Truth be told, I've avoided Paleo mostly because I've been blessed with the genetics and metabolism to maintain decent body composition and strength without giving a fuck about what I eat. Perfect examples of my nonchalant eating habits can be seen here and below:
Unfortunately, as I approach age 28 (kill me now) I feel those days of shoving all manner of food into my face are eventually coming to an end. And from the perspective of a coach/trainer, it wouldn't hurt to actually practice what I preach as far as nutrition goes. Nevertheless, there are other factors at play here...
1) Health. My father has high cholesterol and he takes statins for it, which I don't agree with for many reasons. I had my cholesterol checked roughly four years ago and my results came back high -- roughly 216. I saw a nutritionist, altered my diet a bit (whole grain bread - hooray!), went back, exact same result. For the past month I've been trying to get blood work done on a variety of biomarkers of health (HDL, LDL, TAG, LDL particle size, c-reactive protein, glucose, etc), but for some reason the entire universe is conspiring to prevent that from happening. Doctors are dickheads and labs are useless. If I have insurance that will pay for the process, why can't I get blood work done whenever the fuck I want? Why does a doctor need to recommend it? Fuck a doctor. Suck my white ass, American medicine. Anwyays, this was part of the reason it's taken so long to start this stupid challenge.
2) Injury/Inflammation. As some of you may already know, I've been dealing with a knee injury for the past six months. Official diagnosis: an ossicle (bone fragment) from Osgood Schlatter's disease causing patellar tendonitis at the tibial tuberosity. Basically, there's a tiny bone embedded in my patellar tendon causing pain/discomfort during deep squatting and lunging. I've been working around it as best I can. I've seen three physical therapists, two orthopedic surgeons, and one chiropractor. I've been icing, heating, stretching, and strengthening. Not much has improved. Surgery may still be on the table, but I'd prefer to avoid it. Since tendonitis is an inflammatory response to injury, why not try an anti-inflammatory diet like Paleo? Booyah.
There's that little fucker.
3) Discipline. Lasting only 8 hours on your most recent attempt at Paleo is pretty goddamn pathetic. I consider this an exercise in self-control. I fucking love food, especially every kind that is bad for you. I'm well aware of the effectiveness of Paleo, but I've never fully committed to it. No time like the present.
So here we are. On the cusp of something annoying. No more bread, grains, shitty sugars, or dairy (except for grass-fed butter, which I'll discuss later). In the next installment, I will post some onset information i.e. body fat percentage, before pictures, and possibly cholesterol (if I ever hear from any of these ass-wipe doctors). Over the next month, I will be talking about meal plans, sleep/stress/cortisol control, energy levels, training on Paleo while injured, and so on. Stay tuned.
NOTE: I actually began one week ago, but it took me this long to write this goddamn blog post.
it's not like you have discipline tattooed on the inside of your arm or anything.
ReplyDeleteJeff said you blogged about going paleo for 30 days! I'm happy for you even though my sorry ass ain't ready to try it yet! That said, I forced myself to exercise discipline vis a vis food for the 30 first days of 2012 and its made a longer term difference in the way I eat. I'm sure there'll be benefits to it! I'll save the brown butter chocolate chip cookies for you sometime in April! Have fun!
ReplyDeleteWell said all the way through mi amigo. Coincidentally (or not coincidentally), I cracked my patella (knee cap) about 8 months ago and had the same pain in squatting. Of course, I said "fuck it" and starting doing crossfit. actually started to get better, but got the xney on the tifcross-ey (or however you type pig latin). That tiny pain in the knee is such a pain in the ass/knee.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, just wanted to say, i feel for ya. If only we could put my face on your body. Boom. that just blew your mind.
Nothin but love from SoFla.
Was the patellar/tubercle pain from the ossicle ever resolved for you?
ReplyDelete