Elessar's Primal Journey

Well, we had a mini family reunion this last weekend and I used that opportunity to COMPLETELY blow my program all to hell. I'm paying for my transgressions with about 8 pounds of excess weight that I didn't have last week, and I consider myself lucky to have escaped at such a cheap price considering how much damage I tried to inflict on myself.

Chips, baked potatoes, bread and buns, etc. including copious amounts of alcohol and I deserve a much higher penalty.

Back on the band wagon and away from the SAD foods.

Hope y'all are well and won't hold it against me.


Let's get out there and make this a great day!

 

I've been AWOL from around here and struggling with my recovery from our family reunion. We've been working on our new house and I've been working on a lot of digging and heavy lifting but no real workouts. I've managed to get me weight back down from 212.0 to 209.4 as of this morning. However, I've been struggling more with menu options that don't kill the program after allowing myself all of the SAD (standard American diet) items like sugar and carb heavy items. I've all but quit drinking alcohol except for one evening on the weekends. THAT was tough but I've made it so far and plan to keep off the bottle during the week allowing myself only one night per week of "relaxation."

I know that I'm not getting enough healthy fat in my diet and I know that's where my problems are coming from; the hunger and the cravings are a direct result of poor menu choices. I went to the market this evening to restock with lots of things that I like that fit into the Primal Blueprint, so I'm back on the band wagon and banging the gong.

I hope to spend some more time here with more regularity but the IT department at work has discovered my fixation about this web site and blocked my access so I'll have to be visiting in the evenings which means after dark because I'll be outside in the yard 'til then. I'm late tonight but I hope to catch up on my reading of the different threads around here in addition to this one.

Hope y'all are well and look forward to joining is some of the discussions. In the meantime, check out one of my latest obsessions this site:
Elio Motors: Ultra High Mileage Vehicle

 

Thanx YD. I'm back on the Primal wagon and already seeing the results. I hate the guilt that I feel by not adhering to the program. It sure doesn't take very long before I begin to feel the burden of the extra weight begin to attack.

 

Oh so very long since I've posted and much water under the bridge since I've been around. Things have been crazy with tribulations abounding, but my Primal Journey has continued. I've fooled around with some potatoes as well as rice to find out that they don't fit into my primal plan. I'm back to fully adhering to the program, which is not going to be particularly easy through the holidays, but I'm going to try. Hope y'all are doing well but especially that you are behaving as much as you can. Be well, and be blessed.

Weight: 208.4

Bodyfat: 29.5

Breakfast: skipped it

Lunch: 10 oz hickory smoked ham and 2 oz dark chocolate

Dinner: Papa John's pizza (hey, it's Friday)

Snack: 3 oz almonds

Lovin' life and my Lord; let's get out there and make this a great day!

 

Hey all! Holding pretty steady on my Primal Journey. I've been up and down on my weight while staying in the neighborhood of where I am this morning: 209.1

Been feeling a little confused so I've gone back to reread sections of the Primal Blueprint and here's a quote for you:

Dr. Jared Diamond, evolutionary biologist, physiologist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning professor of geography at UCLA, and author of Guns, Germs and Steel, goes so far as to say that agriculture was "the worst mistake in the history of the human race" and that "we're still struggling with the mess into which agriculture has tumbled us, and it's unclear whether we can solve it."

I hope all my friends here are well and that you're personal journey has been progressing. I'm off to check out the rest of the forum. See y'all later!

Let's get out there and make this a great day!

 

I'mmmm baaaacck. OMG, I just reread some of my last post and realized how far I've allowed myself to slip from the best weight and how much I have to do. I am embarrassed record here, what I've been doing, what I've been thinking, and the results that have torpedoed my best efforts for last year.

You will note that I mentioned on June 30th, 2014 that I felt like I had reached my goal and was going to stop posting to this forum. Oh, what a wicked web we weave...I realize now that I was being lazy and that failure to record what I had been doing only served to allow my subconscious to subvert my progress and destroy all the progress that I had achieved.

Mark will be the first to tell you that this is not a diet but a lifestyle. I've reread some of the PB book and am continuing to review what I thought I knew as well as what the basic elements of the program include so that I may better understand where I went astray. Let me start by admitting to y'all that I had allowed all sorts of chemicals, contaminates, and down-right illegal content into my diet. I confess and throw myself on the altar of foolishness!

Potatoes, pasta, cakes, cookies, candy, candy bars of all sorts and various and sundry SAD choices that have allowed me to undermine the progress that I had achieved and slip quietly, not posting, back to a not-so-slim weight. Compare for yourselves:

July 3rd, 2014

weight: 202.8
bodyfat: 26.2

December 21st, 2015

weight: 213.0
bodyfat: 28.5

These numbers mark my return to the PB program. I've still been hurting my own progress because I've not been preparing my hard boiled eggs for breakfast and abandoned my coconut oil in my coffee. I loved both of those things but when you're not holding yourself accountable to anyone or anything it's easy to allow yourself to rationalize just about anything and get away with it. On November 10th I weighed 218 and had a bodyfat of 30.6. Yikes! That's was my wakeup call because I noticed that things had spun completely out of control.

So, I'm back and working toward better self-discipline. My goal is still to get my weight down below 200#s and enjoy the lighter me while working to reduce my bodyfat through healthy choices. My wife has urged us both forward in this effort and was chanting the woes of the end of the COO legislation that shows "country of origin" on foods we buy. So, she's doubled-down on going local and buying better stuff, even if it costs us a little more.

We've also adopted the technical tools of having a Fitbit HR to help count step, which has also been a major boon. In addition to all this motivation and news, one of the last posts above reported that we had sold the farm and were preparing to move to town. We've enjoyed the first year in town where we can walk on real sidewalks without worrying about losing your life to a speeding car or truck, so we've been taking advantage of this feature of being townies.

I say all that to say this: we are both more committed than ever and looking forward to renewed vigor, energy, life and adventure, thanks to the Primal Blueprint!

(This post was from a week ago but I couldn't get it to post online. I've resolved my issues so I'm posting it for reference.)

 

I am so happy to see you back. I have wonder how you were doing and have really missed your posts, not just on this thread but on the board. So I will echo YD, welcome back @Elessar!

 

Weather is pretty cold and we've not been out walking for more than a week. Makes me feel like I've failed because I think we should walk no matter what. However, it's hard to be motivated when you have to lean into a cold wind.

Weight: 213.4
Bodyfat: 31.2

Lunch: big salad
Dinner: Oven baked Chicken breasts in canned soup with green beans and brocolli
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs and two cups of coconut coffee
Snack: 2 oz dark chocolate

Exercise:
20 pushups
20 situps
20 bicycles
9,604 steps

Let's get out there and make this a great day!

 

Glad to know that some of my friends are still around. I've been reading through a lot of the posts that I've missed and enjoying seeing a lot of old names and acquaintances. Life has been "different" here in the city but we're learning to make due in due time.

My fitness has suffered because I'm no longer required to get out a do things that are very physical like we used to do on the farm. I haven't put up hay for almost two years and won't be looking forward to that any time soon. We have been enjoying walking around town, except when the temps are like this morning! 14° this morning and it's freaking cold!

Weight: 215.4
Bodyfat: 31.6

Lunch: big salad
Dinner: spiced pork chops, corn and baked potato for others (not me)
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs and 2 cups coconut coffee
Snack: 2 oz dark chocolate

Exercise:
21 pushups
21 situps
21 bicycles
some steps I didn't count because my fitbit was charging

Glad to be back. Let's get out there and make this a great day!

 

El

How are you measuring body fat? Calipers?

 

El, thanks for your question. I appreciate your interest.

The bathroom scale we have measures four different units and presents them every time you weigh. I know this is not the most accurate way to calculate actual bodyfat. However, since I've been working on the Primal Blueprint, I've used this scale with this measuring method. It's my belief that if it's incorrect, it's consistently incorrect and relative only to itself as a measure of accuracy. I have been criticized for weighing every day but I want to know the details of the yoyo effect or how things actually work out over an extended time period.

I can tell you that I find it motivating to read the history of my journal and be able to note exactly what I have been doing and how my progress has tracked, or not, and know the relevance to what I have eaten, how I've exercised, and what I was feeling according to my posts from that period.

 

Oh, I have been soooo bad. However, it's with good reason, if a rational justification is ever good. Let me explain...

My son came to live with us over 12 months ago with a chemical dependency problem that required professional assistance. Well, he's 14 months sober on Monday and has been accepted into the Tennessee Truck Driving School and already has his first employer line up to foot the bill for his training. He will be leaving our home again on Sunday to begin this "do-over" portion of his life. We are very proud and excited for him. On Wednesday, he passed his permit test for commercial vehicle driver and is ready to begin his new school. This has been a very hard journey for all of us and he has worked very hard to achieve everything that has been awarded to date. On Sunday, I will be driving him to school for the beginning of the next phase of his life, so we celebrated with a pizza party last night for dinner. That's what he wanted to celebrate his success. THAT shot my primal diet all to...

Well, you get the picture. I was unable to control myself and had more than a few pieces of pizza from Papa John's. Anyway, onward and upward...

Weight: 214.6#s
Bodyfat: 30.4%

Lunch: 6 oz almonds
Dinner: too much pizza
Breakfast: Oatmeal/Raisin Clif bar

Exercise: 7645 steps according to my fitbit

This day is gonna really cost me...

Let's get out there and make it great day!

 

If it makes you feel any better, I did the exact same thing. I didn't gain it all back but I did put 20 back on. I'm in the same jeans but they went from having to roll the waistband to keep them on, to rather snug now. Not recording what I'm doing makes it real easy to just *forget* the dinner roll at Texas Roadhouse or the 12 hours on the couch playing Fallout 4 instead of getting up and doing anything. I also seem to have zero control when the Mr brings home junk food and it's become clear I'll never get him to give up the crisps and cookies and pies or even convince him to keep them out of my face. He's just like, then don't eat it. OMG but I'm sitting here WATCHING you sit there with Frito crumbles all over your shirt and thinking damn I want frito pie and then that's like ALL I can think of. It gets really frustrating... and also very easy to just say eff it and eat crap and do nothing even though I know what's gonna happen if I do. So, you're certainly not alone in this.

 

DW: sorry to hear you've fallen like I have but glad to know you know it. My problem has been that if I have one little bit I can't stop. I believe this is because we, as PB animals, have stopped listening to our bodies and returned to listening to our mouth/tongue. I have this theory that the cravings for sugar and junk food comes from my mouth/tongue and not from my stomach. Even when I'm not hungry, I can think about something that I like that is bad for me and I want it, like a junkie or an alcoholic. I think it is truly like a drug and your mouth/tongue gains control of your appetite. Once we have weaned ourselves off the sugar rush and you can stay off the sweets long enough to allow your mouth/tongue to forget the taste, it becomes much easier, at least for me.

I completely understand your struggle with your husband/significant other; I have a similar issue with my wife. She has benefited from my cooking since I do most of the cooking in our house. I willing accept this task because I love to cook. However, even when she has lost weight and is feeling better about herself, she is still hostage to the mouth/tongue monster and becomes upset if we don't have something "substantial" like potatoes or noodles as part of our dinner. Complicating the issue is the fact that she hates cold food so all salads are out of the question and she dislikes most vegetables. I have been able to work a number of vegetables onto her plate and she has eaten them knowing that they're better for her even if she isn't a big fan. Ours is a dietary relationship of compromise. And example would be if I make tacos, she'll eat the shells and I'll eat a taco salad to avoid the grain issue. I've successfully employed this ingredient "shift" for a number of our menu choices.

My clothes have begun to fit as you have described: what used to slip on now must be encouraged into place. I'm committed to resolving this issue at all costs because I believe that it is a major element in our overall health. My wife will accept what I cook even if she doesn't actually chose that item, so we're on this course together. If I could get her to stop eating Fritos and breakfast cereal she'd see a great improvement in her weight and overall body image. I choose not to fight that fight because it's not my choice and not my fight. Maybe someday she'll have a moment of revelation and make the choice on her own. Until then, I'm mostly on my own and I'm ok with that...

Never give up and never surrender!

 

Daaaaaang, it's cold out this morning. 7° when I went to the market! Whew!

Yesterday was a big day, but not for my Primal Journey. My son started the next phase of his life. Today, I congratulate him on 14 months sobriety as well as starting truck driving school. He has beat the odds so far and been extremely successful maintaining his sobriety after completing 90 days of detox and training here locally. I am very proud of him and what he has accomplished as well as the fact that he has created and begun his new dream of becoming an over-the-road trucker.

Yesterday I spent five hours in the car driving him to school. Needless to say, my diet was shot all to ...., well you get the picture; road food. We had an opportunity to discuss some important life lessons he has learned during the last 14 months and he has a very healthy view of his addiction and sobriety. I'll never be able to think of him as anything but my little boy, even though he's 30 years old and his own man. I am so crazy proud of him I could jus' 'bout bus' open!

He has studied from online material and already passed his permit test and is enrolled in a nationally recognized training program in Tennessee and begins classes this morning. AND, he has already been hired by Total Transportation of Mississippi for his first job placement. How cool is that!!!

That's what I mean when I say,

Let's get out there and MAKE it a great day!

 

Still cold, looking at a minor snow accumulation of 1-3" and staying inside and working on our new-to-us fiberglass 1991 Scamp camper. Laura is sewing curtains and we are looking forward to fairer weather so we can patch holes in the fiberglass. If we get a nice day/night or two we plan on testing our new camper "egg" and will camp in our driveway. We've never been trailer camping so this is all new to us and we are being careful not to get too deep into this project financially before we verify our overall interest. So far, we've been cleaning and renovating those things that need to be fixed to complete our test of ourselves as much as our interest in camping. If we prove ourselves interested and able, we have a pretty large list of "toys" that we want to purchase for the camping adventure and we look forward to discovering all of the state parks in Kentucky.

My primal journey has been progressing well;

Weight: 213.4
Bodyfat: 31.2

Lunch: big salad
Dinner: homemade chicken stew with homemade dumplings
Breakfast: 3oz yogurt
Snacks: 3oz almonds

Exercise:
40 situps
40 pushups
40 bicycles
10,293 steps

Hope y'all are taking care of your pets if this cold weather has hit you too.

Let's get out there and make this a great day!

 

Almond flour dumplings? Better not be wheat flour