Week Two of the Food Vacation

Well, my calorie deficit calculations were obviously bang-on as I'm down 2.5 lbs this week.  Yay me.

This week was a bit harder.  Most of the week I was eating a stew made with pork shoulder, and it was far too mushy and fatty, but there was lots of it so I had to keep eating it.  I will not be using pork again, that's for sure.  I also found my energy levels were a lot lower this week and I only made it to the gym for one weights workout and the daily walks were shorter on some days - but that was more due to a busy week, work-wise, than anything else (and also, pouring rain).  Last night I couldn't face the stew so I had only a small bowl of rice for dinner, and this morning I mixed a little rice in with my hardboiled eggs (which I don't recommend as a taste sensation) and I felt much perkier today, so I think I need more carbs in my diet than I'd been getting.  Contrary to what I'd expected, replacing some protein and fat with bland carbs didn't make me any hungrier, so I'm going to try to have some extra carbs - like 1/2 cup cooked rice, or a small potato - with every meal.

I'm still drooling over pears, but not as much.  I have supplemented my soups-and-eggs diet with a few other bland things: raw hazelnuts, blueberries, blackberries, raw milk kefir, a vitamin D supplement, and raw kohlrabi & turnip sticks.  I eat these in the afternoon if I'm feeling peckish, I don't try to add them onto a meal as it's usually a bit of a struggle to finish a bowl - and sometimes I just don't. It's amazingly easy to leave a snack now... I've found plates of turnip sticks that I've forgotten about, and it took me three days to go through a tiny package of hazelnuts that I previously would have mowed through in one. My insides are working well, with zero gas and bloating, so I think I'm doing ok with the balance of fibre and whatnot.

This week's soup/stew thing, though, is WAY better, thanks to my lovely friend David who gave me some bear meat.  I hope he's not horrified at what I'm doing to it - but game meat works SO MUCH BETTER for this than domestic meat.  It keeps a good texture, it's nice and chewy, and while the flavour is - as it's supposed to be - mild, there's still enough of it that instead of being actively yucky to eat (as was the pork stew), it's mildly pleasant.  Not enough to make me want to eat more than I need, but enough that I'm not pushing the plate away before I'm actually done.  I've always wondered why the hell First Nations peoples bothered with stone-boiling (why not just cook stuff on a spit???) and now I know.  It's a good way to get a nice, filling dinner. (And yes, I do thank many deities for the existence of my crock pot on an almost daily basis.  Stone-boiling is a bit of a PITA.) My next project is to arrange a hunting trip for David and Stirling, because what's just as good as bear stew?  Goose stew.  Also, I've got a new load of beef arriving next week, and grass-fed beef is nearly as good as game.

So that's week 2 done.  I'm going to try to go all the way to the Solstice - that seems a good, meaningful place to end a semi-fast of this nature.  And when and if I manage it, I will never, ever be able to tell myself again that I lack willpower - although I must admit that adhering to the food vacation has not been stressful or difficult, not after the first few days.  And despite the occasional lapse in energy, I feel pretty damn good.  It's also nice to have too-snug clothing fit well once again.

Oh - and for what it's worth - cooking for the family isn't a major problem.  The smells do make me a bit hungry, but then I just eat my slop with the rest of the family instead of an hour later when I'd probably be hungry anyway.  Keeps me socially appropriate.