In the Leangains Guide I wrote the following:
“My general position on the fasted phase is that it should last through the night and during the morning hours. Ideally the fast should then be broken at noon or shortly thereafter if you arise at 6-7 AM like most people. Afternoons and evenings are usually spent in the fed state.”
My reasoning for this was:
“The recommendation for fasting through the earlier part of the day, as opposed to the latter part of the day, is for behavioral and social reasons. Most people simply find it easier to fast after awakening and prefer going to bed satiated. Afternoons and evenings are times to unwind and eat. For adherence reasons during dieting, I’ve also found that placing the feeding phase later in the day is ideal for most people.”
This poses a dilemma for those who can only train in the early morning hours. If you’re […]

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Martin Berkhan)

You’d think this post would come with a blaring alarm, flashing strobe light or at least an ominous gong. Sugar, after all, gets little welcome around these parts. It’s on one hand a dastardly devil, shameless snare for many a man, woman and child. Beyond this luring, ignoble reputation, however, you’ll find (as is so often the case in life and biology) the story is a bit more complicated – and compelling – than the proverbial black hat. Sugar comes in many forms of course, and each of these leaves a certain amount of damage and destruction in its path. Yet, what do we do when sugar naturally accompanies some of the healthiest fare out there? Do we forgo it altogether when a touch ties an otherwise good Primal recipe together? Are the typical substitutions any better when we choose to use a sweetener? We’ve covered the artificial options in […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

The basis of Tabata Training is 4 minutes of intense interval training/circuit training. What you are doing is taking an exercise we'll use sprints as an example here.
Sprint as hard as you can for 20 seconds
Walk for 10 seconds
Repeat 7 more times for a total of 8 sets.
So what you have is a total of 4 minutes workout time.
Tabata Training can be done with a number of different exercises the idea is to use an exercise that gets the whole body involved or at least the major muscle groups.Tabata Training can be done with Barbells, Dumbells, Kettlebells or just Bodyweight exercises. I'll give you some other exercises and routines to try in a minute but first let me give you some background and how Tabatas work.
Tabata Training was developed by Izumi Tabata (imagine that) at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan. They did a study on […]

Original post by WP-AutoBlog Import

It’s funny. Once you realize the relationship between nutrition, disease, health, and metabolism is complicated, complex, and completely interdependent, things somehow get a bit simpler. Everything is connected to everything else. Chronic stress begets chronic inflammation, which chronically elevates cortisol, which induces insulin resistance and belly fat accumulation. Celiacs are usually intolerant of casein, too. Diabetics get heart disease more and have higher cancer mortality rates. Diabetics are often insulin resistant and usually overweight. Celiacs are often Type 1 diabetics. The overweight sleep less, work more, and get less sun than leaner folks.

Now, it’d be difficult to map out the precise relationships between myriad maladies and their nutritional triggers or risk factors. To do so definitively would produce a mostly unreadable mess. What we do instead is speculate. Make good guesses based on clinical, anecdotal, even anthropologic evidence. We look at what those people with chronic inflammation, obesity, autoimmune disease, […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Difficult problems are best solved when they are easy.
If you have weight to lose, deal with it now, don’t wait until it’s out of control.
Making adjustments to your lifestyle so you can lose 20 pounds is much easier than trying to drastically alter your life to lose 100 pounds.
Drastically altering your life to lose 1oo pounds is still easier than the changes you will have to make to lose 150 pounds.
The bottom line, and one of my favorite sayings..when you have to deal with something uncomfortable, embarrassing or that is otherwise going to be painful, there is no time like the present.
Dealing with and and Dealing with it properly will make you feel great.
Delaying never makes it easier.
BP

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Original post by Brad Pilon

I was talking recently with some people about dieting, and someone had a very interesting idea about how to always be at your ideal weight. Eat Only When You’re Hungry. And when you’re no longer hungry – just stop eating.
At first, I liked this suggestion. Because your body naturally wants to be at a healthy weight, it makes sense that if you only eat when you’re hungry that you’ll be at a good weight.
But after thinking about this a bit, I had a few issues with it:
1) If someone eats only when they’re hungry since they’re a kid – yea, it’ll work. The problem is what about someone who has overeaten for years and needs to lose weight? Their body is already used to eating a lot, so they’ll probably be hungry for more food than they need.
2) It’s sometimes EASIER to gain weight when you do moderate exercise. You […]

Original post by rafael@thefitnessadviser.com (Rafi Bar-Lev)

The exciting grand finale of the fitness agenda at PrimalCon was the PBF Challenge at Oxnard Beach Park. Here participants conducted a timed high-intensity performance test consisting of a challenging, non-stop sequence of basic PBF body resistance exercises that work various large muscle groups to the brink of exhaustion. A protocol was given for Novice, Intermediate and Advanced levels, allowing participants to choose a challenge most appropriate for them. While the emphasis at PrimalCon was on welcoming all to a completely non-intimidating atmosphere (participants broke into sub-groups by self-reported fitness level for the Sprinting, Strength Training, and Play sessions), we did stage a friendly competition for each sex and fitness category at this particular event, and dispensed some cool Grok-logoed awards to the various winners at the closing brunch.

All you need for the PBF Challenge is a 20-40 meter strip of grass (or other soft ground) and a bench. Be […]

Original post by Worker Bee

Q: Pizza Guilt?

Do you think that having a day when I eat pizza and generally don’t eat ‘too healthy’ is alright? I do Eat Stop Eat, but once a week I do loosen up and eat more freely. Is this alright, because I always feel guilty?

A:
No reason to feel guilty, unless it was low-quality tasteless pizza, or you didn’t tip the delivery person.
In my opinion there is no such thing as ‘eating crappy’. When it comes to food the poison is in the dose. In other words, I wouldn’t suggest pizza 7 days a week, because..well you get bored of it, and because the lack of variety in your diet may cause problems down the road.Also if eating a pizza every day caused you do overeat massively and lose the effectiveness of Eat Stop Eat then it may prevent you from seeing any weight loss.
But once a week? no issues […]

Original post by Brad Pilon

Let’s start by clarifying that the “poke” in this salad is pronounced Po-keh, and refers to pieces of raw fish flavored with tamari, onions and other seasonings. Poke is a traditional Hawaiian dish and the heart and soul of this salad recipe submitted by Shaleah Poster. Shaleah’s maternal family is from Hawaii, so her Primal Poke Salad deliciously combines her heritage and her Primal lifestyle.
If you’re a sashimi lover, this salad is for you. The delicate flavor and buttery texture of raw Yellowfin tuna is complimented perfectly by the bold flavors of tamari, sesame and onion and the crisp texture of carrots, snow peas and asparagus. A garnish of sesame seeds and avocado give this light salad a rich, satisfying finish.

The simple sauce that flavors the raw tuna also acts as the main dressing for the salad, although you can take Shaleah’s suggestion and also drizzle the salad with a […]

Original post by Worker Bee