Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #11- Add Good Foods First!

Let’s say you’ve followed along for the first 10 episodes of Paleo Quick Tip of the Day… you have cleaned up your diet, added in quality sleep, eliminated the junk, started meditating a bit each day, added in some quality visualized resistance exercise and pushups in the morning, and started into walking and hiking more- Wow!  I’ll bet you feel great by now, and your friends and workmates wonder what happened to you!  Your skin is probably clear and glowing, you have lost some fat weight already, and you just feel fantastic-perhaps others are asking you advice.  

Well, one thing you can do is to tell them to order the new book by Terry Wahls called the Wahls Protocol!  Dr. Wahls had Multiple Sclerosis, and totally reversed it by adhering to a diet and lifestyle just like what I am recommending to you weekly here at Paleo Quick Tip of the Day and at www.paleojay.com  at the PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe.  She goes even farther than most, though, and has recommendations for fighting and reversing autoimmune disease- things like MS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and psoriasis, among many others.  She goes into detail on how to attain ketosis, a state that can be a miracle worker in fighting these ailments, as well as cancer and epilepsy… we’re not just talking your average person’s fight with a few extra pounds, and brain fog and fatigue here!  

Today, though, what I want to talk about is the advice that you can give others about “going Paleo”!  First, of course, mention this podcast, and www.paleojay.com  (natch!)  Then, substitute my original podcast’s advice, which was “Grains are Enemy #1”, with this podcast title- “Add Good Foods First!”  

Thanks to Dr. Wahls, I realize now that this is the proper beginning- just add in quality, nutrient dense foods as a first step.  

Start in by eating 9 cups of non-starchy vegetables and berries each day!!

Just by following this one step of packing your diet with the most healthful, nutrient dense foods on the planet, you will:

1. ADD IN more nutrients that everyone is sadly lacking, making the body incredibly more healthy and vital right off the bat!

2. CROWD OUT much, if not most, of the bad foods (like grains!) that are making you sick, fat, and unhealthy!!

And so, I am officially revising my podcast, to start with #11 first- Add Good Foods First!  

It’s kind of a genius idea, since it makes all the other parts, like cutting grains, soy, and junk foods, fast food and sugar so much more easy!  

And, if it seems hard to imaging eating 9 cups of veggies and berries each day…

Consider drinking them!  (See podcast #4- The Green Smoothie)  Go to www.paleojay.com for more information, including my ebooks Paleo Quick Start and  Perfectly Paleo Exercise,  along with a link to order a Vitamix blender to make your smoothie with free shipping…

In fact, if I were to make one, single recommendation, it would be to have a-

Daily, Green, PALEO SMOOTHIE EACH AND EVERY DAY!  

Just by that one step, over 1/2 of the battle has been won- that is how powerful it is, and it is

WHY I PUSH IT SO!!  

I am so glad that Dr. Wahls is on my side!  I think she loves green smoothies as much as I do!!

But, I add in even MORE nutrient density… because, although I am not an M.D., I am…

                                                        PALEOJAY!

Check out this episode!

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #10- Sitting is the New Smoking!

We’ve talked for nine weeks about how to integrate the Paleo lifestyle into our lives…  

 

From eliminating grains, especially wheat in the first week, and then going to improving, sleep, adding in visualized resistance exercise, making and drinking a daily Paleo Green smoothie, and eliminating junk foods like soda pop, candy, cookies, and cake.  Then, we recommended getting a local source for our meats that is grass fed and pastured to replace the corn fed Confined Animal Feeding Operation meat that is standard in the grocery…

 

And then, we integrated a session of meditation into our daily routine, along with potato starch in our daily smoothie!  Last week, the healthy addition was pushups to our exercise sessions, and popcorn with healthy pastured butter and sea salt to our snack mix.  If you have kept up with all of this, I am certain that you have started noticing very positive changes to your body!  

 

Most folks will have lost fat weight, and actually gained muscle, resulting in not only a healthier body, but one that is more pleasing and symmetrical , with a reduced pants size and a smaller waist and butt…One thing that happens every time is a much leaner face- if you have some photos of yourself from 10 weeks ago or more, just look back- in this day of digital photos and iPhones, almost everyone has tons of photos on their computer!  Check out some of your old “selfies”, and compare to your present photo- you will be surprised at the difference!   It’s kind of like a natural facelift- it can be quite startling!  

 

And it doesn’t take long at all to take place, living this lifestyle!  

 

It seems to be an indicator of all of the healthy changes that are taking place within your body, but this one shows on the outside for all to see!  A healthy glow, and much healthier skin overall is another result that you should see about now.  This should give you the impetus to do even more- like to walk instead of run, and stand instead of sit!

 

If you are one that worked out most days, and then went home and sat, and went to work and sat, and then drove to and from and sat, and drove to accounts sitting… this is, in my opinion, on par with smoking cigarettes!  Even if you work out hard for an hour a day or more!!  

 

To move, to stand, to fidget even- we humans were designed to move, not sit!  That’s what humans do- move, daily, pretty much all day long!  Not run, not lift weights, but simply… move, slowly and pleasantly, most of our day.

 

So, after you do your morning visualized resistance exercise, which in itself qualifies perfectly as gentle movement- resolve to continue this throughout the day!  Park far from the office, or the store and walk there… take the stairs if you can!  Walk around your yard, or the park.  Hike through the hills on the weekend or in the evenings.  If you watch television, do some visualized resistance exercise, or stand up and do some self resisted curls; do a deep squat and sit like that- the Asian Squat- and build your flexibility and health by sitting without a chair, as humans did for centuries!  

 

Walking, and just plain movement is one of the major predictors of longevity and health, it turns out… it’s not how fast you can run, or how much you can lift…  it is simply how often, and how constantly, you actually MOVE!

 

Life IS movement!  When the body stops moving, the body starts to… shut down!  And so, this week of #10, your mantra is to keep moving-

 

Not hard- Not necessarily fast- But MOVE-

 

Your health depends on it!!  

 

If you really want to move on this, consider listening to my more in depth sister podcast, PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe, at www.paleojay.com and on iTunes and Stitcher- and if you really want to dig in and transform your life, as fast and efficiently as possible, go to www.paleojay.com, and click on the top banner for Robb Wolfe’s Paleo Transformation!  Robb has the whole enchilada all wrapped up for you to use, in one simple package!  

 

But, if you are content with the step-by-step, Paleo Quick Tip of the Day way with PaleoJay- stay tuned!  We are on our way… Back- to the future of health and fitness!

 

Check out this episode!

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #9- Pushups and Popcorn!

Pushups and Popcorn!

 

Yes, that’s what I want you to do this week in your Paleo Quick Tip of the Week!  What could be easier?

 

Sometimes, I ask you to eliminate  something your really, really like, that is damaging your health in a big way- like WHEAT!  

 

  Let’s just hope that you’ve done that- it is MORE important, to your health, than giving up cigarette smoking,  believe it or not…  so DO IT- GIVE UP WHEAT- no bread, pasta, sandwiches, crackers, cookies, or donuts!!

 

Sorry…  But that is definitely priority #1!

 

I really hope you’ve added in Visualized Resistance Exercise, since it is so revitalizing, and such a great form of muscle building and rehabilitation!  And now, in addition to that, I want you, PLEASE- to add in: Pushups!  

If you can’t do a pushup in the regular fashion- put your knees on the floor, and do them that way- the benefits are the same!!

 

I know, it sounds like high school gym class…  at least in my day!

 

But truly, after doing your Visualized Resistance Exercise training, each day in front of the TV, the addition of pushups is a wonderful addition, and a natural progression.  

 

I like to use the Perfect Pushup device, as advertised widely, to do my pushups, as it rotates as you push, eliminating trauma to the shoulders, elbows, and wrists.  But, you could just do plain pushups, with your hands on the floor…  go as low as you can, and do- say, 10 reps.  Then, rest a bit, look at the television, and do another set of pushups, with a wide grip- wider than shoulder width,  which should have been your first set’s width.  

 

Rest again, and do a set with your hands set about 6 inches apart (narrow grip).

 

That is one cycle!  Rinse, and repeat!  Sit on the floor for a bit, recover, and then do another Tri-set- Shoulder width grip pushups, wide grip, and then narrow…

 

Pause… and repeat.

 

You can do this for as long as you like!  It’s better with a Perfect Pushup handle; but it’s fine without… don’t go to failure- do sets and leave a little in the tank- if you can do 15 and collapse- well, then do 10 reps!  Pause, and repeat- make it fun!

 

Go with the “rhythm” of the movie you are watching- it will energize you and keep you going- you are in your living room, right?  Netflix makes these workouts oh so enjoyable!!

 

After a few, or more than a few cycles of these pushup sets, you will be sated…

 

If you feel the need to, you can always add another round or two of Visualized Resistance Exercise cycles- they feel really GOOD after a set or more of pushups- you can feel the muscle better, and get into it in a really positive way.  This pushup cycling of your workout should only be done once, or at most TWICE per week!  Repeated enough, with enough sets, you can be accomplishing a LOT of pushups- I usually wind up with a few hundred repetitions, and that is plenty!  BUT, it is VERY SATISFYING, especially as I am simultaneously watching a fun movie or TV show in the early AM, which is when I do this, so I can be totally uninterrupted!  

 

And now, after you have had a wonderful morning of Perfectly Paleo, natural exercise, with no compromise to your joints and tendons- you can look forward to:

 

POPCORN!

 

Yes, I know you’ve heard TONS of stories about how corn is horrible; wheat’s evil twin and all, but I’m here to tell you that:  

 

IF you get NON-GMO popcorn (check out the Amish popcorns!), and, 

IF you want to make it fast and easy…

 

Fast and Easy Popcorn:  

 

Take a brown paper bag- lunch bags are ideal.

Put in 1/4 cup popcorn.

Microwave on high for 2 minutes!

 

While the microwave is microwaving, heat up some pastured, grass fed butter on the stove to liquify it- Kerrygold butter is wonderful, as is Organic Valley from my wonderful state of Wisconsin- very nutritious, is butter, as long as the cows that produced it were pastured, and ate GRASS, and not CORN!!

 

At the end of 2 minutes, put the butter on the popped corn, take your SEA SALT, which I haven’t mentioned yet- so, let me mention it: ALWAYS use real sea salt, not fake chemical salt that is ubiquitous in these perilous times of modernity.

 

Get Himalayan Sea Salt for a wonderful taste experience- sea salt is the GOLD STANDARD of salts!!  Accept no substitutes!

 

So- you have done multiple sets of pushups, and Visualized Resistance Exercise!  You should be feeling really good about that, and about yourself- you are improving your physique and health in a big way!  (Especially if you have given up WHEAT!)

 

Now, this evening, reward yourself- HAVE SOME POPCORN, topped with wondrous grass fed butter, loaded with vitamin K-2, healthy fats, and loads of vitamin D-  

 

 GO AHEAD AND WATCH TV, AGAIN, 

along with some popcorn, which is basically a wonderful vehicle for 

BUTTER and Sea Salt!

 

 

You must be feeling really good- you have had a wonderful, satisfying: 

 

PERFECTLY PALEO DAY!  

 

Wait until next week- we’ll add in even more, to make you feel even better- 

 

 

I PROMISE!

 

J

Check out this episode!

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #8- Resistant Starch, and other TOP additions to your Paleo Life!

We have been on weekly, gradual introduction of the Paleo lifestyle for beginning on 8 weeks now!  By now, if you have maintained your elimination of gluten and most other grains, gotten a good 8 hours of sleep per night, added in some virtual,
visualized resistance exercise daily- Wow!  I KNOW you’ve seen some real improvements in how you look, how you feel, and also how others see you in a dramatic way…

If you’ve also added in a daily, green, Paleo smoothie using the recipe at this link at www.paleojay.com-click here for the recipe itself-    http://www.paleojay.com/search/label/perfectly%20paleo%20smoothie, then I KNOW you are looking and feeling amazing!  AND, if you’ve sourced a local farm or ranch for grass fed beef and pastured pork and poultry, and also started meditating…

I KNOW you are looking and feeling FANTASTIC!

But I want to get back to the smoothie, since that is really the lynchpin of this way of life: the easiest, most inclusive, and also the most foolproof way to maximize you health!  

Perhaps you’ve followed the recipe on paleojay.com, or perhaps you’ve just “winged it” and made your own version of the smoothie.  If so, good for you!  That’s how I started!!

But I really, really want you to consider adding in a few things to your smoothie that I think are absolutely critical for maximum health and fitness:

Iodine












Vitamin D3

Resistant Starch
Raw, free range eggs from a local, reputable source

Let’s start with the last first:

Most eggs today are produced in factory, confined animal feeding operations, or CAFO’s, that have chickens in tiny cages so tight that they can’t even turn around, eating substandard food not fit for even chickens, and laying sick eggs, which are what you would expect to come from abused, and really tortured birds!  You do NOT want these “concentration camp” eggs- they are really not true eggs, packed with vital nutrition- you want free range chicken eggs- eggs from healthy, happy chickens that are free to run around on green pasture, eating real chicken food like bugs and worms, and realizing their true “chickin-ness”!!

Eggs (and the meat!) from such happy chickens in wonderful, and the eggs, in particular, and probably the single most nutritious and healthy food for you and yours in the world!  Be sure to add a couple to your daily green Paleo smoothie!

Next, let’s address Resistant Starch:  Within our bodies are BILLIONS of tiny microbes, residing primarily in our intestine, or gut.  What they do for us is incredible- they digest things for us, they secrete hormones that we rely on, they improve our mood and sleep, they even are essential for the health of our brains!  It sounds fantastic, but think of this- there are more gut microbes within our bodies, living with us symbiotically, than there are human cells!  THAT is how tied together we are with out little gut “buddies”, and always have been!

The problem with our modern diet is that, eating refined and processed foods, the gut buddies don’t get fed!

They need a “paleo” type of diet, just like their ancestors did, and that included lots of resistant starch….
Foods that were NOT digested by us, and went right to them, through our stomach, into the intestine!  Things like stems, grass and veggie fibers, bark and twigs, green unripe vegetables… in other words, things we no longer eat!

Enter Potato Starch, the simplest, easiest, cheapest way to make your gut buddies happy and healthy, right away!

Just got to your local store, and get a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Potato Starch- it’s very cheap, about $4.00 a bag, and start adding it to your daily Paleo smoothie, dude!  Start with a T, and work up to 4T- the only side effect, at first, can be digestive upset, since you are not used to it.  I will say, I had none of that, and the benefits started right away!  I started sleeping REALLY well, my mood improved, and I began having very vivid, colorful, compelling dreams!! REALLY !   You can also add a green banana to your smoothie for resistant starch, and another addition to your diet that is great is Uncle Ben’s parboiled or converted rice!  Just eat that- not so great in the smoothie- just use potato starch for that- it is tasteless, too!!

The last two are just as crucial, and much more straight forward:  Iodine and Vitamin D!
Get each in liquid form; I get mine from Amazon.  Vitamin D is actually a hormone, and something that we ALL lack in the modern world, especially if we live in the North!! In the summer, I make a point of being outside, shirtless and in shorts for short periods most days, but in the Winter, particularly THIS winter, I just add in a dropper or so of Vitamin D liquid!  Vitamins D is crucial for health, so add it in!  Mental health in particular!!

And Iodine-  Lugol’s solution is the best, liquid form, and very inexpensive, just like Vitamin D and Potato Starch. Most Americans are woefully short of iodine in their diets, since they don’t eat seafood like the Japanese, in large quantities.  The latest data shows that iodine, when taken in large amounts, (Again, like the Japanese) not only prevents diseases of deficiency like rickets…

When taken in large amounts, protects against cancer and heart disease in a huge way!

About 75% of Japanese men smoke, and heart disease and cancer are almost nonexistent among them!!
It is the iodine that they consume, by eating fatty fish and lots of seaweed that protects them- so, do likewise, and supplement with iodine!  A few drops of liquid iodine replicates the Japanese intake.

In addition, there are studies that show that when an expectant mother is consuming a high level of iodine, the child that she delivers has an IQ of 20-30 points HIGHER than either of the parents!  So, if you are thinking of having a child- supplement with iodine!!    THAT is a no-brainer!

And so, there you have it- 4 things that, even if you DON’T use a smoothie, you should incorporate into your healthy lifestyle for SURE!  But, the smoothie does it all, easily, and one simple, easy step to solve multiple problems is another…NO-BRAINER!!  

Just get a Vitamix!  Do it!  Go to paleojay.com, click on the Vitamix link for free shipping, and get one!  Or buy one on Ebay, or on Craig’s list… but GET one!!

It really will change your life, and the health of your family.  Just stick here with me, every Wednesday, and we’ll continue our journey towards health, one Paleo Quick Tip of the Day at a time!