Since going Paleo my family has fallen even more in love with our grill. Paleo and grilling just work well together. The past couple of years I've even been stepping outside my grilling comfort zone more and more. Grilling things I'd never thought to have grilled before and trying new flavor combinations. I have to say I'm pretty thrilled with the results of most of my flavor experiments. In the past I'd never have thought to grill fruit, but it's amazing. Grilling fruit and adding it to traditionally savory dishes? Brilliant. Oh yes, and? New rule: every burger recipe for the rest of forever must contain grilled pineapple. OK, maybe more of a guideline. It's a seriously delicious combination though. This Smoky Grilled Pineapple Burger is always a crowd-pleaser at my house. It's not only Paleo, but Whole30, glutenfree, lower carb, and clean eating friendly. I promise you won't miss the bun! paleo, grilled pineapple burger, smoky
Long time no update! A few of you have noticed my absence, so I thought I'd explain. Can you imagine not being able to use your phone for almost 6 months?? Well, that's where I've been...
Odd as it may sound, I'm touch typing this with the screen off and plan to edit it in short sessions. You see, I've been completely off my blog and social media for about 6 months. I haven't been able to use my phone at all. I also have not been able to text, email, blog, facebook, watch Netflix with my kids...anything involving a screen really. I had to take a break. A long one. Not because I wanted to, but because I had to. I've been dealing with some super weird health problems. A severe case of something called Neuro-Ocular Vestibular Dysfunction (NOVD) or "See Sick Syndrome" to be exact. Basically, my vestibular system is completely on the fritz and not communicating properly. Weird stuff makes me feel completely sea sick and I often go into dizzy spells so severe I can't do anything but go to bed, close my eyes, and pray for them to go away. Besides screens, the weirdest things can be a problem. LED lights, patterns, movement, the trees on a windy day, things that spin, etc etc.
It started slowly. Over years. By the time we finally got figured out what it was it was so severe I was popping Dramamine like tic tacs and it felt completely debilitating. Like I said, I couldn't be on my phone at all and realized just how much of my life revolved around that thing. My social life, my work. Shopping and communication. I had to have my husband text people and check my emails. I was right in the middle of preparing to launch a new keto food blog and cooking show and had to just stop. With FitViews I've had to completely stop any work. I've had to ignore tons of pitches and offers of sponsored work and collabs.
It's been rough. The worst has been the isolation I've felt and the complete inability to work.
So, anyway, I've been doing exercises(this is a pdf all about See Sick Syndrome and the exercises if you're interested) to help correct it, and am beginning to feel better. I still cannot do much on my phone, but I can do a little.
I'm allowing myself one instagram post a day currently (which also goes to my facebook). I check my emails very occasionally and have my husband do everything else still. I can't watch a movie or YouTube or anything like that yet, but windy days don't send me running to my room with the shades drawn, so I'm grateful to be progressing. Though, slowly. I'd love to get back to YouTube and IG Stories, but just can't deal with video at all yet-too much movement. Especially when trying to edit a YouTube video. Hopefully soon though. Until then, I'm keeping myself to IG, this blog (because I can do the bulk of the work with the screen off), and a little Twitter.
I'm getting better, but it will be a slow road.
I've also had people asking for a weight loss update.
So, the weight loss...
Well, basically when I started getting nauseous and dizzy from any time spent on my phone I had to quit tracking on MFP and was pretty lost for a while. I tried just eating what I thought was about right for portions, calories, etc and that went over like a lead balloon. In fact, I gained a couple pounds by the beginning of June. As much as I want to be one of those people that can watch portions and lose weight: I'm not. I need to track when I'm trying to lose weight. I decided I had to find another way to track if I was going to get this figured out, and went back to an old school journal. I started using a Diet Minder. I actually really like it. It's worked well for me the last few months.
I didn't do the Body By Science program all the way through. With everything else I was dealing with I just decided to stop. Instead I did daily long walks with my husband. I did 4 to 6 miles every day all summer long (with the occasional rest day, but not weekly).
So, tracking back in full force, and optimizing the ketogenic diet with what I've learned over the years, I lost 9 pounds in June. After that I slacked off a bit on tracking calories again and my rate of loss of course slowed down. I lost 6 pounds July, August, and September total. So, 2 pounds a month.
All in all I got in a pretty good groove for the summer with consistency and though my rate of loss was less than I'd like it was a move in the right direction. I really feel like June showed me exactly where I need to be with this. That's a lot in one month for me.
Now that I'm starting to feel better I'm ready to get back to some more intense workouts and shake up things a bit. I just got this book...
and this too...
I'm not setting any hard goals. I am focused on improving my overall health and optimizing keto to get the rest of this weight off!
I'll keep you posted...