I admit I have an attitude problem.. some days its good, other days, forget it. I'm human I guess.. good and bad days. Moving out of the big busy city to a smaller town has definitely helped my case though.

On another note, I've been continuing my paleo-type of diet. My wife is on board too, and she's bringing home all kinds of 'gluten free' items. This week I'm down another 1.5 lbs. I'm not trying to loose weight. I don't limit my portion sizes. It seems my body is just shedding the toxins I've gained over years of eating processed wheat and sugar. I'm down to 157.5 today. I started the year at 175lbs. And the only exercise I get is yardwork and other daily activities.

I've also started subscribing to the idea of nutritional medicine. I listen to Ben Fuchs almost everyday and have been following his advice.

http://pharmacistben.com/

The idea that the body is self regenerating and almost all disease is a result of nutrient deficiency. So I'm really trying to perfect my diet as the core of my physical health. At the same time, I can still enjoy junk food every now and then, like a soda on the weekend, fast food etc. You've got to throw that in the mix to keep the body working out. That's my excuse anyway. ;)

How's everybody doing with their health? One of the major challenges of life is keeping death at a respectable distance. You can expect to live longer with a healthier lifestyle but the biggest payoff is your quality of life. The day before Jack Lalanne died at 97, he was working out in his home gym. In my first 5k, I barely passed a 65 year old lady that ran a 25:3x. I'm a believer that you really are as old as you feel. If you aren't happy with what you see in the mirror, feel like crap all the time, or are simply destroying your health with bad foods, do yourself a favor and CHANGE. It will take some discipline to change your eating habits and walk around the block. You may just find that once you go down this road, you'll never turn back. That's what happened to me. My pallet changed, my body changed, and it has effected every other aspect of my life. CHANGE starts with education. Health class in high school was to long ago. Read a book or three.......

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Young-For...r+jack+lalanne

http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Drink-Be-H...ds=eat+healthy

Me, I've been making a tweak here and there to my diet. Mainly, trying new fruits and vegetables. I'm still eating 7-8 times everyday and packing a cooler for work. I've found my sweet spot in the 162.5-165 range. My metabolism is similar to an inferno but I eat super healthy. Nutrition is everything. I'm as consistent as the sunshine with my work outs. In fact, I don't recall missing one all year unless I was under the weather. Not even sure I missed one due to that. Still at 4 work outs a week and only .5 hour. Normally 2 runs and 2 high intensity weight workouts. I have been mixing in a little MMA/Boot Camp type stuff as my gym has new equipment. I also tried Yoga last week. Why didn't I do that when I was single?:bang: I actually enjoyed it. The combination of stretching, resistance, and relaxation was pretty cool. I'll go back as mental relaxation is not one of my strong suits. I tend to push to hard.... With only two hours of exercise per week:
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps9ed0546d.jpg
Nutrition, Nutrition, Nutrition You are what you eat.

Towards the end of business today, I went to Starbucks and left my phone in the car. I went there to reflect on the first 6 months of the year from a business perspective. An hour later I have 2.5 pages of notes.

Page 1: Why are things going so well?

Page 2: What must happen to take things to the next level?

Page 3: Weaknesses

These notes serve many purposes. Often we forget what got us there in the first place and quit doing those things. Second, I can now build on what is working with the new ideas I've collected. 3rd, You must study the results to see if your philosophy is working.

We can always improve no matter what. It's really the key to success.

Gotta admit, I have started going to the gym a bit, and eating much healthier.
I started juicing a week and a half ago, it is amazing how a glass of vegetable juice can fill you up.
I have a fruit /protein smoothie in the AM and normal (NO carb) lunch and then Juice and protein usually chicken breast or turkey for dinner.
in a week I lost 6 lb. and I am not fat except the gut. 5"11 at 215. now 208 want to get below 200 by july 15 so there it is.

Good to hear Blake! I thought I was talking to myself around here...:lol:

Is this thread still goin'??






Great to hear Blake!



What I've found with working out -- is that the scales don't really tell the tale... it's the pant size that I've dropped.... last shopping trip they were 33's -- not the 36's I was wearing.

Good work Blake :thumbsup:

About 6+ years ago I looked in the mirror one morning and said that's enough.......I was 5'-11" 36" waist and 217 lbs. I've seen a low of 167, went from 36" pant to comfy 34's, L/XL shirts to lose fitting Medium's.

The key elements for myself were
- 40-50% reduction in intake volume
- 20 minute fast high rep weight workout at lunch, 400+ reps Crunches/Curls. Tri-press/leg press/Lat pulls/dumb bell curls.
-Healthy snacks frequently - controls hunger and desire to overeat at breakfast/lunch/dinner.

Once your stomach volume shrinks and stabilizes it's easy. If I go out to eat lunch or dinner I typically get an appetizer as anything more results in uncomfortably overfull.

Find what works for your body and routine then stay the course until it becomes habit, then it becomes easy/normal! :thumbsup:

Hey, fitness and nutrition isn't as exciting as money. :D Just look around..... Like wealth, there is no easy route. I'd bet if you were to ask 100 people what would make them happier, wealth or fitness, 95 out of 100 would pick wealth. While financial stability is important, nothing replaces feeling well. Just ask somebody with cancer or any other nasty disease. It's a big part of achieving your goals. Having the stamina and attitude to put in the labor necessary.

No mater what I do I will never fit in YOUR PANTS!!!
lol

I'm glad to see this thread still going and that all you guys having become quiters hitting up the dunkin donut shops every morning. :)

I have admit my passion is nutrition. I try to avoid the word diet because that suggest starving yourself. I never do that. I have officially lost 20 lbs since I started my paleo/ancestor eating lifestyle a little over 6 months ago.

I went from 175lbs and pushing a 34" pants down to 32" (which are becoming baggy on me!) and 155lbs! I did this solely on diet alone over the course of 6 months! I'm really happy with the results, and like I said before, I do NOT limit the quantity of my food - I regulate the quality of it.

I examined both "diets" and picked the best parts of each. From a paleo standpoint, I adopted their NO WHEAT mantra based on the fact that wheat is a genetic frankenstein that makes us fat. When I stopped eating it, I stopped craving sugar. And I LOVE sweet foods. It's pretty amazing that lost those cravings. So it was real easy to give up drinking SODA. I think that is the most important aspects of Paleo: No wheat/grains and little to no processed sugar.

The ancestor diet studies what our great grandparents ate. You know, back in the days where heart disease and cancer weren't a household word. This traditional diet embraces animal fats as a source of nutrition. So I eat a dozen eggs a week, 1/2 stick of butter, plenty of pork (bacon!) and beef. I am living proof that saturated fat does not make you fat. Of course I eat plenty of fruit and vegetables too.

Now the dairy question. Many people doing paleo give up dairy. I ended up doing so for a different reason. My kids and I have had chronic ear infections and allergies all our lives. After some unconventional reading, store bought dairy was said to be the number one cause of ear infections. So when I was tired and scared of too much antibiotics, I decided to ban store bought milk in our house. To my surprise we survived the 2012 flu's/colds through winter and 2013 spring with NO EAR INFECTIONS. This in itself was amazing! You will never see a plastic gallon of milk in my house. The stuff is CRAP. Between the hormones, antibiotics and junk they feed factory cows, along with the added sugar, the whole "GOT MILK" propaganda campaign can kiss my ***.

To make things more interesting during that time, I did not give up milk. I drank RAW organic milk from grass feed cows. Which is high in fat and nutrition. So the milk itself was never the problem. It's the CRAP factory farm milk that is making us sick.

I have learned alot about nutrition the past 6-8 months and am still learning. I can tell you now when I go shopping, its like I"m in the Matrix. Everything has Wheat/Sugar/Vegetable oils. So its challenging. The good thing is they sell Gluten free bread so I'm not totally depriving myself of grains. But I am learning that factory farming and processing of name brand food is NOT food, but food like products. They are essentially selling us edible industrial waste.

So if you ever find yourself working out, but not losing any weight, that is why. To start with, stop eating wheat and you'll stop craving sugar. Next stop eating processed anything. Make little changes in WHAT you eat, and you'll see a big change in yourself.

Tony, nobody ever wants to hear that nutrition is the major key to weight management and health. You really have to experience the results. I've recently started to cut wheat out of my diet. I haven't had any problems with weight management but I'm hoping it makes me more regular as I've had problems my entire life. I won't likely dump it completely but I'm going to give it some time and see if I notice any difference. I personally believe that our bodies do need saturated fat and cholesterol. It really comes down to moderation. Your blood work (That you need to get your butt to the doctor and have done) will tell you if you need to adjust your diet. Sticking your head in the sand is not advisable. :D The milk deal is right on the money. Greater than FDA recommended calcium is the number 1 cause of prostate cancer additionally(Look at any men's multi vitamin). I like my greek yogurt but I responsibly source it. I also eat 1-2 hard boiled eggs a day. Fruits and Vegetables are KEY. Not only do they have the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients which scientists no little about, they help control disease and body PH. Blueberries have been found to decrease the likely hood of prostate cancer. I eat them nearly every day.

Bottom line, you are what you eat. :thumbsup:

I hear you Todd... I would like to get some blood work done. Except, my doctor is not a nutritionist, I hate needles, and I'm no fan of doctors either. lol

Example, all my life I've had digestion problems. The doctors remedy? Treat the symptoms with TUMS or some pill. WRONG. The problem was that my stomach did not make enough acid. The solution, I started drinking Braggs apple cider vinegar every other day. No more burping, hiccups, and indigestion. I can finally take on some garlic like never before! :) I drink it now every morning. Plus it helps keep my body in an alkaline state. Just like lemons are very acidic, but when they get to your stomach, the turn alkaline. I also eat an apple+seeds everyday since its one of the most alkaline foods out there. The seeds are loaded with B-17, that has super cancer fighting properties.

Todd, I'm glad to hear about you cutting the wheat out. Try it and see what happens. I would cut as much as you can, if not all of it. It might be what's causing the binding. It's an industrial product now, its not our grandparents wheat anymore. Give it time too, everyone's different. I do still treat myself to things that might have some wheat, but I've cut 90% of it out of my life.

Another result of the paleo diet is that I'm never hungry. Products like wheat (gluten) and corn syrup are designed to increase our appetite. I was always hungry when I ate that stuff, hence being 20lbs over weight!

I eat 3 times a day, normal meals and I'm satisfied each time. I have a bag of nuts or piece of fruit in between. But I don't think we were designed to "graze" all day, eating 5-8 meals/snacks. I think that is a result of gluten and sugar making us hungry all the time.

So for this weekend, I'll being dining on some BBQ RIBS along with red onions, green, yellow and red peppers with plenty of Kerrygold butter (from grassfed cows), salt, pepper, garlic, maybe some asparagus too. Unsweetened ice tea to wash it down and for desert, raspberries, blueberries and starwberries with homemade whipped cream.

Doctors are like any other profession, first of all, it's a business. Then they all have different educations, skills, and ultimately, intelligence. That was one of my hurdles when I first went down this road, finding a good doctor. I believe I've done that as she's young and genuinely interested in improving my health.

Kelli and I has a gluten free pizza tonight with goat cheese, spinach, pine nuts and kale salad with figs, feta cheese and the rest I can't remember. I was impressed with the gluten free crust. I am going to keep as much wheat out of my diet as possible to see if I feel the difference. I hope you are right about the binding. My doctor recommended probiotics which I'll try as well.

One area where I have to disagree is frequency of consumption. My metabolism is very active. I prefer lighter meals and healthy snacks and deserts. I can eat 9 times a day and easily maintain my weight. Of course my snacks are apples, raw nuts, grapefruit, hummus, carrots, greek yogurt, blueberries, you get the idea..(And that's all today) Ha

I do agree on high fructose corn syrup which I avoid like the plague.

I'm enjoying our debate Tony.

My mentor Jim Rohn said, "When you think you have all the answers, it's time to start asking different questions".

Totally agree with both of you!!

Back in January, the company I work for decided to give back to the employees, during our office expansion and built a company fitness room!!

What a great perk, and timely as well. I was looking in the mirror saying to myself....."Damn dude, 55 years old and you are "THAT guy"!!! Middle aged fat ass.

I go into work every day @ 6am, an hour before I start work and do a 20-25 minute workout. Pretty much identical to what Sieg mentioned.....almost exclusively upper body exercises.

Virtually NO diet change, with the exception of smaller portions.....and WOW what a change!!!! At my last annual physical last month, I dropped 6lbs, my cholesterol dropped from 206 to 196, triglycerides down from 178 to 118, good cholesterol went UP and bad cholesterol went DOWN.

I'm not sporting 6-pack abs, and probably never will ......but after 5 months of a religious 5 day a week workout (I do enough around the house and yard on weekends!!) there is definite muscle mass increase. I used to have occasional back ache in the morning when I woke up, that is gone with the muscles in the back being strengthened, my energy level increased.

And like Greg says, the scale does not tell the tale. I made a point of NOT looking at the scale over the last 5 months. Muscle weighs more than fat, so I thought if I start increasing the muscle mass, I might actually gain weight. But that wasn't the case.....pants start getting loose, that's sign enough!!

I really have to thank my company for the great gift to us, the employees in the form of that fitness room. It is so convenient it would be a crime to not use it to improve yourself!!!

That's awesome Scott, I bet you are one of the few that has taken advantage of your new facility. That day you look in the mirror I like to call the day of Disgust that turns your life around.

I do agree that looking in the mirror instead of at the scale initially is the right idea. Once you find a work out program and stick to it until you have reached the peak fitness level for that workout, weight does come into play. You aren't gaining muscle anymore, simply maintaining your level of fitness. That's when you need to start seeing the scale come down. How long that takes really comes down to how out of shape an individual was to start with. I would estimate that someone starting from scratch should get to that level with consistency in no longer than 3-4 months.

When a plateau is hit, you aren't getting in better shape and the scale won't budge, it's time to look at your nutrition and calorie intake. It's much easier to improve your diet than double your work outs. That's where most go wrong, they try to make up for poor nutrition in the gym, it's nearly impossible and leads to the towel being thrown in the ring. You must enjoy the work outs and if they become to long, it's easy to make an excuse not to go.

Scott, your work out routine is perfect. 25 minutes, 5 days a week is plenty to keep you fit.

I also think that decreasing your portion size is smart. Just don't go overboard and start consuming an unrealistically low amount of daily calories that will lead to the towel being thrown in the ring and the weight going right back on. It's my opinion that everybody should track their daily food intake through a journal or myfitness pal for a couple months to educate themselves on food content. It also allows you to find the daily calorie intake that will maintain your weight. Then it's easy to decrease the daily intake by say 300 calories to start sucking the fat off. Once you have tracked your diet and have found foods that are healthy and you can eat repetitively, you don't need to track anymore. You'll be in the ball park from experience.

Todd, that is sooo true what you say about portion control. When my wife and I are on travel, i can't help but notice the obesity around, in this country. Everything is "bigger & tastier", soo sad.

I am going to try the "gluten" thing, i am also going to go to a nutrionalist to see what it is that disagree's with me. I am 46, very driven, hyperactive and i need to slow down, its like the racing saying "ya gotta go slow (smooth) to go fast".
I cycle and row and eat fairly well, but owning a business can kick your butt sometimes.

So i'm taking a week off, and staying at some resort in the desert, during one of the hottest weeks of the year, timing. Ever here of that town in southern Nevada, the one with all the action? Seriously though, my wife and i have no plans but to rest :relax: & exercise in the gym and see a couple of shows maybe, eat GOOD food, and chill (no pun intended) ....;

But i gotta loose 7 to 10 off the gut, I had major shoulder surgery last year that really took its toll on me, plus with biz being super good, its tough to get my two hour rides in, i'm down to 3 to4 hours a week. Thats still not enough for me to loose weight, so i gotta watch my diet even more....

Mike

Mike, welcome to the sauna, I mean paradise. :thankyou: You'll knock that 10 lbs off in no time with some tweaks to your diet! A nutritionalist is a great idea.

No matter how great your nutrition is or how much you exercise, you will get tired. Rest is still one of my weaknesses. I love to be productive and make progress in every segment of this crazy wheel we call life. I push myself over the edge on a regular basis and it's almost comic reading my own journal and watching it happen over and over. I've been paying the price for a year now to get my life on the trajectory I desire. That has meant very little rest but that has to change now that I'm on track. The 4 day weekend vacation every quarter that I've set as a personal goal will now come to fruition. I need to get better about saying NO to myself. Life is a delicate balancing act. I have to admit that I prefer for the balance bar to be on the over busy side. :)

I'm working 36-40 hours a week but it's super focused. (Realistically most folks 50-60) My work outs are only 2 hours a week but they are super high intensity.(Realistically most folks 3-4) I spend a good hour or more on personal development most days. (CD's, Videos, Books, Journaling, Reviewing Goals) Eating healthy at the house requires more time and effort. These things are constants and I have no plans to change. Where I run into trouble is to much personal development, fishing at 4 AM three Saturdays in a row, projects around the house, my volunteer work, outing with friends. There is no room for complaint as I wouldn't have it any other way, I simply need to learn to leave myself time for a little more rest.

Yes, good discussion. I try not to get so big headed to think that I have all the answers. It's taken me 39 years to figure that out. ;) That is something to always keep in mind when talking to "professionals" too. There are many different nutritionists that will swear a "whole grain high-fiber, low saturated fat" diet is good for you. And it is not. It helped keep me 20 lbs over weight for 10+ years.

I think it's great there are so many gluten-free options out there. I'm totally on board after losing this weight from it. Todd, what about this, in addition to going gluten free, cut your dairy intake in half, and double your saturated fat intake. That should unlock things. Like I said everyone is different, it's just a matter of trying different solutions to see what works. The probiotics will aid in the good entrail bacteria you need, but I don't see that in aiding regularity. The dairy is likely the culprit.

Hi Mike.. glad to hear you are going to try ditching the wheat. You WILL have great results! If not, you can come back here and verbally assault me. :lol: It can be hard at first. I suggest picking one meal a day that has no wheat. Then when you can handle that, move it up to 2 meals sans wheat. If you can cut at least 80% of wheat out (no one's perfect!) you'll loose the 10lbs in month. Good luck, report back!

Gwen and I went 100% Gluten free after reading Wheat Belly.... both lost a quick 10 #'s and that has stayed off...


Only thing we find we "must" eat because the substitutes just aren't ready for prime time ---- PASTA... if I make spaghetti -- I just use normal stuff.


We've found great - in fact very tasty - crackers... and breads... and even muffins that are not only gluten free - they're damn tasty!

I have to admit that my stomach has felt more active in the 3-4 days I haven't had any wheat with the exception of some beers Saturday night. I'm going to give it 3 solid weeks and report back my opinion. I don't expect to lose any weight. If anything, I feel hungrier today not having any bread.

Kelli has already bought me gluten free bread and other goodies to give it the old college try. I'm hoping for similar results to you guys. :relax:

Tony, I don't eat that much dairy. I'll have a few spoon fulls of greek yogurt with berries once a day at the most. It is non fat but certified organic. I could step it up a notch to higher fat content. I think I'll make one change with the wheat and then try cutting out the dairy. I do consume some shredded cheese and it does have a good amount of saturated fat. I'll eat red meat once a week at the least for that very reason. I do consume lots of olive oil in Kelli's cooking and on salads.

"If YOU change, everything will change for you" -Jim Rohn

Jim always says that you must study the results to see if your philosophy on life is working. It's been around a year since I started down this road so I thought I'd post the results of my new lifestyle.

I've posted the results of my fitness and nutrition but I want to make it clear that I've put 3-4 times more effort into my mind through personal development than I have my body.

I'm going to break it down into major categories:

Relationships:
Began a reconnection with God.
Greatly improved my relationship with my now Wife, Kelli.
Forged a very rewarding relationship with my little brother (Saif) mentoring him in Big Bro's/Big Sisters program. (He was my ring bear)
Created two new friendships with what I consider very positive associations
I believe I've become a better son, brother, and friend as well.

Health:
Lost over 30 lbs (195 to a low of 159, hover in the 162-165 range) High school weight
By far the best fitness of my life (15th out of 380 runners in a 5k) High intensity weights have kept me fairly muscular
Found a great doctor that is genuinely interested in my greater health. She found a B12 deficiency and low HDL which has now been fixed through supplement. (Retesting tomorrow) In the works to fix my septum with 80% blockage.
Overhauled my diet with Jack Lalanne ideals (If I can't pronounce it or don't know what it is, I do my best not to eat it!) Eat 7-9 times a day with a metabolism that's off the charts.
Squashed what I would consider alcoholism. Now drink lightly on Friday/Saturday. (Didn't get drunk at my own wedding) Occasional glass of wine on Thursday.

Personal Finances:
Changed my balance sheet by $25,000 per year! (Not income related except for rental properties) Paid off car along with other misc. cuts
Increased my net worth by OVER 30%.
Purchased two rental properties at 3.75% interest that cash flow $500 a month
Have a REAL plan on a spreadsheet down to the pennies on how to become a millionaire by 43 and financial independence by 50-55

Business:
Increased gross income by 52%! (Comparing mid 2012 to mid 2013)
I have become a much more polished leader for my team. There is no better way to lead than by example.
I have an evolving business model.
I track every lead that comes through the door.
I'm constantly changing marketing through accountability.
I have a business journal where I track my effort to make sure I'm putting in the required time and concentrating on major things.
Customer service has improved....
Have two accountability partners
Start with a coach next week
Have become a Dave Ramsey ELP

When I reflect on it, it's an amazing amount of progress in a years time. It really came down to DISGUST. I was sick of how I looked in the mirror, how I felt, my poor attitude towards business and my future. Some bad habits had progressively gotten worse and a 5 year down slide in the real estate market had whooped my ass mentally even though I had stayed successful.

Life change starts with EDUCATION. Once I desired to change, I had to figure out how? In the last year I've read over 25 books, listened to 40-50 educational CD's (Many multiple times). I started keeping a journal almost immediately. I spend an easy hour a day on personal development. Start every morning with a book or cd in my new study. Always a CD in my car, read almost every night before bed. I changed my influences by ignoring the news and not getting sucked into the wrong conversations. I've limited some associations and expanded others.

Attitude was and still is the hardest for me. The rest of it was a challenge but nothing in comparison to attitude. The problem with attitude is you don't fix it one day and move on with your life. It's a constant challenge. I was a good 6 months into this deal before I really started to diagnose it. Even though my attitude has improved greatly through my new disciplines, I hadn't figured out all my sources of unhappiness. The one major lingering was my business. I simply wasn't putting in the effort and the results showed it. It wasn't until serious reflection with a very good friend that I realized it. It was in my subconscious. Doing the BEST I CAN has made a huge difference in my life. Life's biggest challenge is being in control of your own mind. You must feed it quality information if you wish to be happy, progressive, and think the right thoughts.

I didn't write this to brag (Maybe a little), I really hope it inspires you to change if you aren't satisfied with your life. Remember, YOU must change if you want a better life.

Jim always says, Once you go down this road, you'll never turn back. I couldn't agree more. I want to see just how far I can go in this life.

The greatest value of life is not what you get, the greatest value of life is what you BECOME. -Jim Rohn

Great write up Todd
 

Congrats on your changes and your new found direction.

Was at the Route 66 Nationals this Sunday and met Danni Allen the winner of last season Biggest Loser. Got a lot of great weight lose tips. Hard to believe this girl was almost 260 pounds!

That is a pretty awesome list of things to be proud of Todd. Most people just don't care, I'm glad to hear of those who do.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Mine was the same way at first. I was looking for bread "filler" because I was hungry alot. I just kept grabbing a banana, carrots, apples, anything. I never let myself starve, I just ate something else. The craving for 'filler' does subside to just about nothing.

If it were me, I would ditch the greek yogurt. With no fat and the sugar added, I don't see the benefit of it. I would substitute a hard boiled egg.

ps. I tried some of this for the first time this weekend. Gluten free beer, and it is awesome.

http://www.united-nations-of-beer.co...y-21354746.jpg

Thanks fellas. It's been very rewarding. I'm in Big Bear Lake, CA relaxing for the weekend. I'm going to take a jog around the lake tomorrow to get in my 4th workout this week. :)

Tony, the yogurt does have some protein and serves as a dessert for me. I used to be a big ice cream eater.

How bout sharing these secrets:D

My son was an ice cream freak! But when we figured out him and his sis were having reactions to dairy, that kinda put the kibosh on that. I got to hand it to him, he's fine going without, he even turned down chocolate milk at his buddies house, and said no thanks to Gatorade since it was the G2 stuff with aspartame in it.

On a good day the wife will make us all homemade ice cream from chocolate almond milk. That is some good stuff, without all the extra sugar and dairy.

I'm 100 pages into "The China Study". I'm really enjoying it so far. I'll post some of the hi-lites once I get a little deeper. I will say that dairy is already a small part of my diet, but it will become even smaller along with other animal proteins.

I fell off the Gluten Free diet on vacation. :wacko:

I fall off all the time! I had smores last night with the family. It's all about moderation. I'm 90% gluten free. That's good enough. When I fall off, I make sure it's worth it.

I read that they really don't use any dairy in China, and their breast cancer rates are super low too. However, I don't know if the problem is dairy itself, its probably all the GMO grain feed, growth hormones, antibiotics and horrible factory living conditions that our dairy comes from. Same with all animal products.

Fill me more when you have a chance.

I've been snooping this thread for awhile. Its nice to see other people following the Paleo style of eating. I found out about Paleo a few years ago but never really tried it until a year ago or so. I do love it, makes me feel so much better! I was going good at it for quite a few months then kind of stopped, then back and forth but for the past month have been back at it.

Mind you I'm not allergic to anything...but after reading up on what is Paleo and the ideas behind it, its harder to eat carb loaded food now. I still do from time to time, but notice a drop in energy and then my waist will start to grow.

Love this thread, it's very motivational!

Glad to hear it! One thing that we all need to keep in mind is that the same approach to health, diet, and exercise won't work for everybody. It really takes experience through consistency to find your way to better health.

I also think it's important to separate the three.

Health: Body is free of disease and you have no underlying issues that need medical attention.

Diet: Healthy nutrition that is cemented through a lifestyle change initiated by education.

Exercise: A program that you can do consistently and enjoy. We aren't all made to run marathons or bench press 500 lbs. Find you sweet spot.

Personally, I'm still working to improve all three.

Health: I'm having a sleep study done next week for sleep apnea and getting a 2nd opinion for my badly deviated septum. It's likely my septum is the sleeping problem but the doc wants to verify before I go under the knife just incase they need to bore out my throat as well. :wacko:

Diet: I'm still experimenting and reading new books. I stay lean with my current nutrition but I'm constantly trying new foods to see if I can feel the difference.

Exercise: I'm always adding new exercises but I need to get better about going outside the box here.

Todd, I too have a badly deviated septum, like 10% breathing capacity of normal so i was told by my ENT doc, they want to "chisel" their way back to open up the birth defects, that was 10+ years ago, i'm still too chicken to do it, although i''ll jump off a cliff with skis on, go figure. Us humans are weird...

Mike! Worst surgery I've ever had! Just F'n nasty... no way to "stitch" ya up.. so you just bleed --- with cotton packed up there... Sleep sittin' up... black and blue face... Just miserable.


Best thing I ever did. I can breathe... don't have a sinus infection every other month... which gives me more energy.


MISERABLE surgery... but really helpful.

Greg, yep. Same thing with my shoulder surgery. i had separated tendons, 100% tears, effin aweful. one year recovery, cast for 3 months, but now i can sleep on my right side and it doesnt feel like somebody kicked me in the balls!

But sleep, its soooo important to a healthy body, hard to imagine but thats when we "recover" from exercise, disease, work (lol)

Well Greg, it is something to ponder, i'm sure my wife would love to "hear" less of my sleep....i've offered to sleep in other rooms, but, "we so horny" :lmao:

WON'T help your snoring.... that's a separate issue.


Won't make your boner bigger either.... :buttkick:

;ha! bummer though, on both accounts!

Mike, if you sleep as poorly as I do, suck it up buddy. When I broke mine in 1998, it healed and I had to go through a similar procedure. I don't remember it being much fun but I'm ready. I'm just taking the proper steps.

Greg's right, snoring is a throat problem. I was just at the Neurologist this week discussing my sleep problems. I've found that the nights I sleep say 5-7 hours, I'll feel better than 7-9. He said that sleep apnea is the worst in the late stages of REM sleep. Meaning, your throat muscles are the most relaxed collapsing your airway or with a deviated septum, the oxygen level gets lower in your blood the longer you sleep.

Greg, the best way to increase your boner is through use. Your old and I'm married. :lol:

Enough boner talk at this sausage fest. :lol:

Any updates on you guys' trying out the Paleo deal?

My 32" pants are feeling loose now. And I'm not trying to even loose weight... I don't crave bread, crackers, chips, cookies at all anymore. And I was a cereal freak. I ordered up a BBQ brisket, cole slaw. I tried part of the bun and could not believe at how sweet it tasted.. it's weird.

No one ever died of a wheat deficiency. Especially today's version of modified "wheat". Quitting wheat and dairy killed my sugar cravings too. Pretty cool...

The China Study

I promised to condense some thoughts once I dug into "The China Study". I'm now 230 pages deep and it's been a very enjoyable and enlightening read. Let me say that the more I study nutrition, the more I realize that it's similar to religion and politics. Everybody has an opinion and the dust will never settle. Much like other aspects of life, you have to determine what voices hold the most value.

They claim that this is the most comprehensive study on nutrition ever performed in the history of man kind. The basis of this book is that most Western diseases (Heart Disease, Cancers, Diabetes, Alzheimers, etc) are preventable with the right nutrition. That is a whole food, largely plant based diet.

Astonishing statistics in America:

A male has a 47% chance of cancer in his lifetime.
Over 30% of our population is obese.
Heart disease kills 1 in 3 Americans.
Diabetes has increased by 70% for the 30 something age group in the last 10 years.
Medical care is the 3rd leading cause of death.
America has almost double the health care cost per person of any other major country in the world.
It's estimated that only 2-3% of cancers are caused by GENETICS
And the list goes on and on....

They started out by testing their theory on Rats. They found that a diet of 20% dairy protein (Casein) would help cancer cells originate and grow. At only 5% of the diet, cancer didn't take hold. By switching to a plant based protein diet of 20%, the cancer cells would turn off and quit multiplying. Then switching back to a dairy protein (Casein) it would turn back on. The Western diet is extremely high in protein. They claim we only need about 10% of our diets to come from protein to sustain energy level and normal function. Magically, in the 10-12% range was where they determined an animal based protein diet to be relatively safe.

Once they had proved it in rats, they then went to mice and found the same results. To prove there theory, they studied 65 counties, 6500 people per county with blood tests, urine samples, and questionnaires. From poverty level to the wealthiest of the Chinese. What they found was astonishing. The poorest suffered from the least Western diseases because they were forced to eat a whole food, plant based diet. As they Chinese became wealthier, they adopted a more Western diet of animal proteins and they suffered the same fate of Western disease.

To be continued.....

Todd, What does it mean "Medical care is the third leading cause of death"?

Also, went on a 132 mile dual sport ride around Tahoe on Monday, my first ride since my shoulder surgery. It was a 9 hour event with most the riding being off road dirt bike. My stamina was good thanks to my cycling efforts. My back/shoulders/lats i tried strenghining by the Concept 1 rowing maching but i wasnt consitant enough, but still, hardly any lactic acid. My one problem, my goggles very very lightly pinching my nose and i couldnt breath through it at all!

As much as i am going to hate it, i'm gonna have to do the septum surgery:eek: :brix: :superhack: , and yes in that order....

Wow Mike, that's some serious stamina. Good for you!

To answer your question about medical care being the 3rd leading cause, here's the break down:

Adverse drug effects: 106,000 deaths
Hospital bone infections: 80,000 deaths
Other preventable errors in hospital: 20,000
Unnecessary surgery: 12,000
Medication errors: 7,400

Moral of the story, the less medical attention you require throughout your life, the less chance you have to die from the 3rd biggest killer, MEDICAL CARE.

A good friend of mine told me a story of a very wealthy client of his recently. He had a minor rotator cuff tear and was told it was minimally invasive and he would come out of the surgery with no side effects. After the surgery, he's had intense pain in his forearm and hand. So bad that he has to take more pain meds than he'd like to ingest. He told my buddy that he would give every single dime away to get rid of the pain.

Kelli's dad had back surgery about 6 weeks ago. Shortly after his memory got fuzzy and eventually all he knew was his last name. His spinal fluid wasn't reabsorbing and he had major brain swelling. It almost killed him. They have installed a permanent shunt to drain it for the rest of his life. We are hoping he gets out of the hospital this week.

Surgery ONLY in mandatory situations.