The Paleo Solution Part 10

The reason I recommend tight compliance for about thirty days (for everyone) is because this will give your body an opportunity to fully adjust to the foods it was meant to run on. It will give you a chance to a.s.sess how you look, feel, and perform. My website has grown in traffic and our gym has grown in members for one reason, and it's not because I'm a snappy dresser or a witty conversationalist. OK, I do have the gift of gab, but the reason for this growth and success is simple: Paleo Works It works better than anything else. But you need to give it a chance. In this vein I frequently get the question, "Does Paleo work for X?" With X being one of the following: Fat, skinny, old, young, pregnant, athletic, nonathletic, sick, healthy . . . you get the idea. My response?

Paleo works, but only if you do it.

Let's tackle this implementation thing in a graded fas.h.i.+on so we can keep you out of that final 25 percent! Now, I'm not only going to show you how to do this, as in what to eat, how to cook, how to shop, but I'm also going to give you solid biomarkers you can track so you and your doctor know this stuff is working. If what I'm proposing is solid, you should not only look, feel, and perform better, we should be able to track biomarkers of health and see them go in a favorable direction. Easy, right?

Go Forth and Shop!

I love our clients. Really. I tell many funny stories about our motley crew, many of which poke fun, but without them, our gym would just be weights, gymnastics rings, and crickets. Even though I love our clients, I am occasionally flabbergasted by some of the self-defeating strategies they cook up to make their lives difficult. Sometimes it gets so bad, I consider if I want to go on living at all! Case in Point: One of our top trainers has been working with a woman, I'll call her Lysa, for about three months. Lysa has been fun like a root ca.n.a.l in a Third World country while dealing with a bad case of jock-itch. Lysa had an excuse for everything and, ultimately, ended up in the final, unreachable 25 percent. Interestingly, Lysa's extreme obstinacy and unwillingness to change has inadvertently helped thousands of people. You see, one day, in an effort to make small talk, I asked Lysa, "How ya doing?" to which she replied, "I don't know how to shop this way. I don't know how to cook this way. Lysa strongly emphasized "this." In fact, it came out more like "thiiiiiiiiiiissssss." If you could cross the word "this" with the sound made by fingernails on a chalkboard, that would be pretty close.

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Autoimmune Caveat If you know you have an autoimmune disease or if you have a significant amount of pain and inflammation, I recommend you take your Paleo Solution to a higher level. Don't run away, this will just be for a month or two, so we can see if some common foods might be problematic for you. Now, I'm not talking about grains, legumes, and dairy. We already discussed those, and if you have health problems, I hope you understand those foods are not your pals. What I'm talking about are some otherwise "Paleo" foods that can pose a problem for some people. These foods include: Eggs Nuts and seeds Tomatoes Potatoes Eggplants Peppers So why are these foods a problem? In addition to the foods we have already talked about, the foods I've listed here have similar potential to irritate and damage the intestines of some people. So, if you have autoimmune or inflammatory issues, remove these foods and see how you look, feel, and perform. A remarkable number of people who have taken this extra step have reversed or significantly improved their inflammatory issues.

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Oh, man, I was had. "Just walk away, Robb, don't ask!" I thought to myself. But I am a sucker for this stuff and went for it.

"Lysa, what do you mean you don't know how to shop this way?" To which she replied, "You know . . . THIIIIISSSSS Thiiiiisss Paaaaaaleeeeo Stuff!" Same nails on a chalkboard, combined with the following movements: Imagine locking your arms at your sides, except at the elbows. From the elbows down you can move. Now make your arms spin around at the elbows by kinda flopping your head and hips back and forth, somewhat like a convulsion. Think about a street mime choking on a martini olive. Equal parts "the show must go on" and universal sign for choking.

I approach coaching as a small bit of performance art, and I was not going to be outdone in my own gym! I asked Lysa, "Have you ever bought eggs or bacon?"

"Yeeeesssss," Lysa responded, arms still spinning.

"Lysa, have you ever bought fruit and veggies? Salad fixings or stuff to grill?"

"Yessssssss."

"Lysa, have you ever bought a steak, seafood, ribs, or pork loin?"

"Yeeessss."

"Well, Lysa, you d.a.m.n well do know how to shop like thiiiiiisssss."

Our clients love me, ask them. I think we have about six.

The point to this? It would never have occurred to me that someone would try to pull the "I don't know how to shop this way" card. What Lysa did was inspire me to write a shopping and food guide. You can find that here: Robbwolf.com You need to download this, print it out, and take it with you. If this is too much trouble, take the d.a.m.n book with you. That way, when you go shopping for meat, seafood, veggies, and fruit, you know what meat, seafood, veggies, and fruit means! No excuses, b.u.t.tercup!

So, you have downloaded the shopping and food guide from Robbwolf.com and you are heading out to do some serious foraging! You can tackle this like a game or a military campaign-that's up to you. But for the most part, you will confine yourself to the perimeter of the store. Imagine that the interior of the store is packed with bean-burrito-eating vegetarians. Beans, vegetarians . . . don't make me get graphic here! The interior of the store is your foe, unless you are buying detergent, coffee, or cat litter.

Produce Your first stop is the produce section. You will focus more on veggies than fruit, especially if your goal is significant fat loss. Athletes and folks who are already lean can get away with more fruit and starchy tubers like yams and sweet potatoes. More on that later.

Buy what is in season. Watermelons are not in season in North America in January! If you have a local farmers market, hit that and you are all but a.s.sured of buying local and in-season produce. Organic? Fine, go for it, but do not use a lack of organics or a prohibitive price on organics to forgo fruits and vegetables in favor of brown rice or Little Debby Snack Cakes.

This is one of the common arguments from the DUMBB camp: "I can't find organic lettuce, so I'll just get a sandwich and pasta." Oftentimes people strive to be perfect just so they can "fail" and give up. Don't do it-don't complicate this stuff. Tackle the refinements in steps so you do not get overwhelmed. Work to get color from the entire rainbow: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. You need not have that color spectrum represented at every meal, or even in a given day, but in a week you should see variety from all these colors and the produce they represent.

Benefits There are no essential carbohydrates. Push your dietician or doctor on this topic, and then watch him or her squirm as the truth emerges. Then see the qualifiers come pouring out! Although carbohydrates, unlike fats and proteins, are not essential to life (we can make our own, thank you), they can be highly beneficial. Fruits and vegetables have an amazing amount of nutrition to offer above and beyond their relative carbohydrate content. In addition to vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, they contain a host of novel substances known to fight cancer, diabetes, and symptoms of aging. If you were to compare a 1,000 calories of fruits and veggies with a 1,000 calories of supposedly healthy whole grains, you would find that grains do not provide the RDA for much of anything, yet fruits and vegetables look like taking a nutritional supplement. We've done this a.n.a.lysis for you, and you find it at Robbwolf.com.

Flavor of the Day Make sure to include things that fall more into the flavoring category like ginger, basil, cilantro, onions, shallots, garlic, peppers, mint, and rosemary. There are a ton of other herbs, spices, and similar items that are available fresh, so stock up. Be adventurous! You will need these later in the kitchen.

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What About Fiber? Won't I Forget How to p.o.o.p Without Grains?

Fiber? If I had a nickel for every time I was asked where we get fiber in the Paleo diet! How about fruits and vegetables folks? Look at the fiber content in the comparison in Table 3 on page 219. Our dieticians would have us believe fiber comes only from bran m.u.f.fins and brown rice. Do you see how dumb this is?

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Meat and Seafood Your next stop should be the seafood section. There are a few considerations when buying seafood, as there are mercury bioacc.u.mulation issues with larger species such as tuna and sword fish. Look to fish like sardines, mackerel, and pacific salmon-smaller, shorter-lived fish tend to acc.u.mulate far fewer toxins. Sh.e.l.lfish such as shrimp, mussels, and clams are excellent and wildly underutilized. Many species of fish such as petrale sole are barely known in most of North America and Europe, but they are amazingly tasty and represent sustainable fish stocks unlike other, slow to reproduce varieties.

Go Wild!

Look for "wild" when you are buying fish. You may pay a little more, but quality matters with fish: High omega-3 to omega-6 fat ratios makes wild seafood anti-inflammatory as compared to farmed fish that are fed refined grain products. Similar to organic produce, the wild-caught issue should not be a deal breaker, but if you have a choice, wild is the superior option.

Meat/Poultry The meat section is easy: find leaner cuts of conventional meats (which tend to be cheaper) and stock up! London broil, pork loin, lean ground beef, whole or parts of chicken (breast and thighs), turkey (same as chicken). People get into trouble when they fail to plan ahead and are left with no easy options at home. Round things out with some omega-eggs.

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Eggs: How Many?

Eggs... hmmmm. I don't know what the deal is. Maybe it is because these ossified orbs come from the hindquarters of chickens, but they sure do stir up a lot of controversy. First the medical establishment tells us the cholesterol content is more dangerous than Russian roulette with a Howitzer, then we hear we should just limit them to less than six per week. And as I said above, eating eggs when you have an autoimmune condition is not recommend. So what is the deal? Will eggs kill me? I don't see a need for an upper or lower number in regard to egg consumption. I highly recommend omega-3-enriched eggs, and I also recommend that they not make up every single breakfast that you eat from now until the end of time. They can be problematic from a food allergy standpoint, but their benefits and convenience far outweigh any hazards.

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Free-Range/Organic/Gra.s.s-Fed This topic gets a little dicey, so drink some espresso and hang on! "gra.s.s-fed" might mean "organic." Organic, as a standalone label claim, almost never means gra.s.s-fed. Free-range may or may not mean much of anything. Here is how this really breaks down: Gra.s.s-fed This typically refers to beef, bison, and similar grazing animals. It should mean that all the critter has eaten is gra.s.s and similar nongrain feed. Why does this matter? Because grains make critters fat and sick (just like us). It alters the omega-3/omega-6 fat ratios. Too many omega 6s can make us inflamed. Grain-feeding animals irritates their digestive system, which creates a Mengele-esque race against time: The animals get so sick from eating grains, it's a race to get them fat enough for slaughter before they die from digestive complications. Not only is this a huge drag on resources (it is wickedly inefficient to raise corn to feed to cattle), from an ethics perspective, it's pretty d.a.m.n disgusting.

My wife and I were recently vacationing in Nicaragua, and all of the meat was gra.s.s-fed and absolutely amazing in quality. Why was it gra.s.s-fed? Because Nicaragua does not have a government that subsidizes both agriculture and oil in a way that makes it economically viable to feed its herds corn. Yet I'm sure we will export this nasty habit as we are slowly eroding the gra.s.s-fed meat industries of New Zealand and Australia.

Most vegetarians give up meat because of the way animals are treated. Opting for gra.s.s-fed meat is perhaps the largest step you can take to make an economic vote for how your food is produced. Gra.s.s-fed animals require virtually no antibiotics and are far healthier than their grain-fed counterparts. Most of you may not know this, but the occasional outbreaks of dangerous E. coli bacteria are caused by grain feeding and sloppy slaughter practices. Normally, E. coli is relatively benign, and it is easily killed by our stomach acid if we are unfortunate enough to ingest it. Grain feeding, however, gives cattle acid reflux, just like us. This high acid environment selects for varieties of E. coli that are acid resistant. This means the E. coli is not killed if we eat contaminated food. Add to this the sloppy slaughter practices common in most large-scale commercial facilities, and you have a nasty, dangerous situation that could be solved by gra.s.s feeding and hygienic slaughter practices. You can change all of this by voting with your food purchases.

Organic Organic is a somewhat nebulous term that describes production methods, usually involving nonsynthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Organic is a nice concept, but for me it lacks a pragmatic perspective. Some of the "natural" pesticides are more toxic than synthetics. Plutonium is "natural," but it is not good for you! People get a little Earth-motherly on this topic and fail to use some solid science from toxicology and other disciplines to make smart, informed decisions.

All that said, organic is a good concept overall, but you need to keep your wits about you when buying meat. Organic meat has likely just been fed "organic" grains. Same problems of n-3/n-6 fat content and other issues, but with a remarkably higher price tag. Organic and gra.s.s-fed are not typically government subsidized, so you pay more for them. Do you want to pay top dollar for meat that has the same goofed-up n-6 fat ratio as standard meat? Didn't think so. When we start talking pork and poultry, things get murky. You need to do a little investigating as to the feed of a particular variety. We have a local pork producer who feeds the critters almonds, oranges, and apples. It makes for amazing pork quality, but this is not a widely available product . . . yet!

On Robbwolf.com, you will find a list of CSAs and resources to buy gra.s.s-fed and organic products. Much of this process is predicated on education. If you ask for gra.s.s-fed meat, someone will provide it.

Why All This Meat, Seafood, and Poultry?

Well, because that's what you are designed to eat. Your physiology runs best on a high-protein intake. Protein from animal sources provides the basic building blocks for your muscles, plus many of your hormones and neurotransmitters. Meat and seafood is also incredibly nutrient dense: B-vitamins, zinc, iron. Calorie for calorie, lean, gra.s.s-fed meat is tough to beat.

Hormonally, animal protein releases glucagon, which not only helps to regulate energy levels, but also helps to maintain insulin sensitivity. Barry Sears, Author of The Zone and several dozen spin-off books, makes the claim that protein balances insulin release because of the glucagon release. This is, well, wrong. Foods are additive. Carbs release quite a bit of insulin; protein can range from a little to a lot, depending upon the source. But the combo most a.s.suredly does not reduce total insulin released from a meal. The insulin response from a meal is an additive affair and protein + carb + fat = a larger overall insulin response, not a smaller one. This is why we recommend most meals are protein, veggies, and good fats, as low glycemic load veggies release relatively little insulin. For now, just keep in mind that dense protein sources are nutritious and beneficial for their satiating and hormonal balancing effects.

But What about Beans and Rice?

What about Vegetarians?!

Hey, who let you in here? Oh well, what's done is done. This question always comes up, might as well answer it. Most vegetarians will dismiss the need for meat as one can combine foods such as beans and rice or corn and squash and construct "complete" proteins. If only that worked. You see, most plant-derived protein sources have an incomplete profile of amino acids. Humans have eight essential amino acids (amino acids we must get from the diet as we cannot make them) that are plentiful in animal sources and lacking to various degrees in plant sources. Many agricultural societies found that certain combinations (like beans and rice) can prevent protein malnutrition. Kinda. Remember the Hardin villagers? They, like most vegetarian societies, are less healthy than hunter-gatherers and pastoralists. This is a fact. Plant sources of protein, even when combined to provide all the essential amino acids, are far too heavy in carbohydrate, irritate the gut, and steal vitamins and minerals from the body via anti-nutrients. Remember that whole chapter on the double-edged nature of grains and legumes? Beans and rice, nuts and seeds, are what I call "Third World proteins." They will keep you alive, they will not allow you to thrive. Your protein needs to have the following criteria: 1. It needs a face.

2. It needs a soul.

3. You need to kill it, and bring its essence into your being.

4. Really.

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b.u.t.ter So, what's the story with b.u.t.ter? It's dairy, right? Therefore on the Paleo "no fly" list? Well, b.u.t.ter is dairy; it can present some problems for folks with autoimmunity because of the milk protein content and lectins that are still a part of the b.u.t.ter. Sorry hippies, even clarified b.u.t.ter (ghee) is a problem. I would, however, put gra.s.s-fed b.u.t.ter on the "occasional" list. The fatty acid profile is better (lower in palmitic acid, much higher in CLA) and the antioxidant content is nothing short of impressive. b.u.t.ter is mainly fat, so if we clean up the lectin problem, and push the fatty acid profile toward that of healthful gra.s.s-fed varieties, it's tough to build much of a case against gra.s.s-fed b.u.t.ter unless you have autoimmunity. See, I'm not a zealot after all.

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But You Did Not Address Vegetarians!

Oy vey! Ok, I'll address some of the ethical and environmental fallacies later in the book, but if you insist on tackling this vegetarian style, here is how you do it: Try to make things look as close to Paleo as you can. Use dense protein sources like these: tofu, tempeh, brown rice protein, pea protein. No TVP, no seitan. Why? They are loaded with gluten! Add lots of good fats and loads of fruits and veggies. Add to this a final ingredient: Prayer.

Not to get all spiritual or New-Agey, but you might want to call on any G.o.ds who might be kind to your cause. You will not lean out, perform, or gain muscle on a vegetarian interpretation of Paleo when compared to an animal proteinbased approach. I've seen hundreds of people try; it does not work as well. It is a good bit better than a high-carb vegetarian diet, but folks still tend to have autoimmune, GI, and inflammatory problems on the vegetarian approach.

Think I'm full of hooey? Fine, do it my way for a month, monitor how you look, feel, and perform, track your blood work, then do it your way. I did not make the rules to this game, I'm just informing you as to what they are. So get in and either prove or disprove things for yourself.

Your cart should now be br.i.m.m.i.n.g over with produce, meat, seafood, and poultry. You are almost ready to split this scene, but you need a few more items! This will involve a foray into the guts of the store (stay out of the cookie aisle). While you are there, you can grab a few bars of 85 percent dark chocolate, some red wine, and a good bottle of Tequila. A caveman/woman needs to party, right? Oh, yeah, double back to the produce section for some limes. Lots of limes.

But the real reason for being in the center of the store is this: Oils and Spices Olive oil: Two varieties are smart here. Get an inexpensive variety that you can use for cooking and a pricey variety that you use raw to top salads or meals that have been plated and are ready to be eaten. Olive oil quality varies widely and the regulations on what can be sold as "extra-virgin" are a joke. You need to do some label reading and educate yourself if you want to get your money's worth. I highly recommend Pacific Sun (http://www.pacificsunoliveoil.com/) for your high-end variety. It is made by a small family farm in Northern California, and the quality is second to none. Remember, olive oil is a great source of monounsaturated fats and disease-fighting phenolics and antioxidants.

Coconut oil: Coconut oil is a short-chain saturated fat that is delicious and perfect for higher-temperature cooking. If you cannot find a good variety locally, you can order it from tropicaltraditions.com.

Coconut milk: You can find this in the Asian foods section of most stores or take a drive to an Asian food market. Coconut milk is delicious in curries and stews. Coconut has potent antimicrobial action and helps to heal irritation in the digestive tract. But mainly, it's delicious.

Herbs and spices: In addition to the fresh herbs you grabbed in the produce section, you need to stock up on some of the dry stuff. The shopping and food guide has an extensive list, but shoot for fifteen to twenty herbs and spices. Why so many options? Because many people like to play helpless and complain. I'm not going to let you undermine your success, and variety is important for long-term compliance. Go pay for all this stuff and then I'll meet you in the kitchen. It's time to get cooking!

OK, So What Do I Fracking Eat?

Like I mentioned earlier, owning a gym and working with people for years has been fun, rewarding, and at times d.a.m.n confusing. Folks come to you with a problem-let's say they want to lose body fat and get lean. We start working with the person, introduce smart exercise, and begin educating them on what they need to eat to succeed. We talk about sleep and stress. These people seem to get it. And then they get home and have no idea what they are doing. We give them shopping guides. We give them recipes. But somehow the excuses and ability to be helpless wins out.

Do you remember Lysa? Lysa not only did not know how to shop, Lysa was also somehow bored with eating Paleo even though she hadn't really done it since she didn't know how to shop. You can only imagine how that conversation went. So, something I tackle with all my clients, and something we will look at with y'all right at the beginning, is what I call the Food Matrix. In addition to providing you with the thirty-day meal plan, I am also going to help empower you. You know the old saying about teaching people to fish vs. giving them a fish? Well, b.u.t.tercup, you will soon be a master at preparing Paleo meals.

Here is how this works: We have a list of fifteen meats, fifteen veggies, five fats, and twenty herbs and spices. These are all easily available from your local grocery store. It is perhaps unreasonable to have all of this on hand in your home, but it is reasonable to have at least five different protein sources and five different veggies. Now, the cooking oils and the herbs and spices-there is no reason not to have at least that much variety in your home. It is, folks, unconscionable to have fewer than twenty herbs and spices in your cupboard. Punishable by public caning.

OK, back to our example. If you take one item from each of these columns and consider that a meal, you have 22,500 meal options. If that was one meal a day, you would potentially not see the same meal for sixty-one years. So much for boredom! Most of these meals will be d.a.m.n good, and it is nearly idiotproof easy: Put some oil in a pan, start browning meat, add herb or spice, then add a vegetable. Cook for five to ten minutes. Eat. Granted, there will be a few dogs in that list. The salmon-lard-Brussels sprouts-cinnamon combo sounds absolutely horrid. But hey, you will not see it again for sixty-one years!

Do you see how much variety there is here? It's staggering. And we are only talking about taking one thing from each column. What if we allowed for combinations? Then we are talking about literally limitless variety from this small list of ingredients.

So, the Food Matrix is both helpful in a very real sense-you can construct real meals using this simple tool, but it is also an antidote. It will literally save you from your own BS. You are not bored, you are lazy. You need to buy some pots and pans, some protein, veggies, herbs, and oils, and get your f.a.n.n.y in the kitchen and cook.

Say that again . . . I cannot understand the mumbling.

You are saying you do not have time? How about our contributor, Sarah Fragoso, who has three kids, two dogs, and a husband who owns a screaming busy chiropractic practice? She works and just finished her BS in psychology. Sarah cooks. She uses the Food Matrix, pots, pans, slow cookers, and pressure cookers. Sarah did not succ.u.mb to the BS, and she and her family reap the benefits at every meal. Of course, she does not have much time for TV, video games, or other wasted endeavors. If you want this, you find ways to do this. Check out Sarah's kitchen wizardry at www.everydaypaleo.com.

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Time Crunched I know, I know. Everyone gets busy. Here is a great resource for you to get Paleo-friendly snacks (gra.s.s-fed, gluten-free jerky), as well as prepackaged, frozen meals delivered to your door. The menu only includes dishes that are built from gra.s.s-fed meat, wild-caught fish, and organic vegetables.

www.paleobrands.com _____________________.

Robb, You Are a Big Meanie!

I Have No Idea Where to Start!

So, perhaps you have literally never cooked before. You literally cannot even peel a banana. If the meal is not out of a box or stuck between two slices of bread, you have no idea what to do. Well, you are really going to make me work for this, aren't you? OK, let's make this easy and start with breakfast. Breakfast tends to be a tough meal for many people anyway, so let's start there. I learned of this technique from a well-known strength coach named Charles Poliquin. He starts his clients with a "meat and nuts" breakfast. Now, this can literally be "meat and nuts" (a piece of London broil and a handful of almonds) or this can be scrambled eggs and avocado or some chicken-apple sausages and some coconut flakes. It is a solid, sustaining breakfast that sets your hormones and neurotransmitters for the day. Add to this a triple espresso, and you are ready to get some serious world saving accomplished!

Do the meat and nuts breakfast for a week. Then tackle your lunch. Make the lunch look like breakfast, but add some vegetables. Make it a salad of grilled, steamed, or raw veggies. Run with breakfast and lunch for a week. Then add dinner. Make dinner look like lunch. There you are, b.u.t.tercup! You are all grown up and eating like a big-Paleo kid!

Now, this graduated buy-in is absolutely critical for some people. They just can't get their minds around the "whole Paleo thing" in the beginning. So we will tackle it in steps. Obviously, you can get straight to the goods and just make all your meals Paleo. If you are sick, overweight, or autoimmune, I'd highly recommend that, but again, that's all up to you. I will, however, go through a little exercise like I did with Lysa, and I'll ask you a few questions: Q: Have you ever eaten some eggs and bacon for breakfast?

A: Yes.

Q: Have you ever eaten a salad with some chicken or grilled fish for lunch?

A: Yes.

Q: Have you ever had some meat or seafood with veggies for dinner?

A: Yes.

Well, kiddo, you have, on separate days, already eaten several weeks, if not months, of "Paleo meals." You simply have not strung them together to the exclusion of c.r.a.p food. You do know how to do this. You can do this. It's simply a question of will you do it.

Fruity?

Notice that I did not mention fruit. Most folks are battling some kind of metabolic derangement, aka obesity, diabetes, fertility issues, depression, etc. This with a mixed bag of autoimmunity and systemic inflammation. Until you are lean and healthy, you don't get much fruit. There is no nutrient in fruit that is not available in veggies, and fruit may have too many carbs for you. When we start talking about what const.i.tutes "health," we will see where on that spectrum you are. For now, just keep things simple and you will reap the greatest rewards.

One final thing needs to happen to ensure your success-and it's so important it should come before you go shopping. You need to get your affairs in order.

Clean Out Your House Even though the vegetarians decry meat as a health scourge, no one, I mean no one, lies in bed at night thinking about the pork loin in the refrigerator. They do think about the ice cream, cake, or cookies. My friend, Kelly Starrett, has a saying: "Best self-defense: Don't be there." This is particularly true when we are talking about food.

You see, you have no self-control when it comes to food. Some may do better than others, but the reality is our ancestors never faced the types of foods we pack into our pantries. The sugar, the refined carbs. They are completely new and they are addictive. We worked with a woman who was, no joke, addicted to crack at one time. She overcame that addiction only to succ.u.mb to a ma.s.sive sugar addiction. She started working on her food, and in her own words, she found kicking sugar and refined grains to be much harder than quitting crack.

This may sound preposterous, but the same receptor sites in our brains that respond to heroine and opium (the opiate receptors) are triggered by wheat. This combo is made more powerful when there is sugar present. Junk food is really addictive. You need to plan if you want to succeed.

Many of you will start on this path, but you will leave some junk in the pantry because "the kids will have a fit without it" or your spouse will similarly "lose it." Guess what? They do not need it either, and if you leave it in the house, it will suck you in and you will not make the progress you otherwise could.

Remember, I'm recommending that you give this a full try for thirty days. If vibrant health and a lean strong body are not what you want, you can always go back to what you were doing, But what I'm trying to do is ensure that you succeed. You do not get to blame your failure on your family.

You may want to dismiss this stuff, but think about it like this: Most people feel like they can stay in a monogamous, lifelong relations.h.i.+p. Sure, giving up the dating life might cut a little excitement from your Sat.u.r.day nights, but there are other benefits to a long-term relations.h.i.+p. Well, what if we dropped you off at the Playboy mansion (I don't care what gender or s.e.xual orientation you are), and let's say we got you falling down drunk and dosed you to the gills on Ecstasy. Would you remain monogamous? Highly unlikely, and this is my point: refined carbs are like an ecstasy-soaked beer binge at the playboy mansion. This is a battle you will not win, so stack the cards in your favor. Bag up all your c.r.a.p food, take it to your local shelter and, I guess inadvertently, contribute to the death of the homeless. Well, better them than you.

But Raaawwwwbb, How Will I Get My Vitamins?

And How Will I p.o.o.p without My Fiber?

Nutrient comparisons: Let's check out some interesting information generated by my mentor, Prof. Loren Cordain. What I want to look at is the fallacy that grains, legumes, and dairy are nutritious or that you will be missing something if you do not have them in your diet. Most people have been brainwashed into believing the only place we can obtain vitamins, minerals, or fiber is from the government-sponsored grain-a-thon. So, let's look at these common misconceptions and counterpoints to help put this all in perspective.

Misconception 1: Grains and dairy are particularly nutritious.