Elessar's Primal Journey

Progress is slow but I like the results. While getting dressed for work this morning my wife whinned at me, "My jeans are sliding off me." I offer to help her with that but she declined....hahaha. Nice by-product of the program because she wasn't all in at the start of this thing but she's eating what I cook and reaping the benefits without having completely eliminating all of the grains from her diet. This has been a huge boost to her mood, which is wonderful, so we keep pushing toward the PB lifestyle.

Lunch: Big salad of greens, cottage cheese, shredded cheese, shredded carrots, and a few drops of hot sauce.
Dinner: was breakfast because we wanted to, that's why...three eggs cheese omlet with sweet bell pepper and hot sauce along with three slices of bacon on the side.
Breakfast: 7oz of 2% yogurt and 3oz of country ham that was left over from yesterday

I'm planning on skipping lunch today because I'm only working a half day to take the car to the shop for service/check-up. Dinner will likely be beef stew from venison because it's suppose to be cold this weekend and it's nice to have a pot of stew simmering on the stove so anyone can jump in when the hungry need attacks. No real plans for this weekend so it should be relaxing and maybe working on a crafty project that needs some attention.

Let's get out there and make it a great day!

 

Good morning, I wasn't able to make it through the afternoon without eating but I did manage to keep my overall intake down to 58 carbs. Driving back home from the car dealership, I saw a Trader Joe's so I pulled in to get a bag of macadamia nuts and a few vegetables for the Vegetable Beef Soup that I had planned for dinner. That worked out very well and the soup was great!

Lunch: 5oz macadamia nuts
Dinner: 3 servings of Vegetable Beef Soup
Snack: 3oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Weight: 223.8
Bodyfat: 29.5

Let's get out there and make it a great day!

 

Going over to the new house today to do a little more painting. Then I'm going to go marketing and supplement our stores. I need to add a little more beef to my diet that will enhance to "good fat."

Lunch: 3 bowls of Vegetable Beef Soup (leftovers from yesterday)
Dinner: 2 Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts and 2/3 of Acorn Squash
Breakfast: 8oz Steak fried in bacon grease and 1 1/2 strips of bacon

Weight: 222.8
Bodyfat: 29.9

Let's get out there and make it a great day!

 

Completed my morning workout early this morning. Then shoveled the sidewalk at home as well as at work, so I've had a pretty active morning, unlike yesterday and most of the weekend that was pretty lazy.

We lost electricity yesterday evening from 5:00 pm until just after 7:00 pm so I made breakfast for dinner because I could see well enough to complete that by oil lamp. I was shocked by the experience as I flipped eggs that this may have been "the event" although I knew it was not. As soon as the light went out, my wife reacted by calling the power company to report the outage. We live on the "end of the line" and many times, we loose power but no one knows it until we say so. Therefore, we have learned to let them know quickly. It was snowing and the temperature was hovering around 25' so I'm glad I didn't have to switch over to survival mode in those conditions. THAT would have been miserable. Really makes you think and helps to put things into perspective when you get a little "jolt" of reality like that to wake you up.

Lunch: apple with my yogurt
Dinner: 3 egg ham and cheese omelet
Snack: quite of few almonds during Downton Abbey
Breakfast: skipped because I just didn't feel I needed it...

Weight: 222.6
Bodyfat: 30.6

 

Late reporting today because I've had a busy morning. Nothing substantial to convey, just another day. I did coordinate a "sit down" dinner at our house last night that felt like a date because we were sitting at the dining room table instead of in front of the television or on the run. It was nice and dinner was good including the Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin.

Lunch: Big Salad - greens, shredded cheese, cottage cheese, sunflower seeds, a few drops of hot sauce
Dinner: Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin, Mashed Cauliflower w/butter, Fresh Brocolli with butter, a few glasses of red wine
Snack: generous portion of Almonds during the downhill skiing on the Olympics
Breakfast: Yogurt

Weight: 223.1
Bodyfat: 30.3

Let's get out there and make it a great day!

 

Another quiet evening, which seems so unusual for us, after such a long time of constant work remodeling. We have finally put our house on the market to sell. However, that means that everything is fixed and all the "to-do" list items have been completed. We've been working so hard for so long that to have a quiet evening seems wrong somehow.

Lunch: Big Salad - greens, left over chicken breast chopped, real mayo, shredded cheese, sunflower seeds, and a few drops of hot sauce.
Dinner: Spaghetti Squash with meat sauce, left over mashed cauliflower
Breakfast: three hard boiled eggs, yogurt, 1Tbs Coconut Oil

Weight: 224.2
Bodyfat: 30.1

Let's get out there and make a great day!

 

Mel: There's no one I'd rather hear from than you. Thanks for stopping by and offering your advice. I value that a lot...and the coffee idea from your wife sounds very interesting. I may just try that this weekend.

My days have begun to settle down for the most part. I was feeling a little desperate about the slow rate of weight loss but I went back to the PB book and re-read the section from Mark about being committed and realizing that this is a journey that includes some patience. I'm in for the life long change so I can pratice patience and look for the long term results. I really enjoy the exchange with great people here. Thanx

Lunch: left over pork tenderloin and slice of ham
Dinner: Chicken Stir Fry
Breakfast: Two egg over easy with cheese shreds and 2 strips of bacon
Weight: 224.1
Bodyfat: 29.1

 

I had a funny experience tonight while making dinner: my wife decided that she wanted a taste of the old stuff from our SAD menu so I made her some Tyson Popcorn Chicken and Tator Tots. These use to be our goto meal for something fast and I absolutely loved these easy foods and we had them at least once a week and sometimes more if we could justify the need for easy dinner.

While I was putting away the leftovers, I decided to cheat and have one piece of chicken. Hey, it's chicken, so how bad could it be for me? Since I've started PB the first of this year, this is my first slip, and I was shocked at how bad it tasted. Now, I wouldn't criticize anyone for what they choose to eat, but this thing tasted like cardboard and wax, instead of the yummy heaven that I remembered. Suffice it to say, I have no interest in eating that junk food again. BLAH! Real food is sooo much better, it was like a shock of reinforcement to confirm my PB commitment. I cleansed my palate with a piece of dark chocolate! hahaha

 

Lunch: Big Salad - greens, ham, shredded cheese, cottage cheese, sunflower seeds, and a few drops of hot sauce.
Dinner: 12oz of pan fried steak
Breakfast: 3 eggs with ham and shredded cheese

Weight: 223.4
Bodyfat: 29.3

 

I've enjoyed and interesting weekend that was pretty broken up by a special date with my wife who managed to keep a secret Valentine's Day dinner arrangement from me and really stage a surprise. I was floored and we had a lot of fun. Dinner with friends on the Kentucky River. Really cool. I had prime rib she pre-ordered for me because of my PB committment. What a wonderful friend and wife. Just another reason why I love her; after 20 years, she can still surprise me.

Lunch: the last two days was almost skipped because we were running around. We did eat light, a few walnuts, but nothing substantial
Dinner: Friday night was Taco Salad, Saturday was Prime Rib on our date, Sunday was a disaster of oven fried chicken that didn't work out well. (There were a few cocktails mixed in there on Saturday, but heh, it was a party.)
Breakfast: Both Saturday/Sunday was 3 egg omelet with shredded cheese and bacon

Weight: 225.0
Bodyfat: 30.1

 

The supplies at our house are getting low and I realize now that this is a mistake. Normally, I would have gone marketing over the weekend to prevent this situation from becoming a problem. However, after a quick look through the fridge, it seemed that we could last another day or two, so I got lazy. Big Mistake! Dinner last night was really good but included a number of things that I haven't eaten since the first of the year because our supplies are not as complete as I had thought...oops. The mistake I've committed has a direct effect on our potential menu as well as my ability to be creative while cooking. Now we're reaping the error of not having shopped. Warning: make sure you keep things well stocked to prevent dietary failure.

Lunch: 1 medium avocado, 3oz of Beef Jerky, a few handfuls of pumpkin seeds
Dinner: Chicken Stew: four chicken breasts, five potatoes diced, 16oz frozen vegetables (California blend), 3oz Broccoli shreds, 3oz carrot shreds, 2 medium parsnips, all in about a gallon of water and simmered until the cauliflower was almost melted.
Breakfast: 2 hard-boiled eggs, 1 6oz cup yogurt, 1 cup black coffee

I had four bowls of the chicken stew because I was really hungry and it turned out real good. There are still some left-overs that are planning to sabotage my menu tonight...

Weight: 226.4
Bodyfat: 29.6

I'm not too worried about these fluctuations in my weight because I've committed to the PB as a lifestyle change. I intend to do a better job of marketing to ensure my/our success.

 

Dart: I know that I need to make it to the market every weekend or else things come apart...I just need to make the journey. Shopping for the PB takes a little more time and I hate to give up part of my weekend to shopping. Oh well, that's the cost of living right.

Dinner last night was like a breath of summer during this "Winter that will never END" because we were able to grill out on the deck. In fact, our tempertures this morning are two degrees warmer than when we went to bed. Pretty nice, but I'm afraid we'll be paying for this nice weather in a short while. I bet we have ice and snow to go before the real summer begins.

Lunch: Chicken breast, steamed corn w/butter, mashed cauliflower with more butter.
Dinner: 8oz grilled steak & 8oz of grilled chicken breast, 6oz of Acorn Squash with butter.
Breakfast: Yogurt

Weight: 223.4
Bodyfat: 29.9

I'm worried about the low level of healthy fat that I'm ingesting. I need to figure a way to find more good stuff in my diet...

 

We struggled through another evening of leftovers last night. The good thing about that is using up Primal meals that were already prepared, so we didn't have to worry if what was available would fit into the PB. I'll be spending my lunch hour today heading to market to make up for my lack of motivation last weekend.

Lunch: Big Salad - greens, three huge scoops of cottage cheese, a small amount of shredded cheese, a big handful of sunflower seeds, some carrot shreds and some brocolli shreds, topped off with a few drops of hot sauce
Dinner: last of the taco meat, two chicken breasts, about 3oz of cottage cheese, two slices of ham, two slices of sharp cheddar, and the last of the Braunschweiger (about 2oz)
Breakfast: two hard boiled eggs and 6oz of yogurt

Weight: 224.3
Bodyfat: 29.3

 

I am happy to report that my weight continues to drop, albeit slowly, which is fine with me. My goal is to loose the fat and obtain a healthly lifestyle, so I'm feelin' pretty good about the fit of my clothes as well as my energy level and improved sleep patterns. Still, I feel that I have a long way to go. Used to be, I'd be anxious about that, but I figure I didn't get to this point over night, so I'm ok with loosing what Mark suggests will be 1-2 pounds of fat per week on what I consider "the slow burn." Grok it!

Lunch: yogurt, 3oz macadamia nuts
Dinner: Chili con Carne (with beans-my 20%)
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs and a 6oz yogurt

Weight: 221.0
Bodyfat: 31.5

 

This weekend was crazy with lots of time on the road. I was able to remain Primal and feel good about that. Saturday was a dance recital for my niece and Sunday was spent visiting my mother-in-law for a hike in the woods. Friday night I tried a new recipe for Meatza that uses ground beef as the crust for pizza. While I think the finished product was ok, I don't believe that we'll be making that again because it was really missing something when compared to traditional pizza.

Friday
Lunch: Big Salad
Dinner: Meatza with cheese and pepperoni (1/2# ground beef, 1oz shredded cheese, 9 slices of pepperoni and a little sauce)
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs and a yogurt

Saturday
Breakfast: 3 eggs ham and cheese omelet with two strips of bacon
Lunch: none, breakfast carried the day
Dinner: Blackened Steak and brocolli at Bob Evans (very small portion for how hungry I was by 7:00 pm)

Sunday
Breakfast: 3 egg ham and cheese omelet with three strips of bacon
Lunch: three Roast Beef and Provolone Cheese sandwiches with lettuce instead of bread
Dinner: Leftover Vegetable Chicken soup that I thawed out for an easy dinner after a long day on the road (4 bowls)
Snack: 1oz of Gold/Black dark chocolate & large handful of pumpkin seeds during the season finale of Downton Abbey

 

Feeling kinda caught in limbo as we wait for our house/farm to sell. Wish this housing market would be more productive, but, it is what it is.

Lunch: Big Salad followed by a half mile walk
Dinner: Pan fried chicken breast in olive oil with ginger, rose mary, and garlic, asparagus on the side, and mashed cauliflower
Breakfast: 3oz cottage cheese with some sunflower seeds on top

Weight: 224.4
Bodyfat: 29.9

Let's get out there and make this a great day!