289 Pounds - Awesome!

Hopped on the scale today.  Down another 13 pounds.  I hate to use the word 'amazing' but, it's amazing.

302 Pounds - Feeling Great

Yesterday was a weigh-in day.  Dropped 3 pounds since my last weigh-in.  I am now down to 302.  Looking forward to getting below the 300-pound mark.

Some Cooking Tips

The guy at this site has some pretty good Paleo cooking videos. You might want to check them out.

Scroll down on the site to see a free video regarding Paleo Pasta. Good stuff!

Awesome Hike Yesterday Afternoon

Went for a hike at the Georgetown-Rowley State Forest yesterday afternoon with my wife and daughter.  Oh yeah, I brought our 9-year old Yellow Labrador "Willy" too.  He loves these hikes because he can be off-leash the whole time.

This is essentially a double exercise session because I lifted weights from 2:00 to 3:00 and went on the hike from 5:00 to 6:00.  The foliage was beautiful and the weather was perfect.

One hundred and sixty six pounds ago I would have been miserable on a hike like this.  I would not have been able to do much more than wait in the car.  At my current weight I actually took the lead!

What a gift!

On a different note:  weigh-in tomorrow.  I'll post the results.

Started Lifting Weights Today

I took the plunge and signed up of a 7-day trial pass at the YMCA.  I'm broke until the end of the month so the free trial was much appreciated.

Started off slow:

• Bench Press using enough weight to fail on the seventh rep for a total of 3 sets.
• Seated Rowing using enough weight to fail on the seventh rep for a total of 3 sets.
• Lat Pulldowns using enough weight to fail on the seventh rep for a total of 3 sets.
• Seated Dips using enough weight to fail on the seventh rep for a total of 3 sets.
• Military Press doing reps of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Even though it's been about 10 years since I've lifted weights, it actually felt quite familiar.  Shooting for 4 sessions a week.

305 Pounds - Hoo-yah!

Usually I dread the scale because it hates me.  Now I feel like I'm kicking its ass.

A quick hop on the scale revealed another 4 pounds lost in about a week's time.  The sucker showed 305 pounds.  It's definitely moving in the right direction!

309 Pounds - I'm Loving This

Again, total amazement at how good I feel.  Down 6 pounds from the last weigh-in.  I feel like my body is getting more and more efficient each day.  I'm walking more and I feel a lot more energy.

You guys have to try this!

315 Pounds - On a Roll

I've been using the same scale to ensure consistency.  Today's weigh-in revealed a 4-pound weight loss.

Feeling great!

319 Pounds - At the 6-Week Mark

Wow.  Something is very right about living the Paleo lifestyle.  Not only have I lost 36 pounds, I feel great.  I no longer lapse into a 'food coma' after a meal.  Before Paleo, a meal consisting of a big plate (or two) of spaghetti and some French bread would have me falling asleep on my feet about an hour after the meal.

Now on Paleo I'll eat a steak, broccoli, salad greens and sauerkraut and I'll feel energized.  It's almost as if these foods are now fuel for my body.  It's truly amazing.

355 Pounds - The Starting Point

I'm starting this journey at 355 pounds.  Sure it's a big improvement over the 471-pound behemoth I once was but I definitely need to lose more weight.

I'm anxious to see how Paleo and I get along.

A Totally Different Set of Rules

My daughter became my informal "Paleo Coach" as she had a very good knowledge of what to eat and what not to eat.  The crazy this about Paleo is that it defies everything I have ever learned about dieting to lose weight.

A rule of thumb with Paleo:  think of primal man wandering about the plain, forest, woods, whatever, hunting and foraging for food.  Would he come across a croissant or a baguette? Would he find a diet Coke or block of cheese?  I think it's safe to assume that our primal friend would only find various edible plants as well as small, medium or large animals with edible flesh.

The overall concept is simple:  try to eliminate anything that causes an insulin response.  This prevents fat from being stored in the body.

First, A Little Background

I'd like to share my weight loss journey with anyone who will listen.  I'm 55 years old and I've been a software developer since I was 20.  I was never overweight in my 20's and 30's.  In fact, I was in pretty good shape, running a lot and lifting weights.  In the 80's and 90's I ran road races regularly along with couple marathons and a few sprint triathlons here and there.  I'm just shy of 6'1" and my true 'fighting weight' is around 205 pounds.

As I entered my 40's I found that I was becoming much more sedentary and I began travelling quite a bit for work.  The travel caused my exercise patterns began to fade and, thanks to a generous expense account, I found myself eating rich restaurant food on a regular basis.  I gained dozens of pounds in an 18-month span.  Before I knew it I was 48 years old and I was just shy of 300 pounds.

But it got worse.

Even though I began to travel less and less, the eating pattern continued.  I had to abandon scales that maxed at 350 pounds and opt for a 'bariatric scale' that handled up to 500 pounds.  At 51 years old I had passed 400 pounds and then some.  My doctor gave me a lecture at every visit so I avoided him whenever possible.

At 54 years old I reached my highest weight of 471 pounds.  I felt like crap 24-7.  I couldn't sleep, I couldn't walk more than 25 yards and every joint in my body hurt all the time.  In a word - I was miserable.

I had a few scary health situations that motivated me to lose about 100 pounds.  Basically I stopped drinking alcohol and ate only non-processed foods.  I felt a lot better but my weight seem stuck in 350 - 370 pound range.

For the past year or so one of my daughters had been telling me, "Dad, you have to try Paleo".  I finally paid attention and started Paleo about 3 months ago.

And so the journey was underway.