Eating Like A Cave Woman

If you couldn’t tell from all of my blog posts in the past two years I really love food!  As a matter of fact “What’s for Dinner?” is a popular question in my household.  I tend to be friends with lots of other foodies who share my same passions that being said after some recent doctors visits and blood work etc…. I realized some things were going to have to change.  Namely I was eating too many carbs!  The doctor told me I was going to have to restrict carbs and even though I haven’t seen my nutritionist yet I imagine she will be re-iterating his sentiment to me.  So 13 days ago my Doctor told me here is the secret to shedding the weight he said all you have to do is eat under 150 carbs a day and exercise one hour a day.  Once you lose the weight then a lot of  potential risks for health problems usually go away.

Hmmmmm doesn’t sound that difficult does it but the first 5 t0 7 days I was sooooo angry about this change but I was committed and kept up with it.  I felt tired, drained, snappy and I even had some nausea.  I know now that I was going through carbohydrate withdrawal truthfully there is such a condition.  Now coming out on the other side on Day 13 it’s not so bad as a matter of fact I am enjoying the following benefits!

Weight Loss – I have lost 9 lbs.

Getting up earlier in the morning – everyone who knows me knows I am not a morning person but I am just waking up earlier now

My clothes are getting looser

My grocery bill is actually going down believe it or not you would think with buying more meat, cheese and cream it wouldn’t but it is because I have tons of lettuce and spinach and kale in the garden and those are my staples!  And now I even have some globe artichokes which are rich in magnesium!

The Cons:

My son is not exactly happy with the snack choices in the house these days.

You do have to work hard to be prepared and make sure you always have low carb snacks with you this does require planning.

By the way I didn’t start this change in my lifestyle easily like everything I do I thought it over a lot about a year actually.  I actually have a good friend who has to eat a “CaveWoman” diet or she will get super ill so she kind of first really introduced me to the benefits that are beyond just weigh loss benefits for me I enjoy the entire lifestyle change now some nights are still harder than others because occasionally I dream of peanut m&m’s but most nights I am happy with a bowl of berries and a dollop of cream on top!

While losing weight and getting your blood work where it needs to be is NO for sure way to be assured you will be around to be a grandparent one day it is a sure way to make sure your daily life right now is more enjoyable!  And I thought aren’t I worth it?  I have my own eggs, honey, and garden.  So why not for the most part give up rice, potatoes, and bread.  Bread being the worst culprit of my carb problems in my opinion.  I still am having whole wheat low carb tortillas for now and I will eat my potatoes I planted when the harvest comes in and I will still keep rice on hand as a prepper item but I will now count those carbs if I eat them and right now they are really not the first ideal choice for me.

The exercise part well I have been managing to walk about 3 times a week for 30 minutes a day but that’s just not enough so a friend of mine last night and I were talking about meeting and doing some biking this summer and I have another friend who I know will meet me at the beach and go for walks its going to be change but it will be for the good.  I also have another friend who will walk with me where I work after school so I think I just need to schedule some time to do this.  My Mom told me she had a friend who put her exercise on her calendar everyday and I think at the time my Mom was actually intrigued by this and her friend told her it’s like any other appointment on her calendar and why wouldn’t her friend put herself first?  I loved that sentiment and I am planning to make myself a priority.

Also just a thought and this is just my opinion after changing my lifestyle I am coming to believe the french paradox isn’t really a paradox we as Americans just eat too much junk food and bread.  While we may be thinking the French are munching on white baguettes all day they just simply are not and they don’t eat as much refined sugar as we do although with the spread of fast food to global levels many countries who have retained their good health and vitality are now having higher obesity statistics because of the spread and popularity of our western diet!

I need to also add one thing I am not only eating this way but I am not adding splenda, aspartame, truvia or any other artificial sweeteners to my diet they are just too unhealthy of a choice for me so if I am not eating small amounts of honey or real sugars or natural food choices I will just do without.

At first I thought this isn’t really a homesteading topic when I started writing this blog post but it really is because if we are not fit and have endurance we may not be ready for a survival situation if it comes our way.   Nat Geo actually discusses fitness and vitality on their show “Doomsday Preppers” as being important for survival situations.  I will keep you all posted on my progress.

Have a great Saturday everyone and make sure to come back tomorrow for my special Mothers Day blog post!

Fondly,

Books That Have Inspired Me….

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats

Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It (Vintage)

Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life

Some great blogs about eating low carb/gluten free/paleo:

Pounds Away

Hunt, Gather, Love

Peace, Love, and Low Carb

Paleo Parents