I know for the past weeks I've been blabbing about "The Paleo Solution" and what it has done for me both physically and mentally. Recently I had posted on Facebook about how I had lost 28lbs and a little over 7% body fat, but today's blog post isn't focused on me and my success but rather my beautiful wife and mother to our children, Stephanie.
"Why do we need to do this diet? You know every diet we've tried has ended in failure and we just revert back to what we were eating after a few weeks."
This was the first question and comments I heard when I introduced "The Paleo Solution" to my wife and I don't blame her at all for saying what she said. She was right! We had tried about every diet out there and it had ended in failure, but I remembered the most important key to what Robb Wolf mentioned in his book, "This is not a diet, you already eat like this, but it's a matter of eating the right thing then the wrong. It's a lifestyle change." Not sure if that's word for word what it says in the book, but it's something along those lines. When I explained that to her and showed her what we could and couldn't eat she immediately said... "Wow, he is right! We really do eat those things!" From that moment on she was up for the challenge.
That same day when we were both looking at "The Paleo Solution" along with websites based around Paleolithic eating we came across the book "Everyday Paleo." For those of you who are following this diet we both recommend this book, especially for those who have kids and are in a rush. The book contains quick, easy family recipes that are very delicious. Also we encourage you to follow her blog as Sara is always posting different recipes throughout the week.
So that's how this journey began. Now to tell a little more about my wife.
My wife is a busy woman between work and home. Her schedule, unlike mine, doesn't give her much of a chance to workout at a gym let alone find time for a treadmill. I guess working a nine to five Monday thru Friday doesn't have quite the perks I always believed it did. I do my best on my short weeks to give her a helping hand but I'd be lying if I said I was the husband I needed to be .....after six years of marriage my wife will not hold back and let anybody know I'm still a work in progress. Definitely something I need to work harder at. Going back to Steph, like I said, she doesn't have much time and really the only exercising she has done besides housework has been walking and even that has come to a close since the colder weather has yet again found its way back to Ohio. However the paleo diet has still worked for her. I'll explain.
This morning Steph sent me a text message shortly after she woke up and she's probably going to kill me for this, but I don't care because I'm so proud of my wife for her accomplishments!! This is how the conversation went:
"Hey guess what?!!" - Steph
"We hit the lottery over night?" - Me
"Guess who is in the 160 club now?!"
"Are you serious baby?! That's freaking awesome!! I'm so proud of you!!"
I know if any ladies are reading this they're already saying, "You are so dead! You just broke rule 2 of the Woman Code, never tell anybody how much your woman weighs." Well hog wash is what I say! I'm proud of what she's done and it needs to be put out there and I want her to know how proud I am of her! I didn't tell you her weight either if you think about it. I mentioned she is in the 160 club .....so HA!
I will say to date Stephanie has lost 21lbs and has dropped two waist sizes. Besides making the point to show how proud I am of her I'm also making the point that you don't have to exercise for the paleo diet to work for you. Although I recommend exercising as its a good way to get the stress of your life off your chest for a little while and to have some "Me" time. Nearly all this weight has come off by making the right decisions when it comes to eating and she is living proof of that!! So proud baby, really really proud! I've heard countless times already, "How can you lose weight eating meat and vegetables all the time?" To this I answer it's easy when you cut out all the processed foods, starchy carbs, processed dairy and the unhealthy fats and replace it with lean cuts of meat, plenty of green veggies and healthy fats, carbs and reducing your fruit intake to 1oz a day. I've also heard, "Well you probably can't eat a lot of that stuff and you probably have to eat 5-6 small meals a day." Again, false! We eat 3 times a day and throw a snack in there at some point of the day if we need it, oh and we eat as much as we want until we're full. You'd be surprised how full you can get and how good you feel after eating 4-8oz of lean protein and plenty of veggies. It feels a lot better than that buffet of Chinese food we were used to. Sure, our stomachs were full but we had that, "I think I just drank 8 gallons of water" feeling and it wasnt long after we were hungry again, but we haven't had that one time eating the way we are now. It's been great!
I support the paleo eating. Why? It works! I know I talk about it all the time and it probably gets on some people's nerves, but I do it to hopefully inspire you to get your health back. It's not about losing weight, I mean sure that's a plus, but it's about being healthier and in the studies that have been done on individuals with auto-immune diseases, paleolithic eating has shown to help many of these cases. I can honestly say for someone who has "Crohn's Disease" it has been a blessing to me. I no longer take my medication and I have yet to have the abdominal pain/problems since switching to the paleo diet. I'm not saying I'm cured so don't think that, but it's the best I've felt since being DX and I'm not having to take 8 pills a day now. I could go on about the medical studies but I figured I'd just tell you my own. As for Steph, who suffers from Acid Reflux on a daily basis, the paleo diet has been a blessing to her also. She still takes her Prilosec but its once a day not 3-4. Even when she was taking 3-4 a day she was still complaining but she hasn't since making our lifestyle change and reducing her pill to once a day. Also her plantar fasciitis has not bothered her near as much as it used to. We've definitely been blessed.
In closing, I just want to say how proud I am of my wife not because of the weight she's lost but the commitment she's made to be healthier. We only hope it continues through our kids and we hope maybe this story will help someone else be healthier too. Obesity, heart disease and diabetes, caused by obesity, seem to be the standard for Scioto County and we didn't want to be another statistic and fought to be healthy and it's working! We encourage anyone no matter what your age, shape or size is to take the paleo challenge for 30-60 days. You'll probably be surprised how good you feel and look.
Physically and mentally we are both better people and it just goes to show you don't have to workout everyday of your life to be that either. Just a simple lifestyle change can do it. Although Steph doesn't workout at the gym, I can't say I, along with several other people, wouldn't mind having her beside us for a Saturday Morning Pain Clinic Session swinging a kettlebell with at PSKC, but that choice is hers just like the paleo challenge was ....and although she thought about balking the idea, if you ask her today she will tell you she's glad she didn't. When she does make the decision to start working out at PSKC ......Oh man, I'm going to have a, strong is the new skinny, wife to share the rest of my life with!! Love you Steph! So proud of you!!
No comments:
Post a Comment