The Perfect Paleo Day on PaleoJay's Smoothie Cafe podcast

Today I had the perfect paleo day- in fact, I’m still having it, since now I am communicating with my tribe of ancestral people on this very podcast!  

Like most of my perfect and near-perfect days, the vast majority of the day was spent outdoors, in nature.  The sun shone brightly pretty much the whole day, and wonder-of-wonders: here in mid-April the snow is finally melting!  Still big clumps of white persist, but primarily in the deep woods on my property, so I pretty much stayed in the open areas.  

I started my perfect day as I recommend you start your own- by exercising in front of your television.  Actually, the TV is optional, but since I had a movie queued up and also wanted to watch Fox business first, I set myself on my yoga mat in front of the TV.  I started into my preliminary stretching, followed by my visualized resistance exercises, and then more stretching on the mat. 

Then, I did isometrics holds for all of my muscle groups, pushing and pulling against an old Exer-Genie.  This tool, developed in 1961 for training astronauts in deep space to maintain their muscle and bone mass, is an amazing piece of equipment that has stood the test of time.  I think it is a testament to its wondeful utility that it has never become a big fad, like jogging, aerobics, or heavy weight training.  It’s just a common sense tool that works, and that just isn’t exciting and sexy to most folks.  

It works amazingly well for isometric holds- I do sets of three holds for each muscle group, in three positions each withing the muscle’s movement plane.  To cover my whole body, shoulders down to lower back, takes me about 10 minutes total- truly my ‘most bang for the buck’ part of my routine. 

I got mine off of Ebay, back when Ebay was pretty new, and the Exer-Genie from in the 1960’s came really cheap!  They still make them, and you can probably find one on Ebay, and that would be cost effective.  New ones cost well over $200 though, and my 1960’s model works like a champ!  In addition, you can use a simple long nylon strap just as effectively, standing on the strap for resistance.  That’s what I did for years, and it’s almost as good.  

 I finish up this basic workout of mine with rebounding while doing two more cycles of visualized resistance exercise covering every muscle group in my body.

I started this workout by getting up quite early in the morning, since for me that is the very best time of the day.  I make my dark roast coffee in my French press, and love padding into the living room with my steaming cup, and sipping it between exercises.  

Next, after showering, I drank my green Paleo smoothie from my refrigerated canning jar, and taking my next cup of coffee with me, I drove off towards our wonderful meat locker here, or which we have several.  I had decided that this was going to be a ’steak day’.  

One of my favorite things is to declare a day a ‘steak day’, which means probably just one big meal that day- a steak along with a baked potato and some kind of salad.  Of course, I had already had my smoothie, so I was covered on all of my nutritional bases already…

There is something incredibly satisfying about driving leisurely along through the rural countryside, anticipating the sights and smells of the market, early on  a weekday.  Admittedly, I do have the wondrous privilege now of being retired, and I will tell you truly- when you look back over your life (this was done numerous times in surveys of the elderly, meaning folks in their 90’s), every single person surveyed said that the happiest days of their lives were from when they retired, until they lost their health.  Every single one.

Not when they were children, playing with friends. (Although that was highly rated as well). Not their teens, or twenties, or thirties, or- any other age!  It was when they were done with their responsibilities, and were then free to do what they wanted: to enjoy their grandchildren, indulge their hobbies, to read those classic books they never had time for, to take leisurely daytrips and to go to early lunches at nice restaurants and then go home to sit on their decks- those were the best years of all!  

Anyway, back to my perfectly Paleo day: 

I drove back home and grilled my giant, Cowboy steak!!

I had never grilled one of these before, but today they were on sale, and looked great!  What they are is a giant,  2” thick ribeye, with the bone still attached, so it looks like a Flintstone steak.

I started my Weber grill (I always use hardwood charcoal, which burns hotter and cleaner) which I started with my propane torch in about 2 minutes to red hot coals.  Seared both sides of that monster steak, and added on some Redmond Real Salt, which believe me is the very best salt, both nutritionally and taste-wise that you can find.  I kept flipping the steak, every 30 seconds to a minute, and getting both sides seared well.  

Then, moving the steak back away from the coals, I put on the lid and waited.  I waited while watching all the birds returning, I know I saw three bluebirds which are my favorites, and I thought deep thoughts while a smoked a large cigar.  I know, smoking is not really paleo, but heck, neither are the baked potatoes I had bought, and I love them both, and consider both a cigar and a potato to be safe starches.

About 45 minutes from grill to table, my wife and I were eating with great relish!  We both knew that we would not need to eat again that day- here it is 6 PM, and I am not even faintly hungry.  We split that monster steak, and saved the other half.

So, after our Paleo Feed (I felt as if I had returned with a wooly mammoth), we parted as I went to tap my maple trees!  The sap was running, and my buckets were all set to catch every drop.  

I filled my 5 gallon bucket, fired up my sap cooker, and sat back on a chair to watch it boil.  I am not a fisherman, but if you are, this must be kind of what it’s like: sitting out in the sun, soaking it up after a long, long winter, and just keeping an eye on the sap, making sure it doesn’t burn up while you run off to attend to something else.  

It is possible to ruin those whole 5 gallons, turning them to burnt sugar crystals, it you aren’t attentive enough to take them off when they are down to about a quart or so.  

But, at the start of the boil, you are safe to wander off, and I did.  I needed to pick up and prepare to burn about 2 cords of fallen branches, logs, twigs, and detritus that defaced my property!  Actually, moving along outside, squatting over and over, bending over and throwing these branches into the big garden cart I pulled, was at least as much of a workout as what I had done early in the morning.  But, it was incredibly satisfying, and now my yard is clean- I think I’ll have a big burn tomorrow, which is almost as satisfying as steak day.

Finally, late afternoon, and I came in and did a pushup and other gymnastic ring workout in the basement for about 20 minutes, while I started the reduced sap to boiling in the kitchen.  I was very pleasantly tired when I mounted the stairs, and my wife had been monitoring the boiling sap.  The thermometer said 212 degrees, where she told me it had been for awhile.

I took over, and opened a beer as I settled in to watch that sap slowly turn to syrup.  I set my digital thermometer alarm to go off when it hits 219 degrees, and I watch that pot like a hawk!  You don’t want a boilover, not at this stage, wrecking it all…

But with the thermometer, it’s really rather easy- the alarm goes off, and you turn off the heat- syrup done!  Thick, dark, and not runny at all, just the perfect consistency.  It is a very satisfying project, with tangible results, unlike many things in this modern, Neolithic world!  

I jar it up, feeling great about my day.  I don’t eat that much of the syrup, but I enjoy giving it away, quality product that it is.  

Now, I think I’ll sing and play for awhile, since that is another thing that I love to do.  Kind of like cave painting for a non-visual artist!  Then, I have a free book I downloaded from the internet, called The Fall of Western Man by Mark Collett.  I’ve read the first two chapters, and it looks amazing.  Sad news, but true for all of that.

Either look it up, or contact me: I’ll send you a copy.

And hey: thanks for listening!  Where would we be without our tribe?

Hygge- Why You Need it on PJSC podcast

First, I’d better tell you what hygge (pronounced hue-guh) means: it is a Danish word to describe a special moment or feeling.  There is no English equivalent word, but several put together can approximate this concept- cosiness, charm, happiness, ‘contentness’, security, familiarity, comfort, reassurance, kinship, and simpleness.

And so, the conscious creation of a special moment in a certain time and place that such a wonderful feeling of intimacy and friendliness- that is hygge!  To me, it is a type of motionless, indoor forest walking; consciously becoming one with your simple environment and your companions in a moment of shared contentedness.  I like the concept of ‘cozy’ most of all- as in Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, when Scrooge is shown by the ghost of Christmas Present the little kitchen of Bob Cratchett, in which sits his entire family including Tiny Tim.  The kitchen is humble, and the family is poor, but they are all happy together, celebrating their thrifty Christmas dinner.  Scrooge is touched, he doesn’t know it, but he is witnessing Hygge, Victorian English style!

It is thought that the long, sunless winters in Denmark gave birth to this concept of the preciousness of hygge.  Small, delightful moments in one’s life can illuminate both the mind and spirit in the midst of even an otherwise gloomy existence!  Sprinkle enough bright moments throughout your day, and then each and every day can be a delight, filled with times to cherish.

My Christmas was absolutely wonderful this year, filled with a snowy landscape, candles in all the windows, and my family, both grandchildren included, playing with their presents about the tree.  I grilled a ham, slathered in orange marmalade, (I know, not too paleo, but it was Christmas!), and we had mashed sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and we’re all so full that no one wanted dessert- although we were able to eat some chocolates from the Sweet Shop in La Crosse’s north side, which were amazing.  They make their own candies with equipment that must have come from Dicken’s London, with real ingredients, from scratch!

Needless to say, that is a day of endless Hygge!  It is so much, that it wears you out, and you are happy to fall into bed.  But now, two days later: a day long rain has come, and the temps are in the 40’s- unheard of at this time in Wisconsin!  The snow has been washed away, but I have achieved hygge several times already today, even though it is still raining, and dark now, at 4:30 PM.  The electric candles in all the windows, and the lit Christmas tree helps, as did my book reading in my favorite easy chair, feet up and a cup of green tea by my side.  My wife sleeping on the couch, with two sleeping felines, one on the couch back, the other on her leg, and a small space heater blowing gently onto us both.  And I had just before gone down to the cellar, doing pushups on my gymnastic rings, and flies, and rows, then a series of isometric presses on the power rack- and so now, I was deliciously exhausted and content- hygge!

And so, you see you can achieve this state of hygge almost anywhere, if you set your mind to it.  It takes no money, very little time, and does wonders for your mood and state of mind- it’s rather like a form of meditation or prayer.  An attitude of gratefulness permeates you’re entire being.

I remember years ago, when I was a mailman.  It was a rainy, cold winter day, much like today, and I was soaked through.  I had heated up my lunch using the microwave at the old folk’s home on my route, and had parked along the shoreline of Lake Onalaska on a dead end road.  The dark waves tossed before me, and I cranked the heater in that mail truck onto high.  I unpacked my lunch of a small steak and veggies, mixed into white rice, and lit a small candle that I kept in my truck.  

That did it!  As the steam rose from the drying raincoat I had taken off and that was hanging beside me, I tasted the wonderful food, as the candle flame shed a golden glow across the drab interior of that ancient truck.  I didn’t see an eagle that day as I ate (I often did), but still, although I didn’t know the word to describe my feeling at that time, I do now-  HYGGE.

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #100 Keep it Real, Paleo Peep!

Cleaning the closet!

As we approach the new year, let’s not make a million resolutions and then fall short by March or so trying for all of those goals. Instead, make one simple resolution that, if faithfully kept, will gradually and inevitably bring us closer to all of those other ones- you know, the ones where you will lose fat weight, exercise regularly, accomplish more both at work and at home, etc. etc. etcetera!

This year, resolve simply to accomplish something real, each and every day!

That doesn’t sound too onerous, does it?  It’s actually kind of open-ended, in that what you accomplish each day does not have to include all of your many resolutions.  What I mean is, let’s say your first real accomplishment could be simply listing everything you hope to get done by next January!  Be realistic, but also put down everything you would really like to get done.

Want to get fit?  Write down a one day program to get you started, perhaps starting with setting a reasonable bed time; one which ensures that you will get up 45 minutes early, but still gives you a good 8-9 hours of sleep before getting up.  This one accomplishment, on day one, already sets up two incredibly powerful giant steps towards your goal: not only are you getting up early to exercise, you are also making sure you get a solid night of sleep! Win-win!

You might also jot down a good home exercise program you intend to follow the next day, including pushups, sit ups, floor stretches, and isometrics.  Perfectly Paleo Exercise, my e-book on exercise, and my newest book PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe, which is an e-book now and soon to be available on paperback can help here, but of course instruction is widely available on this topic on line and in print.
www.paleojay.com has lots and lots of exercise ideas on it!

After a few days of this real exercise and sleeping accomplishment, you will start to feel better and better. (Ample sleep and exercise will do that for you!)   Don’t kill yourself in the exercise part, especially at first- you are not exercising to look good for one day; you are exercising for yourself, for a lifetime!  Slow and steady…

See?  You have already accomplished what 9 out of 10 people resolve to do, and don’t.  And I’m sure you have other resolutions, but these two will help dramatically with those as well.  A well rested, not groggy but positively vibrant you will head off to work, ready to accomplish there as well!

Once you are moving ahead, in anything important like this, you begin to want to accomplish more “real” things- here are some suggestions, but feel free to insert your own ideas:  Organize your bedroom closet, clean up your garage, clean up your diet, clean out your kitchen of all non-paleo garbage foods, plant a vegetable garden, connect with a local farmer or rancher for pastured meat and eggs, join Thrive market for quality foods, soaps, supplements and cleaning supplies; I’m sure you get the idea!

Just do one at a time.  One day, you may decide to add in meditation, as I did.  Just sit quietly in a comfortable chair, close your eyes, and concentrate on one thing.  If your attention wanders, gently bring it back to that.  I just say “one” to myself, over and over.  10 to 15 minutes is ideal, but start with 2 or 3.  Another day, you can clean out your bedroom closet- trust me, this one accomplishment will inspire you, on other days, to do more “tidying”, it is that satisfying and liberating!

It all comes back to just doing something real every day.  You will still have time to do other things, but will feel so much better, and accomplish so much more, by first doing some real thing that you have decided on.  Accomplishments feed on themselves, achieving one thing makes you want to accomplish one more, and one more after that… and you are on your way to a great year!

PaleoJay's Smoothie Cafe #89 Go for a Flow State in life!

Go for a Flow State in life- Exercise for the body, and music for the soul!

This is to paraphrase the ancient Greek Aristotle, who first said it!

Alexander

As the teacher and mentor of Alexander the Great, he certainly proved that he knew what he was talking about... but what does it mean for YOU, today?


Well, with all the talk of “play” being important in paleo and primal health, even amongst adults, this quote points out what is really important in that statement- FLOW STATE, or being so immersed in what you are doing that you are almost oblivious to all else around you- is key to both real achievement, happiness, and health!

A tall statement to swallow I know, but it is true!

All of us instinctively grasp what this statement means, since all of us have had that... moment... when everything else just disappears, and we are caught up in the moment- whether we were hitting the bes
t baseball pitch ever, or sprinting our fastest sprint and feeling like we were flying, effortlessly, or playing our guitar and feeling like we were Jimi Hendrix reborn!  ALL of those are FLOW STATES!

And a flow state is the ultimate state of human kind- a kind of “state of grace” if you will.  And, when achieved, it makes all of life more than worth living, and is the ultimate human expression of self- self actualization!

I believe that is what we are here to experience.  The flow states of Exercise for the body, and Music for the soul- those are the ultimate ends, the means to happiness in the here- and- now.

I spoke of Alexander before: what was his “flow state”?

Well, he sent back specimens of all of the animals that were new that he encountered, to his mentor Aristotle when he was on his conquests out East... I’m sure that was part of his “flow”...

But for him, the greatest conqueror of his age, I’m sure he felt most fulfilled and alive in battle, as he ran at the enemy in his armor, dodging and thrusting with his sword, calculating without even thinking consciously like a modern day football player on the field, going with his interior flow!

Alexander always wore bright armor that identified him for who he was, and LED his armies into battle- do you think he attracted the enemy much??

We have come a long way from the bravery of Alexander in battle; now our generals hide away and order the soldiers to be brave instead...

So what is our “flow state”?

Whatever we feel we are “good” at!

And the key is to get good at something!

And I don’t even mean that would be something that others might “think” you are good at- just pursue, say exercise and music, and do them for fun, and do them as best you can!

Those are two that I have chosen.  But, you can choose whatever disciplines you want!

Like to work on cars?   I like old cars and trucks too!! Enter them as disciplines, and work on a “flow state”!

Landscaping or “rewilding” your yard or acreage?

I do that as well, and it is  wonderful candidate for achieving a flow state of satisfying creativity!!

What I’m saying is this: no matter what you choose, you can achieve the ultimate in human happiness by achieving an active “flow state” as you work towards your passion, whether it is flower arranging, auto mechanics, physical culture, visual arts or music- just find your passion!

As long as it is active, and requires you to learn, research, and pursue it actively- it can lead you to your flow state, and your realization and happiness in this world!!

The alternative is passivity- seeking out passive entertainments, easy “nutrition” like fast foods, no attention to diet or exercise, letting the Government and the media decide how you live and spend your time-

Just biding your time until you “prematurely” die...

That is a waste of your life.

Seek out your Passion(s)!  Whatever they are- pursue them!

Be like Alexander! Wear a bright colored helmet and run directly at what you want- let no one stop you!  When they try, dodge, jump, and thrust!

When you pursue your passion, above all- LIVE IN THE MOMENT!

You have prepared for it, and it is YOU!

Here is a great TED talk about Flow State!

PaleoJay's Smoothie Cafe Podcast #86- DON'T Fatten Yourself Like a Farm Animal!

It’s already happened to us all: we all have been ingesting antibiotics for years!  Primarily through medicines given us rightly, or wrongly and unnecessarily through medical doctors prescriptions since we were young, but also by eating animals that have been fed loads of it.

In the 1950’s, a new drug was developed- the first antibiotic, something that would kill microbes!  At the same time, it was discovered that this same drug, this antibiotic, would make animals gain substantial amounts of weight! Of course, this sounded great to farmers and ranchers, who are paid for the animals by the pound, and so they jumped on board.  They bought low grade, leftover antibiotic “slurry” from the manufacturing process by the tank load, and watched their cattle and chickens grow really fat, really fast.

And another thing: they noticed that the animals that were fed this antibiotic laced feed also seemed to not get infections easily, at least for the short life that they led up until their slaughter.  And so, the Confined Animal Feeding Operation or CAFO was born- animals could now survive in filthy, overcrowded conditions better, thanks to antibiotics!

In fact, in 1955 Pfizer sponsored a contest among pharmaceutical salesmen to see who could gain the most weight. (1955 was very different from today- it was a time when bigger was better, even in people!)
The salesmen who took antibiotics gained much more weight than those who did not.

The other thing that was happening, though, is that although the antibiotics were truly wonder drugs in healing bacterial infections, they were literally “carpet bombing” anyone who took them, destroying beneficial bacteria in the patients system that did helpful things like, oh, regulating weight and appetite, digesting and then releasing helpful compounds from foods that helped our mood, cognitive abilities, and many other facets of our lives.  And now, about 1/3 of Americans are obese, and about 5% are severely obese.  We weigh on average 25 pounds more than we did in the 1960’s, and children are much fatter and are even coming down with adult onset or type 2 diabetes in grade school!

So, if you want to “lean out” and go back to the 1950’s:

Only take antibiotics if you really need them for an acute infection.  Look at it as seriously as surgery!
Try to avoid CAFO animals, and go for local, pastured chicken and beef and pork.
Build  your beneficial gut microbe health by eating probiotics like real fermented sauerkraut and pickles, kimchi and kefir.  Consider taking soil based probiotics, but definitely get out gardening, and walking barefoot, and otherwise getting in touch with the soil- good soil is absolutely loaded with the microbes we evolved with, and are as much a part of us as gravity.  Without them we perish!
Feed your gut microbes by eating resistant starch!  This means undigestible parts of starchy plants like really green bananas and plantains, and potato starch in an unheated form.  Ideally, this means including these foods in a Paleo Smoothie made in your trustyVitamix on a daily, or near daily basis!
Keep the “Prebiotics for BAD bacteria” out of your system- this means keep out sugar, all forms of bread and pasta (which immediately turn INTO sugar) and all other forms of gluten, which is a harmful component of wheat.  Sugar feeds the bad bacteria that infects us, and makes us sick.   Also, skimmed milk is another form of sugar to be avoided at all costs- heavy cream is actually good for you though!

That’s about it.  If you do all of that- avoid sugar and grains, eat lots of healthy, pastured and wild caught animals, and plenty of fat from pastured animals, fatty fish like salmon and sardines, along with your daily Paleo Smoothie loaded with pastured eggs, pastured butter, coconut oil and milk, and loads of veggies and some berries, both you, and your gut microbes will be in healthy and happy synergy.

I feel it in my gut!

YOUR CHOICE- THIS?

OR THIS??

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #28- Gorge Yourself on the Good

I was at a 60th birthday party recently- (I am 62 myself), and was surprised to find that a party is, at this  point in life, often a place to talk about... illness.

Illnesses and the DRUGS to treat them!

I had this strange feeling that I was a seer: I knew what each person talking really needed, a bit of information that would rectify what was wrong with them; would save them, if you will, from disease, disability, and eventual premature death!

The only problem is that... I really can’t say anything!

This is what a knowledge of the Ancestral way of living does to you!  You know what almost everyone needs to restore their health- get rid of their degenerative diseases, that are gradually destroying their health, wellness, and quality of life...

But you also know that they don’t want to hear it!

Local, pastured meats 

You’re not a Doctor!  You’re not qualified!

But, most importantly: they don’t want to change their habits- their way of eating and living! NO NO NO!

It’s ironic, but Medical Doctors know nothing about nutrition- nothing!  In fact,  they as a rule tend to discount its importance entirely.

It’s really crazy that someone like PaleoJay, a 62 year old English major in college, knows more than an MD from Harvard or anywhere else-
but it’s TRUE!

Just as someone like Jimi Hendrix learned through actually doing it how to express himself musically through a guitar by actually doing it- so it is that if you endeavor to educate yourself about your own health and wellness by actually doing, and exploring ideas and experimenting rather than just following accepted rote dogma-  you can actually fix your own health!  And that of others, like your family and friends!



Back to before: virtually EVERYONE, by the age of 60, has LOTS of medical issues- metabolic syndrome, diabesity, skin conditions, actual diabetes itself, obesity and heart disease, chronic stress and high blood pressure; difficulty sleeping, rheumatoid arthritis, even cancer...

The incredible secret I want to tell you here is that:
ALL OF THESE ARE PREVENTABLE, AND EVEN REVERSIBLE!

Right now, I’m not at a party with friends- I’m here, talking to YOU, my BEST friend!  And I’m here to tell you that if you just EAT real, God made foods; foods like grass fed meat, pastured eggs, LOTS of veggies (especially whipped up in a Vitamix blender/smoothie!), pastured dairy like butter and cream- preferably raw!, get LOTS of sleep, rest and recreation- do SOME bodyweight and virtually resistance exercises most days- walk as much as you can daily, spend time with friends and family on a regular basis (not just watching tv together), and get out in the SUN for at least 15 minutes per day, preferably in a natural, forest or savanah-like environment...

YOU WON’T NEED ANY PHARMACEUTICAL MEDICINES AT ALL- EVER!!

Of course, if you also eliminate BREAD, and pasta, and anything containing gluten whatsoever, like... almost everything that is manmade like fast food, deli food, breakfast food, sandwich food, food food- in other words- MAN MADE PROCESSED FOODS-

YOU WILL BE GOLDEN!!

BUT, I think that most people getting into the Ancestral lifestyle concentrate on ELIMINATING foods; which is why I concentrate on ADDING IN nutrient dense, good, GOD MADE FOODS!

The lynch pin of health

If you do that: you won’t want, or have room for the man made CRAP.

And so, concentrate on adding in as much as you possibly can of good, wholesome God made foods!

To paraphrase John Wesley:

Eat as much God made food as you can!
As often as you can! With all the friends that you can! With all the people that you can! As long as ever you can!

Sorry to go all evangelical on you, but I feel that strongly about this.

The more of good food you eat, the less of the bad!

Gorge yourself on the GOOD!

In SLEEP, in family and friend relations- at church, and with your neighbors!  GORGE yourself on a daily exercise regimen in the early morning doing Perfectly Paleo Exercise- POUR Veggie and Vitamin rich smoothie into your body morning and noon... FAST at night, regulating your body in tune with it’s ancestral rythmns of feast and famine- sing and dance with your friends- have campfires and wander through the forest, getting in tune with nature!!  Go to bed EARLY, and wake up EARLY- get in touch with your circadian rythmns!

And now?  Life is good!  Who even WANTS a donut?






Check out this episode!

PaleoJay's Smoothie Cafe #78 The Neanderthal Diet!

Are we really following the Neanderthal Diet??  Now THAT is Paleo writ large…

Since I do these podcasts on Sundays, I really believe that I am becoming the Paleo Pastor- I usually begin them shortly after church, as well, and so I am creating my own “sermon” to compete with that of the Methodist Church which I attend… not really- but in it’s own way it is very similar!  I feel like a minister in that I am espousing a way of life that includes:

A healthy wholesome diet
A rich and full family and tribal community
Good sleep and positive interactions
Doing right both for you and yours, and for all around you
Fellowship and productive exercise and treating your body like the temple that it is, making it as healthy as you can!

Sounds like a sermon, doesn’t it?

So anyway, let’s start this Sunday sermon with a thought about our wonderful progenitors- the Neanderthal!  Did you know that EVERY person, with the exception of pure Africans, has the DNA of the Neanderthal within them?  Even American blacks, since they average about 30% European ancestry have a proportion within them.  And what does this mean?

It appears that Neanderthals, besides probably giving us blue and green eyes, blonde and red hair, and an ability to deal with the cold climate of the North, also gave us more of a sense of community and peacefulness than we had heretofore possessed!

I liken the Cro-magnon version of us, coming out of Africa, with hyper aggressive, violent giant tribes, intent on conquest and expanding territory.  We encountered Neanderthal groups, who were much less numerous, and living mainly in extended family groups… and with NO DIVISION OF LABOR.

Men and women hunted together, mainly for large animals.  Our African forebears, contrarily, had a division of labor- Women gathered- men hunted! It seems like a small thing; but this is a major difference- while it is much more efficient, the equality and total group-bonding in that we are all equal, and all in this together… is GONE.  Our African selves were very efficient, very aggressive, and bent on domination at all costs.

Doesn’t that sound like us, in modern America and the West, today??

And now, it has morphed into pretty near a psychosis: we are all running in a rat race- we all need a bigger house, new kitchen cabinets, a new car, a better college for our kids, fancier clothes, a new stupid tattoo to show how cool we are…

Let’s go back to our inner Neanderthal!!

We’re all in this TOGETHER!  Our family is our TRIBE!!  We can all hunt, OR gather, together!  Women don’t need to cover their faces, men don’t need to dominate!

J

PaleoJay Podcast #58 Maintain Your Health and Escape the Nightmare of Modern, Government Run Obamacare! also, All Day Energy Greens and Parallette bar and Rings training

PaleoJay Podcast #58

Maintain Your Health and Escape the Nightmare of Modern, Government Run Obamacare!

also, All Day Energy Greens and Parallette bar and Rings training

Let’s start with the fun stuff- http://alldayenergygreens.com/ are a powder you can purchase on line.  I have been sampling it for awhile now, and have to say it is a convenient, fast way to get some anti-oxidant greens into your diet- especially if you don’t have a Vitamix blender!  Now, I would reserve the greens for when you are in a hurry and pressed for time, or when traveling... the gold standard is always real food!  But, that said, this is a good product to include in your nutritional repetoire!

For daily use, again, I strongly recommend a Vitamix to chew up your veggies and other foods for you, and making them so available to your body for maximum nutrition!  On sale until Dec 2; with free shipping, this is the best deal you will find all year!  And, you can throw in some Sll Day Energy Greens powder along with your real frozen or fresh fruits and veggies, spices and eggs and kefir and everything else to maximize your health!

The other thing I’ve really been having fun with and want to recommend to all of you in our PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe Tribe- Rings and Parallette bar training!  If you are unfamiliar with these gymnastic tools, they really are a great way to enhance the bodyweight workouts that Perfectly Paleo Exercise consists of.  Pushups on the rings are a totally different animal, far more challenging and more inclusive of the stabilizer muscles in the arms, shoulders, chest and back... as are Dips on the rings, chins and pullups on the rings, flies on the rings- I mean, you can do a LOT on the rings, and I am just scratching the surface!  The real beauty of the rings is that they twist in your hands, and do not stress your joints unnaturally, which can happen in movements using a bar, or even hands set directly on the floor as in doing pushups.  This is why I use a Perfect Pushup device when doing high rep pushups- it revolves with your hand, taking stress off of the shoulder joints- rings do the same thing, but for LOTS of exercises!

Basic L sit

These are the parallette bars I made:

I’ll include here some photos and a video so you can see how both rings and parallette bars can add to your workouts:

Rings exercises galore-

Today, for instance, I did a complete Visualized Resistance training routine in the early morning, as I watched a streaming Netflix movie- (Centurian- highly recommended)!

Then, using my Perfect Pushup handles like a mini-parallette bar, I did L-sits and some other P-bar exercises at the end, and it was challenging and kind of fun too!  A good way to test your growing strength and body awareness developed through your Perfectly Paleo exercise regimen...

My rings are hung from the rafters in my basement, and so when I workout down there, in the primitive domain of my old farmhouse cellar, I can turn myself upside down, and do all kinds of gymnastic things on the rings, and then go to my home made P-bars, which are higher off the ground than my Perfect Pushups handles, and try some more advanced tricks, since my legs are up higher and more maneuverable.

So, make yourself some P-bars, and hang a set of rings- they are cheap, VERY effective, and actually fun to use!  A great addition to your Perfectly Paleo routine!!

Now, that’s the fun part of this podcast- let’s delve into the realm of Obama care...

I don’t care where you stand politically, you have to understand that Government Run health care is anything but healthy- and this means not only for you and your personal health, and that of your family, but  for your fiscal health, and the fiscal health of our country!  

The notion of Big Health Care itself is wrongheaded- it is the path we have been on for a long time, decades actually, and has resulted in the fattest, sickest, most disease ridden population since the time of the Black Plague- only this time, the sicknesses are caused by our own poor diets, poor exercise habits, and lack of sleep!  AND, this is all exacerbated by the many unnecessary prescriptions of pharmaceutical drugs, all of which are loaded with side-effects, many side-effects consisting of things worse than the disease they are meant to prevent!

Don’t put your family’s health in the hands of any Giant Corporation like a big Medical Clinic unless they are in an auto accident, have a bullet wound, or some other major medical catastrophe!  Modern medicine is great a fixing extreme injuries; it is terrible at building and maintaining health.  They can only prescribe drugs that only mask the symptoms of disease, and allow the root cause to continue to grow worse!  

Self- reliance is the only way in which to become, and stay healthy!  YOU are responsible for what you eat- so eat in the way modern science and our ancestral knowledge are in complete agreement- eat a paleo type of diet!  Ancestral, no processed foods, no grains and lowish carbs!

Lots of vegetables and high fat!! Good, saturated, natural FATS should be the foundation, the pillar of your diet and health!

Natural, God-made protein, in the form of wild game and fish, fermented raw dairy, and pastured animals!!

Move naturally in nature, walk, hike, do your visualized resistace, perfectly paleo types of exercises, swing on your new set of rings, balance on your P-bars...

Get plenty of sleep!  Minimize stress, and celebrate with your TRIBE of family and neighbors and friends, connect even online with a tribe or two, like this one.

Do NOT, again, rely on anyone else, much less Big Government to make you healthy!

They have been wrong for over 50 years in their prescriptions, both for our food recommendations, and in their drug recommendations.  Don’t wait another 50 years for them to admit they were wrong!  Take charge of your own health- do what you already know in your heart, and through your intuition to be the right thing to do.  And, if you actually do the research, you will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that all of the recent science supports the evolutionary dietary approach.  ALL!

Just because your Doctor went to medical school decades ago, and still believes all of the stuff he was taught then that was wrong then, and doesn’t know about, and/or can’t admit to himself and you that what he’s been telling you for years is all WRONG NOW TOO- this does not give him the right to continue spouting the party line!

As Obama Care begins to take over, trust me- you do not want to be part of that system!

Bypass it, by becoming as healthy as you can!  Say NO to pharmaceutical drugs- fake science like Flu shots- the Carb dominated My Plate created to sell grains- processed man-made fake foods!

Eat foods made by God, not man!  And stay AWAY from ANY sort of Government sort of health plan, as much as you can. To paraphrase the great John Wesley:

Get as healthy as you can, and help others to get as healthy as they can, for as long as you can!

J