Calorie Killers Intense Fitness, Honest Advice

Getting “real” with getting primal

Last year, I started reading a fantastic resource - Mark's Daily Apple.  At first, I was skeptical.  I mean, the dietary advice there IS NOT your standard fare.  Mark Sisson, the creator of the site as well as author of The Primal Blueprint, argues much of standard dietary advice (also known as "conventional wisdom" or CW) is not healthy.   Contrary to CW, Sisson argues for a higher fat consumption, consumption of meats, avoidance of grains, and avoidance of "chronic cardio."  On the surface, one of those items - higher fat consumption - is a hot button.  Outside of popular low carbohydrate lifestyles such as Atkins or Protein Power, high fat consumption is basically shunned in the nutrition world.  At first, I refused to believe it to.  I had been pretty indoctrinated with the "eat small protein and heart healthy whole grain meals throughout the day" mantra common in the fitness and diet world (Hello Jillian Michaels - I'm calling you out on this one).  The diet called for over at Mark's Daily Apple is essentially a lower carbohydrate, evolutionary means of eating - "Primal" living, often called "paleolithic" living - in reference to Mark's Primal Blueprint work.

There are essentially 10 Primal guidelines, laws if you may:

1. Eat lots of plants and animals
2. Avoid poisonous things
3. Move frequently at a slow pace
4. Lift heavy things
5. Sprint once in a while
6. Get adequate sleep
7. Play
8. Get adequate sunlight
9. Avoid stupid mistakes
10. Use you brain

Reading these "laws" is really what sold me on the concept of primal living.  It's common sense.  Granted, there are other facets to the laws explained at both Mark's Daily Apple and in The Primal Blueprint which may be somewhat overwhelming at first, but over time, it becomes more clear.

It's taken me around six-seven months to really wrap my brain around the concept and make a conscious decision to eat and live more closely to the 10 laws above.  Like others, I've gotten swayed by CW wisdom and feel skeptical about a diet higher in saturated (and overall) fat.  I'm skeptical about dumping crazy cardio.  But, when I truly embrace the concept and eat the fat I feel much better, I lose weight with less effort, my satiety from food increases, and my mood improves.  I also generally feel amazing when limiting or avoiding processed foods, which is another huge tenet of primal living (and some CW recommendations).  When I don't rely on running on treadmills (or on the road everyday) as "exercise" I'm so much better off.  Relying on lifting, occasional bouts of high intensity exercise (HIIT), body weight exercises, and general unstructured "play" is much more natural.

I'm enjoying this lifestyle the more in tune I get with it.  I'm eliminating more cheats and realizing they're just not worth it.  I was trying to "half-ass" it for too long and just had to dive in and get real with it.  It makes sense.  Sure, it's weird at first, but I keep it low key.  I feel much better and that's what matters.

Poor Neglected Blog!

I'm a bad blogger.  I haven't updated or promoted this blog for a reeaaally long time.  Sorry about that (if anyone was actually reading)!

Fortunately I will be making an honest attempt to keep this blog updated on fitness and nutrition topics, including my own successes (and errors) with fitness.

Stay tuned...