3 weeks (and change)

Well, although I "fell off the wagon," as they say, I did manage to lose another pound, for a total of 5 pounds in 3 weeks.  I haven't done well at all over the last 4 or 5 days (which I attribute largely to my first real post-partum period, which really threw my hormones for a loop!)  So, no more excuses, and back on the wagon tomorrow :) 

2 weeks

Two weeks, and one more pound lost.  I was hoping for a couple of more, but I had a hard time staying on the diet this past week, so I'll take one :)

My averages for the last 2 weeks are 2,213 calories a day, with 60% fat, 23% carbs, and 17% protein. 

So, positives and negatives-

Positive

• It definitely works, when followed to the letter!
• Plenty of calories so you don't feel hungry, even with eating 3 meals and no snacks
• Good, nutrient dense food that's all homemade; no processed "health food"

Negative

• Cost!  It's inordinately expensive, at least for me.  I think I've spent like $500 on food in two weeks, and I just do not have that kind of money.
• Time intensive.  Even as a stay at home mom, the amount of time necessary to follow it perfectly is a little overwhelming.  I can't imagine how people who work full-time could do the diet perfectly without being exhausted.  And, anything shortcut that cuts down on time (like pre-made ferments, kombucha, etc) increases the cost.

So, where does this leave me?  Hmmm.  I certainly plan to continue, but I'm going to have to make adjustments.  I just can't spend $800+ a month on food.  Coconut oil (high quality!) alone is ridiculously expensive, and if my husband and I follow the guidelines, we're supposed to be consuming 12 tbsps between us, just before meals!  And, even though I SAHM, that doesn't mean I'm home all the time.  With 4 kids, we're usually pretty busy :)  So, I also need to find ways to make it a little easier on myself.

Cost wise, here's what I'm thinking-

• No organic produce, outside of the "dirty dozen" (when available)
• Pastured chicken and pork, but conventional beef and lamb
• Keep eating eggs from my chickens, but supplement with conventional eggs when it's not enough
• Learn to make kombucha and ferments (time consuming, but kombucha is $3 or more a bottle, and ferments are $13 a pint!!!  Big money suck)
• Regular cheese instead of raw milk cheese

I'm not sure how to work with the time issue without increasing cost, any tips?

So, I'm going to try to do that (though I'm not sure what the heck to do for the rest of the month, since my food money is pretty much gone!!)  I'll certainly need to step outside of the recipes in the book to work with what I've got, but I'm going to do my best to keep to the basics; 2500 calories a day, 60% fat, 1-2 tbsps of coconut oil before each meal, fermented cod liver oil each morning.  I have found that as a nursing mom, I usually need a light afternoon snack (I usually do a couple ounces of cheese and a piece of fruit).

I also really need to start working out!

Staying on the wagon

Oh yikes, has it really been 6 days since I posted last?  See, this is why I could never be one of those official type bloggers, I'm no good at it!

I've been working hard to stay on the straight and narrow!  Friday some friends invited us over for tacos, and who can turn down tacos, especially when someone else is cooking?  Not me, that's for sure!  But I managed to show some restraint and not gorge myself.  Realistically, tacos aren't too bad; the worst about them is that the corn for the shells hasn't been soaked.  I probably should have skipped the white chocolate macademia nut cookies, but I did only have one...there...and then two more at home...hmmm.  You know, it's difficult going from eating as much as you want of whatever you want to eating with restraint.  I ponder at the time if I should own up to it, because it's a bit embarrassing, but struggling is a part of dieting (even a wonderful, filling diet like EFLF!) so I figure it's best to be honest.

I did great yesterday!  So that's good.  I did break down today and have some coffee, which I haven't had in weeks.  Baby steps!

Tomorrow will mark 2 weeks!  I'll do a weigh in (hopefully my little "cheats" haven't done too much damage!) and I'll talk a little about what I see as the pros and cons of the EFLF diet.

As I was chopping veggies for cream of vegetable soup this evening, I had to snicker at the reputation traditional foods has (especially Nourishing Traditions!) as being "meat heavy."  I've even seen people try to claim that NT tells you not to eat vegetables!  Too funny.  I admit my veggie consumption was never the best, but it wasn't awful, yet I feel like I'm eating more fresh produce now than I ever have!  And not nearly as much meat as I had expected.

Still feel like I'm spending all day in the kitchen, but I guess I'm getting used to it!

Here's todays stats!

Calories-  2,355
Fat- 155.5 (79.9 sat fat)
Carbs- 151.7
Protein- 100.1

59% fat, 24% carbs, 17% protein

1 week down!

One week down, and I've lost 3 pounds!  Which gets rid of my holiday weight, so hopefully I can lose another 2 or 3 next week and get past this 236 plateau!  I think 2-3 pounds a week is a good aim, since I am nursing.  That would be 8-12 pounds a month, not too bad.


Here are my averages for the week-

Calories- 2507
Fat- 173.8 (93.3 sat fat)
Carbs- 128.4
Protein- 114.6

61% fat, 20% carbs, 19% protein

Day 5

Oops, got busy and skipped over day 4 there, didn't I?  Well, don't worry, here's my stats for yesterday!

Calories- 2,647
Fat- 199.7 (92.1 sat fat)
Carbs- 78.7
Protein- 139.5

67% fat, 11% carbs, 22% protein

Cutting down on the coconut oil has helped a lot with the nausea.  I've been doing 1/2 tbsp before meals, tomorrow I think I'll try to up it to 1tbsp and see how it goes.  My husband commented last night that he feels like he's eating a lot!  It's 3 meals a day, no snacks, so the meals are pretty filling.

English Breakfast this morning.  Any diet where I get to eat eggs fried in lard, bacon, and then toast soaked in bacon grease and fried in lard is pretty freaking awesome.  We get our bacon from a farm just a few miles down the road, how awesome is that?

Lunch was some roast beef, parmesan shavings, and lacto-fermented pickles.  Yum!

We were out of town for dinner, but I was good this time and got a Greek chicken salad from McAlister's Deli.  They said the dressing was made from olive oil, I hope they were right!  I know you're only supposed to do the 3 meals and no snacks, but since my dinner was light, I was only at 1800 calories and starving.  Not good for a nursing mom, so I'm having another round of roast beef and parmesan along with some herbal tea to take my coconut oil, since I didn't get it in earlier.

So, including that, here are today's stats!

Calories- 2,218
Fat- 151.4 (65.5 sat fat)
Carbs- 97.3
Protein- 115.5


61% fat, 17% carbs, 22% protein

Day 3

I had a nice evening out to celebrate my husband's birthday.  I was looking at the menu and in my brain saying "okay, salmon, salad, veggies, yes" but then the waitress came and I opened my mouth and "chicken tortellini" fell out.  How did that happen??  Oh well, thankfully I did great for breakfast and lunch, so my overall calories and fat weren't bad, considering!

Calories- 2984
Fat- 170.4 (88 sat fat)
Carbs- 224.6
Protein- 141.7

50% fat, 30% carbs, 20% protein