Month: July 2016

I have a friend from high school who likes to post pictures of non-Paleo foods whenever I post a photo of some Paleo meal I ate, and this last time, he posted a photo of some rice and beans with the caption, “I have to have my rice and beans at least once a week.”

I get it. I love rice and beans, too. Heck, one of my favorite foods EVER is Hungarian bean soup (bubleves). I used to think I couldn’t live without it, too. I used to believe that if I can’t have certain foods in my life, it’s not a life worth living. I used to justify all the bad food I ate by thinking I wasn’t as unhealthy as other people. I looked fine. I was a little overweight, but nothing that serious.

In the photo above, on the left side, is Sherry and I in 2007. I thought I was healthy and just a little big. I had convinced myself that this whole “Eating right” thing was for other people, and that they were making a big deal out of nothing. Then, the doctor said I have elevated levels of a liver enzyme that is indicative of non-alcoholic fatty liver in my blood. The next year, I was what he called, “Pre-diabetic.” The following year, I was Type-2 Diabetic. My eyesight began to get worse at an alarming rate. I began having nerve pain in my leg and numbness in my toes. Throughout all of this, I had to have my rice and beans, too. And bubleves.

I discussed at length the reasons I decided to do a Whole30 and go Paleo, so I won’t rehash that here. However, I do want to address something here and now that I think anyone who dismisses good eating does: delusion.

We delude ourselves in thinking, “Health problems from eating lots of sugar and carbs will happen to the other guy or girl because I’ve been eating this stuff all my life and I’m fine!” We delude ourselves in thinking, “Well, I’m only 50 lbs overweight. That’s not that bad.” Delusion is how we defy logic. It’s how we drown out that voice at the back of our heads that says, “You really should eat better food,” or that says, “You know, you could stand to lose some weight.”

I was delusional for a long time. I thought I was healthy. I thought I looked normal. The worst part is that even when looking at myself in the mirror, my mind made me look thinner to myself. This is not an uncommon thing among people who are overweight, and a recent study even confirmed this.

It’s a harsh reality, and it’s tough to swallow, but not giving up a high-carb lifestyle will end your life sooner than if you eat good, healthy foods.

Eat better. Cut the carbs. Stop deluding yourself. I’m not asking you to give up everything good forever. Just greatly reduce it from your diet. Rice and beans once a week? Maybe if your body fat is 15%. I’ve got a ways to get there, and when I do, I will reintroduce a few treats into my routine perhaps more often than I allow myself now, but I will never go back to the “Old ways.”

I read the sensational report a few months back about how 14 of 15 “The Biggest Loser” contestants had experienced a massive reduction in their rate of metabolism which made the majority of them regain the weight. I read this (and this article was sent to me by more than a few people) and I have to admit, I was a little concerned for a moment. But then that moment passed, and I realized that I did not do what those people did, nor did I lose the weight as quickly as those people did. My body has had time to absorb the change and to get used to it. I lost my weight naturally.

Now, when I eat more, I gain weight. When I eat right, I lose weight. I have not yet reached an equilibrium point where my intake matches my caloric burn, but I do know it’s coming. At that point, I’ll either have to reduce my intake or increase my activities to burn more calories. Knowing me, it’ll be more of the former than the latter.

However, I am also starting a kettle ball program this week to work muscles in my body, and Sherry and I are going to start more active walking/jogging/running very soon.

The main point is, however, that I’ve noticed that my body responds quickly to changes in diet. It’s predictable and reproducible. My results are not out of the ordinary or unusual; they echo the results many people I know are experiencing as well.

Eat right and your body will treat you right. Eat badly and your body will go bad. It’s pretty simple. I’ve nearly lost all the weight I gained after the long holiday weekend just by being careful, and NOT by starving or depriving myself of anything. I’m just watching my portion sizes and not eating treats. It’s neat to see it work so well.

It sounds kind of funny; camping on Paleo. I can picture a caveman looking at the modern equipment we have for camping today and saying to himself in some caveman language, “Wow. Look at all this stuff!” The thing that the caveman would find in the average modern cooler would be the most shocking; none of it would resemble the food he was familiar with. Looking at packaging, containers, and even food items would be perplexing to him. He might even throw it away, not aware that it was edible.

My friend Steve and I were talking about his upcoming camping trip, and he was lamenting the fact that it would be difficult for him to stick to the Paleo lifestyle while camping. I had to laugh, because at least to me, camping is sort of reaching back to our Paleo backgrounds, isn’t it? Sleeping under the stars, close to nature, and with some luck, catching some food to eat.

With some standard staples that will store well at room temperature or in a cooler, it’s quite easy to go camping Paleo-style. Some ideas I gave him were:

Breakfast

• Bacon and eggs
• Paleo pancakes (if he takes the ingredients which are mostly dry)
• Sausage and eggs
• Fish omelette (assuming he can catch some fish!)

Lunch and Dinner

• Steak
• Fried or baked fish
• Vegetable packets (carrots, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, etc)
• Burger wraps
• Baked sweet potatoes
• Pork chops
• Sausage (no added-sugar)
• Chicken
• Chili (needs a little more prep, but with a pot, can be done)
• Veggies on skewers

And that’s just a list to start with to get the ideas flowing. After we discussed it, he was happy that there were options and in a way, hearkens back to the cavemen making their food from whole ingredients.

I added a link in my Blogroll (on the right side of my site if viewing on a PC or tablet) to my wife Sherry‘s recipe page. It contains links to our favorites, and she has also marked all Whole30 compliant recipes as such.

Whenever I post about a delicious and filling dinner that she or I made, there is a good chance you can find the recipe there. It’s well worth taking a look at if you’re wondering what kind of foods you can eat on Paleo and Whole30.

I had a great holiday weekend, and I truly enjoyed seeing all the family and friends who came by for the birthday celebrations and the Fourth of July festivities. Sherry put together a menu that was delicious and primarily Paleo as she talks about in this post on her blog. I helped with the grill work, but it was mostly her effort. What that resulted in was my grazing for two of the days over the weekend and eating far more in volume than I normally would.

The food I ate was all Paleo, but in large quantities and throughout the days. I knew I was going to regret it afterward, and sure enough, the scale punished me with an ugly reading. However, my clothing still fit properly, and contrary to what the little voice in the back of my head told me, I didn’t get fat overnight.

I have to remember that it’s just a minor setback, and it’s back to the normal eating. The strange part that was unexpected is how happy I am to be back to eating “right.” I actually feel better, and not as uncomfortable. I don’t know if it’s the smaller amount of food or the lack of carbs in all the fruit and veggies I ate, but I already feel more like myself today than I have over the past few days.

Eating right is not only good for the body; it’s good for the mind. Knowing I’m eating good foods calms me, makes me feel like I’m making progress toward a goal, and knowing that I’m actually following the rules and being good is also satisfying.

Today, I turn 49 years old. I don’t feel that old. Heck, I feel better than I did in my 30’s.

People ask me all the time what feels different now versus my fat self. The first thing that comes to mind is that I feel younger: I have so much more energy, flexibility, and mobility. I feel like I can do anything I want to with no physical limitation. Losing the amount of weight I have has truly been a liberating experience.

As I look back on the past ten months, I can’t help but to wonder where I’d be if Sherry and I hadn’t taken the leap to try a Whole30 and then to adopt the Paleo lifestyle. I am certain that I wouldn’t have had all the amazing experiences I’ve had this past 10 months as my fatness would have limited me quite a bit as it had in the past. I’m also sure I wouldn’t have been able to see some of the things I saw due to my inability to hike long distances. I’ve lived more in the past 10 months than I have in the past few years before I lost the weight.

As I look forward, I see a bunch of good years ahead with Sherry and I being able to do so much more, experience more of life, and to have a quality of life we haven’t had since we’ve been together.

This truly is a happy birthday.