Paleo Marine

I admit it; I weigh myself every morning. My grandmother did the same. It was actually on her advice that I started doing this. Of course, when she was still alive, I didn’t like what I saw on the scale, and it taunted me. I wasn’t willing to do the work to make those numbers get smaller, so I just watched them creep up weekly. It wasn’t until I did my first Whole30 and then went Paleo did I begin to see the numbers drop.

And then I hit my plateau. My lowest weight has been 174.4 lbs, but the true average hovers between 175 and 177 lbs. Conventional wisdom would say that I’ve not made any progress since then, but that’s not looking at the whole picture. I just looked at a photo taken of me back in October 2016 and I had a lot of extra skin at my waist and my stomach still looked pretty soft. Fast forward to this past weekend, and there is a lot less extra skin, and my stomach is showing signs of a six-pack. You read that right: my stomach muscles are starting to emerge. It’s amazing.

I’ve been wearing 32″ trousers for the past half year, and they are comfortable. I can get just about any 32″ waist trousers, and they fit. Some are a little loose while others a little snug, but that’s due to tailors all using slightly different patterns and cuts. Shirt sizes are typically mediums or 15 1/2 with some shirts that run small needing to be large. This is the same as when I was 23 years old. I can’t believe I’ve worked myself down to sizes I wore 27 years ago!

I still see progress, even if I am not losing weight or losing pant sizes. The skin around my stomach is shrinking and my abs are starting to show. My arms have no fat on them at all and the skin has shrunk on them quite nicely. My pecs are looking better from all the push ups I do and the skin shrinking there, too. My face is less round now as well, something Sherry pointed out to me after watching a 2016 in rewind video I made of our adventures together last year.

Don’t get hung up on the scale. Look at the whole picture. I know how easy it is to get discouraged by the scale. Forget about it! Look at EVERYTHING, and I’m sure you’ll find something that is improved by eating better.

There’s no better feeling than watching your friends all eat healthy and start to reach their own goals and get healthier. It’s an amazing feeling for these wonderful people to be making such great progress. That means that we will share many more years together on adventures, parties, and get-togethers.

I feel proud to have helped inspire and educate them on Whole30 and/or Paleo. I am elated for them, and I offer any assistance they require or ask for. One thing I don’t do, however, is play the role of Paleo Police.

What is the Paleo Police? It’s the person or people who are quick to point out that what you are eating isn’t Paleo compliant. I did it on accident a few times early on, but I’ve vowed to actively keep from doing so. There’s nothing worse than having someone guilt you at a meal. I don’t like it, and I won’t be the person to do it to someone else. There are many reasons for this.

1. It’s rude. Who am I to think I should be watching what you eat?
2. It’s your decision. I had bread pudding at lunch last week. It was a calculated treat, one I haven’t had in over 7 months. I likely won’t have more bread pudding for another 6 months or so. I was okay with this, and if anyone had told me that I shouldn’t be eating it, I likely would have given them an earful about minding their own business.
3. It does more harm than good. Not everyone has the dedication and discipline I have in regards to sticking to the Paleo lifestyle. It can be discouraging to some people to be harangued all the time when eating with the Paleo Police. I don’t want to find myself being disinvited from lunches or dinners.
4. I don’t need the extra pressure. I will always help anyone who asks for it, and people often ask me if a menu option is Paleo-friendly. I will gladly help answer that question, but I won’t tell people what the Paleo options on a menu are without being asked. It’s tough enough for me to figure that out on my own let alone be on the hook for someone else without having been asked.

Fortunately, my friends know that I’m not the Paleo Police. I don’t give them any grief over their food choices, although it’s kind of funny that most of my friends apologize to me when they eat something non-Paleo. It’s very kind of them, and I know why they do it; because we all have a certain amount of temptation even when we say that we don’t. It’s part of the strategy we employ to stay away from the carb-heavy foods. These friends don’t want to tempt me into breaking my diet, and for that, I am appreciative.

Watching people you love and care about get healthy is an amazing feeling. I feel like I’ve been able to do something good and positive for my friends to help them live richer, more active, and longer lives. I will do everything I can to continue to help and inspire them. If that’s how I repay all the help, assistance, and love they’ve shown me throughout my life, I’m glad to do so.

I thought of something that I had been able to put out of my mind since losing 115 lbs. It’s something I haven’t had to do in a long time, and it hadn’t even crossed my mind until I was making a video talking about my weight loss, health, and fitness journey: the embarrassment of the amount of food I ate.

When I would go to lunch with co-workers or a boss, I would often order far less food than I was hungry for because I was embarrassed by the amount of food I would eat in comparison to other normal people. This would often leave me hungry after a meal, and I would then eat a second smaller lunch away from the other people.

The same would hold true when we went to eat with friends, whether it was at their home or at a restaurant. I would often under-eat because I didn’t want them to know just how much food I could go through.

I now eat far less than anyone else I typically eat lunch or dinner with. It’s kind of funny being the person who eats the smaller portions. Now, people ask me if I’m actually full after eating so little, to which I truthfully reply that I am. It’s nice to not be embarrassed by the amount of food I eat anymore.

I was asked to buy some chocolate for a charity today by someone who I’ve known for about a year. Granted, they didn’t know me when I was overweight, so they probably don’t know that I no longer eat candy anymore. I told them, “Sorry, I don’t eat candy anymore.” Before the conversation got weird and Paleo, I asked how much the chocolates cost. She told me $2, so I just gave her $2 and told her to give one to the next kid she sees.

I know; giving candy to children isn’t great, either. However, as kids are more active and growing, and as these were chocolate, I figured it’s the lesser of the possible evils. I guess I could have bought one and just thrown it away, but that’s a waste of chocolate, and even if I’m not going to eat it, I can’t justify throwing it away. I have a long past with chocolate.

Fortunately, I wasn’t tempted by the chocolate. I no longer get triggered by seeing, smelling, or being around foods that I no longer eat. I enjoy the smell, actually, but that’s about it. The closest I’ve come to being tempted was yesterday at lunch when the waiter brought out some amazing artisan breads with duck grease spread. That was hard to resist, but I did. Chocolate? Easy-peasy.

There’s no point in being difficult when someone is selling snacks I no longer eat. If it’s just a few dollars, I figure donating to the cause is probably the right thing to do, and heck, without taking product, their profits should be larger thereby helping the cause more. They are free to sell what would have been sold to me to someone else or, in the case of the chocolate above, at least give it to someone who otherwise couldn’t afford it themselves. Either way, it’s a win-win in my book.