Paleo Marine

There are varying degrees of adopting a lifestyle. Some are mostly good, which is better than not at all, while others go scorched earth and follow the book to the letter. I don’t judge: I feel it’s better to be mostly good than not good at all.

Being all-in means sticking with Paleo and not allowing non-Paleo foods into the diet. Now, with that said, I can’t say Sherry and I are 100% Paleo. We use butter instead of ghee, and we sometimes allow cheese on our salads or in some foods (although I always pay the price with my digestion tract!). Otherwise, we’re pretty strict. We have found a balance that works for us and keeps us where we want and making the progress we want to make.

I don’t have the answer for everyone’s weight loss plans. I had the answer for me, and with some luck, the same will apply to you. However, the one thing I’m certain about is that if you don’t do anything, nothing will change. You have to do something to lose weight and get healthy. Find your path and take the steps to make it a life-long journey. Just don’t be taken in by the marketing that tries to sell you on products that claim to make it easier. They don’t. There are only two things that will make you lose weight: diet and exercise. In my opinion, anyone who says they can’t lose it through those two things aren’t all-in and are likely eating foods that don’t promote good health. There is no such thing as eating healthy if that includes grains, soy, sugar, or dairy. Those foods have been proven to be harmful to us, and using the flawed nutrition information from the 70’s-90’s does more harm than good.

Stick to the following as closely as you can and you will do well:

1. No grains
2. No dairy
3. No soy
4. No Sugar
5. No pre-processed foods

Eat meat and veggies with a smattering of fruit and you will be surprised at how well your body will respond.

It’s no secret that my weight loss success started with Whole30 and has been due in large part to adopting the Paleo lifestyle with my wife, Sherry. However some people have mistakenly equated Paleo with Adkins. They both are low-carb, but Paleo has a few distinct differences.

1. No grains. No rice, no pasta, no bread, no breakfast cereals, no corn, no quinoa, no oatmeal. Adkins allows some of these things in small quantities. In Paleo, we avoid them entirely or find non-grain alternatives.
2. No refined sugar. Never.
3. No dairy. We sometimes break this one, but mostly adhere to it. The exception is butter/ghee.
4. No soy.
5. No pre-processed foods. We make everything ourselves.

Adkins was designed as a weight-loss diet; something you do for a while, and after you lose your weight, you go back to eating as you did before (until it’s time to lose weight again). Paleo is a lifestyle that is meant to be adopted for life. It’s also not designed for weight loss; it’s a lifestyle that promotes good health through eating foods that are natural and similar to the diet humans ate for thousands of years.

Am I saying that cavemen were healthier than us? Not necessarily. Modern medicine has helped us eradicate many diseases and control maladies that would otherwise kill us. However, our bodies operate much better when eating meats and vegetables and fruits that occur naturally. Grains are very high in carbs which are easily processed and stored in the body. When we get overweight, our bodies get out of sync and health problems occur. Many of these are controlled by medicine, but why turn to medicine when all you have to do is eat right? No, eating right doesn’t solve everything, but it does help avoid a host of medical issues that are exacerbated by being overweight.

I lost over 100 lbs in a year eating Paleo foods. My wife lost 65 lbs in that same time period. I did no exercise until six weeks ago. Adopting the Paleo lifestyle has changed my life and made it better. I am fairly certain it can do the same for you!

My son gets sad when he sees me talking about my former self as, “Fat.” He says that he never saw me that way, and that he always just saw his dad. I appreciate that, and my son has a huge heart. However, when I see old pictures of myself when I was fat, I get sad.

I didn’t see myself as fat when I was at my largest. I knew I was overweight, but I would take photos of myself and look at them and think, “See? That’s not so bad!” Looking at them now, I’m horrified. I was huge and unhealthy. I’m lucky I escaped my largest phase without any serious health issues. What scares me the most, however, is how easy it was for me to see myself as normal when I was anything but.

It’s easy for us to make peace with our overweight selves. It’s easy for us to say, “People need to accept me for who I am regardless of my weight” and that’s all well and good. I don’t think we should shame anyone for being overweight. That’s not right. Placing judgment or shame on anyone for their health, weight, or any other reason is wrong. But gently trying to advise people to get healthy is a tricky and delicate subject. Especially to those who don’t see the need.

I am sad when I see people posting on Facebook about how people “Just need to accept me for who I am.” They are right, but I wonder: do they think they are healthy at their heavy weight? The myth of the healthy fat person has been debunked. There is no such thing as a fit fat person. Yes, I’ve seen the videos of the overweight people doing yoga, running, etc. The fact of the matter is that they are not yet healthy, but they are on their way. Our bodies are not meant to operate for long with excess fat.

I eat right now. My body has found its natural equilibrium in regards to calories in/calories out. That’s why I run now: I want to spend more calories to push that equilibrium point down further to a lighter end weight for myself. I didn’t have to do crazy amounts of exercise (or any at all for the first 100 lbs!). I just had to eat right.

Does that make me hate my former self? Not at all. It makes me sad for my former self. Sad that I thought I was okay. Sad that I didn’t take my health seriously. Sad that I sat on a couch or in a chair for so many years and didn’t have the energy to be the person I wished I could have been for my kids and my wife. I did the best I could with what I had, but I could have been better.

You can do better. You have all the discipline inside you that I have. It’s in you. You just have to listen to yourself. Trust in yourself. Don’t give in to temptation. You know that voice that says, “Oh wow, I really shouldn’t eat that…” THAT’S your DISCIPLINE talking to you. Let its voice be heard. Let that voice grow into a roar. You can do it!

It’s been almost 14 months since my wife and I did our first Whole30 and then went Paleo. In that time, I’ve lost a total of 112.1 lbs with a grand total of 130.7 lbs. My body fat went from over 50% to around 15%, and my BMI went from 47 to 27.9. My resting heart rate went from 72 to 52.

I am now able to run 4+ miles daily, and I can pass an Army physical fitness test (PFT) which is important for me as I’m in the process of entering the National Guard. As a former Marine, running always played a large role in my life, and it’s nice to have it be a part of it again. It’s also helping to keep me strong and fit.

In terms of clothing sizes, I went from wearing trousers with a 48″ waist to wearing 32″. Shirts have gone from XXXL (that’s a 3XL!) to M. Shoes even went from 9’s to 8’s.

I made the vast majority of my progress through diet alone. I ate meat, vegetables, and some fruit. I didn’t allow myself to eat fast food or anything with added sugar. I only started running six weeks ago, but my body was ready for it, and I’ve been making great progress. My pace is up, distances greater, and I feel great while running. I actually look forward to the runs now; something I’ve never been able to do.

I feel like a new person. I never knew I could feel so vital, so young again. I can’t imagine ever going back to how I used to feel: slow, sluggish, and old. I put on a happy face, but inside, I was always sad about my weight and health. My outlook now is greatly improved, and I feel able to do so much more, so much more easily.

As of this morning, I weigh 177.7 lbs. That’s just 2.7 lbs from my penultimate goal, and 12.7 lbs from my final goal. It’s taking longer to reach this goal than I thought, but I’m okay with it. I wear smaller clothes that I can actually buy off the rack, and I feel great. All of this would not have been possible without my amazing wife Sherry at my side and helping me at every step of the way.

We all have our own reasons for wanting to lose weight, get fit, or just eat healthy. That reason is what determines how far you will go to accomplish your goals, or how hard you will work to reach those goals. For me, it was about a few things.

Health

My health was deteriorating. It wasn’t bad yet, but the signs were all there, and they were clear: if I kept up being heavy and eating anything and everything, it would all catch up with me and make my life miserable and short. I didn’t want that. If there was anything I could do to stop it, I would do it.

Mobility

I wasn’t able to do the things I used to enjoy doing: biking, walking, hiking, or exploring in new places. I like having adventures with my wife, and a big part of that is walking, hiking, or being able to meet weight requirements for things like hang gliding, zip lining, etc.

Military

Not many people are aware of this because I haven’t posted much about it, but I’m currently in the process of re-entering the military. As a former Marine with 11 years of active duty service, I will be returning to the military; this time, into the National Guard. Yes, they still take crusty ol’ warriors like me as long as I can complete 20 years of service prior to my 60th birthday (which I will be able to do). My goal is to make the other soldiers wonder why they are having a hard time keeping up with such an old man!

Wife and Children

I love my wife, and I love my kids. I want to be with them as long as I can. I hope to meet my future grandchildren some day (not yet, though!). I want to be able to annoy and molest my wife for a long time and to spoil my grandchildren and send them home with loud and messy toys. None of this looked like a possibility just a year ago.

Those four things mean more to me than the short-term gratification of eating a pizza, some spaghetti, or drinking a rum and Coke. Those other things are delicious, but nothing is as delicious to me as knowing that my health is no longer being negatively impacted by the food I eat. I’m also getting a  lot more exercise now, which is helping me with my general health and fitness.

Find your motivators and cling to them. Use them to your advantage. When you are presented with tempting food or in a situation where you feel weak, think of your motivators. If they are as important to you as you think they are, they will make it easier for you to say no to the temptation or to make the right decisions when eating. They may even get you up off the couch and onto the sidewalk.