HOLY SHIT…what a long 2 years its been

Good evening, morning, afternoon…whatever time you happen to find yourself here…It’s been…ugh…close to 2 years, if not over since I’ve written anything. Time to fix that.

 

I’ve got a lot of things on my mind, and since my last post, a lot of shit has changed in my life. Most for the better, some for the worse. So lets recap.

 

Since my last post, I’ve swapped jobs…twice…Once from one cushy office job to another, and the more recent one, from the previous cushy office job to the ass kicking hell that is rotating shift factory work…I’ve also basically quit doing anything physically oriented because, well, I didn’t take my own advice in my last post, which can be conveniently found here. So, it’s time to start taking that advice and stop being a hypocrite.

Let’s talk about what has happened health wise since I’ve started my new job. Let me lay down some background so you can understand where I’m coming from. I work in Tire Curing for Goodyear Tire and Rubber company. Essentially, we cook the raw tire into the product that you buy off the shelves at your local tire shop. Anywho, in order to cook said tires, we basically have to work in a furnace. On a good day, the department averages around 105-110 degrees with massively high humidity. On a bad day (HELLO UPCOMING SUMMER IN OKLAHOMA), it’s going to get to around 120-130 degrees with the same ridiculous humidity. So, here is what has happened as a result. I have lost a massive amount of weight, we are talking 40lbs of weight since septemberish 2013. That puts me squarely under 200lbs for the first time since, oh 8th grade or so.

Now aside from less than ideal work conditions, I’ve also let me nutrition go to shit, hello whiskey and processed foods that fit conveniently in a lunch box and require no effort to prepare. So, that being said, 3 weeks ago I found myself in the hospital with appallingly low protein levels and, as a result, pretty much no electrolytes. Hello 24 hours of IV juices. Since then, I’ve started swapping my diet back to primal. Meats, veggies, good fats, etc. However, with the physical nature of my job, I’ve yet to get back to working out, but that changes Friday, when I start my 7 day break. I will be returning back to my lift heavy things mentality. Deadlifts, Squats, etc. Compound movements people, that’s what we are going to be focusing on.

The direction of this blog is going to be taking a change too. It’s going to become my own little therapeutic relief…You’ll see rants, praises, trials and errors, etc. You’re going to get to have a front row seat to me nutting up. So sit back and get ready for that. I’m going to use this blog to relieve my thoughts and to keep an account of the changes that occur as I use my own body as my own little test tube or lab experiment. Time to see if this paleo/primal/caveman shit really can work for someone like me, for the long haul. Can someone who has undergone complete gastric bypass surgery, with proper nutrition and supplementation (due to the surgery), thrive? We shall see. Buckle up friends, it’s gonna be a fun little ride.

Until next time,

Puff.

Why are we so damn brand loyal?

Coke or Pepsi? Pampers or Huggies? Coors or Bud? Homo or Heterosexual? Paleo or Conventional Wisdom?

 

Why does everything have to be one or the other? OR more importantly, why do we hate so hard on the people that don’t agree with our current brand? I read a post a few days ago that made me think. It wasn’t even the entire post. Rather it was a line in the post that said, and I’m paraphrasing here, “perhaps if we weren’t so closed minded about our paleo life choice, people wouldn’t be so intimidated to join our community.”

 

Swapping from Conventional Wisdom/Vegan/Veggie/Primordial Soup/Insert your dietary choice here, to a paleo lifestyle is already difficult enough. How many of you have hit up one of the many, paleo forums only to be met with scrutiny? It’s as if paleo has turned into a cult or some shit. The Paleo community oppenly bashes the vegan community (don’t get me wrong it’s a tit for tat game), but it’s gotten a bit out of hand. Sure, we know that Paleo has science to back it up. Sure we know that Paleo has worked for Millenia, Sure…we know Paleo foods taste a whole hell of a lot better than carboard pasta and wha tnot…But are we so arrogant that we have to be smug about it? We aren’t superior because we’ve chosen this lifestyle. Nor are others inferior because of theirs…Sure, some could argue that physically speaking, due to our optimized nutrition we are superior, but now you’re just being a douche.

I’ve seen this problem developing in both the paleo and barefoot running communities. We have some stupid aire of superiority about us, and that is exactly what is turning people away from the communities. I’ve met some nice people in both communities, and I’ve met far more ass hats. Just because I like to run barefoot AND in goofy toe shoes doesn’t mean that I don’t belong in either community. Just because I follow a Paleo lifestyle AND occasionally eat pizza doesn’t meant that I don’t belong in the Paleo community, nor does it mean that I belong in the CW community.

Life isn’t mutually exclusive…Unless you are part of the 1%…But the rest of us 99ers are going to have to nut up, shut up, and get a long. Perhaps we need to get the Paleo big wigs, and the vegan big wigs, and the CW big wigs, together at a party and sing Koombiyah or some shit. We don’t have to agree about everything, or anything really, but can’t we all get a long and help be inclusive to newcomers?

 

/End Rant

 

Until next time,

Puff