Diet and Exercise Still Going Strong

Knocking on the Door - 100 Kilograms (220lbs)

I've now lost about 10 kilograms (22lbs) in weight, I'm walking a distance of about 4.0 kilometres (about 2.5 miles) a day, it varies but hovers around that distance, sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more, I generally have one "sloth" day each week, usually on a Sunday, where I do virtually nothing, except for eating the right way of course, that's everyday. My walking has definitely improved, if my phone's step counter is accurate, I'm doing about 5,000 - 6,000 steps a day.

If I take rubbish out to the bin I take the long way around, so that helps to add to my daily steps, that's why it varies, though I always get the 5,000 steps from my morning walk. The rest is usually low intensity walking, my morning walk is where I "push it" a bit harder. I'm doing five laps of "my block" and try to do that in the morning. If I go for my walk close to bed time I am too "wired" to sleep and have the energy to stay up most of the night, which of course negates the benefit of a good nights sleep...

I've been adding more variation to my diet, all Paleo Diet approved foods, I generally have Salad with Sardines or bacon or salmon or whatever meat I have thawed for Breakfast, I now rarely have lunch, I might just have a snack like a boiled egg or two instead, occasionally I have three meals a day but it is occasional, not common at all, my appetite has definitely decreased. I have mostly stuck to my dinner meal of some kind of meat and steamed vegetables. My walking's improvement is less fatigue as I get "fitter" of course and my balance has also improved, I still do get some "foot drag" by the end of my morning walk, but it's on the last lap when the physical fatigue starts to kick in, yep I am pushing it so that's expected.

My weight is at about 103 Kilograms (227lbs), I must say the lower your weight becomes, it seems the slower you lose it, but as I've said many times before I hope to make this a lifestyle change, but that 99 Kilogram mark is my next goal, it's a big goal lol, I haven't weighed below 100 Kilograms for a looong time ;). Just remember though, weight loss is the bonus, it's not the main goal, the main goal is to see how eating the Paleo way can benefit my MS and it's symptoms, so to realise the possible benefits of MS improvement, I will need to stick to the diet for quite a while. The weight loss period of this experiment is tangible, you can see the results as they're happening, the scales and how your clothes fit show the weight loss, you do feel the general health benefits as well, so there is no doubt about that aspect of the Paleo Diet when it comes to losing weight, it works and works quite quickly, so that's on track.

The next part will be more difficult to prove or "see", it will be all about how I feel, it won't be easy to put into words, I think there has been some benefit on the Multiple Sclerosis/symptom front, but nothing that's happening is a large enough change to really talk about. I guess all I can really say is that I'm feeling quite well. I'm sure the eating better, the getting more sleep, sleeping longer and exercise all have something to do with that, but that's quite obvious really, it's bound to have a positive effect. I could probably say that all of this healthy living has seemed to improve my fatigue in the positive, even if I do get a minor afternoon MS crash, I might need to or want to lie down for half an hour to an hour, but I'm not falling asleep just having a lie down.

I need to get some kind of "Fitness Band", I would like to be able to monitor my sleep, I have a feeling that even when I do seem to get say 6-8 hours sleep a night, I can't be certain if it's "good sleep" so I might just need to buy one of those fitness bands to see if it can shed some light on my sleep behaviour. I mention this because some days I wake up and get ready for my morning walk and it's like I'm overflowing with energy, then on other days it's a real struggle, I still do the walk, but there's a bit more "clonus" symptoms and just a little more very minor foot dragging right from the start of the walk. I'm fairly sure that my nutrient intake is fine and I'm eating enough, so at this stage I have a feeling it's a lack of "good sleep".

Oh the last "shop" I did for groceries I thought I would add some Berries, I bought Blackberries and Blueberries, the Blackberries are lower in Sugar, the Blueberries are slightly higher, I have to say even when eating the Berries, mainly the Blueberries, I did get a Sugar rush headache lol, seriously, I never had too many Blueberries I might have had 5-10 at a time maximum, as nice as they were, I think I'll stick to the Blackberries for an occasional treat, they seemed to be less headache inducing...weird eh?

My Tip: People please give up Sugar filled drinks, eg. Coca-Cola and any fizzy drink that is full of Sugar, that also includes fruit juice, the concentrations of Sugars in Fruit juices is enormous, have a real orange etc. instead of it's concentrated Sugar filled juice!

This blog post is a tad all over the place, because I'm just cruising along, doing what I need to do and I just wanted to log my progress and let others know I'm still on the diet and exercise path ;)

The Video below is an Interview with Loren Cordain, the father of the Paleo Diet, the guy asking the questions is Pete Evans, he is an Australian Paleo Diet advocate and Chef.

First Goal Achieved Paleo Diet and Exercising!

WooHoo, I'm just past the two month mark - Paleo Diet

Why is this goal important to me? I have only ever made it to just under the two month mark previously, so I'm quite happy I've beaten my previous record, piss off, yes it is a big deal to me lol. Yep if you can bother to read my previous Paleo Diet blog posts, all I've really done is get back to where I ended up the last time I tried this diet, so no smart arse comments, it takes me a while to get my mind right, the planets also need to align perfectly to get into that head space that I need to be in to achieve results. As I've said before though this time I really do think I can possibly make this a lifestyle change that I can stick to. I won't hide my Paleo Journey "ups and downs" you can read all of my posts on the Paleo Diet at the link below...

All blog posts tagged "Paleo Diet"

When you get over or near the two month mark of eating the Paleo way and exercising, things really do start to fall into place, well this is the time frame for me anyway, we're all different though, you are now starting to see real noticeable results, weight loss, better sleep patterns, less fatigue, clearer mind, less fog in the brain and a better attitude and I'm walking a lot more these days, so I'm quite a bit fitter and my "gait" has improved out of sight. I promise you all these things that are happening are real, but honestly you'll never know unless you try the Paleo Diet yourself and do your best to exercise, whatever exercise you can do will help immensely, I have no doubt of that. I will say though, you really do need to stick to it strictly, especially in the early days in my opinion, the more strict you are the quicker you will see the positive benefits, but rest assured you will see results even if you can't do any exercise at all, it's true, you will benefit from eating the Paleo way!

I'm becoming a bit of an expert on living and eating the Paleo way, more particularly, I have a good understanding of what you can and can't eat and how it all works, I guess that's what I know now, so it's pretty much second nature to me and that makes everything a lot easier. Having said that (don't you hate it when people use that term lol) I definitely don't know everything, but I continuously read and of course experience it while doing the diet. I have nearly finished "The Wahls Protocol" book by Terry Wahls, next chapter is the "Epilogue" so I figure I'm close to the end... I'll finish it up as soon as I can in the coming day or two. I must say that I always thought Terry's wonderful book was a much more stricter version of the Paleo Diet that I had ever done, not so, believe it or not, so I'm very happy and surprised by that, it means I've been doing it quite close to Terry's version.

After reading "The Wahls Protocol" I have though learnt a lot more and will slowly incorporate some of her ideas and theories into how I'm eating, she also suggests some supplements that might be worthwhile adding to the diet. Though she does make it very clear that supplements are not the way to go, she fully believes in consuming the right foods and lots of them especially at the start, she lists everything and also has three versions for her Protocol, me, I pretty much jumped right into her most strictest version her "Paleo Plus Diet", though let me clarify my statement.

 I am not eating the exact same foods as Terrys strictest version, though I do only eat Paleo allowed foods and do follow quite a strict version, so I'm very close to her version, but she has given me a few aspects to think about, for example she doesn't recommend eating eggs, but she does qualify that statement with "if you are allergic or have a sensitivity to Eggs" she advises not to eat them, now I wouldn't have a clue whether I am or not, though as I said it has given me something to think about. I will probably try an experiment on myself, eg. I will "cut them out" of my diet at some stage (when I finish what eggs I still have left) for a couple of weeks, see how I go and how I feel then add eggs back to my diet and see if I can  feel any difference.

One difference I'd really like to get on board with is the consumption of "Organ Meat", yeah, never been a fan even though both my Mother and Father occasionally did eat "Organ Meats" when I was growing up, they never pushed them on us, in fact didn't even offer "their" delicacies to us at all, well not that I can remember anyway. I did see them cook these meats and eat them, I'm sure if I had asked for some they would have let me try them, I doubt I ever asked though lol. So I do have a few things I'd like to look into further and possibly try, but I'll definitely need to ease into organ meats and learn how to cook them etc.

Hey I really do understand if people scoff at my improvements, I really do, but honestly I really don't care, I know what I'm feeling, I'm feeling great, I have no reason to lie as I'm not selling anything or getting any commissions, I've been on this journey for quite a while now, most of that has been reading and getting organised slowly to start eating Paleo allowed foods, when your not wealthy you can't just buy everything you need in one shopping trip and it's silly to throw out good edible albeit processed and sugar laden food and fill your cupboards with Paleo only. It all takes time, but you can definitely slowly work up to it and start adjusting.

I promise you I have more money left over each week now more so than when I was consuming sugar laden processed non Paleo food stuffs. Oh and that's something I need to say, after the two month mark, your appetite lessens and you're not craving the crap you used to live on, sure you might say once a week crave something from your past poor eating habits, but seriously that craving disappears rather quickly, but it does pay to have something Paleo approved to eat if you're hungry of course, just in case, rather than being caught short and buying some quick and easy processed food from some shop, just be prepared, don't slip into old eating habits!

Oh I should say as well, I do get most of my meat and vegetables from "supermarkets" yes you're right, strictly Paleo food is Grass Fed Meat and Organic Veggies, you're absolutely right, but at the moment at least I can't easily source or afford these foods, but I will, the main Paleo bonus I'm benefiting from at the moment is weight loss, I want to mainly concentrate on that first, get my weight down while feeling better whilst doing it. As I eat less I will have more money to spend on the best kind of meat and vegetables, Grass Fed and Organic respectively, I am feeling heaps better and once the weight is off I hope to feel even better when I can source and afford better produce.

Don't get discouraged or give up on Paleo eating just because you can't be 100% Paleo perfect with what you consume with the meat and veggies, you really will feel much better regardless, hang in there and look for discounts and specials, go to farmers markets, buy cheaper cuts of Grass Fed meat or Organic veggies that are bruised, you know what I mean, be smart, grow your own veggies, just do your best with what you can achieve, it won't be a waste of time, just aspire to buying better quality Grass fed Meat and Organic Vegetables when you can ;)

My walking is up to about five thousand steps, well that's my goal and I'm making that goal if not more, I do try and have one slow day at least each week, some times even two, but I usually at least do about 1500 steps on those days, just to keep the legs active and I really am in the mode of walking everyday, like I really feel like I have to do it, it's a good place mentally to be in. You never know I might just make it to 10,000 after all, but I am hurting after doing five laps around "my block" which I've just started doing, the worst thing is it takes me about an hour, that's time I could be relaxing lol!

After reading Terry Wahls book and discussing my blog posts with others on Google Plus, I have started to eat more salad type vegetables and cutting back a little on steamed hot food veggies, this gives me a bit of a change and more variety, I have also been eating a lot more Coconut Oil and "good" oils with the salads as well, the Coconut Oil doesn't taste too bad at all, I'm getting used to it and enjoying it more, it's just different, maybe a little sweet tasting, but eh, I think my taste buds are "shot" anyway after a previous exacerbation, though I can "taste" my food more clearly now though, I guess when you haven't eaten sugar or carbs for about two months things are bound to change and they have. Oh and yes as I mentioned on my last blog post I'm eating a max of two meals a day and yes some times just one meal a day with a small snack, my appetite has decreased lots...

Long ago now I started getting ready for doing the Paleo Diet while I was reading up on it all, I started getting rid of Non Paleo foods, by throwing them out, giving them away or just finishing what I had left, I stopped eating bread long ago apart from the very odd Servo sandwich, which were sometimes quite odd indeed...I haven't had sugar laden McDonalds or Kentucky fried Chicken for years now, I do remember having just one cheeseburger around the start of November 2015, but apart from that I've abstained from that horrid stuff they call food for quite a while now.

The one fast food place I do use is Red Rooster, I only occasionally eat their whole Chickens (only) and occasionally their Chicken Salads, I don't use their dressing. Occasionally I'll buy a supermarket BBQ chicken as well, but that's about the extent of consuming any fast food type "foods". The Cheeseburger I had was purchased on the way home after the five days Lemtrada Treatment, eh, give me a break, it was just one cheeseburger and no chips or drinks ;)

Oh I have now finished the Terry Wahls Protocol book, yes I do recommend it, she eases you into eating the Paleo Way and explains everything as you go, you don't need to buy the book everything you need to know can be found on the interwebs, but it is a handy guide that is well worth having so you can refer back to it while giving the Paleo Diet a red hot go. Her advice is wonderful and she has some great tips in the book, yes it has some graphs, lists, testimonies and advice, Terry explains it all and she takes you through her own personal journey.

Terry Wahls on Google Plus you can find her web site and more info at this link.

My next goal is to get below the 100 Kilogram (220 lbs) mark, I'm nearly there, just a few more Kilos to go!

I will of course edit any mistakes in the text above after it's published, cos that's how I roll...

Caveman Family

Diet and Exercise

Diet and Exercise - Week Six!

I'm into about week six of eating better and exercising, the results are slowly starting to show, the most obvious are weight loss and my gait (walking) and general fitness, even though my walking has improved heaps, I still don't necessarily feel really safe walking, but I guess you become more critical of yourself because of one's memory of how it used to be, the walking has helped me to lift my right leg which is the main one that causes me issues, at one stage both legs inability to walk saw me end up in a wheelchair for two to three months, though the left leg pretty much fully recovered, the right leg didn't.

The right leg is always the one to drag on the ground first when I am fatigued from exertion or lack of sleep, it's usually the one that I will trip over the thin air with, that's slowly getting better now that I'm exercising by walking. I'm up to very recently, as in yesterday, starting to walk around "my block" three times in the morning and once at night, that equals about 3.2 kilometres as the distance around "my block" is 800 metres. I'm absolutely stuffed by the third time around in the morning. Four times around is more than five thousand steps going by Google Fit, they say us humans should be walking around 10,000 steps a day, whether I make it to that many, I'm not sure, but I can say one thing, I'm walking each day much further than I ever have after the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis was thrust upon me...

Eating the right foods is still going fine, yes I'm getting bored of course, though I am getting used to it and food is starting to taste better, I'm finding if I prepare some meals beforehand so that I just need to microwave them, this helps me to stick the the diet and helps with my fatigue. I prepare the steam vegetables and cook the meat when I'm ready to eat, of course if I have bacon and eggs that needs to be fried when I want, no reheating. I order my food on line and have it delivered, maybe one day I'll walk to the supermarket, but you can only carry so much, so I might need to wait until I can do a couple or three trips in a day...

With the food consumption I'm very slowly starting to get to the point where I'm not feeling hungry all the time, I haven't done it yet but I'm starting to get that hint of not feeling like two or three meals a day, this doesn't mean that's how I will end up living, on one meal a day, but it does mean I'm no longer following the "normal" breakfast, lunch and dinner mantra that we've all had drummed into us since we were "younguns". I'm starting to get to the stage of only eating when I am truly hungry, before I felt compelled to eat at each of those time honoured meal "times" to consume the food I eat.

If I feel hungry in the morning after my walk, I'll eat, quite often now though I don't feel hungry until around lunch time. I'm also happy that I can add two more frozen vegetables to the mix, I will now be adding kale and mushrooms to my list of frozen foods that I can include in my diet. So at the moment I'm only eating two to three healthy meals a day (though mostly only two meals a day), with the odd snack here and there, e.g. boiled egg etc.

Frozen vegetables are so much easier for a single person and someone who can't easily just "nick" down the shop for extras if they run out or what you do have has spoiled before you had a chance to eat it. So now the list of frozen vegetables has grown from six to eight, these are vegetables that are "allowed" on the Paleo diet of course, so you're a little more limited in your meal choices. Of course meals vary though not by much at this stage, the following is a list of frozen vegetables I can now get from the supermarket I order from (Coles).

List of Paleo Diet approved frozen Vegetables
I can buy the following veggies from Coles Supermarket on line
Brussel Sprouts
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Spinach
Kale
Pumpkin
Carrots
Mushrooms

Most of these frozen vegetables are "Coles Brand" so they are reasonably priced, I figure they can't "mess" with vegetables all that much, hopefully...a few are "brands" so I'm spreading the consumerism love, in my own little way lol.

There are more frozen vegetables that are Paleo approved, though I've never had them before at all so I need to do some research on how to cook the buggers and get a sense of what they taste like. Yes even though frozen vegetables can be more expensive, I very rarely waste vegetables now, so I'm confident I'm saving money more so than when buying fresh. I would probably be a lot more efficient as in wastage nowadays if I was buying fresh, because I am eating more healthily so the fresh veggies would be getting used, but they say frozen can actually be better than fresh anyway so that's perfect for me.

I do buy some fresh vegetables for a slow cooker meal I make, but they get used the same day or next day that I buy them, one example in particular is Mushrooms, I buy two punnet's of sliced fresh Mushies, celery, onions and carrots for that slow cooker meal, but the frozen ones will be perfect for breakfast with bacon and eggs if I have that meal. Even though I want to make this Diet and Exercise regime a lifestyle change, my immediate goal is to "crack" three months (I did two months last time) and move on from there, after that, six months, then twelve, that is of course if all goes well and there is a noticeable benefit, regardless I do plan on keeping sugar consumption in "check" by doing my best to eliminate it from my diet altogether as I'm doing right now!

I'm trying to add different types of healthy foods, for instance apart from a couple of new frozen veggies, I'm looking at seafood that has high amounts of good oil, I already try to consume at least some fresh Salmon at least once a week, sometimes more, but this week I have stocked up on some Sardines that are canned with Olive Oil, I hope to add these to some kind of Salad concoction that will also have added "good" Paleo approved "Oils" like Olive Oil and Macadamia Oil (maybe even some avocado oil) both of which I already have.

I've been a bit hesitant to do salads after having the MS drug treatment Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) because of possible Listeria bacteria infection from lettuces, it's in the Lemtrada literature of possible infections one needs to be careful of, yes maybe a bit OTT, but hey I am Male and I admit my cleanliness is not always "top notch" and when I'm advised to do something or be careful of something because of a depleted Immune system, I am especially careful. Lemtrada has some possible nasty side effects so I have upped the cleanliness, but is it enough lmao! I'm fairly sure my MS is from having a great and efficient immune system hehe, I've trained it well over many years of germ abuse, I've rarely been ill in my life and rarely get infections, unlike some people who have been brought up in very sterile environments and seem to get every bug and infection that's available.

Just remember many MSer's can most likely do at least some exercise even if they are confined to a wheelchair and most can eat better to improve their health, it may mean that the whole family needs to get on board and get with the program, as in help the MSer in their life to achieve these things but surely our loved ones, if they really do love us, will have no problem with helping us achieve this goal. I personally live alone so I need to do my best to keep my MS exacerbations at bay as I have no family that live close by and boy do I love my independence, so that's one of the main reasons I'm doing this exercising and adjusting my diet to a much healthier way to eat, will it work, well I'm guessing it has to have some benefit at the very least. I've let my general health decline, I need to rectify that ;)

Caveman!

Paleo Diet Information

Main Paleo Diet page, more information at link below.
http://www.darinallan.com/paleo_diet

Sugar is Bad for You!
http://www.darinallan.com/paleo_diet/sugar-is-bad-for-you

I've Quit Sugar!
http://www.darinallanblog.com/2016/01/ive-quit-sugar.html

Week Two - Paleo Diet

I'm into the second week of the Paleo diet, as far as weight goes, I have lost between one and two kilograms, I can't be too exact as my scales are a basic unit and analogue so will need to weigh myself on some decent scales at some stage, preferably hospital scales, they are usually spot on. I wonder if Chemist stores have scales anymore, most of them used to when I was growing up, don't think I've noticed them for a long time now though.

26-10-2014 to 1-11-2014

After the first week withdrawal symptoms from the carbs, sugar and coffee, the start of this week has been a breeze to handle, though there is a little fatigue still, but considering I have MS, it's pretty normal, the last time though, I was definitely less fatigued so I am hoping the same thing will occur by the end of the month at least, to stay positive you need a few "wins" along the way, so far the weight loss is on track. I think my brain might be coming just that wee bit clearer, I've felt like writing more lately and the words are coming a little easier, but it's too early to know whether it's from the Paleo Diet or just the way MS works, you do have some good days occasionally where you can take on the world, not often, but now and then.

I will need to do another grocery order this week at some stage, I am down to the last of my meat, that's a bit scary lol. I even had to buy some Bacon from the Servo/Coles mini mart, I love all bacon, but I am enjoying the streaky bacon a bit more since eating the Paleo way, more yummy fat in the streaky bacon, Coles mini mart only has the usual bacon we seem to prefer in Australia, I like it as well, but Paleo does like more fat to burn!

"You don't win friends with salad", though it is a quick and easy supplement to your meat, it's important to eat the veggies/salads, the Paleo diet is not about eating meat only.

I think my eyesight might be just a little clearer, in my "looking through fog left eye", that might just be wishful thinking as well, though things like this are what happened last time, a lessening of symptom severity overall! It's like the fog is starting to clear, with holes in the fog that make it a little easier to see through.

I'm drinking between one and two litres of water a day.

Ketosis and Ketone Test Strips

These strips are not needed, though I am going to get some to test my urine to see if I am in ketosis, more of an interest than anything else, I just want to know lol.

http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips011.html

Got the ketosis test strips, yippee I'm in ketosis, expected that, but just had to know for sure lol

I tested my urine with the strips and I'm definitely in Ketosis, I've been in "Moyen" (third one from top) going by the scale and colour of the test strip, it's all very interesting!

I have also started walking, baby steps (literally), around the block, haven't measured the exact distance, but it is a somewhat hilly sloping block I am on, not sure what's worse, going down the slope or going back up lol.

I've lost two Kilograms in weight, I find the best time to weigh myself is the morning, during the day your weight goes up and down like a yoyo, I guess when your drinking litres of water it will tend to add weight as will the food of course, but after a good nights sleep letting the body do it's thing I'm always losing weight after a sleep each day, just a bit but it's happening!

Week One - Paleo Diet!

Paleo Diet, first week start date

19-10-2014 to 25-10-2014

I started the Paleo Diet again this week, I did my shopping for the week, so that's all sorted, hopefully it lasts me a little longer than one week! Yes I tried not that long ago to get back on Paleo, but now I have no commitments or old friends dropping over to corrupt me lol, which makes things a little easier to give it another go and hopefully  stay on it for a while. 

This week I bought

Chicken Drumsticks

Roast SilverSide Beef (accident)

Porterhouse Steak

Bacon

Eggs

Red Kale

Cos Lettuce

Coral Lettuce

Tomatoes

Red Onion

Butter

Coconut Milk

The very first meals were meat and steamed veggies, seeing as the weather has been a little warmer, the meals have since been salad based with meat. I have been very diligent in unpackaging the meat and freezing it before it spoils, after the two roast beef's were cooked I carved and froze them, they make a great lunchtime snack, especially nice with salad.

I have made a Coconut Milk smoothie, nothing fancy just a tin of coconut milk, a little vanilla essence, a touch of nutmeg, a little Macadamia oil and blend, chill before drinking.

I seem to be getting some joint pain, especially in my hips, hopefully it's because of the diet, I think I got some joint pain the last time I was on Paleo, so I'm not to concerned at the moment. Also getting the odd headache, just annoying more than anything else, that will definitely be from the Paleo experience. Also today, I had a bit of the runs a few times, though it did happen last time, must be the transition to fuelling the body with fat rather than sugar, my guess :)

Oh I'm always on the search for fast Paleo Food, there are no Paleo type restaurants or Cafes near me so I need to make do, after doing a bit of searching on the fast food stores web sites, out of the three right near me, McDonalds is good until you read the ingredients of the chicken (coated with some crap), so Mc Chucks is out... On to Kentucky Fried Chicken, salads don't exist in their world. The winner is Red Rooster for those who don't know, it's barbequed chicken but it's just like a roast, or how a roast chicken is done the fast food way is how I see it, it's not Paleo as such, but it's damn handy for a change and quite nice to boot!

Red Rooster has a "Classic Salad" I think it's called, it has chicken, lettuce, red cabbage, tomato and carrots, there is some sachet with I think Balsamic vinegar type dressing, obviously I didn't use that, it's a simple salad and of course not as tasty as a salad with dressing, but overall not too bad at all, definitely acceptable for when you just can't be shagged cooking or preparing a meal. Red Rooster also has roast veggies, roast carrot, pumpkin and potatoes, you can change the potato to say another piece of pumpkin or carrot if you like, I did, haven't bought potatoes for years now, this will just be an occasional treat though, no doubt they cook with the bad oils, so be it, the important thing for now is to lose weight.

Salads
http://www.redrooster.com.au/menu/140/Garden-Salad-Regular

Roast Veggies
http://www.redrooster.com.au/menu/175/Roast-Vegies

Oh yes I know the Paleo Crowd will be turning in their graves, well some of them  anyway, but with the fatigue from MS and heat, not cooking in my kitchen is a must at times (especially summer time) and it's just nice to have slack days where someone else can do the meal preparation, one day I'll find a handy establishment that serves Paleo meals, but I'll have to make do for now.

Paleo Diet Lose thirty kilograms in six months - Week One

I started back on the Paleo Diet about a eight days ago, although I have been eating the Paleo way for a lot longer, I have also been eating a lot of junk and drinking a lot of flavoured milk. So one very minute good thing is that I am quite used to eating Paleo when I actually cook, I try and stick to the Paleo Diet list of foods.

The first week has been fine, went through the coffee and sugar withdrawal headaches, extreme lack of energy and general tiredness you get when you cut out all sugar and carbs. I am pushing on and each day is becoming easier, at least the headaches have gone, bonus!

I've been eating lots of meat and veg, pork chops, rump steak, chicken and of course bacon, on the vegetable front I have been eating lots of kale, broccoli, carrots, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, spinach and mushrooms. Oh and eggs, lots of eggs. Fairly simple basic choices at the moment, no doubt boredom of eating the same things will encourage me to become a little more creative.

For cooking I have been using my Barbecue, I only use the hot plate side, for frying meat and eggs, I steam all vegetables and always have a plate of veggies ready to be warmed up for meals, usually I eat one to two meals a day, since starting the Paleo Diet again I have been eating three decent sized meals a day.

At the end of the week I am doing well and sticking to the diet, hopefully I can keep it up and reach my goal of losing thirty kilograms in six months!

I am going to try my best, but I want feel to guilty if I fail, I have a feeling I can get back into it now, let's hope so!

I try and eat a fair bit of salmon while on the Paleo Diet!

Here we go again - Paleo Third Time Lucky?

It's the third or fourth time, could probably just count from posts on this blog, bugger that, don't really want to know lest I get disappointed with myself.  I might as well use a post I made on the G+ Multiple Sclerosis Community for this first post on this latest Paleo try with some extras of course.

Well the weather is getting better in the southern hemisphere and for me it's the perfect time to be drinking lots of water and eating salads, of course I'll still be eating meat and steamed veggies as well, but summer gives me more options to eat the Paleo way more easily, not sure why exactly but I have trouble consuming salads in the cooler months lol.

So I've been brushing up on all things Paleo lifestyle, although I definitely haven't been eating paleo for a while now, I have still been eating the right foods as best I can with some of the crappy or non paleo foods thrown in.

I gave up alcohol long ago, my main vice these days is the occasional smoke (tobacco and ganja) I do mean occasional, money and supply are issues these days, so it's not often I partake for those reasons. Fatigue can be a real problem, some days it's just easier to get a takeaway or ready made frozen meals, neither of which are part of the Paleo diet, so preparing, cooking, and cleanup can be a real hassle with the fatigue obviously getting worse on the warmer days.

I will start doing paleo from today with the odd indiscretion and be aiming for this Monday to be in full paleo mode from that day on. I need to lose weight regardless, so that will be a bonus, but I felt really good last time I was on Paleo as far as MS goes, so I'm hoping I can get that advantage again, that's the main reason I want to try again, weight loss is a wonderful bonus and with Paleo exercise is not mandatory, of course still very worthwhile, but with MS well you know, it's easy to be unmotivated to exercise. 

Last time I was on strict paleo I was losing 5 kilograms (about 11 pounds) a month doing no exercise at all apart from just living of course. I've added a link to a Multiple Sclerosis Paleo diet story and it's benefits below if you want to have a read.

I'm going to give it a red hot go, but I'm not going to beat myself up if I fail again, though I will be very disappointed, hopefully that can keep me going, I'll document the journey good or bad on my blog, when I'm in full paleo mode.

I've made my first paleo grocery order that will be delivered this friday, I have ordered only one "treat" Green & Black's Chocolate Block Organic Dark 85%, the rest is meat, fish (salmon), vegetables, salad ingredients and eggs, that's it as far as food goes. Of course I have ordered "Kale the super green" as well. :)

Below is my first order for my latest Paleo Diet try, I took a screenshot with the 85% chocolate highlighted, I'm an idiot it means nothing, bear in mind optimally when on the Paleo Diet one should be eating organic food, or at least try to, yep if I drove a car and had more money and could access all organic I definitely would, alas I can't I try and buy the organic "version" when marked down or on "special" but that's the best I can do for now, I don't stress about it, it's just how it is!

As you can see I am big on the frozen version of vegetables if they can be bought that way, being single it's the best way to buy, I waste far less food if I buy frozen, I always buy lemon juice as well as I was always wasting lemons, so yeah it's not always the best way as far as price goes, though frozen veg and lemon juice suits me and my lifestyle :)

First grocery order for third or fourth Paleo Diet try

Paleo Shopping list

Paleo Shopping list

Recovering from Multiple Sclerosis - Book Review

Recovering from Multiple Sclerosis 

Real life stories of hope and inspiration

George Jelinek and Karen Law

This latest book is the third of Professor George Jelinek's books, dealing with diet, exercise, meditation and a positive outlook on life as a way to take control of your Multiple Sclerosis symptoms, there are twelve stories of real people that have have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and have followed the advice from Dr. Jelinek's two previous books the first being "Taking control of Multiple Sclerosis" and the second, Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis (Google Play Books).

If you're looking for some motivation and inspiration and are willing to follow the advice given to manage your Multiple Sclerosis, look no further, the stories give real hope that just changing your lifestyle can make a real a difference to the MS journey you're now faced with, all of the stories are personal experiences of following the diet and lifestyle changes outlined in  the "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis" book.

A few of the people in the book reported that some of their lesions appeared to have shrunk or disappeared on subsequent MRIs after being on this program, understand though that this not a quick fix or silver bullet, this is a total lifestyle change that you will need to stick to without deviation over many years for best results, it's a total lifestyle change! It appears that most of the people in the stories are living normal and active lives apart from some minor MS symptoms from the nerve damage from previous exacerbations and relapses.

Eating healthier and making lifestyle changes can never be a bad thing, why not give it a go!

I was given a free copy of this book to review by Allen and Unwin, click > Recovering from Multiple Sclerosis to buy the paperback. This is an honest review and was not part of any deal to get a free copy of the book.

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Just for your information Dr. Jelinek also has a web site called Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis where you can find all the information needed to follow his program for coping with MS, the "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis" book is often given away freely and at the moment if you live in Australia or New Zealand you can get a free copy, you only have to pay for postage here are the details for the free copy.

Below is a Youtube video by Dr. Jelinek
Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis - Dr George Jelinek
Professor George Jelinek is an academic emergency physician. His experience with his mother's death from MS, and his own diagnosis in 1999, lend an urgency and compassion to this meticulous work which offers a new approach and new hope for sufferers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPYLKZG6Bt0

On a personal note, I'm not following this program as I am purely trying to lose weight at this stage by following the Paleo Diet which also has the added bonus of helping with my MS symptoms, if that goes well, I think I will give Dr. Jelinek's program a try, if I can stick to Paleo I should have little problem following "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis" well it should be a lot easier anyway :)