Today’s question is a great one from Jennifer! Here it is:

“Adam,

I have a question for you. I have been following Paleo for about a year pretty closely. I have been pretty frustrated lately and maybe your book will help me figure things out. I read/see peoples transformations and they seem to drop tons of weight/inches in 30-60 days. I started out doing pretty good but it seems like the more I get strict with Paleo the less I lose! I don’t have a lot left to lose so maybe its just it, but want to. Just wondering if they are the norm when it comes to Paleo or am I? Are those that are featured on blogs etc extreme cases? Or is that what should happen and I am doing something wrong?

I have watched some of your videos where you answer questions. In the one about fat burn pills, you talked about working out in the morning on an empty stomach and maybe with coffee. I was doing that when I saw the the biggest drop in inches. The past couple months I have been working out in the evening and then eating dinner after – 7:30ish. I know this is not good and have gone back to the 6am class. Your video reinforced something I knew and got me back to that early class. Its not as convenient but I was thinking that may have been part of my issue. Thanks for the video! It was just what I needed!

Blessings,

Jennifer”

Thanks for the GREAT question, Jennifer!

Here’s a link to a video I did in answer to another question where I talk more about taking a long-term heath focus as opposed to focusing just on scale weight and inches:

http://practicalpaleolithic.com/paleolithic-diet-blog/health-fitness-paleo-and-crossfit-a-long-term-view

ttys

Adam

IMPORTANT! Adam Farrah is not a doctor or medical professional. This information is based on my own opinion and is not meant to be medical advice or to treat, diagnose, cure or prescribe in any way.

I laid out my goals for the SINS Challenge a week or so ago. I’m working hard on them – although I’m still on THE FIRST ONE! My book WILL be out in the next few weeks. In fact, I have the structure and organization finished – FINALLY. I’m really just in the final editing stage now…

I did so much writing in college and in my science and business career that I really didn’t think writing a book was such a big deal. Well, IT IS! The fact that I want to do something REALLY special and outstanding is also making it take longer than I wanted. BUT it’s almost there! And when it’s done, that will free up a lot of time for blogging and training and focusing on my diet and rest. So, I’m more or less on track with my SINS Challenge goals. More or less

I had kind of a wacky day a few days ago…

I’ve had some hard days. Whenever I do high-focus creative stuff – like writing a 100+ page book – I get kind of wacky. My stress level goes up, I can’t focus on anything else and the project is always on my mind. I’m not a “balance” person. I’m an obsessive, manic, hyper-focusing creative type. All I can do is FINISH things so I can get back to feeling normal. If I’m working on something I think is important I get kind of nutty until it’s done…

I’ve been FORCING myself to put the writing aside to train the last week or so. The ONLY thing keeping me on track is knowing that I have other goals that won’t happen overnight and waiting to get moving on them until the book is finished is going to put me too far behind.

So, I dragged my ass out into the garage…

The “voice in the head” was particularly angry today. I was having a hard time focusing and my thoughts kept drifting back to my book and a million other things that are stressing me out. I pushed myself though. I know the weather will be nice in a few weeks and I can either be healthier, more fit and closer to my goals or I can be further away from them.

I dropped my water bottle into one of the Gladiator Bins I recently installed and that felt good. I didn’t really notice it though – like, it didn’t register. I practiced some handstands – which I COMPLETELY suck at – and then worked on jumping rope for 6 – 1 minute sets with a minute break between each. And I also SUCK at jumping rope.

When I got to kettlebell swings I set the Gymboss timer and clipped it to the other wire bin – at the perfect height and the perfect angle – without even thinking about it. Everything fell into place for about a second – the “should’s” and “have to’s” stopped. The angry voice in my head that tells me what an out of shape loser I am stopped. And – for just a second – I was thankful to have a nice place to train that has more than I could ever need.

This morning I was pissed because I want a Log Bar. And because I “should” have already made some Atlas stones – I’ve only had the mold from Slater’s sitting in the box it came in for a year. And the dishes “should” be done and my truck needs to be washed and waxed and my book was supposed to be done last week and I need to do yoga and stretch my shoulders out thoroughly because tomorrow I’m doing 20 Rep Squats and LAST week I had to stop at rep 17 because my shoulder really hurt.

But it’s always right there…

But I can always only be where I am. I want things to be “better” but they’re not. They’re the way they are. I can be mad about it or I can practice jumping rope – even though I completely SUCK at it and keep tripping on the rope every few jumps. Yup, it’s “wrong” and I “should” be better at it but I’m not. I can STAY bad at it or I can keep doing it – and sucking at it – until I don’t suck anymore.

It’s just what it is. This blog post sucks because I’m not focused enough while I’m writing it and my book sucks because it’s not done yet and this chair I’m sitting in sucks because I can’t afford the one I want (it’s like $1200) and whatever else sucks… IN FACT, even though I’m half joking here, I’m realizing right now that I could spend THE REST OF THE DAY listing everything that sucks in my life and all the stuff I want to be better at and “should” be better at. Wow. How’s THAT for a revelation? Focus on the negative much?

But I’m where I am and for that split-second I was feeling OK with where I was – SUCKING AND WORKING LIKE HELL TO GET BETTER. If you can just shut the voice in your head up long enough to see it, you can accept that you are where you are and want to be better – AND WORK ON GETTING BETTER. Or you can drive yourself completely NUTS about how you “should” be there now. That sounds REALLY silly now that I write it. If it was REALLY supposed to be different it would be. When you’ve MADE it different it will be. In the meantime, thinking it “should” be different is just a waste of energy that could be invested into getting you to stop sucking sooner.

That’s about it, I have some stuff to go suck at now…

ttys

Adam

This drink recipe has become a SERIOUS favorite of mine. What’s funny is, if you’d talked to me 6 months ago, I’d have told you I didn’t drink. I’ve been going through a move and a lifestyle “reorganization” recently – a VERY positive one – but one that’s been full of stress, logistical nightmares and other wacky stuff. So, faced with the option of a clock tower and a sniper rifle or a drink or two here and there, I’ve opted for the drinks! You can thank me later

I’ve been VERY sensitive to alcohol my whole life – one of the reasons I really don’t drink – but this recipe is pretty easy on my system and it’s also fairly Paleo friendly. I got the original recipe from my friend Robb Wolf’s book, The Paleo Solution, and I put a few of my own tweaks on it.

Let me know what you think of my favorite – and only – drink recipe!

ttys

Adam

My plan is to use the positive pressure of blogging this every day to push myself to better results – and hopefully motivate a few of you along the way maybe even give you some good ideas and tips to work with.

I’ve already been eating 100% strict Paleo for weeks now. When I say strict I mean ZERO cheating with treats and goodies. The only two non-Paleo foods I’m using as staples in my diet at this point are Goat Yogurt and Rice Protein Powder. I’m going to maintain this 100% clean diet all the way into September 2010.

I’ve broken down my goals for this challenge into a few areas:

General Goals

• Better health is priority #1! Fatigue and poor digestion are the two issues I’ve got going on and I want them GONE! Not improved. GONE! I’ve spent a bunch of time and money talking to Robb Wolf about this and I think the two factors I need to really nail to get this fixed is a zero-grain, zero-cheating Paleo diet (other than the two items I mentioned above) and well-periodized training. Overtraining has been an issue for me – because I just LOVE to train – and I need to get that straightened out so I can get on track.
• Improved sleep, mood and focus – This kind of goes with the goal of better health above but I figured I might as well break it out to make it more measurable.

Diet and Eating Goals

This one is simple: EAT! I’ve probably taken the intermittent fasting about as far as I can. I’ll still certainly incorporate some intermittent, short fasts here but my priority will be to eat and keep my fat and protein really high so I can get some mass on my frame here. I also think the fat and protein will be helpful with my mood and energy.

CrossFit and Training Goals

Last weekend, I went to the AWESOME CrossFit Powerlifting Cert at CrossFit Relentless. It was a really great experience and it opened my mind to a lot of new techniques for training and periodizing training. I’m going to fully embrace the Westside Barbell Methods in my own training for the rest of the summer and see what happens.

My current bodyweight is a way-too-light 160lbs. This is from a combination of under-eating and overtraining. My goal for September is to be a solid, lean and strong 175lbs.

Martial Arts Goals

My martial arts goals are modest at this point. Basically, I want to get in to train BJJ one to two days a week with 100% consistency. That’s it! Obviously, I need the energy to do that, so the above goals come into play…

In another blog post I’m going to get more into my trianing. I have A LOT to say about the Westside stuff I learned last weekend!

ttys

Adam