Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 31

Balancing Your Treats

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I use the word ‘balance’ quite a bit.

There’s a reason for this.

A key component of successfully implementing the Paleo regime for the long haul is, in fact, incorporating balance with regard to many things:  food timing, macro nutrient ratio…and how often to have something sweet.

Here’s what not to do:

Swap out the splenda you put in your morning coffee with honey, switch the vanilla latte you rely on each afternoon for your 3pm crash with a sugar-free nonfat one and trade the brownies you bake each weekend with the kids for gluten-free “Paleo-ish” ones.

It’s easy to let ourselves get tricked into the mentality that by replacing some of the worse offenders- like gluten and dairy, not to mention those awful pretend sugars (as well as the real ones) , with derivatives of foods that were once more Paleo (like almond flour or dates)- we’re ‘following the Paleo diet’.

And you can do these things, but eat them once in a while, not every day.

So, how often, then?

There’s nothing set in stone, but if we look to mimic the food groups of our ancestors, as Dr. Cordain suggests, their ‘treat’, honey, would not likely have been partaken of too often at all.

If you feel you ‘need’ or ‘crave’ something sweet, check in and make sure you’ve eaten enough veggies, protein and fat earlier in the day as you’re likely having a blood sugar crash.

However, there is room for a treat now and then.

Keeping it for a special occasion actually makes it…special!

And that’s where this week’s prize comes in.

Barefoot Provisions and I are offering a Paleoista Approved Special Occasions Basket.

Real, unadulterated raw chocolate, rich, buttery (as in texture, not dairy!)

Click here for more!

 

Paleoista New Year Giveaway Week Three: Win A Special Occasions Sweets Basket!

Week three of my Healthy Paleoista New Year promotion is already among us!

For this week, you’ll have a chance at the Paleoista Special Occasions Sweets Basket…just in the nick of time for Valentine’s Day!

What’s in it?

The decadence you’ve been dreaming of, without compromising your Paleo values one iota.

Not to worry, I’m not bending my message and suggesting you load up on almond flour cookies or ghee-based fudge; what you’ll find in these baskets offers just a touch of that ‘treat’ feeling, meant for a special occasion.

I’ve partnered with Barefoot Provisions to create this special basket to fit this very need.

Here’s a little more sweet information:

Enjoying a little bit of decadence now and then is one of the most delicious parts of following a True Paleo regime. And if you’re having a treat, it really should involve chocolate. But not just any chocolate, because there are all kinds of nasty things in 99.99% of the chocolate out there—stuff like soy lecithin, stabilizers and emulsifiers. I take great care to avoid these things while still demanding a great tasting chocolate–not an easy feat! These are my favorite healthy and delicious Paleoista Special Occasion treats.

Aztec Crunch Handcrafted Raw Organic Chocolate by Lulu’s
Clusters of Cacao Brazil Nuts, Mulberries, Hemp Seed & Dates Gone Nuts! by Living Intentions
Xochipilli 100% Bar with Bits of Delicate Dates by Antidote Chocolate
Sour Cherry and Almond Raw Organic Chocolate Bark by Rawmio

Click here to learn more and then comment on which item you’d would like most from the kit, or what dish you’d make from the kit!

Your comment on facebook, twitter , instagram or my blog gets you entered.

At the end of each week a winner will randomly be selected and it starts again on Monday of the next week.

Click here to shop online and for your entry now; let the healthy eating begin!

Get Up and Move: Train Fasted!

“There is some evidence that working out on a completely empty stomach prompts the body to burn more fat and potentially stave off weight gain, compared to exercising at other times”, according to a piece in the NY Times yesterday.

Incorporating fasted training into your daily regime not only helps to expedite weight loss, it improves mental focus and steadier energy levels throughout the day compared to starting the day out with a dose of sugar…even if that sugar is coming from a natural source, like a ripe, spotty banana.

Often when I broach the topic with new clients, I get a response indicative of a bit of fear. But then, once clarified, it turns out most people train fasted without even knowing it.

All fasted training means is to work out on an empty stomach.

So, if you’ve ever gotten out of bed and headed straight out the door for a run, you’ve done it.

There’s a lot of talk about fasting and more specifically, intermittent fasting in the Paleosphere.

Intermittent fasting (IF) is an “term for various diets that cycle between a period of fasting and non-fasting and may be seen as a form of dietary restriction”, per Wikipedia.

You can absolutely do one without the other- train fasted without incorporating IF; it all depends on what your goals and health history are.

Neither are requisite behaviors in Paleo living; in my opinion this goes beyond Paleo to simple, common sense: we all want to be at a lean body weight and who doesn’t want better energy levels and heightened mental acuity?

The brief article in the Times described a recent study conducted in which three groups were given different protocol: one did no exercise, one exercised after eating breakfast and the third, before eating. Not surprisingly, the latter lost weight, retained healthy insulin levels and burned more calories all day long.

In very basic terms, if you get up and start moving without having supplied your body with a dose of sugar, it’s simply got to get its energy from somewhere else and that somewhere else happens to be stored fat.

If you continue to rely on using fat all day long, by following a True Paleo regime, rather than functioning on carbohydrate infusions, blood sugar spikes and subsequent insulin reactions, you’ll create the idyllic scenario whereby you’re burning fat, getting closer to your goal weight and having that sharpness of thought that’ll improve your productivity at work, too.

For more, be sure to check out Pocket Paleo Workout where I include some tips and ideas on what to eat after the fasted session.

Click here to read the full article in the Times.

One of the Easiest Swaps- Peanut Butter to Almond

I used to eat peanut butter.  A lot of it, actually.

You see, when I was a vegan I used it as a protein source.   Along with lentils.  And tofu.

Ugh- the mere thought of it now makes me feel sleepy and bloated!

At any rate, I get it.  Peanut butter tastes good.

But guess what, so nut butters. Peanut butter isn’t a nut butter.  Actually, it’s a bean butter.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

While some nuts and seeds can be part of a Paleo regime, don’t make the easy mistake of eating them too much and too often.

Eating them raw, and even better, sprouting or soaking them (more about that in Pocket Paleo Snacks) does help to decrease the phytic acid they contain, the bottom line is still that they’re all high in inflammatory Omega 6s and low in anti inflammatory Omega 3s.

So, on a day when you grab a handful of raw walnuts, or eat a scoop of raw almond butter, just make sure that sometime during that day you have a piece of wild salmon or black cod to balance out your overall Omega 3-6 ratio.

And back to this peanut butter/almond butter topic.

Often the sticking point is that people are used to not only peanut butter, but highly processed, sugar-added, hydrogenated, salty peanut butter.

Think Jif.  Or Skippy.

Given the added sugar, it’s a no brainer why the brain tells you that you need more.  And given the high sodium profile, no wonder raw almond butter may at first taste plain.

However, on the upside, almonds and all nuts are far less offensive to the body than low-bar peanuts (except if you’re dealing with an auto immune condition in which case, you’re better off skipping all of ‘em).

They do have fiber, minerals and a bit of protein and, let’s face it, they do make a good in a pinch snack paired with an easy to find apple, for example.

It may be National Peanut Butter day, but you do your guts a favor and scoop some raw almond butter into your smoothie, spread some raw walnut butter onto some bibb lettuce leaves before piling on some greens and leftover turkey or simply enjoy a bit of raw cashew butter right out of the jar without having to deviate a single step from your Paleo path!

Grass Fed Beef To Go

Grass-fed beef jerky, dried mango & cranberries along with macadamia nuts &  Marcona almonds.

 

How does that sound for a quick, portable snack to go?

While it’s not as ideal an option as a Nori wrapped wild tuna sashimi roll with avocado and baby kale (one of my favourite hand-held snacks to go), it’s just slightly more practical to carry along with you on a flight or to throw into your briefcase to have for the next in-a-pinch situation you might find yourself in, as we all do.

This Paleo-Friendly, Primal Pacs Snack is part of this week’s Paleoista Basket Giveaway; all you need to do is tweet, Facebook, instagram or post a comment on the blog and you’re entered to win!

No need to default to low quality pseudo food from the office break room or at the gas station any longer!

 

Feeling Snacky?

It’s kind of become a snack week theme here on my blog.

It’s suitable as it corresponds with the portable protein giveaway I’m hosting in conjunction with Barefoot Provisions but it’s also appropriate for another reason: it’s one key bullet point that is worth looking at if you feel you’re not quite as far along with your weight loss goals as you’d planned.

Case in point:  one of the most commonly made mistakes I’ve seen weight loss clients make is to confuse the expected adjustment when one is new to paleo with simply not eating enough.

In other words, it’s pretty common to have a few days in the first few weeks where you might feel a little ‘off’, or perhaps a bit lower in energy as your body pulls away from the reliance it may have had on refined carbohydrates including grains, beans and even white sugar.

Reading a list of what not to eat when following the Paleo diet is simple; often, the confusion lies with what to add in, in order to ensure you’re not going too low on calories.

If your former breakfast used to consist of a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter, an egg and a nonfat, sugar free vanilla latte, the new and improved Paleo version is not simply to skip everything but the egg and try to get by on a breakfast of 60 – 80 calories.

This may seem an extreme example, but hopefully you see the point.

A more appropriate replacement breakfast might be two runny eggs (poached or over easy), a copious serving of leafy greens topped with avocado and perhaps some berries on the side.

And as for snacks- all is fair game.  All snacks (in my opinion, snacks equal meals) should also contain some vegetables, some protein and some healthy fats.

Need more ideas?

Check out Pocket Paleo: Snacks, on both iTunes and Amazon… and don’t forget to enter to win your Portable Proteins Snack basket, too!

Eating regular, balanced, whole food meals rather than neatly packaged times with long ingredient labels is a key contributor to whether you lose weight, your ability to focus and maintain this healthy approach to eating long term.

National Granola Bar Day, Paleo Style

Today is National Granola Bar Day.   Unwrap one, pour a nice glass of skim milk and start your day off right.

Just kidding.

Can we do it Paleo style?

Let’s see…

According to Wikipedia, a granola bar is… um… made from granola, which is “a breakfast food and snack food, popular around the world, consisting of rolled oats, nuts, honey, and sometimes puffed rice, that is usually baked until crisp.”

So…oats?  Puffed rice? Honey?

Not so paleo.

And a bit on the sugary side, too.

Don’t get me wrong; I used to eat a ton of the stuff.

First of all, don’t forget I grew up with a Hippie Mom.  Not sure if it was possible to be a Hippie and not eat granola?

Secondly, I had my vegan stage…during which I certainly ate my fair share of sprouted grains to ‘get my protein’, or so I thought.

Finally, being an endurance athlete, pre-my Paleo days that began in 2005, I thought I needed lots of carbs to fuel my swimming, biking and running.

Oh, dear, wrong again.

However, there’s hope in the granola world.

Not as something to rely on as part of your daily diet; rather, as a once in a while, on the go type of deal, you can make a simple creation, more along the lines of a ‘granola’ versus and actual bar, based on your favorite sprouted nuts, naturally dried fruits and, why not throw in some homemade jerky, too?

While it may not really be granola any more in the truest sense of the word, it does make a viable option for those tough, in a pinch situations and it’s certainly got less consequences than a box of Quaker’s !00% Natural.

(You’ve got to love that they call it that, BTW.  Here are the ingredients: WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED WHEAT, BROWN SUGAR, RAISINS, CANOLA OIL, WHEY, INULIN, ALMONDS, NONFAT DRY MILK, GLYCERIN, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, HONEY, NATURAL FLAVOR (CONTAINS COCONUT COMPONENTS), SUNFLOWER OIL, NATURAL MIXED TOCOPHEROLS (ADDED TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS).

CONTAINS WHEAT, MILK, ALMOND AND COCONUT INGREDIENTS.)

Ah, yes.  Sounds completely, 100% natural to me.  I can pick all of those items listed right off a tree and eat them!

Alternatively, you can try your hand at making a homemade bar, such as my recipe from Paleoista Book.  Click here to try it, and better yet, download your copy of Pocket Paleo, Snacks for more ideas on meals to go that supersede even the most Paleo of granola options!

 

What’s Up With All This Soy in Jerky?

I have seen it many times before and I saw it again yesterday.  And I’m sure you have, too.

Why on earth is there soy in nearly every brand of commercially prepared jerky?  The one I saw at REI stood out in particular as it was labeled ‘Primal’ something or other.

Argh!

Aside from the obvious, contributing that salty flavor that millions of Americans are hooked on, soy actually is high in glutamic acid which serves to chemically tenderize meat.

And certainly, eating jerky on a regular basis is not exactly the idea in a Paleo regime.

However, say you’re on a road trip and your other options include stopping for a low-bar cheeseburger or a hot dog off a conveyor belt at a gas mart.

Ah- in this instance, that jerky you brought along with you comes in quite handy.

And while making your own is quite simple, and doesn’t even require you purchase a dehydrator (check out Pocket Paleo Snacks, where I share recipes for salt-free salmon, beef and chicken jerky), there are options available that do not have that nasty soy.

This is precisely the focus of the Portable Proteins Basket that Barefoot Provisions and I are giving away this week.

Jerky every day?  Not so much.  But jerky now and then, for travel or in a pinch?  Yes, absolutely!

Paleoista New Year Giveaway Week Two: Win A Portable Proteins Basket!

As part of my Healthy Paleoista New Year promotion, I’d like to offer you a chance to win one Paleoista approved basket, offered in conjunction with Barefoot Provisions, each week for the next three weeks.

For this week, you’ll have a chance at the Paleoista Portable Proteins Basket (and next week will be the Paleoista Special Occasions Basket for the week beginning January 26th).

So what on Earth is a Portable Protein?

Exactly what is sounds like.

While it would be ideal if we always had access to wild salmon, freshly ground grass fed beef or pastured chicken, the reality is that there are situations we find ourselves in where our protein sources become quite limited.

Whether we’re talking about travel, or something to keep at work for those in a pinch situations, this basket comes in rather handy.

Because of this, I’ve partnered with Barefoot Provisions to create this special basket to fit this very need.

A little bit about this Paleoista Portable Proteins Basket:

Finding it hard to buy something that’s an awesome grab-and-go protein snack at the local store? Stock up on these healthy and delicious Paleoista Proteins. These choices make for the perfect option to snack on when looking for something with a viable protein source and a good dose of fat. Far superior to all the racks of energy bars in stores, which just give a whopping whollop of processed sugar. Bring on those amino acids!

Grass-Fed Bison Bacon Cranberry Epic Bar by Epic
Grass-Fed Beef Habanero Cherry Epic Bar by Epic
Turkey Almond Cranberry Epic Bar by Epic
Grass-Fed Jerky, Fruit and Nut Mix by Primal Pacs
Grass-Fed Beef Snack Sticks by Nick’s Sticks
Free-Range Turkey Snack Sticks by Nick’s Sticks

Click here to learn more and then comment on which item you’d would like most from the kit, or what dish you’d make from the kit!

Your comment on facebook, twitter , instagram or my blog gets you entered.

At the end of each week a winner will randomly be selected and it starts again on Monday of the next week.

Click here to shop online and for your entry now; let the healthy eating begin!

Common Paleo Eating Mistakes

Have you stayed your course thus far in 2015 with your new Paleo regime, yet you’re finding that you’re not yet getting the results you were after, whatever your health goals may be?

Don’t worry, and don’t throw in the towel.  The answer is not in the form of a ‘weight loss tablet’ nor to draw the conclusion that ‘Paleo just doesn’t work for me’.

I’ve noticed some very common trends with clients over the years who have tried their hand independently at Paleo but have gotten caught up with some of the less than accurate info in the media.

As such, I was thrilled to read an article written recently by Dr. Terry Wahls, published on Mind Body Green’s Website, entitled, The Top Five Mistake Paleo Eaters Make.

First and foremost, the source is incredibly reliable (if you’re not familiar with her work, you’ve got to make it a priority to learn!).

She cuts right to the chase and outlines some of the most common errors people make when trying to ‘go Paleo’ but slightly missing the mark, though no fault of their own, such as swapping gluten-containing grain products for gluten-free grain products, not eating enough veggies (from both land and sea) and eating too much meat and the wrong type.

Keep this in mind as your rule of thumb principle about what Paleo is all about:

“The idea is to mimic the food groups our ancestors ate with food we can easily find in our farmer’s markets, grocery stores and even our own backyards“, to paraphrase Dr. Cordain.

We can also refer to another succinct quote from Whole30, who also put it nicely on their site when they surmised: “Continuing to eat your old, unhealthy foods made with Whole30 ingredients is totally missing the point, and will tank your results faster than you can say “Paleo Pop-Tarts.” Remember, these are the same foods that got you into health-trouble in the first place—and a pancake is still a pancake, regardless of the ingredients.”

So, here it is.  You know what real food is, and you know what real food isn’t.  Pan seared sea bass, grass-fed skirt steak, roasted broccoli and raw kale salad = food.

Brownies, waffles, cupcakes, bread= not so much.

Again, as I’ve said and written many, many times before, having the ‘not so much’ foods as a special treat once a while, assuming you’re not following a specific protocol (such as the Autoimmune protocol, for which you’d want to be sure to avoid certain foods- like gluten- always), could be your individual balance to keeping Paleo the other 95% of the time.

Eating healthfully most of the time is certainly better than not doing so at all, and it can be that your path might include small steps to the same end.

Just be sure to make eating real food in a balanced, Paleo fashion the mainstay of your regime, certainly before you cut off your nose to spite your face and don’t give yourself a fair chance at reaping all the benefits.

Click here to get some guidance in the form of a download plan to suit many custom needs.  How to, when to and how much to eat; it’s all outlined using real, 100% food.