Day 6: Almost A Week!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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