On April 22, 2012, I woke up and made a decision to change my
lifestyle entirely. I made a choice to stop drinking micro-brewed beer
every day. Additionally, I've been browsing through
Jack Kruse's website, which I found by happen-chance through the
American Herbalist Guild's yahoo list. Through Dr. Jack's info, I was introduced to
Robb Wolff's Paleo Diet Solution.
I think that somewhere along the line I had heard of the Paleo Diet.
But for whatever reason, I had never investigated what it was, or why it
might be beneficial to me or others. On that April day that I decided
to make drastic changes to my own life, I decided that I could probably
initiate some of the changes Dr. Jack prescribes on his website.
Remarkable, really, because a few weeks before, when I'd first read
about the
Leptin Reset Prescription
I figured it would never work for me because there was no way I would
give up drinking beer for 6 to 8 weeks to incorporate the protocol into
my life.
Well, ha!
I'm still taking baby steps, but I feel my motivation for these changes growing day by day.
I
basically went into grain-free, legume-free mode, and I'm incorporating
a modified version of Paleo into my lifestyle. I say modified because
I'm still drinking cream in my espresso and having small amounts of
cheese. Dr. Jack doesn't dispute dairy entirely and recommends it for some
people, but true Paleo does not include cheese.
My
body feels
different. I'm sure that I'm experiencing a state of ketosis, and I can
feel the changes my body is making in relearning (maybe learning
entirely) how to burn fuel differently. Swimming feels different,
strength workouts feel different. I feel different. It's only been 3
weeks, so I'm extremely curious to know how this is going to evolve.
The other aspect Dr. Jack writes about is
Cold Thermogenesis (CT) therapy.
This concept really tangled up my brain. When I first read that people
are voluntarily placing themselves in ice baths, even going so far as
to wear ice vests during the day, I thought, "What?? Does losing weight
need to be so contrived?" And I thought it was totally over-the-top
crazy. But, the tangled-up brain kept going back and reading about it
some more. And thinking, and reading, and remembering my own experience
with cold, and how it makes me feel. And the more I remembered things
like skinny dipping in the Skokomish River at Staircase National Park in
Washington State. Skinny dipping in the Pacific on the coast of
Oregon. Skinny dipping in Puget Sound. All these dips were done in the
winter when it was cold and rainy, but when I would emerge from the
water, I felt warm and toasty once back in my clothes. Northwest natives
often bathed or swam in the abundant cold waters of their region and
said that it boosted their immunity. Scandinavians are known for their
cold water plunges, and part of me has always felt that cold water runs
through my own veins.
The more I thought about it, the more sense it made, especially when reading about recent articles on
brown fat,
and knowing that cold water swimmers tend to have more of it than most
people. So, I've begun easing into CT and I'm beginning to think I need
to up the ante starting this weekend. I began with cold showers after
swimming at the pool, and I find them not the least bit uncomfortable.
Last Friday I sat in the Jemez River for about 20 minutes, and found
that to be quite enjoyable. I wish the river was closer, or that the
reservoir wasn't closed and empty. It would be so much easier to do CT
in local water than to buy ice and do it in my bathtub. But I'm going
to start that this weekend.
Already, I've lost 12
pounds. If I wasn't actively involved in this process, I wouldn't
believe that it could happen. But 12 pounds in 3 weeks seems like an
astonishing number. It leaves me fired up for more. I also plan to get
my bloodwork done, as apparently Paleo eating will result in drastically
different bloodwork numbers when followed over a period of time.
All this has me pretty dang excited!
