Monday, December 12, 2011

Update Time

I am motivated to write because I don't feel comfortable with my picture being the first thing you see, regardless of how good I feel about it! I have been asked a lot lately about what I do. I still haven't figured out the best way to answer this, as what I do is not what a beginner should do. The most important thing is to find out what works for you, but you should start with Mark's Daily Apple. This helps you get rid of the REAL bad stuff and is a good starting point for all of the research each person needs to do on their own. I have said many times, I am not the expert here, but what I am doing is definitely working. However, to answer the original question, I eat Primal, lift heavy things and I do not use shampoo, soap (in the shower), shaving cream, lip balm, lotion (suntan or dry skin) and any of the other stuff I know our ancestors did not use. I do not eat breakfast very often, because I can't picture my ancestors eating a big breakfast before the hunt. I train for triathlons with sprint training, not chronic cardio. I have been alcohol free since Feb, but I consider that a personal choice as I think we have always tried to get wasted one way or another. I go to bed to read at 9 and wake up at 5:45 to work out every weekday. I eat more protein before dinner because it does not destabilize my insulin, but after dinner I don't worry about anything I eat. This means minimal carbs and fruit/fruit juices during the daytime. Please have a safe and enjoyable Holiday!

Monday, November 14, 2011

New Benchmark Photo

I am in a groove now. I rarely feel hungry and certainly don't have to plan my life around food anymore. I usually gain weight in the Fall, but that is not the case this year. This is what 170 looks like on me. Comparatively, the previous photo was about 185. What I am finding to be the most interesting/disturbing now is how many people are saying I should gain weight! Is this strictly an American standard I am breaking here? To me it seems that the 185 was not healthy and I am quite sure the ones "concerned" are not getting numbers like 111/80 and 55bpm resting.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Sylvania Triathlon

I was 100 out of 300, give or take a few. It wasn't as good as my goal, top 20%, but it wasn't bad. I clearly need to work on my biking next year. My bike split was 200 out of 300. It was pretty nice weather for a tri, minus the drizzle on the bike. I'll take that over hot and humid any day. The thing I noticed the most, pertaining to primal living, is that I was able to train less but harder and get the same results. I also did not feel bad at the last mile, while others were dying out there! It also helps that I am down to 178, which is 10 less than previous events. Of course, my age group was pretty tough and I guess it's because the older guys don't just show up on a whim like a younger guy might. Not to mention they can afford the nice bikes and gym memberships.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Status Update

I have been debating over whether to continue the blog or to quit. I go to the same restaurants and do the same workouts, Intermittent Fasting etc, so I am out of new stuff to talk about. All of my links say it so much better. I guess I figured it would write itself, but lately things are very stable and not much to discuss. I weighed in at 180 last week, down from 200! I think that Primal living will continue to become more mainstream. I believe that carb and sugar addicts are slowly killing themselves, but the special interest groups, especially the big food companies, are going to fight to the death (our death) to keep their crap on the shelves. That reminds me. Ever watch extreme couponing? Notice they buy loads of stuff for cheap, but it's all highly processed food type stuff. They always seem to be FAT. Hmmmmm. I guess it's best to just continue to do what feels right and hopefully the word gets out and changes are made for the better. In the meantime I will concentrate on my special project, Haylee, and hope I can make a difference in her life by leading by example. BTW, in 6 days I will be on dry for 4 months!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Update

I have been busy working on my Barefoot Run, living Primal and Intermittent Fasting. First, the run is now set for July 17th at Gallup Park. We are working on shirts, sponsors, advertising and volunteers.  I am concentrating on eating more meat and vegetables, less rice and fruit and no carbs. My work outs are Mon-Arms, Tues-Chest, Wed-Legs and Thursday-back. I take Friday off. I try to swim bike and run on the weekends with a couple of runs during the week. The week runs are usually two miles for distance and the weekend runs are one mile warm ups and hard sprints. The philosophy is lift heavy things and sprint. In the past I usually worked on mileage, but now it's just speed. My eating routine is now Mon/Wed/Fri-Lunch and snacks at night, Tue/Thur-Breakfast, shake for lunch and Dinner. The weekends are not structured, but I try to eat brunch and Dinner. I weighed in at 186 today after being at 190 at the beginning of the month! I should be at 175 by August. I actually think 170 is ideal, but figure I will plateau once first.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Stand Up Desk

So my feet are a little sore at the end of the day. I do like the fact that I don't have to get up out of my chair 100 times a day. I still have the opportunity to sit down if I have to do paperwork, etc. Plus all of the meetings. I decided to do this after reading several articles discussing all of the bad things that happen to you when you sit all day. They even go as far as saying it shaves years off of your lifespan. Well, as I have mentioned before, I don't get into the science of it all. You can do the research and I hear Men's Health has a recent article. It's nice to see this stuff hit some of the mainstream media, but that won't stop my wife and coworkers from making fun of me. GO BLUE!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

My Barefoot Run

The plans are coming along nicely. I wasn't sure this would happen, but just recently I had two breakthroughs. I got in to see Steve at Running Fit. He has agreed to sponsor the event. This will open up the mailing list to a whole lot of runners in Michigan. He mentioned that they couldn't keep the Vibram Five Fingers in stock and that the Vibram rep might be interested in getting involved. The very next day my neighbor informed me that the U of M Police Benevolent Association is looking for a race to sponsor! It looks like things are moving forward now. The Race date is not set, but it will most likely be July 17th or 24th. Feel free to go to the facebook page.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

My Health Assessment

This is my first real experience where my beliefs have posed a dilemna in the real world. I had to fill out a questionaire for my insurance company. It was upsetting for me to think that I had to lie in order to pass the "good health" test. Here are some of the questions that Primal Lifestyle conflicts with CV;
1) When you are outside in the sun do you always wear sunscreen?
2) Do you consume X number of Whole Grains?
3) Do you salt your food?
4) Do you consume bacon?
As you can imagine, even after exagerating or outright fibbing I need to use sunscreen, eat more whole grains, stop using salt, cut down on animal fats and lose weight. Yea, I love the BMI calculations. So I guess I need to change my lifestyle back to a vegan with no muscle mass! I essentially feel powerless to challenge this because their guidelines are based on everything I know is wrong, but they can charge me more money every month if I don't conform.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Life's Benchmark Moments

I had my 45th Birthday on the 27th. I consider this the half way point in my life. It got me thinking about everything I have done, wished I'd done and could have done if I focused. I realized there is a lot more life ahead of me and I was going to figure out some new goals and work towards them. I also realized that I have been handicapped by being an addict of one kind or another. At this point alcohol was my only crutch and it was a problem, so I decided to quit. Not for a while, but forever. That is quite a goal. It has been my biggest roadblock for being truly Primal. Whether you think drinking is okay or not really depends on your disposition to being an addict. Some people, like myself, can't have just one. If you can't have just one then it is a problem. That goes for anything. I also lost my mother to old age this last weekend. I have been practicing the Primal Lifestyle for a year now. It all seems to point towards an opportunity to begin a new era in my life. I don't know what all 2011 has to hold, but it looks like it will be a significant year in my life.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Breakfast

 This is a great breakfast and everyone in my family seems to enjoy it. That is not always the case when it comes to Primal meals. Today I used Zingermann's Bacon. A bit pricey, but it helps to have the extra flavorful bacon. I but those around the outside, then put in chopped peppers, but any veggies will do. Next I scrambled 4 eggs, 1/2 per, with a little cheese scrambled into the eggs. No milk. I then bake it in the oven for 15 min at 450° to get the bacon crispy and 15 min at 300°. Take it out of the oven and let it cool before removing. Like I said, there are many variations on this and I would have put Portabellas in if I had any.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Update Time

Here is the table of goodies from the party on Saturday. I am including this because it is the same stuff I have had at every party for years. This shows the difficulty of going Primal on your own. I made the Bruschetta so I had to eat a couple of the steak ones to make sure they were good, but mostly stuck to the good cheese, the meat tray and some sushi. I did eat quite a bit of the fatty steak pieces I trimmed off in order to curb my appetite before the party started. I drank hard cider, sake, tequila and wine, but no beer. While I had my own challenges I thought it rather ironic that the rest of the crowd was on weight watchers. The irony being that they brought desserts etc. On Sunday, with a slight hangover, I got out to Kensington for the first outdoor barefoot run of the year. The weather reached 40°, which was actually really nice after wind chills of -25° just a week earlier. I did wear my Vibrams and felt pretty comfortable during the run. However, once I put my socks and shoes back on my toes started to sting as they warmed up. It was worth it. As far as my weight is concerned, I am still at 190. Not sure how much of fat loss is being offset by increased weights, but probably not too much. I turn 45 in 11 days and wanted to be at 180. Guess 185 is going to be more realistic. I am getting pretty excited about Spring being just around the corner. We have a warm up coming and I hope to take advantage of that at least a little bit.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Not Feeling Well This Week

I can definitely confirm I have a cold. I am once again tracking this for the record. Also, I am following the philosophy that I should not take any medication, but just let my body do what comes naturally. I have been drinking plenty of fluids. Mostly in the form of tea, but also water and a little Sprite, but I only drank half because I can't get past the thought of the HFCS. My wife had it and gave it to me and Haylee. It's too bad we caught it 'cause I was just thinking how great it was that no one in my household had been sick this winter. I am laying off the exercise and getting a lot of sleep, but I am going to work even though I would love to just hang out at home.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Primal Snack W/ a Twist

I have already shown this before, but I came up with a new twist! First, I wrap the chicken square and Jalapeno in bacon, then skewer it. I then put it on a deep dished pan so the grease drips off. Next, I put it in the preheated 300° oven for 15 minutes. When the 15 minutes are up I add the asparagus to the bacon grease and add a little garlic to it and place it back in the oven for another 15 minutes. I recommend making a Primal dipping sauce. I used a BBQ sauce I found without HFCS, but it still had other ingredients we don't really want. I washed it down with a hard cider. BTW, I made a lot more than this, but forgot to take the picture until this point. I hate it when I do that.

Monday, January 3, 2011

New Years Resolutions

Be more Primal and fast more often. That's about it. I got back to 194 over the Holidays. I am going to get down to 180 by end of January. It helps that I am taking the Primal Challenge from John Durant's site. I think that combined with some fasting will be sufficient. Especially knowing that 5 of those pounds are from this weekend and if I act right away they should drop quickly. I imagine they are water weight and cookie weight. I tried to stay away from non-primal foods, but I went to a few parties in the last few days and it was hard to avoid the carbs even though I was careful and not glutenous, but the alcohol definitely didn't help.