Back in the Paleo Challenge

Well, it is that time of year again. The Paleo Challenge is upon us at Nor Cal Strength and Conditioning. Time to knuckle down, avoid all of the carbs possible, and really focus on maintaining a rigorous work out and eating right. For me, the goal is to win. Pure and simple. I have come a long way, but I still have a lot of fat to lose and muscle to build. So, really watching what I eat. Trying to work out a minimum of 4 days a week. Trying to get more sleep. And swallowing a lot of fish oil pills.

Given it makes me even more accountable, I am going to start posting my daily food intake again.

Sunday

5 turkey sausage
2 chicken breasts
Chicken and Shrimp Gumbo *See Recipes
Monday

Bkfst: 5 turkey sausage
Lunch: Chick/Shrimp Gumbo * See Recipes
Snack: 3 slices of deli meat
Dinner: Bbq chicken

Tuesday

5 turkey sausage
3 Brauts
3 slices of deli turkey w pesto
Pork tenderloin roast

Can anyone volunteer their time for a few hours?

Friends: I need help:

My friend Lou Mars, who is an unbelievably talented drummer and performer, is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for Marathon Drumming starting next month on January 14, 2010, by drumming continuously for more than 120 hours, (he gets a 5 minute break per hour). Besides besting the record, the goal of this event is to raise money, secure donations of musical equipment for use in public schools, and to raise awareness for the need to bring music classes back to the public classroom. Due to Lou's deep connections in the music industry, we have a number of instrument manufacturers and retailers donating and matching contributions. We have a number of national and international media, including VH1, poised to carry portions of the attempt live.

Everything is coming together nicely, but what we need are volunteers here in the Chico area to serve as witnesses and timekeepers. These volunteers will work in shifts of no more than 4 hours in length, to document the world record event under the Guinness rules. So if you can spare a few hours of your time to serve as a witness or timekeeper anytime between January 14 through January 20th, please email or send me a message so I can get you on the list.

Thanks a bunch, Dave, (please see link below for more info).

http://www.loumarsdrums.com/worldrecord/index.html

Answer to Anonymous

Anon:

Rather than just give you some case citations with a bunch of legalese, (that may or may not make sense to you), I figured giving you some authoritative articles, investigation services, monographs, and reports from 3rd parties would help you understand this evolving field. There are also a number of books that have been written on the subject, especially in the HR and Business Management field that you can pick up from Amazon. For a good introduction, that is not in legalese, try Nolo Press. One of the citations below is from the author that wrote their book for California.

A couple of investigation services:

http://www.diversifiedriskmanagement.com/investigations/workplace-violence.html

http://www.merrills-investigations.com/Workplace-Violence-Investigations.html

An overview on the subject and related issues out of UC Berkeley School of Business Management

http://are.berkeley.edu/APMP/pubs/lmd/html/summer_94/previol.html

A leading expert in the field, and her book:

http://workplaceviolencenews.com/books/books-2008/the-essential-guide-to-workplace-investigations-how-to-handle-employee-complaints-problems/

Cal OSHA Guidelines

http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/dosh_publications/worksecurity.html

Article giving overview of Federal Case Law

http://www.workviolence.com/articles/corporate_liability.htm

FBI National Study of Workplace Violence

http://www.fbi.gov/publications/violence.pdf

Article on recent developments for Employer Liability for Workplace Violence

http://www.liabilityconsultants.com/article.htm

California Specific Article on Employer Duties to prevent workplace violence

http://www.mediate.com/articles/larsen.cfm

Still losing inches

Wow, been a long time since I posted. While the frequency of my work outs has diminished, (which I need to seriously rededicate myself to), I have been doing well on my Paleo Diet. Doesn't mean I don't "cheat" now and again, but overall, while I don't seem to be losing a lot of weight, my waist is still going down. A year ago, I was given some shorts that were size 38 waist. I was wearing 44s at the time. I have tried them on occasionally since, hoping I would fit into them. Well today, they finally fit. So that is a total of 6" off my waist since January.

Dave's Paleo Recipes

I decided to make my Polynesian Beef Tip Stew today, and realized that I had given away all of the printouts I had made of the recipe, so I came here to my blog to reprint it off. Surprisingly, I had a heck of a time finding it buried amongst all of my other ramblings and recipes. So I decided to make a new blog, Dave's Paleo Recipes, where only the recipes are going to be posted. This will hopefully help us all be able to find them quicker and easier.

Please see the link in the upper right hand corner under Healthy Links.

Dave

Wow, been a while since I last posted

Wow, been a while since I last posted. I have been really busy, and then more recently sick with a lung infection. So working out has been very sporadic. I have been continuing to eat well on my Paleo diet, and even with the loss of consistent exercise, I have continued to lose some weight, (albeit at a snail's pace).

Today when I did work out, I weighed 262 lbs, =), which is 4 lbs less than my last official Thursday weigh in. At 2 pounds a month, my goal to reach 250 lbs may take a little longer than I hoped, but at least I am still moving in the right direction.

Rob Wolfe has really been pushing me to up my intake of fish oil capsules. He has found that the fish oil has really helped him lean out. So I am trying to up my intake to 10 to 12 a day. I will let you know how that works for me.

Hope all of you are doing well.

Dave

266 lbs and counting

I have been remiss in posting lately. Been very busy and doing some traveling. My trainers at the gym have been guilting me because I am not working out as much as I should be, but I am still doing good on my diet, (well except this weekend), but last Saturday I was at 266 lbs. So I can finally say I am in the 260's. Now just another 16 lbs to go to hit my original target of 250 lbs.

The 7 month Paleo challenge at my gym ends at the end of July, so I have another 10 weeks or so to go. It is my goal to be at or below 250 lbs by the end of the challenge. That means I am going to need to average losing about 2 lbs per week. That has been pretty close to my average since January 1st, so I definately believe this is doable.

270 lbs and going

At workout on Friday, April 17 I decided to check my weight. A couple of trainers noticed me doing so. I weighed, and looking at the number, I pulled off my shoes and weighed myself again. Then I pulled off my shirt and did it again. I considered closing the door and pulling off my shorts, but noticed them watching me and thought better of it. So as I walked out, they asked, so did you lose or gain?

The answer was lost, in fact 5 lbs in a week. I explained that the first time the scale said 271.5. So I thought, hmm, can I get below 270? So I started stripping. For me, being able to say I am in the 260s, is a big deal. I don't think I have been in that range for at least the last decade. I couldn't get the scale to budge below the 270.0 mark however. Still, that is almost a 5 pound loss just in a week.

Things are still heading in the right direction. Just 20 lbs to my original goal of 250lbs. =)

Blood Work

As I posted back in January, I had some blood work taken at my doctor's insistence. The results were not good. In fact, they were plain horrible. So horrible, that he called me at home within 48 hours of having the tests done.

My Blood Glucose was 130 mg/dl. “Normal” values 70-110mg/dl. Anything above 125, is considered Diabetic. My doctor stated that at this point I was essentially a Type 2 diabetic, and that if my next test was above 125, then he would have to diagnose me as being diabetic.

HDL was 35 mg/dl. This is your “good” Cholesterol. Normal is 30-80. Higher is better.

LDL was 152 mg/dl. This is “BAD” cholesterol. Normal is 50-130. Lower is better. So mine was way BAD.

My Triglycerides were 284 mg/dl. Normal is 30-150. This is a measure of your blood fats and an indicator of your insulin resistance. You want this number to be LOW. Mine, almost twice the high limit, again, VERY, VERY BAD

These bad numbers did help me focus on really being strict on my Paleo Diet. For me, it was my last chance to try and reverse these bad numbers, or face having to go on to a number of daily medicines that I really wanted no part of. My doctor is also a very conservative Seventh Day Adventist, who counseled me about becoming a vegetarian and avoiding meats. When I explained to him that I was 1 week into the Paleo Diet, he told me to read the China Study, (vegetarian)and that was the only diet he recommended.

So, having put off the second set of tests until I could really feel and see all of the positive changes that were happening due to following the Paleo Diet, I went in 2 weeks ago and had the follow up tests done. I kept waiting for the call from the doctor. I was expecting good news, but you never know. Finally, after not hearing anything, I called my mother last week, (who works for my doctor), and asked her if she could check on it for me. She told me that the Dr. would call me as soon as he got the tests back, as that is what he always did. So on Tuesday this week, I went by to see my mother and remembered to ask her again. So she pulled my file, and found all of my tests. She was very surprised that the Dr. had not called me. I suspect it is because he had no way to explain the results. He actually told my mother that I was jeopardizing my health by being on the Paleo Diet, (due to my high cholesterol). So when he saw the new numbers, I think he decided to avoid calling me, since he did not want to hear me gloat about the benefits of living on a Paleo Diet.

So, 80 days after my first tests, here were the changes:

Blood Glucose-115 mg/dl. Still higher than normal, but down 15 points from last time, and most importantly, NOT in the Diabetic Range.

HDL-40 mg/dl. Up 5 points! A good start.

LDL-104mg/dl. Down 48 points!! That is a 32% drop, and HUGE. So anyone who says eating "meats" increases your cholesterol, needs to rethink their biases.

Triglycerides-95 mg/dl. Down almost 200 points!!!! That is over a 66% drop.

So in 80 days, ALL of my blood tests substantially improved. The only difference between the two tests, was my continued paleo diet. I had already been working out twice a week for months and had already lost 31 lbs from my highest weight when I had the first set of tests taken. Exercising and losing weight alone were not enough to fix my body's bad chemistry. I needed to change my diet, and that was the only change in my lifestyle that happened between the two tests. The Medical Tests prove that my body is substantially healthier due to the change in diet.

Having already discovered how much better I feel, and now seeing this scientific evidence confirming my body's improved health; I have to concede that I am wholly convinced that the Paleo Diet is the way to go for me.

Now all you need to figure out is if it is the right choice for you.

Good luck and good health.
Dave

Broke 275 lb barrier

On Saturday, 4-11, I volunteered to help out the regional work out for the up coming CrossFit Games. It was a lot of fun. Boy let me tell you, I may think of myself as being competitive in nature, but what those athletes put themselves through that day was nothing short of HELL. I have absolutely no inclination to ever want to try those kinds of work outs. It was amazing to see them push themselves so hard. I don't think anyone left the gym that day without a raspy voice. There was no way you could watch these men and women push themselves to the incredible work outs they were turning in, without getting emotionally charged and yelling, screaming and doing everything you could to help keep them going.

As part of my plan to help, I brought a big batch of the Polynesian Beef Tip Stew that I have previously posted and a bunch of Oranges that I cut into wedges. When I participated in the Fight Gone Bad workout for charity last fall, someone had brought orange wedges. After nearly killing myself with the workout, those oranges were like the food of the Gods. They really helped me recover that day, so I wanted to make sure that they were available to the athletes. Apparently both were good choices, as there was nothing left of either by the end of the day.

Now to my weight. When I got to the gym that morning, I checked my weight. I was 272 lbs. That makes a total of 52 lbs I have lost since starting at CrossFit and 22 lbs since January 1st of this year. I can't wait to get into the 260's. Its been a long time since I saw that weight on the scale. =)

New O-Lifting Personal Records

This week is a "Max Lift" week at Nor Cal Strength & Conditioning. We have been focusing on building up our "body strength" for the last few weeks. These lifts, (back squat, dead lift, and push press), are not designed to build "muscle" as much as they are to tone and increase our body's general athletic abilities. At 43, I certainly don't have any interest in trying to be a body builder, but I get excited seeing how far I have come since I first started working out there.

I never realized how physically weak I had become. I have already written about not being able to even do a single pushup when I first started. On Monday I set my personal record for the Back Squat at 275 lbs, and today I bested my previous dead lift record with a 375 lb lift.

I can't help it, that old competitive beast within me is now rearing its ugly head....because what's even more cool, is that I posted the highest lifts in both events so far. =) Everyone else can run circles around me doing everything else, but at least I can hold my head up high about topping this list, (well at least so long as Rob and Fraguso don't participate).

My weight has been holding steady still, so I am tweaking my diet a bit. Increasing protein, cutting back on the fruits. I thought the extra work outs would allow me a little more leeway, but apparently such thinking was only a pleasant delusion. I still have 4 months to go until the end of the 7 month paleo challenge, but there are a lot of people working very hard, so I need to really buckle down. See, sometimes being competitive can be a good thing.

Still dropping inches

I've been a bit frustrated for the last couple weeks, as I don't seem to be losing any weight. However, I have upped my workouts to 3 and 4 times a week. I have been noticing my muscle mass increasing, and try to convince myself that I am losing fat, just replacing it with heavier muscle. Well today, I found some proof of that.

Today, knowing that I had to appear before a local City Councel, and wanting to wear green for St. Patrick's Day, I was looking through my clothes looking for something green to wear when I came upon these brand new pants hanging up, with tags still on them. At the time, I could not remember where they had come from, but decided to try them on. They fit perfectly, and my thought at the time was, "Oh cool, they are not stretched out and falling off me like all of the others".

So later I am talking to my wife, and ask her where these pants came from. She reminded me that I had gotten them for Christmas, and they were way too small for me. Then I remembered that when I tried them on at Christmas, I could not even come close to getting them to button. Now they fit perfectly. So that is a 45" waist to a 42 inch waist in 9 weeks.

Not sure I will ever get back to the 32" waist I had when I graduated from college, but I am now 30% closer to doing so. =)

Sirloin Stroganoff

My mother made this last Saturday for a family dinner, wherein I was the only person on a Paleo Diet. Everyone loved it, and there were NO leftovers.

12 to 16 oz. of boneless beef sirloin steak, thinly sliced into bite sized strips.
8 oz. of sliced mushrooms
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp Butter
4 small apples, halved and cored or 2 large apples quarterd.
1 cup apple cider or juice
8 oz. sour cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper

1. In large skillet, cook bell pepper, onion, and garlic in hot butter over medium high heat about 8 minutes or until nearly tender. Add meat slices and stir about 4 minutes or until meat is desired doneness. Using slotted spoon or spatula, remove meat and vegetables to serving platter, Cover to keep warm.

2. In same skillet, cook apples, cut side down, in pan drippins about 2 minutes or until browned. Stir in apple cider. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer covered 6 to 8 minutes or until tender. Using slotted spoon or spatula, remove apples from skillet to serving planner, Cover to keep warm.

3. For sauce, whisk sour cream, salt and pepper into pan drippings in skillet until smooth. Spoon sauce over steak and apples and serve.

Chipotle Steak and Tomatoes

Another recipe from my mother, (from whom I aspire to have just some of her culinary talent). I am very lucky to have my mother close by, and that she is so supportive of my gluten free and paleo lifestyle. Everytime she has us up for dinner, she comes up with a new recipe that both satisfies the appetite's of the non-paleo eaters as well as mine.

Chipotle peppers are smoked jalapenos. Find chipotle chile peppers in adobo sauce at the supermarket next to the canned chili peppers, or buy the chipotle chile peppers separately and make your own adobo sauce.

2, 6-8 oz beef shoulder petite tenders or two 6-8 oz. beff ribeye steaks
1 Canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped, plus 2 tsp. adobo sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 medium tomatoes, cut in thick slices, (app. 1 lb.)
2 medium avocados, halved, seeded, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup of thinly sliced red onion
Pinch of salt and pepper

1. Sprinkel steaks lightly with salt and pepper. Spread each with 1 teaspoon of the adobo sauce.

2. BBQ steaks on the uncovered grill directly over medium coals, (or if using gas fire, directly over the flame with the cover down), until desired doneness, turning once. Allow 10 to 12 minutes for medium rare or 12 to 15 minutes for medium.

3. Meanwhile, for dressing, in screw-top jar combine chopped peppers, olive oil, and vinegar. Shake well to combine.

4. Serve steaks with tomatoes and avocado slices. Top steaks with onion slices and drizzle with dressing. Makes 4 servings.

Variation: For a creamy dressing, omit olive oil and cider vinegar and stir cipotle peeper into 1/2 cup bottled ranch dressing.

Enjoy.

Paleo Challenge Results

The voting is done, and I came in 3rd in the 7 week Paleo Challenge, as voted on by the participants. Looking at the photos, I was pretty happy with my progress, but a lot of work still left to do.

With the positive results that the participants all shared in, Rob and Nicki, (Owners of NorCal Crossfit), have now extended the Paleo Challenge to 7 months. So now I have even more reason to stay on board. 7 weeks gave me a 16 pound weight loss. As my weight goes down, I know the weight loss will slow, but I think I can reach 250 by July. So that is my new goal.

Thanks to everyone for their continued support.

Final Paleo Challenge Weigh In

Wednesday was the final night of the 7 week Paleo Challenge that started this blog, as well as my new Paleo lifestyle.

My final weigh in had me at 278.5 lbs, for a total loss of 16 lbs since 1/1/2009. So I am real happy with that, (just over a 2 lb a week loss).

This is the first time I have been below 280 lbs in many years.

While the "challenge" is over, it is my plan to keep living a Paleo Diet/lifestyle. I still have 28.5 lbs to go to my immediate goal of 250 lbs.

2/23/09 Back to the Gym

Well my semi-vacation is over. Between the convention and my wife's birthday, my Paleo Diet took a beating, but I am happy to say that I mostly limited the damage, (I did give in to having a small piece of the chocolate-respberry cheesecake and a baked potato at my wife's birthday party). I could have eaten the whole damn thing it was so good.

Then my schedule last week pretty much kept me out of the gym. I did get some good workouts in, (hauling app. 2 cords of firewood by wheel barrow and stacking it up), at both my house and that of my mother. Luckily my lot is flat, but my Mom's is not. Let me tell you, pushing a wheel barrow up hill when it is full of firewood is no joke.

So I wasn't sure what the scale would tell me tonight. Luckily it all seemed to balance out, as I weighed in at 181.5 lbs. That is a .5 lb loss since my last weigh in, (for a total of 13 lbs since 1/1/09). So while it is not much, at least it is in the right direction.

The end of the Paleo Challenge at my gym is Wednesday. So I am hoping to lose just a little more by then. I did some extra work on my abs and chest today after our workout, hoping to maximize the changes I am feeling. Like I said earlier, I am not losing the weight as fast as I want to, but I am seeing and feeling a number of positive changes. My pants are all looser, my belt has gone down 2 notches, and my "tight shirts" are no longer tight in the stomach, but rather in the chest. So I like those trends, and hopefully the weight loss will continue.

Weekend Convention

Well, it was bound to happen. Had my yearly gaming convention, (DunDraCon) down in the Bay Area. This is basically a 3-day weekend where you sleep little, sit playing hundreds of games, (card games, minitures, role playing games, etc.), and try to survive on convention food.

It wasn't pretty, but I took a bunch of beef jerky, almond crunch, and cashews and avoided the worst of the worst. However, I certainly did get off the Paleo bandwagon for the weekend. This was my first non-caffein induced Con ever. I did keep up with drinking the lemon water only, and surprisingly, I think I was more alert and did better than sucking down the usual 10 diet sodas per day.

Now that I am back home, it is back onto the diet. Having had the carbs over the weekend, it was surprising to me how much more I craved them today. But I have been good, and am hoping that a weekend of indulgence, won't put me too far behind the 8 ball. Guess we can see the damage this Thursday at weigh in.

Weigh in 2/12/09

Well, the old scale was not too friendly today. Still at 282 lbs, (same as last Thursday). I'm actually not too disappointed, however, as I also lost about an inch off my waste, (went down to the next belt hole), and I can see and feel the extra muscle I am putting on in my shoulders and chest.

So overall, I can tell my stomach has shrunk, (I also found this week that I could comfortably fit into and even button a dress jacket that I have not been able to wear in a couple of years). I had a massage on last Friday, and the massues kept commenting on how much more muscle and muscle tone I have added in the last 2 months. One of the wierd things, (though nice), is that I can actually feel my stomach muscles toning up. I actually feel like my stomach is getting "pulled in", because the muscles are so much "tighter" than they use to be.

So as Nicki keeps telling me, the scale is a good thing to keep an eye on, but the main thing is that I stay consistant on my paleo diet and workouts, as that is what is going to "lean me out", and that is what I really need to be focused on, rather than what that "weight" might be.

P.S. Also got a new personal record for my deadlift tonight, 365 lbs. I then bit off more than I could chew, as I wanted to lift 405 lbs, which is a total of 8 blue/45 lb weights. (365 was 6 blues and 2 greens/25 lb weights). It may be silly, but I love the idea of lifting all blues all away across the ends of the bar. (I want to frame that picture). I really thought I could do that 40 lb jump up, because 365 did not feel that hard. I could get the 405 off the ground, but unfortunately could not clear my knees. So oh well, now I have a new goal to hit.