OC Hugh's Primal Adventure page

[Hugh]

OC Hugh checking in...

It took a while to get the camera but I've taken my photo and sent it off to Mark this morning.

I'll be 51 this year. I'm 5' 7" and weigh 167 lbs. That gives me a body mass index of 26. According to my scale I have 26% body fat. I obviously have room for improvement.

I'd like to get back to my best physical self when I was in my early 20's. I weighed 158, I could bench press 225lbs 6 times unassisted and my wife really liked how I LGN.

Besides the fat loss and an increase in lean muscle I'm determined to get my endurance level back. The other day I was carrying firewood to my truck across mostly flat ground and after a few minutes of it I noticed that I was breathing hard enough that it affected how I was talking to my friend.

I also want to get my blood work numbers back into the low normal range (or high normal) depending on what's being tested. I'll be having a physical done before the end of this month so I'll have current numbers to compare when I end this challenge.

Speaking of which... I don't really see an end to my personal challenge since I have come to believe that this really needs to become a life style. I was about 70% primal early last summer and easily managed to drop 15 lbs in 9 weeks. I wasn't exercising at all just doing my normal physical activities through out the day. I expect even greater results this time since I'll be doing the entire program.

I'm glad to be one of the many people that have accepted the challenge in 2012. I'm looking forward to using this forum to journal my successes and the inevitable hurdles that will pop up along the way.

Here's to a wonderful, life changing, 2012.

OC Hugh

[Hugh]

So tomorrow is Day 1. I'll be having a physical and some blood work done. I'm also be taking a few more photos and some measurements so I'll have a better way to track my improvements.

I've been eating more primal but I'm still struggling with junk carb addiction. However, as I'm typing this, my lovely wife offered me a piece of toasted blueberry bread. I said no thank you very much. :-)

Four of us will now be doing this challenge. My wife is joining me as well as our daughter and her boyfriend. Tonight we'll be cleaning out the pantry of anything we should avoid.

OC Hugh

[Hugh]

I've been doing great with my new eating habits. I've not had any grains or sugary carbs, other than some fruit, since I started. I did cheat a tiny bit today when I ate a few bites of a grilled cheese sandwich. I'm down to 161 lbs and 22% according to our Tanita body fat monitor/scale. I'll be doing my exercise assessment this weekend and begin the actual exercises next week. I had some blood work done last week and that will be part of my "before" stats as well.

[Hugh]

Here's my before photo. I'm just standing there relaxed. As relaxed as I can be knowing that this photo will be on the internet for folks to see.


Jan 7, 2012

[Hugh]

Some of my before numbers from my blood test on 1/16/2012

Glucose (12 hr fasting) 102 mg/dL reference range = 65 to 99 That makes me technically pre-diabetic

Lipid Profile -
Cholesterol 232 mg/dL ref range = <200
Triglycerides 50 mg/dL ref range = <150
HDL 46 mg/dL ref range = >39
LDL (Calculated) 176 mg/dL ref range = <100
Cholesterol/HDL = 5.04 (<5 = good, <3.5 = excellent)

Vit D, 25-hydroxy 123 ng/mL ref range = 30 to 150

There a bunch more numbers on the blood test but those that I've posted are the important ones to me right now. I might add more after I follow up with the Doctor next week. I'm pretty he's concerned about my glucose and cholesterol levels.

[Hugh]

I'm going to do my fitness pre-test today. I plan on doing as many reps of the PEMs as I can and also time how long it takes me to do a full set. For instance, if I'm supposed to do 50 pushups, I'll do as many as I can on my first attempt and then rest a bit and continue on until I reach 50.

Does that sound okay? Any suggestions on another way to do it?

[Hugh]

I went to the Doctor yesterday for my blood work followup. Doc said my numbers were good in most areas but that I needed to lower my cholesterol and that my blood glucose level was a tad high. He asked me about my diet. I told him that since the beginning of the year I'd been following the Primal Blueprint way of eating. He hadn't heard of it so I told him that it was sort of paleo. He sort of raised an eyebrow and started telling me what he suggested that I do.

He recommended that I read The China Study, I told him I already had. He asked if I'd watched either Forks over Knives or Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Yep and Yep. I told him that I love veggies and meat. I also drink green smoothies once in a while and that I'm planning on getting back to drinking one every day and move away from the banana I normally use in it. He also suggested that I read Pottenger's Prophecy: How Food Resets Genes for Wellness or Illness. I told him that I would but that I'd like him to read Primal Blueprint and the parts about how we can reprogram our genes to burn fat. I've ordered Pottenger's Prophecy. When I'm done reading it I'll discuss it with my Doctor and advise him to read Mark's books.

Are they any paleo or primal style documentaries out there? I'd love to see one and share it with my friends that don't yet understand what I'm doing.

By the way. My scale read 160 lbs w/ 22% body fat this morning.

[Hugh]

I had a tooth ache yesterday and didn't eat anything but a 3 egg omelet w/ green onions. I drank water or lemon water through out the day when I was thirsty. Last night my daughter made some tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) made with coconut flour but it hurt to chew the meat... Anyway, my forced fast seemed to help me drop another couple of pounds. I don't recommend the tooth ache diet though.

I've met my weight goal but with that much body fat I'll need to keep losing fat and start gaining muscle. I wonder what weight my body "wants" me to be?

158 w/ 21% bf

[Hugh]

The tooth ache has been a problem. I'm having an extraction done on Monday. The antibiotics are doing their job and the pain is down to a manageable level. I had decided to put off my test until I felt better.

So today was the day to do my baseline fitness test. I was trying to determine how many I could do on my first attempt plus how long it took to all of them.


50 pushups

My first attempt was 30 pushups. The first 20 were pretty easy, the last 5 were very hard with the 30th one being to failure. First attempt took 55 seconds
I rested for a minute and then did 13 more before failure
I rested another minute and did the final 7. They were actually easier than I thought. I could have done a few more.
It took 3 minutes 40 seconds to do all 50


12 Pull ups - I didn't do this one for time.

I managed 4 while maintaining good form. The 5th one was causing me to swing. Used the 2x4 in the living room. I think the fact that I was afraid it would break made me focus on a nice smooth lift. It was only 4 but there was no cheating involved.


50 Squats

I did all 50 at one time in 1 minute 50 seconds the last 10 really burned.
Had two or three right ankle and right knee "pops" the first few squats but no pain. Quads are really burning right now and I was a bit wobbly walking to my computer.

2 minute plank (elbow/feet) I didn't do this one for time either.

I managed 1 minute 14 seconds before I was shaking so bad I thought I'd collapse. I started shaking at 17 seconds... I found it kind of hard to tense my abs while breathing since I'm a belly breather. I started shallow breathing and that allowed me to keep tension on my abs and butt muscles.

That's it for now.

[Hugh]

I forgot to add that I've been eating well. No junk, no sugar, no grains.