Moonwatcher's Primal/Calorie Counting Adventure!

[Lady_Amalthea]

Hope you had a good birthday yesterday

 

[Atomic pink]

Happy birthday for yesterday Hope you enjoyed the rest of your evening and today was less stressful at work. I often have those sort of conversations in my head where I get to tell people exactly what I am thinking when at work...

Don't worry about the chocolates. There are no calories in anything on your birthday. Something I fully intend to take advantage of in a few weeks

 

[cactus]

A late Happy Birthday from me too

 

[Atomic pink]

Afternoon Moonwatcher.

Hope all is well.

 

[moonwatcher]

Hope things get a bit quieter so you can enjoy the rest of the evening MW.. :wavey:

Happy Birthday! Enjoy the wine x

Hope you had a good birthday yesterday

Happy birthday for yesterday Hope you enjoyed the rest of your evening and today was less stressful at work. I often have those sort of conversations in my head where I get to tell people exactly what I am thinking when at work...

Don't worry about the chocolates. There are no calories in anything on your birthday. Something I fully intend to take advantage of in a few weeks

A late Happy Birthday from me too

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone. I haven't updated since Wednesday, which ended up over by about 500 calories - not too bad for a birthday I thought. Thursday and Friday were on track foodwise though...

Thursday 30th January

Breakfast -gf crunchy nut cornflakes with milk (166 cals)

Lunch - cheese and tomato gf sandwich, Mrs Crimble's baked cheese and onion potato bites, activia prune yogurt and an apple (677 cals)

Dinner - 3 Debbie and Andrew gf sausages with mash and beans (815 cals)

Drinks - water, milk in a couple of earl grey teas (30 cals)

Total 1688/1750

Friday 31st January

Breakfast - buckwheat muesli and milk (219 cals)

Lunch - one piece of gf toast with cheese (212 cals) This was just before we left for the cremation so couldn't face anything else.

Late afternoon after the service - two gin and slimline tonics (112 cals) - well needed and even more appreciated. My older brother had arranged some buffet food but there was nothing there that was gf so later we stopped at Pizza Hut to pick up...

Dinner - Pizza Hut gf pepperoni feast pizza with olives and chillies (didn't manage it all) (1200 cals)

Other drinks - water, milk in teas (30 cals)

Total 1773/1750

 

[moonwatcher]

Saturday 1st February - didn't weigh this morning - decided I didn't need the extra stress of even thinking about it this week, and especially after my birthday and pizza the night before, so will wait until next week.

Breakfast - three ounces of kettle crisps, in the car, en route to the coast (462 cals)

Lunch - overlooking the beach and the pier at Cromer - felafel burger with mint and yogurt dressing, small bowl of chips, salad, a little cole slaw, butternut squash houmous, sweet chilli jelly and garlic mayo. Two coffees and cream to wash it down. This was absolutely delicious.(827 cals - that is MFP's best guess, based on as close as I could get!) Went for a walk along the beach afterwards in the sun, well wrapped up though.

Later at home - 4 gf crispbread with pineapple castello cheese, orange and lemon wensleydale and cheddar, pickled onions and chillies (404 cals)

Drinks - water, diet Pepsi max, milk in several earl grey teas (80 cals)

Total 1773/1750

 

[Lady_Amalthea]

That's definitely not too bad for a birthday at all . Hopefully you'll have a nice loss when you WI next week! x

 

[Atomic pink]

Seems like a good plan to wait til next week for weigh in. Pizza the night before is never kind on the scales I find.

How did your brother's service go?

Sounds like a lovely day at the coast yesterday and am drooling at the thought of the falafel burger. Mmmmmm. I always get so envious hearing about your regular weekend trips to the coast. I love the sea and its the only downside to living in Nottingham. Going to see my mum in Suffolk at the end of the month though so hoping to persuade her for an afternoon stroll along the beach. Usually we go walking in the peak district every few weekends which gives me my "nature fix" but its been so ridiculously wet for months that it just wouldn't be possible to do our usual walks. Hoping it improves soon. Could do with a bit of a wilderness fix.

 

[moonwatcher]

That's definitely not too bad for a birthday at all . Hopefully you'll have a nice loss when you WI next week! x

Seems like a good plan to wait til next week for weigh in. Pizza the night before is never kind on the scales I find.

How did your brother's service go?

Sounds like a lovely day at the coast yesterday and am drooling at the thought of the falafel burger. Mmmmmm. I always get so envious hearing about your regular weekend trips to the coast. I love the sea and its the only downside to living in Nottingham. Going to see my mum in Suffolk at the end of the month though so hoping to persuade her for an afternoon stroll along the beach. Usually we go walking in the peak district every few weekends which gives me my "nature fix" but its been so ridiculously wet for months that it just wouldn't be possible to do our usual walks. Hoping it improves soon. Could do with a bit of a wilderness fix.

It seemed sensible to avoid the scales this week! Quite interesting though, because prior to doing the reset there is no way I could have not been on the scales - usually every day. Even if I decided to not count or worry about an expected gain, I still would have felt compelled to weigh. It seems much more relaxed now and I am more able to accept the slowness of the process on this amount of calories, so missing a week's weigh in is no big deal. I am also not weighing every day like I used to. I find I actually forget! This also would have been unheard of prior to the reset.

The service went really well thanks Atomic. There were two vicars taking the service and both of them knew him through connections with his job at a workshop which employs disabled workers. There was a slight pause of surprise when the first music track (Queen - Another One Bites The Dust) started, but then a gentle ripple of laughter, which was great because it relaxed everyone. After the service so many people came over and remarked on the great choice of music and how it really helped them to relax and remember him, instead of feeling formal and at a 'service.' One of the vicars is blind and his guide dog (who he introduced as the 'third and usually most popular dog collar wearer') wandered around the seats during the service! It was probably the best cremation/funeral service I have been to. Am all over the place emotionally this weekend though, but I suppose that's pretty normal. The visit to the coast was just what I needed - I find there is a definite emotional boost from being near the sea.

 

[Emmaline]

So glad to hear that everything went off well MW... and having something like different types of music certainly was a good idea.. bravo!
Take your time with getting back into the dieting regime as you'll no doubt be up and down for the next week or two.
Take care.

 

[moonwatcher]

So glad to hear that everything went off well MW... and having something like different types of music certainly was a good idea.. bravo!
Take your time with getting back into the dieting regime as you'll no doubt be up and down for the next week or two.
Take care.

You are right there about being up and down Em. I am all over the place at the moment. Ihave had today off with a hellish migraine type headache, although it disappeared a bit too quick for a 'normal' migraine. I think I am just worn out emotionally and now the funeral is over the fact that I have lost two brothers in a little over two years has hit me hard.

I have been sticking to my calories pretty well though. The amount I am allowed now is high enough that I generally don't feel that I am on a diet and it can absorb days like yesterday, where I managed a creme egg, a bag of giant chocolate buttons and some dark chocolate with a beer, in addition to my three meals, and still only went about 90 calories over!

OH has finally taken himself off to the Doctor and has officially been diagnosed diabetic, but no need for drugs - controllable by diet. Although the nurse did want to put him on statins, as his cholesterol was a bit up, but we are going down the diet route first. Neither he nor I are very keen on the statins idea unless there is absolutely no alternative. He has an appointment on Friday to discuss diet, but after loads of reading we are leaning towards a basically Primal approach. One of the reasons he put off going to the Doctor (apart from being male!) was that last time the advice they gave him was to ensure he ate 'good' portions of starchy carbs with every meal,every day, which after research we were not convinced was useful at all. The Nurse Practitioner told him last week that they now realise that isn't the way to go and they advocate low carb for dietary diabetic control. Bit of a shame it seems to have taken them so long to catch up again!

 

[Emmaline]

Time for plenty of pampering MW.. if that migraine keeps coming back treat yourself to a deep tissue massage... take it from me, it works wonders!
Well done on keeping up with the diet and I'm with you on the statins subject. Trouble is they are often prescribed on a "just in case" basis.. when it really isn't absolutely necessary.
My low carb diet has put me in a position where I was told I could be classed as non-diabetic now as I am T2 as well.
Do you have a testing meter? It's very handy to get one even tho' it is not now recommended by the NHS. I find that at least it puts my mind at rest if I'm not feeling too good and wondering if my blood sugars are anything to do with it.

 

[Atomic pink]

Really glad the service went off well. Sounds like you were able to individualise it with the choice of music etc and think that's really lovely. Sorry to hear you are struggling a bit this week but perhaps not surprising.

Its frustrating about the mixed advice doctors give out isn't it? At least you and OH have done your research and am sure you will be able to manage his diabetes with diet. Are you going primal too?

 

[moonwatcher]

Time for plenty of pampering MW.. if that migraine keeps coming back treat yourself to a deep tissue massage... take it from me, it works wonders!
Well done on keeping up with the diet and I'm with you on the statins subject. Trouble is they are often prescribed on a "just in case" basis.. when it really isn't absolutely necessary.
My low carb diet has put me in a position where I was told I could be classed as non-diabetic now as I am T2 as well.
Do you have a testing meter? It's very handy to get one even tho' it is not now recommended by the NHS. I find that at least it puts my mind at rest if I'm not feeling too good and wondering if my blood sugars are anything to do with it.

The more we read about the statins the more convinced we are that he doesn't want them! The nurse's argument was that as he was adopted and doesn't know his family history, he may as well take them just in case! Hardly a convincing argument in my opinion tbh. The more I read about low carb and the way cholesterol works in the body the happier I am that we would be on the right route. It does appear cholesterol isn't the baddy it is made out to be. Yes we do have a test meter and have just stocked up on test strips etc for it so we can keep an eye on how he is doing. Brilliant news that the low carb approach has worked so well for your diabetes Em.

]

 

[moonwatcher]

Really glad the service went off well. Sounds like you were able to individualise it with the choice of music etc and think that's really lovely. Sorry to hear you are struggling a bit this week but perhaps not surprising.

Its frustrating about the mixed advice doctors give out isn't it? At least you and OH have done your research and am sure you will be able to manage his diabetes with diet. Are you going primal too?

I am planning to stick to counting calories up to the same level as now, but basically Primal. It won't do me any harm to concentrate on more healthy choices, especially as I do have a small history of diabetes in my family anyway, so now is a good time to be thinking ahead a few years I reckon. I like the 80/20 rule - aim for 100%, but consider you have done OK if you hit 80%. We looked at Paleo, but felt Primal was a bit more flexible and therefore more realistic long term.

 

[moonwatcher]

Hi everyone. I have been very very bad at updating my diary this week, mainly because I have been spending my evenings reading the Primal Blueprint and Paleo/Primal cookbooks. OH has had his follow up appointment with a different surgery nurse to talk about diet. She gave him the standard diet sheet, but she is open to him trying whatever works for him, so we are ready to start Primal eating from tomorrow. He has an appointment in a fortnight to redo bloods etc, so we are aiming for a good improvement by then.

I have been mainly ok sticking to my calories this week (within a little either way here and there) and have another 0.4 lbs off at weigh in this morning, which finally puts me (just) back into the 15s. I will be counting my calories alongside the Primal eating, although for OH, we will mainly be watching the carbs, but not as low carb as Atkins induction. I'll be interested to see if I have a larger loss the first week from switching to lower carb again.

I am planning to change my diary name slightly and have asked tech support to move it in to the Primal and Paleo section. It makes a change from starting a whole new
diary!

 

[moonwatcher]

Tech support have been super quick and moved my diary already! I'm trying to work out how to change the name though!

 

[Atomic pink]

Thought you had been a bit quiet Moonwatcher. Sort of odd how we are have ended up doing almost exactly the same thing again!

I think Primal Blueprint explains things so well and is actually a really engaging read for a lifestyle/ health book. It really resonated with me and its definitely the approach I am aiming towards at the moment. The whole insulin management approach really makes sense to me. And also *possibly* offers an explanation for my problems with weight loss. My diet has always tended to be relatively high carb overall, despite making healthy options. So I am keen to see if it finally works on the scales. But I am sure that making more choices in a primal direction definitely makes me *feel* better, in terms of energy etc so that seems a reasonable starting point.

Well done on another loss. They are adding up so far this year aren't they? Does suggest the reset might have actually done the trick. I definitely look forward to seeing what you end up cooking, I suspect I will be stealing some ideas.

 

[moonwatcher]

So hello Paleo/Primal people! I have just moved my diary from the Calorie Counting section, as tomorrow I will be switching to a Primal approach in conjunction with calorie counting. After doing a metabolism reset last year I am on 1750 calories a day at the moment, and losing s-l-o-w-l-y, but at least I am losing, after pretty much grinding to a halt prior to the reset. My OH has just been diagnosed as type 2 diabetic, so the Primal experiment is also to try and sort him out!

I am still working through the Primal Blueprint books, but after a mammoth vegetable shopping trip today, I am ready to go! Tomorrow's plan is cooked breakfast (bacon, eggs, tomatoes and turnip 'fries') with beef and vegetable stew later.

 

[moonwatcher]

Thought you had been a bit quiet Moonwatcher. Sort of odd how we are have ended up doing almost exactly the same thing again!

I think Primal Blueprint explains things so well and is actually a really engaging read for a lifestyle/ health book. It really resonated with me and its definitely the approach I am aiming towards at the moment. The whole insulin management approach really makes sense to me. And also *possibly* offers an explanation for my problems with weight loss. My diet has always tended to be relatively high carb overall, despite making healthy options. So I am keen to see if it finally works on the scales. But I am sure that making more choices in a primal direction definitely makes me *feel* better, in terms of energy etc so that seems a reasonable starting point.

Well done on another loss. They are adding up so far this year aren't they? Does suggest the reset might have actually done the trick. I definitely look forward to seeing what you end up cooking, I suspect I will be stealing some ideas.

I have had the Primal Blueprint on my kindle for a while, but had only dipped in to it a couple of times. After my OH came back from the surgery I though I'd have another look, as we know controlling the carbs is good for his blood sugar, but we didn't really want to go back on to the Atkins route. As soon as I started reading it I felt it made so much sense and just seemed right. As you say it is a very good read and funnily enough I would say that the description of it resonating is spot on for how I felt too. We are obviously on the same dieting wavelength!

Yes I was pleased with another loss - albeit a small one. As we've both said before - I'll settle for small losses if I can just keep losing reasonably steadily.