Just do it- try everything Paleo!

I’m sorry to be so corny about my subject this week, but lately I’ve come to think that this kind of sums up the whole “life” thing.  I mean, it is so wonderful to have the knowledge and ability to control our own health!  It would have been inconceivable just a few years ago when we all thought that the government and medical clinics knew it all, and if we just relied on them, as we relied on mechanics to keep our cars going, we would be healthy and happy forever!  For a price.

And now, we have the Paleo diet and lifestyle, with all the research and the incredible wealth of scientific papers and books that back up the amazing effectiveness of just cleaning up our diets, as opposed to medicating ourselves to death.  The power really is within us to regain and enhance our health and fitness.  Not in the hands of far-off doctors and clinics and government agencies that will “save us”!

And so, all should be well and good- we know what to eat: real foods, pastured and natural meats and eggs, vegetables and fruits free of chemical pesticides, grass fed dairy, coconut oil and some sweet and white potatoes.

And we know what not to eat: grains, especially wheat rye and barley, anything GMO, processed and “low fat” foods of any type, fast food and especially SUGAR.

And then, there are all the incredibly intuitive things that our great grandparents knew and we are just now rediscovering to be crucial:

1.Good Family and “tribal” relationships between friends and family
2.Solid sleep each night, at least 8 hours, in a totally dark room
3.Daily or near daily contact with Nature, immersed in a forest, or at least spending time in a park
4.Physical exercise on a regular, every day basis, including some form of strength and resistance training, lots of ground based sitting, squatting,  and stretching.
5.Regular quiet moments of reflection and inwardness, either through religion and prayer, and/or via meditation.

Of course, clean air and water are also crucial, but we all have to do there just the best that we can.  For me, these two things alone are worth relocating to a more rural environment, but not everyone has that option.  Just do the best you can, and try not to live in or near a really large, polluted city.  But, if you can’t fix this, don’t worry about it for now.  Just concentrate on the five points I just listed.

I really think those are the BIG BULLET POINTS OF PALEO!  There are lots of refinements and tweaks that can be explored, and I do that here on a weekly basis, and in my own life.  You should too!  Make “being healthy” one of your hobbies.

BUT, those five points, along with the guidance of what to eat, and not to eat- that is the key!

Why do so many either not start changing their lives to comply with these simple guidelines, or else do it for awhile, maybe a month or longer, and then stop and go back to their SAD American diet days?  Reversing all the undeniable good they did for themselves and their health?

Why do they decide to give up, and go back to eating cheese doodles and all the other sugary crap, and get back on the highway to headaches, heart attacks, autoimmune disease and body destroying pharmaceutical drugs along with endless surgeries??  Is eating fast food really worth that!!??

Looked at logically, of course it isn’t.  But, unfortunately, most Paleo adopters do “fall off the wagon”, with some hardly even getting on, or else just subjectively “choosing” those more painless parts of it, and then claiming that the rest are “unimportant” at least to them, because they are immune and special.

I am saddened by these choices.  I know just how beneficial a paleo type of diet can truly be, how liberating, how self-enhancing of mind and body!  So, I am glad to say that Robb Wolfe is writing a book on the subject, called Wired to Eat, which is almost completed.  Here is the link: http://robbwolf.com/2016/12/07/wired-to-eat-coming-soon/

You can read about it there, but in essence he is speaking about how our biology is working against us in this matter of health, since our paleolithic ancestors (and us!) are hard-wired to want to:

1. Eat as many calories as possible, especially “sweet” ones that maximize body fat storage
2. Move as little as possible, so as to no jeopardize those precious fat stores

This is our body speaking to us, and it explains why we are so reluctant to do what is the best for ourselves in this current NON-PALEO world we live in, where calories are everywhere, and to work, strive, and move are actually optional.  This sets us up for having our biology work against us!

It sounds like Robb’s book may really help a lot of folks to get around all of this.  Some of us just manage to “rebrainwash” ourselves through podcasts, books, and the internet research to follow through with our diet and lifestyle.  Most don’t.

If you are one of those who started the Paleo Lifestyle and then later thought “the hell with it”….

It sounds as if this book is for you!