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A special thanks to Aimee McNew at Paleohacks.com for today’s Whole30® recipe roundup.

Yup, you can be a vegetarian and still do a Whole30 challenge. Find out how to plan a simple menu with veggie-friendly recipes that include breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

What is Whole30 anyway?

Whole30 is a 30-day challenge that’s similar to the Paleo diet, but with a few more restrictions. It excludes Paleo-friendly sweeteners (like honey and maple syrup), baked goods, alcohol, and most desserts.

Although the Paleo lifestyle incorporates gluten-free desserts, Whole30 believes you should hold off on them for the 30 days. The purpose is to reset how your mind thinks about sweets in the first place, so you no longer get the urges or cravings.

While the challenge is primarily short-term, some people opt to do it for longer periods of time. The benefit of this challenge is to evaluate how your body reacts to a more wholesome, cleaner-eating lifestyle (without inflammatory triggers).

How to Eat Vegetarian on a Whole30 Diet

If you’re thinking about doing a Whole30 Paleo challenge on a vegetarian diet, you’ll want to consider making some minor adjustments.

The first thing is to avoid plant-based sources of protein that you might be used to, like grains, legumes, and dairy. Although they are common staples in the vegetarian world, both Paleo and Whole30 diets exclude them from their food list.

To compensate for the exclusion of meat, it’s important to fill your plate with plenty of veggies, eggs, and (if you’re pescatarian) seafood for protein. If you’re vegan, you’ll want to sub in alternative sources of protein like:

• Nuts and seeds (like almonds, walnuts, pecans, and pumpkin seeds)
• Nut butters (like almond butter, cashew butter, and coconut butter)
• Moderate amounts of fruits (like avocados, peaches, and berries )

Breakfasts

1. Whole30® Breakfast Chia Pudding

This simple and sweet chia pudding will fill you up and prevent pre-lunchtime snacking. Change it up each day by swapping in other favorite fruits.

Recipe: Sunkissed Kitchen | Whole30 Breakfast Chia Pudding

2. Whole30 Vegetarian Power Bowls

This one-pan recipe dresses roasted veggies in a lemon tahini dressing and tops it all with a hard-boiled egg. Prep it the night before for easy assembly in the morning!

Recipe: Well Plated by Erin | Whole30 Vegetarian Power Bowls

3. Easy Spaghetti Squash Apple Fritters

This savory-sweet fritter is crispy, light, and easy to make. Serve them with eggs and a fresh greens side salad to make it a complete meal.

Recipe: Paleo Running Momma | Easy Spaghetti Squash Apple Fritters

4. Healthy Breakfast Egg Muffins

Jumpstart your day with a recipe packed with tons of protein and veggies. Just be sure to leave out the optional cheese so it’s Whole30 compliant.

Recipe: Well Plated by Erin | Healthy Breakfast Egg Muffins

5. Green Smoothie

We can’t get enough of this superfood elixir made with leafy greens, creamy nut butter, and fiber-rich flax seeds.

Recipe: PaleoHacks | Green Smoothie

Lunches

6. 3-Ingredient Cloud Bread

You don’t have to give up bread on a Whole30. This simple and easy recipe requires just three ingredients and bakes up light and fluffy—perfect for sandwiches.

Recipe: PaleoHacks | 3-Ingredient Cloud Bread

7. Easy Instant Pot Pumpkin Soup

This easy, creamy soup is perfect for chilly days—and goes great with a slice of 3-ingredient cloud bread on the side!

Recipe: Tasty Thin | Easy Instant Pot Pumpkin Soup

8. Beet Noodle Arugula Salad

Beets come alive with a zesty blend of lemon, tahini, and pine nuts. Pro tip: you can also add zucchini noodles to add more color and variety.

Recipe: PaleoHacks | Beet Noodle Arugula Salad

9. Whole30 Mediterranean Vegetable Soup

This veggie-rich soup is light enough for summer, but hearty enough for winter. Customize it with whatever veggies you have on-hand!

Recipe: Bites of Wellness | Whole30 Mediterranean Vegetable Soup

10. Thai Coconut Cauliflower Soup

Garlic, red pepper, and lime are the real show stoppers here—so much flavor you won’t even miss the meat.

Recipe: Sweet Lizzy | Thai Coconut Cauliflower Soup

11. Strawberry Avocado Spinach Salad

Toss this light salad together in a few minutes and savor all the sweet and tangy flavors from the balsamic dressing.

Recipe: Feed Them Wisely | Strawberry Avocado Spinach Salad

12. Whole30 Carrot Slaw

Slaw isn’t just a cabbage-only dish! This carrot version provides the perfect backdrop for a simple and filling lunch recipe.

Recipe: Peas and Crayons | Whole30 Carrot Slaw

Dinners

13. Mushroom Risotto with Cauliflower Rice

You can cook up this fragrant, garlic-infused recipe in under 45 minutes. Make it veggie-friendly by subbing out the beef broth with vegetable stock.

Recipe: PaleoHacks | Mushroom Risotto with Cauliflower Rice

14. Whole30 Zoodle Minestrone Soup

This hearty soup features six different veggies and a handful of flavor-packed spices. Make a big pot for dinner and eat leftovers all week.

Recipe: Physical Kitchness | Whole30 Zoodle Minestrone Soup

15. Whole30 Vegan Vegetarian Curry

Cauliflower, broccoli, and eggplant make up the heart of this vegan-friendly recipe. It also features anti-inflammatory ingredients like turmeric and tons of other fiber-rich nutrients.

Recipe: Heart Umami | Whole30 Vegan Vegetarian Curry

16. Cauliflower Rice Tabbouleh

This zesty recipe is a yummy alternative to rice or slaw and is uber easy to prep.

Recipe: Wholesomelicious | Cauliflower Rice Tabbouleh

17. Tomato Mushroom Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti night doesn’t go away on Whole30—it gets better! This vegetarian dish has all the classic pasta flavor with none of the gluten.

Recipe: What a Girl Eats | Tomato Mushroom Spaghetti Squash

Thanks again to Aimee McNew from Paleohacks.com. Interested in seeing a certain recipe or roundup of a certain category—Whole30, Primal or Primal-keto? Let us know below!

The post 17 Vegetarian Whole30® Recipes appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss

Many who begin a diet do so with the desire to improve their body composition. Unfortunately, the available data on dietary success is rather daunting, and with failure rates estimated from roughly 85-95% it’s apparent that common dietary interventions are incomplete.¹

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Last week, speaking as an elder of physical culture, I wrote a list of ten fitness tips for younger readers: the things that every young to middle-aged man or woman should know about training. Some were things I learned along the way. Some were mistakes I made. And some were big wins I figured out early. At any rate, people found it helpful, and quite a few asked for a follow-up—this time around general life advice.

Note: I’m no life coach. But I do have a nice life, one I figured out on my own through trial and error and with a good deal of hard work. I speak just for myself, but maybe some insights will resonate. (And I hope you’ll share your own hard-won wisdom below.)

What should you keep in mind as you look forward to a long, well-lived life?

1) “Prioritize Sleep Above Everything.”

Don’t get romantically involved with someone who wants to stay up until 2 A.M., whether it’s watching Netflix or partying.

Don’t sign up for the 5 A.M. CrossFit class (unless—big maybe—you’re a natural early riser anyway).

Don’t relax with late night T.V. after a long day.

This isn’t easy. It’s not. It’s harder for people coming up now than it was for me. I didn’t have digital devices vying for my every waking moment or corporations whose expressly stated purpose was to compete with your sleep. That sucks, but it’s also reality, so you have to make it a huge priority—the biggest in your life.

The older you get, the more precious sleep gets. Your cognitive function, your memory, your physical preparedness, your metabolic health, your mental state, your emotional resiliency—everything depends on you getting a good night’s sleep. When you’re young, you believe you can skip sleep and feel okay. Don’t believe it. The damage is accumulating.

2) “Don’t Worry If You Don’t Know What To Be When You Grow Up—But Never Stop Looking.”

I didn’t figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up until I was 40. And I changed my mind about it ten years later. Before that, I bounced around from gig to gig, career to career, consistently thinking I had found the thing, throwing myself wholeheartedly into it, and then having my hopes dashed when it didn’t work. But I didn’t give up. And I always learned something from my forays. I always picked up a skill, made a connection, or figured out what I wasn’t good at. It all paid off when I threw myself into the Primal Blueprint, Mark’s Daily Apple, and, later, Primal Kitchen®.

Having a life purpose is one of the biggest predictors of longevity. Sure, there are dozens of longevity biomarkers you could look at, but one of my favorite (and one of the more malleable) positive predictors is having a life purpose.

3) “If You Want To Have Kids At Some Point (and You Have a Suitable Partner or Incredible Support System), Have Them.”

This dovetails with the last one, actually. Kids are kinda like “insta-purpose.” That said, they’re not for everyone. I’m not saying everyone should or has to have kids. But if you want them, you should have them. It gives you purpose. It gives you a lifelong project. And no matter what people say, it’s fun, awesome, and incredibly rewarding.

It also doesn’t get easier the older you get. Some aspects might. Financially, perhaps, you’ll probably be better equipped as an older person to pay for kids. But as far as energy goes, probably not. Hence, the importance of an all-in partner—or barring that—a committed support system you can genuinely count on for the little things…and the long haul.

4) “Deal With Your Stress.”

I don’t care who you are: Humans aren’t built to handle unending stress. It breaks us down, ruins our sleep, destroys our relationships, and kills our health. It also makes life very unpleasant. It snuffs out fun. It colors every interaction, every waking moment.

Find a way to deal with your stress that works. Doesn’t have to be a 10-day silent meditation retreat. It just has to work, and be something you’re willing to do consistently.

5) “The Sprinting/Chronic Cardio Dichotomy Applies to Everything, Especially Work.”

Whenever possible, work like a sprinter.

Do: You go hard for a week or two, doing long intense hours as needed to knock out that project, get your product launched, complete your to-do list, or whatever else needs doing. Then deload. Take a rest. Go camping, go hiking, read some fiction, watch a movie.

Don’t: You procrastinate, letting the project linger and languish for weeks on end. It haunts your days and nights, sitting in the back of your mind rapping on the window, never giving you a moment’s true rest.

Do: When the day begins, you get moving, do a solid 2-4 hours of deep work right away, then take a walking break and leisurely lunch. Come back for another 2-4 hours, then break. Go home.

Don’t: You never really get going, never spend more than five uninterrupted minutes working hard throughout the day. You avoid deep work, instead flipping back and forth between social media, your phone, and your work. You skip lunch because you’re never caught up, and you end up taking your work home with you where, again, you limp through it with half-focus. You just spent 14 hours “working” without much to show for it.

Apply everywhere as needed.

6) “Listen to Your Gut.”

This doesn’t just apply to those physiological warnings we get when an injury is about to occur in the gym, the ones I spoke about last week. It also applies to matters of life, business, personal growth, and love. Just know that there’s another wrinkle to this: the second voice that arises and says “don’t trust your gut, it’s more complex than that.” Life, business, and love are often more complicated than training, so take it on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes the gut is misguided, but it’s always got an insight.

Don’t always trust your gut unquestioningly. Always listen to it, however.

7) “Invest in Yourself.”

Anytime you’re making a decision, whether it be large or small, ask if the outcome will contribute to your growth and development. Will it give a valuable skill? Will it help you make interesting connections? What will you learn?

That’s how I’ve always approached business. I left a comfortable and well-paying job to start Primal Nutrition in 1997. At the time, I had a wife and two small children, and no money in the bank—but I had a vision of how I wanted to live my life. I wanted to be on the cutting edge of a health movement about which I was incredibly passionate. While some might have said that it was a risky move given my circumstances (and it was), I knew deep down that it was what I needed to do to feel fulfilled. I also knew deep down that it would succeed eventually on some level if I stuck with it. I knew it was a good investment.

Exercising regularly is an investment into your future self’s ability to stand up from the chair and chase youngsters around. Eating a healthy diet is an investment into how much health care you’ll be consuming thirty years from now. Putting profits back into the business instead of paying yourself a big salary is an investment in future profits. Regular date nights are investments into your relationship.

Whenever you can, make the good investments.

8) “Be Serious, But Don’t Take Life Too Seriously.”

This is one of those truths that looks like a paradox if you think too hard about it but works quite elegantly in real life.

Be serious about the things you care about: your work, your relationships, your family, your passions, your free time, your food, your exercise. These all matter. These are all sacred artifacts of a life well-lived, to be treasured and cared for.

But don’t take things too seriously. Don’t flip out because your kid spilled some paint or your partner left socks on the kitchen floor. Don’t develop an inability to laugh at yourself. Don’t beat yourself up because you ate a French fry.

Those are the 8 life lessons I wish I knew from the start. Well, maybe not from the start—learning these lessons from experience is far more powerful than having them handed to you. But maybe these will give you a head start—or some food for thought along the way.

Take care, everyone. What would you tell your younger self about life, love, business, and everything else? Thanks for reading.

The post 8 Life Lessons From a Primal Elder to Younger Groks appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss

There was a time GHDs (glute-ham developers) were used in 10,000 CrossFit gyms around the world—predominantly for GHD sit-ups, a movement that demands that you go into massive spinal extension before propelling yourself back up with your glutes and hamstrings.

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So, I bet you didn’t know that there was such a thing as a good poop? Perhaps you have not given it that much thought. Maybe just the word poop grosses you out! What you need to know, however, is that when it comes to body function and overall health, your poop is like a […]

Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss

If I surveyed 100 meatheads and asked them, “what is the best exercise for the rear delts?” 99 of them would answer “reverse flyes.”

The seated reverse flye is the most common exercise used to target the rear delts. It makes sense because the reverse flye motion does a good job of isolating the rear delts—the exercise isn’t optimal, though.

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For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering six questions from some of my Twitter followers. Yesterday, I asked the community for questions and got some great ones in return. For instance, how much oily fish should one eat each week? And how does diet and nutrition influence posture and coordination? Third, how should a low-carb diet affect acid reflux? Fourth, is there a good replacement for whey protein? Fifth, does milk with your coffee break a fast? And sixth, how does one stop viewing and using food as an indulgence? I’ll get to the rest next time.

Let’s go:

I’m wondering, should the average person limit oily fish per week? Kresser says eat up to a pound. Masterjohn says fish PUFA should be no more than 4-8 ounces per week.

I’ll defer to the Chrises on matters concerning biochemistry, but here’s how I look at fish consumption:

It’s very self-regulating. I’ll go on wild salmon benders where I’m eating it every single day for a week or two, then none for awhile. Back in Malibu, I used to have my fish guy save King salmon heads for me, which I would then roast—the things were huge, fatty, and extremely filling. Between the brains, the cheeks, the collars, and all the skin, I reckon a King salmon head had about 20-30 grams of omega-3 fatty acids. Maybe more. Every time I ate one of those I didn’t feel like even looking at fish (or fish oil) for a week or so.

Ancestral background matters here. Your average Inuit is going to have a very high tolerance of (and likely requirement for) dietary long-chained omega-3 fatty acids because that’s the environment his or her ancestors inhabited. As someone of Northern European ancestry, I have a higher baseline tolerance for and requirement of long chained omega-3s; my ancestral food environment was very high in cold fatty fish. Someone with South Asian background is going to be better at converting shorter-chained omega-3s (ALA) into the long chained ones, so they don’t need to eat as much marine fat as a guy like me.

What is the influence of diet and nutrition on posture and coordination?

First and foremost, the micronutrients and macronutrients in the food we eat help program and provide substrate for the hormones, neurotransmitters, proteins, and energy used to coordinate movements and maintain posture. Every physiological process has a physical corollary; a good diet full of vital vitamins and minerals and absent toxic foods is a diet that supports good posture, energy generation, and movement.

One specific example is thiamine, a B-vitamin. Extreme thiamine deficiency is a disease called beri-beri, characterized by nerve tremors, difficulty moving, and extreme fatigue (among other serious symptoms). Almost no one in developed nations gets beri-beri anymore, but low level thiamine deficiency is common enough and can most likely result in deficient neuromuscular coordination.

I know that a diet deficient in collagenous materials (collagen powder, connective tissue, bone broth, skin) will worsen the health and resilience of your bones, tendons, ligaments, and fascia—the connective tissues that support and enable your mobility.

And finally, a diet that results in low energy levels, unwanted weight gain, and bad aesthetics will worsen your mental health and leave you down in the dumps—itself an independent predictor of poor posture.

But this is a difficult question to answer with specific references to individual nutrients or foods because no one I’m aware of is running studies on the connection between diet and posture. Just know that “it matters.”

Perhaps I’ll revisit this in greater depth.

What is a low-carbber to do if he deals with acid reflux? I’m told that a high fat diet aggravates symptoms… and it has for me. Is there any way I can stick to a healthy diet without having to resort to a “conventional wisdom” reflux plan?

That’s pretty strange. Normally, low-carb diets are great for acid reflux. There’s actually a lot of evidence showing that low-carb is the best diet for the condition, even a “cure.”

However, there’s also evidence that high caloric density within meals (in other words, huge meals) can worsen GERD severity and high fat intakes can increase the frequency of acid reflux episodes.

How do we square this evidence away?

In one study, the very low carb (under 20 grams a day) anti-GERD diet that treated obese individuals allowed unlimited meat and eggs with limited portions of hard cheeses and low-carb vegetables. That’s a standard Primal diet, but it doesn’t say anything about the fat content of the diet. If you’re eating ribeyes, that could be a pretty high-fat diet. If you’re eating sirloin, that could be a very high-protein and moderate-fat diet.

I’d stay low carb, but try eating more protein and not overeating. Avoid huge meals; don’t drink melted butter.

I’m allergic to whey protein. What can I use instead?

Egg protein powder is a good option. High bioavailability of the protein, good amino acid profile. Although whole eggs do work better.

Does coffee with milk impact fasting effects on keto?

It depends on how much milk you’re using.

Milk itself is rather insulinogenic, owing to its lactose and protein content. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, but anything more than a few tablespoons will effectively “break the fast.” I’d opt for heavy cream over milk. It tastes better in coffee, provokes a much lower insulin response, is mostly just fat, and thus allows the fat-burning metabolism of fasting to continue relatively unabated.

Hello Mark! Thank you for everything! – Question – what can be done to change how food is viewed? As life – not as a indulgent part of our lives?

That’s a good one.

You have to LIVE. You have to stop mulling over the thoughts swirling through your head. You have to go outside and do the things you’ve been considering doing.

I know people who have all the knowledge they’d ever need to know (and some they wouldn’t) about health and human happiness and nutrition and productivity and business, yet they act on very little of it. Instead of taking the lessons to heart and living out the conclusions of the latest study, they just move on to the next bit of research.

Food, like any substance or activity that triggers the reward systems of our brains, can fill a void in a destructive way. Fill that void with meaning, with love, with purpose and direction. The food will still taste good (or even better), but it won’t become an end in itself.

That’s it for today, everyone. Take care. Be well. And write in down below with any further questions or comments!

The post Dear Mark: Oily Fish Limit, Diet and Posture, Acid Reflux, Whey Replacement, Milk and Fasting, and Remembering to Live appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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The CBD industry is booming—and misinformation is growing as a result. In this episode of Revolution Health Radio, CBD expert Will Kleidon clears up misconceptions about CBD and explains more about how these products work, our history with hemp, and how to get the dosage right for your body.

The post RHR: A Deep Dive into CBD, with Will Kleidon appeared first on Chris Kresser.

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Lyme disease can be debilitating, but simple dietary changes can help. Find out how, as a dietitian or CNS, you can help your clients with Lyme disease ease their symptoms using a nutritional approach.

The post Help Clients Recover from Lyme Disease with Diet and Nutrition appeared first on Chris Kresser.

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Yup, success stories are back! And I’m looking for more. Follow-ups, mid-progress reflections—every story at every stage has the potential to inspire folks out there who are getting started or contemplating a new beginning. Contact me here to share your story—long or not so long. You never know who you’ll impact by doing it. Enjoy, everyone!

Hi Mark, My name is Tiffany Valvo. I don’t have time to write an elaborate story, but I think most people are familiar with “my” story anyway!

I grew up on the SAD diet… struggled with my weight immensely. I couldn’t be a normal kid because of it, but thankfully I was good in school and was naturally a positive kid, so it didn’t destroy my childhood most days.

I am a high achiever and went to a conservatory for my master’s degree and then started my doctorate. At the very end of the second year of my doctorate, my car was stolen. I was tired. I was teaching and going to school, and I just didn’t understand why I always felt terrible. Couldn’t open my eyes in the morning. But, I was doing all the right things…vegetarian, low calorie, cardio.

I started walking a lot because of my car, and was passing the time by listening to podcasts. By the grace of the universe, I randomly found Robb Wolf’s podcast, and then yours.

About a week later, I went paleo, cold turkey. That was in June of 2015. Since then, I’ve kept off about 50 pounds, but that’s not the victory. The victory is that I feel wonderful. I have incredible amounts of energy, I feel in control of my mind, and I can keep doing the things I want to do to contribute to the world.

I still have a little ways to go, but one of the things other than the energy and mind clarity I am most thankful for is effortless maintenance. I know what I can eat. There is no more chasing the ups and downs.

The people in this movement are freaking heroes.

Love,
Tiffany

Have a story to share? Email me here. Thanks, everybody, and have a great week.

The post There Is No More Chasing the Ups and Downs appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.