Thursday, March 05, 2009

Dirty Di to Queen of "Clean"?

Reporting in to say that I am still having trouble with swelling in my extremities and am turning into a human pincushion in attempts to work out what is going on. My joints have also been very achey - so as I mentioned in my last post I have been eating Paleo style to see if I can eliminate any variable in my nutrition that may be contributing to this. Paleo eating harks back to the Stone Age through to the period before Man discovered agriculture - the simple premise being that we're not evolved enough to eat a lot of grain, let alone any grain that has been highly processed eg breads, noodles etc etc. Paleo eating is based on what man did to survive during that period, eating unlimited quantities of vegetables and fruits (in season), lean protein, eggs, nuts and seeds etc. Dairy was limited until animals were domesticated by man..ie ever try to milk a wild yak? Didn't think so...

From the fat loss perspective, Paleo is good in that you require more energy to digest all of those vegetables and lean protein - but it's no magic bullet in that regard - rather it's illuminating in how you can learn to eat so much more and not overconsume calorically speaking. It's much easier to get your calories level out of whack with incorrectly measuring grain portions (should be weighed on a kitchen scale - my half cup of oats comes in at 56g others are at 40 - significant difference) as opposed to accidentally eating 2 cups of broccoli instead of one (unlikely as broccoli here is ten bucks a kilo...)

I'm still eating my 40/40/20 ratio of P:C:F - and when you're eating Paleo style that is a truckload of vegetable and fruit. I have kept my morning oats (50g ) and protein powder in though - a girl's gotta have her oats!

I think it's done me the world of good psychologically speaking - my head feels clear and I feel good with the world.

Not that being a Dirty Diana is a bad thing - I think it's important to be able to factor in a wide variety of good healthy foods and some that may not be in a Paleo plan. My reasons for doing Paleo are to try and nut out a health problem I'm having. The resultant weight lost will be a bonus.

Training: Yesterday: Teach RPM/participate Bodystep
Today: Chest/Serratus work (limited due to left shoulder now being hinky), biceps and putting together the beginning of my routine (now that is interesting...lol!)

12 comments:

Erica Green said...

Hey Liz, I hope you work your health mystery out soon. The very first bodybuilding comp I ever went to was the 2006 INBA QLD titles, and I remember watching you on stage, but didn't know you then! Now that you are going to compete again, I am sad that I will be overseas by the time you do so I won't get to see you do it for the last time. GOOD LUCK to you, I am sure you will look even better than you did the first time! :-) xox

SeLiNa said...

I was going to mail u and ask what Paleo meant (hadn't googled it yet), but thanks for the explanation.
I hope you can get to the bottom of your michelin-woman issues :)

ss2306 said...

Does that mean you're doing ANB?

Bugger about the achy joints and swelling.

Fifi said...

Yup, I can eat anything during the day but don't take my oats away for breakie!!

Kek said...

You'd think just the threat of eating Paleo would scare your body into behaving.

:o)

Kidding. I'm planning on doing a few days of half-arsed Paleo myself. Not cutting out my oats, no way, nuh-uh!

Sending anti-swelling vibes your way. (wish that actually worked...)

Em said...

I am sorry to hear that you are having health issues sweetie.
I hope that you find out what it is and are able to tackle it and fix it :)
Em:)

leslie said...

I really hope this gets figured out soon, Liz! Yeah, Paleo is a very healthy way to eat, I've heard, but I've never been willing to try it. But for a chance at joints that work and being pain-free? I think it's definitely worth a shot. Best of luck to you!

Flea said...

Fingers crossed you find the culprit soon Liz!! The diet sounds very healthy indeed.

Louise Wedgwood said...

Hi Liz, just curious were you the "Liz from Australia" asking about Tom Venuto's views on the Paleo diet in the interview on his Body Fat Solution book (which I think looks fantastic although I've only flipped through it so far). Of course there's probably more than 1 "Liz from Australia" interested in fitness!

Good on you for taking on the competition. I will look forward to reading how things go.

LizN said...

Lady G, no, wasn't me :)

Louise Wedgwood said...

Liz, I guess the world isn't that small after all! Anyway, if you're interested in Tom Venuto's 2c he said it was one of the best "fad" diets, advocating as he does for whole, unprocessed foods.

LizN said...

Hey Miss G. What I really want to emphasize here though is I'm not eating Paleo style as part of a 'diet' - rather trialling it to eliminate any confounding variables (that are in most processed things) as a cause of my swelling.

It's pretty much the same as PN only I'm relying on more whole protein sources rather than powders etc and not using artificial sweeteners.

Cheers
Liz N