PQTD #116 podcast- Be Creative!

This might seem like a rather strange subject for a Paleo Quick Tip of the Day, but nevertheless, it is a crucial topic.  To be a balanced paleolithic or ancestral type of person, creating things is a big part of being successful.  Men and women are born with a need to explore and develop their talents, to nurture them along and create; if you don’t do so, you are setting yourself up for unhappiness. 

If you have never seen the magnificent cave paintings of cave dwellers, you should take a look online!  The elaborate, detailed paintings of animals of that era are so well done, so lovingly crafted, as to almost look real.  Think of the effort expended in doing this artistic labor, and realize that these paleolithic people had a compulsion to create, just as we do. 

All through history, from Egypt and the pyramids through ancient Greece and Rome, beautiful statues and paintings were produced constantly.  Surely their music was wonderful as well, although we have never actually heard it ourselves, they enjoyed it very much!  Clothing, tools, weapons- everything had to be created, and the very act of creation was a big part of the experience of being human.

Only in the modern era have people even had the option to not create!  There are those who work, and then just want to be entertained.  Television, mindless computer games, whatever.  This is the path to unhappiness, and ultimately not being fulfilled.  We all need to create, things that we love to do that fulfill us and our lives. 

You don’t need to be a professional, in fact you will probably love something even more if you don’t rely on it for your living.  Making music and writing are two of my creative endeavors, but so is exercise, lawn and garden care, woodcutting, and old vehicles.  You can choose your favorites, whether woodworking, knitting, drawing and painting- the list goes on and on. 

Through exercise and a proper paleo diet, you can literally create a better body.  Reading is wonderful to explore different worlds and learning, but be careful not to overdo it- too much reading can interfere with your own creative endeavors!  I fell into this trap early on- it’s like exercising too much- it can turn a positive endeavor into a harmful one.  Always put your own creative efforts first. 

You don’t necessarily have to spend lots of time at any one thing.  When I write, I usually set a time limit of about an hour and a half.  Same with making music, and sometimes the actual time is much less.  Once you are in the habit of creating on a regular basis, you really miss it!  Although sometimes it is hard to sit down and write, or to go into the basement and start work on my gymnastic rings, or pick up the guitar- once I get going, I usually don’t want to stop!  (But I do, because I know I will do all of these things again tomorrow).

So go thou and do likewise.  Choose a creative endeavor, a hobby if you will.  Choose more than one- paleo people were multi-talented folks, they had to be to survive.  Pour yourself into it, enjoy the effort.  You are now exerting yourself not just in creating something, you are making yourself fully human!

“Creativity is intelligence having fun”  Albert Einstein

New CD coming out- PALEOJAY PLAYS ON!

Check out this episode!

JP Sears on How to Become Gluten Intolerant! Quite funny!

I thought you might like this video- it had me laughing!  I think I may need a headband with a flower on it for when I am feeling particularly spiritual...

PJSC #127 podcast Live in the Moment

A lot of us tend to be type A’s, paleo people are not immune to this!  And, it’s not all bad; I mean we type A’s are driven to achieve, and this can be quite useful.  I can’t even imagine not wanting to exercise, but then I have done so daily for more years than I would care to count.
As for eating a proper, healthful, paleo type of diet- it is a desire to achieve that gives us the impetus to start living that goal of a really good diet.  And so it goes- by being driven in some sense, we accomplish very useful and important things in life.  But, it is easy to become a slave to achieving, just as it is easy to become a slave to sloth and idleness: once you start as a welfare person, either through a trust fund of else the government, the idea of actually working at anything seems utterly impossible to even start.
You have to learn to live in the moment.  Every minute of every day is not meant to be spent in “busy-ness”, an endless spinning of our wheels.  The really important times of life, the times that you will always cherish in memory, are those moments when you are literally in the moment, totally immersed in your life as it happens.  Often, this state comes to us easiest when we appear to be doing nothing: just relaxing with family and friends, sitting around a campfire or on our front porch, or just walking through the woods.  These moments are what really make up our lives!
Sure, when we are working really hard at something, whether it is doing a hard set of pull-ups, or sprinting barefoot across a grassy field in sets, we are very satisfied when we are done.  We have really accomplished something!  Our bodies are flooded with endorphins, are muscles are strengthened, body fat burned.  Great!
But, the real enjoyment of living comes afterwards, when we are totally relaxed, showered, and maybe heading outside to fire up the grill for some grass fed steak and baked sweet potato.  When we go for a slow saunter down the road with our dog and spouse in the evening, and we are just being there, in the moment.
It’s really not when we save up for a big vacation, go on a cruise, or buy that new car.  Those are fine, and can be worthy goals, depending on what you like, but it just is not the real stuff of life!   Life is simple.  Life is just being, enjoying the ability to move, to laugh, to feel the sun on our skin and cold water on our tongue.  And, life is all about people and relationships, family, friends, fellow church members and neighborhood folks- your tribe, if you will.
So go out and achieve!  Accomplish goals, big and small, write that novel, paint that picture.  Change the oil in your truck, mow your yard.  Work out, and eat a wonderful, clean, paleo diet, without junk food!  But remember that, at the end of the day, it is simply in living your life, and savoring it by being in the moment.  As Marcus Aurelius said long, long ago:

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

pqtd #115 Paleo Time Machine!

Recently, I built a time machine!  It was amazing, that first time I fired it up- the rainbows of lights that surrounded me in my little contraption as I spun away through time, into the past.  The walls of my machine were vibrating rapidly, and a strange music of deep, resonant chords seemed to go right through me- and then, with a thud, I landed.

I had gone into the past, as planned.  I looked out upon a scene at once strange and familiar: in front of me was a typical street in an American town, but it was subtly different from what it had been in my time.  I could see a glass telephone booth around the corner, for I had fortuitously landed in an alley between two large brick buildings. 

Leaving my machine, I covered it with large sheets of plywood that were strewn through the alley, disguising it.  Then I walked up to the telephone booth in the street ahead. 

Old, antique-looking street lamps flickered on overhead, as it was early evening.  A man was talking on the telephone in the booth, wearing a wide-lapeled suit, a felt hat, and smoking a cigarette.  “I’ll tell ya’, Harry,” he said, “the doc says my ticker ain’t so hot!”  He had a loud, aggressive voice.

To the side of the booth was walking an attractive middle-aged woman, with a long dress, a big slouch hat, and a cigarette in a long holder.  She was walking a small dog. 

I felt woefully underdressed, for in 1945 no one would dress like someone from 2016 unless he was a beggar.  A t-shirt and blue jeans, along with sneakers was completely inappropriate for a grown man!  ‘I should have anticipated this’, I thought.  I decided to kind of lurk in the shadows, so as to not draw attention.

More people came by, most walking, some in the big flashy sedans of that era.  And almost all of those folks were smoking cigarettes!  I wanted to walk up to them, and warn them about the dangers of smoking, but I knew what would happen- they would be angered, and think I was insane, especially since I had no qualifications and was dressed so poorly.  Anyone who did notice me looked at me either with faint contempt, or else pity at my forlorn appearance, dressed as a bum.

On the wall to my right, just up the street, was a large advertisement in the form of a sign:

More Doctors Recommend MARLBORO Cigarettes than Any Other!!

There was a picture of a smiling Medical Doctor, wearing one of those big shiny metal head mirrors and a stethoscope.  In his mouth was a cigarette, smoke lazily drifting up as he looked down the throat of a patient!

I knew it was hopeless; no one would listen to me warn of health dangers well known in the future.  They all just believed the common paradigm of the time, which was that cigarettes were fine and dandy, and nothing would shake that conviction!

I went back down the alley, and went back to 2016.

In 2016, I continued with my blog and podcast, warning people about the extreme dangers of glyphosate, or Roundup in destroying the health of their micro biome!  I continually talked about gluten and gliadin, two of the most pernicious allergens in modern wheat, and how they could destroy your health by making the very walls of your intestine leaky, subjecting you to all sorts of anti immune diseases.  I talked about the dangers of high fructose corn syrup, and the horrors of the rancid margarines and other industrial seed oils that most were eating. 

Then, walking out on the street, I saw a man walking along, eating a Big Mac.  He had a giant soft drink in his hand, as big as his head, and his belly bulged beneath his shirt.  A woman on the other side of the street had stopped at a soft pretzel stand, and had bought an extra large pretzel, topped with sugar sprinkles.  She ate it with big bites, as if starving; one look at her and you could certainly see that she wasn’t!

On the wall was a sign:

BARIATRIC SURGERY!

THE ANSWER TO YOUR PROBLEMS!

Beneath was the photo of a very slim woman, smiling widely.  “My weight melted away, as did my diabetes!”  The name of a prominent medical clinic followed, along with a telephone number.

I realized that although I knew what advice I should give in this era as well, almost no one wanted to listen!  If the woman on the sign would have just stopped eating wheat, most sugars and started eating a good paleo diet, coupled with ample sleep and perfectly paleo types of exercise, out in nature, she would have achieved the same results without going through a dangerous and expensive surgery!  She would have improved her gut microbes as well, and thus improved her mood and her total health at the same time. 

I got back into my time machine, and went into the future.  When I stopped the machine, people walked by me on the green paths that served as sidewalks in this time.  They were all slim, healthy people, brimming with vitality and energy.  Most were barefoot, and looked at my sneakers with surprise and disgust.  None were eating as they walked.

Swift hovercraft skimmed by, noiselessly, the passenger standing atop them casually, looking about as they drove themselves.  There was a sign, lit up in the air in letters of light:

GUT REJUVENATION!

Eat Real Foods, and Regain Your Health

Perfectly Paleo Exercise for a Perfect YOU!

YOU are Your OWN Doctor- U.S. Department of Health

Beneath these words was a picture of the bust of Hippocrates, the founder of Western medicine.  And inside of a speech bubble coming from his lips, was this dialogue: “All things related to true, natural health such as probiotics, supplements, exercise equipment, and good natural foods are totally TAX DEDUCTIBLE!” 

I went home, feeling really good about the future.  And did you know, you can have that future NOW? 

Check out this episode!

PQTD #114 Paleo Skin Care

One of the most ignored facets of paleo living and even nutrition is our skin!  Not only is our skin the largest organ of our body by far, it is also a great indicator of whether or not we are healthy on the inside of our bodies.

Most of us have abused our skin for decades: putting all sorts of lotions, creams, petroleum-based oils and dyes on it in the forms of soap and shampoo, dishwashing liquid and other artificial chemicals such as makeup in the case of women.  Did you know that all of these chemicals pass right through your skin into your body?  Well, they do, and they are all toxins that your body has to deal with as chemical invaders. 

Check out your labels; not just for your skin, but for household cleaning products as well.  These products, besides being expensive, are very toxic to your body, and to your precious gut micro biome!  You can have a perfect paleo type of diet, and undermine all of your efforts by allowing these products to touch your body, or even to be inhaled.

What should you do?  First, the only moisturizer you should use is coconut oil!  It is amazing, inexpensive, and really does a wonderful job of moisturizing and protecting your skin.  In addition, it enters your body right through your skin, and into your bloodstream, just as, say, Sodium Laurel Sulphate does (a really toxic ingredient in almost all commercial soaps that is a petroleum based industrial strength degreaser)- avoid SLS!  But the coconut oil does wonderful things when it enters your body, as a precious medium chain triglyceride it is incredibly healthy for you.  So there is your moisturizer.

Shampoo?  Get a good one like Dr. Bronner’s, which is just real, olive oil based soap with actual real fragrances and essences - no chemicals.  Trader Joe’s has a couple of good ones as well. 

You probably have already experienced great improvements in your skin and hair health is you have had a paleo diet and lifestyle for any length of time- a diet of real natural foods, without grains and industrial seed oils gives your body all it needs to create glowing skin and shining hair.  And now, substituting real, natural substances for chemical ones will keep those chemical products from ruining your paleolithic results!

Toothpaste?  First of all, make sure it has no fluoride- fluoride is basically a neurotoxin, and actually harmful to the teeth and bones over the long term.  Get it out of your water if you possibly can, too!  There are some good natural toothpastes- Earthpaste is one that I know of, but I prefer brushing with a mix of baking soda and Himalayan Sea Salt.  And, when showering, “oil pull”, this is when you swish coconut oil around in your mouth, and ultimately spit it out, after it has killed and absorbed all the “bad bacteria” in your mouth and around your teeth.

And for the ultimate total body supplement, that is quite cheap, wonderfully effective, and really makes you feel more relaxed, glowing, and healthy than any other one thing?  Perfectly Paleo Exercise is one, outdoors in Nature, but this one is ideal as a supplement- take a long bath, in hot water, with epsom salts!

I am not kidding with this last!  Epsom salts are just pure magnum sulphate. Virtually all of us in modern times are very deficient in magnesium, since it has been “farmed out” of our soil by and large.  Magnesium is crucial for every function in the body, and is wonderful for freeing us from anxiety, depression, nervousness- well, here is a direct quote:

Magnesium is an essential mineral for staying healthy and is required for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. Multiple health benefits of magnesium include transmission of nerve impulses, body temperature regulation, detoxification, energy production, and the formation of healthy bones and teeth.

And in laymen’s terms?  It just feels really, really good and relaxing!  The magnesium flows directly into your bloodstream as you relax in the tub, finally getting all of this vital nutrient that it needs.  Just try it, and watch skin problems, sore joints and muscles, dry skin, and even cuts and scrapes almost magically improve and start to heal, instantly.

Lastly, for cleaning your counters, tub and sinks- ditch the chemicals!  Use white vinegar in a spray bottle for all cleaning- you will be amazed at how effective it is, and also it is totally non-toxic.  Heavier duty cleaning on your sink?  Baking soda along with vinegar!  And really heavy duty cleaning, totally non-toxic??  Washing Soda is pure sodium carbonate, a natural mineral, and can scrub away anything safely.  Wash clothes, scrub toilets- Pure Washing Soda is your heavy duty natural cleanser.

Done cleaning?  Relax, and take a bath in epsom salts!

Check out this episode!

pqtd podcast #113 Paleo is a Great Starting Point

Chris Kresser

Now that is a quote from Chris Kresser, who is a good one to be quoting from!  Chris is one of the leading voices in nutrition and wellness today, and in fact when I look up something technical, more times than not I type into google “Chris Kresser on- whatever it is!”  He is that good, so check him out at www.chriskresser.com  You can always find something valuable.  Oh, and he has a podcast too!

The reason I like that quote so much is that it is so simple, and the very best advice usually is succinct, direct and simple.  Something we can latch onto immediately, and adopt into our lives. (And Health!) 

This about it: we all know what paleo eating, and living entails.  No bread or wheat products, almost no grains, real natural foods in minimally processed forms, pastured meats and dairy, some fruits, and loads and loads of vegetables!  A good night’s sleep each and every night, getting out into nature as often as possible, and good family and friends (tribal) relationships.  Some form of regular physical exercise, and a minimizing of stress in our lives.

Now, there can be infinite small variations of this formula.  Perhaps you can’t tolerate dairy, or maybe just some kinds of dairy.  Some folks can handle hard cheeses, but not soft ones.  Or Ghee, but not butter.  Perhaps you have trouble with fruit if you eat too much of it for you- lots of fruit can make you insulin resistant just like candy can.

Fermented foods can help our gut microbiome dramatically, as can probiotics and probiotics in the form of potato starch, plantains or apple cider vinegar.  Some can’t abide yogurt, or kefir.  Some of us are respond better to endurance based exercise, since they have more slow twitch muscle fibers, and vice versa.

But the takeaway point is just this: Paleo is a Great Starting Point!  Just get started, outlining what you need to change in your life to make both your life and your health better.  A step at a time is fine, you don’t need to jump in and do everything at once, perfectly.  Just get started with the basics. 

Stop eating processed foods, don’t go to fast food places.  Give up bread and cereal and pasta!  Just those things will get you about halfway there to Paleo good health!  Start making yourself a Paleo Smoothie to drink each and every day.  One canister full in my Vitamix, poured into Ball canning jars and put in my fridge can last me 3 or 4 days.  (Recipe is in the fabulous paperback or eBook version of PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe) or at www.paleojay.com

The final point to remember is that Paleo is a journey, not a destination.  Like our lives are, actually.  When I started this Paleo journey, I followed Loren Cordain’s advice to the letter- no potatoes, no dairy, in addition to the standard no wheat advice.  I immediately felt better!  In fact, my headaches and occasional upset stomach disappeared forever, immediately.  I became lean and defined, and would never go back.

But, since then, I have added in some potatoes, I learned about probiotics, I found that good, natural pastured dairy was great for me… the list goes on. I discover a new “wrinkle” in either optimizing my diet, my sleep, my skin health (dry brushing is something I have added in that I love!), or something new in exercise.  You be the same.  Just start with Paleo, and keep going, slow and steady. The goal is not to win a big race or contest, or to look fabulous in a certain dress or outfit.  The goal is to gradually make your life, strength and health better and better- your whole life long!

Check out this episode!

pjsc # 126 Forest Exercise

Hiking with poles.  Doesn’t sound too earth shaking, does it?  But, as you know if you are a regular visitor to www.paleojay.com or listener to either PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe or Paleo Quick Tip of the Day,  I pretty much go into my woods for a hike every afternoon.  Usually I take my “heavy hands” with me, meaning I pump small dumb bells in my arms as I go.  Believe me, if you have never tried this method of working out (which I combine with “forest bathing” by getting out into nature as I go) you really should!  It works your entire body, rather than just your legs, since as you pump your arms in curls, or side lateral raises you are engaging the upper half of your body at least as hard as the lower half.
I really like to mimic cross country skiing with the dumb bells (usually 8 lbs in each hand), swinging the weights from high to the back as if I was poling myself on my skis.  (It’s actually more taxing than skiing, and thus more productive exercise-wise).  I do duck walks with the weights to really hit the quads, and other moves that I have made up over time.  Try it!  If you can find the book Heavy Hands by Leonard Schwartz, get it- he pioneered this form of exercise back in the 1980’s, and he explains it eloquently.
But, back to hiking with poles!  I have a slight shoulder injury I sustained while cutting and moving wood, and so I have been substituting hiking with ski poles.  I really lean into the upper body, and so the upper body gets a fantastic workout as I walk, just as it does with the heavy hand weights. But it is easier on the shoulder joint right now for me with the poles.
Also, we have had snow the past couple of days (hurrah Wisconsin!), and my hilly land is quite slippery with a little snow- the poles keep you upright easily, and spread the load over four limbs (like a cat) rather than just two.
I was out this past summer in Montana, in the wonderful Glacier National Park.  I recommend you visit it at some point, it is spectacular!  Anyway, there are a number of employees of the park that monitor wildlife, and watch for forest fires.  They spend their days wandering the huge park, through the woods and up steep mountainsides.  They all hike with ski poles, and look to be very fit indeed!  They get the adjustable kind, that collapse really small when they want to get on the bus that takes them back down, or back up again.
I have poles like that, and they are handy as can be.  In fact, I don’t like to hike without them!
So there you go.  A simple little trick that will double your hiking ability instantly, and also double it’s effectiveness as exercise!  But above all, just get out into nature, however you enjoy it.  We are creatures of nature, even though we tend to forget it, and if we separate ourselves from the natural world we are pretty much locking ourselves into man-made cages.  Let yourself out on a daily basis, for at least a little while- your body and mind will thank you.