You might have come to my blog last week to find it missing in action… but everything should now be back to normal thanks to my newly hired blog maintenance guy. I decided one of the things I needed to do to decrease the stress in my life was to have someone else do the backend maintenance. Thank goodness because this problem was out of my league.
I can’t believe I’ve been doing the leptin reset three weeks. It has always been a challenge to eat 50 grams of protein in the morning, but in the last few days it has become even more challenging. I love meat, but that’s a lot of meat to eat within thirty minutes of rising and to be honest I’ve never been much of a breakfast eater. My mouth feels dry in the morning. I have found that eating sauerkraut helps because it is cold and juicy. Sometimes the meat is dry, even when I’ve soaked it with butter. Here are some examples of what I’ve had for breakfast to make it to 50 grams protein:
- 10 ounces 80% 20% hamburger = 48 grams
- 2 eggs [affiliate link], 3 slices Open Nature uncured Canadian Bacon, 10 Aidells Chicken & Apples smoked chicken mini sausages, 1 Open Nature beef hot dog = 54 grams
- 5 ounces salmon, 1 Foster Farms Italian Chicken Sausage = 49 grams
- 2 Jennie-O Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage, 2 Foster Farms Chicken Breakfast Sausage links (small), 1 slice Open Nature uncured Canadian Bacon = 51 grams
- 3.5 links Open Nature Smoked Andouille Chicken Sausage = 52.5 grams
- 5 eggs, 10 pieces bacon = 51 grams
- 9 ounces raw swordfish, 1 cup homemade beef broth = 54 grams
- 3 links Costco Casual Gourmet Sausage Roasted Red Pepper and Spinach, 1 cup homemade chicken broth = 50 grams
- 8 ounces grilled pork loin chop, 1/2 link Open Nature Smoked Andouille Chicken Sausage = 52 grams
- 7 ounces raw salmon = 42 grams
- 4 links Open Nature Smoked Andouille Chicken Sausage = 60 grams
- 8 ounces salmon, 1 egg = 52 grams
- 1.5 link Casual Gourmet Costco, 4 large eggs = 51 grams
- 4 ounce chicken breast, 5 ounce raw hamburger = 55 grams
- 3 chicken thighs = 51 grams
This morning I was caught without anything to eat… last night my hubby brought home Canadian Bacon and jalapeno sausages and I thought I’d have those. He’s been finding “legal” things like this on clearance, but when I started examining the ingredients I saw that the Canadian Bacon contained not only nitrates and nitrites, but corn syrup, and the sausages had Monterey Jack Cheese and I’m still not having dairy. I ended up having 5 ounces of boiled chicken breast (leftover from the pot of soup I made yesterday) with 2 cups of chicken broth, 2 eggs and some green chili peppers. I made it into a soup of sorts and ugh, it was just not very tasty at all. It was all I could do to choke it down – boiled chicken breast is so dry even in broth! Thankfully it’s not usually that bad. Tomorrow morning I will be having bacon and grilled chicken thighs and I will look forward to that.
I do feel I have been making some progress with the leptin reset. In Dr. Kruse’s post My Leptin Prescription he says most people will notice a change in their hunger and cravings within four to six weeks. I noticed this by the second week. I had not thought I was having cravings, but it turns out I was since I no longer think about having something like this: Coconut Milk Chocolate Ice Cream Shake. They were not uncontrollable cravings, it was more like the thought would pop into my head of how yummy it would be to have a treat. Often, as long as I could figure out something GAPS legal, I would indulge. But I’m not supposed to snack on the leptin reset and with all the protein in the morning I am just not hungry for hours. It is refreshing. With no low blood sugar symptoms either! That’s important.
Dr. Kruse says these are the signs that you are becoming Leptin Sensitive again:
- Men will notice quick weight loss.
- Women will notice mood changes first (calmer/sleepy) and their sleep will improve. Their clothes will fit differently but weight may not change drastically initially because of effects on the pituitary. This will change too if they continue moving forward.
- You will notice a change in your sweating pattern.
- You will notice you have better recovery from exercise and your energy levels seem to have risen.
- Your hunger is gone and so are your cravings.
- When you awaken you will feel very refreshed like you slept well.
Generally when the signs are all present, I then really push HIIT exercise with heavy weights.
Okay, so my hunger and cravings are gone. My sleep has improved! It got worse before it got better. I was up several times every night to urinate but in the last week it seems that this has calmed down. Last Monday night I got six hours sleep, then on Tuesday night I got seven. Wednesday night I was awake until 1am so not a good night, but every night since I have been sleeping well; however I was still waking up to pee. Last night I actually slept from 11:30 until 5:30am straight through without waking up even once. I was so delighted to see the time. I hope this continues. I know much of this improvement has to do with my husband being home and sleeping at now. I am no longer having to worry myself sick over him not sleeping. This takes a huge load off me.
It does seem as if I am waking feeling refreshed, at least on the days that I don’t have to go to work.
I’m not sure how I’ll notice a change in my sweating pattern… I think if I remember correctly if you are leptin sensitive you sweat a lot.
My clothes seem to be a bit looser, as if I’ve lost four or five pounds. The fat on my stomach feels looser, more fluffy, less solid.
I’ve also been noticing how food seems less important. Almost as if I am beginning to eat to live, instead of live to eat.
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I’ve been thinking about Thanksgiving Dinner… how to do it and stay under 25 grams of carbohydrates for the day. Well, one thing I know, I’ll be eating meat! 🙂 Last year I had a feast, with none of the standard carbohydrate items like potatoes, sweet potatoes, bread, rolls, etc., but even so they were higher in carbohydrates than I’m doing now.
Here is a picture of last year’s Thanksgiving Feast:
My hubby tells me Fry’s Grocery has Holiday New York Strip Roast on sale for $3.77 a pound. I think we will have one of those for our Thanksgiving dinner. I’m also thinking spinach, and mushrooms. And mashed faux-tatotes.
Last year to help plan my Thanksgiving menu I bought Heart of Cooking’s Thanksgiving Limited Diet Menu Planner. It is only $5.95 and I was very pleased with the variety on the menu. I didn’t get to make everything, but I was really happy with the recipes I did use. In the photo above you can see the recipes I used from her planner: Coconut Bread Stuffing, Butternut Squash and Apple Puree, Coconut Whipped Cream, and Pumpkin [affiliate link] Bars with Cashew Date Frosting, Pumpkin Pie and Spice Cranberry Sauce (not shown). There are so many great recipes in this 24 page planner that it’s more like a mini cookbook than a planner. I bought it last year and Sarah has a special offer this year where you can get the Thanksgiving Menu Planner free if you subscribe to her membership site. Or you can just buy the menu planner. It’s very worth the $5.95.
So how are you doing on your GAPS journey?
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