Primal Man, Primal Man, doing the things that primal can page

[John Gibson]

What's he like? It's not important Primal man...

Is he Fat, or is he a speck?
When he's underwater does he get wet?
Or does the water get him instead?
Nobody knows, Primal man

Lo fat man, low fat man
Lo fat man hates primal man
They have a fight, Primal wins
primal man

Low Fat man, Low Fat man
Size of the entire universe man
Usually kind to smaller man
Low fat man

He's got a scale with a kilogram hand,
Kilotonne hand and an megatonne hand
When they meet it's a happy land
Powerful man, Low Fat man

Low fat man, Low Fat man
Hit on the head with a frying pan
Lives his life in a garbage can
Low fat man

Is he depressed or is he a mess?
Does he feel totally worthless?
Who came up with Low at man?
Degraded man, Low Fat man

Primal man, Primal man
Primal man hates Low Fat man
They have a fight, Primal wins
Primal man

Apologies to They Might Be Giants -

Hi all, Starting a thread to introduce myself.

A bit of history. I have been overweight most of my life, and lost 110 pounds in College. Thought I would never be fat again...

Six years ago... I was fat again...

The last six years I have been on and off Low Carb diets trying to lose my weight. Most of it was my own fault for getting off the Low Carb bandwagon when someone would tell me or a doctor would tell me it wasn't healthy.

Last year in January 2010 I hit my highest weight ever: 290, depressed, I started Atkins again, and lost 90 pounds. I discovered that Primal Blue Print dovetailed nicely into my way of thinking. 2 month ago I started the slow movement of Primal Fitness, and this week I have incorporated the heavy lifting and Sprinting.

The one thing that I am struggling with are skin folds... Hoping that getting into the heavy lifting and working the core will help me out here...

John Gibson

[inquisitiveone]

I thought the title of your journal suggested a TMBG fan. Love your reworking of their song!

Sounds like you're doing a great job with your weight loss—congratulations. My understanding is that gradual weight loss is better at allowing the skin and underlying tissues to readjust to a thinner physique. Age plays a role too, however; those tissues lose elasticity as one ages. I'm pretty sure (based on looking at some of the success stories posted here) that you can reduce them without resorting to surgery.

Good luck with it, and welcome!

[John Gibson]

My wife asked me to help her become more primal. I love her dearly and she isn't overweight. She loves her breads, sugars, and chocolates.

What I haven't been doing with her is pushing i.e. you have to do this.

I try to do a evening migration of around 3 miles with the dog and she does that with me. When we cook, I usually fix the meat, and veggies, but never tell her what she needs to eat.

She is starting to read the Primal Blueprint book. I know it goes against current common sense (the low fat bullshit) it helps that I have lost 100 pounds with Low Carb and its been pretty easy.

If anyone has any suggestions in easing a spouse and kids into this lifestyle it would be helpful.

Thanks

John

[inquisitiveone]

Sounds like you're doing pretty well with it so far, not pushing her nor criticizing what she eats, and letting her come to the primal WoL (way of life) as she's ready to explore it. I think being a realistic model of the WoL is better than being evangelical about it.

You didn't mention what yours kids' eating habits and preferences are like, so it's harder to comment on that. Unless they're older and are earning their own money, they're pretty much stuck with eating what you and your wife bring in to the house—so I'd focus on minimizing the junk that comes in, while offering a variety of healthful choices for them. Just helping them (and your wife) wean off of wheat and sugar will be a huge benefit to them. Some people can handle a cold-turkey approach, while others need to make changes gradually; for young kids especially, a gradual approach often works better—as does not making a big issue out of the changes.

Perhaps your wife can transition from white-sugar sweets to fruit-based sweets. Chocolate needn't be eliminated; if she likes sweeter varieties, she can gradually move up to darker chocolates with less sugar. Lindt makes a good (and not horribly expensive) 50% cocoa bar that might be a good midrange for her; they also have bars up to 90% cocoa, if memory serves.

I treat our family's dietary changes as an adventure—an opportunity to try new recipes and new foods. Doing this with familiar items helps ease them in, too; as an example, I used lamb in some meatballs a while back and my son loved them. My daughter was squicked at the thought of eating a cute lamb (her brother told her the meatballs had lamb in them, not me), but I expect she'll give them a go the next time I make them. I do talk about good nutrition and its importance in good health, but I try not to get too preachy, nor to create fear in them.

[geostump]

First off, loved your little parody off of TMBG! Another fan here.

My kids are wanting to primal more than my husband. I think what it comes down to whatever makes everyone happy. They're all fast food addicts in my house and I am working on breaking that habit myself. It's just slow and I know with time it'll happen. I think as they see me lose fat and get healthier, it'll help them in wanting to switch.

[AmyKickass]

Welcome! Love your TMBG adaptation.

Personally I don't think there is anything wrong with taking a gradual approach to starting a Primal lifestyle. It's been two years since I started flirting with Paleo/Primal and I just gave up grains for good in the last couple of months. Would it be better for one's health to jump right in and give it all up cold turkey? Probably, but we're making these changes for life and for many of us it's easier to stick with the changes when they're made slowly. As part of that I would say eliminating grains is more important than limiting carbs, at least to start. And remember that even Mark Sisson considers 'sensible indulgences' like very dark chocolate to be a perfectly acceptable part of a primal life.

Good on you for not pushing your wife. There were a few things that really helped me to start. I quit buying pasta and bread at the grocery store. I still had it out to eat occasionally, but my consumption dropped considerably. I found primal foods and simple meals that I really, really enjoy eating and keep the ingredients around. Most importantly is paying attention to how consuming different things makes me feel and listening to my body. Not sure how to convince one's significant other to do this, but Sisson addresses it in The Primal Blueprint, so hopefully it will make an impression. As for kids, I have NO idea, except that if my mother cooked it for dinner we were expected to eat it and processed snacks and sodas were simply not in the house.

[Marquette]

I Love that group and song. I was singing it the whole time I was reading your post. Too funny. That's a nice re-write of the lyrics. I'm still chuckling.

[John Gibson]

TMBG is a acquired taste but I do love em...

Song of the day - Call... free if you call from work... OMG... they are a bunch of fun guys...

Yeah... I figured not pushing it was the way to go...

John

[John Gibson]

Ok...

Gus and Girls... I love to grill...

This is what I did last Sunday wanted to share for those who think that cooking is hard...

Smoking fish especially salmon doesn't have to be a 12 hour experience... Tho when I do brisket... its a long labor of love..

Quick and Easy Grilled Smoked Salmon

1) Light your Coals using a chimney.

2) Set your Webber Grill / Grill up for Indirect Heat. You do this by piling your lit coals on either side of the kettle



Personally I don't use the racks to hold the coals, but hey.. if you have em use em...

3) Place two pieces of foil down the middle of the grill. So that you have something to place the fish on.

4) In your house, hut, or tepee, take two sheets of foil (heavy duty works best) the size of your Weber, place them on a platter and place your fish on them.

5) Sprinkle with Salt, Pepper and any herbs you want

6) Grab about 6 chunks of hickory, Apple, Mesquite (my favorite, and BTW... DONT SOAK THE WOOD) and throw them on the hot coals, and let them catch fire

7) Grab the ends of the foil that your fish is on and place on top of the foil in the grill, crimp the sides up a bit so that the oils / juices spill out)

8) Place the cover on the Weber, this will cut off the oxygen the wood will start smoking, and let cook for 30 minutes...

9) Pull off the grill (usually the foil that the fish is on will be sufficiently cool to grab (test before you do this..... I am NOT responsible for you hurting yourself) and serve it up with what ever veggies, leaves and other stuff you can find...

Enjoy your Smoked Fish.

[geostump]

OOOOOHHHHH! I may have to try this little invention out!