Primal Journal (Khimera) page

[Khimera]

So, I came out of the Marine Corps just about 11 years ago (precisely 11 on Halloween of this year in fact). I went from a streamlined 190#, to, over the course of those years, to a very civilian (no offense) 272# about a year ago, which I trimmed down to 257# with some exercise and cleaner eating, which I'd been severely lacking, over a period of 2 months.

In all those years I didn't eat horribly, but I didn't eat great either. I didn't exercise much, aside from a second job I picked up midway through '08 working for a Lowe's Home Improvement store. Despite the active nature of that job several days a week, between my main sedentary job and non-stellar eating habits, I didn't loose weight, in fact, I gained my last 20# pounds the year before I dropped back to 257#. Stress and a lack of sleep did me in as much as my eating habits and lack of exercise.

Once I dropped to 257# I stalled there for a little under a year, until July/August of this year when I decided to go Primal. My wife was in her last month of pregnancy with our daughter and I decided that I wanted to be healthy again, super healthy, for myself and my family, and especially my daughter to be. In just shy of a month, I mostly ate Primal, except for about 4 cheat meals where we were out and hungry in places that a truly clean meal was exceptionally difficult; mostly because, well, I love Indian and Mexican food. But in that time period, cheat meals included, I lost 19 pounds, dropping to 238#, with my only real exercise being Lowe's and walking my dog. I wasn't starving myself, but was having a hell of a time fighting the "Carb Flu" but beyond the lack of super energy, I wasn't tired, my body had felt better than it had in years and the weight was just sliding off. All of that aside, did I mention that my mental focus, which had severely lost focus over the course of the preceding 3-4 years, suddenly came back into very sharp clarity. Which definitely showed in my work as backed up by comments from my bosses, without them ever really knowing what was going on.

Then the week before my wife gave birth I slipped off the wagon, and stayed off until a few days ago (so started "early" for the 30 day challenge . Crazy sleep schedule with baby and eating when we can has been the challenge since then, so about a month since I slipped of said wagon. Wanting to feel great again, and trim down to my fight form, better than ever; this 30 day challenge comes at the perfect time to act as the real doorway to the rest of my life! My wife is toying with the idea, and knows the benefits, has seen them, but she's fighting with the temptation of baked goods and delicious cold sugar/caffeinated drinks (which are some of my big temptations as well). Maybe the next 30 days can sway her!

The bigger aim is to raise our daughter in this mindset, so that she lives it, though it may have to wait till she goes to solid foods, haha.

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30 Day Challenge Goals:

To stay on track for a minimum of 30 days
Find my correct carb balance to beat the "Carb Flu"
Hopefully get under 220, and muscle up some of the chub
Get better about thinking and planning dynamically in regards to Primal cooking


Big Goals:

Drop back into super fitness, and making it as dynamic as possible
Play more, dance more, be more
Feel good about wearing nothing but shorts again
Start hunting (whats more primal than putting meat on your table the traditional way!)
Spread the seed to others looking to truly live again, without being pushy
Never look back (though there will be an occasional cheat meal or day once a month or two)

******

Sept 12, 2011 Log (I'll try and log every day with progress, but it may not always happen w/a 3 week old baby

Exercise: Walked and randomly jogged with my dog on a trail for an hour in the AM; traditional upper body workout and abs for a little over an hour.

Water: Just over a gallon for the day.

Brunch: 2 eggs scrambled with a touch of organic whole milk and a sausage cooked in almond oil all mixed together; a bowl of watermelon.

Dinner: 12oz (after cooking) steak w/fat left on (tastes so much better that way); cauliflower mash w/mushrooms. All spiced to deliciousness.

I know I should have definitely eaten more, but I slept a lot today (naps with baby


Hopefully this all makes at this late hour Eastern Time.

[Khimera]

EDIT: A few updates to Monday that I forgot - I had a large black coffee at Starbucks, and a handful of almonds in the afternoon.

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Exercise: Walked my dog for a little over an hour in our very hilly neighborhood; ran play sprints in the in laws backyard with my dog for about 30 minutes (tried tiring him out, but it backfired on me

Breakfast: 1 egg omelette with left over 4oz steak from previous night and cauliflower mash; handful of almonds and some watermelon.

Lunch: Banana (was feeling the need for potassium) and a more almonds, large black coffee from Starbucks and a sausage, egg and cheese (stripped the bread and most of the cheese and gave it to the dog.

Dinner: 7oz steak, zucchini spaghetti and broccoli along with a HUGE primal salad of mixed greens and spinach, onions, shredded carrot, mushrooms, hard boiled eggs, bacon and olive oil.

Snack: Large black Starbucks coffee, handful of almonds.

My wife and I had a date day, dropping off the baby and the dog with the in laws as we went for a drive in the country and checking out a large used book store. Though I'm still awake, but it's my fault for drinking the coffee late at night, but it was almost 9pm before we started the hour drive home. Great day, but we both missed our little girl and dog, lol.

[Khimera]

Alright, so two days have basically passed since I posted. Wednesday was a rough eat day, not because of the selection but because of one of those close cash times in this economy, especially with the cost of diapers, and just staying in the house to limit any sort of spending. Needless to really say, but it was a thin food day.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Exercise: Walked and sprinted with the dog for about an hour in our hilly neighborhood (roughly 3 sprints, not counting crossing the street)

Water: Roughly a gallon (always drinking water, even if I forget to mention it)

Brunch-ish: 2 sausages, banana, last of my almond butter

Dinner: Shrimp, kale and mushrooms cooked in almond oil (LARGE helping)


Thursday, September 15, 2011

Didn't get out of the house until almost 2pm for a Dr's appointment for my wife, which between the wait room and the appointment had us in there for almost an hour. Aside from a banana each for my wife an I we hadn't eaten anything yet. By the time we got out of the appointment we were both cranky and had wicked headaches, so took a direct trip to the grocery store (yay for payday).

Exercise: 20 minute walk with the dog in the inlwas neighborhood....no hills, and then it started pouring. Normally not a big deal for myself or the dog, but the wife/inlaws would not have been thrilled.

Water: Still working on my gallon, lol

Snack: Banana

Lunch: Half pound of turkey breast lunch meat, banana, several slices of ham lunch meat wrapped around a sliced up avacado.

Dinner: Large dish of sausage and broccoli rabe
(wife and inlaws had pizza and chocolate cake for the mother in law's bday....oh, how I wanted pizza and cake, but, by a very thin thread, I held off. I knew how they'd make me feel if I crossed the line, which was the only thing keeping me in check on this very light food day)


Paternity leave is awesome, love being home with my wife, daughter and dog; crazy schedule is super crazy and going to be quite the twist when I go back to work. Being home makes eating primal easier, but the erratic times and catching sleep when we can makes eating erratic at times too.