College Gal Goes Paleo page 2

[Richardmac]

I had a similar experience with alcohol. I used to go out after a game of rugby with the guys (more out of habit than desire). A couple of years ago I essentially gave up drinking. I mean Il have the occassional small glass of red wine at home with my wife, but my party days and hangovers are long gone. Felt great though + given how much we spend on food I couldnt afford to drink. Haha.

Richard

[KKDMB]

Awww shucks, you're sweet

Weeeeell as for that fitness thing.... if you want to check out the "about me" on my profile it'll flesh out what I'm saying here a little but...

As a heads-up, I have a connective tissue disease called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome that keeps me from doing the sexybeastly things I would love to do like competitive swimming, crossfit, traditional heavy lifting, anything with impact, etc. So my routine is modified and pretty gentle. And 124 for me is pretty arbitrary at the moment now that I'm feeling better about my body composition. My current fitness goals are to increase my strength, pack on some muscle in that process, and to reduce my body fat %. I have no idea what my BF% is now and I don't really care - I just want to get as lean and strong as I can (and can physically handle) while maintaining this Primal/Paleo thing as a lifestyle instead of just a means to an end - you know? This isn't for aesthetics anymore - I'm finally pretty happy with how I look. But for the sake of my condition and the fact that I am desperately fighting tooth and nail to keep from being wheel-chair bound before age 30, I want and need to keep a low BF% as I can while being as strong as I can to take any stress off my joints that I can. So right now I'm focusing on body composition as opposed to weight. I'll gladly pack on as much muscle as I can (and because of my condition and personal limitations, I'm not about to be able to get "big" but I think I could add 5-10+lbs of muscle over the next year or two...slow gains) while minimizing body fat.

So to answer your question - I just started a serious strength routine. I was doing a series, at home, every 7-10 days of chin-ups, assisted pull-ups, pushups/planks, squats, lunges, and static lateral raises in a door frame. Now that my body fat is a little lower I'm more serious about strength gains I'm trying do to a 1-4x/week hardcore strength routine on this AMAZING thing my new strength&conditioning coach (I replaced my physical therapists with him because he doesn't treat me like I should be in a damn bubble) called a rip60. Check it out on Amazon. He has a TRX system but the Rip60 is pretty much the same thing at less than 1/2 the cost. It allows you to use gravity and your body weight for strength training and unlike gym equipment, it is very very easy on my joints. I also bought a 10lb kettlebell and have started doing 1-leg kettlebell deadlifts so I can start building up to legitimately deadlifting. And I say 1-4x/week because I just have to go with how my body feels. It will average close to 2-3x/week, but I know I have better weeks and worse, so that's that. On the Rip60 I've been doing squats, 1-legged squats, lunges, tricep extensions (modified skullcrushers), elbows-out and elbows-in rows, and bicep curls.

Then lots of slow movement. House cleaning counts as my slow movement because excessive daily activity is kind of a no-go for me. I just get damn tired. So cleaning/walking/fooling around with my dogs for 4-8 hours a week is solid for me. I'll throw in a fun bike ride with my boyfriend or something once in a while if my joints feel OK since bike riding is surprisingly difficult on my wrists and elbows. On my walks, every 7-10 days, I'll do about 5 sprints. Always uphill and on my toes because that's the only running/impact that doesn't seem to bother me. I was a competitive swimmer for much, if not most, of my life, so when my shoulders feel good I'll go for a swim for an hour or two.

SO, to sum it all up, I got to where I am by doing lots of slow movement, and sprints and body weight stuff every 7-10 days, and now I'm focusing on body re-composition and strength gains by really upping my strength routine on this low-joint-stress system.

I hope that answers that Good luck!!

[Bgottfried91]

Just wanted to chime in with a note of support for the college students going Paleo. I went Paleo in my first semester of college and certainly experienced the temptations you all have mentioned; it's hard staying motivated about nutrition when all the social pressures around you are to ignore healthy living entirely for "living in the moment." Some of the most important things I discovered in my first two years of college:
-When doing dining hall eating, lean protein and veggies are best. I'm taking a wild guess that most of your dining halls don't serve grass-fed or pastured meats on a regular basis, so it's better to avoid the grain-fed fats and just get the protein from the meat; also, the salad bar is a godsend. Strongly consider getting a lot of your veggies from there, since those veggies aren't cooked (think pretty much all dining halls cook with either canola or peanut oil at this point, both of which are big no-nos).
-Cooking in the dorms sucks, I know. I hated trying to cook in my dorm, because you had to carry all the food and equipment down to the shared kitchen, cook, clean everything, then carry it all back while finding time to eat your food in between. The best solution I found was to cook up huge amounts of food at one time, then refrigerate most of it and reheat it in the microwave. Sweet potatoes are excellent for this (cook sweet potatoes in the microwave until tender, then mash with butter and/or cream - divine) as are soups or braised meats. If your dorm kitchen doesn't have an oven (like mine), find a good friend who lives in an apartment who will let you borrow their oven to roast a whole chicken or pot roast, then take it back and refrigerate it.
-When partying, bring your own drink. I've seen what people put into the PJ at most places, and honestly the stronger it is, the better off you are, because that (hopefully) means less soda and other sugary crap in it. My personal favorites? Vodka and seltzer with a small amount of fruit juice or tequila and seltzer with lime. Don't be afraid to go for slightly better brands to avoid feeling like crap the next day.
-It's worth staying Paleo in college despite how hard it is. Not only are there the obvious benefits (feeling rested and ready for class, not dealing with a massive hangover on sunday mornings, looking good when naked) but you might also change someone else's life for the better. I take shit from my friends all the time about the way I eat, but one of my friends decided this past summer that she was going to go Paleo and see if she liked it. If you can help bring even one person into the fold, you'll have helped them down the path to a better, healthier life. Stay strong and keep up with the tips; we're all in this together