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.
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