Diet of the cavewoman

I was spurred into action today by a post on a blog I love to read, saying that many other bloggers were AWOL or MIA. In the vain hope that someone's reading I thought I'd better get on and write an update on my cavewoman ways.

Well, it's been around six weeks on the caveman diet which is detailed in another post but essentially involves meat, chicken, fish, kangaroo, nuts, all-you-can-eat green veggies, and ... uh, water? I drink coffee too, and take some supplements (recommended to me by my trainer).

I get weighed every four weeks and - what's 1000 times worse - he uses callipers to measure my skinfold (or fatfold in my case!). Firstly, it's embarrassing and I have to lift up my top, readjust bra-straps and stuff like that ... urgh. Anyhoo, the GOOD news is that my body fat has dropped by something like seven percent in six weeks. Which I think is great, I've put on 2.9kg of lean muscle, and on the scales lost around 6kg. Frankly, figures have never bothered me - it's how I feel and how my clothes fit. And in both of those areas I'm giving a tentative thumbs up. Especially around my waist, where I've lost over 10cm. Which is GREAT as I had never had a problem with weight there until the last year or so.

My weights routine with the Caveman Trainer is pretty friggin' brutal. But I like that he holds nothing back and doesn't treat me like a girl ... or doesn't go easy on me because I'm a girl. He ignores my gender and sets me challenges that are based on my physical capabilities. He doesn't rant and rave and cheer me on, he is just to the point and tough. Like me ... a bit.

But then, he has a heart. Today I was NOT up to it, to be honest, but I dragged myself in to the gym because I NEEDED to do something and I'd already paid for the session. I've got a pretty yuck case of tonsillitis at the moment ... yesterday was the WORST day ever, I felt beyond horrendous - feverish, light-headed, weak, and swallowing was like razor-blades and ... god, I dunno, lemon juice combined. Heh, you know it's not a good sign when the doctor looks down your throat and grimaces. The back of my throat is ulcerated and swollen. I wasn't so bothered to see this (doctor insisted on getting a mirror so I could look), because once I knew why it was hurting so much I felt better. It's the whole "unknown" pain - you know it hurts, but not why.

Anyhoo, I got a shot of penicillin in the butt (oh fun) and a does of pretty hardcore antibiotics. I went home and slept for HOURS. Seriously, I slept more in one evening/night than I did in probably three nights on the weekend. I hit the couch at about 5pm and woke up at about 7pm from a deep sleep. Staggered around for a while before managing a shower and made up some clear soup, then managed to stay awake until about 9pm when it was back to bed for some more sleep. I took my doses of antibiotics and panadol in the middle of the night too, and woke up feeling at least 50 percent better. Still not back to max power, but I am definitely on the mend.

So there you go! I still struggle with the diet at times, but by and large I manage to avoid white carbs and stuff like that. I really miss fruit, but I can eat strawberries and blueberries in moderation so I make the most of that.

I am still recovering from an horrendous blender incident on Sunday morning. I was making myself a post-workout super protein shake pinched from a few different blogs I've seen. It has 3 scoops of protein powder, about 1/2 cup rice milk, some water, 2 cups of spinach, fibre supplement and handful of berries. Anyway, I whizzed it all up and then noticed it was leaking from under the blender and down the housing the jug sits in. This has happened once before ... when I didn't quite click the "plug" at the base of the jug in - the thing that holds the blades. Sooo, when I lifted the jug up, the plug stayed put and my lovely smoothie went EVERYWHERE. All over the bench, under other bench-top items such as toaster, kettle, teaspoon holder etc etc. Oh, and then it ran over the edge of the bench and onto my relatively clean and shiny running shoes. Now THAT was NOT what I needed at 9am on a Sunday ... on my BIRTHDAY.

Yes, that's right. I turned 32 on the weekend. Holy crapola. Which is part of the reason why I had such a BIG weekend with no sleep - I was keeping myself busy. At this time of year - much worse than Christmas - I tend to get a bit blue. I reflect on things too much and inevitably find myself a bit unhappy. Not this year, there were moments of feeling a bit glum - but there were NO TEARS and lots of fun and smiles. So, big high five on that one.

Oh, it did help that I did something VERY bad in hindsight but VERY, VERY good for self-esteem boosting and for improving my mood at the time. I kissed this majorly hot guy at work ... at the conclusion of a very boozy work function (that my department had hosted). Seriously, the guy is a SPUNK. I have been perving on him for mooonths. Naturally, he wouldn't look at me twice in the normal world. But, after a few drinks when "party Amanda" comes out and manages to lose her insecurities over talking to good looking men (who normal Amanda fancies), I seem to become quite the chatty companion and have been known to attract guys who are well out of my league (in my mind only, of course) normally.

I have since had a few "oh shiiiit" moments. But la la la, he is seriously hot and I would do it again in a second if given the chance. Nope, have NO idea if he has vaguely similar feelings about me and am not pushing the issue at this stage. Just happy to reminisce over what it was like to kiss him for, like, an HOUR.

Okay, that's my update. I am going to try to post more often. I am really hoping that all this training will soon start to bring some really serious results!