Day 1

Calories - 1276

Carbs - 56

Fat - 97

Protien - 57

In the winter I discovered Mark Sisson and the Primal Blueprint, which is basically a version of the Paleo diet which, in a nutshell, follows the principal that our bodies have been evolving for thousands of years to efficiently utilize and metabolize types of food that we foraged and fed on for 99% of our existence on earth when we were running around with stones and spears and living in caves and whatnot. Only in the last blip in time have we started to harvest our own food and gain the abilities to mass produce and package food to sell on shelves of grocery stores. Its also in this short period of time that cancer, obesity, diabetes, and an array of other diseases has plagued our culture. So basically, if you can't hunt it or gather it, then it's not on the list of things you should be eating.

With that said, I bought Mark Sisson's book, "The Primal Blueprint" and started throwing away grains and processed products and started to focus on whole foods and eating a diet of high fat (the good kind), moderate protein, and low carbs. Basically meat, veggies, fruit, some quality dairy, seeds and nuts. I've gotten pretty good at making my own raw foods that fit into this style of eating such as mayo and almond milk. Needless to say, I have more energy these days than ever before as our bodies are most efficient at turning fat and carbs derived from veggies and fruits into energy. Turn up the dial on carbs and starchy vegetables and sugar and suddenly our bodies crash from the spike in blood sugar.

With the help of this book, I worked out a formula based on my activity level and BMR that told me what macro nutrients (proteins, carbs, fats) I needed to use in order to lose approx 7.6 lbs a month. Here is what I came up with:

1450 calories/day

156 calories of PROTIEN (64g)

280 calories of CARBOHYDRATES (70g)

914 calories of FAT (101g)

So as you can see above, I was able to stay in this ratio today, with a few calories left over (that I'll no doubt use at some point this week). If I can keep my carbs between 50-80g I will be in a state of Ketosis, which is basically the state our bodies enter when there's no enough carbohydrates to burn for energy so it flips a switch and burns fat instead. Or so they say.

We shall see.

EXERCISE:

Today I got up and did the Core Synergistics DVD that's a part of the P90x program. It was raining this morning so a bike ride was out of the question. This is my favorite cardio workout in the p90x program as it keeps your heart rate pretty high throughout (I burned 379 calories in its 40 minutes) and you also do a bit of strength exercises in it (some push ups, lunges and weights that target the shoulders). Anyway, I love it. I did it. And I felt great.

How did I feel about recording everything? Well, it was hard. But it made me realize how much I graze. I had so many impulses to just have a handful of nuts, grab an apple, buy chocolate, make another coffee. I think that when I'm in my usual mode I allow these things, thinking "oh, it's just a little, it won't hurt". I guess after doing that so many times in the day it does add up. I really couldn't do it or I'd risk going over in my calorie limits.

I also realized after recording everything, and looking at the nutrient breakdown, how much certain foods contributed to what area. Man, olive oil has a TON of calories! Granted, it's a good source of good fat and has a lot in it, so I shouldn't be ignoring it - but usually I just throw whatever amount I want into a pan or a salad and realized today that this would be a mistake. So I spooned it out with a tablespoon and it was a LOT less than what I usually use.

Also, nuts have a TON of calories, yo! Again, the good kind...but I measured out my nuts this time instead of just eating them willy nilly and wow - made me realize what 220 calories of nuts looks like. Y'alls, its like 5 nuts!

So yeah, lots of eye opening moments today.

Success!