No More Kickboxing for a While

For a little way this blog will be more Primal than Ninja. I have got a new job, which requires moving house. This means I will be leaving my much-loved kickboxing club, where I have been a member for the past two years. It's time to hang up my gloves, at least for now.

RF4473535
Originally uploaded by raul272000

It does at least give me a chance to fully focus on the primal exercise plan, without risking over-training. Also time will be tight, and has been for the past six months. It has been frustrating not to be able to put in all the time I did prior to my purple belt. Hopefully I can take it up again some time in the future!

Running (wo)man

Running Man
Originally uploaded by Omsel

So I feel the diet is back under control now (though I still am battling some residual sugar cravings). So I made a start on my primal exercise plan. The Primal Blueprint recommends the following weekly plan:

- lifting heavy twice a week
- high intensity interval training
- moving slowly, but frequently
- sprinting

So, I thought I'd make a start with the scariest part - sprinting. Mark Sissons routine is 6-8 full out running sprints of 100 metres, with 1 minute rest inbetween. So I recruited Mr Primal Ninja with promises of him being able to lord his natural fitness ability over me and we went off to the park.

We paced out about 100 yards and Mr PN set off. Wow, he runs fast! Then it was my turn and to my utter amazement I actually felt speedy! I'm not going to feature in the 2012 Olympics anytime soon but I was pleased with covering the distance in 15 seconds or so (though later sprints were slower). Mr PN made it in 11 seconds each time. I did a total of 6 sprints, he did 7.

Unlike normal jogging it was actually fun. It did feel...primal. My thighs and hip flexors ache today and I was in a lovely mood all day afterwards. Probably a placebo effect but endorphins may have been involved. I can definately imagine doing that once a week, rather than trying to jog for ever increasing periods.

Today we went for a walk around the local wood and lake - moving slowly for about an hour and a quarter. Yay! Loving the primal exercise so far.

Tomorrow a heavy lifting session is planned.

Atkins - Close but no cigar

fried eggs and bacon cake
Originally uploaded by debbiedoescakes

Don't you love this cake?! I was totally fooled.

I thought I would make this a separate post because Atkins lasted a long time for me, and I did briefly (for about one glorious day!) get to goal weight - which was 168lbs (12 stone).

Atkins is very much misunderstood. When I was following Atkins (the 2002 Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution version) everyone and their Mum felt free to lecture me on how I would diet of a heart attack, how I was only losing water weight not fat, how my kidneys would explode and basically how all of humanity would scorn me. None of these things happened. I followed Atkins from September 2006 until February 2010. The first year went very successfully and I lost a load of weight.

I felt GREAT - more energy, hardly any colds or flu, no headaches, great skin and a whole load of other benefits. People tend to think of Atkins as a meat and fat fest but I swear I ate more veg on that plan than most people generally do. My typical day was:

Breakfast: 2 grilled or fried pieces of bacon, 1/2 cup mushrooms cooked in butter, 1 oz of chedder, a medium tomato, and two fried eggs. When it was going well I also had a bowl of blueberries and cream (small portion).

Lunch: A can of tuna packed in oil, lots of mayo, 1 cup of rocket, 2 cups of romaine lettuce and/or raw spinach and a cup of peppers.

Snack: Cheese (1 oz) or 20 olives.

Dinner: Chicken breast and two cups of denser veg like broccoli or courgettes or both! Also served with pesto and cheese, or mayo.

Drinks: 2 cups decaf tea with cream or decaf coffee and cream and lots of water.

When it was going well I loved this plan. I didn't get bloodtests as the book recommended, but my thyroid function was not affected and I had great blood pressure. I exercised regularly and didn't feel that low carbs affected that. BUT there were problems for me, which is why my search for a long-term solution continue and have finally led me to the primal approach. The problems I couldn't get to grips with plagued me from after that first year to now, really.

1) Atkins works on a ladder system - you start off basic, at 20g of net carbs per day and then add in more veg, more dairy, nuts and seeds, berries and so on and eventually end up at some small amount of pulses and grains. Each person is meant to test their personal reaction to each new food and to find out their own level of carbs to lose weight and the level at which they maintain. For me, and this was when I exercised and hour a day six times I way I was frustrated that after that first year I could not eat more than 35g net carbs without my weight loss stalling or gaining.

2) I found it hard to stick to when I was away for a longer period of time. If staying with friends or family for a night or two I could generally limp through by packing hardboiled eggs, mini cheeses and cherry tomatos to snarf when no-one was looking! I could eat some meals with them, but watch the carbs. But after around three days, say at Christmas, this became awkward and to be honest, quite anti-social. Then, the moment I ate something not on plan I would go absolutely off plan with gusto. It was like some insane sugar and carb monster would take over my body and I would become like an eating machine. I would eat secretively, storing chocolate, eating massive portions of pasta, heaps of anything. It was almost like I was trying to eat all the carbs I'd avoid in a couple of days. I felt upset by this, and felt like Atkins had put my relationship with food even more out of whack than ever, and like I was trapped doing Atkins forever or I'd struggle to gain back control.

3) Once off plan the punishment was very swift - I could, and did, regain weight in terms of lbs each day. Over a week and a half away for Christmas I could easily gain back a whole stone (14lbs). Then I would get home, start up again and feel I had to re-work the ladder each time to get my cravings under control.

Ok, so all this became very frustrating but I stuck with this rollercoaster of good behaviour, weight loss, alternating with massive sudden gains up to now. September 2006-to February 2010. Occassioanlly I would try another plan but always came back to Atkins when I felt rubbish, couldn't control my cravings or lose weight. But the real nail in the coffin for me was:

4) Uhm, not sure how to say this. But let's just say it seemed to be affecting my libido and my husband eventually begged me not to carry on. I have to qualify this and say this is how it SEEMED. I have not heard of anyone else with this problem, in fact I think the opposite is more common.

Don't get me wrong - I still have a big affection for for Atkins. I have been part of fantastic forums online where people work the plan successfully and are very happy for years. I think his work is worth reading and I am so used to Atkins that I tend to eat like that automatically given half a chance. For me I learned that carbs are key to my weight loss, to my mental wellbeing and my physical health. But I still feel something is missing, and that it can be improved, hence my primal plans.

Getting serious

Ok so the first primal banana-skin has been slipped upon. I am in the final months of my phd, about to move house and have a new job. A new diet approach felt like too much and I fell into a pit of sugary, salty processed and evil carbs!

Our that is my story, but actually it was just a big excuse. Now I am back up to 196lbs (or so, too scared to weigh self).

I need to get serious about this because I am sure it will work. Also I watched a great video at Mark's DFaily Apple about re-programming genes and it really made me think. The decisions about what eat affect not just my weight now, but my future heath. With Atkins, because it was so easy to lose weight really quickly I gopt used to thinking 'oh I can gain a bit this week and lose it the next'. But keep doing that and it adds up to creeping weight gain.

So the new rules:
- Eat Primal wherever possible but don't go crazy when can't and use it as an excuse to eat rubbish for a week
- Do the Primal Blueprint exercise plan of lifting heavy 2-3 times a week; sprint once a week and the rest of the time move slowly, rest or play
- Avoid dairy for a while to see how it goes. Add in later (about a month later) to test for intolerance
- Make an effort to get more sleep
- Fitday when have time for the first month of so

I start tomorrow with a food shop and a good breakfast. I will also weigh, measure and photograph my goodself.