Paleo Marine

I’m asked, probably more than any other question, “When do you eat non-Paleo food?” The answer is not complicated, but I’m really firm about this. I only eat non-Paleo food at special occasions. Holidays, birthdays, or special evenings out. These are few and far in-between, however, and if many of these occasions are grouped together, I’m extra vigilant and I try my best to avoid any non-Paleo food.

Last week, my wife and I went to the Habitat for Humanity Gala in The Woodlands, Texas, and fortunately for us, most of the food was Paleo-friendly with the exception of the rolls, a frosted cookie, and the dessert. I decided to skip the rolls and the frosted cookie, but I did eat the dessert. It was very sweet and quite delicious, and most definitely not Paleo, but it was acceptable. It was a special occasion, a special dinner, and a special cause. I enjoyed the dessert without guilt. I’ve done solid work to get to my current weight of 168 lbs, and I know that one dessert won’t derail me.

And it didn’t.

The next day, I was right back to my regular diet, and my weight didn’t change. I had weathered the blip in my diet without nary a scratch. And that’s the norm: nothing bad will happen with one course that’s not Paleo in an entire meal. It’s when the entire meal is non-Paleo, and then that meal is followed by another non-Paleo meal, and then another when trouble sets in.

On my vacation to Spain earlier this year, I did my best to be as Paleo as possible, but by the second week, I threw caution to the wind and decided to just eat whatever I wanted (within reason) and ended up gaining 12 lbs over the entire trip. I lost 9 of those lbs within a few days of returning, but it took me another week to drop the rest. Even though I gained a lot, returning to my regular diet brought my weight back down to normal pretty quickly.

But the key is to return to the diet quickly. When it’s one course or one meal, the damage is minimal, if any. It’s when you go for days or weeks off the diet that trouble sets in. Aside from the fact that you may slip off permanently, it’s just not worth it to me. I like the way I feel too much.

So, do I go off-plan? Sometimes, but very rarely.

I’m 166 lbs at 5’7″ and 49 years old. My personal goal weight is 165 lbs. According to BMI, I’m overweight (BMI of 26), and will likely remain in the overweight category even at my goal weight. My body fat percentage is currently between 12-15% depending on the day. I’m pretty darned healthy, with a resting heart rate of 43. I run three-five times a week, and I am physically fit.

I recently found something called the Smart Body Mass Index (SBMI).

This calculator functions on the basis of the newly developed Smart Body Mass Index. The SBMI differs from the BMI in three important aspects.

Firstly, it takes age and sex into account, besides weight and height. Secondly, the SBMI is a purely comparative figure (without any physical units) on a scale of 70 points. And thirdly, the significance of the body weight for your health can easily be derived from the SBMI but not from the BMI: The weight-related health risk levels shown in green, yellow, orange and red (see the SBMI chart on the Results page), are always 10/70 SBMI points wide.

The ideal range of the SBMI is 30/70 to 39/70 or, in words, “between thirty and thirty-nine points out of seventy”.

I like this a lot better than BMI which, it seems to me, leaves out a lot of data points that should be taken into consideration. To think that I’m overweight is laughable. BMI made me feel like I was failing or inadequate in regards to finally being at a normal weight. SBMI, which is a better measure, confirms what I suspected: I’m in the normal range and quite healthy for my age.

Where am I on the SBMI? 38/70. It’s on the high side, but within the healthy range (which is what I’m shooting for).

When I did my first Whole30, I made sure I slept a minimum of eight hours a night. At the end of my 30 days, I had lost a solid 20 lbs. I kept my sleep pattern up for the next year, and lost an average of 10 lbs per month. Then, once I hit around 175 lbs, I let my sleep numbers drop to about 6.5-7 hours a night, and my weight loss stopped. I had also allowed a post-dinner treat (called a dessert) to also come back into my diet which didn’t help matters. My weight hovered between 175-177 lbs for five months. After eliminating the dessert and ensuring I got my minimum of 8 hours of sleep each night, my weight loss kicked back in, and in the past month, I’m down 8 lbs to a solid 166.9 lbs. That’s just within TWO POUNDS from my FINAL GOAL!!!

In my experience, the following is a list of factors to successful weight loss (in order of importance):

1. Diet. Eat good foods in the right amounts. Get rid of foods that are not good to you.
2. Sleep. I put this higher than exercise, because you don’t need exercise to lose weight, but you can’t lose as much weight as quickly without sleep.
3. Exercise. Move for 30 minutes. Doesn’t have to be running or hard cardio; just get the heart rate up for 30 solid minutes every day, or every other day.

I can’t say enough how important sleep is to losing weight. Some people think eating small meals throughout the day is the key to losing weight. Others think that drinking lots of water throughout the day is the key. There are those who think eating low-fat is the key. Others calorie count their way through a day in their bid to lose weight. I contend that a good diet (like Paleo!) coupled with exercise and SLEEP is the key.

To the uninitiated, I may appear grumpy. Well, that’s not true. I’m actually quite a cheerful and happy guy. What I also am, however, is blunt. I don’t sugar-coat things, and I don’t beat around the bush. If it needs to be said I will say it. Sometimes, with tact, and sometimes with less tact. I always try to be as nice as I can without watering down the message.

This blog is an extension of me. It’s not my sole means of communications with the world. Like many people, I have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others. Even if you were to look at all the social media that I post, it still wouldn’t really give you a really good picture of who I am until you put that together with who I am in person.

The past few weeks have seen me posting here on this blog on topics that exasperate me from time to time. It may seem like I am unhappy or feeling frustrated all the time. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many of my blog posts are the result of an interaction or a conversation and I feel inspired to write about it. I typically don’t post more than once a day unless there’s something important or worthy of an unscheduled post, so it goes into the queue. It’s how I stay on top of ensuring there’s always new content here.

I’m not frustrated, upset, stressed, or even cranky. Heck, I’m actually pretty overjoyed with the progress people I know are making. They’ve changed their lives for the better, and they continue to see positive movement in reducing their weight, getting healthier, and in some cases, even getting fit. That’s incredibly satisfying, and I am humbled when they thank me.

There’s an old saying: “Tell it to the Marines.

This legend ‘Tell it to the Marines’ goes back to 1664, when Charles 2nd was king of England. A ship’s Master returned from a long cruise and told the King a sea story he couldn’t believe. “Fish that could fly like birds?” the Merry Monarch exclaimed. “I have my doubts!” “Nay sire it is true,” said Sir William Killgren, Colonel of the new British Marine Regiment raised that year. “I have myself seen flying fish many a time in the Southern Waters. I vouch for the truth of this strange tale, Your Majesty.” The King thought it over. At last he turned to Samuel Pepys, the secretary of the Admiralty. “Mr Pepys,” he said, “No class of our subjects hath such knowledge of odd things on land or sea as our Marines. Hereafter when we hear a yarn that lacketh likelihood, we tell it to the Marines, for if they believe it, then we shall know it is true.”

I tell it like I see it; no more, no less. I don’t make up my information; it’s based off of what I have experienced first-hand. This may or may not work for you, but it’s worked for me.