Day 11 - Real Quick Updates

So, I fell off for a little bit (of the blogging not the diet). Okay, well let's make this one quick and I'll just bullet my findings and observations thus far after a week and a half of changing my diet.

1. I still feel sluggish in the morning, and a little like I have lower energy through out the day
2. This being said I feel lighter, more agile, and not weighted down. Paleo meals tend to leave me satisfied, but not stuffed like my other diet.
3. I love cooking 3 meals instead of 5 per day. Love it. So, much more convenient. And the guy over at lean gains says it doesn't matter how many you eat. Sure it takes slightly longer to cook, but I do it less.
4. I am starting to like cooking again. Before I was just combining grains in different forms to get 100g per meal and then tossing in a little fat and probably no veggies. Now, I feel like I am actually making meals. And, I've made some tasty ones (like the fiesta lime salmon above).
5. I can taste vegetables now. I realize that before I was just drowning everything out with grains, and condiments. I couldn't taste and of the "real" food. I would use ketchup or BBQ on anything, and it never allowed me to taste the food. I was addicted to the sugar and salt just like other people.
6. I feel like I have less energy, but I consistently have performed better in my training. I played great at my hockey game the other night. I had energy to skate all three periods for once - hard. I didn't feel like my legs were shaking and going to fall off. They were just burning because I was pushing myself. It was a good feeling.

So all in all I've been pretty happy so far. The only thing is the lower level of energy I feel - even though it hasn't really altered my fitness. Robb Wolf says that it could take any where from 3-4 weeks to adapt to this lower carb diet. So, I'm not too surprised I feel like this. Let's keep it up, and see how I after the adaptation period.

Day 2 - 3 meals, 4 meals, five meals, more?

When I went to the nutritionist at school three years ago, she recommended I double my carb intake for the kind of cardio and lifting I was doing. With that guideline my diet roughly equaled; 80/90g carbs, 20g protein, and 15g fat per meal (I confirmed this with other online research). But this was me eating five times a day.

Most of my friends thought I was crazy, and a lot probably still do. But I managed to make it work. I would eat burritos (sometimes homemade), kasha pizza, cereal (almost every morning), lots of brown rice, homemade muffins, peanut butter and jelly, and sometimes two sandwiches a meal just to get enough bread. I hardly ate any meat, because of cost, and I hardly ate vegetables because of taste. So most of my protein was acquired through beans, grains, ect. Robb calls these “third-world proteins” which I find pretty humorous but also slightly alarming. I ALWAYS had to have food with me, I was constantly eating. I always had a cliffbar with me when I went out, because I would always get hungry. I was so used to having carbs pumped into me at the speed of light that they were always within arm’s reach.

To be honest, it was a real pain in the ass, but I kept up with it because I thought I was doing my body good. I would tell my friends that “I’m paying for my hospital bills early” when they asked about how I could afford “healthy” food. Then today I find a blog that goes against eating five times a day. It’s a pretty scientific sounding blog, but in essence he refutes the commonly held belief, legend, myth that it is healthier to eat more frequently. This would certainly make things a lot easier for me. In fact, Robb recommends eating just three meals a day. Thank god! There’s no way I could cook five meals a day and have time to live.

Day One – Carb withdrawal

I know they say that sugars can be addicting, but this is serious. I never have cravings for really sweet food, but I find myself craving a lot of food I wouldn’t normally, and it has only been ONE day without grains. What I really miss is a bowl of cereal, it pains me to even see the words on the screen. This is not a topic that Robb talks about in his book. I’m not sure that he says how hard it will be to give up grains AND dairy, perhaps this is just on a person to person basis.

But I found some forums online that say that carb width drawl is perfectly normal, and that my body should adjust in about two weeks. TWO WEEKS – are you crazy! Now, I feel like I know what it’s like to give up smoking. I’ve never wanted to compulsively do something this bad before. What makes it worse is that I am constantly bombarded with foods all filled with grains! Cupcakes, banana bread, muffins, bagels – holy crap. I don’t mean to alarm anyone who is thinking about doing this for 30 days, but I just want you to be aware of the reality of the situation. I certainly feel worse (energy-wise), but my stomach feels fine – unless you count a gnawing feeling of wanting to swim in a river of cheerwine and krispy cream doughnuts. I didn’t think I would have carb withdrawal this bad. I typically eat at least 90% whole grains. I figured it would be worse for people who eat simple sugars like white bread and white rice. But this is what Robb says in "The Paleo Solution",

"So folks, this is an opportunity to see “complex carbohydrates” for exactly what they are: Lots of sugar. No matter what type of carbohydrate we absorb, it all goes into the system as either glucose or fructose, aka sugar."

I suppose this makes sense. That would explain the cravings even though I eat "healthy" grains". There is still so much info to digest in his book (no pun intended). I don’t feel bad, just off. I feel hungry. WAY hungry.