It is a common myth that eating animal fats will make you fat and cause heart disease. It’s simply not true and it isn’t that simple to explain the causes behind diseases like atherosclerosis. Your body needs cholesterol to survive and be healthy. The cholesterol we eat has little to do with the cholesterol we measure [...]
Archive | Food & Drink
RSS feed for this sectionMaybe Salt Isn’t So Bad After All?
Even since I switched to an unprocessed foodstyle (about 2 years ago), I have become more and more excited about cooking. I can’t stand bland food, so I use herbs and spices like crazy! There is nothing wrong with using spices to prepare your food! Not sure why people believe that eating healthy sometimes means [...]
Pumpkin Oatless “Oatmeal” Recipe
A tribute to our Fall weather (finally), I made pumpkin oatmeal this morning. The “oatless” variety. Here is the recipe. Makes enough for 2. Ingredients: 1/2 cup chopped pecans 3 TB ground flaxseed (adds some texture too) 2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/2 can pure organic pumpkin 4 whole eggs 1 cup coconut [...]
Primal Carrot Halwa Recipe
If you love the Indian dessert dish carrot halwa, but have been missing it to avoid dairy, then try this recipe. It is delicious! Ingredients: 6 cups shredded carrots 3/4 cup water 2 cans whole coconut milk 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp crushed cardamon 3 TB raw honey 3 TB coconut manna Garnish of slivered [...]
Your Choice: One Fast Food Meal or a Full Day of Meals, Snacks, and Treats?
For fun and science, I tracked my daily intake yesterday for my entire day of meals, snacks, and treats. I was quite surprised at the total calories and discovered that I really should be taking in about 1000 more calories. I already feel like I’m eating a ton of food every day. I eat steak, chicken breasts, lots of veggies, some fruit, snacks, and even have a small treat every night.
I now know that a single large-sized meal at McDonald’s is pretty close to my daily intake. So, I created this chart just to visualize the crazy comparison.
Banana and Chocolate – A Delicious and Decadent, yet Healthy Treat
I made a chocolate banana snack today that tastes like you’re having a decadent treat, but it is all-natural and sugar-free. Here is the rough recipe
Paleo Shopping and Meal Planning
Meal planning is very helpful when you’re Paleo. Otherwise, it is too easy to get into a rut with the same old food or fall off the Paleo wagon when you’re pinched for time (I’ll just eat a bowl of cereal this one time). You should also plan to cook more than you need for a given meal, so that you have easy leftovers for lunch during the week. I’m not sure what it is about lunch, but it seems to be the most challenging meal. A lot of Paleo followers cook up big batches of food on the weekends when they have more time. I remember grilling something like 10 chicken breasts one Sunday. It was nice to just pull a pre-grilled chicken breast out of the fridge during the week for a quick meal.
Getting fit isn’t rocket science. But it isn’t “easy” either.
I was reading a good post today that inspired me to say a few words on the subject of fitness and weight loss. I am continually amazed at all of the misconceptions, misinformation, and old-fashioned BS advice that keeps floating around regarding how to lose weight, get fit, and be healthy. There is no magic pill or drink, there is no magical exercise, there is no way to lose weight and be fit while continuing to eat crappy food. Sorry, if you’ve been told that and you believe it, you’ve been lied to (again) and you’re fooling yourself.
On the flip side, if you are already eating healthy, but you refuse to get serious about exercise, you won’t really be fit and healthy either. You may look “skinny”, but you won’t be strong or healthy. And I promise you that your body will eventually pay the price.
Like I said, it isn’t rocket science. If you sat down and had a really deep session of thinking about how our bodies work, why they work the way they do, and were completely honest with yourself; you would come to the same conclusion. To be an optimal physical organism (i.e., fit and healthy), you have to fuel your body with the real food it was built to run on and you need to use that body the way it was meant to be used.
I sometimes use the sports car analogy. If you take the most amazing sports car and put crappy fuel in it, it will run poorly and eventually break down. If you put great fuel in the sports car but you leave it parked in the garage and never drive it, it will eventually break down as well.
Practical Paleo & Primal – How to Sustainably Eat Better to Look & Feel Better
If you follow my blog, you know that I competed in a Paleo Challenge back in January 2011 with the rest of my CrossFit box. I was pretty darn strict with myself: No sugars of any sort (even honey), no grains at all, and no dairy products of any sort. I was very happy with the results. I lost body fat, gained muscle, have more energy, enjoy clear skin, have no more stomach troubles, and just generally feel great when I eat Paleo. It is pretty amazing. My body definitely became leaner and my muscle definition increased considerably. I even got my six pack back! And my strength kept up pretty well, so I continued to see gains in my weightlifting and improvements in my CrossFit WODs. But, the biggest benefit is how I feel. I always knew that I had issues with dairy and had reduced it considerably in my diet. But now I know that I also have issues with wheat. When I finished the challenge, I had some celebration meals that weekend that included grains and dairy. Ouch. I felt lousy for 2-3 days after that. So, I’m staying Paleo and for the best reason of all: I simply feel great when I eat Paleo and avoid grains, dairy, and sugars. It’s pretty easy to avoid those foods now and I don’t feel like I’m denying myself anything. Because it doesn’t matter how good something tastes, if you feel lousy afterwards.
Numbers Don’t Lie – Focus on Performance. Not the Mirror or the Scale
I can’t tell you how many times I hear or read; “I want his/her body!” or “How do I get that body?”. The focus is entirely on their physical appearance and they just want to hear how to achieve that “look“. Well, I have a shocking revelation for you. You don’t get that body by focusing on how you look or how much you weigh. That body is the byproduct of focusing on something else entirely: Your Performance. Take a look at the people below and tell me what they all have in common.
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