Happy Thursday, Gang!
May I extend the hospitality of the mid-west to everyone back on the east coast as the US Custom Harvestors’ Convention gets underway this morning.
I have had many thoughts as to what I would write about in this situation. Should we talk more about grains and legumes? Perhaps a few words about stress, sleep, and alcohol? How does one eat when traveling? What's a good plan to stay on-track with so many changes in daily routine and food temptations?
It has been an interesting trip as many more people around me become introduced to my personal choice to forgo the consumption of grains. There is a lot of interest! As well as the very standard - "I couldn't live without ____!" As you all have found out - it is possible to live without grains. In fact, you will probably thrive without them. However, it is a difficult addiction to break and I understand the struggle. Tuesday, the group of us decided to go to have pizza for supper. I love pizza. On Sunday, I made 12 pizza's (grain free!) with my friends and their kids. It was really nice when one of the guys said - I'm sure they have sandwiches if you'd rather. Thanks, but I'll pass. A nice sirloin steak sliced thin over mixed greens at the hotel hit the spot for me. It would have been just as easy to go with the guys. Order up a beer, break into the wings, and suck down three, four, six slices of pizza. But how would I have felt in the morning? I know how I would feel. That's why I made the choice I did. By now many of you are 30 days or more grain free! How do you feel? I don't want you to form a bad habit, but it is important to know what would happen if you did decide on the pizza instead. Go ahead - have a pizza and pasta night. Pay very close attention to how you are feeling one, two, four hours later. Especially the next morning. Do you feel anxious? Sweaty? Heart racing or pumping hard? Do you feel sick to the stomach or bloated? Have that "let the belt out - I ate sooo much feeling?" Perhaps you feel fine - until the body aches and loose stools the next day. This is important to know! Re-introduction is not a bad thing. However you MUST have been 30 PERFECTLY grain-free days before trying it. As Robb Wolf points out, you only need to have a small re-introduction of grain in a 15 day period to damage the gut lining back to square one. It takes that long just to lightly repair the damage - twice that long to fully heal.
If you try this please let me know how you fared.
BIG NEWS! The CNH Nutrition Group Blog is now active! This blog contains all of our previous emails at this time. I will be tweaking the site over the next few weeks in an attempt to also add a page of all of the attachments we’ve been sending around. If a attachment in noted in a post that you are interested in, please email me and I will send it to you directly until I figure out how to get this done. Anyone who has experience in the field of blogging and can help I would appreciate all that I can get! Please refer your friends and family to our blog so that they may also become part of our family!
I encourage the use of the comment button to share your thoughts on the posts with each other. Currently, there are only email posts listed – however I would like to eventually have a dynamic posting system in place in which every member can post thoughts, articles, recipes, lists, links, and more! This site is in place for you. Become a part of it! I will be sending out the direct posting email address in a following email.
Nutrition Tip of the Day: Clean out the pantry! Last week, I shared a story about my own family finally cleaning out the pantry of all the foods we are not eating. This is important. If it isn’t in the house – you can’t eat it! And even better – if you have a properly stocked pantry, making healthy meals becomes easy and automatic. Here’s a simple 10 step list from MDA on “primalizing” your pantry. I’ve cut down the descriptions so that it fits here – but click the link to read the full article.
10 Steps to “Primalize” Your Pantry
The freezer has ice cream and frozen pizzas, but it’s the pantry that harbors the usual carb suspects – chips, cookies, crackers, pasta, cereal and bread galore. If you’re not careful this cool and dark space could derail your best efforts to eat Primally. So follow these 10 easy steps and you’ll be well on your way to having a truly Primal pantry. And be sure to share what’s in your pantry in the comment boards! Are we missing any major Primal staples?
1. Junk Food Extermination
The first step toward Primalizing your pantry is purging it of the wrong foods. Toss your processed foods and prepackaged meals. No more baked beans, bland soups, or loaves of bread collecting mold alongside dry pastas. Get rid of the cookies, crackers, and chips standing in your way. No holds barred, people.
2. Donate
When I say toss out, I mean “toss out of the pantry and in the general direction of a plastic bin or paper bag perfect for delivering to a food bank.”
3. Nuts/Seeds/Nut Flour
Pantries are the perfect spots for instant snacks. It’s just that most snacks aren’t all that Primal – except for nuts and seeds.
4. Healthy Fats
Keep your pantry well-stocked with olive oil, palm oil, coconut oil, and various nut oils – all healthy.
5. Sweet Tooth Suppression
Honey is good to have on hand, as is semi-sweet dark chocolate (go for a good quality, mostly-cacao chocolate bar, which isn’t all that high in sugar and is decidedly more Primal than, say, a Hershey’s bar).
6. Tea Time
We should limit our caffeine intake, but teas are excellent members of any healthy Primal pantry.
7. The Spice of Primal Life
If you can spare it, devote a shelf in your pantry to your spice collection.
8. Jerky
Again, the key to avoiding temptation is stocking your pantry with instant Primal foods. Keep some jerky on hand.
9. Dried Fruits
We’ve told you to take caution when eating dried fruits before (on account of the high sugar content), but they can’t be ignored when stocking your pantry.
10. Canned Goods
You’ve ditched the canned beans and cherry pie filling, but don’t eschew the can altogether.
Workout of the Day: Warm-up: 2 rounds x 15 reps – Jumping Jacks, Shoulder Mobility, Push-ups, Walking Lunge, Samson Stretch, Squat Workout: As Many Rounds As Possible in 15 minutes of – 50 Double Unders (or 200 single jumps or 100 jumping jacks if you don’t have a jump rope), 15 Dips (between two chairs or on bench – elevate feet for more challenge). After your 15 min AMRAP complete 100 sit-ups and 50 leg-lifts.
See below for a great post regarding how your emotions can hinder your weight loss efforts.
Reminder! Friday, Neseth will be again holding a video-viewing party in Building 43. If you missed it the first time – here is the perfect opportunity to check it out!
Have a tremendous Thursday!
Mike.
An interesting perspective from personal trainer, active blogger, and paleo follower Douglas Robb on "Emotions" and their affect on your body composition. (Yes, he's Canadian. Let's not let that affect our judgement! lol)
My Emotions Made Me Fat
healthhabits | March 1, 2011 | 7 Comments
About 3 months ago, I tested my body composition.
Total body-weight was = 243 lbs
Lean body mass (bone, muscle, organs) was = 216 lbs
Body-fat was = 27 lbs
Body-fat percentage was = 11%
And since winter is my time to focus on strength and ignore body-fat, I was pleased with the numbers.
I was strong as a horse and would worry about the excess blubber in the spring.
And then my Dad went into the hospital.
At first, he seemed to be responding to treatment and we were expecting him home in a few days. Unfortunately, he picked up a couple of drug resistant infections in the hospital and things started to go downhill.
But since my Dad has always been a fighter, he went to war against the drug resistant staph & c-difficile. One day he would be getting better and we would feel hopeful. The next day, he would crash. This went on for over two months.
Until, on Feb 9, 2011, my Dad passed away.
Since that time, I have had the pleasure of organizing services, looking after my Mom and attending memorials and family remembrances.
I also went a little mental during the 3 months and gained 24 lbs of body-fat.
Total weight as of yesterday is = 267 lbs
Lean Body Mass (bone, muscle, organs) is still = 216 lbs
Body-fat weight is = 51 lbs
Body-fat percentage is = 19%
And it’s not like I went on some sort of cheesecake bender.
Instead of my normal Paleo diet of meat and vegetables, I was eating more like a normal North American.
A giant cookie with my Starbucks coffee
Sandwiches instead of salads or stir-frys
A can of Coke in the hospital cafeteria.
Hard candies and potato chips from my wife’s stash
Bread
Rice
and the occasional giant bowl of ice cream
Combine all this junk with my skyrocketing levels of cortisol and a bad case of the blues – and I have managed to pack on an extra 24 lbs of blubber and a newfound fear of my bathroom mirror.
And if that isn’t the perfect example of how emotions can make you fat, I don’t know what is.
Luckily for me, between my muscle mass and my ultra-casual personal trainer wardrobe, it’s hard to tell that I packed on the weight.
But, I know it’s there.
But not for much longer.
FYI – More info on Emotional Eating
How to Beat Emotional Eating
Emotional Eating: When Diets Don’t Work
Women, Food and God
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