"Eat Like A Predator, Not Like Prey": Paleo In Six Easy Steps, A Motivational Guide

[Spats]

There were a lot of questions in the epic bread thread that boiled down to "Just what is this 'paleo diet' thing, anyway, and how do I do it?"

And I realized, to my irritation, that I couldn't find a single link to point people to which explains how to make it happen, bottom line, without forcing you to buy a book -- and most importantly, why you would want to.

So I wrote it. It's motivational, educational, and inspirational!

"Eat Like A Predator, Not Like Prey": Paleo In Six Easy Steps, A Motivational Guide"
http://www.gnolls.org/1141/eat-like-...ational-guide/

[sidewall]

Cool, thanks. Question for you- Does it even matter what kind of store bought bread you eat?

[BurnHard]

Fuck I love that title! Ima print a bazzilion of these out and hand em out to my vegetarian friends and the rest of the Boulder People's Republic...

[butterscotch]

So basically I should eat meat, eggs, more meat and wash it down with some meat?

Looks like I'm gonna need one of these:

[char]

Thanks spats, good article.

Question: How does avoiding the gym and specifically cardio dovetail with someone who wants to skin/ski/hike all day? Seems like you need to do something akin to that in the gym if you can't do it outside on a regular basis.

I basically eat this diet and never really thought of it as anything more than shopping the outside of the grocery store.

Also- What are the implications for cholesterol levels while eating this diet?

[advres]

So this is basically the slow-carb diet I am on except for the legumes?

PS... 46g of protein this morning and 418 calories before 8AM and I'm still losing fat.

[BurnHard]

Thanks spats, good article.

Question: How does avoiding the gym and specifically cardio dovetail with someone who wants to skin/ski/hike all day? Seems like you need to do something akin to that in the gym if you can't do it outside on a regular basis.

I basically eat this diet and never really thought of it as anything more than shopping the outside of the grocery store.

Also- What are the implications for cholesterol levels while eating this diet?

#2. There's no evidence supporting dietary cholesterol raises blood cholesterol, nor that blood cholesterol is bad (when seen as a whole, VHDL *is* supposedly bad).

#1. Though I follow a mostly Paleo diet, the exercise advice in that article is more geared towards the general population who barely do anything or do the stairmaster while talking on the phone. People with specific goals DO need cardio and other tools to achieve those goals. Skin/ski/hike all day requires a huge aerobic base so you need your cardio. It also requires some anaerobic capacity and 'bursty' kinda energy which I'm sure you know how to train for. In short, don't necessarily listen to that exercise advice if you know what you're doing.

[pappag]

Also- What are the implications for cholesterol levels while eating this diet?

I've been eating a minimum of 3 large eggs (with yolk) every day for the last 15 years and my cholesterol has always been healthy.

[Spats]

Cool, thanks. Question for you- Does it even matter what kind of store bought bread you eat?

It matters a little bit -- but the difference is marginal compared to the benefits of replacing it with actual food.

I didn't want to get into the brutal details of lectins, phytic acid, wheat germ agglutinin, exorphins, etc. in my last post, because they make most people go into denial...but there are some links in the new article you can follow if you want.

Question: How does avoiding the gym and specifically cardio dovetail with someone who wants to skin/ski/hike all day? Seems like you need to do something akin to that in the gym if you can't do it outside on a regular basis.

The comment about 'doing cardio' is mostly about cardio being ineffective for weight loss. If you've got specific activities you need to train for, by all means train for them. (i.e. mostly what BurnHard said)

However, I train for riding and BC skiing by riding and BC skiing And teaching your body to burn fat (via low-carb diet/IF) improves your steady state output quite a bit. I'd also rather go outside and ride or trail run, even in miserable weather, than sit on a treadmill. In my opinion, if you can comfortably read a magazine while "spinning", you aren't doing yourself a damn bit of good as far as improving your endurance.

Also- What are the implications for cholesterol levels while eating this diet?

Cholesterol levels are a red herring (every cell in your body makes cholesterol because it's a precursor to so many important hormones), and if you don't eat enough your body will make it. But trigs and other stuff usually go down anyway, because high carb consumption (esp. fructose) will peg your triglycerides far worse than fat.

That's why I link to Taubes' books at the end of the article. He dismantles the "diet-heart" cholesterol myth better than anyone else IMO -- although Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, Anthony Colpo, Dr. Uffe Ravnskov, and Dr. Mary Enig also have the science down, even if their books aren't as well-written. (Although Kendrick's is pretty good, and Enig's is good if you're scientifically inclined, though tough going otherwise.) Anything I write will be a subset of what they've already done.

Hell, I should just link to Fat Head (which is on Hulu now) and Tom Naughton's "Big Fat Fiasco" ([nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exi7O1li_wA"]YouTube - Big Fat Fiasco pt. 1[/nomedia]). Thanks for reminding me -- I link that in several of my other posts, but forgot to on this one.


Thanks for the comments and questions! They'll help me improve the article.

[mwthomsen]

He is not stating that you should not exercise, just that doing it in a gym on specialized machines is a complete waste of time and isn't necessary if you are doing it in your everyday life.

If you want to exercise get back to the basics, do push ups, pull ups and squats. Go down to a football field and do interval sprints better than running on a treadmill. Do those types of activities throughout the course of the day and you will be better off than going to a gym for an hour and half.

[BurnHard]

He is not stating that you should not exercise, just that doing it in a gym on specialized machines is a complete waste of time and isn't necessary if you are doing it in your everyday life.

If you want to exercise get back to the basics, do push ups, pull ups and squats. Go down to a football field and do interval sprints better than running on a treadmill. Do those types of activities throughout the course of the day and you will be better off than going to a gym for an hour and half.

Not true. This cannot be generalized to everybody. It's a good principle for the *average* population, but not for somebody looking to specialize in his training... If I were to do just pushups & pullups and interval sprints for my MMA fighting I wouldn't get very far. The idea is specialization. And 'doing MMA' to train for 'MMA' is not enough. But yes, I do agree, the general 'back to the basics' approach is good for the average population...

[mwthomsen]

Thinking about it maybe it should be exercise like you are a little kid. Sprint around the playground, climb on the jungle gym for hours on end, jump down tumble and push yourself up and start running around again. Now just think how you could improve your overall health if you were able to find a jungle gym that challenged you the same way the school equipment challanges young children.

[char]

He is not stating that you should not exercise, just that doing it in a gym on specialized machines is a complete waste of time and isn't necessary if you are doing it in your everyday life.

Wow, a complete waste of time eh? That must be why my running times get better when I can go run the speed I want inside instead of worrying about slipping and cracking my head open on icy sidewalks.

[mwthomsen]

Not true. This cannot be generalized to everybody. It's a good principle for the *average* population, but not for somebody looking to specialize in his training... If I were to do just pushups & pullups and interval sprints for my MMA fighting I wouldn't get very far. The idea is specialization. And 'doing MMA' to train for 'MMA' is not enough. But yes, I do agree, the general 'back to the basics' approach is good for the average population...

That is interesting and I think you use the term specialized training in a different context. During your MMA training I would wager that you do a lot of full body type of exercises, flipping large tires, using a sledge hammer on said tire, swinging large ropes, power lifts and speed and agility things.

Not doing specialized training by being limited to the range of motion on a given machine isolating one specific muscle at a time like a body builder would train.

So I would argue that your specialized training in MMA is much more closely related to what he is prescribing. Then the typical exercise program designed by your average personal trainer in a fitness club facility.

[BurnHard]

That is interesting and I think you use the term specialized training in a different context. During your MMA training I would wager that you do a lot of full body type of exercises, flipping large tires, using a sledge hammer on said tire, swinging large ropes, power lifts and speed and agility things.

Not doing specialized training by being limited to the range of motion on a given machine isolating one specific muscle at a time like a body builder would train.

So I would argue that your specialized training in MMA is much more closely related to what he is prescribing. Then the typical exercise program designed by your average personal trainer in a fitness club facility.

True. Most personal trainers are useless anyway

I however do bench press, deadlift, and squat as well, which technically is 'limited range of motion', and I do those with 90-95%-max weights with the goal of improving strength because I'm lacking in some aspects. I also run 5-8 miles DAILY, slow, to build an aerobic base, which I am also lacking compared to my anaerobic training. A lot of miles on a treadmill when it's too cold. What I'm sayin is, too general an exercise guideline cannot be applied to everybody since individual athletes have specific needs to improve specific weaknesses or strengths...

But what I'm talking about does not apply to 99% of the population and the lazy slobs who sit on the erg/bike barely outputting 50Watts and talking on the phone Those are the guys who will benefit from the article's kind of exercise guidelines the most.

[mwthomsen]

Wow, a complete waste of time eh? That must be why my running times get better when I can go run the speed I want inside instead of worrying about slipping and cracking my head open on icy sidewalks.

There is no doubt that if you train for one specific activity you can improve it by doing just that activity. The body will typically adapt and make that activity easier. You may even improve your running times.

What the message is saying is that leading a HEALTHY lifestyle you are not required to go to a gym and run on a treadmill. Everything you need is available to you outside your front door.

My comments are related to an everyday HEALTHY lifestyle as it relates to the article. If you want to compete at any specific sport at a high level you will need to train to achieve that.

[Tye 1on]

good read, thanks.

[blackhand]

That article was a good laugh, thanks.

[mwthomsen]

True. Most personal trainers are useless anyway

I however do bench press, deadlift, and squat as well, which technically is 'limited range of motion', and I do those with 90-95%-max weights with the goal of improving strength because I'm lacking in some aspects. I also run 5-8 miles DAILY, slow, to build an aerobic base, which I am also lacking compared to my anaerobic training.

Perfect, bench presses, deadlifts and squats are all exercises that utilize a full spectrum of muscles and stabilizers to allow you to do the exercise. Not different then what the author prescribes in his article. The only difference is your ability to add weight to a bar. And if you want to improve you cardio throw 20 - 30 second sprints into your daily runs, through them in every 2 minutes or so and you will see a big difference as mentioned in the article.

[Shredhead]

What about alcohol?

[hafilax]

You put the best piece of advice near the bottom!

Be suspicious of all diet advice.

The only thing I strongly disagree with is the vilification of seeds. Grain seeds are far different from sunflower seeds or even almonds (which I recently found out are a seed and not a nut). Lots of seeds are perfectly edible, contain lots of energy and nutrients and the fat content is good for keeping you full and don't have the bad effects of grains. The problem with granola is that it is oat based and glued together with sugar, not that it has nuts and seeds. The key to nuts and seeds is to buy raw ones and roast them yourself or get dry roasted nuts if you can.

I'm also confused by your picking glucose over fructose. Most Paleo sources I've read recommend the opposite unless you're an athlete looking to replenish glycogen stores. If you're looking for weight loss then the lower glycemic load of fruit is preferable to the high glycemic load of a sweet potato.

There's nothing wrong with cardio. It's a hobby like any other. Sure if you're looking to lose weight then high intensity is better but there's nothing wrong with going for a jog, a hike or a cruise on your bike if that's what you enjoy.

My personal belief is that strict paleo isn't necessary and that some grains, dairy and especially legumes can be a part of a healthy diet provided the person doesn't have a strong sensitivity to these groups. I think that there are healthy vegetarian diets for example.

The body is quite good at dealing with toxic substances as long as the amounts are small. I don't know what those limits are and from my limited reading of Paleo papers I haven't seen a discussion of the upper limit of how much is required to get a leaky gut etc. It's all, grains are bad don't eat them. Guess what, there's cyanide in apples and nicotine in tomatoes. We can set an upper limit on how much tuna to eat, why not grains? Maybe it really is that toxic but I haven't seen any numbers to back that up. I have especially strong doubts about legumes being that bad.

I'm on the tail end of a 30 day Paleo challenge and quite frankly I hate it. The food is bland and limited. I've been losing weight which is counter to my goals and I've concluded that I'm incapable of getting enough calories under strict paleo. The truth of the matter is that I can't force feed myself something I don't want to eat and if I'm bored with my options I just don't eat. I'm going back to my old diet which wasn't that much different but had rich sauces, cheese and the occasional bread and held me at a steady weight for the last 10 years.

I haven't noticed any change in my energy, behaviour, concentration etc. over the course of this experiment which leads me to believe that there hasn't been a large change in going to strict Paleo and therefor going back should be fine. I don't consider having a piece of cheese a cheat, it is eating cheese in moderation and that goes for beans and yes, even bread. Guilty connotations associated with food are a sign of an eating disorder. I'm not a carb addict and I'm mature enough to know what I'm eating.

I know you are well read on the subject so I'm wondering if you have any non-Paleo blog sources I could read specifically about the doses needed in order to see the leaky gut issues or insulin sensitivity problems. I'm really sick of the Paleo hyperbole and would be much happier reading some facts without all of the colourful language telling me that grains=death.

[advres]

What about alcohol?

It's in the comments. No beer, only wine or distilled spirits.

[Johnny Deep]

No beer? WTF??? I can see an exception for PBR.....

Tritip is what's for dinner.

[PNWbrit]

What about alcohol?

I wouldn't want to drink with the OP.

[Tippster]

Bears are predators. They, like us, are omnivores. They eat seeds, nuts, and berries to supplement their meat intake.

I do think you need some dietary fiber to help you shit, so if vitamin supplements are OK (really - cavemen didn't need them... oh, but they died at 30) then so are some fiber pills.

How is this diet different than what Dr. Atkins has been preaching for decades?