Very Low Carbing

I felt very hypoglycemic a number of times during the weekend. I asked for advice on the Primal Blueprint forum and a number of people suggested that I need to increase my carb intake. However, I tried this and felt even worse (panicky, anxious, irritable, brain fog, sweating etc), so on Monday I ate NO carbs at all until the evening. I felt better but still lightheaded. It was an improvement on how I felt on more carbs though, so I stuck at it. Today I've eaten only meat (duck leg, lamb chop), 2 boiled eggs, a stick of celery and a small avacado, and I've had no hypos at all. I can occasionally feel my heart beating quite strongly, and these palpitations are apparently caused by the extra adrenalin that is being secreted in response to a lack of easy access fuel in the form of carbs. I assume that their occurrence will cease once my body has adapted to burning fat and using ketones. Hopefully this will accelerate the weightloss a little, as I am disappointed at having only lost just over 1 stone in 3 months, regardless of my dedication.

I'm currently back at the grindstone making corrections to the book chapter. The new LaTeX format for Springer contributed books makes it look very professional though and it will be exciting to see it in print (end of 2011).

Fat Loss Update

I weighed and measured myself this morning. So far I have lost 1 stone 2.5lbs and my old and new body measurements are (old in brackets):

Hips: 46" (48")
Waist: 36.5" (38")
Belly: 45.5" (47")
Chest: 38"/46.5" (41.5"/49")
Upper arm: 16" (16.25")
Thigh: 28" (30")

Which means that I've dropped a dress size, going from size 20 to 18.

Losing Weight Again!

Having cut out the coconut crack (too high in carbs) I am now losing weight again and have reached an exciting 14 stone 13! I was delighted to see a 14 on the scale as it was my short term goal. Now my short term goal is to get to 14 stone 7 as that's what I got down to when I did Atkins 2 years ago. I've also dropped a dress size, down from 20 to 18, and when I'm approaching 14 stone I'll be a size 16! I haven't been a size 16 for ages and it'll be so nice to be able to shop in regular clothes shops as opposed to Evans and M&S. I think that the long walks in Wales helped kick-start the fat loss too, and I feel musclier now than when I started. I keep feeling bits of me like my thighs because they're much firmer and I can't get over it...

I've been 100% primal for nearly 3 months now and haven't cheated once. I have, however, cheated repeatedly in my dreams! I keep dreaming about plates of pastries, sweets and cakes and I used to refuse them, but now I eat them, feel very guilty and then wake up very relieved that I didn't *actually* eat them.

I started receiving a weekly organic veg box from Abel and Cole, which has introduced me to new range of vegetables that I wouldn't normally buy. It was fun receiving and opening the first box, the small was incredible and i wanted to eat it all there and then. I used to feel sick after eating more than one portion of veg, but I now crave veggies and love eating them, without the nausea. I get an 8 portion box, which is apparently for 2-3 people for a week but I've used them all up by Monday and need to buy more. Their customer service is excellent and I would recommend them. If you do sign up, mention that I recommended you and we will both get free stuff :) Abel and Cole So far, I have been introduced to celeriac, kohlrabi and have fallen in love with radishes. I look forward to discovering more new species on Thursday!