Paleo Marine

Not many people know there’s a difference between eating for your health and healthy food. The definition of healthy food varies depending upon whom you ask. Someone who believes in a low-fat diet will tell you that whole grains are healthy. Someone who does WeightWatchers will say that everything is healthy in moderation. Adkins adherents will say low-carb is healthy. Someone who has adopted the Paleo lifestyle will tell you that foods containing grains, sugar, dairy, beans, and soy are unhealthy, and that meat, vegetables, and fruits are healthy. All these people miss the mark of what we really need to focus on: eat for your health.

We all have different genetic makeups. Upon reading countless articles by people who have done a Whole30, it is evidently clear that certain foods are bad for everyone while other foods are only bad to people of specific genetic backgrounds. Some people do okay with limited dairy or beans while others do not. The key is that people find what their bodies respond well to, what makes them feel energetic, and what fuels them the most efficiently. That’s what a Whole30 is about for me. Finding what fuels our bodies in the healthiest, most efficient way possible.

Eating healthy food is a trap. Even for those of us whose goal is to eat for our health, it’s possible to eat too much or to allow unhealthy ingredients to creep in over time. I even went the opposite direction: for months, I wasn’t eating enough. I was eating healthy food, but I wasn’t eating for my health. I was’t listening to my body: I had slight persistent hunger, my energy levels were declining, and my weight loss stopped completely. I wasn’t making progress in running (I had hit a wall in my pace), and the runs were getting progressively difficult without increasing distance or pace.

Listen to your body. Don’t get caught in the trap of eating healthy food. Eat food for your health. Find what works and what doesn’t by doing a Whole30. It’ll be one of the hardest things you’ve done, but what you learn from it will benefit you for the rest of your life.

It’s the strangest thing. I ate lots of sugary foods this past weekend and yesterday, I had a bigger than normal dinner. So this morning, at my daily weigh-in, I weighed a good 5 lbs more than I did on Saturday morning. I just shook my head and continued on with my morning routine. I know I didn’t eat THAT much more. The only explanation for it is that it has to be retained water.

After doing a  little reading, I learned something that astounded me:

It is true that excess salt in the diet can aggravate fluid retention, but sugar is more likely to cause the fluid retention in the first place. Sugar is a carbohydrate, and all carbohydrates, if consumed in excess can promote fluid retention. This is because sugar promotes your pancreas to release insulin. Source

Wow. So that makes SO much sense. I tend to retain fluids after drinking alcohol, eating sweets, or eating carbs. Now I understand why. It also makes me feel better. These gains are temporary, and my weight should stabilize and get back down to the new norm within the next few days.

Until then, I’ll be eating very carefully and avoiding any and all sugar or carbs. I know it’s not all about the scale, but when it’s out of whack, I tend to get a bit grumpy.

I’ve had three people either try to run me over or inconvenience me in some way while I ran in my neighborhood one evening last week. I couldn’t really tell if they were all doing it on purpose, but in at least one case, someone in their car literally pulled it forward as I was running on the sidewalk at night so I had to run into the street, and after I passed them, they pulled back up and kept the sidewalk clear. They stared me down the whole time. That was pretty blatant and uncalled for. The others? Maybe they didn’t see me or maybe there was no malice behind their actions.

At least once a week, I experience some sort of weird action or look from people as I run by. I normally get waves, smiles, and kids running next to me for 10 yards or so. Those are the nice interactions. Then there are the others. The looks I get from people who possibly think that the only reason I’m out running is to make them feel bad that they aren’t. Because of course, I only do this to make people feel badly about themselves.

I’ve had diesel pickup trucks “Smoke” me as they drive past, and people on sidewalks give me dirty looks. I’ve had people stop what they were doing and watch me as if I were some sort of oddity or criminal running past.

I find it sad, really. When I was my most outspoken about not liking exercise, I never went out of my way to inconvenience those who were exercising. Heck, I always gave runners and cyclists thumbs-up. They’re doing the work, and I always recognized that. Even if I didn’t want to do it, and even if it was a reminder to me of my own lack of motivation to get moving, I never put that on them. I put that on myself.

Trust me: I’m not out there flaunting my fitness. To do so would be a joke; I’m not that fast of a runner, nor am I in perfect shape. I’m in good shape, but I have a long way to go before I would say that I’m really fit. What I’m doing is the work necessary to get fit. I’m doing this for me, not to make anyone else feel bad for any reason.

I also hear people every once in a while make comments about me at the mall or in a store. “Well, doesn’t that skinny guy think he’s special wearing a suit jacket?” “Who does that skinny guy think he is, all dressed fancy and stuff?” “That guy needs to eat a sandwich.” Okay, the last one made me laugh when it happened (and actually, I’m laughing now) because I’m really not thin. Not even a little bit. I’m still just average. But really? Because I’m no longer fat and dress nicely it’s okay to be rude?

I expected fat shaming and being made fun of when I was heavy. I never expected it for being fit or working on getting fit. That surprised me.