The last couple of weeks have been mostly successes for me. My biggest success, piggy-backing off of my last post, is being able to "cheat" without going into a frenzy and eating loads of unprimal foods.
Recap of the week:
On Sunday, we went to brunch with D&B and I had a few bites of delicious corn bread and my primal breakfast. I also had a piece of cheesecake (maybe piece and a half between trying everyone else's slice) that evening for AJ's birthday. This experience was interesting because I consciously decided to allow myself the cheesecake. Because of this, I didn't go in anxious and I didn't overdo it by eating everything I could. I stopped at the cheesecake.
Tues-Thurs (today), I've been pretty good-- I haven't been able to maintain my 1750 calorie goal-- usually going above it by 200-250 calories and I've cheated on small things-- breadsticks at a restaurant, a couple of oat crackers, a few pretzels, etc. The good thing is that when I couldn't resist and ate the breadsticks, I didn't proceed to eat the bread or order an unprimal meal. Instead, I stuck to eating primally for the duration of my meal. I'm proud of this change because I need to be able to have small losses (eating a few crackers) without letting it spin out of control and affect the rest of my day.
However, I would still like to improve on my habits and reduce the frequency at which I have small cheats. I think this hinders my physical process as well as my mental discipline. What I've found is that I will be successfully very strict for several days in a row-- then, I will have one lapse (a couple pieces of dark chocolate, crackers, etc) and this will trigger several days of undisciplined eating. Before, it would trigger several days of binging but I've seemed to have overcome that-- though it still takes awareness on my part to avoid these days. Now, I need to work on not indulging in several days of small cheating the moment I fall off the horse. I have to be able to be weak for a moment, eat my crackers, and then continue several more days of strict primal eating.
I believe one of my biggest weaknesses and triggers is primal snacks! Primal snacks are primal-- dried fruit, nuts, melons-- foods that are nutritious for you but, are sugary and unnecessary to my diet. I believe that mentally, what happens is that because I have identified these snacks/foods as "bad" foods, I eat them and feel like I have failed and as a result, I eat too much of them because I feel the day is already ruined, diet-wise. In truth, I believe it is too difficult for me to eat primal snacks in moderation. For example, I just ate six homemade coconut milk mini-pops. They aren't very high in calorie or sugar, but they did trigger a little frenzy where I wanted to eat other cheat foods-- because I view the pops as a cheat.
I don't want to forgo having my primal snacks. So, I think the best way to deal with this is to plan ahead and decide when I will have a primal "binge" (only primal foods!) and allow myself to indulge in all these delicious healthy snacks. However, I will have to avoid them on a normal basis because I eat too much of them and they prevent me from achieving my caloric and sugar goals.
I've made a lot of progress over the last several months with regards to my physical body. I would still like to be a little leaner but I am almost there. My cutting calorie amount is 1700-1750 calories and my maintenance level is around 2050-2100.
New Goals!
Until Cruise (15 days from today!!)
1. Achieve cutting calorie amount 5/7 days and maintenance days 2/7 days. This will allow me have a couple of delicious dinners out with friends without having to worry too much about calories. However, I can't snack much!
2. No primal snacking unless planned ahead. This is a new rule I am trying because I don't think I am disciplined enough to eat primal snacks in moderation. :-/
After the cruise, I am going on a trip to China so my diet will take a hit. However, I am going to try to be very disciplined on the cruise as to not set myself back. In China, my goal is to have a maximum of 1 non-primal meal per day (on average). This should actually not be too difficult if we avoid eating too many sweets because besides rice, many delicious Chinese foods are primal anyway. Ahh a lot to think about. I think planning out our meals in China will be key to staying on track, allowing ourselves to indulge in local foods without going crazy.
Recap of the week:
On Sunday, we went to brunch with D&B and I had a few bites of delicious corn bread and my primal breakfast. I also had a piece of cheesecake (maybe piece and a half between trying everyone else's slice) that evening for AJ's birthday. This experience was interesting because I consciously decided to allow myself the cheesecake. Because of this, I didn't go in anxious and I didn't overdo it by eating everything I could. I stopped at the cheesecake.
Tues-Thurs (today), I've been pretty good-- I haven't been able to maintain my 1750 calorie goal-- usually going above it by 200-250 calories and I've cheated on small things-- breadsticks at a restaurant, a couple of oat crackers, a few pretzels, etc. The good thing is that when I couldn't resist and ate the breadsticks, I didn't proceed to eat the bread or order an unprimal meal. Instead, I stuck to eating primally for the duration of my meal. I'm proud of this change because I need to be able to have small losses (eating a few crackers) without letting it spin out of control and affect the rest of my day.
However, I would still like to improve on my habits and reduce the frequency at which I have small cheats. I think this hinders my physical process as well as my mental discipline. What I've found is that I will be successfully very strict for several days in a row-- then, I will have one lapse (a couple pieces of dark chocolate, crackers, etc) and this will trigger several days of undisciplined eating. Before, it would trigger several days of binging but I've seemed to have overcome that-- though it still takes awareness on my part to avoid these days. Now, I need to work on not indulging in several days of small cheating the moment I fall off the horse. I have to be able to be weak for a moment, eat my crackers, and then continue several more days of strict primal eating.
I believe one of my biggest weaknesses and triggers is primal snacks! Primal snacks are primal-- dried fruit, nuts, melons-- foods that are nutritious for you but, are sugary and unnecessary to my diet. I believe that mentally, what happens is that because I have identified these snacks/foods as "bad" foods, I eat them and feel like I have failed and as a result, I eat too much of them because I feel the day is already ruined, diet-wise. In truth, I believe it is too difficult for me to eat primal snacks in moderation. For example, I just ate six homemade coconut milk mini-pops. They aren't very high in calorie or sugar, but they did trigger a little frenzy where I wanted to eat other cheat foods-- because I view the pops as a cheat.
I don't want to forgo having my primal snacks. So, I think the best way to deal with this is to plan ahead and decide when I will have a primal "binge" (only primal foods!) and allow myself to indulge in all these delicious healthy snacks. However, I will have to avoid them on a normal basis because I eat too much of them and they prevent me from achieving my caloric and sugar goals.
I've made a lot of progress over the last several months with regards to my physical body. I would still like to be a little leaner but I am almost there. My cutting calorie amount is 1700-1750 calories and my maintenance level is around 2050-2100.
New Goals!
Until Cruise (15 days from today!!)
1. Achieve cutting calorie amount 5/7 days and maintenance days 2/7 days. This will allow me have a couple of delicious dinners out with friends without having to worry too much about calories. However, I can't snack much!
2. No primal snacking unless planned ahead. This is a new rule I am trying because I don't think I am disciplined enough to eat primal snacks in moderation. :-/
After the cruise, I am going on a trip to China so my diet will take a hit. However, I am going to try to be very disciplined on the cruise as to not set myself back. In China, my goal is to have a maximum of 1 non-primal meal per day (on average). This should actually not be too difficult if we avoid eating too many sweets because besides rice, many delicious Chinese foods are primal anyway. Ahh a lot to think about. I think planning out our meals in China will be key to staying on track, allowing ourselves to indulge in local foods without going crazy.
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