During some recent internet surfing I stumbled across a web site talking about Primal Blueprint. I decided to go back and check it out. The site had what I thought were good ideas but how was I going to convince my wife to make such a dynamic change? My first change was to eliminate soda from diet. It was a bit of a challenge but I managed to replace the bubble sugar water with straight water.
I purchased a few books The Primal Blueprint, The Primal Blueprint Cookbook, The 21 Day Total Body Transformation, and the Primal-Blueprint Quick & Easy Meals. I read all the books and started trying some of the items found in the cookbooks. I even tried the free recipes found on Mark's Daily Apple. My wife was a little more than suspicious when I started cooking most of the meals.
I declared to her starting 2 January I was going to start the eating Primal full time. My first step was to clear a shelf in the pantry for "my" stuff. I made a shopping list and headed to the store to buy the right ingredients for the recipes.
On January 2nd, I weighted in to start my new way of eating and exercising. Much to my surprise I had already lost weight. The digital numbers on the scale stopped at 176! Wow, 5.6 pound lost without even trying!
My exercise equipment consist of a NordicTrack elliptical machine and a Health Rider. Due to a shoulder injury I'm unable to perform pull-ups. I do play indoor soccer but the winter schedule only has us playing once every two weeks. I play in a co-ed over 30 league as a keeper.
I haven't really set a goal as far as an ideal weight. My Body Mass Index (BMI) at my December weight was 31.2 according to CDC BMI Calculator. My January weight of 176 brings my BMI down to 30.2 which is still in the OBESE category. For my height or lack of it, a normal weight range would be from 108 to 145 pounds according to the CDC. I'll consider my goal to be 145 pounds.
On Monday 9 January, I visited the scales again. The numbers read 173.8! Another 2.2 pounds down. I don't feel tired or rundown. I have found it a little challenging to stay from the doughnuts at work on Doughnut Tuesday. Challenging but not impossible!
This week I will try to run 22 minutes each day on the elliptical and workout on the HealthRider at least four times.
Monday 16 January weigh in day! The scale reads 171.0, down 2.8 pounds from last week! A good week considering I ate Primal Pizza, a Primal version of banana bread and of course the dark chocolate almond bark. I was able to run 5 times and had 4 workouts on the HealthRider.
This week's goals are to run 23 minutes daily on the elliptical and at least four workouts of 275 reps on the HealthRider.
Monday 23 January. The scales read 169.6 this morning. down 1.4 pounds this week. Not a good week as I had a slice of real pizza and one Arby's roast beef sandwich. I also had two frosted cupcakes to celebrate a friend's birthday. I did run 5 times and had 4 HealthRider workouts and one indoor soccer game.
This week's goals are to run 24 minutes daily and four HealthRider workouts of 280 reps. I do have one indoor soccer game scheduled.
Monday 30 January. The scales were unfriendly this morning, 169.8. That is up 0.2 pounds. I ran Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. My HealthRider workouts were on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Saturday. I had one indoor soccer game on Friday. I wasn't totally exhausted after the game so I know I'm improving my fitness. I did have on slice of pizza for lunch on Wednesday. The good news is I've had to tighten my belt one notch!
This week's goals are to run 25 minutes daily and four HealthRider workouts of 285 reps.
Monday 6 February. The results of today's weigh-in is: 168.8 pounds. That is a one pound loss since last week! I felt good this week and exercised a bit different. I ran on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and did HealthRider workouts on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I had one soccer game on Friday night. My HealthRider workouts were 300 reps and the my elliptical runs were 25 minutes each.
This week's goals are to run 26 minutes 3 times and 3 HealthRider workouts of 300 reps.
Monday 13 February. Today the scale showed 168.6. Okay, so this is a weight loss but not much of one. I exercised and thought I was eating right. My weekday lunch is normally a quick trip to Chick-fil-A for a four piece order of chicken strips and a medium cole slaw. I thought I was eating healthy. I went to the Chick-fil-A meal calculator and discovered my "healthy" meal wasn't. Here are the numbers for my lunch:
- 930 Calories
- 54g Fat
- 10g Saturated Fat
- 0g Trans Fat
- 125mg Cholesterol
- 2250mg Sodium
- 64g Carbohydrates
- 5g Fiber
- 38g Sugar
- 48g Protein
WOW! 64 grams of carbs! Time to change my lunch menu.
Monday 20 February. The scale was friendly this morning: 166.2 pounds. A loss of 2.4! This is due to a reduction of carbs for my lunch time meals. I did exercise and have one indoor soccer game.
