When I went to the hospital a couple weeks ago to get tested for Celiac’s, I mentioned to a doctor that I had lost over 100 pounds in the last two years. His response, verbatim, was: “Wow! You look great! You must have had to work out like mad to have results like that.”
No. No, I didn’t. I work out about twice a week, normally. I do the bare minimum every time and I told him this. I also told him it’s all about what you eat. ME telling a doctor how it works. Something’s not right here.
Pop Quiz: should her parents A) put her on a treadmill, or B) change what she eats?
The fact that a doctor said those words to me was insane. What is wrong with the medical community? Are they seriously not getting it yet? In the battle of the bulge, “eighty per cent of your ability to reduce excess body fat is determined by how you eat, with the other twenty per cent depending on proper exercise, other healthy lifestyle habits, and genetic factors,”[1], according to Mark Sisson of Mark’s Daily Apple and author of The Primal Blueprint. The other “healthy lifestyle habits,” including getting adequate sleep and Vitamin D, can be just as important as exercising if you’re trying to trim down.
This post is for all the people out there that think I’m a crazy fitness nut. Those who envision me on the elliptical trainer from 6 a.m. til midnight, 6 days a week. (Can I at least rest on the 7th day, in your imaginations? ‘Cause that girl would be freakin’ tired and riddled with inflammation, injuries and exhaustion. She would need a rest. She would probably gain weight,[2] believe it or not, and be hungry all the time. All. The. Freakin’. Time.) It’s also for the people who don’t know what to do, how to work out and how to get the results they desperately want.
The Paleo Solution shoots for a variety of exercise: a little some days, a lot others, and occasionally none at all. Just like our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Some of you have already given yourselves a “gold star” for working out twice per day for the last five years. You’re so dedicated you even work out while sick! Yippee! Well, no gold star for you! You are at the other end of the extreme and need to calm down. We are trying to reduce stress and cortisol. In our gym we see people, usually the endurance types, who seriously overdo their training. Are you carrying some excess chub around the midsection despite “tons of cardio”? Well Buttercup, all that cardio and getting up early to train has released more than your fair share of cortisol. And it’s made you fat.[3]
A complete and utter waste of time, the Ab Roller can be found in almost every gym chain.
Thank you, Robb Wolf. You certainly have a way with words. If you work out too often, you’re not doing it right. Shows like NBC’s The Biggest Loser and A&E’s Heavy do more harm than good when it comes to educating the general public. They show contestants working out for 6 to 8 hours a day, losing massive amounts of weight every week. Ever wonder why most of the contestants gain back the weight they lost? First of all, you can’t keep up an exercise regime like that. It’s not natural; we were designed to exert ourselves as little as possible, thereby conserving energy for times of scarcity.[4] Your body (and mind) will be screaming at you every step of the way to stop. I guess that’s why I feel really, really comfortable doing the bare minimum and why I’m sure a lot of you do too. Second, the contestants on those shows aren’t taught how to eat properly. Ever notice who sponsors The Biggest Loser? If you want to lose weight, know this: YOU NEED TO ADDRESS WHAT YOU EAT FIRST. Don’t take cues from TV shows; they answer to corporate sponsors, who do not have your health and best interests at heart.
That being said, exercise is still really important. It regulates insulin levels, gives you energy, helps you sleep better and releases serotonin which makes you feel great.[5] I have to exercise for those reasons. Plus, I want to be strong. After all, strong is the new skinny. So, what do I do for exercise? I work out 2-3 times a week, for about 30 minutes at a time. That’s not very much, so I make the most of it. You’ll never catch me wasting my time on the elliptical trainer or doing bicep curls. I try to make it to CrossFit twice a week, and do something else one other time, like yoga, hiking or sprinting. I’m not tied to a rigid schedule, though. If I don’t feel like working out, I don’t. If I have extra energy one week, I’ll throw in an extra session. Here’s the workout I did this morning:
TWO ROUNDS:
- 5 minutes running at 6.0 mph in Vibram FiveFingers
- 10 pushups
- 10 situps
- 10 clean and presses 45 lbs
- 25 jumping jacks
- 10 back extensions
- 100m overhead walk with 45 lb plate
- 10 burpees
Total time (from walking in the door to walking out): 28 minutes. This was an unstructured workout. I didn’t have a coach or a trainer, I just did what I felt like based on my energy level. I didn’t even leave the main floor and head into the “meathead” section, I just used the heaviest stuff I could find in the trainer’s area and went with it. I incorporated my warm-up into the workout but did the overhead walk and the burpees at the end, once I was good and warm. (I just picked up the 45 lb plate, put it over my head and walked around the cardio machines for approx 100 m. You should have seen the looks on the elliptical monkey’s faces.) Oh, and did I mention that I did this workout in a fasted state? I like to workout early in the morning, but have less energy when I exercise after I’ve eaten. Also, I’m interested in burning fat and eating before a workout is counterproductive if that is your goal.[6]
Other days, I’ll just walk. Walking is really important and is one of the best ways to get or stay in shape. “Our ancestors hunted and gathered the energy equivalent of about 11 miles of walking per day,” according to Robb Wolf. “This activity was split among a multitude of tasks…As a result of not being overly repetitious, their activity had less negative impact on their joints and minds.”[7]
You don’t have to be a slave to the gym. If your body is telling you to sleep instead of working out, then sleep. Your body and mind
Confused by all the equipment at your gym? Me too! How about you don't go there? Workout outdoors with only your own body weight instead.
give you cues that we often ignore. Stop doing this. Listen to yourself. If you have more energy one day, exert yourself more than you normally would. Go for a walk or a hike if you’re feeling like it. Do some yoga. Or do nothing at all (just don’t do that everyday, though, LOL).
The same people who had been on the elliptical trainers when I arrived at the gym were still on them when I left. How sad for them. They could have been soaking up the sunshine instead of wasting their time.
FOOTNOTES:
BACK TO POST [1] Mark Sisson, The Primal Blueprint (Primal Nutrition Inc, 2009) p. 66
BACK TO POST [2] Robb Wolf, The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet (Victory Belt Publishing, 2010) p. 137
BACK TO POST [3] Wolf, The Paleo Solution p. 136-137
BACK TO POST [4] Arthur De Vany, The New Evolution Diet: What Our Paleolithic Ancestors Can Teach Us About Weight Loss, Fitness and Aging (Rodale Inc, 2011) p. 92
BACK TO POST [5] The Mayo Clinic, Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity (July 25, 2009) http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676
BACK TO POST [6] De Vany, The New Evolution Diet p. 90
BACK TO POST [7] Wolf, The Paleo Solution p. 123
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You are absolutly amazing. My big question is, how do you mesh your eating habits with those of your small children? Do they only eat all the same things you do, or are you making two seperate meals at every meal? I can’t really afford the two seperate meals thing, but am curious how this effects the kids, if their eating the same way. Don’t there developing bodies have slightly different nutritional needs then adults?
Thank you! Actually, their bodies do have slightly different nutritional needs – they need slightly less of certain vitamins and minerals, and certainly don’t need to eat as much as a full grown adult. Other than that, since they’re no longer drinking breast milk, children should be able to eat whatever their parents eat – as long as they don’t have an allergy. Mine are allergic to dairy so we make sure we give them lots of coconut oil, avocado etc. to make up for the fat and extra meat and eggs for the protein. I find myself eating less dairy because of it. We’re also pretty sure that wheat is affecting them somehow, so all four of us have gone gluten free. It certainly won’t hurt them – there is nothing in grains that they can’t get from fruits and vegetables. In the morning I give them gluten free pancakes and waffles with their eggs, other than that, they eat what we eat. I agree, making 2 meals is expensive and time consuming.
Thank you so much! Next question: Is there a cook book you can reccomend? And did you change your famlies diet slowly over time, or cold turkey? My kids are older then yours are and I seriously don’t think they would take to the cold turkey idea. Is there something you can reccomend instead of walking? After my accident I really can’t get the pass up beyound the stroll I had when we met. I used to jog to burn off stress or anger and miss it a great deal, but oh well, not worth dwelling on. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions!
Mark Sisson has two cookbooks on his website, http://www.marksdailyapple.com I have both of them and they’re awesome. There’s a lot of free recipes on his site too. Also, there are TONS of Paleo cookbooks out there, try Amazon. Walking is going to be your best bet, I’m guessing that if you can’t run, most high impact stuff is out too. Just walk at whatever pace is comfortable for you. Move frequently at a slow pace. That’s the key. :) I went cold turkey. The kids have always eaten this way, but you could make small changes in their lunches etc and they probably won’t even notice. Derek is a recent convert.
I couldn’t agree more! I lost all my weight by diet alone – exercise just makes me strong and feel good! I feel sorry for the cardio slaves – you won’t catch me dead on one of those machines (blech!)
That’s awesome! Doesn’t it feel good to be STRONG?!?!? :)
Fantastic post!! Brava
Thank you!! :)
The answer to your quiz about that little girl is (c) neither. You don’t know what her health history is.
Anti-fat hysteria is not healthy. Remember, those primal ancestors you follow carved fat women as religious symbols. Try looking into Health at Every Size instead of focusing on Thin Is In. You might appreciate the information, especially since it points out some of the other fallacies and flaws in the current thinking about diet and exercise.
Thank you for your comment. Whether or not anti-fat hysteria is healthy, it is rampant in this country. Yes, you’re right; our ancestors carved images of plump women. The ability of women to store extra body fat has meant the survival of our species over the millennium. A plump woman in a hunter-gatherer society may have meant that she had a very high status and that others hunted and gathered for her. However, those cases must have been extremely rare. For the last million years (barring the last 50), food has been a scarcity, and the ability to store fat evolved so that we could draw on those resources when they were needed. Let’s get real, though, food is not scarce in this country.
I am simply pointing out that the conventional wisdom when it comes to exercise is wrong. Face it, that little girl’s health history is probably a) a sedentary lifestyle like that of her parents, b) a diet chock full of refined carbs and sugar, and c) a lack of Vitamin D and vital nutrients from her deficient diet. Just like 1 in every 3 children in this country. If she were to go to a doctor, they would probably recommend weight loss drugs, a low fat diet (cause THAT works, ha ha) or perhaps even gastro-bypass surgery. I appreciate people trying to come to terms with “the size that they’re at” – and while I think that everyone should love their bodies for what ever they happen to look like, I do not think in any way, shape or form, that a child like that is “healthy.” Thin ISN’T in. But neither is morbidly obese. I prefer to be strong, lean and healthy.
Awesome post! You’re right, I’ve seen more results doing very little and eating real food. I think back to those days when I had a gym membership and I’d make myself run on the treadmill even when I was tired. I didn’t have energy and I didn’t want to be there. I was 30 lbs heavier than I am today and I struggled with losing weight; I thought I was doing everything by the book nutritionally and forcing myself to exercise. It was a losing battle.
Over a year of paleo/primal, I’ve had fantastic results with energy, improving health and my physical shape has never been better (strong and sexy)!
I’m so happy for you! It sounds like we had a very similar experience. It’s amazing how freeing it is to know that a nice walk is just as effective as 2 hours at the gym when you’re eating right. :)
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“You don’t have to be a slave to the gym.” – So true and yet so hard to convince people of that! We’ve been so brainwashed by conventional wisdom. Your last paragragh is moving too. Love the workout bullets – helps me come up with more routines to break up the “routine.” :-)
Glad I could help! I’ll often bastardize the WODs at CrossFit.com (no one can do those the way they’re written), taking the exercises I know and combining them with others I like for my own WOD. I’ll try to post more workouts! :)
Thanks for the “compressed workout” schedule… This from an old ex-jock who is still shaking off my programming of “No pain, no gain”…
Excellent post! It is certainly terrifying how doctors don’t recognize food as the #1 influencer of our health and weight. I’m currently in the process of shifting my workouts from daily, hour-long sessions to these shorter but intense sessions. Thanks for sharing the example of yours; it helps to hear what types of moves others are doing! Mark’s recommendations on fitness are what I’m currently aiming for. Still a work in progress :)