Last Chance to Register for Laguna Niguel Workshop! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

The Aesthetic Goal Conundrum

To be perfectly honest, the following observations might not lead you to a life altering epiphany.  But maybe they will.  I don’t really have any direct answers this time.  Just a view from different angle that may help you find your own answers.

I would like to make it clear that from here forward I am only speculating and sharing my professional experience.  I am in no way implying that my speculations apply to everyone, and maybe not even the majority.

I noticed something very interesting when Sarah and Chrissy brought their Paleo Talk Seminar to my gym.  They both showed us pictures of what they looked like before paleo nutrition and proper exercise, and both of them went into detail about how miserable they were at that time.  We could all easily make comparisons between the women in the pictures and the women standing before us.  The aesthetic transformations were astounding and they both look amazing today, but that part went unmentioned.  Neither Sarah or Chrissy ever said they didn’t like the way they looked, only that they couldn’t stand the way they felt.  Hmmm.  Like I said, very interesting.

Throughout my career, the biggest changes in physical appearance have more often than not been achieved by those without aesthetic goals.  Furthermore, clients who are the most driven by aesthetic goals alone, sometimes to the point of desperation, are usually those who struggle the most.  It’s a frustrating paradox for both client and trainer alike.  I have some tenuous theories, but no definitive solutions.

First of all, I have always suspected that the personality type who spends a lot of time worrying about how they look might also be the type that worries more about everything.  If so, then we can assume elevated cortisol which means more fat and less muscle.  If you are a stress case with way too much on your plate and bad sleep patterns, major physical changes will be tough to achieve.  Throw in some stress about your appearance and you are officially stuck in a negative feedback loop.  Worrying about how you look = more stress = more cortisol = more fat/less muscle = more worrying about how you look.  (Important note:  If this is you, more exercise is likely not the answer unless you aren’t exercising.  Caloric restriction diets are also a bad idea.)

Second, body loathing probably goes hand in hand with low self esteem in most cases.  Whether the relationship between how you look and how you value yourself is correlated or causal, the outcome is often difficulty with compliance.  An attitude of “I don’t deserve better than this” will block your path to success every time it rears its ugly head.  If you sometimes feel like efforts to improve yourself are pointless, especially if you have struggled with your self image for a long time, you probably cheat on your diet and skip workouts more often than you should.  This, of course, also creates a negative feedback loop.  Cheating = more self loathing = more feelings of hopelessness = more cheating.

My best advice – find a way to enjoy the means to the end.  Most of us with success stories love the way we eat and truly enjoy our workouts.  You can too.  The easiest way to learn to enjoy your journey is to find people to journey with.  My clients at CPC cheer for each other, encourage each other when the going gets tough, and contact each other when someone starts slacking off.  Without asking, I’m sure Sarah and Chrissy can attest to the same thing at Norcal Strength and Conditioning.  Another great way to stay motivated is to focus on physical capacity goals.  Stop thinking about your appearance every time you drag yourself to the gym and start thinking about lifting heavier weights, moving faster, and accomplishing things that your friends think are impossible.  Posting a video on Facebook of you doing a pull-up or a heavy back squat will put you on the receiving end of much admiration (and maybe a little envy).  Each little personal record will act as a stepping stone to a new you.  One day you will be on your way to the shower and the mirror will stop you in your tracks.

“What the….?  When did I get so hot?!?”

Changing your focus could change your life.

The Aesthetic Goal Conundrum is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

The Broken Fitness Industry

At the risk of making a few enemies, there is something that needs to be said:  The great majority of the fitness industry produces garbage results.  There, I said it.

Okay, so most of you already knew that, but maybe my insider’s perspective will aid you in deciding where to get fit and who to ask for help.  I’m sure I already sound like an arrogant ass who thinks everyone else is terrible and I’m amazing, but some of the following was gleaned from my own mistakes and you probably don’t live anywhere near my gym anyway.

First, let’s address the big corporate gyms, often referred to as “Globo Gyms” by those of us on the outside.  These big corporations are first and foremost… well, big corporations.  Their agenda is all about profits and that doesn’t necessarily coordinate with your agenda of getting fit.  I’ll break it down for you.  Their primary concern is EFT – or electronic funds transfer – which is the total amount of funds transferred automatically from your bank account to theirs each month.  They have a couple of tried and true methods of getting you to agree to this arrangement.  Filling their facilities with shiny expensive machines is where they start.  They are betting on you walking in with no knowledge and gasping at their amazing display of seemingly easy to use equipment that is certain to finally get you fit.  After your tour, the real dirty tricks start.

When I worked in management for one such place (oh the shame!), I was once told by a regional vice president that the fitness department (personal training) was a wash in most of their locations and didn’t really bring in much money.  He went on to explain that when a new member had a good experience with a trainer, regardless of whether or not they bought training, the length of time before they canceled their membership was greatly increased.  I made a mental note of his exact words, “the length of time before they canceled their membership…,” because it meant he was absolutely sure they would eventually quit and his only concern was about when it would finally happen.  The message was clear – nobody gets enough results to stick around so we just try to milk them for whatever we can before they leave.  At that particular (enormous) company, trainers receive 3 days of education before they are turned loose on the unsuspecting client who believes them to be experts.  Pumping gas on Thursday and teaching you to squat on Monday.

The one good thing these gyms offer the world is starting place for trainers who are exceptionally driven to do good work.  It can be hard to get started as a trainer and the corporate gym scene gives would-be good trainers a place to get their feet wet.  Such a trainer will have to take his/her education in his own hands (which is always the case anywhere in my opinion) but at least he/she can make some money while they learn and build a client base that will probably follow them when they leave.

Next, let’s talk about the trainers themselves.  I am of the opinion that if a person becomes a trainer solely because they love to workout, they will likely perpetuate the broken industry.  Trainers need real passion for the science behind the results their clients seek or they probably won’t help many people.  Unfortunately, they may still make a great living because almost anything they throw at a new client will work for a short while, and frustrated plateaued people will often hang on for a long time without making progress, clinging to the memory of those initial results.  The trainer might not even understand their disservice because they can easily blame the client when things don’t work out. “They must be cheating on their diets,” they may say, and of course they would be right.  Nobody will go hungry forever on a miserable starvation diet and hours of cardio.  Especially not when it’s handed down apathetically by a trainer completely disinterested in nutrition.

If a trainer is only motivated by wanting to be in a gym environment all day, they will tend to spit mainstream fitness and nutrition platitudes at every question on a subject that doesn’t interest them.  The answer probably isn’t more cardio, more starving, or more meal replacement shakes.  The extreme is the “go heavy or go home” type who think all problems can be solved with more intensity.  These trainers are all over the world at this exact moment beating the holy snot out of clients who are more likely plateaued due to bad nutrition, elevated cortisol, or even adrenal fatigue.  It’s sad, really.

Please understand that fitness and nutrition are subjects in which more formal education does not always result in a more qualified professional.  Nutrition especially tends to be badly broken at the academic level so more time in a classroom often means more brainwashing and bad science that must be overcome before a worthwhile service can be provided.  But I’m generalizing here.

Last but not least, I need to address high-intensity interval training (HIIT) movement led chiefly by CrossFit.  I own a CrossFit gym and use CrossFit methodology to some degree everyday, so please hear me out.  When CrossFit first hit the scene the fitness world began to change in remarkable ways.  Gathering clients in a group of like-minded individuals and putting them through workouts that are timed or scored is a brilliant way to get intensity out of people that wouldn’t otherwise perform as well if you begged, threatened, or offered them gold.  But call a spade a spade.  If you are more concerned with a time or score than the quality of your movements, you are competing in a sport, not working to advance your fitness and health.

It frustrates me every time I hear people debating over whether or not a repetition of a specific exercise “counted” or not.   Your goal should never be to perform a movement just adequately enough for it to “count” in some sort of sloppy competition apparently designed for rapid fire crap.  And please don’t make the mind-numbingly stupid claim that this is the only legitimate way to get fit.

So how are you suppose to find good training in a broken industry?  The most important thing you can do is look for a trainer with a deep passion for their work.  When someone loves what they do, it shows in ways they can’t hide.  You will likely find such a person by referral.  Ask everyone in your world if they know a good trainer, even the people who don’t exercise.  You never know who has a roommate or cousin who won’t shut-up about their amazing trainer.

Once you have a name and an appointment to meet the person who uses it, you will need to listen intently for signs of passion.  Does the trainer in question seem excited about the opportunity to train you?  Do they appear to know what they are talking about and deliver the information in a way that says “I love this stuff”, or are they just trying to get into your wallet?  Do they want to know about your goals?  Do they thoroughly understand and recommend paleo nutrition?

When you are satisfied that you have found a passionate trainer, you will need to ask some tough questions.  Begin with something like, “How will you get me back on track if I hit a plateau?”  His/her answer should be about how they intend to determine the cause of your plateau, and not how they would immediately turn up the intensity of your workouts without a second thought. Next, you might want to ask how they feel about cardio and endurance training.  If you aren’t specifically looking for help with a marathon (for some strange reason), you will want to find a trainer that won’t impose such harmful methods upon you.

If everything appears to be in order, you will need to test out this rare find without a massive commitment.  A good trainer will put their money where their mouth is for a month and prove themselves to you.  If they are adamant that you buy into a long term commitment without showing you what they can do, walk away.  In my gym, people begin with a month of education in which the first workout and the last workout are exactly the same.  We time them in both workouts to put the quality of our product on the line.  In every assessment I say, “If you don’t improve, you would be crazy to give me any more of your money.”

As usual, I could rant for hours, but I think you have what you need.  Just promise me you won’t settle for mediocre training.  You deserve better and so does my industry.  Please don’t reward bad trainers with your hard earned money.

The Broken Fitness Industry is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I’ll let Jason take it over from here…

Women and Muscle

This one is for the ladies.  Gentlemen, see you next time.

I’m generalizing here, but an average workout for for the typical female Globo Gym client consists of 30 – 60 minutes on a cardio machine or cardio class of some sort, followed by 10 – 15 minutes of “core” work.  If the path from the cardio equipment/class passes too close to the barbells, they must walk very quickly so as not to wake up tomorrow morning with 20 inch biceps and a full beard.  Okay, I’m being facetious, but this is a frustrating problem for many a trainer.

Ladies, you must lift weights! No matter what your goals may be, you will get the biggest bang for your buck by lifting heavy things in lots of different ways.  I covered the basic movements here so I won’t repeat myself, but we need to talk about the reasons you need to be lifting and the inhibitions you may have.

Unfortunately, the consensus among new female clients is almost always that lifting weights guarantees that you will look like this in short order:

Now I’m absolutely not passing judgment on anyone who actually wants to look like this.  In fact, I have nothing but respect for the amount of work this woman put into her sport.  But this requires drugs and an unbelievable level of dedication.  To assume that even a fraction of these results might happen to you by accident is naive and insulting to female bodybuilders.  This woman altered her capacity for hypertrophy (increased muscle size) with artificial hormones, used training methods designed specifically for maximum muscle mass gain, and probably ate more food per meal than you eat all day.  Do you intend to do all of those things?  No?  Then you can’t look like her.  Stop worrying about the impossible and load a barbell.

In my gym, the women with the heaviest lifts and the best overall physical capacity are also the women with bodies that are envied by the rest.  I think that most women who are new to fitness would assume that you can either be strong or you can be cute.  I think most men would disagree – at least men with any fitness experience.

I admit that the following is completely anecdotal, but let’s use Katie as an example.  Katie has been a client of mine for just over 3 years and she is a monster.  On her first day of training she weighed 172 lbs at 5 feet 2 inches tall.  She is a mom with 2 young children, she was eating a standard American diet, she could barely do a sit-up, she was not happy with her body and this is what she looked like:

After deciding she was fed up with her body, she got down to business with her training and nutrition and here are a few of her current stats:

Deadlift – 255 lbs

Back Squat – 200 lbs

Shoulder Press – 85 lbs

Clean – 140 lbs

She has completed 143 Kipping Pull-Ups in 15 minutes.

There is a benchmark CrossFit workout called Fran that goes like this:

21 Thrusters with 65 lbs (girls)
21 Kipping Pull-Ups
15 Thrusters
15 Kipping Pull-Ups
9 Thrusters
9 Kipping Pull-Ups

Katie has completed all this in 4 minutes and 29 seconds.

If you think like the average women, Katie’s accomplishments probably sound appalling and unladylike.  Well, you be the judge.  This is what Katie looks like now at around 135 lbs:

I should also mention that Katie doesn’t do any “cardio” by the mainstream definition.  Anything she does that might resemble “cardio” is done in short intervals.  She also does not weigh and measure her food.

I’ve exploited Katie here (thanks Katie!) because her results are typical of all of my heaviest lifting women.  Granted, we are not training them exclusively for strength, and that’s not what I’m recommending, but they are absolutely trained with strength and power as a top priority.  In fact, when the newbies ask for advice from the top  women they are often told to get into lifting and get strong.  I have no doubt that Katie would advise the same.

Another reason women need to lift weights is to maintain bone density.  Any women reading this who are over 40 years old have probably been emphatically prescribed copious amounts of calcium by their doctor.  What the doc neglected to consider is the lack of stimulus necessary for your body to use valuable energy to build more bone.  Maybe you should drop off a bunch of lumber in your doctor’s yard without mentioning why, and then get mad at him when he doesn’t use it to build a deck.  He’s playing the same game with your body.  Why would your body assume that you need more bone density if you never bear loads that would necessitate a stronger frame?  In reality, if your diet and exercise are on par with the needs of your species you probably don’t need calcium at all.

If you are having a hard time getting your head around all this, you need to find a quality fitness facility, one that consistently produces excellent results, and talk to their women.  And you need to roll the dice and try it.  I have already asked you to dramatically change your thinking about nutrition in my previous posts.  Now I’m asking you to trust me again.  Get motivated.  Get educated.  Lift heavy.  You won’t regret it.

Women and Muscle is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Brace yourself.  I’m coming at you with all guns blazing on this one and you aren’t going to believe what you’re about to see.  First things first, if you haven’t read my diatribe condemning your bathroom scale, please begin there.

Alright, now that you are caught up, let’s revisit Deb from my last post.  Deb has been kind enough to let me exploit her for your education on these here interwebs and I am very grateful.  Showing the world where she started isn’t easy, but she is a kind person who wants to help you and she has accomplished some remarkable things in her health and fitness.

So here is Deb at the beginning of a contest we held at my gym in January of last year.

Here she is at a size zero with her nutrition dialed.  For the full effect of this picture, place your thumb on your screen directly over the ugly guy on the right.

And here she is a couple of weeks ago after a lot of hard work that has dramatically increased her fitness capacity.  I didn’t actually intend for this post to be all about Deb’s accomplishments, so I won’t repeat her numbers here.  Suffice it to say, my money would be on Deb versus the average American girl half her age in a contest of any exercise I have ever convinced her to perform.  Now for the really good part.

I spent my entire career waiting patiently for the right situation that would produce the picture below.

Now that you are done staring in amazement, eyes darting back and forth between the two Debs and down to “155lbs” to make sure you read it right, let this information really sink in.  Let it change your perspective to something healthier.  Forever!

Now go throw away your scale.

Faced with the facts above, basing your goals – or even worse, your happiness – on the number on your scale is absolutely ridiculous.  I’ll give you an example of why weight is useless information in all but extreme cases.  Let’s pretend Deb came to me at a weight of 200 lbs and told me she wanted to get down to 155 lbs.  Which side of the picture above do you think she would prefer?  Do you think she would have been satisfied with the left side?  Look at her face.  She is ecstatic with her body on the right, but on the left she can hardly stand to have her picture taken.  We can glean from this that goals based on weight are too vague to be useful.  If I had only given you her circumference measurements (waist, hips, thighs, bust, etc.) and no photos, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind which 155 lb Deb you would have chosen as the more aesthetically appealing.  But when you look in the mirror and see a body like the Deb on the left you probably say, “Damn, I need to lose some weight.”  Now you have undeniable evidence that defies that thought.  Losing weight is not what you want and pursuing a number on your scale is not the path to success.  It will drive you insane, though.  But that’s probably not your goal.

Change your perspective to something healthier.  Forever!

For those of you that may be having a hard time believing how all this can possibly be true, click here and hit Deb up on Facebook.  She will be happy to befriend you and answer your questions, but please be reasonable.  She has not volunteered to coach you, just to be your motivation.

Edit: One little point I left out of this post is that Deb totaled up her calories just for fun a few weeks ago.  She came up with an average of slightly over 3900 per day.  Take that calorie restriction diets!

Attention Scale Addicts, part 2 is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Why do we push through the pain?  In life, in a workout, at work, at home, with the kids, out with friends.  We push through the physical and emotional pain that is inevitable in our lives because it’s a basic instinct for human survival. We slap on our smiles when we are sad, pick up the barbell again even when our arms have lost their ability to function, face adversity because we want to stand up for what we believe in, and we love even when we are not loved in return.  These human qualities are why we progress and these qualities make us warriors.

So I ask you, when do we need to stop pushing through the pain?  When do we need to sit quietly with our thoughts and actually feel our pain and accept it, process it, and be ok with it?  I ask you this question because this question is one that I am learning to ask of myself.  I am a fighter, I refuse to give up, I tend to be one of those folks who freakishly enjoys pushing through the pain BUT if I refuse to face my pain, I start to crumble.

Last night, I let myself cry and I hate to cry – I’m a stubborn woman and often hide my heart to “be strong” and “push through” but last night I was like an overflowing well.  I told my husband why I was sad, just saying out loud what I have to push through gives life’s hardships validity and gives a voice to why we keep going and why it’s hard; I miss my mom, I feel like I’m doing too much, I can’t figure out how to make it all work, and I am afraid that time is going so quickly that I’m missing out on some of those precious little moments.  Does this mean that I want to give up, that I’ve lost my strength, that I am weak?  No, it was a moment of being real in the safety of my own room, in the arms of someone who loves me, and it was what needed to happen because today, I’m ready again to push through the pain – and I can do so happily, with confidence, and even with joy!!

The moral of the story?  It’s ok to admit that life is not always a bed of roses, in fact, we are all better off for it.  Maintaining a constant strong persona is not a bad thing but really feeling your pain and honoring that pain every now and then is a healthy way to continue to live your best life with your head held high, knowing that you are human with real emotions and real challenges.

Now I’ll go cook something and post a recipe soon because food is so much more darn fun.

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Interview Tomorrow With Jim Laird of Maximus Health & Wellness Radio is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I used to go to the gym with a mission.  A mission to fall on the ground in a heap, to crawl out of there with every muscle twitching, every fiber burning, every breath feeling like my last one, but it was a victorious feeling because I DID IT.  Then, I hit a big fat ugly wall and my entire life changed.  I will not bore you with the details but I went very quickly from being all or nothing – not only in life but in the gym – to barely being able to drag my tired, sorry, over-trained, under-slept, stressed out body out of bed.  It took me several months to recover from what I had done to myself, and during those months, I often asked myself – what the hell was I chasing??  I am not a competitive athlete and never will be, I am a MOM a WIFE a WOMAN and today I am happy to be strong enough to pick up some weights, wise enough to know when I shouldn’t, aware of my own capabilities and lack of capabilities, and most importantly; I have finally figured out what I am “going for” when I show up to work out.  I go to the gym to escape from the kids, to feel a sense of community, to hug the people that I love and call friends, to feel good about myself, to fit into my jeans, to discover what new and fun stuff my mommy of three body can do and be proud of whatever that might be.  I go to the gym to know that not every day is a good day and that for me, the stop watch doesn’t really prove anything, and I go to prove that I really have NOTHING to prove.

The moral to my rambling story?  I would like to introduce you to a person who without even realizing it, has been and continues to be an instrumental influence on my new and much more productive outlook on what fitness is for me; and that person is Andy Deas.  I am grateful that he has joined our Norcal family and I am grateful for what I have learned from training with him and from reading his blog, Chasing Capacity.  Most of you know Andy as the co-host of the Paleo  Solution with Robb Wolf and I hope you take the chance to know him further by reading his musings on fitness, and life in general.  Oh, and if you haven’t thought about it in a while, the next time you go to work out – ask yourself, “What am I chasing??”

Now, a recipe!! Dinner tonight seriously rocked and was ridiculously easy.  I have been rushing like a mad woman all day, came home, threw open the fridge and saw some chicken that needed to be cooked, a jar of sun dried tomatoes, some bacon, and some basil.  Hello dinner!!

Basil Bacon Wrapped Chicken

1 1/2 lbs chicken breast tenders or chicken breasts cut into 1″ wide slices

1 – 8.5 oz jar of julienne cut sun dried tomatoes

8-12 fresh basil leaves

8-12 bacon strips

Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400.  Grease a baking sheet with either grass fed organic butter or coconut oil.  Take a chicken piece, top with a large scoop on sun dried tomatoes, top that with a basil leaf, and wrap the whole thing tightly with a piece of bacon.  Place all the wrapped chicken pieces on the greased baking sheet, sprinkle them all with pepper, and bake for 15 minutes.  Finish under the broiler for 3-4 minutes to crisp the bacon.  I served the chicken with kale steamed in chicken stock and carrots cooked in the pressure cooker.

Enjoy!

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What are YOU chasing – and of course a recipe… is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I am excited to announce that my book “Everyday Paleo” is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders!!  Thank you all so much for your continued support and encouragement.  The release date is listed as June of 2011 but the book should be released closer to late February or mid March.  Thanks again everyone!!

Everyday Paleo Book is Ready for Pre-Order!!! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Well, Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is right around the corner but in the mean time, in between the insanity, shopping, hanging of lights, and planning yet ANOTHER holiday meal, we all still need to eat.  Here’s a delicious and amazingly easy seafood stew recipe that I would like to share with you. Thank you to my dear friend Jillian for sharing this recipe with me, this is now one of our new favorites!  If your kiddos have turned their noses up to seafood before, this might be the meal that changes their minds.

Caribbean Seafood Stew

2 lbs of  raw seafood (I used 1 lb of wild caught shrimp and 1 lb of mahi mahi pieces, both from Trader Joe’s)

1 yellow onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons cumin

1 bunch cilantro

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 can coconut milk

1 tbsp coconut oil

Sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Dice up the stems of the cilantro bunch and set aside. In a large soup pot saute the onions in the coconut oil.  When the onions start to turn brown, add the garlic and the cilantro stems and saute for another 2-3 onions.  Add the tomatoes, cumin, salt and pepper, mix well and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Add the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Add the seafood and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until the seafood is done.  Serve with the cilantro leaves on top as a garnish.

Enjoy!

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Caribbean Seafood Stew is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

First, I would like to announce the winner of the Name That Recipe contest for last weeks Lamb and Pumpkin Recipe.  I let my 15 year old, Coby, pick the winner and after much deliberation and deep, deep thought – he decided on: Halloween Hash by Stefanie. Thank you Stefanie and thank you Coby for picking a great entry – I loved all of them!!

Now, on to the good stuff.

Before you started eating paleo, did food rule your life?  It ruled mine. I had such a sucky relationship with food.  I loved, and still do love food but I was constantly trying to do things better, “eat right”, stay away from this, add that back in, eat more, eat less,so I  zoned, Atkined, South Beached, and Suzanne Somered, and what I did was I ate my way straight to the looney bin along with adding on pounds, health issues, and total confusion about what was good for me!  To  make a long story short, I finally was introduced to eating paleo and EVERYTHING changed, but, it was not an overnight light bulb moment.  I have been asked before how long it took me to, “get paleo eating down.”  The truth is, eating paleo is about the freaking easiest thing on the planet, it was getting my head right that was the learning curve.  Eating paleo is so easy in fact that I tried my darnedest to make it as hard as possible.  I freaked out over EVERYTHING.  I remember sobbing to Robb Wolf almost daily at the gym – Robb, is this paleo, is that paleo is THIS  OR THAT OR THIS PALEO until he looked at me one day and said, “Well, how do you feel?”  I thought for a minute and realized that I felt pretty amazing and before he even replied I knew the answer, all that I was eating was paleo and paleo for me, and today I darn well know it when I eat something that is not paleo for me – because my body let’s me know in often extremely vicious ways!  This whole “paleo thing”  is not a one size fits all program.  In fact, it’s not a program.  It’s life and a better life because eating paleo means eating food that makes you feel amazing instead of fat, lazy, unhealthy, and sick.  If you felt ok before, eating paleo might mean maximizing your potential and realizing that just feeling ok is pretty lousy compared to feeling VITALITY!!

Furthermore, what eating paleo looks like for me will look a whole lot different to someone with autoimmunity issues, allergies, or type II diabetes (to name a few).  I am relatively lean and healthy at this point in my life so therefore, my paleo eating includes a few more yams and apple slices then it used to.  When I was sick and fat, eating paleo for me meant very little fruit, only after a work out would I partake in yams and no nacho nights ever until I reached my goal weight and no longer suffered from the little health afflictions that I used to suffer from.  Eating paleo for someone with food allergies is very different then my eating paleo.  I’m ok eating a handful of nuts but a good friend of mine turns into an itchy, hive ridden mess so nuts are NOT paleo for her.  Am I making sense?  Now let’s dig a little deeper, what about vinegar, what about sea salt, what about the occasional use of a bit of raw honey, or baking soda, bananas, carrots, and coconut milk or God forbid red wine in my spaghetti sauce or a shot of tequila on Friday night?? Did cave people have an abundance of this stuff?  Most likely not but they also lacked cars, farmers markets, and Trader Joe’s, and the last time I checked, I do not carry a club, wear antelope hair tunics, or greet my children with an UGH in the morning (unless I haven’t yet had my coffee).  We could argue and debate for hours about how yams are a good source of carbs for post workout recovery meals (and healthy kids should eat them whenever), how baking soda is found in nature by mineral springs and is helpful in regulating blood acidity for endurance athletes, how vinegar probably won’t kill you if you toss some on your salad now and then, or that bananas, although of no real nutritional value, are nice to have around in case you are hankering for something sweet and it’s a better option then – oh I don’t know a donut??

Some of the stuff on that thrown together list is not paleo for some people and for some folks, now and then it’s about as paleo as you can get.  So, when you feel like you are suffocating or turning into a paleo junky – think about how you feel?  Are you lean, healthy, and continue to perform well in the gym?  Then you are probably eating paleo, and that’s what eating paleo means – to YOU.  If you feel like crap, gaining weight or not losing weight, or not coming close to reaching any of your fitness goals, it’s time to reassess!  Maybe you are letting grains or dairy sneak back in, maybe you’re living on nuts between meals, and “paleo treats” (like my awesome nutty cookies) are turning into mainstays rather then now and then’s.

I do not know a single person who can sit down and list everything that is or is not paleo for EVERYONE because the truth is we are all very different with very different health concerns.  The BOTTOM LINE IS, stick to the basics for this lifestyle, ALWAYS AVOID GLUTEN, and DO eat meat, seafood, veggies, a little bit of fruit, and good fats, but do not make yourself nutty – just eat what makes you feel good, and if you do not feel well, there’s probably something you are eating that’s not paleo – for you!  Continue to educate yourself – listen to Robb Wolf’s podcasts, read books, search the internet – we live in the age of information at our fingertips but the best “science” is how you feel, look and perform.

Here’s a fun recipe that I made for lunch today with what I had in my fridge.

Shrimp Loves Coconut

1 lb large shrimp, tail on peeled and deveined

1/3 cup coconut flour

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 egg whites

2 cups coconut flakes

Pre heat oven to 400. In a mixing bowl, stir together the coconut flour, salt, and cayenne pepper. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy.  In another bowl, pour the coconut flakes.  Taking one shrimp at a time, dry well with a paper towel and dredge each shrimp in the coconut flour mixture, dip into the egg whites and then roll into the coconut flakes.  Bake on a lightly greased (with coconut oil) baking sheet for 12- 15 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and the coconut flakes start to brown.

Enjoy!

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What does eating Paleo REALLY Mean?? And a recipe is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

One of our rock-star clients at Norcal and a dedicated Everyday Paleo reader recently shared with me her 3 month before and after photos.  Michele L. is a living testament to what hard work and dedication looks like.  We live in a quick fix society and most folks want results now; which is why our TV commercials are littered with “Lose 10 lbs in 1 week with this magic pill” ads.  The truth is, real people have to work real hard in order to change their lives, and Michele did just that.  Here is what Michele had to say about her 3 month transition and Everyday Paleo,

“OM-gosh!  I’m so excited… As I mentioned before, you have totally inspired me and how you make eating well simple with all of your tasty recipes!  I can’t wait for what the next three months bring.”

Michele, YOU are an inspiration and thank you so much for sharing your photos with us, you deserve all the credit for your hard work and dedication, congratulations!

Paleo Women

Speaking of powerful women, Laura Keenan, owner and founder of Paleo Women Snacks and Granola’s, recently commented on one of my blog posts and offered to send me some free samples of her Paleo Granola, and wow, I’m so glad I took her up on her offer.  All 4 of her flavors are delicious, my favorite being the Cappuccino granola. I placed an order the very next day and my kids are looking forward to packing her granolas in their lunch boxes!  So, for you busy paleo women out there, (and men too of course), here is another great resource for awesome and wholesome paleo snacks to pack for on-the-go families.  Thank you Laura!

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A Rock-Star Paleo Woman and “Paleo Women Snacks and Granola’s” is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Making it happen can also mean getting those work outs in, even while on the road.  The last time we visited the in-laws, we loaded up our boys along with all of our nephews and nieces and hauled them to the park for a family workout.  The kids had a blast, and we got in some exercise – it’s all about making it happen!

We can choose to, or choose not to; it’s really as simple as that…  Trust me – I am FAR from perfect but I know that putting in the extra degree of effort is worth it in the long run and making choices that sometimes seem more difficult  at that moment, actually make everything else in life much more enjoyable and manageable.

Cheers!

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Making It Happen… is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

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Go Lou Mars!! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Here are a couple of quick and easy  meals that helped us get through this rather hectic week:

Chicken Sausage, Shrimp, and Kale:

Saute two sliced red bell peppers and one medium yellow onion in olive oil

Add 1 package of gluten free chicken sausage and one bag of frozen shrimp

Stir in one jar of marinated artichoke hearts and 2 big spoonfuls of sun dried tomatoes

Serve over a pile of steamed kale

Dinner in five…

Brown 2lbs of grass fed ground beef

Season beef with a little sea salt, ground black pepper, and garlic powder

Pour in one jar of Trader Joe’s Organic Marinara sauce and one can of organic diced tomatoes

Add in 5 sliced zucchinis and simmer together until zucchini is tender.

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Finding balance….or not! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I was deeply moved by the strength and courage that these loving families displayed and most of all the incredible hope to someday find a cure and prevention for Rett Syndrome. Angela Herrick made a moving speech and acknowledged our Cross Fit community for helping forge on with the fight to end Rett Syndrome. Life is precious and fragile and this event was a wonderful reminder that community, support, friendship, and love is what makes life worth living, and these families who have little girls with Rett Syndrome are living with hands full, and hearts overflowing with love and dedication. Best of luck to the Herrick family and all the families touched by Rett. Check out these photos of Angela’s family, as well as two other CrossFitters, Rachelle and Mike who came to support!

Alexis’ Dream is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License