Tag: weight-loss

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.

The secret ingredient to weight loss

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Sleep.

Seriously. That’s the secret ingredient I never see mentioned anywhere. Get at least 7 to 7.5 hours of sleep a night (8 is preferable) and as long as you’re putting in the work and eating right, you will maximize your weight loss.

There is science behind this, but I’m not a doctor nor a scientist. I’m just a guy who has almost 8 years of experience with Whole30 and being on the Paleo Diet, and one thing I can count on is that if I am not getting enough sleep, regardless of how much work I’m putting in or how strict I am with my diet, I will not lose weight. On the other hand, if I am sleeping properly, I can count on steady weight loss.

Don’t underestimate the value of sleep on your health or with weight loss. I call it my secret weapon.

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.

Found my starting weight

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So, I decided to weigh myself yesterday: 209.4. Being that the weigh-in was nearly two days after I started, I’ll round it up to 210.

Oh. My. God.

That means I have 35 lbs to lose. I know, I know: it’s not about weight, it’s about health. And yes, I get it, and I sincerely subscribe to that idea. But… I am still in the military, and they care about numbers which means I have to care about numbers.

So, I will trust the process, play the game, and I will reach my goal just like I have every time in the past on Whole30’s prior.

I also broke the rule I said I would follow yesterday; I weighed myself this morning just as I always did on previous Whole30’s. What did I find? 208.5. This is also as I expected after 2 days. The first week is always the best week for pure weight loss as my body recovers from the gluten and sugar overload it was experiencing through all the amazing breads, desserts, and alcohol (we won’t mention all those double espressos with sugar).

Why do I continue to break the “Don’t weigh yourself” rule? Because for my personality type, it fuels my desire to reach my goal. It is an immediate feedback that shows me I’m doing the right thing, or if the scale goes in the other direction, it allows me to more closely analyze what I put into my body and its effect on my overall health.

As for exercise, I was supposed to start that on Monday, but I didn’t. Then, I was supposed to start that on Tuesday and still didn’t. Today is Wednesday, and if I’m being honest, I likely won’t start today either. Why? Well, my heel is still recovering from an injury I sustained about a month ago during a sprint from one building to another avoiding a devastating storm here in Houston in which 7 people lost their lives. I was downtown, the epicenter of the storm, and I sprinted far too hard and ended up injuring my right Achille’s tendon. It didn’t rupture, but it definitely was strained.

I also hurt my back prior to my vacation: a painful spasm that stayed with me for nearly two weeks. That one happened after a workout when I didn’t stretch properly after a personal best for the year in lifting, and I moved suddenly when the spasm appeared.

As for my shoulder injury I’ve been working with for the past year, it is actually the one bright spot. Because of my weightlifting, it actually has healed more and the range of motion has increased. It still hurts, but nowhere near as much as it used to, and I can use my arm and shoulder a lot more today than I have been able to in almost two years.

Today’s breakfast was 1 cup of Catalina Crunch (a keto breakfast cereal that I really enjoy when I don’t want to make my two eggs, bacon, and tomato breakfast that has been a staple for me since my very first Whole30 nearly 8 years ago) with blueberries and Califia Better Half creamer (a mix of almond milk and coconut cream). For lunch, I will have a Picadillo that my wife and I made this weekend (the recipe for it is on her website, and I highly recommend it; it’s one of my favorites!). For dinner tonight, I will likely have either the meatloaf and sweet potatoes she made, or a chicken dish with riced cauliflower. As for drinks, I limit myself to either coffee with the Califia Better Half or LMNT, a drink powder with no sugar but it has salt, potassium, and magnesium which is important when you’re doing heavy exercise when on a diet like Whole30 or Paleo.

But wait, you’re thinking: you said you aren’t exercising right now! That’s right, but I will be starting any day now as soon as my motivation for it returns, and I have to be ready. My body has to be ready. And when it and I am, I won’t have to worry that I don’t have the proper elements in my body.

So. Day 3 on Whole30. I’m starting to feel some of the flu-like symptoms, but that’s to be expected. The worst is yet to come, likely this weekend, and that’s okay. I’m here for it. I actually embrace it, because then I know I’m doing the right things.

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.