Rascal. I took this picture yesterday. He was sitting on my desk glaring balefully at the dog.



Rascal used to be overweight. He weighed 15 pounds on a frame that should carry more like 11 or 12 pounds.

And he ate dry cat food.

Then last summer I noticed he was losing weight, drinking a lot of water (and peeing a lot), and his fur was stiff. At first I didn't pay too much attention to the drinking and peeing, after all it was summer and it was HOT.

Then one day I discovered that he'd, um, found a non-litter box area to be his new bathroom. That's when I decided he needed to go to the vet.

He was down to 10 pounds. His glucose was in the 500's.

Yeah.

The vet put him on insulin and special low-carb food.

Diabetic cats can sometimes go into remission with treatment, and Rascal went into remission very quickly. He's been off the insulin for about 3 months now, still eats the low-carb food, and his glucose has consistently been around 80 for the past several months. His fur is soft, silky and pettable. His weight is around 11 pounds and has stayed pretty stable.

Proof that cats need to eat what they're evolutionarily meant to eat.

So that got me thinking. If cats get sick on food they're not evolved to eat, and if they do well on food they are evolved to eat, shouldn't humans be the same?

One week in

One week in, and I would say the biggest challenge is revamping my cooking. And, well, actually cooking. I'd gotten pretty lazy and on too many evenings was ordering delivery, or going out to eat, or nuking crap-in-a-box. But now I'm actually back to trying to buy whole food and actually cook it.

I think it's because after 5 days I was getting tired of the same 3 things, since I really didn't know what else to eat.

Enter Paleo/Primal cookbooks and cooking blogs.

I've spent a chunk of the past few days reading Paleo Comfort Foods, Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals (I'm all about the quick and easy!), and Everyday Paleo. Today I tried the Sauteed Apples from Paleo Comfort Foods. Mmm.... Good, and easy! Tonight I make Mashed Cauliflower to go with the locally grown, certified organic, 100% grass fed pot roast I have in the crockpot...

The other thing this week has been a low energy level. I think most of that is because it's January, and early January and I do not get along.

Jeans are a bit looser, though. That is a good thing.

Today was a good day to take Daisy for a walk. Sunny, not much wind, about 40 degrees. Long walk, about an hour.

I need to finish the Calorimetry I started a week or so ago. I've only got a few rows left. Then I will have a matching Calorimetry and Malagaiter, yay! And I should have enough yarn left for a pair of fingerless mitts.

Oh, to be a cat; and, Kitchen Purge

Molly is sitting on a chair near me, looking very regal. I want to be a house cat. I want to have food served to me without my having to do anything. I want to sleep 20 hours a day. I want to be petted when I want petted.

Alas, I am a human.

Anyway, day 3 of being back to Paleo/Primal eating. Day 3 of the Primal Blueprint 21-Day Transformation. (gack) Who makes up these titles? Day 1 was the dreaded Kitchen Purge. Let's just say that the fridge is a hella lot cleaner than it was before I started the Kitchen Purge. There's still some non-Paleo/Primal stuff to get rid of, but the next Kitchen Purge will be on like day 18 or something like that.

Today, day 3, consists of such things as Avoiding Industrial Food and Doing Primal Essential Movements. I had eggs scrambled with spinach and feta cheese for breakfast. Technically, cheese isn't Paleo but I figure this week I will allow some dairy, then ease it out. Can't give everything up at once... Lunch was a grilled salmon salad. I haven't decided what to make for dinner yet.

At least red wine and dark chocolate are allowed on occasion, even if Paleolithic Woman didn't consume those (how did she survive?). I don't think I could survive without either...

Also today was day 3 of the new Les Mills Pump home program, based on the BodyPump classes. I'll linky to Les Mills Pump in a later post (right now it's only available to Team Beachbody members and Beachbody coaches).

Cats of course don't have to worry about Paleo or BodyPump or anything like that. Molly says it is time to pet her. She has moved from the chair to my lap.

Well, let's try this again.

I have neglected this for almost two years. Time to start it up again.

I restarted Primal/Paleo eating yesterday (well, actually I did the kitchen purge and some shopping Sunday). I did Primal for awhile last summer and it really worked, then fell off the wagon. Let's try this again.

I took this picture today to submit to Mark's Daily Apple's New Year challenge. Blurgh.



The next picture will be better...

I want to get back into the black jeans I haven't worn for, oh, about 3 years now...