My next "Health Goal"

18% Body Fat.
Right now I am at 24.1%

My first goal was 270lbs(from 470) and I reached that, so this is what I decided was my next goal. 

Something I think about that helps motivate me when I need it... "I will be someone's ancestor someday and I want to be a source of pride, as mine are for me."

1st Goal Accomplished!

I have lost 200lbs as of today! 470lbs-270lbs
 
I am thankful for the amazing support from my wife, Melissa, and encouragement from my friends and family. Thank you everyone!

I will be reworking my diet and exercise program to accomplish my new body plan....
More details coming soon!

Going without Antiperspirants - Update #1

I switched a couple months a go to Crystal Body Deodorant Stick, I am very happy with this product. Some days it doesn't seem to last all day but all it takes is a second application. I have not had any rashes or irritations at all with this and it works... SO, Win Win!

Death to Back Pain

A couple of weeks ago I decided to add Deadlifts to my workout routine. I have added them to my normal "back day". First time I did them, the front and back of my thighs and glutes killed for three days. The second time I didn't feel any uncomfortable aching at all. Right now I am focused on form and trying to not add much weight till I am comfortable with my form. I will post updates about progress as it goes.

Relieving the Pressure!

My blood pressure: Was never REALLY high... unless I was at the Dr. office(130s) and that went down when I found a Dr I liked. Highest resting was in mid 120's over mid 80's and it has been steady lowering as my weight has. Now I get low to mid 90's over low to mid 60's.... Today 91/65

Paleo on the Go

Cooked the tomato based sauce in a microwave, boiled shrimp from Henhouse next to the cigar shop

Update

Weight is down to 285lbs now. Dealing with a problem foot so I have not been on the treadmill near as much as I like or should. I hope to get into a Podiatrist soon. This has been a big motivation killer to keep up the blog and more importantly exercising.

I have been working a lot in our veggie garden... Battle of the Bugs! It has also been a summer of swimming and getting together with family and friends, so far is has been a great summer.

Rock not Rolling

I know I have been slow getting this Blog rolling, I have been really busy. We have been getting a lot of stuff done around our cave, inside and out. Hope to get some more activity going on here soon!

Fat Head - Trailer with Link

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I was made aware of this documentary at freetheanimal.com

What full movie here!
Fat Head @ Hulu.com
Fat Head @ Netflix.com

About the Film

From fathead-movie.com

"Have you seen the news stories about the obesity epidemic? Did you see Super Size Me? Then guess what? … You’ve been fed a load of bologna.
Comedian (and former health writer) Tom Naughton replies to the blame-McDonald’s crowd by losing weight on a fat-laden fast-food diet while demonstrating that nearly everything we’ve been told about obesity and healthy eating is wrong. Along with some delicious parody of Super Size Me, Naughton serves up plenty of no-bologna facts that will stun most viewers, such as: The obesity “epidemic” has been wildly exaggerated by the CDC. People the government classifies as “overweight” have longer lifespans than people classified as “normal weight.” Having low cholesterol is unhealthy. Lowfat diets can lead to depression and type II diabetes. Saturated fat doesn’t cause heart disease — but sugars, starches and processed vegetable oils do."

Paleo On the Go

Poki Salad from Henhouse

What are you hunting?

Our ancestors, even the not so distant ones, did not sit around and wait for their food to come to them. They either chased it down, or had to walk to areas where they could pick it. Then they would go back to the home.

I have started to break up my daily cardio routine. Granted, not everyone can do the same, and there will be days it will not be possible with life’s responsibilities and other happenings around us. Although, I think it would be worth it to give it a try every day that you can. I have started out attempting three - thirty minute - walks on the treadmill a day. One in the morning, another around noon and also in the evening. Once the weather warms up, on nice days my noon walk will be with my daughter around our town and last between a hour and a half to two. I am currently getting in at least two brisk walks a day. It has really begun to speed up my weight loss. My wife, is almost always on the move at her job from one end of her work complex to the other, she still finds time to take brisk walks on both her breaks and lunch.

Today also marks an important Milestone for me, I have left the 300’s and now in the 200’s. I stepped on the scale today to see 299, I am very excited. I am only 24lbs away from my first goal!

Paleo Diet Leaders Art DeVany and Robb Wolf On Nightline 3-1-11

Found this shared by freetheanimal.com on Facebook

Also today I weighed in at 300lbs, that is a loss of 160-170lbs.

Eat your bones!

What you will need:
Bones
Veggies
Acid
Herbs
H20
Stock pot
Ladle
Strainer
Cheese cloth
Plastic container
Smaller storage container
Optional:
Ice Cube trays
Silicone Muffin tray
Thermometer


To me the best thing about Stocks, is you get something out of nothing. One major plus for the modern day caveman is the added calcium to our diet, we are not running around chugging down cow juice (milk) or munching on cheese. When looking for a stock pot the rule of thumb is taller than wide, a good thick bottom is nice to keep it from scorching. I would stay away from nonstick if you are going to be browning anything in it.

Keeping the something out of nothing in mind. I would suggest saving your veggie scraps, celery ends, carrot rinds, herb stems, onion skins. Just keep a freezer bag in the freezer to toss all these in, I would go easy on the really aromatic herbs and avoid broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cabbage if you want that flavor I would put it in whatever dish you use your stock for. Vegetables that are just about to the point where you would want to throw them out are perfect too. Same can go with your bones, Save your scrap bones when you are preparing you meat for your meals. I would keep the different types of animals to their own bag, some mixing may be ok like chicken, turkey or game hens. You can buy beef soup bones cheap at your local butcher counter, if you don’t see them - ask.

You can use lemon or lime for your acids, most folks will use vinegars, I would rather use that stuff for cleaning. Acid helps pull the calcium right out of the bones and breaks them down. I wouldn’t go crazy with it, one good sized lemon or lime, two max, for 8Qt will do. Some people roast their bones first to give it some added flavor, but this can block up the pores in the bone before the acid has a chance to get in there and extract the calcium we are after, this is the same reason you start with cold water and cold bones.
If you want to add the same effect for flavor brown up a bit of meat in the pot before you add your water and bones.

If Browning Meat:
Heat up some oil or fat in you stock up, I would use lard or olive oil, table spoon or two. Place your meat in the pot, few ounces, once you get it good and brown lower heat then pour in your lemon use to deglaze your pot by scraping around the bottom of the pot with a spatula to free up on the brown bits that are stuck. You can give your pot a bit of time to cool down but I would put in a cup of two of cold water to keep everything from evaporating off, like your acid. Continue right along as “No Browning”.

No Browning?
Throw in the goods, bones(fill ¾ of the pot), veggies, herbs, spices, salt and acid if you have not done so already. Keep the lid off and heat up the pot on medium until it just starts to boil, you want to see some bubbles and slight currant but you do not want much surface movement happening. Turn down the heat just enough to keep this action going for me this is at just about 200 degrees. As it is going foam will build up on top, use a spoon to scoop it out but be careful not to remove much else in the way of liquid, herbs or anything else. You do not have to stand there and scoop up the foam as it forms, you can wait a while until there is some build up. It is a good idea to remove the foam before you stir the pot. Continue to cook it for six to eight hours, three that the very minimum.

After you are done cooking kill the heat, cover, move to a cool burner if you like and let if cool this way for some time. After if has cooled most of the way pour threw a strainer, with cheese cloth spread out in it, into a container for cooling. A good container would be taller then wide like the stock pot but not as big, I use an 8Qt pot and about a 4Qt container. Place the container in the fridge and let completely cool, the fat will float to the top and form a hardened disk. Remove the disk, you can rinse if off with cold water but you make be fast as to not melt the fat from the heat of your hands, place in a freezer bag or wrap in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer, the fat will come in handy to add flavor to other meals or you can use it for browning the meat for your next batch! Pour the remaining stock into smaller containers… small freezer containers or something similar. One good idea is to pour in ice cube trays or silicone muffin form and freeze them dump into a freezer bag. There are numerous ways you can use your stock, so enjoy! Lasts 4-5 days in fridge and a couple of months in the freezer so mark you containers.

I went into way more detail on this then I probably will on most of my food posts, it has been fun though.

Calorie Burn Calculator

Good weight loss tool, just type in your weight and workout time and it will give you a list of how many calories you'll burn for several activities.

Calorie Burn Calculator

                                                          img from sxc.hu

Going without Antiperspirants

I started using under arm deodorant only, doing away with the antiperspirant/deodorant combo. After first by the end of the day I could smell a very faint pit smell, asked the wife if she could too and on closer inspection she said no. A few days just using deodorant I couldn’t smell anything, I have also noticed when I am on the treadmill I do not sweat as strong all over my body like I used to and do not feel as hot. So it seems that my body can regulate the heat and sweat much more efficiently now. Sweating is our bodies way of cooling ourselves off and maybe inhibiting the process on one part of our body throws a wrench into the whole process we have used since primitive times. I still may use an antiperspirant/deodorant when I am dressed up for a function, I have not quit decided yet.

The Deodorant I am using is Tom’s of Maine, they use natural ingredients.

**Note:**
About page has been updated
Wife is working on a custom banner

!Update 2/2/11!
No longer using Tom's of Maine after having a reaction, probably due to Hops.
Now using Burt's Bees Deodorant

Packing on the Treadmill

For pure "What the Hellness" I threw on my backpack before I got on the treadmill and it seemed to make time go by a lot faster. I notice it seemed to improve my posture and it did not seem like I had to intentionally walk in a straight line. It was not fully loaded with gear, maybe weighing in about ten pounds or more. I have not decided if I will continue to do this but I have been thinking about the possibility of slowly adding some weight. I can see where this would make trail life a bit easier and burn some more calories as I go. I know some athletes wear weighted vest or packs as they run on a treadmill. I have been planning on getting a weighted vest after I get down to 300 pounds so I could add one pound of weight for every pound lost, but this may take place of that or bounce back and forth between pack and vest to keep things mixed up.