I’m overweight.

There.  I said it.  No sense trying to skirt around the issue.

I’m fifty-one years old.  My thyroid has been broken for many, many years.  (I take medicine, don’t worry.)

I have a beer belly.   But I don’t drink beer. 

The Paleo Plan works for me.  When I follow it.   Pretty much ANY diet (or lifestyle change) works if you follow the rules.  Life is like that too.  It works…when you follow the rules.

But that’s a subject for a whole new post.  For another day, perhaps. J

I’ve done the Paleo thing before and was very successful.  I lost about 35 pounds and felt really, really good.  I was running several days a week, too.  In fact,  I had to buy new pants.  I went down three waist sizes!

And then.  I let life get in the way and I went back to my old (bad) habits.  I ate too much of the wrong things. I became a couch potato.

I’m not looking for sympathy.  Just telling you like it was.

My wife, bless her heart, has been on my butt about my overweight condition.  She says she doesn’t want to be a b—- about it, but she’s concerned.  I love her for that.

Oh, and my dad had quintuple bypass surgery when he was fifty-five.  Uggh.

Last night (at dinner of all places) my oldest son (Nate – 18) starts asking me about the Paleo diet.  I tell him it’s based on the premise that humans were built to eat the same foods that cavemen ate.

The plan allows you to eat lean meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, and fruit (in moderation).  However:  No bread.  No pasta. No rice.  No legumes (beans + peanuts).  No dairy products. No sugar.  No artificial this or artificial that.

Yes, it’s a bit restrictive.  Buy hey!  It works for me.  And that’s a big deal.

Nate remembered that I had great success so he was thinking about jumping on the Paleo bandwagon.

I’m going to share a ride with him. 

Nate and I are officially on the Paleo Plan.  I’ll be documenting our successes and failures here on the blog.

This morning’s BIG breakfast is shown above.  (It’s really enough for two servings.)

Here is what’s in the bowl:

• About ¼ head of (boring) Iceberg lettuce*torn into pieces
• ½ a Roma tomato, sliced
• 1/3 cup of fresh, sliced mushrooms
• ½ a cucumber, sliced
• ½ cup of shredded pork roast
• Coarsely-ground black pepper
• My homemade oil + vinegar dressing (recipe will be shared soon)

*A head of Iceberg lettuce was all we had in the fridge today.  I try to have Romaine or a spring mix of fresh greens, like this.  I eat a LOT of salads on the plan, so I make them as interesting (and tasty) as possible!

I am really excited that Nate and I are going to be doing this together.  It’s going to be a fun ride!

If you have ANY questions on the Paleo diet, please:  leave a comment or send me an email.  I am not a nutrition expert; HOWEVER, I have been-there-and-done-this.  I will be happy to help you in any way I can.

Stay tuned for recipes, food photos and progress reports.