Nutritional Tough Love

-By Tania Tetrault Vrga

When City TV called about the Paleo Diet story, it got me thinking.  He asked me about whether we recommend Paleo to our clients.  I answered that we recommend eating this way, but that we don’t generally use the name “Paleo”,  particularly when addressing new clients.  All our new members get a nutrition package that contains our basic nutrition principals and a recipe book.  We ask everyone to try it for at least 30 days.  After the initial strict 30 days, we recommend trying to reintroduce some of the “banned” foods to see how they feel. This adds an element of self-experimentation and avoids the common, but dangerous trap of turning a lifestyle into a religion.

I started thinking about why we don’t go out of our way to call it Paleo or to give it a name at all.  It also got me thinking about why I get a bit concerned when I hear something like:  I’m going to try the Primal BluePrint, or the Whole 30 or the Paleo Solution.  These are great resources and the authors behind these books and blogs have made important contributions to the popularization of this lifestyle.  I’m happy to see anyone taking responsibility for their health, so these programs are very positive in this way.  What concerns me is the attitude that surrounds these programs, the idea that it is a short term solution rather than a long term lifestyle change.  I’ve been thinking of doing another Real Food Challenge, but it worries me that it takes a challenge or a contest or a game of sorts to get anyone to take responsibility for what they put in their mouth.

Understand however, that there is nothing revolutionary about any of these programs.  They are all essentially the same and they all work.  These programs are also exactly what we’ve expected from you from day 1, from the day you signed up for On Ramp and got your nutrition package.  Sure, there are some minor differences between these programs, and each puts an interesting spin on the primal lifestyle, but they all focus on quality food as fuel for the body. I hate to break it to you, but if you say you have decided to try Whole 30, you just admitted that you haven’t listened to your coaches or tried the CFW nutrition plan, because they are essentially the same.

Everyone is different and it’s your responsibility to figure out what works for you.  You’ve got a pretty good idea where to start, if we really have to give it a name, let’s call it “Paleo”.  So why this need to follow “Super Duper Diet A” or “The Uber Ultimate Nutrition Solution B”?   Why does eating clean have to have a fancy name?  If you do make the decision to “try” Whole 30 or Robb Wolf’s new 30 day solution, then see it for what it really is, i.e. not eating any crap for 30 days.  It’s that simple.  It doesn’t need a name.  Just do it.  And do it your way.  There are plenty of recipes and resources on our website other paleo primal sites.  If you’re not already doing it, why not?  Did you really think that CrossFit workouts alone would make you ripped?  Do you really think that calling it something different will make it work better?

Ok, rant over.  And just in case you’re not clear on what to do,  I’ll spell it out.  This way no one can pretend we never told you so.

1 – No processed foods.  Beware anything that comes in a package and has an ingredients list.  If the ingredients list has more than 5 items, be even wearier (is that a word?)   If you don’t know what some of the ingredients are or can’t pronounce them, forget it!

2 – No grains.  Don’t give me that “but how am I supposed cut out bread and pasta?” bullshit.  Try it for a month and then if you actually do it and you still don’t look and feel better, come and see me and we’ll talk.  And no, whole grains are NOT ok.

3 – No sugar or sweeteners.  I don’t care if it’s agave, honey, stevia, succralose.  Stay away.  Fruit is very nutritious, but if you have insulin management issues (more likely if you are overweight) then you need to keep an eye on the amount  of hidden sugar you are getting from fruit.

4 – No industrial seed oils.  Stay the hell away from trans fats, margarine, canola oil, corn oil, soybean, safflower oil and “vegetable oil”.  If you knew what they do to this stuff you would not touch it with a 10 foot pole.

5 – No Dairy.  There is some dissent in the paleo/primal community about this.  You’ll never know if you can tolerate dairy until you eliminate it completely for at least a month before reintroducing it.  Regardless of how tolerant you are to dairy, ditch all low fat dairy, pasteurized dairy and dairy from conventionally raised cattle.  If there’s one thing dairy is good for (other than making stinky old cheese), it’s putting on weight, so if losing weight is a priority, stay away.

6 – No Legumes and beans.  Again, there is some disagreement on how “bad” these are.  Let’s put it this way, if it needs to be soaked , cooked or fermented to neutralize its toxins (as is the case with soy, lentils, and most beans), then it’s probably not a good idea.  Remember that gas and bloating are not part of optimal health.  If beans, legumes, nuts, or anything else for that matter, cause bloating or gas for you, just don’t eat it.  It’s that simple.

So forget Whole This or Primal That.  Just take responsibility and stop eating crap.  Eat clean non processed foods: meat, fish, vegetables, roots & tubers, fruit and healthy fats.  Do it for yourself, not because a book or a blog told you to (except this blog of course).   Contrary to what some of the websites might say, there is no one program that is going to change your life and solve all of your problems in one fell swoop.  Changing your life is up to you, and it doesn’t happen in 30 days.  See it for what it is – eating clean is fuel, fuel for your body, your mind, your soul.

Lazy Person's Paleo: 15min shopping time + 10min prep time

A. Hang Power Snatch: 10 minute skill work; 6 sets of 2 @70%
B. 6 sets:
30 sec Hang Power Snatch
30 sec active rest
30 sec Burpee Pullups
30 sec active rest
C. 6 sets:
30 sec Push Press
30 sec active rest
30 sec Box Jump
30 sec active rest

Work @95%, Active Rest @65%.  Try to maintain the same amount of work for all intervals.  Please post reps per set to comments, note any major variations.

Please note that City TV will be at the gym on Wednesday to do a story on the Paleo Diet.  They would like to get some footage of us modern cave people training.

Paleo Cooking Class with Kathryn “the Fridge Fairy”

Kathryn offers a shopping and meal preparation service in your own home and has graciously offered to come out to show us how to prepare delicious paleo meat and veggie meals. This 3 hour workshop will include techniques, tips, demonstrations and yummy taste tests… space is limited so RSVP soon…

DATE: Sunday, May 16th

TIME: 2:30 – 5:30PM

WHERE: Wipeout’s House
92 Orkney Drive, East St. Paul (Orkney runs off of Hoddinott)

COST: 25$ LIMITED SPACE

In order to reserve your spot, please send Tania an email ASAP, indicating the following:

(1) Cooking Class in the subject line of the email

(2) Permission to charge your CrossFit account for the $25 fee, or let me know when you will bring cash to the gym to reserve your spot (first pay first served is the policy)

(3) Whether you have any food allergies or special request

80% of diseases known to man can be healed by treating the pancreas and adrenal glands.

Now that’s a juicy little nugget to think about.  Please post thoughts to comments…

Please start thinking about what you’ve accomplished over the past 8 weeks so that you can put it into words for your final photo/testimonial submission.

Post shopping strategies and snacks to comments.

Image courtesy of McCleans.ca

The challenge ends on Sunday, March 14th.  After that, you have a few more days to send in your AFTER pics along with your mini-essay.

McClean’s does an article on the paleo lifestyle, and it even mentions CrossFit.

Please post snacks to comments.

For everyone searching for Paleo versions of food or just some new recipes in general, attached is a compilation from various websites.
recipes

Larabar – Quality ingredients, but quite sweet and higher in carb content because of the dates.

Paleo Snax - Includes bars and pre-packaged jerky and nuts, good stuff, but the bars have whey protein, which you might want to avoid if you have a dairy allergy.

Elevate Me Bars – Good macro-nutrient breakdown, high in anti-oxidants and delicious flavours, including a few chocolate varieties.  Again, these have whey protein.

Raw Organic Food Bars – Organic quality ingredients, but watch out for the agave nectar, which gives it a nice sweet flavour but ups the carb content.

Check out these instructions for a $10 jerky maker…  I can’t say I’ve tried it but it looks kind of cool.

Post snacks to comments.