…I’ll give an update about how my transition to a Primal lifestyle is going. I’m 12 days into being grain-free, and I have to tell you - I find it very unlikely that I’ll ever go back to eating grains. The difference is truly remarkable. I mean, SERIOUSLY, YOU GUYS. I don’t want to be gross, so I’ll just say that OMG LIFE IS BETTER without grains. Which leads me to a really weird thought.

In previous attempts at moderating my carb intake, I’ve always felt like I don’t WANT to be the guy who doesn’t even want bread or pasta or whatever, but now? I TOTALLY GET IT. It’s not that I don’t like those foods. I do. Oh, how I do. It’s that I just don’t want to deal with how I’ll feel after I eat those foods. I’m sorry to say I’ve never had bread so effing good that it would be worth spending a day in the bathroom after eating it. (Now cake…that might be a different story. Heh.)

I’m one week into cutting out processed carbs. (Here’s a disclaimer: I still eat 17g of processed carbs every day. Well, I drink them. I still have a Turtle Mocha every morning, but I make a low-carb version.) I cannot say that I’ve felt the incredible difference like I did with grains. Nor can I say that I don’t daydream about the day when I can have an eensy bit of ice cream once in a while.

However, my way of dealing with that is to go pee on a ketostick and watch it turn a lovely shade of magenta which means I’m in ketosis. Which means my body is using my excess fat for fuel. (God knows there’s a LOT of it, at this point.) That helps with cravings quite a bit, to be honest. Knowing that I could completely derail my efforts keeps me from going crazy with food.

Not that I’m going hungry, even though I’m choosing to keep my carb intake at less than 30g/day. We’ve got lots of snacks on hand, and my love for hard-boiled eggs is ridiculous. (No, seriously. I think I could live on those damn things.) I eat whenever I’m hungry, so I don’t ever feel like OMG! I JUST WANT TO EAT! I generally feel pretty great most of the day.

One thing that’s been hard for me is that I want instant results, and that’s just not going to happen, not at my size. I’ve lost a few pounds, yes. My body fat percentage is going down. I’m starting to wear clothes I haven’t even looked at in a long time. Things are happening, but I want to BE THERE ALREADY.

That’s probably been the hardest part - I chose to cut my carb intake dramatically in hopes of seeing dramatic results. (And really, the results are pretty damn good - I’m just an impatient dick sometimes.) So on the days when I don’t see much change in my weight or body composition, I get kind of pissy about not being able to have ice cream, but like I said, watching a ketostick turn purplish usually takes care of that kind of thinking.

For the record, Mark Sisson (the author of Primal Blueprint) doesn’t recommend what I’m doing. He’s not against it - he fully recommends it on an intermittent basis. But his opinion is that prolonged, drastic carb reduction will lead to rebellion and a carb binge. (And maybe some fatigue and fogginess.)

Since I’m not feeling any negative side effects, and I’m feeling fully in control of any cravings, I’m going to keep on doing what I’m doing. (I think Mark would be okay with that. lol) This week, I’m adding in the Primal recommendations for exercise. (What? Mark says it’s okay to take it a step at a time. lol)

I’ll let you guys know how that goes. In the meantime, I wanted to thank everyone for answering how they measure progress when it comes to changes in diet and exercise. DUH to me for not thinking of the tape measure. I’m sad I didn’t measure myself when I started this, but I’m doing so today. I can’t wait for the day when I can post the before and after!