Three days in.. ARGGHGH

[MikeWSQL]

I've heard of roid rage.. I never had it.. But right now - I am having CARB RAGE...

It's only been 3 full days but I've been eating less (really normal sized portions) and avoiding my sugary and carby goodies. I feel good but a bit tired and just a tad bit FRUSTRATED.

Had a good dessert last night, though - Frozen organic blueberries mashed up with a few tablespoons of coconut milk, mashed and frozen into "ice cream"...

So far - so good... I've actually ended up dropping about 4lbs so far (not that I care so much about the numbers yet.. just want to finally be healthy and not winded when walking upstairs or chasing my 3 kids around).. Ive been drinking a LOT of water and I've been sending just as much out ;-)

I've had some fine tasting food so far - Chicken & Apple Sausages, lots of farm fresh eggs from our free(ish) range chickens (ish is because it is tough in winter... they get more grain in the winter), sweet potato with Cinnamon and nutmeg & a little butter... Chicken breast salad, carrot sticks, green tea, homemade chicken fajitas (well without the fajita part...), sardines (for the first time....), plenty of kale, steam in bag veggies, strawberries, apples, etc... Just no bread or pasta or pizza or cookies or coke..

Not even near breaking down yet, just feels different to feel hungry instead of overstuffed. Just rambling on to anyone who is listening... Need to update my blog post in a bit but I've been doing great with the goals - workout has been a little off but I've been spending more time outside & with kids walking up and down hills snowing before our snow melts here in NH...

How's everyone else doing?

[bigm141414]

Yeah the low carb flu can hit pretty hard the first week or two. Don't worry, it'll pass and you'll start to feel great

[guest439437484421]

yeah, after cutting out soda, powerade, and most other sugary things my appetite went a bit wonky. But that's kind of to be expected when you're taking in 300-1000 calories less per day.

i still haven't braved the "no/low carb" diet yet, but I'm working my way there.

Anyway, hang in there and keep it up!

[eco2pia]

You hang in there!! Food changes can be really rough, but that low carb flu is really short, promise. It is like quitting smoking, the first week is the worst and then suddenly you wake up one day and look at someone eating a cupcake topped with gooey frosting and the very idea makes you shudder, like those smokers who suddenly become militant anti-smokers!! Just keep eating some healthy carbs (like the blueberries) and your body will remember that empty calories are useless.

Also, each time you fall off the wagon, getting back on gets easier, because you know that the hard part is so short...and feeling like your food is fuel is so awesome.

[WhiteVandal]

I've been going for about a week and a half now. I had big cravings for sugar and carbs, but they are getting milder. I didn't even notice anything yesterday. Keep it up, man! Good on you for wanting to get healthy!

[Morrigainz]

I still haven't had big cravings for junk food, even though I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE chocolate...I cannot stress that enough. Cake, cupcakes, cookies...om nom nom. HOWEVER, when they are put in front of me, I basically can't say no. But overall I'm doing a pretty good job I think.

I'll have to try the blueberries/coconut milk thing. I have a jug of almond milk that I randomly bought for no reason; do you think that would work as a substitute?

Lastly, yes...isn't it amazing to feel full without feeling bloated? It's amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing!

[empeg9000]

It is tough in the beginning but it gets better as you go along. I've been really itching for a pizza lately. I may allow myself some pizza after this six week challenge if I hit my goal.

[Morrigainz]

Or you could try this.

I haven't yet, so I don't know if it's any good.

[Bumblebee4]

I used to make a pizza that the crust was made from brown rice and cottage cheese mixed together. Had broccoli etc on top. It was sooo good. Actually had a crispiness to the crust and great texture. I'm not eating rice right now but it's on my cooking list when I add rice back in (if I do)

[empeg9000]

Well right now I am 100% strict paleo so cheese and rice are both out of the question.

[MrParsnip]

It is tough in the beginning but it gets better as you go along. I've been really itching for a pizza lately. I may allow myself some pizza after this six week challenge if I hit my goal.

How about this?

http://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-pizza/

I've not tried it personally but it looks damn good.

[ZenGwen]

I've known a couple paleo folks to make pizza crust with cauliflower, like this: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=249048

I hear it's really tasty! I've been meaning to try it myself, even though I'm not really paleo.

[Morrigainz]

Plus you could always make it without cheese! Plenty of other nummy things you can put on there.

[MikeWSQL]

Thanks for the comments. So far so good. Had my two eggs, handful of strawberries, few cashews and apple this morning and actually hadn't started even feeling hungry until now.. Problem is I'm on a client site and having lunch with the team.. Chinese restaurant.. Plenty of healthy options on the menu...

Normally I'd be getting a Coke, and a combo meal with Fried Rice, a few chicken fingers, a couple beef terriyaki sticks and some bbq spare ribs... Today? I'll have to search online and see what I want before.. Not going full paleo but when I start eating rice again (waiting a week or two before I allow myself to even eat healthy rice.. bought some ezekiel bread but waiting a week before I have that.. Just feel the need to start off this way for some reason) it certainly won't be fried white rice or any of the instant rice they serve at most chinese restaurants.. So I think steamed veggies and chicken or beef is in my future.. Just wish I knew the sugar situation on the brown sauce first, think I'll avoid it just in case...

[MikeWSQL]

By the way.. I haven't been starving myself (Well I haven't been counting calories so I don't know) but I've been eating fine portions, snacking on cashews, carrots, an apple a day, etc - the berries, etc.. So been eating plenty - but with the cutting down of crap and some more walking, etc. I've gone from 217.5 (gotta add the point 5...) or so to 210.5... In just 4 days. I'm sure much of that is the increase of water I'm drinking and less salt and crap so who knows how much is "good" loss but it's an improvement over maintaining and growing. As I start to add the workouts in I'll expect things to change there and I don't care about weight loss alone... But already feeling the wedding ring fit better, pants fit a bit better, etc.. Small differences from 4 days of eating more right? I'll take it.

[Sydnie]

Good for you! I'm going through the same thing. I've been CRAVING the Publix sugar cookies (or as in my house they're dubbed "crack") that are sitting out on the bar. I haven't touched them, though. Stared longingly, but haven't touched them. Haha! And I want so badly to have a wheat bagel (I honestly like that flavor better than white) with some peanut butter. Nomnomnom! But, I've challenged myself to go at least 60% this 6 weeks and I'm reserving that 40% for whiskey, beer, dessert, & cheese. Not every day, of course, but I know that just one Jameson & ginger will knock me off track enough that I'm willing to get as close to strict-paleo as possible. I just know that my days off (and by "days off" i mean days that I'll sit down, watch NCIS reruns, and have a drink) will bring my percentage down.

Last night I made paleo spaghetti, though, and I have to admit I like it better than regular spaghetti. The squash just made it that much more flavorful and i liked the texture a lot. My sauce was extremely meaty and I added green pepper and a few extra tomatoes. It was delish! I'm excited for tonight to have it as leftovers.

Tomorrow night I'm going to venture into the realm of cabbage tacos. Pretty excited. Grilled chicken with sauteed onions, green peppers, & whatever else I can find. I might throw some of that squash in because I had so much left over.

That blueberry "ice cream" that you mentioned sounds delightful, too! I'm going to go get some frozen blueberries & coconut milk later to make smoothies. A friend gave me an awesome recipe for that plus cucumbers and some lemon juice. I'm excited. =] But that as a dessert just sounds beyond amazing! I'm trying to get my dad into the paleo diet, too, but it's a little bit more work to get him to do it.

This was my mild rant on topic.. haha.

[MikeWSQL]

You can do it! :-) Yeah that ice cream thing was great. Found it over at Paleohacks.com or someplace. Managed to do fine at the chinese food restaurant.. Guy across from me hate Scallion pancakes with dumpling sauce and mu-shi pork (my favorite)... Guy next to me had Sesame chicken that smelled and looked great.. I hate steamed veggies and chicken - hold the rice give me extra veggies.. I didn't die. I don't think I drooled too much either.. Added some hot mustard for flavor..

After being in the chinese restaurant and "surviving" here only on day 4, I think I'm actually gonna do alright. If I resisted duck sauce, fried "stuff", general tso, etc.... I think I can even resist the birthday cake and pasta at my son's 4th birthday this weekend... (I hope) :-)

[Morrigainz]

@Sydnie...what is this recipe of which you speak? It sounds good!

[MikeWSQL]

@MirGSS The dessert recipe? I mentioned it earlier. It is good nommz... It's easy.. Buy some frozen berries (blueberries are best) and some coconut milk.. Take the berries out of the freezer for a bit (15ish maybe), let them melt a bit, mash them up with a fork a bit - don't crush them all, they test great when they have a little sour bite to them (maybe a cup maybe more.. whatever you like...I'm not big on measurements...) then pour some coconut milk (few tablespoons, maybe more maybe less).. Mix it up really well, maybe mash some more blueberries in the process... Stick the bowl in the freezer for 20ish minutes and enjoy your paleo friendly blueberry coconut milk ice cream.

[MikeWSQL]

or do you mean the food food recipes? Those sounded good too.

[Morrigainz]

Well, all of the above...but I was very intrigued by the idea of coc milk + blueberries PLUS cucumbers and lemon juice. I mean coc milk and blueberries alone, yum, but what an interesting addition.

[MikeWSQL]

and yes - it does feel good to be full but not STUFFED.. And I don't see why Almond Milk wouldn't work. Worth a shot - let us know. Never even knew Almond Milk existed.

[Morrigainz]

Me neither. I saw it on a shelf. And it has quite a few carbs and only 1g protein...so I don't know what else I would use it for

[Sydnie]

@Sydnie...what is this recipe of which you speak? It sounds good!

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 cup coconut milk

1 large cucumber skinned and diced

1 tbsp of lemon juice.

Smush in a blender and enjoy!

I haven't tried it yet, but a friend sent it to me. She's super picky so I'm pretty excited to try it! Haha.

[eco2pia]

Well right now I am 100% strict paleo so cheese and rice are both out of the question.

pizza craving solution: cold zucchini slices (not cooked, raw) topped with pizza sauce, powdered garlic and red pepper flakes and parmesan if you eat cheese. Sounds weird, but I miss that salty spicy sauce most....it isn't like I am craving a grilled cheese sandwich after all. If you are eating paleo, you could put crumbled italian sausage in there too...yum. like a cold pizza salad, awesome in the summer.