Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 71

A Must Read For Inspiration: The Paleo Miracle

Last April, when I had the honor of being a guest Paleo expert on The Dr. Oz Show, one of the most significant takeaways was having had the opportunity to meet with the two guests who’d cured their illnesses through diet.

One woman, Marie, had overcome debilitating MS through Paleo, and the other, Christina, was able to heal her body from autoimmune disease, lose a substantial amount of weight and stop her medications completely.

I find such inspiration from people like the two women mentioned above.  The attitude that they’re not victims and that they can take charge of their own health and allow their bodies to heal is the single most important part of the process; without that belief and determination, there would be no clear path and it would be all too easy to listen to the standard Western Medicine guidelines and suggestions that keeps people sick and medicated.

The Paleo Miracle is a book compiled in part by Christina Lianos and is a must read; either in paperback or as an ebook.

If you need some extra impetus, here it is!

It’s part of the current Harvest Your Health Bundle; click here for more!

Get Your Paleoista Download Plan and Much, Much More

The 2014 Harvest Your Health Bundle Sale is here now through January 6th.

$39 gets you a code to download any of my 6 wk plans….plus over $800 worth of Paleo or Primal ebooks, foods, personal care items and more…

Click here to buy!

Your Resolutions Don’t Have to Be All or Nothing

On New Year’s Eve, you may have said to yourself, “This is it.  Tomorrow- it all stops.  No sugar, no sweets, no gluten; I’m getting up every day at 6 to hit the gym and I’m not drinking for at least a month.”   Then, you may have gone all out, eating and drinking everything in sight since you knew you’d be on track, completely, come the next morning.

On  New Year’s Day, you may have decided that just a glass of champagne was fine; it was a celebratory day, after all.   Unfortunately, it turned into three glasses and sleeping past the alarm you set for work yesterday.  Then, when you woke and got ready to go back to work, you realized you hadn’t done any preparation in terms of lunch or snacks to bring with you to the office, and then opted for a quick meal to go from the cafe downstairs, which came with a side of fries.

Here it is, only the third day in the New Year and you’re feeling like a fraud.

What went wrong?

Nothing that didn’t also not go according to plan for probably millions of other people.

While all or nothing may sound like a good approach, for many, it’s just too much to take in at one time.   

For some, the approach of taking small steps is not only far more feasible, it’s much more conducive to feeling successful and therefore, to serve as an impetus to stay on track with those small changes and continue to add more.

A great article on this very topic was in the NY Times’ Dining Section this past Wednesday.  In ‘Sustainable New Year’s Resolutions‘, Mark Bittman lists small steps to follow to help keep you on track, including some of the following, which also happen to be Paleo-friendly:

Cook simple, unseasoned veggies every couple of days
Buy frozen veggies and fruits
Make your own condiments
Eat veggies for breakfast
Make extra sides of veggies
Cook out of your comfort zone

Even if you made no other changes at first than to add veggies, it would be a good start.   Then, perhaps the next week you could begin paring down the unPaleo options, starting with gluten and dairy.   Before you know it, you’ll be well on you way to Paleo eating, but the changes will have been made subtly along the way to allow you digest them (pun intended!) and not feel you were ever being overly restrictive.

What a recipe for success!

Paleo to the Rescue from an Embarrassing Issue

Nell,

This is embarrassing but I have to address this!  It seems every winter I get a cold sore.   I haven’t been sick once since I’ve been Paleo for eight months, but I’m afraid that I’ll get another one of these embarrassing sores on my mouth this winter.  Can Paleo help to prevent this from occurring again?  Thank you, Anonymous in Portland, OR

Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus; after you get infected, the virus stays in your body for the rest of your life.  Excessive stress, a cold or the flu can all trigger an outbreak.

While going Paleo cannot rid the body of the virus, eating this alkaline and balanced diet can dramatically reduce chances and severity of occurrence.    In addition to adhering to the anti-inflammatory standards, following are some extras that can help to keep this embarrassing issue at bay:

Always use lip balm and sunscreen on your face; too much sunlight can cause cold sores to flare.
A cool, wet towel on the sores 3 times a day for 20 minutes each time  helps reduce redness and swelling.
Rinse your mouth with warm water and baking soda to soothe a sore mouth.
Avoiding foods that contain acid (such as citrus fruits and tomatoes)
Focus on Paleo foods rich in lysine such as eggs, meat (specifically red meat, lamb, pork, and poultry),  cod and sardines

Following Paleo will strengthen your immune system and allow your body to become healthier, less inflamed and much more equipped to ward off an outbreak!

Happy New Year- It’s A Beautiful Day!

A new day, a new year, a fresh start…

Spring out of bed with a smile, move, eat something healthfully Paleo and have a wonderful start to 2014!

Happy New Year!

The Last Day of 2013; Time to Reflect..Then Move Forward

One of the most common hurdles I see clients trying to work through is the feeling that they should’ve/could’ve/would’ve done something differently and as a result, be somewhere other than where they are at the moment.

They should’ve lost twenty pounds by now.  They should’ve gotten on track with a sound exercise regime months ago.  They should’ve made better food choices.

That style of thinking does nothing but keep you stuck in the past, enveloped in a discouraging state of mind, beating yourself up your lack of progress.

While it’s very important to set reasonable health, fitness and nutrition goals, it’s counterproductive to ruminate over the lack of doing so.

Instead, change your approach and be proactive.

Take today, the last day of the year, to sit quietly alone, if only for a half hour, to reflect on what they year brought you, and think critically about what things might not have gone according to plan and what you’d like to do going forward to work through any tricky situations in a more productive and positive way, if and when they come up again.

Being kind to yourself and thinking something like, “I wanted to slim down by ten pounds last January and instead of increasing my activity and eating properly, I opted to try a very low calorie diet, which resulted in a gain of ten more pounds!  I know now that by following the Paleo diet, I can trim down healthfully, move more efficiently and expect a slow but steady and permanent weight loss” would be a great example of rationally working through what didn’t work and using the experience as something to learn from.

Don’t be punitive to yourself and think, “I should’ve known that the diet my friend wasn’t going to work and that the gym I joined was going to be too crowded.   I have never been able to lose weight before and now I’m heavier than ever and I look and feel horrible.  Why would I think I could be successful this time?” is nothing more than a recipe for disaster.   Would you address a good friend or dear family member that way if they were to confide in you?

Accept where you are, right now, and move forward.

2014 is less than a day away.  A fresh start, a new year…rather than rehashing those silly old resolutions that have never stuck before, why not start anew with some different goals and objectives, make them reasonable, attainable and with a system of small rewards set up to guide you along your way?

Of course, old habits don’t change at the drop of a hat, or simply because it happens to be January 1st, but if you can at least work on your state of mind, you’ll set the stage for a much higher likelihood of being successful.

If one goal happens to be to implement the Paleo diet, decide if you feel you’d be more successful taking it in stages rather than diving in full speed ahead.

As long as you ultimately get to 100% Paleo, you’re on the right track, even if it takes weeks or months to slowly get there.   

Don’t be surprised, though, if your transition ends up happening more quickly than planned; you’ll start feeling so great, you’ll want more!

Happy, Healthy New Year, from the inside out!

Barnana-What a Concept!

I tried a great new product today for the first time, during a nice, long ride yesterday and I felt compelled to share it with you!

I was shopping at Whole Foods not too long ago when I came across a woman who was giving out samples of some kind.  I typically decline offers for these freebies, for no other reason that they’re typically something I wouldn’t eat as part of my Paleo regime.

“Would you like to try a Barnana sample?”, she asked?  

I thanked her but politely declined, explain I had some food allergies and wouldn’t likely be able to eat what she was offering.   I picked up a bag to double check and sure enough, I saw soy lecithin, tapioca, food glaze and gum arabic amongst the ingredients.  

She then asked me to have a look at the other flavor- plain banana.   I was happily surprised to see it contained…nothing other than organic banana!

Non GMO, organic and raw… sounded perfect!

I bought a small bag and was thrilled with the taste, flavor and portability making it the perfect source of high glycemic carbohydrate to take along on an off-season training ride or run.

They’d also  be great to have as part of an in-a-pinch snack when eaten with some raw nuts to lower the glycemic load, kept in the car, the office drawer or your gym bag.

Definitely recommend!

For more, check out their site: www.barnana.com

 

Coming Home to an Empty Fridge?

Do you find yourself getting stuck in the ‘empty fridge’ trap every time you return from a trip out of town?

It’s one thing if you’re only gone for one day and night for a business trip, but how can you prepare if you’re out of town for a longer period of time than what would be considered a suitable amount of time to leave food in the fridge?

That’s easy- freeze up your food!

Last night, when I got back from London, it was all I could do to stay up late (until 8pm local!) in order to try and get into sync with local time, let alone think about going out to the grocery store.

Good thing I’d planned ahead.  I got into a groove a long time ago in terms of stocking up for my return after travel.

Frozen sliced banana, some raw almond butter, some chopped, frozen kale and some egg protein powder (a perfect example of an ‘in a pinch’ time) and water made for the perfect pre-workout smoothie, just enough to tide me over long enough to get in some exercise and then head out for a proper shop to stock back up, like normal.

A mere five minutes of prep before you leave is all it takes to ensure a healthy meal when you get home, rather than having to resort to stopping at a fast food place en route home from the airport.

The more occasions you give yourself to stay on track, the sooner you’ll get to the place of never even considering anything else.

Paleoista at Heathrow

After a three hour car ride down to Heathrow from the North of England, we had about two hours prior to boarding during which we had a chance to do a few laps of the airport to stretch out our legs… and suss the place out in terms of finding some provisions to tide us over before our journey back to LA.

I was more than pleasantly surprised with the Paleo friendly options we found in a very short time in terminal 3!

A salad from Pret a Manger was a no brainer; alternatively, one could grab a sandwich and simply toss the bread in a pinch. There was a caviar, salmon and fresh prawn bar, a Marks & Spencer Simply Food, where a bag of ready to eat veggies is easily procured, along with some raw nuts, Starbucks or Costa for a nice doppio to hit the spot when trying to ease back into nine time zones earlier, Finally, two poached eggs with grilled salmon, greens and tomato ordered in the lounge made for a nice, light breakfast when combined with the kale I’d brought from my mother in law’s house this morning.

No need to stop at McDonald’s or try to get by on candy from the book shop when fresh veggies and protein are literally staring you in the face!

Holiday Grey Area?

Are you finding yourself in a strange, grey area when it comes to your food choices during the week between Christmas and New Year’s?

As though part of you feels you’re ready to begin, or return to those healthy habits you may have strayed from, while another plays the part of the proverbial devil on your shoulder and suggests you carry on eating sweets and skipping your workouts?

Go with the former!

The more you move, the healthier foods you’ll want to choose.  The healthier foods you choose, the better you’ll feel and before you know it, there will no longer be even a thought of nibbling on that leftover stuffing your auntie  brought over for Christmas dinner or those cookies that your colleagues gifted to you.

Change the grey area to a green area, filled with fresh veg, and you’ll land on New Year’s Day already on a roll, rather than feeling like you’ve got a long way to go.