Open Sorcery Update: The Primal Challenge

Just a quick update on my physical challenge. It’s working. I don’t know how, but it’s working.

That’s not true, I know how. I read the book, I read the website. I cut out most carbs (though I still indulge in our famous homemade sourdough occasionally). I try to increase my daily activity levels. I stick to less processed foods, mostly natural and organic meats, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. I exercise my mind and manage risks.

I reduced about 10 pounds in the last 5 weeks. 178 pounds to 168. That’s one of the most dramatic trends since I started weight watchers so many many months ago, but this time I *love* this change. Weight Watchers felt healthy, and it is healthy. There’s a very clear and concise way to get to your target goal weight: eat less. Clearly I was eating more than I needed so that’s not a biggie. The problem for me was when I lowered my weight, the number of allowable food points would still lessen!

In the last few weeks I feel like I’ve eaten a lot more than normal: at least two eggs every morning with bacon sometimes, steak salads for lunch, berries and nuts for snacks, and very tasty dinners. We’ve had two parties in the last month during which tri-tip steak and sausage was grilled for the groups, one of which was on Sunday (usually spells a jump up with a Monday weigh-in), and yet the weight keeps coming off.

I feel like such an infomercial. Maybe I am probably an atypical case, but this is really working for me, and I plan to continue this through October as well. If I can I would like to bring sledging and directed exercise back into the routine. In the last month I haven’t specifically lifted a weight nor done as much as a pushup, but I have been parking at the far end of parking lots and taking the stairs at least once during the day when working in the buildings that have them. At Citrix I get five floors with an easy to remember 100 steps in total! My hope is that by adding the exercise back into the mix, I’ll be sure to keep the muscles going on while the fat comes off.

The major change of this vs other diets and plans I’ve done is I don’t really have a goal this time other than sticking to it. Any number I pick is arbitrary, and being healthy isn’t about achieving numbers. I’m looking 3-6-12 months out at being the healthiest I’ve ever been. I really see this as a lasting lifestyle change.

I have a lot of momentum here, so I’ll keep updating.