March 2012

Coming back from vacation was tough
I was out of the habit of doing my daily greasing the groove

I did make it to the gym twice while on vacation
Wimpy globo gym but they did have some dumbbells
Got in a decent enough workout with those
My second workout was a brutal burnout of emotion
This was the first time I had really felt and used emotion in a workout
I don't like the way the emotions were generated but this was a major breakthrough for me

I worked harder to plan for my meals
I started going to Mazopiya for more stuff
Grass fed beef, farm eggs and organic veggies

I also changed out my vitamins
I had been taking generic vitamins and fish oil
I had read and heard from several health and fitness experts that using higher quality vitamins and supplements were worth the extra money for what you got from them
GNC 900mg fish oil with 900mg of Omega-3
Vitamin packs that were more rounded and better absorption
I take the heart health on non workout days and the sport one on workout days

I started a new gym membership at Anytime Fitness
Paid for some sessions with a trainer once a week
Since starting I have made it M/W/F each week
When I go I work HARD
I push myself until I can hardly lift my arms and my legs are wobbly and cramping
I found that using glutamine in a protein shake after working out helps tremendously with DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)
I find that I can push each time I am there and be recovered by the next workout
I also have been getting stronger for sure
I am NOT doing cardio but sticking to Crossfit/HIIT concept and pushing weights at a high intensity with very little rest between sets

I took my pictures at the end of March
I looked at them and was highly disappointed because I didn't see much change
Then I took my Jan starting pic and put it in a picture with the one from March
I cried
I could see the change when I did that
Without those pics to really show me that I had improved I am not sure how much longer I would have kept going

Went to the doctor late March
My numbers were better
My A1c was down to 7.2
Need to figure what triggers sugar release in my system
My carb intake is fairly low and usually low glycemic index stuff like tomatoes
My triglycerides were still high but I dropped nearly 1200 pts off them
HDL and LDL were still low
Next doctor appointment mid May

My biggest piece of advice for anyone wanting to lose "weight" and get healthy
PUT THE DAMN SCALE IN THE CLOSET
Weighing yourself every day is discouraging

Do this:
Take measurements (get help if needed) and write them down
Get a fat percentage done (DO NOT USE BMI. BMI is used by insurance companies and lazy doctors)
Take pictures in your underwear (in a place you will take ALL pics to keep consistent)
Do a starting set of exercises as a starting baseline
Example:
AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible)
2 min of pushups
2 min of sit ups
2 min of air squats
2 min of curls with a light bar or light dumbbells
Write all of these down and keep it safe
Write down how you felt doing them
Write down the emotions and physical feelings

After going to the gym for a month do it again with the same exercises and weight
Did you improve?
Do it again each month or several months
Use that to check your improvement

Ways to know you have improved:
Your measurements have improved
Your fat percentage is down
You can see progress in your pictures
Your exercise baseline is better

Don't worry about the first month
You will probably see more after the second compared to your starting point

February 2012

I took pictures again in Feb
I didn't really see a lot of change but I did see some
I still hated seeing myself in the picture

I had made the comment to someone that I would rather be in public without anything on below the waist than to take my t-shirt off and show my fat stomach

I struggled with meals
I was throwing away food
I would buy stuff and then not use it because I had no plans for it
I wasn't working out at the gym but I started doing what they call Greasing the Groove.
I bought a couple kettlebells to do this

I knew I had made a few changes when I went to Albert Lea for an living history event and my belt fit better than it had at the end of summer, the last time I had it on

I was still struggling with my body image
I felt disgusting and it affected how I looked on the world

I had good days and bad days
I made special effort to not have nothing days
I tried to be conscientious of every day and not let them just blur

I had a doctor appointment mid month
I had stopped taking my Atorvistatin and Gemfibrozil
Atorvistatin (Lipitor) is mostly for cholesterol
Gemfibrozil (Lopid) is mostly for triglycerides
My doctor appointment went fairly well
My A1c was down but my triglycerides sky-rocketed to almost 1900
My LDL & HDL were still in the 20s tho
I went back on my Gemfibrozil and didn't restart the Atorvistatin

At the end of the month I went to Hawaii for my sons wedding
I ate a lot but I tried to keep paleo in mind
I had lots of meat, eggs, vegetables and fruit
I avoided all the breads, pastas, pastries and junk
I did eat some rice but kept it down to minimal portions

It was a good month overall

January 2012

I made the decision to make changes at the end of 2011
I was the heaviest I had been in years
My A1c was above 12
My triglycerides were above 1000
I was getting to the point where I needed to get new clothes because things were tight

I had started a journey of self searching
To determine what was truly and really important to me
To remove things that didn't make me happy or better
To add things that did make me happy and better

I decided to go back to paleo
I knew that it would help me
I also knew that I couldn't be 100% strict
That hadn't worked before and I knew that I needed to remove the possibility of excuses

I started logging my food intake
I started to buy better food product to work with
I started to think ahead and plan for meals

I took the biggest step I had ever done before
I took pictures of myself in just my underwear
Not only did I do that but I posted them to a private group I belong to as a way of being accountable
I also used MSPaint to edit the pictures by painting my edges so that I didn't have any bulges or overhang
This helped in visualization of me without all the fat

Where I started from

In Jan 2011 my doctor told me that in order to get my health under control I needed weight loss surgery.

My issues:
40% body fat (I kept lying to myself and using "Athlete" when testing)
High blood pressure
High triglycerides
Low HDL (LDL of 30 so no complaints)
Borderline anemic (MCH/MCV borderline low)
Completely out of shape

I had a gym membership which I had started 2 years before
I had gone as LOW fat as I possibly could
I overate low fat high carb snacks thinking I was eating healthy

Reading Mark's Daily Apple about diabetes lit a bulb for me
The point that really hit was #1 about how excess carbs/glucose was a major contributing factor to triglycerides
I might have given it too much credit but it got thru where other comments hadn't

I made changes and improved

Then I got lazy and complacent
I gained weight and fat
My A1c went up
I started making excuses to avoid going to the doctor because I didn't want to hear how bad I was doing

2 weeks or 3 months

I am starting this 3 months after I started changing my diet
I will try to go back and post about the start

Basic Info
I started changing my diet to based on Paleo
I thought I was going to go strict but that wasn't working
I started out by just doing food changes but realized it wasn't working without workout
I have been paying for a gym membership for years but just wasn't going
I am diabetic, take high blood pressure meds and have very low HDL and very high Triglycerides


Current status 20120329:
My A1c down to 7.2 down from 7.7 20120216
Triglycerides down to 786 from 1896 20120216
HDL still low at 30
Weight at VA down but I am not going to post any weight because that isn't the point

Recent changes:
Started going to gym 20120314
Been going each M\W\F
Working with a trainer on Wed
Started using organic ranch and french dressing with my spinach salads