Low Carb Paleo

[praxisproject]

Alrighty. I finished up my month of no nightshades and no poultry (v few eggs too). Didn't see any improvements, so reintroduced nightshades. If they do impact me, it's so slight I can't tell.

While I will return to my nightshade loving ways, I will reduce my overall load of them, as I really eat too much, almost every meal, given I have inflammation. Maybe it would take 90+ days to see a change. I might try it again another time.

 

Leptin Reset was a bit of a bust, broke too many rules on it to be a proper leptin reset (carbs too high, not enough sleep), messy scheduled, but I was 100% no nightshades, no poultry, only a few eggs and no workouts.

While my health has improved greatly since January this year, weight is not what I want it to be and doing what I've been doing, isn't doing it. So, making changes. I feel much stronger and healthier than I did in December last year.

 

Reducing starch load and fruit. Still Paleo. The last time I ate like this, it was pre-Whole30, so still including grains and processed stuff.

 

Already lost a kilo so far, so feel I'm on the right track for me. Haven't added workouts yet, but will shortly.

 

[WunderHase]

I'm not sure what a leptin reset includes, and I may be totally out of order suggesting this for you to read, but I thought it might be of some value: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/dear-mark-should-i-increase-carb-intake-for-weight-loss/

 

Especially if you're going to add workouts, a weekly refeed might work wonders with a low carb diet.

[JJB]

That's a really interesting article. I hadn't thought of myself as eating particularly low-carb, but I rarely eat fruit...I have maybe a handful of carrots a day, and on average about 1 med sweet potato per day. I guess that is pretty low-carb?

 

Congrats on your progress so far, Praxis!

[praxisproject]

As I'm insulin resistant with very unstable blood sugar (but not diabetic), carb refeeds tend to make me more wonky, rather than even me out with a refeed, but I'm not average.

 

Whole30 was excellent for teaching me better carbs to eat when I need them, and has allowed me to regain my health and muscle strength. For me now it's about reducing the carbs, keeping my blood sugar as even as possible (for me - this reduces insulin spikes, leptin spikes, weight gain, cortisol fluctuations).

 

All fruits give me quite a spike, so keeping them to a minimum works best for me. I mostly stick to berries as they have a great antioxidant level and so give me a nutrient boost with any incoming sugar spike.

I also get spikes from any sugary-starchy veggies: carrots, squash (even spaghetti squash - but less so), onions, garlic, pumpkin, sweet potato, plantains, etc. These I have to manage more for consistency rather than complete avoidance. For me, sweet potato and plantains are the hardest to have non-spiking amounts of.

 

JJB - I would say you're low carb, but not very low carb (nothing wrong with either of those). Not sure if you'd be ketogenic or not (everyone is different, I can't be with a sweet potato a day).

[praxisproject]

Big health revelation today in the world of exercise. Making a quick note here to remind me, will post properly later (today is chore day) as it will just be babbling right now.

 

Leaps and bounds since December 2012 - muscle strength.

TotalGym levels.

Workout time duration.

Energy from workouts.

[praxisproject]

This recap of the last 12 months is mostly for myself, as some of it I'm almost forgetting, and today I learned I really need to remember this stuff.

I started my first Whole30 in January 2013. In the December of 2012, my health hit an all time low.

 

My once-always-strong-muscles were in complete failure, I was continually losing muscle mass, losing non-muscle mass, not burning fat, not sleeping well, having trouble breathing, was on constant antibiotics and cortisone just to function, my arthritis and inflammation were out of control and I was the heaviest I've ever been (depending on your flip chart, I may be "super obese"), in one of the highest obese categories. I felt like absolute crap, barely functional and with a physical lethargy I cannot articulate clearly (as a sliding scale, closer to comotose than vibrantly awake).

 

February reintros were a revelation, grains made me sick! Especially gluten, but the only one which seems to not directly damage me is rice and it stops me losing weight, so they all went. My brain felt much better, I sleep better, I'm awake when I wake up, no foggy or wandering brain moments in the mornings. Soy isn't something I loved, but had hoped didn't make much difference... it really does to me, zero soy equals a happier body for me.

 

Skipping on through the year, I dropped two dress sizes (but not much weight) after giving up gluten and grains. After an ill-advised attempt at a "Gluten Challenge" so I could have a coeliac test, my weight and size ballooned again and I struggled to regain my health in the months that followed, only underlining just how important to my health it is, for me to avoid gluten and grains. These items have zero appeal to me at all now, which was not the case prior to the challenge, although I still did not consume them. Now the thought of them is about as appealing as eating dirt, why would I? lol.

After I felt stronger, I had another crack at the Leptin Reset protocol from Dr Jack Kruse. I have had a few stabs at it in the past, but never have completed ALL of the required parts at the same time, for an uninterrupted length of time (which just goes to show how bad my lifestyle is for healthy leptin really). My most recent crack included zero nightshades of any kind, no chicken and minimal eggs. While I felt good during this 30 days, I didn't feel *much* better (slight reduction in inflammation and arthritis, but not much), but it did change my palate quite a bit, so I have drastically reduced my ongoing nightshade consumption. The part I really struggled with this time around was the lower carbs AND no nightshades, which was interesting to me, as I had previously not related them together, but my low carb cooking tends to favour nightshades, as they are very tasty and low carb.

 

Today, I'm down about 4 kilos, feeling really energetic, have been powering through my to-do list (both physical and mental) with almost no fatigue, brain feels like it is running on high octane fuel Low carb really does make my body sing, which I think is really down to the blood sugar management, no spikes, so no crashes. A nice small side effect of being ketogenic is that my skin is looking much better, with a noticable level of healing on a red scar which my doc has advised is going to take at least a year to clear up due to the level of damage.

 

But the BIG revelation today is my strength and fitness. I use a TotalGym for working out, as I have hyper-extension disorder of the joints, so jogging and many other activities can dislocate stuff, which makes normal working out both dangerous and quite a drag trying to limit the damage. Using the TotalGym I get more control of my joint mobility, so I can push my limits without bones popping out anywhere. As a comparison, I can do about 3 standing leg squats before I'm in incredible joint pain (knees starting to pop out), but on the total gym, was about to 50 I think, the first time (will have to read my old posts to be sure).

 

I started using my TotalGym on the lowest levels (it goes up to 6 as the highest, 1 is the lowest). It works on an incline, so the higher the number, the more weight you are lifting. The highest weight is never higher than your own body weight, as that is what you're lifting. For me, that's a lot of weight! lol

 

When I started, I used Level 1 for my upper body and Level 2 for leg work (I could barely walk up a ramp when I started, complete muscle failure, which was not normal for me).

Today, I realised I haven't tried Level 4 for a long time, maybe months.

The last time I did, about 3 reps and my knees and ankles said no @#$% way, cut that out! lol

 

Today I was listing to a podcast about slow lifting and the guy being interviewed said something about "when was the last time you tried to lift heavier?" and I thought, I'm not sure.

 

Tried Level 4 again and completed 3 sets of 50 reps at Level 4!!! OMG! O.O that's lifting about 200 pounds with my knees and ankles.

 

This. Is. HUGE.

 

That was after already doing 4 sets of 50 reps at Level 3 and some Level 3 Pull Ups (upper body), so I was warmed up, but had already done quite a bit.

 

I suspect that all the gut healing, extra gelatin and bone items I've been consuming are helping more than my muscles and strength, but also repairing or strengthening my poor joints/tendons/supporting-muscles. I can never be "cured" of hyperextension, I was born with gaps between my bones, but the more I treat my joints with care and the healthier I am, the less likely it is to cripple me.

 

An unexpected bonus of this new fitness level is that a sweat-inducing workout was starting to take me over an hour of strength training, today was under 45 minutes! \o/ AND I have felt amazing since the workout, not tired, an actual energy boost, like all those fit people talk about, but I never experienced (it was a rating more along less-crap more-crap afterwards).

 

Very exciting day Feel like I am finally on the right track for losing weight.

[AmyS]

Hooray!!!!!!

 

Regarding low-carb living, Paleo style, I recently read this extremely informative blog post/interview:  OK, I keep trying to link to the article and it won't work, which is kiiiind of freakin' me out a little bit.  But if you google phoenixhelix.com and then go to the article entitled Charles' Story you'll get the blog post I'm trying to link you to.  Inspiring interview with a fellow who, for all practical purposes, has to be low/no-carb all the time.

 

Congrats on your successes!!

[praxisproject]

Link for anyone wanting the article: http://www.phoenixhelix.com/2013/11/03/charles-story/ (if your computer's clipboard is feeling a bit blinky, it won't paste anything, a reboot should fix it).

 

Great story! I don't have AS, but the level of starch does seem to affect my inflammation levels and energy levels.

[praxisproject]

Food experiment of the day: salted duck egg.

 

These are available in a pack of six at my local asian grocer, I finally got brave enough to buy some.

 

Pretty big eggs, each one wrapped, very portable (although I needed scissors to open the wrapper).

 

They come with the shell on! Very very salty to my palate, but nice flavour pretty blue egg

[praxisproject]

Roasted my first whole sweet potato yesterday and also roasted a mini pumpkin (it's SO cute!).

 

So... now, what to do with sweet potato mash and cooked pumpkin...

[praxisproject]

Got my first Osso Bucco in the slow cooker. Using this recipe (more or less) http://bipolarpaleo.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/osso-bucco.html

[praxisproject]

OMG, don't know if it's the new source of organics, or if I'm really hungry, or my cooking is just getting better, but I am on fire in the kitchen at the moment.

 

Osso Bucco was amazing. Only downside was I should have made more. That's a keeper for sure and so easy!

 

Tonight I whipped up organic bacon and broccoli with garlic, butter and a tiny bit of parmesan cheese and a tablespoon of white wine. Incredible!

[praxisproject]

Successfully survived a big party and although I took some food just in case, I didn't need to eat it!

 

I had salad (had to pick the corn out, but it was fresh not canned so probably no "juice" in the salad), roast beef, some cheese, some dried fruit, some nuts, some wine (first alcohol since January? not sure), three tiny white potatoes with sour cream and some pavlova (gluten free and all fresh fruit).

 

I didn't have to eat the not-so-good things, it was my choice and I had a great time. Had a loss for the day, so I'm very happy with my choices

 

PS. either the alcohol or something else made me very thirsty today!

[praxisproject]

Updated Meal Plan for this week:

 

Veggies to finish from last weeks's veggie box:

Snow Peas - done

Pumpkin - done

Zucchini - done

Cauliflower - done

Rocket - done

Carrots (don't have to finish these, but use some)

 

Bought meat:

• Pork Forequarter Roast
• Eye Fillet
• Beef Strips
• Fresh Salmon Fillets
• Beef Burger Patties

For the freezer:

• Pork Forequarter Roast & Cauliflower Mash (to freeze - multiple meals)

Meals

• Red Curry - Beef Strips & Pumpkin & Carrots
• Red Curry - Beef Strips & Pumpkin & Carrots
• Massaman Curry - Beef Strips & Pumpkin & Carrots & nut Butter
• Massaman Curry - Beef Strips & Pumpkin & Carrots & nut Butter
• (Made these all Red Curry with Shanghai Veggies and Pumpkin)
• Beef Burger Patties & Asparagus
• Salmon & Asparagus
• Eye Fillet & Zucchini
• Eye Fillet & Zucchini

[praxisproject]

Ooh, I haven't updated for 23 days? lol

 

Well, lots of stuff has happened. I'll post a better update later, but current news is that my doctor is happy with my progress, although my scale weight is not dropping, he can see I'm clearly shrinking and my muscle tone is improving, no more muscle loss!

In other news, have found both organic veggie delivery company AND organic & biodynamic meat delivery! Finally got some organic chicken livers, so making pate for the first time this holidays.

 

Will need a big wardrobe update in the new year, and probably some new (smaller) shoes.

[praxisproject]

Okay, making pate was a fail (time, I didn't have any), but will have another crack at it later.

 

Signed up for the Daily Emails for January 1st (I picked 30/12/13 as my start date as the first time I did it I was a day behind).

 

Pondering a new thread for the new year. General goals for the year: more organ meats, more bone broth (have gotten slack!), more organic and less "food jail", less carbs, more pre & post workout meals, more workouts on higher weights.

[praxisproject]

Over here: http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/15125-ketogenic-2014/