Category: Scoop

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.

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.

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.

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.

You don’t get to run before work. It was a beautiful and cool morning today, too. Now, I will be running after work. It’ll surely be hot out, too.

I woke up about an hour before my alarm clock was supposed to go off, and I remember thinking, “I think the alarm isn’t set. Maybe I should do that.” But then I let myself go back to sleep and didn’t think of it again until our normal alarm went off. Sherry and I both knew immediately that running was out of the question for the morning and went about our normal non-run day routines.

I was a little sad, though. I like getting those runs in early. Oh well. I’ll get my run in later today and see if how it is. You see, that’s what I’ve been enjoying about my runs. It’s not the running, but in how little I am affected by running. The less I have to “work” while running, the happier I am. It’s a measure of my fitness that I can feel and experience. The more fit I get, the easier these runs get which in turns makes me happy.

So, no early morning run, but I’ll still get it done today. Just a little later than originally planned.

I can relate to people who work, work, and do more work to lose weight and just can’t seem to do it. Over the past year, I’ve experienced a great amount of weight loss, but once I hit 180-183 lbs, the loss stopped as if someone pulled the parking brake. I figured that running would help me burn more calories and thus, I’d end up losing more weight, but it hasn’t really happened yet. This morning, I was within a half pound of my lowest recorded weight, but that’s as close as I’ve gotten.

The weekend trips we’ve been taking have also impacted any progress in weight loss due to the amount and sometimes even the types of food we’ve been eating.The other thing to consider, and Sherry reminded me of this the other day, is that muscle weighs more than fat. As I’ve been getting stronger and running more, I’m building muscle. That translates into offsetting any loss I may have realized through my diet.

There have been a few bright spots that have given me motivation in the past few days, however. I’ve officially lost an inch off my waist. I have to also look at the fact that I can run every other day now and I have been improving my run times and stamina. I am no longer tired after a run; I just feel invigorated. It’s all about finding the victories where you can, and in these past few months, it has been hard to find any victories.

I know that I’m at the cusp of losing weight again. It’s hard to explain, and I can’t put my finger on any single thing that leads me to know I’m about to lose weight again, but I feel it. I don’t think it’ll be a large amount and should be just enough to make clothes I wear now feel a little more comfortable. I’ve already moved to 32″ trousers and medium sized shirts, so losing another 5-10 lbs shouldn’t affect that too much.

The scale is but a single measure of our fitness and health. Don’t ever let it rule your perception of your progress, health, or fitness. I’m sure that if you keep looking, you’ll find victories of your own to reinforce your healthy lifestyle and habits.

I wanted to laugh out loud, but I didn’t. I wanted to be polite. The proprietor of the bed and breakfast we stayed at called Sherry and I “Health nuts” this past weekend, and it tickled me. That’s something I have never been accused of, ever. But it made me think: “Are we health nuts?”

By definition, health nuts are people who exercise, eat right, and watch their health at a higher level than the average person. I never thought that I’d be able to call myself a health nut, but the evidence is staggering.

Sherry and I watch what we eat very closely. We read every label of anything prepared before we buy it (sausage and bacon are prime examples) without exception. There is sugar, wheat, and soy hiding in many foods, most of which you would never expect to see them in. Sherry is very vigilant about ensuring we eat right and that the ingredients in our foods are Paleo safe.

We both exercise regularly now. I’m no athlete by any stretch of the imagination, but I do run now three-four times a week, and I’m going to likely be upping that to at least five times a week soon. I know most people don’t do regular exercise, so this is just another charge we are both guilty of.

We also both watch our health at a higher level than most. We weigh ourselves daily, we’ve both had more than one health screening this year, and we both are very in-tune with our bodies and any changes taking place.

I never thought I would be a “Health nut.” I used to scoff at people who were picky about the ingredients in their foods, or who would exclude eating certain foods due to the ingredients in them not being a part of their lifestyle. Now, I’m the one being scoffed at. I almost feel guilty. Almost. Because I’m healthier than I’ve ever been, I’m eating right, and I feel great. It makes the silly comments and funny looks all worth it.

That’s right; for those of you who are Redditors, there is now a subreddit for PaleoMarine!

PaleoMarine Subreddit

I’ll be posting some info there as well as making interactions easier between people and me.

For those of you who don’t know what Reddit is, it’s known as “The Front Page of the Internet.” Lots of stories you see on Facebook, print media, and even TV news comes from Reddit. This is the clearinghouse where lots of people post news, information, memes, stories, and other stuff worth (and sometimes not worth) looking at. If you haven’t been to Reddit before, you will find it both a blessing and a curse. It’s quite addictive (in a good way).

Sometimes, it’s impossible to eat Paleo. One of those times is when you’re a guest for someone who either doesn’t know that you’re eating Paleo, a host who doesn’t know you well, or perhaps the host doesn’t understand why anyone would eat anything other than “Normal food.”

This past weekend, Sherry and I were at a small bed and breakfast in Nacogdoches, and we were faced with the situation of being presented with non-Paleo food for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. Admittedly, we made no mention of our dietary requirements when making the reservation, and we probably could have done that, but we didn’t want to complicate matters. Besides, how much harm can a breakfast do?

On Saturday, we had bacon (cured with sugar) and eggs (perfectly good) and homemade biscuits and gravy. These were both obviously non-Paleo, but I decided I would go ahead and eat one biscuit as a gesture of thanks. The proprietor went through the trouble of making the breakfast, and I have to say it was very delicious! I didn’t have as adverse a reaction as I thought I might; just some gassiness during our walk later that morning.

The next day, the proprietor made us blueberry pancakes from scratch with eggs and sausages. The sausages had sugar in them (it’s funny how I can taste it now!) but the pancakes were utterly amazing. I’m glad I ate them; they were a nice treat.

Of course, my stomach wasn’t so happy with me afterward, but within an hour or so, I was back to feeling mostly normal. Neither Sherry nor I will be slacking off on our Paleo diet at all, but we realize that sometimes, it’s the polite thing to do and just eat what you’re given. One or two meals aren’t going to derail our progress, our health, or our determination to stick with the Paleo lifestyle. We recognize the two breakfasts for what they were; treats made by someone who made the food for us out of friendship. To turn that food down would have been rude and wasteful. Besides, who can turn down homemade pancakes and biscuits after not having either for a year!

Yesterday, I had intended to run in Nacogdoches, TX, the oldest town in Texas. My wife and I had a weekend getaway at a bed and breakfast there, and we decided it’s pretty neat to run in the places we spend the weekend, if only to break up the monotony of running at home. As they say, the plans of men are but a joke to God.

On Saturday, we walked. A lot. We hiked a trail in Nacogdoches which took us all around the old city center and through some really nice parks and even Stephen F. Austin University. After finishing the walk, we went to the local airport where I flew (yes, I piloted!) a WWII vintage PT-17 Stearman bi-plane. It was truly one of the most memorable experiences of my life, and as a pilot, a truly unique and special flight.

After flying, we went back to the town and took some old-timey photos and walked up and down the street visiting the small shops. All told, by the end of the day, we’d walked 8 miles. That doesn’t seem like much when a single run of mine is now 3 miles,  but those 8 miles definitely took a toll on me.

We also went zip-lining at Zip Nac. I can’t recommend this enough! We had such a good time, and the staff there are really a fun group of people. Prices are more than fair (incredibly fair, actually!) and it’s something we will be doing again soon!

I awoke Sunday morning at around 3 am with severe nausea. I don’t know why; everything I ate was pretty much okay with the exception of the breakfast at the bed and breakfast we were staying at: I ate eggs, bacon (that was cured with sugar) and a biscuit with gravy. The lady who runs the B&B went to the trouble of making the biscuits and gravy from scratch; I couldn’t let it sit there. It was delicious, anyway. But I digress.

The nausea lasted until around 7:30 a.m., and we had planned on breakfast at 8 a.m., so Sherry and I decided to forego the run and postpone it to Monday. She had mentioned that her legs were in no shape to run anyway from all the walking the day prior. We had breakfast (again, a non-Paleo breakfast made by the B&B proprietor) of blueberry pancakes that were delicious, and also made from scratch. We then departed for home.

We decided that we will run on Monday morning. This week we’ll run Monday-Wednesday-Friday and likely Sunday morning as well. I may do some light jogging after work on Tuesday-Thursday, but we’ll see how that goes. I’m wanting to up my run frequency since my legs really feel uneasy on the off-days (like they want activity).

So, it was a great weekend with lots of walking, but no running.