Thursday, December 23, 2010

Holidays and the Issues Involved

Eating and drinking. It is such a big part of my Holiday memories that it creates all sorts of challenges for me. I spent the whole year avoiding cookies and the like rather effortlessly, but now I find it next to impossible to avoid. I am not even trying to justify it, which seems so unlike me. Drinking is even a bigger issue for me. I found myself drinking often and a lot since Thanksgiving. Finally, two weeks ago I came to grips with this and essentially quit all together. When I say essentially, I mean that I have had just one 3 times and quit. Unheard of for me. I put these two issues in the same post because I do think the not drinking part is one of the contributing factors to my eating. It is not uncommon to replace one habit with another. I guess if I eat a little unhealthy for another week it is better than forgetting what happened and not enjoying time with the family. So I guess I just did try to justify it! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Joyous Kwanzaa (always in that order).

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Where To Begin

And How? I am inspired to write this after reading Girl Gone Primal explain how she got started. In many ways I have a similar concept as hers, less scientific and more practical. Don't get me wrong, I read all the scientific blogs, but they are experts in science. I have been constantly training, tweaking my diet and reading about training and diet for over 20 years. I watch the Colbert report on a regular basis and caught the episode with John Durant. Then I read Mark's and Ewan's blogs. Mark's book is a must read. It all started to come together. As a husband and Dad I had to make changes without disrupting the harmonious household.
     Of course, the Movnat stuff was great for my 7 year old daughter. I would chase her around the playground, found a tree we could climb, picked up heavy things on our hikes, etc. BTW, the tree climbing became such a hoot for the neighborhood kids, not so much for the parents. But I read a great article about playgrounds being made so safe kids don't even know how to get a little hurt. Then they grow up and break bones because they don't know how to fall or the ramifications of pushing limits. Yea, Haylee got hurt a few times, but it is all a learning process. I slowly incorporated these things into my workouts and began to change my workouts to sprinting and lifting heavier things. No more chronic cardio. This was actually the easiest. I no longer felt like I was dragging myself out to mindlessly put in the miles. I started going to the track, running barefoot, and keeping my warm up down to a fast mile. Then I did some all out 100 yard dashes and was done!
     Food was a different issue altogether. I had to make changes for me without making my wife and daughter pissed off. While I have not been completely successful at that I was able to make changes slowly. I cut out the carbs without much issue. If I make tacos, I eat a taco salad. If I make Asian dinners I limit my rice and give them more. Kristee says I make "a slab of meat and a bunch of vegetables". Well, that's what I would call a great dinner. For breakfast I make eggs and meat with the occasional hash browns. So, I simply started making her a breakfast burrito, like I used to eat, but put more eggs and meat on my plate, skip the wrap and give her most of the hashbrowns. As time has passed I have found I don't even care that I am not putting cheese on my salad or eggs, which was the hardest since I ate a lot of cheese. Now, the only cheese I will consume is the expensive stuff with a lot of Pancetta wrapped around it. I threw out all my breakfast cereal. Not at first, but after a month or two I realized I wouldn't eat it.
     Alcohol is another issue. I slowly cut out beer and moved to wine, hard cider and tequila for those days I really need the hard stuff. It makes for interesting social situations when someone says "want a cold one" and I have to decide if I want to get congested or just see what my other options are. Sure, it's a little awkward drinking wine at the bar when my friends are having a beer, but after two I don't care. I have started identifying bars that carry cider, but they are few and far between.
     So, to summarize, I am an experimenter and found that it is best to try eliminating or introducing things a little at a time in order to monitor your body's reaction to each change. I am now at the fine tuning stage. That is where I am reading the labels and making sure I am not consuming high fructose, which is in more stuff than I ever imagined, and other things on the "bad list". My recommendation is to cut the carbs and cut the chronic cardio. Eat more vegetables and have fun on your workouts. Stop the "weighwatchers mentality" of tracking all your intake and output. Have a routine, but not a regiment. Routines are flexible and that's what I love about the Primal lifestyle, it's flexible.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

I'm Tired After Lunch!

It's that feeling that most people have grown to expect. Thank goodness for their energy drinks or coffee. So, I was staring at my computer and feeling tired and it dawned on me that this is a strange feeling that I haven't had in a long time. Yes, I had a less than Primal Lunch. Not bad by most accounts, but the kind that I used to eat before going Primal. Now I have the after effects from it. Sure would be nice to take a nap. In case you are wondering, I had a burrito and an enchilada, so I had plenty of flour, corn, rice and cheese. I also used to stop for a gourmet coffee on the way back from lunch in order to offset the inevitable effects of the insulin crash. Of course, it's these moments the reinforce the feeling that I am doing the right thing for my body by following this lifestyle. I just can't get past how tired I feel...