I'm Happy About Everything Except Sleep

Nothing to see here.

It's day 19 and I have been trying to write for a few days. This is interesting because for me it's a sign that this is no longer a novelty -- I'm having trouble getting motivated to write about it. Nothing earth-shattering is happening. I'm feeling pretty great, I'm slowly losing weight, I almost never think about food except when I'm hungry.

POOF! No more headaches!

On day 12 my "Paleo flu" disappeared. I had been having a very low-grade headache on and off since I started strict paleo. I believe it's because I cut out the diet soda, artificial sweetners and occasional Kemps Frozen Yogurt I'd been eating, but I have no proof. I have anecdotal reports from others to support it and I can say I changed nothing and it just went away on its own. Okay, I did start trying to drink more water as I thought it was due to dehydration, but once they went away so did my meticulous water drinking work ethic.

Threw 5-hour window out the window!

The biggest change that I've made has to do with when I eat. In the beginning I chose to combine the Fast-5 schedule with Paleo to a) quickly get mindless eating under control and b) lose weight as fast and efficiently as possible. About 2 weeks into it I realized I'd been stretching the window to 6 hours. Then in week 3 I decided 5 hours wasn't working for me at all. The reason might surprise you: I couldn't fit 2 meals into the window.

I would eat a late lunch around 2 or 3pm, then when it came time to eat dinner with Bryan I wasn't hungry. I ate anyway because I needed the calories. Without them I eventually felt wonky. It just didn't feel right for me, eating when I wasn't hungry. I mean, isn't that one of the reasons I wanted to do this experiment? To stop eating mindlessly or when I wasn't really hungry? Ugh.

So I've relaxed on the 5-hour window and it's more like a 8-hour window. I basically skip breakfast, eat lunch, eat dinner which is what I was doing before but condensing it down to 5 hours just wasn't working for my lifestyle. I absolutely have to eat dinner with Bryan (hubby) because that's one of our family activities. No way am I giving that up. And I certainly wasn't going to fast until dinner to make sure I was hungry at that time! Insanity!

Cheating? Why, yes, I have cheated.

I had a couple of days where I drank diet coke from McD's. Yup. I did it. I also had the insides of 2 sausage egg McMuffin sandwiches twice. That's not super bad, but not great. Sausage is already processed and I'm sure McD's is processed even more. Eggs, totally fine. It was one of those typical things where you're on the run, don't have time to do much else but really need to eat. I could have stopped at the sandwiches and had water. The diet coke was definitely a really flimsy rationalization. Actually, no, it was simply me deciding not to give a shit. I had those diet cokes and enjoyed them.

I've also had a very, very occasional cheese. I had sprinkles of parmesan in the homemade, scrumptious marinara sauce Bryan made for us (we use spaghetti squash instead of pasta). I had farm produced blue cheese in my lettuce wrapped burger last night with a slice of American cheese (my biggest offense to date).

Oh, and I also started putting raw honey in my coconut milk coffee/cocao. And sometimes I have it in the morning before I'm supposed to, which means I'm not really always fasting these days. As soon as you have calories you are out of the fast. Sigh. And I'm not even craving this hot drink, at least not physically. I am craving that hot cup between your hands in the morning, while sitting outside listening to the birds - even in summer. It's me chasing an emotion.

Weight loss is slower, yet steady - 10.6lbs, 38% of total goal.

It's funny too because the actual drinking of said drink is never as good as I imagine it will be. I'm also wondering if breaking my fast and adding the honey to what I eat is the cause of my slow, slow weight loss. I'm toying with getting recommitted to no sugar and a strict 8-hour fast for the last 11 days (cuz I'm having a cup this morning on day 19 so I'd start tomorrow). It would be really fascinating to see if I suddenly lose weight faster. Oooh. I just got excited because that's new data to collect!

Generally, I'm happy -- I have had no problems sticking to paleo eating by and large and when I have strayed it hasn't been an all-out binge on something crappy. In fact, that's probably what pleases me most -- I feel normal about food. I don't eat anything to excess or even want to. I'm not saying that I was out of control all the time prior to this, but there were times I ate too much and there were certain foods I wanted to eat long after feeling full. I think we don't talk about this enough but we have many, many processed, sugar-laden foods that are addictive.

The blame is squarely placed on individuals who can't moderate, but it's one of those battles that's pretty hard to win and there are an awful lot of people battling it out for it to simply be about willpower or discipline. I eat delicious food right now, but I don't think about it like I thought about the last few spoonfuls of ice cream. What did I think about them? I'd think, crap, I'm almost done. I want another bowl. I don't want to be done with the ice cream. I couldn't even enjoy the last few bites because I was sad I didn't have a lot left. WTF!?

Sleep -- still a problem

I haven't had a good nights sleep since I started, but I really must reiterate it's due to my 3 cats who take turns waking me at all hours. Over the last 3 days I've increased their wet food intake right before I go to bed and that's helped stave them off until after 6am. Yet, I feel my body is not used to sleeping longer so I still wake up on my own! I would guess I've started getting a solid 6 hours each night though and that's a freakin' improvement, believe me! But I really want to sleep a solid 8 hours each night. I haven't figured out how to make that happen but I suspect it will involve:

• Going to sleep at 10pm and waking at 6pm. 
• Working out so my body naturally wants to sleep more.
• I may have to help retrain my body with some over the counter sleep aids.

I know that getting enough sleep is important in all aspects of my life and it's important to weight loss and building/repairing muscle. I have to solve this. Until I do, my progress will be limited.


Until next time -- thanks for reading.

Headaches, Stalled Weight Loss, Terrible Sleep -- But Keeping the Faith

I've had this dull headache on and off for 8 days (today is the morning of the 9th day so I'm not counting it as a full day). I first attributed it to my body adjusting to zero caffeine -- I gave up caffeine and soda in 2014 but in the last 6 months have been having soda on and off). I now believe it's an adjustment to going back to Paleo.

First, what you all want to know: I've lost 6.6 lbs (a couple of days ago I had lost 7 but I gained some back). I pretty much stagnated on day 4-6 (~5lbs lost), drop 2 lbs on day 7 and have maintained again. I was hoping for the 14lb loss in 2 weeks that I experienced in 2014 but no such luck. Fun fact, though -- in 1998 I first did the Atkins lifestyle and I weighed myself every day at the gym. The scale was not budging. One day I went into the gym and the scale was 10lbs lighter. I kid you not. I thought it was a fluke -- water weight or something -- but sure enough it stayed 10lbs lighter and continued to drop slowly after that. I am hoping for this miracle again.

Second, let me tell you what Paleo means to me:

• I err on the side of caution and avoid food I think might be in any of these categories. For me, simple is easier and I am blessed with being content with the same food over and over.
• No sugar AT ALL -- no yogurt, frozen yogurt, artificial sweetener, any processed foods with sugar, etc. It's EVERYWHERE.
• Very few processed foods. This is the hardest because anything you buy that's cooked for you is bound to have some processed ingredients from the flavoring. I buy Market Basket buffalo wings and I'm willing to bet the buffalo sauce has preservatives. Even spice blends have preservatives! Look on your bottle! I actually have made my own taco and chicken wing seasonings since 2014 because they are preservative free (and taste bananas). 
• Speaking of bananas, I don't eat fruit because of the sugar content. At some point, when my weight is under control I will add back fruit. I do love me some fruit smoothies. 
• No starch or anything with a high glycemic index, such as white potatoes. For now sweet potatoes are also off the list too, although once weight goals are achieved I may add them back (I only eat them once in awhile anyway). 
• No legumes, grains or dairy because they can cause autoimmune problems (inflammation inside the body) without you even realizing it (gut problems, metabolic issues, skin problems like psoriasis). Even if I am not affected I am taking no chances because it's just not hard for me to give them up.

So if you google headaches and paleo you will see a lot of results that cite the "low carb flu" as the culprit. I didn't dig in too much but it makes sense and since I can't ever be sure of the cause I'm going with it. Apparently as you go cold turkey off carbs your body has to re-regulate metabolically and during this re-regulation you can get extra tired and with a side of headaches.

It's true -- I am extra tired and have had a dull headache every day, usually in the morning or during the night. Also apparently I can ease the headaches by drinking more water. It's true -- I have been drinking only about 2 liters a day. I probably need 3 liters. As far as being tired, I can't be sure this is the switch to strict paleo as I have 3 cats who take turns waking me up all night long. I imagine it's like having a baby that never grows up. I haven't had a good night's sleep at home in about 8 years (I've had them 16 years but they weren't always jerks).

So it all sounds like crap, doesn't it? I mean, WHY am I doing this if I am experiencing headaches and am so sleepy all the time? Well, because I've done it before and I know it works for me. Also, because I very rarely crave junk food like frozen yogurt or chips or diet soda. In fact, only once have I craved any junk and I pulled into the parking lot and sat in my car debating the merits of going in and buying it. I decided against it. There were so many cons and in the past the one pro (because I WANT it!) would have won out. But this time, it didn't. I was freakin' proud of myself! And later I was grateful because I really didn't even want it in retrospect.

I was just bored. And how many of us eat or drink crap as entertainment?