The Leaning Caveman

 
 
I have not been terribly diligent in updating this site.  Sorry gang, I'll try to do better.  The good news is that we are now at the 5 month mark and I am clocking in at 50 pounds lost.  50 pounds!  That's the typical 6 six year old that has melted off of my body.  I have certainly had my fair share of missteps along the way, carb laden days and trips where the choice is between a cuban sandwich or a cinnabon but I've knocked out 50 pounds.

For those of you that are on the fence about embracing a primal lifestyle, I say quit waffling and get a copy of the "Primal Blueprint" today.  Not tomorrow, not someday but today.  If you won't do it for you 
 
30 pounds lost 04/12/2010
 
These past few weeks have been insanely busy.  I've had a schedule full of business items, the job search and many a personal issue yet somehow I am now down a total of 30 pounds.  30 pounds?!?  It is absolutely insane to me that I've hit this number only a little over five weeks into the process.  What makes it even crazier is that I have been too busy to consistently stick with my P90x routine yet the weight keeps coming off.


This caveman is getting leaned out.  Fast. 
 
Quickie update 03/23/2010
 
I've been incredibly busy lately but wanted to provide a quick update.  In the short period of time since I've started on this journey, I have somehow managed to lose 20 pounds.  If the trusty Tanita body composition scale is to be believed, the majority of that is straight up body fat.  Most interesting to me is that my energy level and appetite have never been better.  I literally sprang out of bed this morning at 5:15 ready to take on the world.
 
 
We are now a couple of weeks into this new journey and I'm pleased to announce that I have lost 12 pounds.  The cravings for sugary little bombs that send my glycemic load through the roof are more or less gone and nearly all starches have been eliminated.  I even survived a trip to San Francisco and remained more or less primal through the entire process.  In fact I have to give the W Hotel across from Moscone Center kudos.  The breakfast menu in their restaurant is one of the most primal friendly that I have ever seen.  Well done guys.


Moving on to today's topic which is of course exercise.  Generally speaking I am a pretty sedentary guy; I ply my trade by sitting in front of a computer, sitting in meetings and sitting on airplanes.  Left to my own devices, exercise isn't something that is generally on my radar.  But since I am trying to emulate Grok, I have engaged in a workout plan.  In this case I am using P90X.  I chose the program for a couple of reasons.  First and foremost is that I have a copy.  I had started through the workouts prior to getting the ever lovely H1N1 and pneumonia after Thanksgiving.  The second reason is that it is a proven, structured workout plan that gets incredible results.  The third reason is that Mark Sisson (author of The Primal Blueprint) was a consultant to Beachbody during the creation of P90X and the diet plan provided with the DVDs does not veer too far from being primal. 


During the past week (what I'm calling week 0) I reacquainted myself with the workouts.  I made it through all three of the strength workouts (Chest & Back, Arms & Shoulders, Legs & Back) and Kenpo X with a minimum of drama but Plyometrics and Yoga X cooked my noodle.  It is going to be some time before I feel that I have mastered those two beasts but I am looking forward to trying.  Today is day 1 of week 1 of my restart.  That means I put myself through Chest and Back and was able to complete each of the exercises.  I even did it without any knee pushups!  We'll see how this goes.  First round of photos go up at the 30 day mark!


Are you primal?  Have you attempted P90X?  I'd love to hear from you in the comments.
 
 
I started down the track of being primal like so many people;  I was full of verve and vigor, thinking to myself that this would be 'easy' since so much of it involved my favorite foods.  How difficult can a diet that involves eating steak and lobster be?  Well it turns out that I left out two important details.

The first thing that I overlooked is just how ubiquitous processed foods are in day to day life.  There's no way that you can get natural beef jerky to go with your tea at Starbucks although you can get every flavour of pastry known to man.  The lesson there is that it is important to pack your own snacks or at the very least examine your schedule beyond the next task or commitment and think about the day.  This is going to be critical for me next week as I am in San Francisco at a conference for two days.

The second consideration is family dynamics and support.  My household lives on carbs and cheese and likes it that way.  They also don't suffer from metabolic syndrome or anything else that would lead them down a primal path short of seeing a profound change in me.  I wouldn't say that they have been unsupportive at all but I will say that you my caveman friend need to recognize just how tempting it can be to join in when the rest of the family is having pizza night and you are supposed to be grilling a chicken breast to put on top of a salad....... while it is snowing outside.

Now that I have learned these two lessons the hard way, I can recognize these issues that cause me to veer off track and will be better equipped to stay primal going forward.  All that being said, the scale is heading in the right direction albeit slowly and I do feel better when grains and other non-primal foods are relagated to a t
 
Saturday quickie 02/06/2010
 
After several days of staying primal, I woke up this morning to a curious phenomenon.  I had no appetite.  None.  Zip.  Nada.  And it continued that way for nearly four hours after I woke up even though I had my morning cappuccino here at the house.  Of course in order to improve the primal nature of my morning ritual I have been transitioning from skim milk to something that hasn't had the fat stripped from it.


All I can say is SWEET!


It is certainly getting easier to remain primal as each day passes.  The pangs for sugary goodies are more or less gone physically and I've become keenly aware of the various rituals and stress reactions that triggered the sugar rollercoaster.
 
 
So I am in the throes of day 3 and the lack of sugary food and grains has finally caught up with me.  My body is screaming for some bland bread, cookie or a frappa-mocha-cino but so far I have resisted temptation.  No one said that getting this stuff out of my diet was going to be easy, only that it would be worthwhile.


Mark Sisson of Marksdailyapple.com and the book The Primal BluePrint says that the transition can take up to 30 days to completely eliminate the cravings.  Hopefully the remaining 27 days won't be like this.  One thing that I have done to minimize the potential for being overwhelmed by cravings is that I'm not cranking up the exercise level until I have been in caveman mode for two weeks.  I'm doing this to let my body adjust to burning fat from its stores.  Believe me, there is plenty for it to burn.


On the up side, I have already lost 2.2lbs (1 kg).  I'm planning on doing a full update on metrics each Monday.