Save Your Teeth

Most of us know by now how great the paleo type of diet and lifestyle is for your body- I mean, your fat stores shrink drastically as you become a “fat burner” as opposed to a “sugar burner”, and your health literally explodes as you provide your body with vital nutrients instead of harmful substances like processed foods, chemicals, and gluten.

Throw in a little exercise, good sleep, and harmonious tribal relationships with family and friends, and Mr. or Ms. Paleo is looking very healthy and happy indeed! I hope that this is you, and that you have most of your paleo routine figured out, and blended in with your everyday life.

But have you considered your dental health? Back in paleo times, the health of your mouth and teeth was pretty much a given, since the food available to you was so nutritious, and not harmful to your health, as is much of the stuff we label as food today. Even now, wild animals have excellent dental health, and I guarantee they don’t brush or floss.

Step one in modern dental health is to simply eat a paleo diet, leaving out semi-poisons like gluten containing bread, pasta, and sugar laden candy. This one step alone will improve your dental health to an amazing degree! And, of course, brushing your teeth is a wonderful idea, do it at least twice per day, especially just before bed. But, there are some things you should incorporate that you probably do not know about:

Flossing has been shown to be harmful. The floss actually has been shown to push bacteria into the bloodstream, where it can compromise the immune system. It is also rather easy to damage the gums and teeth with the floss- forget flossing!

Use an electric toothbrush, especially for that last nightly brushing. An electric brush is far more effective than manual brushing.

Don’t use conventional toothpastes. Most contain fluoride, which actually weakens tooth structure, and is toxic to boot. I mix baking soda with sea salt in a small jar, and use that. Sometimes I also mix in coconut oil, and turmeric powder- this is a very potent anti-inflammatory mixture, and very inexpensive.

And finally, do “oil pulling”. This is a timeless Aruvedic system of oral health that is probably the most important of all of my recommendations here, with the exception of eating a good paleo diet.

I keep a small jar of coconut oil in the bathroom. When I take my daily shower after my morning workout, I take a finger and dip out about a teaspoon worth of the oil and put it in my mouth. It immediately liquifies, and I begin swishing it around between my teeth and all around my mouth as I shower, and continue my morning routine.

After showering, I take another finger full of oil and, warming it between my palms, spread it over my face and body- the best moisturizer ever! I even shave using the oil. When I am done, I spit the coconut oil into the toilet (it would clog your sink pipes), and flush it away, along with the bacteria and toxins that is has leached out of my mouth.

The coconut oil actually smothers the bad bacteria like Streptococcus Mutans that causes decay and gum degeneration. So go ahead- make coconut oil a mainstay not only in your kitchen, but also in your bathroom!

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Weighted Stretches

Stretching is vital for your health.  This is true whether you are an athlete or not- if you start to lose flexibility and strength in your back and shoulders, you will also lose mobility, and be cursed with pain!

 

This is your body scolding you for not taking care of it.  If you feel pain, you are either doing too much physically, like overtraining or training with too heavily, or else you are doing too little.  No matter which side you come down on, I know how you can fix it- by stretching.  But not just with static stretching, where you stretch and hold for time, although that is good as well.  You need weighted stretching. 

 

And, it need not be time consuming, since I am talking about only two simple weighted stretches to “bullet proof” your body, and strengthen and stretch at the same time the two most commonly pain riddled sites of the human body- your back, and your shoulders.

 

So here goes- for the back, and I mean the entire back musculature that surrounds and supports the spine itself, you need the Jefferson Lift.  It is simple, and effective, but must be done carefully, meaning starting with extremely light weights!   To start, just use an empty barbell- that will be plenty.  You will never go heavy with this, ever!

 

You can stand on a platform, or box, or just a stack of weight plates so that when you bend all the way over with straight arms holding the barbell at arms length straight down, nothing touches the ground.  I work out in my basement, and can just stand on the bottom step of the stairs leading upstairs, but then this won’t work for most. 

 

However you do it, just slowly bend down at the waist, and feel the backbone slowly extend, vertebrae by vertebrae.  At the bottom, hold for a complete stretch momentarily, and then come back up, the same slow, deliberate way.  10 reps is ample, and just one set will do it.  That one exercise will do more for your back than anything else I can think of, both for useful, protective strength, and flexibility at the same time.  Useful flexibility, since you will have strength building in every range of motion in your spine- static stretching does not have the strength component.

 

Then, for the shoulders, do the scapular dislocation exercise.  It sounds painful, but it’s not!  Take either a long dowel, rod, or exercise band or rope- hold it at both ends, wider than shoulder width at first, in front of your body.  Slowly lift upwards, at arms length, straight up and over the head towards the back, and then down as low as your arms can go behind your back.  At the bottom of the motion, your scapula will slowly “dislocate”.  Then, go back the other way, until arms are back in front- the scapula will relocate when you are half way up your back. 

 

Kind of hard to describe, but I will put videos of both lifts at www.paleojay.com  Easy to understand when viewed visually! 

 

To slowly progress on both lifts, just gradually add weight- light weights!  On the shoulder dislocate, don’t add weight for a long time, just work on mobility.  When you can, gradually move the hands in closer to shoulder width.  Eventually, after long practice, you can use a dowel with a very small weight on it, but this is very advanced.  This scapular control is what gymnasts use for straight arm strength, which is very different from the pushing and pulling strength in most forms of training.  And it is a very protective form of strength that most people do not have, and they pay the price in injury and pain. 

 

But, now, you will not be one of them!

Check out this episode!

No Heavy Lifting for Arnold!

When you talk about exercise in the usual paleo circles, ala crossfit etc., the mantra is to “lift heavy things!” The idea that you must lift heavy, meaning heavy weights on barbell back squats, deadlifts, and presses is a given.

Well, I am here to say that it is not necessary, and never has been. It is not the weight lifted that is important, it is the muscular contraction intensity that counts! This can be achieved very well with isometrics, for example, without moving a muscle at all under weight, and so perfectly safely.

For no matter what someone else tells you- lifting weights under heavy loads is extremely dangerous, and actually inevitably damaging to the joints, tendons and ligaments. For a testament from an expert, what does the now aged Arnold Schwarzenegger have to say about heavy back squats?

“ I always have done each body part three times a week, with the idea being to train six days a week. But when you average it out it ends up being five days a week. You know, there are weeks when you’re sick, or weeks when you travel.

Are there core exercises that you still do today?

Well, my favorite exercises I’m not able to do today, because of joint problems. For instance, the basic squat. I would love to be able to squat again, but in order to protect my knees I do mostly the Lifecycle and bicycling and the elliptical, but no more squats. The knees are like a tire. When the tires last up to 30,000 miles, you have to decide how you want to use them. Do you want to use them up in one year, or do you want to use them over a period of 10 years? It’s the same thing with joints. So, I decided 10 years ago, when I started to feel the wear and tear and was feeling pain in my joints, that now I should adjust my training and do more high reps with less resistance. Therefore I stay away from the squat, and I stay away from heavy bent over rows, but I do the heavier rowing on a Cybex machine and do the lighter exercises with free weights.”

So, that tells you right there: Arnold has damaged his body with heavy weights! And, he is one who knows how to do it right, and still- damage! Here is what he has to say about the heavy clean and press exercise:

What about for shoulders? You’ve had rotator cuff surgery.

“I used to love doing the clean and press, because you get the traps, the front deltoids, and the side. It’s really a fantastic exercise that I recommend to anyone who starts out weight training. I also liked to do the dumbbell press, but I can’t do either anymore. So now I just do my presses on a Smith machine, which is safer on my shoulders because it’s on a track. But I have to say, it’s so fantastic to see the development of all of these machines. It allows you to train around your injuries— you don’t have to stop training because of injuries anymore. These machines allow you to isolate your muscles without the risk of hurting yourself.”

Rotator cuff surgery?? This stuff is not paleo, folks! No One should be training in a manner that actually makes injury inevitable, even when doing the exercise perfectly.
Now, Arnold has had a wonderful career, and can be excused for giving his early heavy weight lifting background part of the credit. And luckily, he woke up in time (10 years ago), as he underwent surgeries and his body cried out in pain. (I’m sure it still does. Ronnie Coleman, an 8 times Mr. Olympia winner is now in a wheelchair (he is 52 year of age). Arnold won the title 6 times before retiring.

 

The point is that, either man could have built amazing physiques, cut and defined, with plenty of mass, perfectly safely and keeping their health intact, using Perfectly Paleo Exercise techniques. They might not have had quite the sheer bulk, but the bulk achieved with steroids and heavy weights has nothing to do with health, and actually has nothing to do with usable strength or aesthetics.

Using virtual resistance, creating the resistance by the power of the flex in self-resisting an exercise, coupled with blood-infusing pushups and situps, coupled with things like pull-ups and bodyweight squats, is more than enough for a perfect build and usable strength- without damage to your precious body.

So train naturally. Train for health, wellness, and a pleasing physique, not a bloated mass of bulk surrounding a bunch of injuries.

 

 

 

 

 

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Recovering From Injuries

Injury is inevitable, unfortunately. It is part of the human condition. If you train properly, using body weight, perfectly paleo types of exercise, you won’t become injured from that. UNLESS you overdo it, which can always happen.

Overuse is the number one cause of injuries- just look at me! A few weeks back I posted about being injured from an overuse injury, painting a barn of a garage for just too many hours, and inflaming the bursa in my shoulder. I also did other jobs that overworked that same joint, and the result has been a few weeks of rehab. I used the occasion to research what worked and what didn’t, so here we go my paleo friends!

First of all, remember that it is not the end of the world. If you work out each and every day as I do, (and as I recommend for all creatures that exist on this earth), it is really irksome to have one part of your body that just…hurts. But, you just work around it- you exercise other parts of your body, and only work the hurting part through a limited range of motion (if you can) that doesn’t hurt! Of course, sometimes you can’t work, say, one arm at all for awhile. Don’t sweat it- just rest it.

But, there are some other things that will help dramatically as well. Putting a cold pack on the injured part (in my case this time- my right shoulder) is great. To alternate that with a warm, moist pack is ideal- this promotes blood flow. I would alternate cold with hot- in the shower is one great place to easily do this. But what about later, as you relax in your easy chair?

A bag of frozen vegetables is great to rest on your shoulder for awhile, but you can also get a re-freezable cold pack inexpensively, some even have straps to attach them to your body part. But how to alternate with hot? I have the perfect, although somewhat embarrassing answer-

Get a disposable diaper! That’s right, you can get about 30 for a few dollars. (Luckily, I have a new grandson who could use the rest!) I just took off the cold pack, and moistened the diaper from the faucet. Then, I microwaved it for a minute… hot and moist- perfect! And it attaches easily to any part of your body!!

Just don’t forget, and answer the door with a diaper attached to your shoulder- very embarrassing.

But the best solution of all, besides gently stretching and alternating heat and cold?? DMSO, or Dimethyl sulfoxide, is almost a miracle. Anti-inflammatory, it penetrated the skin and goes right into the tissues beneath, immediately relieving pain. It’s not really a drug, it is a solvent byproduct of the paper industry that has been known of since the 1950’s. The fact that it cannot be patented pinpoints why the pharmaceutical companies are uninterested.
It can’t be patented. There is no big money to be made here! Sad but true…

It is also a potent source of sulphur, which is a substance that is wonderful for any musculoskeletal ache or pain. Think of sulphur-rich hot baths, that people go to to rejuvenate their bodies. DMSO is a hot springs bath on steroids, that you just rub onto your body!

Anyway, for arthritis, bursitis, and any ache, strain, or pain- it is a miracle! Cheap, too- it is one of the veterinarians’ main tools for treating animals, mainly race horses that have been injured. Remember: even though the FDA might say that the effects from DMSO are a “placebo”- well, placebos don’t work on horses, do they?

So, get yourself some DMSO- 70% concentration is best, I like it in a cream form for easy application. Under $20 for a miracle drug! Just like white willow bark, this is something you should always have in your medicine cabinet!

 

Check out this episode!

Fasting for Fat Control- and Health

One rather simple and easy method for both controlling your weight and also vastly increasing your health simultaneously is with fasting! Simply by limiting your eating window to a set amount of hours per day- say 6 am to 6 pm, you will eat less, without really consciously trying. If you then eliminate snacks, & go to just three meals in that allotted time span, that is another step forward! From there, you can gradually “up the ante” by further compressing that eating window. You can either eat from 8 am to 6 pm, for a 10 hr window, or skip breakfast, & only eat from 11am to 6pm, with a 7 hour window. You can do this gradually, & it seems very natural- not a hardship at all really. What really seems like a hardship to me is the conventional thought, which recommends 6 meals per day (constant grazing) with endless snacks- talk about unnatural! For the vast majority of our evolutionary past, being without food was the norm. It is what our bodies expect as a general rule, and it is what we thrive on. Cancer cells , for instance, thrive on food- particularly Bad Food like processed carbs ((which break down into sugar), and and any form of sugar itself. Sugar feeds cancer- it is what cancer thrives on. Protein does not feed cancer, unless you eat way too much, & then the body stores the excess as carbohydrates. And FAT is useless to cancer cells, but quite good for you, if it's real fat from coconut, pastured dairy or wild caught seafood, or grass fed meat and eggs. In addition, as you eat less often, and stick to these satiating 1
paleo types of foods, not only will you not be constantly hungry as you are on a diet of carbs and sugars, you will be freed of the constant urge to “feed”! That is very liberating indeed. One last thing- did you know that now in California and in Europe, cancer has superseded heart disease as the #1 killer? This bad diet is presumably to blame, as is too frequent eating. The wonderful side effect of fasting or intermittent fasting as this is more properly termed, is autophagy, which can only occur in a fasted state. When freed of having to constantly digest food,the body is freed to “clean house”- scavenging to consume damaged and precancerous cells. This alone, along with a slimmer waistline, is worth fasting for. And later, if you want to lose more weight- just compress your eating window more and more. It is even fine to skip a whole day of eating- it won't hurt you, and can only help you. 2

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pqtd Guns are Paleo

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Another rather inflammatory podcast from PaleoJay! Guns are Paleo?! Yes, they are; let me explain.

With all the national rhetoric about outlawing guns and the 2nd amendment, I have to violently disagree. Every time that guns are taken away, crime goes up dramatically. Look at Chicago, and actually any major city in the U.S.- they all have strict gun laws, and at the same time have out of control crime! So, the logic seems to be to make the gun laws even stricter, and then we will have even more out of control crime.

If I was a criminal, it would be my fondest hope to disarm everyone who I might victimize. Easy pickings, what could be better? I would also want everyone to be physically very weak, and unable to defend themselves in any way. I’d want them all to be sickly, and so easy to rob or kill that I would hardly have to try.

Let’s take the analogy further: if I was the federal government, and I wanted a compliant populace that just obeyed every dictate I made in my big, top-down, micromanaging state, I would also want everyone disarmed. Then, I would want them paying the very maximum in taxes, so they could not determine their own lives, but would be directed totally by us, the federal government bureaucrats.

In addition, I’d want everyone to be pretty sick, so I would make up lies about how whole grains are the best thing to eat, and fat and red meat are the worst. I’d even subsidize grain farmers with your tax money so that they could produce more and more of that poor food, at the expense of vegetable farmers. Then, grain would be so cheap that farmers could feed it to cattle, which would make the cattle sick and fat, just like the citizenry. And, when they ate this unnatural meat, they would get even sicker and fatter! Win Win for the government!

And just think of all the medical procedures and pharmaceutical drugs that would be needed with such a populace! All the new government, controlling programs we could set up under the guise of funding all of this unnatural, unneeded medicine. It would be unneeded, if only people ate and lived a paleo type of lifestyle.

Big Government is diametrically opposed to paleo! Paleo is small scale, locally and tribally based. Take care of yourself, and those in your “tribe” of family and friends. If you are weak, and without weapons, you are a liability to your tribe- a burden. If you are strong, hard working and vital, you can not only help yourself, but also those others who you decide are worthy of help. Not those the government decides needs your help via taxation!

So, choose the side of strength and self-determination. Don’t ask an MD how you should live and eat, and don’t ask the government for God’s sake! Do your own research, look into the common sense paleolithic lifestyle that has stood humankind well for all of time. Eat real foods, exercise naturally, avoid processed crap, grains and sugar. Sleep 8 hours each night, and do real physical work, not just shuffle papers or stare at a computer screen by day, and a television screen by night. Walk barefoot in nature daily, and create things, whether music, or writing, or painting, or woodworking- we are creative beings, and are really only fulfilled and happy when we are making new things.

And, to protect and serve both your own family and others in your tribe, get yourself a gun or two. Weapons are paleo. GUNS are paleo. To go without a gun, you are setting yourself up for evolutionary extinction. It is wrongheaded, and irresponsible.

Check out this episode!

Train Around Injuries

We all know what it’s like when all is going great- morning workout, great breakfast with a green paleo smoothie and coffee with coconut oil and cinnamon, cloves and chocolate powder- and then off to a productive day! Life can be wonderful…

But, it can also be quite stressful, as we all know. I know personally, because I got injured! While not the end of the world, injuries can be very stressful, both mentally and physically. Just know that injuries are, periodically, a real part of leading an authentic, athletic life. Just sequestering yourself and perpetually “being careful” about your body is a fast track to the nursing home- our bodies expect, and need to be stressed, and to do hard things at the very edge of our abilities!

In my case, I just overworked. This is the same as overtraining, which I have seen time and again- someone gets good results with strength training, and thinks “Hey- if I just do even more I’ll be awesome!” Well, then they wind up with black and blue bruises on their triceps, or wherever, and become weaker, not stronger than before- and also injured in many cases, which is even worse.

I know the dangers of overtraining- in fact, my podcast and blog are kind of a mantra against such overtraining- forget the heavy weights, do bodyweight training, train your tendons and ligaments before your muscles exclusively- be cautious yet train very hard! I know this so well, in my training…

But, when I get caught up in physical work, well, I get too caught up and forget. I just want to get the job completed! And so, when I painted my barn of a garage, I just kept going, and going, and going! Then, I wanted to construct a playhouse for my grandson, and kept working on it, in very confined spaces, with a big power drill that contorted my body (and shoulders) into uncomfortable angles. These two activities took up 4 whole days, on which of course I did my workouts before starting work!

And then, my mower deck needed repair- I crawled underneath, and spent most of another day, doing that…

My right shoulder was fried! Dark bruises formed around the perimeter, and I could not really lift my right arm above my head. Me! PaleoJay, exercise nut and functional fitness espouser- victim of my own cautionary tales. Ah, such is humility.

It happens. We are all only all too human, and afterwards we need to get up and start to repair the damage. And, it is a learning experience: I learned about DMSO, which is Dimethyl sulfoxide. You can get it in a cream form, or liquid, and I have been rubbing the cream on my shoulder a couple of times per day. It is anti-inflammatory, and enhances circulation dramatically- in addition, it relieves pain really quickly as well. DMSO has been used by veterinarians and horse race trainers for decades, along with some enlightened medical practitioners.

I plan to continue to use it, and explore its possibilities. Of course, the FDA disapproves, as they disapprove of anything that can’t be patented by drug companies for huge profit potential. DMSO has been known of for so long, that no one can claim the patent.

In addition to that? Train cautiously. For a few days, all I did was to stretch out in the mornings. Also, I did do isometric full body holds for multiple reps, with my arms at my sides… Then, I added in straight legged setups and hindu squats for multiple sets, since they did not aggravate my upper body. My shoulder mobility improved dramatically, and this morning, about a week later, I did some pushups and other exercises using my gymnastic rings in the basement! Hallelujah!! If you do not yet have rings in your house or garage, consider getting them- the most useful apparatus for training ever.

I was doing pushups in the almost standing position, and flies as well- no strain. Went back and lower, still fine- I just made sure to not go into the “pain zone”. I could do pistol squats as well, no problem, and even chins on the rings, with leg support.

The one thing I can’t do yet is isometrics with arm-against-arm resistance. But it will come, and soon- you just need to listen to your body, and not give up!

Being careful about training is not the same as being careful by doing nothing!

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pqtd 136 White willow bark

Yes, my friend, White Willow Bark is really the only drug that I can wholeheartedly recommend! It has really no side effects, is very effective, and can be used without reservation. It works for headache, muscle or joint pain- almost anything really, that most folks have been resorting to aspirin, ibuprofen, and tylenol for. (Along with more potent drugs with more damaging side effects!)

The good news is this: white willow bark is very, very effective, has virtually no side effects, and is inexpensive. Let us compare white willow bark to Tylenol, the supposedly safe aspirin substitute: “acetaminophen [Tylenol] poisoning now accounts for at least 42% of U.S. acute liver failure cases seen at tertiary-care centers [large hospitals] and one third of the deaths.”

Isn’t that awful? How about the old standby, aspirin? “No conventionally used prophylactic Aspirin™ regimen seems free of the risk of peptic ulcer complications,” said the British Medical Journal.

Aspirin always made me sick to my stomach! Rightfully so, since it degrades the stomach lining! So, let’s just go to ALL of the NSAID’s- the Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory drugs, and consider them all:

Over-the-counter pain relievers. Nonprescription pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) and naproxen (Aleve, others) can damage your liver, especially if taken frequently or combined with alcohol. Prescription medications.Jun 1, 2013

And, as I stressed earlier, not just the liver! So, since Hippocrates himself recommended white willow bark, why oh why does not current Western medicine, (of which he is the founder) not do so as well??

So far as as I can tell, it’s just because there is no money to be made- no patent- nothing!! It’s free to all, a natural substance, from the white willow itself! In fact, you can even purchase the willow bark to chew, which is fine, but tablets are also readily available.

“So, Jay- why is white willow bark so great?”

Great question, grasshopper, and it is simple to answer. As a natural substance, white willow bark is not isolated, or refined into a prescription drug type of deal. It is totally a natural substance, which means it contains all the substances of the original plant, not just a tiny subset that has been concentrated unnaturally. There is more than just salicin, which is the only active ingredient in aspirin.

As the University of Maryland medical center puts it:

The bark of white willow contains salicin, which is a chemical similar to aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). In combination with the herb's powerful anti-inflammatory plant compounds (called flavonoids), salicin is thought to be responsible for the pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effects of the herb. In fact, in the 1800s, salicin was used to develop aspirin. White willow appears to bring pain relief more slowly than aspirin, but its effects may last longer.

Medicinal Uses and Indications

Willow bark is used to ease pain and reduce inflammation. Researchers believe that the chemical salicin, found in willow bark, is responsible for these effects. However, studies show several other components of willow bark, including plant chemicals called polyphenols and flavonoids, have antioxidant, fever-reducing, antiseptic, and immune-boosting properties. Some studies show willow is as effective as aspirin for reducing pain and inflammation (but not fever), and at a much lower dose. Scientists think that may be due to other compounds in the herb

And that is the bottom line- there are other plant chemicals, that make everything more effective, and much safer.

So get yourself some white willow bark! Get it now, since you don’t want to be like me, who gave all of mine away (I rarely need it), and then tried to buy it locally. Trust me: when you go to Walmart of Walgreens (the two Wally’s), and ask for “white willow bark”, it is as if you asked for “eye of newt”… They won’t have it, although their websites do.

Just get a good variety, like NOW foods or Nature’s Way. Keep it on hand, or give it away, knowing you will only help. As Hippocrates said it: “First, do no harm!”

NSAIDs do harm. Modern medicine has lost their way…

 

 

Check out this episode!

PQTD Ferment Yourself Healthy #135

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Build Yourself into a Diesel!

I know this sounds a little weird- why and how do you make yourself into a Diesel?  Well, what I mean by diesel is rock solid, powerful, healthy, and vital!  Sound better?

 

The reason I bring this up, is that almost everyone is indoctrinated into the “germ theory”, which is that advocated by Louis Pasteur so long ago.  The germ theory stated that- it only we could eliminate germs, protect ourselves at all costs from all pathogens and “bad guys” in the environment, then we’d be OK!

 

And so, we started pasteurizing all of our dairy, our pickles and other fermented foods, and cooked and processed every food we came into contact with to death. 

 

“Voila!” as Louis would say- “Now, ve vill be healthy and happy forevermore- viva la France!!” 

 

Or some such thing.  This theory won out, over the terrain theory of contemporary Frenchman Claude Bernard, who asserted that germs and pathogens sought out diseased tissue, and then invaded there- healthy, disease free bodily tissues could easily resist these invasions, and so, the goal should be to build up our “terrain”; make our own bodies healthy and vital.  This was the only protection against the pathogens that constantly attack us, inevitably.

 

And so, in this modern age we still try vainly to protect ourselves by walling ourselves off from anything bad, when we should be constantly building up our terrain, our very bodies, so that they are able to resist invaders. 

 

Back in the times these battles were being fought, no one knew about the human micro biome, which is our guts, that contain millions of bacteria that we live in symbiosis with, and without which we would instantly die!  (Pasteur, had he known, would have insisted that we “pasteurize” our own guts!)  Of course, this would have killed us, but he wouldn’t have known that then, would he?

 

The human body will save us, if we only let it.  Food First!!  Nutritious, real, God made, vital foods can build us up in a dramatic way, from the inside out:  fermented, naturally fermented foods are key here- they repopulate our gut biome, giving us our microbial “helpers” that not only keep us alive, but regulate our immune responses, our fat regulation levels, and most of our bodily processes!  Green vegetables, seafood, organ meats- all of these are vital to build our “terrain”, to make us strong human beings, and to make us into what I term a DIESEL!

 

All right, what do I mean by a “diesel”, anyway?  I mean that you eat a proper, paleo type of diet, loaded with green veggies, a few berries in your smoothie, and no grains ideally.  Lots of good fats like coconut milk and ghee and butter, and no fake processed crap like Twinkies or breakfast cereal or potato chips or cheese doodles or fast food or- you get the idea, I hope.

 

The other side of the coin in training and lifestyle.  Every Day you need to be working out.  But, not lifting heavy weights or running long distances or doing CrossFit- no, this is not DIESEL TRAINING, this is fluff training, building the “show muscles” like with bench presses and barbell curls, which does nothing overall for your health and actual functionality.  No, I don’t want you to concentrate on this- I want you to do things like isometrics.  Virtual Resistance, which is actually just moving isometrics, where you flex as you move through a range of motion of each muscle group.  Self Resistance, where one arm resists another, say, or a leg is resisted by the arms.

 

The advantage of such training is that it does not just build the muscle bellies- it builds the tendons and ligaments, and then the muscles themselves! 

 

This is Perfectly Paleo Exercise!  This is what builds your bodily terrain, along with proper nutrition, from the inside out.  If you exercise this way, naturally, your tendons and ligaments will not fail you, and will protect you from injury.  You will become like my compact utility tractor- a diesel tractor, with a lower horsepower rating, will never fail to vastly surpass a regular, gasoline tractor with vastly higher HP rating! 

 

A diesel will pull irrevocably, with amazing low end torque and power, with a relentless strength that will never die!  It runs on the most unrefined (paleo in human terms) basic fuel, and it lasts almost forever! 

 

On the other hand, a standard tractor, running on “boutique” fuel that has been ultra-refined (like a high carb fuel), will be able to rev really high… but then, it can’t keep it up long, it has no “low end” torque for pulling and pushing, and if you push it too hard it will break- an axle, a throttle cable, whatever- it will break, and all too easily!  It has no strong terrain to support it.  No heavy frame, no diesel engine that won’t quit in hard conditions, no heavy components (like tendons and ligaments!) built up over time.  It’s all flash and no substance!

 

Be a diesel.  Build your terrain!  You don’t want to be a pro football player who peaks like a gas tractor in his twenties, and then breaks his frame and dies by his forties.  You want to be a diesel- a little, super strong tractor that can do surprisingly amazing things whenever needed, and never feels a pain.  With a frame that is almost indestructible, and a fuel system that is uncompromised and can handle only real food and real sleep- no drugs or additives needed!

 

And your engine- well, you’ve built it gradually over the years.  The isometrics have greatly benefited your heart, along with your musculature and tendons and ligaments.  You will be a vital human being for many, many years, without pain and without drugs!  Oh, and let’s close with Louis Pasteur’s deathbed confession:

 

Pasteur recanted on his deathbed over his entire life work, stating that “the microbe is nothing; the milieu is everything.” Another way of stating these words is that it is not the germ that causes disease, but the terrain in which the germ is found. 

Check out this episode!

Build Yourself into a Diesel!

I know this sounds a little weird- why and how do you make yourself into a Diesel?  Well, what I mean by diesel is rock solid, powerful, healthy, and vital!  Sound better?

 

The reason I bring this up, is that almost everyone is indoctrinated into the “germ theory”, which is that advocated by Louis Pasteur so long ago.  The germ theory stated that- it only we could eliminate germs, protect ourselves at all costs from all pathogens and “bad guys” in the environment, then we’d be OK!

 

And so, we started pasteurizing all of our dairy, our pickles and other fermented foods, and cooked and processed every food we came into contact with to death. 

 

“Voila!” as Louis would say- “Now, ve vill be healthy and happy forevermore- viva la France!!” 

 

Or some such thing.  This theory won out, over the terrain theory of contemporary Frenchman Claude Bernard, who asserted that germs and pathogens sought out diseased tissue, and then invaded there- healthy, disease free bodily tissues could easily resist these invasions, and so, the goal should be to build up our “terrain”; make our own bodies healthy and vital.  This was the only protection against the pathogens that constantly attack us, inevitably.

 

And so, in this modern age we still try vainly to protect ourselves by walling ourselves off from anything bad, when we should be constantly building up our terrain, our very bodies, so that they are able to resist invaders. 

 

Back in the times these battles were being fought, no one knew about the human micro biome, which is our guts, that contain millions of bacteria that we live in symbiosis with, and without which we would instantly die!  (Pasteur, had he known, would have insisted that we “pasteurize” our own guts!)  Of course, this would have killed us, but he wouldn’t have known that then, would he?

 

The human body will save us, if we only let it.  Food First!!  Nutritious, real, God made, vital foods can build us up in a dramatic way, from the inside out:  fermented, naturally fermented foods are key here- they repopulate our gut biome, giving us our microbial “helpers” that not only keep us alive, but regulate our immune responses, our fat regulation levels, and most of our bodily processes!  Green vegetables, seafood, organ meats- all of these are vital to build our “terrain”, to make us strong human beings, and to make us into what I term a DIESEL!

 

All right, what do I mean by a “diesel”, anyway?  I mean that you eat a proper, paleo type of diet, loaded with green veggies, a few berries in your smoothie, and no grains ideally.  Lots of good fats like coconut milk and ghee and butter, and no fake processed crap like Twinkies or breakfast cereal or potato chips or cheese doodles or fast food or- you get the idea, I hope.

 

The other side of the coin in training and lifestyle.  Every Day you need to be working out.  But, not lifting heavy weights or running long distances or doing CrossFit- no, this is not DIESEL TRAINING, this is fluff training, building the “show muscles” like with bench presses and barbell curls, which does nothing overall for your health and actual functionality.  No, I don’t want you to concentrate on this- I want you to do things like isometrics.  Virtual Resistance, which is actually just moving isometrics, where you flex as you move through a range of motion of each muscle group.  Self Resistance, where one arm resists another, say, or a leg is resisted by the arms.

 

The advantage of such training is that it does not just build the muscle bellies- it builds the tendons and ligaments, and then the muscles themselves! 

 

This is Perfectly Paleo Exercise!  This is what builds your bodily terrain, along with proper nutrition, from the inside out.  If you exercise this way, naturally, your tendons and ligaments will not fail you, and will protect you from injury.  You will become like my compact utility tractor- a diesel tractor, with a lower horsepower rating, will never fail to vastly surpass a regular, gasoline tractor with vastly higher HP rating! 

 

A diesel will pull irrevocably, with amazing low end torque and power, with a relentless strength that will never die!  It runs on the most unrefined (paleo in human terms) basic fuel, and it lasts almost forever! 

 

On the other hand, a standard tractor, running on “boutique” fuel that has been ultra-refined (like a high carb fuel), will be able to rev really high… but then, it can’t keep it up long, it has no “low end” torque for pulling and pushing, and if you push it too hard it will break- an axle, a throttle cable, whatever- it will break, and all too easily!  It has no strong terrain to support it.  No heavy frame, no diesel engine that won’t quit in hard conditions, no heavy components (like tendons and ligaments!) built up over time.  It’s all flash and no substance!

 

Be a diesel.  Build your terrain!  You don’t want to be a pro football player who peaks like a gas tractor in his twenties, and then breaks his frame and dies by his forties.  You want to be a diesel- a little, super strong tractor that can do surprisingly amazing things whenever needed, and never feels a pain.  With a frame that is almost indestructible, and a fuel system that is uncompromised and can handle only real food and real sleep- no drugs or additives needed!

 

And your engine- well, you’ve built it gradually over the years.  The isometrics have greatly benefited your heart, along with your musculature and tendons and ligaments.  You will be a vital human being for many, many years, without pain and without drugs!  Oh, and let’s close with Louis Pasteur’s deathbed confession:

 

Pasteur recanted on his deathbed over his entire life work, stating that “the microbe is nothing; the milieu is everything.” Another way of stating these words is that it is not the germ that causes disease, but the terrain in which the germ is found. 

Check out this episode!

Build Yourself into a Diesel!

I know this sounds a little weird- why and how do you make yourself into a Diesel?  Well, what I mean by diesel is rock solid, powerful, healthy, and vital!  Sound better?

 

The reason I bring this up, is that almost everyone is indoctrinated into the “germ theory”, which is that advocated by Louis Pasteur so long ago.  The germ theory stated that- it only we could eliminate germs, protect ourselves at all costs from all pathogens and “bad guys” in the environment, then we’d be OK!

 

And so, we started pasteurizing all of our dairy, our pickles and other fermented foods, and cooked and processed every food we came into contact with to death. 

 

“Voila!” as Louis would say- “Now, ve vill be healthy and happy forevermore- viva la France!!” 

 

Or some such thing.  This theory won out, over the terrain theory of contemporary Frenchman Claude Bernard, who asserted that germs and pathogens sought out diseased tissue, and then invaded there- healthy, disease free bodily tissues could easily resist these invasions, and so, the goal should be to build up our “terrain”; make our own bodies healthy and vital.  This was the only protection against the pathogens that constantly attack us, inevitably.

 

And so, in this modern age we still try vainly to protect ourselves by walling ourselves off from anything bad, when we should be constantly building up our terrain, our very bodies, so that they are able to resist invaders. 

 

Back in the times these battles were being fought, no one knew about the human micro biome, which is our guts, that contain millions of bacteria that we live in symbiosis with, and without which we would instantly die!  (Pasteur, had he known, would have insisted that we “pasteurize” our own guts!)  Of course, this would have killed us, but he wouldn’t have known that then, would he?

 

The human body will save us, if we only let it.  Food First!!  Nutritious, real, God made, vital foods can build us up in a dramatic way, from the inside out:  fermented, naturally fermented foods are key here- they repopulate our gut biome, giving us our microbial “helpers” that not only keep us alive, but regulate our immune responses, our fat regulation levels, and most of our bodily processes!  Green vegetables, seafood, organ meats- all of these are vital to build our “terrain”, to make us strong human beings, and to make us into what I term a DIESEL!

 

All right, what do I mean by a “diesel”, anyway?  I mean that you eat a proper, paleo type of diet, loaded with green veggies, a few berries in your smoothie, and no grains ideally.  Lots of good fats like coconut milk and ghee and butter, and no fake processed crap like Twinkies or breakfast cereal or potato chips or cheese doodles or fast food or- you get the idea, I hope.

 

The other side of the coin in training and lifestyle.  Every Day you need to be working out.  But, not lifting heavy weights or running long distances or doing CrossFit- no, this is not DIESEL TRAINING, this is fluff training, building the “show muscles” like with bench presses and barbell curls, which does nothing overall for your health and actual functionality.  No, I don’t want you to concentrate on this- I want you to do things like isometrics.  Virtual Resistance, which is actually just moving isometrics, where you flex as you move through a range of motion of each muscle group.  Self Resistance, where one arm resists another, say, or a leg is resisted by the arms.

 

The advantage of such training is that it does not just build the muscle bellies- it builds the tendons and ligaments, and then the muscles themselves! 

 

This is Perfectly Paleo Exercise!  This is what builds your bodily terrain, along with proper nutrition, from the inside out.  If you exercise this way, naturally, your tendons and ligaments will not fail you, and will protect you from injury.  You will become like my compact utility tractor- a diesel tractor, with a lower horsepower rating, will never fail to vastly surpass a regular, gasoline tractor with vastly higher HP rating! 

 

A diesel will pull irrevocably, with amazing low end torque and power, with a relentless strength that will never die!  It runs on the most unrefined (paleo in human terms) basic fuel, and it lasts almost forever! 

 

On the other hand, a standard tractor, running on “boutique” fuel that has been ultra-refined (like a high carb fuel), will be able to rev really high… but then, it can’t keep it up long, it has no “low end” torque for pulling and pushing, and if you push it too hard it will break- an axle, a throttle cable, whatever- it will break, and all too easily!  It has no strong terrain to support it.  No heavy frame, no diesel engine that won’t quit in hard conditions, no heavy components (like tendons and ligaments!) built up over time.  It’s all flash and no substance!

 

Be a diesel.  Build your terrain!  You don’t want to be a pro football player who peaks like a gas tractor in his twenties, and then breaks his frame and dies by his forties.  You want to be a diesel- a little, super strong tractor that can do surprisingly amazing things whenever needed, and never feels a pain.  With a frame that is almost indestructible, and a fuel system that is uncompromised and can handle only real food and real sleep- no drugs or additives needed!

 

And your engine- well, you’ve built it gradually over the years.  The isometrics have greatly benefited your heart, along with your musculature and tendons and ligaments.  You will be a vital human being for many, many years, without pain and without drugs!  Oh, and let’s close with Louis Pasteur’s deathbed confession:

 

Pasteur recanted on his deathbed over his entire life work, stating that “the microbe is nothing; the milieu is everything.” Another way of stating these words is that it is not the germ that causes disease, but the terrain in which the germ is found. 

Check out this episode!

pqtd 133 Competitive Sports Destroy Health and Fitness!

Sometimes we lose sight of reality, and go down blind alleys in pursuit of health and fitness.  The Olympic Games springs to mind, as they are on right now.  As do professional sports of all kinds- they are a form of specialization, and the public idolizes sports heroes as archetypes of fitness and health!

 

Nothing could be further from the truth.  Specializing in any sport, to the point where you are competitive on a world wide, or even a national level, will compromise and damage your health to a huge degree!  Did you know that NFL players build their health in the off season, and then destroy their bodies and health over the playing season, by playing their sport?  Oh, and the average lifespan of a professional football player?  Mid 50’s. 

 

Hey, I would already be dead!  Now, I know there is a lot of money and glory involved in being a pro football player, but my point is that health and fitness are not a part of it.  The point is, if you specialize in a particular sport, be it running, swimming, gymnastics, triatholon, or weight lifting- heck, even Crossfit has become a sport!- you are no longer working for health and overall fitness- you are working for glory.  For competition.  You are a showboater!

 

Health and Fitness for life?  I have set this as my goal, and I only compete with myself.  I train to get stronger, faster, and more flexible on a daily basis.  I compete only with my past performances, however.  Competing with others only encourages you to take chances- if you try to do a handstand or a blanche in gymnastics before you are ready, you could injure yourself.  In fact, advanced moves of any sort, from Olympic lifting to gymnastics are risky, and could injure you, putting you out of training altogether for long periods of time!  Safety matters, and in a huge way- as a Paleo Exerciser you need to put cautious yet vigorous training at the top of your priorities, right up there with an ancestral, grain free diet. 

 

Don’t specialize!  Alexander the Great, long ago, noted that the Olympic athletes of his day turned out to be substandard soldiers- they had specialized to greatly, and only wanted to do the “event” that they excelled in, rather than being all around soldiers.  The same was noted of the gladiators of ancient Rome, who turned out to be inferior soldiers in battle, since they were only skilled at one on one battle, and were mainly trained in pleasing the crowd, not killing quickly and efficiently.  Also, as a side note, it is interesting that far from the movie version of gladiators, they were not lean and sporting a six-pack- the gladiators purposely ate lots of wheat, because they knew it would stimulate lots of fat storage.  They were the Sumo Wrestlers of their day, since they wanted lots of fat to protect the stabbing swords from reader lives than Football players today.  Football is really just kind of “Gladiator Light”!

 

So, to build your health, don’t be an avid competitive anything.  Play sports if that’s your thing; just realize it has nothing to do with health and wellness!  That would come from your ancestral diet, your daily green smoothie, your lack of grains, and your training.  And your training?  Perfectly Paleo Exercise is my term for it- virtual resistance, Charles Atlas types of self resisted and bodyweight exercise, isometrics, and walking and sprinting barefoot!  Basic, simple stuff.  Including getting onto the floor and stretching each and every day of your life! 

 

Actually, the original idea of Crossfit was a good one- include all methods and modes of fitness into your training regime!  Strength, endurance, gymnastics!  Great idea, but then… they turned it into a competitive sport!!  This made it the worst of all possible worlds, with epic injuries and incredible burnout potential.  Get the idea?  Competitive = Burnout and Injury!

 

So go back to Perfectly Paleo Exercise.  You can do it anywhere, in your living room or motel room.  No equipment is needed.  It doesn’t have to take a long time, but it feels so good, you might decide to lengthen the time! 

Check out this episode!

pqtd 132 Stay AWAY from your Doctor

Like in many things, we have all been brainwashed over the past few decades, brainwashed into

 

1. Eating a low fat, high carb, high grain and sugar based diet

2. Signing off on our precious health to medical clinics and doctors

 

These two things will do more harm to your health than good, and are symptomatic of the evil that has been done to our society.

 

I hope you know by now, from listening to this podcast and others about Paleo and Ancestral health, that a low fat, grain and sugar based diet is slow suicide.  This way of eating, coupled with an idea that more movement and activity and less calories will somehow save you from modern diseases, is delusional.  You need real foods: God made foods- fats, pastured meats and dairy, seafood like sardines, and tons of vegetables with a few fruits thrown in will build your health from the inside out!

 

Keep it up, and you won’t need medical doctors and clinics, and actually, as in days of old, you should avoid them like the plague whenever you can. 

 

For women: 

1. Avoid mammograms- women that get this test get more breast cancer, just from the radiation of the test itself!  And, if you do the breast exam by yourself, and go to the clinic, they will usually recommend drastic treatment unnecessarily, such as breast removal,  although that is usually totally unnecessary.

2. Pelvic exams are likewise counterproductive and unneeded.

3. Cervical Cancer screenings are also not productive, or indicative of disease.

 

For men:

1. Prostate exams are basically meaningless- most older men would find a positive PSA reading, but it is meaningless- these men will die of something else long before the prostate fails.  Keep your levels of vitamin D up, and you should have no problems!

2. Stent surgery- Again, if you show up at the doctor’s, he will probably recommend a stent, to “prop open” the blood vessels that are said to be closing.  In most cases, this is totally unnecessary, and could easily be achieved by blood thinning medications instead.

 

For everyone:

1. Colonoscopies are totally not needed in the majority of cases, and if you do have a fetal occult blood test (way less expensive and dangerous) at age 50 instead, you don’t need another one ever.

2. Bypass surgeries are in the same ballpark as Stent surgery- most are done for profit, not out of need!  They are basically a band-aid anyway- nothing will clear your arteries but a truly healthy diet very low in grains and sugars!

 

I hope you are beginning to perceive the truth here:

 

Annual physical exams, and almost all medical tests are all about

Maximizing profit for the medical clinics-

NOT ABOUT YOUR HEALTH!!

 

YOUR HEALTH IS UP TO YOU! You and your body- your body repairs and heals you, NOT DOCTORS!   SO, step up.  Do what you need to do, by eating in a natural, evolutionarily correct manner, exercising as would a cave person via Perfectly Paleo Exercise, and above all stay away from the Doctor’s office! 

 

This is what our parents did, our grandparents did, and so on, back into time.  It worked for them, and it will work for us. 

 

BE YOUR OWN PHYSICIAN!

 

 

 

Check out this episode!

pqtd 131 Superslow

I am an old adopter of the Superslow exercise protocol, as advanced years ago by Ken Hutchins.  This was a 10 seconds up on an exercise (or positive motion), and 5 seconds down (negative).  Of course, this was in my olden days of training with weights, back in the early 1980’s…  I did make rather amazing progress using this protocol, but the bad effects of training with heavy weights were still apparent- I had blocky, chunky kinds of muscle, with a big butt from heavy squats and deadlifts, a chronically sore back from overloading the bar for those heavy squats, and a protruding gut, again from the squats and deadlifts.  In addition, my shoulders were in pretty constant inflammation from heavy bench pressing, as were my elbows.

 

I switched to body weight exercise, which I term Perfectly Paleo Exercise, and rejuvenated myself in my 50’s.  I do high rep pushups, which actually put the shoulders through a full, natural range of motion, unlike the bench press.  I do virtual resistance, as I have described numerous times, both here and at www.paleojay.com, and also in my book of the same name, and in PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe in ebook and paperback.  Pull-ups, dips, hindu squats, and gymnastic ring work, along with barefoot sprinting fill out my workout regimen, along with barefoot heavy hands walks through the woods on pretty much a daily basis.  It made me much stronger and fitter than when I was younger, and my aches and pains all went away.

 

Some damage was done in those long ago times, though.  Sometimes, I get a pain in my shoulder, or a twinge in my elbow joint.  Thankfully, I never have back pain anymore, which I attribute to daily stretching, and especially my back bridge onto my forehead, which I also do daily and hold for a couple of minutes.  I highly recommend that exercise to everyone!

 

But, when I do get that pain in my elbow or shoulder?  That is when I go back to my Superslow training!  I do my pushups in very, very slow motion- 10 seconds up, 5 down.  It is rather agonizing to do this, and your reps go way down… but your results can be amazing!  And, by moving so slowly, you can control the movement so well and exactly that you do not aggravate the pain in the joint, and it can heal even while you train. 

 

For pull-ups and chin-ups, you can either use your gymnastic rings (this is the best!) to do pull-ups with your feet on the ground, and just help yourself enough to do the movement with a little bit of assistance.  (True 5 seconds up and 10 down pull-ups are a real feat, especially for reps!)

 

To tell the truth, I don’t really feel the need to be exact on the speed of cadence nowadays:  I just go really, really slowly, and feel the muscle deeply as it works.  I watch the second hand on a clock often, and just go for time, not even counting reps.  (For pushups, putting a watch on the ground in front of your face works great for this).

 

And that’s it.  Even with an inflamed joint, you can train safely and productively, even enhancing healing by the improved blood circulation, just by going slow.  But not just any old slow. 

 

SuperSlow!

Check out this episode!

pqtd 130 The Power of Intermittent Fasting

I have had a very, very busy few days, and thus need to apologize to you, my paleolithic friend, for not getting my weekly PQTD podcast done in time! Usually, it’s every Wednesday. But, here it is at last, and better late than never, aye?
Firstly, my excuses: I have been off to our families’ vacation log cabin, deep in the woods of Wisconsin. A truly unique and lovely place, rustic, cool, and peaceful. My brother, who at 63 is one year my junior, has bought the house and land just next door- his land adjoins that of the family cabin land, and this is perfect! We had met there to do work on his land, which included cutting tons of brush, dead trees, weed trees needing removal, mowing and trimming, and more. We spent one solid day doing all of this, and getting both properties into good order, at least so far as the land goes. (If you have never done it, it is amazing how much physical work in involved in keeping up even a rather small parcel of wooded or country land!! Trees are always falling, blocking trails and damaging things (last winter it was our cabin rook and skylight that got smashed), and things just need to be taken care of. And so that is what we did.
I am used to intermittent fasting, and do it regularly: this means having an “eating window”of perhaps 5 or 6 hours, and then fasting the rest of the day. If you have made yourself into a “fat burner”, doing this is completely natural and easy, and actually quite freeing! If you are a neolithic “sugar burner”, as are most modern Americans, you need to snack all day long, mostly on carbs and sugars, just to keep up your blood glucose. This is the first step towards diabesity and degenerative illness…

Now, my brother is a lifelong exerciser, and quite lean and fit. But I have always marveled at how atrocious his diet was- bread, and anything else that falls into his path is fair game! He listens to me on many things, like Inclined Bed Therapy, and Perfectly Paleo types of exercise, but he always insists he is “immune to gluten”.
I noticed that, neither of us ate breakfast that first day, just getting right to work after coffee with heavy cream. We worked steadily, all day long, with heavy physical work. The chain sawing, tree after tree, and then stacking and carrying the logs. Over and over. Really exhausting work, and the heat was unusually hot for this area, since it was in the 90’s and very humid.
At one point, Jeff went into his house and emerged with a small bag of chips, which he consumed. He offered none to me, knowing that I would refuse. We went back to work, until it was all done. We were both utterly exhausted, dripping with sweat and sawdust. Both of us showered, and I put a number of bratwurst onto the grill. Kicking back with a couple of beers, we waited for our first real meal of the day. I ate a lot of brats, as did little brother Jeff, with sauerkraut, mustard, and for Jeff at least: buns! I didn’t like it, but I even toasted them for him…
The next day, I drank a Paleo green smoothie with my coffee, and we both went to work on restoring an old Airstream trailer on the property. We gutted much of the inside, and then tried to clean the decades of dirt and mold off of the outside. I eyed the old water spigot that had not been used in many years, and then decided to try it. Jeff turned on the water in the crawlspace of the cabin, and it gushed out!
Unfortunately, it gushed out of the side of the pipe, not the faucet. We decided to attempt to fix it. We spent hours pulling, prying, wrenching, and pounding at the pipe to get it out of the rubberized hose through which the water ran from the cabin. It was barely above ground, that faucet, and so we spent our time hunched over, in the dirt, and even dug down all around in the rocky soil to try to get that pipe to budge. Nope!
Finally, I took a long log, of roughly 18 feet of so, and using a big rock as a fulcrum, worked it under the faucet, where Jeff held it with his entire body. Pushing with all I have, there was a long, painful pause, and finally- Jeff shot up in the air and to the side, holding the length of freed pipe in his hands! We had done it!
“I’m proud of you two!” said the guy at the hardware store, when we brought in our precious pipe for replacement parts. He wanted to hear how we did it, since he could tell by the age of the pipe how long it had been broken. He really liked the faucet, which was large, brass, and in the shape of a quail!
We got it all put back together, and the rest of the afternoon was a joy of scrubbing off the gunk that covered the shiny skin of that beautiful Airstream trailer! It glowed.
Only then did I realize that we had not eaten that day! I made cottage cheese pancakes, which I have extolled here before- 3 eggs, 1/3 cup cottage cheese, and 1/3 cup rolled or steel cut oats. Try it, and make it a staple! Top with banana slices or berries, whipped cream and maple syrup for a real treat!!
But, knowing Jeff as I did, I doubled the recipe: 6 eggs, 2/3 cup cottage cheese and oats. BLEND for a few seconds til smooth, and then cook in a big, cast iron pan as I did! They are really good, cheap, and taste kind of like crepes, only more nutritious.
I kept making them, and serving them to Jeff. Normally, I make the 3 eggs version for myself, and only eat half, which is 6 pancakes. I save the other six to warm up another day. They are very filling indeed!
I cut Jeff off at 12- I wanted my usual 6, which were all that were left. I believe he would have kept on eating for quite a while, but he looked satisfied. I should mention here that Jeff is much leaner than me, being probably 165 lbs to my 185. He is a runner and tennis player, primarily, where I am more about strength.
There is a little backstory to add here. Next door to our cabin, and right across the road from Jeff’s, is a man named Leonard, who has lived here his whole adult life. He is now 95, and lives alone, having survived a wife. He looks exactly like he did 26 years ago when we built our cabin, when he was 69! Earlier, when Jeff and I were peering down into the faucet hole, wondering how we’d get it out of there, we heard a familiar voice- it was Leonard!
I looked around- there he was, holding himself in the pushup position, looking down where we were looking. He looked at us, since we were all at eye level.
“What you boys need is a lever!” he said. He was right, I got a long log, and the rest of the story you know.

Little things were connecting in my head as this wonderful day went on. Jeff ate bad, neolithic foods, along with good ones, and was quite lean and healthy. I was completely paleo, and our results seemed very similar. Then, I thought of Leonard, who cooked all of his own meals from scratch, things like pot roast, and baked his own bread and pies. He too was very lean, and healthy, especially considering his meals! (Folks in this small town often confuse me as Leonard’s son, since we both have white hair, and similar builds.)

I think I have it figured out- Intermittent Fasting! No one knows why it works like it does, although there are many theories. But it seems to me that, if you have a good, healthy lifestyle, with ample sleep, low stress, lots of physical exertion and outdoor living in nature; and if you also don’t constantly load up your digestive system with constant streams of calories, even good paleo foods, but especially massive amounts of processed snack junk sugars and carbs, you are cleaning most of it out.

As long as you give your body and digestive system a long rest, pretty much on a daily basis, you get a lot more license on what you can eat and have your body tolerate!

I don’t mean go out and eat junk, not at all. Eat Paleo, eat real foods! But be like Jeff, and Leonard- eat food after you work hard, to refuel. Don’t eat all day long, don’t use food as entertainment. See it as a reward, as a feast. Then it can fulfill its proper function: to renew you.

Check out this episode!

pqtd podcast #129 Paleo Politics

Boy, will I ruffle some feathers with this one!  Well, that’s fine: I have never been either politically correct, or a moderate “flip-flopper” like so many…

 

I watched the Democratic Party Convention for awhile last night, and it was… horrendous.  There was NO American flag, but a Syrian one and rainbow flags all in evidence.  It turns out that the Dems have abandoned actual working people, and have become a party of privileged elites, with  welfare and illegal immigrant votes to prop it all up.  I waited and waited to hear what Bernie Sanders would say, since he had been conned by Hillary and the rest of the elite, ruling democrats to believe that he and his supporters had a chance at getting the presidential nomination. 

I waited, and all the rest of us waited, and waited… the elite Dems purposely waited until about 11 PM central time to put him on, and so I, and all the rest of Paleo People (not to mention the stoned Bernie supporters and all people who actually had to go to work the next day) were asleep in their beds!  (Inclined, hopefully!) 

As Bernie started to speak, his Robin Hood-hatted supporters, once he caved in and supported evil Hillary, booed during his whole lackluster, cookie-cutter speech!   On a repeat the next day, even I was “feeling the Bern”, a little.  The Betrayed Bern of his supporters, that is- it appears, once again, that Socialism and Communism, those kissing cousins, are all about power and perks for the elite- with some crumbs thrown to the supporters.  That is the bottom line- no “shining city on a hill”, that is classic conservatism my friends.

 

Today, as I mowed my acreage in 90 degree heat, I listened to Rush Limbaugh wax eloquent on the whole thing:  Bottom line?  Here is the platform of the New Democrat, Obama and Hillary party:

 

Black Lives Matter, New Black Panthers, Occupy Wall Street, stripping God from their party platform, transgender bathroom advocates, anti-police, pro-death panels, baby butchers!

 

I know, it sounds extreme, doesn’t it?  But- doesn’t it also ring completely true??

 

Everyday, pretty much, there is a new Islamic fundamentalist Terrorist attack, killing innocents in the West, both the US and Western Europe.  We have a terrible NON-President Obama who will not even name the enemy!  His successor, Hillary Clinton, is just as evil, and will up the ante on the Obama agenda, if elected. 

She has already betrayed us, giving up our secrets to Russians, Chinese, and other enemies of America.  She should be in jail!  If we all lived in small tribes, as in the Ancestral lifestyle, Hillary would have been banished from the tribe long ago.  Character reveals itself quickly in tribal settings…

 

That is all I will say politically, although I could go on and on and on- I’m sure you could too!  The thing I’m trying to point out, though, is that political correctness, or “just going with the flow”, is very anti- Paleo! 

Liberal Democrats go with the flow.  They are completely onboard with things like GMO’s (Obama swore to fight them, and they have been increased under his regime far more than any other), big corporate food, (Michelle has supported the WORST school lunch program of all time!); they love big government solutions to everything:

 

Government schooling in the inner cities: Total failure

Agricultural subsidies for big grain farmers: Total decimation of the nation’s health

FDA control of pharmaceuticals: Resulting in big buyouts of government by those same corporations

And a total lack of faith in the individual, and capitalism.  This failure runs throughout all of the nation now, with the Federal Government taking control of almost EVERYTHING, and mandating their horrible agenda over all of us.

 

I hope I don’t soracy theorist, because we are now far past all of that!  The madmen are now running the asylum.  Small town America has beeund like a conspin made an enemy of the Federal government, with ALL of their support going (with your tax dollars) to things you would abhor, if you were aware of them.  Like those I’ve listed above.

 

Please- vote Republican.  I don’t care if you hate Trump; if this was a horse race, HE is by far the best choice.  Not just because he will win, but because the other horses are toxic and evil, both to you and your families, and to Liberty itself.  Still in doubt?  Go watch “Hillary’s America” as soon as you can.  It really does explain it all, at last.  Your substandard education will get an upgrade!  And you will actually know American History at last!

Check out this episode!

pjsc 128 No Gym Needed

One of the biggest deterrents to someone actually doing the exercise that their body is crying out for is this: they think they need to join a gym (expensive and intimidating to the uninitiated), and then of course they have to find the time to get there.  Driving over, getting into your special workout clothes, waiting in lines to use fancy machines or heavy weights on supports and on benches covered with the previous users sweat…

and music you may hate is often blaring at you, and lines of folks peddle away on bicycle trainers, going nowhere, watching TV…

 

Doesn’t sound too appealing, does it?  And so, unsurprisingly, most people simply give it all up, and say “I just walk!” when the subject of exercise comes up.  While walking is fine, most people just walk really fast for exercise (this is silly and unproductive- walking is not meant to be rushed!), and then drive the rest of the time when they are not on their 1/2 hour really fast, dorky looking walk through the mall or the neighborhood.

 

So, I will agree: rule #1 of Perfectly Paleo Exercise: walk, but walk barefoot, outside in the grass when you can.  Pumping small weights ala Heavyhands is ideal, and a great total body workout can be had, pleasantly if not easily, in 10-15 minutes!  And otherwise- just walk into town if you can, or at least just park at the very back of the parking lot when you shop.  It never adds more than a few minutes at most to your trip, and makes parking easy and safe for your vehicle, and adds health to your life.

 

Rule #2: Exercise at home!  That’s right, in your living room, your den, your basement- wherever.  I have my gymnastic rings hanging in the basement, and it is so fast and convenient and productive to just go down there and do some pushups, pull ups, flies, and one-legged squats and rows.  Never takes longer than about 30 minutes to totally stimulate the entire musculature, safely and very productively.  No spine compression like with a barbell on your back, or shoulder destruction from bench pressing a heavy barbell- and flexibility is also enhanced. 

 

Rule #3: Work out, hopefully daily, and do it first thing in the morning.  Come up with a sequence that works well for you- I vary mine slightly from day to day, but each day usually has a focus- for instance, tomorrow is pushup day.  I’ll get up nice and early, to have the living room (and the television) to myself, and then I’ll walk in, coffee in hand, and start my Netflix show as I begin slowly flexing and working out.  Virtual resistance is always how I begin, slow, intentional flexing of each muscle group in the body throughout the entire range of motion, for 7-10 reps each.

 

Rule #4: Stretch! After my whole body has been worked via virtual resistance, I get down on my floor mat and go through a series of stretches.  I also work my ankles, my hands, massage my bare feet, ( I always exercise barefoot when I can), and finish with a long hold of a back bridge, adjusting my spine while I get the blood into my head- it feels great!

 

Rule #5: Do pushups.  You don’t need to do them every day, I like to concentrate them into 2 times per week, Sundays on the rings, and Thursdays on the Perfect pushup rotating pushup handles.  I do them with my legs elevated, and I do sets with regular width grip, wide grip, and then narrow grip.  30, 25, and 20 lately.  Then I repeat, for at least four sets; sometimes up to 10! 

If I do the 4 sets, that’s a total of 260 reps.  I pause briefly between sets, and sometimes to isometrics and self resisted exercises as I do so.  This is much more beneficial than any sort of heavy weight training, or long distance running, since it develops the entire body in a very beneficial way, giving your body a symmetry of proportion, not bulky, blocky muscles and a protruding stomach.

 

Rule #6: Get a rebounder!  I don’t want you to spend a lot on anything, after all, I haven’t asked you to join a gym, get special shoes or clothes, or anything much.  Ideally, you will have a one time purchase and installation of gymnastic rings, buy the heavy duty Perfect Pushup handles (the standard ones wear out quickly), and a mat for the floor. (I got a rubber yoga mat at Target). But, do get a rebounder, which is a mini-trampoline!  Nothing comes close to stimulating your lymph system, which processes your waste products from the body, and it naturally enhances the virtual resistance exercises as you gently bounce on it.  You actually have to experience rebounding to realize how healthy it is (I always finish up with the “Ab bounce”), and all you need is a cheap rebounder.  Mine, like my mat, was from Target- $30.00.  I’ve had it, and used it daily, for years!

 

Rule #7: Do sit ups!  I’m really coming to believe my grade school gym teachers had it right- back in the 1950’s and early 60’s, they had us doing multiple sets of pushups and sit ups, along with jumping jacks and burpees, chin ups and rope climbing!  What could be more paleo than that?

Somewhere along the line, body builders started doing “crunches”, which were said to totally isolate the abs.  BS!  I think they caught on because they are really easy!  Do sit ups!  Put your hands behind your head, do not anchor your feet under anything, and sit up all the way, getting your head down as low in front as you can.  After awhile, you will be touching your nose to your knees, or close to it. 

This is not just for the abs in isolate, like the crunch- this, like the pushup, is a total body exercise, and is particularly beneficial to the back and the spine. 

Tuesdays are sit up day, along with hindu squats (high rep squats to the floor, swinging the arms as you go), slow regular pushups with hands flat on the floor, and several other exercises I have adopted over the years.  All are detailed in my eBook Perfectly Paleo Exercise, and in PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe paperback.

 

Rule #8: EXERCISE!  It’s not optional, just like eating, our Ancestral bodies really require regular exercise, natural exercise that satisfies our flexibility, strength, and aerobic needs.  Good sleep, good natural foods made by God, not man, (this means no gluten!), and exercise are all necessary for health and well-being.   Get started tomorrow- just go in the living room and do some pushups and sit ups.  I don’t care if you can only do one of each!  Do one, rest, do another, and so on.  If that’s all you can do, then that is as good for you as hundreds are to someone else.  Do a little stretching, eat well that day in a Paleo sort of way, go to bed early, and do it again tomorrow- I guarantee it will be easier the very next day. 

 

Rule #9 & 10:  REPEAT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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