I have been gathering primal/paleo recipes and recording them on Pinterest. You can get access to this constantly growing trove of primal yumminess, but following me on Pinterest.

 I am coming up on a year since I’ve started this blog, and I am not where I wanted to be at this point for a variety of reasons. While my general fitness level has improved to the point where I walk 90 minutes a day 5 times a week, can swing 105 lbs on the HCB and am 95% primal; my weight is not where I want it to be. Over the last year I have lost approximately 55 lbs, but I have had two periods of weight gain resulting from different medications I have been put on which mean that I right now only 21 lbs below my starting weight.

When my doctor has wanted to try out different medications with me, I’ve asked about weight gain as a side effect. On the last one where it was listed as a possible side effect my doctor assured me that it would just be water weight and would go away. What was interesting was that 6 weeks after stopping it, with reductions in calories consumed and increased activity, my weight would not go down. I am now 3.5 months out and have only just managed to shed that weight gain and to make some progress back down.

I seem to be back on track with my weight loss, and I am fighting taking any new medications. That said, I am still having up to 21 migraines a month (avg. 16) and so if there is a medication that will help reduce that significantly I will have to see how I feel about it at that point, based on as much information I can gather about it. That said, I won’t be using any calcium channel or beta blockers, as they’ve both proven to be too problematic for me.

I was in the store the other day looking at the nuts and seeds options and trying to figure out which would give me the best bang for my buck. Between keeping kosher, primal/paleo, and getting frequent migraines from my MVA my options were limited. Almonds are supposed to be the go to nut for a primal diet, but they are rich in Tyramine which can trigger migraines. When I checked Wikipedia, apparently Pepitas do not contain Tyramine. The price was good for them, and then I also started to read some of their other benefits. According to the USDA, one gram of pepita protein contains 17.2 mg[6]of L-tryptophan. This high tryptophan content makes pepita of interest to researchers studying the treatment of anxiety disorders. So not only were these ‘safe’ seeds for me to eat, they would also help me feel better. Sign me up.

So, I have started mixing them with a few cashews for my meals at work and I have been amazed at how satisfying they are. I eat far less nuts and seeds by weight when I consume this mix, than I have with the other nut and seed combinations I have tried. They leave me feeling incredibly satisfied. I’d had them for breakfast and lunch yesterday, and they carried me well through the 1.5 hour walk back home after a lecture I’d gone to in the afternoon. I got home at supper time and wasn’t ravenous, even though I hadn’t eaten that much over the course of the day. While I have only been eating them for a few days, I am ready to trumpet about how much I like the sweet little pumpkin seed AKA the Pepita of Power.

A week ago I decided I would try a 'little' break from my primal eating and have a couple of small sushi rolls. The rice hit my system and they've been all I can think about since. I keep thinking about when I will have my next opportunity to have sushi. This should and has been setting off alarm bells for me. If a food can generate this much focus, then I need to look at why. 

Rice for me is what Tim Ferriss would call a domino food. I can eat sushi in truly obscene portions, as it doesn't seem to trigger any sense of getting full for me. I have put in some pretty impressive consumptions at all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants. I am sure that they've taken my picture and flagged me for future surcharges. So, given that I don't achieve any satiety from eating rice, it is off the table for me, just like potatoes. Part of how I find myself having to lose all of this weight is from too many nights after my accident battling the nausea with 3/4's of a kilo of fries. 

So, with rice and potatoes out the window I seem to be doing quite well following a primal/paleo eating style. I have more energy, my eyes look more vibrantly blue (according to my wife), and I feel satisfied from meals in a way that I haven't before. While I've experimented with a lot of diets (the Zone, Atkins, South Beach...). None of them ever really did it for me. On Atkins I lost weight, but I never had enough energy for a good workout. They were also way to complicated with stages and phases and combinations. By simply removing grains, legumes and most forms of sugar I am still able to come up with lots of things to eat, and I truly feel amazing. Also if my Wii is to be believed, I am shedding weight at a respectable level.

I have been going mad putting together all of the primal/paleo recipes that appeal to me up on Pinterest. Follow me there to find new and interesting ways to eat this way.

While I have played with Pinterest in the past, I hadn't found the real hook to get me into using it regularly. Now as a repository for all of my paleo/primal recipes it gives me and my wife a spot to quickly figure out something for supper.

Today has been filled with signs of progress for me. My tight pants (waist not bottom) actually had some space when I did them up this morning. My belt is on its last hole. When I lay on my back my stomach is now noticeably lower than my ribs. Tonight while doing my vestib rehab with the Wii I was more balanced than I have been for a while. 

I am still not able to keep the balance exercises up for more than 15 min before I become completely fatigued and I need to have my whole body supported by a chair with my feet on the ground and my eyes open, but my success rates with the exercises are increasing. Given that we are 20 months post accident, it seems that the vestibular damage is likely permanent, but I am getting better at coping with it. I would still like to be able to turn the car around in a turning circle and not puke, but that will come. The insurance adjuster who claims that there is no way I could be injured needs come for a drive with me while I navigate a car park (he can hand me the large Starbucks cup to puke in), and he can join me in the shower to catch me when I fall from having to turn with my eyes closed.

I started eating Primal style a little over two weeks ago and I can't believe how much better my energy and weight loss have been. I looked at the different primal and paleo books, and the one that has resonated most for me have been Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint. He offers a bunch of free books on his site to help you get started. I have been using his cookbook which both my wife and I are hooked on now. His spinach bread recipe has become a mainstay in our house, although we've been using collards and almonds in place of the spinach and pine nuts. This has also meant that I don't need to miss out on pizza night on Thursdays. All in all I have to say that Primal living is working out for me, it just fits with how I like to live my life.

I don't know if it is the fact that I just can't ride a bicycle right now because my sense of balance is so greatly reduced (If I close my eyes and put my feet together I fall over within 5 seconds), but it is all that I can think of. I miss the freedom of zipping around without having to get in the car and everything that entails. Don't get me wrong, I love walking  (I have to considering I do 1.5-2 hrs of it a day), but there is a wonderful simplicity and speed that can only be achieved by cycling.

When I asked my vestibular rehab therapist if she thought I should start cycling, she laughed. So, what am I to do? It seems that there is a whole world of recumbent trikes and velomobiles out there. I would love one, but they're well outside my price range. I am playing around with the idea of mounting a sidecar on my bike, effectively turning it into a trike and a cargo bike all at once (score!!!!). Given that I don't have welding and fabricating gear and that my little helpers make precision jobs challenging, I will need to get some estimates on having the frame and brackets made up. 

I will keep my loyal readers apprised of what I come up with to satisfy this yearning, and if any of you have a recumbent bike gathering dust in your garage or bike room, let me know.  

This guy's video is giving me the kick in the tuches I've been needing:http://www.wimp.com/inspirationaltransformation/ 


If he can get better and lose weight, so can I.

I spent most of yesterday feeling pretty amazing. For my weight workout in the morning I did something I have been looking forward to for a very long time. I put another 30lbs on the Hungarian Core Blaster, taking it up to 105lbs. There was something magical about lifting and swinging over 100lbs of weight.

My progress over the last 8 months has not been what I wanted it to. I have been sidetracked time and time again by my injuries from my MVA and the insurance company who has refused to fund my rehabilitation. This has meant that I have had to hunt to figure out what to do to recover. I have tried a number of things which have sort of worked. The only thing that has helped for my back problems has been the Hungarian Core Blaster. As I have increased my strength with it, my injury has also healed. I can work without the pain and discomfort from my lower back that had plagued me since the accident. I am still on the hunt for a similar cure for my neck spasms and thoracic outlet syndrome.

All of that aside, I am still basking in the glow that comes from swinging a big heavy weight, over and over again, and knowing that it has been my hard work that has let me do it.