Primal Journal (tim_1522) page

[tim_1522]

So, here I am...making a journal.

My "intro" can be found here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum...tml#post516293

Some more background:

Was a swimmer and runner in high school. Swimming for fun and running CC for the high school team. Between being extremely active (and being young as I've learned through the years) and my bodies almost overactive metabolism, I could eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and not really gain weight. I was 135 soaking wet on a good day all through most of high school. The downside to that was that even when I tried to gain weight in the form of muscle, it never worked. My diet wasn't terrible, but it wasn't stellar by any means. I consume plenty of sugar, but NOTHING compared to what's being consumed by a lot of HS kids today. I ate plenty of real food, too and have always like meat, eggs, veggies, fruit, etc. The big thing was that the AMOUNT of what I ate was high across the board.

Graduated, moved onto college and so forth. Work, family, kids, more school, new job and so on down the line...20 years later, time and life has caught up with me. I'm nearing 250 and I'm extremely inactive. Hypertension and High Cholesterol are the regular reports from a visit to the Doctor.

In the spring of 2011, something switched for me. I started running again and it was almost by accident. It was slowly but surely over the course of a couple of months but it felt so good and by the end of June, I was running about 20 miles a week and was slowly losing weight. I suppose I also made a conscious effort to eat "better" as well, but all of this was framed within the lens of CW. One thing that I did was I stopped drinking soda (was up to, at times, as many 4 or 5 cans a day) and replaced with water (and learned to drink coffee, which had added cream, but still didn't compete with the amount of sugar I was taking in from soda) Some of the running resources I was using recommended upping my protein intake, so I ate a bit more meat and such. I guess I tried to follow CW and make those protein/meat selections be "healthy" in that they be low fat. I also starting eating a little bit of fish (esp. Salmon -- one, I liked the taste best of all fish and two, I had heard it contain healthy fats/Omega 3s). But, those same running resources had the recommendation of getting lots of carbs. You know the drill: "Carb up" before a run, eat pasta, "healthy grains" and so forth...

I decided to train for a half marathon starting in July. The training went (I thought) very well and despite using lots of Gatorade and other recovery measures including pasta re-loads and so forth, I managed to drop below 200 (for the first time this millennium) soon after I ran my half-marathon in October. This included my BF %-age going from about 35% to 25% -- I was using a bio-electric impedance device, so the numbers aren't very precise, but I think the relative change was pretty accurate. The race itself went very well -- I had set a goal for myself of trying to hit an 11 min mile pace (or just under 2:24:00 finish time) and ended up running it in 2:07:57 -- a 9:45 min mile pace!!

Buoyed by a fantastic finish (IMO) and really ringing the bell from a weight loss standpoint, I decided to keep doing what I was doing. I did take a week or two off (as suggested by many of the running resources) before starting off again with my almost daily running. I was counting on continued weight loss (both in pounds and body fat percentage) and also improved running times.

From the time I dropped under 200 (almost November) until the end of the year I made very little progress in the weight department. My runs were pretty good, but they didn't seem to be improving anymore. I muddled through the winter. Holiday season present many times when my diet suffered. Between the weather (I only like to run outdoors...REAL running, not treadmill running) and just feeling a little "blah" I slowly didn't run as much, either. I ran a few races in something call the "Frostbite Series" (12K, 10mi, 15k) but none of my times were anything to be excited about.

As February 2011 hit, I felt like I had to get back to what I had been doing the previous summer. I "cleaned up" my diet and I also dusted off the old playbook -- the same 12 week half marathon training plan I had followed for my October run. I made adjustments to the plan in order to accommodate my new goal time -- I wanted to finish in under 2 hours, which meant maintaining a 9:09 min mile pace. I made plans to run another in May and started the training plan at the appropriate time in February to make it all work out. By this time my weight had crept back up to 205 and I was certain that I would be back under 200 and making progress in no time!

The first couple of week were great. The runs felt good, I was hitting the times in the training guide with ease and I was chugging along very well. Only one problem: my weight wasn't moving anywhere. I was still around 205 and above 25% BF. A friend of mine had started on his own weight loss endeavors and had discovered this great diet. I'm sure some here have heard of it. It was the "Slow Carb Diet" championed by Tim Ferriss and outlined in his book "The Four Hour Body" After doing some reading on it (for those unfamiliar, here's a basic summary: 4-Hour Body - The Slow-Carb Diet), I had some major trepidations --

1) I hated beans/lentils/any legume
2) I've not been a big fan of eggs
3) I really like fruit and I also like dairy

I figured if it would help me lose weight it would be worth it. I could suck it up and eat the beans. I could eat the eggs with OTHER foods and I could always have the fruit and dairy on "cheat day" (along with all the sugar and grains that I wanted, which I also LOVED) The idea of cheat day made it worth it to me!

So, I got started on March 27. I kept a progress log on a "Four Hour Body" forum here: Tim (not TF) 38yo (2011) M, 5'11" 205 starting | 4-HBtalk: The 4-Hour Body Forum In a nutshell, I got burned out on the diet. I HATED the beans, I HATED eating basically the same 15 foods over and over again, and despite at first feeling like the change in diet didn't affect me -- I ultimately felt like CRAP the last 2 or 3 weeks of my half marathon training! Despite hitting my goal time (barely -- 1:59:57) I felt 10x worse than I did both BEFORE and AFTER the race. I kept at the SCD for another week after the race, but I had been slowly ditching the beans. The last week, I did it without beans, and finally just LOST IT and spent a lot of time cheating and eating a lot of (mostly) sweets and grains. In the end, I really didn't lose much weight (or BF) and I feel like the diet impeded my progress on my running. Upon posting my frustrations, I was given a lot of direction and eventually ended up finding Mark's Daily Apple.

(At this point, I should note some positives of my "flirtation" with the Slow Carb Diet) First of all, I was first introduced to the idea that controlling blood sugar/insulin was the way to fat loss. Secondly, I was also first turned onto the idea that grains were harmful. This was re-enforced by my early visits to MDA. As a result of following the SCD, I learned to like avocado, eggs, and many new varieties of fish. I also started to get an understanding for how the source of food matters.

I cautiously read a lot of the articles and the stuff that was posted here at MDA. I was (and still am) a bit suspicious of the idea that all grains are bad. I knew (and still know) a lot of people in the running world and lots of them eat lots of grains and they are holding up well. I know that I'm certainly not privy to every ache and pain and maybe they "suffer in silence" because of grains. I guess I have a decent grasp of the "bio-chemical" reasons "why for", but I am still holding out some "lets see how it transfers to daily practice" (at least for the case of n=1...me!)

It was enough to keep me "trying" to avoid grains and sweets even though I had many failures along the way during the months of June and July. I also had kept considering the idea of running a full marathon this fall, but between being so blasted by the training + SCD and often just feeling low energy (perhaps from carb flu) I just could never really get started on running again. I also took a hard look at my life schedule going forward into the fall. I have 3 kids with the oldest entering junior year and the 2nd starting a stint at rigorous 7-12 preparatory school. Their lives are going to be demanding and I feel like I need to be there for them. I can't afford the time it would take to put in as many hours as it would take...I was beginning to look for a way to maintain health/fitness that required less time.

I ended up downloading Primal Blueprint Fitness on July 22 and I read the thing straight through. I liked the idea of doing something that involved a strength component. I liked the idea of the hardest workouts being shorter and I like the idea of incorporating "Move Frequently, but Slowly" into other aspects of my life -- blending fitness with family time and so forth. Soon after I joined the forums here and have been kind of more and more following PB. I took the "assessment" for the 5 essential primal movements (as outlined in the "Lift Heavy Things" section of PBF) on July 28th. My wife found the PB book at the library this past weekend and I read it in pretty much one shot as well.

[tim_1522]

So, apparently, I hit the charachter limit...yes, I can be a little wordy...continuing:

Starting August 1, I have been making a go and being fully Primal. And by that I mostly mean no grains and no sugars, while eating real foods and eliminating (as I like to call it) "crap in a box". For now, I'm allowing myself to exist pretty freely in all of the primal "gray areas" allowing myself fruit, dairy, etc. I'm not anywhere close to being perfect about the "sources" of all my foods, but I have been dabbling/trying things like Grass Fed Beef and Butter, Ghee, uncured bacon, and pastured/free range eggs.

On August 1, I took some "starting" data. I know that we're supposed to be focused less on stats and figures (like the suggestion to "throw away the scale") and be concerned with how I "feel" and energy levels and so forth. But, I guess I can't completely let go of everything at once. For background, I have been using for sometime a bathroom scale which also has electrodes for doing a bio-electric impedance measurement of body fat %-age. I am aware that these are not terribly accurate, but my understanding is that repeat measurements on the same device provide "relative" context with a decent amount of confidence and can be used for observing trend. I have been weighing myself naked (whether or not I look good) on Monday mornings for quite some time now.

8/1/2011 - 198.6lb total weight, 25.9% body fat, 54.0% H2O. This works out to a "calculated" mass of body fat 51.44 lbs.

In interest of being concerned with body composition over total weight, when setting a "goal" it is to get below a certain "calculated" body fat mass. As of right now, that number is 31.82 lbs. This is determined by taking my "ideal" total weight based on BMI for height of 176.8 and a <18% body fat reading, which is the benchmark for "fitness" and calculating the result. It makes sense as a goal in my mind...and I can adjust it if need be. So, as of the start of going Primal, I would like to lose 19.62 lbs of fat!

I kept record of several of these types of measurements while I was doing the SCD, which can be seen on the linked thread. What I find interesting already was that from the "last" SCD weigh-in until the "first" Primal weigh, there's not much change. It's interesting because in that time I was not exercising very much. I had stopped running almost completely. I was probably more active naturally from it being the summertime -- swimming, yard work, and so forth -- but other than that, I was pretty inactive (especially compared to the time I had been spending running the past year or so). During that same time I was transitioning from SCD minus beans as a diet to investigate/considering the Primal approach (with lots of cheating by either standard) before finally deciding to go "all in" on the Primal approach.

I intend to use this journal to record eating patterns, activity, impressions, etc. But, I need to go back a little bit first. As I mentioned, I took the "assessment" for the 5 essential primal movements on July 28. Here were the results:

Pushups -- Starting at Level 1 (Wall Pushups)
Pullups -- Starting at Level 1 (Two Legged Assist Pullups)
Squats -- Starting at Level 4 (Full Squats)
Overhead Press -- Starting at Level 1 (Elevated Jack Knife Press)
Planks -- Starting at Level 2 (Forearm/Knee Planks)

Hmmm...can you tell I was a runner? Seems I'm VERY weak at everything besides the Squat.

After taking the assessment, I tried doing a single Cycle of the exercises at my Starting Level. These results were as follows:

Wall Pushups - 35
Two Legged Assist Pullups - 10
Full Squats - 50
Elevated Jack Knife Press - 15
Front Forearm/Knee Plank - 74 seconds
Side 1 Forearm/Knee Plank - 42 seconds
Side 2 Forearm/Knee Plank - 48 seconds

That was the Thursday before I "officially" went all-in on Primal. What will follow, I'm thinking is one post with a kind of "running log" that I will update throughout the week and then each Monday a weigh-in post and a "how I feel" as well as "where I'd like to go next" kind of commentary. I may post more frequently, I may skip/forget. I may not be able to painstakingly log everything as well as I would like. I suppose I will just see how it goes...

[supersellen]

Welcome, Tim! I look forward to seeing your progress and changes as you adapt to the PB from a running background. Best of luck!

[tim_1522]

August 1 - August 7, 2011

This is going back and covers the week from August 1 through August 7, using mainly the information I posted on my Progress Log on that "other" forum. It reached a point where it seemed more appropriate to post this stuff over here. I'll probably go back and link to this thread on the other place at some point. anyways...

Monday
Breakfast: chicken, eggs, asparagus, spinach.
AM drink: 24oz black coffee combined with 12oz coconut milk, cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa.
Lunch: chicken, broccoli with butter, spinach/lettuce salad, 1 small avocado, a little cantaloupe and 1 small kiwi.
Dinner: 2 burgers (1/3 # pre-cooked each, one grass-fed, one "conventional") with a little aged white cheddar and 2 slices of uncured bacon each. Lettuce, broccoli, asparagus, 1 small kiwi and small handful of blueberries.
PM snack: 1 small square dark chocolate

Activity: I performed the 5 "essential" primal movements exercise -- 2 cycles each. This fits into the "Lift Heavy Things" categories of PBF. Results:

Wall Pushups - 60, 55
Two Legged Assist Pullups - 11, 11
Full Squats - 65, 61
Elevated Jack Knife Press - 25, 21
Front Forearm/Knee Plank - 100, 65 seconds
Side 1 Forearm/Knee Plank - 55, 35 seconds
Side 2 Forearm/Knee Plank - 60, 60 seconds

Supplements: 6 fish oil capsules
Cheats: 10 skittles (I'm still a sucker for sweets) and a small handful of potato chips.
Thoughts: The grass-fed burger REALLY was better than the "conventional" one. See my full thoughts in this thread: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum...tml#post530351

Tuesday
Breakfast: none
AM drink: 24oz black coffee combined with 12oz coconut milk, cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa.
Lunch: Leftover grassfed beef arm roast (pot roast style), lettuce/spinach salad, 1 small avocado, 1 small kiwi
Dinner: 2 burgers (1/3 # pre-cooked each, "conventional") with a little aged white cheddar and 2 slices of bacon each. Lettuce & broccoli.
PM Snack: 1 roasted pork chop (~5oz)
Activity: Swimming with the kids for about 1 hour. I didn't do any specific strokes, just moved around, interacted with the kids and tried to stay in water where I couldn't touch so as to keep myself moving. This fits into the "Play" and "Move Frequently, but Slowly" categories of PBF.
Supplements: 3 fish oil capsules
Cheats: none

Wednesday
AM drink: 24oz black coffee combined with 12oz coconut milk, cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa.
Breakfast: chicken thigh, spinach, asparagus and eggs.
Lunch: chicken breast, broccoli with butter, spinach, 1 small avocado, 1 small kiwi
PM Snack: 1 roasted pork chop (~5oz)
Dinner: Rotisserie chicken, spinach, broccoli, lettuce, blueberries, strawberries
Activity: 30 minute walk break during work. This fits into the "Move Frequently, but Slowly" categories of the Fitness plan.
Supplements: 3 fish oil capsules
Cheats: none
Thoughts: This was an interesting dinner. We got the rotisserie chicken already made at the local Sam's Club. Probably not "ideal" but looking at the label, there didn't appear to be any added sugar or nasty chemicals. Obviously when buying prepared, it's never a "for sure" thing and there was probably waaay to much salt. But, the kind of positive about it was that we really "got Primal" as a family and just cut pieces of the chicken off and ate them as well as just eating from the containers of fruits and veggies. We didn't use any utensils (other than a knife to cut up the chicken) and didn't really use plates -- it was all with hands, and VERY enjoyable.

...

Ok, so I got busy and didn't keep up with tracking exactly, but I can summarize with I had no cheats from Thursday thru Saturday. I did a lot of walking the rest of the week and did 6 sprints of approximately 1/8 mile on Saturday -- part of the "Sprint Once In a While" portion of PBF. I did NOT do a second LHT workout this week, but instead I was listening to my body which was feeling it pretty badly from the first one and decided to "Rest" and "Play" more. From a eating standpoint, another interesting thing was we tried making a Coconut Flour based pancake on Saturday which I had with Bacon. I know coconut flour is pretty high in calories/carbs and was probably pushing even the "gray area" of primal, but it was something I never tried before and it's likely far better than just doing "conventional" pancakes. Most of the other stuff was pretty similar to the other days that I did track carefully, except Sunday...

Sunday was a challenge as I was at a family birthday party with basically NOTHING that was compliant. I picked around the crap that was in a salad, had a hot dog with no bun, ate mostacholi sauce while leaving the pasta, had a little watermelon, while skipping the chips, pretzels, soda, etc....and avoided the cake but had some ice cream. Considering the circumstances, I could have fared worse. I also bracketed the consumption with some physical activity -- playing frisbee with the kids, which I did both before and after the food was served, and even spent a little time barefoot while playing.

For many that have been strictly PB compliant for a long time, this may seem like a terrible event -- what with the processed meat in the hot dog and the ice cream, but you have to take my word on it that even just a month ago, this kind of event could have (nay WOULD have) been much, much worse. It was something of "breakthrough" for me.

So, Monday, August 8 (1 week in) weigh-in results and thoughts:

8/8/2011 - 197.6lb total weight, 25.0% body fat, 54.7% H2O. This works out to a "calculated" mass of body fat 49.40 lbs.

Results look "good" so far, with a week to week reduction of 1.0 lb of total weight and 2.04lb of "calculated" mass of body fat, but with a few caveats:

- I got my hair cut on Saturday. I don't know how much, but this will obviously affect my total weight a little bit
- Obviously, the tool used for measuring body fat percentage (bio-electric impedance based) is not terribly accurate/precise
- The last few weeks I was following SCD, I was seeing a lot of "forward" progress one week, followed by "reverse" progress the next and a net effect over several weeks of basically standing still.

Bottom line, too soon to tell if any new progress is being made, but (a complete side issue) I do like the fact that it appears that I've managed to stay UNDER 200 lbs since mid-April (at least I believe so as I didn't weigh-in regularly during the time between ending SCD and starting Primal...but I was under 200 before and after, so...) Anyway, that's almost 4 months and 200 had been a point that I would go back and forth across without staying under for a long time.

Cautiously optimistic...

Next week, I want to do a better job logging the pertinent data (eating logs, activity/exercise, etc.) and complete 2 strength ("Lift Heavy Things") workouts along with 1 Sprint workout AND increase the overall time of "Moving Slowly" and "Play".

[tim_1522]

Welcome, Tim! I look forward to seeing your progress and changes as you adapt to the PB from a running background. Best of luck!

Thanks! And you mentioning the running background made me realize that was part of the "background" that I left out.

Upon deciding to try PBF, I've decided to put running a marathon on the shelf for the short-term. It's a journey and I've found that it's best to let plans/goals change. I think I would still like to do a marathon at some point, but a lot of my reading on MDA has convinced me that I need to focus on getting STRONG first. So, my new plan/goal is to try to work my way up to Level 4 on all the essential primal movements and then look at attempting a marathon training and race.

I have thoughts of merging the concepts of PBF with more of a "classic" marathon running training plan. I would do twice weekly LHT exercises as well as weekly sprint training -- which are already part of any decent running/training program -- and then as Mark suggests in PBF take the other 4 days (and 3-5 hours) for "Moving Slowly" and do the remainder of the marathon training under that umbrella...but do it all SLOW running/jogging so that I keep it in the 55-75% range. I would also consider allowing myself to tap into that once weekly allowance to go up into 80% range for "well trained endurance athletes"

During some of the "peak" weeks I would probably be pushing the envelope, but I think if I really focus on keeping my pace slow so that I stay in the 55-75% range and that as long as I'm doing that kind of effort for only a few "peak" weeks (probably 2-3 at most before tapering) as opposed to week after week after week like most "Chronic Cardio" types do, that I'll be ok. I imagine that after running the race, I will allow myself to balance up by soaking up extra "Play" and "Rest"!

But...that's a ways down the way. First, I want to get stronger!

[tim_1522]

August 8 - August 14, 2011

Monday
Breakfast: none
AM drink: 24oz black coffee combined with 12oz coconut milk, cinnamon.
Lunch: Chicken thighs cooked in coconut oil, broccoli, spinach, 1 small avocado, 1 small kiwi
Dinner: Crustless chicken pot pie (chicken, peas, carrots, and then some of the chicken broth I made last week and a little tapioca for thickening) and Eggplant Parmesan.
Activity: I performed the 5 "essential" primal movements exercise -- 2 cycles each. This fits into the "Lift Heavy Things" categories of PBF. Results:

Wall Pushups - 65, 60
Two Legged Assist Pullups - 15, 13
Full Squats - 65, 66
Elevated Jack Knife Press - 30, 25
Front Forearm/Knee Plank - 95, 71 seconds
Side 1 Forearm/Knee Plank - 60, 53 seconds
Side 2 Forearm/Knee Plank - 75, 75 seconds

It seems that "Side 2" is the stronger side for whatever reason. I have been and intend to continue to record the stronger side (which has been the same one throughout) as "Side 2"

Supplements: 3 fish oil capsules
Cheats: none
Thoughts: After the LHT workout, I came home and had a little bit of the "homemade" Nutella that my wife had made from scratch with Hazelnuts, Cocoa Powder, and just a little bit of powdered sugar. She said that she used 2 tsp in the ~10oz container and I had about a teaspoon of that. Between the sugar content being so low and the fact that it was immediately post-workout, I decided to not consider it a "cheat" although some probably would consider it so. Later, I was in my bedroom and was starting to consider having a kiwi, but then thought to myself that I "didn't need it" so, I didn't get get it.

Tuesday
Breakfast: none
AM drink: 24oz black coffee combined with 12oz coconut milk.
Lunch: Chicken breast cooked in coconut oil, scrambled cage free brown eggs, spinach. This was supposed to be my breakfast, which I took "to go" but then I get into work and got busy and ended up eating for lunch. What I brought for "lunch" has gone un-eaten and I suppose I will have it tomorrow.
Dinner: Grilled grass fed burger (1/3#) with some extra sharp cheddar, Grilled (~6oz) pork chop, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, and a small bowl of a blueberry/kiwi/strawberry mix.
Activity: ~25 minute walk (1.5mile) before dinner. After dinner wife and kids spent ~45minutes walking up to the elementary school, then we played on the playground, swung on the swings, and walked around the ballfields a few times before walking home. We kept moving the whole time and between the two activities, I covered "Move Frequently, but Slowly" and "Play" pretty well.
Supplements: 3 fish oil capsules
Cheats: I nipped another teaspoon of the homemade Nutella. It's really quite good and has a much fuller nutty taste than the store-bought stuff. I feel like this is kind of "on par" with Mark's cheats of dark chocolate, so it's a gray area thing. Yesterday I didn't call it a cheat, today I did.
Thoughts: I really like cooking with and eating coconut oil! Over the past 2 days, I've noticed a real downshift in my hunger/appetite. I'm hesitant to say it because I've been here before only to have it come back again with a vengeance, but for now...

Wednesday
Breakfast: eggs, chicken thigh, asparagus, spinach
AM drink: 24oz black coffee combined with 12oz coconut milk, cinnamon.
Lunch: (This was supposed to be yesterday's, remember?) Chicken breast, leftover grilled pork chop & carrots, broccoli, small avocado, small kiwi.
Dinner: 12oz Wild Caught Ahi Tuna (100g of protein) from TJs cooked in Coconut Oil, spinach, lettuce, some cheddar cheese, and a small bowl of a blueberry/kiwi/strawberry mix.
PM Snack: Square of 73% Dark Chocolate
Activity: 20 minutes of walking after lunch (which also covered getting some time in the sun, something that I haven't been so good about so far) Then walk up to the nearby elementary school with the kids, ~1 mile walking around the fields, swings, and walking back home before dinner. Plenty of "Move Slowly" and "Play" with a little "Get some sunlight" mixed in for good measure.
Supplements: 3(1200mg each) fish oil capsules
Cheats: well, dammit, I nipped another teaspoon of that homemade Nutella. It's almost gone(with much help from the kids), though, so hopefully that will stop!
Thoughts: Last night my wife had gone shopping and it was nice to come home to a frig full of "good stuff" Chicken, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, strawberries, blueberries, avocados, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting were stuffed into the refrigerator. With the amount of whole, fresh food we are buying we really need to consider another refrigerator. I'm a little concerned that I might be having too much fruit and dairy. But, hopefully this will level out with some time.

Thursday
Breakfast: none
AM drink: 24oz black coffee combined with 12oz coconut milk, cinnamon.
Lunch: What was supposed to be breakfast: two pieces of Egg Frattata (containing butter, eggs, bacon, aged cheddar cheese) topped with spinach.
Mid-PM snack: I decided to take off from work early today (more on this in Activities) so, the packed lunch went again uneaten. When I got home, I grabbed 2 more pieces of the Fratta (with more spinach) and then grabbed a chicken thigh and a head of romaine as I headed back out the door...
Dinner: ~7.5 oz of baked/spiced tilapia, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, some aged cheddar cheese and another small bowl of a blueberry/kiwi/strawberry mix. Too many blueberries, probably...
Activity: Lots! As I said, I decided to leave work early today and I walked up to the neighborhood pool with the kids and we were in the water for about 2 hours -- at least 30 minutes of that I spent in the deep end doing the kind of "fractal" stuff that Mark talks about. I didn't just swim mindless laps, I just did whatever I felt like: freestyle, flip to backstroke, breaststroke, other made up strokes, deep dives down to the bottom, flips and other crazy random movements, including swimming on my back using just my arms and trying to hold my abs in while I went. "Move Slowly" and "Play" and plenty of sunlight along the way, too. Then after dinner, I did my second round of LHT this week with the 5 essential Primal movements. Results:

Wall Pushups - 60, 52
Two Legged Assist Pullups - 16, 16
Full Squats - 61, 55
Elevated Jack Knife Press - 27, 24
Front Forearm/Knee Plank - 90, 91 seconds
Side 1 Forearm/Knee Plank - 60, 62 seconds
Side 2 Forearm/Knee Plank - 90, 72 seconds

Not quite as good as the results from Monday, but then again, this is the first week that I've LHT'ed twice...and I did a lot of stuff earlier in the day.

Supplements: 6(1200mg each) fish oil capsules
Cheats: Yup, got into the homemade Nutella again...another teaspoon.
Thoughts: Does is make me a bad person if whenever I see a jogger methodically plodding along I think to myself in the "Real Men of Genius" type voice/tune..."Chronic Carido dude/girl!!!" ??

Friday
AM drink: 24oz black coffee combined with 12oz coconut milk, cinnamon.
Breakfast: Cage Free Organic Scrambled eggs cooked in Ghee with uncured Bacon, asparagus
Lunch: Mealtimes have become strange for me...wasn't really hungry until about 3:15 and so I started working on the packed lunch I haven't eaten for the past few days. Chicken thigh, spinach, small piece of pork chop, broccoli, some more chicken thighs cooked in coconut oil, lettuce, 1/2 a kiwi.
Dinner: Ok...so, this is where it gets a little ugly. I've been having some strange mealtimes "following my hunger cues" and coupled with having a friend over, didn't really get hungry until 10pm or so and when I did, it was the "EAT NOW" kind of hunger. We ended up going to Buffalo Wild Wings. This is bad because: 1) BWW doesn't publish any of their nutritional information 2) I just KNOW that those sauces probably have a bunch of stuff I don't want to think about... Now, this was mitigated slightly - I made the best choices I could. I had a burger that was topped with cheese, pulled pork, some sauce and 2 onion rings. There was also a tomato slice and a few shreds of iceberg lettuce. I ditched the bun. I also had some of the straight up wings (avoided the boneless ones since they are breaded) and stuck to hotter sauces (which should in theory have less sugar) BUT, I also had some potato products, which aren't TOO bad, but I suspect they were probably cooked in crappy oils... I am not thrilled about it, but it was an indulgence, plain and simple...but one that was better than what I would have done in the past. Now, I move on from it.
Activity: None..."Rest" which I needed after the high activity day yesterday. Kind of wish I had taken at least a short walk after going to BWW as that might have helped things a bit. Also, I didn't get any sunlight to speak of, either.
Supplements: 3(1200mg each) fish oil capsules
Cheats: See "Dinner" above.
Thoughts: It's pretty amazing to me that I can drink my coffee with no added sugar now. I still can't drink it black and have to rely on the coconut milk, but there's lots of nice benefits to the coconut milk, so this is big improvement for me, I think. On one hand, I regret not doing that walk, but on the other, I was trying to "Rest" a lot today and it was pretty late after eating and the walk might have impeded the "Rest" efforts. Lots of stuff to balance...

[supersellen]

Great job making better decisions in a group setting last week. Even though by your new standards you fell short, you did so awesome compared to the decisions you likely would have made in that setting, so good for you! I also had a serious downshift in my appetite after a couple weeks eating primal. I was coming off of strict adherence to the high protein / low fat p90x diet plan that required me to eat 6+ times a day. It took some adjusting, but I listened to my body, which is the most important thing. I cannot even imagine eating that often now. Most days, 3 meals feels like a bother!

I am currently training for a Tough Mudder event, which is a good combination of trail running and strength obstacles. I find that if I do not have a tangible goal I tend to get rather lazy. Maybe something like that would be up your alley and allow you the best of both fitness worlds and fit in to what you are trying to accomplish.

The best quote I have ever heard on this site is:

DON'T LET PERFECT BE THE ENEMY OF GOOD.

[tim_1522]

Great job making better decisions in a group setting last week. Even though by your new standards you fell short, you did so awesome compared to the decisions you likely would have made in that setting, so good for you! I also had a serious downshift in my appetite after a couple weeks eating primal. I was coming off of strict adherence to the high protein / low fat p90x diet plan that required me to eat 6+ times a day. It took some adjusting, but I listened to my body, which is the most important thing. I cannot even imagine eating that often now. Most days, 3 meals feels like a bother!

Thanks! I know what you mean about 3 times being almost a "bother" at this point. Generally, it's more a case of I'm finding I'm not hungry at the "traditional" meal times. I've been kind of rolling with it, though...eating when I'm hungry. I get some weird looks when I eat lunch at 2pm, but oh well...

I am currently training for a Tough Mudder event, which is a good combination of trail running and strength obstacles. I find that if I do not have a tangible goal I tend to get rather lazy. Maybe something like that would be up your alley and allow you the best of both fitness worlds and fit in to what you are trying to accomplish.

I've heard of Tough Mudder, but I think that a little more intense than I'm ready for at this point. As far as goals, I tend to do better with defined ones as well, but I think I'm covered. Right now, I'm focused on the goal of following PB eating as closely as possible...and that's not terribly well-defined so, I'll restate that as:
-Ditch grains
-Ditch sugars
-Ditch prepared/processed foods (or as I prepare to call it, "Crap in a Box")

Also, I have a goal of fully incorporating PBF: Strength 2x a week, sprint 1x a week, get plenty of "Move Slowly", "Play" more, get that 15 minutes of sun everyday, focus on "Rest" as well as everything else. For a goal oriented type, those last few are actually really challenging as goals.

Lastly, from a strictly exercise standpoint, I have set a goal of getting to Level 4 on all five of the Essential Primal Movements. I think that will keep my busy for a while.

The best quote I have ever heard on this site is:

DON'T LET PERFECT BE THE ENEMY OF GOOD.

Yes, I've seen it/heard. It's one that's stuck with me as well. Seems to apply to my situation on Sunday.

[supersellen]

I think it is great that you are including some of the often ignored details in your goal such as getting outside and getting good rest. It is funny, when my husband and I moved into our current house a couple years ago, we were so excited for the huge pantry that would accommodate our enormous pasta, rice, and other grain inventory. Now it is a room with one shelf dedicated to food that contains only coconut milk, coconut oil, and a few cans of atrichoke hearts, black olives, and maybe some tomato paste. The extra space was ideal to shove a big freezer in for bulk buying meat though!

[tim_1522]

So, I hit the character limit for the August 8 - August 14, 2011 log...continuing here. I may have to consider making daily posts depending on how verbose I am.

Saturday
Breakfast: None...work up and did not feel hungry AT ALL. This was surprising as I was expecting to get a bit of a kick in the butt and having a hard hunger urge after the crash from last night's mis-steps. Maybe Mark is right in that after a while, even if you go out of range for awhile as long as it's minimized and kept to occasional, you body can "right the ship" easier when it's already at a place of better balance.
AM snack: My wife came home from Whole Foods with a case of coconut milk (10% discount!) and some 365 Whey Protein powder because she wanted to try making some smoothies. I had some of the one she made with the Whey, some cocoa powder, almond butter, coconut milk, and some ice after I had done my sprints (see "Activity" below) and then followed that up with a small kiwi
Lunch: About an hour after I got home from my sprints and had the smoothie, I decided I was really hungry for one of them there BASes, So, I chopped up a 1/2 head romaine, added spinach leaves, sliced a small avocado up, then added some sliced chicken thigh and some blueberries. Soooo good!
Dinner:
Activity: Sprint Day! I took the youngest two kids with me, walked up to the local high school (about a mile away) and then decided to run sprints on the baseball fields since: 1) It was partially shaded and 2) The track/football field was pretty crowded from the practice that was going on. What I did was I had us each sprint as hard as we could for ~30 seconds and then when we stopped noted that point with a stick in the ground. That was sprint 1 and we rested 2 minutes before sprinting back to where we started for sprint 2. Another 2 minute rest and then we sprinted back to the marked spot...and so on. We did 8 sprints total, putting 2 minutes rest between each, except we took an extra 30 seconds rest between sprint 7 and 8. My sprint times were: 30, 28, 28, 29, 30, 29, 33, 30 -- I didn't really time the kids, just encouraged them to give it all they had. It was pretty good stuff and then we walked back home.
Supplements: 3(1200mg each) fish oil capsules
Cheats:
Thoughts: Investigated finding a local source for eggs and looks like my wife hit the jackpot. Ended up talking to a lady about 10 minutes away from our house (and basically on my way to/from work) that has 6 acres for ~200 chickens and based on the conversation my wife had with her, she's just the kind of source we are looking for -- was willing to have us come and look around, kept talking about how much she loves chickens, and was very adamant about telling my wife about what chickens are SUPPOSED to eat - which we pretty much knew already, but hearing the person talk so strongly about it was a great sign. The details are: She has a variety of hens so it's a mix of brown, blue, white, and green shelled eggs. The chickens are allowed to do whatever they want throughout the day and she brings them in to protect them from predators. She does not give them corn/feed at all and just "lets them scavenge" as she said, except for a little alfalfa in the fall. The eggs are $3.00/dozen, which is the same price as even the cheapest eggs at Trader Joes/Whole Food and they come from who knows where and those eggs are a bit unclear as to exactly what the conditions the chickens are raised in, using only the "buzzwords" which really don't have much meaning if you look up what it takes to put said buzzword on the package. I think this sounds like a great set up. We are getting 2 dozen tomorrow to see for sure, but told the lady that we anticipate going up to 5 dozen a week (there are 5 of us, although our oldest kiddo doesn't currently eat eggs)

Sunday
AM drink: 24oz black coffee combined with 6.75oz (half the can from Whole Foods) coconut milk.
Breakfast: bacon and some of the newly acquired local pasture raised eggs with spinach and asparagus.
Lunch: snacked on 2 or 3 (or maybe 4) of the "blueberry/nut/coconut covered balls" recipe that has been floating around the MDA forums.
Dinner: kind of sucked. Was at a social situation (more in "Activity" below) and ended up eating a burger (that I know was out of a frozen box) with lettuce and tomato. Also, had some potato chips and a brownie that was also non to Primal friendly. On the positive side, I stayed out of the bad drinks -- no beer, no soda, just lots of water and one tall glass of unsweetened ice tea with lemon.
PM snack: After coming home, had a piece of grilled chicken breast with my secret butter and spices sauce along with a couple of pieces of KerryGold sharp cheddar cheese that my wife had found at the store earlier today and a small kiwi.
Activity: Another pretty busy day. While grilling chicken breasts, I spent some time kicking the soccer ball around the backyard with my youngest (Play) and then had a "Meet & Greet" style Washers tournament (more Play) with my son at the school he will be starting this fall. We managed to make it to the semi-finals before being knocked out. It was good activity, but the food choices were not ideal. I made the best of it. AND, I was out in the sun for both activities. After I got back home and ate dinner, went on a long walk (Move Slowly) with my wife. Somewhere around 45-60 minutes...I didn't really time it.
Supplements: none...forgot...
Thoughts: Kind of an up and down week. Got a pretty good amount of time spent in the sun, although still doing a lot of activities after dark. Did LHT twice and sprinted once this week and also seemed to collect a good amount of moving slowly and play. I probably STILL didn't get enough sleep, though I think I improved on that. Disappointed with myself at not handling the social situations better. Definitely eating too much fruit and cheese and probably not enough veggies...and possibly not enough protein, either.

Results coming shortly...