About me......
Like many I was active in High School sports and that continues through my young adult years. When I hit about 30 years old a few extra lbs. started to make an appearance around the waist. That continued and sped up through my mid 30's. By the time summer of 2010 rolled around I was 273lbs and already had one knee surgery. In early June of that summer my family experienced a life changed event for all of us. We all walked away from that shaken. Each of us found our own escape from that. I went for a walk on the evening of June 19th. I walked to a local middle school and walked around their running track (.25 mile), then walked home. I told myself then that I was going to run around it the next day. On Fathers Day 2010, I left the house with the sole purpose of running, not running to the grocery store, but running to see if I could run. I walked to the track and willed myself to run one lap. I thought I was going to die about 1/2 way around, but I made it the whole way. That was the beginning of a life change for me and I haven't looked back. On Aug. 22nd that same year I ran my first ever 5k. My only goal was not run the whole way and not have to walk. I finished it in 34 minutes and change.
In that time from mid June to August 22, 2010 another change for me took place, my diet. I worked hard to be able to run, and it was hard for me then. The last thing that I wanted to do was make it harder by eating 'garbage'. My thought process was that I was working so hard to run, by changing my diet it could help make it a little easier, or less difficult. I really didn't follow a diet, per-say, but I did change what I was eating. If I thought it was good for me, I ate it. I also started educating myself on the various diets that are out there, Primal, Paleo, Fruitarian, Vegatarian, Vegan, etc. I kind of hand picked what I thought would be good from each of them and blended them into my own hybrid of all of them. It worked for me, and when the spring of 2012 rolled around I was tipping the scales between 198 - 202. 2012 was my most active running year ever. From March to October I ran at least one race per month, and some months I ran up to three. In addition, I ran every other day, at least 5 miles. The only exceptions were before a tough race, I would then rest my legs or go on a short 2.5 to 3 mile slow jog. After all that running, I felt excellent, but I couldn't get rid of a little bit of fat around my core section. Despite some P90X core workouts and lengthy cardio workouts, it was still there. I finally looked at my diet closer. With winter looming and my running schedule prepped to slow down, I was determined to find a diet that would work for me through the winter. The choice was easy, Primal was the best for me. With the way I was already eating, there were only a few key things to change.
With the single exception of baking, I enjoy cooking and creating meals. From simple to complex, the only thing that I require is that they taste excellent. Dinner can me as simple as a filet of baked fish or a two egg spinach omelet, or as complex as brining and smoking a whole turkey for most of the day. I'll share the recipes and results. Most of the recipes are not mine to claim, and I'll share the source if I remember where they came from and on new ones too. A Primal diet is NOT a boring diet, nor is it an expensive diet. It does, however, require a commitment and some dedication. More on that in later posts.
I hope you enjoy reading this. I'll update this as I continue to go forward, I'll look in the rear-view from time to time (there's a lot of good motivation back there) and I'll jot down some random thoughts too.
Cheers All!! Be well.
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