morbidly obese newbie looking for support page

[jkarlen]

Hi all,

My name is Jon and I'm 34 years old and weigh 380 pounds. I live my life at a relatively young age petrified that any day can be my last. That fear is a bit melodramatic because though diabetic I'm moderately okay - blood sugar is relatively sane and I can complete a CrossFit class, however modified, and not die. So I likely won't drop dead today. But nonetheless I'm petrified.

I've done some reading on paleo as a result of starting CrossFit 3 months ago. I purchased PB this morning and am a barely a few pages in.

I'm very confident that primal living is what I need to be doing. I'm desperately seeking the confidence that firstly I can do this. Every other attempt at lifestyle change has failed at a cost of an additional 20-50 pounds. I sincerely lack the faith in myself to see this through. Secondly I need to believe that it's not too late. That intense fear clouds every decision I make. The feeling that I need to give up and get stapled or just have myself committee weighs on me almost more than my excess fat.

I apologize for rambling. I'm ordinarily a very composed guy with a highly responsible job and opening up like this isn't natural for me but I need a community and I'm hoping I found the right place.

Thanks,
Jon

[Sigi]

Hello Jon, and welcome. I wish you the best of luck.

My recommendation would be to read the book (and Mark's blog), and just do as much as you can do in line with those recommendations - don't get too caught up in the experimental hacks and sometimes wild theories which lurk in the forums! One step at a time, just do as much as you can do, and stick with it - give it time. Persistence and progress, not perfection is what matters, or as Mark says, "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good".

[paleodutch]

hi Jon,
Great you found this site, I have found primal the most relaxing and easy way to loose weight and, most important, be healthier .
Good luck discovering a great new lifestyle

[jmday]

Lots of great people here. Take 1 day at a time. Little victories add up to big ones.

[TNFrogDogMom]

Sending encouragement to you. I'd like to suggest in addition to PB you also read Dr. Bernstein, "The Diabetes Solution." The PB will show you the quality and anti-inflammitory foods and the other will teach you to eat to your meter. Initially you will use a lot of test strips but as you learn how your body responds to foods testing will be less nessesary. I also encourage you to visit Jenny Ruhl's site Bloodsugar 101. Please remember each person is different and the more you educate yourself the better you can take care of you.

[valmason01]

Welcome! This is a great place to be and there is alot of encouragement here. In addition to the other readings I would add William Davis' Wheat Belly. Remember this is a journey and it will not happen overnight. Enjoy the journey, seek out others to travel with you and laugh often. All will be well

[Rig D]

Welcome, Jon. I think you will be happy with PB. Stick with what you see in Mark's book until you are very comfortable with your new lifestyle and getting results. And note that he's very low-key, a bad eating day isn't a catastrophe, you just get right and go forward.

Given your heavy starting weight, I would strongly encourage you to initially focus your exercise on walking. Walking is great exercise for us "way overweights" and will help a lot in getting you prepared to handle the more strenuous stuff, like CrossFit. Try to find alternative walking paths so you can gradually extend the distance you cover, and don't be surprised if you can't do much to start with, just stick to it and when you walk X minutes you will find you are steadily covering more distance.

Hopefully your family/friends will provide positive support for your efforts, this can make life a lot easier as you go forward.
Good luck happens when opportunity meets preparation. You've got the opportunity in hand, now go for it and don't get down on yourself as you go forward if your results aren't immediate. Track yourself over time and don't panic if your scale doesn't move down every time you weigh--I suggest weighing only 1 time per week to avoid the "downer" you can get from daily fluctuations. Get a tape measure and check your measurements also, you will find some good stuff happening there too.

[hulahoop]

hi Jon and welcome!
I'm so pleased for you that you have found your way here. I also recommend reading Mark's book and Wheat Belly by William Davis was a real eye opener!

I'm a bit of a planner so spent a few days figuring out what i needed to do before i jumped in. I set a date and started. The first few days were quite tricky, as my body was screaming out for sugary snacks. After a few days i was AMAZED at how much more under control my appetite and hunger pains were. My advice would be to base each meal around a piece of meat/fish/eggs and a big pile of veggies.

You can do this, it most definitely isn't too late. All the very best, let me know if i can help with anythng

[jkarlen]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm impressed and excited by how active this community is.

I was wondering if anyone could share some sample meal days. I'm far enough through PB and have also read Robb Wolf's book that I have a pretty good feeling for what is and what is not paleo/primal. But what I don't yet have is a really good vision for what that "looks like" in the life of someone with a 60-70 hour a week job with great unpredictability. I've read all the paleo sites (PaleOMG, Paleo Table, etc.) with all of their delicious looking but seemingly very complicated recipes that I couldn't imagine myself finding the time to prep and cook more than once a week and many weeks not even that. For now I'm just focusing on pan frying up a steak and throwing it on a plate with a full bag of steam-in-bag broccoli but no matter how much of a steak lover I am there's only so many ribeyes I week I can stomach. Am I right though in assuming though for a time restricted person just rotating through proteins and vegetables is in a choose one from column A and one from column B fashion is the way to do this?

Thanks!

[Knifegill]

Pretty much, you're on the right track. I normally cook my meat in a pan on medium/low heat until it's done enough and then put my veggies in to cook while I eat the meat. Then you've got easy-to-eat foods like apples, avocado, eggs (boiled, quick fry, etc.), depending on whether you want to play with ketosis or not. Don't forget the liver and seafood for a good dose of body-repairing micronutrients. I use free range chicken liver and canned oysters, mackerel, etc. Depending on your price range and local availability, your menu will vary. Shoot for variety, though. I try to eat a different animal every day.

Plug your foods into a nutrition calculator like fitday to see is you met all of your nutrients for the day (or the week, it all evens out so don't freak out if your thiamin is low one day. Have some bacon to bring it up the next.).