Primal Journal of JDough MO page 4

[JpGrok]

I'm not sleeping worth a shit and I think it's due to drinking too much coffee and too late in the day.

JD - Since I've become primal I've found caffeine and alcohol affect me much more than before - one cup of Joe makes me feel like I've had a quart of Red Bull whereas I used to drink 5/6 strong cups a day. I've cut out caffeine and found I sleep much better. I miss a good strong espresso though...

[JDough MO]

And so begins the caffeine challenge. I have to admit that my intake spiked significantly when I quit using tobacco. Trade-off I suppose. I'm at a point where I feel like that "quit" is under control and it's time to move onto the next. With caffeine in the cross hairs I'm officially pulling the trigger and limiting myself to the following: 2 cups/day and absolutely zero after 11am.

If this doesn't work the next logical step is to just go cold turkey. I'm trying a scaled back method in hopes that I can find a way to make my relationship with coffee work!

[JDough MO]

What a weekend. I was able to keep primal for MOST of it. Oktoberfest is a killer. Don't get me wrong, I was able to find plenty of primal stuff to eat. The issue was the beers.

I don't even want to think about stepping on a scale to see where I'm at. On that note, I don't think I want to step on a scale for the rest of the challenge. I'm obsessing a little about the damn number and losing focus of how I feel. I will really have to focus in this week and commit to being primal. I'm staying active and moving pretty much all day, I'm getting workouts in 2 times per week and I've done 2 sprint workouts during the challenge so far.

I'm feeling better and have more energy. I'm finally able to get proper sleep! I just need more discipline when it comes to what I'm putting in my body.

[JDough MO]

It's never a good sign when you haven't posted to you "accountability" journal in over a month. And the results are obvious. Primal eating has become mostly an afterthought as I've settled into a SAD diet based on convenience. Man, what a downward spiral.

Overall I'm pretty disgusted with myself. Disgusted enough to start over...again. I'm tired of this constant start (and make progress and feel awesome) and stop (and get disgusted and feel like crap and self loath) pattern. I'm not quite sure what to pin it on, but then again I don't like excuses. I'm firm believer that both the problem AND the solution reside within the person staring back at you in the mirror.

As of today I'm starting on a lifestyle change, so incorporating primal seems to be a natural fit. Things in my household are changing for the better (wife moving out of career to stay at home) but this will create some other strains. Mostly the fear of the financial unknown. Putting things on paper only calms half of my fears. Deep down I know it will workout but until I see proof I will be stressed. This stress is what has consumed me since early August. But, enough of that. Going primal will help regulate the stress in my life I hope.

I've also discovered I'm a person of habit. I like routine. The loose structure of PB is great for some, but I need rigid consistency. This is a new discovery for me. I've always touted myself a "go with the flow" kind of person, but it just hasn't played out that way. So, here is my proposed workout schedule:

MWF - SimpleFit (one day will incorporate sprints) - this has to be done in the morning or it won't get done at all!
Tues/Thurs - Move Slow
Sat/Sun - Play one day, rest the other


Nutrition has also been a hurdle. I'm having trouble getting my wife on board. She appreciates my enthusiasm to eat primal, but she doesn't support it through passive actions (ie, keeping the once purged pantry stocked with SAD crap and cooking carb/grain packed meals). To combat this I will also take a swing at structure:

Breakfast (when hungry) - eggs, bacon, limited fruit, coconut milk, coffee
Lunches - big ass salads with leftovers
Dinners - piece of meat, heap of veggies
Snacks - nuts
Outings - eat what I can and don't compromise or "cheat"
Alcohol - find a compromise, but ultimately limit to weekends and/or social events.

Sleeping is where I need the most disciplined routine. Nothing constructive (most things anyway) take place after 10pm so why not just go to bed? This is why DVR was invented. You don't have to watch it now. If I'm still up working on work things, couldn't I just plan my day more efficiently to eliminate the need to stare at a laptop until midnight? Hell yes, I think I can. My biggest challenge will be avoiding the 10pm news my wife insists on watching, but I'm sure I will think of something.

Relax time = no TV, no laptop, reading, meditating and winding down = 9pm.
Lights Out = 10pm
Rise and Shine (no alarms!) = 5-6am

Posting - weekly updates. Posting daily isn't realistic for me and if I start down that path and don't keep up it will be one more thing to be pissed about. Weekly is sufficient. Updates to include progress, hurdles, solutions and weight. On the matter of weight - I'm only going to check once per week otherwise I become obsessed.

10/31/2011 = 203lbs. A bloated 203lbs.

That's all for now,

JD

[JDough MO]

Long overdue update!!!!

Life is grand. I've had my ups and downs but have stuck with PB. I've overcome some other life issues that have refocused my mind. So 8ish months later and I still weight 203. But.....it's not a bloated 203!!!!!!! I've dropped my bodyfat down to around 17% (from 25) and have put some muscle back on. I've been steady with my progress, but by no means a hardcore primal fat burning beast. That's changed over the last 2 weeks.

My renewed and devoted primal journey started June 10th. I've got a simple goal = be primal. No weight goal, no bodyfat goal, no sleep goal, etc. Just be primal and embrace the journey.

I'll post updated pictures every month, but other than that, I'm not going to focus on quantitative numbers and measurements. All things qualitative. Mood, energy, etc. Just be primal.

I know where I've failed in the past and I know how to overcome those obstacles.

Workouts:

PB Fitness with a twist. I will still lift heavy things twice per week, sprint once per week, move slow and play. But, I'll be exploring activities outside the e-book. For example, I love modifying P90X2 workouts to be more primal (basically cutting them down to last no more than 45 minutes).

Eating:

Keep doing what I'm doing, but drastically reduce beer intake. Whiskey and wine for me, thanks.

Sleep:

More of it.

Overall:

Just be primal.

Simple.

--JD

[JDough MO]

Quick update:

It was a long weekend of food and booze for me. I managed to keep the food primal, but had more than a few non-primal beverages. There were more primal positives as opposed to negatives, though. I managed to get a workout of squats and push ups knocked out and got plenty of sun. I also enjoyed some playtime.

Sunday morning I took some measurements:

Weight - down 4lbs to 199
Waist - 37.75"
Hips - 40"
BF - 19.6%

Every category is improving. This week I start "regular" workouts.

Keeping it simple.

--JD

[JDough MO]

I just got the best workout advice:

Pullups and Sprints. That's it. Pullups are almost a full body workout and spints take care of everything else.

And so continues the path of simplicity.

[JpGrok]

JD - your post came into my inbox the other day and it was great to see that you're still making progress.

I haven't updated my journal for a long time and have been on and off the wagon during the last 6 months. I found I was losing so much weight being Primal I looked like a skeleton so I tried hard to gain some muscle. This led me to California for a strength training seminar and they told me to drink milk, lots of milk. I gained 20lbs in a month, much of it fat (but I did get much stronger) then hopelessly fell off the wagon and spent two months drinking beers, eating cake and not taking much exercise. I lost much of the 20lbs but retained some of the fat so I'm back to being Primal.

Being Primal makes me feel so good I'm just going to let my body do its thing. I've lost about 3% body fat in the last couple of weeks and I feel great. Summer time makes it all much easier I think.

Keep posting - it's good to walk the path together.

[JDough MO]

Jp - great to hear from you! This journey of primal has showed me that although the Primal Blueprint itself is simple to understand, execution is still difficult. It leads me to one of my favorite sayings = "if it was easy, everybody would do it."

When I slip and fall, I quickly realize how crappy I feel when I'm not primal. When I awake up feeling alive, refreshed and full of energy BEFORE my cup of coffee I realize how terrible, bloated and swollen I feel when I wake up the day after a couple beers. This blueprint is simple, but not easy.

I'm a month back into the swing of things. I didn't jump in head first this time. I eased into into it. My only stumbling block remains to be beer. The 2 or 3 every evening remained constant until this week. During this week I've already dropped another 3lbs. Easing into it is officially over. Workouts are set to get into full gear this week.

I also purchased the 90day journal and started it 3 days ago. I like the layout. I will still post here from time to time, but my focus will be on the journal.

Keeping it simple...

[JDough MO]

~30 day-ish update:

The previous 30 days have been packed with struggles. However things are turning for the better. I've been using the PB 90 day journal, although somewhat inconsistently. What it has taught me is that:

1. My nutrition seems to be the best aspect of my Primal life. I eat Primal. I love cooking. I feel dialed in.
2. I discovered my stumbling block is alcohol. I tracked the days I drank 4 or more craft beers vs. when I didn't. I quit counting after I hit 14 days in a row.
3. I have quit alcohol. I took my last drink. I'm free.

So. My craft beer addiction was-counter acting the nutrition gains. Even worse, it was killing my energy and motivation. How could I possibly want to workout under those conditions.

I started at 205, got down to 194 (after not drinking for 5 days) and popped back up to 202 as of today. The last 30 days was by no means lost. It could prove to be the best and most life changing 30 days of my journey.

Another update in approximately 30 days...