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| January 2013, 2 months into my Paleo journey |
Of all the blog posts I have ever done, by far the ones that get more views and questions are the ones I've done about the topic of health and fitness. (Here is the last one I did a few months ago)
The reason I felt it was time for an update is because I have changed nearly everything I was doing 6 months ago. I am a big fan of changing things up anyway.
In order for this post to make sense I need to give a bit of history for those who are here for the first time. 2 Years ago after a routine physical exam and a follow-up cardiac score test, it was revealed that there was plaque built up in the arteries of my heart. It was discovered that apparently there was some sort of genetic propensity for this type thing. I had no symptoms whatsoever, and really didn't fit into any of the high-risk categories, but during a heart cath. it was confirmed that there were a couple of blockages, which they repaired with stents.
I had always erred on the side of health all my life. I exercised and ate pretty well, so this came as a real shock and quite frankly changed my life. I made a decision that day that I would do everything within my power to not just maintain my health, but to get in the best shape of my life.
My cardiologist put me on a strict low fat diet which allowed me just 30 grams of fat per day. For 21 months I stayed within those numbers. I also exercised rigorously 6 days a week for those 21 months. And my body had transformed (at least on the outside). In November of 2012 I went in for a routine blood test to check my cholesterol levels, and although my cholesterol numbers were good, I had an elevated liver function. The cardiologist told me to stop taking my statin drug (which reduces cholesterol) to see if that was what was causing the liver issue. I was also taking a lot of additional weight training supplements, so I stopped those as well.
One month later I was re-tested and everything was back to normal with my liver, but something very interesting happened, my overall cholesterol number went up to about where it was when this whole heart episode began.
I had assumed that between my diet and exercise I really didn't need to continue the statin drug to keep my cholesterol lower. I was wrong. It was at this point that I began to do my own research about what really caused heart disease. And the more I looked into it, the more I realized that heart disease wasn't caused by high cholesterol, but by inflammation of the arteries.
So the question is, what causes inflammation? Believe it or not, it is caused in part by the very diet that my cardiologist had put me on. That's right. High carbohydrate diets are notorious for causing this inflammation. I won't bore you with the details, but three books have really helped me. The Great Cholesterol Myth by Stephen Sinatra, The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf, and The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson.
The average American consumes WAY too much processed, high sugar, high carbohydrate foods, and as a the result we see increased incidents of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity.
So let's fast-forward to today. From a nutrition standpoint I now eat a diet that is a hybrid Paleo/Primal. Which basically means I eat meat, fish, fowl, eggs, nuts, seeds, fruit and vegetables. I have totally eliminated from my diet all grains (which means no rice, pasta, corn, wheat, bread, etc,), sugars, all processed foods and almost all dairy,. And I only drink water (with the exception of a whey protein shake in unsweetened almond milk on weight training days and an intra-workout BCAA supplement).
The big difference is in my macro- nutrient ratios. My cardiologist had me on a diet that was
25% Protein, 15% Fat, 60% Carbohydrates. Here is my current breakdown: 40% Protein, 25% Fat, 35% Carbohydrates. I know this seems counter-intuitive because we have all been conditioned to think that all fat is bad. But not all fat is bad, in fact, good fat is one of the better things you can put into your body.
The other thing we've been told is that "fat makes you fat". But again it all depends on what kind of fat you're eating. By the way, I have been eating this way for almost 9 months and I'm still maintaining around 6.75% body fat. (My daughter has lost over 25 lbs in 4 months eating this way.)
From a weight training supplement standpoint, I am using whey protein, creatine and a BCAA supplement. Of course I still take a multi-vitamin, fish oil, and COQ-10, and extra B, and D vitamins.
A few months ago I had a complete physical, which included extensive blood work. I am happy to say that after eating this way and exercising that my numbers are stellar. My overall cholesterol was a little higher but that is mainly because my HDL (good cholesterol) was so high. Even more exciting was that my C-Reactive protein (which measures inflammation) was unbelievably low!
This way of eating may not be for you, that's fine. But if you are eating what I would refer to as the "normal American diet", consider modifying it. Cut out as many of the processed foods in your diet that you can. A good rule of thumb is, when you go grocery shopping stay away from the inside aisles. The good stuff is generally found in the outer aisles (meat, fruit and vegetables). Choose healthy alternatives at restaurants. We rarely eat out much anymore, but if I need a quick meal I'll stop at Chick-fil-a and grab a couple orders of the grilled chicken nuggets and a bowl of fruit.
There is too much to cover in one post, so I will continue this post with a part 2 in the future where I'll talk about my new workout routines.
