Just a quick stop in to report my weigh-in for last Sunday. I'm sorry to say that I had yet another gain of 1 kg. Boo. Also, no colourful pie chart this week, as I just couldn't bring myself to make yet another one with a gain on it. I am weak, I know it.
I had a pretty good week, other than gaining. I stuck completely to Paleo (except for slip up on Sunday night) drank more water, and exercised a little. I even worked really hard on limiting any snacking or late night eating, in case that was causing my weight gains. Unfortunately, I still gained over the week.
I won't lie, seeing my weight go up from the previous week made me anxious. I took my measurements, to see if there were any changes there and saw a slight increase as well. I feel like I'm trying to do everything right to lose weight, and I've got so much to lose that realistically, my body shouldn't be resistant to losing. I started to even doubt if going Paleo was the right choice and if I should go back to diet shakes and low fat meals. I searched Paleo blogs, forums and any resource I could find for answers to why, after more than a month of eating Paleo, I had failed to lose any weight. I went into a bit of a tailspin.
Since actually weighing in on Sunday, I've had some time to let the crazy simmer down. I know that I still want to continue with Paleo, because I feel amazing and I can't just forget everything I've been learning. I still believe in it, even if I can't shake the concerned about my lack of weight loss. In an effort to continue and facilitate some weight loss, I've researched and decided on a couple of things to try before giving up.
Firstly, I'm going to go back to counting kilojoules, as although I might be eating lots of good foods, I still have to worry about overeating. After all, I still have disordered eating tendencies, including excessive mindless eating to stay mindful of, and counting kilojoules is the only thing I've found to help me overcome this in the past.
I'm also going to focus on maintaining a low carb intake. I'm starting out by limiting my carbs between the 30-50 gram ketosis range for a couple of days to a week, to hopefully kick start my body into fat burning/weight loss mode. After that, depending on how it works and how I feel, I will slowly increase my daily carbohydrate intake, to up to no more than 100 grams a day. From what I've read, somewhere below the 100 gram a day carb intake is the sweet spot for weight loss for most people.
I'm giving up the soft drink for good. This was the one area that I wasn't completely Paleo in. I was still having Pepsi Max, or some other form of diet soft drink, almost daily. Mentally, it was the hardest thing for me to give up, and I have no idea why. I've been soft drink free for only two days so far, and it's been ok. I still feel like it, but I've got myself a snazzy new drink bottle for water and am making sure there's no soft drink in the house. It's not nearly as horrible as I thought it would be!
Keep your fingers crossed for me this week. I really hope that putting in this extra effort will help. Whether I've been doing something wrong, or my body just needed time to adjust to the Paleo diet, I really hope I can get some weight loss happening soon. I am doing Paleo for my health first, but losing weight, at the size I am is going to be a fair component of that, and is something that I personally really want to see change.
Wednesday, 2 October 2013
Monday, 23 September 2013
Weekly Weigh-In
Lets rip this band-aid off shall we? I gained a kilo this past week. There, that wasn't so bad.
When I got on the scale and saw a gain, I won't lie, I felt disappointed. I'd done such a good job this week avoiding temptation, exercising 5 days and, hey, even drinking more water, so I did expect more. Some time has passed between weighing in and writing this post, and I'm feeling more realistic about it now, but just the feeling when you step on the scale full of hope (and maybe a little bravado) and then the little numbers flicker up and crush you, is horrible. Those numbers can be so mean!
Anyway, obviously there could be a number of reasons for a gain this week. Like the fact that I've been working out with kettlebells and could have put on some muscle. Or that I haven't quite figured out the right calorie intake for my body since switching to paleo. It could also be sleep (which I am only just starting to learn can significantly effect weight loss), considering I sleep between six and seven hours on average, but know I function best on closer to nine. Even though I've had such small losses the last couple of weeks, and a gain this week, I'm not going to stress myself over it. I know that I'm doing a lot of good for my health at the moment, and the weight will come off in it's own time.
Non-Weight Loss Stuff
This week I made the trek into Sydney to go to Costco. As sad as this is, it's probably one of my favourite places! Here in Australia we don't really have anything like it, and our options for shopping are very limited, so going to Costco is like a treat. I love seeing what random stuff they are selling and picking up some staples in bulk. A kg of smoked salmon is a staple right?
I even managed to find these two ginormous jars of coconut oil for very cheap (shown next to my regular size jar). I'm absolutely nuts for this stuff, so getting these alone made the trip worthwhile.
When I got on the scale and saw a gain, I won't lie, I felt disappointed. I'd done such a good job this week avoiding temptation, exercising 5 days and, hey, even drinking more water, so I did expect more. Some time has passed between weighing in and writing this post, and I'm feeling more realistic about it now, but just the feeling when you step on the scale full of hope (and maybe a little bravado) and then the little numbers flicker up and crush you, is horrible. Those numbers can be so mean!
Anyway, obviously there could be a number of reasons for a gain this week. Like the fact that I've been working out with kettlebells and could have put on some muscle. Or that I haven't quite figured out the right calorie intake for my body since switching to paleo. It could also be sleep (which I am only just starting to learn can significantly effect weight loss), considering I sleep between six and seven hours on average, but know I function best on closer to nine. Even though I've had such small losses the last couple of weeks, and a gain this week, I'm not going to stress myself over it. I know that I'm doing a lot of good for my health at the moment, and the weight will come off in it's own time.
Non-Weight Loss Stuff
This week I made the trek into Sydney to go to Costco. As sad as this is, it's probably one of my favourite places! Here in Australia we don't really have anything like it, and our options for shopping are very limited, so going to Costco is like a treat. I love seeing what random stuff they are selling and picking up some staples in bulk. A kg of smoked salmon is a staple right?
I even managed to find these two ginormous jars of coconut oil for very cheap (shown next to my regular size jar). I'm absolutely nuts for this stuff, so getting these alone made the trip worthwhile.
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
A Very Late Weekly Weigh-In
Apparently I've been so slack that I haven't posted or weighed-in in more than two weeks! Lately almost all of my spare time has been dedicated to wedding planning and researching, so this little blog has suffered a bit.
The good news is, I have had a little loss over the last couple of weeks. The week before last I only lost 100 grams, which is nothing. My weight that week was all over the place, so any loss was a positive. Last week I lost another 400 grams, for a total of half a kilo over the two weeks. Not a significant loss, by any means, but still a step in the right direction.
The good news is I've been sticking with eating Paleo really well. It's getting easier to say no to foods I can't eat, and I'm feeling really good on it. I haven't started counting kilojoules on it, or focusing on really limiting my carbs on it yet, which might be something to look at doing to improve the slow weight loss I've had over the past couple of weeks.
I'm not sure if maybe I'm eating too many kilojoules, or not enough. Since going Paleo, I've been finding that I'm typically not as hungry, and so eat less frequently. Some days I will eat two meals and a snack, and I'm done. Other days, however, I've been lenient and let myself indulge a little more that I should, and eat more (still Paleo friendly foods). Either way, it could be affecting what I'm seeing on the scales, so will be something that I focus on for this week.
I've also been incredibly slack with drinking water and exercising. I don't know why I struggle so much with these. I go through patches where I'm really enjoying exercise and it's no effort at all, and then others when I'm just incapable of getting my butt into gear. Water seems to be a constant struggle for me. It probably doesn't help that I haven't yet tackled cutting out Pepsi Max yet. It's the one part of going Paleo that I'm yet to tackle, because I know it's going to be so difficult for me to do.
Non-Weight Loss Stuff
I thought I might start adding some more non-weight loss updates in my weigh-ins, when there's something interesting to talk about, or the mood strikes me. Obviously, weight loss is only a small part of my life and sometimes it feels like I fail to show much more of myself on here.
As I mentioned, apart from weight loss and work, lately I've been doing a whole lot of wedding planning. We're just over 12 months away from our wedding date. We our venue booked, and are at sort of a critical time for booking a whole lot of things for the wedding. We're in the process of narrowing down our choices of photographers, caterers and celebrants, and are very close to booking them. We're also starting to look into marquee and party hire, so it's all really starting to happen. We've been engaged for so long, that the fact that we've actually got a concrete date and are actively planning and booking things is scary and exciting at the same time.
The good news is, I have had a little loss over the last couple of weeks. The week before last I only lost 100 grams, which is nothing. My weight that week was all over the place, so any loss was a positive. Last week I lost another 400 grams, for a total of half a kilo over the two weeks. Not a significant loss, by any means, but still a step in the right direction.
The good news is I've been sticking with eating Paleo really well. It's getting easier to say no to foods I can't eat, and I'm feeling really good on it. I haven't started counting kilojoules on it, or focusing on really limiting my carbs on it yet, which might be something to look at doing to improve the slow weight loss I've had over the past couple of weeks.
I'm not sure if maybe I'm eating too many kilojoules, or not enough. Since going Paleo, I've been finding that I'm typically not as hungry, and so eat less frequently. Some days I will eat two meals and a snack, and I'm done. Other days, however, I've been lenient and let myself indulge a little more that I should, and eat more (still Paleo friendly foods). Either way, it could be affecting what I'm seeing on the scales, so will be something that I focus on for this week.
I've also been incredibly slack with drinking water and exercising. I don't know why I struggle so much with these. I go through patches where I'm really enjoying exercise and it's no effort at all, and then others when I'm just incapable of getting my butt into gear. Water seems to be a constant struggle for me. It probably doesn't help that I haven't yet tackled cutting out Pepsi Max yet. It's the one part of going Paleo that I'm yet to tackle, because I know it's going to be so difficult for me to do.
Non-Weight Loss Stuff
I thought I might start adding some more non-weight loss updates in my weigh-ins, when there's something interesting to talk about, or the mood strikes me. Obviously, weight loss is only a small part of my life and sometimes it feels like I fail to show much more of myself on here.
As I mentioned, apart from weight loss and work, lately I've been doing a whole lot of wedding planning. We're just over 12 months away from our wedding date. We our venue booked, and are at sort of a critical time for booking a whole lot of things for the wedding. We're in the process of narrowing down our choices of photographers, caterers and celebrants, and are very close to booking them. We're also starting to look into marquee and party hire, so it's all really starting to happen. We've been engaged for so long, that the fact that we've actually got a concrete date and are actively planning and booking things is scary and exciting at the same time.
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
Red Curry Mini Frittatas
High five for my first recipe on the blog! I've decided to share my recipe for delicious (vegetarian and Paleo-friendly) Red Curry Mini Frittatas. I make these bad boys for weeks when my schedule is going to be crazy, and I know that I won't have time to make breakfasts, snacks or lunches (they even make a tasty lazy dinner).
The coconut milk and red curry paste make these mini frittatas both tasty, and less of an eggy breakfast only food. They can be eaten fresh out of the oven, reheated or cold.
What you'll need:
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 medium onion
1 medium red capsicum
3 tablespoons red curry paste*
8 eggs
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon baking powder**
Pinch of salt
What you'll need to do:
Preheat oven to 200 C (about 400 F).
Slice onion into thin wedges, and capsicum into thin 1-2 inch strips. Heat coconut oil in a pan over medium heat, and add onion and capsicum. Saute until onion is translucent and capsicum has softened. Add red curry paste and cook off for 2 minutes, or until paste becomes aromatic. Set aside and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut flour, coconut milk and baking powder. Add cooled onion, capsicum and curry paste to egg mixture, a pinch of salt and give it a good mix.
Grease a 12 muffin pan with coconut oil, and spoon in mixture. Pop into the oven and cook for 20 minutes. Be sure to turn pan after 10 minutes, if your oven is not fan forced.
When frittatas are ready, the tops should be puffed and light browned, and a skewer or fork inserted through the middle should come out clean. Take the pan out of the oven and allow the muffins to cool in the pan, before removing (you may need to run a butter knife around the outside to loosen).
Makes 12.
* Some red curry pastes include non-paleo ingredients. If you're Paleo, be sure to check the label, and if all else fails, have a go at making your own!
** Store bought baking powders can often contain non-paleo ingredients. If you're strictly Paleo, you can make your own with 2 parts cream of tartar and 1 part baking soda, or simple leave it out (this will results in still tasty but slightly less fluffy frittatas).
The coconut milk and red curry paste make these mini frittatas both tasty, and less of an eggy breakfast only food. They can be eaten fresh out of the oven, reheated or cold.
What you'll need:
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 medium onion
1 medium red capsicum
3 tablespoons red curry paste*
8 eggs
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon baking powder**
Pinch of salt
What you'll need to do:
Preheat oven to 200 C (about 400 F).
Slice onion into thin wedges, and capsicum into thin 1-2 inch strips. Heat coconut oil in a pan over medium heat, and add onion and capsicum. Saute until onion is translucent and capsicum has softened. Add red curry paste and cook off for 2 minutes, or until paste becomes aromatic. Set aside and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut flour, coconut milk and baking powder. Add cooled onion, capsicum and curry paste to egg mixture, a pinch of salt and give it a good mix.
Grease a 12 muffin pan with coconut oil, and spoon in mixture. Pop into the oven and cook for 20 minutes. Be sure to turn pan after 10 minutes, if your oven is not fan forced.
When frittatas are ready, the tops should be puffed and light browned, and a skewer or fork inserted through the middle should come out clean. Take the pan out of the oven and allow the muffins to cool in the pan, before removing (you may need to run a butter knife around the outside to loosen).
Makes 12.
* Some red curry pastes include non-paleo ingredients. If you're Paleo, be sure to check the label, and if all else fails, have a go at making your own!
** Store bought baking powders can often contain non-paleo ingredients. If you're strictly Paleo, you can make your own with 2 parts cream of tartar and 1 part baking soda, or simple leave it out (this will results in still tasty but slightly less fluffy frittatas).
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