Ever since I`ve settled on the path of being a full-time developer my lifestyle changed dramatically.

Over the past 4 years, I`ve been gaining weight at a steady pace, even though I`ve been to somewhat psychically active.

Having completed a Tough Mudder, Spartan Race last year & being able to keep up with some of the higher-ranking belts at my BJJ academy I didn`t really think I`m that out of shape, until recently….

Three weeks ago I had a chance to go on a road trip down the west coast, where each night we camped in a different place.

It ranged from Portland, Oregon to San Franciso, California and everything in between.

While hiking is one of my favorite outdoor activities, I was dead set on going running every day during this trip around the places we stayed at so I can see & experience more the scenery.

It was during the run-up a hilly trail around Napa Valley that I just gassed out to the point that I almost passed out.

The heat, hills & scorching sun was one thing, but everyone passing me on the trail is another.

That’s not the point I want to make, that I want to be better than others, it`s that I wasn`t able to enjoy what was around me due to my lack of proper conditioning.

Same goes for my recent fascination with Jiu-Jitsu, even though I`m able to hang with some of the more experienced people it’s only until the point that my conditioning or lack of, starts to show & that’s beyond frustrating.

Now that it`s crunch time at DreamIt Ventures (30 days till Demo Day!) I don`t have time to go to the gym or academy anymore.

Therefore I figured I`ll jump-start my weight loss/condition journey using basic principles.

Diet & Exercise.

Diet

For the diet portion, I decided to follow the Paleo Diet since I do like to have some structure to what I eat. I know there many people out there that don`t recommend it for various reasons. However, I tried it before & it works great for me.

If you`re interested in the basic principles this would be a great place to start.

Although most advocate to eat till your full on this diet, I`m going to be a little more strict about my macros since “full” for me means 1.7x of normal.

The breakdown:

200g protein

150g carbs

40g fat

I`ll stick to this for the next week & adjust as needed.

Exercise

Even though I`m not a big fan of running, I enjoy the aspect of clearing my head on longer runs.

There I`m aiming for running 2-4 miles 3 times a week.

Just to add to the cardio aspect of exercising I`ve decided to stick to something I already know & enjoy, kettlebells.

By now most people are familiar with it, but for those that aren`t it basically a big iron bowling ball with a large handle welded on top of it.

Instead of going crazy & trying to devise my own workout program, I`ll stick to one that got recommended to me recently, The Extreme Kettlebell Cardio Workout by Keith Weber.

Current weight as of this morning 223 pounds.

Let`s see what 30 days will do!

*update: 63 days after this post I was able to drop 35 pounds.