Paleo Pals

June 1st

2011-06-02T15:53:00.000+08:00

So, Day 1 went by quickly.

I must say the first and last edible thing I ate yesterday was a tiny vanilla cupcake and a carrot cupcake from TeaRoom.

In the middle was regular chicken, eggs and vegetable....and a bru coffee with milk which is non-paleo. Nevertheless, 85% achieved :)

I feel hungry now. As a hunter-gatherer, I shall hunt for my next meal.

June 2011

2011-05-30T01:55:00.001+08:00

Am planning to go full on Paleo for 30 days - June 1st to 30th.

Anyone in it with me?

How do you know if you are intolerant or sensitive to carbs?

2010-08-14T20:56:00.002+08:00

The simplest tool to know is your weight. Your weight is a reflection of water weight, fat weight and muscle weight. Some people know because of cravings that occur when they eat the carbs. If you’re eating a candy bar, and you can’t stop and you have to eat more and you’re still hungry, that means you’re sensitive to the carbs. A doctor can measure glucose and insulin in a medical clinic as a more formal way to make a medical determination. But you can figure it out by your own body weight and the cravings you have.

Flatulence/Wind

2010-05-22T19:05:00.000+08:00

Understanding Flatulence/Wind

When you find that you have excessive flatulence, it is time to sit up and start watching what is it that you are eating that is causing excessive flatulence.

Passing of wind/gas is a very natural thing, but excessive flatulence is quite another thing. A normal healthy person passes wind at an average of 14 times a day. About half of this gas is swallowed air. 40 percent is carbon dioxide produced by bacteria in the intestines which is odorless.

The remaining 10 percent wind are a mixture of numerous other gases including the by-products of microbes¾these are responsible for the offensive odors.

While it is normal for one to pass wind, too much wind can cause abdominal discomfort and can be a social embarrassment. The best way to control flatulence is to watch what you eat.

After eating flatulence-causing foods, the gas will be expelled between five and seven hours. So, to check what you could have eaten that might have caused excessive flatulence, work back that number of hours.

Symptoms of Flatulence/Wind

Excessive intestinal gas may cause abdominal discomfort, bloating, distension, and belching. In infants, excessive gas (colic) is usually accompanied by abdominal pain. It is not uncommon for patients with eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia) to be particularly stressed by these symptoms.

Causes of Flatulence/Wind

One of the main reasons why flatulence and putrefaction happen is because the colon's friendly bacteria have been wiped out from years of meat, milk and dairy products (except yoghurt) consumption. Taking a course of antibiotics and medications can also cause the same situation.

Excessive flatulence, constipation, diarrhea and other digestive problems can happen due to lack of good bacteria in the guts. Lactose intolerance and allergic reactions to milk also increase gas output by about eight times.

Another notorious gas producer are beans that contain a compound called oligosaccharide. Eating beans like dried beans or baked beans, soya beans, peas, legumes, etc. will increase the amount of gas by more than ten times.

Carbohydrates from starchy foods like wheat, oats, potatoes and pasta are also gaseous, though not as much as the others mentioned above. A high-fiber diet may also produce gas, stomach cramps and other intestinal discomforts. Introduce fiber to your diet gradually, especially those that you don't usually take, over a period of days

Other foods that cause gas: cruciferous vegetables (those in the cabbage family like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower), onions, turnips.

Diet Suggestions

Refraining from milk and dairy products (except yoghurt), and wind-causing foods should be one of the first steps to take when flatulence begins to be a nuisance.

Add a little anti-gas foods like ginger, garlic or spices, when you cook your pot of beans or gaseous vegetables.

If baby is colicky, the lactating mother should also avoid the gas-causing food as mentioned above. Breast-feeding mothers should get extra calcium from dark leafy vegetables like kale, algae (spirulina and chlorella), sardines, salmon.

One other often overlooked cause of flatulence is the lack of friendly bacteria in the colon. If this is the reason, you would quickly see a vast improvement when you take quality probiotics.

How you eat or don't eat is another contributing factor to a gassy stomach. If you tend to skip meals, you may encounter a bloated feeling, because of the gas forming in your intestines. Eat small amounts even if you don't feel like eating.

Finally, avoid gassy and carbonated drinks. Do not use a straw when you drink as it would cause you to take in more air. Habits like chewing a gum will also cause excessive gas.

Recommended Recipes to Reduce Flatulence/Wind

Garlic and ginger are effective in dispelling excessive gas in the body system. These are used widely by Chinese midwives when cooking for women who just gave birth (during the two-month confinement).

Juice two or three cloves of garlic and a slice of about half an inch of ginger (or more if you can tolerate its spiciness). Add water and raw honey and drink it frequently.

Juice and drink either alfalfa sprouts or wheatgrass alone. Alfalfa sprouts juice is mild and easy to drink. Wheatgrass may smell a bit green but has a slightly sweet taste to it. Both of these are among the best and most nutritive greens.

Cut half an inch slice of ginger (or more) with the skin cleaned or scraped off. Toss it together into the juicer with your alfalfa sprouts or wheatgrass. But when you drink ginger juice, make sure it's not on the night of a hot date!!

Source: Juicing For Health

Paleo : What Do I Eat?

2010-04-27T14:20:00.000+08:00

Summary

1. Eat real food – meat, eggs, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruit, healthy oils. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re fresh and natural.
2. Do not eat dairy. This includes butter, cheese (hard and soft), yogurt (even Greek) and milk (including cream in your coffee).
3. Do not eat grains. This includes bread, rice, pasta, corn (I count corn as a grain), oatmeal, and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains. That’s not real food, right?
4. Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds, lentils, and peanuts. (No peanut butter, kids.)
5. Do not eat sugars of any kind, real or artificial. If you must sweeten, use minimal quantities of honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar. No Splenda, Truvia, Stevia, etc.
6. Do not eat processed foods. This includes processed bars (like Zone bars), dairy-free creamers, etc.
7. Do not drink alcohol, in any form.

More About Meat…

Animals, including fish, raised in commercial farms are not healthy so try to get grass fed beef, USDA certified organic meat, wild fish, and/or locally raised animals.
If unable to do any of the above, then eat the leanest cuts you can and trim visible fat. (Eating the fat of healthy fish, birds and animals is good for you. Eating the fat of unhealthy creatures is not.)
Eggs are good. Eggs from birds allowed to forage and run around are better.
Buffalo, elk, venison and other types of wild game are excellent choices if you can get them.

More About Vegetables…

Non starchy vegetables should be a big part of each meal. Virtually all vegetables offer excellent nutritional value.
When possible choose organic, locally grown vegetables that are in season. Each of these factors will improve nutritional value.
Experiment with sautéing, roasting and grilling your veggies. Try different recipes and different ethnic foods. Learn to use herbs and spices. This stuff should taste good!
Variety is king! There are TONS of yummy veggies out there — try squashes, eggplant, garlic, leeks, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green, cabbage, celery, kale, dandelion, spinach, tomatoes, radish, parsnips, mushrooms….
Avoid starchy vegetable – potatoes, etc. If you must eat starch (it happens) try sweet potatoes.
Avoid legumes. Beans, peas, lentils and soybeans should be avoided. Why?

More About Fruit…

A paleo diet allows virtually all fruit consumption. There are a few issues though. We need to consider how the fruit was grown as well as the type of fruit to evaluate nutritional value.
If you can grow your own fruit or pick wild fruit – go for it!
Scavenge the local farmers market for fresh local seasonal fruit. Organic is best.
Try to avoid fruit from far away. Flying in kiwis from New Zealand is not really helping our health.
Avoid GMO (genetically modified organism) fruit.
A little fruit juice occasionally can be okay but, fruit juice is really candy.
Some fruits like bananas and pineapples have a high glycemic load and should be avoided if you are trying to loose fat.
Berries are awesome! Eat lots of berries!

More About Nuts & Seeds…

Nuts and seeds are filling, nutrition, and packed with protein, fatty acids, enzymes, antioxidants and lots of vitamins and minerals, especially potassium and magnesium. It is possible to screw up your fat profile with nuts though. Lots of nuts have an unacceptably high omega 6 / omega 3 ratio.
Some great choices: walnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, almonds
Beware of peanuts and cashews. These are not nuts, they’re legumes. Don’t eat peanuts or peanut butter. Peanuts contain lectins and other anti-nutrients which can cause some real health problems.
Lots of packaged, shelled nuts are covered in trans fats! Read the label! Best to buy raw, unsalted nuts and spice them at home. When in doubt, buy walnuts and/or macadamia nuts.

More About Fats…

Fat is good for you. Fat is essential to your well being and happiness. (This is not hyperbolic writing. Having the proper fat profile makes a huge difference to your mental outlook and moods).
Fat is a great source of energy. Fat triggers our sense of being full. Fat is an essential part of many of your cellular and hormonal processes. We sicken and die fairly quickly without adequate intake of essential fats.
However…there are many bad fats in our food supply!

Good Fats

Fat from healthy animals is good for you! Chicken, duck, goose, lamb, beef and pork fat can all be eaten and is an excellent choice for cooking because of heat stability. Lard is internal fat from around the kidneys. Lard from naturally (not grain) fed pork and beef is a very good choice. Lard from grass fed animals is hard to find though, so butter can be used instead. If you can find some high quality, nitrate-free bacon, the fat leftover after cooking it can be used for cooking all sorts of other delicious things!
Coconut oil is good for you and a good choice for cooking. Choose organic, cold processed coconut oil.
Olive oil is very healthy. Go for the extra virgin, cold pressed and use liberally. Extra virgin olive oil does not have great heat stability so use non-virgin olive oil or something else for high heat frying.

Bad Fats

Trans Fats – fats damaged by heat. Trans fats can be extremely destructive to our health. Trans fats can be made at home!! Start with a healthy, unrefined oil, naturally high in beneficial omega-3 fatty acids – apply excessive heat and presto! Health wrecking trans fats. Easy!
Hydrogenated and/or partially hydrogenated oils. Terrible! Reread the last paragraph.
Canola – should be avoided. Canola has a very good omega 6/ Omega 3 ratio. However, to be used commercially it has been genetically modified, highly refined, partially hydrogenated and deodorized. Yikes!
Margarine – see trans fats.
Peanut, cottonseed, soybean and wheat germ oils… not good!

Courtesy of: Crossfit Seattle & Whole9Life

Post Workout (PWO) Nutrition

2010-04-15T01:45:00.002+08:00

"The idea of a PWO meal containing carbs (and protein) is to take advantage of a period of time in which the muscles are particularly insulin sensitiveve. We can fly nutrients into the muscle “under the radar” via a mechanism called “non insulin mediated glucose transport”. Amino acids are also taken in during this time and may play a synergistic role in both glycogen repletion but also decreasing inflammation that accompanies hard training. Said another way, you recover from exertion faster.

So, what should ya eat? We actually want a starchy carb as our primary carb. Yams and sweet potatoes are great options as they are also highly nutritious. Fruit should be used sparingly in this meal if one is focused on optimized glycogen repletion as fructose refills liver glycogen first, and once liver glycogen is full we up-regulate the lipogenic activity of the liver and start down the road towards fat gain and insulin resistance.

...part of what we want with this PWO meal is the MAINTENANCE of insulin sensitivity. If we totally top off our glycogen stores PWO we impair insulin sensitivity and make it damn tough to lean out. So, one way to look at this is the a LC-PWO meal is focusing on muscular recovery and growth, while minimizing or limiting the effects of insulin or carbohydrate. This is in stark contrast with what we will see in the case of the high carb PWO meal. From my perspective this is THE PWO meal of choice from a health promotion standpoint.

For low carb meals, in this situation the PWO meal of whey protein + coconut milk is providing quickly digested protein which will reverse catabolic actions of training, with just a bit of fat to suppress the normal glucose release of a large protein meal via glucagon."

~Robb Wolf

To all the diet skeptics, people who aren't sure what diet to get on and those who are struggling to stick with the diet...

2010-03-21T21:43:00.005+08:00

I recently had a conversation with a friend not too long ago. A fellow crossfitter at that. He has been struggling to stick on to a strict paleo or zone diet mainly because of the people he lives with and because he lives in Malaysia and the food is just too awesome. So this post is to convince him that with exercise and a good diet you will achieve the results you want.

The 2 photos below were taken at the beginning of October 2009. When we were just starting out the 30 days Paleo challenge. As you can see my body was not too bad because I had just got back to UK after 3 months of super crossfitting (Everyday, twice a day). I forgot to take pictures of my post paleo experience so I am really sorry I have nothing to prove to you that it works for a month. BUT....

Check this out. After the 30 days challenge I went ballistic and lost all will power and just ate like a happy little pig that I was. I mean who wouldn't since you haven't eaten sweet and sexy food in a month. Anyway so from the start of November I started eating what I normally ate (i.e. rice, pasta, cakes etc). Then came December and Christmas was soon upon us and ate more. Then came January and exams and I ate more and more junk because I kept thinking I could not afford the time to cook better food. Within that couple of months I had also picked up the interest of baking even more and well I started consuming deserts quite regularly. Then on one fine morning when I woke up and looked in the mirror I realized THIS....

Immediately I knew that I have to get back into the Paleo and get back into the gym. Because of Christmas break and exams I had not been in the gym in almost 2 months. So in the mid of February 2010 I said to myself "It is time to get back on Paleo and take it a step further!". Hence I starting zoning my Paleo. It was difficult to Zone at first because I was not use to the calculations and the numbers. After about2-3 weeks or so it got much easier.

My first step to achieving the Zoning-Paleo was purchasing the Zone Diet and the Paleo diet book online. I read through that quickly and with ease and it cleared up a lot of questions I had. In fact it took me to a further step into my diet, I started to consider the Glycemic index of my fruits. This helps with ensuring that I am not raising my insulin level too high unnecessarily. Hence it has been about a month since I started Zoning-Paleo coupled with 5 days a week in the gym doing crossfit WODs (Thanks Pushmore, Crossfit.com and CrossfitFootball) and here are the results.

I am back to where I want to be and doing better. Still gaining more ground. Working hard for my sexy abs =)

Anyway, let me share with you the biggest difference the diet has made;

1) Obviously the physical appearance
2) Strength has improved tremendously (My DL in Sept [just before I left KL] was about 100kg, in October I went up to 145kg 1RM)
3) Increase in mental alertness
4) Increase in concentration (probably means the same as 3)
5) I don't feel tired at all
6) Increase in recovery rate (i.e. less time it takes to recover)
7) most importantly, cooking has never been simpler

So my friends I hope I have convinced you enough that the Paleo/Zoning-Paleo works. And to my buddy Ben a.k.a Kacang Bendy, Yue, Benjamin, Gay boy, etc.... I hope you are convinced that it works and that it is time for you to get on this path along with us. Do not fear about not having the will power because we all started that way and we all are here to support you. So hope on the train with us and join us in our journey to get fitter, faster, stronger and sexier =P

Foodie Update

2010-03-19T07:48:00.003+08:00

Meatballs and stir fry cai xin with garlic

Refreshing simple and typical zone-paleo lunch. (Turkey breast, grapes and a plum and loads of vege and some nuts = protein, carbs, fats)

Paleo Beef Jerkey

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beef Jerkey recipe courtesy of the Paleo Diet book :

2 lbs (I used 1 kg) Beef cut into 1 inch X (1/8) inch
equal amounts of spices (I used, cayenne pepper, tumeric, cumin powder and black pepper)

Mix the lean beef strips with the spices and let it marinade over night (or at least 1-2 hours)
Place the beef strips on a baking tray lined with baking parchment
Preheat the oven to a temperature of 140-150 degC
Place the baking tray in the center shelf and leave the oven door ajar (slightly open)
It will take between 4-12 hours depending on how you like your jerkey.

My first attempt was at 150 degC @ 10 hours = too dry and crunchy
2nd attempt at 142/143-ish degC @ 6 hourse = the thicker pieces were not the texture I wanted yet but most of them turned out perfect =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment and I will get back to you =)

Who says Paleo has to be boring?

2010-03-10T06:01:00.004+08:00

This is a quick Paleo dinner (Turkey breast, brussel sprouts, fruits &nuts)

My Fishy Dinner

Paleo Cookies

This is my own cookie recipe. I was just testing cause I was craving something sweet and cookie like =)

Here you are PaleoPals

Recipe :

2.5 cups X Almond Butter/Flour
1.25-1.5 cups X Dry fruits (raisins, apricots, etc)
2.5 X eggs
1 cup X dessicated coconut
5 tablespoon X Honey (add more or less to your taste)

Bake at 190 deg celcius for 10-15 minutes on the mid shelf.

Enjoy my lovely friends!!

Paleo Round 2 - It's a lifestyle

2010-03-07T20:54:00.006+08:00

As other fellow paleo pals have announced, some of us Paleo Pals - after our 30 days challenge in October 2009, decided to get back on the Paleo diet.

So let me fill you in quickly on my experience post 30-days Paleo Challenge.

1. Mad cravings

The post-paleo experience for me was worse than the getting started on paleo phase. All the repressed cravings from the 30 days lashed back with vengeance as I binged on bad food (most notably chocolate and cheesecakes).

2. Giving up ovo-lacto-pesco-vegetarianism

After 9 years of being quite vegetarian (not fully because I take seafood on and off) for ethnical reasons - I decided to start eating meat in the middle of November.

Going through 30-days of Paleo forced me to look back at the decision I made when I was 16. By getting more informed (largely influenced by the book The Vegetarian Myth) and deciding that I want to stop addressing the symptoms of a problem (industrial food) and start learning more about the causes of the problem. I could go on and on about this but it will take to many blog posts, so I will end at this.

The first meat I started reintroducing was beef as it was the easiest to eat. Follow by chicken. The last meat to reintroduce was pork as it was the hardest to eat and even now I am picky about how it is cooked.

For the first two weeks I felt pretty constipated (is this too much information?). But after that my body adjusted to the new diet (phew!).

3. Better food for me and you

Going through that 30 days paleo really did change my life. As some of you read - it was initially very tough cutting off half the food I routinely eat, such as rice, bread, milk, cheese, etc. Some foods which I thought were healthy like oats and yogurt, apparently weren't healthy enough!

Since I grew up eating out and never cooked anything fancier than instant noodles and fried egg - I had to start learning how to cook for myself. From making soups, stir fried vegetables, steamed fish, etc. It was initially difficult and time consuming.

Eventually I got used to it and post paleo - I've maintain some Paleo-ness such as having fruits and nuts for breakfast and snacks (instead of sandwiches and biscuits) and cook in more often.

And after cutting off my addiction to instant mix coffee drinks like the 'white coffee' mix - I've opted for freshly grind coffee beans without sugar.

The good thing is, the close people around me also adopted some good eating habits. The Mother is influenced to eat less grains, The Brother also ditched the instant coffee for freshly brewed coffee, The Boyfriend ditched cereals and is slowly cutting down on instant coffee.

Round 2, new Paleo rules.

For Round 2, most of us are choosing Paleo as a lifestyle instead of a "30 days challenge". Which means we have to each develop a system which works best long-term.

Here some guidelines which I'm following:

1. One cheat meal in every 4 days - Every 4 days I'll treat myself to 1 cheat meal.

2. Make the best of the situation - On occasions where there is no Paleo food available, I will just choose the next best thing. This is to avoid getting gastric and other stomach problems.

3. Coffee with milk - Coffee to me is not just coffee. It's therapy. It's a ritual. From choosing my beans to grinding them. Letting it sit in the plunger....watching it black turn into milky brown when I pour the milk in..... having the first sip.....hmmmm. Now, while initially I stopped drinking coffee with milk, by the 4th day I was not able to perk my mood up. Considering work circumstances (stress) and deadlines this week, I've decided to have milk with my coffee until this period is over. I will slowly phase it out after March.

I've been on Paleo for two weeks now following these guidelines. Yeee-har!

Why Can't I Have Grains, Beans & Potatoes?

2010-03-07T14:22:00.000+08:00

Paleolithic Diet buffs refer to the new foods as Neolithic foods and the old as Paleolithic Diet foods. In simple terms we see Neolithic as bad and Paleolithic as good. Since then, some other substances have entered the diet- particularly salt and sugar, and more recently a litany of chemicals including firstly caffeine then all other additives, colourings, preservatives, pesticides etc.

Grains, Beans and Potatoes (GBP) share the following important characteristics:

They are all toxic when raw- there is no doubt about this- it is a fact that no competent source would dispute- they can be extremely dangerous and it is important never to eat them raw or undercooked. These toxins include enzyme blockers, lectins and other types. I will talk about them in detail later as they are very important.
Cooking destroys most but not all of the toxins. Insufficient cooking can lead to sickness such as acute gastroenteritis.
They are all rich sources of carbohydrate, and once cooked this is often rapidly digestible-giving a high glycemic index (sugar spike).
They are extremely poor sources of vitamins (particularly vitamins A, B-group, folic acid and C), minerals, antioxidants and phytosterols.

Therefore diets high in grains beans and potatoes (GBP):

Contain toxins in small amounts.
Have a high glycemic index (ie have a similar effect to raw sugar on blood glucose levels)
Are low in many vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytosterols- ie they are the original “empty calories”
Have problems caused by the GBP displacing other foods

As grains, beans and potatoes form such a large proportion of the modern diet, you can now understand why it is so common for people to feel they need supplements or that they need to detoxify (ie that they have toxins in their system)- indeed both feelings are absolutely correct. Unfortunately, we don’t necessarily realize which supplements we need, and ironically when people go on detoxification diets they unfortunately often consume even more Neolithic foods (eg soy beans) and therefore more toxins than usual (perhaps they sometimes benefit from a change in toxins).

by Dr Ben Balzer

Chap Goh May

2010-03-02T05:01:00.002+08:00

So to end CNY I broke my diet by having a plate of chicken rice. But I couldn't resist because it was cooked by yours truly =)

Anyway for those who are back on the diet or have just started out. Best of luck and keep it strong. Remember that the food you eat is the only thing you have control of when you want to become fitter, faster and stronger!!!

Low GI Fruits & Vege List

2010-02-28T20:59:00.000+08:00

Guys,

I came across these 2 links that lists the GI levels for Fruits & Vegetable.

http://www.southbeach-diet.info/low-carb-vegetables.php
http://www.southbeach-diet.info/low-carb-fruit.php

Remember to choose the lower GI ones! :)

Keep it strong!

Day 10

2010-02-27T16:36:00.000+08:00

It's the 10th day for me! Had a couple of "cheat" munchies along the way, but not excessive that it will smash my results!

This time round, it's easier to start, and carry on! I knew what I can or cannot consume. I knew how my body would react. I knew when to reward. I knew HOW it works.

Despite having sleepless nights for 4 nights in a row, I didn't feel as tired as I would - if I had taken regular non-paleo meals. Weird eh?

I feel different! I feel new! And I feel hungry at 2am!!! That's pretty reasonable time to be hungry since I'm awake and dinner's fully down the drain!

Jonson, keep up the healthy living and meals etc. Don't worry about your protein shake!
Ms Z, coffee WM is cool :) We can afford some flexibility under control yeah!
Karen, go as best that you can with meal choices! Your awareness will lead the way! :)

Have a great weekend peeps! :)

To get the best results, you must talk to your vegetables.

- Charles, Prince of Wales

Dilemma

2010-02-27T12:04:00.004+08:00

As all my paleo pals have started doing paleo again... shall i shall i?

What about my morning coffee fix? egg tart? siew pao? ice cream? cakes? cookies?

Oh..... i'm in such dilemma R>I>G>H>T... N>O>W!

The only way to eat!!!

2010-02-27T00:05:00.005+08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen

*Drum Roll*

PALEO PALS are back and we are back with a vengeance.

This time we are going to hit the Paleo diet hard. No longer will 30 days feel like 30 years. From now on we will Paleo all the way!!!

Start tossing out those coffee powder, rice, pasta and those unfavourable carbs!!!

Stock your cupboards with nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and most of all MEAT!!!

Make every meal as paleo as possible!!! If you are eating out do your best to keep it paleolithic!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the pass 3 weeks/ 1 month I have been zoning my paleo diet as best as possible. The only thing I have eaten and still do that is not paleo is Protein powder and canned tuna. My reasons :

1) Zone dieting requires you to eat a balance amount of protein, carbs and fats. The most difficult to obtain is protein, especially for breakfast. Imagine eating a 5oz steak for breakfast? You'd be so stuffed and when you get to class you'd be dosing off already. So having a protein shake makes it much easier for me.

2) Since I am a student, I have classes at 9am from monday to friday. I am up at 7.30/8am most of the time hence that does not leave me enough time to cook. I know I can wake up earlier but think about the amount of work that we do. By the time you hit the sack its most likely 12 or 1 AM. So you want to optimise sleep.

So to all my paleo pals, forgive me for the protein powder and canned tuna.

Anyway let me share some photos of paleo meals I have been eating =)

Anyway here are some links for you all;

Paleo recipes , more recipes and more recipes

Crossfit Football posts up paleo recipes every couple of days.

The main site that is a must for reading is by a fellow cross fitter and paleo diet-er Robb Wolf.

These sites should get you going easily.

For those who want to zone their paleo this link is to download an excel spreadsheet that helps with the calculation and conversion. ZONE BLOCK CALCULATOR

Here is the Paleo Diet book that you can read. I have the actual book and am about to start it. Just finished the Zone diet book and now having a fun read before getting into the Paleo book.

OKAY so let's recap;

1) Eat only the food that was available to us back in the paleolithic days.

2) Throw away all those crap and temptations.

3) Stock up with all the goodies of fruits, veges, nuts and meats.

4) Have a consistent weekly workout routine. Remember that dieting is only part of the journey. Exercise is the other part. Put dieting and exercise together and you will be a force to be reckoned with.

5) Read as much as you can. The internet is a huge back of knowledge. Anything you want to ask can be answered through the internet.

6) Paleo pals are always here to help support and share with each other. SO just pop in and join us =)

7) Have fun dieting, because if you don't have fun you will bail on the diet. SO enjoy it =)

Last words from me:

Live to ea,t not eat to live!!!

Eat the right foods and exercise to your best capabilities remembering to have rest days. Eating the right foods and in the right quantity will optimize your performance.

Spend a little more to live a lot better!!! (i.e. spend a little more for organic chicken, free range eggs, etc)

The aim is to grow fitter, faster and STRONGER!!! RAWR!!!

Day 1

2010-02-18T22:50:00.001+08:00

Today!

Round 2!

2010-02-06T22:26:00.000+08:00

Anyone interested in Round 2? Beginning March 1st 2010

Let me know :)

DAY 31 :) The end of the beginning!

2009-11-01T00:27:00.001+08:00

WELL DONE to those who embarked and completed this journey of exploration, determination and self-consciousness of limited caloric choice intake! 31 days is not an easy feat! And I bet ALL of us can vouch for that!

The journey was kinda roller-coasterish throughout this whole month! Do you still remember this post?
And this? And this?

Those were the milestones that we've succeeded to overcome. We've definitely felt one of these: "it's too hard...tiring...makes me hungry all the time!!" Well, we overcame that too! We know how to curb hunger and what exactly to eat now for more benefits. (Well yeah there's the nutty element to it. Feel like a squirrel sometimes. )

Within 31 days:
1)We've hit PRs - strength, speed, skills!

2)We've got better looking and feel better about our bodies!

3)And most importantly, we've gotten an education on nutrition. What we read, consumed & experienced will be good insights to our own bodies. Actions speak louder than words when it comes to food choices.

To the PaleoPals - a BIG CONGRATULATIONS ! You've taken the first step to a stronger and healthier body. You guys are amazing! Lets keep it going in terms of results and performance!

Also, to those PushMore-mons who have been supportive of us - A HUGE THANK YOU for being there for us - supporting, encouraging and allowing us space to breathe whilst we were in the midst of our hunger pangs. You guys know who you are. :)

The next question to answer is, "What will you do next?" Lets say for the next 1-2months? Or even a lifelong choice to change your lifestyle?

For now, I'm gonna scream for some ice cream! :)

*****

Tonight's edition:

And for future consumption...

Killing the Conscious Effort in 30-days

2009-10-29T04:33:00.009+08:00

(Girly) Growing pains

When I was young, I thought life ends when I hit 20. I'd be ancient years old and there will be nothing to look forward to anymore except going through the motions of life and then die...

Boy was I wrong. Life started when I hit 20 because that's when I started chasing my childhood dreams of living a life of adventure. But beyond that, what I did not expect was as a young lady, to feel more and more comfortable with the way I look and who I am.

I remember an age (tweens) when I hated mirrors and as I walked through shopping malls I tried my best to avoid looking at mirrors because I did not like what it reflected (and of course wonder why all my friends are so beautiful and I'm not). I grew out of that soon enough and joined the league of girls learning how to dress up, wear make up and be what girls should be.

Unfortunately, girls are lead to believe that 'what girls should be' is to always to be something else than what they are. Your legs are never long enough, your hips are never small enough and of course the classic, you are never skinny enough.

Image from here

Like I said, I've pretty much accepted myself as I am, muffin top and all at times. But that is a very conscious effort to try to be happy with myself. That conscious effort is especially exercised using meal times.

"Can I eat that? Yes I can, c'mon, I live an active life - I can eat that cheesecake without hating myself. Yes, I am happy with the way I am and thus can eat a cheesecake because I balance my life with working out." says Conscious Effort at work.

I wished that Conscious Effort didn't have to work so hard, but generally my self-esteem is still in check with a simple goal of not putting on any more pounds (because the world is kinder to skinnier girls).

While I battle out my Conscious Effort within my mind, around me I witness many young women close to me develop eating disorders.

There's the one that eats when she's stressed and is now getting bigger and bigger. She wants to go back to the way she was, but can't manage her stress and finds comfort and love in food...

There's the one that wants to lose weight but has no motivation nor self-determination. She spends every meal hating herself for eating and being fat.

There's the one that is convinced she's fat and pretty much stopped eating. She's 23 and has starved herself to a 13 year old's body. And she still thinks she's fat.

Chance are, you know someone (if not all three) like the above.

Guilt-free eating

What I realized midway through Paleo is that Conscious Effort is not being used at all. I eat all the fruits, nuts and vegetables I want and not feel guilty about 'eating wrong' (if you feel guilty about eating fruits, nuts and veggies, seriously, it's time to get professional help).

Since Conscious Effort is mute, I've been feeling an immense relieve and liberation.

Instead of justifying why I can eat these "bad fatty food" every day - I am more preoccupied with figuring out how to plan my meal in order to optimize my workouts. This re-aligns my goals from "living a balanced life and not packing on the pounds" to "which nuts and fruits should I have for lunch to be able to nail that workout?"

FTW - For the win

Going Paleo these past few weeks has helped me realize that there is an easier way than battling my Conscious Effort during every meal - which is to just choose to eat healthy and focus on what I want to achieve in my workouts.

Now isn't that swell...

What's it gonna be?

2009-10-26T23:45:00.003+08:00

A) Continue on regular meals as consumed before October 1st?
B) Partially Zone/Paleo your meals
C) Continue to Paleolise your meals.
D) Anti-Carboman for the rest of your life.

I choose B!

Seeing the results from these 26 days, ie a couple of PRs & lowered BF, I am leaning towards a possiblity of continuing this ridiculous and anti-sociailzing diet! Giving myself a small window for a choice of at least carbometabolizing when I want to! This includes chocolates. soy beans and yoghurt!

Based on the feedback from us paleopals, there are more pros than cons to this plan. Don't you think so? This few weeks definitely had me MM-ing my food until I found it more tiring to think about food than about the workout!

There are 5 days left and I am so looking forward to my ice cream and TGIF. yummy!

Proud of all of ya for completing 26 days! :)

Last Leg - Zone the Paleo

2009-10-25T01:47:00.002+08:00

Since it's our last week, lets go all out and Zone the Paleo.

Paleo Pals Outofthebox & Orange Shoes have already started zoning the paleo... so, gulp. Yah, lets....

Keeping it simple

2009-10-23T13:29:00.002+08:00

Here is a link to Ross training dot Com which I think is rather relevant. keep it simple guys. Even though we're going caveman for 30 days but healthy eating is a lifestyle, one that we are practicing in the 21t century.

Check it out ! CLICK

Feel free to check out his other stuff as well...This dude is a MAGNIFICENT Beast....

A very helpful link

2009-10-23T07:38:00.000+08:00

Hey Paleo Pals I came across this really helpful link that you can download onto your computer. It is an excel spreadsheet of zone dieting that is also Paleo friendly as well. Very helpful for post Paleo.

Love/Hate Paleo

2009-10-22T10:11:00.003+08:00

In response to Jonson's recent blog, and coincidentally, thats what i wanted to write today!

During Paleo:-

Like:-

1. Tasted REAL food instead of instant and artificial items made of chemicals;
2. Meals are kept simple and fresh, with less seasoning;
3. Black coffee actually tastes quite good after a while, well, perhaps not served as the first cuppa in the morning though;
4. I feel lighter and less bloated;
5. Perform not too bad in all wods during these 3 weeks; and
6. I do feel energetic at all times (proven as i only slept 3.5 hours on tuesday night and stayed away on wednesday for 20+ hours).

Don't Like:-

1. Tired of eating meat as soy are prohibited and eggs are limited;
2. No milk for my coffee in the morning;
3. Difficult to eat out at times;
4. No desserts; and
5. Emmmmmmmmm............. can't think of any.

Post Paleo:-

1. Definately zone instead of paleo (must go grocery shopping with Cris so that he can teach me how to guage the quantity);
2. Ditch the instant coffee mix and get real coffee powder with milk;
3. Eat more tofu, eggs and cheese instead of meat;
4. Nuts taste good, shall continue with that;
5. Frequent dessert intake are to be replaced with fruits; and
6. ALWAYS remember there are a group of supportive Paleo Pals who go through this 30-days phase with me in October 2009!

Post Paleo...

2009-10-22T06:43:00.005+08:00

Hey Paleo Pals!!! I hope you all are doing great with only 9 days left of the diet. That is right Paleo Pals NINE DAYS!!!!! Can you believe it, 22 days down and I am feeling great. After surviving for 2 and a half weeks it must be getting tougher trying to think of what to eat and how to cook the food. So here are just a few links with recipes to help you out for the last NINE DAYS;

1) thepaleodiet
2) paleofood
3) livingpaleo
4) cheatday
5) fitnessandfreebies
6) ehow (more on breakfast meals)
7) rawpaleo (raw foods for snacking)

After 2 and a half weeks do you think you need to change some of your Paleo ways? For me I know I have been eating way too much nuts, dry frutis and fresh fruits. So I decided to enter the world of Paleo/zone hybrid. Today was my first day and honestly it isn't too bad. I feel that zone dieting is quite good. I feel full majority of the time but I can't miss a meal or eat late if not I will be straving; but to do a Paleo/zone hybrid is way tough because we can't eat so many things on the zone diet list. Anyway I am going to keep it up as it is yet another challenge for me.

Paleo dieting has made me feel awesome. Each and every day that passes by I am taking on WODs with higher aims and goals. I am raising the bar against my own capabilities. I am gaining new PR's by the week. Most recently;

Deadlift : 319lbs
BB cleans : 154lbs
BB strict press : 110lbs
Continuous kipping pull ups : 12 (I was not able to do continuous pull ups till recently in UK)
Unbroken Ring Dips : 7 (use to be 4)
Unbroken strict pull ups : 7 (previously 5)
Annie : 7 mins 26 secs

I recently did a body composition test on week 2 of Paleo dieting. My results are;

% Body fat : 11.6%
Muscle Mass % : 64.9%
Body weight : 77.5kg (was 81kg 3 weeks ago)
Sum 8 : 65.9 (Olympic athlete's are 42)

My goal till the end of this year is to drop my Body Fat % to 10% and below, Body weight to 75kg, Sum 8 to 55-60.

So let me ask you Paleo Pals. What are your aims and goals for this Paleo Diet? What are you hoping to achieve at the end of this diet? More importantly, what are you planning to do post Paleo? Continue with the Paleo, start a zone diet maybe?

As for me, my plan is that on 1st November I am going to go berserk and enjoy the day with my friends who are amazing because they are all wanting to celebrate my end of Paleo diet with me. I have even planned out what I am going to have for breakfast that day.

Cereal
Bacon & eggs
sausages
Waffles
Toast with Peanut Butter and Kaya!!!

But on Monday (2nd Nov) I am back on Paleo/zone hybrid. I am going to continue eating and living healthily with some occasions of enjoying the pleasures of life. So what's going to happen Paleo Pals? What are your post Paleo plans?

P.S. a note to Paleo Pals who drink coffee. Try to cut down ok? Suppose to drink in moderation (check out the foods to consume in moderation). Here is a coffee substitute =)

It gets harder as it gets easier

2009-10-19T11:03:00.002+08:00

You guys feeling me?

Have You?

2009-10-18T14:40:00.002+08:00

Dear Paleo Pals,

Have you taken your before, during and after photos yet?
I did, on Day 3, 8 and 18.
Noted slight changes in my waistline and stomach.
Besides weighing scale and measurements, photo is perhaps another great tool for you to monitor and observe your own changes.

If you have not taken any photo so far, quick, grab your camera and snap a photo of yours today.

karen ^.^

Going Nuts

2009-10-18T06:44:00.004+08:00

I am wondering is my Paleo Pals have this in store as well =)

Journey so far . . .

2009-10-17T21:42:00.003+08:00

Paleo for me has been all about . . . .

1. nuts

2. seeds

3. raisins

4. change of habit eg. food I eat , when I eat

5. Reading - lots and lots of it

6. PUTTING ON 10kgs.

Thats all. Easy Peasy Paleo-lsy.

How's it going

2009-10-17T17:59:00.004+08:00

Some people at PushMore have been asking us Paleo Pals how's paleo going and how does it feel. Here's a chronology of my thoughts, challenges, emotions & learnings

Day 1 - 2

Didn't know what to eat
Lethargic, very lethargic
Constantly hungry
Ate a lot of fruits (bananas, apples, pears, papaya)
Ate lots of dried fruits and nuts
Felt weird eating so much fruits, normally at the most I'd only have 1 serving of fruits. But most of the time I wouldn't even eat fruits.
Coffee without milk and sugar? OMG

Day 3 - 7

Energy bounced back to normal and remained almost constant throughout the day.
Felt very sick of eating fish almost every day.
Challenging to figure out what to eat.
Realized that I'm changing a habit. eg: Instead of fixing a sandwich in the morning, I'd eat fruits and nuts. Instead of having rice or noodles, I would double up my veggies and meat. But still couldn't get the amount right and still felt weird after meals.
Tummy felt like it shrunk a lot.
Felt pretty optimistic about the 30 day challenge.
Trying out all different types of fruits which I never tried such as peaches and passion fruits.
Hungry every hour. So I have to keep eating fruits every hour.
Happy to have successfully cooked new dishes such as steamed fish, fried fish, etc.
Coffee without milk and sugar? OMG

Day 8 - 14

Energy still remained high and constant throughout the day.
Decided to pace out my workout days to alternate days so that I don't tire out too much and also to save time on travelling.
Sick and tired of Paleo
Wanted to quit a few times a day
Fed up of cooking my own meals
Grumpy that there are so many things I couldn't eat
Lots of cravings for coffee with milk, chocolate, cheesecake, soy milk.
Depressed walking pass the processed food aisle
Appalled by how expensive eating out Paleo style is
Discovered that durian is in session and that durian is of course, paleo!
Big binge out session on durian which made me stop having cravings and feel much better...
Coffee without milk and sugar? OMG

Day 15 - 17

Figured out the right proportions for meals, so they are feeling more complete as the days go by.
Realized I need to understand how to portion out my meals and snacks so that I don't over compensate and feel like crap (too full).
Ok, I'm greedy.
Tummy doesn't feel so shrunken anymore, in fact feel kinda bloated at times (hence the over compensation realization).
Making an effort to read up about nutrition and make sure I have a balanced intake of food throughout the day.
Ok I'm going to stop buying durians.
Excited to try and cook new dishes. Good thing I'm cooking faster these days.
Coffee without milk and sugar is feeling less OMG.

Want to try Paleo?

The best way I find to start is to decide and commit to 30 days. It is a lot easier once you've made a commitment rather than trying for just a meal or just a day.

Do I need to prepare yourself?

1 trip to the grocery shop should be enough to prepare yourself.

Also, keep yourself surrounding by supportive people (such as us Paleo Pals). It helps a lot!

Hope this helps you decide on whether your want go try Paleo or not.

Dinner on Day 15.

2009-10-16T10:53:00.008+08:00

Our team went out for dinner last night..
@ Brussels Beer Cafe, Jaya One.

The food here is really good! (Of course anything anti-Paleo is YUMMY!!) Pork knuckles were excellent! We ordered 2 of them to be shared...and it wasn't enough to satisfy all of us. So we ordered a few more dishes. We had some bacon rolls, fried processed seafood platter (with a mountain of fries), salads, soups as the center pool.

Anyway, here are some pictures for your viewing.... Just imagine HOW GOOD IT TASTES!!! :)

Curry Clams with pork, Sauteed Mushrooms, Pork Knuckles

Pork Knuckles, Meatball Stew

Grilled Honey Salmon

Brownie & Ice Cream

The first law of dietetics seems to be: if it tastes good, it's bad for you.

~Isaac Asimov

Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better.

~Robert Redford

I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian!

~Anonymous

READ UP

2009-10-16T10:51:00.003+08:00

Paleo Pals:

Here are some good links :

1. Testimonial after paleo challenge for 30 days: http://crossfitmaximus.com/2009/10/paleo-testimony-jeff-wolfe/

2. Regarding cheat meals and the mentality towards it. http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/2009/10/12/cheat-meals/

3. Interesting read. Perhaps some recipes or some sort that would help you : http://www.thesaladgirl.com

Dating a Paleo Pal

2009-10-14T11:03:00.006+08:00

GUEST BLOG ENTRY BY

THE "SUPPORTIVE" BOYFRIEND

When Ms Z decided to go on the Paleo diet some 2 weeks back, my stand was simple - be supportive. After all, ~~losing weight~~ eating healthier is always a good option!

However, looking at the strict Paleo diet requirements sort of set my expectations that it would be a challenging month ahead.

Firstly, no coffee, dairy or soy. That's pretty much 80% of Ms Z's staple diet, being a fish-vegetarian!

Haiyoh... what's she gonna survive on, love and passion? Pulling out staples from your forehead would be less painful.

--

Fast forward to our first "date" during Ms Z's Paleo Pal challenge. We decided on The Curve, since there are plenty of restaurants there that would -probably- make selection easier.

I went with a decent stomach - not hungry, expecting that we could take our time to look for a decent restaurant. And boy did it take A WHILE!

We walked from shop to shop, one floor to the next, up and down, flipping at every menu to see if there was something that Cavegirl could eat.

Asian was out as every dish was rice or noodles. Italian was a no-no - too much cheese and carby stuff. No Western either - the meat's either deep fried or of the poultry variety that Ms Z doesn't eat.

I was getting hungry then, and that means a grumpy, pissy boy. So too, was Ms Z.

In the end we decided on Winter Warmers, a restaurant we rejected earlier because Cavegirl said "it sucked". She eventually ordered some fish fillets. There was a quartet playing nearby, and we both sat down quietly, drowning our sorrows in the sounds of the band.

Dinner was good, but maybe we'll do our next date in December :-)

--

Lessons learnt:

Unless both couples are on the diet, or one of the partners fully understand the idea - strict paleos can be damaging to relationships. Not only is it a very anti-social meal, it's also tremendously difficult to sit down together on a dinner table without cracking your head on the menu!
It's hard to find a restaurant that offers meals on strict paleo terms. Even harder if the person, like Ms Z, eats no other meat apart from fish!
Like all things in life, there are 2 sides to a story. In my second article, I'll describe the good things that Ms Z's paleo experience has given us.

Day 14!

2009-10-14T09:46:00.004+08:00

Great news! We're closing in on the mid-month! Yay! :)

Still remember the first few days when everyone was pretty much trying to fit more food into the tummy to satisfy hunger pangs. Hunger was the buzzer in our heads. (Bet "hungry" won the Guiness Book of Thoughts record in October).

We only realise that it is a sign that our body is in "shock" because it has never been deprived of sugar of that magnitude. This is also a sign of how much we unknowingly feed our bodies with sugar! Yikes!

Little realisations of the past few days:

I have to eat so much more protein to last till next meal. (2 chicken keels + 2 fruits = perfect!)
It's easier to eat wiser when alone. Colleagues & friends make it 'difficult' to say no to non-paleo food. Have been through 3 wedding dinners over the weekend and it's a mouthful trying to explain! Try explaining to aunties why you can't eat a pau for breakfast!! Haha!
Expenses increasing this month on food that I'm thinking of rearing chickens in my garden and breeding fish in my backyard.
I feel 'lighter', 'lifted' and estatic! Wheeeeeeeeee! :D
I've eaten more fruits these 2 weeks than any other 2 weeks in my life! Averaging 4-5 fruits a day man. We should own an orchard guys. Sure wax & pesticide-free!

I am looking forward to next week when I can start preparing my meals easily. And I can head to the morning markets and become a price haggler.. and get myself the best meat cuts at the best prices... and fresh fruits! Who knows, the fruit sellers might just throw in an extra 1-2 fruits for bulk purchases.. Haha. :)

Till then,

Bon appetite, mes amies!

"Nothing tastes as good as slim is going to feel"

Hungry for processed foods

2009-10-13T23:31:00.008+08:00

The Paleo bunch (and Pushmore bunch) are a positive bunch, I've gotta give them that. That's always lots of optimism and good spirit going around.

Even on this Paleo diet, everyone have been raving about how great it is. But lets talk about some harsh realities around the Paleo diet...

Here's a round up of the bad, the good and the future.

Why it's getting harder

Eating out Paleo style is expensive because I have to order side dishes. On an average, it costs me over RM20 per meal in a foodcourt to have fish and vegs.
Cooking at home is time consuming (it's fun, but takes a lot of time). Not just the act of cooking, but buying stuff and cleaning up.
Grocery shopping is tough. All the processed food looks so delicious and EASY to make.
Feeling full on Paleo (plus being fishytarian) is tough. I have to eat almost every 2 hours to keep hunger pangs away. Now, that's a lot of jaw work going on.
My dates have been pretty depressing. The Boyfriend will guest blog about it soon.
It's getting harder because it has been 13 days and there are 17 more days to go...

Why it's good

Never feeling the terrible sleepy and lethargic feeling after a carb load
Discovering new fruits as I try to diversify my meals/snacks.
Learning how to cook lots and lots of things (steam fish, fried fish, baked fish, lotus root, pumpkin), since eating out is so tough.
Feeling great motivation during workouts to do better.
Feeling great during workouts.
I think I'm getting a waist. Watch out, dangerous curves ahead!!

The big question

The big question we Paleo Pals have been asking each other is - can we keep this up after 30 days?

On good days I think after going through all this, it seems like a waste to go back to grains and start from scratch.

On bad days I think, OMG I WANT SOME DAMN DEEP FRIED GRAINS!! RICE, BREAD, MILK, SOYMILK, YOGURT friggin hell gimme all of it!!!!!!

Some say, stay Paleo but have cheat days such as over the weekend where we can eat crap. I think doing that would be harder than this 30 days challenge cause it would feel like starting over every time after the cheat days.

Oh well, we have 17 more days to ponder about this.

Anyway, here are some pictures to leave you with, from the first weekend going Paleo - I cleaned up my kitchen, putting the non-Paleo stuff out of sight and making space for fresh fruits and vegetables.

BEFORE

AFTER. Note how the instant coffee mixes are on the top shelf now.

Hello happy paleo food...

Reflective times

2009-10-13T22:18:00.006+08:00

A good paleo meal back then when we opened fast...

We ate half of chicken farm if i could recall.. plus everyone's fart smelt damn smelly the day after...

I have the most amazing friend ever...

2009-10-12T06:13:00.008+08:00

I just spent an internetless weekend with brother Jason in London. He is settling in well just some issues with getting a phone and internet going. Anyway my purpose of going to London was to see Jason and for my friend's birthday.

Jie actually joined pushmore for a while and hit morning sessions but after injuring himself in the lower back he was out. So I helped him out this weekend with some light and easy exercises to get back into it. This weekend was his girlfriend's birthday and we had a potluck for dinner. I spoke to Jie on thursday night and told him all about Paleo diet and he understood and didn't even question me about it. The one thing Jie and myself have most in common is our interest in food. We love to cook and really appreciate the fine foods of life. Knowing that I was on a Paleo diet, Jie surprised me that night by actually cooking the food the Paleo way. Let me show you....

Jie and Me

Curry Lamb

Roast Beef

The whole night people were bugging me to drink and my best buddy Jie even tanked for me. So all I can say is thanks Jie for being understanding and for being the friend that we all need =)

Karenatron Bites

2009-10-12T03:36:00.011+08:00

First of all, i truly respect and appreciate my fellow paleo pals who consistently write and share their thoughts, recipes, research, experiences on a daily basis. Some of you even have more than 1 blog, like John-son, John-hans, Jonson, Orange Shoe, and Ms Z, and Mr. Paleozone Cris .
Well..... ok.... all other paleo pals have more than 1 blog except me. Hey guys, don't you need to work? study? do your assignment? or exams? or projects? How on earth you guys write so much and so frequent?

I ain't much of a blogger or writer myself. I run out of ideas even at the end of Day 11. Why is it so hard to share anymore? Have i run out of idea? Have i got tired of it? or.......?

After much thoughts, i know.... because i am finally fine with it. I get used to my morning black coffee routine, i am fine not fuelling myself with grains, dairy and sugar which i used to, i am not surprised arriving at a restaurant and find nothing suits the paleo fave, i get used to feeling half full at any eateries only to be fed with more fruits and nuts afterwards. One important lesson that i learned last friday - 'You don't even think about it. Like you don't eat beef, thus, you don't think about it. Same goes to the food which you can't eat now, you just simply don't think about it.' Thanks to JW for sharing this. I can't agree more at this moment.

Meanwhile, if u follow my food list, it won't take u long to notice that i hardly cook or eat at home. A habit that i picked up through years of working around the clock, rushing for deadlines and meeting boss demands (ahem!). After having exposed to outside food for years, i truly believe that one can consume healthy meals and maintain healthy diet if one selects the types of food carefully.

So, here i am, feeling contented at current Day 11, just simply share with you some nice and healthy dishes that i ate for the past 3 days.

Steamed cod fish with ginger, spring onion and wolfberries
Blanched ladies fingers

Mix green salad with egg and tofu (no consumption of tofu and dressing)
BBQ Satay lilit

Salmon with brocolli, cucumber and zucchini

For Monday Morning

2009-10-12T01:03:00.004+08:00

Just something for Monday Morning. Proud of you Friends. Paleo is slowly becoming us.

Today's going to be a good day. This month, even better. Our lives....great.

Paleo Breath

2009-10-11T11:40:00.014+08:00

When we first went Paleo I was a little worried about having cavewoman's breath. In my case it'll be like a garlicy-fishy stank.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I normally carry mentos or some form of mint in my bag and typically take them after I have a cup of coffee or before a meeting (or if there's a cute guy in the gym).

When we took on this 30 days challenge, I threw my synthetic sugar thing out and felt sadly doomed with cavewoman's breath. Then I remembered the fennel seeds that Indian restaurants usually offer at the counter for customers to chew on to freshen up their breath. (image on left from here)

Here are some other great benefits (and image) of fennel seeds other than as a breath freshener, which I got from this site.

Medicinal Uses
Fennel is commonly used as a digestive aid. Fennel is known to be a remedy for gas, indigestion, heartburn, and irritable bowel syndrome.
A tea made with a few fresh sprigs of fennel or a teaspoon of seeds will relieve indigestion.
Fennel is an effective treatment for respiratory congestion and is a common ingredient in cough remedies.
A tea made from fennel helps to stimulate the flow of breast milk

Other Uses
It used as a mouth freshener by Indians who often chew fennel seed as a mouth-freshener.
Fennel is also used as a flavoring in some natural toothpastes.

Yesterday I was looking for some spices in the little grocer store in my apartment complex and found that they sold fennel seeds, 1 small pack for only RM 1. I bought it and will be carrying it in a little tin with me.

So Paleo Pals, get some fennel seeds now and impress your date, colleagues/ peers or that hot guy/gal in the gym with your healthy fresh breath!

(image from here)

Honesty is the best policy

2009-10-11T11:17:00.002+08:00

Hey pals ! found a very interesting article from stumptous.com

Check it out ! I am sure you guys will find it inspiring...

Click ME

Recipes: Carrot noodles, nut butter & coconut milk shake

2009-10-10T18:37:00.004+08:00

I was so happy when The Housemate got back earlier this week & started to help feed me Paleo food.

Here are some stuff she did up with some simple how to instructions:

Banana Avocado Coconut milk shake

* Paleo diet doesn't allow fruits juices cause it doesn't have fiber & has high glycemic index. But since the whole fruit is dumped into the shake, I figured it should be alright.

My breakfast on Day 7 after swimming

Normally I'd make banana avocado shake with yogurt, which is absolutely divine. But since we can't take yogurt, coconut milk was used to replace it.

Ingredients:

1 banana (or 2 if they are small)

1/2 an avocado

Add small amounts of coconut milk and water until you get a blend you like.

Do I like it? Still prefer having it with yogurt, though The Housemate loves it with coconut milk more.

Carrot noodles

*The Housemate scavenged for vegs in the fridge and came up with this 'accidental recipe'

Ingredients:

Shredded carrot

Avocado cubes

Sesame seeds

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar *technically not very Paleo, but since it's naturally fermented from grapes, am closing an eye to this.

Make sure you shred your carrot shreds long (like noodles), then add the other ingredients and mix.

Do I like it? Like The Colleague said, it taste like pasta. Which is great if any of the Paleo Pals are craving for pasta. Personally am not a big fan of balsamic vinegar so if I make it next time I will replace it with lime juice.

Paleo Mooncake

Technically it's nut paste with banana, but The Housemate had some mooncake the other day and claimed that it taste pretty much alike!

Since I can't have my dessert fixes, this (and durian) have become the replacement for my sweet tooth :-)

Ingredients:

Banana

Mixed nuts (whatever you have available)

Mixed seeds (whatever you have available) *The Housemate recommends sesame seed which gives it extra flavor

Olive oil

Grind the nuts and seeds to a powder form. Add a little olive oil till it has a nice paste like texture.

Paleo pals can eat it with bananas or even on its own. Others can have it with bread.

Do I like it? I HEART IT. It's orgasmic. To be honest, the first time I tried it - my taste buds were a bit suspicious about the nutty butter taste which is less sweeter than my regular peanut butter. But after trying it a couple of times, I'm addicted. Seriously a must try!

I want to be the biggest PALEO BEAST !

2009-10-09T22:31:00.004+08:00

Here is an article on eating hybrid style to gain mass (GASP ,nope not weight or fat, MASS there is a difference).

HERE MY PALEO PALS

BIG CLICK FOR BIG BOD (this goes to my blog, click on the article link under nutrition=P)

Day 9 - I feel good

2009-10-09T14:21:00.005+08:00

Today is Day 9 of our Paleo diet. Good news keep coming from dear paleo pals

(1) Ms Z: finding herself more energetic and even hit 2 wods in an evening, provided she has swam during the day!

(2) Jonson: hitting new PR of deadlifting 319lbs!

(3) Ms Orange Shoe: new PR of pressing 16kg!

(4) John Brothers: 'the ultra fit brothers' - quote from The Star, won the Race with glory finish!

(5) Paleo Zone guru Cris: achieved his PR of deadlifting 330lbs!

(6) Myself: 5km PR: 29min 40sec

To all my comrades, keep up with the good work, we can do it! xoxo
Thats what we used to eat during NOI. No longer during these 30 days and we feel good not eating them! ^.^

Paleo Zone, Or Paleo Or Zone?

2009-10-09T08:46:00.005+08:00

Thanks guys for inviting me to blog here.

I remember when I first heard the term "zone diet". When I started crossfitting, I started by working out as hard as my body could take it, without knowing much about a good eating habit. I just drank alot of aprotein shake and cereals & milk. However, that didn't help alot on maintaining a good weight. So, I started to learn about zone dieting. At first it was greek to me, later I started to understand what the @#%!@#$ are this blocks is all about. Then I started measuring my meals - one measuring cup, one kitchen weighting machine. I was measuring my milk, weighting meat, and as well as oats and stuff like that.

After about 2 weeks of measuring, I realise I don't have to measure anything as I already knew how to estimate. Then there on, it took of by itself. However, I started off feeling very lethargic all the time. Every meal wasn't enough for me, I keep feeling hungry. And when I do feel hungry, I'll drink milk.

After bout 4 weeks of zoning, my body started to get adjusted to the diet. I realised that I CANNOT miss a meal. Even for snack, else I'll get weak. 5 meals a day = 3 main, 2 snack. A main meal can last me for 5 hrs, 6 hrs max. Snack can last me for 3 hrs max. 3 months after zoning, I was too thin. Like freaking 71kgs thin (I'm 75kgs now). I was wondering what I did wrong. Then I did some research and realised this is normal. This is when they play around with the blocks, finding the sweet spot. So I increased my blocks from 4 to 5 blocks for each intake besides fats which that was multiplied by 2 (4 x 2 = 8 blocks). Then I started gaining, but however not alot.

As u guys know, I work on weird shift. And this shift actually affects my performance on working out cause I had always readjust to different sleeping time. My pattern is all over the place and body had to keep adjusting and this somehow affected my performance and recovery.

The whole thing about zoning and paleo-ing. It's about lifestyle & habit. Change your lifestyle (the food we eat), and you'll see gains. Both physically and mentally. I hate the feeling I get after eating rice/bread/noodles. It makes me feel lethargic which makes me smoke more. So zoning/paleo makes me feel good after everryy meal. EVERY MEAL.

Today's menu :

Breakfast (non-paleo)
4 scramble eggs
a bowl of oats + 24 almonds

Lunch (Paleo zone)
150 grams of steam chicken breast (cooked in a microwave oven for 5mins)
1 head iceberg lettuce
24 almonds

Snack (non-paleo)
1/2 cup plain yoghurt
6 almonds

Dinner (Paleo zone)
Same as lunch :P

Inbetween breakfast and lunch there lies a cup of black coffee :P

New personal Record....

2009-10-09T05:03:00.002+08:00

Check it out Paleo Pals... New PR for deadlift...

"Deadlift for PR"

*Increase weight for each rep to attain max weight.

1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Jonson.T (253,264,286,308,319,319,319)

My last PR was 250lbs and that was on the 16th of September!!!

I love Paleo Pals, I love Paleo Diet and I LOVE Pushmore!!!

Thinking about food

2009-10-09T03:45:00.016+08:00

Since we've been spending a good 1 week carefully selecting our food and trying to make sure we have a healthy and balanced meal, I would like to invite all of us to take some time to feel thankful for the bountiful food available to us.

I've actually only starting cooking for myself this year because I spent last year travelling a lot and since we were living communally, I was taught how to cook. Besides that, this year I also started living in an apartment with a very equipped kitchen at my disposal.

The one thing that struck me when I started cooking for myself, was the amount of food available to us at any time.

Last year I was travelling with a small group and we stayed in the village for as long as 1 week at a time. We could buy our rations of canned food and fresh vegetables in the not-so-nearby town on the way in. By the 2-3rd day, all the fresh vegetables would had been consumed (or else they would rot, since we don't have a fridge).

Thereafter we would either hope for the villagers to give or sell us vegetables, or collect greens in the communal spots (typically, tapioca leaves & a type of fern). Whatever vegetable available would depend on whether it's "ripe" to be plucked from the gardens, or whatever meat would depend on if the villagers had luck hunting.

Vegetables for dinner...

Clearly we did not have the luxury of choosing what vegetables or meat we want (unless it's from a can). Eggs were also hard to come by as the little makeshift grocery shop in the village runs out of it quite fast.

Fishing in the pond. I remember this made delicious soup, despite its muddy origins...

I remember the excitement if someone joins the group between the 4th-6th day, bringing along fresh vegetables on their way in from town. Never had carrots and tomatoes brought me so much excitement and happiness.

Neighbor's chicken being slaughtered

Here in the city, I feel spoilt for choice. I'm guilty of making broccoli my staple vegetable. When I started cooking for myself, I had a startling realization that every damn time I went to the supermarkets, I could get broccoli. This struck me with amazement at how organized production of vegetables are in order to provide us city folk, every single day, with broccoli.

Bringing home the bacon

I'm not sure if I agree on the environmental cost (large scale agriculture which decreases forested land and forced relocation native people) or the human cost (low wage for farmers in order for us to have cheap greens) - but while we're in the system, lets be aware of the amount of effort it took for us to be able to choose and plan our Paleo meals. We need not be tormented by the food we are not suppose to consume if we always think of how wonderful it is to always have all types of vegetables and meat available to us, at all times.

I'll end this blog post wishing us another happy Paleo day and sharing an interesting Ted video on How Food Shapes our Cities.

Let's Go Organic

2009-10-08T22:44:00.022+08:00

Visited this organic restaurant 3 times during these 8 days of my paleo diet? What is so special about it? Hmmm... let's see:-

1. It's ORGANIC and healthy
2. I'm on paleo
3. It's near my house
4. It's tasty and nice

Always order the same dishes when i visit them:- vegetarian sushi or vegetarian dumpling soup (let's ignore the minute starchy dumpling skin here, shall we?)

Organic vegetarian sushi

My all time favourite - Organic vegetarian dumpling soup

Pay a visit to this restaurant if you come to Subang. It's worth it. The Star covered them sometime back. Click here.

Meanwhile, i was on little dinner feast these few days as i have guest from overseas. Tried to do paleo as much as i could. I tried my best.

Some of the nice food that i've tasted this week:-

Smoked Duck Breast with Lettuce and Green Apple

Poached Egg with Mushroom in Balsamic Vinegar Sauce

Thanks to Ms Z who reminded me to post a hi-tea that i drooled over right in front of me this afternoon.

Goals & Aims

2009-10-08T18:46:00.002+08:00

It has been a while since I put up anything on this site but I think this is long overdue for me. It's been in my head for about a week to post this up.

Why I decided to Paleo Diet?

To prove to myself that I can live a healthy and balance life eventhough I am living in UK.
That I will not fall into the UK blues (I did so last year and got fat).
To grow mentally & physically stronger.
To cleanse my body/detox.
To bond, support, encourage and grow with my brothers and sisters of Pushmore.
To lose weight (to get below 80kg) [I achieved this yesterday, I am now 77.2kg].
To get my abs showing.

So why dont you all tell me why you decided to join this paleo diet? What do you hope to achieve at the end of it?

A PREVIEW ....

2009-10-08T01:40:00.003+08:00

So here is my first contribution to this blog in wake of the coming 9th of October..... Damn..

here is a rough guide to those who are doing a hybrid.

CLICK

***********

What are my goals of following this diet ?

To survive
To maintain current weight despite fast
to maintain optimal performance during WODs while doing the liquid paleo hybrid diet
To experiment with this particular diet combo

What I wish to see (dreams)

Muscle gains and finally a smiling 8 packs

Well Here we go !

Comrade/Private John-Son Reporting in XOXO

Persistence and Results

2009-10-07T13:07:00.005+08:00

Many people asked the bonus question : 'Why are you going on a diet?'
To which the reply was "To see if I can last 30 days."

I wasn't really concerned about what i'll eat, but more of whether I will last 30 days... which I think would be no problem as there was a bunch of people who were in the same boat. Support helps!

Everyone would be able to diet. But the discipline, mental drive and physical adaptation would be a huge challenge to most. Most dieters fail in achieving their goals due lack of support/understanding from the people around them. (Tell me if you agree/disagree with this.)

Firstly, everyday we are blessed to have convenient access to food. I mean, even in office, the gastronomical briberies happen everyday...before lunch..after lunch...3pm...5pm... keropok, chips, airport chocolates and hometown kuihs... and soon most skinny beans turns into the guy in Gamer... (if you've watched Gamer, you'd know who I'm referring about). Outside, anyone can pick up a decent meal that has bountiful carbs and extreme sugar levels. Just think McDs. What in the caveman world can you obtain? a raw piece of chicken perhaps... Reality? It's eat fried chicken or die. Choose.

So, how does one train the mind to "stick with the plan"? What do you tell yourself to withstand the hunger pangs ever hour? ("tahan..tahan..tahannnnn... ok cannot...i need fruits!")How do you 'discipline' the mind?

Secondly, in order to go through this plan, you must have an end in mind, thanks to Stephen Covey. What drives you? (Not Caltex obviously) What do you want to have in 30 days? How would you feel? Would your eating traits change?

Finally, at the end of 30 days...all of us may have turned into savagely ravenous monsters and autobots that would be craving for sugar...or not. Our bodies will adapt based on our minds' instructions. Perhaps, our blood sugar levels would be super optimum that our doctors make us the "perfect blood sugar example". Perhaps, we would have so much knowledge about food and our bodies that we can control between a food need or a desire(cravings). The mind is a freaking strong thing that heads you in your desired path, subconsciously... no play play!

Coming to the mid day of Day 7 now...I'm already thinking what to eat on 31st October 2009.

I know my Crunch bar in my freezer is waiting for me...

**************************

Highlight For Today.

"eat me...eat me...eat me..."

Day 4-6: Reality show

2009-10-07T09:55:00.004+08:00

I've gotten comments from non-Paleo Pals that it's fun reading the Paleo Pal blog cause it's like a reality show. Really? That's awesome, thanks!

Have not been able to update on a day to day basis, but here's a summary:

Breakfast (normally considered lunch cause I wake up late):

Mixture of fruits, chopping into cubes.

Pre-gym/yoga

Fruits, nuts, fruits, nuts, fruits, nuts

Lunch/ Dinner

Lots of mix veggies

1-2 portion of Fish (usually only for either lunch OR dinner)

* Generally have been sticking to the 1 egg a day quota

Like Orange Shoes, I feel great as well. Only thing is I get hungry really fast so throughout the afternoon I'm eating fruits/nuts almost every hour.

When I did Helen on Day 5 which had a running component, I was quite surprised that I could run the 400m without feeling winded. When I first started running, I would stop to walk by 150m (?) (at Restaurant Media). Over the last couple of months I've been able to run without stopping but with lots and lots of concentration on my breathing and mentally coaching myself not to stop.

So I was quite amazed on Day 5 that after running 400m, it felt as if I hardly ran.

Now, I hate running for various reasons. Firstly, I'm a little heavier on top than most gals so it makes me feel quite self conscious to run. Secondly, when I run I feel as if my skin is tearing around the thigh and waist area, which makes it very itchy. I know it's a weird condition.

I always say the only way I would run is if there's a good looking guy running in front of me and a mad rabid dog chasing me from behind. Now that's quite a rare combination with the latter being more often the case.

Image from here

After sticking out at Pushmore for some time, I slowly started to do the WODs with the running component cause, well, what the heck I guess it's a good skill to pick up. And since very often there's a dude with a tight ass running ahead of me which at least gives some gawd-damn motivation (though they run so fast, I always end up running on my own anyway....).

I think generally I've been gradually building stamina, but I guess this Paleo thing could had given a little extra push with the Helen WOD. Yay!

Day 6: Almost A Week!

2009-10-06T23:55:00.005+08:00

It's close to 7 days now and I am pretty happy with my food intake though I'm losing a fair bit of weight. No, I didn't change my shorts to M so that my thighs would look smaller! Neither did I go tanning to make my body look smaller!

Meals today were pretty spread out but pretty lopsided in terms of nutrition I must admit.

Breakfast :

830am - 1 Nectarine
9:30am - 1 Nectarine

Lunch :

1 svg Chicken & Charsiew (with a view of Lor-bak, ice kacang, yee meen and curry pork)
1 pear

Tea : 1 peach

Dinner :

1 portion fish
1 portion cabbage + ladies fingers
1 pear

But on the whole - I feel good! GREAT!

I did today's workout with no intention to lift 16kgs. Never in my whole entire life I could strict press a 16kg cowbell!!! It was just TOO heavy. Maybe now that I am heavier on the muskles side I can lift more.

Well - I did it! A couple of times on the right, and the occasional "1" on the left. It felt good, I felt strong, but no doubt it was so bloody heavy that my veins were popping out like cendol stripes on my forearms.

The push presses and push jerks were terrible cos my wrist wasn't strong enough to hold on to a heavy weight for a long time...darn the resting periods...Thanks to the guys who were just laughing the whole time..made the torturous workout enjoyable. *Oblique cramps? :p*

Well, I must say, I do start my workouts with a pretty good feel of strength. I just feel I would have ample energy to fuel my workout well, and not burnout before the workout is over! As long as my brains are intact when I get to Pushmore then I guess I'll be OK :)

Alright Paleo Pals! Stay strong in to the completion of the 1st week! We are doing just great and with our new teammates on board, lets make this even more fun & enjoyable!

Paleobiotics! Lead the way!!!!

Good links

2009-10-06T13:34:00.002+08:00

Here are two good crossfit affliates that post up daily recipes. I suggest bookmarking them in reference to recipes when you cannot decide what to cook or run out of ideas! They are simple and easy to make recipes. Check it out!!

1. Crossfit Balboa
2. Crossfit Lalanne Fitness

Enjoy friends and keep it up!

Day 5 Progress

2009-10-06T12:57:00.005+08:00

Day 5

(1) Breakfast

- Black coffee (yuck again)
- freshly squeezed apple + bittergourd + orange juice (which i found that it is not allowed in Paleo?! What?! I am falling into depression now)

(2) Lunch

- Sounds of Havana Salad (Capsicum, avocado, cucumber and chicken) from Marmalade, Bangsar Village II
(Picture taken from someone's blog. The current salad size is smaller).

(3) Snack post work out

- 1 red apple, 1 kiwi

(4) Dinner

- Red Rosted Cod (with watercrest salad on the side) from Senses, KL Hilton
- 1 glass of Red and White wine each (this is the highlight of my diet so far! Trust me, i checked the amount first before i indulged in it. Thanks to JW and Cris for searching out the allowable quantity in the evening. You guys made my day! Whee!!)
- fruits platter for desserts

I suppose that the Cod is somehow cooked with some butter as i feel slight bloated after eating. Nonetheless, i suppose when one is doing business dinner, it is better not to sound to weird in ordering the food. Curious stare is the least that i need from my business guest.

*my cravings for dessert have reduced some how. yeay! little improvement karen *pad on my shoulder* ^.^

Recipe - Coffee with Coconut Milk

2009-10-05T00:04:00.013+08:00

For the longest time, the only thing that gave me the will to wake up most mornings was the promise of a good cup of coffee. Preferably iced Chek Hup 2in1 coffee.. aahh... divine!

Since this Paleo diet does not allow processed food (no instant coffee, mate!), no sugar (gasp!), no dairy (gasp! gasp!!) - us coffee lovers feel a little jilted. In search of some reminsience of our coffee drinking days, here's an alternative to black coffee.

Coffee with Coconut Milk

1. Choosing coconut milk

I looked for coconut milk in Tesco and found many brands. Most of them cost between RM 1.60 - RM 2.00. Be careful of those labeled extra healthy cause they add stuff in it. Or, you could get it fresh from your local grocer.

Not sure how expensive coconut milk in the UK is. But as I understand, our UK Paleo counterparts are not big coffee drinkers. Lucky you!

2. Adding coconut milk to your coffee

Add about 2 teaspoons, or more depending on how strong your coffee is and how your tastebuds like it.

The coconut milk will not dissolve like milk. Like the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy says, "Don't Panic!" Give it a good stir and it will.

3. Drinking your coffee

Make sure you give your coffee a stir between sips because if left for a while the coconut milk will kinda float up.

So, brace yourself, make that cup of coffee and down it!

Breaking the habit

Since we're on the topic of coffee, I've never thought of quiting coffee because - why would I want to stop drinking coffee if it makes me feel so good?

From local coffee to nescafe, canned nescafe (during uni days) and now to white coffee - I would normally take 2-3 cups a day. Without caffeine, I would get a headache by noon or late afternoon.

I take coffee to feel awake, I take it when I'm nervous or stressed about something, I take it to feel good, I take it before workouts to get that nice tingly buzz that gives me the energy and high...

A week before starting the Paleo-diet, I decided to stop taking the 2in1 instant coffee. I did not realize how much crap they put in it until one day, out of boredom I read the ingredients and having thought about it for some time, I decided it's not worth it. So I replaced it with pressed coffee with milk (no or minimal sugar), which is great as well.

Ingredients: Non dairy creamer - glucose syrup, palm kernel oil, sodium caseinate, stabilizer (E340, E4521), Emulsifier (E471, E472e), anticaking agent (E551) + Instant white coffee

Since the Paleo diet started, I've only be able to drink a cup of black coffee a day - with much difficulty. It certainly taste a lot different than with milk. At Day 4, I drank only 1/3 of a cup and yet I feel fine. I feel normal!

So it appears that I'm not as addicted to caffeine as I thought I was, or it might had just been the milk/sugar/stuff that's in it!!

p.s: Can't say adding coconut milk is making it any easier for me to drink it. Don't know about the rest of you. I guess you might like it if you like cendol... :-)

Day 3 - Challenges Every Meal

2009-10-04T12:18:00.010+08:00

My dear Paleo Pals, the past 3 days have been an adventure to me, and i truly believe to all of you as well.

What are the challenges i've faced these 3 days?

Day 1 and Day 2 Challenge

My appetite has been under constant cravings for sweets. I craved for chocolate, ice cream, cakes, after every single meal. It felt like drug addicts constantly look forward to another dosage. The cravings were so bad that i kept munching nuts to feed the desire. It set me thinking how much sugar i had consumed over the past few years.

Day 3 Challenge

(1) Breakfast

I no longer look forward to my coffee in the morning. It used to be the highlight of my day, it used to brighten up my mornings (or afternoons as i wake up quite late at times). I was used to sipping my coffee slowly (in fear of finishing it too fast that i can't savour every single sip) while going through my emails, news, wods, to-do-list, thinking, ahhhhh... what a wonderful day it is. Since i started this paleo diet, the coffee experience has been, less than enjoyable. I do not look forward to my second cup, AT ALL. Period.

(2) Lunch

Luncheons were usually meat with vege (if i have working luncheon) or organic meals (if i eat around my neighbourhood). Thanks to the support i have from Eddie, cousin and family, they have been really understanding and supportive of my paleo diet.

Having said that, yesterday was the mid-autumn festival. It's our family practice that we have vegetarian for lunch especially on 1st day and 15th day every month. What were the dishes that were served during lunch?

- curry vege
- vegetarian char siew (starch)
- vegetarian goose (i think, just remember some deep fried stuff, anyway, starch again)

I looked at the dishes in dismay. In the end, pinched some vege from the oily curry paste, then, just had uncooked lettuce leaves and 2 egg whites for lunch.

(3) Snack

So far, snacks have been filled with fruits and nuts. LOTS OF THEM. Gone with the days where i had Grande Skinny Latte, almond biscotti or marble cheesecakes, or ice cream, or yoghurt for snacks.

(4) Dinner

Mid-autumn festival's dinner left me speechless.

- curry chicken
- fried chicken
- fried fish
- stewed pork
- hokkien mee
- glutinous rice
- vege (my life saviour, finally!!)

The above dishes were my dad's favourite, and my aunt cooked the above to celebrate his return from a 3-weeks business trip in China. Without much protest (which i normally do), I fed myself with lots of vege, 2 tiny pieces of curry chicken and few pieces of fish. Then ended with 1 kiwi, 1 apple and lots of nuts.

(5) Supper

Went to the neighbourhood starbucks with friend. My stomach was growling looking at the food. Oh, this was not good at all. Ordered brambleberry juice instead of all the other beverages. Friend ordered Chocolate Fudge Cream Cheesecake (oh man! This was going to be a tough test to my will power).

Then, i found a fantastic reason to taste it! Since i'm on hybrid diet, i can eat cheese! HAHA. So, i picked up the fork and tasted the cheese part of the cake without touching the chocolaty cake bit. After a few mouthful of it, i started to get sick of it. Ewwwwww.... too sweet, it was too sweet, it was way toooo sweet for my palate. No no no, i didn't wanna taste it anymore (gulped down big big cup of warm water to wash out the sweetness from my palate).

Further to the above supper experience, i think i've made significant progress. I hope.

Hope my paleo pals have also make progresses or discover your newself during these few days.

Stay strong. We always have each other.

karen

Day 3: Sugar, oh honey, honey

2009-10-04T12:18:00.006+08:00

Day 3 started out quite bad because I hit the gym first thing I woke up. Felt like terrible doing 10 min AMRAP of thrusters & burpees. My legs felt especially felt weak.

However after lunch, I felt as energetic as before. Got home, did 100 burpees and swam 10 laps in the pool - and still had energy to clean up my apartment!

Breakfast: Mix fruits (half bowl)

Lunch: Assorted fish, veggie & egg dishes shared with fellow PM-mons and fellow Paleo-pal LynnX - probably not very Paleo since it's cooked outside with all those additives and stuff...

Snack (after swim & burpees): Banana + handful of nuts and dried fruits.

Dinner: Steamed fish + steamed assorted vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, oyster mushroom, carrots)

I analyzed my ups and downs in energy with The Housemate and she reckons I was getting a lot of indirect sugar from my 2in1 coffee mix, nut bars (Carmen's Energy bar), neslo ice & yogurt drinks - all the stuff I regularly take before gym/yoga.

I think my body has finally adjusted to the-lack-of-sugar-spikes. Yay.

Steamed fish

I'm surprised how easy it was to steam fish! (yes, my first time!). Been buying fish in the supermarket and it averages to about RM 5 per slice, not too bad I suppose.

Garlic, ginger, sesame oil + dash of lemon juice

It was delicious (if I do say so myself)..

Day 3

2009-10-04T02:13:00.002+08:00

Hey paleo pals. How is day 3 going for you??? For me the pass 2 days I had a very salty taste in my mouth and I was wondering if its because of the sudden cut off from salt. Anyone have any ideas?

My biggest challenge for me this pass 3 days is not being able to snack on something warm. Throughout the day I have fruits for breakfast, almonds, raisins and fruits for snacks and a good filling meal of salad and rost chicken/turkey and pan fried tuna. With all this, I keep wondering what is a hot food to snack on instead of fruits, dried fruits and nuts (since we should limit our fruits and nuts intake). So if any of you have any ideas, please do post it up.

The things I can think off are:

Chicken kebabs (on skewers)
sweet mash potato
roasted vege
ratatouille (if you make it paleo way)

But with all these food we still have to prepare the food earlier and then warm it up when we want to snack. So anyway post up your ideas ok?

Here is Day 2;

Breakfast (8.15am) : 2 kiwis, 7 strawberries, 23 blueberries, 1 necterine

Mid morning snack (9.50am) : 5 almonds, 20 raisins, 1 banana

Lunch (12.30pm) : 1/4 roast chicken, 1 bowl of salad, 1 roasted onion

Dinner (6.15pm) : Pan frid tuna chunks, 1 bowl of salad

Supper snack (11.15pm) : 8 pinches of raisins, 1 banana, 1 apple

Going nuts?

2009-10-04T00:45:00.008+08:00

My nut mix of almonds, macademia, walnut, sunflower seeds, brazil nuts, dried apricots, dried cranberries.....

Paleo pals, are the people around you thinking you're going nuts with this weirdo diet? haha...

Since I've been spending over 9 years of my life trying to explain to people around me why I'm a "fishytarian" (and getting many many snide remarks for it - mostly nasty remarks, rarely nice remarks and a lot of silence too....), I would like to think I've smarten up about how I communicate my choices in life depending on who I'm speaking to. But of course there are some people whom you just can't hide from.

The Mother

"Ha? oo ok.."

The Mother would love for me to go on a diet cause she's from the twiggy age where skinny is never skinny enough. My non-skinniness and muscles have never impressed her. So she's more than happy that I'm on a "diet" of sorts. HOWEVER, yesterday she watched Channel E which aired a special on celebs and their quirky diets and how in the long run it may not be healthy. So now my 30 days Paleo is only 50-50 welcomed....

The Brother

"Oh... ok"

Err... ok doc!

The Boyfriend

What can he say, he's the one that shared the Paleo link in the first place. He has been pretty encouraging...

"... you can do it. 30 days and it'll change your life," dia bilang.

The good thing is he has been influenced to start eating nuts and has taken steps to try to eat healthier. Yup, no more midnight maggie gorengs (fried instant noodles)...

The Housemate

Unlike fellow paleo-pal Jonson who has very un-understanding housemates, my housemate is like a guru in all these new age, alternative lifestyle stuff! She's sharing with me her nuts, helps me with recipes, helps me analyze my food intake.

Ya, awesome housemate!!

The Colleague

She's kinda a geek (the kind everyone likes!) and when I told her about the diet, she shared her scientific knowledge about nutrition and health throughout the different civilizations... o_O

PM-mons

Most of them have super encouraging (you know who you are, thanks!). Paleo Pals are even more super duper!

The rest of the world......

Since it's only Day 3, I've not met many other people. But those outside the PM and immediate circle, I just say to them "err my gym friends and I are doing this 30-day diet where we don't eat processed food.." and try to change the subject ASAP.

----

Well, all I can say to conclude is - I like my nuts nutty!

Day 2: When healthy isn't healthy enough

2009-10-03T19:30:00.005+08:00

Day 2 started out alright. But by mid-day (since I woke up at 1pm, my mid-day is 5pm) - it was downhill from there. Was lethargic and starving!

Breakfast: Bowl of mixed fruits (apples, pears, avocado, banana & mango) + black coffee

Lunch: Stir fried veggies (mixed) + fried egg

Dinner: Grilled dory fish

Snack: Half a bowl of mixed fruits + nuts

Eventually I started feeling alright later in the night. Hoping my body would regulate to the change soon.

Paleo dieters can't eat half of the above! Image from here

On another note - I did some time travelling into the past when I was unpacking my paleo food after grocery shopping. I thought of the time when I was on a climbing holiday in Krabi with my friends. The breakfast they serve at the little chalet was muesli + yogurt + fruits.

Healthy right?

Well it's not in paleo-terms. All that I thought was good is now not good - yogurt, milk, muesli, oats, brown rice, wholemeal bread, tofu, soy.......

Oh well, I'll wait till the end of 30-days to decided whether healthy is not healthy enough.

Answers to some Questions

2009-10-03T16:32:00.003+08:00

Hi guys!

Today is day 3! How's it going so far? Especially our loyal Buckies & 3-in-1 coffee advocates... I 'kinda' got used to the sugarless things and the declination of such harmful matter have been done pretty easily.

Anyway, I was curious about diary products and what happens if we don't consume it enough to fulfil our calcium intake. What happens to our bones? What food would be safe to consume? There's always the pills which I do take, however, I think this article would provide slightly more depth into answering the question.

*here*

Have a good read and a great weekend peeps! :)

Anyone for a paleo lunch tomorrow?

The lacto-ovo-pesco vegetarian goes Paleo...

2009-10-03T02:41:00.007+08:00

When I was young & impressionable (16 years old), I decided to stop eating farmed animals.

Image from here

After seeing some ham packaged similar to the one above in the supermarket, I thought emo-ly "How can the pig be smiling if it was raised in a box, killed & vacuumed packaged?!"

Since then I tried my best to avoid meat - though admittedly I should not be eating farmed fish, dairy (especially cheese since enzyme from the stomach lining of calves are used to make it!) and eggs if I were very strict about sticking to my principles. So for social reasons, I drink my mom's meaty soups and I eat meat when I'm in the village (unfortunately for me, as tough as it is to eat meat, sometimes I get served fermented meat in the village!!!)..

For the first year I stopped eating meat, passing a KFC outlet drove me mad. And for 2-3 years every Chinese New Year, I salivated whenever I smelt smoked pork (bak kuah/ chee yok korn). BBQ-ed lamb was also another teaser.

However it is safe to say that I lost of liking for those food. During NOI, I tasted lamb for the first time after almost 10 years and did not want to have more...

Note: That's not me eating the lamb. I tried two dainty, bite sized pieces off Jonson's plate.. using a fork!

Now, not able to have my daily yogurt, milk & other great processed foods reminded me of the time when I just went lacto-ovo-pesco vegetarian (aka fishytarian). It was a great mental challenge - but at least I'm not going through this alone this time.

Just like how most people would be appalled by eating monkey meat (while I have some friends who swear by how delicious they taste, especially the fingers).... it is how I feel about meat in general.

My car sticker

Maybe after these 30 days, we will become wiser about processed food and view it in the same light as eating a monkey.

"Oh that is delicious" said my friend to me when I showed her photos I took from the Bako National Park.

p.s: Feels great writing not-for-work-related-stuff.

Day 1 - Rough Start

2009-10-02T15:41:00.003+08:00

Yesterday was my Day 1 of the 30 day challenge. It was tough!

Mostly because I was away for a long day trip the day before, which meant I wasn't eating properly that day either. My last non-Paleo meal was in a seedy Malay food stall in a little town. Instant noodle with meaty (?) soup, ugh.

On Day 1 itself, I was rushing to a meeting and then to gym & yoga while not 100% rested from the long trip where I was driving for long hours.

Breakfast - Black coffee + handful of mix fruits

Lunch - Two slices of fish + 1 serving of veggies + lime juice

Snack - Lime juice + almonds + dried cranberries & apricot (lots of it, which I shouldn't? They say 6 almonds is 1 block of fats? OMG)

Between gym & yoga snack - 2 bananas + 1 pear

Dinner - Stir fried mix vegetables + 1 fried egg + 1 mango

Overall I felt weak, tired and bloody hungry the whole day. It was especially hard when you start the day with a sip of black, sugarless coffee! Thank goodness I could sms with Lynn & Karen seeking pity, since they also share the same feelings towards black coffee.

Eventually I started feeling better after dinner. So clearly it's a good lesson learned that I'll need to plan my meals ahead very well or will end up in this horrible starving, sugar level imbalanced state which I absolutely hate.

Day one of Paleo... Before shots

2009-10-02T04:40:00.005+08:00

Jonson's meal (Day 1)...

2009-10-02T04:01:00.003+08:00

Breakfast (9.30am) 3 kiwi's, 1 banana

Snack (11am) 6 almonds 4 pinches of raisins

Lunch ( 1.15pm) Bowl of Salad, half a turkey thigh

Snack (3.45pm) 1 apple

Pre-workout snack (5.15pm) 3 pinches of raisins, 1 banana

Dinner (7.30pm) quarter roasted chicken(thyme,lemon,onion), a bowl of salad

I think we can't eat too many fruits in day. Fruits has high sugar levels as well so we have to be careful.

Introduction: Why I want to "Paleo"...

2009-10-02T00:31:00.000+08:00

I've meet many people whom I admire for their dedication towards their work. Unfortunately, for many of them their commitment towards work is at the expense of their health and sometimes happiness. And in turn, that also effects the people around them.

After having to work with people like that, I realized that I did not want to become a person who "victimizes" him/herself, and since then I've been making an effort to take care of my health and well being.

First starting with exercising regularly. It was very difficult for me to get into the groove because I was never really into working out and enjoyed recreational activities more, such as hiking and climbing. Eventually, after a long time sticking it out and lots of encouragement from people like Anna, Mike and Soon - I've come to enjoy working out (at PushMore!!). Now, I don't get backaches as much as I did and I feel better about myself.

Image from here.

Since I'm on a good momentum here - why not try this Paleo diet thing especially since there many friends to go through this with. Besides that, I have a big deadline due soon and having a goal or challenge to be fixated on would help me keep my mind focused and not fall into the stress-abyss.

By taking good care of myself, I hope to (as my favorite yoga instructor always say) - be a better daughter, better sister, better friend, better lover and a better me.

Day 1

2009-10-01T15:29:00.000+08:00

Hey there paleo pals,

Today we begin our interesting journey of changing our lives for the better. There are a few things that I would just like to share with all that is on the same bus with me throughout this journey. Firstly, let us begin this change with the right attitude in mind. This challenge came up quite hastily I must say, but let us not go into it with the main priority of losing weight and getting that ever not so obvious 6 packs. Weight lost and definition will surely come but that is the least of our priority. Let us all be reminded that this is a change of mindset, attitude and willpower.This journey is to teach us about self discipline and relying on ones s strength and generating somemore from the people around you. Throughout this journey, we will all be definitely change in that area. It is up to you to decide if its for the better or worst.

Secondly, by us as a group going together into this, we are change in the area of relationship and our friendship. We are not alone in this and we have each other to rely on. Our sharing, our changes, our challenges, our temptations faced, our decisions will all affect one another. I believe through the experimentation of different recipes, a stronger relationship between one another will be fostered. Let us take this opportunity to create a better relationship with one another and most importantly to learn how to understand each other for the better.

Thirdly, this is another way to improve ourselves and to improve the future people that would be coming into Pushmore. All of you are the pioneers of this change, atleast for us in Malaysia in this gym. We would be able to experience how the diet change us all in every aspect. I believe through this, we can impact the gym and all its existing and future members to live a better lifestyle in the future. We can and will change the mentality of fitness and dieting amongst Malaysians. The old fashioned perception will be discarded one day. This diet has big goals and its more than us. Therefore my fellow friends, throughout this journey, I must remind you all to do certain things. Let us all start by writing down our goals and vision for this change. Let us journal it down as the days progresses. I recommend that we all take our measurements today and if you need help with it, we can always help one another out. We also should take our photos now and we will take one more after the challenge. Once again, we can help each other on that. Try to be as specific as you can be in your goals and what you want to achieve. Perhaps for a workout that you would want to conquer, example being Fran or Helen, I suggest doing it today and then after the challenge, doing it another time to see the difference. Keep track of your progress and stay focus friends ! We are all stepping our of our comfort zone and for that, I must congratulate all of you. I am very proud to be associated with all of you and to be side by side in this challenge.

I know I sound like a naggy teacher, but its only for today so bare with me. Anyways there is one more thing that I am going to be asking from all of you. The reason I am asking you to journal it as frequently as you can is so that by the end of the thirty days, you all can write up a short article on how the entire journey was. Then we can published it on the website and share it with the rest. I hope you all would not mind just taking up a little of your time to finish this assignment/homework/screw-hans-ask-me-to-do-this-kind-of-paper-at-my-age thing. I thank you for your cooperation in this in advance !!!

Anyways here is the beginning of a few links that will tremendously help you in this journey :

1. Mark's Daily Apple - tons of great articles, insights, advices and recipes

2. Sassifier - another crossfitters blog that is on the paleo diet

3. Pay now or live later - a simplified place that talks about paleo, helps you to understand it better with great links from there as resources.

4. Robb Wolf - another great link. THE BEST with recipes and everything you need to know about paleo. NUFF SAID. Just to let you know, Crossfit San Antonio is also starting their 60 day paleo diet challenge today. So you would want to bookmark their website because they will be updating with links,recipes and so forth every day. Thats just a few to start off with. Have a great day friends ! AND TURN AWAY FROM THAT DESSERT KAREN !

Love- and-bloody-hungry-right-now,
HANS

Try this!

2009-10-01T14:29:00.001+08:00

Just minus the sugar & cream!

*here*

The beginning...

2009-10-01T04:59:00.000+08:00

Hey Paleo Pals. The time has come, the Paleo Diet has begun. Keep it strong and push through it like any and every WOD we do. Remember, DNF is forever!!!

Anyway, just a suggestion to anyone who is up for it since I will be doing this. Anyone wanting to do a before and after shot of themselves please feel free. My before shot is coming up soon as I just had dinner I am still bloated.

Keep it going you all, 30 days is real quick...There is no such thing as DNF!!!

Lunch with my Brotha

2009-09-30T13:35:00.000+08:00

My dear paleo pals,

Today I had lunch with my colleague who was a fan of eating. He eats everything, anything and finds all means of getting food to where he wants it. His uncle's a bodybuilder and my Brotha claims to learn all techniques under him. He loves to show off his biceps (erm ..where?) to me at work every alternate day. So much so that I gave him my Complimentary 3 months Platinum membership to Clark Hatch because he wouldn't be able to keep up with the competitive result-oriented Crossfit style workouts.

I shall call him my Brotha since we're pretty close.

Anyway, I was pretty hungry today after the mad workout yesterday.
And so, my lunch consisted of :-

2 pcs chicken
1/2 serving vege
1 glass of coke
1/3 choc slice
1 ice cream

Yeaa...kinda offsetted the better choices of food today with the intention to enjoy the company.

My Brotha's lunch consisted of :-
2 pcs chicken
1 slab of salmon steak
1/2 plate of vege loaded with salad sauces
2/3 choc slice
4 pcs of fruit
1 ice cream

He said, "This is the best ever lunch I've ever had...and, it's JUST nice!" I think it's freakingly too much for lunch since his godzilla belly is at least 10x the size of mine. If he were really hungry, he could have ate something the size of me. Scary but true. His belly. You should see it.

However, he said "Since we didn't have rice, then we can substitute rice with ice cream and choc slice"... which in fact is a total booboo.

Little did he know that it was a worse-off choice compared to rice. So I tried to pry his mind on his take on carbs and this is what I found out:-

Carbs are rice, mashed potatoes, noodles, pasta.
Ice cream is not carbs.
If you eat meat with no rice, you can load up(compensate the calories) with any other foodstuff - ice cream, chocolate, beer, cakes etc.

Perhaps the majority may have this thinking about carbs.
Perhaps more education needs to go out to the masses about healthy living.
Perhaps it takes one person to start propagating healthy eating/living/lifestyle.

What are we doing today, that will encourage people to choose food wisely?

P/s. My Brotha already preplanned his teatime and managed to smuggle 3 Kit Kat Drumstick & 2 Crunch ice cream in his pockets out of the cafeteria for tea time. Talk about showing off biceps! Hah. :P

Hybrid of Zone Meet Paleo

2009-09-30T01:26:00.000+08:00

Throughout of whole of today, despite moving from meetings to meetings, hearing different ideas from different voices and faces, i couldnt help but kept thinking about the 'encouraged food', 'food which you should take in moderation' or 'food you should avoid' and worst of all, the 'nightshade' food list. Is paleo diet ever feasible? Having great determination to resist all sorta tasty delicious, scientifically-proven healthy, packed with nutrients, or some even packed with anti-oxidants (in layman, make u look younger, ladies) food itemssssssssssss (notice the number of S-es).

Being a crossfitter, many of us have also come across another eating diet, the famous, Zone Diet. Zone Diet requires you to measure your food according to "blocks". A block is a simplified unit for measuring the 3 macronutrients in your food (protein, carbohydrate and fat). Thus, it requires some counting and measuring if one wishes to follow Zone Diet strictly.

Having exposed to these two diets and given my eating preference and habits:-

(1) Lazy, I am lazy in food. I don't cook and don't know how to cook, don't like to think much when comes to food, prefer hassel-free meals. Always visit the same eateries and rotate among them. At times, i find eating a chore.

(2) I don't like meat. I eat fish, some pork, not a lover to chicken and lamb, definate no to beef and shellfishes like prawn, crab, clam, mussel, oyster, etc.

(3) I need fibre, lots of them. For someone who has lazy bowel movements like mine, fibre is the magic potion to kick-start my day with a big grin. If u see me ordering salad most of the time, it's not that i'm soooo health concious, rather i really need it to ensure i have a smooth and easy day the next morning.

After due deliberation of the above, i've come up with a little diet crossover - a hybrid of paleo + zone diet. What does it mean? This is the formula which i have allegedly taken from Crossfit teachings.

"EAT MEAT AND VEGE, NUTS AND SEEDS, SOME FRUIT, LITTLE STARCH AND NO SUGAR"

This is the Rule No. 1 of Zone Diet, something which i have learned in Sydney. I find it extremely useful and easy to apply. No measurement of grams, oz, cups nor quantity, no counting of blocks. Simplicity is the key in life, i reckon.

Little deviation: I'll continue to consume eggs, cheese (in moderation), milk (in moderation) and beans for protein intake. (fyi, paleo diet restricts one to consume 6 eggs in a week, strictly no beans, dairy food nor tofu, meanwhile, for zone diet, eating cheese and other dairy products are not prohibited). Also, I'll consume more nuts in my diet to provide me with the energy that i need for my workouts.

Today, 30.09.09, is the last day of my sweet indulgence. I'm gonna say goodbye to my sweet indulgence to the below in the next 22 hours.

*gazing at all the desserts*

karen

Staggered Entry into Paleo World(2)

2009-09-29T23:36:00.000+08:00

Am back home feeling great and kinda sore from today's workout:

21-18-15-12-9-6 for time of:

HSPU
Burpees
SDHP @ 16kgs
KB Swings @ 16kgs
Wall ball @ 5kgs
BB Thrusters @ 25kgs

49mins. FOUR NINE.

Anyway, dinner was only 10% paleo, thanks to the 3inch fish. Let's see what I had from my "chap fan" that was bungkused by my loving daddy:

Rice - 3 tablespoons.
Tempeh - processed(???)
FISH (yay - some good paleo food here)
Tofu - curried with some vege that I can't distinguish within the orangeness.
Tofifee - yummy chocs with hazelnut...so good you can't talk.
Marble cake/mooncake- a couple of tiny slices

I.was.super.hungry.o.m.g.i.could.eat.a.moomoo.

Once we go Paleoing 24/7, I'm sure there would be days like this...

Or like this...

Nevertheless, lets set the results with the end in mind. Visualise & write down your goals. What do you want to achieve in 30 days time?

The last meal - like you've never eaten in your whole life.

Are we ready???

Staggered Entry into the Paleo World

2009-09-29T10:44:00.000+08:00

OBJECTIVE: Enter the Paleo World from 8am - 12pm (4 hrs).

We are supposed to start on the 1st October. However, I think my body would go into a slight carboman shock if I went cold turkey on carbs & dairy food. So lets see how 4 hours hold up!

1)9:30am.

I just had a piece of sambal chicken & a cuppa black coffee for breakfast. My options for breakfast are very limited whilst working for a company that provides breakfast to it's staff via pantry food delivery services. The staff actually push the food trolley across the busy road to arrive at my "beautiful building". This means exposure to more 'environmentally friendly air particles'.

Today, breakfast served was fried rice with tits and tots of mixed vegetables which seemed quantifiable by your 8 fingers & 2 thumbs, accompanied with a slosh of oyster sambal... And, a piece of evil sambal chicken. Not much choice for my Paleo Pals and me hey?

Find the sambal.

I didn't want the other option of microwaving an egg which will deplete my quota of 6 eggs per week. Why waste one egg for breakfast??

Anyway, that piece of chicken IS supposed to last me till lunch...*crossing fingers*

At 11am, I was getting hungry. So I stole a couple of working minutes on a couple of dried apricots to serve the desire for carbs...(no I didn't eat the fried rice!..oh maybe just a couple of grains stuck to the chicken. Does it count to the carb counter??By like...mm...1gm)

At this point, my black coffee has turned cold. Drink it, and you'll immediately have a constipated look. >.<

FINAL RESULT: SUCCESS! Made it through comfortably. :)

I feel good! :) I don't feel hungry yet. I'm feeling slightly thirsty from caffein OD. Energy levels are at 80% (post nagging-secretary conversation). However the quantity consumed is not enough if I were to train this evening. Will probably load up on a bit more 'healthy' protein & greens later.

It's all thanks to that 300calorie protein and ZERO-grams of sugarless caffein.

If you're in the same situation as I am:

1) Take one step at a time. Going cold turkey into a lifestyle change will only screw your mind and body up.
2) Do not be tempted by colleagues offering keropoks and chocs from their trips abroad and claim they are the best chips ever tasted in town. Have to be cruel to be kind to your body.
3) Drink water. Screw the sugarless coffee.

Since 3 hours is achievable, i'm gonna try extending till 3pm. Can't wait for the evil chips/chocs to come by. Black coffee anyone?

***Update***

Well, it's 3pm now. I had a chicken chop for lunch and a super plain iced jasmine tea. Timely enough - my colleague just came by an offered us some Nestle icecream for tea.

Reward by eating? Or eating well for a reward?

List of foods we can and cannot eat

2009-09-29T06:16:00.000+08:00

My Paleo Pals here are some websites to help with what we can or cannot eat on our diet. Basically just think like a caveman/cavewoman. Eat like they did but we have the advantage of technology. We can steam, grill, bake, etc our food but keep to the ingredients that are as resh and natural as possible.

Websites:

Lowcarbdiets.com - there is a list of foods we shouldn't eat as well on this page

Paleo Foodlist - This one is very simple and easy to understand

Paleo Food - I think a good idea is to print out the list from the latter link and stick in on your fridge. Here is a link for recipes of what you can cook on the Paleo

"Nightshade foods" - Lastly, if you have read Byers Gets Diesel's blog you will have noticed that "Nightshade foods" have been mentioned a few times. Here is a link in understanding what they are and why they are harmful.

Something to discuss is that BGD (Byers Gets Diesel) consumes some nightshade food although we are not suppose to. So I guess we should use our common sense and choose for ourselves unless we all come to an agreement.

Have fun Paleo Pals. I look forward to taking on this challenge with you all =) remember there is no excuses now. You and you alone have the power to say NO.

Pledge

2009-09-29T01:01:00.001+08:00

Name : Jonson Tan Cheng Sang

Age : 20 years old

Gender : Male

Country of Origin : Malaysia

Gym : Pushmore Malaysia

Favourite saying : 1) There is no such thing as DNF!!! 2) It's not about time, it's about the form.

Pledge : I, Jonson Tan Cheng Sang, hereby publicly proclaim that I will commit to my Paleo diet and will not DNF. Penalty for DNF from Paleo diet shall be diciplined by means of final decision of fellow Pushmore Malaysia members.

Commencement Date : October 1st 2009

End date : October 31st 2009

First Time

2009-09-29T00:35:00.000+08:00

It's an honour to be invited by SzeNing to have my maiden blog and to contribute the little humble thoughts of mine on this Paleo project that we've hastily agreed over Twitter (of all means of communication) for the past few days.

Still not used to blogging *shy*

Anyway, i'm just gonna set my own target for these 30 days - to kill my sweet tooth!

As all of you know so well that, i have a terrible sweet tooth. During anytime of the day, i'll alwiz have insatiable sweet cravings to satisfy. Cakes, cupcakes (my recent addiction), chocolate, ice cream, etc, u name it, i'm probably a fan of it. That also explain my size and my never-seen-6-packs.

So, for the next 30 days, i'm gonna replace all the sweet cravings with fruits, fruits and more fruits.

Today, i have also just bought a brand new coffee from Cold Storage.

I'm saying goodbye to my 2-in-1 nescafe mix that i've been drinking for the past 2 years *sob sob* i'll miss u terribly. I'm also officially saying goodbye to my favourite Starbucks Skinny Grande Latte. I'll miss u terribly too.

*craving for sweets already*

karen