Day 29: Transition to a New Month, New Scales, New Goals

What is your reward for a month of dieting? MORE DIETING! BWAHAHAHA! Good thing this eating plan is frigging awesome and the food is so luxurious I feel like I should be tossing hundred dollar bills into the fireplace and eating off diamond plates with gold tableware.

First off, dinner last night:

Rib-eye steak and baby spinach, both cooked in bacon grease

and seasoned with salt, pepper, and then topped with a little butter.

When your diet food doesn't look like diet food. I wasn't super hungry, so I kept the meal simple. About a fourth of the steak was fatty bits, which I'm still picky about, so that was trimmed away. It was bloody and tasty, though.

This morning, it's just a plain butter and coffee kind of morning while I wait for laundry to dry. Because tomorrow starts a whole new month, March, I wanted a transition record since I'm switching to the new scale. I weighed myself on both, to get a starting number and an ending number, and to see the difference in weight the two registered.

Taken within minutes of each other, the picture on the right taken first.

That's a 5.5 pound difference. If I only looked at the new scale, you'd think I'd gained a couple pounds overnight. But going by the trend of the old scale, I lost two pounds and little extra. So, you see why I wanted a transition day.

I think the photo above is also a good illustration as to why we don't rely on bathroom scales for accurate numbers. They're great for a relative number, and to track a trend, provided you use them at a consistent time when you weigh yourself, and take notes as to your eating and activities. But as you can see, you have variance from machine to machine.

I also took my after photos last night, and I'd posted them in the Wild Tribe Facebook group. Here they are for the blog:

Front view, before and after

Side view, before and after

This is from 28 days of not being super vigilant on the Wild Diet, but adhering to most of the guidelines. I was strict during the first two weeks, and did my experimentation during the second two weeks. I had to test some of the tenants Abel set forth in his approach. NEVER TAKE DIET ADVICE AT FACE VALUE! Ever. Each body is different, and there are no real diet gurus. There are people with ideas that worked for them, and we all have unique bodies. Primal may work for one person, vegan another, and yet another can eat anything they come across, and all could achieve relative health on their eating plan, and be obese and sickly on another person's plan. This is why there are no universal miracle diets.

Experiment, test the ideas presented. Keep consistency in mind, and take copious notes to avoid fooling yourself. It's okay to cherry pick things that work from different diet plans if they also work together. This is how the Wild Diet came to be- ideas from different lifestyles that worked for Abel were combined into a plan that works for others, as well. If you have issues, experiment to see why you're having issues. Cut out dairy for a couple weeks. Add dairy back in for three days after. Take notes and compare. Maybe that rice you're carb loading with the night before is causing an issue. Perhaps you have trouble with sweet potatoes. Maybe you just don't like leafy greens, but you adore broccoli and brussels sprouts cooked with bacon. Maybe you're allergic to pork, so you skip bacon and use smoked spices to season your greens.

Eating Wild isn't a plan set in stone, nor is any "diet" a plan set in stone. It is a philosophy that revolves around eating whole foods. It has elements that make cravings few and far between, and that help with weight loss. But it is, at its core, a lifestyle because it has a defined philosophy with it, and a sustainable lifestyle should fit your biological makeup. If you're trying to make your body follow a book, and not the guidelines in a book work for your body, you're going to have negative issues.

That said, following the Wild Diet as close as I could afford to, I had amazing results the first two weeks, on into week three where I started deviating. Inflammation decreased, mood elevated- people were constantly telling me how bright I looked, how I looked like I was doing world's better than a mere month ago.

I have bipolar, and my mood changes often, with a predisposition for depression most times. The depression swings are the most noticeable for other people, because I lose myself to it and it takes incredible effort just to be awake and semi-dressed. Within days of eating Wild, I was being told I looked healthy, happy, good, all sorts of positive adjectives. I found myself forgetting to grab my cane as I walked around. You will notice, the Feb 1st pictures I'm holding a cane, and in the Feb 28th pictures, I'm standing on my own. I reached that point within two weeks. Being so free from severe pain, I experienced happiness I hadn't felt for a long time. I thought I was going manic!

I also experienced incredible energy. Again, I thought I was going manic, and I even considered talking to my psychiatrist about reducing my medication. Turned out, I just needed to go outside and walk, because it was just extra energy, probably from my body burning my fat stores. I needed a healthy way to release all that stored energy, instead of just sitting around being lazy. Week 4 I was eating more glutinous foods, and my sluggishness set in again after only a few days, along with knee pain returning. That has confirmed, no glutinous grain for me. I don't want to be immobile or days away from a wheelchair again. To me, that pain isn't worth a meal's indulgence.

I start the next chapter of my Wild adventures tomorrow. I know now how I should eat. I know I can stick with it, and I want to stick with it, because it tastes good, and it makes my body feel good. But eating is only part of the equation. It's an important part, but my body has little to no stamina, and eating does not build stamina. Eating doesn't really build muscle, either.

For March, my goal is to make walking a regular habit. The ice on the ground is no longer a huge issue (not until the March pre-spring storm, anyway) and the weather is slowly (and fitfully) warming up. I can no longer use below-zero windchill as an excuse to stay indoors. I know I can walk a mile, and I know I enjoy walking more when I have a destination. So. My plan is to make walking up to the local cafe a habit, three times a week being the first goal. I will increase it after that. I can reward myself with a tea or coffee, none of the fancy crap though. I can carry a backpack with my laptop and knitting, knit and sponge off WiFi, walk home, and have a productive day that way.

THis might be a harder goal, so I'm going to have to be more ready with non-food rewards. While I had rewards set for February, I only halfway followed through with one- talking to my sister about a handmade apron. It's been three weeks, and I'm sure I may never see it. What I want to reward myself with is this:

Special mugs just for my butter coffee.

After a month of walking to the cafe and back, a minimum of 3 days each week, I will consider the goal reached and I will have earned those mugs. (They're sold as a pair.) I just hope they aren't sold out by then. :x

I wish everybody good luck as the Challenge ends tomorrow, and a new month begins as well. This is my last day with Tribe access, and I will miss being able to scroll through the Facebook page. I hope everyone who enjoys the Wild lifestyle keeps fresh goals in mind, and keeps working hard for better health and better performance. It was great meeting everyone, and the support I got was so helpful. I wish I could hug everyone. Take care, and continue to be excellent to each other.

edit to add: Oh... was about to post "Goodbye" in the FB group. Guess yesterday was my last day. xD