Primal Blueprint... My First Ever Diet! page

[TigerBeard]

Hi

I've always been heavy, and even at my fittest in my early 20s, I was at least 2 stone overweight. In my late 30s, I developed Type 2 Diabetes - which I mostly blamed on drinking copious amounts of "full fat" Coke, and being rather partial to pies, cakes, biscuits, etc. Max weight during this time was about 220lbs, but was pretty stable for more than a decade.

Since then, I modified what I ate to eat "better" - not a diet per se, as I have never believed that making yourself hungry (ie. calorie restriction) just increased the tendency for dieters I know to yo-yo. Weight was stable, until I was switched onto one diabetic tablet that had "weight gain" side effect - it gave me the munchies! I just had to eat! It controlled the diabetes well, but I gained about 15lbs on that tablet. Came off it, and lost the 15lbs. Other than this peak blip (to my lifetime max of 234lbs), again weight very stable. Diabetes well controlled but on 7 tablets a day.

What changed my lifestyle approach was the big D... we decided to divorce in Aug 2010, and I started taking better care of myself.

First major change was I found a sport I could love! I went for a try-dive (ex was too conservative to participate in adventurous things), and instantly fell in love with diving. I had two big problems; I was terribly unfit after 20 years of inactivity, and I had diabetes so had to pass a medical to be passed fit to dive.

So I started swim training, initially just swimming with the dive club. Endurance increased, and after 6 months I could do 1 mile in under an hour on fin-kicking alone. But weight was stable. I tried to pass the dive medical, but this actually showed I had underlying asthma as well. Flunked the medical, but that just made me more determined to train more to improve my breathing and fitness.

So I added more normal swimming to the mix, and felt fitter, but weight was still stable. (So docs always berated me on my "obese" BMI... no leg fat whatsoever, heavy shoulder muscles, and a medium belly... but still damned BMI says "obese").

In January this year, with my new (diving) girlfriend's encouragement, I booked a holiday at a good diving location for June. I had a goal... get fit enough to retake the dive medical, and then learn to dive.

By April, I felt fit enough... I was doing a mile each swim session, and could do 2.5 lengths underwater on one breath. Since lung capacity was a factor in the dive medical, this was important! And I passed the medical... yeehaa! So in May/June I trained to dive on holiday, and passed my PADI Open Water diver on 3rd of June, 2012.

But I was still the same weight as I was 20 years ago... fitter, but no lighter.

One day, I came across an advert for Mark's Daily Apple on the Maximuscle website. I had been taking protein supplements after swimming to help repair and recovery in my muscles. Not bulking out, just damage minimisation.

Primal Blueprint made sense, and since I've always been a carnivore beardy, having permission to embrace my inner Grok was perfect.

So about 2 weeks ago, I started going Primal - my first ever true "watch what I eat in detail" diet. Transition is slow, as for economic reasons, I'm not purging the pantry (abhor throwing away edible food) - just not restocking it with carbs. I'm eating my way through what is in stock, while increasing the protein/veg content of my meals.

Not missing bread as much as I thought, love having more meat, but only like the green veg - I have a lifetime hatred of the taste of parsnip, swede, turnip, and I dont think that will change. Dont really like sweet potato either. But green veg is great, and my local Morrissons stocks an amazing variety of the more unusual veg choices.

So finally the stats:
Age: 45
Height: 5'9"
PW: 234

SW: 215
BF%: 25.75% (according to a website calculator)
BMI: 31.9 (if include "bigbone" 10% allowance: 28.7)
Start Waist: 40in

CW: 215
BF%: 25%
Current Waist: 40in

Target? Not really setting one. "Less weight that is self-sustaining" is probably all. Oh, and maybe a visible 6 pack!

Grok On!
TigerBeard

[Lewis]

If it's of any interest, this book is often mentioned in paleo and low-carb circles as a book dealing specifically with diabetics' needs:

Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution: A Complete Guide To Achieving Normal Blood Sugars, 4th Edition: Amazon.co.uk: Dr Richard K. Bernstein: Books

Dr. Jay Wortman also works in this area:

Dr. Jay’s Blog | A forum to discuss the documentary film, “My Big Fat Diet” , and the science of low carbohydrate diets.

[hulahoop]

Hello...welcome!

Reading your story i couldn't help but feel happy for you that you've found your way here!!! I really think you will see great improvements in your weight whilst eating a whole host of tasty foods.

Congratulations on passing your diving exam

I look forward to hearing how you get on

[Metric]

Pardon my ignorance, but what the heck is full-fat coke? Do you mean coke classic with full-calories (aka not diet coke)? As far as I'm aware, all Coke has no fat, but has tons of sugar.... This only perpetuate the whole "fat is bad" stigma. In this case, it's more like sugar (namely corn syrup) is bad! Or is this a product that I'm unaware of in the UK.

Other than that questions, welcome aboard!

[hulahoop]

Must be a UK term, full fat coke means the full sugar non-diet variety around here!

[Jena]

Pardon my ignorance, but what the heck is full-fat coke? Do you mean coke classic with full-calories (aka not diet coke)? As far as I'm aware, all Coke has no fat, but has tons of sugar.... This only perpetuate the whole "fat is bad" stigma. In this case, it's more like sugar (namely corn syrup) is bad! Or is this a product that I'm unaware of in the UK.

Lol, I didn't even catch that in the original post. My brain just "filled in" that he meant regular coke I guess. Funny.

[Greenbeast]

Man, am i gonna miss ice-cold full fat coke on a hot summer's day!

[TigerBeard]

Must be a UK term, full fat coke means the full sugar non-diet variety around here!

Dont know if its a UK term, but I've always called the full sugar non-diet version "full-fat". Guess its the equation of "bad for you=full fat". Of course, one of the great things with PB; fat is good.

[Dhansakdave]

We call it 'full fat' down here as well, and diet coke was 'unleaded', not that I drank the turps as I can't stand the stuff, but when I was serving it, when working the bar!

[Nigel]

"full fat" Coke

Otherwise known as "leaded." I've never been a big fizzy pop drinker. I used to love a good real ale and now make do with wine and single malts.

I fully understand where you're coming from with the hating to throw food away. I was exactly the same and it didn't take too long to get through the porridge oats etc. SWMBO has gone off the smell of cooking mushrooms in my morning omelette so I have had some haddock & poached eggs and spinach omelettes this week.

Don't forget that lean muscle is heavier than fat, and, BMI is now an outdated method of measuring healthy weight/mass type ratios. The latest is that one's waist should be half the height in inches. At 5'11" my waist should therefore be 35.5" or so. My goal is 36" by Chrimbo and it's about 38" at present. My wife is going to be babysitting grandchildren for over a week in two weeks time. I shall therefore be able to really hit primal meals all day. Last time she was away I dropped 4lbs in four days. The long term goal is to just look and feel good while being healthy & fit.

Anyway, welcome to the club.