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Tag Archives: Paleo

State of the Chris

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So life has been good. Today I earned my 15lbs lost badge on Fitbit. This based on from having my Aria scale for about a month now so the amount lost is from my highest weight I hit while having it 153 and I am now 137. Which is great and an all time low for my adult life. I keep repeating this because seriously I have been obese all of my adult life. That is kind of crazy to think about but it is true. The reality is I was obese all of my teenage years and a good portion of my youth. So now at 35 I am making the right changes to make that not the case. I am well on target for a personal goal I want to achieve before the end of this month. Then I have another for my birthday in November.

I was gaining weight or really maintaining weight and not really understanding why. I was doing lots of stairs, doing my 10k of steps and 5 miles a day. I thought I was tracking my calories correctly (no reason to lie to myself about what I was eating). I cut out fruit, I briefly cut out my Chai Lattes and still just standing still or losing then gaining.

So I looked at my intake and realized I was missing some important information. Liquid Calories that were not being recorded. I drink a lot of water but I also drink Almond milk because it is way tastier than water. I was drinking a lot of it. Since it is 80 Calories a cup and I was pounding down more and more a day I was not tracking it well enough to realize I was blowing through extra calories. So I cut out the Almond milk, increased my water, had a chai or two and looked at my portions as a whole and BAM back to a steady weight decrease.

For food I have cut down my breakfast portions slightly. I was doing 2 eggs and 3-4 pieces of bacon for breakfast and then a bunch of fruit for a snack in the morning. I now moved to one egg, 2 pieces of bacon and a banana for breakfast. No more fruit. Lunch is still baby spinach salad and I add raw mushrooms and some grilled chicken strips. Dinner this week has been a small pork chop and some Brussels sprouts and carrots. Keeping the portions reasonable and recorded. I might now be over estimating my calories vs before where I was underestimating but that is ok.

I still try to do 9 flights a stairs at a time but if not I at least do bursts of 4-5 at a time. I am averaging about 40-50 flights of stairs a day. I am steadily doing 10k steps a day with the occasional rest day. Like Saturday I did 500 steps total which was me moving from my bed, to kitchen to couch to bathroom etc. It was a blissful rest day. I watched a lot of episodes of the Vampire Diaries. This week I have been working on going to bed earlier and waking up earlier to fit in some Yoga in the morning. So far it has gone well and have done it 3 days in a row. I started some Yoga in the evening as well right before Bed. We will see if that one lasts but I do like that I am able to add some more healthy habits as I go along. I may get back to Dance Central as a periodic cardio thing to break up the other stuff or as an addition but for now I feel I have made great strides from being sedentary to being more active.

Every day is a change for the better. Any step backwards I analyze and improve upon. I will be the perfect me.

Where I am at.

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I feel bad for neglecting this space so I will write a few things here.

As I said in an earlier post I got a fitbit. I will post more on that soon. So far I love it.

I was on vacation and was a little bad about eating. However I have gotten back on track. I am very happy with what I am doing.

Right now besides eating Paleo I am counting calories and watching my intake. The great thing is I really dont have to but to give myself a better idea of how I eat and how it affects me I am logging it on fitbit.

I realized contrary to my earlier belief dairy does have an effect on me. So I am cutting out my chai latte. I may have one once in a while but I was lying to myself that I could have one every day. Besides being 320 calories I also wasnt feeling great after drinking them. Now that I listen to my body more I am making sure to listen. So chai latte out.

Walking to work and home from work everyday now. The walk is getting better back home. I still feel like I want to die a little but I get something like 25 flights of stairs on my fitbit from doing it. So win.

I stopped stairs at work up from the bottom floor but decided to try it after lunch today. It wasnt awesome but it wasnt awful. We didnt end up moving to the 5th floor so  I am still on the 9th floor. That walk is a beast but it is good for me. I will work harder to sneak it in.

Still no Yoga. Need to work on that.

Buying a fitbit scale this weekend so I can actually track my weight and not guess.

That is all.

Don’t Call It A Comeback

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I wanted to check in because I haven’t posted as often as I started and need to get back at it. I have been going strong living Paleo. I have cut down on the number of snacks I need to eat during the day. I eat a solid breakfast with lots of protein. I have a few pieces of fruit once I am at work. For lunch I usually have a baby spinach salad with some protein. Dinner is a small portion of meat and vegetables. The last week was a little bad of indulging in Chai Lattes, I had a tiny tiny bag of popcorn one day and a couple of regular french fries. The Chai really wasn’t so bad I just can’t have one every day. I need to make it more of an occasional treat. My body doesn’t freak out from the whole milk so I know it isn’t that bad but it isn’t that good either. The popcorn and fries however felt like bricks in my belly and just made me feel sluggish and blah. It was good to see that though and really listen to my body.

I started in February and now it is June. That makes 4 full months of awesome. I posted a picture to some friends from about 3 weeks or so ago and got some really great comments which is always inspiring. I went back to doing some Dance Central in the morning for some light cardio. I admit since moving to the 9th floor and having the plague I have stopped taking the stairs as much at work. 9 floors is kind of over kill for me. Good news is I move to the 5th floor this week so I will recommence with my stair walking then. I do continue to walk to work and will start looking at walking home now that the weather is super beautiful here. Plan is keep on eating like I do, increase cardio activity, and look into some strength training. That is all for now. Keep on being Awesome.

Dance Central: Let’s just say Day 1 again

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So I went on a trip for work like over a month ago and then caught the plague and then recovered from said plague and then didnt get back to doing this until today. That being said I will declare Day 1 again. I picked up where I left off though and tried to conquer the dances of the 90’s. I am 5 stars away from doing the Macarena and moving on. Sadly my dance skills are not so good when it comes to these songs so I was only able to scrounge up 1 star getting me to 4 stars away. This means of the 4 songs I have to dance to I need to score a 4 in all of them or a 5 in one letting me stay at a 3 in another or some other exchange of awesome dancingness. I grew tired of dancing and sucking to Ice Ice Baby and Ain’t 2 proud 2 beg so I jumped to the open song options and picked up a bunch of random songs. It was good to get back at it. I ended on Firework by Katy Perry which is the song I leave you with today.

“Firework”

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep six feet under?
Scream but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there’s still a chance for you
‘Cause there’s a spark in you?

You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

‘Cause, baby, you’re a firework
Come on, show ’em what you’re worth
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colours burst
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh”
You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe, awe, awe

You don’t have to feel like a wasted space
You’re original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe you reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it’s time you’ll know

You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

‘Cause, baby, you’re a firework
Come on, show ’em what you’re worth
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colours burst
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh”
You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe, awe, awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It’s always been inside of you, you, you
And now it’s time to let it through-ough-ough

‘Cause, baby, you’re a firework
Come on, show ’em what you’re worth
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colours burst
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh”
You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe, awe, awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

The Art of Happiness

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Today I had two interesting moments that led me to make some realizations. Besides losing weight, and getting healthier I have made a few other changes in my life and all of them have been for the better. So first off I lost weight and changed my diet which I have already talked about and will continue to talk about. I can see it in the mirror and feel it in how I carry myself. I feel a hell of a lot better. I sleep better, I have more energy and what little stomach issues I had before are non-existent. I have started to dress better. I bought nice dress shirts, shoes and a sports coat. Looking more professional has helped change perceptions and in turn improved mine as well of myself. I even took on a new position at work that keeps me busy but makes me feel accomplished and happy. Each of these things have helped contribute to my happiness.

I hadn’t realized how much I was putting into other things in order to be happy. Whether it was drinking, women or hobbies I was seeking happiness outside of myself. When those didnt work out or didnt bring me the happiness I sought I became more depressed. I wasnt happy with myself nor was I happy with life. But now I have so many things to be happy about, I don’t stress about one thing going wrong because so many things are going right.

It was really great to run into my leadership coach today and tell her about all the things that have changed since 8 months ago when I had my last session with her. At that time we discussed culture shock and I realized I was suffering from it but wasnt doing anything to change it. I finally did 4 months ago and now I cant imagine I was there at all when I am where I am now. I thanked her for advice. She was one of the many great people who are in my life that helped make me who I am today.

I still have a ways to go but I am taking the steps each day and not taking steps back. My life is on the right track. My Art to happiness is redefining my life.

“If you can’t change the world, change yourself”

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I heard this quote while playing Dragon Age from a character called Sten. Now regardless of the source of the quote it was one of the phrases that really resonated with me while I was considering going Paleo and changing my lifestyle. It goes well with another quote on the definition of Insanity “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” from Albert Einstein. I am pretty sure I was the living definition of insanity for a while. I was upset with my life but I was doing nothing to change it. Even when all evidence pointed to the common denominator being me. I was the thing that needed changing not the world.

I find the only difference between a miserable person and a happy person is what they put their focus on in life. The miserable person dwells on the bad in their life missing out constantly on the good that they experience everyday while the happy person dwells on the good that is in their life and let the bad that happens fall to the way side. Sure some people have it better or worse than others but their perception and how they deal with their experiences is what compounds it all.

Since going paleo, becoming more active, taking better care of myself and just changing my perceptions to focus on the positive I have become happier. I have  many of the same problems I had before but they don’t seem so overwhelming. Being able to see physical change is always a great motivator and a positive reward for my actions. In the end I am becoming the person I want to be and in turn I have changed my world.

“Have You Ever Tried Not Being Fat?”

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So back in November I was pretty depressed. I was having a hard time with life in general and it was starting to hinder multiple areas of my life. I was out having a few beers with a friend when he said to me after listening to my woes “Have you ever tried not being fat?” Now some would consider that pretty harsh but coming from this friend it was something I would expect. He is blunt and honest. I appreciate that honesty.

I had to to think for a moment. I answered honestly “No.” I am 35 years old and for 25 years of my life I can say I have been overweight. Since I was 10 I was unreasonably heavy for my age. I was also pretty tall but tall and fat is still fat. By the time I hit high school I averaged out at 6’2” and 250lbs. I graduated wearing a 40-42 waist. I maintained that a couple of years.

At some point in my life without paying attention I hit a total of 320lbs. I was wearing a 52in waist. The strange thing was I didnt even notice. I was happy with my life and just ok with it. I mean really at no point in my life was I ever like “Man, I hate being fat.” I was just ok with it. But when I did see I had hit 320lbs and saw it on a scale I did decide to do something about it.

So I became a Vegetarian and did Yoga regularly(3-5 times a week). I lost 50lbs in about 6 months and kept it off for a long time. I was a vegetarian for about 4 years. Really all being vegetarian did for me was keep me from eating fast food as much but that was a huge help. Problem is even as a vegetarian I was still eating lots of other unhealthy crap and lots of it. I was still able to cut down to about 250-260. Still at no point did I do it to not be fat. I was just doing it.

When I moved to Vegas I eventually went back to eating meat. I still was able to maintain my weight but it went up a little. I eventually moved to Quebec and when I got here I lost a little weight but then eventually started to gain and went back up to the 265-270 range. But then my friend said “Have you ever tried not being fat?”

So I looked into it. I was like what would it take for me to really not be fat any more. Exercise? Diet? Motivation? Why would I be doing it? I was depressed and looking for anything that would make me happy. I had plans but I wasn’t putting them into action until all these other things went into place. Why? I finally realized I didn’t need anything else to be in place to start making changes that could and would end up making my life happier.

So after much hesitation I just took the plunge and did it. That was 3 months ago. I have lost 25lbs so far doing paleo and limited exercise. I am about to be the lowest weight in my adult life. I am not in the best shape of my adult life. I need to incorporate more exercise but I am really happy with my results so far and encouraged to keep going. I have a lifestyle now that will help be healthier, happier and not fat.

So if you have never been asked the question “Have you ever tried not being fat?” ask yourself. And if your answer is No. The all I have to say is Why not? The hardest thing I learned to do was stop saying and thinking “I Can’t”. Once I did the possibilities became endless.

Snacking

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One of the biggest problems I had when I first started going Paleo was being hungry and then over snacking. My first day I under prepared for how hungry I would be. I got a little woozy that day. I then over compensated by eating lots of snacks. Eventually though I balanced out and though I snack here and there I do it when I am hungry and not constantly.

I still find snacks are good though and I only do so when my body tells me it is hungry. I have stopped eating like I used to which was all the time and when I thought I needed to eat but not when my body told me.

Snacks for me are fruit (but not a lot), nuts (I love pistachios and cashews), and the concessional Lara Bar (At this point I only eat one kind, the cashew bar. It is like crack to me. I have bought out the Cashew Lara Bar supply in multiple stores around Quebec.)

I luck out working at a company that provides fresh fruit so I have a steady supply of bananas, apples, and oranges with the occasional pear and kiwi.

How I started Paleo

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I got started by searching the internet for like a billion Paleo websites. I read all of them or at least it seamed like all of them. I delved into the rules, the diversity of opinions on a few hard rules and the recipes.

The next thing I did was clean out my Fridge and cabinets of anything that wasn’t Paleo. It really was an important step to remove anything that would remotely tempt me off the diet in case I had troubles at the start. I didn’t have any troubles but I was still thankful to not have the crappy food I was eating before in my kitchen.

Once I cleaned out the kitchen I then went about filling it back up. I went through some of those recipes and bookmarked some I thought I might like. I recommend Pinterest for pinning recipes you find. Create a Paleo board and pin away. But I couldn’t cook them all so I had to make some choices.

One thing I read was it was helpful to prepare all of your meals ahead of time. This prevents grabbing stuff that is not Paleo because you are hungry and don’t have Paleo stuff ready. I found it to be a good tip and has helped me stay on course. I do all of my cooking on the weekend which I really enjoy. So a full day or two of cooking and I have meals ready for every course and some snacks.

So start with an empty Fridge. Then start with breakfast. I like bacon for breakfast and eggs. I also like to have a few hard boiled eggs around for quick food if I don’t have time to cook breakfast. I have adjusted my morning schedule though to allow for time to cook, exercise, get ready for work etc. Anyways for breakfast I pick up a pack of bacon sometimes 2 if there is need for bacon in other recipes, a carton and a half of eggs, some Creton (which is a Quebec thing but awesome), occasionally a pack of Ham Steaks to vary things up.  That covers the week and weekend. 2 eggs and a couple pieces of bacon and BAM awesome breakfast.

For Lunch at work I buy a big thing of Baby Spinach or mixed greens. I also buy a couple packages of chicken strips. I cook the Chicken strips with some garlic and spices. Every morning while I cook breakfast I put together a salad with some chicken strips. I add a sliced hard boiled egg or extra veggies from other meals to mix it up a bit. This covers me for my work days.

For Dinner I usually do a crock pot meal and some other meats. The crock pot meals cover me for the nights I come home and don’t want to cook. Otherwise I make a steak or some fish with cooked vegetables. I am a fan of Asparagus, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts.

I start the week with a full fridge and end the week with an empty one. The cost of groceries for me is pretty low, especially now that I know what I need.

That is how I started.

Going Primal (Well Paleo)

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A couple of months ago I decided to change my diet to something a few of my friends had been embracing. I switched to going Paleo and frankly it has been awesome. No grains, no bread, no pasta, no rice, no potatoes (white) and bunch of other things. Mainly it is Vegetables, Meat, Fruit and Nuts. People say “How can you give up bread? Pasta? Insert item you can’t eat being Paleo?” Well it is easy really. I was a vegetarian for four years and it was hard to give up meat for that time. I didn’t stop being a Vegetarian because I craved meat. I just switched because I wanted to. So it has been two months and I don’t crave bread, pasta or anything else off my list of Paleo food.