The Scale (Mac)

Out of curiosity, I have been tracking my caloric intake for the last week or so just to give me an idea of what I am eating, how much energy I am consuming, as well as what my nutrient intake is like.  So far, my average intake of all known essential nutrients are above the RDA except for calcium. Am I worried about that?  No, not really because I think the bigger issue is about calcium balance - not losing more than you are gaining.  I wonder how the government and nutritional wizards out there can explain how I manage to get all of my vitamins and minerals without eating grains, tiny amounts of fruits and veggies and a rare smidgen of dairy here and there.  I am hazarding a guess that all the information we hear about needing to eat bread, cereal, fruit, and dairy is driven much more by the slick marketing of the companies that sell these products than about the reality of human nutrition - much like the current media bombardment of yogurt and probiotics.  Pretty soon everyone will be bending over backwards to make sure they get their daily does of probiotics and all to the benefit of the yogurt manufacturers - wake up and smell the damn coffee, people.  I wonder what healthy-must-have-gonna-die-without-it, mass-marketed food product  is coming at us next?

Anyway, last week from Monday to Thursday I averaged 1,723 calories and my weight on Thursday was 187 lbs. Friday I ate 3,160 calories and weighed 186 lbs. Saturday I ate 3,176 calories and weighed 188 lbs. Sunday I ate 3,258 calories and weighed 193 lbs. Yesterday I ate 1,845 calories and weighed 188 lbs and this morning I weigh 186 lbs. and will eat my usual 1700-1800 cal for the rest of the week. So the couple days over the weekend where I ate a lot more than I usually do didn't do anything to my weight over the long term in fact I ended up right where I was from before eating more.

So from Friday to Sunday I "gained" 7 lbs.  Most people would be horrified, but you will see that come this morning I didn't end up gaining a single pound despite eating almost twice what I normally eat and tomorrow morning I'll probably be down to 185 lbs.  I think the idea here is to control consumption of carbohydrates (sugar) and don't overeat every single day of every single month - we didn't evolve to have 3000 calories a day every single day of our lives.  Overeating (proper foods) here and there won't do any harm and daily fluctuations of the scale do not mean you are gaining or losing fat.  The body is in a constant cycle of water, waste, and food so the scale can easily vary 2-3 lbs daily or in my case, 7 lbs over the weekend.

Steady Loss (Jody)

I worked out four days a week for a year-- hard core classes lead by certified instructors (certified to kick my ass) and I started a glutten free, dairy free diet. I definitely felt better than I had but the scale was not moving. My family reluctantly bought into eating ancient grains and corn and rice flours (which aren't any healthier) instead of wheat and rye. In the first six months I lost a pound a month. I described it as being licked off (which isn't nearly as fun as it sounds). It wasn't until January 2010 that Mac bought in fully. He took over the cooking, reducing my stress level considerably. He read a number of blogs, sites, books, articles on paleolithic living. I continued to buy lunches at school (I am a teacher) for about two weeks; then we figured if he just made more dinner I would have a prepared lunch.

We bought Vibram Five Finger Shoes I walked six kilometers in them-- which I don't recommend --the shoes are awesome but like any new shoe you need to start out slowly integrating them into your routine; I ended up with a stress fracture and couldn't exercise at all for three weeks. However, the pro was that I realized that my diet was a 100% responsible for my weight loss. After removing preservatives, grains and most sugars from my diet (I still consume dark chocolate, red wine, all fruits and veggies) I began to loose two pounds a weeks. I have lost 20 pounds since January and I am still loosing. I wasn't even hard!

I am complimented everyday on my body (which is incredibly flattering), but more than that I have a ton of energy, I feel rested in the morning, and often wake up without an alarm. I no longer feel the need to eat three times a day. I eat when I am hungry no matter what time of day it is; I am eating veggies I have never tried before and I no longer have food cravings. I have even chosen to fast once in awhile-- and guess what? I am still alive and kicking. Now that I am eating plenty of protein and healthy fat (avocado, seeds, nuts, coconut milk, coconut oil) I don't feel hungry very often.

My foot has healed, after a few trips to the chiropractor for Active Release, I am now exercising to expend the excess energy I have, or to gain energy at the end of a long day. I don't do it everyday, and I rarely do the same thing. It's not a chore-- I love it again!