The bone cutter October 31, 2008
Posted by Dr Dan in Uncategorized.Tags: diet, low carb, low carbohydrate, paleo, paleo diet, weight loss
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Yesterday, I was very unmotivated towards exercise. When I jumped on my legs were sore and I found it really hard to push through the whole 22.5 mins. Not in terms of fitness but just lack of energy and sore muscles. So I am taking this as my bodies way of telling me that it needs a few days off. So that is what I will do to let it recover.
When I went to the butchers they had bone but it was locked inside. So I went and got myself a hacksaw to cut the bone in half and get to the sweet marrow inside. It took ages and was a workout in and of itself. I then roasted the bones and had it on a bed of lettuce. Here is the recipe.
It was delicious but very fatty. Afterwards I went to my friends house and luckily he pulled out some pistachio nuts. So I munched on them. Then I went home and I was still really really hungry. I had bought some pork from the butchers to eat tomorrow but I decided to eat it.
To tell you the truth I was still hungry afterwards. But it was about 4pm so I decided to wait until dinner. I was focused on food, but not in a craving way, for the next two hours. Finally, at 6pm I had some of the left over stew from yesterdays dinner.
It did the trick and I finally felt full. Me and my flatmate then went to see a play at the local theatre. It was REALLY good. On the way my friend went to MacDonalds to eat. I didn’t want to miss out so I had a diet coke. This helped me feel like I was still having something and so didn’t feel like I was missing out. The big mac smelt really good actually, but when I saw it, it just looked like plastic. My flatmate kept saying I bet you feel like eating this kind of food. I really don’t though. Im actually happy with the food I am eating.
So overall today was a high hunger day. I was feeling like eating all day. Despite it all I still stayed under 2000 calories. Not that that should matter but I still have this silly mindset about calories. Even though when I indulge in good high protein/fat meals and go over my self imposed calorie limit I still lose weight.
Nutrition breakdown:
Calories – 1983
Carbohydrates – 39.6g (7%)
Protein – 97g (18%)
Fat – 184g (75%)
saturated fat – 17g
Exercise:
Brisk Walking 22.5mins
Distance – 2.49km or 1.55m
Speed – 6.64km/h or 4.13m/h
I was wondering who feels like they are caught in a calorie mindset? Or can you eat whatever you want without thinking about calories?
I weigh as much as Homer Simpson October 29, 2008
Posted by Dr Dan in Uncategorized.Tags: diet, low carb, low carbohdyrate, paleo diet, weight loss
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Did you know that I weigh as much as Homer Simpson. Some scientists did all this research (why?) and determined that he would weigh 240 pounds. Same weight as me. How depressing. Anyway, yesterday I woke up feeling great. Full of energy. So I jumped on the treadmill for 22.5 mins. It is still going well. I was a little bit over all the spinach leaves so I decided to have a meaty day. To start things off I had two steaks from the butchers with guacamole.
The steak was quite rare and I had rubbed it with rosemary and garlic while it was cooking. Absolutely delicious and melted in my mouth. The guacamole was pretty tasty too and I had added tomato, spanish onions, lime juice, olive oil, coriander (cilantro) and capsicum (green pepper). Afterwards I had three mandarins.
Then I put a whole skinless chicken into the crock pot with two cans of tomatoes, chopped onion, garlic, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, mushrooms, olives. After six hours I took the chicken out and then put the sauce into a pot and cooked it down a little bit to make it thicker. Then I took some chicken and put the sauce over it.
The chicken was extremely tender, one of the great things that a crock pot can do for you I think. The sauce was delicious. The picture just doesn’t do it justice. I gave some to my flatmate and he only ate a little and said it was very rich. This suprised me because I had added no salt or oil and the chicken was fatless? Later that night I had three glasses of red wine (blush). But me and my flatmate were having a good conversation. But I still stayed beneath my carb and calorie limit so thats ok. I stopped after three glasses because I knew if I went any further I would blow my day.
Nutrition Breakdown:
Total Calories – 1919
Carbohydrates – 99g (18%)
Protein – 167g (31%)
Fat – 86g (36%)
Alcohol – 15%
Exercise:
Distance – 2.44km or 1.52m
Speed – 6.51km/hour or 4.05m/h
Carb addict October 28, 2008
Posted by Dr Dan in Uncategorized.Tags: addiction, diet, food, food diary, health, low carb, low carbohydrate, nutrition, paleo, paleo diet, recipes, success, weight loss
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I woke up this morning really early at 5am. Not that I wanted too, but I just couldn’t sleep. I am constantly anxious about the letter that I will receive this week, which will tell me if I am going to get funding for my research for the next three years. Anyway, what made me feel better was the climb down to 109.6 kg on the scale. Also, I jumped on the treadmill pretty early and I had another great day. I had to go up to a new higher level to get my heart rate up. When I lowered it down to a level that used to be really hard (like last week), my heart rate dropped quite dramatically. Everyday my heart beat seems to be much stronger. I have also decided to get a blood lipid profile to put on this blog. My flatmate is a doctor and so is going to do it for me. So it will be good to see how it looks now and then compare it month after month. So stay tuned.
First thing I ate today was a banana. I didn’t realise how high these are in carbohydrates and they are quite starchy. So I might try to eliminate banana intake but there was literally nothing else to eat. After this I went down to the local butcher and got kidneys and beef for lunch. It ended up making two meals. The first was thinly sliced kidneys cooked in olive oil. These were then added to a salad with baby spinach, capsicum (red pepper), tomato, avocado and of course olive oil. I topped it off with a nectarine.
Now if anyone wants to cook some organs I highly recommend it. However, they have a strong gamey flavour and so I suggest starting with only a small amount. I had one lambs kidney and it was yummy but I don’t think I could have eaten anymore. I think it is one of those acquired tastes, which I will endeavour to gain at some stage. Im quite happy with my paleo diet exploration, I have had marrow soup and now kidneys. I want to make these more regulars at my table because of the nutrients they provide. Also these are the types of food eaten by our ancestors. The next thing I really want to try (and am also scared of trying) is brain or even maybe tongue.
I then put some beef steak into the crock pot and boiled it slowly for a few hours with a carrot, onion, 3 bay leafs, 3 garlic cloves, and some peppercorns. At about 4 pm I got it out and ate it. It too was delicious and was really tender.
This kept me going until about 7pm. Then I was getting hungry again. So me and my flatmate went to an indian spice shop and I bought some mustard oil and a fish curry mix. Im going to try the mustard oil soon in a stir fry (this is what it is traditionally used for) but I also bought some fresh fish to have with the curry. It was simple I added the curry mix to some water and boiled the fish in it. Into the curry I also added a bunch of baby spinach. The curry mix consisted of coriander (cilantro), fennel seed, cumin, chilli powder, salt, vegetable oil, garlic, ginger, curry leaf and rampe. Unfortunately, it had salt and I didn’t realise. When it was all served up I put a coriander (cilantro) garnish on it.
By the time I had it it was about 8pm but it did the trick. I am starting to realise that my hunger feeling has changed. When I used to eat a lot of carbs I used to feel hunger similar to an addiction. The same type of longing I used to feel when I really felt like a cigarette. I could feel my blood pumping through my veins and I wouldn’t stop obsessing about the food until it had all gone. But now I get hungry in my stomach. Its uncomfortable and I don’t like it but I can handle it and I don’t feel controlled or obsessed by it. I CAN put it off if I really need too. I feel like, for the first time in my life, I am beginning to not be consumed by food, rather I do the consuming of the food.
Nutrition Breakdown:
Total Calories – 1934
Carbohydrates – 104g (19.1%)
Protein – 154.6g (28.5%)
Fat – 127g (52.5%)
saturated fat – 37.3g
Exercise
22.5 mins brisk walking
Distance – 2.44 km or 1.51 miles
Speed – 6.51 km/hour or 4.04 miles/hour
Grazing on baby spinach October 27, 2008
Posted by Dr Dan in Uncategorized.Tags: diet, health, low carb, low carbohydrate, nutrition, paleo, salad, success, weight loss
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Today I woke up feeling pretty crappy. I weighed myself and I was 109.8 kilograms and so my weight is returning to normal after the bloatation of the big night out on friday. I felt like light meals for sure. So I started off with a salad consisting of baby spinach, eggs, garlic infused olive oil, beetroot, capsicums (peppers), spring onion and courgettes. It was basically stuff left over from yesterdays salad I made for our friends lunch. I roasted the vegetables.
After that I did some exercise. WOW. I seriously am getting fitter and fitter. The level on my treadmill that used to be really high for me and I could only do for 2.5 mins before burning out I am now doing for about 20 mins. So I am really excited about that. I used to base how well I was doing in terms of fitness by the amount of calories I burn’t off. But now I will change that to how much kilometres I do and how fast Im going (ie how many minutes does it take to do a kilometre). In the afternoon I was starting to feel really peckish and so I decided to muster up another salad – baby spinach, spring onion, capsicum (pepper), olives and almonds as well as olive oil and lime juice.
This tied me over until dinner. My friend arrived and so I suggested we get some seafood from the supermarket and have it with, yet again, another salad. When at the supermarket they had squid on special so that was the seafood we chose. For dessert we bought some HUGE mandarins that tasted really sweet and juicy.
Afterwards I topped it off with a glass of red wine. Everything tasted absolutely perfect and I was just full! I felt a real high as it was all so nice. The squid juice really mixed well with the olive oil I cooked it in, and this became the sauce to add over the salad (baby spinach leaves, tomato, spring onion, capsicum). Then we watched some movies. Almost the perfect day off and of eating. Very low calorie day today with only 1290 calories. I didn’t get much protein so no doubt a big red meat day is looming just around the corner.
Nutrition breakdown
Total Calories – 1290
Carbohydrates – 81.5g (21.7%)
Protein – 52.1g (13.8%)
Fat – 96.1g (57.5% – the rest been from the red wine).
saturated fat – 15.7g
Exercise
2.47 km or 1.53 miles in 22.5 mins (Brisk Walking)
9.1 min/kilometre or 14.7 min/mile
Proof that a paleo diet improves your health October 27, 2008
Posted by Dr Dan in Uncategorized.Tags: carbohydrate, diet, fish, glucose, green vegetables, insulin, ketogenic, low calorie, low carb, low carbohydrate, obese, olive oil, paleo, weight loss
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A post over at conditioning research has talked about the results of a new study in the nutrition journal on the effects of a spanish style ketogenic diet. This diet is remarkably similar to the paleo diet. It consists of putting 31 obese subjects on a diet consisting of olive oil as the main source of fat, green vegetables and salads as the main source of carbohydrates, and fish as the main source of protein. Red wine was also consumed in moderation. It was an unlimited calorie diet.
They found an extremely significant weight loss after 3 months. The group, on average, lost 14 kg, which is a loss of over 1 kilogram a week. Other benefits were an extremely significant drop in blood pressure, total cholesterol and most importantly GLUCOSE!!!! There was a significant reduction in LDL cholesterol (this bad for your health and associated with heart disease) and a significant increase in HDL cholesterol (these are good and protect against heart disease).
This kind of a result would be extremely rare on a high carb/low calorie diet. It also points out, as I have mentioned in the paleo science section, that it is not calories that determine weight loss but carbohydrates. This is further proof that shows reducing glucose in the bloodstream, and therefore insulin, by a low carbohydrate diet (green vegetables and salads only) will promote weight loss and increase your health. Also by consuming mostly monounsaturated fats vs saturated fats leads to a much healthier blood lipid profile.
Monthly Update – Month 1 October 27, 2008
Posted by Dr Dan in Uncategorized.Tags: diet, low carb, low carbohydrate, paleo, success, weight loss
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So here it is in all its glory. My first month on paleo and what a journey it has been. Im enjoying the food, losing weight with little, if any, cravings and I feel more energetic as well as my skin looking good.
Weight Loss Progress:
29 September: 115.6 kilograms or 254.9 pounds
6 October: 113.5 kilograms or 250.2 pounds
13 October: 112.2 kilograms or 247.4 pounds
20 October 110.9 kilograms or 244.5 pounds
27 October 109.8 kilograms or 242.1 pounds
Total lost: 5.8 kilograms or 12.8 pounds
Fat %
29 September – 30.5%
27 October – 28.5%
Picture Progress
29 September 27 October
Eating out and winning! October 26, 2008
Posted by Dr Dan in Uncategorized.Tags: diet, eating out, low carb, low carbohydrate, paleo, success, weight loss
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Yesterday was a challenge. I woke up and we were going to a friends for lunch. I was worried because I did not know what they were making. So I anticipated nothing but carbs on the menu and really did not want to eat anything else but veges and a little bit of meat because I had already had a binge on friday night. Luckily, they had asked us to make a salad so I decided to make one paleo style and thought I would just feed on that if nothing else. It consisted of roasted vegetables and baby spinach leaves mixed with garlic infused olive oil and lime juice.
Upon arrival there was the usual guacamole and corn chips. The guacamole looked awesome because it had lots of veges in it. So I asked if I could have a small bowl and a spoon and then I loaded up and ate it. So this was good and served well to take away my worry and cravings for food…..by this stage I was really hungry. Then they served up the main meal, which was steak, sausages, salad (of course), and corn/normal bread. So that was easy I avoided all the carbs and had the steak and salad with a few sausages. Now the sausages should have been avoided because they were highly processed but as far as I was concerned they were ok for the situation.
Then later in the day we went out for drive. It took a lot longer than I expected and by the time we arrived at our destination it was dinnertime. So my friends stopped off to get an ice cream. Talk about side blinded. But I guess I have to get used to this happening. Again fate threw me a bone. Next to the ice cream shop was an Aporto’s, which sells unbreaded barbecued chicken. Normally it comes with fries and a coke but I asked them if I could just have chicken and some coleslaw. The chicken came with a lemon and herb sauce so I think I managed as best i could to be in line with Paleo.
So all in all despite the obstacles I think I managed to stick to the plan. Thankfully I did because I couldn’t handle another day of NOT eating paleo. My flatmate asked me if I feel restricted on this diet and I could honestly say to him that no I did not. I enjoy the challenge and I can honestly say I do not miss out on carbs at all. In fact, I think I am eating far more interesting and creative meals than I did before.
When I weighed myself my weight was at 110.8 kg. I knew this was my body retaining water from the blow out because this is what always happens. But still it was another reminder of how I need to not do this blow out stuff anymore.
My exercise was absolutely kick ass!!! We have levels on the treadmill and I normally keep at a level that keeps my heart rate between 145-155 heart beats per second. My heart beat was just refusing to come up and I went on a really high level for almost the full 22.5 mins. So my body is responding really well to the exercise regime and my heart is getting stronger. Also where as before I would groan everytime I needed to bend over or kneel down for something now I feel I am doing this with ease. It does not feel like such a burden. So in all respects my body is improving. My skin is very clear too and my nails are looking much stronger.
Sorry no breakdown today or pics. I didn’t have my camera on me and it would be too hard to work out the calories. But considering what I ate I imagine it would have been quite a low calorie day not the reverse. This makes me wonder if I should just allow myself to eat when Im hungry in an intuitive eating style. As long as my carb levels are low Im likely to only eat when Im hungry. If I wait for about 20mins after a meal (it usually takes this long for my cravings to subside) and I still feel hungry then I should eat more. But at the moment I just want to keep an eye on what I am eating so will carry on as is – for the moment anyway.
A great honour October 25, 2008
Posted by Dr Dan in Uncategorized.Tags: binge, diet, Dr Loren Cordain, Fish Oil, low carb, low carbohydrate, paleo, weight loss
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So I had a great night up north yesterday. But I did ‘blow out’ by drinking a lot of alcohol. But I promised myself this when I went below 110kg. The next scheduled blow out is when I break 100kg. But until then its back on the paleo horse. What a fine horse it is too.
Today I woke up with a hang over, obviously. We were on the road by 10am to go back home. We quickly stopped off at a bakery and as part of my blow out I allowed myself to have one non-paleo dining experience. So I had a meat pie and a sandwich.
That picture of a meat pie is not my picture (I stole it from the net). To tell you the truth it didn’t feel as great as I thought it would be. In fact, I really don’t miss junk food at all. I am pretty happy with the experience of paleo eating and the foods I get to eat. I do not feel like I am missing out. I enjoy the challenge of making meals from basic ingredients – meat, vegetables and fruits. So I was only to happy, once I had returned home, to make myself some salmon and asparagus for dinner.
It was delicious and I feel much better for it too. I have also bought some fish oil supplements. There are two reasons for this. I have read that the only vitamin that may be lacking when you attempt to mimic the paleo way of eating is vitamin D. Fish oil capsules are very high in vitamin D. You can of course get that from the sun but just in case I thought I would try them. Also this will increase my omega 3/omega 6 ratio and this is important. A paleo diet should be about 1:1 omega 3/omega 6 but it is difficult because we do not eat lots of organs. So this should balance that out a bit more.
I saved the best for last. I was greatly honoured and excited today, when I started to read my paleo diet update that I have subsribed too, that Dr Loren Cordain mentioned my blog. It is nice to know that after reading all his books and publications that he has read a little bit about my paleo journey. So in case your reading – thanks!
So the breakdown (not including excessive alcohol consumption)
Total Calories – 1413
Carbohydrates – 98.7g (27.7%).
Protein – 83.2g (23.4%)
Fat – 77.3g (48.9%)
saturated fat – 25.9g
The carbohydrate content is the highest it has been in awhile and so I expect some food cravings due to a big spike in insulin levels. Obviously the protein level was low since these had been replaced by carbs somewhat.
All beefed out October 24, 2008
Posted by Dr Dan in Uncategorized.Tags: beef, diet, exercise, fat, low carb, low carbohydrate, marrow, meat, monunsaturated, overweight, paleo, weight loss
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Today I woke up and the last thing I felt like was meat. After my meat fest yesterday I am not suprised. I have gone from a lion to a rabbit today. Craving fresh vegetables. But it didn’t quite turn out that way. I have also been really thirsty and drinking a lot of water. Also my hunger levels have been very low today but my motivation and mood is considerably improved. So I think I got my fix yesterday. I jumped on the treadmill first thing and was on fire. Burn’t more calories off than I ever have before. So things are going well in that respect.
So for breakfast I had an apple and then an omelette with some onions and parsley fried in garlic infused olive oil.
It tasted good and it filled me up just right. I wasn’t full and I wasn’t empty. I have been having some discussions on the net lately, and reading some literature, and have realised that I need to expand my paleo diet to get more nutrients. Hunter gatherers ate more than just the muscle tissue of meat and often preferred organs and marrow over muscle. I have also read that marrow is extremely high in monounsaturated and Omega 3 fats and low in saturated fats, as well as providing extremely important nutrients. So I decided I would go to the butcher and get some bones and make marrow soup. While there I also got some beef to cook for dinner. The great thing is it all was SO cheap. I couldn’t believe it. It only cost me $2.50 in total and in US$ thats about $1.50. All my meat for the day and for so little and really healthy. So for the marrow soup I put in a chopped up carrot, an onion, the beef bone (it was huge), 3 bay leafs, 6 peppercorns, water, parsley and garlic. Then I simmered it for an hour.
You can see some of the marrow sitting on the top of the onion. It was so delicious and so fatty, but all good fats. I also managed to chop some of the meat away from the bone and put that into the soup. I had to get the marrow out with some skewers. I felt so full afterwards and I swear I got a bit of a buzz off of it. My mood really lifted and I felt energised. So this might have to become quite a regular I think. I then put some (more) beef steak into the slow cooker and cooked it for 6 hours. I then worked all afternoon on these papers I am writing up. I then went back up and had dinner.
As you can see I also sliced up some tomatoes and avocado to have along with it. I ate it but I now feel so sick of the smell, sight or taste of beef. I think for the next few days I will be having more fish and veges. Especially veges. But I guess this is what happens, obviously my body wanted some nutrient from beef and now it has got it it is demanding cool, fresh, crisp vegetables. I am only too happy to oblige. A low calorie day today too only 1500 calories.
Tonight I have to go up north (again) to see Greg Johnson play at this bar called the sawmill. So I had to have an early dinner. No doubt there will be some excessive drinking and so I will blow all my hard work today. But thats what I like about Paleo you can have a blow out every now and then and still lose weight. Besides I promised myself I would reward myself with a little party when I broke 110 kg and this I have done.
See you all tomorrow and probably with a horrible hang over.
So here it all is.
Total Calories – 1494
Carbohydrates – 53.3g (12.6%)
Protein – 63.8g (15%)
Fat – 136.6g (72.4%)
saturated fat – 22.7g (high fat today but mostly monounsaturated and Omega 3).
Exercise – 178 calories (22.5 mins brisk walking)
Carnivorous urges October 23, 2008
Posted by Dr Dan in Uncategorized.Tags: carbohydrate, cravings, diet, exercise, health, low, low carb, meat, nutrition, paleo, paleo diet, protein, weight loss
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Well well well. Today I woke up and I was 109.4 kg. So despite two days of been away and eating what I thought was crap I dropped down half a kilo (about one pound). Amazing. But maybe the weight is coming off too quick. I had major, and I mean major, cravings for meat today. A high protein day there is no doubt.
I don’t understand why this could be. After much pondering I have come up with some conclusions. I went up north and for the last two days have eaten food I would have not chosen to make myself. So maybe this is my bodies reaction to those two days of less than perfect food…..bacon, butter, cheese, potatoes etc. Alternatively, my body is just craving particular nutrients and so I am craving the meat to supply me with them. Of course it could just be a high hunger day. Somedays I find myself a lot more hungry than others. I think in some ways it is stupid to limit yourself if for one day you feel hungry because the chances are the next day you wont be. So I just let myself go and ate what I wanted. It came to a grand total of 2853 calories. This should test my theory anyway as I don’t believe it is calories that matter rather carbohydrate intake. My carb intake was low today (63g) and so it will be interesting to see how this develops.
So what happened. Well I woke up in the morning and was low on energy and just finding it hard to get motivated (well harder than usual). So I ambled about and did a hell of a lot of nothing. I ate an apple and a banana in the morning and that increased my appetite and the carnivorous urges kicked in. I tried to hold them back with an omelette with some lettuce cooked in some olive oil as a filling.
Of course EGGS could not hold it back. I was turning into a primal carnivore and all I could think of was meat meat meat. Also I all I wanted to do was sleep, which obviously means Im turning into a lion. Surly thats what it means. So still hungry, I drove the car to the supermarket and got lots of meat. Much to my disgust I forgot my wallet so I had to rush back home and then go back and get it. After all this I didn’t have thoughts for ANYTHING else but meat. So I cooked up some lean grass fed steak (trimmed of all fat).
Then I rushed and got my slow cooker and started cooking a mediterranean stew. Of course it took six hours to cook and so by the time it was ready I was ready for my second protein hit. Much to my delight the meal turned out great and will be the new recipe of the week.
It consisted of grass fed beef (all New Zealand beef is grass fed but Ill say it anyway for those who don’t know that), carrots, olives, olive oil, parsley, onion, white wine, peppercorns, oregano, thyme and tomatoes. It tasted great. I tried to only eat half. But I was sooooooooo hungry after two hours I needed another go. I thought to myself why am I sitting here starving and craving food when apparently I believe that it is the carbs that matter not the calories. I guess Im STILL caught in the calories matter mind set. So I had a second helping and finally the urge to eat red bloody meat subsided and I think Im human again. That is until my next protein cravings. It was a full moon last night….hmmmmm.
On an upside I kicked ass today in the exercise. My heart beat was really strong and burn’t off my highest amount of calories yet. So I am getting much fitter as we speak.
So here it is the grand total.
Total calories – 2853 calories (yeee haaaaa)
Carbohydrates – 63.4g (8.5%)
Protein – 325g (43.9%). Hear me roar!!!
Fat – 137.5g (41.7%).
Saturated fats – 39.4g (still low because meat was lean and grass fed).
Exercise – 22.5 mins brisk walking (167 calories).
