Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 97

Ten Pounds Lighter by Summer?

“Summer is less than two months away!  I’m still too heavy to be seen in my bikini in time for my trip to Hawaii!“, a new client confided the other day, feeling beyond frustrated about still not being back to her pre-baby weight and size.

By learning about and implementing the Paleo diet, she’d lost nearly all the pregnancy weight and was feeling stressed out at being ten pounds off her target.  Fortunately, we nipped this downward facing spiral in the bud and by the end of our call, she was feeling back on track and had a positive focus once she remembered that at a rate of 1 – 1.5 pounds per week, she actually would quite likely reach her goal by the end of June, when her trip was planned.

Whether the impetus to lose weight comes from the need to improve one’s health, a desire to look better in one’s clothing or a never ending quest to reach a certain, arbitrary number on the scale, chances are more people than not have experienced the very same sentiment as my client.

We’ve all heard the same messages, some of which are true:  ’slow but steady equals permanent change’ and ‘for lasting changes, one needs to change their entire lifestyle and manner in which they think about eating’.  Others are far from good advice, from  ’everything in moderation’ (I have a particular issue with this one; if someone is particularly sensitive to sugar, for example, and has an addiction to it, even a little bit is enough to create a situation whereby one little cookie turns into the whole box… or two) to trendy, gimmicky and sometimes dangerous diet recommendations which include pills, powders, strange food combinations or subsisting on highly processed, pre packaged meals lacking in any nutritional value.

It’s become so incredibly difficult, when, in actuality, it’s incredibly simple.

Eat real, fresh food which is local, seasonal and natural.  Balance your meals and eat small, regular meals throughout the day.  If all of our meals include fresh veggies, wild proteins and natural fats and don’t include packaged, processed, refined items which tend to be high in sugar, sodium and a host of chemicals, we’re simply going to be much healthier.

Add some physical activity and you’ve got a winning combination!

It sounds easier said than done and I can share that I, too, tried many different approaches to eating in my life. Those of you who’ve already read Paleoista are familiar with my own story and how I found the Paleo lifestyle to be the only one that not only cured my lifelong battle with GI distress, but simultaneously, as a nice little side bonus, took me to the lean body composition I’d always sought.

Many clients learn about Paleo because of a variety of health issues; from acne to auto immune disease and from chronic fatigue to migraine headaches.  Often, because Paleo may be inaccurately portrayed as being radical or extreme, it’s not until one feels at their wits end and ready to try anything after literally being sick of being sick.

They give the lifestyle a try and not only experience their health issues improving or completely disappearing they also notice other nice little side effects, like weight loss or more energy or better sleep.

If only I could convey to everyone else how eating naturally, in the way we’re genetically meant to be eating, can benefit all of us so much that it sometimes feels like the proverbial magic bullet that so many seek.

The lovely thing, however, is there’s nothing magical or pretend about it at all… it’s just a matter of common sense eating.

To recap:

Vegetables…lots of ‘em
And some fresh fruit, too
Balanced out with natural, unprocessed proteins
Along with some healthy, good-for-you fats

Collectively, this provides the balanced, nutrient-rich, alkaline diet, which happens to also be called the Paleo diet.

Not really all that extreme or radical, is it?

Coral Reefs, Acid & Bone

Coral Reefs, Acid & Bone

I heard yet another alarming story the other day on NPR, which focused on the trouble that coral reefs are in, partly due to the increasing acidity of the water.

What does Paleo living have to do with this?

Bear with me as I create the analogy.

“Coral reefs are in trouble worldwide, from a host of threats, including warming ocean temperatures, nutrient runoff and increasing ocean acidity. A noted climate scientist from California has been conducting an experiment on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to see whether antacid could boost coral growth”, was the opening line on the NPR site from the piece on the 18th.

Acid.

Destruction.

Antacid (read: alkalizing agent) to the rescue.

Think of how succinctly that compares to Paleo living…or not.

Not Paleo = acidic pH of the body, with a subsequent breakdown of all systems of the body over a period of time, then a scramble to try and ‘repair’ when it may be almost too late.

OR:

Paleo = alkaline diet, alkaline body, healthy body, fit body, lean body, body that maintains its integrity and is therefore far less likely to become ill in the first place.

What is wrong with us as a society that we’ve allowed our Earth to get to the state it’s in with climates resulting in the most outrageous and sometimes deadly results?

This is not meant to turn into post about ‘the cause of global warming’; just merely making the comparison that for many of us, it’s all to easy to think short term only, taking the idea of ‘living in the moment’ far out of context and then landing in a place down the line, desperate to try and make things right.

Treat the Earth kindly; treat your body kindly, too. It’s all connected.

Why not make today the first day of a new beginning? Tomorrow is Earth Day, after all…

Click here for the full article.

Tune in to See Me onThe Dr. Oz Show on Monday “The Paleo Diet Craze”

 Tune in to The Dr. Oz Show this coming Monday, April 22nd to see Dr. Loren Cordain, PhD and me discussing “The Paleo Diet Craze”.

Check your local listings for details!

Getting “A Head” of Yourself

Getting ‘A Head’ Of Yourself

An article in Wednesday’s Dining Section of the Times discussed something many people would likely be averse to: eating heads of animals. The focus was on a trend currently seen on the menus in Chinese cities whereby “the heads of rabbits, ducks and fish have become popular items.”

Makes sense to me.

Back in the day when I was vegan, I would have been appalled.

But thirteen years later, the last eight of which have been Paleo with no plans to stop, it now seems strange to not eat the whole animal.

A friend of mine, well versed in Native American culture, shared that it would be commonplace to kill an animal, give thanks to it, and the gods, for providing for their own lives and that of their families, and then use every last part of it.

One thing that has remained of utmost importance to me throughout my own trials and tribulations of trying different ways of eating has been the sourcing of animal protein from reliable sources, and not wasting any of it.

I’m the biggest advocate of making double at dinner so as to have a ready made lunch to go the next day; containers to go with half my meal from any given restaurant is also the norm for me as I hate the mere idea of wasting meat.

So, assuming one isn’t vegan and one does eat flesh, why would it make sense to only eat skeletal muscle and discard the rest? Is it just the idea that frightens people?

Look at it this way: if you’ve ever eaten a hot dog or bologna or commercially prepared sausages or burgers, you’ve probably already eaten far worse than the head of an animal.

Nose to tail eating not only makes sense from an ethical standpoint, it works for nutritional benefits as well, as organ meat and marrow are packed with vitamins and minerals not found in skeletal muscle in as high an abundance.

Now… get thee to a plate of brains!

Paleo and Regularity

Yes, I’m going there. Aside from seven year old boys (or maybe boys of all ages…)most of us don’t want to talk about it, and it’s gotten to the point where we’re uncomfortable discussing it. However, the frequency that one has a bowel movement can provide insight into their health.

What’s normal? Well, that can depend, but I’ll tell you what’s not- not going at least once per day.

Many people make the mistake of likening Paleo to Atkins or other diets that are very, very high in protein and very, very low in carbohydrates, even vegetables.

Keep in mind that in general, veggies have 7 – 11 times the amount of dietary fiber that you’d find in cereal grains, so the mere concept that cutting out grain in order to follow a true Paleo diet would provide a diet lacking in fiber is ridiculous.

If you’re eating veggies, veggies and more veggies at all meals, along with some fruit, balanced out with natural fats from avocado, and coconut and olive oils, and wild proteins, you’re doing it correctly and your body should adapt to becoming regular, assuming you’re generally in good health.

If you’re barely eating any veggies and living on several pounds of meat per day along with a variety of process paleo ‘treats’ not only is that not healthy, it’s not Paleo.

The bottom line (oh, dear, bad pun) is that if one’s diet is completely clean and paleo, food will be digested and waste eliminated properly. If, however, one is consuming items that are not actually meant for us to be eating, our bodies cannot recognize them nor can they be broken down properly.

Think of the sink analogy. As long as water is the only thing going in, as water is the one thing meant to go into a sink, it will not get clogged and stopped up. As soon as you add pieces of hair, gobs of toothpaste or the apple core that the little ones threw in as a joke, the sink is not going to empty properly.

No different when we add undesirable things to our body, such as gluten or any grains, dairy, legumes like soy and so on.

If you’ve really been following True Paleo and are not regular, something can be off, and, especially if you’ve got other symptoms like pain or bloodiness, you need to get to a doc and have things checked out. In some cases, certain tests may be warranted, and having more information is never a bad thing. Just be sure to ask a lot of questions and seek out a doc that will ask what you’re eating and is not inclined to resort to giving you an erroneous diagnosis of IBS (that’s what happened to me, pre Paleo) along with three prescriptions and a suggestion to eat more whole wheat and less raw veggies (also, me again).

Keep it Paleo and keep things moving!

Paleo- In Your Face or Subtle, The Message Remains The Same

If I were to suggest to you that it’s a good idea to eat a balance of local, fresh veggies with some fruit, some natural, wild proteins and unadulterated fat at each meal and not to eat items in packages or cans, would you argue with me?

I will admit to being far more dogmatic about how I teach people how to implement Paleo into their lives, when I first began integrating the Paleo principles into my nutrition services to clients. While it came from a good place (my passion for sharing the tremendous health benefits I’d seen in my own body and wanting others to have the same epiphany), looking back, I can see how in some situations I may have been too black and white.

To clarify, this is not to say I am changing my views on Paleo; I still believe in it, 100%, and will continue to teach it at the same level. What’s changed is that now I can see how, in order to reach the masses, it’s of utmost importance to show how it can be done in stages, and how one can ease into it and that it might initially be done with only the intention to try it for a month.

Depending on one’s reason for being interested in Paleo, it can either be something that one dives into, full speed ahead, as in the case of someone like myself- having been wrought with GI issues for twenty plus years and counting, and getting worse, and then finding that by simply removing all grains, dairy and legumes, I was able to become the healthiest I’d ever been- or it can be someone like a client I have, who doesn’t necessarily feel ill, understands she could lose some weight by eating this way but isn’t convinced she needs to give up her ice cream forever (she’ll find out soon, though!:).

So when I read studies stating (erroneously) that there is no science behind Paleo or that (wrong again) there is no reason to cut gluten unless one is diagnosed with Celiac (whatever), I cringe a little.

I repeat- how can one argue with the idea that we are meant to be eating a balance of fresh local veggies, wild proteins and natural fats and that we are not meant to be eating items in boxes, cans and wrappers? Call it Paleo, don’t call it Paleo, even better, call it living Paleoista Style.. it’s the same exact thing.

Just eat food.

And move.

Nothing White But Cauliflower

“Nothing white but cauliflower” is an expressing I often use when teaching clients about deciphering whether any food is a good Paleo option or not.

Of course, one could argue that other foods, along with this crunchy crucifer are also Paleo, including garlic, onions and turnips, but what I’m referring to are refined items that might grace one’s plate.

Note my hesitation to refer to those items as food, as most are not only completely devoid of anything remotely nourishing, they’re also quite harmful to our bodies.

Think white sugar, white flour, white rice, white bread and the trend can be seen.

However, if you’d like to

increase your blood sugar abnormally
create an acidic pH in your body
raise your chances of developing high cholesterol, heart disease and inflammation throughout the whole body

then be sure to disregard this little tidbit of advice, as the white, processed (non) foods will help facilitate all of the above, and then some.

Otherwise, go for color!

If, at the end of the day, one can say they’ve seen all the colors of the rainbow, via loads of fresh veggies and some fruit, make an appearance on their plates when all meals are considered, it’s a far healthier, nutrient rich way to help the body on its way to optimal health.

And, it’s oh-so-Paleo to boot!

Paleo- In Your Face or Subtle, The Message Remains The Same

If I were to suggest to you that it’s a good idea to eat a balance of local, fresh veggies with some fruit, some natural, wild proteins and unadulterated fat at each meal and not to eat items in packages or cans, would you argue with me?

I will admit to being far more dogmatic about how I teach people how to implement Paleo into their lives, when I first began integrating the Paleo principles into my nutrition services to clients.   While it came from a good place (my passion for sharing the tremendous health benefits I’d seen in my own body and wanting others to have the same epiphany), looking back, I can see how in some situations I may have been too black and white.

To clarify, this is not to say I am changing my views on Paleo; I still believe in it, 100%, and will continue to teach it at the same level.  What’s changed is that now I can see how, in order to reach the masses, it’s of  utmost importance to show how it can be done in stages, and how one can ease into it and that it might initially be done with only the intention to try it for a month.

Depending on one’s reason for being interested in Paleo, it can either be something that one dives into, full speed ahead, as in the case of someone like myself- having been wrought with GI issues for twenty plus years and counting, and getting worse, and then finding that by simply removing all grains, dairy and legumes, I was able to become the healthiest I’d ever been- or it can be someone like a client I have, who doesn’t necessarily feel ill, understands she could lose some weight by eating this way but isn’t convinced she needs to give up her ice cream forever (she’ll find out soon, though!:).

So when I read studies stating (erroneously) that there is no science behind Paleo or that (wrong again) there is no reason to cut gluten unless one is diagnosed with Celiac (whatever), I cringe a little.

I repeat- how can one argue with the idea that we are meant to be eating a balance of fresh local veggies, wild proteins and natural fats and that we are not meant to be eating items in boxes, cans and wrappers?  Call it Paleo, don’t call it Paleo,  even better, call it living Paleoista Style.. it’s the same exact thing.

Just eat food.

And move.

Nothing White But Cauliflower

This is a phrase I coined a while ago, in an effort to make a broad-sweeping statement about how to tell if something is Paleo or not.  

Of course, there are other foods that are more or less white in color, like onions, garlic or some varieties of turnips, but the concept remains the same: most items (I have a hard time calling them food) that may grace one’s plate that are representative of the presence of all color (white) tend to be highly processed, refined, sugary, salty and, as a nice bonus, sometimes hydrogenated too.  Think white rice, white bread, white pasta, white sugar and so on and so forth.

None of the above offer anything remotely nutritious to the body, thus my hesitation in referring to them as food.  In addition, not only are they useless in terms of nutrient density, they’re harmful to our bodies in  numerous ways including their side effects of:

Contributing toward an acidic pH of the body
Helping to cause a blood sugar spike and subsequent inulin response, creating, over time, insulin sensitivity and diabetes
Facilitating leaky gut via the anti nutrients they pack a ton of
Leading to heart disease and high cholesterol

One very general way to approach a healthier eating style, Paleo, is to maximize for all the colors of the rainbow getting into your body throughout the course of the day via fresh, local, seasonal fruit and copious amounts of veggies.   (Don’t try to get away with any of said rainbow colors coming in artificially; Froot Loops and Red-Dye #40 sports drinks don’t count!).

A fun way to prepare the crucifer who is the star of this phrase is to give it a quick steam and then use a food mill to create Cauliflower ‘Rice’ which is lovely served plain, or seasoned with what you may typically have used to give a plate of real rice, back in the day, before you knew better, a little pizzaz. 

Tax Day…Fat Tax?

Tax Day is upon us.  For many, myself included, that means a last minute scramble to organize documents, paperwork and sift through online bank statements.  Oh, joy.

It did, however, get me thinking about a subject I’ve written about before… the concept of a ‘fat tax’.

ABC had an article on their site which stated:

“Those who are overweight now have a new number to worry about: a “fat” tax. Adding a high tax on unhealthy food and drinks may help slow the rising rates of obesity, according to a study published  British Medical Journal. Previous studies suggest that the sharp tax increase on cigarettes in 2009 has contributed to the dramatic decrease in the number of smokers in the U.S. And it’s hoped a “fat” tax would work the same way…the goal of the tax is to curb sales of unhealthy food and decrease overconsumption, which may help to prevent disease.”

Followed by my favorite part:

“The study also called for subsidizing the cost of healthy foods and vegetables to make them more affordable to greater numbers of people.”

Great idea, theoretically, but who would we be relying upon to determine which of the foods would be classified as unhealthy and subsequently taxed?   If, for example, we left it up to the USDA, would they stay true to their current theme and tax anything that is not low-fat, as they seem to be bent on selling low-fat and fat- free to the masses, still?  Would it be the case that we could then go to the grocery store and pay a great price for low-fat milk and fat-free bread but  have to pay a high tax on full fat  yogurt or whole grain bread that contained butter and was therefore, not fat free?

Oh, geez.

You see where I’m going with this.   I don’t see the execution of this idea as something all that feasible; and furthermore, even if people had to eat less of whichever foods were deemed unhealthy, they’d still likely be eating other unhealthy, packaged and processed items and perhaps just less of those that were then being taxed, but still consuming them in moderation nonetheless…

Just doesn’t seem like the answer.

How about rethinking all the time and cost and leg work that would go into setting up a fat tax and reallocating time and funding to create programs allowing everyone to get access to fresh, local foods.  Imagine if that were actually more affordable and easier than dining at McDonald’s?

Personally, I’m still a fan of the ‘just stop buying any and all junk-food (aka non-food) in the first place’.  Hit ‘em where it hurts- in the wallet, and maximize for rearranging the budget to accommodate healthier foods, to the best of your ability.