I'M BAAAAAACK!!!!!! And I'm PALEO!! ......well, I'm working on it anyways. :)

My last post was in December?????? Holy Smokes! (Actually it wouldn't have surprised me if it had been a little longer). Well, dear diary of mine, it has been quite a journey in the last 8 months and I have learned SO MUCH!

Have I been sticking to low carb? Hmmm....does the answer "Some days" count? Not when I have gained all my weight back plus some that's for sure. *insert sad face here* But we shall come back to all of that later. For now lets stick to all of the wonderfulness I have learned about the paleo/primal way of eating. What is Paleo  you ask? I'll try to keep this super simple.

What is Paleo/Primal way of eating?
Paleo is basically eating the type of foods that our species evolved to survive on. For millions and millions of years our ancestors were hunter/gatherers and only ate wild, grass fed meats, fresh organic fruits and vegetables, and some nuts here and there when they could find a handful of them. Dairy, is one of those questionable things still. Some people are very much against it because of all the obvious allergens that so many people have to lactose and caseins, but other people feel that it is ok if your particular body can handle it ok.  The biggest nemeses to the Paleo world are grains and refined sugars, that cause major gut irritants, inflammation, and blood sugar hikes that stimulate insulin, which causes more fat storage as well as reduces the sensitivity to Leptin signaling in the brain (Leptin, being the hormone that tells our brain to stop eating because we have an adequate amount of energy and Insulin, being the hormone that not only helps to keep our blood sugar at an ideal level but mostly causes our body to store fat).

I whole-heartedly believe that Paleo style eating is what MY body needs to achieve optimum health.  And while there may be a percentage of the population that can handle eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) (AKA - The USDA Food Pyramid), the people that are built like me cannot.

So why have I gained all my weight back plus some?? I'll admit it - I have very low will-power. I constantly listen to podcasts and read these amazing articles and yet when I get stressed out the first thing I want to do is go and eat some cake. Ugh - sometimes I feel like a worthless human being. So that is why I am back. This is a journey I have to take. We are all given challenges to face in life. To make us stronger. To bring us closer to our Higher Power. For me that is my Heavenly Father. And this is my challenge.

A couple of months ago, in church, one of the speakers who were giving a talk said that it is when you are willing to sacrifice, give something up, let go, that our Heavenly Father is able to guide us in the direction he would have our lives go. And if you believe that He only wants good things for us, for us to be happy, then having Him guide your life will lead you to where you ultimately want to be. This talk was suppose to be about paying tithing and being willing to sacrifice that 10% of your increase, but for me, that sacrifice i needed to make was something completely different. It is all of those foods that I need to remove from my diet. If I can do that and turn to Him when I am struggling - He will get me through. Easier said than done, believe me. But here is for giving it another go! *Raises glass*

Jimmy Moore is an amazing supporter of all things low carb and paleo. He has a wonderful website http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/ and podcast that have helped so many people who are on this same journey. On one of his posts he made a comment that was exactly what I needed to hear that day. Ever since then I have had the quote taped to my computer so that I see it everyday. I want to leave it here as well. As a reminder. Enjoy.

"Even if you're struggling, don't lose hope. There are brighter days ahead if you commit to this way of eating, make it a permanent lifestyle change, and do it for the rest of your long health life."

"He said to me,

      "'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.'

      "Therefore most gladly I will rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

When you fall off the wagon - you can ALWAYS get back on again :)

I am trying not to beat myself. I fell off the wagon for about 2 weeks! High-Carb (satan) food is just so darn easy to get real quick and delicious! Grrrrrrr! BUT…..I am so grateful for the inspiration and motivation I have found in the many MANY low carb bloggers out there. If you are ever in need of a quick recipe there are hundreds out there for free! I appreciate you fellow low carbers so much. I KNOW that this is the lifestyle change that is right for me. I LOVE not being obsessed with food and cravings and eating low carb gives that to me. I will try to post a link to some of my favorite blogs. However, I do want to give a shout out to my favorite, Jimmy Moore’s Livin La Vida Low Carb. All the information he gives through his own research and the interviews he does are wonderful. I can sit and listen to them while at work be filled inspiration!

One of the articles I read today talked about how maybe what we think of as “emotional” or “compulsive” eating can be corrected by simply removing the carbohydrates. I, for one, can testify to the fact that I feel like I am a big compulsive eater. The cravings never seem to stop. I thought that maybe I was a carb addict or just a food addict in general. But! When I stick to eating low carb those cravings virtually disappear. When I eat, I am satisfied for hours and hours at a time. I don’t worry about if I am rushing around and end up skipping a meal. I am not obsessed with the idea of food or when I get to eat next.  I feel that I finally have a “normal” behavior towards food. It is amazing. It is empowering. It is FREEING!

Giving in to Old Habits & the Major Discoveries That Follow

So, I keep on meaning to make another entry but instead I’ve been letting life with a 2 year old distract me (a 2 year old is distracting? Imagine that!) It’s really important for me to post today because after sitting to low-carb eating, and losing 8 lbs in just one week, I gave in for one meal and had a HORRIBLY carb filled meal last night for dinner. It consisted of BBQ chicken (with normal store bought BBQ sauce), garlic mashed potatoes, and corn. Not only was it high carb, but I also ate a TON of it! Since I decided to change how I am eating I also decided that I wasn’t going to force portion restrictions, but the longer I stick to low-carb eating I have naturally just been eating less. Last night I thought to myself, “Well this is only for tonight so I better eat it all!” Now I could tell you all the factors that helped me make the decision to eat all that crap, but the most important part that I wanted to share was how I felt.

Of course, having eaten so much I felt uncomfortably full, but that’s not even it. The biggest thing I noticed was that I felt horrible about MYSELF! I found that I very quickly slipped into a sort of depression and self loathing that I have felt most of my life. I was very easily irritated by my son, and snapped at him a few times too quickly. I started worrying that I was never going to find the man I am suppose to “spend the rest of my life with”, and was longing for someone to pay attention to me so that I didn’t feel so bad. I even started poking around at different singles websites (places where I have only caused more problems for myself in the past). I was aggrevated that I didn’t have more friends that I could hang out and have fun with. That quickly turned into frustration that I had a kid and wasn’t really able to go out and have fun with my friends whenever I wanted to anyways. In other words, last night was a mess!

It was just so clear to me how eating this way (high-carb) was such a major factor in my mood swings. I’m not a scientist or a doctor or anything so I can’t say if it was actually something about the food itself or just something mental that I causes me to feel so bad, but I have really noticed how happy and grateful about life I had been when I was sticking to eating low-carb. Feeling so horribly about all aspects of my life is just so destructive, and drains me of all motivation. I don’t want to feel that way anymore. I want to be productive. I want to be able to see all the blessings in my life (there are SO many!) rather than only see the negatives. I want to be a pleasure to be around. I want to be a fun, and patient mother.

My Top 20 Reasons for Choosing This Lifestyle (in no particular order)

1.        To be able to love life

2.       To have the energy to play with my son

3.       To not worry about breaking furniture

4.       To not worry about if I can fit in a seat (airplanes, trains, roller coasters, chairs with arms)

5.       To be able to wear a seat belt in ANY car I ride in

6.       To be able to shop in any store for clothes

7.       To be more confident with myself

8.       To not put so much strain on my knees and back

9.       To prevent myself from getting diabetes and possible missing my sons life altogether

10.   To not bump into things or people

11.   To gain my libido back

12.   To get rid of the skin problems I’ve developed from my rolls

13.   To not have my thighs rub together when I wear a skirt

14.   To be able to cross and uncross my legs

15.   To be able to climb stairs without having to use the rail to haul myself up them

16.   To be able to hop out of a chair or bed without planning ahead of time how to pry myself out

17.   To be able to get off the floor without grabbing onto a piece of furniture

18.   To have people rave about how I look

19.   To be able to ride a bike and go roller skating

20.   To feel comfortable wearing a swim suit.

Another major revelation I discovered recently is something I briefly mentioned above. It is the fact that ‘When I stop eating High-carb, I can actually STOP eating’. This is really huge for me. Most people are able to just stop eating when they feel satisfied. Not me. When I explain this to people I always say “My off switch is broken” All my life I have never just been able to stop eating when the hunger pains stop. I just keep on eating until I stuff myself so much that I literally can’t put anything else in my stomach. Since going low-carb I just don’t get as hungry as I use to. When I do start to feel hunger pains it’s not an emergency “I need to NOW” type of feeling. I can continue getting the things done that I need to do, or take care of my son’s needs or wait until I get home before eating. Eating has never been like that for me before. It used to be that the tiniest inkling I had that I was starting to get hungry I would put food in my mouth to quench that feeling. And since every meal consisted of some type of high carb food the feeling to want to eat again came very quickly. My whole life was about eating. It’s SO nice to be able to focus on life! J

Love, Gloriann

My weight for this post is 451.1 taken on Friday 11/19/2010.

Starting Out

Hola!

So in the past I have been HORRIBLE at keeping any blogs that I start up to date (or even continue keeping them going at all!). I've never been one for keeping diaries or writing people letters but for some reason I am feeling a push to do this blog. 

What is this blog? you may ask. Well I have decided to make a commitment to living a low carb lifestyle.and I wanted to use this blog as a way to document my experience, express my highs and lows, and maybe even give others who are looking for advice or motivation a little help. My entries might not always be about the diet alone but about life in general. After all - I am choosing this lifestyle because I want to better my body so that I HAVE a life. It only makes sense that I share about my motivation for bettering myself.

Been Working on it for About a Week Now

It definitely hasn't been a perfect week, that's for sure. But I am getting use to the different way you have to think about preparing food. Our culture is so surrounded with a carb/starchy food at every meal that it takes a real effort to get away from that mindset. You HAVE to be willing to accept the idea and really wrap your mind around that fact that you can't eat the way you grew up eating, using the ingredients that are so commonly used. You have to decide that this change you are making is not "just for now" or "just to get the extra pounds off". It is for life. Typical temporary "diets" don't work because people just go back to eating the way they did before the diet. But if you continue eating the way you ate when you are overweight - you will BE overweight. Pretty simple concept if you ask me.

Anyways - enough rambling - back on topic. Yes This past week I have had several moments of weakness. Such as today at our staff meeting at work I was trying so hard to be good and not give in to any off limit foods....but I justified a tiny piece of bread at the restaurant after my salad....and then it became 1 donut back in the meeting room....and then a 2nd donut........and then a piece of cheesecake. *sigh* After that I stopped. I felt so guilty while I was eating that bad food that I actually left the meeting room to eat the cheesecake. That would be called compulsive overeating and binging on my carb addiction. It feels awful. And I know that when I feel awful about what I am doing to myself like that I, unfortunately, take it out on the people closest to me. :(

All you can do is just start again. No matter how many times I have to start over again I will. I WILL get this right. I WILL change my life. I WILL be the person and mother that I want to be. I am tired of giving up on myself and wasting my life away.

BTW - prayers are accepted and appreciated. Everyone needs a little extra help when times get rough. :)

Glow