Gamer looking to level up

[Gonzosan]

Hello all, my name is Jonathan and I was pretty thrilled to find this place. I've read it every now and then but after seeing the TED talk about leveling up I finally came back and couldn't have come at a better time. After feeling depressed for yet again failing my final attempt at the Whole30 I decided to try something new and stumbled back onto this site. I'm here to learn from everyone here. So a little about me, I'm 26 a pretty big nerd and a game designer myself, so naturally this site feels like home to me.

 

So I want to start my own fitness journal here to show my progress. Just like Steve I too want to become fully into the Paleo lifestyle but have found it hard since I tend to go all out and try to do it all at once rather than making small progressions. So this time I'm going to take it slow and maybe learn a thing or two from everyone here on how they're doing. I'm looking forward to joining in on the challenges as well!

[chris_de_maas]

Welcome to the Rebellion!! And kuddos on taking the first step to levelling up your life

 

One thing that Steve emphasizes a lot on is to take it step by step, one small bite at a time up until you've built a new habit. You can apply this to everything, including fitness and diet. How is your diet right now? Do you eat a lot of carbs (pasta/rice/potatoes/bread)? Or are you a sucker for junk food/ice cream/sweets? Are you addicted to sodas? Take a serious look at your diet and figure out what you need to do to reach your long term Paleo goal. Once you've identified what needs working on, come up with a plan and break it down into small, manageable, non-overwhelming steps. It can be reducing carbs from every single meal to 7 meals a week. Or cutting one soda out a day. Or replacing that Mars bar that you usually snack on in the afternoon with an apple. Basically break in down into manageable pieces and focus on that one piece until you don't have to think about it any more; basically until it has become a habit. Then, and only then, move on to the next step. Sure, it may take a long time for you to clean your diet and become full Paleo, but it's a long term goal. It's is a life change and those changes require a lot of work and rewiring of your brain. But you know what? You're in the exact right place for it! There are loads of people around who will help you out, who'll answer your questions if you need help (don't be shy to ask) and there'll be loads of people to woot for you each step of the way!

 

Good luck with everything

 

(btw, I'm a concept/character designer!!)

[Gonzosan]

Thanks and I agree, the biggest changes I've made in my life came through small but consistent persistence in changing them. For me my biggest bad habit is probably due to gluten. I believe it makes things worse by making you crave more and more (hence why it's in almost everything) so for me it's almost like a gateway drug. I only ever drink sodas or eat junk food after I've had a meal involving gluten, which more often than not is junk food in itself. Everything in my apartment is paleo, I've made it a habit of not buying/storing anything that is not considered Paleo so at least I have the leg up there. Still though my biggest issue is that I don't like to cook much so most of my meals are eaten when I'm out and about. I'm planning on leveraging this thought to my advantage. I believe everyone has "their way" of accomplishing their goals and that's what I'm going to do. I've been focusing too much on a rigid way of doing things that are too foreign to me which ends up turning out bad for me.

 

I've already started my journal here and will post pics/measurements this weekend. Ironically I feel completely at home here even though I'm so new.

[Remoth]

You can do it Jon! The first step i recommend is cutting out liquid sugar (soda) if you are drinking it now. switch to pretty much only water and the odd tea if you need in the morning. After a week of no soda, you'll feel so much better. I'm pretty much in the same situation as you. I'm a big guy myself and am taking the steps needed to level up my life. I may have jumped in over my head(strict workout routine, massive change in diet), but everyone goes at a different rate. Pick something you want to change and do it. There's no reason to take on more than you are comfortable with. If I ever get the cravings for junk food, I drink some water and come browse on here and it revives my motivation. I spend many hours of the day (usually while traveling to/from site and on hours off) on here, and there is nothing better than surrounding yourself with motivated people to make yourself motivated as well. Motivation by osmosis if you will, haha. It will take time, so be patient.

[chris_de_maas]

I agree with Remoth, soda is the worst and cutting that out will already make you feel incredibly better. Btw, tea can be replaced by hot water and a slice of fresh lemon, it tastes delicious and is really good for you.

 

Good for you for already stocking your flat with good, whole foods! That's really, really great! Try to find some easy and quick recipe so you don't have to stay in the kitchen for hours on end. I'm sure there are books/websites/blogs around that could help you with that (and do share good recipes when you find them! )

 

In any case, we're here! Hit us up if you ever feel you're about to slip or need a big boost.

[AKLulu]

Welcome! It sounds like you're coming into this with a good attitude I agree, step-by-step is the way to do it if you keep falling off the whole-hog wagon. I had to find that out for myself and it's become a lot easier (though I'm definitely not perfect... trying to get closer to that though). And I don't know, it sounds like gluten is your "gateway drug," so that's probably what I would work on first if I was you. You don't have to try to cut it all at once, but maybe make a goal of only having x-number of meals with gluten per day/week. I personally didn't find cutting gluten out to be so difficult because basically the only meal I had a grain with even when I started was lunch. I had gotten too "lazy" to take the extra step of making starches with dinner already.

 

Good luck!

[Gonzosan]

Thanks all. Actually 99% of the time I drink iced tea (unsweet) and water along with coffee in the mornings (black). I used to drink a ton of soda when I was in high school then eventually I started swapping it out for iced tea and so far it's the dominant drink in my diet. I've been drinking more sodas lately which I'm not proud of but I know I can easily drop them. As far as the gluten, I don't really eat a ton of it but I don't believe it's helpful in any way and more importantly I think when I remove gluten I'll naturally clean up a lot of other bad habits. I think if I stop eating gluten it'll force me to start cooking more often and to become more conscious of what I'm eating. Gluten seems to be the one thing that causes me to start eating other bad foods.

 

As far as cooking I want to start cooking a few key meals to get started. I don't particularly like cooking nor do I eat fancy meals by any means but I just need some staple meals I can cook quickly and that are healthy at the same time. Right now I'm just cooking up chicken with rice and I'll start steaming up some broccoli with it as well. I also really enjoy Japanese style curry that I make from scratch and best of all it's 100% paleo (well, not the rice). I was also making smoothies from frozen berries, coconut milk and some egg whites mixed in for the protein boost. So that's what I'm working on now.

[chris_de_maas]

Well, you seem to know exactly what you need to do and how you need to do it but most importantly, you've started taking the steps already! Well done!

Don't hesitate to hit us up if you have any question or need a boost on a low day, we're all here

[hearthsinger]

That TED talk was so great! It looks like you have a great place to start from!

[Gonzosan]

Yes I loved that TED talk and after reading a few blog posts on here it made me feel like this is exactly the place I want to be. I feel like I'm on the same path that Steve was talking about before so I decided to start here. I'm hoping to add my own mix into this forum and help others as well!

[thisstephanie]

I know how you feel with trying to switch to Paleo all at once -- I think a lot of advice just suggests that you go cold turkey, but for me, and maybe for you, easing into like Steve suggests really makes it manageable!

 

Good luck!