Here's MY proof!

I talk a lot about the health benefits of a Paleo style diet. I truly believe that it is the diet best suited for human consumption. And to be honest, I'd better be right. You see, I break nearly every nutrition rule put out there by the so called experts of the Dietitian's Association of Australia and Nutrition Australia. While they encourage people to eat a diet that looks like the old food pyramid or the USDA's new 'My Plate',
I eat a diet that is totally at odds.

I consume grass fed red meat at least twice and often up to 3 times a day. I eat eggs on most days. I eat bacon at least 3 days per week. I abstain totally from all wheat products and most grain products in general ( I am experimenting by reintroducing a small amount of rice, maybe once every couple of weeks.) I also limit fruit consumption to some blueberries morning and night, as I don't want to overdo the fructose consumption, and I tend not to eat any dairy products.  But perhaps my most cardinal sin is the fact that I consume a lot of saturated fat. Some of this comes from the meat that I eat, but mostly it comes from coconut in the form of coconut milk (used in my omelettes), coconut cream (on top of my frozen blueberries - YUM!!), or coconut oil (used for all of my cooking.

Now conventional wisdom would tell you that I am setting myself up for a very short lifespan. My cholesterol is probably through the roof and a heart attack is just around the corner. Well in this case conventional wisdom would be wrong and I have the proof.

A couple of weeks ago, simply out of curiosity, Iwent and had  my blood profiles done. Here are the results;

Cholesterol
Total - 4.5mmol/L  (Healthy Range - 0.0-5.5)
HDL - 1.4mmol/L (Healthy Range - 0.9-2.2)
LDL - 2.9mmol/L (Healthy range <3.4)
Cholesterol/HDL ratio - 3.2 (Healthy range <5.0)

Hmmm, so no problems there apparently. All blood work well within the healthy range (although I'm not sure a cholesterol reading of 0.0 would be healthy considering what cholesterol actually does).

If I was being picky I would say that I would have liked to have seen my HDL numbers a little higher. What these numbers do not tell you is the particle size of my LDL cholesterol. This is a much better marker of heart health. However, one number that you can look at to give you an indication of whether your LDL particles are large and fluffy (good) or small and dense (bad) is to look at your C-reactive protein  numbers. CRP is a marker of systemic inflammation. Inflammation plays a major role in all of today's diseases of society (Cancer, Heart disease, stroke etc) How did my CRP fare?

C-Reactive Protein
CRP - 6.8mg/L  (Healthy range <10mg/L)

Once again well within the healthy range. Now take in to consideration that at the time of the test I was suffering from a severe case of man flu and spent the day off work sick (a rarity since being paleo). Colds and Flu's are viruses attacking the body and raise the level of inflammation in the body. So, even in an unwell, inflamed state my numbers were still well within the healthy range.

What do all of these numbers really mean? Well, essentially not much. It does go to show that, for me at least, eating Paleo has kept my cardiovascular system healthy as opposed to killing me which many seem to think it will do. Perhaps I am a special, freakishly gifted individual, and others will not get the same results. However, I doubt it. The internet is full of examples from the medical community as well as others own personal experiences that match my results.

What does it mean for you? Well, if you are thinking of going paleo, go and get some blood work done first. Then 3 months into your journey, have it checked again. I think you'll find you are pleasantly surprised!

The Iron never lies!

I was doing some hunting around on the internet the other day and stumbled on one of my favourite essays on lifting. It's by Henry Rollins. Although we had very different experiences growing up, Rollins' essay resonates with me every time I read it. Today I share it with you.

The Iron

by Henry Rollins

 

I believe that the definition of definition is reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself.

Completely.

When I was young I had no sense of myself. All I was, was a product of all the fear and humiliation I suffered. Fear of my parents. The humiliation of teachers calling me "garbage can" and telling me I'd be mowing lawns for a living. And the very real terror of my fellow students. I was threatened and beaten up for the color of my skin and my size. I was skinny and clumsy, and when others would tease me I didn't run home crying, wondering why.

I knew all too well. I was there to be antagonized. In sports I was laughed at. A spaz. I was pretty good at boxing but only because the rage that filled my every waking moment made me wild and unpredictable. I fought with some strange fury. The other boys thought I was crazy.

I hated myself all the time.

As stupid at it seems now, I wanted to talk like them, dress like them, carry myself with the ease of knowing that I wasn't going to get pounded in the hallway between classes. Years passed and I learned to keep it all inside. I only talked to a few boys in my grade. Other losers. Some of them are to this day the greatest people I have ever known. Hang out with a guy who has had his head flushed down a toilet a few times, treat him with respect, and you'll find a faithful friend forever. But even with friends, school sucked. Teachers gave me hard time. I didn't think much of them either.

Then came Mr. Pepperman, my advisor. He was a powerfully built Vietnam veteran, and he was scary. No one ever talked out of turn in his class. Once one kid did and Mr. P. lifted him off the ground and pinned him to the blackboard. Mr. P. could see that I was in bad shape, and one Friday in October he asked me if I had ever worked out with weights. I told him no.

He told me that I was going to take some of the money that I had saved and buy a hundred-pound set of weights at Sears. As I left his office, I started to think of things I would say to him on Monday when he asked about the weights that I was not going to buy. Still, it made me feel special. My father never really got that close to caring. On Saturday I bought the weights, but I couldn't even drag them to my mom's car. An attendant laughed at me as he put them on a dolly.

Monday came and I was called into Mr. P.'s office after school. He said that he was going to show me how to work out. He was going to put me on a program and start hitting me in the solar plexus in the hallway when I wasn't looking. When I could take the punch we would know that we were getting somewhere. At no time was I to look at myself in the mirror or tell anyone at school what I was doing. In the gym he showed me ten basic exercises. I paid more attention than I ever did in any of my classes. I didn't want to blow it. I went home that night and started right in.

Weeks passed, and every once in a while Mr. P. would give me a shot and drop me in the hallway, sending my books flying. The other students didn't know what to think. More weeks passed, and I was steadily adding new weights to the bar. I could sense the power inside my body growing. I could feel it.

Right before Christmas break I was walking to class, and from out of nowhere Mr. Pepperman appeared and gave me a shot in the chest. I laughed and kept going. He said I could look at myself now. I got home and ran to the bathroom and pulled off my shirt. I saw a body, not just the shell that housed my stomach and my heart. My biceps bulged. My chest had definition. I felt strong. It was the first time I can remember having a sense of myself. I had done something and no one could ever take it away. You couldn't say s--t to me.

It took me years to fully appreciate the value of the lessons I have learned from the Iron. I used to think that it was my adversary, that I was trying to lift that which does not want to be lifted. I was wrong. When the Iron doesn't want to come off the mat, it's the kindest thing it can do for you. If it flew up and went through the ceiling, it wouldn't teach you anything. That's the way the Iron talks to you. It tells you that the material you work with is that which you will come to resemble. That which you work against will always work against you.

It wasn't until my late twenties that I learned that by working out I had given myself a great gift. I learned that nothing good comes without work and a certain amount of pain. When I finish a set that leaves me shaking, I know more about myself. When something gets bad, I know it can't be as bad as that workout.

I used to fight the pain, but recently this became clear to me: pain is not my enemy; it is my call to greatness. But when dealing with the Iron, one must be careful to interpret the pain correctly. Most injuries involving the Iron come from ego. I once spent a few weeks lifting weight that my body wasn't ready for and spent a few months not picking up anything heavier than a fork. Try to lift what you're not prepared to and the Iron will teach you a little lesson in restraint and self-control.

I have never met a truly strong person who didn't have self-respect. I think a lot of inwardly and outwardly directed contempt passes itself off as self-respect: the idea of raising yourself by stepping on someone's shoulders instead of doing it yourself. When I see guys working out for cosmetic reasons, I see vanity exposing them in the worst way, as cartoon characters, billboards for imbalance and insecurity. Strength reveals itself through character. It is the difference between bouncers who get off strong-arming people and Mr.Pepperman.

Muscle mass does not always equal strength. Strength is kindness and sensitivity. Strength is understanding that your power is both physical and emotional. That it comes from the body and the mind. And the heart.

Yukio Mishima said that he could not entertain the idea of romance if he was not strong. Romance is such a strong and overwhelming passion, a weakened body cannot sustain it for long. I have some of my most romantic thoughts when I am with the Iron. Once I was in love with a woman. I thought about her the most when the pain from a workout was racing through my body.

Everything in me wanted her. So much so that sex was only a fraction of my total desire. It was the single most intense love I have ever felt, but she lived far away and I didn't see her very often. Working out was a healthy way of dealing with the loneliness. To this day, when I work out I usually listen to ballads.

I prefer to work out alone.

It enables me to concentrate on the lessons that the Iron has for me. Learning about what you're made of is always time well spent, and I have found no better teacher. The Iron had taught me how to live. Life is capable of driving you out of your mind. The way it all comes down these days, it's some kind of miracle if you're not insane. People have become separated from their bodies. They are no longer whole.

I see them move from their offices to their cars and on to their suburban homes. They stress out constantly, they lose sleep, they eat badly. And they behave badly. Their egos run wild; they become motivated by that which will eventually give them a massive stroke. They need the Iron Mind.

Through the years, I have combined meditation, action, and the Iron into a single strength. I believe that when the body is strong, the mind thinks strong thoughts. Time spent away from the Iron makes my mind degenerate. I wallow in a thick depression. My body shuts down my mind.

The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it's impossible to turn back.

The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you're a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.
 

 

Paleo - Make it YOUR diet!

Probably the most important thing that I have learnt in my time as a Strength and Conditioning Coach, is the importance of diet towards overall health and fitness.In fact, I have come to realise that exercise runs a very distant second to proper nutrition in it's ability to influence all measures of health. The saying, "You can't out run a shitty diet!" really is true and it doesn't matter how much you exercise, it's what you do during all of the other hours of the day that greatly affect your results.

Nutrition is also the area where most people struggle. Generally, once you get people into the gym, you can get them to commit to a well programmed exercise regime. However, whenever nutrition pops up, most people are always of the opinion, "Oh, I eat pretty well." People often find it hard to make changes to the foods they eat.

What is an effective nutrition plan. Well, any plan that improves the way that you look, feel and perform, and sends your health markers in the right direction is a good start. What's the best diet for that? Simple really, The Paleo Diet.

What is the Paleo Diet
The Paleo diet is a modern day attempt attempt to mimic the diet that was consumed by humans for most of our existence. It is the diet that we are best adapted to. It's in our genes.

What does the paleo Diet look like?
Well this is where it gets a little interesting. The basic premise of the Paleo diet is that we avoid all cereal grains, legumes and dairy. For most of human existence these foods were not readily consumed. Our diets should basically consist of; Meat, Poultry and wild caught Fish, lots of Vegetables, plenty of Fruit, and some nuts and seeds (particularly coconut) for your healthy fats.

Why avoid Grains, Legumes and Dairy?
Well for a whole host of reasons but mostly because of;

• Antinutrients
• Insulin and Leptin resistance
• Inflammation
• Gut Irritation

The Problem
Now this may surprise some people, I have a problem with telling people exactly what to eat. I have no hesitation in letting people know that eating a paleo type diet is going to be the best diet for overall health and fitness. However, what that Paleo diet looks like can be different for each individual. For example, Dairy. According to strict Paleo, Dairy is a no-no. However, there are many people who handle dairy quite well. In fact if you are looking to bulk up, a little dairy can be really beneficial. Then there are the really grey areas of Coffee, Tea, and Alcohol.

Solving the Problem
So how do we find out exactly what we can eat to look feel and perform better. Well the easiest way to start is to eliminate all the foods that can be problematic. That means going STRICT paleo for at least 30 days. That's 30 days straight, no cheating. This will allow your body to become more adapted to using fat as fuel, and allow your body and particularly your GI tract to repair any damage that has been done. Following something like the Whole 30 is a great place to start.

After 30 days you will feel pretty good and will have noticed a lot of positive changes to how you look, feel and perform. Now is the time that you can start tinkering a little with your diet. Maybe you can add in some dairy, perhaps some alcohol can creep back in, maybe even a coffee a day. The trick is you can only reintroduce one food at a time!

By reintroducing one food at a time you can see how it effects you. Maybe you add in some dairy and notice that your sinuses play up, or your psoriasis comes back. Now you know that dairy is a problematic food for you so you know to avoid it. If you just throw all your old foods back in at once, you never get to see how they affect you.

By eating a paleo based diet that best fits you, you will be giving yourself the best chance of Enhancing your Capacity!

For more information on the Paleo Diet check out the following sites:
Robb Wolf
Whole 9
Loren Cordain
CrossFit Journal (Subscription only - but full of use full information on training and nutrition)
Mark Sisson
Chris Kresser

Ancestral Health Symposium

Last week the 1st ever Ancestral health Symposium was held in America. While it would have been very difficult for us Aussies to get over there, we are fortunate to live in an age where the internet can put us in the crowd.

If you want to view some of the amazing presentations from the weekend check out the link here. For a taste of what you might see there, check out Paleo guru Robb Wolf's presentation below:

"The Paleo Solution" by Robb Wolf from Ancestry on Vimeo.