January 5th, 2010

Induction Flu!

I know I went overboard the last few months. Cakes, pies, cookies and candy were plentiful and frequently tempted me to indulge. I know my waistline shows this trend.

The last time I drastically changed my diet was in the winter of 2008. Since then I have had brief moments of low-carb eating, but overall I've been a bad egg. We do not have a functioning scale, so I have no idea the exact amount of weight that I have gained over the past 18 months, but I would estimate 60 to 80 lbs. Most of it is around my mid-section, which is new for my body. I used to carry my weight more evenly and I rarely looked as heavy as I was.

Now, with barely more than 48 hours of trying to eat paleo-friendly I have the worst case of "induction flu" to deal with. I am borrowing a term from Atkins. My lethargic, sniffly, achy body is dealing with the metabolic transition from carbohydrate metabolism to ketogenic fat metabolism. Since my carb load was so great over the past three months I imagine this is a serious shock to my system.

I was keeping a very low-carb count, partially out of a personal need to speed up the transition phase and partially as a holdover from my previous low-carb attempts at weight loss. I realize that Primal nutrition does not require draconian carb reduction. It is quite possible to lose weight at a steady pace in the 50g to 100g per day range. But, with so much weight to lose and with a desire to feel capable of really running again, I would like to maintain ketosis for at least one to two months.

Call it weakness or call it a craving. My body had to eat an orange. I could literally smell the sweet, juicy fruit from my kitchen counter. It was sour and sweet at the same time, and oh so delicious. Fruit is not processed, and I know primal eating encourages fruits and vegetables, but modern fruit is not the same as paleo fruit. We have genetically bred fruit for sweetness and increased fructose load. I need to remember to incorporate lower-carb fruits like berries into my diet.

Recipes: Bacon-Portobello Carbonara

6 oz. Uncured Bacon, sliced thin
4x Garlic cloves, minced
2x Large Eggs
1 cup Romano / Parmesan Cheese
2x Portobello Mushroom caps, cubed
2x Zucchini, shredded

Tonight, I faced my first significant hurdle. I had decided that I was going to make Tyler Florence's carbonara for dinner. My plan was to provide pasta for my wife and two kids, while I chowed down on a bed of shredded zucchini. Turns out, you cannot cook the egg / cheese sauce without the heat from the cooked pasta. So, we all ate some rather tasty bacon / mushroom carbonara with pasta. I'm not happy with having to eat the pasta, but my headache is mostly gone now and I would have had to fix an entirely separate meal for myself. The trick is finding ways to cook the same main course for everyone, but adding things like rice and potatoes for the family.

I added sauteed portobello mushrooms and shredded zucchini to the pasta. Even after cooking, the mushrooms brought a lot of added moisture to the pot, which made the sauce a bit thinner than I would have preferred. The pasta was a bit undercooked, but given the fact that the pot I was using to cook with decided to start literally sticking to the burner, I figured turning off the heat a bit early was better than breathing more of the noxious fumes coming from the melting metal. I still don't know what the hell happened there, I've been using the same pot to make Crab Boils for a few months now with no problems.

My Meals Today:

Breakfast:
2x Eggs, sunny-side up, fried in butter
1/2 Green Bell Pepper
1/4 White Onion

Snack:
1 Orange

Dinner:
Bacon-Portobello Carbonara w/ Pasta
Chopped Lettuce Salad w/ shredded Zucchini and 8 Grape Tomatoes
2 tablespoons of Ranch Dressing
Hefeweizen beer
2.5 oz. Dark Chocolate (67%)

Review:

1. No Sugar. I am going to take a C on this one today. I ate an orange and some dark chocolate.
   
2. No Grains. I will have to give myself an F today. I ate pasta and drank a beer.
   
3. Move around a little every day. I will give myself a C today. I cleaned the house a bit, and took out the garbage. While I did not spend any significant time just sitting, I also did not take any lengthy walks.
   
4. Move really fast every once in a while. I will give myself a pass on this one again. Tomorrow, I will have to do something about this one or face a negative grade.
   
5. Lift heavy things. I will give myself a B today. I am taking breaks at work every hour to work on push-ups. Between having almost no energy from induction flu and having not done a push-up in about four months, I am not doing so well.
   

Overall Grade: D+ Wow, this was a bad day.