Primal Update - Update

Left: May 17, 2012 - Right: July 5, 2012

Here is an update to my earlier update on my primal experiment.

Same pants, less fat.  I still have been very lazy about starting to exercise.  I am beginning (beginning!) to do some push-ups and I have been trying to do more walking.  Mrs. H. and I went on vacation for two weeks, and we both lost weight!  I'm down to about 145 - which is in the neighborhood of 30 pounds lost since I got rid of the starchy carbs about three months ago.  I just bought some 28-inch shorts (I believe this is the size of pants I wore in high school).  The 32-inch pants shown above were (not that long ago) pretty tight.  In fact, I actually had my gut hanging over - known as "Dunlop's Disease" - where one's gut "done lops" over one's trousers.

One thing that I am very glad that I did (actually Grace and I did this together and I recommend it to anyone wanting to "go primal") was to read Mark Sisson's book The Primal Blueprint.  The book is a kind-of owner's manual for the body - not for the whole body, but rather for the metabolism system.  He explains concisely the way insulin works and why the SAD (Standard American Diet) leads directly to what we are seeing these days: obesity, diabetes, increased allergies, and a frustrated backlash that goes too far the other way: people burning out due to "extreme cardio" regimens.  And, he points out a better way by means of his "blueprint."

Sisson's argument - though based on a mythological view of the origins of man - is that the SAD is a train-wreck right down to the cellular level, that our modern western diet - based heavily on grains and starchy carbs - runs contrary to our genetic programming.  He argues (correctly, I believe) that federal dietary guidelines are based more on the exigencies of lobbyists and corporate interests than sound science and principles of good health.

His "Primal Blueprint" is a way of once more aligning our lifestyle (diet, exercise, sleep patterns, etc.) with the way we were designed instead of the demands we put on ourselves in our frenetic modern life heavily influenced by Big Pharma and Big Media.  He compares two fictional families: one ancient and one modern, and shows why the current paradigm of eating a high-carb, low-fat diet, and being concerned with things like cholesterol, leads us to the lifestyle of being unhealthy and overweight and trying to recover our health with over-exercise and prescription drugs - which actually make the problem worse.

I have found his maxim that 80% of the key to health involves food rather than exercise, to be born out by experience.  And this is not a "diet."  If I really want a hot fudge sundae or a piece of pizza, I will have one.  But what I have found is, knowing the "cost" in terms of insulin production and fat storage (as opposed to metabolism), and knowing how good it feels to be in better shape - I simply find myself wanting such things less and less.  There are so many healthy and tasty alternatives (meat, oils and fats, nuts, fruits, seeds, and vegetables), why should anyone eat "junk"?  Living primally is not a list of rules and regulations, but rather a way of getting to know how your body metabolizes foods and how eating and exercise affect you - and making decisions based on this realistic paradigm.

Personally, I really love having more energy, carrying about 30 pounds less of strain on my joints, and knowing that I am rebuilding healthier tissue from the cell level up.  I get a lot more excited about that than eating a piece of cake or having a bowl of pasta or a plate of fries - though if I want to, I have the liberty to do so.  It is not the job of government to tell me how to eat, nor can government be trusted to protect my interests.  I think this is partially why the primal lifestyle is popular among more libertarian-minded people: it is taking personal responsibility for our health by making better choices and relying on ourselves instead of Big Government and Big Business.  Ultimately, what you eat and how you move your body is up to you.

When you "go primal" you see results fast, and you don't have to count calories.  The Primal Blueprint does provide links to a couple of websites that help calculate grams of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins based on what you are eating, and this can really help to identify areas that need to change in one's food intake on an average day.  But once the overall diet has been analyzed, there is really no reason to keep journals and look things up online.

Also, the book is practical and is a quick (and entertaining yet informative) read.  As for me, I can't argue with the results!  If you are thinking of trying this, there is a 21-day experiment that you can take for a spin, and then decide how to live the rest of your life based on your how body reacts - not on what laws and rules and guidelines lobbyists have convinced Wa$hington to pass, telling us what we should and should not be doing.

The choice is yours!

Update - Update (update):  I'm back in 28-inch pants!

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.  :-)

"Is Popcorn Paleo? Who Cares!" (and a Primal Update)

Karen De Coster is a tough-as-nails CPA from Detroit - and is one of those writers who is just plain fun to read.  She pens columns for Lew Rockwell, and tackles matters related to liberty, economics, and politics.  She is also an advocate for eating "paleo" or "primal."  She is also one of the few LRC essayists whom Lew Rockwell has given up on chiding or editing for vulgarity.  Karen is Karen.  And if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  So if R-rated language offends you, don't say you weren't warned if you go trolling around her columns.  I guarantee you this much: you will laugh, you will think, you will get ticked off at the government.  It's good for your brain!

Here is Karen in her own words:

I am a Certified Public Accountant and freelance writer who is devoted to the causes of liberty, individualism, and the free market. I embrace the right to keep and bear arms; recognize the superiority of the Articles of Confederation; subscribe to a motley assortment of minor conspiracy theories; and believe that government is evil, immoral, corrupt, and unnecessary in a free society. I am also an ardent lover and student of Austrian economics, the pro-market, anti-statist school of economics. Additionally, I proudly wear the title “Queen of Political Incorrectness”, given to me by my friend Tom DiLorenzo.

Anyway, I enjoyed her article here about the merits of popcorn - which is generally a huge "no no" when it comes to eating primally.

The bottom line?  "Who cares?"

I can relate to that!  I have not given a Primal Update in a while, and I'll just say this: it is the best thing I have done for my physical health ever!  I am still around 145 pounds (thirty pounds of belly-fat and four inches or more of trouser cloth the lesser).  I do not count calories, deprive myself, or maintain any rigorous discipline with food.  I most certainly do not consume anything "low calorie" or "low fat."  There is a very good side to fat!  Is it possible that all of this low-fat craze is making everybody fat?

Cured of "Dunlop's Disease" - too bad I didn't take a "before" pic

Having said that, I have completely reordered my eating habits.  Stuff I used to absolutely love and imagine I could not live without just doesn't get me too excited any more - things like bread, pizza, cookies, "snack cakes," soft drinks, candy, etc.

My taste buds have changed, and I just don't get wound up about those things any more.  I drink bubbly water now - maybe a bit flavored, maybe not - and consequently, Diet Coke tastes harsh to me now - kind of like something you clean mildew off of the shower with.  Having said that, if I want a soft drink - even a full-blown sugar drink - I'll have one.  And I do every now and then.  Sometimes I jones a bit for a root beer or a ginger ale.  So I have one.  And when we drink coffee (which is often in the Hollywood Residence) - we don't mess around: we use heavy whipping cream - no skim, no chemical powder, no government approved poison.  If we had an Amish "dealer" like Karen De Coster, that would be better than the store-bought cream we use - but when it comes to Paleo, it's like mainstream politics: the art of the possible.

But most of the time, I don't drink Cokes or eat sweets.  It's not because I'm on a "diet."  I simply have retrained my body and taste buds to recognize that this is junk food.  Having one won't kill me, but making a habit of it will make me fat, sickly, and tired.  And I have no desire to eat industrial waste.  If I want a goody, I want it to be a GOODy.  I want to savor it, enjoy it - not slurp it like a pig in a trough.

And this is why we do not skimp on antioxidant-rich dark chocolate in the Hollywood Manse.  We may even eat enough of it to give a calorie-counter or establishment physician or dietitian the vapors (which is always fun).  And on those rare occasions when I feel like some cheap chocolate (we have recently had Halloween, of course), I have one: be it a "fun size" Twix or a Reese's or a Snickers, etc.  I just don't really find myself craving it very often at all.  I can do without it just fine.

The same goes for cake and ice cream (I used to eat it by the ton).  Now, I'm really content with a small goûté.  I might even eat a whole piece for someone's birthday.  We visit CherryBerry for frozen yogurt fairly often - just not every day like our Baskin Robbins runs in a previous life.  Mrs. H. and I had a little taste of gelato a couple days ago, and our reaction was the same: "too sweet!"  We used to eat huge helpings, but now, just a couple spoonfuls was enough.  Still yummy, just not an obsession or outright gluttony.

And yet I am not "starving."  I do miss lunch fairly often, but my system is just fine.  I snack on nuts, fruits, and boiled eggs - and frankly, sometimes I'm just not that hungry at lunchtime.  And if we go out for fast food (which we are curbing not for health reasons so much as for economic austerity), I load up on burgers, bacon, steak, omelets, etc.  Yum!  One wonderful benefit is that we do eat at home a lot more, and we pull no punches: grilled steak, grilled chicken, grilled pork chops, and grilled vegetables (by the ton!).  I mean, how can that be anything but good?

I am still hoping to work in more physical activity.  Time is extremely scarce for me right now.  However, I am on my feet a lot at my secular job, and I try to perambulate around as much as possible - scurrying up and down the stairs whenever I can.  And when the really busy time of year passes, I hope to work in some simple physical muscle-building exercises.  Nevertheless, I wear the same size pants as I did in high school, and my belly is flat - which is not bad for a nearly fifty-something.

So, it's all good!  I like not being fat, not being tired, not being on the insulin roller coaster.  I like taking charge of my health, not visiting doctors, not following the uncritical advice of the Establishment.  I like not being on a diet, not counting calories, not keeping a log of what I eat or how I exercise, and enjoying our God-given freedom to eat and enjoy what I eat!

Bonus: here's a recent Karen De Coster piece on how government has messed up the modern washing machine.  And, by the way, you can subscribe to Karen De Coster's facebook here.

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