Month: January 2020

What is my plan for losing weight and getting back into a high level of fitness? It’s pretty easy. It includes:

• Strict Whole30/Paleo Diet (transitioning to Paleo after W30 is complete)
• At least 7.5 hours of sleep each night
• Exercise every other day for first week or two, transitioning to 6 days a week (letting each body area rest for a day after a workout)
• NO SABOTAGE (that’s what I call cheat meals/food items/alcohol)
• Be patient and trust the process

Doing those fivethings have helped me lose 130 lbs in one year, and over 150 lbs total in the past. Now, after a year of allowing myself to stray from this plan, I find myself heavier and out of shape (to be fair, I got out of shape due to two unrelated injuries three months apart from each other) and needing to lose the weight and get fit again.

The good news is that this plan works. It works surprisingly well. I say surprisingly because I was honestly surprised to see the weight loss rates I experienced on my first Whole30. I couldn’t believe that I was losing weight as quickly and as steadily as I was without doing any exercise. My entire life, I’d been fed the mantra that you have to sweat fat off to lose weight. My own experience was going against everything I’d ever been taught about weight loss from grade school to the Marine Corps.

I thought I might be sick, or something was wrong with me, so after a month, I had a physical. Everything not only looked normal, but vastly improved from a few months before. My blood sugar was normal. My liver enzymes were normal. I had gone from being a diabetic with fatty liver to having results that appeared to be from a healthy person. The tests were repeated, and the same results came back. Another physical three months later confirmed the first two. Fast-forward a year, and I was given a rigorous physical to join the National Guard, and passed the high standards for military service with flying colors.

The Steps In Depth

Diet

My method for lifestyle change starts with Whole30. All the information you need about Whole30 is available on the website, so I won’t go into it here. But I recommend you look at it there. Literally everything you need to start and complete a Whole30 is available, free of cost, at the Whole30 website. That’s what my wife and I did, and we trust in Whole30 to reset our appetites, to retrain our brains for proper portion sizes, and to reset our bodies to break any sugar addiction we may have regained.

The Paleo Diet is what we do long-term after completing a Whole30. The main difference is that The Paleo Diet allows you to have food items made from whole ingredients that mimic non-Whole30 compliant foods like cookies, pizza, etc. Whole30 works to not only reset your body chemistry to a baseline, but to also break you of craving certain foods. The Paleo Diet is good for cutting out the foods with added sugars, grains, and legumes, but some people can find it leads them back to eating foods that contain sugars or other non-compliant ingredients. Paleo bread is rarely as good as wheat-based bread (except when it comes to soda bread!), and some people craving a slice of bread can be lured into cheating.

Sleep

Why is this so high on the list? Because it’s the secret weapon that ensures that your body will lose as much weight as it possibly can. What most people don’t realize or know is that our bodies actually lose weight while we sleep. While you may lose water weight when exercising at the gym or on a run, your body doesn’t actually process that exercise and lose weight until you are lying in your bed, asleep. The more sleep you give your body, the more time you give it to lose weight. I have found that in the past four plus years, that whenever I hit a plateau, it was almost always caused by a lack of steady sleep. When I fixed that, the weight loss trend continued.

Exercise

This step isn’t necessary. I know that it’s not something you expect to read on a health and fitness blog, but it’s true. I lost 130 lbs in one year without a single step of exercise. Not a single drop of sweat was expended to exercise, yet I lost weight steadily, consistently, and safely. How? By eating right. Nothing more, nothing less. I was actually very insistent about not exercising for that first year because I wanted to see if it was possible to lose the weight without exercise to prove it not only to myself, but to those who read my blog. When I added exercise to my plan, I lost an additional 20 lbs.

No Sabotage

This is what I call cheating. Cheat days, cheat meals, etc. I’ve read other diets and blogs from other fitness gurus and experts who say that cheat days and cheat meals are okay. THEY ARE NOT! They set you back and put you at jeopardy of failure. It’s like what they say about heroin: NOT EVEN ONCE. I have learned the hard way, more than a few times now, that once you start to let yourself cheat, it snowballs. I am now 40 lbs heavier than I was a year ago because I allowed myself to eat a meal here and there, or to have a few drinks here and there which escalated into a much less healthy lifestyle. Like a drug addict, I thought I had it all under control until I didn’t. It took me feeling incredibly uncomfortable in my dress uniform to realize the damage I’d done. You have to remain vigilant and just say no to those temptations that come along.

Patience

This is another secret to weight loss and fitness that nobody talks about. You hear things like, “Do the work!” and “You have to work hard!” but nobody acknowledges that these changes take time. Sometimes, a long time. When I undertook a healthy lifestyle back in 2015, I lost 20 lbs in the first month. You’d think that I was ecstatic, but truth be told, I wasn’t. I couldn’t SEE the change. Sure, the scale was rewarding me with smaller numbers, and yes, even my pant size changed slightly, but I was so heavy that 20 lbs was a drop in the bucket. It would take another four months before I looked in the mirror one day and the face looking back at me was a face I hadn’t seen in a long time; my face. My not-so-fat face. You can’t get fit in a week, and you can’t lose significant weight in a month. The more weight you have to lose, the more patient you need to be, because you didn’t pack it on overnight. Losing it will take longer than it took to put it on because our bodies are stubborn and optimized for survival. Your body will do everything it can to hold onto the fat stores.

There are other things within these steps, like food-prep, portion control, discipline, determination, motivation, perseverance, etc. They are all important, but in themselves, won’t do anything for you. Follow the five steps, and you will find success. Decide to start. If you have already undertaken a healthier lifestyle, commit to it 100%. No sabotage. There is no finish line, but the road gets much smoother when you’re doing the right things.

What a weird title, I get that, but hear me out. I’m not wrong, here.

We humans are programmed to avoid pain and discomfort. Our brains, the incredible super-computers that they are, ensure that we find solutions that involve the least amount of discomfort in any endeavor we set out to accomplish. The most incredible part to me is that we don’t even know it’s doing this. At incredible speed, we find the path of least resistance, much like a bolt of electricity does.

It should come as no surprise that it’s hard to take on a new diet, a new exercise plan, or a drastic change in lifestyle that brings along with it pain and discomfort. When we do encounter the discomfort, we recoil instinctively. Our brains go into troubleshooting mode and quickly works out solutions to extract us from the situation causing the discomfort. It does this relentlessly, as it’s been a great survival tool that has allowed humans to exist for millions of years despite the various harsh environments we have survived in.

While this has been a key to our success as a species to thrive on this blue marble we call Earth, when it comes to getting healthy and losing weight, it works against us. When you start planning on changing your diet and start cutting out grains, legumes, alcohol, and anything with added sugar, your brain cries out, “Don’t do that! It’s not natural! We need all that food!” Why? It’s not because it’s true; it’s because you know that it will cause discomfort and it will be difficult. The same holds true for when you begin planning an exercise regimen. Your brain starts feeding you doubt and dread. It remembers the last times you tried, and it remembers the pain and discomfort, so it does everything it can to subconsciously dissuade you from continuing on your course of action.

Did you ever notice that the dread before exercise is always worse than the exercise itself? Ok, maybe not for the first week or two. I’m currently experiencing quite a bit of discomfort in my legs that haven’t run in over four months, and it’s pretty dreadful. Then again, I push myself pretty hard, and my first run back was three miles instead of being careful and slow and going with a brisk walk or a jog. But I digress. Once you’re already in the swing of running, say after three weeks, it’s still common to experience dread for undertaking a run. I experience it almost every time I’m about to run. Even after three solid years of running, I still found myself dreading runs. Not until I actually started running did that dread go away, replaced by something much better: a feeling of accomplishment and success.

Almost immediately after starting on a run, I would already feel better. The dread and doubt would melt away, and it was quickly replaced by a burning desire to not only finish my run, but to actually push myself to get better. To get faster. To get stronger. That dread I had morphed into determination.

They say the hardest part of any change is the first step. Whether that’s actually cooking your first healthy meal or donning the running shoes and going out for a brisk walk or a jog. Regardless, our brains are masters at talking us out of doing things that are difficult.

Sunday was Day One for me. Today is Day Three. I already feel better. I’m doing “The Work,” as my cousin Sarah says. I’m eating right, I’m getting enough sleep, I’m hydrating, and I’m exercising. I even gave my legs rest yesterday by taking a rest day. It’s a formula for success I’ve used more than a few times (this is my sixth Whole30 in four and a half years), and I know what I have to do for it to work. Now, I have to use a skill I’ve never really talked about: patience.

I have to trust the process, and keep doing the work. I have to keep eating right, and I have to keep exercising. Now, don’t let the exercise part throw you off. I lost 130 lbs in a year before without a single drop of sweat in exercise. This time, however, I’m throwing it in there because I have to. I’m in the National Guard, and I need to be ready for some very physically grueling training I will be attending this year. But if I had to, I could still lose the weight without exercise because of one simple truth: weight is lost in the kitchen and strength is gained through exercise. I’m not exercising to lose weight; I’m exercising to get back into top shape for my job.

I had a nice conversation with a fellow Marine last night and he asked me about my weight loss. I told him that I’d lost over 150 lbs before, and that I’m currently in the process of losing 40 lbs. He asked what procedure I had, and when I told him I did it all through diet, he was astounded. It’s quite a common reaction from people when I tell them what I accomplished without anything more than changing my diet. I chose, what I believe, is the healthier option. Sure, it requires more time to lose the weight than a lap band or other procedures, but I’ve known people (two, to be exact) who died from complications of weight loss surgery. I won’t ever go through elective surgery for weight loss. Besides, from others who have explained to me what recovery is like from those procedures, my method actually is the less painful method.

With that said, choose discomfort. Choose to change your lifestyle. The best part of all this is that the discomfort and pain are temporary. After a few weeks, when your body starts feeling better and your mental clarity improves, you’ll wonder how you ever existed on the high-carb, sugary grain-filled foods of your past. Are they delicious? Of course they are! But they are also killing you, and keeping you sedentary and bloated. Nothing important or worthwhile happens without some kind of discomfort or pain.

Yesterday, January 5th, was Day One for me. Sherry and I needed to do another round of Whole30. Let me back up and tell you the story of how I got here.

Back in August 2019, I attended an Assessment and Selection process to enter a new special unit in the National Guard. During that process, I injured my Achilles Heel pretty badly, and it left me unable to run for four months. This caused me to start gaining weight. To continue some sort of physical fitness program, I began lifting weights which seemed unaffected by my heel injury. All was going great until November 2019 when I entered a kickball tournament and work and in a hilarious looking (but very painful) accident, I kicked the top of the ball and did a flip in the air and landed on my right shoulder. This injured the shoulder and then took away my only source of exercise: weightlifting.

This led to depression. I’d been doing some sort of exercise weekly for the past three years, and the loss of all physical activity led to a serious bout of depression for me. There were days I would lay in bed in the morning under the covers not wanting to come out. I was gaining weight, and I was unable to stop eating foods that were non-Paleo. This escalated dramatically in December, and it began affecting me psychologically too much to ignore any further.

My Achilles Heel had healed enough that I was able to start running again yesterday. I ran three miles, and although my pace was atrocious, I consider it a win for the following reasons:

• I ran. This is something I hadn’t been able to do since the first week of August last year. I was sore, but it was a stiffness and not an injury-related pain.
• I ran three miles. This is my minimum training distance, and although it was slow, I did it.
• I was back to exercising again.

The next thing I had to tackle was the diet. I was eating unhealthy, and in the past four months, I’d gained (this is hard to write) 30 lbs. I’m 45 lbs heavier than my lowest weight back in 2017, and I’d been struggling since then to get back down to 160 lbs. I accepted 170 as a new normal, and I felt good at that weight. Now? I feel horrible. It’s not just a matter of how I look (which is also horrible), but literally how I feel in my own skin. I forgot how bad it feels to be heavier, how doing normal things become more difficult.

I’ve decided to use this as a learning experience. It’s putting me back a bit into my past, and helping me once again fully understand and experience the weight loss aspect of this blog. I’ve read about fitness experts who have gained weight to better understand what their clients go through. I’m no expert, and I’d be lying if I said I was doing it for any other reason than my own lack of discipline and depression.

So, we’re caught up. It’s January 6th, 2020. I’m on Day 2 of a Whole30 that will likely be more of a Whole60 or Whole90. The very first time I did a Whole30, I lost 20 lbs in the first month. I doubt I will make the same loss this time, as I have over 100 lbs less to lose, but I do have at least 35 lbs to lose, and I need to lose them fast. This time, I’m doing one major thing differently, however: I’m exercising.

The first time I did a Whole30, I did without any type of exercise at all. I didn’t walk, stretch, or do anything more physical than walking normally. This time, I’m running, and if my shoulder allows, I’ll be adding weightlifting back into my routine. This week, I’m only going to exercise 4 times, but next week, I hope to up that to 5 or 6. I’m sticking with a day of rest between workouts this week, but next week I’m going to start rotating exercises to isolate parts of my body, giving each area a day of rest between sessions. This has worked well for me in the past, and I’m hoping for it to work again this time.

As for what I ate this morning for breakfast, it was my usual: two eggs sunny-side up, and two slices of low sodium and sugar-free bacon. I am drinking my coffee black as opposed to the almond/coconut milk creamer I’d added to my routine for the past few months. Those 20 calories per drink really add up and I’m certain contributed quite a bit to my dramatic weight gain.

So, here we are. Day One of getting back to feeling great. Day One of getting back into a regular fitness regimen. Day One of regaining control of my appetite. Day One of working toward getting back to normal. I hear people say, “One day, I’ll start eating right,” or “One day, I’ll start regular exercise again.” Stop it. Decide to make that Day One. Pick a date, and stick to it. I originally picked today, January 6th to be Day One, but yesterday morning, I felt that I’d had enough of the bad diet. I wanted to get going immediately, so a day sooner than scheduled, Sherry and I started our Whole30, and I started running. Although my legs are sore this morning, I’m glad that I did. That soreness is a constant reminder to me that I’ve started the process to taking back control of my appetite and that I’ve begun the process of getting fit again. And you know what? It feels GREAT!!!

It’s been a while. I haven’t posted since November due to a bunch of things going on.

1. Achille’s Heel injury. Still ongoing. It’s finally healed enough that it looks like I can start running again very soon. As in this coming weekend soon!
2. Shoulder injury. This one is pretty serious. I’m supposed to have a CAT scan for it soon. This has halted all my weightlifting (much to my chagrin, and honestly, a big source of my emotional distress).
3. Holiday eating. This has been somewhat out of control. I have basically been eating anything I haven’t for the past four years, and I’ve gained some weight.

However, it’s looking great for me now.

1. Sherry and I are starting a very strict Whole30 again on January 6th, and we will be hitting it just as hard as we did on our first Whole30 over four years ago.
2. I am starting back into my strict fitness plan. I will go easy in the beginning, but I will be doing something every single day (except Saturdays or Sundays).
3. My motivation is back. I’m ready to eat well and exercise. Even though I have to be careful with my shoulder, I can start doing other exercises to start getting myself back into the shape I was in prior to these two injuries.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, a joyous winter holiday, and a Happy New Year’s Eve!

Starting January 6th, I will be back with my daily posts about my diet, exercise, fitness, and the mindset I have going into all this and how I keep myself motivated. I hope to see you all here then!