I have a confession to make... Mangoes are my weakness! I could live on them, bathe in them, eat them for every meal of the day and not get sick of them! I like them in smoothies, with cream, in fruit salad, on pavlova, in a Weiss bar (as a treat!) and most importantly, by themselves!
There could be worse things to be addicted to. But in the Primal Blueprint frame of mind, mangoes should be a 'sometimes' food. They're definitely not one of the lowest carb fruit options available and because, to me, they taste so moreish, it's often hard to stop at one...
In the move up north, mangoes have become a lot more accessible and a lot tastier (not to mention a lot cheaper)! Bowens are my mango of choice. There's nothing better than slicing up a bowen on a hot summer's day and enjoying every last mouthful (and then sucking the seed dry!)
So it seems I have a choice to make. PB is important to me, but is it as important as going without my favourite food?!?!
There's a lot of pathways I could choose to go down. One would be to avoid mangoes altogether, but I have scratched that off the list. Honestly, PB is about eating food as close as possible to how nature intended, and it's not as though mangoes are a compeltely manufactured food! While it might not mean I see great weight loss results, it definitely would mean that I felt like I was missing out on something, which means I wouldn't be able to stick to it anyway!
The options I'm now tossing up between are either:-
a) Forget PB and eat as many mangoes as desired; or
b) Limit myself to one mango per day and moderate my carb intake.
I'm leaning towards option b, but will see how I go in the build up before Christmas!
We bought a tray on the weekend and so far I've been eating between 1-2 mangoes per day. I've tried to be aware of what else I'm eating and limiting other fruit intake accordingly. It hasn't been difficult but I also haven't been actively denying myself mangoes!
I guess what it comes down to is an informed choice. I know that mangoes aren't necessarily the best food to be eating if I want to lose weight, but I also know that if I try to restrict something in my diet that I absolutely love, I'm setting myself up for failure! Seriously, it would be better for me to allow myself a mango than to hold out and then gorge on something like chocolate-coated peanuts or rumballs!
So, I'm going to eat my mangoes. They're only in season during summer, so I have to enjoy them while I still can! After that, I can go back to berries being my fruit of choice!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Back on Track
It's been a month since my last post, and I'm only just now finding a small window of time to sit and write about my experiences (good and bad) since our big move, starting a new job, and aclimatising to Queensland weather!
As I've said before, moving is hard. It's doubly as hard when you move into accommodation that's not actually 'yours'. We have a beautiful apartment in an amazing area of town until we can move into our house, and although it is perfect in many ways, the fact that it's not ours has interfered somewhat with our way of life (pre-move!). An unfamiliar kitchen with certain essential utensils missing; and not knowing where to get the best, freshest food, has been our major hurdles. Not to mention living just up the hill from some of the best restaurants in Brisbane!
All of this has meant that I've been fairly lax in maintaining my Primal Blueprint eating plan. I've tried, don't get me wrong, but it's been difficult!
I've managed to steer pretty well clear of wheat products, and have been impressed with the gluten free options offered at most restaurants up here. There's certainly a greater awareness of offering gluten free menu options which has been good. My slip-up came recently at my cousin's wedding - a cocktail function with canapes. Not many gluten free options available, and I either had the choice to not eat (which would have been disastrous as there was lots of alcohol on offer) or to bite the bullet and try some of the different choices....
This was not a good decision, let me tell you! At least if I had just stuck to alcohol I would have enjoyed the night and been fairly sick the next morning, but would have bounced back pretty quickly. Because I chose to eat, I paid for it all week. I'm not kidding. It started the next morning with a terribly upset stomach and a week later I was still not well. Lesson learned, I hope!
It has definitely cemented for me the fact that Primal Blueprint is the best way of eating for me, if for no other reason than PB food doesn't make me sick! Everyone at my new workplace knows that I'm gluten-free (it's the best way of explaining it to people who you hardly know!) and I have learnt that if there are no PB friendly foods on offer, I choose not to eat! A bit of fasting does the body good!
As I've said before, moving is hard. It's doubly as hard when you move into accommodation that's not actually 'yours'. We have a beautiful apartment in an amazing area of town until we can move into our house, and although it is perfect in many ways, the fact that it's not ours has interfered somewhat with our way of life (pre-move!). An unfamiliar kitchen with certain essential utensils missing; and not knowing where to get the best, freshest food, has been our major hurdles. Not to mention living just up the hill from some of the best restaurants in Brisbane!
All of this has meant that I've been fairly lax in maintaining my Primal Blueprint eating plan. I've tried, don't get me wrong, but it's been difficult!
I've managed to steer pretty well clear of wheat products, and have been impressed with the gluten free options offered at most restaurants up here. There's certainly a greater awareness of offering gluten free menu options which has been good. My slip-up came recently at my cousin's wedding - a cocktail function with canapes. Not many gluten free options available, and I either had the choice to not eat (which would have been disastrous as there was lots of alcohol on offer) or to bite the bullet and try some of the different choices....
This was not a good decision, let me tell you! At least if I had just stuck to alcohol I would have enjoyed the night and been fairly sick the next morning, but would have bounced back pretty quickly. Because I chose to eat, I paid for it all week. I'm not kidding. It started the next morning with a terribly upset stomach and a week later I was still not well. Lesson learned, I hope!
It has definitely cemented for me the fact that Primal Blueprint is the best way of eating for me, if for no other reason than PB food doesn't make me sick! Everyone at my new workplace knows that I'm gluten-free (it's the best way of explaining it to people who you hardly know!) and I have learnt that if there are no PB friendly foods on offer, I choose not to eat! A bit of fasting does the body good!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Mondayitis
Oh man, did Monday come along way too quickly this week! It probably had something to do with the crazy weekend I had, but still, this morning's alarm was not well received (and consequently snoozed for a good half an hour!)
I'm actually really excited about this week. We're moving back to Queensland (the state of sunshine) on Friday and I'm starting a brand new job next Monday, so there's lots to look forward to. There's also lots to be stressed about, because packing and moving is not the easiest thing in the world to do! Especially if you had a 'blow out' on your last weekend!
Most people would consider that a 'blow out' every once in a while is acceptable, and probably required to maintain sanity. But considering I haven't really had one since I started this journey in April, my body has reacted pretty badly today!
I should clarify that my 'blow out' began on Saturday evening at my beautiful friends' engagement party. I'm one of the bridal party, so figured it was as good an excuse as any to let my hair down. And I did. When hubby questioned me as to how many glasses of champagne I consumed and I couldn't actually remember, I knew it was a good one! I think the figure was probably about 20 glasses, but hey, who's counting?!?!
Of course, all this drinking on what was a somewhat empty stomach would have its downfall. I certainly wasn't strict with PB eating when the canapes came around. Unfortunately there wasn't really enough food for me to feel like I'd had a full meal, and so when the rest of the party guests were announcing their intentions to grab some Maccas on the way home, the golden arches had never looked so good to me!
This was probably the point of the night where there was definitely no turning back. 1 cheeseburger & McChicken burger later and I was feeling good! I didn't even give a second thought to how I might be feeling in the morning, especially considering that the last time I had had Maccas would have been over 6 months ago!
Fast forward 10 hours and I was in pain. My body ached and my stomach growled at me. I knew what I had done but I felt so terrible that I couldn't be stopped. I was never so thankful that the staple PB breakfast is bacon and eggs because that's all I felt would get me through! My beautiful husband made me the most perfect scrambled eggs you've ever tasted, and I was feeling better...
It didn't last though! In another few hours, guess what I was craving?!? More crappy food! Specifically, a sausage roll and quiche from the local bakery. Definitely not primal, but I didn't care! I made a promise to myself that I would have some vegies for dinner...
That promise lasted as long as my full stomach did. Then I was definitely NOT keen to go grocery shopping and pick up some real food, and definitely WAS keen to eat some greasy chinese food, including spring rolls and rice.
Let me tell you, after eating this, it wasn't pretty. My stomach which had been growling at me before was now more in writhing in pain. I knew what I had done. It was as if I'd gone on a 24hr bender, with processed food and grains being my poison of choice!
A sensible option this morning was to fast. This would at least give my stomach some reprive. Unfortunately I've still been feeling terrible. I feel like I have constant indigestion. The most I could stomach at lunch was a salad. That just made me feel heavier. If I could take the afternoon off, I would, but it's my second last day at work! So instead, I'm just going to suffer and remind myself of this experience any time I think "Oh it won't be that bad" in the future. Because let me tell you, it is that bad, and worse.
The positive, if you could see it like that, is that I now understand why I am feeling so bad. It's like my body is rebelling against my food choices! I know why my stomach feels like it's in knots and why I feel like I've got constant heartburn. I've eaten more grains in the past 48hrs than I have over the past 3 months prior, so my body has gone into shock! But if this feeling is not incentive enough to not touch them again, I don't know what is.
I'm actually really excited about this week. We're moving back to Queensland (the state of sunshine) on Friday and I'm starting a brand new job next Monday, so there's lots to look forward to. There's also lots to be stressed about, because packing and moving is not the easiest thing in the world to do! Especially if you had a 'blow out' on your last weekend!
Most people would consider that a 'blow out' every once in a while is acceptable, and probably required to maintain sanity. But considering I haven't really had one since I started this journey in April, my body has reacted pretty badly today!
I should clarify that my 'blow out' began on Saturday evening at my beautiful friends' engagement party. I'm one of the bridal party, so figured it was as good an excuse as any to let my hair down. And I did. When hubby questioned me as to how many glasses of champagne I consumed and I couldn't actually remember, I knew it was a good one! I think the figure was probably about 20 glasses, but hey, who's counting?!?!
Of course, all this drinking on what was a somewhat empty stomach would have its downfall. I certainly wasn't strict with PB eating when the canapes came around. Unfortunately there wasn't really enough food for me to feel like I'd had a full meal, and so when the rest of the party guests were announcing their intentions to grab some Maccas on the way home, the golden arches had never looked so good to me!
This was probably the point of the night where there was definitely no turning back. 1 cheeseburger & McChicken burger later and I was feeling good! I didn't even give a second thought to how I might be feeling in the morning, especially considering that the last time I had had Maccas would have been over 6 months ago!
Fast forward 10 hours and I was in pain. My body ached and my stomach growled at me. I knew what I had done but I felt so terrible that I couldn't be stopped. I was never so thankful that the staple PB breakfast is bacon and eggs because that's all I felt would get me through! My beautiful husband made me the most perfect scrambled eggs you've ever tasted, and I was feeling better...
It didn't last though! In another few hours, guess what I was craving?!? More crappy food! Specifically, a sausage roll and quiche from the local bakery. Definitely not primal, but I didn't care! I made a promise to myself that I would have some vegies for dinner...
That promise lasted as long as my full stomach did. Then I was definitely NOT keen to go grocery shopping and pick up some real food, and definitely WAS keen to eat some greasy chinese food, including spring rolls and rice.
Let me tell you, after eating this, it wasn't pretty. My stomach which had been growling at me before was now more in writhing in pain. I knew what I had done. It was as if I'd gone on a 24hr bender, with processed food and grains being my poison of choice!
A sensible option this morning was to fast. This would at least give my stomach some reprive. Unfortunately I've still been feeling terrible. I feel like I have constant indigestion. The most I could stomach at lunch was a salad. That just made me feel heavier. If I could take the afternoon off, I would, but it's my second last day at work! So instead, I'm just going to suffer and remind myself of this experience any time I think "Oh it won't be that bad" in the future. Because let me tell you, it is that bad, and worse.
The positive, if you could see it like that, is that I now understand why I am feeling so bad. It's like my body is rebelling against my food choices! I know why my stomach feels like it's in knots and why I feel like I've got constant heartburn. I've eaten more grains in the past 48hrs than I have over the past 3 months prior, so my body has gone into shock! But if this feeling is not incentive enough to not touch them again, I don't know what is.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
What's all the fuss about soy?
Thanks to one of my awesome followers, I dedicated some time to publishing this post, which I have been working on for some time. Soy has earned a reputation as a health food in recent years, but does it have the credentials to live up to this title?
The main debate about soy needs to define the difference between fermented and unfermented soy products. And really, this comes back to one of the key Primal Blueprint laws - eat real food! The least processed it is, the better. This goes for soybean products too! It seems that fermented soy products, such as tempeh and miso, could reasonably be put into the 'healthy' category. The issue comes however, when you start to think of all soy products (including the unfermented ones such as many soy milk and tofu products) in the same way.
As Mark explains soy requires preparation to make it safe to consume and that in itself does not instill you with a lot of confidence. When you learn that the process includes acid washing, neutralisation solutions, aluminium tanks and high temperature heating, soy really loses its appeal. For me, my dedication to consuming food that is as close to natural as possible means that soy is definitely off my list!
While the negative effects of consuming soy generally only seem to come into play if someone is consuming A LOT of soy, the fact that there are negative effects should be cause for alarm. We have health authorities telling us that this is a SAFE inclusion in our diets, and, even more alarmingly, safe for inclusion in baby formula. It makes you wonder exactly how much people who consume large quantities of soy products actually understand.
Phytic acid, which restricts the absorption of essential vitamins and minerals, is found in high amounts in unfermented soy products. A further concern is that soy contains high levels of a natural chemical that mimics estrogen, and some studies have suggested that this chemical can alter sexual development. This story about one man's experience with the negative effects of consuming soy milk should be read by all men!
Basically, if you subscribe to the primal blueprint way of living, fermented soy products can be consumed occasionally. Anything else just misses the point of whole, unprocessed, natural food!
The main debate about soy needs to define the difference between fermented and unfermented soy products. And really, this comes back to one of the key Primal Blueprint laws - eat real food! The least processed it is, the better. This goes for soybean products too! It seems that fermented soy products, such as tempeh and miso, could reasonably be put into the 'healthy' category. The issue comes however, when you start to think of all soy products (including the unfermented ones such as many soy milk and tofu products) in the same way.
As Mark explains soy requires preparation to make it safe to consume and that in itself does not instill you with a lot of confidence. When you learn that the process includes acid washing, neutralisation solutions, aluminium tanks and high temperature heating, soy really loses its appeal. For me, my dedication to consuming food that is as close to natural as possible means that soy is definitely off my list!
While the negative effects of consuming soy generally only seem to come into play if someone is consuming A LOT of soy, the fact that there are negative effects should be cause for alarm. We have health authorities telling us that this is a SAFE inclusion in our diets, and, even more alarmingly, safe for inclusion in baby formula. It makes you wonder exactly how much people who consume large quantities of soy products actually understand.
Phytic acid, which restricts the absorption of essential vitamins and minerals, is found in high amounts in unfermented soy products. A further concern is that soy contains high levels of a natural chemical that mimics estrogen, and some studies have suggested that this chemical can alter sexual development. This story about one man's experience with the negative effects of consuming soy milk should be read by all men!
Basically, if you subscribe to the primal blueprint way of living, fermented soy products can be consumed occasionally. Anything else just misses the point of whole, unprocessed, natural food!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Just because I haven't posted, doesn't mean I'm not committed...
Yeah, I've been slack with the posts lately. Sometimes life just gets in the way! I've had such a crazy 3 or so weeks and it's been difficult to get a spare moment... The great thing is though, I can safely say I've stayed on the primal blueprint track. How well? I estimate at least 80/20.
Haven't heard of the 80/20 rule? Basically, it means you're primal 80% of the time. And with my 20%, I try to stay reasonably true to the PB laws so that I don't undo all my good work!
Travelling is difficult when you're following the primal blueprint. We did a LONG drive up to Queensland for my sister's birthday and found it really hard to get good primal food. Here's a run down of our 6 days away...
Night One = 7hr drive. I had packed some boiled eggs, ham, and vintage cheese, plus some fruit and nuts to snack on during the trip. Easy!
Day One = 10hr drive. We managed to get a primal breakfast of bacon and eggs at the hotel's breakfast buffet. Thinking about it now, breakfast is actually an easy meal to do primal - bacon and eggs, hold the toast. Lunch was a bit trickier... We stopped at a highway servo and options were Maccas, KFC, or sandwiches from the cafe! Not exactly full of options. I ended up getting a salad sandwich and just eating the filling! Dinner was fish and vegies at mum and dad's - the vegies were a definite winner!
Day Two - Five = fairly primal eating while visiting family. My 20% cheats included Grandma's scones (seriously, how could I resist) and my lime & soda mixed with Malibu at the 18th party.
Day Six = 17hr drive. This was an effort. We found a roadside cafe for breakfast and it was awesome - the best bacon and eggs I'd had for ages! Lunch options were Maccas/KFC/Subway, so I went for the most primal option - a Subway salad (no bread). Honestly, it was terrible! Seriously, without the bread, cheese, and sauce, subway salad is not at all fulfilling! We stumbled across a cafe that did roasts for dinner, and so really enjoyed a roast beef and vegies (especially after that terrible lunch).
Exercise while travelling is also difficult. I managed to get in some interval sprints on my parents treadmill, and a long beach walk while visiting Gran & Granddad, but apart from that, the exercise was minimal.
The dreaded visit to our personal trainer after 2 weeks 'off' came sooner than we were ready for. Imagine our surprise and excitement then, when we stepped onto the scales and we'd both dropped 2 kilos! Our trainer suggested that the time off actually worked in our favour, so we were stoked that our seemingly 'slacking off' turned out okay.
Although we still have a hectic couple of weeks to get through, I'm committed to staying as close to primal as possible. I just know that it makes me feel better and I still have a way to go to reach my goal weight. So, with changing jobs, moving house and city, I think the primal blueprint will be a welcome constant in my life!
Haven't heard of the 80/20 rule? Basically, it means you're primal 80% of the time. And with my 20%, I try to stay reasonably true to the PB laws so that I don't undo all my good work!
Travelling is difficult when you're following the primal blueprint. We did a LONG drive up to Queensland for my sister's birthday and found it really hard to get good primal food. Here's a run down of our 6 days away...
Night One = 7hr drive. I had packed some boiled eggs, ham, and vintage cheese, plus some fruit and nuts to snack on during the trip. Easy!
Day One = 10hr drive. We managed to get a primal breakfast of bacon and eggs at the hotel's breakfast buffet. Thinking about it now, breakfast is actually an easy meal to do primal - bacon and eggs, hold the toast. Lunch was a bit trickier... We stopped at a highway servo and options were Maccas, KFC, or sandwiches from the cafe! Not exactly full of options. I ended up getting a salad sandwich and just eating the filling! Dinner was fish and vegies at mum and dad's - the vegies were a definite winner!
Day Two - Five = fairly primal eating while visiting family. My 20% cheats included Grandma's scones (seriously, how could I resist) and my lime & soda mixed with Malibu at the 18th party.
Day Six = 17hr drive. This was an effort. We found a roadside cafe for breakfast and it was awesome - the best bacon and eggs I'd had for ages! Lunch options were Maccas/KFC/Subway, so I went for the most primal option - a Subway salad (no bread). Honestly, it was terrible! Seriously, without the bread, cheese, and sauce, subway salad is not at all fulfilling! We stumbled across a cafe that did roasts for dinner, and so really enjoyed a roast beef and vegies (especially after that terrible lunch).
Exercise while travelling is also difficult. I managed to get in some interval sprints on my parents treadmill, and a long beach walk while visiting Gran & Granddad, but apart from that, the exercise was minimal.
The dreaded visit to our personal trainer after 2 weeks 'off' came sooner than we were ready for. Imagine our surprise and excitement then, when we stepped onto the scales and we'd both dropped 2 kilos! Our trainer suggested that the time off actually worked in our favour, so we were stoked that our seemingly 'slacking off' turned out okay.
Although we still have a hectic couple of weeks to get through, I'm committed to staying as close to primal as possible. I just know that it makes me feel better and I still have a way to go to reach my goal weight. So, with changing jobs, moving house and city, I think the primal blueprint will be a welcome constant in my life!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
What's the World Wide Web saying this week?
Could this recent article suggesting that cancer is purely a man made disease finally get the medical professional to take notice. We should be aiming for prevention, rather than cure, and a huge part of that has to come down to our diet.
Yet another reason to supplement with Vitamin D (that's if you don't get enough sun daily!) - a possible link with autism?
This interesting article highlights a study which suggests that sleeping in a lit room might lead to weight gain.
This Aussie study claims that waist circumference, not BMI, is the best predictor of future cardiovascular disease. So, pay attention to your waist, not your BMI!
I've always found that I sleep better after a workout! Now there's some evidence that a good night's sleep can be the result of physical activity during the day.
Rice has always been one of my go-to carb fillers at dinner time (although since going primal, I've only eaten it once, with effects so bad that I haven't gone near it again!) Mark examines whether rice is unhealthy or not...
Yet another reason to supplement with Vitamin D (that's if you don't get enough sun daily!) - a possible link with autism?
This interesting article highlights a study which suggests that sleeping in a lit room might lead to weight gain.
This Aussie study claims that waist circumference, not BMI, is the best predictor of future cardiovascular disease. So, pay attention to your waist, not your BMI!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Friday Fury!!!
You knew it was coming! And I’m sure some of you won’t like it when I tell you who my fury is directed towards today...
Yes, Subway – Eat Fresh! It’s enough to make you go out right now and order a footlong sub isn’t it?! But surely you know by now that the Subway slogan doesn’t have a lot of substance.
I don’t know about you, but pre-packaged meats and vegetables don’t exactly scream “FRESH!” to me. Oh, but their bread is baked daily on premises. Sure, but who really knows what they put into it (HFCS anyone?!?)... Besides the fact that we now don’t eat bread, Subway is certainly not a choice that I would be considering for a healthy lunch.
Seriously, we deserve to be furious because a nifty marketing campaign has led us down the track to believing that eating Subway is a much ‘healthier’ option than Maccas (disclaimer: I am in no way claiming Maccas is healthy, just that Subway is not!)
I can hear you screaming at the computer screen right now. Believe me, I understand! I’ve been a Subway girl for as long as I can remember. Whenever a quick Friday night fast food meal was on the cards, Subway was always the first option. I believed the hype! Hey, that Jarrod guy in the USA lost heaps of weight just eating Subway, so it must be okay – right?! Wrong. I certainly didn’t lose any weight on a ‘subway diet’.
At least Maccas doesn’t try to ‘trick’ consumers into thinking their product is healthy! One look at the nutritional values of most subway sandwiches will have you gasping at the high sodium and sugar content. And don’t get me started on them using HFCS in their bread.
For argument’s sake, let’s examine my two regular choices at Maccas and Subway – a McChicken burger -vs- a Chicken Fillet sub.
McChicken
408 Calories
18.7g Fat (3g Saturated Fat)
698mg Sodium
3.1g Sugar
Chicken Fillet
385 Calories
15.1g Fat (6.2g Saturated Fat)
1050mg Sodium
5.8g Sugar
Fairly similar overall, but certainly not results that would make you think one option is a healthier choice! Lower in calories and fat (but not saturated fat) and higher in sodium and sugar (which PB argues makes you fatter than eating fat), the chicken fillet doesn’t really have much going for it. And, those values don’t allow for any sauce that I have on my sub, and with my usual BBQ sauce addition, I would be adding an extra 31.8 calories, 6.7g of sugar (seriously, a 20g serving of sauce has more sugar in it than the entire sub itself), and 152mg of sodium. Further, if you also consider that I would occasionally buy a foot-long sub (the figures above are for a six-incher) then those nutritional values would be doubled! So next time you’re craving a McChicken and think you’ll do your body a favour by having a Chicken Fillet from Subway, maybe you’ll think twice.
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