How I stay even more fit than before while working out less, by living Primal

lanimal (61)in #health • 8 years ago (edited)

Although I was never an athlete, since my early twenties I managed to stay at least reasonably fit, and at times quite fit, by lifting weights and doing a good deal of fairly intense cardiovascular exercise. The cardio was usually on a stationary bike, stair climber, or elliptical cycle. For a few years I was swimming too, and with that combination I got as fit as I’ve ever been.

My previous workout routine

I kept working out, knowing that I needed a lot more physical activity than my job would ever entail. So I fell into a routine of warming up with about 30 minutes of cardio, and sometimes 45 minutes to and hour, then lifting weights. This meant spending in all over 3 hours, including commuting to the gym, working out, showering, and returning home, and I did that usually at least three times a week, sometimes four or five.

Lots of cardio

Weight lifting

Aging and having less time for working out

As I got into my late thirties, I found it harder to keep the flab off my body. When work got busy I could only make it to the gym once or twice a week. During the Christmas holidays I noticed that my jeans were feeling uncomfortably tight after a week of visiting family and eating holiday foods. So, after the holidays I’d do my best to get back to the gym more often. When I did that I was able to lose the few pounds of flab that I’d gained. But, as I gained more responsibilities at work, it got more and more difficult to consistently make so much time for working out.

Food Quality is more important than Quantity, and even more important than exercise

In retrospect, I’m impressed that I was able to stay as healthy as I was, eating a diet fairly rich in carbohydrates. Particularly I ate lots of bread and a fair amount of rice, and I sometimes had a fair amount of beer and wine, which also contain lots of carbohydrates. The best thing I did was to mostly cut out sugar (probably by about age 35), because I had learned enough about its bad effects on health.

Then around the time I turned 40 I discovered the Primal/Paleo lifestyle, as I described in my previous post. By the end of the initial 3 week adjustment period, I was already feeling fine without eating bread, and with only a little rice in my diet. I didn’t eat less overall, and I certainly didn’t count calories. I just limited myself to eating healthy low-carb foods. Now I eat as much of those as I feel like eating. Our bodies self-regulate quite well if we give them the right nutrition. This meant getting plenty of meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, healthy fats, and some fruits, just not a lot of the very sweet ones. I was also still eating a fair amount of cheese and yogurt, which I love. In the last 6 months I’ve cut back somewhat on the dairy foods.

Fat Burning

It was obvious that my physiology had adjusted to depend more on fats for energy, and I didn’t miss all that bread. Even though I still love the taste of good bread, I’m quite satisfied with the delicious low-carb foods that I enjoy. No way do I want to (or even could I) go back to working out 3-5 times a week to stay fit.

My main sources of healthy fats are now:

Coconut oil

Olive oil

Avocados

Sardines and smoked cod liver, for the omega-3’s

Butter

Sesame oil

Nuts

Primal workouts

Pretty soon after going Primal, about five years ago, I switched to mostly body exercises. Pretty much I followed Mark Sisson’s recommendations, which you can find in his book The Primal Blueprint, or for free at his website (below). For the most part I do the following, and once in a while I lift some weights too.

Squats, two sets of 50 on a good day

Push-ups, one set of 30+, followed by usually 10+

Planking, at least about a minute

Pull-ups, still trying to work up to more than 7 in a set

Sprints or brief but high intensity interval training, occasionally

This kind of workout places less stress on the heart and body than conventional workouts with so much high intensity cardio.

There's more to the Primal lifestyle than than just eating and exercising

I've learned more about my body. For example, I gradually and naturally got into Intermittent Fasting. I also appreciate the value of getting quality sleep much more now, too.

More time for living!

As others reported, I found that I did not need to work out 3 or more times a week to stay lean and fit. I cut back gradually, habits being habits. Eventually I found that 3 workouts a week was plenty to keep my in great shape, and two was enough to maintain my fitness. It felt great to have more time other things like cooking, reading, or whatever I felt like doing!