Month: October 2016

Quick and Easy Paleo Lunches for Picnics

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Sherry and I have found ourselves in situations where we wouldn’t be able to warm up a pre-made lunch, nor would we be able to take one with us due to a lack of refrigeration. Also, weight was a consideration, so we were forced with a decision: do we take food with us to eat Paleo, or do we eat what’s available and risk having to eat food that is off-plan?

Taking a cue from my parents and grandparents, we went Hungarian Picnic style. What is that? Our lunches over the past two weekends consisted of the following:

  • Paleo bread (the recipe can be found on Sherry’s website)
  • Chorizo (pre-cooked and made with no sugar)
  • Red Bell pepper
  • Radishes
  • Butter
  • Tomatoes

We could have added more vegetables, but we didn’t really need a huge lunch; just enough to fuel our bodies and stave off hunger. These small lunches also allowed us to eat slightly larger dinners.

I know what some of you are thinking: what kind of Hungarian picnic has chorizo? Probably none. Hungarians would use some sort of Gyulai (sausage), kolbasz (sausage), or szalona (bacon) as the meat. My dad was fond of making fasirt (pork and beef meatballs), and Sherry and I have made these for picnics before, too. I came up with a really good Paleo recipe for fasirt that’s also on her website.

Paleo isn’t effortless, but nothing worthwhile is. It takes some planning and prep time, but it’s worth it. Finding creative ways to have Paleo meals gives you more options and makes the lifestyle easier to adopt and stick with. What Paleo meal hacks have you found?

Starting Every Day Running

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ej5kThis morning, when I woke up, I actually felt sad that I wasn’t running. I could have; I had the energy and my legs felt like they were ready to go, but it was too late in the morning. I had run out of time.

Starting tomorrow morning, I’ll be running daily. Everything I’ve been reading says that daily exercise is better than just the 3-4 times a week I’ve been doing. Also, I feel that after a month of running, my legs are now ready for daily runs. I’m going to take it easy, as I have been, and still stick to my 3-4 miles per day for my runs with perhaps a little more distance on Sundays, but I’m not looking to be an elite or even a competitive runner. I’ll cap at “Pre-competitive runner,” as these classifications go.

My last runs have been good. I’ve been experiencing all the things that the experts say I should experience, and I’ve avoided the bad things that runners should avoid. Running daily will put more stress on my joints and muscles, but the benefits are too great to ignore. Being older, I need to maximize the exercise while I can to benefit my cardiovascular system. I also need to make sure I get stronger/faster soon. I will soon be entering the National Guard and will be required to attend a school over the course of 18 months that will be very physical. Being (most likely) the oldest guy in the class, I’ll have a target on my back to the instructors, and I will have a lot to prove to the young guys. Having had this head-start with running will go a long way to ensuring my success.

It’s taken a month, but it feels like I just started. I am happy that I took my time and took this gradually. I now feel ready to run daily. Had I jumped into that too quickly, I’m sure I’d have experienced shin splints, pulled muscles, etc. Tortoise vs hare. No need to try to be fast very quickly. Working up to it slowly has been far more successful than any other training plan I’ve tried in the past.

Categories PT

Cheat Days

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I’ve written about this before, but I get asked about it all the time, so I’m going to write about it again. The question I get a lot is, when are your cheat days? My answer isn’t what most people want to hear, but it’s been key to my success.

Before I go into when I allow myself to go off-plan, let me discuss my mindset and what I consider cheat days. First of all, there is no such thing as a cheat day. There are off-plan meals, but never an entire cheat day. Second, calling it a cheat day or a cheat meal is a misnomer. Cheating is defined as gaining an unfair advantage on a foe or a competitor. Eating off-plan doesn’t really gain any advantage for the person trying to lose weight or get fit. What it actually does is typically slow or stop any progress, and in some cases, derails people from eating on-plan. A more accurate description would be sabotage day. In my mind, eating off-plan without careful consideration is a sabotage meal.

So, to rephrase the question people ask me, when are my sabotage days? The answer to that question is NEVER. I do not allow myself any regular sabotage days. I have found that anytime I eat off-plan, it takes my body a few days and up to a week or more to recover and start making meaningful progress in weight loss. I hate working for no result, so I minimize any off-plan meals as much as I can.

It is impossible to eat on-plan all the time, though. There are meals that are had with friends, co-workers, and family that sometimes are not Paleo. Sometimes, we just want to let our hair down and imbibe some alcohol and eat some chocolate. On those occasions, Sherry and I carefully consider our meals and exercise for the day, and when we do go off-plan, we are still very mindful of the types of foods and drinks we eat and drink as well as the amount. For example, after a grueling day of playing in a band this past Saturday and not eating very much at all, we decided that we would drink some wine and eat some chocolate after dinner. We did so, and had a great time. The next day, we both found that our weight was the same as the day before, and that we were not feeling any detrimental effects (except for feeling maybe a little dehydrated). We planned our non-Paleo fun, and made sure it wouldn’t make a large impact on the total nutritional intake of calories for the day (considering the fact we don’t count calories).

You don’t have to live a life without pasta, pizza, and donuts forever. You just need to be aware that from time to time, if you do eat foods like that, you can make it have a reduced impact on your overall nutrition for the day if you plan ahead and are careful. Just don’t make a habit of it, and don’t schedule these “Cheat days.” They don’t give you any advantage at all, and at best, hurt your progress. That’s called sabotage.

Adding Exercise to Paleo

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I’ve been asked if I’m still eating Paleo now that I have started running. Some people are concerned that I may not be getting the right nutrients or enough calories to support the increase in calorie burn through running. Well, the easy, simple, and true answer is yes: I’m still Paleo.

There is no hard part.

I eat the same way I always have. Well, maybe I eat a little bit more, but in terms of ingredients, it’s exactly the same. For example, for breakfast, I ate an extra slice of bacon. After my run this morning, I just felt like I needed that extra slice, and now a couple of hours after breakfast, I can honestly say that I feel better than I would have without that extra slice.

For lunch today, I’ll have the exact same size portion I have been eating for the past 13 months, and for dinner, I’ll do the same with perhaps a muffin for dessert. Otherwise, my diet is the same as before. The only real difference is I add a tiny bit here and there to round out my nutrition to stave off any hunger. I’m working to increase my calorie deficit as well as getting fit, so eating a lot more would defeat a big part of the reason I’m running.

I don’t eat a lot of carbs. I have greens and some vegetable with my meat at every lunch and dinner, but I’m not loading up on them. I haven’t felt lacking in energy with the exception of one run, and that was in the heat after work when I was tired. Otherwise, on my morning runs, I feel energized and ready. I will even say I feel good. Today’s run was exceptionally good.

So, in my experience, adding exercise to Paleo is sort of a natural progression and doesn’t require any real additional food or planning other than maybe to add a fruit or some extra serving of something maybe twice a day to offset the increase caloric load on the intake.

Improving and Making Progress

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I lost a whole pound last week which puts me at 178.8 lbs. This last pound was the hardest fought pound of the 134 I’ve lost. I literally ran for a month to get it. But that’s okay, because I lost over an inch in my waist, and I feel so much better.

My run times are improving. I still run over 30 minutes, but I’ve been increasing the distance I run with nearly every run. My last run was 3.13 miles; just a little over 5k (which is good because I’m going to run my first official 5k Event in December!) and my pace was the best I’ve had in any of my runs. I push it pretty hard for the first half, back off a little for the next 1.5, and then take it easy for a half before pushing it again for the last half. As I add distance, I will likely be pushing hard for more than the last half.

I’m the kind of person who likes to track personal progress. Now that the scale doesn’t give me that constant feedback, it’s nice that running does. I can see my times and distances and I can track improvement. It’s a new measure I can to to compete against myself with. This fuels a really important part of this health and fitness stuff for me; progress.

I know the time will come when I hit a wall; I can only get so fast, only run so far, and only get so light and small. That’s okay; I’m not anywhere near the limits yet. When I get there, I’ll work to keep up with my speed and to keep my weight/size where it’s at. But until then, I’ve got a lot of work to do to improve and continue to make progress. And I’m actually enjoying it.

A Very Important Video

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This is a very informative video that could change your life and really understand why low-fat is so bad, how sugar effects the body, and how the 4-4-3-2 nutritional education of the 70’s has caused our obesity epidemic in the US. I implore you to watch this. It’s very informative, and may very well save your life.

Ran This Morning (and it was GLORIOUS!)

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I know, I know: another running post. Who is this guy, and what did he do with our PaleoMarine?

Me, the guy who said he could never enjoy exercise and didn’t understand those who do and went so far as to say he wished he could be one of those people apparently had his wish granted. I enjoy running.

There. I said it.

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I forgot to take a post-workout photo, so this one will have to do.

As for this morning’s run, it was actually very nice. I started at around 5:10 a.m. after doing 30 push-ups and hit the streets. I was experiencing a little hip pain from sleeping wrong on it, but after a step or three, the pain was gone and I was just running. After the first half mile, I found that I was feeling really good. Like exceptionally good. No pain in the legs, no problems breathing, and the cool 52 degree air felt great. I even ran at a pretty decent pace for the first full mile.

Miles 2 and 3 were uneventful and actually it felt nice to just be moving quickly and without any aches or pains. I did feel the slightest bit of a pain in my left knee while running the last half mile, but I found it had to do with the uneven surface I was running on. Once I moved to a more level surface, the pain went away.

The biggest surprise for me was when I finished, I felt like I could have gone on for another mile or so. The only reason I didn’t is because I only have so much time before work to run, and I had already used up my allotted time. I already started waking up 10 minutes earlier each morning I run to make time for the longer distances. Perhaps I need to back that up by another 10 minutes?

Either way, I feel great after this morning’s run. The pace was good, the run felt good, the breathing felt good, and I feel energized. It was a nice experience.

I look forward to being able to do 4-5 runs a week instead of the 3-4 I’m doing now, but that’ll have to wait. I’m still building right now and I don’t want to over-extend my capabilities and get injured. I don’t have time for injuries right now.

The Three Pains of Running Over 40

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file_000-51I found that there are three pains when it comes to running. I used to think there were just two: good and bad, but after getting back into running as an older guy, I found a third: the old man pains.

Here, I’ll go through the pains of running.

Good pain. This is the muscle ache you feel after a good run. It’s a pain that says, “Good job on that last run. You worked it. Now give us a day to heal and get stronger and you can go again.” I used to really hate even this pain, but I’ve grown to embrace it as a sort of trophy of my efforts.

Bad pain. This is when you pulled or hurt something. This is typically a sharp pain and needs to be paid attention to. This also tells you that it’s time to back off a bit and heal before heading back out again. I dread bad pain. I’ve been lucky in the past month to have not been visited by bad pain.

Old Man pain. This is what I feel in the mornings when I wake up. Either a hip or a knee are the usual culprits. I find that this old man pain makes it a little painful to walk, but once I start running, the pain goes away almost immediately. If I set a good pace and stretch out my steps, the pain goes away even faster. The strange part: when I finish a run and start walking again, the old man pain can sometimes come back (like it did this morning).

Part of my ability to get back into running in a way I never have before was recognizing that running involves some level of discomfort just as studying for exams involved mental discomfort. Anything worth acquiring requires discomfort in one way or another as well as delayed gratification. I knew I wouldn’t be running 6 minute miles within a month of starting back up, but I’m nearly at 9 minute miles after starting at 12:30 minute miles just four weeks ago. I consider that solid progress, and running 3 miles every other day hasn’t been nearly as bad as I made it out to be. I still plan to start hitting daily runs soon.

Categories PT

Another Run in the Books

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Look at my tiara. I framed the photo like this on purpose.

This morning’s run almost didn’t happen because I was lazy. However, I thought of the people I’m friends with who write post-run and post-workout reports on Facebook and of the times they wrote something to the effect of, “I didn’t feel like it today,” or “I didn’t want to, but I did it anyway.” They motivated me and I pulled myself out of bed and just did it.

Once I got outside, I did my push-ups (30 this time) and with my heart beating faster, I let my Fitbit sync up with GPS and I hit the road. I stretched out my legs a little more this time than normal and my pace reflected it: 4:24 for the first half mile, and 4:57 for the second half mile for a total of 9:21 for my first mile)! That’s my best time so far (since Active Duty)! I kept the pace for the first mile and a half and slowed for the last half to just over a 10 minute/mile pace. I’d like to get to about a 7:30/mile pace eventually, but for now, I’ll take the sub-10 minute/mile pace. It’s a good place to be after three weeks.

It is getting easier. My legs didn’t feel so thick today. I can’t describe it any other way. For the past few weeks, I could never shake the feeling where my legs felt thick, or as if they just didn’t want to loosen up. I’m not talking about stretching; they just felt like they didn’t want to run. That changed today. The only limit I felt was how hard I wanted to breathe. My legs were up to the task, and with the exception of a little bit of aching for the last 1/4 mile, it actually felt pretty good.

I can’t say I love it (yet? lol) but I do enjoy it. The music helps. A lot. I’m still fine tuning my running playlist, and may eventually post a link to it here (it’s on Spotify), but right now, I’m not sure I’m entirely happy with it. There are a few songs that have moments that just aren’t conducive to fast running.

I am backing off from the daily running thing for now, though. The day off really does help my legs heal and recover a bit, and I can feel the difference that day makes. I try to walk a little on the off-days that I don’t run, but I’m thinking four times a week is plenty of running and my progress so far has been pretty good, so I feel it’s enough to keep me progressing.

So, as I say on Facebook, I didn’t die on this run, so it was good. Now I find myself looking forward to the next run.

Categories PT

My Anti-Bad Food Rant

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sugarIt’s been a while, but it’s time for a rant.

We need to reject the horrible anti-nutritious food that we are being bombarded and inundated with. The vast majority of the food available to us in the grocery stores are filled with either sugar, grains, soy, dairy, or chemicals. The only foods that I can trust are meats and vegetables, but again, only as long as they are unprocessed in any way. Some foods that you would NEVER expect to have harmful or questionable additives do. Try to find tuna fish that is just tuna fish in a can. Bacon? Good luck finding any without sugar and nitrates.

There is nearly nothing good for you in the frozen section except for frozen vegetables and maybe some fruits, but even a lot of the frozen fruits have sugar added to them. It’s maddening trying to find anything good to eat in a GROCERY STORE.

What’s worse is how much of this horrible stuff is marked as “Heart Healthy,” “Healthy,” or “Organic” all while being filled with sugar, grains, soy, and dairy. The low-fat, no-nut, gluten-free labels are all over the place, as if those were really any better for you. Rice is still a grain. I can understand people with Celiac disease avoiding gluten, but everyone else? It’s the GRAINS you need to avoid!!!

Nuts? If you have a nut allergy, sure, avoid them. Everyone else? It’s one of the best foods for you to eat!

I feel like Mugatu in Zoolander: “Am I the only person here not taking crazy pills?”

Is it a conspiracy? Maybe. It is the food industry that has paid for our nutrition research over the past 50 years, and they’re the ones who came up with this whole nonsense of low-fat, not eating eggs, gluten-free, etc that is nothing but BS and causes more harm than good. Now, drug companies are buying food companies that sell high-carb foods. The high-carb foods cause health problems which the drug companies medicate for. Is that not a conspiracy?

Eat meat and veggies and fruits, people. You will get healthier just through eating right. Avoid the middle of the grocery store; shop the perimeter. Your body will thank you.