Paleo cooking/lifestyle thread

20 minutes will do ya. Tanning..eh. If you're REALLY low, I don't oppose it, but it's not 'healthy' per se.

 

I've been eating a partial paleo diet (extremely limited grains) for the past couple of weeks now.

I'm curious; according to the "experts", should I cut out grains completely, or is it okay to limit it to once or twice a week? There are certain nutrients in bread and other grains that it's not easy to replace completely through other means.

 

That's fine, but in that case, what do you replace the grains with as a source of fiber?

 

Kale, spinach, sweet potato, pumpkin, collards, etc.

Almost all of the dark leafy greens get you your fiber and your calcium. I think the fiber you lose on paleo is more in the legumes than most people's grain intake. I was never a big bran person anyway so that might be why.

Here is a solid link on some sources.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fiber-foods/NU00582" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-f ... ds/NU00582</a>

 

When you're eating food your body is meant to process (meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds) you don't need the fiber. In fact, your poop time will decrease significantly.

 

Not sure if you're already taking any supplements, but have you thought about maybe taking some additional vitamin D or perhaps using a full spectrum light lamp? You can get lamps fairly cheap that don't have all the negative UVA and UVB rays that are detrimental with tanning, but still have the same light spectrum that you would get from natural sunlight to help stimulate melatonin production.

 

As long as we're on the topic of sun/blue light exposure, I'd like to pose a question to you guys about this article from (who else?) Mark Sisson? So far in my Paleo reading, his site and Whole9 have become my favorites.

Anyway, my question is this: I currently work nights during the week. 8pm to 5am, Monday through Friday night. I go to bed as soon as I get home and usually get up around 12:30-1pm. So, I'm operating against my body's natural rhythm. Can this pose any drawbacks to my health, that I should be aware of? Or is it all the same, as long as I get my daily sunlight?

Since the prevalent thinking here is to do things that our bodies are naturally supposed to do (like rising and going to bed with the sun), I'm wondering about the effects of going against that inclination.

 

It's kind of a yes and no answer. Like others have stated before, you really only need 20 solid minutes of quality sunlight exposure to do you some good.

The area you're most likely to have problem creating issues is actually your sleep. You say you work until 5am and go to bed as soon as you get home. Well, how long is the transition between the time you get off until you fall asleep? There can be a big difference if it's only a half hour compared to a couple of hours. For example, let's say best case scenario based on your times, you get off at 5am, home in bed and asleep by 5:30am and you sleep until 1pm. That's 7 1/2 hours, which is towards the low end of what many experts recommend for adequate sleep time. Add into that that (and I'm totally guessing here, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) you're probably sleeping in a room that's allowing in outside light, even if it's muted by shades, blinds; etc. since you're sleeping during daylight hours. This is where your body is going to be getting severely mixed signals. I'd recommend checking out a book called Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar and Survival. The actual writing of the book is a little rough, but the information in it and the overall message is pretty clear about how much sleep actually affects our bodies. The big thing to take from it is that since you're sleep schedule is primarily occuring during the daylight hours, you'll want your room to be as pitch dark as possible to fool your body into thinking it's still actually nighttime.

The silver lining for you is that even though you're not on a normal day/night schedule like most people, you're still on a set time schedule and not a swing shift type of schedule, so you can easily make a few changes to help your body adapt to the timeset it's working with.

 

There a lot of drawbacks to your health over the long term, but if you can't change your situation, don't look too much into it, or you'll start stressing about it and make it worse. If you have the chance though, take daily shifts. Until then, jdoogie has it right, try to sleep in a pitch-black room (minimize light from electrical appliances too if you can).

 

It is tomorrow morning, and it is only a half marathon. So in preparation, I had a piece of pita bread with my lunch, and just had some regular pasta (well, about 10 strands of spaghetti mixed with spaghetti squash) for dinner. I also had half of a chocolate chip cookie. I seriously would have gone more DCC style with my cheating, but I had to weigh the possibility of "flu like symptoms" while running 13.1 miles vs the fun of more rigorous cheating. Hopefully I hit the happy spot between adding enough for energy and adding too much that my body rejects it. I'll probably break out the big dogs tomorrow though once it is over. Going out for brunch, then sushi for dinner, then cupcakes!

I am actually looking forward to this. What are you most nervous to give up for 30 days? For me, it is artificial sweeteners and my scale.

 

I am not doing this necessarily for weight loss so much either, but the scale is more of a habit. Wake up, pee, get on the scale, get some coffee, etc. I like the feedback and it makes me feel more in tune with my body. Kind of like..."I am up a couple pounds, now that I think of it, I do feel bloated and my ring is tighter than normal, hmmm, what did I eat that may have been really salty yesterday, guess I need to drink extra water today"...that type of thing. Oh, and then there is the "Up 5 lbs! What the fuck! Boy am I irrationally angry about this! Geez, I bet chocolate would make me feel better!" Then look at the calendar and realize it is all OK.

I hardly ever have any real sugar anymore (unless it is natural sugars in fruit), but boy am I an artificial sweetener junkie. When I gave up the booze before, I sub'd hot tea and flavored stevia. Just not going to be the same without it. The booze I did once, I can do again (this was what I was most stressed about the first time around but it wasn't horrible), grains I have already all but given up. Dairy I have figured the work around with coconut milk in my coffee, cheese I like but can certainly live without for 30 days.

I am most excited because I promised myself that I would do weights at least 2-3 times per week. The race tomorrow I am pretty much resigned to running/walking. I had a great 6 mile run last week when I added in some carbs, I had a good amount of energy and finished strong. But figuring this out the week before doesn't do much for training, so I am pretty much extremely undertrained. It is my swansong anyway, I am taking a huge break from the longer distances for awhile.

 

Hot dogs are ALWAYS a bad idea. But if you wanted to go processed, you sure did it right. Out with a bang.

 

I just don't care for hot dogs! And to think I used to eat them raw when I was a kid. Oh, and I can guarantee that those weren't the all natural type, the thought disgusts me now. My mother also fed me Spam, what in the hell is in Spam?

I am going to try to do what you are doing this weekend too....getting so disgusted by all of the things that you want to eat that make you feel terrible that I won't want to even look at them for 30 days at least. One of those stops WILL include one of those make your own frozen yogurt from all of these mix in options places.