Primal update

Here is an update on my primal experiment.

I'm still blown away by how well this works!

I took a few pictures of me in my jeans that I was wearing a little more than a month ago (32-inch waist).  I'm now wearing 30s and they are a little loose at this point.  And this was accomplished without any working out at all, with lots of bacon cheeseburgers (without bread!) at McDonald's and Wendy's (not to mention visits to Chopsticks Chinese buffet and Texas Roadhouse, and plenty of snacks of beef jerky, nuts, eggs, and vegetables).

I do want to start working out again, though, and the more muscle you build, the quicker the fat disappears.  What I have seen is basically the result of a "slacker's" version of the primal lifestyle.  I could be doing so much better!  With summer coming, I think my schedule may be more amenable to working in some push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and some running.  I don't plan on doing anything too sophisticated, and certainly nothing that calls for gym membership.

Again, this progress represents two months or so of only simple dietary modification, no calorie-counting, no starvation regimen, and no drugs.  I don't even want the size of meals I used to eat, and I'm shocked at how easy it has been for me to give up pizza and sweets.  I'm also very pleased to find it not difficult to make this work even in travelling and visiting people, and when I absolutely must have some bread or a cookie or something (not to mention beer), it's really not a big deal.  The primal lifestyle advocates the 80-20 rule.  It does not demand perfection.  But then again, I like the results, and it makes me really want to keep it up.

Not only have I had to buy new pants, but even my shirts no longer fit the same.  I bought new clerical shirts and a collar for the first time since seminary (ten years ago) - as my old shirts (and clerical collars) have become comically too large for my neck.  I started off weighing in the mid-170s a couple months ago, and am now down to about 151 pounds.  I have basically reverted to my physique as it was when I was in my late twenties. I also feel a good 20 years younger as well.

This is doable for anyone!

So, if you want to give it a shot, check out Mark's Daily Apple and start reading.  Or, if you want the skinny in ten seconds or so, stop eating the following: junk food, potatoes, rice, bread, grains of any kind (including corn), and sugar.  Replace it with meat, nuts (not peanuts), seeds, veggies, and fruits (in moderation), and oil.

Or, approximately, whatever health recommendations the federal government says, do basically the opposite.  :-)