Month: October 2017

Something we have to deal with after every holiday party is the inevitable weight gain from eating too much, or from eating foods that aren’t Paleo. This time, it was too much food and drinking lots of alcohol. All the food Sherry made for our Halloween Party was Paleo, but that didn’t mean that eating a lot of it was okay. But… we didn’t care. We ate all night and drank a lot as well. Why? BECAUSE HALLOWEEN PARTY!

And do you know what? I’m completely okay with that. I’m up 5 lbs over yesterday. Yes, a solid five pounds. Where did that come from? Well, it’s mostly water that my body is retaining as a result of drinking so much alcohol. I know it’s physically impossible to have gained actual 5 lbs in one night, and I also know from over two years of experience that about half of that will go away today, and the rest will disappear over the next 3-5 days. By Friday, I will be back to a normal, more acceptable weight.

Why do I do it? Why put my body and myself through this? Well, in a word: Life. Why would I want to miss out on things like celebrations, parties, and time with friends celebrating the fact that we’re all alive at the same time, at the same place, and enjoying each others’ company? There’s no good reason to forego that, and I refuse to live a life without celebration.

Call it a sacrifice. It’s something I give for myself and my friends: going off the rails, a little bit, to enjoy life to its fullest.

I fully enjoyed myself last night, and had an amazing time with a group of people who mean the most to me in this world. Many of these people are like family to me. These are the people who matter most, and I lived it up with them.

Today, I started the day a little naughty; I put some Swiss cheese into our eggs. But outside of that, I’m back at it, 100% Paleo, and I’m dedicated to eating healthy and I may even run a little later today (and if I don’t, I will definitely do so tomorrow).

Don’t beat yourself up for enjoying life. If it’s a once-in-a-while activity, it’s completely okay. Just don’t make it a daily habit or you’ll never recover.

I love the holidays. Getting together with friends and family, sharing food and drinks, making memories, taking photos; it’s all so joyous and full of love. A big part of the holidays is food, and holiday food is steeped in tradition. Much of what we typically eat is not the healthiest of foods, but with a little work, there are many Paleo alternatives that are just as tasty, if not tastier than the originals.

With that said, there are times during the holiday season that it’s impossible to eat a truly Paleo menu. Friends and family may not be on the same page nutritionally, and foregoing or avoiding a holiday meal would be worse than any “Bad food” intake. For this reason, I do my best to eat Paleo, but when I’m at a holiday meal with friends or family, I eat whatever is presented (within reason: I am not a fan of sweet potato with marshmallow topping. Ew!). I may eat smaller amounts or try to pick and chose certain side dishes over others, but for the most part, I partake in whatever food is given.

Even during the holiday season, it’s rare to have more than one or two of these dinners a week. Even at the height of the season, one or two meals in a week is not excessive. I’ve learned through experience that I don’t gain a lot of weight after eating a non-Paleo meal. Sure, I retain some water and my weight may spike 1-3 lbs, but as long as I continue to eat Paleo after the non-Paleo meal, the weight goes right back down to where it was before the non-Paleo meal within a day or two at most. Knowing this makes it esay to partake in the holiday festivities and cheer guilt-free.

Enjoy the holidays. Eat some food. Drink some wine. But don’t overdo it, and don’t lose track of the big picture. Eating a holiday meal is not slipping or falling off the wagon: it’s partaking in life’s special moments, and that’s important. Don’t cut yourself off from friends and family because of your diet. Enjoy yourself, and harden your resolve to withstand the non-Paleo meal and follow it up by being especially diligent in sticking to the plan. It can be done, and it’s not as hard as you may think.

This morning, as I was making my two eggs sunny-side up and three slices of bacon (no salt or sugar added), I came to a realization that made me very sad and shook me. It’s one that I think I’ve thought of before but refused to truly believe: Some people just really don’t care about their health or mortality and will not lift a finger to change their lifestyle, even if it means a higher quality life or longer life. There are likely many reasons for this.

First, it takes effort. It’s not easy. We want everything fast, easy, and cheap. It’s ingrained into our culture at every level. Losing weight takes determination, motivation, and perseverance. Most people just don’t want to put in the effort to lose weight.

Second, people are working off of incomplete nutritional information based on outright lies and misinformation perpetuated by our government through its health education in schools as well as our media. “Coconut oil is bad for you!” “Eggs are bad for you!” “Fat is bad for you!” “Whole wheat is good for you!” All of those statements are patently false, yet the media and our government repeat those lies time and time again. So much, in fact, that there are millions of people who actually believe it.

Third, due to the bad information and the lack of prior success, people have diet fatigue. They just can’t go through another diet, another transition. They tried and failed time and time again, and each time, they gained back even more weight than they lost. It’s demoralizing.

Fourth, there’s plain old apathy. Some people really just don’t care for no sake other than not caring. They see their lives as pre-destined, or they feel they have no control over their weight, diet, health, and fitness. “It is what it is,” is a mantra these people live by. Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth.

Fifth, nobody likes being told what to do, or that they are going to die early or that they aren’t getting the most out of life due to their poor health and unhealthy lifestyle. People infer any comments or suggestions as personal attacks or insults and completely shut down before any of the words can make a positive impact.

I have experienced all of these at some point. As much as I hate to admit it, the reason I can identify those reasons for not changing my lifestyle earlier and regaining control of my health and fitness is because I’ve lived through each of those reasons. The challenge for people like me now is to find ways to get past those reasons, to break through the walls people put up, and to do what it takes to get through to them.

Usually, a photo that has fat me next to thin me helps. Some people have outright denied the fat pictures were me. They think I’m trying to fool them somehow, or that the photo is of a relative, friend, or other person who happens to look similar to me. I usually break out additional photos with me and my kids or me and other people they know to build trust. I try to explain that I’m not lecturing them, and honestly, I only discuss health with anyone once. After that, they have to come to me for advice or information because I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable around me. Worse, I don’t want to scare anyone away.

Being patient helps, but for some people, time is running out. With certain family members, especially when they are advanced in age, a more direct approach may be necessary. With others, I will discuss it when they ask, and then I’ll leave it at that until they approach me again.

It’s sad that so few people really care about their own health. It makes me angry that our government takes so much money from certain food industry lobbyists and then dumps money right back into industries that feed us this bad information and worse, bad nutrition. Think of all the corn and wheat subsidies the government pays out. All that corn and wheat has to be sold somewhere. It’s in the government’s best interest to foster a market that buys up all this product. I know it seems cynical, and even a bit paranoid, but it all fits together too nicely: like puzzle pieces.

I will continue to try to do what I can to get through to people, but I will not force the issue. I will continue to talk to anyone who wants to seek out information, but I will not volunteer that information without invitation. You’re here reading this on your own volition: neither I nor anyone else forced you to come here (I hope!). Thanks for caring about your health and for being interested enough to find out more. Let me help you. If you need help, let me know. It’s free and with no strings attached.

It’s as if bad nutritional information is covered in impenetrable armor. No matter what ammunition I believe that I have to get through to people, often, it turns out to be ineffective. There are many reasons for this.

First, the bad nutritional information has been not only available for decades, but it’s been touted by the education system, the government, and even the media. People truly believe that low-fat is good for them, that whole grains are good for them, and that orange juice is a healthy alternative to sodas and the best drink to have in the morning.

Second, anytime information or studies come out that counters the status quo, it is quickly discounted and discredited. There is a lot to lose by the companies that have been paying the lobbyists to keep pushing grain subsidies and an education system that pushes grains as healthy.

Third, people hate being wrong. They hate finding out that what they have believed their entire lives turns out to be untrue. The more evidence you show them about how wrong they are, they entrench themselves further. It’s hard to find out a firmly-held belief or truth you’ve held dear turns out to be based on lies and bad science. For some, it’s too much.

Fourth, the diet industry has no reason to really want people to lose weight. Why would drug dealers want their customers to go to rehab? The diet industry is all about making money, and if people become successful at losing weight, there will be fewer people to buy the diet products. As the industry is a growing multi-billion dollar industry, there’s no incentive to really get people to lose weight.

Fifth, the medical industry is a for-profit industry that has much to gain from weight-related maladies and their associated diseases. Insurance companies are also for-profit, and they can justify higher premiums for those who meet certain criteria and demographics. They can pick and choose their customers, and even refuse to do business with demographics that would cause them to lose money.

When you add these reasons up, it’s obvious why we have such an obesity epidemic in the U.S., and most of the Western world. All the powers are conspiring against the people all for the sake of a dollar.

Bad information is everywhere as it pertains to nutrition. The incentives to truly find a solution to the obesity epidemic is elusive. It’s difficult to fight the abundance of bad nutritional information out there, but it’s not impossible. Keep reading, keep learning, and keep seeking out the truth as it pertains to nutrition as you should in everything. Together, we can help people and make a dent in the bad information that’s out there and really help people lose weight and get healthy.

This is advice given to people in regards to careers, professions, sports, and perhaps even when it comes to personality traits or skills. However, one area that this is often not mentioned is health and weight loss. Subconsciously, it’s why I ignored thin people for decades when they tried to lecture me about weight loss, but when I heard from people who had successfully lost weight and kept it off, it planted a seed that grew and welled up within me until I could no longer ignore it.

I was speaking to a soldier this weekend about weight and fitness. In the military, we are held to height and weight standards, and if you cannot meet them, you are discharged from the military. It’s pretty serious, and for those planning on making a career of the military, it can be devastating. This particular soldier is currently overweight, and on his last physical fitness test, only made the standard through what is called “Taping” which is when body fat is calculated using a tape measure, measuring the neck and the waist. He very barely passed his physical fitness test as well. He was happy to get past it, but has since let his weight balloon and has not been running.

I don’t lecture soldiers about their weight, but I do offer advice. I want to plant the seed. I want to let them know that I was once fat and I overcame that and regained control of my health through diet. I show them photos of me when I was overweight, and they can see that I’m no longer anywhere near being beyond the height and weight standards. They also know I have a solid APFT score (my last one was 273 out of 300), and that I’m fit.

This particular soldier exemplified what is so wrong with our nutritional education in this country, and it was extremely frustrating. He told me he had a diet approved by a certified nutritionist who had a master’s degree in nutrition. His diet included diet drinks, diet smoothies, all the fruit he wants to eat, and low-fat meats. His dinners were sub sandwiches.

I wanted to scream.

This poor guy is working his tail off, buying a bunch of diet products, and doing what he thinks is the right way to lose weight and get healthy while not losing any weight at all and doing the exact opposite. On top of that, he’s joined a gym and is working out for an hour or two every day, and yet, he’s not losing any weight. He’s frustrated, but he was adorably optimistic. He told me he’s not losing weight, but that he’s building muscle mass, which is better.

I tried to tell him his diet was wrong. I tried to tell him you can’t exercise away a bad diet. I tried to tell him, as gently as I could, that this nutritionist who approved his diet may not have the latest information available about nutrition. It all fell on deaf ears.

And so, I will likely see this poor guy not make his height/weight standards, he will likely not make the taping standards, and will likely be discharged because of it. And it breaks my heart.

If you want to lose weight, emulate someone who has walked the same path as you. They know the in’s and out’s, the pitfalls, the shortcuts, and the path to success. If you don’t trust me, find someone you do who has lost the weight and kept it off. Avoid people trying to sell you stuff, because their motivations are typically more about the money and less about helping you get healthy. You don’t necessarily have to avoid people who have never been overweight, but there’s comfort in knowing that someone will completely understand your journey in a way only another overweight person can. If I can be that person for you, I’m honored to do so.

Here’s a weight loss tip that I don’t see often enough yet has such a large impact on weight loss efficacy: get some sleep. Get lots of sleep. Get at least 7-8 hours of solid, restful sleep. Why? Because your body needs it to lose weight properly.

Why do people weigh themselves in the morning? Because you actually lose weight while you sleep. Your body processes and metabolizes fat and you exhale it. Seriously. I thought it was crazy until I looked it up. Of course, the processes going on are more complicated than that, but at its most simple level, your body is processing fat and you exhale a lot of that weight as vapor.

This process takes a long time, however, and the more sleep you get, the better the process works. For whatever reason, I find that my own weight loss is maximized with a minimum of 7.5 hours of sleep. 8+ is even better, but I always try for at least 7.5 hours. Whenever I find I’m not losing weight, I usually find that I haven’t been getting enough sleep (among other things like eating too much, eating sweets, or maybe some non-Paleo things had crept into the diet as well).

Get sleep. Get good, restful sleep, and get at least 7-8 hours of it. The difference it makes extends far beyond just the scale. You’ll also feel better and more ready to take on the world!

Before undertaking a change in lifestyle like doing a Whole30 or adopting the Paleo Diet, the first piece of advice most people read is that preparation is key. Preparation in cleaning out the pantry, buying the right foods, preparing foods for the week, etc.  What I’ve never seen covered, however, is the mental or psychological preparation one must do before starting a lifestyle changing diet.

Framing for success. What I mean by this is that you need to focus on the foods you can eat and not those you cannot. Create a list of foods you can eat and you will find that a lot of food you already enjoy is on that list. When we focus on what we can no longer eat, we have a harder time foregoing them or resisting temptation. By re-framing our concept of what foods we enjoy and like to eat with those that are permissible, you find yourself not missing the anti-Paleo foods.

Relationship with food. You need to change your relationship with food from something that is comforting, soothing, or entertaining to that of being fuel. Life happens between meals, not at them. This is difficult in our society, as many gatherings happen around meals, and that isn’t going to change. What I’m talking about is non-gathering meals. Meals should be about fueling the body, about feeling comfortable but not stuffed. Once you realize that food is fuel and it’s okay for it to taste good, but that should be secendary to its primary purpose; energy.

Prepare to fail; it’s okay. This one is a fine line, because I’m not saying it’s okay to cheat (or sabotage your own progress). What I am saying is that, especially in the beginning, there will be times when you just can’t be 100% strict, or when temptation is too much. It’s okay. It happens to all of us. The important part is to just get back up and keep going as if nothing happened and avoid falling again. It’s okay to stumble. Just get back up.

Going into a different lifestyle without mental or psychological preparation makes it harder to succeed. It’s like a soldier going into battle without all the weapons at his disposal. Prepare yourself mentally and you give yourself a better chance to succeed.

I used to use a web site called Calorie Count when I tried to lose weight back in 2012. I was able to lose around 40 lbs, but stalled there and quickly lost motivation when I got sick for about a week. After I got better, I had fallen off the proverbial wagon and gained the weight back (and then some). I failed miserably.

The sad part is that I was very diligent in tracking all my calories. If it went into my mouth, it was logged and tracked. I knew exactly how many calories I was eating each day, and initially, it seemed to help me stay under the limits for my weight. Then, when I hit a bump and was unable to track so rigorously, I easily fell of the wagon. When I look back as to why I failed, it’s because the food I was eating, while low calorie, just wasn’t filling or satisfying. I was always left hungry, and as my calorie requirements declined with my weight, I  was left feeling hungrier and hungrier. It was a recipe for failure.

About two years before I did my first Whole30, I got a Jawbone UP and used it every day thinking that having this fitness and sleep tracker would motivate me to walk more and sleep more. It did for a little bit, but then just became a reminder to me that I wasn’t doing what I thought was enough to lose weight. Like many, I had the mistaken belief that if I just walked more, I’d lose weight. Of course, this didn’t happen, and I continued to gain weight.

When I started my Whole30, I had a Fitbit Surge. This was a great device and helped me track my sleep which was very important. I learned that I needed a minimum of 7.5 hours of sleep to realize any weight losses during the night, and the Fitbit helped me track that. Once I began running, the GPS feature in the Fitbit Surge helped me track my progress and was a large part of my success in running.

I started using the Strava website and iPhone app to track my running and I even splurged for the pro version to use the advanced tracking features. I’m no marathon or speed runner, but I’m very interested in my running progress and I want to continue to improve. The pro features have been very helpful to me in gauging just how efficacious my workouts are and to track my progress and trends.

I recently switched over to the Garmin Fenix 3 HR, and this watch has been the best yet. I really feel it helps me track my running and sleep in better ways than any device or app before it, and checking my data points has become a part of my daily routine.

Could I do it without technology and apps? Certainly! I found that counting calories didn’t work for me at all while eating the Paleo Diet did (and it requires nothing more than cooking and eating meat and vegetables). I could even run and get my exercise without using high-tech devices and apps, but utilizing them has given me added information which aids my progress and helps me understand which areas I need to work on.

I get it. Self esteem is a tricky thing. Most people lack it in large amounts, while some have none. Oftentimes, it is related to a person’s self image, and when they are overweight in a society that is increasingly overweight yet worships being thin, it’s easy for self esteem to fall. The solution isn’t to make being overweight okay, though, because it’s not. Being overweight is a problem. It’s not a natural state for us to be in.

This gets me in trouble, and people think I’m being insensitive or outright mean. What I’m being is honest. The human body isn’t designed to be fat. We are able to carry fat as a survival mechanism, but if you live in a first-world country in 2017, there’s no excuse to be fat. Eating with abandon and eschewing exercise is the cause of our obesity epidemic. Coupled with nauseatingly bad nutrition advice from our government and medical industries have done nothing but exacerbated the issue.

Now, you have people posting on Facebook self affirmations from overweight models talking about how they had to accept themselves, to say daily affirmations in the morning telling themselves they had worth, etc all because they are overweight in a society that values being thin. The takeaway shouldn’t be that people who are not thin are made to feel bad. They definitely shouldn’t feel good about being overweight. They should be concerned and should want to fix that, because that makes you healthy. The myth of the healthy overweight person is just that; a myth. Don’t believe me? Talk to your doctor.

But I digress. Some people just don’t care about their health enough to do anything about it. We are a culture of ease, and losing weight and getting healthy takes discipline, motivation, self-control, and perseverance. In short, it takes effort. The majority of us in our culture refuse to life a finger or, more aptly, refuse to put down the fork to lose weight. They accept their being overweight as inevitable. I know, because for a long time, that was me.

If you’re lucky,  you get to a point where you say, “NO MORE” and change your lifestyle permanently. If  you’re lucky, you make this realization before a doctor tells you that you must do so or face a certain, early demise. If you’re lucky, you have the time to make the change before your body gives out. If you’re lucky, your body can withstand years of abuse through increased blood sugar, increased cholesterol, and fatty liver. How many of you have won the lottery?

I don’t judge people for being overweight. I don’t look down on anyone for being overweight. I know personally how easy it is to find ones self as an overweight person. I know how it feels to resign ones self to an early grave because of the mistaken belief that it takes a lot of exercise and starvation to lose weight. I know that’s why so many people are overweight; they don’t know you can lose weight by just eating different foods and NOT through starving. Heck, I lost my first 110 lbs without a single step of exercise!

Being overweight is not normal. It’s not good for us. It’s something that’s in our control, and we can change (unless you’re one of the ~.1% of the population with thyroid issues). The good news here is that it’s not nearly as hard as you think it is! There’s Whole30, Paleo, Keto, and others that are free, science-based, and efficacious. Stay away from the pills, powders, patches, and products that promise weight loss. All they deliver on is profits to the proprietors and disappointment to the dieter.

It’s not okay to be overweight. It will kill you. Do something about it while you can.