Getting your parents to eat well is one hell of a battle. Sometimes you need to have something to help, and I was lucky enough that diabetes came knocking at my dad’s door in late May.  Not that I wanted him to get diabetes, but he did call saying that he was finally, actually, really going to start listening to me regarding his diet. There was work to do; luckily we had a paleo eating plan, some Robb Wolf and Matt Lalonde resources to fall back on, and finally some real incentive not to mess around.

Here were his stats on May 19:  Age 55, Weight 230, height 6’4”. Total cholesterol 178, HDL 40, LDL 104, Hemo A1c 5.8, Trygl 170.  And he was on Lipitor.  Funny quote from him: at one point when I told him I wanted him to get off of Lipitor he responded with “that’s what’s keeping my cholesterol low!” Well based on May 19^th numbers he was given the “pre-diabetes” label.

I suppose those numbers weren’t so surprising given the fact that my dad loved to eat spaghetti with ground turkey breast, bagels, yogurt, smoothies, melons, etc etc etc….standard low fat fare.  Also, he HAD TO HAVE his coffeemate (worst stuff ever?). In regards to exercise, he’s had multiple knee surgeries, ruptured hamstrings, rotator cuff issues, and general overweight malaise; so his exercise options were limited and for a former athlete as he is, quite frustrating.

He jumped right in to paleo, as best as he could.  There is a bit of a learning curve, given the polar opposite eating patterns that he was trying to embrace, and even more so due to the polar opposite dietary recommendations that had become ingrained in his brain.  His guidelines: lots of veggies and quality, well raised meats. Some nuts.  Little fruit. No grain, no dairy, no legumes. Supplement with Vit D3, fish oil. 

I had to reiterate multiple times to stop with fruit smoothies, or diet drinks, and beans, but, as a whole once he got it-he stayed pretty strict. He started dropping weight, around 5lbs a week, and as a result he felt better.  Because he felt better, he started calling himself SMF (skinny mother fucker).  Because he felt better, he started to increase the exercises he was doing by adding more weight training, and bought a rowing machine. Because he felt better, he started skipping doses of Lipitor. Because he felt better, he had people commentating on how much weight he had lost-all gut by the way. So on 8/19 he got his numbers rechecked, along with some additional info I told him he had to get.

date                       8/19                       5/20

Weight                 205                         230

Total Chol            141                         178

HDL                        48 (direct)           40

LDL                         78 (direct)           104

VLDL                      15 (direct)           Not measured

Trigly                     62                           170

Vit D                      41                           not measured

HsCRP                   2.09                        not measured

HbA1c                   5.7                          5.8

Homocysteine   8.3                          not measured

Particle size        pattern A             not measured

Pre-diabetes      Not anymore     yes

All those “not measured” will be another post subject, as I can’t understand how these things aren’t run by doctors every damn time - given what we know now regarding the importance of Vit D, particle size, inflammation.  Medical industry = Yikes.

All in all-pretty damn sweet success so far.  Now, we have some other markers to work towards: A lower HsCRP, higher Vit D, and a structured workout program, and better sleep patterns.  Recently, he’s even started doing some IF a la Martin Berkham’s lean gains, and he likes it.  We are upping the Vit D to around 10,000 iu based on some Dr. Eades stuff (and others), he’s upping his sardine eating to complement his fish oil supplement, he’s added Natural Calm Magnesium, and COQ10. 

Wish him luck-and I’ll keep this updated on his progress.  Next up: Paleo Vs Fibromyalgia