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Life is exhausting, and most mornings a huge cup of coffee is the only thing that gets us to a semi-functioning state. But long lines at the coffee shop and paying $5 for a latte make something that’s supposed to be enjoyable feel like another errand to run. That’s why we wholeheartedly endorse investing in a coffee maker and getting your caffeine fix at home.
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I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited for fall TV season. There are so many great shows and movies about to enter your life and you’re probably not even aware of them all. That’s why I rounded up all the new things to stream in September from Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and HBO.
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Growing up I could never have described myself as a healthy person. Thin, yes. Athletic, yes. But as a student I was always missing classes because I would fall ill, and even when I was older I would constantly have the sniffles from allergies and could easily use up a pack of tissues a day. I had a really twisted notion of fitness: as long as I had the energy and endurance for my dancing and my workouts, and as long as I could fit into my old college jeans, then it meant I was on track with my wellness goals.
The event that changed all that was a disturbing result that came back from my Executive Checkup in 2012: a tiny, suspicious growth that eventually was ruled out as benign and quickly removed. It scared the hell out of me. It was then that I swore to avoid consuming or using anything unnatural or toxic to my body, and I set off on a mission to learn about what would help me to achieve true health and never have to go through a scare like that again.
My own Primal Journey was a series of hits and misses over 7 years, which I spent doing self-study and experimenting with my diet and activity to find what would work for me. It was following the Primal Blueprint that finally brought me to a point where I am comfortable and confident with the state of my health. This is why I was driven to be a Primal Health Coach: because I want to help others to cut through the clutter by sharing my own knowledge and experience, and provide guidance based on established research and the latest studies by leading-edge health experts who are part of the ancestral health community.
Like many people, 30 was the age when I started to feel that my metabolism was slowing down. No longer could I eat, drink and party as much as I wanted and still wake up with a flat stomach and unlimited energy. I took to more frequent workouts and calorie restriction so I could maintain my weight.
After finishing my very first full marathon in 2010, my 4-year running career quickly slowed down and sputtered to a stop. I got bored. So I started trying out other things like yoga, Barre and whatever group class was happening at the gym. In 2012 I discovered Bodyrock, a site that provided free, fun and engaging High Intensity Interval Training (HiiT) videos. After just a few weeks of Bodyrocking I noticed how my arms had less jiggle, and an officemate randomly asked me if I was training for something. That, plus the fact that it was so easy to fit the short 12-minute workouts into my early morning routine before work, got me hooked.
After 3 or 4 months of logging my workout scores, seeing my progress (more reps in the same amount of time) and feeling stronger, it was disappointing that my waistline was not budging. Plus, to my dismay, I was gaining weight, I felt bloated almost everyday, and I would get incredibly sleepy after lunch. I couldn’t understand why. I wasn’t on a diet, but I didn’t think it was a problem because I never ate a lot anyway, stayed away from fatty food, never drank sodas, ate burgers only occasionally, and all that. My average calorie intake must have been less than 1400 a day. Someone once joked about my appetite and said that if I ever got into an eating contest with a pigeon, the pigeon would win. And yet stubborn fat remained around my middle, and I hated it.
One of the guest coaches on Bodyrock said that if Bodyrocking wasn’t working for you, it had to be one of two things: either you weren’t consistently working out, or you weren’t eating right. I was working out almost everyday, so I took a look at their diet tips and discovered Clean Eating, which involves avoiding processed food, trying to get more veggies into every meal and shifting from my usual white rice and bread to complex carbs.
I have to credit Clean Eating for my helping me build my kitchen skills. (Embarrassing as it is to admit, I had always relied on the help to do the cooking all these years, and my husband Dex knew his way around the kitchen much more than I did!) I started preparing more meals at home, and my family found themselves eating all kinds of grains they never knew existed: couscous, bulgur and quinoa. We were buying more fruit and greens and actually consuming them instead of throwing them out because they had gone bad after being ignored in the refrigerator.
I felt great about this change and it was so empowering to know exactly what ingredients were going into every meal. I would often find myself comparing our homemade meals with restaurant dishes and thinking hey, I could do a better job than this!
About four months into Clean Eating I felt healthier, and I wasn’t getting sick as much. Even when there were nasty bugs going around the office I was always left standing, so I knew I was doing something right. And yet the bloating remained, and so did the stubborn fat around my middle. One day I went to the gym and weighed myself, and was so upset to find that I was at my heaviest in the last 13 years! What was going on?
Enter the Paleo diet, based on the premise that human physiology has not changed much since the caveman days, and hence a diet similar to those of early humans is the optimal one. A friend of mine swore by Paleo, and she was looking great, so I found myself reading up a lot on the subject. I geeked out on Charles Poliquin, Mark’s Daily Apple, Robb Wolf and all kinds of health and nutrition sites, and finally gave it a try.
On the Paleo diet, I was eating a lot of meat, healthy fats and veggies. I suffered through a few days of carb withdrawal (which was awful), but the results were very encouraging. My bloating disappeared almost immediately after I cut down on carbs, and my tummy got flatter week after week.
I was so excited with the idea that I could eat as much as I wanted as long as it was on the Paleo- approved list, and so I started cooking up all kinds of Paleo treats: cupcakes, cookies, energy bars and whatnot. So what if they were sweet? They were made with wild honey and pure maple syrup!
And so the weight came back. More than ever before. And once again I was stumped: I was following the diet, so why wasn’t I getting the results I wanted?
I revisited Mark’s Daily Apple and decided to do a reset and listen more to my body and follow its signals. Instead of strictly adhering to a set of diet restrictions, I now focus on making good meal choices. Instead of tiring myself everyday with grueling strength and cardio workouts, I do strength/HiiT only 3 times a week, do active rest days (mostly with short yoga or pilates sessions) for the other 3, and a weekly sprint session but only when I feel like it. For the most part I just try to make sure I move around as much as I can throughout the day and don’t force myself to work out when my muscles are sore. Sleep and stress management round up the picture.
What is Primal health to me? More than following the guidelines of the Primal Blueprint, it’s about making smart, informed choices about food, movement, and lifestyle, and being mindful of your body, your energy levels and moods. So far so good, and so the journey continues….
Issa Aviles, Primal Health Coach
The post My Journey to Primal appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
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You don’t need us to tell you how easy it is to spend a ton of money at the grocery store. (How is it possible to run in for five things and end up spending an hour in there? And $120?) Instead, we like to give you some pointers on how to spend less. We’ve given you a lot of advice over the years (here’s some! And here’s some more!) — and these are our 10 best tips of all time.
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With Labor Day being the unofficial end of summer, it’s inevitable that you’re feeling a little bummed out. We are too! Just like always, our favorite season has come and gone in a flash, and soon it will be taking its incredible produce with it. So here’s the plan: Instead of sulking, seize the opportunity that’s given to you with that extra day off this week to bottle up summer’s sunshine for later. Here are 10 of our most favorite ways to preserve all of those tomatoes, berries, stone fruit, and herbs.
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Have you ever used Bar Keepers Friend? This hard-surface cleaner has a cult following in cleaning circles. It’s made by a family-owned company that manufactures in Indianapolis, Indiana. The active ingredient is oxalic acid, which you can also find in rhubarb, spinach, and other veggies. Bar Keepers Friend is biodegradable and safe for septic systems, too. And it’s got a cute back story: It was discovered by accident when a chemist, who was boiling rhubarb, found that the pot he was using got clean as he cooked.
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When you think of Labor Day sales, you probably think of mattresses, right? While it’s true that you can get some great deals on stuff for sleeping, you can also save big on stuff for your kitchen and dining room. Here are some of the best sales happening this weekend.
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(Image credit: Dabney Frake)
From Apartment Therapy → The 10 Commandments of Small Space Living
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(Image credit: Chelsea’s Messy Apron)
When tasked with bringing a dish to a cookout or party (like, say, for Labor Day), there are a couple classics that probably pop into your mind — namely, pasta salad and coleslaw. If having to choose between these two sides causes you anxiety, don’t stress: You can combine the two for the ultimate potluck win.
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With the last days of summer still ahead of us and the heat sticking to our backs, you might think grilling, grilling, and grilling are your only options for dinner. But picking at grilled chicken while scrolling through everyone else’s vacation photos is a straight path to lunacy.
So put down the grill tongs, step away from the envy, and have yourself a deliciously rollicking staycation, where you can be eating salsa-dipped chorizo and potato sandwiches in Mexico one day and Streuselkuchen in Germany the next.
For now classes are 6pm and 640pm at 2840 Wildwood st in the Boise Cloggers studio.
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