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Can athletes get enough protein on a vegan diet? In this episode of Revolution Health Radio, I talk about the major differences between plant protein and animal protein, and discuss the positive impact an ancestral diet (that includes animal protein) has on your overall health. Be sure to catch my upcoming appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience on November 19, 2019, at 11 a.m. Pacific [Time].

The post RHR: Why the Optimal Human Diet Includes Animal Protein appeared first on Chris Kresser.

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Your shoulders say everything about you—from the mid-level office employee sitting in his cubicle 9 to 5 with rounded shoulders to the powerful high-level executive standing erect as he leads meetings—your shoulders define how others perceive you.

Tiny narrow shoulders make you look weak and timid—like Bambi.

Massive broad shoulders make you look powerful and confident—like Superman.

If you’re reading this, you and I know two things:

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Inflammation gets a bad rap in the alternative health world: “Inflammation causes heart disease, cancer, and autoimmune disease! It’s at the root of depression.” These are all true—to some extent.

Name a disease, and inflammation is involved.

Crohn’s disease is inflammatory.

Major depression is inflammatory.

Heart disease is inflammatory.

Autoimmune diseases, which involve an inflammatory response directed at your own tissues, are inflammatory.

Arthritis is inflammatory.

Even obesity is inflammatory, with fat cells literally secreting inflammatory cytokines.

Yes, but the story is more complicated than that. Inflammation, after all, is a natural process developed through millions of years of evolution. It can’t be wholly negative. Just like our bodies didn’t evolve to manufacture cholesterol to give us heart disease, inflammation isn’t there to give us degenerative diseases.

So, Why Does Inflammation Happen?

When pain, injury, or illness hit, the first responder is the acute inflammatory response. In other words, it is brief, lasting several days or less. All sorts of things can cause an acute inflammatory response. Here are a few:

• Trauma (punch, kick, golf ball to the head)
• Infection by pathogens (bacterial, viral)
• Burn (sun, fire, seat belt buckle on a summer day)
• Chemical irritants
• Frostbite
• Stabbing/Cut/Laceration
• Allergic reaction

Things happen pretty fast in an acute inflammatory response and involve several different players, including the vascular system (veins, arteries, capillaries and such), the immune system, and the cells local to the injury.

1. First, something painful and unpleasant happens; choose one of the above injury options.
2. Then, pattern recognition receptors (PRR) located at the injury site initiate the release of various inflammatory mediators, which in turn initiate vasodilation (or widening of the blood vessels). This allows increased blood flow to the injury site, which warms the site, turns it the familiar red, and carries plasma and leukocytes to the site of the injured tissue.
3. The blood vessels become more permeable, thus allowing the plasma and leukocytes to flow through the vessel walls and into the injured tissue to do their work. Emigration of plasma into tissue also means fluid buildup, which means swelling.
4. At the same time, the body releases an inflammatory mediator called bradykinin, which increases pain sensitivity at the site and discourages usage of the injured area. These sensations—heat, redness, swelling, pain, and a loss of function—are annoying and familiar, but they’re absolutely necessary for proper healing.

Why Is (Acute) Inflammation Essential?

Allow me to explain why the four primary symptoms of acute inflammation are necessary, despite being unpleasant:

1. Increased blood flow warms the injury and turns it red, which can be irritating and unsightly, but it also carries the guys—leukocytes—that will be cleaning up the injury site, mopping up pathogens, and overseeing the inflammatory process.
2. Swollen body parts don’t fit into gloves, are really sensitive, and don’t work as well as their slim counterparts, but a swollen finger is a finger that’s full of a plasma and leukocyte slurry and therefore on the road to recovery.
3. Pain hurts, but if an injury doesn’t hurt and it’s serious, you’ll keep damaging it because you won’t know not to use it.
4. Loss of function prevents you from using what could be one of your favorite body parts, but you don’t want to make it worse be re-injuring it. Besides, it’s only temporary.

What About Chronic Inflammation?

These symptoms both indicate and enable inflammation (and, thus, healing), but what’s the deal with inflammation being linked with all those chronic illnesses—like obesity, heart disease, and depression? How does something normal and helpful go haywire and become implicated in some of the most crushing, tragic diseases of our time?

When inflammation becomes chronic and systemic, when it ceases to be an acute response, when it becomes a constant low-level feature of your physiology that’s always on and always engaged, the big problems arise.

The inflammatory response is supposed to be short and to the point. And because a big part of inflammation is breaking the tissue down, targeting damaged tissue and invading pathogens, before building it back up, the inflammatory response has the potential to damage the body. That’s why it’s normally a tightly regulated system: because we don’t want it getting out of hand and targeting healthy tissue. But if it’s on all the time—if chronic inflammation sets in—regulation becomes a lot harder.

Acute vs. Chronic Inflammation

A perfect example of the acute inflammation versus chronic inflammation dichotomy is exercise.

A single hard workout raises inflammation. It’s a stressor, a damaging event imposed upon your body. See for yourself.

A hard run spikes C-reactive protein for up to two days.

During exercise, skeletal muscle releases the inflammatory cytokine IL-6, a marker of damage.

Volleyball practice elicits spikes in IL-6 in both male and female elite volleyball players.

Acute exercise spiked CRP in cardiovascular disease patients (but a four-month exercise program lowered it).

This table of inflammatory responses to strenuous endurance events shows some massive spikes in CRP, some up to 20-fold the baseline value.

Yet, study after study (epidemiological and clinical alike) shows that extended exercise programs generally reduce markers of inflammation (like C-reactive protein) over the long-term:

• In elderly Japanese women, a 12-week resistance training program reduced circulating levels of inflammatory markers compared to baseline; reductions in CRP were associated with increases in muscle thickness.
• American adults who engaged in frequent physical activity tended to have lower CRPs than adults who were more sedentary.
• In type 2 diabetics, (key term coming up) long-term high intensity resistance and aerobic training reduced inflammatory markers over the course of a year (independent of changes in body weight, meaning activity was the key factor).
• Endurance combined with resistance training reduced CRP in young, healthy women better than endurance training alone.
• In obese, post-menopausal women, a basic moderate cardio program lowered CRP without really affecting body weight either way over the course of a year.

There are many more out there, but the general gist is that regular exercise tends to lower markers of systemic inflammation while acute exercise increases markers of acute inflammation. And sometimes what’s acute can become chronic. How do we make sense of this? How do we avoid making those acute spikes a chronic, constant thing?

Identifying Chronic Inflammation: Objective Markers

First, we need to be able to identify chronic inflammation. What symptoms and biomarkers can we use to track our inflammation levels?

CRP, or C-Reactive Protein

CRP is a protein that binds with dead and dying cells and bacteria in order to clear them from the body. It can always be found (and measured) in the bloodstream, but levels spike when inflammation is at hand. During acute inflammation caused by infection, for example, CRP can spike by up to 50,000-fold. CRP spikes due to acute inflammation peak at around 48 hours and declines pretty quickly thereafter (post acute-phase inflammation CRP has a half life of 18 hours). Thus, if the incident causing the inflammation is resolved, CRP goes back to normal within a few days. If it persists, the infection/trauma/etc. probably persists as well.

Highly sensitive to many different kinds of stressors, CRP rises in response to essentially anything that causes inflammation. This makes it valuable for determining that inflammation is occurring, but it makes it difficult to determine why that inflammation is occurring—because it could be almost anything. But if you’re looking for confirmation that you are chronically, systemically inflamed, an elevated CRP (in absence of any acute infections, injuries, burns, or stressors) is a useful barometer.

“Normal” CRP levels are supposedly 10 mg/L. Absent infection or acute stressors, however, ideal CRP levels are well under 1 mg/L. You want to stay well below 1; you don’t want “normal.” Between 10-40 mg/L (and perhaps even 1-9 mg/L, too) indicates systemic inflammation (or pregnancy), while anything above that is associated with real acute stuff. Note that exercise can elevate CRP, so don’t get tested if you’ve worked out in the last couple days.

IL-6, or Interleukin-6

T cells (type of white blood cell that plays a huge role in the immune response) and macrophages (cells that engulf and digest—also known as phagocytosing—stray tissue and pathogens) both secrete IL-6 as part of the inflammatory response, so elevated IL-6 can indicate systemic inflammation.

Tissue Omega-3 Content

This is a direct measurement of the omega-3 content of your bodily tissue. It’s not widely available, but it is very useful. Remember that anti-inflammatory eicosanoids draw upon the omega-3 fats in your tissues and that inflammatory eicosanoids draw upon the omega-6 fats. People having a higher proportion of omega-6 fats will thus produce more inflammatory eicosanoids. Now, we absolutely need both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory eicosanoids for proper inflammatory responses, but people with high omega-6 tissue levels make way too many inflammatory eicosanoids. Studies indicate that people with the highest omega-3 tissue levels suffer fewer inflammatory diseases (like coronary heart disease).

Research (highlighted and explicated here by Chris Kresser) suggests that omega-3 tissue concentrations of around 60% are ideal, which is a level commonly seen in Japan—the seemingly paradoxical land of high blood pressure, heavy smoking, and low coronary heart disease rates.

Omega-3 Index

This measures the EPA and DHA, the two important omega-3 fatty acids, as a percentage of total fatty acids present in your red blood cells. It doesn’t correlate exactly to tissue amounts, but it’s pretty good and a powerful predictor of cardiovascular disease risk. The omega-3 index doesn’t measure omega-6 content, but those with a low omega-3 index are probably sporting excessive omega-6 in their red blood cells.

Anything above 8% corresponds to a “low risk,” but levels of 12-15% are ideal and roughly correspond to the 60% tissue content mentioned by Chris’ article. Four percent and below is higher risk and can be viewed as a proxy for increased inflammation (or at least the risk of harmful systemic inflammation developing from normal inflammation).

Heart Rate Variability

I’ve written extensively on HRV in the past. Long story short, high HRV predicts lower levels of inflammation.

Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome Score

There’s the systemic inflammatory response syndrome, which is incredibly serious and has four criteria. If you have two or more of them at once, congratulations: you qualify—and should probably see a health professional immediately. This isn’t relevant for low-grade systemic inflammation, like the kind associated with obesity or autoimmune disease.

• Body temperature less than 96.8 F (36 C) or greater than 100.4 F (38 C).
• Heart rate above 90 beats per minute.
• High respiratory rate, 20 breaths per minute or higher.
• White blood cell count fewer than 4000 cells/mm³ or greater than 12,000 cells/mm³.

Of these objective markers to test, I’d lean toward CRP, HRV, and one of the omega-3 tests. CRP is pretty comprehensive, HRV is a two-fer (inflammation and general stress/recovery), and, while omega-3 tissue or blood cell content doesn’t necessarily indicate the existence of systemic inflammation in your body, it does indicate the severity of the inflammatory response you can expect your body to have. Taken together, these tests will give you an idea of where you stand.

Identifying Inflammation: Subjective Markers

There are also subjective markers. They may be harmless artifacts, but they may indicate that something systemic is going on.

Flare-up of Autoimmune Conditions You Haven’t Heard From In Ages

Sore joints, dry, patchy, and/or red skin, and anything else that indicates a flare-up. For me, this is usually mild arthritis.

Water Retention

Acute inflammation is often characterized by swelling at the site of injury. The same effect seems to occur in states of systemic inflammation, although they aren’t localized, but rather generalized.

Stress Load

If you feel stressed, you’re probably inflamed. I’m talking about the kind that has you rubbing your temples, face palming, sighing every couple minutes, and pinching the space between your eyes very, very hard.

Persistent But Unexplained Nasal Congestion

Could be allergies, sure, but I’ve always noticed that when I’m under a lot of stress and generally in an inflamed state, my nose gets clogged. Certain foods will trigger this, too, and I think it can all be linked to a persistent but subtle state of inflammation.

Overtraining

If you fit the bill for the eight signs of overtraining listed in this post, you’re probably inflamed.

Ultimately, though? It comes down to the simple question you must ask yourself: How do you feel?

I mean, this seems like an obvious marker, but a lot of people ignore it in pursuit of numbers. If you feel run down, lethargic, unhappy, your workouts are suffering, you struggle to get out of bed, you’re putting on a little extra weight around the waist, sex isn’t as interesting, etc., etc., etc., you may be suffering from some manner of systemic, low-grade inflammation. Conversely, if you’re full of energy, generally pleased and/or content with life, killing it in the gym, bounding out of bed, lean as ever or on your way there, and your sex drive is powerful and age appropriate (or inappropriate), you’re probably not suffering from chronic inflammation.

Causes of Chronic Inflammation

We need to determine why inflammation is “on” all the time—and then take the steps to counter it. I’m going to fire off a few things that both induce inflammation and tend toward prevalence in developed countries. You let me know if anything sounds familiar to you.

• Toxic diets: High-sugar, high-processed carb, high-industrial fat, high-gluten, high-CAFO meat, low-nutrient food is a pretty accurate descriptor of the modern Western diet.
• Insufficient omega-3 intake: Omega-3 fats form the precursors for anti-inflammatory eicosanoids, which are an integral part of the inflammatory response. Poor omega-3 status means insufficient production of anti-inflammatory eicosanoids and a lopsided inflammatory response to normal stimuli.
• Excessive omega-6 intake: Omega-6 fats form the precursors for inflammatory eicosanoids, which are an integral part of the inflammatory response. High omega-6 status (especially when combined with poor omega-3 status) means excessive production of inflammatory eicosanoids and a lopsided inflammatory response to normal stimuli. The more omega-6 you eat, the more omega-3 you crowd out for anti-inflammatory eicasonoid formation.
• Lack of sleep: Poor sleep is linked to elevated inflammatory markers. Poor sleep is a chronic problem in developed nations. Either we go to bed too late, wake up too early, or we use too many electronics late at night and disrupt the quality of what little sleep we get. Or all three at once.
• Lack of movement: People lead sedentary lives, by and large, and a lack of activity is strongly linked to systemic, low-grade inflammation. People don’t have to walk to get places, they take escalators and elevators, they sit for hours on end, and they don’t have time for regular exercise.
• Poor recovery: Other people move too much, with too little rest and recovery. When I ran 100+ miles a week, I certainly wasn’t sedentary, but I was chronically inflamed. Overtraining is a form of chronic inflammation.
• Chronic stress: Modern life is stressful. Bills, work, commuting, politics, exercise that you hate – it all adds up and it doesn’t seem to let up or go away. And if it becomes too much for you to handle (I know it’s too much for me at times), your body will have a physiological, inflammatory response to emotional stress.
• Lack of down time: When you’re always on the computer, always checking your email/Facebook/smartphone, you are always “on.” You may think you’re relaxing because your body is stationary, but you’re not relaxing.
• Lack of nature time: We spend too much time contained in cubicles, cars, trains, and cities, away from trees, leaves, and soft earth. In a way, nature is home for us. Going home certainly has its measured benefits.
• Poor gut health: The gut houses the bulk of the human immune system. When it’s unhealthy, so is your inflammatory regulation. A healthy gut is also selectively permeable, allowing beneficial compounds passage into the body and keeping toxins out. An unhealthy gut often becomes leaky, allowing toxins into the body to stimulate an immune, inflammatory response.
• Poor acute stressor/chronic stress ratio: We respond far better to acute stressors than repeated, sustained stress – even if the latter is of a lower intensity.

See what I mean? Since we’re set up for acute stressors requiring an acute inflammatory response, all this other low-level, evolutionarily-discordant, superficially mild stuff set against a backdrop of misaligned fatty acid ratios and impaired gut health throws us off and sets us up for a lifetime of chronic inflammation.

Inflammation is a complex physiological process that can go wrong in a lot of ways. But luckily, sticking to the tried and true dietary and lifestyle measures will get you most of the way toward preventing inflammation from becoming chronic and untamed.

If you have any further questions about inflammation, fire away down below! Thanks for reading.

References:

Eliakim A, Portal S, Zadik Z, et al. The effect of a volleyball practice on anabolic hormones and inflammatory markers in elite male and female adolescent players. J Strength Cond Res. 2009;23(5):1553-9.

Lara fernandes J, Serrano CV, Toledo F, et al. Acute and chronic effects of exercise on inflammatory markers and B-type natriuretic peptide in patients with coronary artery disease. Clin Res Cardiol. 2011;100(1):77-84.

Ford ES. Does exercise reduce inflammation? Physical activity and C-reactive protein among U.S. adults. Epidemiology. 2002;13(5):561-8.

Balducci S, Zanuso S, Nicolucci A, et al. Anti-inflammatory effect of exercise training in subjects with type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome is dependent on exercise modalities and independent of weight loss. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2010;20(8):608-17.

Daray LA, Henagan TM, Zanovec M, et al. Endurance and resistance training lowers C-reactive protein in young, healthy females. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2011;36(5):660-70.

The post The Definitive Guide to Inflammation appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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When it comes to coaching, the learning never stops.

Even if you’re well-educated and certified, you might notice that there are some questions you don’t know how to answer, or client challenges you don’t know how to solve — especially with your female clients.

For example, suppose a client asks you how to adapt her training program to her menstrual cycle, or about the changes her body’s going through during menopause, or how to avoid leaking urine during certain exercises… and you aren’t confident of the right answer.

Or perhaps you witness a client struggle with body image issues, disordered eating, or a habit of constantly comparing herself to other women… and you’re not sure how to help without saying the wrong thing.

Or — and this one’s for the guys — you might hear female clients whispering amongst each other… and when you ask if you can help they wave you off saying, “Oh you won’t get it, you’re a guy.”

Moments like this can leave you wondering whether you’re missing out on key information about coaching and training women, and whether there’s more to learn.

The good news? You can use today’s quiz to assess where you already know your stuff, and where you’ve got room to grow.

When It Comes to Coaching Women: Where Do You Stand?

There are 10 key topics in which health, fitness, and nutrition professionals should be well versed when it comes to coaching women. How many of them have you mastered?

Our quiz gives you a chance to assess your skills in each of these 10 topics so that you can find out what you’re already doing very well and where there’s room for improvement.

At the end of the quiz, you’ll find an excellent selection of resources so that you can learn more about the topics covered here.

Quick tip: When you’re answering, be honest with yourself. There will be areas where you’re less familiar, and you know what? That’s exciting! It’s an opportunity to learn more.

And when it comes to your ongoing learning — you’ve come to the right place. The GGS Level 1 Certification is the world’s first comprehensive, interdisciplinary, evidence-based coaching certification that’s focused on coaching women. So if you have more learning to do, we’re here to help.

Quiz Time!

Before we begin, it’s important to note that this quiz does not cover the basic coaching skills that anyone working with clients should have. These include:
Knowing how to write training programs for different goals.

Being able to modify, progress, or regress any exercise at a moment’s notice during sessions.

Helping clients set behavior-based goals.

And many, many more essential coaching skills.

Rather, the questions in this quiz are specific to coaching women. It’s important to note that anatomy varies among women, and that not every question will be relevant to every woman.

For each of the questions, give an honest assessment of your knowledge on a scale of 0 to 5, where 0 means you know nothing about the topic, and 5 means you’re an expert.

The post How Much Do You Really Know About Coaching Women? Test Your Skills Here! appeared first on Girls Gone Strong.

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There was a time when food tracking was treated like a given, a necessary tool for anyone wanting to lose weight or better their health. Thankfully, there’s more nuance to that conversation now. The fact is, tracking your food can be a useful exercise for gaining more insight into what you’re putting in your body. It can also be a tedious endeavor that sucks all the joy out of eating.

If you’re going to invest the time—and it can be quite time-consuming if you include any variety in your diet, let’s make sure it’s not a waste. 

You Might Want to Track Your Food If…

• You have a goal where hitting a specific macronutrient and/or caloric intake is important. This includes cutting before a bodybuilding competition, starting a ketogenic diet, or even just losing weight.
• You’re conducting an experiment. Maybe you want to see how your hunger changes when you eat more protein and less fat, or if your sleep improves if you increase your total carbs by a certain amount. Maybe you’re going to try a month of strict carnivore and plan to track your micronutrient intake.
• You suspect you aren’t eating the right amount. If weight loss has stalled, your total calorie intake might be higher than intended. On the flip side, if you’re an athlete whose performance and recovery have been subpar lately, perhaps you are eating too little. Some people find that keto dramatically suppresses their appetites to the point where they need to intentionally eat more. In any case, you can’t make the necessary adjustments unless you know how much you consume on a typical day.

You Don’t Need to Track Your Food If…

• You feel good and aren’t looking to change anything. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
• You stick to the same basic meals most of the time. Even if you’re trying to manage your macros, if you’re a creature of habit, you can probably get away without tracking. Once you know the nutritional info for your standard meals, there’s no reason to input them in a food tracker over and over.
• You’ve been keto for a while. You have a good sense of how to keep your carbs low enough to stay in ketosis, and/or being in ketosis 24/7 isn’t that important to you.
• You just don’t want to. Your desire to eat intuitively outweighs your desire to manage your food intake.

You SHOULDN’T Track Your Food If…

• It triggers unhealthy eating behaviors or anxiety, or it otherwise messes with your mental and emotional well-being. 

Is Food Tracking Reliable?

There will always be some error in food tracking. Besides measurement error on your end (we’ll get to that in a minute), there is natural variation in foods. One ribeye is fattier than the next. This apple contains more water. That cabbage was grown in more nutrient-depleted soil. 

The FDA allows for up to 20% error on packaged food labels. That means that any information you get off the package might be wrong by 20% in either direction. Likewise, if you’re eating in restaurants and relying on the nutritional info they provide, consider it a rough estimate. Depending on how the food is prepared and the portion size you are given, your specific meal might vary a little or a lot. 

All this is to say that food tracking is not an exact science. That doesn’t mean it’s futile—it can still be useful for the reasons I gave above. However, there’s no point in stressing if you’re off your daily targets by 25 calories or 7 grams of fat. You should view tracking as a helpful but imprecise method of gathering data. Don’t micromanage to the point of causing yourself grief or anxiety.

How to Track for Maximum Accuracy

That said, there are steps you can take to improve the accuracy of your tracking:

Weigh, Don’t Measure

If you care about precision, invest in a food scale. While tablespoons (mL) work for liquid measurements like salad dressing, weight is much more accurate for proteins, fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds, and legumes. 

Weigh Foods Raw

This is true even if you intend to cook them. When you enter them in your food tracker, make sure you select the entries for the raw items (e.g., “Celery, raw” instead of “Celery, cooked”).

Do NOT Use Pre-entered Recipes

For example, if you make a pot of chili, do not simply select the entry for “Chili” in your food tracking app. Your version of chili might differ substantially from what’s considered “average” chili by the app.

Most tracking apps will allow you to input custom recipes, which is helpful for foods you will make again and again. Alternately, you can enter the ingredients separately into your daily food log. 

If you are cooking big batches of multi-ingredient recipes, the best way to figure out exactly how much you ate is to weigh the final product and then weigh your portion. In the chili example, you’d create a custom chili recipe in your app and enter all the raw ingredients. After it’s cooked, weigh the entire batch, then weigh your portion. If you make 800 grams of chili and eat 150 grams, you ate 18.75% of the recipe. 

If this sounds like a lot of work, you’re right. Food tracking is so much easier if you prepare simple meals: protein, side of vegetables, add healthy fat. It can be a major bummer for those of us who like to experiment in the kitchen and prepare more elaborate meals. 

Tracking FAQs

What’s the Best App?

There are lots of options here. I personally like and recommend Cronometer. The free app and desktop version have everything you need, but there is also an inexpensive premium version. The entries are all based on official food databases, so it’s as accurate as you can get, and it provides pretty granular nutritional info. You can input your own macronutrient targets and also add custom recipes. 

Primal folks might also prefer Cronometer because, unlike a lot of food tracking apps, it doesn’t assume you are trying to be keto or even low carb. If you are keto, Carb Manager and KetoDiet App are two popular options. Personally, I don’t like that Carb Manager grades foods based on what it considers acceptable for keto. My beloved Japanese sweet potato gets an F—no thanks (even if I can’t eat a big portion on keto). I’ve never tried KetoDiet App because it costs $8.99, whereas Cronometer is free and gives me everything I need. If you have tried it, let us know what you think about it in the comments below.  

Whatever app you choose, don’t assume that the default macro settings are right for you. A lot of keto apps will set your carb limit at 20 to 25 grams, for example, whereas The Keto Reset Diet recommends starting with 50 grams total. (This usually works out to 30 to 35 grams net in my experience.) The calories might not be appropriate for your activity level. Either set custom macros or simply ignore the app when it says you are over your carb limit or calories or whatever. 

How Do I Track Cooking Fat?

It’s impossible to know how much fat you leave in the pan when you sauté your veggies or how much oil is absorbed you fry chicken. Since most people are more concerned with eating too many calories than too few, the more conservative approach is to add all the cooking fat to your food diary when sautéing or roasting (i.e., assume you consume it all). When frying, the best answer is to weigh your cooking oil before and after frying to estimate how much is absorbed. Neither will be precise, but it’s the best you can do, so don’t stress about it. 

Is There a Preferred Time/Method For Tracking?

How and when you track your food depends on why you’re tracking in the first place. If you’re trying to get an unbiased look at how you’re currently eating, I recommend logging your food on paper for a few days, then entering it into an app to get the nutritional info. Logging makes us more mindful of what we are eating. This is generally a good thing, but if you’re trying to get an accurate snapshot, you don’t want to change how you’re eating based on the data. 

If you’re trying to manage what you eat, it’s best to enter your food before you eat it. This keeps you from accidentally eating more or less than you want, and it helps you balance your macros according to your goals.

Whatever you do, log foods as you weigh/measure/eat them. Don’t think you’ll remember exactly what you ate earlier today, much less yesterday or the day before. You won’t. 

Do I Have To Track My Food If I’m Keto?

You never have to track your food. However, if you’re serious about being in ketosis, I do recommend tracking your food for at least a week or two at the beginning just to make sure you’re on track. Most people don’t know how many carbs are in foods, so it can be easy to go over your limit. Managing your electrolytes is also very important. Apps like Cronometer will show you how much sodium, potassium, and magnesium you are getting from food so you can supplement appropriately.

Can I Just “Lazy Track”?

Sure, you can eyeball portion sizes of steak and measure your broccoli in a measuring cup instead of buying a food scale. It won’t be particularly accurate. As long as you understand that, go ahead. I wouldn’t bother taking the time to track for this level of (im)precision though.

Thanks for reading today, everybody. If you track your food, what insights or benefits have you gotten? What app do you prefer and why? Let us know below.

The post Tracking Your Food: When, Why and How appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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If you struggle to build a thick, wide back it is probably not because your program sucks. The answer is likely much simpler than that—your technique is crap and you cannot develop a mind-muscle connection (MMC) with the muscles of the back. Chief amongst these muscles is the latissimus dorsi (lats). The lats are the muscles that give you that awesome v-tapered look. To build your lats, the solution isn’t doing more of the same. After all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different outcome.

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Yup, success stories are back! And I’m looking for more. Follow-ups, mid-progress reflections—every story at every stage has the potential to inspire folks out there who are getting started or contemplating a new beginning. Contact me here to share your story—long or not so long. You never know who you’ll impact by doing it. Enjoy, everyone!

The Primal Blueprint revealed a potential I didn’t know I had. I was never an athlete. Fitness has always been a struggle. But underneath that was a potential I didn’t know I had. At 39-years-old I now look, move and feel better than I did at 19. And I’ve begun engaging in adventures that my younger self couldn’t dream of. Here’s how it happened.

The process started in 2012. I was taking acid reflux medication and needed to lose weight. Already at 32 I felt old. I started doing calisthenics at home and took a long hard look at my diet. I tried everything. I even dabbled with a mostly plant-based diet. The sheer volume of nutrition, fitness and training advice caused me to jump around. Eventually I started drawing towards aspects of Paleo. In particular I starting eliminating highly processed carbs and fats. It was a struggle, but I started getting results.

2016 was the pivotal year. In February, a friend at work approached. “I just heard a guy named Mark Sisson on Joe Rogan. It was really interesting. You’d like it.” After listening to the interview, I immediately read Primal Endurance, and then Mark’s other books. I dove into Mark’s Daily Apple.

The timing was perfect. My wife was due with our first child. That meant a family would be coming soon. And it had me freaking out. Playing like a kid with my kids in my forties would be a challenge, but it had to happen. I wouldn’t be the broken down old man with young kids. I was motivated to make big changes.

I focused on eating plants and animals, and the diet just clicked. I reorganized my training to make it more Primal. I focused on moving frequently at a slow pace. And I started sprinting. I also started noticing how lifestyle factors affected my health and recovery.

It’s hard to give an accurate picture of the process. It wasn’t uninterrupted success. There were many setbacks. There were lessons I had to learn and re-learn. But in the end, I earned a six-pack for the first time in my adult life. With my increased recovery and my focus on sensible, sustainable training, I made serious progress. I built muscle, leaned out and starting moving better than ever.

As I got more comfortable with the diet and lifestyle I began adding new skills. I started skipping breakfast and spent the winter in Keto. I even bought a pair of Vibrams.

Primal also got me to rethink my potential. Looking at our ancestral heritage, I thought, why couldn’t I have a body built for high adventure? Isn’t it our genetic birthright? The idea fascinated me. I had always loved travel and adventure, and when I was younger, I had engaged in both.

In 2017, I decided to go all in. I became a Primal Health Coach. The education gave the Primal Blueprint’s organizing principles new depth. Plus the education, including the business modules, inspired me to keep pushing my limits.
In 2015 I had read about MovNat, in the book Natural Born Heroes. At the time, I thought younger, fitter people might enjoy the training, but I never entertained the thought of trying it myself. Primal changed that. In 2018 I started training MovNat, and at 38-years-old I became a MovNat Master Trainer. I could not have dreamed of participating in such intense, difficult training before I discovered Primal.

Things that seemed physically impossible in my twenties will be very doable in my forties. I anticipate playing like a kid with my grandkids. And I’ve started a coaching business to help others achieve similar results. Because of Primal I’ve started a new chapter of life that I couldn’t have imagined when I first listened to Mark. Thanks.

—Chris Redig

You can connect with Chris at Adventure Driven Fitness or Instagram.

Also, check out his past guest post on MDA here.

The post The Primal Blueprint Revealed a Potential I Didn’t Know I Had appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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Most people have experienced it at some point or another. That annoying and painful burning of chafed skin. The groin (AKA crotch) is the area of your hip between your stomach and your thigh – where your abdomen ends, and your legs begin. It is in the inner folded region of the groin where chafing can […]

Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss

Our bodies begin to change drastically after fifty: a more rapid decline in bone density and a greater loss in coordination and motor control. Fortunately, in most cases, all of these things can be slowed or reversed with the implementation of a good fitness program. It’s great to have strength or weight loss goals at this age, but, most importantly, it is the goal to protect one’s physical independence. 

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Traditions are a big part of the holiday season for many people, but if you find yourself doing something strictly out of tradition and not because you particularly enjoy it, then it’s time for a new tradition. Or maybe, just time for a new recipe. Take pumpkin pie. It’s hard to imagine Thanksgiving without one, but too often it’s a soggy, bland dessert that disappoints. Made with a cup of sugar and white flour crust, it’s an indulgence that’s not always worth it.

But what if you broke from the traditional recipe by taking the granulated sugar and flour out—and it actually made the pie taste better? What if this new and slightly untraditional version of pumpkin pie had a buttery, crunchy crust and silky-smooth filling? Sure, you could call this new and improved version Primal Pumpkin Pie. Or, you could just call it by another name: Damn Good Pie.

The best place to start the re-invention of pumpkin, or really any pie you’re serving, is with the crust. Nut-based crusts don’t have the exact same flavor or texture as a crust that you roll out from a flour-based dough. However, the buttery-crumbly texture and naturally sweet flavor of a nut crust will pair really well with any of your favorite pie fillings: pumpkin, apple, berry, other fruits and chocolate. The natural sweetness of nuts also means that you can add less sweetener to your pie filling. Also, nut-based crusts are filling, so a small slice of pie is likely to fill you up and satisfy.

Almonds and walnuts tend to make crusts that hold together better than other nuts and using a tart pan instead of a pie plate gives the crust better shape. To avoid a soggy bottom, pre-bake the crust, then add your filling and continue baking until the filling is done. Nut crusts are a little fragile, so let the pie cool completely before cutting into it and use care when removing the pie from the pan.

The filling of Primal Pumpkin Pie is made with coconut milk instead of heavy cream, which gives the pumpkin a silky texture but doesn’t impart any detectable coconut flavor. A little bit of arrowroot powder ensures that the coconut milk filling firms up, or, you can opt to use heavy cream instead of coconut milk and skip the arrowroot. However, the coconut milk also gives the pie just a hint of sweetness, so a scant 3 tablespoons of maple syrup for the entire pie is the only additional sweetener needed. Throw in a generous blend of baking spices and their aroma alone will have you salivating as the pie bakes.

When you, and even your non-Primal friends and family, take a bite of Primal Pumpkin Pie it will confirm that change is a good thing. There is, however, one pie tradition that’s worth keeping—a dollop of whipped cream on top (of course, you can always make it with coconut milk instead of whole cream).

Notes/Tips:

• Experiment with the types of nuts used for the crust. A walnut/pecan or pecan/hazelnut crust would also be delicious.
• The more tapioca/arrowroot starch that is used, the more quickly the pie filling will cook.
• To prevent the exposed crust from browning too quickly, you can use a pie crust shield or create one using pieces of foil.
• The caramel topping is optional but helps to provide a little additional sweetness and also fills in any cracks on the top of the pie.
• If you don’t make the caramel, consider adding an additional tablespoon of maple syrup to the pie filling.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1.5 cups Walnuts
• 1 cup Hazelnuts
• 1 Tbsp. Coconut Sugar (optional)
• 2.5 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

Filling:

• 1 15-oz. can Pumpkin Puree (or 1.5 cups Roasted Pumpkin)
• 1/2 cup Full-Fat Coconut Milk
• 2 Tbsp. Coconut Cream
• 3 Tbsp. Maple Syrup (consider using ¼ cup Maple Syrup if are not making the caramel below)
• 1/2 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1.5 Tbsp. Arrowroot or Tapioca Starch (1/2-1 Tbsp. if using Roasted Pumpkin)
• 1.5-2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 3 Large Eggs

Maple Caramel (optional):

• 3 Tbsp. Coconut Milk
• 1/2 Tbsp. Maple Syrup
• 1 Tbsp. Coconut Sugar
• 1 tsp. Butter

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the walnuts, hazelnuts, coconut sugar and baking soda to a food processor. Process the nut mixture until a crumbly meal forms. You may need to stop the food processor one or two times to scrape the nuts off the side of the container. Add in the pieces of butter and continue pulsing until the crust mixture comes together in a ball.

Lightly grease a 9” tart tin. You can also place a circular piece of parchment on the bottom of the tin if you’d like. Press the crust mixture on the bottom and sides of the tart tin, working carefully to make sure all parts of the inside of the tin are covered in an even layer. Use a fork to place a handful of holes in the bottom of the pan. Place the crust in the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes.

Clean the food processor and add all of the filing ingredients to the food processor except the eggs. Combine the ingredients until well combined. Crack the eggs into the processor and process again until the mixture is smooth.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into the tart tin. Fill it just enough that a small amount of the crust is peeking out of the top, making sure not to overfill it. Carefully place the pie into the oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the center of the pie is just firm. If the outside crust is browning too quickly, you can use a pie crust shield. Allow the pie to fully cool. Once the pie has fully cooled, carefully pop it out of the tart pan.

While the pie is cooling, make the maple caramel by adding the caramel ingredients to a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk occasionally. Once the mixture begins bubbling, reduce the heat to medium low. Continue heating the caramel for an additional minute or so until it reduces and thickens to the consistency of runny honey. Allow the caramel to cool slightly, then use a pastry brush to brush the top of the pumpkin pie with the caramel. Place the pie in the fridge for 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Top with a dollop of whipped cream.

Nutrition Information per serving (1/10 of pie):

• Calories: 318
• Total Carbs: 17 grams
• Net Carbs: 13 grams
• Fat: 26 grams
• Protein: 7 grams

The post Ultimate Primal Pumpkin Pie appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.