Tag: health

Quality of Life Transformation: From Whole30 to Paleo Diet and Exercise

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I never would have thought of myself as being the type of person who could stay on a specific diet for any period of time to allow me to be successful long-term in getting fit and healthy. I thought that I was a slave to food, and that I would forever be doomed to eating too much, eating the wrong foods, and honestly, to die young.

Whole30 changed that for me, and transitioning into the Paleo Diet was super easy. Once my sugar addiction was broken and I learned to eat foods made from whole ingredients and avoiding anything with added sugar, grains, dairy, and legumes really made me feel better and improved my health significantly in measurable ways.

Initially, the incredible improvements in my health fueled my desire to stay strictly on the diet and to avoid sabotabing my process through cheat meals or days. Then, the more weight I lost and the healthier my body was getting, the less I wanted to go back. I saw every temptation as sabotage which made it easy to avoid. Then, once I started exercising and added fitness to my plan, I didn’t want to eat anything that would hinder my progress in getting stronger, faster, and more able to do long-term exercise.

In the end, now I am motivated by how I feel followed by how comfortable I am in doing things like mountain biking, hiking, walking up flights of stairs, wearing clothes that I like, and even getting in and out of my Porsche (which would have been impossible at my heaviest). All these things are quality of life (QoL), and my QoL is so much better with a healthy lifestyle than it ever was before.

Do I miss eating anything and everything with wild abandon? Absolutely! I love eating (still), and one of my biggest behavioral issues is that I have a very hard time with portion control. The more I eat, the happier I am, so it’s a struggle I fight still. But when I’m tempted to eat more, I remind myself that I feel great and I don’t want to sabotage that feeling and all the work I’ve done to get there with short-term satisfaction.

At the end of the day, health and fitness are things that you can’t buy; you have to earn it the old fashioned way: by putting in the work.

Eating Through a Hurricane

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This week, we experienced one of the worst storms here in a long time; Hurricane Beryl. We were very fortunate that no-one in our family was injured, and further lucky that our property sustained no damage. What we did endure, however, was three days without power in 90+ degree high temperatures. Fortunately, our power was restored yesterday, and we’re not returning back to normal.

During the powerless days, we relied on food we had in our refrigerator and freezer, and using a solar generator system from Jackery, we were able to keep our refrigerated foods safely cool. Our freezer remained closed for the majority of the power outage, and remained cool enough to keep food frozen.

As for what we ate: it was all Paleo. We ate sausage (sugar-free), fish, shrimp, scallops, vegetables, burgers (with lettuce wrapping) and chicken wings. Breakfasts were typically bacon and eggs. Everything we ate contributed to me losing an inch off my waist. I now have regained another belt hole on my belt, comfortably. This is a huge victory for me, and I’m excited.

It’s interesting that we were able to continue eating well during this emergency. It took a little more planning and effort over buying junk food at a local fast food spot, but it was well worth it.

Slow and Steady Fitness Plan: Returning to Exercise Safely

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This morning, I weighed myself and was greeted with a nice number: 201.1 lbs. This is the lowest I’ve been since I got back from my deployment. I did a minor happy dance and then went about my day washing both my cars. They both needed it, although the 4Runner needed it far more.

While washing the car and listening to music by Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, and Billie Eilish (among others), I thought about how it’s going so far. I thought about the amount of food I eat, the amount of sleep I get, and my level of physical activity. I decided that I’m doing great on the food, I’m doing okay on the sleep, but I’m not doing any real physical activity yet. Part of that is fear of reinjury. My back has been slowly healing, and the last thing I want to do is reaggravate it. I know that back injuries take a long time to heal, but that you can set your healing process back by getting back to exercise too soon. So I’ve been reticent to jump back in.

With that said, I decided that next Monday will be the day I get back into my fitness plan. I will start off much lower than what my StrongLifts app will likely recommend only because I really want to make sure that I get back to things slowly. I will also get back to riding my bike as my Achilles heel is still too sore to run. The biking will be some great cardio, and I actually love biking. I have two mountain bikes I use on trails close to my house.

My weight was hovering between 202-204 for the past week, so it was nice that it finally dropped. I was beginning to really worry about what was going on, and I’m glad to see that the process is continuing to work as planned and as I’ve experienced in the past.

Rethinking Health Metrics: Beyond the Scale

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Too many people put all the emphasis on a single metric for success when adopting a healthier lifestyle: the scale. While a person’s weight is a good, solid, and measurable metric to track, it shouldn’t be not only the sole metric, but even the one with the most emphasis.

I learned almost 8 years ago that health is a collection of different data points that, together, paint the whole picture. Weight, my emotional health, how I feel in my skin, how my clothes fit and feel, how my joints feel; these all put together tell me how I’m doing. The funniest thing about it is that I even mentioned weight first in my little list, and that’s because it’s the easiest data point to acquire. Just step on a scale, and *BOOM* there it is. But how do I feel? How do my clothes fit? My empotional wellbeing? Those are much more subjective, but honestly, they’re more important.

Case in point: this morning, my weight was up. Unexplainebly up by more than I liked, but the crazy part is that my pants haven’t fit so well in months. As for the shirt I put on, it’s another one that was skin-tight just two and a half weeks ago. Today? It fit perfectly. Then, there’s how I feel emotionally. I’m a little tired from not getting enough sleep, but otherwise, I’m doing great. I can feel the progress, and I feel that the sugar addiction is almost all gone. There is a mental clarity that comes with being off sugar, and it makes everything feel hyper-real as compared to a few weeks ago. I love that feeling!

So, the scale may not have been my friend today, but the way my clothes fit, the lack of pain in my joints and my back, and my emotional clarity all told me that I’m well on the right path, and I need to keep going.

First morning without back pain

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It’s been a weird couple of weeks. I somehow hurt my back without doing anything at all. Yeah, yeah: I know. I’m old. But c’mon! I’m not that old.

In the office and thinking, “I need more coffee.”

But anyway, this morning was the first morning I awoke without any back pain. My right Achilles heel still has pain, and I think it always will. I’m learning to just live with it. But while I can do my exercises and even ride my bike with the Achilles heel pain, I can’t do either of those (and more) with the back pain. That it is now gone is significant.

I’m not sure when exactly I’ll start back up my exercise routine; maybe next Monday. I want to give my back enough time to fully heal and feel better. I want to make sure that I’m not rushing things and getting back into exercise too quickly. At the same time, I really want the benefits of exercise as it pertains to my health. I just feel better after a good bike ride or a good session in the gym. But I also don’t enjoy working with injuries, so I will wait.

Weight-wise, my weight didn’t change from yesterday, but that’s a win. I know that not every day will see a loss. I remember from my very first Whole30 that sometimes, I’d go 3-4 days without losing and then WHOOSH 2-3 lbs would disappear. I don’t know why it works like that, but it does. Now that I know what to expect, I’m good with these mini-plateaus and fluctuations.

As for food, today started with my Keto cereal with blueberries, and my lunch with be a Whole30 chicken parmigiana (without cheese or breading, obviously) with zucchini cut up like spaghetti noodles and a tomato sauce. This is one of our favorites, and I’m looking forward to it. Dinner will likely be the carnitas tacos again (one of my ultimate favorites). I will also have an apple after lunch, and likely a peach after dinner. We picked up some peaches on our way home from Dallas on Saturday, and they are the sweetest peaches I’ve had in years.

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.