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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.