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Wednesday, February 24, 2016

pqtd #107 Automatic Health and fitness


Automatic health and fitness?  Wouldn’t that be nice, that’s probably your first thought.  I mean, nothing could be that easy, right?
Well, it really is, it’s just a matter of setting up appropriate habits, and then following through for long enough that they just become your life!  And if they are good and healthy, and thus long term enjoyable habits, why then this is a prescription not only for automatic health and fitness, but actually a means to automatic happiness!
I don’t mean that your ideal daily habits will be identical to mine at all, but there will definitely be some similarities, at least in diet and exercise, if you want to maximize health and fitness over your whole lifetime.  So here goes:
I wake up early enough so that I can do what I view to be the most crucial part of my daily habits- this, of course, entails that I always go to bed early enough to get a solid 8 or more hours of good sleep!  So, I wake up refreshed, naturally ready to get up.  I go into a brief “mobility” series of stretches right in the upstairs bathroom first thing, so I wake my body and joints up gradually, taking each limb and set of joints through some simple easy rotations, to get the synovial fluid flowing, and the limbs warmed up.  Also, it just feels great- I am instantly revived for the day, and coupled with some deep breathing I am ready to go!
Downstairs, I start the water boiling for my coffee, and begin making my smoothie as the water heats.  After making 3 cups of coffee in my Aerobie Press (actually it’s espresso, so it’s even smoother and better), I finish making my smoothie as I sip my first cup, which is laced with coconut oil.
Then, carrying my cup into the living room, I start up Netflix usually, and continue on with a program or movie I was watching the morning before.  I do my Perfectly Paleo Exercise routine, which while varying from day to day, always includes virtual resistance exercises, calisthenics, rebounding, and isometrics.  There is always also a segment of floor stretches, capped off by a long set of bridging, that flows the blood into my head while simultaneously stretching out and adjusting my spine.  After about 45 minutes, I’m done, and feeling great, I go to take a shower.
Before, however, I dry brush my skin, from foot to neck, always brushing towards my heart- this feels fantastic, and stimulates the lymph glands, although they’ve already gotten a great workout on the rebounder!
Then, taking a small piece of coconut oil from the dish I keep in the bathroom, I put it in my mouth, and begin “swishing” it, or “oil pulling” which is the proper term- this is undoubtedly the top oral health regimen you can do, since the oil kills all the bacteria it encounters in your mouth!  After I leave the shower, I keep on swishing as I spray Magnesium oil over my body (from Ancient Minerals, the oil if from the Zechstein dead sea far beneath northern europe)- this is a great way to supplement magnesium to your body, in which virtually all modern people are deficient.
Next, I rub coconut oil into my palms, and when melted thoroughly, I rub it over my skin, “anointing” my body as did the ancient Greeks after exercise. (But they used olive oil- you could do that if you prefer!)  Then, I shave with an old double bladed razor- they are still the top razor ever made, cheap and effective!  And, when you use coconut oil as the lubricant, the blades seem to last for months and months, and never, ever rust!
Done?  No, PaleoJay is such a nut, you know he has one more step- I take my little jar of rose hip oil with an eyedropper from the counter, and put just a few drops on my fingers.  I spread it over my face, neck, and any dry areas I might have noticed.  Then, after brushing my long white hair back, I add a little more to my fingertips, and work it through my hair- nothing moisturizes and revitalizes like rose hip oil!  And, one bottle lasts for years…
So, are you getting the idea?  Most of the things I do that will make me extremely fit, healthy, and happy are accomplished in that first one hour of my day- and I try to do that almost each and every day! 
If I miss this regimen, which of course everyone must in emergencies and on occasions when you must be of service to others, I miss it, but it is no big deal at all: the fitness and health are built over time, by habit, an hour each day!
Try to do the same thing with other things important to you in your life.  I meditate for about 15 minutes, and I do it at about the same time each day, so I don’t have to plan for, or even think about it- I just do it, every day!
I like to write, and I do that at about the same time, each day, with an aim of getting at least 1000 words.  It’s my chosen habit, and so I look forward to it!  Same with playing and recording music- I love it, and so I schedule it in the evenings, for about an hour when I have the time. 
Perhaps you like drawing, or photography, or other forms of self-expression?  Go thou and do likewise!  Schedule, and then form habits that you repeat over and over, until they ARE YOU. 
Make it a habit to only purchase healthy, paleo types of foods; don’t even go down the “bad” aisles of the grocery store. Make it a habit to make your own food most days, and make sure it is natural, God and Nature made food; not MAN Made “food like substances” such as margarine, modern altered grains, and GMO fed animals.
We are the sum of our habits.  Make sure yours are positive, habits that help to make a better YOU, and schedule them so that you don’t miss out on the best parts of your life!



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Sunday, February 21, 2016

PJSC podcast #123 Exercise and Health for New Moms

You know, I remember how exhausting it is to have a newborn child, even though it’s been a long time.  I remember vicariously now through my daughter, since now I am a grandfather!  
Those little children take all we have in their early years, especially that first one.  It’s tough to get through, physically and emotionally intact, but it is the most important time in your (and their) young lives!  And so, what to do to remain fit and sane under the stress of sleep deprivation, no time, and lack of exercise?
I think the first thing to understand is to maximize sleep.  I know this is the hardest thing of all to get hold of, but it is also the most crucial- if you don’t get enough sleep, it is WORSE for you than not getting enough exercise and substandard nutrition put together.  I am not kidding here: lack of sleep will make you insulin resistant, primed for fat gain and depression, and put you on the downhill slide faster than anything else.  
When your baby sleeps- you sleep!  Get all that you can, it will help your mood, and if you are happy your baby will only benefit as well.  
And if your baby is asleep and you are awake?  NOW you can fit in a little exercise!  
Rebounders are ideal- just bounce away as your baby snoozes; you will be right there, energized and ready once the little tyke cries his awake signal.  And you can even watch television as you bounce, catching up on the real world news as your lymphatic system is put into overdrive, flushing out the waste products.  Nothing is better for this than rebounding!
Another great “tool” is a kettle bell- they are cheap, they are becoming ubiquitous (Target and Walmart are awash with kettle bells now)- but, they are also incredibly effective for a total body workout.  The only real exercise in my mind for you to do with them is Kettle bell Swings:  Just swing them back between your legs, bending the knees, and then swinging them forwards.  Repeat, 30 - 50 reps is ideal.  Think of it as a total body exercise, that hits everything, but especially the legs, lower back, butt, hips, abs, and upper back- hey, sound good, new moms??

You will ONLY hear this from me, the redoubtable PaleoJay, but isometrics are ideal for new moms, and actually for anyone!  They are the least time sensitive exercise there is, there is no chance of injury, and they have more “bang for the buck” than any other type of exercise!  Here is how to do them:
Standing, gradually flex your calves, then your thighs, your butt, and so on up your body, until you are doing a “most muscular” pose in a bodybuilding contest!  Really- hold that pose for maybe 10 seconds.  
Relax, and then repeat.  3 times is ideal.  This one exercise, done daily, will do more for your total physique, and also your blood pressure and circulatory system than anything else.  And you can do it anywhere, and no one will even know you are doing it if, say, you are gassing up your car, flexing away in front of the pump… If you do it several times daily, you are really accomplishing something great for your body.
Of course, pushups, all sorts of floor stretches, and pull-ups are great.  Just don’t expect too much of yourself, since the baby comes first- you will have more time later to sprint barefoot, and do pushups on your gymnastic rings!

Squeeze in some exercise, you’ll feel SO much better.  SLEEP a LOT!  And, above all, maximize your (and your baby’s) nutrition- cut out GRAINS, vegetable oils, and almost all SUGAR!  
Those are the biggies.  Most of what is the “enemy” in our modern day is self inflicted- 
Low Fat!
High Carb!
Pharmaceutical Drugs!
I know, you’ve been told over and over and over that all of these are great, and you should follow them…

Don’t.  They are all negative, bad, and self serving prescriptions.  

Eat plenty of good, God and Nature made fats, like coconut milk, pastured dairy, pastured meats and eggs!  Get out in the sunshine (no sunscreen chemicals!), just don’t get burned.  Get fresh air on a daily basis, take the little one out in the stroller as much as possible.  Get out in NATURE, let pollen fall on you and your baby, let the peace of the natural world enter into your body and soul.  GARDEN, let your toddler help you in the good, microbiota rich dirt, you will be all the healthier for it.  And, above all?

Stay away from the Medical Clinics and Doctors as much as possible.  

They are great when you are at death’s door…

But worse than useless to regain health.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

PQTD #106 Magnesium Oil is CRUCIAL



I don’t know if you are aware of the importance of magnesium to your health, but I am here to tell you it is crucial.
Why do we need a magnesium, or indeed any kind of a supplement, if we are already eating a natural, God-made foods based paleo type of diet?  This is a reasonable question, and I personally try to keep supplements to a minimum, since getting them from natural sources is infinitely preferable. 
This is why I make a Paleo Smoothie to drink daily, loaded with fresh vegetables of many types, kefir, coconut milk- well, go to Paleo Green Smoothie recipe to see all that I recommend at www.paleojay.com 
The two “supplements” I put into that smoothie are:

1. Liquid vitamin D
2. Cod liver oil

Everything else, from the apple cider vinegar to the kelp, spirulina, and the several spices I put in are all real foods! 
But, the other thing I think you should consider adding in to your regimen is magnesium - and I think the best way to do this is through magnesium oil, applied to the skin!

Paleo is not only what you eat; your whole lifestyle figures in.  This is why what you put on your skin is so important, since the skin absorbs what you put on it directly into your blood stream- think of your skin as another mouth! 
In paleolithic times, the water we drank was loaded with magnesium, not so today with water from municipal treatment plants.  The plants we ate were grown in magnesium rich soil; much of our crops today are grown in soils pretty much depleted of magnesium, and other nutrients as well.  And so, you might need to eat twice as much green leafy veggies to get as much magnesium as our ancestors got from a much smaller amount.
Oral magnesium can cause diarrhea, which may be desired if you are constipated; but, if you are paleo for a reasonable length of time, this will not be a problem.  And so, for most paleo folks, I recommend Magnesium Oil, either in a spray bottle or a lotion.  You just spray or rub in onto most of your body, and those ancient minerals (magnesium oil is obtained from the Zechstein Dead Sea, far underground in Europe), and the magnesium will go right into your bloodstream with no stomach upset.
The thing about magnesium is that it is really important not only for bone and our physical health overall- it’s mental benefits are huge!  Magnesium is used in treating depression, anxiety, and even bi-polar mental illness to great effect; in addition, it is more helpful in making people sleep easily than melatonin.  Also, magnesium soothes sore muscles, and many have reported vast improvement in joint pain using it.
So, get yourself a spray bottle!  Ancient Minerals is the premium brand, and for less than $20 you can have an 8 ounce bottle that will last quite a while of daily body coating spraying.  But, I have seen it advertised at Walmart and Walgreens for about 1/2 that, and the ingredients are about the same, straight from the Zechstein sea. 
But, just get some, and add it to your daily routine.  I am big on routine; doing the same thing daily leaves you free to not have to remember things, you “just do it”, and benefit greatly over time.  So exercise daily, at the same time- and drink your smoothie daily.  When you shower, dry off and spray magnesium oil over your body; then rub a small amount of coconut oil over that to moisturize!

Now, you don’t even need to worry about magnesium anymore- you know it’s taken care of!

Check out this episode!

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

PQTD podcast #105 Best Paleo Breakfast EVER- Paleo Pancakes!


I think you will be amazed, astounded, and as delighted with this upcoming recipe as I was!

I was down at the family cabin, deep in a coulee in southwestern Wisconsin, taking care of some damage there this winter- you see, a tree fell on the roof, smashing the skylight and scattering safety glass pellets all throughout the inside.  And so, what was to be a day trip to the cabin to check on it turned into a 3 day ordeal, arranging for all the insurance claims adjuster, carpenter, & furnace repairman (that was acting up as well) to take care of things…

Oh, did I mention that my brother’s place, which is next door, had had a furnace breakdown and most of the pipes had burst?

So, I had that as well!  I’m not complaining, since of course now it is all done with for the most part.  (I’m just really, really glad I had brought my sleeping bag down with me “just in case”).  When traveling in the dead of winter here in the northland, a sleeping bag in the car is always a wise precaution!

I felt the need for substantial nourishment at one point, and remembered an old recipe I had tried many, many (pre-paleo) years ago- cottage cheese pancakes!  That recipe had been a paleolithic nightmare, looking back, using wheat germ, egg whites, whole wheat flour- I don’t really remember all of it, but I do remember that they tasted amazing!  Could I find a way to duplicate the taste and texture, and make them Perfectly Paleo Pancakes!!??

I looked online on my iPhone; (I don’t want to take credit for something I did not create), and there it was- cottage cheese pancakes.  Our cabin is deep in small town, rural Wisconsin, and fancy ingredients are NOT available, although really good eggs, cheese, and butter are everywhere. 

This recipe only uses three ingredients! 
1/3 cup rolled oats (Don’t use instant!)  Quaker is fine, and everywhere.
1/3 cup cottage cheese (Full fat for the Paleo version, of course!)
3 eggs  (don’t even think about just egg whites!!)  Pastured Please!

Blend ‘em up in a blender, no Vitamix needed, for maybe 10 seconds.  Or, if no blender, just stir or whisk them well, until liquid.

Pour onto a griddle (I used our big cast iron pan), after you’ve buttered it really well.  That’s it!!

You will be rewarded with the fluffiest, lightest, most golden and delicious pancakes you have ever had-

And they will be the healthiest pancakes, if not
one of the healthiest FOODS
on this Paleo Planet!!

Lots of variations are possible, depending on what you have on hand-

Throw a handful of walnuts in the mix, or berries, or dark chocolate pieces, or banana slices.
Top with whipped cream and maple syrup, or do as I did and top with apple sauce!
Use ricotta cheese and coconut flour for a much lighter, nuanced version, with cinnamon and raw honey

The versions are endless!  And the best part?  You don’t even have to fry up eggs to go with the pancakes, since they are already there!

If you have a Paleo Smoothie, red or green, to go along with your Paleo Pancakes, you won’t be hungry again until supper!  I wasn’t…

I'm ending up with an instrumental I performed last year I called "Winter Day".  I feel it is appropriate!

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Sunday, February 7, 2016

PJSC podcast #122 Soups or Juicing? The urban apacolypse!

 The current craze in urban circles is with “soups versus juicing”.  I know, because I had a good friend send me an article from the NY Times, a publication for which I generally have scant respect, but I know how highly regarded it is in elite circles.  I believe this unjustified regard is a holdover from the days when it was a wonderful publication, representing the best of a great city, the New York of 1940 and before.
Those days are long, long gone, regrettably!  New York and other major American cities have largely become “snake pits” of extreme liberal dogma, with rampant crime and opinions based nowhere in reality- I liken it to the decadent ideas of ancient Rome shortly before the fall, or the court of France under Louis the 14, just before the French revolution.  Imperial, top-down government given full sway, incredibly corrupt, and with no real concern about the people they were supposed to serve…
We know what happened there, and we know what will happen now- the fall of modern top down government is long overdue, and inevitable.  I hope you protect yourself, and move to a more rural area, just as they did in ancient Rome before the fall; at least those who could.
The catalyst to this was an article about how people in NYC are switching to soups from green smoothies, since the smoothies have too much fruit and thus sugar, and soups do not.  This is actually a great idea, overall, since most juices DO tend to have too much fruit, which all too many folks consider super healthy- but, I’m here to say, too much fruit is just too much sugar.  Fruit should always be kept at the minimum in smoothies; primarily berries and citrus.  Bananas are too high for most insulin resistant modern people to handle, as are large quantities of most other fruits.
If you use BEETS for flavoring, not only won’t you have a green smoothie, (which kids find unappealing), you will have a red smoothie!  And if you use red berries like raspberries and strawberries, even more so!
Beets and carrots are both sweet, so use them in lieu of fruits for a tasty smoothie.  (Although, I hear some folks can’t abide the taste of beets- why then, just use carrots and berries, but I pity you!).

My main point here, I believe, is to tell you to not “throw the baby out with the bath water”!  Green (and RED) smoothies are just as good as they ever were!  Don’t let the trendy be the enemy of the good.  Don’t abandon the wonderful nutrition of smoothies, just because the NY Times says “soups are more trendy”!
Avail yourself of BOTH.  Homemade, bone broth based soups are wonderful, health transforming foods, no doubt about it!  They have been largely abandoned by “modern” cooks, in favor of canned products, with nowhere near the nutrition of long simmered crockpots full of bones, collagen, vegetables and meat.
Go ye back in time Pilgrim, and revive the ancient art of soups made from bone broth- so I have been preaching for a long while!
But, while you are back in the PAST; do NOT forget the wonders of the modern age, which includes blenders like the Vitamix, blenders that can pulverize and render unto you the total nutrition of the humble green vegetable, and the berry, and mix it together with all of the ingredients of the Paleo Smoothie, green OR red, that make it the most magical nutrition source since the fountain of youth.
Use them both.  Soups are the best of the OLD WORLD.  Smoothies are the best of the NEW.

Don’t abandon the gun for the sword, or vice versa- both are valuable!




Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Paleo Quick tip of the Day #104 Big Band Bunyan


For his whole life, my father Big Band Bob, has loved to spend time outdoors!  He started out at Wolf acres, when he got out of the service, helping his sister Emma and her husband Ben to work on their wooded acres.  They cleaned up scrub trees for the big campfire pit they had built of mortared stone, planted new stands of pine that now are a beautiful forest that we all enjoy, and just stacked, moved, cut, and burned wood!
Nowadays, I do the same- my acreage on Cowbell lane seems to constantly need a tree removed, cut up, and then I need to stack the wood.  I have a wood furnace in the cellar, and I transport the wood with my  trailer behind my tractor, and then throw it down through a cellar window for burning.  It’s definitely hard physical work, but it is very satisfying, and real work, which is something most modern people don’t do anymore, to their detriment!  We all require hard physical labor to fulfill and enrich our lives, both for the health of our bodies and our minds.

I got this from my dad.  When he started working with wood, he was cutting large trees and logs, cutting, splitting, stacking, and moving.  Over the years, he has continued to do the same; the only difference is in the size of the wood.  

I went to visit him on his 95th birthday, in fact we were all there!  It was a nice party, outdoors in the big yard I remember so well, and he showed my his wood pile: where in the past it was large logs, and split logs, with a little small sticks for kindling, now it has shrunk.  

He still spends hours picking up wood from around his yard and it’s many trees, but now he 
picks up small sticks pretty much exclusively.  He had paper bags, each meticulously filled with little twigs.  These bags were stacked sideways, neatly and tidily as Big Band likes to keep everything; and the bags reached to the height of the garage!

He can take a couple of bags, put them into his fireplace or campfire pit, and he has an instant fire!  After a bit, he adds a bigger log, and he’s all set; but usually, he is out to gather more to replace the bags he burnt.  I am convinced he loves the gathering as much, or more than the burning.  

This is what I mean about real work; the physical demands, geared of course to his age, has kept him fit and flexible well into his nineties, when most folks younger than him and my mom are in nursing homes.  ‘The stairs are healthy, Mary!” is one of his favorite sayings, as he and my mother scamper upstairs to their bedroom of many, many years, even though they have a bedroom downstairs if they preferred to use that!


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