I can tell I am making some progress!! I took the bike out tonite & I have a pair of pants that I wear when I ride. The last time I wore them I just barley got them zipped, this time they zipped without a problem.

Three cheers for zipping things up!

I was so hungry when I got home from work tonight! I've had cheese, raspberries, strawberries, avocado, the crumbs out of a bag of beef jerky ... And speaking of protein powder ... I blended up coffee, coconut oil, cream and pp in my travel mug to take to work. It was fabulous! I need a bigger mug.

tymaboy, that's awesome! :carrot:

ok so today's food

coffee with cream (am going to change that to coconut oil for tomorrow)
five eggs sunny side up in butter

big salad with spring greens, romaine, red cabbage, carrots, red bell pepper, fennel, purple onion, egg, bacon and caesar yogurt dressing.
small portion of butter chicken (which i think was dredged in flour. i got it from wegman's. i'll never get it again just in case)

not much and im hungry. i was at the drive-in and couldnt get any food they offer there, so i waited until we got home and now i cant decide what i want! im a bit shaky though, so i definitely need something.

quick ketosis question for you.....can you tell if you are in ketosis if you have acid/ph paper? I found some in my drawer and it has a range of 5.0 to 9.0 or something like that. Is ketosis in that range or is that a stupid question? I don't want to buy ketosticks right now and thought I could make do.

Hi all -- violet - sorry, I can't answer the sticks question, but I bet someone can.

Susan - you and a couple others have mentioned being really hungry lately -- me too! I even had horrible carb craving this week which I attribute to the stress and trauma of dealing with my dying cat and her subsequent death. But even yesterday, I felt this gnawing hunger, and today my tummy was rumbling upon waking up (we had a wonderful steak dinner last night with grilled squash, zuchini, onions, and eggplant and also sliced garden tomatoes on side).

We are heading to the farmer's market now with our big cooler -- I'm hunting berries, grass fed meat, farm eggs, and organic dairy (the hardest thing for me to find for some reason). We have a large vegetable garden, but I'll be happy if I can find a few of those items.

Weight is holding steady... need to focus on making it drop. But I feel I am easily not gaining, which was not heard of before I went primal. I had to battle daily just NOT to gain, and losing was so much work and deprivation!

Have a primal day!

There are so many variables that affect pH, I wouldn't even begin to know how to try and assume that one is in ketosis. I will say that if you are more on the acidotic side, one of the reasons could be that you are in ketosis. 7.35 - 7.45 = normal range with the lower side being more acidotic. If you get much outside of that range, and it's on the acid side and you don't have any lung or kidney problems, AND you're VLC'ing it, one can assume that it's related to ketosis, but typically that would also mean you are diabetic.

I don't know how much anyone knows about this stuff. I hope you don't think I'm treating you like you don't know anything!

I don't know anything about it. No worries.

I just had the acid/ph papers and thought maybe I could use them. I think I'll forgo the ketosis analyzing and just concentrate on how I feel and eating as healthy as possible.

Thanks for your imput though Kathy!

Hi Kathy, just eyeballing I think you're just over a 1000 calories with what you listed. 5 eggs, bacon, chicken and a bunch of veggies. Fats and protein look fine. Carbs are real low. I think some fruit, preferably berries, but even more substantial if helpful, would have made that a great primal dieting day. So what did you do for the shakes?

Good job supporting local farmers Claire.

widlviolets, ketosis will drop your body's Ph, but I wouldn't know how to confirm it with Ph strips. Btw, that just emphasizes the importance of alkaline veggies on a very low carb program to keep Ph normal. Ketoacidosis is dangerous and dieting diabetics need to monitor ketosis closely. I think this issue is probably why conventional wisdom tells diabetics to eat a couple slices of bread and a few servings of fruit daily. Bad idea for someone who wants to reverse diabetes,but whatever.

I taste ketosis in the back of my mouth. I can also smell it in my urine when I don't exercise. If you exercise enough you will burn your ketones and not only not be able to taste it or smell it, but they will not appear on the ketostix. So even having the right test paper won't always be accurate.

I'm 38 hours into a fast. I walked 10 miles yesterday. It was between 95 and 105 while I walked. I wore soaking wet clothes. hehe

My brother is a coffee snob from his years in Hawaii. I am drinking great coffee every day since he's been here. This morning we were both groggily watching the pot fill with mugs in hand and he called me....

"TINY" hah!

I'm definitely swimming in this shirt, which once was one of the only ones that fit me decently. Mom is right about something though. My shoulders and chest, butt and thighs are shrinking much faster than my belly. Subcutaneous fat is melting and visceral fat, which is far more unhealthy, is stubborn. I'm in a phase where I probably look worse with my shirt off.

Two sisters in town from LA. Possibly barbequing for a crowd today. My stomach gurgled a little with the coffee, but I am not feeling hungry... again.

Tyma - I didn't see this post earlier --Thank you so much for the kind words! It means so much to know that others understand -- I am so sorry to hear about your chihuahua -- gosh, the unconditional love they give us is so amazing -- they really do break our hearts when they go, don't they?

Considering Primal
 

I'm currently doing another program that isn't working as well for me as I'd like. Some friends have done/are doing it but the packaged food bit doesn't seem to be for me. I've got about 60 pounds I'd like to burn off.

I've read all this month's posts and am impressed with your results and the community you've built. You refer to some books and websites, I've figured out some of them but not all:
PB = Primal Blueprint
MDA = marksdailyapple [dot] com
GCBC = ???

Thanks in advance!

edit: found GCBC through looking up PB on amazon ... GCBC = Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.

hi notanothernm,

I think you make a wise choice if you're breaking away from a prepackaged food plan. All due respect to Jenny and the rest of them, but there is just something unsustainable about having someone else prepare your food for you.

This is about eating healthy whole foods,eliminating unhealthy refined foods; changing your lifestyle, not your diet. It can be a real challenge to swear off processed sugar, refined oils and grains, but for someone like me, prediabetic, it seems the smartest thing to do.

I eat so good it's embarrassing sometimes. Today I had a pound of top sirloin cooked up carne asada style with a whole avocado. Dessert was homemade yogurt with toasted walnuts topped with organic strawberries reduced in coconut milk to make a sweet syrup.

I didn't eat this good getting fat. Cereal, sandwiches, pasta-- it all seems like a waste of time spent eating now. :)

Cashews. A couple ounces.

I am not all that interested in fruit anymore. Maybe it's just a phase?

I found a really good yummy dessert though! Frozen mango pieces and a can of coconut milk. Whipped up in a frothy cold yummy treat. No extra sugar or anything needed. I'll eat more of that.

I am quitting dairy. I post over at mothering and the primal ladies there said my lack of weight loss could be allergy related. Even though used to I sort of poopoo all that stuff, since quitting wheat and finding that it was directly related to my horrible life impeding GERD, I am willing to give up foods to see if it helps with anything.

So today is my first full day without dairy. Yesterday, I had caesear dressing and a bit of cream in coffee so it's almost two days. A day without cheese is a strange day indeed, for me.

four eggs cooked in butter
coffee with coconut oil (weird! but ok)

cashews and dried apricots (about ten apricots and half cup of cashews)

2 chicken breasts cooked in bacon fat

1/3 c cashews

Oh my Heavens! You should have seen my grand-daughter's birthday cake! Bit a cake with yer icing? Super sweet. I had two burger patties and fruit as well. Not good but not horribly bad either.

She and I went for a little walk (bare foot) to see a neighbours garden. Part exercise and part play ;)

I struggle with cheese. It's just so convenient! I definitely have gastro symptoms if I eat too much dairy.

Did TERRIBLE yesterday. Went to a graduation party and it was so freaking hot and sticky and I ate LOTS of sweets. (Sweets are my downfall).

But then I came home and went swimming with DH and DS and had a good time.

Having people over for dinner today. Should be lots of swimming and hopefully good eating......maybe a little drinking. We are having a pulled pork from MDA, my MIL's beans (green beans sauteed with bacon and grating cheese) and potato salad. The only bad thing we are having is potato salad and no sweets. So if I steer clear of that I should do good.

Have a good Sunday!

Bob, thanks for your suggestions. I agree with you 100% about the unsustainability of eating prepared food. The program I've been using is, believe it or not, probably more processed than Jenny; I've been having some mildly disconcerting reactions to the preservatives and sweeteners.

I definitely need to move to food as we humans were intended to consume it. My mind and body are just better when capital-F food is in my tummy. What you ate today sounds GREAT!

I've been off refined carbs --sugar, alcohol, grain flours and whole grains -- for almost a month and do feel better for it. It's inspiring that you don't hear or respond to the siren song of cereal, pasta and breads. I'm impressed and encouraged.

I'll probably phase off current program in the next 7-10 days: returning or exchanging what food I can, using/selling/giving away the food I can't return or exchange, and restoring my diet to food only one or two steps from its original state.

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Call me Nan ... not another nickname :)