On Day 4 of no-grains diet and struggling

[PointyEnd]

Hi folks --

Had a really rotten day today -- I had what felt like a blood-sugar crash as well as an actual, literal one. Fell on some flagstones and bashed my knee pretty good.

I'm only four days into cutting all grains out of my diet (w00t!), and so far, I've been absolutely meticulous about not cheating. But I'm still eating dairy, small amounts of sugar and usually a glass of wine with dinner. Struggling both to keep the diet, and not to feel guilty about the various little indulgences that are keeping me on track with not eating grains.

I'm about ten pounds from my ideal weight -- right now I'm 5'4" and 135. Am not in a hurry to do rapid weight loss, or to tackle too many demons at once. But I am feeling conflicted about the new diet plan, and wondering if it's counterproductive to do half-measures in approaching a more primal/paleo lifestyle.

And, hell, I'm just having a shit day with this, full of doubts and feeling crappy. Would very much appreciate any advice. I've been keeping meticulous track of my food in my battle log.

(Afraid y'all are going to jump out of the bushes and yell QUIT IT WITH THE WINE AND THE SUGAR IN YOUR TEA, CHUMP, to which, ARRRRRRRRRGH. )

Cheers and thanks.

[Elastigirl]

It is fine to take it in stages. Some thoughts about why you may be having blood sugar issue; There is low carb flu, but I don't think it would hit hard enough to make you fall. Are you getting enough calories? If you were eating a lot of bread and stopped and didn't add anything to make up for that you may just need more food. What about fat? Your body needs something to run on and when you cut back on carbs (grains) you need to replace it with some fat. Avocado, butter, eggs, nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, fatty meats. Maybe if you post what you ate today we could help with speciific suggestions

[Gobnait]

You might need to wean. Feeling bad is one thing, but getting bruised up is another.

(Notices food log.) How much is three sugars, and how much tea does that go in? How sweet is the panna cotta? You're probably spiking your insulin. I had to check on milk sugars, and reading up on glycemic index might help, even if you're already cutting some bad offenders. http://www.self.com/health/blogs/nutritiondata-diabetes/2011/01/whats-a-low-glycemic-diet.html

Actually, better article, but now I'm getting confused. http://www.livestrong.com/article/529872-carbs-in-sweet-potatoes-vs-regular-potatoes/

Basically what I'm trying to find are foods that are still carby, but digest slowly to prevent insulin spikes. That's probably why limited amounts of yams are encouraged on the paleo diet, but starch potatoes aren't. Why small amounts of fruits are fine, but juices aren't. (Not sure if normal potatoes aren't also considered self-defensive.)

(Reads some more.) Going from a diet heavy in beans and rice to a diet where your biggest carb source is small amounts refined sugar, you're going to need to carry hard candy with you. Do you have time to add something more than cottage cheese to your breakfast? I'm thinking something with fiber. I'm also thinking that you might want to spend a few weeks allowing yourself a small cup of brown rice or steel-cut oatmeal with lunch.

I tried weaning down to grain-free without addressing my drinking, and suddenly my tolerances were temporarily reset. Quite ugly when one has three drinks and spends the rest of the evening steadily getting drunker instead of sobering up.

[PointyEnd]

Thanks, you guys. (Elastigirl, I've been keeping track of food over here -- and basically eating as much fat as I can stand to. Which is a little scary, frankly.)

I am worried about adding some grains back in being a slippery slope right back to spaghetti 6x a week. But I will try putting some more slow-release carbs back in the diet for a bit and see how it goes. And breakfast -- oy, I have trouble eating in the morning at all, especially protein. I had a couple of eggs with cheese today and that felt pretty good.

I don't eat a great deal of sugar at a time -- a teaspoon at most for a cup of tea, and the tea-drinking is spread out across the day. I make things like panna cotta and milk/egg custard with maple syrup, and use less than the recipe calls for. But it might be a problem anyway, I don't really have a sense for it yet.

Woke up with a low-grade fever, so maybe this is all just the result of a nasty cold coming on. Bluh.

[Elastigirl]

Yea, looks like your fat count is good. I hear you on it being scary. I've heard my whole life that FAT is BAD, so it is hard to make the change. Which is why I mentioned it because that is where most people struggle. I'm thinking you may need more protein for breakfast. Can you have some meat to go with your cottage cheese? I find it very helpful in stabilizing blood sugars to have 20-30grams of protein for breakfast. The day you fell, you had beef stew for lunch. So what was the proportion of meat to veggies and potatoes? Was it low on meat and higher on the potatoes and carrots-that could have set you up for a blood sugar spike? Was the stew thickened with flour, if you have been avoiding wheat and you are senstitive to it, then having something with flour could give you problems. And how much water are you drinking? Make sure your problem isn't that you are slightly dehydrated

[PointyEnd]

Elastigirl -- I worked on eating more protein this morning, and I think maybe it helped with keeping things stable throughout the day. Will try to do that more often.

(Nope, no wheat flour in the stew -- Day 6 and I have yet to eat a grain. WOOT.)

I have also come down with a killer cold, so maybe that's what was going on all along.

Thanks for the encouragement, you guys, it's huge to feel like I'm not just doing this on my own.

[Elastigirl]

Elastigirl -- I worked on eating more protein this morning, and I think maybe it helped with keeping things stable throughout the day. Will try to do that more often.

(Nope, no wheat flour in the stew -- Day 6 and I have yet to eat a grain. WOOT.)

I have also come down with a killer cold, so maybe that's what was going on all along.

Thanks for the encouragement, you guys, it's huge to feel like I'm not just doing this on my own.

Glad to hear it helped. I hope you get over your cold soon

[Anivair]

Going off grains will always suck for a while. When I did it I felt like butt for about 2 weeks. It picks up after. Your body will adapt, I swear. Just bore through it. that's fastest.