Retrospective Caveman: My 4 Month Update on Paleo

What have I learned/found out about myself since going Paleo back in January? First off, I have found that eating Paleo suits me perfectly. Too perfect, in fact. From my understanding, the adage to "Eat only when you are hungry" is an important one in going about the Paleo lifestyle. Hell, even the youngest child with a slim understanding of cavemen knows that cavemen probably went without food regularly due to hunting issues. Which means that I lived by it.

I ate only when I was hungry... which was mostly 24 hours to 36 hours between meals. Between you and me, I could have even gone longer but it felt weird not to be eating at least once a day, even though I was wanting to work up to not eating for at least 4 days due to many Native American "manhood' fasting practices. Did you notice I said "was"? Good job, gold star for you.

I also work out in the Paleo fashion, meaning a few times a week, as hard and as fast as I can, for a short period of time. I was hugely encouraged by the amount of weight that I was lifting and by the energy I would have afterwards. Then, inexplicably, the amount of weight that I could went down. So I exercised more per week, but it didn't help me out any. Then, a few days ago, I took a step back and looked at not just my exercising, but the whole picture, everything of what I was doing and it hit me.

My meals that I was eating over the past month usually looked like the following: 1 burger, 1 grilled chicken leg, and another piece of meat. I realized that I was starving myself and my body acted responsibly by making me less and less hungry. Of course, I am fixing that now and forcing me to eat.

Now, to the numbers... I can't really say what weight I am at since the scale at my home, which only goes up to 300lbs, seems to think I am anywhere between 250lbs and over 300lbs depending on my stance. The scale that is in my work's weight room is similarly challenged after I realized that my position also impacted what it said. Which really makes me wonder how all those people who are slaves to their scales not realize this. Though, I must admit, my size 14 feet do mean that my feet invariably hand off either the front of the back of any scale.

That is why I go by my pants to determine my weight loss. I started, in January which was 4 months ago; with a pant size of 48 that was nearing the 50 mark. Now I am a size 38, though I do have 2 pairs of pants in the same brand that mock me with their size 40 tags and being tighter around my waist than my size 38 shorts. Screw you pants, I know what size I am!

...Ahem...

Bad news? I still have fat on my body. The small good thing about that though? The fat isn't hard, it is all soft, buttery, and jiggley which I take as a sign that my body is eating away at my fat stores. I still have fat around my upper and lower arms, still have fat in my belly area, I still have moobs even though they are smaller now thank the gods, and I still have fat in my groin area meaning my very upper thighs. Trust me; I've been working out my groin area pretty damn well lately.

On that note, yes, I am much more sexually active and my interest for sexual activity has increased dramatically. I am getting back to my staying power that I had in my teen years, except that I am more experienced now. My wife is a happy woman, except when we go at it too long and she gets sore, or when she gets numb. Yup, you heard correctly, I have the staying power to make her go numb down there folks. Granted, not exactly a great achievement, but hugely entertaining on my end.

I have a wisdom tooth that was rotten from within and it broke around a year ago. Not cleanly, just a small chunk, but over time, the break got larger and larger as it wore down and more small slivers broke off. Since going Paleo, my broken has not been worn down any, no more slivers have broken off, and there is no more pain. Love this, absolutely love this. As anyone who has ever had tooth pain before, it is worse than just about anything else I can think of.

Another excellent thing is that my allergies are nearly non-existent. I used to be they type of person who sneezed all the time, 3-4 sneezes each time I had a sneezing fit, and almost always I would have a fit whenever I walked into another room much less after taking a few steps outdoors. I used to blame it on "atmospheric conditions" and other fancy terms for airflow and shit. Truth was, I was allergic to sugar in one of its many forms. So far, this year, my eyes itched for around a week. Only for a week, throughout the entire spring. Normally, I would have had red, swollen eyes the entire time, a continuously running nose, I would have broken out and stayed that way with a strange rash, headaches all the time like something was trying to claw its way out from inside the prison called my skull, sneezing all the time, and sore throats that turn into some strange strain of strep throat that would have the doc running for a swab test and telling me that the strain I have is the kind that could turn into a number of deadly diseases. Not this year, not on Paleo.

And of course, I no longer have daily loose stool. In fact, unlike every other diet I have ever tried that left me "shitting like a goose" as my father so aptly put it, I am finally regular for the first time in my life. In fact, I go days without seeing the bathroom. Course, the only downside is that I am used to doing my business rather quickly, now it goes much slower. Then again, that is not much of a downside considering what I have been dealing with for the past 8 years.

My eyesight hasn't gotten any better or worse, but then again, I have a stigmatism, so I am not expecting anything on that end.

That is my 4 month update on how things have been going for me while living a Paleo lifestyle. Other than needing to eat more often and consume more fats in my diet, everything is going smoothly. Oh, I could use some of those bibs they have at rib places. I have a tendency to drip some sort of liquid fat onto myself during a meal, be it animal fat, coconut oil, or butter.

So, how are things going for those of you who are reading this? Have you gone Paleo/Primal yet? How long have you been at it? What changes have you seen go about in your body? Reply in comments if you would, I would like to hear about it.