Category: Strategy

I make mistakes just like anyone else. I take the occasional shortcut. I allow certain ingredients in my foods sometimes. I try to be as good as possible without allowing it to drive me crazy.

I’ve lost a lot of weight (100+ lbs in 12 months) and I am now running over 3.5 miles on every run, but that doesn’t make me perfect. Far from it. I don’t run daily, and I eat food every now and then that may have some dairy or other non-Paleo ingredient in it. I could probably do more, and better.

But I’m human. And you are too.

So don’t worry about being perfect. Nobody is, nor can they be at all times. Do your best. Give it your all. If you get off track, get right back on. Don’t wait for another arbitrary day or date: do it right now. Your very next meal. Your very next opportunity to exercise.

Don’t set a goal for perfection. Doing so is setting yourself up for disappointment and failure.

That’s pretty harsh, I know, but I’m PaleoMarine, not PaleoBeatAroundTheBushGuy. I get tired of seeing people working out so very hard without making a commitment to eating right and then seeing these same people complain that they can’t get skinny because they have “Fat genes.” Seriously. Someone actually told me that.

Weight loss is 85-90% diet and only 10-15% exercise. Tops. I lost over 100 lbs without lifting a finger! Since I started running three months ago, I’ve lost maybe 10 lbs. I can’t really attribute that weight loss to either exercise or diet, but I know that at this point, it’s got to be a combination. I continue to be very careful with what I eat and how much I eat. I still do not allow myself cheats (or as I call them, sabotage meals) and I very rarely allow myself any indulgences (holidays and special events are exceptions, and even then, I try to be careful).

When you are really heavy like I was, you have to go all-in. You can’t half do this. You have to commit. If you don’t, then you’re setting yourself up for disappointment, failure, and surrender. There is no place for any of that on my journey, so I stay the course. Even when I’m stalled, I take solace in knowing I’m doing what is right, what needs to be done, and that I will see a return of progress. At the very minimum, I’m not gaining anything back, so there’s that.

Currently, I’m at my lowest weight in over 30 years: 177.0 lbs. These last 5 lbs have been VERY slow going to lose, but I’m losing them. The biggest change has been losing over 2″ off my waist. I am now into 32″ trousers, and even these are starting to feel big. I can wear size medium shirts and jackets, and more recently, all my new shirts and coats are smalls.

If you endeavor to lose weight, go all-in. It’s hard at first, but if you use some of your ample willpower and motivation (you know you have it in you; you just need to tap into it and USE it), you will get through the hard part and make it into the phase where you lose weight and make steady progress. I’m not saying you will lose weight fast, but you will make progress. Remember, progress isn’t always just what’s on the scale, either. But commit. Go all-in. Do it right. Don’t waste your own time. Each day we burn? We don’t get those back. Make the best of each one you get.

I was there. I woke up one morning and rolled off the bed into a sitting position to put on my shoes. As I bent over to tie them, I found I couldn’t breathe. I had to hold my breath to tie my shoes. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me and my weight. Something had to happen.

Of course, one strand of straw won’t break a camel’s back. There has to be a lot of other blades before that happens. For me, it was the discomfort of being heavy. The health issues were beginning to pop us; all of them weight related. The discomfort of sitting in an airline chair and being unable to open the tray table to put food onto. The discomfort of telling a hostess at a restaurant that I can’t sit in the booth because I don’t fit. The embarrassment of being unable to buy a t-shirt at a concert because they only go up to 2XL (and that was too small). The discomfort of being out of breath after going up the flight of stairs in our house to talk to my kids in their bedrooms. Being unable to take part in just about any physical activity without getting winded and my heart feeling like it was going to pump out of my chest. All these things and more added to the impetus for changing my life.

As they say, the first step is admitting that you have a problem. My problem was my weight and the behaviors I engaged in to get me to that dangerous position. I ate too much. I ate because I liked to eat. I ate because it was entertaining and it made me feel good, so there was probably an emotional element to it as well. I ate foods that were high in sugar. I ate if I was bored. If I was eating, there was a good chance that I was planning my next meal already. After a snack, of course.

I was fortunate in that I was able to recognize that I had a problem. Only after years of discomfort, embarrassment, and pain did I finally reach that point. Before then? There was no way I could give up my favorite foods. God forbid I exercise. There was no way I was going to do any of that. Until I broke.

When you break, you will recognize it. It marks a fundamental shift in your priorities and how you see your life and what you want out of it. Like they say, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. I was told time and time again what I needed to do to change my situation, but I never thought any of it was tenable. Until Whole30 and Paleo.

I don’t care what you do as long as it’s healthy. So, I’ll forego the Paleo talk here. The important part is that when you get to that point where you want to make a serious change in your life, do it. Make that change. Do the research and then commit to it like you would to breathing after being underwater for 30 seconds.