Effortless Paleo podcast on PaleoJay Smoothie Cafe

I have been involved in the ancestral lifestyle for a long time now.  I don’t go to conferences, or meet up with like minded paleo people, because for me it is simply a lifestyle and conviction, not a business.  

But I do try to spread the ‘gospel of paleo’ if you will, at least among friends and family.  And I’m here to tell you it is a tough sell!  For people to change what they eat, to start exercising if they never have, and to get a good solid night of sleep in a blacked out room if they have fallen into bad, modern habits- why, change is difficult!  And to change your entire lifestyle, if it has gone off the rails like most folks nowadays- well, that just seems overwhelming.

Sometimes, if you have an autoimmune disease, and either it is explained to you or else you have discovered yourself through research that a paleo diet can be both preventive and healing for such a condition- that is enough to scare you straight!  It certainly should be, in my opinion.

But the sad truth is that most people, given the option of changing their diet and lifestyle to become disease free and vibrantly healthy or taking prescription medicines- they say just give me the meds doc!  I think they do this unaware that, while the meds they are prescribed might mask some of their symptoms, they do nothing in terms of healing the underlying problem.  And so, by taking what they assume to be the ‘easy’ way (although usually very expensive and fraught with side-effects from the drugs), these people gradually become sicker and sicker, not to mention fatter and less vital day by day, year by year…

And then, inevitably: this person gets another autoimmune disease!  This stuff is cumulative, folks.

But there is a rather effortless way to go about all of this.  A way to reap all the benefits of a paleolithic, ancestral type of diet and lifestyle without changing things up that much.  What is this miraculous secret formula?  

Simple- substitute ingredients in foods you enjoy that are healthy and natural!  Usually the results are superior to those fake foods you thought were so tasty, and so it is kind of like having your cake and eating it too.  It is possible to eat a wonderful paleo diet and not restrict yourself to mountains of vegetables and huge plates of grass fed meat.

For instance, today I made a wonderful sardine salad that was nearly indistinguishable from a normal tuna salad, although it had a real tang that I loved.  Not fishy at all, I think the greek yogurt and mustard, paprika and scallions, onions and carrots I added made it into the best ‘tuna’ salad ever- and super healthy, since sardines are one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet!  (Cheap too).  I mean, there is nothing wrong with tuna, but a bottom of the food chain fish like sardines are free of mercury and other heavy metals, and loaded with every part of the animal, not just the muscle meat- the bones, the skin, the organs- everything.  But, mixed into a yummy salad, you don’t have to choke it all down, not at all.

I even made a sandwich of it!  I know, heresy, and there was a time when I would have never done it but- I used gluten free bread that I toasted.  See, you can eat as you like, just substitute things.  Of course, I still don’t recommend eating every gluten free cookie and cake and bread and french toast etc. that you want- that isn’t healthy.  But, sometimes- if you use the gluten free, non-sprayed liberally with poisonous glyphosate alternative- you will enjoy what you want, and not poison yourself in the process.

It’s not like it used to be- there are gluten free alternatives everywhere, even in many restaurants!  And you can use as much butter as you want, since you know that it is the grains and sugars- not the fats- that cause the problems in our health.  If you have margarine or vegetable oil in your cupboards, either just throw it all out, or use it to lubricate hinges and locks.  That is what it was originally for, and really all that it is good for!

As for exercise: if you think that the ‘only’ way to be paleo is to join a Crossfit gym and spend hours training per week- well, it’s not, and that isn’t even a remotely good idea, in my opinion.  The best, most productive way to exercise is on your own, by yourself, at home.  You hardly even need any equipment to get amazing results!

Do virtual resistance training, also called the ‘Tiger Moves’.  This is where you flex while putting your limbs through their full range of motion- you do a flex-stretch over each part of your body.  Read my ebook Perfectly Paleo Exercise to get the idea, or else just go over to transformetrics.com and check out the exercises demo.  This is truly effortless, lifetime exercise for everyone!

Exercise first thing in the morning, and if you go to bed early and get up early as you should, you will have plenty of time.  Do it in front of the television, and you will look forward to it as I do!  You can add in pushups, and stretching on the floor (I use a yoga mat), straight legged sit ups and hindu squats, ab roller exercise and plank holds.  

I also recommend isometrics, the most time-efficient and result strength producing exercises of all time, done with a simple nylon strap, followed by rebounding as you go through the Tiger Moves once again.  But I have added in all of these over time, as I replaced my basement gym weight workouts gradually more and more with these Perfectly Paleo sorts of exercises…

Start with just 15 minutes, but trust me- you will become addicted, and want to add more and more, because it just feels so good!  (And because you want to finish your TV program!)

Then, make some scrambled eggs with pastured cheese and scallions along with your coffee in the French Press.  (Sprinkle cinnamon, cloves, and cacao powder on the coffee you grind before you press it- healthy and tasty).  Heck, even make yourself a slice of gluten free toast, slathered with butter or a nut butter- you’ve earned it!

Go for a walk in the woods or in a park, somewhere in nature, whether a sun-dappled glade in summer, or a snow covered trail in winter- Nature is our Mother, and calms us as nothing else.  Meditate in silence somewhere during your day, whether after lunch in your truck on the job site, or in a comfortable chair on your deck as the birds chirp.  Shut your eyes and just think over and over to yourself 1-1-1-1.  This works well for me, turning off my chattering ‘monkey mind’ as I become as one with my natural environment.  10-15 minutes is plenty, you will be totally refreshed and revitalized.

And then- reward yourself and your family, occasionally with a gluten free pizza!  Sonoma makes a great one- I like to add additional onions, tomatoes, cheese, and anchovies!  Paleo isn’t so hard now, is it?  

Beginning Paleo Diet on Paleo Quick Tip of the day podcast #47

Maybe you've just been hearing about this "paleo diet" thing, or maybe you have a friend or know someone who has had amazing results from eating and living according to this template...



Perhaps you have tried to ignore the whole thing, not wanting to change your life and mindset around after all these years of being brainwashed into the low fat high carb Standard American Diet LIE...


But, since the ancestral diet and it's benefits are very real, and the path we are on in the Western world is leading us into slow suicide by eating ourselves into diabesity,  accompanied by prescriptions of pharmaceutical drugs that compromise our health even more with all of the inevitable side effects, resulting in early disability and death- well, "going Paleo" starts to not sound that hard after all!

So, how do you finally get off the sidelines and start making meaningful, healing change??


Clean out your cupboards!  Ditch the grains- bread, pancake mixes, brownie mixes, cereals, vegetable and soy oils, Crisco, anything you have that is not real food.  If it's not in your house, you won't eat it.

Try a Paleo smoothie!  This is a pet project of mine- I have developed my smoothie into a drink that is continually evolving, since I want to maximize my nutrition optimally, but starting out, keep it simple:

Just get out your standard, $20 blender, and make a simple Paleo Smoothie:

1 can of coconut milk
handful of fresh strawberries

a big leaf of fresh kale
a banana
sprinkle of cinnamon

Blend it all together for about a minute or so- you're done!

Easy, right?  It's so easy, you will start to think as I did- "Hey, what if I add this ingredient, and that other super healthy food, and then that..."


You are on the slippery slope to health my friend, and trust me, that's where you want to be!  You'll start adding raw eggs, and then you'll want the convenience of using frozen vegetables, and the ability to mix just about anything, smoothly and easily into your smoothies- at that point you'll want to get a Vitamix blender, since it it the best tool for engineering the most amazingly healthy and filling and appetizing Paleo smoothies on the planet!

Interestingly, I just read a news story in Barron's, the business newspaper, detailing how the Starbucks chain has bought a smoothie making chain of restaurants, and plans to expand dramatically, doing for smoothies what they have already done for coffee!

While I'm sure it's better than the unhealthy coffee drink market they've been profiting from at the expense of the American people's health, I would suggest strongly that you make your own!  I guarantee that anything made by a corporate giant will be vastly inferior, since the bottom line for such a company is to cut costs wherever possible, to maximize profits. This means low quality ingredients, cheaper, faster, worser! (There, I invented a word!)

So, Go Paleo Young Man! (Or woman)!

At first, I would just make a smoothie each morning, and eat eggs and meat, salads, seafood, veggies and nuts with a little fruit sometimes.  For me, cheese and whole cream are fine- try them out, if you feel worse, maybe they aren't for you!  Some folks can handle dairy, some can't... raw dairy is vastly preferable, if available.

Believe it or not, at first I do not recommend any exercise!  Especially, if your are a "cardio-holic", used to doing lots of running, bicycling, aerobics, etc. just stop for awhile!  Getting your diet in order is far more important than exercise, and along with adequate sleep each night of 8 hours or better, will get you 90% where you want to go.  Just concentrate on those things for a month- learn to eat, and sleep like a paleolithic hunter-gatherer.    Next month we'll add in exercise- hey, I even have an eBook specifically about it...

A good idea, especially if you currently have health problems, would be to have a blood work up just before starting this at the Doctor's office.  Then, a month later, have it done again.  I guarantee the results will startle both you and your Doctor- and then, he'll probably try to talk you out of doing something so "crazy"...

The thing to remember is this- even if all you had read about nutrition was this one blog, you would already know more about nutrition than your Doctor learned in all of medical school.  So, take his or her opinions with more than a grain of good sea salt...

After your initial month, take a good look at how you look, how clearly you can think,and how you feel.  Perhaps you already have had some drastic changes; many people do.  And after actually sticking to the diet for one month, almost no one goes back to their standard diet!  The benefits are that compelling- you may even become like me, shouting the news from the rooftops, because you almost can't believe the benefits of eating real food like a real person!

Soon I will write Part 2- the Intermediate Paleo Diet!  But just do this for a month first- no need to rush things!

Check out this episode!

PaleoJay podcast #42 Back to the Future - A New Paleo You Part Two

Listen now by scrolling down on this link to the player...

I'll be on iTunes by tomorrow at the latest- PaleoJay #41 on iTunes

PaleoJay podcast #42

Back to the Future 2- a New Paleo You!

Last week we started you on your journey back to the future, by making you a more paleolithic self, starting with DIET alone.  Now, we will continue our 4 week total Paleo self reinvention- I hope you have done well for the first 7 days!  If you have made it intact through that first week, know that you have done the hardest part by far!  The first few days, especially, are the most difficult, as you retrain yourself to eat correctly for you species, which of course is the homo sapien species, not the grain and sugar eating  Bird species of diet which is the current misguided approach...

Even if you slipped up once or twice, it’s no big deal at all- the point is to gradually and systematically keep moving in the right direction- passing on grains and grain based products, fast “fake” foods, and boatloads of sugar and/or artificial sweeteners (which are basically the same thing- BAD!).  If you slip and fall, just get back on the horse and get going in the right direction!  

This week, although it is still early for really beginning to exercise, I want you to start- Walking!  Not really for exercise, or for burning calories, but just because it’s what humans do.  We move, not like we’re being pushed with a cattle prod, but at a natural, pleasant pace, for a good portion of our day.  For now, park at the back of the lot at the store, at work, and walk the extra 2 or 3 minutes it will take you to get inside.  Make it a habit- my 93 year old father has done this his whole life, and still does it!  Take stairs, not elevators.  Just live like people did 100 years ago, and you are pretty much on track with being paleo!  Real foods, prepared at home, when eating grains they had the non-GMO ancient varieties, and fast food didn’t exist.  LOTS of good, natural fat like pastured butter (Haven’t you enjoyed that this past week??  Instead of vegetable oils and margarine fake fats??)  OH- note this: margarine was originally invented to lubricate machinery!  So, it’s kind of like spraying WD 40 down your throat...

Anyway, now you are walking, lubricating your joints, and just plain keeping the machinery of your body working!  What a concept; somehow we have forgotten just how important it is to simply MOVE.  That’s how most folks end up in nursing homes- they have just stopped moving, and before long they cannot move.  So keep moving, son!

Turn Around!!! Back to the future!

I touched on sleep last week, but I want to reiterate its importance here again, and want you to get 8 to 9 hours of sleep all this entire week!  Most people get far less than that, and have no idea how good you can feel when you just sleep enough!  Black out your bedroom if there are lights outside at night, get the tv out of the bedroom as well- the bedroom is not a recreation place- it is a sacred sleeping spot, where you will spend a good, restful, restorative 1/3 of your life; getting into that all-important dream state where our minds resolve most of our issues in life, if we only give our subconscious the time and sleep state that it needs.  Mental problems are inevitable for sleep deprivation, just as physical problems like diabesity, cancer and heart problems are inevitable for nutrient deprivation, which is another name for the S.A.D. Standard American Diet!

So, this week especially, concentrate on walking and sleeping, along with your upgraded Ancestral diet.

There is one other thing I would suggest you begin this week as well, on your Paleo Journey back to the future part 2- do light stretching and mobility work immediately upon  waking in the morning.  I don’t mean stretch and hold static stretching- I mean just reaching up as high as you can with either arm, stretching out first thing!  Then, roll your head on your neck, several times 360 degrees in each direction, then work your way through each joint of your body- after your neck, rotate your wrists and elbows each direction, then arm circles with outstretched palms for the shoulder joints, again both ways.  The point is not to WORK so much as it is to gradually lubricate and awaken your body and limbs, slowly and methodically... Next, twist at the waist to facing left, then right several times, do a 1/4 of the way down squat several times.  Stand next on one foot, and spin your other foot at the ankle both ways.  This is the most natural, best way to wake up in the world!  Just this little bit of morning “constitutional” will do so much to prepare your body for the day, and it just plain feels really, really good!

Watch any other animal waking up, especially a cat, and you will realize the modern human practice of just stumbling up out of bed and getting going with no preparation is crazy wrong!  Trust me, start doing this each morning, for just a couple of minutes, and you will be doing more for your bodily health than running a 10K, by far!

After all, you want to be a Paleo Marty McFly, don’t you?  Agilely leaping on your skateboard like a cat, while bulky, stiff Biff, who never did his agility exercises, runs into the back of a manure truck?  

Of course you do!

Oh, one more thing- I hope you are making a daily smoothie in your Vitamix by now!  There is nothing that will make your Paleo Transition back to the future easier, more sustainable, and just effortless than making a paleo smoothie for yourself and your family!  paleojay.com has a link to purchase a Vitamix with free shipping, which is a great deal- if cost is an issue, get the refurbished model- it’s just as good, and will last you a long, long time!  You just can’t pick out a really cool color, like red or green... but the same great machine!

I do have one more thing I want you to do: do NOT drink soda pop!  Ever.  Take the money you used to spend on that poison sugar or non-sugar chemical poison water, and put it in your Vitamix savings fund.  You will be drinking the healthiest thing on the planet from now on, instead of one of the most unhealthy ones.  And so, I toast you with a tall, green, creamy Paleo Smoothie and say welcome back to the future!  See you next Sunday with our next installment.  And, if you are enjoying your journey back, please give the paleojay podcast a good rating on iTunes- that helps out a lot!  I mean, I know you are my most important listener, but other people sure can use the information as well to improve their health and lives.

Thanks, and Good Day!

PJ