Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #91 Green Exercise!

pqtd 91 Green Exercise

 

This is another name for something that I’ve been recommending for a long time now- I called it Forest bathing; where a person would walk about in nature, in a forest as I do almost daily, or in any natural landscape, be it a beachfront, along the river, or just in a park.  It turns out that the University of Essex, in England, has been extensively studying the benefits of exercise in Nature for over 12 years!

 

They have lots of studies that they have done on the benefits of exercising in nature as opposed to in a gym setting, and the benefits are manyfold.  Primarily, mental benefits come from getting out in nature- just think about it, just as our paleolithic ancestors eating an ancestral, paleo type of diet, and we have evolved to do so as well- just as they slept long hours each and every night- so too did they spent ALL of their waking hours out in nature! 

 

It is something we have hard-wired into us.  We are creatures of nature,and are meant to be IN nature on a daily basis.  The best way to experience nature is by exercising outside, not just sitting in a chair, say, on a beach or in a lawn. 

 

I like to take a hike through my woods on pretty much a daily basis.  Barefoot is best, or now, when it is getting colder here in Wisconsin, I wear my Xero sandals, which are just a slim piece of rubber between my bare feet and the ground... later, when it’s even colder, I will wear my moccasins, which are just leather between my feet and the ground, allowing my toes, and every tiny muscle in my foot to balance and strengthen as I go. 

 

I think, beyond mental benefits such as alleviating stress and preventing depression and worry, such exercise has definite physical positives as well.  The hyper-oxygenated air in a forest or any plant covered terrain is wonderfully beneficial, as is the very sounds of nature: the rustling branches, the calls of birds and small animals, and the feel and crunch of pine needles and dry leaves underfoot.  Even the pollen from the trees is something that is good for us, since we have co-evolved with it since before time began!

 

In addition, by being outside, we use our eyes as our ancestors did, as they are meant to be used.  We look off towards the horizon, actively as we move, not at a screen right in front of our face, and we are engaged in, and actually a PART of nature!  This is something we need reinforced, in this day of artificial, sterile environments.

 

I sometimes, about once per week, sprint barefoot around my property, in short interval bursts.  This is great, and something I look forward to, usually on Sundays.

 

But for a daily Green exercise regimen?  Take a pair of small dumb bells, lately I’ve been using a pair of 7 pounders, one in each hand.  Then PUMP them as you walk!  This makes a leisurely walk, with plenty of time to observe nature as you go, into a demanding, total body workout.

 

Pump with high curls each step, or do side extensions for the deltoids as you go.  Stop periodically, and do a set of pushups on the dumb bells- it keeps your hands clean, and you can go lower on each rep!

 

You can even stand perfectly still, and do curls, or presses for awhile, and then resume walking- a great variation is to mimic the moves of cross country skiing with the bells making the arms work as hard as the legs.  Experiment!

 

Have fun with this!  It is demanding enough that it could be a stand alone exercise and mental health regimen.  Oh, it has a name, this dumb bell protocol- Heavyhands.  It was very popular in the 1980’s, and somehow has fallen out of the mainstream.  I guess it is just so cheap and easy, so doable by anyone, that no one figured out how to make money off of it!  (No expensive equipment, no pricey shoes or gym memberships)...

 

Oh- it also doesn’t take long at all!  15 minutes is plenty; trust me, it’s very taxing, but since all the “work” is spread around all of your limbs (PanAerobics), it seems easier.

So go ahead.  Go green!  Even if you’re NOT a Packer’s fan!

 

 

 

 

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Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #90 Choose your paleo home wisely

pqtd 90 Live in a Paleo Friendly home

 

I don’t know why I am so inflammatory, but I KNOW that this little podcast will be so:

 

I am here to suggest that you NOT live in a big city, that you NOT raise your children IN a big metropolitan city (at least in the US, I know little of those overseas which may be very different), AND I also think you should not raise your family in the suburbs that surround these cities!!

 

Pause to hate PaleoJay... OK, let’s start again:

 

I am basing all of this on history, ancient history is a particular interest of mine.  When Rome was collapsing, nothing at all was wrong with her armies, or her strategies.  It was all her POLITICS.

 

Corruption at the highest levels of government, and the LIVES of those at those levels, had degenerated to the point where ALL that they could think about was immediate self-advantage, and how to manipulate things for maximum profit and gain. 

 

The original notions of the “good of the state and the commonwealth” were utterly discarded, and self-interest in the short term was all that mattered!

 

The troops were called back from faraway Britain, although everything was under control there, because the back at ROME, power politics were unravelling.  Again, this had NOTHING to do with the armies, and invaders, or anything else- it was all about the collapse of morals and law and order and a consensus about how to live!

 

Sound familiar? 

 

In modern America, I believe we are about there now:  our army is second to none.  But with NERO in charge (I mean  Obama here, sorry but it’s very, very true!) our army is hamstrung.

 

Our moral landscape has collapsed; the Knockout Game is alive and well in our big cities, where young men purposefully KNOCK UNCONSCIOUS old women and men as a GAME!! 

 

And our media purposefully IGNORES and tries to suppress it! 

 

In ancient Rome, MY ancestors, the Germans, were constantly raiding the borders of the country, trying to invade.  And during this period, the YOUTH (the liberals of the time) in Rome idolized the Germanic barbarians, and strutted about the capital in “trousers”, (which were considered uncouth and totally barbarian!) and wore “mustaches”, which Romans abhorred!

This is right in line with what is going on now.  Let’s go back a bit, to the 1970’s when Tom Wolfe wrote a very perceptive book called “Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers”.

 

In this book, Tom Wolfe was pointing out how liberal guilt had destroyed the ability of the ruling class to even RECOGNIZE that their decisions were literally DESTROYING the empire, in other words destroying WESTERN CIVILIZATION ITSELF. 

 

All in the name of “fairness”. 

 

This is a mirror image of what happened in ancient Rome:

 

The Germans “asked” if they could “settle” in Roman territory.  After much deliberation, the Roman Senate (under Nero!), said OK- but they said only for a limited time...

 

AND, over time, the Germans did NOT leave, and the armies were all called back to defend the capital, and the empire fell... leading to over 1000 years of darkness and horror, basically the end of western civilization.

 

My point is this: 

 

We are treading this thin ice in civilization once again. 

Back then, anyone who could retreated into rural, idyllic types of areas.  Like Spain, England and France- back then, these were really, really “out of the way backwaters”. 

 

And then, they built castles- fortresses! 

 

And this is the start of Medieval Life, although then it was just SURVIVAL.  I believe we are at a similar juncture in history.

 

The barbarians have been given an open door- illegals preferred!  The Roman/US purse has been supplied for unlimited welfare, and once again Western Civilization is ripe for the plucking!

 

Sad but true, all because of corruption,  and unwarranted guilt over doing really, really well for millennia...

 

My advice?

 

Get OUT of major cities!  Things are bad, and looking way, way worse.  Detroit used to be a “center of culture”; most major US cities are following that path!

 

Sorry, I MEAN THE SUBURBS TOO!  I hate what the suburbs have become- the rampant (hyper Roman) consumerism and flagrant slavish allegiance to “fashion” has recurred time and time again, and only leads to horrible crucibles for children to survive.  You only have to read David Copperfield to understand this...

 

Get your families into a small town, semi-rural or rural environment.  Somewhere where you KNOW your neighbors, what they do for a living, and you know them really, and completely, not just their Linked In profile.

 

I know a guy who has an internet business.  He can live anywhere he wants!  He used to live in NYC, but he has little kids and a wife...

 

He did just what I recommended!  He moved to a small town (really small, about 1300 people), in rural Wisconsin! 

 

If you can do it, do it.  Move to a rural, or at least a small city environment.  This is “Paleo” in a huge way! 

 

The “urban shuffle” SUCKS!  If you have children, even more so. 

 

Now, more than ever, anyone who wants to “sustain Western Civilization” had better move beyond the areas of corruption, those areas that NERO has destroyed, and go back to SMALL TOWN AMERICANA! 

 

It has not yet been ruined, and is the BEST HOPE FOR US ALL IN THE FUTURE! 

ALL YOU NEED TO DO, is get as FAR from ROME (the US GOVT.) as possible! 

 

Wait it out.

 

 

 

 

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Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #89 The Perfect Overall Paleo Exercise?

Heavy hands- the best paleo exercise of all!

 

I was a heavy hands guy from the beginning, in 1982 I got Leonard Schwartz’s book “Heavy hands”, and it made real sense to me!  I wanted to be aerobically fit, and I also wanted to be strong- before this I had jogged down our country roads for a few miles most days, and then lifted weights most other days...

 

It did work, quite well in most ways, but (this is my pre-paleo days!), my diet was sub-standard, and I started getting lots of aches and pains.  My shoulders started aching from heavy bench presses (and other heavy lifts), and my knees and feet started hurting chronically as well from the running- remember, back then the running was “long and slow”- a perfect recipe for joint degeneration!

 

I also have a book by Steve Reeves, the classic era symmetrical bodybuilder, who came out with “Powerwalking” at about the same time!  Steve had come up with a similar program, using small hand weights to up the ante and exertion from walking, and they were both right on target.

 

Steve’s book emphasized fast walking, while swinging hand weights as you go.  Heavy Hands was more in depth, emphasizing the curling, and lifting of the weights more as you went, resulting in a real “Pan-Aerobic” exercise, as it was termed then.

 

Both are great concepts, but the Heavy Hands version wins out- you can mimic cross country skiing, arm and leg together walking exertion, and endless variations of multi-limbed exercise!  I’ve always done it, periodically, since it is such a satisfying and result producing way of exercise, but now I am back in a big way!

 

I love to do my virtual resistance exercises, where the muscle provides its own resistance- (much better than weights, which injure your joints long term)!  I do that each and every morning, along with stretching and calisthenics and then rebounding, right in front of my television... very relaxing and energizing!

 

My weights I have relegated to weighing down my tractor for increased traction, since I believe they create more harm than good in the long run.  Besides, bodyweight training yields actually better results!

 

But, each afternoon, I look forward to getting out my old heavy hands weights and handles, and walk down my forest paths pumping the weights in curls, and mimicking cross country motions, punching, pressing, and other motions that add to my walking exertion and spread it over my whole musculature. 

 

It is like running with my whole body!

 

I love to sprint barefoot, and do in the warmer months every week, usually on Sundays. (It brings me back to my childhood, and burns fat faster than anything else, while strengthening my feet, and grounding me to mother earth at the same time).

 

But when I pick up my little dumbells (8 lbs is about perfect for me) and walk down my forest trail, curling my arms alternately with each step, I realize that this is total body barefoot sprinting.  Every part of my body is working at a high level of effort, but ironically- the perceived exertion level, i.e. the level of discomfort is markedly reduced!!

 

It is really hard exertion, but because it is spread across all the limbs (not just the legs) it seems much easier.

 

So, I can do it daily.  I can do it barefoot. (Although, since it is getting colder here in Wisconsin I have started to wear my moccasins, which are really just like barefoot shoes, just not so obnoxious as those Vibrams with the toes...)

 

AND it exercises my entire body, as I move about and enjoy Nature and enjoy the sunshine, fresh air, pollen and other aspects of “Forest Bathing”!

 

And so, my final point is this:

 

If you had to choose ONE single exercise to stay healthy and fit:

I would go along with Steve Reeves, and Leonard Schwartz.   Mr. Universe, and the psychiatrist.

 

Get some small dumb bells, pump them as you walk, and reap the benefits of Pan-Aerobics! 

 

Jog with your whole body.

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Paleo Quick tip of the day #88 Cook your paleo food slowly for fast results!

pqtd 88  Heat your food slowly

 

I don’t mean all the time now, no one likes a grilled steak or barbequed chicken or salmon more than me!  But, for those of you who work in an office, or work out of a vehicle (as I did for many, many years)-to get a highly nutritious meal in at work can be really hard, and quite expensive as well!

 

Restaurant meals are not ideal; even good restaurants that serve what would be paleo friendly types of meals like meats, veggies and salads almost always use bad vegetable oils like soy, canola, and sunflower.  This is pretty much a deal breaker for health, and for me, just driving to and from the place is a time waster leaving me very little time to eat and savor my food!

 

I have chanced upon the “hot logic mini” lunchbox, and it sounds wonderful- you just put in your food, let’s say meat and veggies, bring it to work (either your office cubicle or your truck), plug it in, and go about your business.  At lunch time, whether it is 2 hours later or 12- your food will be perfectly, slowly cooked! 

 

The nutrients will all be completely intact, since slow cooking is the very best form of cooking for health, and you don’t need to share an office microwave that is filthy, and that no one ever cleans (except maybe YOU!)...

 

That is my tip number one of Paleo Quick tip of the Day- here is number two:

 

Make yourself bone broth in a crock pot! 

 

This is actually crucial, right up there with getting yourself a Vitamix blender and making a daily paleo green smoothie to fortify your health and life with! 

 

The difference between bone broth and plain stock is in the length of time the bones are boiled.  A few hours, you have good product: stock.  This is what you can buy in the grocery store. 

 

Get a good grass fed beef marrow bone, like I did yesterday, and putting it in your crock pot for about 24 hours or longer...that is bone broth, and that is one of the very healthiest things you can put into your body, ever!!

 

Once a week is a good schedule to shoot for.  Just put your marrow bone (I’ve found that marrow is even better than a plain old soup bone, but both are good), into your crock pot, fill with water, and add a bit of Bragg’s apple cider vinegar in as well, along with a liberal amount of sea salt.

 

Then, just plug it in, and wait...

 

You can either just dip it out the next morning and drink it along with your morning coffee and smoothie, or else you can put it into Ball canning jars to store and heat up on a daily basis, 16 oz. at a time, OR- you can turn it into an instant soup!  That’s what I did today-

 

I added in about 4 oz. of beef stew meat, a pound of carrots, a large sliced onion, and a few sliced potatoes.  (Rice is also good). 

 

A couple of hours later, I had the best, tastiest, most nutritious soup in the world! 

 

Bone broth will literally restore your joints with its collagen and mineral-loaded nutrients, and simultaneously fortify your bones as well.  It is inexpensive, simple, easy, and highly effective.  It is very expensive to purchase, and hard to find, but very easy to make yourself!  One of the ultimate lessons of the paleo diet is that we need to learn to live more like our grandparents and great grandparent. 

 

Eat real food, prepared at home and obtained either by growing it yourself, or from local sources that do.  Steer clear of convenience foods and fast foods, and be like the tortoise.

 

Slow and steady wins the race, every time!

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