Mark Sisson's Blog, page 136
June 29, 2018
My Confidence Is Returning, and I’m Re-engaging in Life
It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!
Hi, my name is Mike. I haven’t always been overweight or obese. In fact, when I was a child and teen I was skinny. To the point of being teased frequently because of how skinny I was. No matter what I ate or how much of it I ate, I couldn’t gain weight. Fast forward to January 2017 and I was at my largest: 350 pounds, barely able to fit into 4xl shirts and was about to have to purchase 48 waist pants because the 46 I was in I couldn’t button. I had to put them close, fasten my belt, and hope the pants didn’t slip through and unzip.
I didn’t get here overnight, although after finding and devouring Mark’s Daily Apple I realized that my overnight practices were definitely part of it. High stress lifestyle as a paramedic for 18 years, working nights, fast food almost every meal, then stress eating through Physician Assistant school. I was definitely the “Do as I say not as I do” healthcare provider. And done with it.
In February of 2017 I checked my Hemoglobin A1C and it was 6.4, just 0.1 short of official diabetes. I started to do some of what Mark said to do on MDA but wasn’t fully into it. I’ve always been the “why it works that way” person and, being the geek that I am, kept reading. Mark’s Daily Apple, Chris Kresser, and others increased my nutritional knowledge far beyond my education as a PA (a subject for a completely different article).
In May 2017 I had lost 10 pounds but my A1c was still 6.2 and my Triglycerides were 264. It was time to actually do something about my health instead of just talk about it and tell my patients what to do. Actually, several of my patients as well as my parents, who really listened to what I told them, read MDA and instituted the Primal Lifestyle and had lost lots of weight and were doing great, which inspired me to take my own advice.
Like many people who are obese and have tried to lose weight, I’ve done well for a little bit, screwed up, and beat myself up about it. “I don’t know why I even try” and, “Well I blew it again” were frequent thoughts. When patients would ask how much I’ve lost since I started trying I would say, “Thousands” because I had been trying and failing since my mid 20s. I’ve been telling patients recently that the flip in mentality came with the 80/20 concept that we read about on MDA. It’s true. Once I fully grasped that concept and instituted it in my life, things began to turn around.
In December 2017 I tested again. My A1c was 5.4, Triglycerides 146, and I was down 15 more pounds. 2018 has been even better. I’m only down another 10 pounds (40 total as of this morning) but that’s despite several trips for work and some vacations, and my body composition is definitely changing. In May my A1c was 5.0. I’m officially no longer pre-diabetic. I am down 6 belt loops (I keep making new loops and the tip of my belt is literally on my left hip). I actually fit into and button a pair of 40 waist jeans. 3xl shirts fit me somewhat loose. All of this without any workout program. My BMI has gone from 47.5 to 42.0, so still morbidly obese but getting close to, “just obese.” I increased my activity by moving more and working on projects around my property such as building a raised garden (pulling weeds, raking rocks, etc), but didn’t do any actual workout program until the first week of May when I started a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) program three days a week.
I still have a long way to go to get to my goal of 205. The 21-Day Reset that we are currently doing has helped me get back on track paying attention to what I am doing. I’m sleeping better. Energy is better. Clothes fit better. The area I work (mountains in Arizona) has a large population that lives where it’s warm in the winter and comes up to the mountains for the summer. My summer patients who haven’t seen me since the fall are making comments about how I look. My confidence is returning and I’m re-engaging in life.
I will be 50 next year and I’m confident that I will be healthier at 50 than I was at 25. I also would like to do the Primal Health Coach Institute as well as the Functional Medicine Program at the Kresser Institute (student loans currently keep those from being financially feasible), and I have started to figure out how to institute a primal based health program at my current practice. Grok on!
The post My Confidence Is Returning, and I’m Re-engaging in Life appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
June 28, 2018
21-Day Challenge Winners, Our Favorite Big-Ass Salads, and Other Highlights
Hard to be believe just three weeks ago we began this summer Challenge. Over the last three weeks, people shared their individual goals, wins, questions, and stumbling blocks in our comment boards, on the Vimify app, and in the Facebook groups. As always, I’ve loved the energy of it and appreciated hearing from folks who may not share as frequently. It’s good to know you’re here, and I hope you keep coming back.
I’m excited today to share our contest winners—including our Grok pose champ, our Big Ass salad winner, and, yes, our Grand Prize taker below. And the winners are…
The people have spoken, and the winning Grok Pose of 2018 belongs to Sam Poland. Congratulations, Sam, and thanks to everyone who submitted their photos this year. I have to say, this remains my favorite contest, and I love the creativity behind it.
@marksdailyapple #grokinthewild
A post shared by Sam Poland (@samswholehealth) on Jun 25, 2018 at 8:48am PDT
And now on to this year’s randomly chosen winner for the Big-Ass Salad Contest…. Congratulations to Bekah—and the dog who apparently also enjoys a good salad.
A post shared by Bekah (@bekah.sciaroni) on Jun 4, 2018 at 2:59pm PDT
We received a lot of entries for this one, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t share a few more. Consider them BAS goals—and maybe a little inspiration for today’s lunch.
Natasha Dequincey-Wykes
Susan Sisarran
Rosie Bergeron
A post shared by Rosie (@rosiebergeronstudio) on Jun 2, 2018 at 9:02pm PDT
Anna Marie Cruz
A post shared by Anna Marie (Health Coach) (@anna.marie.cruz) on Jun 14, 2018 at 5:41pm PDT
AlexBoss101
A post shared by Alex (@alexboss101) on Jun 16, 2018 at 11:48am PDT
Michelle Sala
A post shared by Michelle Sala (@michelle_sala_health_coach) on Jun 13, 2018 at 11:58am PDT
The Primal Belle
A post shared by The Primal Belle (@the_primal_belle) on Jun 18, 2018 at 9:36am PDT
Wayne Spences (My vote for most creative—and, yup, that’s lichen.)
Comment Contests:
“Ask the Coaches” (For our new PRIMAL KITCHEN Organic Unsweetened Ketchup and Spicy Brown Mustard.) Winners— Rosie Bergeron, Jack Delehanty, Jeannie Zapanta, Will Hernan, Julia Young
“You Might Be Primal If” (For the full line of PRIMAL KITCHEN
Bars:) Winner—Greek Grok: “You might be Primal if you named your dog Sisson.” The staff chose that one by the way, but I’m totally honored.
“Comment for Bordeaux Kitchen Author” (For 6 months of the PRIMAL KITCHEN® Advanced Keto Kit) Winner—Cassandra Liu
“Ways to Turn Exercise Into Play” (For your own Slackline + The full line of PRIMAL KITCHEN® Collagen products (Collagen Fuel, Collagen Peptides, and Collagen Bars) Winner—Desiree
“Your Questions On My Health Routine” (For a year’s supply—12 packages each—of Adaptogenic Calm and Collagen Peptides) Winner—Keith Wilson
“Stories and Suggestions for Camping Adventures and Active Vacations” (For The Primal Blueprint Platinum Supplement Package) Winner—Eric Fritts
“Submit Your Success Story” (For a year’s supply of either Primal Kitchen® Collagen Fuel or Primal Fuel plus Primal Probiotics) Winner—Mike Sassmann
For those named above, if you haven’t received a message regarding your prize, check your email today!
And the Grand Prize Winner Is…
Finally, last but certainly not least is our Grand Prize winner: Frank McPartlan.
This lucky guy is taking home an entire year’s worth of Butcher Box grass-fed and -finished beef, organic and free-range chicken, and heritage breed pork as well as all the marinades and condiments he’ll need to enjoy these goodies, with a Primal Kitchen® “Build-Your-Own-Dressing/Marinade” 4-Pack and our brand new Organic Unsweetened Ketchup and Organic Spicy Brown Mustard every month for a year.
A huge thanks to Butcher Box for their generous donation to the Challenge this year. I’ve been a Butcher Box fan (and proud affiliate) since their beginnings, and I’m grateful for their participation in our 21-Day. It’s what I serve at my own table, and I’m grateful to partner with them for our community Grand Prize.
They’re running a great deal right now, by the way. Get FREE Bacon for the life of your subscription when you sign up for Butcher Box by 7/8/18. Your mornings will thank you, I promise.
Enjoy, Frank! And gratitude for everyone who entered and submitted to all of our contests this year. Be well, everyone, and be sure to stop back for an inspiring success story tomorrow. Take care.
The post 21-Day Challenge Winners, Our Favorite Big-Ass Salads, and Other Highlights appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
June 27, 2018
Contest Poll: Grokpose 2018 For $1000
Earlier in the challenge, I asked people to pose like Grok for a chance to win a pretty epic prize. The rules were simple, but the ingenuity and thought put into every submission were far from it. So after much posing, primping, and staging, we chose two finalists that channel the spirit of Grok himself!
Picking a short list of favorites was challenging, so the Worker Bees and I threw our favorites into a pot and chose the first two.
What do you think, folks? Who hits the most accurate pose? The most intense? Pick your favorite and vote in the poll below.
Voting will close and a winner will be announced tomorrow, Thursday, June 28, at 9:00 a.m. PDT.
@marksdailyapple #grokinthewild
A post shared by Sam Poland (@samswholehealth) on Jun 25, 2018 at 8:48am PDT
@marksdailyapple #grokinthewild Slaying Dragons!!
A post shared by Mitchell Weinbeck (@grokman_mitch) on Jun 20, 2018 at 4:17pm PDT
And a big thanks to everyone who sent in a picture!
Stay tuned. I’ll be publishing the winner of the poll and the grand prize winner tomorrow. In the meantime, choose the winner among our top two finalists, and Grok on!
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
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The post Contest Poll: Grokpose 2018 For $1000 appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
Find Your Tribe, Find Your Health?
Humans are a tribal species. We form alliances, align ourselves along ethnic, familial, religious, and cultural lines. Still, for the vast majority of people, “tribal” carries a negative connotation. Bitter partisan politics, ethnic genocides, religious wars, and the long history of bigotry make that connotation almost unavoidable. But I don’t think tribal in its true essence is all bad. The basic instinct to form and belong to groups is a simple fact of human physiology. It’s how we work, so we’d better make it work for us.
Remember, I err on the side of evolution. If human evolution has produced and maintained a characteristic or behavior, there’s probably a reason for it. And maybe that reason doesn’t make sense in the modern world. It gets distorted or magnified. Tribalism certainly can. But it can be equally detrimental to ignore that characteristic, to brush it off and discard it. We don’t have to perform hard physical labor to procure food anymore—but exercise is still vital for our health. My guess is the same holds true for our predilection toward tribalism. And it doesn’t have to look like you think it might….
Research shows that one kind of tribe—diehard sports fans— see physiological benefits when their teams compete, such as boosts to testosterone and increased empathy. Sports fans even have a higher-than-average sense of meaning in their lives, something many modern humans lack. Sure, you might say “pro sports don’t matter in the long run,” but who cares? The point is that sports fandom is a healthy, safe, and decidedly non-genocidal mode of tribalism that appears to confer health benefits to those who participate.
Imagine the potential benefits of leveraging your tribal leanings toward a truly healthy, meaningful endeavor?
CrossFit is the perfect example.
It doesn’t have to be CrossFit exactly, but one of those special kinds of gyms whose inhabitants aren’t headphone-wearing individuals doing their own thing, in their own world. CrossFit struck such a chord not only because it offered a great workout, but because it offered a tribe.
You didn’t just show up to a CrossFit box and “train back and biceps” with your headphones on. You and your tribe battled the clock, the iron, yourselves. You entered a place where motivation drips from the ceiling. Where a lot of the stuff I talked about in this article—having rules that remove decision-making from the equation, competing against others (and yourself), achieving intrinsic rewards—comes baked into the experience. Where you don’t have to muster the willpower to start and complete a workout because your tribe is there doing it and ushering you on to join in and give it your all. You get swept away by the pull of your CrossFit tribe—and you’re better off for it.
There’s actual research to back this up, not just conjecture.
A recent study found that CrossFit participants experience more intrinsic motivation related to group affiliation, personal challenge, and outright enjoyment of the activity—and that this experience can increase adherence compared to other types of resistance training.
In perhaps the only systematic review and meta-analysis of CrossFit research to date, researchers concluded that “CrossFit practice is associated with higher levels of community, satisfaction, and motivation.” They have a tribe and don’t want to let them down.
Fitness, in general, benefits from the tribal effect.
The solitary yogi doing impossible stretches with serene countenance as the sun rises is a romantic ideal, but who actually does that? Yoga isn’t exactly pleasant. It’s hard. It can hurt. It’s tough to get yourself motivated to do a full session at home. Get yourself in a legit yoga studio and suddenly you’re on the mat and it’s 98° and before you know it you’re downward dogging your way to nirvana.
Or the Tough Mudder/Mud Run/Spartan Race genre of extreme athletic event. Running barefoot across electrified barbed wire, plunging headfirst into a trough of mud and urine, getting frostbite, ruining your clothes, and paying a couple hundred bucks for the opportunity doesn’t sound very appealing on paper. But allow participants to form teams with their friends and compete against other teams, and the event sells out.
Don’t forget that some of the most traditional forms of fitness practice around—team sports—are entirely based on tribalism. You have a “team.” You’re competing against another group of individuals who’ve also coalesced around a similar concept of organization. You have uniforms, team colors, team slogans, special chants and cheers. You run plays, tactical maneuvers designed to overcome the defenses your opponents have laid out. You function as a unit. For the 60 minutes or so of game time, the tribe takes precedence over the individual. Joining an adult sports league might be a great way to add value, meaning, and fitness to your life.
Dietary affiliations are tribal, too. Primal is absolutely a tribe. Keto is a tribe. Vegetarianism and veganism are absolutely tribes.
This can easily go awry. If you get locked into the dogma of your particular dietary tribe, you may tune out dissenting evidence from other tribes, however valuable and applicable. That’s why I’ve always emphasized open mindedness and the importance of reading outside sources and maintaining the willingness to change your mind in the face of new information. That quality comes baked into the Primal way of living, eating, and thinking. It’s part of our “dogma.”
Whatever dietary tribe you belong to, consider incorporating that feature into your ideology. I highly recommend it.
And if you’re interested specifically in becoming closer to the Primal tribe, there are plenty of ways.
The Facebook Groups
Facebook can be the place where you argue with friends and family about things that don’t even matter, or it can be the place where you find your Primal tribe.
There’s the Mark’s Daily Apple FB group, which is a general Primal group where you can discuss anything and everything related to Primal.
If you’re more into keto specifically, joining the Keto Reset FB group is a great place to find your keto tribe.
And you can also join the Primal Endurance FB group.
In all these groups, the beauty is that each member is a real person with a real name, and everyone is supportive. So rather than bother all the other people in your life with chatter about ideal sun exposure times and cauliflower carb counts and “180 minus age,” you can connect with people who get it, and get you.
Come To an Event
If you haven’t made it to a Paleo f(x), you have to do it. First of all, it’s in Austin, one of the best (and most paleo/Primal-friendly) cities in the country. The BBQ is out of this world, if nothing else. Second, it’s a meeting of the top thought leaders in ancestral health, both established and upcoming. Great place to hear about new ideas and new angles on old ones. Third, you’ll be with your people. Your tribe.
If you do go, come say hi, cause I’ll definitely be there.
Become a Primal Health Coach
The ultimate way to find a tribe is to become the leader of one and create your own. There’s no better path to leadership in the Primal arena than becoming a legitimate expert, someone who can help others build better lifestyles and construct diets and training regimens. It’s amazing how little most people understand about health, diet, and fitness. If you know what you’re talking about and throw yourself into the business of health and fitness, you’d be surprised at the incredible changes you can effect in your clients—and how close you’ll become with them.
How a tribe helped your quest for better health? Or are you looking for one? (Post-challenge is the perfect time to tap into supports that keep you going….) What does the perfect health tribe look like to you?
Thanks for reading, everyone. Take care!
The post Find Your Tribe, Find Your Health? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
June 26, 2018
Staff Pick Tuesdays: Relaxation Routine
We’re in the last few days of the 21-Day Challenge now…. Successes so far? Stumbling blocks along the way? Lingering ideas/questions coming to the fore? I’ll be announcing winners to the contests throughout the rest of this week, and tomorrow you’ll all be voting on the best Grok Pose of 2018.
But for today, we’re kicking back and focusing just on R&R. A few of the staff volunteered to share their favorite ways to recharge. The Primal Blueprint isn’t a diet after all. It’s a full lifestyle—a path to living awesome, and rest and relaxation are critical parts of that endeavor. Grok excelled in this area in fact. How are your relaxation routines working for you these days? Hope you find some inspiration this morning, everyone. Wishing you well.
“I love doing yoga – taking time to move my body and breathe deeply. It’s amazing how quickly I can relax and refocus after spending even 10 minutes on the mat. I think it’s super important to stretch and get to you know how your body moves. Yoga has helped me a ton as an athlete, and I really think it’s made me a more balanced human overall.” – Annie M.
“I love this little remote spot by one of the lakes in Pheonix, AZ. It’s so peaceful during the early springtime when the snow has partially melted. The air is crisp and clean, the foliage is new and green. A great place to chill and relax.” – Michelle F.
“Seeing Buddhist sculpture/art is an instant reminder for me to breathe, be calm, stay mindful and aware of the moment. The combination of the Buddha with the flowing water puts me in a more tranquil mood.” – Sabrina T.
“I have so many relaxation routines, I didn’t know which one to choose! This pair of intertwined spruce trees are what I call The Turnaround Trees. From my front door to these trees is two miles; if I “turn around” here, I can log a 4-mile meditative country walk to my day. I don’t need any special shoes, wearables, or gadgets to get this done. I’m not trying to crush a PR. It doesn’t have to show up on Instagram… I just go as I am — barefoot, sometimes; sometimes carrying my evening glass of wine. If I time it just right, I can catch the sun setting over the Rocky Mountain foothills. Normally my phone isn’t allowed to come on this walk with me – a non-negotiable element of all of my relaxation rituals! – but I made an exception just this once, so the MDA crowd can see that a meditation practice can be as simply unstructured as this.” – Erin P.
“Relaxation for me happens outdoors. I do my deepest meditation outside, and I feel the most recharged after a morning on the trails or (more to the rest theme) under the trees. I got to spend a few hours in this hammock a couple of weeks ago, and even the image itself helps re-ignite the relaxation response.” – Jen W.
Thanks for stopping by today, everybody, and I hope you’ll share what you do to kick back and de-stress. And if any of the images or ideas got some thoughts going for you, let the bees and I know.
The post Staff Pick Tuesdays: Relaxation Routine appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
June 25, 2018
Ask the Coach: Primal Health Coaches Answer Your Questions
A couple weeks ago I asked for ideas for our Primal Health Coaches—what questions have you ever wanted to ask a Primal Health Coach? Many of you wrote in, and I loved reading your ideas. There were so many excellent thoughts I couldn’t begin to include them all here. (Luckily, our coaches might join us for a future post.)
So, s it back and take a look at what our Primal Health Coaches have to say about meal plans, cardio classes, behavior change, physician recommendations, their Primal Health Coach Institute experience, and more!
Question #1, from Jeannie: “Do you make customized, individual plans for every client? What does that encompass? Also, what resources do you use as a Primal Health Coach that allows you to provide support for your many clients?”
“The framework for the Primal lifestyle is the same for everyone, and most people will get really far with the basic template. Initially my goal is to help my client get the baseline set, see what changes, and then make adjustments from there. My suggestions are tailored to each client and the goals they wish to reach. While I do supply handouts for the first month I don’t for the additional months because any changes that are made are usually small. I know many people like meal plans but I don’t think they promote long term success. Meal plans can help give a client ideas, but that rarely translates into generating meal ideas on one’s own. In my opinion it can often lead back to old habits, because nothing was really learned.”
– Jen Essary
“I approach all clients from an individual perspective in order to meet them where they are. We work together to come up with their top three health goals, and then narrow this down to one that they can most easily be successful with in order to motivate them to move on to the next. I rely on many of the resources I’ve gained from the Primal Health Coach course, as well as my years of experience working as a personal trainer.”
– Regina Barak
“I do not customize. My service offers the opportunity to achieve optimal health. Healthy people tend to reach their ideal weight, and experience less disease and sickness; and healthy people tend to avoid chronic disease. I have to ensure all aspects of a healthy lifestyle are put into effect for a total life transformation. Most people will say they already eat right, exercise correctly or live a stress-free lifestyle. But missing any one of these factors will sabotage the overall goal of optimum health.”
– Ron Drillen
“I will usually ask for food preferences and offer a selection of about 21 meals to try to add to their repertoire. I share all of my favorite food bloggers whose recipes I trust, so they can explore and make their own choices.”
– Roxann Morello
“Hi Jeanine. The quick answer is, no, I do not make customized meal plans for each client. I work alongside the client to develop a weekly meal strategy. When a client goes into the week with a strategy (what to eat, and why), they tend to be more likely to stick with it. For me the best approach is to talk through the personal and work challenges in the week ahead. Are there going to be a few long nights at work? Is there a kids’ practice or game that will keep them out later, or unable to make a full meal? We work together to identify the strategy that will work best for those specific scenarios. I believe weekly meal plans certainly have a place, but they should not be given without a real strategy in place for the week.”
– Steven Konsdorf
“I make a customized plan with every client. I have clients fill out an intake form a few days before our first session. When we meet, we can discuss their specific answers, goals, and visions of health, and begin forming a plan to get there. We move forward each week with their individual plan. During our coaching sessions, clients often bring something they want to discuss; a favorite book or article, or a recipe. We dissect it together and find ways it can fit into their Primal lifestyle. I use all kinds of resources! I love the Tendencies quiz by Gretchen Ruebin to help client learn about how they deal with internal and external expectations. I have blogs, podcasts and books I use and recommend, and also a lending library of books and cookbooks for my clients. One of my favorite resources is the supportive network of Primal Health Coaches. I can ask anything of these great people and I get brilliant ideas back! I love resources, learning and sharing new ideas. It’s my favorite aspect of coaching!”
– Sara Baird
“In many cases, developing customized meal plans is actually out of scope of practice for health coaches. Health coaches are advocates for behaviour change… and I can tell you from experience that very few people ever established a new behaviour (and had it stick!) from following a prescribed meal plan. As a Primal Health Coach, I take my clients on a journey of education: so they can learn and understand WHAT foods support them and – this is the important part – WHY. The entire goal is to eventually graduate ciients from my care, and I need to feel confident that they know how to feed themselves in the absence of a meal plan. I supply my clients with a comprehensive Foods To Use and Foods To Lose list, and let them make meals they love, in whatever configuration they like.”
– Erin Power
Question #2, from Julia: “I like taking 45-60 mins long spin classes. But, my heart rate gets VERY high. It’s definitely not slow and steady cardio and the class drills are a bit long to qualify as sprints. When or how do I work these workouts in to a primal lifestyle?”
“I have so many questions about this scenario. How often are you taking these classes? How do you feel afterwards? How are your sugar cravings? Are you starving after class? Do you have weight loss goals? What are your goals? From what you have written it sounds like you’re training in the “black hole.” The heart rate might not be high enough to qualify as high intensity, especially with the length of the class. It also isn’t low enough to be aerobic. My advice would be to limit the frequency of these classes. Mark has several articles about heart arrhythmias and chronic cardio which you can reference. For endurance training and fat burning purposes you’d come out ahead by keeping your heart rate below 180-age (Maffetone equation). I’d recommend working with one of the coaches who has taken the Primal Endurance Mastery Course if racing is one of your goals.”
– Jen Essary
“If you love the spin class, keep it up! It’s great to have fun! Just perhaps allow yourself more sweet potatoes, fruit, sleep, and more rest days! You could try phase training: do 80% spin and 20% cross training for 3 weeks; then switch to 80% cross training and 20% spin class for 3 weeks weeks; and so on. Using the methods outlined in Primal Endurance, you could also emphasize more slow workouts until your aerobic base can support your current speed in spin class.”
– Matt Zastrow
“Hi Julie, I would ask you to think about the goal of the class. Why are you doing this specific class? Is it for fat loss? If so, then there are potentially better ways to accomplish that with less stress on the body. Are you taking the class because it fits your schedule? Again, there are certainly other options with less stress that can be done for those 45-60 minutes. Are you taking the class because you enjoy it? If this is the answer then good for you and don’t stop. If you truly enjoy the spin class and it matches the goals you have then keep doing, but be strategic about it. Keep the spin class to once or twice a week. Leave several days in between classes to adequately recover. You can certainly have a spin class, but stay smart about it so that it fits your Primal lifestyle.”
– Steven Konsdorf
“Fellow group fitness junkie here; and I’m a spin instructor too! First of all, that moderate-to-high intensity effort, sustained for an entire hour, is typically what we’d refer to as being in the “black hole” of intensity: not easy enough to be easy, but not hard enough to be hard. If you love it, then continue to do it, but consider scaling back to two a week. And add in some low-and-slow stuff (like walking), and some short-and-sharp stuff (like lifting weights and sprinting) to ensure you’re getting the optimal fitness and gene expression benefits from your time spent in the gym. And don’t forget recovery!”
– Erin Power
Question #3, from Rosie: “What strategies would you recommend for breaking/replacing bad habits like eating at certain times not out of hunger but out of habit?”
“First I would ask how long you’ve been primal and what your current eating habits look like? If you’re relatively new to primal you may not be fully fat adapted. If you’ve been primal for awhile then I’d want to know more about your level of insulin sensitivity, any previous health challenges, and what a typical food day looks like for you right now. I would want to explore with you the origins of eating out of habit. Where does that belief come from? When did it begin? Are you misinterpreting a signal for something like thirst as a prompt to eat? My job as a coach is to help you explore these kinds of questions about your habits and challenges. When you understand the origins and the whys it makes it easier to re-frame that habit and make a new choice.”
– Jen Essary
“I would suggest you create a food diary for one week so we could take a look at what kind of food you are eating. For instance, a diet consisting of processed foods and starchy carbs does not satisfy hunger, and leaves the brain wanting more. In that case we would discuss how carb dependency creates a cycle of needing more carbs from both a psychological point of view and a physical dependency as well. It’s a process, but we would establish small goals so you’re not feeling deprived along the way.”
– Regina Barak
“More often than not, regimented eating schedules are a project of societal and/or workplace guidelines as to when you are “supposed” to take your lunch break. Most of us get indoctrinated into this behaviour from a very young age, and becomes a very strong habit that is hard to retrain. One effective tool to use to tell if you are truly hungry or just experiencing cravings out of boredom or habit, is to ask yourself: “Would I like to eat an hard-boiled egg right now?” If the answer is yes, you are hungry and should go eat some real food (like a hard boiled egg!). If the answer is no, you may be falling victim to (sugar) cravings and old habits that play tricks on you.By making yourself aware of what current state you are actually in, it can help provide you with the willpower to stay clear of the cravings, and making an informed decision of a more healthy choice.”
– Jonas Drott
“Great question, Rosie! Eating out of habit instead of out of hunger is something I’ve struggled with as well. First, I would figure out the real reason for eating while not actually hungry. What started that habit in the first place? Are you bored, tired, anxious, stressed, etc? Second, I’d encourage you to replace the “bad” habit with a healthier one, like drinking water or unsweetened tea, or going for a quick 5-10 minute walk when the urge to snack hits. Third, I’m a firm believer in using affirmations to retrain your subconscious mind to help you make better choices automatically. Create an affirmation and say it out loud throughout the day multiple times. You could say “I only eat when hunger ensues naturally.” Use positive language and make sure your affirmation is stating what you do want and not what you don’t want.”
– Melissa Emmons
“Time for my client and I to become detectives and scientists! Detectives and scientists ask a lot of questions. Then they ask more questions. They ask them without judgement, simply gathering data. What am I doing? Why am I doing it? What am I feeling at that moment? What would I rather do instead? What is a better way to take care of myself I love the shared excitement when a client has a lightbulb moment and zeroes in on what is actually happening. Especially when it’s a moment of personal reflection and understanding of their own behavior, followed by the support and empowerment to change that behavior. Getting to the next level feels so good.”
– Sara Baird
“We need to be motivated to make the right choices. One way to do this is to write down your goals, and your reasons for those goals. Read these goals frequently; perhaps every morning. Be sure to include the Why of your goal(s). For instance, you might have a goal to lose weight, and the Why might be to prepare for an upcoming wedding or vacation; or to not hate clothes shopping; or to manage Diabetes symptoms. Brainstorm what is important to you and then go for it! Think of developing new habits being like you are standing on the sand at the beach and your goal is to go body surfing in the ocean. You get there by taking one step at a time until your feet are wet, then you keep going until you are deeper in the waves. It is the forward action, one step at a time, one decision at a time to keep putting one foot in front of the other, heading towards the waves where you want to be. This analogy may not work for you, but it works for me because I love the beach. You may need to find something more inspiring for you. As Erasmus said long ago, ‘A nail is driven out by another nail; habit is overcome by habit.’”
– Vanessa Marsden
Question #4, from Jack: “How would you balance the advice from a Primal Health Coach with doctor recommendations? The two view points often seem like they are at odds. Doctors seem to have outdated views on nutrition, but ignoring their advice seems like it could be dangerous.”
“Hi Jack. It’s definitely unwise to ignore doctors’ advice, and equally not recommended to follow a PHC’s advice blindly. A good health coach will back up his/her advice with actual scientifically-validated evidence, which you can study and run past your doctor yourself. Similarly, a good doctor would be open to discussing the evidence you’ve provided. With this exercise, you get to evaluate both your doctor and PHC; if you are still in doubt, you can always seek out a second opinion. Remember: you are 100% responsible for your health, and you really want to be confident and comfortable with the decisions you ultimately make. Good luck.”
– Victor Chew
“This can be a tough situation if there are differing opinions between the coach and the doctor. Some doctors are less open minded about non-drug therapies, but this is why it’s really important to look for medical practitioners that offer a more holistic approach that includes a nutrition and lifestyle component —such as an integrative or functional doctor.”
– Rachel Peterson
“Never ignore the advice from your doctor. Any and all information is invaluable when you have to make the best decision on your health. Doctors, like all professionals should be seen as advisers. Each offering a little piece of the information puzzle you need to complete the health puzzle. Ultimately you have to decide what direction you need to go in order to reach your goal. It is never advisable to hand over the responsibility of your health to another person without question.”
– Ron Drillen
“Hi Jack. When working with a client I highlight the fact that my role as a Primal Health Coach is not to diagnose or prescribe a diet or contradict a doctors prescribed approach. If a client wants to go Primal, I encourage them to talk with their doctor about it. Simply meet with your doctor and lay out the Primal approach you want to take with your health coach, and seek to understand the concerns or objections your doctor may have, and why. You can even show examples of how the Primal Blueprint has helped others with the same diagnoses; just search Mark’s Daily Apple for plenty of Success Stories. Getting your doctor’s buy in is a great first step and shows you also have vested interest in taking control of your health.”
– Steven Konsdorf
“Despite our opinions (right or wrong) about conventional medicine, your doctor’s orders are important and truthfully not to be ignored. In a perfect scenario, the relationship between client, health coach and doctor would be absolutely collaborative and synergistic. Take the bull by the horns and ensure that your doctor and your health coach are working together to move the needle on your health goals. Introduce your doctor to your PHC; introduce your PHC to your doctor. In a perfect scenario, the relationship between client, health coach and doctor would be absolutely collaborative and synergistic. It’s your health, and you are within your rights to build your own dream team of allied health care practitioners to help you achieve your optimal human badassery!”
– Erin Power
Question #5, from Will: “Hey coaches! I am ready to sign up for the health coach certification program. However, it’s important that I have my wife’s buy-in and support before investing in the program — seeing as it will effect her and our two young sons. She’s on the fence. What is the value of this program (particularly for a young family) based on your experience as a health coach that I can relay to my wife as an outside perspective? How has the mastery of primal nutrition and lifestyle impacted your family?”
“Hi Will. I’ve been in just those shoes myself, not too long ago! I’d like to suggest that you ask yourself why you want to enroll: Do you have a passion in helping others? Do you want to start a health coaching business, or use the knowledge and skills from this program to grow your existing business? Do you just love to geek out on the primal lifestyle and hang out with your tribe? Obviously, these are just a few of the questions you’d want to ask yourself to understand your true motivation, and you are the only one that can answer them. For me, the answers were all yes! I do have a full time job that I also love, so it’s not imperative for me to start generating income with this certification right away. However, the knowledge, skills, support, and just being part of the this awesome tribe have made my family’s lives richer, in the sense that we’re healthier, stronger, and more adventurous, because we feel better and can move better. What more can be more prosperous than that?”
– Victor Chew
“The value of this program for me has been a more foundational understanding of what it means to live holistically, and to age in such a way that keeps me young, energetic, and virtually medication-free. This has a ripple effect for everyone you are living with! At age 65, I feel like I’m 40. My own experience with the program has been awesome; I’m walking the walk instead of simply talking the talk.”
– Regina Barak
“We are a family of four, and it feels like we are team. We have found our groove of food we all agree is delicious and meets our standards for health. My husband and I are also much more likely to jump in and gof around outside with the kids, now that we understand the importance of play in a long healthy life. That brings us closer as a family. Since I’ve taken the course, my family has been inspired to learn too. Now I take what I’ve seen work in my own family and use those tools as a starting point for my clients. It’s a pretty fantastic career in that I thrive off learning and coaching, while also reaping priceless benefits to my family and our health.”
– Sara Baird
“The benefits to the overall health of the family are enormous. The course takes all the information in the books, the website and podcasts and goes deeper. It organizes it all in one place and is continually kept up to date. Understanding the “why” and the “how” behind all of this brings so much more confidence in actually helping other humans. The content on how to take this information, translate it and actually apply to different situations and to different people allows you to help more than just your family. You can now take this passion and turn it into another income stream for your family. Many of us started here because we found we were the “go-to” person for nutrition and health advice for friends and family. We were sort of already doing it, for free and with no real direction or organization. I can personally attest to how great it felt to have my son’s first year of college paid for and to be able to say yes to better vacations working VERY part time doing something I loved. Finally, the transition to doing this full time and leaving a career that was causing me entirely too much stress became a reality. I now see my kids more. I am a better mom. The family is happier and healthier. It takes time for all of this stuff to come to fruition (it took me a few years) but you’ve got to start somewhere and you’ll never get there unless you are willing to take the first step.”
– Laura Rupsis
Thanks again to all of you who submitted questions for the coaches. And thank you also to our Primal Health Coaches for their time and perspectives today. Feel free to visit the sites and social media accounts of the coaches who joined us today, or check out the full directory of Primal Health Coaches who lives in your area or who offers coaching in a particular health specialty.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Primal Health Coach Institute for yourself, enjoy a free guidebook.
Do you have a question for one of our coaches? Ask them here, and I’ll invite them back soon for another round of Ask the Coach. Have a great week, everybody. We’ll be conducting reader polls—and announcing winners for the various contests all week—including the Grand Prize. Grok on!
Want to make fat loss easier?
Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.
The post Ask the Coach: Primal Health Coaches Answer Your Questions appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
June 24, 2018
Weekend Link Love — Edition 509
Research of the WeekMedium chain triglycerides increase ketones and brain energy metabolism in Alzheimer’s patients.
Got treatment-resistant cluster headaches? Try going keto for three months.
Prestige boosts testosterone in men.
Creatine improves cognition in healthy people.
New Primal Blueprint Podcasts
Episode 255: James Broderick: Host Elle Russ chats with James Broderick, a rewilding expert who helps Silicon Valley residents ditch their domestication.
Each week, select Mark’s Daily Apple blog posts are prepared as Primal Blueprint Podcasts. Need to catch up on reading, but don’t have the time? Prefer to listen to articles while on the go? Check out the new blog post podcasts below, and subscribe to the Primal Blueprint Podcast here so you never miss an episode.
Interesting Blog Posts
How cannabis can fight (and is fighting) opioid addiction.
Otzi reveals the reach of Copper Age trade.
Media, Schmedia
Rural Americans are gaining weight.
Hanger strikes even the nice among us.
Everything Else
Next you’ll tell me they were feathered.
Things I’m Up to and Interested In
I’m entirely unsurprised: There are many promising non-drug treatments for ADHD, but many docs, experts, and patients have no idea.
I love irony: Mindfulness meditation maintains performance but inhibits motivation.
It’s about time, I’m incredibly excited: The FDA unveils 8 new fiber types.
I’d swing these: Star Wars kettlebells.
I feel like I’ve read this study several times before: Low-carb diets are safe for kidneys of type 2 diabetic patients.
Recipe Corner
Everything about pan sauces.
Simple fish stew.
Time Capsule
One year ago (Jun 17 – Jun 23)
Is Keto For Everyone? Cautions, Caveats, and Contraindications – Well, is it?
6 Healthy Tips for First Trimester Pregnant Mamas – How to eat for babies.
Comment of the Week
“‘If you’re afraid of butter use cream.’”
– Thanks for gracing us, Julia.
The post Weekend Link Love — Edition 509 appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
June 23, 2018
5 Steps To the Perfect Steak—and a 4-Recipe Video
Today’s awesome guest post and video is offered by Head Chef Yankel of ButcherBox. If you’ve been around Mark’s Daily Apple for a while, you’ve likely heard of ButcherBox, a company close to the core Primal values of clean eating, great flavor and healthy sustainability. I’ve been a happy customer and proud affiliate since their beginnings. Today, Chef Yankel is sharing his 5 tips for getting the perfect steak every time—AND a video with 4 delicious summer recipes you won’t want to miss. (And because you’ll want to get cooking, we’re throwing in two deals for your summer barbecue planning.)
There is no better—or easier—way to treat yourself to a healthy and delicious meal this summer than by throwing a grass-fed steak on the grill, waiting a few minutes, and then eating up as much tender, hearty goodness as you can.
One of the simple joys of being the Head Chef at ButcherBox is that I get to experiment with all our amazing cuts of grass-fed beef, many of which can be a challenge to get at the local butcher or supermarket.
I’ve discovered that whether I grill a steak over an open flame or braise it in a skillet, there are a few key steps that anyone can take to get a perfect steak every time you cook.
Use the right seasoning or marinade. Before even beginning to cook, you have to make a few essential preparations. The first is choosing the right cut. Personally, I enjoy everything from ribeye to steak tips and tri-tip steak to skirt steak on a grill. Some of the cuts you usually find in a steakhouse—like a filet mignon or New York strip steak—are already so tender and flavorful, you don’t need to do much more than coat with salt and black pepper before cooking.
Some other cuts, although no less flavorful, come from areas of a cow that have had more use, and therefore have a bit more connective tissue. These steak — flat iron steak, flank steak, skirt steak, hanger steak, and others — are perfect for marinating. Soaking a skirt steak in a marinade adds flavor and tenderness; some of our favorite these days are Primal Kitchen® Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette and Marinade or their amazing Balsamic Vinaigrette and Marinade. You can also use a base like Primal Kitchen’s Organic Unsweetened Ketchup and make your own marinade by experimenting with flavors like ginger, garlic, and chipotle.
(Additionally, don’t be afraid to use Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette and Marinade if you are cooking chicken breast. It pairs perfectly with ButcherBox free range organic chicken and some grill roasted peppers.)
The key to any good marinade is flavor and time. There are two approaches to marinating meat, and both work equally well. One, you put your steak in a bowl or plastic bag, add the Balsamic Vinaigrette and Marinade, cover, and let sit overnight. This will give you a deeply ingrained flavor. Amazingly, it also works to marinade for less than an hour before cooking. Steaks cooked in this manner are often no less flavorful. Just make sure you don’t over-marinate, as that will toughen the beef.
Get beef to room temperature. Some argue against this step, but I think it is a key part of the process to getting the perfect, evenly cooked steak.
The best approach is to let your steak marinate at room temperature if you are doing the short marinate technique or let the long marinating bowl of steak sit for a bit before cooking.
This step will allow the internal temperature in the steak to even out. Basically, this makes it so that when you throw it on the grill, the center is not too cool.
Get the grill hot…in all the right spots. Make sure you give your grill at least 10 to 15 minutes to warm up—especially a gas grill. The ideal temperature to cook on a grill is 500°F.
With a charcoal grill, make sure the coals are grey before throwing on some steaks. This is the sign they are hot enough to cook. It is best to use a firestarter chimney when using a coal grill; using lighter fluid will detract from the delicious flavor of the grass-fed steak.
A good rule of thumb is that if you can keep your hand a few inches above the grill for a few seconds, it is not ready yet.
Grass-fed beef is best when cooked medium-rare. It doesn’t have as much fat as conventional beef, so it can dry out if overcooked. Make sure to use an instant meat thermometer to get to the ideal temperature. You can check out a chart on our ButcherBox blog, Roam, with the ideal temperatures for the level of doneness you are trying to achieve.
Also, whether cooking on a gas grill or a charcoal grill, it is best to create two different heat zones. This is best done by turning down a burner or consolidating the charcoal to one side of the grill.
I like to use a reverse sear when cooking a steak. This is done by cooking on the indirect heat first — for a few minutes each side — and then sear-finishing on high heat. Doing this creates a more evenly distributed level of doneness and a nice charred crust on just about any steak.
Let the steak rest. Beef continues to cook once it is taken off of the grill. If you slice into it right away, you are likely to get a lot of the flavorful juices all over your cutting board.
Guess what? If you let your steak rest for eight to 10 minutes, those juices will evenly spread through the steak. The result is a more tender, more evenly cooked, and more flavorful hunk of beef.
You should also let chicken and pork to rest. However, they don’t continue to cook.
With a steak, take it off the grill about 5 to 10 degrees cooler than the doneness temperature you are trying to get, and you will have perfection.
Cut it the right way. This is the single biggest mistake people make, and it is the final step to getting a perfect steak.
You must slice steak against the grain.
This is true for all steaks. With certain cuts — flank, skirt, or hanger steaks, for example — if you don’t cut against the grain, you will ruin a potentially mouth-watering grass-fed steak.
Slicing against the grain breaks up the connective tissue, so each bite is as tender as the next.
What a shame it would be to marinate in a Primal Kitchen marinade overnight, let your steak sit out for a bit, get the ideal grill temperature, and let the steak rest…and then undo all that hard work by simply cutting the steak incorrectly.
Slicing your steak is also good for adding it to other dishes, like a lentil beet salad (with Primal Kitchen’s Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette and Marinade) or a grilled peach endive salad with their Green Goddess Dressing—as I share in the video below.
If you can’t tell, we at ButcherBox love Primal Kitchen vinaigrettes, marinades, and dressings. Right now, you can get a bundle of Primal Kitchen dressings and vinaigrettes—4 dressings—and the Lemon Turmeric will be added. Add your chosen 4-pack to the cart, and use the code BUTCHERBOX at checkout.
Thanks to the good folks at ButcherBox for their awesome video and tips today. And don’t forget to check out their current Grok-worthy deal of FREE Bacon For Life. Just order your first ButcherBox today and receive a free package of their premium quality bacon with every box for the life of your subscription.
ButcherBox delivers 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef, free-range organic chicken, and heritage pork directly to your door—and shipping is always free.
I appreciate that their bacon is always uncured, free of sugar and nitrates, non-GMO-verified, hormone-free, made from pasture-raised, heritage breed pigs, AND is Whole30® approved. This is how I do bacon, and ButcherBox makes it easy. But hurry—this popular deal expires midnight PDT on July 8th, 2018.
The post 5 Steps To the Perfect Steak—and a 4-Recipe Video appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
June 22, 2018
Healing Food, For Me, Is the Answer To a Stable and Fulfilling Life
It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!
Today I’d like to give my own introduction for our success story. She’s a former Mark’s Daily Apple success story (you can read her original story here). But she’s also a successful entrepreneur within the natural food and paleo space. I’m happy she’s shared an update to her personal journey and her business venture, and I’m excited that she’s also offering a giveaway for our community. Thanks for stopping by today, everybody. Enjoy!
My conscious-food lifestyle continues to be the backbone of my life (see my original post for more details about my journey to get here). After being in an ill-state of health until I was 21, I became passionate about healing my body, mind and spirit through food. What started off as a commitment to being gluten-free eventually evolved into me adopting the primal, paleo-inspired lifestyle around the age of 23. I experienced such a dramatic transformation in my health as a result of my dietary changes that everything in my life shifted. I was pursuing teaching yoga professionally, and as a result of my health transformation, my career ambitions pivoted and led me to open my own business, Picnik, in 2013.
Picnik was (and continues to be) a passion project for me to bring real food to the masses. I opened my first location in a reclaimed shipping container in Austin, TX. The original name, Pressed & Squeezed, transformed into Picnik when I’d show friends the location I found for our trailer. We were perched on the top of a giant, grassy hill in the middle of a bustling street called South Lamar. Every time I’d show friends and family the location, they would declare “this is the perfect place for a picnic.” To me, I considered that a divine sign and took the initiative to change the name. Hallelujah for that, because it has shaped our vibe and our culture tremendously over the years.
Building Picnik was no easy feat. In 2013, when we opened our doors, the consciousness around the paleo and high-fat movement was minimal. We had grab and go lunch items, breakfast pastries and a delicious coffee menu, but we made every item on our menu with a unique, health-promoting flare. Our coffee menu was incredibly innovative. We used coffee as the backbone for a specialty drinks menu that had a base of high-quality fats, conscious proteins and superfood add-in’s that amplified the nutrition. We wanted these drinks to taste just like what you would expect from a traditional coffee shop, just made with better ingredients. We had a very unique position in the marketplace for many reasons, but our drinks became a standout, as they functioned like a protein shake, an energy drink and a latte in one.
Convincing customers to try our coffee was challenging in the beginning. For the first year of business, I’d stand behind the cash register every day giving away free drinks and begging customers to ‘just give it a try.’ Although it wasn’t easy, I was able to get many people to approach our menu with an open mind, and many of the customers I helped transition to Picnik’s coffee during that time remain our regulars to this day. Once people would try what we had to offer, we’d often see them every morning. It was inspiring to see how people related to our products and how we were making a palpable difference in the way our customers felt every day.
At the start of 2014, things started to really heat up for Picnik. The awareness and acceptance around high-quality fats shifted (Hello! Butter was on the cover of Time Magazine). As a result, customers began coming to Picnik with enthusiasm and an open mind. Our traffic was so heavy that we eventually opened a new, larger infrastructure on South Lamar in 2016 and, shortly thereafter, a full-service, all-day concept in our first brick and mortar location on Burnet Road in August 2016. All the while, we had been working on how to package our coffee since 2014 because it had become so high in demand. We knew how great it made our customers feel, and we wanted to reach the hands (and mouths) of our customers outside of Austin. Although it took three years of development work, in 2017 we launched our first three ready-to-drink coffees for grocery. Our first production run of our Cappuccino, Dirty Chai and Mocha was in February of 2017. By May, three months later, we were being sold in all Whole Foods Market’s nationwide. Talk about 0-100!
Fast forward to this point, June 2018, we now have four locations. We have two food trucks and one restaurant in Austin, TX, as well as our first coffee and beverage kiosk in Whole Foods Market 365 in Upland, CA. In addition, we have four products being sold nationwide in independent retailers and grocery, with many more products on the way. It’s been an incredible ride, and I know it is just getting started.
As I’ve settled into a conscious-food lifestyle, I’ve continued to refine and identify what works for me. My GI problems have dramatically improved as a result of a relatively consistent healthy lifestyle combined with high doses of Magnesium and Probiotics. I did, however, continue to experience histamine reactions and skin problems, even on a paleo-inspired diet. As a result, I explored several adjustments to my lifestyle over the last few years. When I was in the thick of my healing, I was committed to the GAPS diet, essentially a healing protocol that aligns with the primal lifestyle, but it omits all starches, sugars (besides honey), legumes and some forms of dairy. It is a strict elimination protocol that focuses on bone broth and really transformed my health. As an ex-vegan, however, I sometimes became overwhelmed on GAPS with the quantity of meat I was consuming, so I pivoted and explored a more plant-based healing protocol that focused on high-quantities of fruit as well as eliminated certain inflammatory foods.
After pursuing GAPS and my plant-based, fruit-heavy diet, I ended up feeling strong and stable with my health and I began reacting less and less to food. This stability allowed me some more food-freedom and gave me the opportunity to re-experience eating foods that I had 100% eliminated in the past. As someone who had been gluten-free for over 10 years, I was able to final enjoy croissants, my favorite food, without reaction, as long as I consumed them in moderation. Moderation, however, is the key word. I definitely went off the handle a bit during this time, loving my new food-freedom, and ended up on a glorious grain and gluten-bender, regularly re-exploring a food group that had been abolished for me for so long. Although I am very happy with my progress, I still have to remain diligent and careful. If I eat grains and other starches regularly, I end up with histamine problems, brain fog, weight gain and inflammation.
In the end, I’ve re-settled back into a GAPS and primal inspired diet that focuses on meats, fish, fruits, low starch vegetables, nuts, seeds and full-fat dairy. This is my default ‘zero’ and allows me to stay in a stable place physically, mentally and emotionally. I’m happy in life, work and business, and I love knowing that healing food, for me, is always the answer to a stable and fulfilling life.
All the best,
Naomi Seifter, Picnik
Now For the Giveaway…
WIN A MONTH OF BUTTER COFFEE!
We’ll pick 3 winners to receive:
A one-month supply of butter coffee, which would include the following for three winners:
(1) 6-pack of Cappuccino Butter Coffee
(1) 6-pack of Mocha Butter Coffee
(1) 6-pack of Dirty Chai Butter Coffee
(1) 32 fl oz Butter Coffee Creamer
Just visit the Mark’s Daily Apple Instagram page for more info on how to enter and win!
The post Healing Food, For Me, Is the Answer To a Stable and Fulfilling Life appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
June 21, 2018
How I Supplement For Training…And a Contest
This morning I shared how I’ve changed my approach to stress over the last couple of decades. For me, this meant first addressing the toll of my training. It’s how the Primal Blueprint, in fact, was born. In today’s feature and in this video (with my long-time friend and co-author, Brad Kearns), I talked about how adaptogenic herbs made a difference for my recovery. I formulated my own supplement to literally help myself first. Fellow athlete friends wanted to try it, and that’s how Primal Calm (now called Adaptogenic Calm) came into being. The fact is, like everything I’ve chosen to sell, my interest in the product sprung from my own story.
I’ve always been a student of performance—in my athletic days and now. Whether it’s nutritional intake, training strategies, or supplement choices, this is where science comes to life for me. Over the years, I made this interest work for my fitness performance and now for my optimal health. It’s not about “hacking” the body’s functioning but understanding it from the ground floor up. This knowledge helps me live and age through life on my own terms, which is exactly the way I like it.
Every bit of research, every connection, every choice has done its part to fill in the picture for me—the daily practices and overall philosophy behind the Primal Blueprint.
In the last few years, collagen has been one of the tools that has made the biggest difference in my life. It was instrumental to recovering from an injury that (I was told) would put me on the sidelines indefinitely, and now it supports continuing joint health and mobility as I push myself physically long after many people give up on their bodies period.
A few months ago Brad Kearns and I recorded a conversation about my interest in collagen—how I started applying it to my health, what it offers for fitness performance, and how anyone—athlete or not—can benefit. Take a look.
Now For the Contest…
Ask me a question about my health routines. What would you like to know? What I eat (or don’t eat)? What I do for exercise? My favorite way to relax? What I’m working on now? What my favorite meal is? If it encompasses some aspect of healthy living, it’s fair game. I’ll pick a few to cover in future posts or social media projects—and choose one random winner from all relevant responses.
The Prize: A year’s supply (12 packages each) of two of my favorite training related supplements: Adaptogenic Calm and Collagen Peptides.
Made from all-natural ingredients, Adaptogenic Calm can be used safely by anyone who feels that stress is interfering with his or her productiveness, effectiveness and enjoyment of life. Adaptogenic Calm can produce a noticeable effect in as little as 30 minutes to 2 hours upon ingestion, and this state of calm can last throughout the day.*
Unflavored and easily dissolved in hot or cold liquids, Primal Kitchen® Collagen Peptides support connective tissue and hair, skin and nails. Unflavored to add to morning coffee, meal shakes/smoothies, soups, and baked goods.
The Deadline: June 22, 2018, midnight PDT
Thanks for stopping by today, everyone. It’s almost Friday!
The post How I Supplement For Training…And a Contest appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
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