Paleo Marine

I’m 52 years old. I run three times a week and I lift weights three times a week. I’m in the National Guard Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) as a Fire Control Staff Sergeant. I am very physically active, and my wife and I like to go on hikes, long walks, and exploring together. I can do this now that I’ve taken control of my eating and my health by doing a Whole30 and adopting The Paleo Diet.

I was 48 years old and morbidly obese. I am only 5’7″ tall and yet I weighed 320 lbs. Climbing up one flight of stairs left me winded. I was a Type 2 diabetic, taking Metformin to control my blood sugar. I had Fatty Liver Disease. I was beginning to experience circulation and nerve issues in my lower extremities. My vision was deteriorating due to the diabetes. I was too young to have all these issues, and my cousin Sarah, a Physician Assistant, talked to me about it. She told me that I didn’t have long to live if I didn’t change something quick, but I told her that I’d tried diets and I tried exercise, and nothing worked. She asked me, “What would you do if I told you that you can lose weight and get healthy without exercise?” I told her that I didn’t really believe that it was possible, but she persisted and told me that she lost a bunch of weight doing Whole30 and Paleo. I was intrigued. I trusted her, and if she said it would work, I would give it a try. I talked to my wife, and after a few weeks of discussion and planning, we went into a Whole30 with everything we had. Less than a year later, I was no longer diabetic, no longer had fatty liver disease, my vision improved, and the circulation issues I’d been experiencing with my lower extremities had ceased to be a problem. Within a year, I was talking to recruiters about re-entering military service (I had already served 11 years on active duty in the Marines).

At age 49, I enlisted into the Army National Guard. I passed the height and weight standards, and I scored a 273 out of 300 on the Army Physical Fitness Test. I was scoring better than men 30 years younger than me. I was able to do this not because I paid anyone or for any product to help me lose weight. I was able to do this because I changed my lifestyle and adopted a healthy diet while eventually adding exercise (after losing 130 lbs first).

Not once did I ever think that I was too old to do this. Even now, as I’m doing 6-mile ruck marches with 45+ lbs in my pack, running APFT’s in uniform, or going through challenging obstacle courses am I thinking about my age. When it gets hard, I’m reminded of it, but I don’t let it stop me. I use it as fuel to propel me past the obstacles. I aim to persevere, and I don’t allow anything to get in the way of my goals. The LAST thing I will allow is anyone younger than me to think that I don’t have the ability to be where I am. I’m not the fastest or the strongest, but I’m not the slowest or the weakest either. I don’t come in last.

Age is just a number. Your body will put up with a lot more than you think it will. It will deteriorate if you let it, and it will try to trick you into thinking that you can’t do any physical activity because being stationary is definitely easier than getting up and doing some exercise. Start slowly, allow recovery/rest time, and you can do anything! Eat right and you will lose weight. Exercise and you will not only get fit, but you will also find doing things around the house will get easier.

I’m 52 and doing things I couldn’t do when I was 30. I’m in better shape now than I was 22 years ago, and I even weigh less. I am more flexible, I’m stronger, and my mind is clearer from all the exercise and good food. I’m not a gym rat, and I’m not missing out on life because of fitness; to the contrary, I’m living my best life because of it and eating well. I know you can do this, too. You just have to want to do it and get age out of your mind. It’s just a number.

Four years ago this month, I was optimistic and hopeful yet not expecting much out of doing my first Whole30. I’d finally convinced my wife to do it with me, and with her help and support, we began a lifestyle that has completely changed our lives. To this day, we continue to eat well and avoid anything with added sugars, grains, soy, dairy, and legumes. Because of that, we have kept the weight off for four years, and we continue to get fitter, stronger, and enjoy adventures.

I remember after the first month feeling as if I’d found the cheat code to a video game that had allowed me to make progress without effort. Sure, I had to give up anything with added sugar, high-carb foods I loved, and I had to stop snacking, but something crazy happened: I did it without feeling hungry between meals. On top of it all, I felt satisfied after meals which kept me from snacking. I never got tired of the food I was eating, and each week, I was losing an average of 2-3 lbs. That continued for an entire year without exercise. Truly I felt like I was cheating at life.

Effortless? Yes and no. I didn’t have to spend hours in the gym every day. I didn’t have to run every day or every other day. I didn’t even take long walks! If there was effort, it was in the food prep, in buying groceries that were whole foods (meat and vegetables), and in cooking. There was a little effort in resisting temptation when co-workers would bring donuts or kolaches to work for everyone, but that was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. Same for nacho chips at Mexican restaurants, or bread and rolls at other restaurants. The most effort I had to expend was self-control.

People are always looking for the easiest way to lose weight. They will spend thousands of dollars to buy pills, patches, powders, have medical procedures, or pay to partake in programs that all promise weight loss, yet more than 70% of those people will fail and give up. What made my method different is that it cost me nothing more than the food I ate and some self-control. All I had to do is eat the way my grandparents and their ancestors before them ate: protein and natural single-ingredient carbs (vegetables). Sure, I’d have some fruit every now and then, but once you get out of the mindset of eating snacks and desserts, the fruits fall out of your diet naturally and effortlessly.

Here I sit, writing this article, four years after my wife and I made the decision to eat well and to take on this new lifestyle; not for a little while, but for the rest of our lives. Aside from making the decision to get married, it’s the best decision we’ve ever made and I don’t regret it for a moment. Ever. Not even when I see fast food I used to love, or amazing and delicious looking pasta dishes. Not even when I watch people eating pizza. I prefer being healthy, being able to tie my shoes without holding my breath, being able to climb stairs without losing my breath, and being able to serve my state and my country in the National Guard as a Fire Control Staff Sergeant in the Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB).

The cheat code is perseverance. Follow the rules, trust in the process, and keep sticking to the diet. That’s all it takes. It’s super-easy. If I can do it, I know anyone can. I’m not the strongest-willed person I know. Far from it. But I realized that if I didn’t change my life, I wouldn’t have much longer to live. Being 5’6″ tall and weighing 320 lbs is not conducive to longevity. Something had to change, and it had to change permanently.

Whole30 and The Paleo Diet got me and my wife where we are today. All you need to do is believe in yourself, use the inner-strength you have (I know you have it, because I know you’ve all accomplished some great things out there that took perseverance), and get it done. Really want it. If you have questions, need motivation, or just want to talk, leave a comment, send me a message, or email me. I promise: I’m here to help.

I have some issues that need to be worked on next week, so on Monday, I’ll be having a very unpleasant appointment at the dentist’s office to have surgery on my jaw and upper mouth. It will leave me at home for a few days of recovery (which I’m not looking forward to), and worse, will make it impossible for me to exercise and difficult for me to eat properly.

The timing is bad; I really want to get started on my new weight lifting regimen and continue to make progress on my running, but that will have to wait at least another week or so. My achille’s tendon is okay with that; it’s still sore. I also have some soreness in both my hip joints due to the way I sit at work (not healthy) and slight shin pain in my right leg, but these should be gone by next weekend. Hopefully by then, I can begin again.

As for food, I will continue with my Paleo diet. I have, however, introduced a portion of fruit with every lunch and dinner, and it seems to have helped my digestion out a lot. I haven’t weighed myself this week (uncharacteristic, I know!), but my clothes all feel better, so I know there’s progress in that area. Perhaps I’ve been eating too little in the way of calories? It’s happened to me a few times in the past where my portions got too small and I needed to increase them to lose weight. Who knows.

Anyway, I will do my best to get back into the swing of exercise after this upcoming surgery, and I will continue to eat well. I have a lot of progress to make, and I’m looking forward to getting started on it.

This morning, I am struggling with the battle between good pain and bad pain. Good pain is the pain you feel after an intense workout or perhaps a grueling physical challenge. Bad pain is felt after an injury. I am experiencing both right now; the good pain all over my body and the bad pain in my left Achille’s tendon.

I am extremely motivated to get started with my strengthening and conditioning. I want to get back to my running, and I’m actually excited to start a new ruck regimen of one long ruck and a shorter ruck each week (two total). I’m excited about adding more fruit into my diet to give me some carbs to burn while on those longer jaunts. I’m even looking forward to pushing through the muscle pain to get the work done. But, there’s one big problem; that Achille’s heel.

It hurts, and not just a little. Sure, I can walk on it, but I do have a limp. When I let it rest, I almost forget it’s hurt, but then when I stand up, the moment I put any weight on it, it’s painful. And not in a good way.

The only way back from a tendon injury is time, and that’s something I don’t feel like I have. I will likely start working some arms, chest, back, and core over the next week or two while I let my heel heal (ha!). I will also definitely be working on pull ups and starting my kettlebell routine.

It’s important to recognize the difference between good pain and bad and to know when to push it and when to let your body rest and heal. I’m doing my best to listen, but also doing my damnedest to push past the good pain and get the work done.

This weekend, I attended the SFAB (Security Force Assistance Brigade) assessment and selection process. It was difficult, grueling, and I’d been working toward completing this physically for a month. Some of the activities included performing an Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) wearing the Army Combat Uniform (ACU’s). This is difficult because normally, these are done wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt. We had to do it in the Texas heat wearing long sleeves and long pants. Afterward, we had to do a strength and teamwork exercise wearing our rucks (mine weighed in at 47 lbs without the water hydration bladder attached which, once attached, added another 3-5 lbs). Once we completed it, we went to the Air Assault obstacle course where I got beat up physically by the obstacles while I went through them.

Once we completed the obstacle course, we had another strength/endurance/teamwork exercise before finishing up for the day.

The following morning we did our 6 mile ruck march with the same rucks as the day before: mine was around 51 lbs with the water. I was holding a good pace until mile 4 when I started getting some cramping in my thighs and calves, but I kept at it and finished. I was just a hair outside of what the goal was, but I wasn’t the last guy in, I never stopped, and I never quit.

I attended a board where I answered questions, took some written tests, and at the end of it all, I was invited to join the SFAB, which I accepted. This is only the beginning, as I will need to continue to work hard at improving my strength and endurance. I now have to push myself to new heights of physical readiness, and it’s not going to be easy, but I will do what it takes to get it done.

I am 52 years old and I just got through what is likely the most grueling and difficult physical test a person my age can do, and I got through it. It was hard, and sure, at times I considered throwing in the towel and saying that I’m too old for this, but I decided against it for a few reasons.

First, I’m not too old for this. My body is aging, and yes, its losing some of its resilience and strength, but I can compensate for that with willpower and attitude.

Second, I was asked to be a member of the SFAB primarily for my technical expertise and maturity. They want me there to help lead the younger guys into situations they may not be comfortable in when we work with allied nations. I have a lot of experience with this.

I am honored to be a member of the SFAB. I am in the only National Guard SFAB, and the only battery of field artillery within the SFAB. It’s a very elite club, and I will do what it takes to stay here and be a useful member of the team.

After a weekend of indulging (although not going completely off the rails, I did eat some things and drink some things that were definitely not Paleo), it has been nice returning to good food. By good, I mean meat and vegetables, or in other words, Paleo.

My body feels so much better when I eat right. I feel better when I exercise after eating right, and I sleep better as well. When I eat foods with lots of sugar, I have the night sweats. So much so, in fact, that I feel like I’m sleeping in an oven. That feeling alone is enough to make me not want to drink often.

Sherry and I discussed last night the fact that we have turned into people who actually prefer to eat foods that are good for us and our bodies instead of just food that tastes good. I think we’ve finally transitioned into people who understand the big picture as it pertains to food (and it’s weird that we are those people). My grandmother used to always say, “Eat to live; don’t live to eat.” I never quite grasped the gravity of what she was saying, but I get it now, and like always, she was right.

I eat to live, and I live to experience life to the fullest. That doesn’t mean through food, though from time to time, it does include food. However, my life isn’t centered around food, but experiences.

Now that we’re back to eating our regular, good food, it allows us to get back to a comfortable norm before we head off to another adventure. It’s good to do these quick resets after a weekend of experiences. It’s good that we can emotionally get right back to it and actually feel good about it. I never thought that would or could be us, yet here we are.

This weekend, Sherry and I helped my mom move a large commercial sewing machine and found that all the exercise we’ve been doing has made us strong. Moving the sewing machine was much easier than we expected. After moving the sewing machine, we drove up toward Fort Hood and stopped at some wineries and meaderies along the way. We had some alcohol here and there and made some questionable food choices, but honestly, the worst thing we had was some cheese. Everything else was surprisingly Paleo. Well, except for the mini-cupcakes, and even then, we only had three each. They were tiny!

Today, we are both right back at our healthy eating and exercise. Sherry did her exercise in the morning while I’ll be running tonight when I get home from work. One of the best parts of exercising daily and eating right is that we can enjoy the occasional weekend of relaxed rules and get right back into eating right on Monday. We actually discuss how much we look forward to eating right if only because of how our bodies feel when we eat healthy. Eating cheese and high-sugar foods actually makes us feel horrible afterward. So much so, in fact, that we always question whether eating the offending item(s) were really worth it.

This is going to be a crazy week for me with running and exercise to get ready for the SFAB assessment I have to go to on Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully, the knee pain in my right knee will go away today. The last thing I need is to go into this weekend with a knee injury to slow me down.

Yesterday, I had a conversation with a co-worker who has been working hard at getting healthy, fit, and losing weight. He’s actually quite active and fit; I’m surprised he’s working so hard at it, but that’s the secret a lot of us who are fit and healthy carry: it is work, and we’re putting in the time and effort.

During our conversation, I mentioned how I still need to lose some weight and I was worried because my increased tempo of workouts was likely going to increase my muscle mass to which he replied, “Are you still worried about the scale? You look like you’re in great shape with almost no body fat. Don’t tell me you’re one of those people who chases the scale, are you?”

This made me think. What the heck was I chasing a number for? I have written article after article about non-scale victories (NSV’s) and about looking at other data points to determine health and fitness. The scale is just one of those data points and is no more valued than others. Yet here I am, chasing a number.

I’m thinking that this might be coming to and end very, very soon. As I look over my body after a shower, I see that with the exception of spare skin from when I weighed over 300 lbs, I don’t have any fat on me anywhere. Sometimes I bloat from having alcohol or a bit too many carbs, but that always goes away within 2-3 days and then I’m back to being my normal, slim self. I’m fit. I run, I work out, and I’m getting stronger, faster, and healthier. My clothes fit better, and I feel pretty great. Well, except for how much I care about getting to a certain weight.

I have a physical fitness assessment in less than two weeks, and I know I will most likely be over the max allowable weight for my height which will require me to be “Taped,” which is to say that they will measure me to assess my body fat percentage. I’m curious to see how this shakes out, and I will be posting about it here.

In the meantime, while I will continue to weigh myself, it will be just to track my weight and not to try to get to a magical number that seems to be ever-elusive. If I look healthy, feel healthy, and my body fat percentage is low while I fit into my clothing properly and can continue to run, work out, and exercise, then I’m not going to worry about it. Of course, I will use it as an additional data point to measure my overall health, but no longer will I allow it to guide my diet, exercise, and daily habits. At least, for now.

To see the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, you have to do the work.

• Watch the ingredients: buy whole, healthy, and organic if possible
• Eat healthy portions: don’t starve, but don’t over eat
• Get some exercise: it’s not necessary, but it helps
• Stick with it: give the diet time to take effect
• Don’t cheat: don’t give in to temptation and appetite

Do the work. It’s worth it. You’re worth it.

I had my best run in months last night in the 97 degree heat, and after my run and my cool-down dog walk, I jumped into the pool. It was very refreshing, and as I cooled off, I decided to do some water-assisted pull ups on the side of the pool. There is a portion of our pool that sits higher than the rest for a hot tub, so it requires a person to be almost completely out of the water if doing a pull up. It was hard, and I held myself up a few times until my arms shook against my weight. I’m glad I did it, because I finally was able to get some pull up work in, but it kept me from installing the actual pull up bar in our gym.

Since last night’s run took a lot out of me (the Garmin Felix 3 HR that I wear advised me to have a recovery period of 72 hours!), I will install the pull up bar tonight and hopefully be motivated enough to do some work on it. I will also do some leg lifts and maybe pull the kettle bells out for some work.

I have three weeks until my assessment for the SFAB. I am confident that I can easily complete the APFT and rucking portions, but the pull-ups and obstacle course will be a challenge (mostly due to my lack of good upper-body strength). I wish I had more time to work up to this assessment, but it is what it is. It’s a good thing that I enjoy a challenge.