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

I've Quit Sugar!

I'm on the third week of "No Sugar" I started around Christmas day, I thought it best not to make a new years resolution, us humans rarely stick to those, me especially, too much pressure...

I have decided to strictly adhere to the Paleo Diet once again, though I won't be going into detail about that diet as such, I've said it all before, on this blog and in numerous posts on G+. I think the sugar cessation with Paleo might just be the the "thing" that helps the most when it comes to well being, nevertheless I will adhere to the Paleo guidelines strictly as I have never felt better since having MS and eating the Paleo way. I'm actually quite sick of talking about Paleo stuff as most just can't or won't attempt it or even read about it and if they do look into it they cringe in horror and then starting saying things like "I could never just eat all meat" I then immediately know they've never looked into it at all, I then know they read and blindly believe what hack journalist's articles espouse as truth, yeah the "journalist" didn't really look into it either, and so the bullshit flows from one person to the next.

The simple truth is that the Paleo Diet is difficult, very difficult, I'd prefer them just to say "nah not for me" and leave it at that and just leave me to carry on with the way I want to eat for my health and Multiple Sclerosis, most do of course, but some people are "know alls" yet never really look closely into anything they proclaim to be an expert on, or not, it's the nature of the internet of course. I'll help anyone that wants to change if I can, though very few actually do want to. So now I just give them some hints on where to look for good info and wait for them to get back to me if they want to know more, none have, well actually two have and even started to eat the Paleo way and even saw some decent weight loss results (weight loss is the bonus), though never stuck with it long enough to see the positives that eating right can have on one's MS symptoms and their severity, which really is a shame for them, eh, life goes on!

So now I'm just going to talk about Quitting Sugar to other people while still doing my Paleo thing, although I won't be talking about it all that much on G+ or to friends that don't want to hear (all good, it's my journey and doesn't have to be theirs). I've posted a Poll on a MS Community to get an idea of how many people (hopefully honestly) answer the poll to gauge if people consume much sugar in their daily food intake. Not as easy as one may think, as Sugar has been creeping into around 80% of the food we eat (whole foods excluded of course), people are eating far more processed foods these days and unfortunately not cooking as much as we once did. When I was growing up, fast food for example was a treat, at most a once a week treat and mostly for my family it was Fish n' Chips or a Hamburger, though it was a proper burger not this McDonalds etc. sugar laden fast food crap people seem to consume quite regularly these days, some eat it nearly everyday it seems.

So anyway, I'm mostly over the headaches and aches and pains one seems to get when they overcome most addictions and I've started walking for exercise again, walking and exercise helps one get over addictions a little more easily and most importantly quicker than if not doing some kind of physical activity. When I was younger I was full on into sports, one of those kids who would train themselves just as much as the training that the sport/club required, I let all that go in my twenties, you know all the excuses, we've all made them, so I won't dwell on it. My one saving grace as far as exercise goes was the fact that I was a Mechanic, it's a physical job, though any "well being" gain was of course counteracted by the crap fast food I'd often eat in the workshops where I'd work. Well it was most likely somewhat more healthy than what the mega fast food giants serve up, but still it wasn't really healthy food as such, especially when you're eating it everyday for morning tea and lunch. Yes I could have just had a salad sandwich or roll, but nah, it would usually be something deep fried etc.

So I've decided to mainly talk about giving up Sugar, maybe if people can just do that, they will most likely see some benefit to their general well being and possibly some benefit to their Multiple Sclerosis symptoms, the benefits so far for me are, sleeping better and at "normal" times, increase in energy, although when you give up Sugar you will most likely get the "No Sugar Flu", you may get headaches, sore joints and irritability and yes fatigue may increase in this detox time, Sugar is an addiction pure and simple, you will feel a bit crap just like a drug addict coming off his poison of choice, or a heavy drinker giving up drinking after years of imbibing, but giving up Sugar I'm guessing is nowhere near as bad as those two of course, but it isn't a leisurely walk in the park either.

Even years and years ago way before I started dabbling with the Paleo Diet, as a somewhat logical person, I always thought that regardless of our MS, MSers or of course anyone with any disease or medical issue would surely benefit from being the healthiest that they could be, even those who can't exercise easily, eg. those very overweight or people who can't physically do much exercise, eg. people in wheelchairs or those who have mobility issues, all of us can still eat better, we shove far too much crap in our mouths because so much food that is "quick and easy" is also full of Sugar and "numbers" oh and too much salt of course as well.

Oh and before people say, "it's easy for you, you're lucky!", that couldn't be further from the truth, yes it is lucky I live alone and that I can still cook my own food, absolutely true, but I am not a cook of any description and I still get fatigued standing over a hot oven or cook top, I still get fatigued from that, though hopefully that may improve as I get fitter and eat better. Ninety percent of my food is plain old meat and vegetables, the vegetables are those that start off frozen and then cooked in a pretty nifty though very simple and cheap microwave steamer (easy to clean and use), it works a treat. Yes I guess you could call what I eat very boring no doubt, but that's how I like it, if it's easy I'll cook, if it's a whole culinary delight that takes a long time to prepare I just won't cook and revert back to "take away" food or processed quick and easy meals, I really don't want to do that so I keep it plain and simple for someone who is dealing with Multiple Sclerosis issues.

The paleo diet is about fuelling your body with good fats rather than Sugars and Carbohydrates it's why you can lose weight fairly quickly, yep, unbelievable isn't it, but it's true, me and many, many others are living proof, I have done it for two months previously, strictly, it works! In three weeks (I started the diet on Christmas day) I have lost about 4-5 kilograms (8-9 pounds), but as I say this journey for me is not so much about weight loss as it is about Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms and their severity and hopefully minimising those and how they effect my life and well being. At the second week mark I was feeling good enough to start walking around my block, it's 800 metres, I do it twice a day, once in the morning, once at night, my walking is still not great or "normal" but I can walk and the more I do it, it can only get better.

I'm slowly starting to increase that, I'm using "Google Fit" to track distance and steps and scales to track my weight loss progress, though the electronic scales reading never really stays still lol, that's the MS...by the way, going by "Google Fit" just walking about two kilometres everyday doesn't burn ll that many calories, the main weight loss benefit comes from being in a state of "ketosis" my body is using the body fat I have built up as fuel to survive, but make no mistake, I am not starving myself, I'm eating more than enough protein and vegetables to live off, before I was giving my body much more than I actually needed and most of that "extra" was Sugar and Carbs that I consumed, not exercising at all doesn't help either. Remember if you do happen to be overweight it can only benefit you, your joints and your mental well being to lose some weight, fact! Eating better can help stave off "Leaky Gut Syndrome" which apparently might help with stopping stomach lining permeability, this may be a cause of some autoimmune issues, from what "they say".

Now for some facts, I have been dabbling with the Paleo Diet or at least eating a lot better for gee, I don't know about four years now, I've lost a lot of weight over that time and I've also put "some" weight back on from relapsing to my previous bad eating habits. I've never let that get me down to the extent of just giving it all up, it's always on my mind to eat better, though the exercising certainly does take a hit, let's be honest it becomes non existant lol.

I'll list below some of the benefits that I think I gained from eating more healthily and exercising, well I don't just think, I pretty much now how much better I feel, but I can't scientifically prove it though of course.

Weight Loss (the weight melts off)
No more bloated stomach (now instead of feeling "full" all the time, I more so eat when I'm hungry)
More energy and less fatigued (the afternoon crash and fatigue is lessened)
Sleeping better and longer (no longer on "Vampire hours")
Skin looks better (not that I care so much about that lol)
The walking helps to improve my "gait" and general fitness.
I think my mind becomes a little clearer
My general mood and mental well being has improved (I'm less negative about everything lol)

Here is a list of why Sugar and Processed foods are bad for you resources, there are many vids on Youtube, but here's a couple

Sugar the Bitter Truth Youtube Video, (it's a Uni Lecture by the looks of it) very comprehensive information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Big Sugar Discussion Youtube Video (how we've been conned etc.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y_CaFRsO_0

The Secrets of Sugar - The Fifth Estate - CBC News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDaYa0AB8TQ

Why is Sugar Bad Youtube Search
https://goo.gl/UEDHSM

A page I created with Information and resources.
http://www.darinallan.com/paleo_diet/sugar-is-bad-for-you

Movies/Docos to watch (if you can find these to watch or see them advertised on TV, well worth watching)
Fed Up
Is Sugar the New Fat
That Sugar Film

Sugar Withdrawal Symptoms: List of Possibilitieshttp://mentalhealthdaily.com/2014/07/19/sugar-withdrawal-symptoms-list-of-possibilities/

I quit sugar community (the owner, well known "I Quit Sugar" advocate) seems to have abandon it but I just joined it to say I've Quit Sugar, to see if anything good gets posted by members etc.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/117264613745385510960

Some great Books to read that can be purchased on Google Play Books
Sweet Poison
Fat Chance: The Bitter Truth about Sugar

So feel free to contact me on Google Plus if you like, but the resources above are a great start and I'm sure you know how to use Google to search for all the information you need to Quit Sugar and why you should. I can say right now I am already not craving Sugar as much as I did before starting this diet. :)

Disclaimer: Go see ya bloody GP before you do any shit that may effect your health...though quitting Sugar in my opinion is one of the healthiest things you could do...