After about 3 weeks I had to wash with full on soap and shampoo because I was filthy after  working in the yard and cleaning the garage. I wonder if that wipes out any of the progress I made? A lot of people say they wash every week or two so maybe that works as well.

Anyway, it has almost been another couple of weeks and I feel like things are still going well. My scalp seems to itch when I get hot if I have been “washing” with water more than once every day or two. I think the water kind of dries out my scalp. I’ll have to continue the experiment to see what happens.

So far I am down about 17 lbs. and feel great. Beyond the weight loss I feel like my body composition has changed significantly. While is has been a struggle occasionally, I feel the benefits have been substantial. They say a picture is worth a thousand words:

12/6/2011 @ 225 - Body composition felt terrible.

04/15/2012 @ 212 - Feeling a lot better.

It has been about 10 days. So far my hair feels great and does not seem to need any product. It is not greasy but just looks and feels normal. I used to have a bit of a dry scalp and my dermatologist told me to use Head and Shoulders. I had been doing that for a few months. Since stopping the use of shampoo and conditioner I have not felt like my scalp is dry at all.

So far so good!

So I have been reading about the benefits of not washing with soap or shampoo. To most people in our culture this seems like a totally foreign concept. But, from everything I read (posts like this: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread42767.html), there are a lot of advantages.

I had already quit using soap about a week or two before and didn’t really notice any downsides. I shower daily but basically just scrub with water. When I workout I usually take another quick shower.

This is a personal experiment to see how it goes. Updates to follow.

So things have been going really well. I haven’t really lost much weight but I have redistributed my weight by quite a bit. Most of my pants don’t really fit anymore.

More to follow…

So it has been a couple of days since I started this new program and I have lost about 2.5 lbs.
This is most likely almost all water weight but I feel better (more energy) and it is always nice to see progress.

Here are the basics of the program I working on:

• According to the paleo meal plan: eat lots of meat, tons of vegetables, some fruit (lots of berries) and some nuts.
• Don’t worry about quantity of fats but strive to eat good fats like avocados, fish oil and grass fed, free range red meats.
• Concentrate on interval training when working out (I try to break a serious sweat 6 days a week). My primary workout are boxing and circuit training, which helps a lot with my favorite, snowboarding.
• Get plenty of sleep. Rest is key!

So far I feel great. This may just because I am starting a new program but it also think there is some very legitimate aspects to this program.

As of yesterday I weighed 225 according to our crappy bathroom scale that may be off by a pound or two.

Here is the first picture of what I hope will be many. I am looking to do a time lapse of my change. My guess is that it won’t show much but I am hoping.

12/6/2011 @ 225 lbs

Today I am starting to eat according to this book:
The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet

I work out quite a bit. When I was in my 20′s I got into weight lifting. I was fun but I never felt like I got big.

A few years ago I got into boxing and snowboarding. I see these are functional fitness sports. This section of my blog will chronicle what a slightly overweight 40 something does to try and stay in shape and have some fun.  I am not seriously expecting anyone to follow this blog. This is mainly for me to keep track of what I am doing. But, maybe I can pass on some wisdom (or just pass on some stupid things I am trying) and save someone else some time.