Paleo Marine

I’m now stuck in what has been my longest plateau. I’ve been hovering between 180 and 183 lbs for the past month or so. I’m not eating more, but admittedly, I’m not eating less. I eat as much as my hunger dictates, and I don’t drink alcohol or have unnecessary snacks. I have even begun running in the past week, although I don’t expect this to help me lose weight for another week or two, at best.

It’s annoying.

I liked when I was losing 10 lbs/month. When that dipped to 5 lbs/month, it was still okay. Now, being in a plateau when I’m doing everything right without losing weight, is tough. I’m not going to go off the rails and give up, nor am I going to allow myself to eat whatever I want, whenever I want. The opposite is true. I’m now being even more careful and mindful of what I eat.

I have to come to terms with the fact that it’s possible that I’ve reached my body’s food and exercise equilibrium. That’s why I started running; to add some more physical activity and another calorie sink. My thinking is that if I continue to eat the same but add physical activity that uses up 250-300 calories a day, that negates a meal’s worth of intake which should translate into lost weight. We’ll see how well it works.

This weight loss stuff is supposed to be a science, but sometimes if feels like an art. A dark art. If only I could cast a spell or drink a potion to make it work for me. Oh yeah, people sell that stuff in the form of pills, powders, patches, and programs, but only doing the work really yields results. So, do the work I will. When in a plateau, you just have to get tough and power through. That’s what I’m doing.

This is a more personal post than I usually write, but it’s something I feel needs to be acknowledged: my wife, Sherry, has been an amazing supporter and partner in this journey to better health. I’ve said before that I could not have ever made it this far without her, but that is sort of an over simplification of how large a part she has played in my success.

Early on, her support was necessary for me to even get started. Without her in on the plan with me, I would never have begun. Once she signed on, my determination to see the Whole30 through without faltering was based on my desire to never let her down and to be her rock. I wanted to be strong for both of us, but mostly for her. She made me want to do better.

When we transitioned into Paleo, she did all the research, and then all the cooking. She made sure we had the right ingredients, she searched for new and delicious recipes, and she spent the time in the kitchen to make it all a reality. From that first week all the way up to this last weekend, she dedicates her Sundays to making our meals. She likens it to, “Cooking a Thanksgiving meal every Sunday” with the amount of cooking and coordination needed. That’s just amazing to me. I try to help by being her sous chef and by cleaning dishes and cooking utensils while she cooks, as does her mom. We try to support her as best as we can, but ultimately, she’s doing the lion’s share in the kitchen.

Now, she’s my exercise buddy. She’s helping me push myself past my disdain for exercise and supporting my desire to get into great shape through exercise. She runs with me, matching my slow pace, and motivating me throughout. She checks up on me when she notices a change in my breathing, and makes sure I’m not feeling any bad pains.

The level of support I have received from her in all aspects of this journey has been exceptional. I can’t express enough how much I appreciate all her work and her support, and although I try through actions and words, I will always come short of letting her know just how amazing and special she is to me. She’s my hero, and the pillar upon which my successes rest.

Thank you, sweet girl. You have made my life better, and life with you improves all the time. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us!

Some people who follow me on Facebook will likely notice that certain pieces of information make it to this blog a few days after I talk about it on Facebook. Things like my runs or certain weigh-ins. That’s because I pre-post to this blog to make sure there’s always new content every day. I like to have at least one post per day, so on the days that I feel very productive and have a lot to say, I write a bunch of articles. This gives me the freedom to miss a day or two of posting if life gets in the way (like it has for the past two days) and ensures that those of you who come here daily for a dose of fresh PaleoMarine content have something new to read.

So, there you have it; why there is disparity between what I post on Facebook and what is posted here. It’s not so much disparity as lag.

When you are all-in on beginning an exercise regimen, it’s easy to go overboard and injure yourself. I’m guilty of this, and have gone this route more times than I care to mention. This time, I’m being careful. Sherry likes to remind me all the time that I’m almost 50 (c’mon; I JUST turned 49!), and she tells me that I need to take it easier than I have in the past. Well, this is scary, because even when I was young, I would hurt myself getting into an exercise regimen. Just how easy do I need to start?

So far, it’s going well. I decided I’d rather run solid for 20 minutes without walking than go for a mixed run/walk for 30 minutes. I know that lots of people say the 30 minutes is more important, but for me, the psychological aspect is every bit as important. Knowing I pushed myself for the full 20 was a huge success. Further, it also forced me to start easy without pushing past my current abilities and injuring myself. This was very important.

I felt good after the run. I felt like I gave all I had to give without feeling any of the bad knee or hip pain I have felt in the past. It was hard to catch my breath after I stopped running, but interestingly enough, I didn’t feel out of breath or in any real kind of pain while I was running save for the feeling that my legs were mired in molasses until the last 1/4 mile. Could I have pushed another 10 minutes? Certainly, but I didn’t want to push it just yet. There’s plenty time for that later when I’m already in building mode.

I see the first three weeks of any exercise regimen as laying the foundation to a solid fitness plan. I need to work up to a point where I can run for a solid 30 minutes at a sub-9 minute mile before I can really start concentrating on getting stronger and faster. To get there, I need to make sure I don’t hurt myself or cause so much pain to myself that I stop. Thus, I am having to embrace the hardest part of any good exercise regimen: rest.

Today is a day of rest for me. I feel my muscles burning, but that burning is a reminder that I did something active about my health. It’s a reminder that my muscles are rebuilding stronger, leaner, and healthier. It’s feedback that I did good work. These are things that are positive reinforcement, even though the sensation itself is not what I would call enjoyable. Some people like it; I’m not one of them (yet?).

The odd part about rest is that I want to get back out there today. I want to do more work. I want to get into shape NOW. I have to resist the temptation to get out and walk a few miles or to take a long jog because my body needs to heal. It needs to strengthen and rebuild. Today’s day of rest is just as important in the grand scheme of things as the running itself was yesterday. I don’t want to sit, but I have to. Without today’s rest, I would only be slowing my progress overall.

So, today I rest. I will get back at it again tomorrow morning at 0515. I can’t believe I’m one of “Those people” now, but I’m looking forward to it. I want to do the work to get to 165 lbs. This is my mission: I will not fail.

I just published an article a few days back about losing weight without exercise, and I fully believe that exercise is not necessary to lose weight. However, I also wrote that physical activity is necessary for strength, conditioning, and for about 10% of total weight loss. Well, I think I reached that last 10%.

My weight loss has all but stopped. My weight has been hovering between 180 and 184 lbs without any further loss in the past three weeks. That was all the message I needed from my body to tell me to get into gear and start exercising in earnest. The push ups I’ve been doing has been great at strengthening my upper body, back, and stomach, but not so much for burning calories and getting some good cardio. That all ended Saturday morning. I have added running to my regimen.

I want to stress something important before I proceed: I successfully lost 110 lbs in a year without exercise using diet alone. I did not suffer, and I did not starve. I ate delicious, satisfying, and filling foods and lost weight. Only when I got down to normal weight did I have to start exercising, as I want to go beyond normal into optimal.

My first run was uneventful and, by most standards, rather light. My pace was at 11 minutes/mile, and I only ran for 20 minutes, but I never stopped to walk and I even picked up the pace in the last 1/4 mile. I’m pleased with that result, and while it was hard for me to admit to Sherry when she asked me, I am proud of myself and how I did.

Sunday morning, I felt really sore, but most of the soreness began to go away after noon after I was able to get up and about for a bit. Getting up out of a chair or up out of the couch did hurt a bit, but as a Marine, I know the difference between the good post-workout pain and the bad pain of an injury. This is the good pain; the kind that tells you that you worked hard and that your body is adjusting and getting stronger. My son’s football coaches would always tell the boys, “Pain is weakness leaving the body.” I tell myself this as I run, and after I’m done.

I’m committed to this. I still say I don’t like exercise because I don’t, but I will make the best of it, give it my best shot, and continue to push myself to longer times and longer distances. My goal is 165 lbs, and I can only get there with physical activity. If that’s the next obstacle, I will break through it and push all the way there. It’s what Marines do.

The idea is going Paleo without breaking the bank. There are lots of foods that are Paleo that are analogues to non-Paleo foods, but many require some esoteric and sometimes rather expensive ingredients. For those who are cost-conscious, I recommend going slow into Paleo by purchasing one of the esoteric ingredients a week which will open up more food opportunities. By the end of a few weeks, you’ll have the basics required to make all kinds of Paleo foods, but in the beginning, there are lots of things you can make that don’t require the rare ingredients.

Here are some week 1 ideas for someone starting out with Paleo.

For week 1, I recommend finding coconut oil and cooking with it. If you have olive oil in your pantry, us it until it’s gone and then switch to coconut oil. Refined coconut oil has no taste. Unrefined has a bit of coconut flavor to it, but Sherry and I actually like it and use it in certain recipes.

Breakfast

Bacon and eggs. For bacon, Sherry and I use Kroger brand low-salt which has no sugar. It does contain nitrite, but in small amounts. It’s very tasty. As for the eggs, we buy the organic free-range, but regular eggs will do. Make these as you like. I prefer them sunny-side up.

Sausage and eggs. You can find sausage that has no sugar in it. We found two brands at HEB locally that had no sugar in them.

Omelettes. Using green pepper, onions, sausage and/or bacon, you can make a quite tasty omelette. Just make sure to watch portion size on this, as it’s easy to make an omelette that’s huge!

Lunch/Dinner

The main thing about lunches is that we prepare them ahead of time to take with us to work. We use Sundays as our meal-prep days. I recommend getting at least 5 plastic containers to put your food into to take it to work with you. An easier method is after making dinner, immediately put some into a plastic container for the next day’s lunch. That way, they’re not really left-overs.

Grilled meat. This one is easy. You can use whatever meat you can get on sale at the store and grill it up either on the stove top in a pan, or on a grill outside. For spices, you can use salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Grill the meat to your liking and serve.

Baked meat. Once again, using whatever meat you can get on sale at the store, bake some meat. Pork loin is especially tasty with salt and garlic.

Smoked meat. This one is a little controversial, as some people don’t consider smoking Paleo. They say that the smoke is a carcinogen, but I think most cavemen cooked with open fires which meant nearly all meats were smoked. My wife and I enjoy the flavor and convenience of smoking and do it often.

Vegetables. The following vegetables are what we eat with our meat for lunch and dinner:

• Sweet potato: these can be baked easily and don’t require any special ingredients. Serve with regular butter
• Asparagus: baked with some olive oil on top, these are very tasty when salted
• Brussels sprouts: baked with olive oil and bacon bits, this is one of the most amazing sides
• Cauliflower: the most versatile of vegetables, you can rice it, cream it, or roast it without much effort. They’re inexpensive, too!
• Broccoli: Typically we eat thease baked.
• Greens: I’ve been fortunate that we don’t eat greens often, even though I do like salad. I have been happy with the other sides and haven’t had to go with greens very often at all

The goal of week 1 is to cut out the foods with added sugars and anything with grains, beans, and soy. There are a lot of foods out there you can prepare that don’t have any of those in their ingredients, and that don’t require spending more on special ingredients.