28 days no chocolate challenge - the results are in

The end of my 28 days without dark chocolate and why I don't really care for it anymore

Its been 28 days now, or just over and I have to say that all said and done, it has been a good 4 weeks. To reiterate the challenge; no chocolate (dark or otherwise) for 28 days, and journal what happens. During the time, my exercise routine has stayed roughly the same and I haven't been eating very differently than the norm. For full disclosure, a few times my blood sugar was slightly low I caved and grabbed some cheesecake (another weakness to stomp out in due course). I wanted to give an idea of what has changed, or not changed this past 4 weeks, and a few of my observations from my journalling.

The key stats

Before                                                      After
Weight - 156.25 lbs                                  Weight - 148.5 lbs
Body fat - 17.1%                                      Body Fat - 15%

So, a loss of 7.75 pounds and 2.1% body fat, almost exclusively from dropping dark chocolate from my diet as a regular indulgence. Not a bad result if I do say so myself. And a further testament to the importance of diet in body composition over exercise alone.

Not me, but you get the idea. And my trousers are definitely baggier now than before

Other observations

Carbohydrate intake was the single best predictor of body-fat gain or loss the subsequent day, above fat intake (which was relatively stable anyway) and almost completely independent of exercise. But lets backtrack slightly, I work on a 4 day wave of exercise (see Scott Sonnon's work) running through; no intensity mobility work, low intensity compensatory yoga, medium intensity interval training (focussed on practicing the skill and increasing good form), and high intensity interval training (focused on maintaining the form, while increasing exertion). 90% of the time after a medium or high intensity TACFIT session, I will take two scoops of protein powder for the boost to recovery. Back to the last month. Here is an example from one of my high intensity days. First thing in the AM, I did joint mobility exercises, then I rode my bike 8 miles to an epilepsy awareness training session for work, and the 8 miles home; I then had my high-intensity 30 minutes running 6 exercises in tabata intervals. I'm sure i added in a few brief jogs and mobility drills throughout the day as well. Now, with all that exercise you might expect I would loose some weight, but you would be wrong, so very wrong. You see, while I ate healthily, I was snacking constantly throughout the day on a big box of strawberries I had bought on route to the training. Also, my post workout berries, honey and natural yoghurt (mostly paleo/primal, at least far better than conventional deserts) added to the carb load. The next day I had gained about 2 pounds, and 0.5% body fat. The weight doesn't bother me, when I begin weight training, or heavy club swinging, I will be looking to add mass, but increasing body fat while I ate so 'healthily' was disappointing. Again, the importance of moderation, and the carb load was stressed to me.

Overall, I feel more vibrant and active. Considering this has been a hectic and stressful month, and the next few weeks will be worse. But, I know now from first-hand experience that sitting to relax with a bar (or two) of dark chocolate and some TV/Xbox or whatever was only hindering me from working to maximum capacity. The more my breaks from work involve walking, mobility, or my actual workouts, the more productive I am overall. Also, the fewer carb loads I have, the less insulin I have which helps a great deal to avoid the fatigue of dropping blood sugars.

Journaling can be an extremely useful tool, if done right. Sadly I have been too busy to journal the past week (by which I mean if I have not been at Uni, on the way to Uni. working, testing participants in the lab, or some other kind of work, I had been allowed some sleep). But the little things, like how being ill affected my diet and vice versa, and how my energy improved the more I moved. Also recovery rates, and progression in workouts in terms of increased form, lower discomfort and higher reps makes progress quantifiable.

The Primal Blueprint N=1 journal

This thing was awesome, and it helped me log nearly everything pretty well. I only have two minor issues. First, it isn't designed to have specific sections for blood glucose testing, which would have been helpful. I wouldn't expect it to have, but it still doesnt make it 100% perfect for my purposes. Second, its a bit too big, so you kind of have to leave it at home and fill it in at the end of the day, which becomes a bit of a chore. I would prefer a smaller and more manageable sized journal. I'm aiming for say a5 size, and pretty thin. I'm going to devise my own, based on my own routines; including but not limited to; blood sugar testing, food diary, workout recordings (including not only reps, but perceived: technique, excursion, and discomfort). I'll maybe make it to fit into the 28 day 7x4 cycle I run, which would be pretty cool.

What's next?

To be honest, I'm not sure. But as soon as I find a new challenge, I'll post it and share the experience.
What's your challenge? What should be my next one? comment and lets see together.

Anyway, here's some minions for the T1D perspective.

Respectfully,
Sam

What the Primal Blueprint means to me. Law#7 Play

I think we can all agree that leading a stressful life is damaging to our health, there shouldn't be any debate there. But on the other side of the coin, I think we forget the benefits of stress-free times, and at the far end of the spectrum, actually having fun and playing. Play isn't just a past time for kids who haven't had the misfortune to grow up and commit to full-time jobs (including the hour commute each way) and family commitments. We all need to play, the release of "feel good" hormones (including, but not limited to endorphins) is essential to de-stress and have a bit of enjoyment in our lives. Play allowed our ancestors to socialize, build relationships, and actually use their health and fitness to enjoy simply moving. No, sitting in front of the TV for 2-3 hours after a long days work is not considered de-stressing or playtime under the primal blueprint.

Sadly, in the UK it rains far too much in the autumn to enjoy this kind of play

What is play? Play can be a huge number of things, sports are a great example because you are literally playing them. In addition though, you are competing, socializing and building teamwork. In addition, these kinds of playtime are enjoyable ways to move and get the heart going outside of the pre-defined exercise regimes without the view to simply up the number of hours in the gym each week. If anything, play is more important to overall well being than some of the movement laws. Sadly, we don't really allow ourselves to play anymore.

Here are some good, and some bad examples of "playtime" that I have taken part in over the past few years.

• Martial arts - good exercise, discipline, progression, and applied physical ability. Also working with others to refine skills and build the relationships afterwards. I like this example because it combines all of the primal blueprint exercise laws while building skills and physical ability and control.
• After-training drinks - After a 1-2 hour karate session, meeting in the pub afterwards is a great for socializing, catching up with friends and solidifying relationships outside of working hard, and well, beating each other up for a few hours a week. This has taken two forms over my University career. In the early years it was drinking time, i.e. get the drinks in, spill into halls after midnight with maybe 8 pints down, and sleep still in need of a shower. Later on, this became a far more tame glass of water to re-hydrate and maybe a few drinks maximum, or just an orange juice depending on my mood and cash-flow. Socializing, tick. However, there is a bit of a fuzzy area surrounding drinking and good health. Some is perhaps ok, but after exercise, maybe not so much. I'll call this one part of the 80/20 rule.
• Hanging with the family in the garden in summer time. Must be summer in the UK otherwise it rains 95% of the time. Good socializing and catching up
• Sports - I have had games of badminton, chucked a Frisbee around and just general playing around outside and enjoying time.
• Games nights - kind of counts as socializing, but too much time sitting in front of a screen, in a dark room and playing video games for hours isn't really conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
• Playing with my dog - he's coming on 14 years old now so he isn't quite as sprighty as he once was, but still good fun to play with.

I liked this infographic as a fair summary of the benefits of playing sports.

Play is good for us, and just because we have commitments and busy schedules does not mean that we should neglect this key component of our lifestyles. In addition, trying to 'primalise' the play you do get has benefits also and allows playtime to merge with the movement and exercise laws (e.g. does going out drinking with friends, coming home fairly incoherent at 3am and feeling pretty sick the next day really count as play? answer- no, even with all those selfies you took showing how much fun you were having). I am guilty of not getting anywhere near enough play, and this is the primal law I am having the most trouble with. As much as saying that a full time master's degree and a part-time job, as well as fairly strict exercise regime leaves little time for play (especially when I am stressing about coursework) seems like a fair excuse; it will not do if I want to have the best health possible. Once again I'll stress the point, for type 1 diabetics, looking after all elements of health is essential - de-stressing and playing often enables better diabetes control and allows for avoidance of related complications. Its not all about only diet and exercise anymore; we must take a holistic approach.

So here is a challenge for us all. Take a few hours over the course of the next week, and play. Do something new/different, or do something more of what you enjoy. Do it with family or friends, and try to make it as primal as possible. Head to the park with the family and the dog and run about, play and enjoy the time spent. Take a football, Frisbee or whatever you can play with and play. Maybe post a comment and share the playtime fun. I'll try to write a brief follow up post sharing some play that I will be doing while the sun is out. One of the popular quotes of today is 'you only live once', often as an excuse to act like a stupid, spoiled, and selfish child. However, when we recontextualize this into 'you only die once, you live everyday', perhaps we can see the importance of playing, de-stressing and enjoying life everyday - rather than as an attempt to justify reckless behaviors. 

YOLO? I'd rather not. I want to live every day

Respectfully,

Sam

What the Primal Blueprint means to me. Law# 4 Lift heavy things

Last time we covered moving frequently at a slow pace and the benefits of such exercise. I also discussed how prolonged cardio-based exercise isn't particularly functional or useful (if health or fat-loss are your goals, if you're a dedicated marathon runner then power to you). This time I want to discuss lifting heavy things as a mode of exercise that stimulates muscle growth and strength building.

Our ancestors walked a lot, and this should be a given when thinking about hunter-gatherer societies. Also, they lifted heavy things, not for exercise per se, but to drag the kill home, climb a tree to avoid danger, or haul something heavy across a campsite. For any parent readers, there were no carriers or places to leave your young ones for a few hours, babies would be carried almost non-stop through the days travels. This was an every day event, and as such our ancestors (including the children, and the women) were strong and lean. We may not be able to emulate these brief, yet regular exposures to lifting heavy things in modern society due to 9-5 working weeks and hectic lifestyles. But, the importance of lifting heavy is integral to health. Oh and for type 1 diabetics, increasing muscle mass (especially combined with reduced excess body-fat) increases insulin sensitivity and therefore less insulin is needed. Sound good?

The closest we can get to regular heavy lifting in modern society is planned exercise. There are loads of options out there, but a few key rules should be followed. Firstly, sessions should not exceed around 45 minutes (maybe an hour with breaks, not counting warm-ups and cool downs). Secondly, watch the intensity, you should be working hard, but not at full speed/capacity - that's what law#5 - sprint occasionally is all about. If you rated your excursion on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being maximum effort, I would say around a 6-8 rating would be ideal. Third, the sessions should focus on full body exercises where possible and not focus on isolating individual muscles. But I like the bicep curl machine, or the ab machine or the bench-press machine at the gym some will say. I could argue at length about this, but to keep it short I will only point out that our bodies are designed to work as an entire unit. Take the bench press as an example. You are missing out on the stabilizing tension the core and legs must perform during push ups. This is why gym muscle builders are so injury-prone, because their bodies are imbalanced and their musculature is out of whack. Personally, I would rather be fully-recovered, balanced, and have the ability to perform full body movements, rather than under-recovered, injury prone, but with the ability to boast defined biceps. So, in short lifting heavy things sessions should be brief, intense and full body events. See Marks post on the exercise action items here. What counts as a heavy thing? Firstly, we are heavy things - I weigh about 155 pounds, I would say that that's a heavy thing to lift. Of course weights, kettlebells and so on all count, but I argue that body-weight exercises should form the center of any exercise regime.

Push-ups are good

If you're feeling adventurous.

I plan on writing a series on different full body exercises and routines for beginners with progressions etc. But as I currently utilize TACFIT almost exclusively, I would feel like too much of a thief of Scott Sonnon's work just now. For a series of awesome body weight, dumbbell, and clubbell routines, amongst others - check out the TACFIT programs offered here.
Here's an overview of my medium and high intensity sessions. The exercises stay the same, but I vary reps to increase intensity. Medium intensity should be 6-8 on our exertion scale, and High intensity should be 8-10 (this is where it gets into sprint-like sessions).
Part 1- After warm-up - TACFIT Commando. Six exercises, each performed for 8 rounds of 20 seconds exertion folllowed by 10 seconds rest with a 60 second break between exercises. Totaling 30 minutes exercise. There are three 'missions' each with three progressions. Each runs for 28 days.
Part 2- Clubbell exercises. I'll post a full video on clubbell exercises soon, but for now lets agree that they're awesome. For the uninitiated, the clubbell is like a baseball bat, made of steel, weighing between 2-20kg. It doesn't sound heavy, but the swinging motions work the whole rotational movement. True caveman exercise :-) I am currently working on achieving a century in the double swipes from Trial by Fire to build up.
End with full body compensation yoga, and I am done in around an hour. I know this pushes the boundary of the prescribed 'lift heavy things' mantra. However, I have higher goals than average and ensure that I keep the sessions within safe limits and most importantly know my own limits.

Get a clubbell (or two), use it, love it.

I'll be writing a future post about the benefits of the TACFIT and CST health and recovery first exercise because it is the way forward. It functions perfectly with the primal/paleo lifestyle and most importantly for me, works amazingly to maintain my health living with type 1 diabetes. So, there we have it. Exercise 1-3 times a week for a brief, intense session with full body exercises to improve overall health, and build muscle mass. See you next time for Law#5 Sprint occasionally.

Respectfully,
Sam

What the Primal Blueprint means to me: Law #1. Eat Lots of Plants and Animals

Law #1 Eat lots of Plants and Animals


Diet is a pretty controversial topic nowadays and the primal blueprint goes against current conventional wisdom. For any diabetic readers, you will notice a big difference between what I support here and what you will have been told by your doctor/diabetes nurse or other healthcare professional. I wont go so far as to say that the way we have all been told to eat is B#*#**#t, but at least some of it has been projected forcefully from a bovines rear end. If you agree or disagree, please comment and we can work on shared understanding. Can you tell that I really want more diabetics on the primal blueprint eating plan?
Our ancestors diets consisted mostly of plants and animals, we know that much. In addition, by studying modern hunter-gatherer societies a pretty consistent pattern emerges - geography depending. They ate what they could, when they could - meaning utilizing our amazing ability to store energy as fat for whenever food was more scarce. The lifestyle of our ancestors allowed them to be lean, strong, healthy, and prepared. It was not an easy life, but it was not as barbaric as we might imagine.

What does this mean for our diets today?

Basically, eat as much of all these goodies as you want.

from eatpreypaleo.com

Eat good quality meat, eggs, fish from pretty much any animal source, even insects if you're feeling adventurous. Eat tons of colorful vegetables, and healthy fats (animal fats, nuts, coconut, avocado).
Sounds awesome right? Eggs and bacon; steak, avocado and assorted salad; roasted veggies and jerk chicken; with snacks of nuts, berries and some fruit. Does anybody disagree so far, have I named any unhealthy, or disgusting foods (maybe apart from insects - though Bear Grylls makes it look like a good laugh)? or have I given a picture of some awesomely tasty, healthy meals? I believe the latter.

from www.allpaleodiet.com

Now the bit that gets on folks backs. What does eating this way avoid, and why?
Firstly, no grains or cereals. That's right, no cereal for breakfast, no morning bagel. No sandwich or pasta salad for lunch. No breaded or battered 'meat' for dinner.
Secondly, no refined/processed/artificial sugar. We all know its not good for us, so lets just all agree that cakes, muffins, cookies, milk chocolate and the wide range of foods most of us (me included) have over-indulged with.
Third, no legumes (beans). This is where primal and paleo differ somewhat. Legumes, including peanuts (I know, right) are inflammatory and in short, mess up our systems. Oh and for all us diabetics, they are also linked to auto-immune diseases. OMG right, so that whole - it was just luck of the draw or a roll of some cosmic dice that gave me type 1 diabetes may be wrong. Remember that the issue is that society, medicine, and science just don't understand type 1 diabetes fully yet - but, evidence for these links are forming. So, as people already disposed to autoimmune disease, it's worth avoiding it further, don't you think?
Fourth, eliminate trans- and hydrogenated- fats. These are not foods, full stop. There are good fats and bad fats. If anyone tells you otherwise, or you believe that all fats are bad yourself then you are wrong. No question, you are wrong and you especially should check out marks daily apple and develop your knowledge.

How does this look for our average daily/weekly consumption? Well, the SAD diet (Standard American Diet - or western in general really, I am in the UK) that conventional wisdom looks something like this. Around 50% carbs, 30% fat, and 20% protein. This is a great way to gain weight and develop health issues. The primal blueprint for me doesn't recommend specific ratios per se. I don't personally agree with ratios as it means that if you want to lose weight then you can only eat less and risk muscle loss. Also, if you exercise regularly, you might not be getting enough protein to rebuild yourself. The primal blueprint suggests eating something like 1g protein per pound lean muscle mass per day for an active person. For me this means around 130g protein daily depending on exercise needs. This is around 3 times what is recommended by conventional wisdom, no wonder the average person has pretty poor muscle tone. Your carb needs are determined by activity - within reason though, as primal seeks to be a fat burner diet rather than a carb burner diet. I would say around 100g daily for diabetics, but not much more. Any more and the weight goes on, any less you tend to lose weight. This is my sweet spot, but then we all differ. Note that these carbs come from berries, fruit and leafy veg. Finally your fat intake is essentially whatever remains to fill your daily calorie needs. For say 2000 calories; 130g protein, 100g carbs leaves 120g fat. Bear in mind that a gram of protein or carbs = 4calories, whereas 1g fat = 9calories. In essence, this means you need to eat less.

Sorry, the explanation got slightly out of hand there. Let's move on. For those that agree with the standard way of eating. I have only my own experiences to offer. My usual diet looks something like this. 3/4 egg omlette, maybe bacon for breakfast. Spicy chicken and massive salad for lunch. Veg heavy dinner, likely with fish/meat of some kind. Also nuts, berries and fruit as snacks. In the past few months, I have lost maybe 4 pounds. Not alot, huh. Well this comes with more muscle than I have ever had, as well as a decrease of maybe 4 inches around my waist. I like to say that the worst thing about eating primal is that I need to go shopping for smaller trousers, and I hate shopping. Specifically relevant to any type 1 readers, read this next bit carefully. I take hardly any insulin anymore; a daily dose and unless I cheat (sometimes cheesecake just calls too hard, but I'm working on it) I don't need any after meals. I haven't had a hypo in months. My last A1C was just above 5, though I forget the exact number. I haven't seen my blood glucose above 7 (or around 125, I forget the exact transformation between systems) in a while and like I say, never below 4 (80-ish?). I am full of energy and don't get those afternoon sleepy phases I did while on the SAD.

Primal pancakes anyone - seen here

Awesome lunches anyone? - this one for a future post

Mmmmmmmmmmmm

The diet element is one of the most extensive ones within the primal blueprint; however, it is only one of 10 laws for healthy living. Next time, we'll take a look at moving a lot, but at a slow pace.

Please do comment and feedback. Do you agree or disagree, have I missed anything vital?. Please help me spread this way of living to others, especially my type 1 brethren who deserve more to life than the roller coaster ride offered by masses or carbs followed by masses of insulin (and the resultant crash). We deserve to be healthy.

If this is your life as a type 1 diabetic then the primal blueprint is for you

Respectfully,
Sam

What is the primal Blueprint? A primer

I will shortly be writing a ten part series on the primal blueprint 10 laws my relationship to them. Many people know about the paleo or primal diet, but the primal blueprint is so much more - a lifestyle. In short, the primal blueprint attempts to replicate the lifestyles our ancestors had over 10,000 years ago, before the dawn of agriculture. Of course adaptations must be made as society has changed greatly since then, but our biology and our genes have not. So, we are built to eat and live like our hunter-gatherer ancestors. My interpretation of primal living has helped me control my blood glucose, improve my health, get fitter and stronger, built muscle and lose excess fat (without trying, seriously it wasn't an actual goal of mine) - all while eating awesome tasty food, enjoying exercise and not counting calories or carb counting. It is not a diet, but a lifestyle with some dietary guidelines. Hopefully any readers will gain some insight, perhaps enough to go to marksdailyapple and try it for yourselves. For those already initiated, maybe sharing some experiences will add to our pool of N=1 experiments. For type 1 diabetics like me, read carefully and please do find out more - diets often fail, but a lifestyle change like this only works. To quote Mark Sisson, Try It [the primal blueprint] for 21 Days, or Your Poor Health Back! seen here

Here are the 10 laws at a glance.
1. Eat Lots of Plants and Animals
2. Avoid Poisonous Things
3. Move Frequently at a Slow Pace
4. Lift Heavy Things
5. Sprint Once in a While
6. Get Adequate Sleep
7. Play
8. Get Adequate Sunlight
9. Avoid Stupid Mistakes
10. Use Your Brain

I will look at each in turn. I'll explain what it means, and what it means to me. Most importantly, I'll explain the aspects that have specific benefits to Type 1 diabetics.
See you next time

Respectfully,
Sam

Banana Coconut flour Pancakes, mk 2 - this time with pictures

I promised pictures and here they are. These pancakes tasted good. I've also filled out the recipe a bit so that it's easier to follow than my previous instructions.

Ingredients (2 portions, or about 8 pancakes - I saved half for breakfast tomorrow and I cant wait)

• 3 large eggs
• 1 banana - mashed (mashed a lot, try for no lumps)
• 1/2tbs Honey
• 1t vanilla extract
• Approx 45ml or roughly 1/6 cup coconut flour
• 1/2t baking soda
• Coconut Oil

Extras

• Berries of your liking
• Runny honey
• Bacon (wait, why is this in extras? Cant bacon be essential to every dish?)

Instructions

1. Take the mashed banana and whisk together with the eggs, honey and vanilla extract. You should get a fairly runny mix.
2. Grease up the pan with the coconut oil and set to a medium/low heat, and if possible prep a separate pan to cook the bacon to your liking (I use a grill - more because of laziness than anything else). I use more coconut oil than I maybe should, but it really helps the pancakes not stick.
3. Sift the coconut flour and baking soda into the mix and whisk together until smooth. Patience is key here otherwise you'll be left with lumpy dry nastiness. It'll look something like this - you don't want thee mix too thick or too runny, otherwise all hell breaks loose. If the mix is too thick, add a teaspoon of water or two, and if it's too runny, add a little more coconut flour.

   

   just right

   
   
4. Using a large spoon, dollop out scoops of the mix onto the pan - large or small your choice. I go for small because they are easier to flip - otherwise I have found that they break in half or flop over and I end up swearing and upsetting people.

   

   And the bacon sizzling in the background. Oh yeah.

5. Now, patience. You don't want burnt or under cooked pancakes. I can testify as I have done both, once in the same batch. I did mention in my last post that there is some trial and error to this recipe - well, only if you're as useless as me. This is a good time to push some berries into the pancakes, or just throw them onto the plate - your pick.
6. Whack the bacon on, hear that lovely sizzle and smell that awesome bacon-y smell.
7. Check under a pancake and if you think the time is right then flip away. I use a thin rubber spatula, but if you're feeling brave I suppose you could one-handed flip the whole batch as a whole. I've taken a picture of an underdone pancake I had to leave for a few  minutes while the others actually cooked.

   

   Slightly undercooked before fliping - more time needed. Also note the berries pushed into some of the others.

And just right

Finaly, cut one in half and if its no longer runny then you should be good to go. Chuck them onto a plate and top with syrup, or butter, or melted coconut oil. Side with the bacon and whatever berries you have left and chow down.

And there you have it, my perfect-for-me pancakes. Not prize winning, but pretty damn good.

Respectfully,
Sam