This picture was taken 2 weeks ago at my Mother in law's 60th party and I only just got a copy of them. I still just can't believe the difference and find it really strange and a bit sad to look at my before photo, not just because of how I looked but also because of how I felt back then. I think the pictures say it all really....enjoy :)
Here's a recent meal of mine which is super yummy, it's vegetable carbonara! I've used mushrooms and thinly sliced zucchini fried with bacon. The sauce is cream, egg yolk, Parmesan, nutmeg and s&p! Truly satisfying and very filling.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the effects of losing all the weight has on my confidence and body image. Boy I have really changed as a person and still can't believe how big I was. I'm constantly reminding myself where I have come from, not to get too cocky and how I never want to go back to being that person. The weight really affected me on so many levels and each kilo I've lost has peeled back a layer of my true self.
The other thing that has affected me recently is hormones! To cut a long story short I ended up in hospital last month with some girl trouble and have since seen a specialist as it freaked me out a little. He said that losing all that weight is unbelievably awesome but it is a real shock for your body and can throw your hormones out of whack, eventually they will sort themselves out so that's a relief! Apparently when you gain weight you store excess estrogen's in your body fat so when you start losing weight the excess estrogen's are dumped into your blood stream and that can have some icky effects so to speak, at least this is how I understand it ;)
Weight wise I have plateaued recently around that 67-68kg mark but this morning was an all time low of 65.9kg!! I'm so stoked and can't believe I'm finally in a normal weight range, no longer considered overweight which is a pretty amazing achievement if I do say so myself!
This past weekend we had two celebrations, my mother in law's 60th and my husband's birthday so I decided since I'm pretty close to goal that I'd have 2 days 'off' I guess you'd say. Well I enjoyed the weekend so much and didn't worry about food whatsover and indulged in A LOT!
Saturday started off good, had bacon and eggs for breakfast and some lamb chops on the BBQ. Dinner at the restaurant was Pork Belly which was amazing served with mashed potato, kumara and apple topped with an asian sauce and greens. Mostly primal and bloody good. Pudding was carrot cake that I actually made for my mother in law, it's the Jamie Oliver recipe with ground almonds and topped with lime mascapone icing and it tasted amazing!! the rest of the night I ate chips and dip, chocolate covered strawberries and a few mussels on the bbq followed by a lot of nibbling on the leftover cake...
Sunday morning I was still full soo full so we went out and had coffee in the morning so I just had my normal decaf vienna. Lunch with my husbands family was fish and chips, I had 1/2 a chip buttie, a saveloy, crabstick and a piece of fish. In the afternoon I ate a few chips and dip then dinner we went to an italian restuarant and I had 2 slices of cheese topped pizza bread followed by a few bites of a pasta dish then Veal filled with parma ham and camembert topped with a creamy mushroom sauce, it was the most amazing dish and I will have it again as it was pretty primal. Then when I got home I had the last of the carrot cake and a few Cadbury Rose's chocolates. OMG how indulgent is that!
I actually feel like I have just had 2 days on drugs or alcohol, seriously!! I have never felt so sluggish and high. It has just shown me how powerful high sugar and high carb foods are. I have always known that I don't respond the best to non primal foods but boy it was weird.
I also felt no self control and just wanted to eat everything and anything to the point it was ridiculous and I had to say to myself it ends Sunday night and back to normal on Monday.
I am doing well so far but I know the cravings are going to be pretty bad and I'm not even thinking of weighing myself.
So a few fasts will be on the calendar this week and I'll be back on track, I know losing this last bit is going to be tougher than ever but slow is alright with me :)
Hi all, yes I'm still here, sorry I'm getting pretty slack with this blog!
It's been a year since I started this low carb journey and i've lost 40kgs!! 88lbs!!
I have never felt better and I'm finally starting to feel like a slim healthy person. I went shopping for my first dress purchase since losing the weight, we have my mother in laws 60th party in a couple of weeks and I wanted to spoil myself.
I bought a NZ size 10 and I couldn't believe it, it's such a huge change from the size 18 and 20's I used to wear. I still pick up larger sizes than what I need which I guess makes sense, it's taking a while for my brain to catch up and realise how much smaller I am now. My weight is 67kg exactly an I've hovered around that for a couple of weeks now just enjoying it and having a little more food than normal.
Will be back into weight loss mode soon and my goal is 60-65kg so not really that far from goal anyway. Yes I will post some photos as soon as I reach 65 :) Hope your all doing well!
Here's a link to a you tube video about the Primal Blueprint http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxqvITCAM9I It's a great video and Mark does are wonderful job of explaining the basic principles of the eating style in a relatively short time!
Hello!! Yes I am still here and still doing great. Weight loss hasn't really gone down much but I'm not to bothered, so far it's been smooth sailing and now that I'm getting closer to goal I knew it would start to really slow down. Have to admit though I've been eating far too much 85% chocolate, I find it a little addictive!
I started a hip hop class last week, it was so so much fun, I used to do dancing when I was younger and it's something I love to do. Cardio to me is so very boring so I just don't do it. Dancing is some healthy 'low level' cardio and you have so much fun doing it. My calves were pretty damn sore too.
Still going well with the weight training, starting to get my strength back after my bout with the flu. Taking a while though.
Overall I am feeling really wonderful. I don't think in all my life I have ever felt so good about myself. I know that I'm looking a whole lot better but it's not just that. The energy I have is awesome! some people ask me what I'm doing that gives me all this energy??
For me all it really comes down to is eating right, exercising right and sleeping! I've come a long way from the tired grumpy lazy lady who ate a lot!
This is the closest picutre you'll see until I get to 65kg ;) Weighed in today at 68.8kg so it's still on the downward and no stalling but it is relatively slow! I'm sure the IF really helps to keep my body guessing. Still loving the gym, it's starting to feel like I've made a permanant change which is amazing to me. BTW that's not my Red Bull ;)
My Success Story
My weight struggle began when I turned 21. I got really stressed out at my job, and in turn I became depressed and very anxious to the point that my Doctor put me off work. That was the beginning of my search to feel well again…so here’s my story.
In 2002 I was prescribed Antidepressants, which at the time I definitely needed because I was not in a good place. However, this increased my appetite like crazy and I really started gaining weight. I ballooned up to 87kg and I’m 5’6”, so my ideal weight is something like 60kg. I searched online for an answer and I came across Atkins, so I started it straight away. I was really successful with it and I lost a lot of weight. I got right down to 54kg so I was thin…great, ah not really. I didn’t emphasise health enough. Veggies weren’t a large part of my diet, but diet coke and artificially sweetened chocolate was. I kept the weight off for a wee while but I was still having anxiety and depression. So in my search to find a cure I did more research online and came to the conclusion that low carb was exacerbating the problem….
In 2005 I started eating whole grains after what I had read, and I was convinced that they were the key to healing my body… boy was I wrong. I was so stubborn that I had found the answer that I just kept eating and eating, hoping that one day my anxiety would vanish. I still can’t believe how much faith I had in eating this way.
2008 This is the year where I reached my lowest point and my highest weight. I was now considered morbidly obese and I was extremely unhappy. I was eating every 2-3 hours and even before bed just to keep my blood sugar “stable”. I would eat whole grains, protein and “good fats” thinking I was eating well, but I was constantly hungry and just getting bigger and bigger I was so stubborn and convinced that this was the right way to eat. My anxiety levels were not good, and deep down I knew something was wrong, but I had no idea just how misinformed and misled I had been.
I knew that I was large but you see what you want to see in the mirror, and although I knew I was fat, I was definitely in a state of denial for months. I remember buying a size 20 pair of jeans and thinking “oh they must be a big sizing” until I hopped on the scales and saw 107kg!! And even then I thought the scales were giving me the wrong reading. Then my husband suggested he take a photo of me. I was so shocked that I was actually that size and I remember just sobbing, and being so angry with myself.
In Oct of 2008 I started my online search again Knowing that Atkins had worked in the past was my main motivator, but I was a bit apprehensive. Now there had been a lot more research done, so I managed to find some great websites and blogs that were very informative, which helped me make my decision. With the combined ideas of Atkins, Protein Power and Paleo, I cut out all my whole grains and started eating plenty of veggies, protein and fat, and quickly started dropping weight. No diet coke this time, just water, soda water and herbal teas. I started feeling energised and so great. I still had a little anxiety, but nowhere near as bad.
Once I’d lost about 10kgs I came across Marks Daily Apple and was glued to the site for days!!This is what I had been looking for. It helped me to change my mindset, and to realise it is all about lifestyle, not just about dieting. Since then I have lost another 25kgs and now I weigh 72kgs, and fitting a size 12! I joined the gym to start weight training about 2 months ago and I’m hooked! I’m really looking forward to changing my body composition. My anxiety is far more manageable now and I finally feel like I’ve got it sorted. I now know what works and what doesn’t for my body.
The primal way feels so natural, coming from a person who had to eat every 2-3 hours otherwise I would be lightheaded and sometimes even dizzy. Now I can do the odd 24hr Intermittent Fast with no problems, and if a meal is late it’s no biggie. I finally feel freed from my obsession with food, and the handcuffs of my eating timetable. That is one of the best things about going primal.
When people ask me “what’s my secret?” I don’t talk about it like it’s a diet. This is just the way we were meant to eat. Hopefully I can help others to realise it’s all about mindset, feeding yourself with the best fuel, and using that knowledge to maximise exercise and movement. I’m definitely a bit of a preacher when it comes to Primal living, and talk about Mark Sisson like he’s my best buddy. I started a blog so I wouldn’t drive my friends and family crazy talking about it.
So, it can be a tough pill to swallow when you realise there is no magic pill, and you have to make some major changes if you want real results. Now, when I’m in a situation surrounded by unhealthy foods I have to make conscious choices. Most of the time it’s easy because eating primal foods are so satisfying and makes me feel so good that I never feel deprived. And holding onto my old pair of size 20 jeans is a great reminder and motivator of just how far I’ve come!
This picture was taken 2 weeks ago at my Mother in law's 60th party and I only just got a copy of them. I still just can't believe the difference and find it really strange and a bit sad to look at my before photo, not just because of how I looked but also because of how I felt back then. I think the pictures say it all really....enjoy :)
