Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

So, I mentioned that I haven't noticed a lot of changes with the change in diet. But, when I sat down and really thought about it, yes, I have. Now, I'm not having one of those "OMG, I can hardly stand it, where is all this energy coming from" transformations, but, I am seeing some interesting things going on with me.

Now, understand that I did a 'lowish' carb diet last year as part of my weight loss program, but it did include some dairy and some grains. It was also low fat and calorie restrictive. When I followed the program exactly as written I was always hungry, as in chew my arm off hungry. So, I would often supplement with nuts and generally felt better. I say all of this simply because, the fact that my body is already used to a lower carb intake could be one of the reasons I'm not experiencing a radical change in feeling/energy by going paleo. Or, it could just be that I haven't given it enough time.

Anyway - back to the changes I am seeing.

1) I'm losing weight. I'm not counting calories. I'm not going hungry. I'm not constantly watching the clock waiting for my next meal. I'm also not spending hours planning my meals for the day, and yet, I've lost 7.6 lbs since Jan 1st!

2) I'm not losing strength. Generally, dieting means having to compromise on strength training (and sometimes even cardio) and yet, I'm still putting up the same (if not better) strength numbers as the end of the year.

3) I have fingernails! I know, this is probably a strange thing to mention, but you have to understand that I'm a person who can't grow fingernails. My nails are normally super soft and very thin. They rip and break right to the quick, constantly. And yet, right now, I have nails that go beyond the ends of my fingers on all but one finger!

4) My sleep patterns are changing - for the better. Ask anyone, they'll tell you, I'm not a morning person. This wasn't helped by the fact that I often had trouble falling and staying asleep at night. Even after sleeping 8+ hours I would often wake up groggy and exhausted. Weekends were a constant battle for me. I would often not wake up until 10AM and could easily fall back asleep and stay in bed until Noon. Then Sunday night I would be laying in bed at 1:00AM staring the clock, stressed out because I knew I had to be up by 5:00 AM the next day.

This past weekend (a three day weekend for me), all three days I woke up 6:00AM (WTF!). Even after telling myself, "It's the weekend! You can sleep in" I ended up getting up before 8:00. I've also found myself falling asleep faster (in usually 10-20 minutes, instead of the HOURS it could sometimes take) and waking up in the middle of the night a lot lot less.

Now, my sleep patterns have always been cyclical, going from bad to worse at certain times of the month, so I'll be tracking the quality of my sleep for at least 30 days to see if it continues to improve, or even just stays as good as it is right now. If it does, then whoo hoo!

Oh, and last night, I made the most amazing pork stir fry w/tangerines and bok choy, and tonight we're having chicken that's been marinating in a homemade peach sauce. Nom Nom Nom!