thescrawnycaveman

Vessa, I actually try that approach every time, but they don't really care. I could show them every bit of science that is in support of the paleo diet but it wouldn't matter because they wouldn't care enough to read it. They only care enough to make snide remarks about it, not to actually look into it. So the science is pretty much out of the question. Especially since they would automatically assume that it must have been funded by the meat industry or something like that (despite the fact that paleo greatly supports eating grassfed locally raised beef and other things like that. It is borderline anti-industry).

I haven't worked out yet, but I will later today. So here is the run down of whats been going on since last time. I moved back into my home town (moved in with a friend of mine) and tomorrow I go to my first day of work. I'm pretty nervous as to how it is going to be. After tomorrow whenever I go to work, it is about 1.8 miles away, which up until today I never thought of much, but now I am really worrying how well I will be able to walk there 3-4 times a week. But, on the plus side, where I am gonna be working there is a Cardinal Fitness right nearby, so I can get a membership and FINALLY start doing barbell exercises instead of just bodyweight! Overall I think my life goals are going pretty well at this point.

I second Loren Wade and Knightwatch. It is more important to focus on your diet than your exercise for any fat loss and muscle gain. To say you eat "healthy" is somewhat of an empty term in this context. Are you getting a lot of protein? Fats? Carbs? Are your carbs processed carbs usually or fruits and vegetables? Eat with a goal and exercise with purpose.

I think you should be ok as long as you are consistently making progress. Lets say you to 10 pushups and 30 knee pushups in the same week, the next week you should shoot for 11 or 12 pushups and maybe 35 knee pushups. I generally advise against knee pushups if you can do 10 real ones, because pushups are one of the most basic things to increase, and when starting out you can gain a lot of ground with it, I'd guess that replacing it sometimes with knee pushups would detract some progress. What I would suggest for pushups is doing pushup variations like staggered pushups or side to side pushups or even hindu pushups. With bodyweight exercises there are always different ways to work your muscles. Getting tired of squats? Try some squat jumps. Low on time? Burpees (doing a full pushups at the bottom). Hate crunches? Do reverse crunches. Hate that too? Do planks! The point is, there are tons of different ways to work your body with just your body. I'd suggest doing a quick google search or youtube various bodyweight workouts.

You could make a drinking game out of watching that. Every time they start an exercise you can't do, take a drink. I would be chugging.

Thanks everyone for the support! It seems like everything is running along the same lines; parents don't like change. Or at least mine don't. Which seems pretty accurate. And RussTheAerialist, I've tried that with my parents, they won't have it. My mom has a myriad of health problems including with digestion (food gets "stuck" or something) and my dad doesn't eat anything if it doesn't start off wrapped in plastic and covered with pepperoni on top. So cooking for them is mostly off the menu. Either way, I am glad to be moving out soon. Woot!!

Thank you to both of you! I'm really glad I'm not alone about this nor crazy. I'll try to keep in mind that they are just trying to impose what they think is best, but the crushing cynicism makes it a bit hard. Honestly, I just wish I could have an actual reasoned debate as opposed to them making a snarky comment, me defending my decisions, and then them claiming I am trying to force it on them. It really sounds like the same sort of response they had to my sister coming out of the closet. And I'd like to think changing my diet isn't quite as important or noteworthy as that.. Thanks again fellow rebels! :-)

I'm not as big into watching sports as I am into playing them. American football, to me, is pretty stupid, particularly in comparison to rugby which is my favorite sport to watching and play, and like any predictable American into rugby, I am a fan of the All Blacks. Otherwise, I enjoy watching basketball a lot and am a fan of the Chicago Bulls. I also like watching hockey, but only if I am at the game. For some reason the puck is so hard to find when you are looking at a screen. Note to Americans who have not heard of "shoot the boot", don't do it. Ever. Getting beaten up by a bunch of rugby guys is probably not as bad.

To start with, I don't like complaining about my parents. I love them very much and they have done endless amounts of good for me (as a teenager though it was a bit hard to be rebellious when your mom helps you design your underground newspaper that focuses on subverting the educational systems in place). I'm 19 and I am living with them (for the time being), and again, there isn't much to complain about them. But, when it comes to my diet, it is a mixed bag. They don't have a problem buying me the foods I'm now eating, partially because I don't think my mom has ever seen me eat a vegetable without her having to shove a funnel down my throat before. So that is definitely good. But it feels like at every turn they will take the opportunity to criticize and generally discourage me about the diet. Don't get me wrong, I am perfectly okay with criticisms whose intent is to enlighten or to promote intellectual debate. This is not the case. It is the sort of criticism that seems as though they are intentionally manufactured attacks (passive aggressive of course, because thats how my parents, mostly my mom, work) that have no intent of helping or supporting anything. So am I just whiny? They buy me the food and all, but it really kind of hurts to think no matter what you do or say your parents just shrug it off and continue to criticize without allowing a word in edgewise. Not to mention THEY see the results so far as much as I do, I am happier (previously I have been known to be somewhat bipolar), energetic, FIT for once in my life, and yet still seem to think that the changes so far that I've made in my life are negligible to my change in physique and attitude. Sorry if this seems like a rant and I am mucking up an otherwise wonderful forum, but I have to ask someone if I am at all justified or if I seem like I am just looking to complain. Any and all feedback would be great. Thank you for reading.

Thanks man, believe it or not it actually felt good for someone to say "talk about toughing it out". Though it isn't anything like saying "Dude, you should be the king of the world and you fart butterflies," it still gives me a lot of encouragement considering afterwards I felt like I failed miserably. So thank you :-) As for the dreaded Paleo transition, it really really sucks for the first week or so. When I transitioned I felt hungry and tired all the time, but once the transition was over I started shedding body fat (I am already a skinny weakling, but I found out that there was indeed muscle under my skin! Fascinating!) and feeling good. So stay strong, you won't regret it. Unless you are like me and you are trying to gain weight. So far I am finding it borderline impossible. But the energy and confidence I've gained so far is worth it.

Today was a 50/50 fail/win kind of day. Bad news first. I think I might still be sick. How I planned to workout: 5 pike pushups 10 squat jumps 15 pushups 5 pullups/negatives 3 rounds How I workout out: 2 rounds of 5 pike pushups 2 rounds of 10 squat jumps 2 rounds of 11 pushups 1 round of pullups, all negatives. I did another .7 mile run to warm up, and this time didn't let myself walk at all (I USED to be able to run 13 miles nonstop, but then I went to college and started smoking and drinking and playing video games). I finished the run 30s-1min faster than last time. Immediately after I finished the run I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish my workout. I felt like absolute shit. I mean I expected my legs to be a little tired and my lungs to be pretty revved up, but my entire body felt completely drained. Of course that didn't stop me from trying. Not only was I continuing my workout anyways, but I was doing a workout that had a new exercise for me in it, pike pushups, which are not only extremely hard, but frightening (if you can't finish a pushup, you lightly hit the ground with your chest and body, if you can't finish a pike pushup, you crack your head on the cement). So, that workout sucked hard balls, and I think I might STILL be sick, which means strep throat has plagued my existence for about two or three weeks now. On the bright side, I got a call from the place I interviewed at and I got the job! Which means I can move in to my friend's place, have a job within walking distance (two miles), and live close enough to my girlfriend that I won't have to take two trains to see her! Sadly though, its part time, but nonetheless it is money, which I need right now. Tomorrow I'm going back to the doctor and hoping she tells me I'm an idiot and I'm wasting her time because I'm not sick at all. I'd rather be a pussy than sick, you can only fix one of them without drugs.

@Loren Wade, well this is called a challenge for a reason right? I better get busy challenging myself to get that pushup! @Kristen, Thank you for the link! I will take a closer look at it later, but for me it is more than just knowing what I have to do. I am a bad student in most things that I don't enjoy. And just knowing myself, even if I know what the end goal is, if I have to learn something I don't like to get the job then it probably won't happen. So hopefully I will be able to find something I enjoy that is also a useful prereq for the job.

You guys are waaaaaayyyy too complicated for me. I just nom on some mango or kiwi or something. Oh and lots of COLD water. One of these days I am going to make some real lemonade.... I figure squeezing lemons into water and mixing should do the trick, right?

I'm trailing you with 5! Ok so maybe it isn't exactly a close second. Congrats and keep up the progress!!

I mean yea, her health is important and all.... but being right is just such a delicious victory :-D. And northern illinois in general lacks much more than an ant hill, but maybe one of these days I will convince her to go on a long road trip with me somewhere and surprise her somehow. "Hey baby, how would you like to join me for a LONG car ride?" "Where to?" "Ohhh.... no where... back alleys, woods, something like that. What do ya say?".... Yea I think that will work out ok lol.

My throat is feeling better, and I am gonna see if I can do this sort of setup for my updates: Goal #1: With my throat feeling better I have been able to attack the fridge the past couple days, managing to get about 2200 calories a day. I need to step it up and eat more, but it is hard/expensive to eat so much healthy stuff. I am thinking about breaking down and either buying some whey protein or adding in some unhealthy stuff into my diet to help gain some weight (and convert it into muscle of course) Goal #2: Still no caliper due to lack of funds. So no idea how this goal is looking. Goal #3: I didn't include it in my original post, but I also want to get up to 15 pull ups. Today I managed to BARELY get 5, but it is my highest so far so I'm happy. As for Handstand pushup progressions, last night I tried a few pike pushups and found out how difficult they are. I MIGHT be able to do 5 of those. I am thinking when I can do 15-20 I will attempt a handstand pushup. Does that sound like a reasonable expectation? Goal #4: Still looking for a job, but the place I had an interview at (the dude who interviewed me said he thought it was a great interview, he thought I was very mature for my age, and said that he wants to push me through to get the job.) is calling my references, which I think is a pretty good sign. I know they are doing that because one of my references called me today to let me know she got a phone call. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Goal #5: I've decided I definitely want to do Physical Education, and I have been looking at a few different schools in the Tuition Exchange Program that I could go to. I have to figure out 3 schools to apply to by october if I want to return to school in fall 2012. I am going to make some phone calls to see what my chances are of getting in to some schools (I failed out of my freshman year with a 1.5 gpa because I was REALLY lazy). Goal #6: Haven't looked into that one yet. Goal #7: Nothing too romantic has come to mind yet, but this weekend we are going to the zoo which should be nice. Goal #8: Did some plyometrics the other day but haven't worked out since. Today I am feeling unusually sore, so I can't decide if I should work out or not, maybe just do a light workout or something.

Congratulations!!! I wasn't around here when you got your inspiration, but I'm very glad that the community helped you! It is rare these days to see too many people going out of their way to help others, but on this forum it seems like everyone wants to help each other. It is fantastic! Keep up the good work, I am sure you will be where you want to be in no time!

For a year, minus the freezing cold slush and snow filled winter, I have been a barefooter. Not only running barefoot, but going out barefoot on a normal day. Though I love it and am in full support of being barefoot, there are a few problems I face: 1. I can't take off my feet when I come home. Its a hassle to wipe debris off your feet to put them on the couch. 2. Everyone seems to be aware. They also seem to think I am not. 3. They always feel obligated to inform me of this fact. 4. You find out exactly what everyone keeps slipping on at the movie theater. 5. Homeless people give me change to buy a pair of shoes. 6. If I had the common sense all of my friends had, I would know that the sidewalks are made of broken glass and AIDS infected needles. 7. Ever feel a snake squish between your toes? Me either, but I'm patient. 8. Once all your friends get used to going to the mall with you barefoot, it becomes even harder to embarrass them. 9. Everyone is suddenly curious how I would react to them dropping a 45lb plate on my foot. I keep forgetting steel bounces off of rubber. 10. The police always offer to take me to homeless shelters when I walk around the block. Hope you enjoyed, and remember kids, if you don't stick your feet in the food at every restaurant, then you aren't REALLY barefoot.

I agree with pretty much everything said, I just wanted to add a little fun fact: One of my friends who works at GNC and is a bodybuilder (he has done some shows) informed me that one way people try to gain muscle size is by using diabetics' insulin injections. He oddly didn't find this at all disturbing. I couldn't believe the depths to which people would sink for size. Moral of the story; don't do that.

Eat more fats. You are definitely eating plenty of protein, maybe too much, but you are going to want to work in some fats in there (almonds are pretty popular around here). The low impact cardio may be working against your weight gain goals, but I am not sure on that one, but I do know most people trying to bulk up stay away from cardio like the plague. Also, and this is just my opinion, that workout plan doesn't look too good. Going through it briefly I am seeing a lot of isolation work, machine lifts, and very few compound movements. I would suggest doing Crossfit WOD or something instead, compound movements are much better for muscle stimulation, and machine lifts can easily lead to injury. Isolation exercises should usually be left to body builders trying to sculpt, not build. Read some Mark Rippetoe on lifting and maybe even follow one of his plans. Also keep in mind, the muscle building doesn't happen when you lift, it happens when you rest. Don't overwork yourself.

Yesterday I didn't do my update (I'm terrible at these) so here it is: Did 3 rounds of: 10 burpees (full pushup and high knee jump) 5 inverted Bodyweight rows 10 of some core exercise I don't know the name of. Also made my warm up a run around the block which is .7 miles (ok so its a it more than one block) and I tried to keep the pace hard and did it in 7 minutes. Not bad sicne I have barely run since the start of winter. @Loren Wade, me too, it is gonna be fucking hard. Like... I am borderline scared to death of it. It is a very unlikely goal, and I know that, considering I can do few more than 20 GOOD pushups (chest completely touching the ground), I cant do more than maybe 3 pullups, and I can do 10 dive bomber pushups tops, I am way far off from getting to a handstand pushup anytime soon. @ShinigamiPUNCH I'll definitely use some of those ideas, I already plan on cooking her food (I must admit this is a tad selfish, I want her to realize there is a quick tasty healthy alternative to eating out of a box) and we go on walks all the time, though hiking is a bit hard to do in these parts of illinois lol. @Kristen It is really a broad idea. I honestly just want to work in a national park or something else in mountains/nature. Most of the jobs I have seen require scientific backgrounds, I assume because any grunt can walk around and kick stoners out of the woods, so its not a hard job to fill.

Will do, thanks a lot! I knew there had to be a way to make my gf eat paleo!! Muahahahaha no more cop outs!

Thanks Loren Wade, I actually read that article about 20 minutes before I read your post lol. I don't believe she has anything against eating fish, I think it's just cute animals she won't eat. So would chicken and fish be enough meat to have a healthy diet?

Over the past week or so I haven't been hitting the mark on exercising or eating how I want to due to strep throat, making me sick enough to not be able to work out well and painful enough of a throat to not be able to eat as many calories as I need. But hopefully I will be feeling better soon! In which case I want to take part in this 6 week challenge! My goals are as follows: 1) I want to break 155lbs. Before I got strep I was on a steady increase, averaging at around 147 the days before, then, since having strep, despite all my best efforts to force food in my face I haven't been able to get over 144. I finally starting making my own paleo trail mix at home, which should give me a huge boost in calories each day since I can just snack on that all day. After a few days of tracking, I usually manage to get about the minimum someone should have in a day, 2000-2200 a day (when not sick), and if I add in the trail mix filled with nuts seeds and raisins, it should be enough to start seeing some increases. 2) I don't only want to gain weight, but I want it to me muscle too. I need to buy a caliper and measure my body fat, and my guess is it is around 20%, but from wherever it is, I want to lower it 5%. I am going to be working out hard, all body weight workouts too. This is going to be a very hard goal, but I am going to try my absolute best to make it happen. 3) I want to be able to do ONE LEGIT handstand pushup. I have been going through some of the progressions, but not very seriously, but I am going to start getting on track for that goal in a much more serious way. Honestly, if I don't meet either of the other two goals, but I meet this one, I will be pretty happy. 4) I need to get a job. I just recently had an interview and it seemed to go really well, so I might have that job in the bag, and if so I want to save at least half of my total paycheck (before paying rent to my friend's mom for letting me live there) every time. The way I figure it that should mean 400 in the bank, 200 for rent, and 200 for the rest of the month. This is based off of an estimate that with a 40 hour workweek I will see $5/hr out of the 8.25/hr after taxes. I figure since at the moment I am living off of virtually nothing with my parents, 200 a month should be enough for anything I do all month. And with the 400 in the bank every month it shouldn't take me too long to have a respectable amount of savings, or at least enough to try and move out and into my own place. Bonus goals: 5) Figure out what college I want to go to and what I want to major in for next year. I'm leaning towards physical education. I want to be a high school gym teacher (I've never been accused of having high aspirations). 6) Figure out what kind of education/training it would take to be a forest park ranger. 7) Do something unbelievably romantic for my girlfriend (there goes that savings idea....). I mean something really nice. Like maybe write her name in roses outside her window or something. I'm not sure yet but I am open to suggestions. 8) DO MORE PLYOMETRICS

My girlfriend right now is mostly vegetarian (she only eats chicken because she is anemic), and she wants to eat healthier and tone up and trim a few inches. I've tried convincing her to go paleo, but she won't hear of it because she doesn't want to eat animals. Does anyone know of a way to eat paleo minus animals (other than occasional chicken) that doesn't end in bad health?