Paleo diet and survival workout equals better conditioning and health.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

I’ve been reading “The Paleo Diet” by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. and must admit that I find many of his arguments for changing the way we eat very compelling. I’ve published the basic principle before, but here it is again:

Avoid foods that were unavailable before the advent of agriculture and animal husbandry (like dairy and grains). Instead consume mostly meat, fish, fruits, veggies, and nuts.

Which is exactly what I’ve begun to do. I’ve been dabbling with dietary adjustments for the first two weeks, trying to learn more about the concept, but as I read, it seemed quite easy, really. There are many reasons why it is good for us and promotes better health and body fat loss, though I won’t get into that in one article, but rather spread it over time. I’ll try to point out the changes I’ve made…and why…as I go. For starters, I’ve eliminated my old breakfast of cereal, which would have been either some pre-sweetened disaster like Frosted Flakes or something to which I added at least 3 teaspoons of sugar (which, contrary to some rumors, I DID NOT do to my Frosted Flakes). This morning, I had four eggs scrambled with about a quarter cup of fresh mushrooms that I’d diced up and sautéed in olive oil added in. I sprinkled a little cheddar cheese on top to give it some fatty calories, which I figured would keep me full longer. I’m trying to avoid that ‘insulin spike’ that I would have normally gotten from the cereal breakfast, and which had my blood sugar rising rapidly and then crashing a couple of hours later leaving my very hungry…something that doesn’t happen with the scrambled eggs.

I also did the shopping at BJ’s last night and added things to the cart that would fit better with the paleo diet. I grabbed tuna steaks and salmon fillets, a bag of fresh broccoli; two bunches of bananas, two bags of fresh spinach, a gallon of olive oil, and a container of fresh mushrooms. I’m trying to eliminate all bread and grains and substitute in…well…you can see what I’m substituting.

I’ve also been spending my exercise time by doing more of the survival workout. In only 5 workouts, I’ve noticed that I’m getting back some upper body definition and strength and enjoying the challenge of looking for new and creative ways to build muscular endurance and trim the body fat…without running. I will put the running (sprinting), hill climbing and jumping back into the workout once the knee heals…whenever that might be. The good news is…I’m losing without the long bouts of aerobic exercise, which I attribute to the combination of the intensity of the survival workout and the change in eating.

Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600