The Evolution of Your Diet

One of the symptoms of a modern diet is that it  makes you numb to how diet affects your quality of life. However you're feeling - good or bad, however you're performing - good or bad, you never tie it directly to your diet when your eating is flawed. You are in a state of blissful ignorance about the various short-term side-affects of a flawed diet. You are so numb to those affects that you don't even think about your diet until you become aware - most often, painfully aware - of a longer-term affect: excess body fat. Making you more sensitive and aware of food's short-term affects on your body is the number one goal of diet. With that in place, the potential for ever creating a state of excess body fat is practically eliminated.

What we know is that there is not one perfect long-term diet for everyone. What there is is a near-perfect preliminary diet recommendation that serves as a stimulant for positive shifts in body composition and function. This phase of the process requires absolute adherence to the preliminary diet for a period of 4 - 6 months, and there is no substitute. The process of making you more sensitive begins with weaning you from your food addictions and balancing the body's organ function.  This preliminary recommendation serves that purpose.

That recommendation may come in the form of Zone, Paleo, or any of their many derivatives, and Gravity Janes is constantly refining this generic diet to provide a more powerful catalyst for nutrtional sensitivity. Conforming to this preliminary recommendation begins the process of sensitizing your body to the affects of food. As that heightened sense takes hold, it will lead you naturally to the next level; one that is far more specific to you. You will begin to make choices based on how those choices make you feel. This is when things really start to get good.

I won't go into what those choices may look like so as not to plant any seeds in your head that aren't directed by your feelings, but some foods will work better for some people, and others don't work as well. However your feelings lead you in your food choices, we know this: your ultimate diet will not differ in any large way from the generic recommendation,  but it may differ in many small ones.

The Holidays are coming! The Holidays are coming!

The Holidays are quickly approaching; baked goods are being brought into the office, invites to parties are coming in, and family gatherings filled with food are on the horizon.  This time of year people are most likely to stray from their routine and succumb to the sugar filled temptations around them.  Here are some tips to get through the holidays this year while having fun and maintaining your healthy lifestyle.

 

1.  Make time for your workouts.  They will keep you energized through the hectic holiday season.

2.  Keep healthy snacks, vegetables, fruits, and nuts on hand at the office.  Skip the brownies, cookies, and candy. 

3.  If you fall off the wagon, don't beat yourself up, get back on track.

4.  Bring fruit plates and healthy snacks into work. 

5.  Come up with a no sweets game plan in the office.  Chances are people that you work with are also concerned about their health and would like to avoid sugary snacks.

6.  Offer to bring food to parties and family gatherings.  Bring healthy vegetables, fruits, and lean protein dishes that are good for everyone.

7.  Give the gift of health.  Leave the candy out of the stocking this year.  Substitute the candy with oranges, stickers, cars, or other little gifts that your family will enjoy. 

8.  Replace alcohol with club soda.  If you do drink at parties, take it slow and drink a glass of water between drinks.

9.  Make the focus at parties and gatherings about having fun, not food.  Play football, Sing songs, organize gift wrapping events, or go for a family hike.   

10.  Create "Paleo" versions of your favorite foods. 

 

Keep your fitness regimen going, stay on track with your nutrition, and you will make progress over the holidays.  The topic of pie did come up in the Paleo Nutrition Challenge, so here is a slightly (butter and honey are debatable) Paleo Pumpkin Pie recipe. 

 

Crust:
2 and a half cups crushed pecans
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 tbsp unsalted butter melted

Chill crust in fridge until hard. Then add filling.

 

Filling:
2 small edible pumpkins (about 2.5 lbs each), or 4-5 lbs winter squash of your choice
3/8 C (which is 6T) of sweetener  (honey, maple syrup, etc)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
pinch of nutmeg
2 large eggs
1 cup coconut milk

Cut all of your squashes in half and roast them, cut side down, at 400F for about 30-40 minutes.

Let them cool off a little, peel them, cut them into chunks, and puree them.  You should have about 6 cups, but it doesn't need to be exact.

Cook the puree on the stove top over medium high heat for 30 min, stirring often.  Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking/stirring for 15 min.  Reduce the heat to low and cook until you have 1.5 C puree remaining, stirring occasionally.  It will be dark brown and fragrant.

Preheat the oven to 350.  Mix the puree with all the remaining ingredients, pour into the pie dish, and bake for 45 min to 1 hour.  Set the timer to about half an hour and check frequently after that. Be careful not to use too high of a temperature since the nut crust will burn more easily than a normal one. Let it cool thoroughly before eating.

-Moe

Winter Nutrtition

Those that choose to indulge in the act of destructive eating this time of year often use as their justification the belief that they can "work it off" at the gym. Let's state for the record once and for all that this has never been - nor will it ever be - a realistic proposition. There is no amount or type of exercise that will undo the damage of poor nutrition. In fact, exercise just makes it worse.


Contrary to tradition and the holiday ritual of over-eating the wrong things, your winter nutrition should actually be a little lighter than at other times of the year. This is based on the fact that most people are generally less active during the winter months - if only slightly. This may not apply to you, but it is typical. 

One of the goals for performance eating is to think seasonally. Strive for being aware of - and sticking somewhat close to - a diet comprised of foods you might obtain in your area and at this time of year without benefit of grocery stores or restaurants.

Frankly, that's a pretty restricted list. It should mostly serve as a check on your inclination to eat poorly, but also makes a good diet principle for those looking to realize the greatest benefit from their diet or to produce a significant shift in body composition (read: drop some body fat).

Tell someone you know and care for about the next Nutrition Challenge beginning January 9th.

Three Weeks In...

Congratulations to all of our Paleo Challenge Participants!  Three weeks in and everyone is feeling good.  Participants are now viewing Paleo as a lifestyle, not a six week challenge.

There have already been some great accomplishments within the group:

• Rachel decreased her 2000M row time.
• Derrek and Lynn decreased their Fran time.
• Lori went down in band size for pull ups.
• Darlene increased her Dead lift load.

Some of the other benefits noticed over the last three weeks:

• Increase in energy
• Increase in mental alertness
• Clothes fit better

Some of the things we've learned over the last three weeks:

• Prepare to be irritable the first week.
  
• Meals must be planned ahead.
• Snacks must be planned ahead.
• The right kind of Fats are good for us and keep us full.
• Vegetables are full of nutrients and can be eaten in large amounts to keep hunger away.
  
• Our bodies are much more sensitive to Alcohol consumption (when we fall off the wagon).
• Not everyone is on board with Paleo Nutrition, so be prepared when sharing your excitement with friends and family.

There will be a six week post to discuss total improvements, so stay tuned for the Paleo lab results at Gravity Janes.  If you want to give your body the best nutrition possible, give Paleo a try.  Clean all of processed foods out of your cupboards and eat Vegetables, Fruits, Healthy Fats, and Lean Meats. 
Have Questions on how to get started?  Schedule a nutrition consultation with Dave. 
Want to know more about the experience?  Talk to any of our Paleo Challenge Participants.

-Moe

The Trouble With Diet Advice

I ran across an article recently that points out the dangers of using relative language in regards to diet advice. This is a topic I spoke about at a recent nutrition lecture here at the gym. Here is a link to a widely publicized article on the advantages of one currently-popular diet over another.

Most of you can spot the problems already: "low-fat" and "low-carb" are the two terms used to describe these diets, yet the low-fat diet itself is far higher in fat than most people consider "low". And, the "low-carb" diet is lower in carbs than most people consider low.

There are several other problems with this article (such as the suggestion that you only have to stay on the diet until you lose some arbitrary amount of weight), but just the issue of relative language alone will leave most people thinking that low-fat is good and, by extension, the lower the fat the better the diet. We of course know nothing could be further from the truth. Likewise, those same people will conclude that low-carb diets are less healthy. Again, highly misleading.

All of these problems stem from the use of relative terms to define the diets. The low-fat diet of which they speak is actually very close to what we recommend for optimal performance and health, though even spelling out the ratios turns out to be a a rather crude way to sum up a diet. For example, there is no distinction made for the quality of the ingredients other than their caloric content.

The lesson here is to never entertain notions of "good" or "healthy" in regards to your diet in the absence of hard data and the use of absolute terms in defining the recommendations.

Add more what???

Yes, Fat.  Add more fat to your diet.  Not fast food cheeseburgers, but healthy fats like Avocados, Almonds, and Olive Oil.

Hunger was discussed last night at last night's Paleo Challenge meeting, and after reviewing one of the participant's food logs it was apparent that there was a lack of fat intake.  Fat will help you feel satiated and it adds a lot of flavor to your food!

Simple ways to add fat to your meals:
Add Slices of Avocado to salads, soups, or as a side dish chopped up with tomatoes, sea salt, and garlic.
Toast some chopped nuts in a small pan and add to your salads.
Mix a little EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) with tomatoes, basil, sea salt, and pepper.
Ever easy, throw some raw nuts in a baggy and you are ready for snack time during the day.

Here's a good meal from Simply Recipes that incorporates olives to add some healthy fats and a ton of flavor:  It has been adjusted (slightly) to be Paleo Friendly. 

Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Olives

Ingredients

2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
3-4 lbs of just chicken thighs and breasts
Salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
The peel from 1 preserved lemon, rinsed in cold water, pulp discarded, peel cut into thin strips
1 cup green olives, pitted
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Method

1 Combine all the spices in a large bowl. Pat dry the chicken pieces and put in the bowl, coat well with the spice mixture. Let the chicken stand for one hour in the spices.

2 In a large, heavy bottomed skillet, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the chicken pieces, sprinkle lightly with salt (go easy on the salt, the olives and lemons are salty), and brown, skin side down for five minutes. Lower the heat to medium-low, add the garlic and onions. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes.

3 Turn chicken pieces over. Add the lemon slices, olives, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer on medium heat, then lower the heat to low, cover, and cook for an additional 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and quite tender.

4 Mix in fresh parsley and cilantro right before serving. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Eat for dinner and enjoy the left overs for lunch!

-Moe