Paleo Quick Tip of the Day 86 Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good!

RON

RHONDA

Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good (Voltaire) It is so easy to get caught up in “perfection”- not in actually being perfect, which is actually impossible, but in the idea that you need to strive to be perfect. We all want to be as good as we can be, but perfection is impossible on this earth, and to know that is rather... freeing, really! As the ancient Greeks said “ Nothing in excess”. To tie this in with pursuing Paleo health, think about this: 80% of your results in anything result from only 20% of your effort! And so, to sum up: “Don’t sweat the small stuff!!” You want to be healthier, fitter, slimmer? Simple. Don’t fret about minutia; “Oh, I need to limit my carbs, I can’t eat one oz. of sugar, fruit is really bad, and I didn’t work out long enough today I can’t have a banana!” Wrong. “Well, I didn’t eat any bread this week. No wheat at all! And I ate a salad each day, and a green Paleo smoothie each morning- And I worked out every day in front of the television doing Perfectly Paleo Exercise, like pushups, straight legged sit ups, virtual resistance, 10 minutes or so of rebounding, and some stretching for a total of 20 minutes or so per day.” Well, I am here to tell you that this person, (Let’s call him Ron), who just eliminated wheat, drank a green smoothie for breakfast and ate a salad (hopefully with a protein source atop like chicken, beef, or tuna), has achieved at least 80% of his paleolithic health potential! If Ron continues like this, just getting into a routine, he will have amazing results! He will lose tons of body fat, and gain muscle, slowly and steadily. He will also, importantly, be building his tendon and ligament strength along with just muscle. This is the type of strength that has real world implications, allowing you to build a Bruce Lee type of strength, using the visceral strength of the fascia, the connective envelope of the body to build true, real world strength and imperviousness to injury! Later, Ron can add in meditation, forest bathing, and other “tweaks” of health and wellness... But really, this is all he needs: he is on his way, with just these simple modifications to his lifestyle! Then, let’s consider Rhonda: Rhonda is convinced that perfection is so important! She wants to be PERFECT! And so, she strives to remove every single non “paleo” diet item from her menu. NO beans; not even ONE in her grass fed beef chili- NO dairy, not even pastured dairy! And, above all, since she wants to be as lean and mean as possible- no carbs at all!! Ketogenic! All this, and Rhonda has no health problems at all, and just wants to be as lean as possible, (health is just a side issue for her). She wakes up at 4:30 AM each morning, works out on a treadmill, and then lifts weights at a nearby gym... rushes home, and then gets her kids ready for school, giving them a nutritious breakfast of greens and sardines, which they don’t touch. Her husband leaves early, and stops at Mc Donalds, which he never mentions. Then, she goes to work, where she has a desk job where she has a standing, treadmill desk! She walks on it all day, and has a perfect paleo lunch. After work, she gives her lucky paleo kids a snack at home of coconut oil spread on sardines, which they throw in the garbage when she leaves to start her cardio! They retreat to the family room where their dad has smuggled in pizza for them to eat. Dad reads the kids stories in bed, but Rhonda the mom needs to “bone up” on the paleo diet, and makes some notes about how she should probably start adding sauerkraut to the kid’s sardines in the morning... When Rhonda comes to bed, her husband is snoring away, and has been for hours- Rhonda looks at the clock on the nightstand, and realizes she only has 4 & 1/2 hours till she needs to get up. “Well, I need to get in my hour and a half workout tomorrow, so that will be perfect!” And so it goes... You know what? Ron will have much, much better results than Sarah! I know, he is only doing 20% as much as she does, he is actually quite relaxed and having a good time, but he is not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. The bottom line is this: only do what is most important; concentrate on that, and let everything else take care of itself! Do NOT be a micromanager! Of yourself, or of anyone else!! It really, really, NEVER WORKS!! EVER!!! As Confucius said “"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without." Don’t be a pebble.

Check out this episode!

Lower your high blood pressure the Paleo way!

Did you know that over 30% of Americans have high blood pressure?  Diabetes and obesity are rampant, even being now quite common among children of 10 or 11?  How can this be?

WHAT HAPPENED??

Our diets changed from natural meats, fats, vegetables and fruits to... processed foods, fast foods, factory foods, and other "FAKE" foods!  This is the main reason for the quandary we find ourselves in today health-wise.   Let me insert here the last page of a  blog I found about a man who reversed all of these afflictions by eating a paleo diet and paleo type exercise:

Paleo Diet- COMPLETE reversal of diabetes and high blood pressure and obesity in 365 days

Interesting, no??  What a dramatic turnaround in health- not something we see every day, although perhaps that is starting to change...

How should you start changing yourself to healthy?  

1. Eliminate grains!  Cereals, bread, pasta- you know, grains!  This one step will bring you 90% of the way to renewed health!
2. Eliminate processed foods- fast foods, foods in boxes and bags that are loaded with "fake" salt and corn syrup and all kinds of industrial seed oils and other "insults" to your body.
3. Eliminate soft drinks- diet or sugared- these things are terrible for you, and displace the healthy things you should be eating and drinking!

I know, all of that is just things to do without- what can you DO?

1. Eat real foods- pastured eggs, pastured butter if you tolerate dairy well, grass fed meats, veggies, fruits, seafood, liver, sea salt, garlic, herbs and seeds, nuts.
2. Have a teaspoon of Carlson's cod liver oil each day (In your smoothie is ideal!)
3. Eat lots of potassium- a banana, spinach, melon, berries and broccoli are all ideal to "normalize" your system away from it's unhealthy processed foods dilemma- a Paleo Smoothie does it all!

The other positive things you can do include doing some Perfectly Paleo Exercise types of things on a daily basis: some simple warmups in the morning, some "visualized resistance" exercises, a few isometrics and body-weight exercises throughout the day... also, to meditate daily is very valuable, as is connecting with others through your church, your family, and your neighborhood... your "tribes"!

Simple as that last sounds, it is crucial for your mental, physical, and spiritual health!  

J

Shakeology or Paleo Smoothie?

Or even (gasp) Real Food??!!  Is that even an option?


You bet it is!

I recently read about this Shakeology guy in a business magazine.  It appears that this young, model-type of guy, Darin Olien, is the spokesmodel for this multi-level marketing powdered shake mix, that is affiliated with the much-hyped on TV P90X exercise DVD outfit.

I was curious, since it was a "shake" or smoothie type of deal... so I checked it all out online.

Bottom line?

Darin travels the globe, looking for rare, and probably magical fruits, tubers, nuts, whatever, and then cutting deals with the locals to provide them for his dehydrated Shakeology drinks!  This enables you, the consumer, to purchase these powdered shake-things to mix up in your blender, and replace meals with!  (Sounds eerily like the Paleo Quick Start Smoothie, right?)  Just mix it up with water, almond milk, or extra-sugary juice (it doesn't really matter, does it?) and voila- Shakeology!

I include the ingredient list below; nothing in it is really bad.  Wheat grass, Barley grass, Kamut grass- not so great.  Whey protein, hey, OK.  But at $120.00 for 30 servings... YIKES!!  

Here is my own Paleo Smoothie ingredient list, replete with nutrition, that you can easily make yourself.  The nutrition levels are about as good as it gets:

Quick Paleo Smoothie ingredients list:
My current recipe- variations are not only possible, but encouraged! But the base outlined here is very representative of a transformative replacement meal/ultimate real food supplement in one tasty drink!
Here is part one of the Paleo Quick Start Smoothie:

Coconut Milk- 1 can
Coconut oil and/or red Palm oil- 2 Tablespoons
Carlson’s or Nordic Naturals Cod liver oil- 1 Tablespoon
Powdered kelp- 1 teaspoon
Unsweetened kefir- 1/4 cup
Organic, unsweetened lemon juice- 1 teaspoon
Apple cider vinegar- 1 teaspoon
1-2 cups of green tea
cinnamon- 1 tsp- also great on coffee and whipped cream! (Fresh ground is best-
I use a coffee grinder)
Frozen spinach- approximately 1 cup
Frozen mixed “California Mix” vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots), ~1 cup
Frozen mixed berries- blueberries, raspberries, strawberries- 1 cup
1/2 banana (I freeze mine so they don’t over-ripen)
1 peeled orange

2 raw, organic free range eggs (optional) 

Since publishing my ebook, I have begun adding the dried, powdered varieties of:
turmeric 1 tsp
ginger 1 tsp
Both are strong anti-inflammatory agents, among many other benefits.

I have also started substituting dried coconut milk powder for the canned coconut milk..

This is optional, but is cheaper, and more convenient as well!

Part 2-
That’s it! You can also “mix and match” with fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables you have on hand- cranberries are a favorite of mine, as is liquid vitamin D in the Winter months!

Part 3-

The beauty of this drink, besides its being economical, real food, is that it has everything that your body and mind need to thrive!!  Nothing exotic, but really, exotic is really not necessary...it just makes good marketing. 

Save your money!  

It's a multi-level marketing scheme, and I believe P90X is right in the same ballpark- home grown versions of exercise (see www.transformetrics.com) are even more effective, and do-able long term.

With all the money you save by avoiding these bogus fitness schemes, you can buy a real fitness tool- a Vitamix Blender, to make your own Paleo Smoothies!!

And, you can also get a Weber Grill and a slow cooker to make...  real food!!  (What a concept!)

You may have enough money left over to buy a chin-up bar, a set of perfect pushup devices, and make your own kettlebell- now you have all you will ever need for fitness AND nutrition!!

Forget the multilevel marketing versions of health- Do it yourself!  

Try Perfectly Paleo Exercise, which also has a LARGE section on nutrition.

Jay

Shake-your-booty-ology below:

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Train like a Tiger!

MovNat- the workout that the world forgot!

I will let this video by Erwan Le Corre speak for itself:

So, what is the BEST way to train?  Once again, let's here what Erwan has to say:

"What is the best fitness regimen for a tiger? The case for authentic human movement.

What is the best way to exercise?  How do you become fit?  What is the most effective method for optimal physical development?  Nowadays, there are hundreds, if not thousands of fitness concepts offered, all promising to get you in shape in no time, often presenting themselves as “revolutionary” or being the outcome of “cutting-edge science”.  The fitness industry is providing such a plethora and variety of offers that it has become quite confusing for the average person in search of an exercise solution.  Body-building, “functional fitness”, cardio- training, Bootcamp, Pilates, yoga, Tae Bo, Zumba, P90X, Insanity or others.  Which one to choose?

Now I have a very simple, yet powerfully thought-provoking question for you:

What is the best fitness regimen for a tiger (or a tigress)?

Does the question make you smile?  Does it sound irrelevant or stupid?  And, most importantly, what’s the answer?  How would you train a wild tiger so it can be fit?  Would you train it by doing weight lifting and cardio training on the side?  Could you imagine a tiger running on a treadmill while checking its pulse rate, without cracking up?  Or could it be that it doesn’t need to exercise at all, being genetically, i.e. naturally fit?

Here’s the right answer: in order to become and stay optimally fit, a tiger needs to move the way tigers move in their natural biome.  It is that simple.  Tigers will move naturally when they’re free to live the natural life every tiger should live; as will all other wild animals.
Throughout their entire life and without discontinuity, wild animals will move the way nature and evolution intends them to, simply because in nature, moving naturally and staying fit is essentially a matter of survival.  If you can’t move, you’re inexorably condemned to an imminent death.  Every newborn animal will start developing his or her species-specific movement aptitudes very early for this very reason.

Bird doing a "wing muscles workout"?

Dolphin "functional fitness" exercise?

Squirrel burning calories through agility drills?

Snake engaging the "core"?

Young human being moving naturally even in unnatural environments

The young “human animal” possesses the exact same drive to move.  He wants to move naturally all the time, even in artificial, man-made environments.  Call them “hyperactive” or “ADD” as much as you want, but kids know what’s important and priority, and moving is important and priority to them.  It is a “built-in” program, a fundamental part of their genetic agenda, just like in any other young animal.  Can you expect children to become healthy and fit if you deprive them of their evolutionary birthright to natural motion?  Should you wait until they are in their teenage years to expose them to “real” fitness and give them video games to play in the meantime?  Lastly, why should such an evolutionarily natural movement activity be reserved to and practiced by only children?

More questions:

If wild animals can become extremely fit this natural way, why on Earth should it be any different for humans?  Because they’re animals and we’re not?  Because we are smart and they’re not?  Because we are more advanced and evolved today?  Or…

Because we know better?

There are fundamental questions that need to be addressed in my opinion: can we reinvent ourselves?  And, if yes, to what extent?  Can we discard our “true nature”, i.e. our universal, biological nature, which includes our human species-specific movement aptitudes?

While humans today are being presented with thousands of alternatives to keep in shape, how many of them are relevant to our own essential human species-specific movement needs and potential?

Serious fitness?

I believe, and can actually observe, that an overwhelming majority of the modern fitness industry has completely lost sight of our original physical aptitudes.  It provides methods that are significantly divorced from our original movement modes.  The muscle isolation approach does not work.  The body does not work in isolation, but through and thanks to movement.
There is more to building a body that just growing muscles.  And there is more to building a being that just building their body.  Lastly, people get bored!  Why would you stick to doing anything that doesn’t feel natural to you?  Isn’t there a way we can physically and optimally develop ourselves, while staying faithful to our evolutionarily natural heritage?

You see, in our modern world, all fitness regimens are accessory and optional.  It is up to each and every individual to decide if they want to exercise or not, and how.  Even walking has already become an option.  But like it or not, moving naturally still is, and always will be a biological necessity.  When you are not respecting the needs of your true biological nature, you become a “zoo-human” and the price to pay is physical, mental, and even spiritual suffering.

So isn’t it high time for a healthy and meaningful paradigm shift in the way society and the fitness industry approaches fitness?  In the way you are personally approaching exercising?  Aren’t you thirsty for authentic human movement?"

Erwan Le Corre
Founder of MovNat and Master Instructor


I agree wholeheartedly with Erwan's ideas!  


But, I do have some insights that will ADD to what he has to offer, I think in a very productive, and under-utilized vein of physical culture.  Too much for today, I will make it the focus of my next post.


Jay