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Primal Blueprint
This is a long shot, but just curious if anyone else out there is living the Primal Blueprint lifestyle...:confused:
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Huh?
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Just a different way of eating / exercising really. After graduating from college and getting a kushy work from home job, I had put on a few pounds. Eating fast food 4x a day can definitely do it quickly. I'm 6' 4", and I feel like that's already kinda pushing it to fit comfortably in the Z. Anyway, not only was I lacking head room, the seat wasn't wide enough for my fat azz, to sit comfortably anyway. 6'4", about 265 lbs when I bought the car, I decided to try the Primal Blueprint, like a few friends of mine that are working in the ATL office of the company I work for.
Basically, you just cut out grains / legumes / carbs / highly processed foods... eat high quality cuts of meat and vegetables, fruits, nuts (Low carb / low sugar),...like the Cavemen did...sorta like the Paleo diet, only Primal allows you dairy and cheese. It doesn't sound that fun, but it's really not that hard. Anyway, I've been doing it for 26 days now, not getting anywhere near the recommended amount of exercise and it's still working great. Already from 2XL shirts to XL, and back in some shorts that I bought last year that didn't fit me a month ago. A typical day for me would be to have a cup of coffee in the morning with cream and a little real sugar, with 3-4 pieces of bacon and 2-3 fried eggs for breakfast. I usually make a big spinach salad with free range chicken and cucumbers for lunch. Then for dinner grass fed beef or bison burgers on the grill. I'll top them with some cheese and a fried egg, some mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, just either use romaine lettuce or nothing for a bun...Or, Pizza, topped however, made with a Cauliflower base, that has been fed to little kids who don't even notice a difference... I knew it was a long shot, but just curious if anyone else was / has been, at least in part, inspired by their Z to live a Healthier lifestyle. |
If you mean a "paleolithic" diet, then yes. For years.
I've deviated some from it of late, but the logic behind it is sound. The short version is, if agriculture (or, arguably, cooking or soaking) is needed to prepare the food and make it edible, then we haven't evolved to require it, as we have changed little physiologically since the advent of farming. |
It is similar to the Paleolithic diet. My sister is a personal trainer in Vinings, GA and has been on the Paleolithic diet for a while now. She says the main difference between the two is that the Primal Blueprint allows dairy and some cheese in small amounts. I'll admit I haven't read up enough to know for sure that what she says is true, but I trust her enough.
Just out of curiosity, how do you feel when you eat outside of the regular Paleolithic diet, say something with high amounts of grains or sugar? |
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Pasta and rice are necessary to feed lots of people, but there's virtually no nutritional value to them (and after all, most wheat flour is enriched with vitamins...). Dairy and beans -- the enzymes that digest those things increase or decrease based on what you eat, but you always need animal protein, omega acids, vitamin C, etc. It's really only things like sweet potatoes that don't quite fit the theory and subsequent diet well. Gotta cook them to eat, but lots of vitamin A and E, so not bad to include. And... grains are good at helping one fend off certain kinds of microscopic organisms (well, mainly because they are non-nutrient...). But, really, it's a no-brainer that anything that requires tons of processing to make edible is simply NOT something we evolved to eat naturally. Although try and tell some people that bread is not food and they will look at you like you're an alien :o |
Ha, I know what you mean about the bread thing. People are like, well what do you eat then...
I have been allowing myself one "cheat" meal every week so far, and every time, this meal has been the least enjoyable meal of all, mainly because of how I have felt afterwards. It's like a diet that changes into a lifestyle change on it's own :tup: |
bread is delicious :yum:
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I'm eating a turkey sandwich as I read this
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Also, not going to lie. I came into this thread thinking it has something to do with Transfomers, am I alone? :rofl2:
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I did it for 4 months and lost 36 lbs. then I stopped (well i stopped trying so hard) and gained like 20 back. I'm much better off for the experience.
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Also my energy and moods were way better. If I wasn't so addicted to bread I'd do it for the rest of my life. But. Yup. Bread is yummy... And totally chemically addictive. It's okay some HFC exhaust, and intakes have nicely offset my 20 lb weight gain and as long as I don't get out, my 370 makes me look super sexy !!! lol.
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Haha, nice guys. I cheated today, just got back from the Mexican Restaurant actually. I could probably blame at least half of my weight gain on chips and salsa, and Coca-Cola...which I was severely addicted to. Although it was delicious, I'm paying for it right now! It seems like it would take some considerable effort to change back to eating how I was before, considering how I feel when I do cheat.
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When buying the car, the attention coming from the ladies is something I honestly never even considered, strangely enough. Pretty happy with my girlfriend, but after I got the first :eek: face from a girl when :driving: I was all like :happydance: |
My coworker started doing it. She dropped buckets of weight
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A coworker and good friend was the catalyst for me as well. He has lost over 70lbs on Primal. My girlfriend also started doing this with me, although she didn't really need to lose any weight as she is 5'1 and a little over 100lbs. We started out trying to do it for just 30 days, and as this is day 31, we do not plan on stopping any time soon.
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So, just to update, first weigh in at my sister's place this weekend, on day 32 of doing this, I'm already 29lbs down...which is ridiculous considering the small amount of exercise I have been doing.
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What's your body type? Are you retaining muscle mass?
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I am 6'4", I would consider my body type average/athletic if that makes any sense. I played baseball and basketball through high school, weighed around 220 most of the time in college, more of a lean build. I did work out and eat a very high protein diet at one point, was 240 in good muscular shape. At this point, it's been almost 2 years since any real physical activity, so I'm not sure how much muscle mass I would have had to retain. I can post pics if you guys want to see a shirtless dude on here...
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I know I need to do something. I'm not overweight, but I'm on my way. I've always been built pretty thin (average of 6'2", 180lbs) and now I'm actually developing fat everywhere. Not cool. I weight like 205 right now, slowly going up. I'll have to check this out.
Sent from my iPhizzle using magic and new fangled science stuff |
Eat less calories than you burn=weight loss. Simple as that. What you eat determines how healthy you are. These types of diets are great, but you need to keep it healthy and balanced....above all, exercise as much as you can or you'll gain that weight back pretty fast.
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But, I wanted to say that if you do a diet and exercise path, you shouldn't tie your results strictly to weight. Adding exercise may increase your muscle mass, and muscle outweighs fat. Plus, as you become more fit, it will take more effort to shed pounds. So what tends to happen is that people plateau with the weight. They reach a point and stop losing, and they get frustrated. But this plateau involves gaining muscle if you're still really pushing yourself with the cardio. I say all this because I just finished a major effort to setup a workout room in my house. I now have my cardio equipment facing a huge television right outside my bedroom. I have to walk past it now every day. Nightly exercise is about to happen. |
Yes, both exercise and diet are important. Trust me, I'm no fad diet-er. This is the only time in my life that I have made major restrictions to my diet. If you guys want to read more you can go to Mark's Daily Apple . com. I didn't want to post a link because I'm not sure about the rules.
However, since this is the first time I have restricted my diet, I wanted to see the results of that alone. I honestly didn't think I would make it to day 30, which was the original goal, but now that I have, I am really motivated to see the benefits of exercising along with this new diet / lifestyle. At this point, I have had one session of sprinting and throwing a frisbee in a field with a friend. That is all the exercise I have done. However, this diet / lifestyle considers things like doing 30 minutes of housework enough exercise for the day, so there have been at least 2 car washes that I have considered work outs as well. I work from home, so I walk from my office/room to the kitchen to get coffee and cook my eggs/bacon in the morning, and I take the dog out periodically throughout the day. When go to the grocery store, I park as far away from the door as possible, mainly because I don't want the Z to get scratched or ding'ed, but this is also considered exercise for the plan. The main reason I did not purchase a scale on my own during this initial process was because I did not want to become discouraged or dependent upon the numbers for results. I took a picture every day for the first 7 days, and after just 3 days I could see results. After just 2 weeks my clothes were bigger, and my azz actually fit in the Z's stock base seat comfortably. I then started pictures on every Friday or Saturday, and the results are clear. About day 25, I could fit back into my size 36W shorts from American Eagle. I could not find a single pair of shorts that fit me in the entire mall the last time I searched, at least any that I liked the style of. The last pair of jeans I bought, were from Levi, and they were a size 44W, back in January of this year... |
Also, the way this diet works is more about changing your metabolism. As I understand it, when you eat Primal, your body converts to running off of animal fat for energy, (after the first 3 days, I was very tired, but this quickly went away) instead of the high amounts of carbs that it once used. This includes the animal fat you eat, along with the fat on your body when you need energy. I have not counted a single calorie or been concerned with fat grams, only watched to keep carb intake between for the day in the 50-75 gram range, which is supposed to be the sweet spot for losing an average of 1-2lbs a week, effortlessly, and kept a close eye on sugar as well...
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I don't know if it's healthy or sustainable in the long term. It worked for me once, but it didn't last. Same with carb counting, tbh. |
From what I have experienced, this could easily be maintained long term. I have heard of other diets like Atkins, but Primal seems to be more of a total package. However, I haven't had any intense workouts yet...Really I guess it just depends on what you want out of it. My goal here was to try something that I thought I could not do for 30 days, and the results have been great, and I feel great compared to how I did before. Once you reach your target weight, you can maintain it by living in the 150-200g of carbs per day range....
Other workings of my lifestyle give me a voracious appetite appetite when I get off of work, without fail...which is another reason I thought this change would not work for me...I was def. too lazy to prepare anything. However, if I can get by on 2 eggs, 3 pieces of bacon, a salad with some chicken, and two pieces of Cauliflower pizza, after work for a whole day, and be fully satisfied all day, even after work, I think there is something to be said about that. Mainly because my caloric intake was probably somewhere around 5-5500 calories per day range before this change. |
I'm not trying to put down your results OP. I commend you on taking the first step by making an effort. It's not an easy thing and it will test your self control. The think I would just caution you with the high amount of saturated fat and cholesterol associated with eating stuff like bacon. At the end of the day, it still comes down to calories, plain and simple. If you burn more than you take in, you lose weight. Carbs pack a lot of calories, so one of the effects of going with any low carb diet, is a drop in caloric intake. I know because I've done it. It does work in dropping pounds, but after getting blood work done, my cholesterol levels were just as high and I needed to take in more of the missing essential vitamins. You basically have to persuade yourself in to liking more fruits, vegetables, lean meats, high protein and whole grains. Portion control is also a key factor.
Diet and exercise are both equally important....and both are equally challenging to stay on track with. One of the best things you can do is join a gym. Places like Planet Fitness is like $10 a month. Home gyms don't work. It's about motivation...and being around other people trying just as hard is motivating in itself. I'm not saying it's not effective or impossible if you put in the amount of time at home, but for most people there are just too many distractions. Just remember that hot chicks love working out. If that isn't motivation enough to go, I don't know what is. I'm truly saying all this stuff to encourage you guys. I'm 5'8 and was over 210 lbs at one point. That was about two years ago and now I'm about 175lbs. I still want to be a bit leaner, but I gotta say I feel and look a lot better than I did 2 years ago. It took a lot of hard work and it's one of the hardest thing I've ever done, but I don't regret a minute of it. |
Yeah, I'm definitely adding a lot more exercise starting today. I do incorporate lots of greens, veggies, some fruit and nuts in my diet on most days. I don't always have bacon for breakfast, but if it's available I usually do. This is just the breakfast that I stole from my friend, as he lost 70lbs eating it every day, and it's really easy to make.
I have not checked my bloodwork though. I will say after gaining the weight that I basically just lost, I went to the doc. This was the first and only time that my blood pressure has not been right in the 120 / 80 range, it was really high for me this time, I think like 150 / 138 or something like that. Which scared me because of my family history. I'm just not certain that I'm burning more calories than I'm taking in, considering I have only really exercised 1 time in this 32 day period. Many days I do not even leave my apartment, so the only physical activity is literally walking from room to room throughout the day, and the small dog walks periodically. I also have no clue how many calories are burned daily, walking from room to room...so I very well could be... |
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Beautiful women don't drive me to exercise at gyms. They're pretty repulsed by me. Even if I lost 100 lbs at this point, they would still be disgusted by me. I know, I've been there before. |
Recommended exercise chart for Primal Blueprint
http://i.imgur.com/ZSx1rl.png Food pyramid http://i.imgur.com/yrKNbl.png |
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If you got to know me, walked a mile in my shoes, you might understand. Also, it is a fact that women don't like working out around men as much. This is why female-only gyms are very popular, and male-only gyms close within weeks. Some women go to the gym to work out and not get hit on all the time. |
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...and it's kind of a silly arguement, but I don't go there to hit on women...just talk to them :). I'm just saying you can't do that at home. |
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I didn't really change up my diet too much. Just tried to avoid as much unnecessary/unhealthy foods (cut out sodas, juices, fast food) as I could and try to eat a little more healthy (whole grain bread instead of white, more fruits). Eating like this and going to the gym like 3 days a week I lost a good 4-5 lbs after a month. I usually give myself the weekends as cheat days since I tend to go out to eat with friends. At this point I talked to some friends/family who have been working out for a while about what my goals were and ended up completely changing everything. Went from weight loss as my main goal to building muscle as my main goal. I wasn't too far overweight to begin with, maybe like 30 lbs, but I was way out of shape. I started taking protein supplements and focusing my workouts more on lifting than cardio. 1.5 months into this new diet and exercise plan I've put on a good 3-4 lbs of muscle and went down 2 belt notches around my waist. I ended up completely changing my whole lifestyle because of this and I'm so glad I did. I feel way better now than I did before, have a lot more energy, and am tired less often. I've gotten to the point where I feel like crap if I haven't been to the gym in a while, which helps motivate me to keep going back. Dieting is definitely a good first step, but you definitely need exercise to go along with it. You don't necessarily need a super strict diet or a really intense workout schedule to get into shape, just a nice balance of the two. The most important thing is to find ways to keep yourself motivated and keep at it. |
I've caught myself checking out some women in the gym and I've seen some women checking me out there as well, so it does work both ways. I'd say this mostly depends on the person.
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and finally, I know I'm going to catch some crap for saying this, but from what my sister has told me (personal trainer) and from reading the Primal Blueprint, losing weight / getting into shape is 80% what you eat, and 20% exercise. Don't get me wrong, I know both are very imporant, and after having this experience I can say that I have lost over 30lbs of what I will go ahead and consider non-muscle both ways : being more concerned with exercise than diet, and vice versa. Because of this, I can't wait to see the results after the next month, when I will be working out much more than I have been lately. |
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Exercise works perhaps in some amount due to how it flattens your blood sugar. Anyhow whatever makes you feel best and makes you healthier is great. good luck. |
I know there are a ton of other variables and factors, but the whole thesis is somewhat flawed. The life expectancy of humans during the Paleolithic era was around 33 years. Compare that to todays world average of aroung 67 years and it make you wonder, we must be doing something right....it just needs tweaking. The Paleo diet is nothing new. Eat healthy fruits, vegetables, protiens and avoid processed foods. Doctors and nutritionist have been advocating this from the get go. It's nothing revolutionary. It's an oversimplification, but our body converts most of the food we eat into a form sugar (glucose). It either burns it or stores it as fat.
A Calorie isn't something imaginary, it's a real and measurable unit of energy. It gets complicated because not everyone burns calories at the same rate, so we must make do with an average. 2,500 calories for an adult male...some people burn less, some burn more. 1 pound of fat tissue is about 3,500 Calories, so you need to have that much of a defecit to burn off 1 pound of fat. To do that, you need to eat less and/or burn more calories by working out. This is science, not just a fad with a catchy name. Our ancestors didn't sit at a desk waiting for take-out, they were out there running, walking, hunting & basically moving around for miles in search of food. Look at programs like P90X and you'll see results because those sessions involve a lot of movement and burn a ton of calories. .... or another example is someone like Michael Phelps who consumes over 12,000 calories a day eating pretty much whatever he wants because he burns it all off. If you eat fewer calories than you burn exercising, you lose weight. It really is that simple. I'd like to think of diet and excercise as a safety net to one another. To sustain a healthy weight, diet alone doesn't work & excercise alone doesn't work. By being fully commited to doing both, your hard work doesn't fall off the track completely if you miss a week of exercise or ate something you shouldn't be eating. |
So, according to the first picture taken on my phone, I started this whole deal on May 19, 2012. That would make today, day 34, so I think I was slightly off on my count before. Anyway, took another pic this morning, and thought it was time for the results so far...
Day 1 http://i.imgur.com/hLV6ul.jpg Day 34 http://i.imgur.com/LAom0l.jpg |
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