Tag: health

Two steps forward…

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So, the progress with my weight loss is going back in the right direction with a new low; 204.9. That’s over 5 lbs now in just over a week. That’s what I expected. I’d hoped for more, but in the first month, if I can get 10+, that’s a victory, and I’m well on my way to that number.

This is me right now in my office at work.

As for how my pants feel, they’re much looser. Things are fitting better already. I look forward to being able to wear all my clothes again soon. It’s ridiculous how quickly I was able to pack on weight with just a few months of being marginally careful. I guess I need to remain eternally vigilant and really stick to the Paleo Diet. It has done well for me for nearly eight years. Just two months off of it and my weight soared and my health declined quicker than anything I’d ever experienced. There’s no better endorsement for the no added sugar/low-carb diet than what I’ve just been through over the past two months.

The one step backward is my back pain. This morning, my back pain was pretty bad when driving into the office. Now as I sit in my chair (very upright with good posture, I might add), it doesn’t hurt, but as soon as I try to move or get up, it will be sore again.

I think the spasm is, once again, tightening up. I did some stretching exercises in my bed before getting up, and it may not have had the effect I was hoping for. I will continue to be careful and move slowly and deliberately, but if this persists, a visit to a doctor or a chiropractor may be in order.

Weekend and back pain

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This weekend was supposed to be full of me doing some chores and tasks I’ve been putting off for a while and ended with me in bed taking muscle relaxers.

Ugh.

So, how did I get into this predicament? The best I can guess is that I was using poor posture at my desk on the first half of Friday. At noon, it was sore, and by Friday evening, I was in excruciating pain. I then spent the next two days either on a couch propped up with pillows or in bed laying down.

The good news is that today I feel a lot better, although there is still pain.

As for my Whole30, it has been progressing as planned. I’ve been eating only compliant foods, and I feel my body being less swollen or inflamed. As for my weight, the last time I checked on Monday morning, my weight was up a little to 206.9, but this is why they tell you on Whole30 to not weigh daily; your weight fluctuates naturally, and some people can get discouraged or demotivated by weight gains. I do not. I use them as fuel to further motivate me, and to take a very close look back on why my body is reacting the way it did to not only what I ate, but what I drank and what activities I did. It makes sense that my weight was up a little on Monday; I was sedentary all weekend.

I’m still not 100%, so I’m still taking it easy, but I’m looking forward to this weekend to do some more activities. I am really looking forward to getting back on my bike and getting back to lifting, but this back spasm really threw a monkey wrench into those plans. However, I know Whol30 works without exercise, and I lost 110 lbs without any exercise at all doing Whole30 and Paleo, so I’m not discouraged. If anything, I’m looking forward to getting started again at a lower weight. Running/biking are so much easier when you’re lighter, anyway.

Embrace the Suck

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Wow. What a great way to start the day. I did my (illegal according to Whole30) weigh-in this morning and found myself to be at 205.4 lbs. I started at 310 lbs on Monday! I know, I know: a lot of that is water weight. Of course it is; I was eating foods containing sugar, grains, and dairy, and on top of that, the portion sizes were, well, a little crazy. All of those things cause me to swell and retain water. BUT!!!! The bottom line is now I’m not carrying that almost 5 lbs of water weight! I can already notice the difference in my gut and face.

How do I feel? Sluggish, a little bit, but it’s to be expected. I won’t really start feeling more energized for another week, and this weekend, the worst of the flu-like symptoms should start to hit.

I was talking to Sherry last night, and I told her that the worse the symptoms get, the more I feel satisfied that the process is working. I’m embracing the discomfort. Anything worthwhile involves discomfort: want a degree? You’re going to spend a lot of time and late nights studying and writing papers. Want to get fit? You’re going to spend a lot of time exercising, whether it’s in a gym or on the pavement. Want to become a Marine? Boot camp isn’t easy and involves a lot of discomfort before you earn the title and the right to wear the eagle, globe, and anchor.

If you want to accomplish anything that’s valuable in life, you have to be okay with sacrifice. In this case, I’m sacrificing my comfort and my apetite to eat ceaselessly and carelessly. In some ways, I’m sacrificing some happiness, but at the same time, the happiness I’ll gain by being healthier, fitter, and lighter will outweigh the happiness I’m giving up. In the Marines, we say, “Embrace the suck.” The more you get used to and embrace things being hard, difficult, and sometimes illogical, the better off you will be emotionally. When it comes to this Whole30, I’m definitely embracing the suck.

As for last night’s dinner, I didn’t eat the planned meal-prepped dinner because my daughter and I had an impromptu father-daughter date for dinner. We went to a Greek restaurant, and I had beef tenerloin on a skewer with vegetables on a skewer with a side salad. I skipped on the Feta, dolmades, the pita, and the tsaziki. The meal was actually Whole30 compliant and very tasty! It’s nice that there are options out there for me to enjoy a dinner outside the house that is healthy enough to not derail my process or progress.

Today, I had my standard two eggs, bacon, and tomato breakfast along with some coffee. For lunch, my plan is to hit the refrigerator for another meal-prepped container of goodness. I haven’t quite yet decided which one I’ll eat, but I’m leaning towards the Picadillo. As for dinner, my wife returns from a one-week business trip tonight, and we plan on going out for a steak that I’ll have with half of a baked sweet potato.

All in all, while the actual end of Week 1 will be Sunday night, I’m already jazzed with my progress. I know that body weight fluctuates naturally, and sometimes I’ll weigh myself and wonder how my weight went up, but if the past is any indicator, those days will be very rare and few and far between.

StrongLifts and HIIT

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I started a new schedule for my fitness that I’ve got high hopes for. The goals are increased strength and mobility coupled with some weight loss. My shoulder was diagnosed as having bursitis and degenerative joint disease, and the pain at times is quite intense. It often wakes me up at night while sleeping. I tried physical therapy and was prescribed Celebrex, but nothing seemed to really work. A Lieutenant Colonel I was deployed with who is also a trainer and master fitness instructor told me that he thought I just needed some weight work and flexibility exercises. So, after almost a year of the physical therapy and Celebrex not working, I decided to try to get back to my lifting and adding HIIT. The results were pretty surprising, to say the least. My shoulder hurts less now, and with each workout, I feel not only stronger, but more flexible without pain. Looks like Eric was right.

The current plan is as follows:

MON – StrongLifts
TUE – HIIT
WED – StrongLifts
THU – HIIT
FRI – StrongLifts
SAT – Active Recovery*
SUN – Active Recovery*

*Biking, walking, hiking, kayaking, etc

HIIT PLAN
(x3 w/1 minute rest)
Thrusters (w/15lbs weight)
Bicycle crunches
Two-arm dumbbell curls (w/15lbs weight)
Push-ups
Knees to Elbows (standing)

StrongLifts has two workouts: A and B, and I alternate between them each session. The plan is simple: three exercises with five sets of five reps. I have been doing this program for years, and the first time I did it, I got my deadlifts up to 265lbs and my squats were up to 180lbs. I was benching 170 lbs. (I had to stop due to injury and have been working ever since to try to get back to these numbers).

The HIIT plan comes from a few different sources I found on the Internet. So far, it’s decent, but as a beginner, it’s pretty intense. I will increase the number of sets once I can feel somewhat stronger with the bicycle crunches, push-ups, and knees-to-elbows exercises. Right now, three sets wipes me out. It makes for a very intense 15 minutes.

As for how I feel, I’m into my fourth week of StrongLifts now, so the lifting is going well. I’m only in the second week of HIIT, and while I feel myself getting better with the exercises, I still very much feel weak when I do them. I know it takes time and I have to trust the process, so that’s what I’m doing. Coupled with better eating decisions, I think I should start seeing some progress within another week or two. I’ve already been able to tighten my belt one hole smaller, but it hasn’t really translated to any weight loss yet.

I’m pretty excited to get this far again. It feels good now after I exercise, and although there are days when the last thing I want to do is exercise, I still get it done. It’s so important at this point in my life, and I have goals to achieve. My goals won’t achieve themselves; I have to DO THE WORK.

Back from Deployment and Back to Living Healthy

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Well, it’s been a while.

I was deployed to Kosovo for nearly a year as a member of the NATO peace keeping mission and while I was there, I did everything I could to eat well but for the final month, I decided to eat the bread, the pizza, and the local food without much thought for my health. The result was about 15 lbs of weight gain!

Now, that’s not acceptable to me, and I’ve gotten back down to brass tacks to get back to being healthy. That includes not only going full Paleo (with a bit of a Whole30 tinge to it), but also back to my 5-day a week fitness plan. The diet is easy: I can eat Paleo or W30 easily and I know what to expect. Heck, I actually prefer Paleo. But the fitness part is more complicated.

I sustained not only a back and shoulder injury on deployment, but I also found out I have bursitis and degerative joint disease in my shoulder. This complicated my fitness plan while I was deployed. I did purchase a mountain bike in Kosovo and rode it quite regularly, but once winter came in and the temperatures dropped, I stopped riding. This also coincided with the back injury and a worsening of the shoulder pain.

Now that I’m back home, I decided to just go for it and start back with my StrongLifts 5×5, my bike riding, and I’ve introduced HIIT. My weight yesterday morning was a soul-shattering 202.7 lbs. This is a full 25 lbs more than what I like, and what my new goal is. 175-180 lbs is where I’m most comfortable, so that’s what I’m working towards. I don’t have a timeframe; I’m going to let the process work in the time it takes.

PaleoMarine’s Total Fitness Plan

I will do my StrongLifts 5×5 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday. I will do HIIT on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I plan on riding my bike typically on Saturdays or Sundays and possibly another day of the week (when I feel like it, most likely after the StrongLifts days after lifting).

MON – STRONGLIFTS
TUE – HIIT
WED – STRONGLIFTS
THU – HIIT
FRI – STRONGLIFTS
SAT – ACTIVE RECOVERY*
SUN – ACTIVE RECOVERY*

*BIKING, WALKING, HIKING, KAYAKING, ETC

HIIT PLAN
(X3 W/2 MINUTE REST)

THRUSTERS                                              10
BICYCLE CRUNCH                                    10
TWO ARM DUMBELL CURLS                    10
PUSH UPS                                                  10
KNEES TO ELBOWS (STANDING)            10

Conclusion

I’ve been able to stay healthy and to keep my weight off for almost eight years now. That I’ve only gained back a small portion in the past two months is really a testiment to how well the Paleo diet works. Until January, I was still within 10 lbs of the original low weight I reached back in 2017. Now, I’m back with a new-found desire to lose some weight, to raise my fitness level, and to feel better again by living healthier. Was all the amazing food in Kosovo worth the weight gain? I think so. While I hate having to go through the process of losing weight again, the food in Kosovo is incredible and tasty, and I’m glad I had a chance at the end of my deployment to try so much of it.

Also, I will be updating again more frequently as I’m once again back on this journey. I’ve helped countless people on their own health jounrey, and I hope to continue to motivate and inspire people to regain control of their health.