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• 5 nights at the luxurious Hotel Alfonso XIII
• $500 travel voucher for flights
• Olive oil, ham and sherry tasting tour
• Guided tasting tour of Spain’s legendary tapas
• Choice of Sherry wine or Jamon Iberico tour
• Gift basket of local delicacies upon arrival

Enter to Win!

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We all know that protein is important. To reach your daily recommended intake, you may be trying to eat a serving of protein-rich food at every meal. But the big question is, when it comes to protein, what exactly is a serving?

Here’s what you should know about recommended servings, and how to tell at a glance what’s enough — no measuring, scales, or guides needed.

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Oh, the chicken-and-egg dilemma: Start thinking about it too much, and it’s mind-bendingly philosophical.

It’s little surprise, then, that the “chicken or the egg” question’s roots actually stretch as far back as Aristotle.

As an idiom, though, we know “chicken or the egg?” was in regular use by the mid-1800s, says Jane Solomon, lexicographer at Dictionary.com, who dug through loads of history to help answer this question for us.

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The party problem: You wanna shake things up with fancy cocktails at your next party. However, you don’t own a cocktail shaker and you’re not really in a rush to run out and buy one either.

The party trick: Use a Mason jar instead.

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I’m not quite sure when the veggie bowl trend sparked, but I rejoiced because with it came a renaissance of sauces. Think about it — before you could get a really great grain bowl in almost any city, the only sauce vegetarians were offered was hummus or some flavored version of it. But today, tahini is no longer just an ingredient used in hummus — it’s the base for a rich variety of sauces, from golden turmeric blends to miso dressing. And that’s just the beginning.

We rounded up some of our favorite easy, flavor-boosting sauces that make vegetarian meals more imaginative and satisfying.

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Originally posted at: http://www.nerdfitness.com/

What body type am I?

How does it affect my training and diet?

Is there a way to change it?

We are all different.  Yes, even you.

We all have different body types, different cellular reactions from foods, different strengths and weaknesses, and thus we each have different behaviors that we’re more likely to succeed with.

Now, although the standard way of thinking tells us that we have three main “body types” (endomorph, ectomorph, and mesomorph; we’ll that address shortly), there is actually way more to it than that.  And as you’ll soon learn, just because you’re predisposed to be good at one thing doesn’t mean you are stuck with that role.

With a bit of help from our favorite Role Playing Games, we’re going to dig into body types, character classes, and ways to buck the genetic lottery.

Role Playing Games and Body Types

I remember playing Everquest (the game that paved the road for World of Warcraft) back in 2001.

I spent hours reading the Prima strategy guide to select the race for my character, Morphos Novastorm, who was to be the most kickass wizard in all of Norrath.  According to the guide, my best choice was to select the Erudites: they possessed the highest amount of intelligence points to start (INT), and thus would give me a slight advantage over against non-Erudite wizards. I was after the slightly higher “ceiling” for how powerful I could become.

Fast forward a few levels: Outside of “how cool do I look?” I came to the realization that my starting race hardly mattered at all!

There were so many other factors that affect how good my character was:

• My style of play (Am I actually good? How quickly am I leveling?)
• The equipment my character is wearing (jewelry stat buffs, armor buffs, etc.)
• Who is in my group (Is there a character that can “buff” my character with increased INT?)

As I watched Ogre Wizards, Gnome Wizards, Froglock Wizards kick serious ass in the later levels, it made me realize that although my character’s skill was slightly affected by my race….it had very little impact on my enjoyment in the game.

Those things were dependent upon who I played with and how good I was.

YOUR BODY TYPE IS NO DIFFERENT.

Genetically, you might fit into one of the categories below.  Although you don’t get to pick your ‘body type’ like you get to pick your race in an RPG, it has less of an effect on how your life is lived than you’d imagine

Ultimately, think of your body type as your “race” in a role-playing game: How you choose to PLAY that character in this game of life makes all the difference in the world.

Are there really three main body types?

Back in the 1940’s, an American psychologist named William Herbert Sheldon tried to classify us non-superheroes into three neat categories, with a fourth added later:

• Endomorphs
• Ectomorphs
• Mesomorphs

Over the years, these three body types have become widely accepted as three solid classifications for how our bodies will generally react and grow based on our training and diet

Quick note: I’m merely presenting this information from Sheldon’s point of view, so everybody is on the same page. I’m not necessarily endorsing it.  

Normally I don’t like to reference Wikipedia, but their descriptions of the 3 “somatypes” are fantastic in their descriptions.

Sheldon’s “somatotypes” and their  physical traits can be characterized as follows:

    Ectomorph:

• (thin) characterized by long and thin muscles/limbs and low fat storage; usually referred to as slim. Ectomorphs are not predisposed to store fat nor build muscle.

    Mesomorph:

• (muscular) characterized by medium bones, solid torso, low fat levels, wide shoulders with a narrow waist; usually referred to as muscular. Mesomorphs are predisposed to build muscle but not store fat.

   Endomorph:

• (curvy) characterized by increased fat storage, a wide waist and a large bone structure, usually referred to as fat, or chunky. Endomorphs are predisposed to storing fat.

Note: These body types are not to be confused with the fourth classification: Animorphs, who possess the ability to change into any animal they touch.  Animorphs are necessary for the defense of Earth against the secret alien invasion.

Which BODY TYPE am I?

Although the three categories give us a decent foundation on which to build, there are a litany of other factors that are at play here.

For starters, instead of us fitting neatly into three categories, it’s more like a massive 1-1000 scale. We humans can exist at any point on that scale, from storing fat easily to not gaining weight easily.  

What it really comes down to:

• Some bodies are efficient at burning energy for fuel.
• Some bodies are less efficient and tend to store more energy as fat.
• Some bodies are really efficient at building muscle.
• Some bodies are inefficient at building muscle.

Gary Taubes put it best in his book, “Why We Got Fat”. Although I wish the book cited more studies, I believe it’s an incredibly thought-provoking read (and worth your time to read). It makes us question what causes us to get fat or stay lean, and that perhaps there’s much more to our body fat than just overeating and not exercising enough:

Emaciated marathoners are not lean because they train religiously and burn off thousands of calories doing so (our bodies adapt to burn less calories elsewhere); rather, they’re driven to expend those calories – and so perhaps to work out for hours a day and become obsessive long-distance runners – because they’re wired to burn off calories and be lean.  

Similarly, a greyhound will be more physically active than a basset hound, not because of any conscious desire to exercise, but because its body partitions fuel to its lean tissue, not to its fat.

It may be easier to believe that we remain lean because we’re virtuous and we get fat because we’re not, but the evidence simply says otherwise.  Virtue has little more to do with our weight than with our height.  When we grow taller, it’s hormones and enzymes that are promoting our growth, and when we consume more calories than we expend as a result.  Growth is the cause – increased appetite and decreased energy expenditure (gluttony and sloth) are the effects.  When we grow fatter, the same is true as well.

We don’t get fat because we overeat; we overeat because we’re getting fat.

What Gary is saying: Genetically, we are predisposed to handle energy consumption in different ways. Some people can store more of it as fat (and thus need to eat more to feel like they have enough energy), while others efficiently burn more as fuel and thus can remain thin.

Now, it’s easy for people to say things like:

• “I’m an endomorph, so I’m screwed and that’s why I’m overweight.”
• “How lucky is he? He can eat whatever he wants and not gain weight!”
• “That dude just looks at weights and gets bigger. Must be nice.”

Here’s the truth: We have all rolled a character in this game of life.  We don’t get to pick a new race, so we need to play the character we have.  

Some people hit the genetic lottery and get to play Life on Easy difficulty.

Some people have really crappy genetics and have to play on Legendary difficulty.

Not a gamer?

Fine.  You need to play the poker hand you’re dealt. There’s no re-do. And just because you’re overweight doesn’t mean you’re necessarily an endomorph.

So no using these body types as an excuse

You might actually be playing on easy mode the whole time! Or you might have fat cells that are less efficient than others, but that can change as a result of your diet composition and lifestyle.  I’ll get to this shortly!

Your genetic makeup isn’t your fault, but it is your responsibility.

Fortunately, there is hope.  Many studies have shown showed that most people tend to fall within 200-300 calories of each other on the “metabolism speed scale.”  Your genetics can only help or hinder you so much – it’s the decisions you make after your character has been rolled that determines how quickly you progress through the game.

This is great news, but it means you’re going to need to work for it!

Twitch Muscle Fibers

To further emphasize that we are all unique snowflakes, our muscles have different types of qualities as well.

Based on your genetic makeup of what percentage you have of each type of muscle fiber, you might have a higher athletic ceiling when it comes to certain activities.

Again, this is just a starting point; I’ll get to how we can change our fate later.

Our muscle fibers can generally be classified as fast-twitch or slow-twitch:

• Slow twitch fibers (Type I): These muscle fibers can carry more oxygen and sustain longer periods of aerobic activity (activities that require your muscles to use oxygen) than other types of fibers, using fats or carbs as fuel.  They can contract for long periods of time, but are weak.  Think: long distance running or hours of cardio.
• Fast twitch fibers (Type IIb): These muscle fibers can carry less oxygen and only work with short periods of anaerobic activity (activities that require your muscles to burn glycogen) before becoming exhausted.  They have the greatest potential for strength and for gaining size. Think: sprinting, power lifting, strength training.
  
• Fast twitch fibers (Type IIa): These are a mix of Type I and Type IIb fibers, and thus can be used for either aerobic or anaerobic activities.

So, if you are somebody that genetically has more slow twitch fibers than fast twitch, you’re genetically predisposed to be a better distance runner.  If you have more fast twitch fibers than slow twitch, you’re genetically predisposed to be a better powerlifter or sprinter.

Either way, we have some of each: as we age, our Type I fibers remain generally unchanged, while our amounts and sizes of our Type II fibers will decrease.  

Now, remember how I said we can change our fate?  We can actually change our muscle fibers based on our training!

A study performed on males who were tasked with “sprinting” all out on a bicycle with a specific training regimen for 4-6 weeks resulted in decreasing their slow twitch fibers from 57% to 48% while increasing their Type IIa fibers from 32% to 38%.

In another study performed on females who went through a rigorous endurance training schedule, Type I fibers did not increase, Type IIb fibers decreased, and the Type IIa fibers increased significantly.  Type IIa fibers are the “switch hitters” that can be used for increased power or endurance.

Although more studies should (and will) be done on muscle fibers and how they’re affected by training, and how it differs between men and women this is the conclusion I’ve drawn: Genetics be damned. It might be an uphill battle, but we can change our fate. We can change our size and the percentage of our muscle fibers with the right training, just like we can change our body composition with the right diet.

Yes, at the upper echelon of elite world class athletes, those with a higher genetic ceiling might have a physical advantage over those who have less of the beneficial muscle fibers.

But for regular superheroes like you and me, there’s no reason why we can’t be who we want to be, and look how we want to look. 

Why comparisons are silly

Two weeks back, I wrote about why comparing ourselves to our celebrity heroes in movies is silly.

The same is true on comparing yourself to others in the gym or those you see in magazines.

You might walk into the gym and see a level 50 guy or girl in the free-weights section and think, “Wow! I’ll never get there! If I only had their genetics!”

The truth of the matter is, these people, no matter how good their genetics are, achieved their high level of fitness through consistent dedication to regular workouts and a healthy diet. No matter your edge from your genetics, you won’t see results without hard work. Don’t let the fact that everybody is at different points in their quest be an excuse to blame genetics!  As we said last week, don’t compare your “reality” with somebody’s highlight reel.

Now, we do all have different genetic makeups: different amounts of fast twitch or slow twitch muscle fibers, different bone densities, different levels of efficiency when it comes to fat storage and fuel consumption.

This is just like your character in World of Warcraft:  

• If you are a Night Elf, comparing yourself to an Orc when it comes to being a tank/warrior isn’t going to be a fair fight.
• Conversely, comparing yourself as an Orc to Night Elves on the topic of quickness is a losing proposition.

On top of that, what you see on the outside is never the whole picture.  Just because somebody is muscular or skinny doesn’t mean they’re healthy. Just because somebody might be overweight compared to others doesn’t meant they aren’t in great physical condition.

So, the only comparison you should be making is to who you were yesterday.

What happens if I don’t like my category?

Steve I’m kind of an overweight guy, can I still run?

I’m skinny and I want to strength train, is that cool?

Here’s what to do if you don’t line up with what your genetics say you’ll be good at:

Acknowledge it, and then immediately move on with your life and do what makes you happy.

Screw your genetics.

Write your own destiny.

Become the hero you want to be, not who you’re “supposed” to be.

The Truth: Your body will store fat and burn energy in a certain way.  Depending on your genetics, sex, hormone balance, age, and medical conditions, you might need to be more careful with your consumption of sugar and processed foods than other people, as you might be genetically more likely to store those foods as fat rather than burning them as fuel. [Here’s how it works]

I’ve come to learn there is so much more to being healthy than just “eating less” and “moving more.”  It’s a complex topic involving dozens of variables that we still don’t fully understand yet.  Your genetics are the opening act, and your diet is the main actor in this story.

It sucks, but that’s the truth.

Your diet will be responsible for 80-90% of your success or failure when it comes to weight regulation.  So the BEST way for you to change your fate is to focus on eating the right kinds of foods.

How you chose to exercise makes up the other 10-20%. Ultimately it comes down to one big rule with exercise:

Enjoy it.

We’ve already covered the different “professions” and how you can be whatever you want in real life, be it Warrior, Druid, Assassin, Monk, Scout, Ranger, or any combination.

I’m definitely closer to an “ectomorph.”  I have thin wrists, skinny legs, skinny ankles, and have struggled to put on any weight, be it muscle or fat, for most of my life.  I’m genetically predisposed to be a good distance runner, and I’m not quite built for strength training.  On top of that, I have a genetic spinal condition that will severely limit my potential when it comes to getting big and strong.

I don’t care!

I love strength training, so I strength train.  I don’t like distance running, so I don’t run.

I have to eat a tremendous number of calories every day to get big and strong. I can hear it now, “Steve you’re so lucky!” Well, I don’t feel lucky when I’m guzzling olive oil, making 1200 calorie shakes with 2 cups of oats, and eating enough rice to make me feel pregnant.

However, this is the path I’ve chosen and I wouldn’t change it for the world, because I’m having fun as a Warrior/Ranger/Assassin hybrid: Berserker!

You might be an overweight guy or gal and want to become a Parkour Assassin or Martial Arts Monk or Elite Scout.

That is amazing! Freaking go for it.  Yes, you might have an uphill battle on your hands, but there’s no reason you can’t get to a great level of proficiency with your desired profession and HAVE FUN WITH IT.

We have a community full of characters of all races who are playing the game of life on different levels of difficulty….and having a damn good time doing so.

Go. Level up.

And that concludes today’s World of Warcraft lesson on Genetics.

Remember, there is only one thing we say to our genetics: Not today.

What “category”/”race” do you think you fit in?  Are you an ectomorph? Endomorph? Mesomorph?

If you’re an Animorph, email me – we have lots to talk about.

And what “class” are you?  Are you an Elf Warrior?  Gnome Monk? Halfling Scout? Ogre Ranger?

-Steve

###

Photo Sources: Wizard, World of Warcraft Minis, apple and orange, punch, mushroom, pipe, butterfly

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Don’t drink? You still might want to get yourself a bar cart. The little guys can offer tons of storage solutions for spaces all around the house. You just have to get a little creative — or steal one of these clever ideas.

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Big-boned. That’s what I told myself I was when I was growing up. I put down to genetics a tendency to gain fat with unnerving ease but what else could I blame? Armed with the conventional wisdom of Australia in the 1980s and 90s, we were simply fed the way we were taught to eat: some meat and vegetables but otherwise plenty of white bread, cereals, skimmed milk, margarine, and other ‘healthy carbs’ like potatoes and pasta. Having something of a sweet tooth myself, I was no stranger to unloading a tablespoon of sugar into my bowl of Weetbix or Rice Bubbles. I didn’t like water (admittedly, the tap water in Adelaide is still the worst I’ve tasted to this day) so anytime I drank fluids, they were enhanced with the sugary goodness of cordial. I often got sick when I was young, generally in the form of lingering colds, but my stomach often played up, too; nausea was a given for me for long periods of time, and if there was a stomach bug going around, I’d be the first to get it. (It would later turn out via a blood test in my 20s that I was borderline coeliac so I’d be surprised if that isn’t connected!). I was a reasonably active child, spending a lot of time on my BMX at the bike track, out waterskiing on the river, swimming in our pool, rowing, and playing weekly games of hockey, so I’m lucky not to have been really seriously out of shape. I was most definitely very soft around the edges though.

It was around the time I left school in 2000 at the age of 18 that friends and I started to take an interest in lifting weights, but we really had no idea what we were doing at that stage, especially as far as nutrition was concerned. We were far more likely to be downing post-training beers than anything remotely helpful like a protein shake or, god forbid, actual food. For the next couple of years I left the weights, and my only exercise was the daily 30-minute ride to and from my job at an award-winning bakery. I can only thank having youth on my side for the fact that the unfathomable number of pies, sausage rolls, cakes, buns and Red Bulls I consumed didn’t go straight to my fat stores and stay there!

The next decade or so contained a variety of approaches to training, nutrition and wellbeing, some more successful or long-lasting than others. I discovered my love of a style of kung fu which I’ve now kept up for 13 years; I dabbled in Ori Hoffmeckler’s Warrior Diet for a few months; I fell in love with kettlebell training and have grown a pretty nice collection of them which I use religiously; I fell out of love with a vegetarian-pasta-obsessed girlfriend (this stuff contained pasta, tinned tomatoes, a couple of carrots and some celery – talk about a malnourished period of my life!); whey protein took its place in my diet and, like an epiphany, crystallized for me the importance protein plays in the healthy functioning of the body; I completed a personal training qualification but ended up not working as a PT after learning the statistic about the very high number of PTs who contract vocal nodules – I was (and still am) a classical singer who relied on his vocal health!

I’d always admired Arnold Schwarzenegger (his dedication and his physique, anyway) so at the time I was doing the PT course, I started training with traditional weights again to get as big and strong as I possibly could. And I did. I got very big and very strong. And fat. I got so fat you could barely tell I’d gained a notable amount of muscle too. Conventional Lifting Wisdom, as I was interpreting it, had been telling me to eat as much as I could fit in my belly, multiple times a day. I was loading up on fantastic meat (my sister managed one of the best butcher shops in Australia), but I was also gorging on peanut butter right out of the jar just to keep my calories up. I really ran with the concept and completely overshot the mark, going from 77kgs to 94kgs (169lbs to 207lbs) at a height of just shy of 6ft in a matter of months, and I did not look or feel healthy or especially happy by this point. It was a real eye-opener in terms of my caloric requirements, too – I’d significantly overestimated how much energy I was burning and how much of which foods I needed to eat for recovery. I have no regrets because self-experimentation has taught me a lot, but I realise in hindsight that this phase may well have created the insulin resistance that stayed with me for quite a few of the ensuing years.

Six months later. New wonderful girlfriend (soon-to-be-wonderful-wife), moved to a smaller place that didn’t fit my weights gear (power cage, Olympic bar and the rest) which was a real problem for my lifting as the introvert in me makes me very much a solo trainee – I’m completely self-conscious in a gym, and I need silence to train effectively – so I got lazy and happy. I was still using my kettlebells every so often and training kung fu but not with the dedication I had been. I lost some fat, but I also lost some muscle so for the next couple of years I was strong but kind of out of shape again with my training in flux without a clear goal. In 2011 we moved our whole lives over to the UK to try our hands at fully freelance classical music careers (my wife is a violinist). Things began well but building a freelance career where you don’t know anyone inevitably means pinching pennies so our eating suffered somewhat. It was never hideous but it was definitely still conventional in the sense that we didn’t really think much about what we ate. Lots of carbs but lots of fat to go with it, plus healthy volumes of heavy British ales. I kept up the kung fu and I bought some cheap kettle bells, but my commitment was somewhat intermittent given our entire living space was one room for two years. Still didn’t look great at somewhere between 87kg and 91kg (190-200lbs). For most of this time though, because we were poor, we walked a hell of a lot to avoid paying for transport!

Still in the UK and careers going from strength to strength, we had our first beautiful boy, Tobias, in 2015 and despite ramping up my training and healthier eating in the months beforehand, I REALLY let myself go once he appeared in our lives. I was sleep-deprived so I constantly fell for comfort foods and beer and wine, and within nine months I was up to 95kg (209lbs). I’d never been heavier or felt worse. They say it takes 28 days to build a habit and three days to break one and during this period, any time I tried to train, I couldn’t create enough momentum to take me to the next session; I couldn’t get anywhere near enough to the ‘28 days’ to establish the pattern I needed to be consistent again. Of course, I was weaker and more unfit than I had been and I found this very depressing so I coped by avoiding it altogether – and I’d always hated avoidance as a coping tactic. I was becoming someone whose choices I couldn’t respect and that was heartbreaking to me. I’d always been confident but that was now diminishing to the point that friends and colleagues commented on it. I even started to get ever-increasing bouts of performance anxiety on stage – scary stuff because I’d seen it end careers. The final straw was a photo that was taken of a group of friends and me on a visit back home to Australia; despite knowing inside that I’d gained a lot of fat, it was seeing my body stretching my t-shirt in all directions and having the photo shared far and wide that was my ‘ugh’ moment.

Enter Primal. I stumbled on Mark’s Daily Apple after looking at hunter-gatherer-related pages (I’d always had a thirst for knowledge about prehistoric peoples) and, like so many others who write these stories, I was instantly dumbstruck by the sense in everything I read. I’d heard bits and pieces about Paleo and a lower carb lifestyle (I tried the Ketogenic Diet in early 2014 with mixed success) but not like this. I ordered The Primal Blueprint days later and finally I saw what I needed presented in a way that used science, logic and common sense without the sensationalism you see surrounding other ‘diets’. This was so much more than a simple diet; as I saw it, it took care of everything that makes the human body and mind thrive, and with countless studies to back it up.

I wasn’t a super high-carb eater so I didn’t suffer terribly from the ‘carb flu’ the way some do when I dropped the last vestiges of a grainy diet (oats and sandwiches and the like) and upped the fat from sources like avocado, eggs, nuts, bacon, fish, heavy cream in coffee, and more olive oil, but still, the weight just flew off – in a matter of a few weeks I was down 6kg. I’m sure some of that was water but I felt so much better too: I was already getting sick far less often, I was sleeping better, my energy was balanced and I wasn’t getting as hungry. I attempted my first 24 hour fast on a major concert day (much to the bewilderment of my colleagues) and I barely noticed on stage that I hadn’t eaten all day. One of the other great benefits of all this for me has been the ease with which I can retain muscle while eating little enough to lose the fat off the top. 13 months on, I’m down 15.5kg (34lbs) and I can see my abs for the first time in my ENTIRE LIFE – and I still have most of the muscle I worked so hard for.

Day-to-day, I tend to cycle through the regular components of my diet according to what I’m in the mood for. Every morning I have the juice of half a lemon in hot water before anything else. If I’m having breakfast (I often fast till lunch), I’ll either have a protein shake or some full-fat natural Greek yoghurt and some ricotta with berries, a couple of Brazil nuts and milled flax, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, plus a double espresso with a splash of heavy cream. Lunch is generally a big tin of salmon (bones included, though I take the skin out – I’ve been squeamish about fish skin since I worked in a seafood factory at the age of 19) mixed with a bit of yoghurt, capers, cucumber, lemon juice, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and seaweed salt. Dinners are a mix! It’s always meat and vegetables in some combination (curry, tagine, roast, summer salad, etc), generally without much in the way of carbs. Lamb shanks are my all-time favourite meal, however they’re prepared, and I’ll have some potato with them. I’ll have a spoon or two of rice with a curry.

Post-training I’ll always have a protein shake with creatine and a spoonful of blackstrap molasses or an occasional banana. I was eating a lot of eggs but I’ve largely dropped them of late due to some bloating – which I hope passes as they’re so convenient and tasty! I could certainly improve on my base level Primal diet, though. I really need to eat more vegetables throughout the day, and I need to eat more collagen due to my taste for muscle meat. That said, every day I feel I learn more about how I can best make it work for me so food decisions become easier and more instinctive.

My training schedule varies according to how I feel, but my average week will contain four or five days with some form of training. These will either be heavy kettlebell work (overhead mostly – clean and presses, snatches, and some rows and swings), or weighted dips, chin-ups, pistols and Turkish Get-ups, or a 15-minute farmers’ walk with my heaviest ‘bells, kung fu training, or (lately) some sprints. None of these sessions will exceed an hour – I’m generally done between 30 and 45 minutes. I’ll also knock out a set of pushups or chin-ups or dips when I’m near my doorway chin-up bar or a pair of kitchen chairs!

I travel a lot for work, often for a couple of weeks at a time staying in various hotels touring around the USA. Lots of the tour days will contain two flights (when I’m already jetlagged and having to be out of bed by 5 a.m. after a late concert the night before), and this can add a little guesswork into the equation as far as not knowing what type of meal an airport will have or a promoter will provide – I’ll sometimes simply have to be a little less strict. Same thing with frequent 24-hour trips to spots all over Europe like that great Mecca of beer, Belgium. I’m extremely lucky to have a career that takes me to these wonderful places – as a great food and drink lover, I feel I owe it to myself to make the most of what these cultures have to offer so I might indulge a little. In any case, as long as I get back in the saddle on my return, nothing negative lasts very long at all. The 80/20 principle works very well for me – I’ve proven to myself that loosening the reins every so often doesn’t have to end the game for me, at least once my body and I knew the ropes. I’ve learned that I can get away with a couple of beers here, some wine and chocolate there, or an almond croissant on a special morning out with my wife and son. I don’t always feel great afterwards but it’s good for the soul.

If there’s hope I have to offer to anyone in particular who is contemplating taking the plunge, it’s to new parents. Our respective families live on the other side of the world, so we’re essentially raising our son alone – life is therefore far from easy, and a day’s planned physical activity can often go out the window at a moment’s notice – but the Primal approach is so adaptable that it needn’t ever be derailed. If Tobias woke early from his nap, my kettlebell session would be halved; if I was completely destroyed by a night with him refusing to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time, I did a handful of chin-ups and chair dips and called it a day on training till I’d caught up a bit; if I was stressed by his unwillingness to play on his own for an entire day and felt like falling into a packet of sweet biscuits or chips, I was thankfully armed with the knowledge that I was just going to feel awful afterwards. And if I did succumb? I’d appreciate the moment for what it was and move on because I’d be back to craving what my body now instinctively knew what was good for it. This is all still relevant, but now that Tobias is nearly two, the challenge has changed a bit. Now he insists on lifting kettlebells with me (well, he deadlifts the 8kg one at least!), he gets me to help him with dips, he planks with me, he copies one-arm push-ups, and he now enjoys using a foam roller to work out all that tension created by the incredibly demanding situation of being a 23-month-old with his every whim taken care of.

As an aside, growing up in Australia, we took the sun for granted so we never considered taking vitamin D supplements – we simply didn’t need to – but it took me five years here in the UK to realise that it’s a really good idea in winter! Two months ago I was feeling especially drained, I had a constant headache, my sleep was sporadic, I was getting sick a lot again, and my fat loss had stalled. I re-read Mark’s article about vitamin D and checked all my symptoms against a few other websites and realised that was it. I’m now taking 5,000-10,000IU a day and all of the symptoms have gone, including my fat loss plateau – and that’s the only thing I’ve changed. If you’re not getting much sun for a long period of time, it’s definitely worth checking your vitamin D levels.

So that’s my Primal journey so far! I have to commend and thank my wife, Julia. Despite some reluctance at the beginning – she was raised with a more progressive and holistic attitude towards food, and as a result hasn’t struggled with the same fat gain or health issues – she is completely onboard and has been really supportive with all this (useful because she loves cooking and does nearly all of it). I’m also very glad to be able to give our boy the healthy head start not many get at the same age. We’re expecting our second baby in a couple of months so we’ll be back to square one with the sleep issues, but I now know I don’t have to drop everything as a result!

I have so much gratitude to Mark for the wealth of reliable and verifiable information he makes available in a world which is only just starting to shift in the right direction. He’s had the most profound influence on our health and well-being that it’s hard to know where to begin. So thank you, Mark!

Tom

The post Finally Getting Lean and Feeling Excellent! appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

Whether you’re in need of some fresh inspiration for Meatless Monday or you want to add another meat-free night to the meal plan, you’ve come to the right place. These are the dinners that make you feel good about getting extra veggies on everyone’s plate. From roasted cauliflower tacos and soba noodle bowls, to vegetable stir-fries and and cheesy veggie melt sandwiches, here are 20 meat-free dinners everyone around the table will enjoy.

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http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

As much as it pains me to say this, you actually do not need one of those adorable egg holders. I know, they look cute in the fridge or sitting out on your counter as you whip up baked goods, but they’re unnecessary and you already have the perfect thing to hold your eggs.

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