To Paleo or not to Paleo....

Time certainly flies when one is busy with work and home life.  I can't believe I haven't posted in almost a month.  Time to address that.

I have been doing a good deal of reading and research on a new, old way of eating frequently referred to as the Paleo Diet.  The basic premise of this way of eating is that as homo sapiens, we evolved to process certain foods based upon what we were eating.  For thousands of years, what we had available for foods were lean proteins, fruits and nuts, and vegetables.  that's it.  There wasn't anything refined or ground or made into something else.

If you think about it, this means that to survive and thrive, our bodies adapted to these available foods and utilized them to the fullest.  Our complex system of energy production evolved to prefer these types of foods.  Obesity and type 2 diabetes were rare.  Of course the fact that there wasn't a lot of sitting around back then due to the needs of being hunter gatherers didn't hurt, either.

We even did fairly well with some refined foods for the last few thousand years because life still required a fair amount of physical labor.  then came the industrial and technological revolutions and suddenly we have people (like me) spending countless hours a day, basically immobile, doing very little physical movement.  Add to the refined foods and sugars in abundance and its no wonder we have an obesity epidemic in this country.

The anecdotal proof is hard to deny.  As the physical demands of life have decreased and the abundance of processed, sugary foods has increased, the obesity rate has gone through the roof. Not only in this country but other developed nations as well. To see this shift to not physical work and its effect on health, just look at China.  As their economy and lifestyles evolve to match those of the west, the incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes is skyrocketing.  Several articles have indicated that the rate of those with the disease has almost doubled in the last 10 years.

With all of this in mind, I am going to start following a Paleo approach to my eating.  I will focus on vegetables and fruits, eat lean protein, limit my dairy and cheese and virtually eliminate refined foods from my diet.  No more breads and pasta.  Much less regular potatoes.  No refined sugars.  I am also planning on moving more, getting up and walking at least once per hour.  I feel this will have a very positive impact on my health and my weight.

To monitor all of this I am making an appointment to see my doctor in a couple of weeks, during which I am sure he will be ordering blood work.  this will be a starting point for me and I hope that in 6 months, when he repeats the same blood work, it will show some significant improvements.

As of today, my current weight is 456 lbs.  That is up from this same time last year, but its not my highest weight.  that was about 2 years ago when I hit 480.  I don't plan on getting there, ever again. I don't have specific weight loss targets.  I am simply going to monitor my weight as an indicator as to how well my body is responding to the new eating and movement plan.

Along the way I am planning on getting back on my bike to add in more movement and exercise.  Its about time since its been several months since I last rode.

Get on your bike and ride!

Little Decisions are the key

It's been a couple of months since I've posted anything and I apologize for that.  Seems like there hasn't been much to write about.  Hopefully today marks a change in that I am, once again, getting serious about getting healthy.  Seems like its time for a new beginning as we are moving in the next couple of days.  I see this as an opportunity for  new focus and a new beginning.

I find that I'm great at making big decisions.  I take my time, weigh out the pros and cons and eventually come up with what is usually the right decision.  Little decisions are my Achilles's heel. It seems the smaller the decision, the less likely I am to make a good one and this eventually affects everything else.

I can make a big decision to 'get healthier and lose weight.'  Simple, I know what I should do and can map out a plan for getting where I need to be. Then there comes the day to day, minute to minute execution of that plan. In general I am usually pretty good following a plan. OK, mostly. I tend to make a great start but my follow through suffers over time.  That's where those little decisions come in. Little decisions like, "should I eat one or two of these?" or "one more piece of ________ can't hurt, can it?"

Yes, it can hurt.  See once I give in to a temptation or mae the wrong decision, it just seems to snowball and spiral out of control.  Since I did X then Y won't matter. and the justifications begin and the plan is off the rails and out of control.

For me, I need to stay vigilant and on a strict regimen in order to stay on track. I am too easily side tracked when I allow myself too much choice - too much leeway.  Most books and articles I read say that in order to make lasting changes they should be done gradually and not be too drastic at any given pint, but that doesn't work for me.  It seems that if I make those small changes I lose focus and get off track.

So, starting today I'm getting my focus back and eating how I know I should - following what is essentially the Paleo Diet.  Ok, I hate the word diet but it allows me to stay focused and make better little choices in order to support the big changes I need to make in order to get healthy.

Part of my choice for the paleo diet is from a resource I found called Nerd Fitness. (http://www.nerdfitness.com)

Holding pattern

Ok, I know its not much of an excuse but I know me so it's pretty valid.  I'm holding off starting any real plans for getting healthy and losing weight this year until after my cruise next week.  Yes, I said my cruise next week.

The wife and I are heading out of town on a big boat full of lots of enticing food for a 7 day holiday in celebration of our 20 years of marriage.  I could spout off how I'm planning on watching what I eat and limiting my intake over those seven days but I would just be setting myself up for disappointment, having been on several cruises in the past.  I know the siren song of the buffets and the ice cream and the wonderful foods at dinner will be hard to resist and I will fail to resist.

Instead of making promises to myself and to you that I know I won't keep, let's just say I will limit myself to not eating myself into a stupor and look to get at least some exercise every day while on vacation. That is something I can do. Then, when we get back it will be time to start seriously taking care of business in terms of getting healthy and losing weight.

Part of this cruise will be to relax and refocus myself on what needs to be done.  I will be formulating a plan and posting the details of my goals for this year when I get home. I do know that 2015 will see me getting much healthier and more fit, no exceptions.

I hope you will also set and meet your goals for the new year.

Time for an update

I realize I have been fairly quiet on here of late and I am hoping to address that with some more frequents posts, but I have a feeling I may be absent from this space for most of the month of November.  There are a couple of reasons for this and the biggest is that November is the National Novel Writing Month.  I am one again in the process of creating a novel of at least 50,000 words during the 30 days which is November.

On top of that my parents are coming to vist for 10 days at the end of the month. I haven't seen them since last year when they visited in September so that my dad and I could ride the Viva Bike Vegas ride together (Read about it here: Part 1 and Part 2). Obviously while they are here writing time is goingot be very limited.

One thing I will post about will be the wrap up for my personal challenge of riding 180 days in a row (today I am on day 178).  I will also go into a bit more detail on some of the health information I've found out from my doctor and several tests that I have undergone over the last few weeks.

One thing I do want to point out is that I've re-challeged myself to lose weight between no and the end of the year. So far, over the last 2 weeks, I have lost 6 pounds. This is a good start on what I'm hoping to be a 20 to 30 lb. loss by the time we go on the cruise in January.  It will be tough with the usual gluttounous holidays focused on food coming up, but I plan on doing it.  No more excuses.

So, thinkif this post as a preview of coming attractions for other posts soon to come.

Get on your bikes and ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still here

I have been woefully negligent of this space for the last 3 weeks or so.  Most of the reason for that is little has happened in that time that is truly worth noting.  I am still riding everyday and have only 22 days left in my personal challenge.  unfortunately no progress has been made in the weight loss department and neither have I completed any rides or events of any note.

One thing that has been going on is an increased focus on my overall health via attending several doctor's appointment and having a variety of tests conducted on my body. No results have been revealed as yet due to one last test coming up this weekend. Once the testing is complete it will be time to sit with my doctor and discuss treatment options.  Nothing drastic is happening (that I know of) except for some resistant high blood pressure.  Let's hope the tests confirm this lack of other issues.

I do know that I need to get myself into better shape and will be starting to address this in the near future.  I mentioned my plan to lose weight through the fall and into winter and my doctor was skeptical due to the number of holidays frequently used as convenient excuses to overindulge in all things calorie rich.  I have hoped to prove him wrong, but so far he has been right.

Once I have a better idea of my medical status I will be making my plans to improve my overall heath and I will be posting it here, if for nothing more than public accountability.

I hope you have a chance to get out and enjoy the glorious fall weather and...

Get On Your Bike and RIDE!!!!

A visit to the doctor

OK, I have to come clean.  I don't like going to the doctor.  Pretty much I figure if it ain't broke, don't fix it, but that attitude only works so far.  There are things that could be broke and you won't know about it until its too late. So with this in mind, I am now working with a doctor to get and stay healthy.

One of my main concerns that I knew needed to be addressed is my blood pressure.  I have very high blood pressure, it seems based upon the readings at the doctors on Friday.  I have also been retaining fluids in my legs and so we are starting with 2 medications at this time.  One is to address the blood pressure and the other is to address the fluid retention.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I started the year at an almost all time high weight of 470.4.  I knew a portion of that was retained fluids from the trip to the hospital and so I am happy to report that after 4 days on the medication I am down to 457.6.  That's not an unheard of amount of loss considering the vast majority of it has been fluids.

My goal is to keep up this loss and steadily reduce my weight through the rest of the year.  I have been eating healthier and less and know I can do this.  I think a reasonable number of pounds to lose in the year would be 100.  That means that on January 1, 2015 my goal is to weigh 370 lbs. Will this be easy?  No, it won't it will take focus and dedication, but I know I can do it.  I have to do it as my health requires it.

With this thought in mind, I am adding a ticker to the right side indicating my current weight and I will be updating it about once a week so I can monitor my progress towards my goal.