Allow me to introduce myself- I am Michael Pearce. Friends call me Tinker because it seems like one man in three my age is named 'Michael.' They got tired of saying, "No, the other other Mike' and hung nicknames on all their Mikes so that they could tell us apart. It could have been much, much worse so I stuck with 'Tinker.'
Currently I am about fifty years old. I am six-feet-four inches tall and as of yesterday's doctor visit I weigh 300 pounds. Ideally with my build I should weigh about 240 lbs. What can I say? I like to eat and find exercise boring. Lately though I have to say that I find being sixty pounds overweight to be not merely boring but rather unpleasant. The fact that I don't enjoy regimented exercise doesn't mean that I don't like activity of a variety of kinds and that is getting more difficult as I get older. I also experience more aches and pains, issues with my back etc. due to the excess of 'me.' There can be too much of a good thing apparently. Time for a remedy.
The other year the government announced the results of a twenty-year, multi-million dollar study on dieting. After collating the results they discovered that the best way to lose weight was... wait for it... eat less and exercise more. Great. Next time just give me the money and I'll just TELL you. It will save a lot of time!
The wife and I have started to watch what we eat a bit more and made an effort to walk more etc. Basically more vegetables, less sugar, soda only on special occasions and like that. Less 'junk' food like potato chips, fast food etc. This has helped me a bit- I've lost eight pounds in a couple of months. But without some sort of regimen or plan it's easy to 'slip.' A better plan, an actual plan, was needed.
Last week Linda was perusing the net and came across something called 'the Primal Diet' or 'Paleo Diet.' The idea is pretty simple- we evolved as plains-running hunter-gatherers and have not been 'civilized' for long enough to evolve a suitable metabolism for our largely sedentary, agriculturally supported lifestyle. Basically we will be healthier and happier eating like hunter-gatherers. More fruit and vegetables, no grains, no processed sugar, no commercially processed foods and no processed vegetable oils. The good news is that fat is on the menu, as is red meat. I am a big fan of fat and red meat. A BIG fan.
Another feature of the 'Primal' lifestyle is 'Natural' exercise. As hunter-gatherers we were a pretty active bunch; we wandered and collected food, set traps, chased down some animals and ran from others. Archeologists are largely in agreement that Nautilus equipment, regimented workouts and gym memberships were not features of the HG lifestyle. Instead they advocate non-regimented exercise. Walk for a few hours a week. Spend ten to thirty minutes lifting heavy things a couple times a week. Sprint hard for ten minutes every seven to ten days. Play with your dogs, throw a frisbee and like that. Hmmm... I can do that!
Mind you I am not 100% on-board with every single idea that these folks have come up with. For one thing our HG ancestors DID eat grain. People harvested natural grains for a long, long time before they settled down and started growing them for a living. Of course there is a big difference between occasionally harvesting wild grains in-season and having processed white four as a staple of your diet. So grains may not be entirely off the table but normal wheat-four and things like bleached white rice are. I can live with that.
This is not going to be sacrifice-free. I love Pasta and bread. I love pizza. I love coca-cola. I love sugar. Let's face it, if it's BAD I love it. And contrary to what the health-food geeks will tell you there is no substitute for these things. 'Spaghetti squash' is often touted as a replacement for pasta... it really, really isn't. Trust me on this one. Seriously. But there are comps too. Chocolate is not off the menu... as long as it's the high-cocao/low-sugar variant that has become popular in recent years. Fat is on the menu as I mentioned. Eggs? Eat all you want! They are good for you. Cheese, milk? A-OK. Red meat? Yes please! And you can positively stuff yourself on vegetables. Naturally any of these foods should be in their least-processed forms.
Let me clarify- least-processed does not, emphatically not, mean raw in all cases. Recent studies suggest that cooking- which makes food energy more accessible to the body- may actually be what gave us the leisure to become sapient. Particularly cooking meat. Meat is very high-energy and the fats provide 'durable' or long-term energy.
So, in an nut-shell (did I mention you can have nuts too?) here's the plan:
No Sugar
No flour, 'normal' bread or pasta
No 'white' starches (potatoes, white rice etc.)
More fruits and vegetables
Meat, eggs and fish
Cheese and milk in moderation
'Natural' exercise
Next time I'll be talking about the transition from a typical 'American' diet to 'Eating Primal.' In future posts I'll also be discussing exercise, eating seasonally, supporting local food producers and a variety of related topics. As we encounter useful information, products etc. I'll share those too as well as links for information on 'Primal' or 'Paleo' dieting and lifestyle.
So, March 23, 2012. 49 years old. 300 pounds. Goal- 240 pounds.
Let's get Primal.
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