The First Step

The first step to becoming a healthier human must always start in the kitchen. What we put in our bodies directs the function of our bodies, put garbage in, get garbage out. Want to live a healthier life? The answer is to put higher quality fuel in the tank.

Today starts my first step in living a healthier life. I am starting an elimination diet. I've tried whole 30 before and while I'm sure it has benefited a lot of people, I struggled. My caloric intake was too low and I became very moody. It also felt like such a complicated restrictive program that I felt boxed in. A few years ago I tried the carnivore diet for a few weeks and felt great! I had zero digestive issues, more energy without caffeine, and better sleep quality. I really enjoyed it!

I bought a Nesco vacuum sealer so I can meal prep. No one can afford to buy ribeyes for every meal. Currently they are about $20/lb, which is insane. I will start with buying eye of round roasts and slicing them into small steaks about 3/8-1/2" thick and eat 2 per serving. They were only $8/lb at Costco this weekend, way more affordable. I also bought boneless skinless chicken thighs for about $6/lb. I also separated the chicken thighs into sets of 2 for the serving bags. The goal is to buy food from the cleanest sources available. The roasts weren't deemed "grass-fed" but the chicken thighs are organic. Also the ground beef I bought for $6.50/lb is organic/grass-fed/grass-finished, and the eggs are pasture raised, which is the best available to me, second only to local free-range eggs.

One of the issues I'm having seems to be a histamine intolerance. One major way to lower the amount of histamine in the body is to eat fresh foods, meaning cook it from raw and consume it. Leftovers increase the histamine in the foods which kicks off the antihistamine response in the body. This can manifest in different ways. I believe mine is manifesting in nasal sinus drainage and mimicking an allergy response. I've had terrible outdoor allergies my whole life. Some seasons have been debilitating. I previously tried weekly allergy shots for about 18 months with no relief. My allergist told me it could take several YEARS before I had any improvement. No thanks. I also developed significant shoulder/arm pain in both my arms while alternating weekly shots. One time my arm swelled to about 3x its size and was horribly itchy and red. I reached out the doc office and was told it was normal just to take benadryl. They wouldn't make me an appointment and didn't want me to email pics of my arms. That's when I decided I was done with them. It was obvious they didn't care about my well-being. I was already hesitant about the frequent injections so this lack of care sealed the deal for me, and I haven't been back since.

Today I start with a most difficult challenge, to reprogram my body from constant processed carb intake to consuming whole foods and cooking more. I am drinking water and black coffee only. I will also be going to bed at a consistent time each night, no more staying up late for me. I also start running this week. We have a 5k in a month to train for, and we will be taking it slow and easy. None of us have been running at all. Running is a lifelong sport that I want my girls to enjoy. The last thing I want to do is make it torture and begrudgingly participate. Physical fitness is necessary at all ages and stages but looks very different depending on the child's age. My goal is to encourage health/wellness in a positive way that does not shame but instead keeps them interested and engaged.

Let's do this!

Starting Over

Starting over.

Those two words have multiple subjectively defined definitions. Failure? Strength? Persistence? Weakness? Determination? Rebirth? Change? Insanity? Whatever your definition of choice, something is happening, either in your life or someone else's.

I'm starting over. I'm starting over with how I view exercise. I'm starting over with how I view eating. I'm starting over with how I view running.

Exercise

I enjoy working out. I enjoy lifting heavy things. However, I'm terrible at maintaining a routine of consistently going to the gym. As the father/husband in my home, I am greatly responsible with leading my family in all areas of life. I am the most influential person in my home. "With great power comes great responsibility."* That could not be a truer statement for parents. My children will learn from me. They will learn the good and the bad. I need to minimize the bad and maximize the good. Exercise increases skeletal muscle and decreases peripheral fat.

Food

I was born in 1990 so I was raised in the heaviest 'fad-diet' time of life. Low-fat was king; food ingredients and quality were changing greatly but of course no change to the labels. From childhood, my generation has been heavily indoctrinated with processed foods, artificial food dyes, preservatives, added processed sugar. ALL sugar was demonized. I am working on training myself to eat more whole foods. Meat, veggies, fruit, homemade bread... We are slowly changing our home to become a more ingredient household. For example, we made homemade sprite syrup this year, and it was fantastic! My kids loved making the syrup mix and loved serving others. Our kids have a low sugar diet, but I had no issue with them drinking this sprite though. A low processed diet with high quality whole foods decreases visceral fat (fat around your organs).

Running

I am weird. I truly enjoy running. Yes, I know I'm a strange dude. Something about running outside while listening to a podcast, audiobook, a favorite playlist, or even silence just resets my psyche. It resets my sleep quality. It resets my digestive quality. It helps my joints move with less pain and more freedom. It reinforces my self confidence. It reminds me I can do hard things and survive to tell the tale. It shows my kids that self-improvement is an active process, not passive.

2024

2024 was a great running year. I had an absolute blast. We ran in several races for great causes. The girls were able to experience the joys and difficulties in challenging our bodies to do hard things. And of course how much ice cream and treats awaited at the finish line, haha. 2025 was looking promising, until April 3rd. We were directly hit by an EF3 tornado around 1am. This event is probably the single most immediately effective life changing event in my life, certainly in my marriage. 2025 was full of rebuilding our home, negotiating insurance payments, still working full-time, homeschool, and everything else that life had before the storm. We hired-out several areas and did a ton of work ourselves. We had so many people volunteer to help us. I learned many new skills out of necessity. We were blessed with a great place to stay that was a fully furnished home sharing a yard with my family. That was such a burden lessened. Our commute to our construction project was about an hour and a half round trip. Many days I would leave the house at 4am work until 6:15am and go to work, shower, and work all day. Then when I got off at 5pm, I would go back to the construction house, work until 10 or later and head back to where we were staying. I was completely physically, psychologically, and mentally exhausted. Running had no place last year. My schedule literally could not fit anything else in.

Now that we are back in our home, as of 12/28 coincidentally our wedding anniversary, life is starting to settle back down. I still have projects to complete around the home. But we are taking them slowly and doing a few projects at at time. I now have time and energy for exercise again. We are loving being outside and enjoying the long days. I finally cleaned up my weighted vest from storage and got the kettle bells out. I have some big goals with running in the next few years. Mainly the goal is centered around staying healthy, uninjured, and joyful about movement.

Starting over is not a bad thing. Starting over means I stopped at some point for some reason, and now I get to start over...from the beginning. I have lost most of my muscle tone and endurance, but that will be rebuilt. I have a mental battle to work on. I have to be ok mentally with walking more than running, going slower that I would like, and taking breaks when my body is telling me it needs a day off.

So here's to starting over!

*quote from Spiderman