My Paleo Journey


LINKS TO OTHER POSTS TO FOLLOW MY JOURNEY






Have you ever heard the term skinny fat?








That was me.
Looking at me you would have thought I was in shape. I ate "healthy", but wasn't able to do much. I couldn't run and couldn't hike without heavy breathing and knee braces on both legs. I was fed up with being weak






By March 2015
I was running 3-4 times a week and doing Crossfit 3-4 times a week. Unfortunately, I was the heaviest I've ever been and wasn't getting any stronger or faster. I was frustrated.
I wasn't until I later saw this pictures of myself that really gave me a wakeup call . Before I move to California I had a body analysis at my gym. I was 138 lbs, 24% body fat...yikes










Then it came time for a move off the Hawaiian Island to southern California where I found an amazing Crossfit Gym.  Not soon after joining the gym, while training for my half ironman, I wrecked pretty hard on my bike. Again, super frusturated. I was very limited with a lot of the weight training at the gym, yes I still went.  However, my gym was amazing. They worked all around my modifications and gave me great workouts while my wrist/hand was in a brace. After about a month of still having to modify I realized I wasn't getting any stronger even with my leg lifting. I was stuck at the same weights for weeks. The biggest tell was that after a day or two of not working out my muscle gain would leave, and I wasn't recovering from my wrist injury as fast as I thought I should. I approached one of my coaches and one of the first things he asked was "how much protein are you eating". Granted I tracked all my food but only for calories sake. I shrugged and said I didn't pay much attention to that. He told me with all the training/running I do, I should be eating 1gram of protein per pound. I was shocked. Eating 140 grams of protein seemed like a lot! He told me eat normal that day then the next day try to get up to around 120-130 grams then over the week try to hit 140 every day.
That day was also the day I found out that starting Jan 2. my gym was going to do a Paleo challenge. It involved BMI test as well as a month of eating paleo. I was intrigued and did research the following week of what exactly that diet entails. I've had friends do the Whole 30 but knew there was no way I was strong enough to do such a thing. My slow transition to Paelo began around right before Thanksgiving. I started using MyfitnessPal to track everything I ate to make sure I was eating the right amount of protien as well as slowly making my meals more and more Paelo.


As my meals changed, I noticed something. My skin, it was glowing and my adult acne was disappearing. My hanger (yes angry hunger ) was disappearing. I could work more than 2 hours and not feel like I was going to have a hunger attack. One of the best things that could have happened was I finally experienced the feeling of being full!


Before Paleo this was my routine:
Wake up: eat cereal
2 hours later eat coffee, toast eggs, and an orange
1 hour before work I'd have a turkey sandwhich (whole wheat bread and turkey meat with cheese is healthy, right?) with an apple, a serving size of chips, and yogurt and an orange/strawberries.
On the way to work grab the occasional White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks.
At work I'd have either another sandwhich or leftovers, while grazing on cookies, yogurt, coffee, and fruit. I would eat sugary items to give me energy to make it between breaks . I would get so tired all of a sudden, rush to the back, and down more sips of my sugary coffee I needed to get me through my shift.
Home late , so in pops a pizza. I'd topped it with veggies and turkey pepperoni. Not exactly healthy but hey, it has vegetables right?
Bed snack was either popcorn, a bowl of ice cream or cereal. I worked hard, I deserve a treat right?


....man...
No wonder I was a constant yo yo of emotions and hunger . I dreaded working 8 hour shifts. I just hoped I had enough energy to make it through the shift. Little did I know I was pumping my body full of sugar and nothing that was really nutritional. My crashes were hard and my emotions were all over the place. As I slowly replaced more food items I became more aware of how I felt when I ate certain things.

I also became more aware of how I looked. My clothes (that I had just purchased in September) were becoming more loose. I don't believe in scales, so I don't have one. I had no clue what my weight was until I had a Body Fat Analysis recently done at my gym. The results from June-January were AMAZING.


In June 2015 I weighed 140 (my heaviest being 145 earlier that year) 24% Body Fat
January 2nd 2016 I weighed 138 18% Body Fat
January 12th no weight no body fat


My half marathon has gone down from a 2:05 to a 1:48
My Back squat went from a 115 to a 135
My dead lift went from a 115 to a 175 :)


This blog is meant to track my journey through this Paleo Lifestyle . This includes running, crossfit, meals, and or other things in life that Paelo improves.
I plan to also have Paleo meals tab as well to hopefully inspire as well as learn more about meals that are Paleo Approved.
Please feel free to ask, comment, or share.
This is meant to inspire, as well as provoke interest and questions.


:)

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