No excuses!

I had a day of travelling for work yesterday. Not unusual in my job and it will probably get more prolific now that our Government has FINALLY sorted themselves out! It would have been easy to forget all of the commitments I've made to myself over the past few months, and in particular since the beginning of this week with the PB Challenge, but no doubt I would have regretted it later. So, I really planned my day in my head the night before, ensuring that I was fully prepared to keep on track with my eating.
A 5:00am start pretty much ruled out any exercise for the morning... And as I had already planned my 18 hour fast from Tuesday night dinner to Wednesday lunch, I didn't need to worry about breakfast. (I won't go into fasting now, but will post on it at a later date - here's some reading from Fitness Spotlight if you're really keen!)... I would have my usual water with lemon juice first thing in the morning (seriously, who can stomach food at 5:00am anyway!) and planned on getting a cup of tea at the airport.
My day went reasonably well, but I made some interesting observations. Society really does have a warped view of eating, if the food options I saw throughout the day are any indication! I guess we can blame conventional wisdom, but it takes all of my willpower to bite my tongue.
Waiting in the Qantas Club before my flight, breakfast options were various cereals and toast, and some fruit. We were then offered breakfast on the plane. I politely refused of course, but even if I had been eating, the offerings weren't even remotely Primal. Weet-bix, a blueberry muffin, low-fat yoghurt, and orange juice. Morning tea at the meeting was a selection of "flourless" chocolate tortes - catering for the gluten free diet - and a fruit platter. Lunch was a combination of sandwiches, wraps, and rolls, mini quiche and some more desserty cakes (not gluten free this time). The gluten free option was a greek salad, which I could eat, and there was also a caeser salad, which I ate but avoided the croutons. I also scooped out the filling from a quiche! If the salad wasn't offered, the 'grain-free' choices were slim to none. On the way home, we were offered an afternoon tea on the plane - plum strudel cake.
It should be obvious to you by now how carb-centric all of this food on offer was! If I had eaten everything that had been available to me during the day, I would have been left feeling seriously bloated and heavy. I don't even want to think about what it would have done to my digestive system. The other issue you will see is how laden with sugar that food is. The weet-bix was the only breakfast offering with minimal sugar. The tortes might have been 'flourless' but I'm guessing were still made with copious amounts of added sugar. Sauces on the sandwiches and salads, and more desserts only add to the concern. And on the plane, I saw one guy eat his studel cake with a cup of coffee that he'd added 4 sachets of sugar to!
I really do hope that we eventually wake up to the damage we are doing to our bodies by eating all this sugar and a diet that is predominantly carbohydrates. Although I think people are aware of the dangers of eating too much sugar, society still blames excess fat consumption for our obesity. And as for low-carbohydrate diets, many flawed studies continue to feed people the myth that they are unhealthy for you. Without public awareness of just how much sugar is added to our food, and how our bodies process and use carbohydrates for energy (excess carbohydrates are stored in the body as fat!) many will continue on oblivious, thinking they are doing the right thing because their diets are low in fat. If you consider the menu that was on offer for me, it certainly would have been low in fat and that is enough to give most people the green light to eat away, regardless of the ridiculous ratio of carbs to protein and fat.
I was fairly happy with how my day panned out eating wise. By the time I got home though, I was wrecked, and so didn't get my usual exercise in. Still, I managed to maintain a predominatly primal eating style while away from my safe haven of home and work!

Carb Controversy

Ahhh carbs my old friend! Before primal, not a night went by where my dinner plate wasn't loaded up with you... Pasta, rice, or potato were my staples. But why? Who actually eats these things for their taste? Think about what you like in a pasta dish or risotto. My guess is that it isn't the fettucine or rice that you like, but the sauce and meat which smother it! How often would you sit down to eat a bowl of plain rice or a baked potato (without any of the bacon, cheese, butter, or cream topping it!)?
No, these carbs are just fillers. And it's understandable. They are cheap to buy and cook. They require little preparation. And if you buy the 'healthy' whole-grain version, according to conventional wisdom, they are good for you. I can't blame people for eating them. I was one of those people! And while I have always had issues with indigestion, I never thought they could be the culprit...
Low-carb diets are frowned upon by conventional wisdom. Let me clear something up though. Low-carb doesn't equal no-carb. Fruit and vegetables make up the majority of our primal diet, and they also make up the majority of our carb intake. It really angers me when people hear how I'm eating and liken it to the Atkins Induction diet where you pretty much only eat fat and protein. I could never stop eating fruit or vegetables! I'm not such a big fan of meat that it dominates my diet! I distinctly remember when my dad was following Atkins that I physically felt sick at his daily menu choices. That was never going to work for me. But the Primal Blueprint, with an emphasis on eating vegetables, does work.
I'm sure you could find hundreds of studies warning you of the dangers of eating low-carb. Similarly, you can find hundreds of studies supporting the notion of low-carb eating. An impressive study comparing many different diets can be found by linking through Mark's article "Unrestricted-low-carb-diet-wins-hands-down". The main thing is that you understand the science behind it and find a level that works for you. Some people work better on higher carbs. Some survive in a ketogenic state. My main motivation behind this post is however, to help you understand that the type of carbs you eat are what's important. Quite simply, vegetables and fruit are where pretty much all of your carb intake should be coming from.
Mark's Carbohydrate Curve has been instrumental in understanding how many carbs is too many and how many we should be eating for effortless weight loss. After a couple of weeks measuring the approximate amounts of carbs we were consuming on a daily basis (we were aiming for no more than 100g/day) we quickly learnt how to 'guestimate' our carb intake.
But, I hear you ask, don't you miss the pasta, rice, and potatoes?!?! I can truthfully answer NO! I've made some amazing dishes following this primal plan. A moussaka made with cauliflower cheese sauce is one that stands out. I've had italian meatballs with tomato basil sauce and mountains of vegies and did not miss the pasta one bit! And if I'm hankering for some starch, we have sweet potatoes which are so much tastier and better for you than potatoes. We've discovered amazing combinations, my favourite being lamb and pumpkin together! It's really fun to invent new dishes and discover some of the other amazing bloggers online who post their own recipes. Of course, I will be regularly posting some of my recipes but if you're really excited to see what amazing food is on offer, check out Son of Grok and Girl Gone Primal.
For some final 'light' reading, please see Kat Eden's post on low carb nutrition. Alternatively, for some science behind the belief in low-carb diets, Mark explains it beautifully here.