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!