Tag: paleo

Some Paleolicious Stuff

I do get asked often, sometimes by my kids at gym, other times by people who discover that I have lost 60lbs how I did it. Once I explain it is the paleo approach to eating they most often have one question… What about my sweet tooth? For me, it was best to wean off my sweet tooth with plenty of fruit at the start. I found that eating lots of fruits gave me plenty of satisfaction sweet wise and was still keeping me off the grains. As time went on, I ate less fruit and more vegetables to keep my fruit intake down to about 5 or 6 pieces a day. To some, that may seem excessive, but at my size, things are a little different. I found I was able to lose lots of weight and keep it off while waiting for my body to get over the years of insulin abuse I had put it through. Nowadays I am still eating 5 or 6 pieces of fruit a day but I also have berries, mix in lots of veggies with my meat and drink a ton of water. I am still craving free and although I have had challenges with portion size it usually comes down to the fact that I am low on veggie or fruit volume and too high on protein volume. Adding a couple of fruit snacks during the day usually puts me right back on track.

Paleo can be tough to start out, but I think for me the key was lots of fruit and enjoying the ability to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast every day and not feel guilty. In fact, I have probably had bacon and eggs for breakfast 80% of the time over the past year and I love it!

My only warnings on the paleo diet are this:

1. Watch the nuts. There are MASSIVE amounts of calories in nuts. Make sure you measure and know exactly what you are eating. You can scarf 1000 calories of nuts in 2 big handfuls.
2. Beware of drinking calories, they usually aren’t worth it. Just like condiments, they can be full of hidden sugars.
3. In the beginning, drink as much water as humanly possible, the extra protein requires more water to assist in digestion, besides, water is the best thing you can do for your body.
4. Learn what you can about Paleo. People will challenge you, vegetarians will become openly hostile and your family may throw words like “Atkins” and “Low Carb” at you in an attempt to dissuade you. Just remember, eat like a predator, not prey. If it has one ingredient, eat it.

The paleo lifestyle 101

Paleo Sweet Tooth suggestions

Mark’s Daily Apple sweet snacks

Whole 30 snack ideas

 

 

Paleo, It’s Pretty Good. In Other News, Cats Go “Meow”.

Today FitDay decided to publish an article on the Paleo diet. Now I am a big FitDay fan and obviously enjoying the benefits of the Paleo diet so I found this particularly interesting. The article, however can be summed up as follows:

The Paleo Diet, it’s pretty good.

I was hoping for a little more, but they seemed to get the spirit of the thing correct while not pissing anybody off or risking having someone mail them an envelope of veal or even worse, a mean face carved into the side of a summer squash.

More into the spirit of sensational news stories about our health, the Brits are again leading the way by claiming that we can now get human milk from cows. Apparently they have been putting human DNA into cows (any volunteers for that job?!) and getting breast milk. I can only envision a herd of 3000lb breasts wandering around a field but that’s because I am really a 12 year old boy.

Next in my inbox was something I swear I have seen before, lots of pictures of what compromises a “fit” body. I am sure this came up some time ago, only because I remember the graphics involved. It did spawn an interesting conversation about what we as fairly sedentary office workers would consider to be “Fit”. We came up with the decision that it is how you are able to move your body around your space. Not how much over your bodyweight you can bench or shoulder press but rather how able you are to get around and do what you need or want to do. I am very happy that the notion of fitness seems to be graduating towards being “less vulnerable and more durable” as Tony likes to say out in the real world. I know there are people out there who want to hang on to the past glory of muscle heads and steroid freaks but as the population ages we are only going to see more of the movement towards less “dangerous” and more functional fitness.

As for personal news, this past weekend at one point I weighed in at 239lbs. I know I was very light, I hadn’t eaten and so it was not a clear reflection of where I am but HOLY CRAP! It was back in September of 1999 the last time I was in the 230’s without sickness being the cause.

It has been the kind of week that drains you of all your faculties, no emotional, physical or mental energy left. I still haven’t got rid of the 3lbs I gained last weekend during my “Hey I am under 240″ celebration. That buffet at Golden Griddle sure did a number on me. I was 241 this morning and am looking forward far too much to going to Marché tonight to expect to be any less tomorrow. I also am under the impression that the spate of weight loss was indeed a freaky cycle and that it has been exorcised by the mountainous breakfast of last weekend. Still, I can expect to at least remain where I am for a while, and then when the planets align again, down it will go. I just hope that I can keep my eye on the target of being 225 by New Year.

Needless to say, that 225 never transpired, but then again what did I expect not really knowing what my body was doing with the food I was giving it? Even I am not arrogant enough to proclaim that I will reach that milestone, since 225 would take me back to before my weight records began in earnest sometime around 1997. From what I can recall, I left University around the 195lb mark. I know the following year I ballooned as my life took awkward turns and twists leaving me in a place I would rather forget. I was up around 300 within a couple of years and even after I got that under control I still never made it back under 245. So we are in fairly uncharted territory, and yes, I am aware that I am painfully obsessed with my weight, not only that, I have discovered an alarming personality flaw… I can’t stand really fat people.

Paleo – What Is My Reason?

What is my reason for eating Paleo? Well, in hindsight it has been the easiest way I have ever found to control my body weight and composition without really thinking about it. I also believe that for me, simpler is better, the less I have to think about something the better off I am and the better I will do. That is why I think of myself as an extremist in most things, I tend to go black or white since it is easier.

In September 2010 my parents came to visit from their home in Switzerland and during their stay we went to visit my Dad’s brother in Huntsville. The conversation, as it so often does, went to health and we had a long discussion, the three of us, about our family history and the heart problems that are apparently rife throughout our family tree. Not only that, the health problems that my Dad and Uncle have had are at least in part due to poor diet choices and being (even if not grossly) overweight. Since it was 3 months since the birth of my daughter I was at a very emotionally sensitive place and the conversation said something very simple to me: Lose weight and get healthy or die and leave your baby daughter without a father and your young wife without a husband.

So, since October 2010 I have been eating Paleo which for me means basically eating most things that don’t even have labels. Fresh meat, veg and fruit, some nuts and seeds and lots of water. It’s been pretty easy, I have lost around 40lbs (50lbs from my heaviest) and I have to say that it has absolutely changed my life. I know lots of people say that, from movies to seminars to sporting events but there have only been a few things in my lifetime that have affected me as much as this. For example, emigrating to Canada from England changed my life. Getting married to the girl of my dreams changed my life. Having a beautiful baby and becoming her father has changed my life and along with those momentous things, changing to Paleo has changed my life.

It’s not a joke. I have written about it a couple of times and still I can’t explain it completely. So I will keep this page and add to it while I can. It probably won’t turn out as good as my standard reference page from Fitbomb, but I can try… right?

So consider this a work in progress…

The Paleo Pitch– From Whole9

Bad Grains 1 – From Whole9

Bad Grains 2 – From Fitness Spotlight

Bad Grains 3 – From Mark’s Daily Apple

Sugar, and Fructose (Fruit Sugar) are to blame, so eat fruit, but sparingly.

What if I don’t enjoy eating meat? – From Whole9

In fact, the Whole9 MANIFESTO page is a great read for any Paleo related questions….

Refined carbs, the problem in a nutshell – From Details magazine via Fitbomb

 

It’s Obvious – Don’t Be Oblivious

Starving doesn’t work.

dontstarveIt is the reason behind the yo-yo effect and will make you fatter proportionately in the long run. Even short term, starvation diets are a high risk for all kinds of nasty medical issues including heart attack, stroke and aneurism.

Forget the pills, regardless of their appealing pitch, they all do basically the same thing, artifically stimulate your body into burning energy. Unfortunately, since most people who take diet pills are also not eating enough they end up burning their lean tissue. Mostly due to the amount of refined sugar and carbohydrate in their diet.

Try not to get confused here… Calories In Vs Calories Out is a vast oversimplification since all calories are not created equal. However, it remains true that you can’t eat 5000 calories a day and lose weight unless you are in the Tour De France. The biggest problems most people encounter are impatience and hunger. Some people are legitimately hungry and can’t help but eat. They are not eating enough protein. Some people are just frustrated that they can’t lose 41 lbs in a week like they do on the Biggest Loser so they give up. It comes down to education.

Treat your body like a cabin with a wood burning stove. You have a big pile of logs (your fat butt) that you want to get rid of, some smaller kindling and sticks (whole food) and a container of gasoline (sugar) to keep you warm. I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out what each of these things do, and which you should use to get the best fire going but I will spell it out for you anyway. If you consistently use the gasoline to power the fire, you will have big flare ups, lots of heat for a few minutes and then nothing. So you add more gas, but there is no consistent source of heat. It is frustrating and the pile of logs that you have been saving for years is still untouched. Even if you try to use the logs with the gas, it doesn’t burn long enough to ignite the large logs. So common sense tells you that burning the big logs will be better, since you have plenty, they burn really well and last a long time. Problem is, how to get them lit. Well, the answer is the kindling. If you use the kindling to keep the fire going when it gets low and use the logs to keep the fire going for the long term then you will have success. The key here is to use the kindling to fuel the logs to warm the cabin. Gas is dangerous to play with and sooner or later you will burn down your cabin if you keep using it. To address the starting point of this post, would it make any sense to let the fire go out completely by starving it of fuel? How about to let it go so long without fuel that it is almost out so you panic and throw gas on it again with logs and kindling and choke it to death?

Losing weight is not rocket science but it takes patience. If you gained 50lbs in 2 weeks then sure, expecting to lose it that way would be reasonable. However, even with hard work, your goal should be to lose 2-3lbs a week at most. Use that to calculate your time to your goal weight and then stick to your guns. Not sure what to eat? Here is a revelation, eat things with ONE INGREDIENT! Meat, fish, fruit, vegetables. Don’t take my word for it, try it for a couple of weeks and see how it goes.

If you are looking for answers, they are right in front of you. Refined foods are garbage and garbage in equals garbage out.

By the way, sugar isn’t the only sugar. Check out the Glycemic loads of some of these foods and you will see, sugar is often the wrongly accused.

Instead of starving yourself, have some chicken and do some reading.

Forget What You Believe. Find Out What You Need To Know. Then Change (Now With Links!).

Comrade, I Have New Hero. His Name, Pavel Tsatsouline.

pavelETKI picked up a kettlebell and it may turn out to be the best thing I have done in years. Well, that and going Paleo along with my discovery of High Intensity Training. You can’t help but love Pavel, and you can check out a review of his Enter The Kettlebell here.

It’s tricky trying to accept things that we believed to be unalterably true. Sometimes it’s almost impossible especially when you have spent half your life telling other people the wrong thing. But we are all here to learn, to adjust and to judge what is the best for us.

As Pavel says, “If you don’t have good judgement, why don’t you stay on the machines you big sissy?”

Eating 5 or 6 smaller meals is physiologically better. Not true. It may help you to snack less since you have no time to do it, but it’s not based on scientific evidence. It may help with digestion, something which I am sensitive to but as long as the caloric amount is the same, the time doesn’t matter.

Spending time on cardio machines is hurting you, not helping you. That’s because the calories burned vs time spent is pitiful and it’s making you hungry so you overeat. Try higher intensity, shorter duration instead such as Crossfit inspired Olympic Lift workouts.

Want 10 reasons why that elliptical 30, 45 or 60 minutes is no use? Here you go.

How about the myth of skipping meals slowing your metabolism? More bull. Just check out any writing about IF (intermittent fasting) to find out why skipping meals can be good for you once you get the refined carbs out of your life.

BMI? Bullshit Medical Information. I know this being a muscular dude, but it’s true for everyone.

Let’s not forget the overwhelming evidence that carbohydrate not fat is the reason for the obesity epidemic. There is too much info to list here but authors like Gary Taubes, Mark Sisson and good link pages like this are a great place to start. Any information on the Paleo movement will help, as may reading the free version of “The Vegetarian Myth” over at Amazon.

You can also go to Whole 9, paleohacks (for great tips and general info from Paleo people) or The Paleo Diet.

Sadly, starting here may lead you on a journey that makes you uncomfortable, frustrated and confused. Keep at it, and slowly but surely you will come to see the new truth about fitness… The so called experts don’t always know what they are talking about but the truth is out there.

Eat bacon!

Diet Update – Escaping The Worst Man In History

evolution_20of_20men_small

So I have become a Paleo convert. I have done P90X for almost a year and up until now I haven’t really taken on my diet. I didn’t follow the book, I just assumed I knew better. However, knowing isn’t the key. Doing is the key.

My diet consists of fruit, vegetables, protein in any form and dairy. I am trying not to overdo the dairy part, cutting down my cheese intake and so on but apart from that, I am a caveman.

What I have found after almost 3 weeks:

  • I have lost 10lbs
  • I am not really hungry any more. Even if I haven’t eaten for a while (I no longer need to eat 6x a day at regular times according to some) I don’t seem to be getting the same craving for food as I did. This is particularly unnerving for me since I have lived my life thinking about food and pretending to be hungry. Now I just eat what’s on the paleo list whenever I want. You would be amazed (as I still am) at how long you can go on an apple.
  • I am not getting tired like I used to, no 2pm let down and getting out of bed seems a lot easier.
  • I am sleeping better. That may be because I am turning off the TV at night in the bedroom but also because I am not full of sugar.
  • I pee like a pregnant woman. Seriously I have not been drinking more, just the 3 liters (or quarts) a day but I guess the live food is mostly water anyway.

I can’t say I have lost 10lbs in 3 weeks any other time without being mostly miserable. Other than before the wedding but even then, I was losing a couple of pounds a week AT THE MOST. Mainly because I was eating plenty of rice and oatmeal but no wheat. Even when we went totally raw for a few weeks I didn’t see that kind of loss. I was so paranoid about not eating protein at that point however that I was eating waaaaay too many nuts! That didn’t last long I have to admit. This seems easy though. I like to snack, I admit it but snacking on an apple or a banana was laughable to me only a few weeks ago. Now, it’s like I found Jesus behind the couch.

I’m going to try being more positive too, I think the grains were making me angry and I am tired of being the “worst man in history”.

Round 4 Day 14 – The Last 2 and Officially Paleo

I did Shoulders and Arms last night with Tony. I actually skipped the last section because I was feeling a bit off. Maybe it is the change in my diet, not having the sugar and processed grains really means a weird effect on your energy levels. I have done this before, prior to my wedding in 2007 I spent the whole summer off wheat and actually toyed for a while with completely raw food. However, I am many things, not least of which is a meat eater. I am not sorry, I won’t apologise for it and I refuse to be strong-armed by the passive aggressive vegan idiots who say meat is murder and whatever other amusing catch phrases they have come up with. Dog on a plate? , are you having a laugh? They eat dog in Korea. It’s all a matter of perspective and the fact is that without the meat eating public, there wouldn’t be enough food to go around, especially if the Organic wannabes have their way and get rid of the food industry giants that are keeping us all alive. But I digress.
My menu of choice then is Paleo. For the last 4 days in fact I have been completely grain free and apart from the usual headache and lethargy that accompanies any major change in diet it hasn’t been bad. When I went on the brown rice diet in 07 to isolate what it was that was making me so sick I found the same. About a week of feeling horrible and then almost as if coming out of a cocoon I felt awesome. I also found out that I have an intolerance for both wheat and naturopaths. So I quit both and have been more aware of my issues ever since. I am not going to sugar coat things here, it is VERY hard to get off grains especially if you are going all out and basically just eat fruit, veg and protein. It seems like everything you see is grain based and that is very true. But if you can start off and then work at finding things you can eat, you really can make it work and I can’t even begin to explain how good you will feel off that white processed powder, er, flour. Sadly I have other issues. I am almost completely intolerant of the nightshade family that includes peppers, potato and tomatoes. Potato isn’t too bad but if I eat a little raw tomato my acid reflux becomes so bad it almost incapacitates me. Peppers make me fart but happily hot sauce of which I am a HUGE fan doesn’t seem to have the same effect. So for now I am off potato too. Believe me, this couldn’t be harder but I think in a month when I look back, I will at least have more information about my body and how it reacts than I do now.

Today is my Crossfit workout and I haven’t decided what yet. If I can’t decide I think it may be Fran again this time with dumbells to take the strain off my wrists.

Round 4 Day 9 – The Stuttering Start (And Paleo Saves My Life)

October 8 2010

While I should have taken 9 days to get to day 9 in fact I have already taken 12 days. This is partly due to the fact my parents are in from out of the country and that we were away last weekend. That being said, I could have put up better numbers. I am averaging 2 days on one off which at the current intensity isn’t going to cut it. This is the sad attempt so far:

P90X Chest & Back, Ab Ripper
Plyometric Cardio Circuit
OFF
P90X Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
WOD with Pullups
OFF
OFF
GYM Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
Cardio Power and Resistance
OFF
GYM Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
WOD with Pullups

P90X Chest & Back, Ab Ripper
Plyometric Cardio Circuit
OFF
P90X Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
WOD with Pullups
OFF
OFF
GYM Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
Cardio Power and Resistance
OFF
GYM Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
WOD with Pullups

I also am getting the feeling that I am doing too little insanity however I guess that as long as I include the MetCon part of the WOD I will be fine with the cardio workout. Also, if I can keep up walking in the morning 3 days a week it should be enough.

I am also going to start making a concerted effort to jump on the Paleo bandwagon. Now, lots has been said about Paleo and the caveman diet but without sounding like a jerk I was into this when I was in high school. I remember one summer I followed the meat and fruit/veg diet and got pretty amazing results. However I was subject to much ridicule in my house and from my coworkers due to the fact that I was a “weightlifter” but wouldn’t touch pasta or bread, something that back in the late 80’s made you seem like a complete idiot.

After reviewing FitBomb’s entry about his reasons for going Paleo I find that the same reasoning resonates with me now just as it did back then. So for the forseeable future ( now that the weekend carrot cake has finally been finished) I will do the Paleo dance and attempt to reign in my weight before Christmas. I should be hanging around the 220 mark, something that is barely on the horizon from where I stand at this point. Sure I am fit and strong but I also feel like I am a heart attack on legs due to my weight. Given my advanced age (40+) and my family history of heart problems it’s probably time I took steps to stay out of the pine overcoat as long as possible and exercise alone isn’t going to cut it. Not that my diet is usually filled with fast food and donuts but making the switch to Paleo and getting away from the refined sugar and flour is something I think is really going to make a difference.

It’s my WOD day today and rather than sticking with my pullups/jumpups/squats I am going to try a real MetCon and try to see how I do. My choice is Cindy as follows:

As Many Reps As Possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes:

5 pullups
10 Push Ups
15 Squats (Air Squats)

This is supposed to be mixed with an indeterminate amount of Turkish Get-ups, something that  I will have to try before I commit. I think weightless Turkish Get-ups may be all I can manage for now.