All your cows, are belong to me.

Oh.

My.

God.

What a busy past couple of days! I'm frazzled!

It all started a few days ago when I had 14,000 words to translate and 13,000 words to revise dumped in my lap and it all needed to be done in 5 days. Ah HAAAAAH, unrealistic expectations, much? I couldn't work over the weekend either, because I had birthday parties and ANZAC Day ceremonies to attend and mother-in-laws to visit.

I ended up tapping away at my laptop at her house both before and after dinner, being totally anti-social. I had to be up at 5:30 that morning for the ANZAC Dawn Ceremony in The Hague, then drive all the way to Germany and back, a round trip of around 500 kilometers. That early start and the changes I made in nutrition had me wiped out by 4 pm. But I have plugged away quite literally day and night, working 18 hour days and just got it all finished this afternoon. *phew!* I totally need to learn how to say 'No'.

The ANZAC Day ceremony in The Hague was totally worth the effort though, I love going each year. It's a beautiful, dignified ceremony with a 50/50 mix of military and civilians and old Dutch soldiers who dress in 1914 uniforms. There isn't a single element that does not sing with respect, love, co-operation and brotherhood. It's a positive experience, year in year out. I have nothing but deep admiration for the Dutch benefactors that arrange the ceremony each year. Plus there's a slap-up breakfast afterwards at the New Zealand Embassy in Wassenaar! :)

Anyhoo, as I said - I totally switched out my diet these past five days. I went shopping and picked up lean meats and plenty of fresh and frozen veggies. My first paleo meal of salmon, roast red peppers and brocolli left me starving afterwards, but I didn't mind. It was the first time in ages that I'd been hungry, so it wasn't hard to hold out. My second paleo meal of pork stew with salad, shallots and chili left me starving! It was getting a little harder to hold out and not eat. My third paleo meal of eggs, tomatoes, salad greens and a little olive oil left me starving and I couldn't stop eating! The more I ate, the hungrier I got.

Then the sugar cravings started and I caught myself standing in line at the supermarket, buying biscuits for the first time in...two years? I got them home and had scoffed four before I came to, smashed the bloody things and threw them in the bin! I was just so hungry...

I also experienced the worst, most debilitation menstrual cramps I've had in a good year. I've woken up three mornings in a row with a splitting headache. I tried one more paleo meal today of mussels, courgette, garlic and a touch of butter and I started feeling physically sick, my trick knee started hurting and, ahem, I started, well, farting for Africa and had cramping and diarrhoea. I've gained nearly a kilo too! *GAH!* I'm looking right now at my kitchen and the bowl there is full of alfalfa, apples, a lettuce, some tomatoes and an avocado and I'm looking at them with a lump in my throat. The thought of eating those things is making me want to cry!

Tonight, I had reached my limit as I sat on the couch, nursing my aching knee. As an experiment, I cooked up a big hunk of fatty pork for dinner and ate just that with a little melted butter.

Oh joy of JOYS - I feel full and happier than I have in five days. As soon as the first little morsel of animal fat hit my tongue I felt a burst of well-being and utter, deep and all-encompassing relief. I finished that meat with absolute gusto and enjoyment.

Ach, I gave the Paleo Diet another go. I DO think my body was asking for a portion of vegetables to supplement my zero carb approach, and I definitely think veggies are yummy, healthy things to eat ... but I was eating them to see if they would help me lose weight, not because my body was crying out for them. Reading Girl Gone Primal's tweets, she has the same problems I've had when she includes veggies in her diet, so I think while the strict Paleo approach is awesome - it's not for some people, including me. A mostly meat and fat diet makes me feel wonderful, even though I lose weight VERY slowly on it. As long as I lose weight eventually I'm going to follow a diet that tastes good and makes me feel good. Right now, thats meat, meat, meat and meat.

Rest assured Paleo adherants that AS SOON as the zero carb/high meat approach no longer works for me, I'm going full Paleo again. I'm not against the Paleo Diet in any way, shape or form and I am NOT dogmatic or blinkered when it comes to zero carb. I am open to all options that exclude grains and embrace flesh, and seafood - right now my body just runs better on a fatty, meaty diet. As I said, the second that stops working, I'm switching back.



Until then thoug, fire up the barbie, I'm gonna char me a cow!