new day!

[cavemom]

Hey,
I'm just starting this new way of eating/living today with my old man (husband). I am going to do my best to stick to the guidelines on this site, and my hubby is going to try introducing more of the good stuff into his diet while eliminating some of the bad guys.  I'll be using this forum as a means to share our experiences as we'll as to help me stay on track and be more accountable. I've struggled with my weight for most of my life, in particular since having my kids, and I'm really looking forward to taking better care of myself now that my boys are a bit older and don't need my full attention 24/7. I don't have a specific goal weight in mind, but I do want to drop about 40 pounds and see how I feel from there.  Starting weight this morning is 195 pounds.
Here's to the new road ahead!

[Kyle S]

Good luck to you!  I have been on this program for 4 weeks now, and it has been great.  Minus a few cheat days that have caused setbacks, I am down 17 pounds and feel better every day.  I am terrible with diets and this program is one that is easy to incorporate into my daily life.  I hope you and your husband find success and reach your goals.

[cavemom]

Wow, day one was pretty hard!!  My tummy was grumbling all day, right from the get go.  Maybe because I usually eat a big breakfast of eggs, bacon, and coffee...nuts and fruit was a bit of a change by the end of the day I was definitely having some cravings for chocolate in particular, so I had some with my feast of steak and raw vegs from the garden (tomatoes and string beans).  Already planning a walk thru the local park at "lunch time" to get some fresh blackberries off the bush to go with my handful of almonds. I'm hoping today I feel less anxious about eating. It seemed that was all I could think about yesterday, so that probably contributed to my persistent tummy grumblings.  Thanks for the encouragement Kyle, sounds like you are doing well with this way of eating.  Keep it up!

Day two, here we go!

[Kyle S]

The way I do as well, is that I will hit the diet hard all week, and then I don't feel bad about going out with my fiance and grabbing a pizza on the weekends, or some mexican food!   This is a dramatic change from the way most people eat, if you are craving something and cannot control it, EAT IT!  Just try to do so in moderation.  It is better to cheat every now and again than get burnt out on the diet and stop all together and not start again.  Start with small goals.  The first few weeks, have a cheat day.  Then try to find ways you can make the same foods in a paleo-friendly way.  I found a great paleo recipe site and everything I have tried so far is FANTASTIC! It is www. paleoplan . com.  Try the chicken fajitas.  I make them with top sirloin and shrimp in romaine lettuce "tortillas".  Actually had those last night and they were just what I needed to curb the craving for mexican food.

[b-charmander]

The way I did stage 1 was to have bread/sugars every night as part of my feast, even if i didn't want it, and the cravings for it went away really quickly. I haven't craved sugars or bread for weeks!

[cavemom]

Thanks for the great tips and advice, I really appreciate it.  I'm starting to understand that I've got some really strong issues with food, and not necessarily good ones at that. Lots of intense cravings these past few days and a doozie of a headache to boot.  Normally, I would just give up, but I feel like I need to power through and keep on trying.    Chin up, on with the day.

[cavemom]

So, almost one week under my belt and I am noticing some changes. I'm not having those overwhelming feelings of hunger in the midafternoon, and I am starting to lose those intense cravings and am more interested in the healthier choices. I'm having a breakfast in the mornings though, I feel like I still need a bit more than the berries and nuts to get me up and about. I usually have two eggs and two pieces of bacon for breakfast.  I seem to be good for the rest of the day until the nightly feast, jut grazing on veg, fruits, and nuts. Drinking lots of decaf green tea and water throughout the day. I've had one cup of coffee in the last week and it made me quite sick afterwards, plus it didn't taste very good.  My feast last night was gin and tonics with a girlfriend i haven't see all summer, but I did manage to avoid the chips and other salty snacks that would normally be right up my alley. Looking forward to my weigh in tomorrow, just hoping that I haven't gained anything with eating the full breakfasts in the morning.  His anyone else had trouble not eating breakfast?  I've always eaten breakfast so I'm finding it very hard to not do that.

[Lilnicki]

Depends really how much weight you ave to lose..... What's your current height / weight ?

You could always half your portion so one egg and one bacon. The grazing should just be enough to keep you going not fill you up, so by the time your feast comes round, you're really ready for it.

[cavemom]

I've got quite a bit of weight to lose.  I'm five foot four and 194 pounds. My "fighting weight" when I felt my healthiest was about 150 so I've set a big goal of 50 pounds to lose. I used to work outdoors everyday but a bad knee injury put me into another career with much less daily activity. After my injury I put on the pounds and I've been creeping up on the scale ever since. It would be nice to get back to feeling and looking like my old self again. I still do a double take when I see myself in the mirror or in a picture. My mind hasn't caught up to what my body is doing. I'll try doing the half breakfast that you've suggested and hopefully that'll get me kick started. I've lost one pound over this last week, so at least I haven't gained. I'll try shrinking my grazing portions as well.  I'm having about 15 almonds and an apple or pistachios and veggies for the grazes.  Thanks for the help.