Falling off the Paleo wagon, and not getting run over.

First off let me apologize for being gone so long, I've had a hell of a couple of weeks...I've had some issues with my Paleo/Primal journey, and I've hit a few stumbling blocks.


Let me explain a bit about myself. I have a huge self esteem issue, notably a complete lack there-of. I am most definitely an instant gratification kind of guy, which has led to some things paying off very well for me but also some spectacularly self destructive moments.

So how does this fit into the past few weeks ?

Well I've gotten myself a personal trainer...Surprisingly a paleo friendly one. We've had 3 sessions thus far, and we've begun working on the fundamentals, some cardio, light calisthenics/stretching and will sortly be moving into weight lifting. I've had a V.O2 Max test, and seem to be on my way. We discussed my eating/Paleo diet and he agrees I picked the right style of eating, apparently my body comp has indicated I'll thrive on low carb high protien. We are currently experimenting with me eating 225g protein a day which = about 1.5g/protein per lb of lean body mass.


This is about the time my first issues started popping up. So, for a week I ate...ALOT. here came the problem, my weight started maintaining, I was sitting steady at 205lbs for about a week and a half and  to me anyway I saw no visible weight loss or body composition changes. I've begun getting depressed and worn down with the grind of cook, clean the kitchen, come back and do it all again. Eating out has been very difficult as well, Finding Paleo(ish) friendly fare in this small town is very hard. For example, out to eat Order a steak (medium well) and ask for seasonal veggies instead of a baked potato or french fries, and you get a small scoop of corn. So one cheat day turned into two or three.

Enter Samhain.

Oh the sweet sugary joy that are Carmel squares... all day before and of Samhain I snacked on them...and the night before Samhain while sitting with Dot and 2 of the kids I really fell off the wagon, 6 slices of pizza later I felt like utter crap. I was (and am) disappointed with myself, I chose to do what was easy instead of what was healthy for me.

So here I am 3 days after Samhain and I need to start again...I have an appointment with my trainer tomorrow at 9 AM, and after I am headed to pick up some fresh vegetables. When I quit drinking it was hard, but I never relapsed, so here it is my first real "relapse" I guess the only thing to do is get back on the wagon and keep going.

Have you ever fallen off the wagon, and if so how did you deal with it ?

A week of relaxation.

Well, it's been a little while... whats been going on with me ?

D has been on vacation so I have been busy! we've been busy taking care of domestic stuff. Laundry, Food, picking up K and taking her to/from school...

The week has been awesome so far, I am experimenting at the moment with eating only one large meal a day, as I find I am just not hungry, now don't get me wrong I'm not letting my body stay hungry, this is not another fast. If I wake up hungry I eat. Generally I have been eating a big ass salad, mixed greens, sauteed veggies, and whatever protein source I have on hand grass fed beef in the form of burgers, Chicken, etc. As well as a different herb every meal to change the flavor oregano, basil, thyme, you get the idea.

This week as part of my Primal experience I received a (very) early Birthday gift from D and K, A copy of Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution. This book is AWESOME, if you are even considering a low carb or Primal approach you need to read this, he lays everything out in a hilarious yet intelligent way. D also treated herself to Dr. Loren Cordain's Book The Paleo Diet. I've already demolished Robb's book and look forward to borrowing Dr. Cordain's book after D is finished.

The End of the Great Fast.

Well, the fasting experiment is over.

I have a confession, I didn't make it the full 48 hours, however I did make it 36 hours, I broke my fast with  a couple of grass-fed beef and pork sausages, and 2 fried eggs.

Now, what caused me to end my fast early ? A couple of factors actually, at about hour 34 I started feeling light headed and started getting a headache, that coupled with fatigue gave me some signals that I should likely end my experiment.

During the experience I did do a very light strength workout. 20 push ups, 20 squats, 20 jack knife presses, and 20 two leg assisted pull-ups.  The work out itself went well, I felt very good afterwards and can still feel the effects today. After the fast D and I went for a short walk (about 2km) and I slept soundly.

So, the dreaded weight plateau WAS broken, as of this morning I weighed in at 217lbs Prior to a  4oz steak and 2 boiled egg breakfast, a couple of hours after I weighed myself again and saw a 2 Lb weight gain putting me at 219lbs a loss of 1.4lbs from the day Prior!

Fasting does indeed appear to have some fantastic weight loss benefits if used as a proper tool however it's a lot tougher of a process than I assumed...

Definitely a tool I'll be keeping in my arsenal!