I'm ready to do some magic

[Likeawizard]

Hello!

I've been kinda lurking the NF Blog for a few months now and decided that I definitely need to take charge of my life and this looks like a nice (and nerdy) community to do it in.

My whole life has been one big weight problem so far. I can't recall a single time where I wasn't overweight. (I have a traumatic memory of maybe 3rd or 4th grade where my teacher decided that it would be fun to weigh everyone in class to see how much we weigh together. As the only overweight kid in class that really wasn't fun. At that age I weighed about 80kg. (Oh dear, now I realise that I probably need to convert that ... I think it's about 176lbs)

Everyone on my family is overweight. So even if I liked to say that I've just been dealt a genetically very bad hand and it's not my fault, I know that after a certain age no one has forced food down my throat.

My breaking point was a few years ago. At the end of May 2009 I weighed in at 167kg (nearly 370lbs), at a height of 1,73m/5'7".

Since then I've lost some weight the "traditional way" (eating less (but better), excercising), about 20kg/45lbs.

That was a good start, yes, but it's been stagnating for the last 1 1/2 years or so.

I'm now 24 and at about 143kg/293lbs.

Now that I've stumbled upon NF I'm ready to give my life-long project "lose weight" another try.

(One side of my family also has a history of Type 2 diabetes, so there's another reason to get my ass in gear.)

I've started reading "The Paleo Diet" by Loren Cordain and so far everything makes sense, but I've also been a vegetarian for about a year now. (Ethical reasons mostly.) So my wish to completely follow that diet is slightly hindered.

If someone has found a vegetarian-friendly way of doing Paleo (without popping pills like crazy) I'd like to hear all about it! Going back to meat and fish would be my last resort, but I wouldn't totally be opposed to doing it. Because, after all, I need to be around and kick some ass to be able to save the world, don't I?

I'm glad to be on board.

(P.S.: FYI wizards aren't my chosen characters in games, it's just that my real name is very close to that of a wizard ... ; ) )

ETA:

Since weighing myself a few times a week was more stressful and unproductive than anything, I weighed myself on 14th July before I started the Beginner Body Weight Workout and weighed in at 143kg/293lbs.

But after the first month I haven't really pursued the workout or really watched what I ate (except for that once almost gluten-free month where I felt actually better than before and just generally eating less grains) but I was active enough so I thought I would at least keep my weight.

Well. Aparently I lost some, because I thought hey, why not, you last weighed yourself almost 2 1/2 months ago. And what do you know, I'm now at 134kg/274lbs.

I'm going to use that as my starting point ...

[bjjgrrl]

It's not the ideal way, but it is possible. Check out some of the articles on Mark Sisson's site, Mark's Daily Apple. (His version is called "Primal," with the main difference being allowing dairy.) Here's one article that addresses vegetarian and vegan toward the end. Mark's wife, I think, is vegetarian, so he often address how to do Primal/Paleo as a vegetarian. Also, both his site and Robb Wolf's -- as well as here on NF -- have forums for Vegetarians/Vegans.

I have never been a vegetarian, but eating Paleo has gotten me more interested in knowing exactly where my food comes from. I watched Food, Inc. & some others and read Eating Animals (which really is an attempt to convert readers to vegetarianism; it failed on me, but it did absolutely break my heart over factory-farming conditions -- I cried when I pulled out the conventional chicken leftovers in my fridge. I apologized to that chicken for having supported the industry that did such terrible things to it). I'm so disgusted now with the state of food in America that I want to own my own farm and raise my own animals so that I know they are treated well during their lives. I am now buying only local grass-fed meat and eggs and even local vegetables. Until I have my own farm, I will support people who are doing what I want to do.

[61stRevolt]

I was a vegetarian for a little while, and I just couldn't sustain the diet. So, props to you for even doing it. It's difficult to go paleo without meat, but people do it. I can't give you advice specifically but you can substitute almost any meat with tofu (though you do need to watch your soy intake).

Also, avoid going full paleo right away. I actually went through sugar withdrawal when I went cold turkey. It was painful (and also a huge wake-up call to how bad sugar really is for us). So definitely do it incrementally. Cut out soda first. But seriously, when I first went paleo the weight practically peeled off of me, and I wasn't even exercising yet. So you've come to a great place.

Good luck saving the world! You can do it!! Can I help????

[JasontheKiwi]

Hi LikeaWizard (cool name). It sounds like you have some of the key ingredients already and that is determination, thinking outside the standard conventional diet wisdom we are bombarded with daily and having reached a breaking point (they suck but are some of the most influential times in our lives).

Good on you for not giving up on your goal and I think this is the perfect place to start, and hopefully there is lots of great info and support for you on your quest. It can be done.

I however did go paleo cold turkey, and it was hellish for the first 3 or 4 weeks but then I just came right and have been since. It can be very difficult to just do it without easing into it but it's the best decision I ever made. I think the way you decide to proceed often comes with your personality type (I suppose I'm an all or nothing kind of guy).

This vid might be of interest

[Likeawizard]

First of all thank you for the warm welcome, the support and the information.

I'm definitely going to look into the links regarding doing "vegetarian paleo", maybe I can make it work for me.

bjjgrrl

I have never been a vegetarian, but eating Paleo has gotten me more interested in knowing exactly where my food comes from. I watched Food, Inc. & some others and read Eating Animals (which really is an attempt to convert readers to vegetarianism; it failed on me, but it did absolutely break my heart over factory-farming conditions -- I cried when I pulled out the conventional chicken leftovers in my fridge. I apologized to that chicken for having supported the industry that did such terrible things to it). I'm so disgusted now with the state of food in America that I want to own my own farm and raise my own animals so that I know they are treated well during their lives. I am now buying only local grass-fed meat and eggs and even local vegetables. Until I have my own farm, I will support people who are doing what I want to do.

Ah, yes. My [vegan] sister is a fan of that book (naturally ... but she has been a vegetarian for about 11 or so years from 1998 to 2009 before switching over to veganism. My oldest sister has been a vegetarian since about 1998 as well. And we're still all overweight. So ... it's definitely better for my conscience to be a vegetarian, but not that much better for my health.)

A good friend of mine read "Anständig essen" by Karen Duve (which roughly translates to "Eating right") which pretty much covers the same things as "Eating Animals," I suppose. It did actually made her gradually switch to being a vegetarian with the current state of her possibilities. But, just like you, she wouldn't be opposed to having her own farm with animals one day. (I wouldn't, either. But then we're going to have a problem because as soon as I care for a pet I won't be able to kill it/let it be killed just so that I can eat it.) But until she wins the lottery that dream will remain in the future some longer.

But it's the same with me, really. My sister (not the oldest one) worked for PETA a few years and then another animal rights group in this country so I was constantly bombarded with videos from the very poor conditions of animals in factory farming and articles and what not. (It's definitely not better here in Europe.)

It's definitely the right step to contemplate where your food comes from and if you can take the responsibility of the way factory farming is treating animals. And if you're changing gear towards locally grown and healthy fed animals that had a "good life," then that is okay. As long as people aren't thoughtlessly shoveling down hot dogs for 99 cents down their throats.

61stRevolt

So definitely do it incrementally. Cut out soda first. But seriously, when I first went paleo the weight practically peeled off of me, and I wasn't even exercising yet. So you've come to a great place.

Good luck saving the world! You can do it!! Can I help????

Soda isn't really the problem with me, I think. It never really was. (I am a bigger fan of juice, but even then I'm mixing it with water and don't drink the pure stuff.) But, yes, I definitely need to keep an eye out for "hidden sugar" and all that. (Because even simple soy yoghurt has sugar in it, so ...)

Definitely. I'm sure the zombie apocalypse isn't that far away ... and we did learn from Zombieland that fatties die first. So. Cardio. *lol*

JasontheKiwi

It sounds like you have some of the key ingredients already and that is determination, thinking outside the standard conventional diet wisdom we are bombarded with daily and having reached a breaking point (they suck but are some of the most influential times in our lives).

In my 24 years I have tried a few different diets and even took a cure once. (... or whatever it is called in English when they send you away from home to live in some remote house for a month and you have to do whatever strangers tell you) So my decision to try something "new" definitely didn't fall from thin air. Also the old way didn't get me further anymore.

If I'm not cut out for "vegetarian paleo" I'm going to switch back to meat (locally, of course), not so much fish, because I didn't even like fish when I still ate meat. I think I'm going to give myself a period of time til the end of November or something. (Also, right now I'm on my semester break and at my parents' house. And I just don't have the nerve to explain to them why I'm cutting out grains and the like. Next week I'm back in my apartment and surrounded by peace and quiet.) However, explaining to my family that yes, I would love to be a vegetarian but that I've gone back to meat anyway will be a tough nut to crack. So in case that happens I need some time to regroup and think of ways how to explain it to them. *lol*

Since weighing myself a few times a week was more stressful and unproductive than anything, I weighed myself on 14th July before I started the Beginner Body Weight Workout and weighed in at 143kg/293lbs.

But after the first month I haven't really pursued the workout or really watched what I ate (except for that once almost gluten-free month where I felt actually better than before and just generally eating less grains) but I was active enough so I thought I would at least keep my weight.

Well. Aparently I lost some, because I thought hey, why not, you last weighed yourself almost 2 1/2 months ago. And what do you know, I'm now at 134kg/274lbs.

I'm going to use that as my starting point ...

(I edited this into my starting post because I don't even know when I lost these 8kg/16lbs. (Or where ... because my clothing doesn't feel loose. But, whatever. I made a 'before' picture in July, at some point I'm going to make a 'that's where am now' picture' for my records.))