So ... as requested, a pond picture! My sweetie wants a pix of the whole pond, whereas I like to shoot detail shots. So here is a try with the whole pond.
Wow! Your pond is beyond gorgeous! Your man is very very talented! Also, where do you live -- everything looks so lush and green. Here in Tidewater Va everything is kind of dead and brown right now.
Too far behind to catch up with everything. Just don't sweat the birthday cake. That's the good part of having 20% to play with. Cool pond. I want to sit in it with a net and catch fish for dinner. hehe Nuts are nuts. Finally conquering them seems to have me melting off more pounds. By conquering, I mean a handful every other day seems to be fine now.
Unfortunately my idea of making up workouts lately has been cleaning the pool, digging up irrigation and modifying some landscape features around here preparing for a major veggie grow out next spring. I think I finally got this desert figured out for farming. If not, there's always cactus and agave -- ooh homemade tequila.
I have a ton of thoughts on alternate day fasting after getting into the groove. No doubt ghrelin signaling (the stuff that tells you you're hungry) is totally muted. I am 36 hours into a fast and no hint of hunger pains. Decent energy, not great, but I dug ditches in 100 degree weather and hiked 6 miles late last night. I AM probably catabolizing muscle, but that is okay. I will not need as much to haul around a smaller me. If I burn up 20-30 pounds of muscle to lose 170 pounds of weight, the trade off seems reasonable and healthy as far as I can tell. I can try to rebuild later. Building muscle while burning fat is a complicated balance that seems part of the reason so many people yo yo. Building muscle makes you hungry. It makes weight loss more difficult for me. Lyle McDonald prefers focusing on one at a time (alternate weeks). I think I'll try that in September.
I'm rambling. Excited for the weigh in on the first. Excited to discover how easy alternate day fasting can be. It's tucked away in the weight loss tool shed with juice fasting when time comes for maintenance. I can tell by the roll on my stomach that I am very near my old plateau where I spent years languishing in depression. I'm going to find the cliff at the end of this plateau and dive off.
I'm having some negative feelings about MDA, not Primal Blueprint. There is a bit of nonsense coming from the forums that for me is cultic. No dairy, no nightshades, no nuts, no sweet fruit, no alcohol, tons of supplements, only grass fed and organic. If I continue to post regularly there, I will end up getting in lame debates. Wait for doctor Cordain to go after goitrogens in cucurbits or all the toxins in avocados. No more broccoli, kale, spinach, cauliflower and cabbage? When Mark went after eggs and nightshades for lectins, I was really disappointed. There has to be a better balance.
I can't see the pond pics! must be the filters here at work...
Yesterday I stayed primal but felt so lousy I didn't do any kind of exercise. Feeling better today and on track so far. I did decide I want to give the SimpleFit.org workout a try. It consists of all of three moves.One of them is a chin up and I'll have to work up to that
I love simple. I find that mostly I fail at eating plans when they get too complex--I just lose it when I start having to concern myself with finding the mango relish for the Arctic-caught wild squid... It seems my life is complex enough in other areas!
Wow! Your pond is beyond gorgeous! Your man is very very talented! Also, where do you live -- everything looks so lush and green. Here in Tidewater Va everything is kind of dead and brown right now.
He lives in NY. And he waters (although they get quite a bit of rain up here).
A joke from about Intermittent Fasting especially for BibBob and any other IFers out there (stolen from Conditioning Research blog):
An Irishman was very overweight, and so his doctor put him on a diet.
"I want you to eat regularly for 2 days, then skip a day, and repeat this procedure for 2 weeks. The next time I see you, you should have lost at least 5 pounds.
When the Irishman returned, he shocked the doctor by having lost nearly 60lbs!
"Why, that's amazing!" the doctor said, "Did you follow my instructions?"
The Irishman nodded..."I'll tell you though, by jaesuz, I t'aut I were going to drop dead on dat 3rd day."
I ate like a pig yesterday. This alternate day idea sort of backfired.
Anyway, yesterday was an eating day and I felt an empty sort of hollow feeling in my stomach. Not sick, just something.
I had a four egg omelet with about a half pound of spicy beef and a half cup of guac for breakfast.
I had almost a pound of slow roasted rump roast for lunch.
I had a spicy Italian sausage stew (cabbage, onions, sweet peppers, carrots, garlic, in a fat rich buttery broth) for dinner.
I had another half pound of the spicy beef with sour cream rolled up in romaine as a salad.
I had a banana smashed into coconut cream with cocoa and almonds like a crunchy pudding for dessert.
I had 14 ounces of raw milk with my supplements before bed.
I borrowed the Primal Blueprint cookbook from the library. I was pleasantly surprised. Often I find with cookbooks, especially low-carb cookbooks, that most of what looks good, I don't need a recipe for.
The book didn't really get off to a good start in that regard, in that the first recipe was directions to grill a steak, and the second and third were recipes for pot roast (Primal Pot Roast, and Slow Cooker Italian Pot Roast).
The book has a good mix of traditional and unusual recipes, and while some are very simple, others are complex enough to warrant buying the book (for me - if I find more than six recipes I'm interested in, I start considering buying the book).
Usually, even when I'm interested in a cookbook I'll wait a few months after the publication date, because I can usually buy them used for half price or less on amazon. Wait a year, and you can often get them for $1 or less (with $4 shipping).
I was happy enough with this cookbook to put it at the top of my to buy book list (which is about a hundred books long).
I borrowed the Primal Blueprint cookbook from the library. I was pleasantly surprised. Often I find with cookbooks, especially low-carb cookbooks, that most of what looks good, I don't need a recipe for.
The book didn't really get off to a good start in that regard, in that the first recipe was directions to grill a steak, and the second and third were recipes for pot roast (Primal Pot Roast, and Slow Cooker Italian Pot Roast).
The book has a good mix of traditional and unusual recipes, and while some are very simple, others are complex enough to warrant buying the book (for me - if I find more than six recipes I'm interested in, I start considering buying the book).
Usually, even when I'm interested in a cookbook I'll wait a few months after the publication date, because I can usually buy them used for half price or less on amazon. Wait a year, and you can often get them for $1 or less (with $4 shipping).
I was happy enough with this cookbook to put it at the top of my to buy book list (which is about a hundred books long).
So far I"ve tried the coconut pancakes (LOVE -- I've made them a few times and add blueberries), the peach clafouti (good but I need to play with measurements), blackberry marinade (used on pork loin - delicious!), and can't remember what else. Good stuff!
Anyway, yesterday was an eating day and I felt an empty sort of hollow feeling in my stomach. Not sick, just something.
I had a four egg omelet with about a half pound of spicy beef and a half cup of guac for breakfast.
I had almost a pound of slow roasted rump roast for lunch.
I had a spicy Italian sausage stew (cabbage, onions, sweet peppers, carrots, garlic, in a fat rich buttery broth) for dinner.
I had another half pound of the spicy beef with sour cream rolled up in romaine as a salad.
I had a banana smashed into coconut cream with cocoa and almonds like a crunchy pudding for dessert.
I had 14 ounces of raw milk with my supplements before bed.
at least it was all Primal ....
Susan and Bob, yep I find them a bit over the top too ...
CJ that looks like a painting gorgeous!!
Well just back from Yoga camp with no protein to speak of for two days... can we all say slightly bloated ... it's ok the Yoga was excellent and the 2 days were very relaxing... I had a good steak for supper tonight...
Good menu Bob, like Ilene said, it was Primal. Your body must have needed it if you kept eating, I try to listen to my body as long as its wanting primal goodness.
Things are busy around my house, my son had open house this morning and I'm finally trying to catch up on cleaning slong with moving furniture and we have a new mattress, everything seems out of sorts right now. DS starts school Monday so I'll have a little more time for the gym and organizing, I can't stand clutter and right now the house feels all cluttered, so I'm looking forward to next week.
I'm with you guys on some of the folks on MDA forum, they are venturing towards the disorder that Mark posted an article on a while back.
A fun little anecdote. I can only walk at night because of the oppressive heat here. It's generally 90-95 when I walk by the bank around 10pm. My daughter cannot sleep when I am walking despite her grandma and uncle being here. She fears me being in the desert for half the walk and getting snake bit or something, but she cannot sleep. She's also paranoid about me walking past the cemetary at night. Campfire ghost stories have been part of her summer.
Yesterday, I convinced her to walk with me, half a walk, 3 miles instead of 6. She agreed. The first half is the creepy half. Our neighborhood dumps into a dessert trail that emerges on County Line Road at a salvage yard. Then there's some strange buildings and creepy boneyards before the dog pound (which is strangely silent or not at night), the cemetary, a oddly lit church in the middle of nowhere, a house whose power lines are covered with ravens who've colonized the property, a known deserted old west adobe house that has "stories" associated with it, a building supply yard... then the desert home.
Well as we're 3/4ths of the way past the cemetary, she sees a bicycle on its side, back wheel clicking and spinning. It scares her. I just figure someone is visiting a deceased loved one. Nope. It's my brother and he pops out from the trees and scares the beejeepers out of her. She wants to do it again tonight.
Fasted about 36 hours and broke it with coffee and coconut milk. Grilling bacon wrapped tenderloins for the household and three others tonight. Feeling a little beat up from too much ditch digging. Looking forward to weighing in on Sunday. Fishing on Saturday so this will probably be my last post until I weigh. Have a primal weekend everyone.
Great story Bob, you must be a writer I could visualise all the details of your walk with your DD, very cool...
I didn't have a primal day this afternoon I had 4 small squares of some type of granola thingies I bought for the kids at Costco last week, 30g of carbs per square... and tonight I just had to have fresh corn on the cob, it was the best so far this year... I could not resist they were so sweet and yummy with butter of course, no more margarine for this gal... But I had about 160g of carbs ... Tomorrow will be a better day, I promise
I'm with you Ilene.....I had almost a whole pint of Ben & Jerry's last night and tonight for dinner I had a vodka on the rocks and half a pint of ice cream. My husband's family is just driving me crazy. I need to learn to detach .....so hard for me.
Tomorrow is a new day.......I finally bought the PB book and will sit and read and get inspired.
On a good note, my 5yo learned to ride a bike and we live on a bike trail so almost everyday we go for a bike ride. We went 4.5 miles yesterday which is pretty good for the little guy. More importantly it is the highlight of my day. He goes slow but he hums the whole time and makes up litttle stories as we go. He is truly the best thing that ever happened to me!!! (I'm writing this under the influence of the vodka...hehe)
Bob I'm still excited for your weighins!!!! I'm living vicariously through you!
Lastly I grew a bunch of hot peppers this summer and was wondering if anyone every dried hot peppers? I was thinking of making some flakes for the winter as DH and I love hot food. Anyone ever do that????
must be the filters here at work...
It's merlot and I'm already tired 
at least it was all Primal 
.... 
... 
was excellent and the 2 days were very relaxing... I had a good steak for supper tonight...
... Tomorrow will be a better day, I promise 
