Monthly Archives: July 2013

Weight loss journey: skills and practices

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Here are some of the important life skills and practices that I have learned in my weight loss journey.

1. Logging and measuring everything, at least while I’m making changes.
2. Really listening to my body to know when I’m hungry or satisfied.
3. Being aware of nutrient balance (fat/carbs/protein)
4. Experimenting, pushing the limits for 4-week intervals in the early game.
5. Being honest with myself about what plans will be sustainable over the long term (rest of my life) and rejecting anything that still requires lots of motivation after the first 4 weeks.

I think I do 1 and 2 every day, many times a day, and I do 3,4,5 once a week — weekly check-ins are important to my plan.

Be paleo, but don’t be a dick about it

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In the past I’ve been quite pushy about my anti-grains stance, but now that I’ve lost 90 pounds I just sit back and let the results speak for themselves. If any friends are really curious, I am happy to share my experience, and I also tell them to go and read up on Mark’s Daily Apple.

I still feel strongly that low-fat diets rich in refined grains are literally killing people, but since the science is still not settled and well-understood, there is little I can do about the masses. All I can do is vote with my knife and fork, try to set a good example for my family and loved ones, and be available to share my experience whenever someone is curious.

And recently I have found that “set a good example” has to include “don’t be a dick about it.” A diet doesn’t have to be extreme paleo to be a bit healthier. A lot of people can be helped just by adding back some of the “good fats” we have rejected. So now I spend a lot of my available breath telling the good news about Good Fats. Hopefully getting people back in touch with fats will help a little, and some of them will step through the gateway into paleo, but not all. And that’s OK.