Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 25

Oh Baby! Pregnancy, Breastfeeding and Your Paleo Baby

You’re exercising. You’re full of energy. You’ve never slept better and those skinny jeans that were getting a tad too tight are now fitting that svelte figure you’ve worked your buns off to achieve!

 

It’s no surprise that, given that sexy glow you’re giving off, intimacy may have picked up a little and before you know it, you’re expecting!

 

Does that mean you’ve got to completely re-evaluate the healthy eating regime you’ve been thriving on?

 

Depends not only on whom you ask…but whom you trust.

 

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has an online publication entitled Frequently Asked Questions about Nutrition During Pregnancy.  

 

Incidentally, we are guided here by a link which by the way, can be found via the MyPlate site on healthy eating powered by none other than the good old USDA.

 

In this sage guide, we begin with the following opening Q&A:

 

How can I plan healthy meals during pregnancy?

 

Planning healthy meals during pregnancy is not hard. The United States Department of Agriculture has made it easier by creating www.choosemyplate.gov. This web site helps everyone from dieters and children to pregnant women learn how to make healthy food choices at each mealtime

 

Then, we are enlightened with their version of five food groups (five?  I thought there were three!)

 

What are the five food groups?

 

Grains—Bread, pasta, oatmeal, cereal, and tortillas are all grains.
Fruits—Fruits can be fresh, canned, frozen, or dried. Juice that is 100% fruit juice also counts.
Vegetables—Vegetables can be raw or cooked, frozen, canned, dried, or 100% vegetable juice.
Protein foods—Protein foods include meat, poultry, seafood, beans and peas, eggs, processed soy products, nuts, and seeds.
Dairy—Milk and products made from milk, such as cheese, yogurt, and ice cream, make up the dairy group.

 

So, to sum it up, if you’re a healthy, vibrant woman who’s feeling healthier than ever before, it would appear you’ve got to add dairy, bread, soy and some canned fruit into the mix, or risk your baby’s health and development.

 

I beg to differ.

 

By reintroducing such allergenic and inflammatory foods, you’re not only going to risk making yourself uncomfortable, you’ll also increase the chances of creating a leaky gut condition in your own body, decreasing your ability to absorb all the nutrients you need, let alone what you are then able to provide to your baby.

 

And once your Paleo baby is born, breastfeeding can become a challenge.  Did you know that one of the leading causes of both colic in infants as well as difficulty breastfeeding is an allergy to cow’s milk as well as to soy and gluten?  In fact, for years, women with breastfeeding difficulty have been advised to follow a ‘caveman’ diet by those lactation practitioners in the know as by following this anti inflammatory approach, the chances of causing an allergic reaction in the baby is significantly decreased.

 

The True Paleo approach supplies a wealth of nutrition, down to every last micronutrient that both you and your Paleo baby need to flourish from folic acid to calcium, to rich sources of Omega-3 fatty acids to help brain development.

 

Imagine the gift you can give your unborn child by never exposing him or her to all the harmful foods that surround us in the first place!

 

Fresh veggies, wild fish, rich fats and no sugar, refined carbohydrate or man-made ‘stuff’; it’s not just Paleo, it’s common sense!

 

REFERENCES 

http://www.acog.org/-/media/For-Patie...

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/pregnanc...

Yoga Heals Body & Brain: Bridging the Gaps between Diet, Body, Spirit and Cognition

Last year, I completed the first part of my yoga teacher training in the format of a 200 hr intensive class at Yogaworks Soho in New York City.

 

I’d been taking yoga as a student for nearly 14 years at that point and admittedly, up until that point, whenever I’d go to a class and not sweat my buns off and feel physically exhausted, I’d leave feeling it had been a total waste of time.

 

The very first yoga teacher I happened to come across over a decade ago was, to date, the best one I’d ever taken classes from. This made most subsequent teachers pale in comparison. And, having a slight tendency to be just a tad high-energy, any class which focused on breath, reflecting inward and sitting in meditation was just not what I needed.

 

Or so I thought.

 

It took that long for me to understand that asana, or physical practice, is only a small part, one-eighth, to be specific of a true yoga practice.

 

There are, in fact, eight limbs of yoga and what we do with our bodies on our mats isn’t even the first piece!

 

I was fortunate to have enrolled in a course with such a rigorous curriculum; it wasn’t just ‘how to teach a hot yoga class with hip hop blasting in the background to get people to sweat.’ 

 

Instead, we learned about the purpose of practice. Intention. History. Why certain poses are suitable to do in the morning and others at night. How certain poses can help immune function while others are to be avoided when feeling anxious. That using a block or a strap doesn’t mean you’re ‘bad at yoga.’ Sanskrit terminology. Sequencing. Safety.

 

And perhaps, most importantly for me, we learned that “yoga is now.”

 

The first sutra we studied from Patanjali on day one of the course imbued it all.

 

Those three short, simply words convey the essence of why we all need a little yoga in our lives.

 

As humans, we get caught up easily in the daily rigmarole of work stress, family stress, money stress, dissatisfaction with one’s appearance, and an overall feeling of just not being happy with the way things are right here, right now.

 

Being in what I refer to as a beautiful yoga-bubble for that precious moment in time of a single month elicited positive changes within me on a personal level, which I then was able to carry out professionally.

 

On day 28 of our time together, our three teachers and my 21 fellow students sat in a beautiful closing circle surrounded with flowers and candles as we went around the room sharing whatever we chose to.

 

There wasn’t a dry eye in sight.

 

Imagine being in a place where you realize that everyone around you has the same fears, the same false belief systems and isn’t shy about saying so or about crying or showing rage or simply just being.

 

Experiencing such a place of raw beauty was exquisite and since then, it’s become glaringly clear how if we’d all practice, meditate or simply breathe, how much better off we’d all be.

 

How about not feeling stressed out that your size 4s don’t fit because you knew that with time, your healthy eating and exercise pattern will guide you right back into them?

 

Or an inner peace that reminded you not to fear about finances because you trusted yourself enough to know you’re on the right career path and that following your heart leads to a profound level of success far more than simply choosing a career path as an investor because you believe it’s the most lucrative.

 

Most of what we learned to believe growing up limits us, confines us and scares us into thinking we’re stuck, we should be somewhere else, we shouldn’t be anxious or depressed and if we are, there’s something wrong and leads us into a hole we feel we cannot escape.

 

This is all false.

 

Good things are just as likely, if not more, to happen than all the awful things we conjure up at the darkest hour when we’re lying awake tossing and turning at 3 am.

 

Yoga can bring peace to you and there’s a form of it for all of us.

 

Just as much as I firmly believe that a Paleo diet is the clearest, most direct path to healing through nutrition, I equally feel we should all be practicing yoga in our own way in our own time.

 

Start by taking five minutes out of your day to breathe and see where it leads you!

 

Trust me on this one.

 

REFERENCES

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Sri Swami Satchidananda, Integral Yoga Publications, Buckingham, Virginia, 1978

Tackle Tummy Fat: Best Foods and Exercises to Decrease Belly Fat and Foods to Purge from Your Paleo Diet

“How do I lose weight ‘here’?” is probably one of the most common questions clients have asked me over the years.

 

Even before I knew what the Paleo diet consisted of and was training clients in the low-fat era of the 90s, people have been looking for ways to ‘spot reduce’ areas of their body that don’t look the way they’d like them to.

 

And within those troublesome areas, belly fat, right along with ‘matronly’ upper arms, ‘love handles’ or ‘muffin tops’ and ‘saddlebags’ top the chart as the body parts that most clients I’ve worked with report being highly dissatisfied with in terms of their appearance.

 

Then, we add to the equation the fact that there are so many different types and shapes of bodies – which begs the question, how much can we actually do about it?

 

If all the women in your family are pear shaped, does that mean you’re doomed to feel a bit too heavy in the thighs and bum for the rest of your life?

 

And what about that flat stomach you’re after?  If your mom and grandmother have put on a few pounds and are appearing a little bit as though they’re expecting, will that be your fate, too?

 

Not to worry.  You can take matters into your own hands!

 

While there is no magic cream you can massage into your stomach to decrease fat cells nor is there a way to do extra leg lifts to slim down your thighs, what you can do is decrease your overall percentage of body fat, both though exercise and a Paleo diet.

 

To the surprise of many, however, it’s not a 50-50 equation when it comes to diet and exercise, respectively.  In fact, it’s not even 60 – 40.  In my experience it’s probably more like 80 – 20.

 

In other words, when we talk about how we look, what we eat weighs heavier on the scale than how much you’re training, pun intended.

 

It’s a grand misconception.  People tend to think that going to the gym for a 45 minute bout on the elliptical creates enough of a deficit to warrant the need for a sports drink or energy bar… in addition to the meal they’ll be having when they get home.

 

Or that pre-fueling for all activity is necessary instead of training the body to become more efficient at using fat as its fuel.

 

Erroneous advice runs rampant online and there’s no doubt that options are plentiful if you’re looking for a pill to swallow, a cream to apply or a magic method to minimizing fat in a certain area.

 

Here’s the deal: there’s no magic.

 

If you eat real, true Paleo food and move in some capacity, that’s your ticket to long term, sustainable success.

 

Why does this work?

 

Since Paleo eating is inherently an anti-inflammatory, low sugar, no refined-carbohydrate, balanced manner of eating, your blood sugar will stabilize, improving your sensitivity to insulin and allowing you to become a better fat burning.

 

Also, since you’re eating more good fat versus what the USDA recommends, you’ll feel more satiated at meals leaving you less likely to experience a blood sugar crash which often presents itself as a feeling of ‘needing something sweet’.

 

Finally, since it’s not a calorie-restrictive, deprivation diet, it’s something you can follow long term and continue along the path to steady weight loss, which is easily maintained when your goal is achieved.

 

In terms of best exercise?

 

That’s easy- it’s the one you’ll do!

 

While I love being a Paleo Ironman, I’m certainly not expecting everyone to share the love of going long.  I do feel it’s important to bring this up, however, for no other reason than to illustrate that eating this way does, in fact, support endurance training on a high level.

 

There are some basics to factor in, though:

 

Get your whole body moving, and don’t forget your core. Most people sit too much.  One of my favorite articles, Sitting is the Root of All Evil, addresses what happens over time if we engage in too much of it!   Find an exercise regime that allows you to open up tight hip flexors, internally rotated shoulders, strengthen weak abdominals and a stiff low back.

 

Do something that you enjoy. Doesn’t matter what it is – as long as it gets your heart pumping.

 

Set a goal and make it a fun one. Got fifty pounds to lose? That’s a great goal – but add something to make it fun, too, such as signing up for a first walk/run 5K. 

 

Get others involved to keep you on track. The more, the merrier.. and the more accountable!

 

Remember, there’s no magic bullet, but with time and focus, you’ll get that body you’ve been wanting and you’ll do it in a method that you can stick with forever!

 

 

 

 

National Autism Awareness: Autism, Cognitive Function, and Nutrition

April is National Autism Awareness Month. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the inception of the Autism Society, whose mission is “to promote autism awareness, inclusion and self-determination for all, and assure that each person with ASD is provided the opportunity to achieve the highest possible quality of life.”

 

In 2015, their goal is to go beyond promoting autism awareness and focus more upon encouraging friends and collaborators to become partners in movement toward acceptance and appreciation.

 

I recall a client I worked with a few years ago who received a call from his six year old son’s doctor right before one of our Tuesday morning sessions. He’d been to countless physicians, psychiatrists and speech therapists and finally, the diagnosis came in the form of a phone call.

 

While working with this client over the next several months, I caught a mere glimpse of what it was like for him, his wife, his son, and their two younger children.

 

With any medical or health condition, when we’re brought close enough to see it in person, it somehow becomes more significant, more meaningful and often proves to be the impetus to “do something.”

 

And on my end, what I could do was offer to help by supporting my client and his family in their nutritional choices not just for the young boy, but for the family as a whole. Fortunately, it’s recognized even within the realm of Western Medicine that diet can have a significant impact on Autism.

The Autism Research Institute states, “Dietary intervention is a cornerstone of a evidence-based medical approach, and there is convincing empirical evidence that special diets help many with autism.”

 

Unlike families who choose a Paleo diet approach preventatively, who may opt to let their kids eat cake at a birthday party, or go nuts with their Halloween candy in order to not create food/social issues (and believe me, as a child of a hippie mom who was given raisins as a treat and whole wheat carrot cake on her birthday, I know what it’s like to be odd man out!), when a child or family member has a diagnosis such as Autism or Celiac disease, the occasional cake or candy not an option.

 

The Autism Research Society offers a free guide entitled Why My Child is on a Special Diet and sums it up quite succinctly in big, bold red letters that there’s no vacation from this diet, which specifically excludes gluten and casein and all things containing it.

 

But here’s the good news: While the message may come across as punitive, it’s no different from the message individuals gets when they find out they have Celiac disease, or, like me, without an actual diagnosis, simply grow tired of being sick all the time and discover that by not eating foods like gluten, grains, dairy, and beans, they actually can determine whether or not they’re feeling awful, or incredible!

 

This is precisely why I tend to get a bit annoyed by the likes of certain publications that come across as a bit whiney, for lack of a better word. Kind of like “Woe is me…I can no longer eat gluten…but wait! I found a way to make brownies using almond flour instead! The world is saved!”

 

Ugh.

 

The idea is not to feel dismayed about needing to avoid gluten and casein, but thrilled to have the opportunity to challenge the progression of illness.

 

The tips below may help transition the whole family into a healthier Paleo diet regime that will not only address Autism, but also keep the whole family energized and at their best!

 

Get the kids involved. Have the littlest ones choose recipes from the pretty, bright pictures in a Paleo cookbook and ask the older ones to help wash veggies, toss salads and help in the kitchen.

 

Grow a garden. By seeing the growth of something from seed to edible plant and understanding where food comes from, a whole new understanding arises of why it’s oh so important to eat real, fresh food.

 

Talk openly with the kids and explain why you’re taking this approach. Often, we don’t give kids credibility for all their capable.  They might surprise you!

 

By following a True Paleo regime, the sky’s the limit.  It would be impossible to tally up the number of options one could create with all the fresh vegetables, wild proteins and healthy fats your heart desired, so really, this is a good thing on all fronts.

 

REFERENCES

http://www.autism-society.org/get-inv...

http://www.autism.com/treating_diets 

http://www.autism.com/pdf/providers/G...

Spring Pregnancies: How to Stay Fit and Healthy with a Paleo Diet

At this time of year, flowers are in bloom, the vegetable garden is beginning to produce (depending on where you live) and the theme all around us seems to be growth and starting anew, with a fresh approach to eating if you’re new to a Paleo lifestyle.

 

Now, I’m not only referring to cute, cuddly baby animals when I write about growth and starting anew, I’m also talking about spring pregnancies.

 

Women often email me asking a range of questions on the general topic of a Paleo diet and pregnancy.  

 

Is it safe? Will the baby get all the nutrients he or she needs? Will I? Is it ok to follow while breastfeeding?

 

The answer to all of the above is yes.

 

Let’s start out with the basics.  How much is too much weight to gain?  We’ve all heard our sisters, friends and colleagues joke that they’re ‘eating for two’, but what’s really the best recommendation?

 

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommends that women at a healthy weight before pregnancy gain between 25–35 pounds.  Of course, there are always exceptions and this should be merely a ballpark figure; be sure to check with your own OB/GYN who knows you and your body well enough to guide you individually through your safe pregnancy.

 

And what about exercise?

 

Again, while ACOG offers their own recommendations, they can vary quite a bit from woman to woman, but factoring in one’s baseline is key.  An elite runner who gets pregnant will likely be able to carry on running without harm to the baby far longer into her pregnancy compared to a woman who was just beginning a fitness routine.

 

In particular, prenatal yoga can help you feel more comfortable, fit, and relaxed during pregnancy.  Prenatal yoga focuses on breathing and safe sequences which can help ease labor and delivery.  Yoga can also help you improve sleep, reduce stress, and bond with other pregnant women as you prepare for childbirth.

 

And now onto the Paleo stuff…. what about what mom-to-be should be eating?  Doesn’t she need milk to help the baby’s bones develop?  And isn’t really just a case of getting down whatever food she can in the event she’s got severe morning sickness?

 

Nope.

 

Not only is a Paleo diet not risky for moms to be, it’s absolutely beneficial!

 

In fact, there are certain Paleo-friendly foods that also happen to be recommended by some experts in Chinese Medicine that are thought to help with conception!

 

Of course, Chinese Medicine also recommends some foods that are not Paleo, just for the record, but let’s focus on those the two both recommend.  Interesting to note that all the foods to avoid are also those to avoid on a Paleo diet!   

 

In particular, I find it interesting to note the reference of bread and dairy being mucous-forming.  

 

It is believed that the origins of Traditional Chinese Medicine go back more than 5,000 years and even then it was known, according to this theory, that these two ‘foods’ were to be avoided.    

 

Western Medicine has been around for roughly 250 years.   It tells us we need these mucous forming foods and helps establish guidelines for the USDA. The USDA gets kickbacks from Big Pharma, and Big Pharma would go out of business if we were healthy, generally speaking.   Not that there isn’t a time and place for modern day medicine, but you get the gist!

 

Below is an overview, from an article in the Examiner: 

 

Phlegm-Damp foods are mucous forming foods stemming from poor eating habits or poor digestive function. These foods impede smooth flow of Qi or energy and should especially be avoided if one has a history of ovarian cysts. Avoiding these foods are important. Here are examples of foods that fall into this category: fatty foods, dairy products, sweets (especially ice cream) bread and fried foods. 

 

Jing is the Chinese word for essence also known as our genetic makeup. A person’s Jing is established once the egg and the sperm meet. People who are constantly ill or who have high levels of stress have lowered Jing. Examples of foods that replenish the Jing are: royal jelly, seeds and nuts, eggs (birds, fish), oysters, seaweed, artichoke, nettles and avocados. Foods to avoid are alcohol, and the mucous forming foods listed above.

 

Yin foods nourish the internal and moistening aspects of the body. An example of this would be cervical mucous, which helps the sperm to reach the egg. During the menstrual cycle the follicular phase is considered to be the yin phase. Foods that help to nourish yin are:  fish, almond milk, asparagus, dark fruits, duck and pork. Foods that should be avoided are stimulating drinks and foods, coffee, spicy food, and avoid soy unless it is fermented. Additionally, chronic dieting and recreational drugs diminish yin.

 

Yang foods are nutrient and calorie rich foods that provide our body with energy. During the menstrual cycle the luteal phase, which is after ovulation, is considered to be the yang phase. If someone is yang deficient they typically lack sexual desire, have lower sperm count, impotence, etc. Two food groups that are good at increasing energy are proteins, carbohydrates and foods warmer in nature. One must be careful to not over eat warming foods to the point of sweating which actually decreases yang. Other foods that impede the yang are icy cold food and beverages, and raw cold foods.

 

Qi ensures proper circulation and in return nourishes the blood. Proper flow of Qi is important as to avoid obstacles such as sinking Qi, which can lead to miscarriages. Foods that promote Qi circulation are root vegetables, arugula, watercress, onions, garlic, chives, and green tea. Foods you should avoid are the mucous forming foods as mentioned above.

 

Blood foods help to build and nourish the blood. This is especially important to women because of the loss of blood that occurs during the menstrual cycle. If your menses contains clots or is darker in color, eating blood foods will be beneficial. Examples of these foods are organic meats and poultry, stocks of soup from bones, carrots, mushrooms and yams. Foods that should be avoided are sour or astringent in nature.

 

In addition, some say that eating foods which mimic the shape and color of our female organs, such as eggplants and tomato are also beneficial.  As long as you aren’t following the Paleo diet autoimmune protocol, there’s no harm!

 

Need a little extra help?   Check out my mom-to-be four-week eating plan.  Easy, fast and 100% Paleoista approved!

 

REFERENCES

Modified from Institute of Medicine (US). Weight gain during pregnancy: reexamining the guidelines. Washington, DC. National Academies Press; 2009. ©2009 National Academy of Sciences

 

http://www.yogaworks.com/classes/pren...

From Medications to Mother Nature: Purging Meds and Transitioning to a Paleo Diet

Pills, tablets, sprays… if this describes your daily routine, you’re likely not only dealing with whatever ails you, but you may also feel sick, tired, and tired of feeling sick, among a host of other side effects.

 

But stopping medications abruptly is hardly the way to go. 

 

For many prescriptions, tapering off slowly under the supervision of your doctor is the only safe means of weaning off.

 

Sadly, all too many MDs who follow a strict Western Medicine approach, don’t even acknowledge the role healthy eating, such as the Paleo approach, plays in allowing people to heal themselves from even the direst states of illness.

 

If you’re taking prescription medications and feeling like things aren’t improving or worsening, you may want to consider taking matters into your own hands.

 

Paleoista’s 5 Steps to Self-Healing with a Paleo Diet

 

First things first- speak with your doctor. Ask about all the meds, explain your desire to take a more natural approach in conjunction with modifying your diet and see what kind of feedback you get. If they listen and support your request, awesome; you’re in good hands. If, on the other hand, your suggestion is met with a cold shoulder and a response suggesting what you’re eating isn’t going to have much of an effect, you may want to look into finding a new healthcare provider. FunctionalMedicine.org is a great website to find the right doctor for you.

 

Once you’ve found a Functional Medicine Doc to oversee your path to better healing, you can begin to build your team to help you on your journey. From a nutrition specialist to a local cooking school to help you learn how to prepare your Paleo meals, to a private yoga teacher, you can empower yourself to create the perfect Paleo support group to make sure you’ve got all your bases covered.

 

Educate yourself. With all the Paleo-ish blogs and websites out there these days, it’s easy to get confused. Make sure you’re sticking with the experts who’ve been in the Paleosphere for a long time and have a sound, scientific background. Your best starting point, of course, is to read up on all of Dr. Cordain’s work, without which we’d all be thinking that Paleo had something to do with dinosaurs (yes, wrong era, but that’s where our minds go!), rather than a way of proper eating.

 

Don’t make the mistake of self-diagnosing and self-medicating. I can’t even begin to count the number of clients I’ve worked with over the years who’ve indicted their plans to simply go to the local health food store and stock up on yam cream, black cohosh and evening primrose oil to offset premenopausal symptoms. Yes, those things are natural, but without having a baseline as to where you’re starting and what, if anything is even needed at all, you could be doing yourself a big disservice.

 

Finally, be patient. While Western meds may take effect quickly, natural remedies can take a longer adjustment period, but often without and side effects when compared to those suffered from taking so many of the meds doled out today. A long-term solution, like the Paleo lifestyle, that keeps you comfortable while your body has the time it needs to heal is definitely the goal to aim for!

 

 

 

8 Tips to Training and Racing: Beginners’ Running Routine

If you really stop and think about it, running and walking are quite simply the most natural forms of movement in which bipedal creatures partake.

 

While a pair of running shoes come in handy, along with all the gear available to us today, including heart rate monitors, water bottle waist packs, GPS tracking to measure distance run precision, net elevation gain and average cadence, if you really cut down to the basics, all we need to go on a run or walk is… our body.

 

Any time, any place, regardless of where you may be located in the world, you can always get out there and run.

 

It’s something that’s inherently part of who we are.  If you’re not convinced, think about how children move. They learn to crawl, then walk and then, intuitively, begin to run.  They enjoy it, as evidenced by their shrieks of joy as they play with other kids at the playground. Sadly, as we get older, many individuals allow themselves to become deconditioned from the very activity basically imprinted in our DNA.

 

After decades of sitting at a desk, or just sitting period, for that matter, many find themselves with a host of physical issues which can stem from any or all of the following:  tight hip flexors, weak abdominal muscles, internally rotated shoulders. These conditions result in pain, discomfort, and a net inability to move properly.

 

Start there and add running on pavement or cement, too much too soon and in the wrong type of running shoes, and you end up with what has become the all too familiar piece of advice doled out when you visit the doctor’s office with knee pain: “Running is bad for you.”

 

I can’t even count how many clients I’ve worked with over the years who were encouraged to move away from something so ingrained in us by this scenario alone.

 

But must it be this way? Does a sore knee or a case of plantar fasciitis have to mean that you cannot ever be a runner?

 

Not in a million years!

 

For those nostalgic for the joys of running and jumping back into training and racing, with perhaps a bit of competitive drive, to boot, here are some training and racing tips to help ease back into the sport, which, is my own personal favorite means of cardiovascular activity.

 

PALEOISTA’S 8 TIPS TO TRAINING AND RACING: BEGINNERS’ RUNNING ROUTINE
1. SIGN UP!

The mere act of registering for your first 5k, 10k, half marathon, or whatever you opt to do, is a surefire way to make sure you’re really going to do it. Don’t be shy and tell your colleagues, friends and family about your plans! Being asked how your training is going and if someone can join you for a lunchtime run can prove to be extra motivation to keep on track.

2. TRAIN RIGHT

Find a solid training plan and/or coach to help you meet your training and racing goals. If it’s your first run, and you’re doing a 5k, you can likely get away with simply getting out there and running. After you complete your first event, and find you’ve got the bug, you may find you need a bit more guidance to make sure you’re challenged to improve without overdoing it.

3. EASE INTO IT

Don’t do too much too soon. If you haven’t run for 20 years, don’t decide that starting this week, you’re going to head out for a five mile loop every morning before work.  Balance it out with other means of cardiovascular activity, like swimming, to allow your body to adapt without too much stress right out of the gate.

4. HIT THE TRAILS

Don’t run on poor surfaces. While it may be convenient to run straight from your house, if the only option is to run on cement sidewalks in the fumes of passing cars, it would be well worth your while to take the 10 minute drive to the nearby trailhead instead to save your lungs and some of the pounding. Plus, running on the trails is a great way to develop foot and ankle strength which will serve you even if you’re not planning to do any trail racing.

5. VARY YOUR SURFACES

Sometimes, an occasional speed workout on the treadmill is okay. Other times, head to the track. Maybe you can do your recovery run barefoot on the grass. The more stimuli you present to your body when you’re training, the better adapted and fit you will become.

6. GET GOOD BODYWORK

The importance of having a skilled massage therapist is tantamount with eating and resting properly. Whether it’s massage alone, or massage plus chiropractic and or Active Release Therapy, be sure to find your personal balance of what your body needs to keep healthy, fluid and moving properly.

7. EAT WELL

As if there were any doubt, following a proper anti-inflammatory Paleo regime will ensure you’re properly fueled to perform, recover, repair and do it all over again! If you’re under the impression Paleo diets wouldn’t supply all the fuel you’d need to perform, think again. I, along with many of my own clients and other athletes, have been able to perform at a very high level eating real foods representative of a True Paleo regime. Check out The Paleo Diet for Athletes to find out why Paleo is a sure fit for any Paleo athlete.

8. SAVOR THE MOMENT

Ultimately, a ton of free time is hard to come by these days. Why not pick a form of activity that comes naturally, which you can participate in anywhere, with anyone, from any walk of life? Sounds like common sense to me!

Decoding Nutrition Labels: Is This Paleo-Approved?

Wait a second… isn’t all the food we eat as part of our True Paleo regime supposed to be fresh? As in, no packaging?

 

In an ideal world, absolutely. But unless you are actually hunting and gathering your own food, chances are you’re eating or drinking some foods or beverages that have come in bottles or containers and doing at least a little bit of ingredient label reading to determine whether a product is Paleo-approved.

 

Some packaged food, like organic olive oil, raw nuts or spice blends, for example, are real food and all come with labels, some easier to decipher than others. So, how can you be sure you’re ingesting high quality foods that are still packaged?

 

That’s precisely the point of this post, and brings us to the first of my Top 5 Tips to Decode Nutritional Labels.

 

1. AVOID PRODUCTS WITH INGREDIENT LABELS AS LONG AS YOUR SHOPPING LIST.

 

Even for anyone who doesn’t happen to follow a Paleo diet regime, a good rule of thumb is to simply see how many ingredients comprise a product. A colleague of mine has a tip for his clients: Don’t eat any packaged items with more than four ingredients!

 

2. AVOID PRODUCTS WITH INGREDIENTS YOU CANNOT PRONOUNCE OR IDENTIFY AS FOOD.

 

I recall a recent podcast interview where a functional nutrition therapist summed it up nicely stating he preferred not to eat anything that “starts with an X and ends with an 80.”  If you don’t know what it is, do you really want to eat it? Or, perhaps you do know what it is, yet it doesn’t ring true as something that you need to eat. For instance, a popular spice blend I’ve seen many times at Whole Foods contains salt, pepper, garlic and a few other herbs…and silicon dioxide to prevent caking. Hmmm… how about simply buying a smaller container of the spices that you’ll use up in a period of time short enough to not need a long shelf life that may induce caking in the first place?

3. DON’T ALLOW JUST THE TOTAL NUMBER OF FAT GRAMS, (OR CARBOHYDRATE GRAMS, OR NUMBER OF CALORIES) TO BE THE SINGLE DETERMINING FACTOR AS TO WHETHER OR NOT YOU’RE GOING TO EAT SOMETHING.

 

Back in the day, I remember picking up an energy bar or pack of fat-free pretzels, looking to make sure it had less than 2 grams of fat and no more than 120 calories (how is that for arbitrary?) in order to determine whether or not it was a good snack choice. This was in the early ‘90s when we were all staying the heck away from fat, which we thought was the enemy. Yikes!

 

How many fats or carbohydrates or calories any food contains is an important thing to consider. But, letting the fact that an in-a-pinch Paleo-approved option, such as the AMRAP Nutrition Bars, one of the few protein bars on the market that really are Paleo, contains X number of grams of fat, in and of itself shouldn’t be the sole factor to ditch it.

 

4. FACTOR IN THE AMOUNT OF PACKAGING WHEN CHOOSING TO BUY, OR NOT.

 

One great example here is the relatively newly popular Seaweed Snax. We know sea vegetables are an essential part of Paleo living, given their rich iodine content, which we need in order to balance out the sulfur we get from the cruciferous veggies and keep our thyroid functioning normally. But, some brands go just a bit overboard with the amount of plastic used to wrap it up.  Make your voice heard by reaching out to the manufacturer to explain that you love the product, but not the ramifications on the planet.  Being green is totally Paleo, by the way!

 

5. FINALLY, EAT PACKAGED FOOD AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE.

 

Of course, certain foods are simply going to be in a package, like the examples listed above. But if you can help it, keep it fresh as much as humanly possible. You’ll save money since you’re not paying for production and materials used in packaging and you’ll simultaneously be doing your body a favor all the while helping the environment.

 

Eat fresh, eat local, eat in season and eat in balance. That’s the true essence of Paleo… sounds like common sense to me!

 

Spring Into Carbs: Refueling on a Paleo Diet

Carbs and Paleo?  What?  Isn’t it all about meat and fat? Hardly!

 

One of the most common misconceptions clients have when we first begin working together is that a Paleo Diet is a low carb or no-carb manner of eating.  Little do they know, bread, cereal, bagels, quinoa, and grains in general are not the only sources of this essential macronutrient!

 

When a True Paleo Regime is followed, fresh produce, primarily in the form of local, in season vegetables, plays a key role in ensuring we are eating a fiber-rich diet and supplying our body with minerals and vitamins, meanwhile satisfying our palate with all the bounty that veggies have to offer.

 

But leafy greens aren’t the only carbohydrate sources that fit the bill; low glycemic fruit in moderation, such as berries or green apples, as well as starchier veggies like yam, sweet potato and butternut squash are rich in carbohydrates.

 

But how many carbohydrates should we consume and when? Is it okay to have wild salmon, sautéed garlic spinach and olive oil, with a side of my Paleoista Baked Yam fries for dinner? Or how about roasted Paleo veggies with acorn squash and yams for lunch versus a Paleo chicken salad?

 

The better question to ask is, how active are you?  If you are in the process of moving from a sedentary lifestyle to a Paleo lifestyle and you’re just starting out with short walks around the block and light activity, you won’t need as many starchy carbs compared to someone who’s running marathons. While it may sound like a silly comparison, it’s worth mentioning since we are taught to include a starch at every meal. This lesson is simply not true.

 

If you are active, the next consideration is frequency of workout. When did you exercise last and when is your next workout? If you’re a triathlete and you have a killer threshold ride followed by a brick run off the bike in the morning, a side of my blue sweet potato hash with dinner makes sense as you’re getting ready for the fasted workout the next day. 

 

On the other hand, if you have a light recovery swim or plan to attend a Pilates class in the afternoon, there is no need to pile on the starch with lunch; doing so can elicit a blood sugar spike, followed by a crash, leaving you more in the mood for a nap under your desk than physical activity.

 

If you’re new to the Paleo diet regime and find you’re a little low on energy, make sure you haven’t made the mistake of creating an eating plan that’s more along the lines of the “induction phase” that some other diets employ, where you’re eating nothing but protein and fat, and not even regarding the sources or quality, at that.

When adopting a Paleo lifestyle, your energy should be high, digestion should be regular and you should feel on top of the world! You can find all sorts of high energy, delicious Paleo recipes in my Pocket Paleo: Before and After Workout Recipes. Grab it for just $2.99! And remember, while it may take a short period of time to let your body adjust, trust me, it’s all worth it!

 

Keep Spring Allergies at Bay with a Paleo Diet

It’s already April and spring is in full effect.

 

The days grow longer, the air feels warmer and this can set the stage for the perfect scenario to get outside and take advantage of the start of some really nice weather.

 

But for others, going outside is anything but fun. 

 

Instead they’re plagued with allergies and a host of both OTC and prescription remedies. From histamine blockers to tablets to stop a runny nose to pills that may decrease the redness in your eyes, but make you drowsy enough to feel a nap is in order at 10 am, many people find this time of year nothing short of punitive.

 

I was shocked to see first hand what one client was taking for her symptoms.  Seven medications, all prescribed by her MD to address sneezing, red eyes, runny nose and a mysterious redness on her elbows and ankles.

 

Does it have to be this way?   Is the only option for allergy sufferers to avoid going outside and do their best to steer clear of pollen… and grass and trees and dogs and… you name it?

 

Not by a long shot.

 

If the scenario above describes you, have you thought what you’re eating could very well be at the root of all that ails you?

 

Chances are, since you’ve come to the Paleoista Blog, you’re at least a little bit familiar with a True Paleo diet regime and are aware of how many of the foods in the Standard American Diet (SAD) can cause mild to significant allergic reactions in all body systems.

 

Itchy skin, eczema even hives and false-positive allergy tests to foods that seem benign, not to mention a wide array of digestive disorders and mental fogginess, are just a few examples of the symptoms the human body can experience as a result of eating in the highly processed, refined manner that is all too common these days.

 

So, if you’re up to your eyeballs in nasal sprays, histamine blockers and tired of carrying around a box of tissues, consider this:

 

Cut the gluten, sugar and dairy from your diet!

 

If you’re not following the true Paleo diet, there’s a good chance your body is at least somewhat inflamed and, as a result, far more likely to be hypersensitive to pollen, dust, dog hair and cat dander.

 

As a refresher, a ‘true’ Paleo diet promotes eating a healthy balance of veggies at every meal, along with lean, wild protein and natural good fat from avocado, olive oil, or coconut, (and/or raw nuts on occasion). Do not fall victim to the ‘new versions’ of Paleo diets popping up left and right. These have been taken out of context and repositioned as modern Paleo diets on which we can subsist. A ‘true’ Paleo diet does not advocate creating processed concoctions made of derivatives of food that are, or used to be, Paleo.

 

In other words, if your daily Paleo diet regime looks like what I describe below, and you’re still dealing with seasonal allergies, things could be cleaned up just a tad in order to get some relief:

DOES MY PALEO DIET NEED SPRING CLEANING?
BREAKFAST

“Paleo pancakes” made of almond flour, coconut flakes, honey and eggs

MID-MORNING SNACK

Packaged nutrition bar advertised as Paleo approved, but isn’t compliant with Paleo compliant ingredients like whey among other additives.

LUNCH

“Paleo Lasagna” with grass-fed cheese (reminder- dairy is not Paleo)

AFTERNOON SNACK

Homemade Paleo brownie

DINNER

Bacon burger

With barely any veggies eaten all day long, this daily scenario is missing the whole point of Paleo, which encourages us to mimic the way our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate.

 

Furthermore, while the menu above is certainly better than not paying any attention to what you’re putting in your body and winding up at a fast food joint, it falls short of Paleo’s true essence.

 

So, if you’re tired of having to rely on meds that make you sleepy every spring, give a true Paleo diet a try for 30 days and don’t be surprised if those life long allergies disappear!

 

Each meal should include plenty of fresh, local veggies (yes, even breakfast), some protein and a little fat.

 

Use this as your template for a small meal, several times each day, and save those aforementioned ‘treats’ for a special occasion.

 

Set yourself up for success and say ‘Bye-Bye Benadryl!’