Going Primal

I'm back!! Well, sort of. Sorry for the uber-long hiatus. For those of you not in the know, April and May are generally crazy for my family because we have no less than four birthdays in a row and we typically take a vacation of some sort around thereabouts (we were in Cancun for two weeks). Anyhoo...I'm back for a quickie post and then will start doing more regularly after this week, which is Miss M's birthday extravaganza.

I have been reading. Shocking, I know. My hunger for food knowledge continues unabated. But I've moved into deeper nutritional territory. I started out with "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. An excellent, albeit lengthy and weighty, read. In spite of the fun looking cover, the book--which took Mr. Taubes seven years to research and write and is about 650 pages long--is intended primarily for those with a medical and/or more scientific bent. As such, it was NOT an easy read at times. But it's so worth it if you can push through. The gist? Fats aren't the big bad guy. Carbs and sugars are. High cholesterol isn't the bad guy either. Insulin is. Obesity is not the result of laziness or overeating. Laziness and overeating are symptoms of obesity which is a metabolic disease. Note: This is not a "gimmick" book -- no diets, no promises, no miracles, no Suzanne Sommers. It's well researched, highly detailed, very academic, and a great gift for loved ones who are difficult to convince and need lots and lots of facts and figures and data.

I also read "The Primal Blueprint" by Mark Sisson which I saw recommended on the "Good Calories, Bad Calories" readers also liked list. This book felt and read much more like one a gimmick diet book BUT it was full of some great info and meshed well with what I've been hearing all along for months (summed up in the Good Calories review above). This was also the first book that addressed the fitness side of things....as most of what I've read has talked solely about food nutrition but not how to take care of yourself outside your diet. For those not familiar with the whole primal diet, this offers a quick primer. Frankly, the idea that we should try to eat similar foods to what our ancestors ate because that's what our bodies have been programmed to process...makes sense. Per the author (and others) we just haven't evolved the ability to digest and assimilate sugars and carbs, even unrefined carbs like whole grains, very well because they are very recent introductions in the scheme of things. Oh, and if you are a cardio/workout fan then please read Mark's advice on fitness...it will definitely shake things up for you and perhaps make you relax a bit as well (hint: hour-long, repetitive, daily cardio isn't the key to weight loss....nor is it great for your body. You're better off shortening the number, length, and intensity of workouts; focusing more on strength training; fitting a few very short (as in seconds) high-intensity sprints into your monthly schedule; reducing sugars and carbs -- and you will lose weight faster and become much healthier in the process. But don't take it from me....you can also take a peek at Mark's advice on his blog.

Currently I'm halfway through "Primal Body, Primal Mind" by Nora Gedgaudes. A lot of what she says isn't new....but I wanted to read as many "highly recommended" primal diet books as I could to get a solid understanding of what it means. I also wanted to cross-compare to make sure all these folks are on the same page. Again, sugars and carbs = VERY BAD. Good fats (grass-fed, wild, free-range, meats and fish) = GOOD. This book has a lot of health stuff in it...not so much fitness. She really hammers home on the whole cooking oil phenomenon that has swept the nation and is ultimately very bad for us (unless we're talking about olive oil, of course). In a nutshell, please go to your pantries now and remove corn oil, canola oil, and whatever other oils you typically use to cook. Replace with butters, animal fats (lard is a good one), and ghee.

Signing off for now....more later!