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One of the biggest challenges of going Primal (or Keto or anything that goes against the norm of the Standard American Diet) is dealing with people who have no clue why you’d ever do such a thing. Even though there have been tons of studies¹ on the risks of eating processed foods, grains, and industrialized oils, there are just as many folks panicking when you pass on the rolls. It’s even harder when those folks are your spouse or significant other.

If you’ve ever heard your partner say…

“I’d die if I couldn’t have bread.”

“One cookie isn’t going to wreck your diet.”

“Your body needs sugar!”

“You’re having bacon again?!”

…then you know what I’m talking about. As a health coach, I see this more often than I don’t. One half of a couple decides they’re done feeling foggy and carrying around extra fat, while the other feels “fine” and finds no reason to change how they’re eating — even though they’re pre-diabetic and their blood pressure numbers are sky high.

Signs You’ve Got a Difficult Partner

As you take steps toward improving your health and growing as a person, you might find that, instead of support, you’re suddenly on the receiving end of someone who’s sabotaging you, acting irritated and jealous, or just not willing to grow with you.

Your partner may come home with armloads of chips and cookies and refuse to eat anything that resembles a vegetable. Or make you feel bad when you ask for your burger lettuce wrapped. Or look at you like you’ve got two heads when you grab the full-fat yogurt off the grocery store shelf. Sound familiar? These are all signs that you’re dealing with a difficult partner. Here are some other indicators:

• They’re quick to blame you for their actions
• They seem to try to sabotage you
• They’re controlling
• They avoid or resist conversations with you
• They minimize your wins or your progress
• They judge you based on their beliefs
• They use guilt as a way to control the situation

Here’s the thing though. You can’t change other people. I don’t care how right you are, how much progress you’ve made in your own health journey, or how much time you spend cooking epic protein-forward meals. People only change when they want to change. That said, you don’t have to let someone else’s resistance derail your own goals.

How Difficult Partners Affect Your Health

Aside from it being downright frustrating to live with someone who refuses to take responsibility for their own health, it can increase your risk of certain health conditions.

One study from Montreal’s McGill University Health Centre evaluated the environmental factors, social habits, and eating and exercising patterns of couples and found that participants had a 26% higher chance of developing Type 2 Diabetes when their partner had the disease.²

The good news is, it works the other way too. In a trial funded by the National Institute of Health, researchers looked at the ripple effect of healthy behaviors in a household. Participants and their spouses were placed into two groups: an intensive lifestyle intervention (which included a specific diet and physical activity) and a care plan that included only education and support. Researchers weighed the couples at the beginning and end of the trial and found that approximately 25% of the spouses in the intensive intervention lost 5% more of their baseline weight compared to less than 10% of the spouses in the other group.³

All of which suggests that what you do can influence your partner. And vice versa.

9 Ways to Deal with a Difficult or Unsupportive Partner

These are the same tactics I teach my health coaching clients. They’re powerful ones you can use in your own life to avoid frustration, discouragement, and potential derailment, while helping inspire your partner to pursue their own holy grail of good health.

1. Don’t just set expectations, make agreements

A source of conflict in many relationships is the disconnect between expectations and agreements. You might tell your partner you’ve decided to follow a ketogenic diet or pursue a Primal lifestyle, but unless you get clear on your expectations and lay out an agreement, that line can get fuzzy.

For instance, if your significant other brings home fresh baked bread when you’re abstaining from grains, you may feel like he or she is trying to sabotage your efforts. But if an agreement hasn’t been laid out and agreed to, all you have is the expectation that your partner shouldn’t be doing that. Perhaps they don’t know how important it is to you to not have bread in the house. Or they think they’re being supportive by bringing home a treat. Getting clear on your expectations and agreements allows you to focus on your health goals without the pressure of assuming your partner knows what you want or need.

2. Have empathy toward your partner

It’s easy to be irritated by a partner who’s still dragging their butt out of bed, sucking down sodas to stay awake, or praising the virtues of Meatless Monday — especially when you’re feeling amazing doing the opposite. But it’s important to consider the emotions they’re going through during this time. There’s a good chance they’re jealous, fearful, or uncertain about your future together. After all, if your favorite couples’ activity used to be laying around, binging on junk food in front of the TV and now you’re hitting the hay earlier, jumping out of bed in the morning, and making time to cook up a nutrient-dense breakfast, they may not be sure how they fit into the picture.

And remember, there’s a big difference between empathy and sympathy. Sympathy is feeling bad or sorry for someone, where empathy is feeling those emotions with someone.

3. Communicate

When you’re feeling unsupported, it can be hard not to nag, shout, or give your partner the silent treatment. However, learning how to communicate effectively can help you get over this hurdle and any others that can (and likely will) come up.

Open up about what you’re going through, why you’re shifting your lifestyle, and why you’d really appreciate your support — without putting blame or shame on your significant other. Then, take a step back and hear what they have to say. Listening is as important a skill as talking when it comes to communication. Be aware of your body language too. Things like crossed arms or legs or tightly clasped hands give off a defensive or closed-off vibe.

4. Be a role model

Just by doing what you’re doing (purchasing unprocessed foods, cooking at home, getting out and exercising), you’re planting a seed in your partner’s mind about the importance of good health. Your positive actions have the ability to influence and motivate, without saying a word.

However, the biggest factor in whether or not they’ll be inspired lies in their own beliefs. According to a study, participants who felt like certain results were attainable to them were more apt to see a role model as inspiring. And participants who believed they couldn’t achieve more than they already had started to view themselves more negatively.⁴ In this case, a more gradual approach might be more beneficial if you want your partner to follow your lead.

5. Get your priorities in order

Another thing to keep in mind is that this is YOUR health journey. You’re the one who’s embarking on this change, not your significant other, your spouse, or even your kids. That’s why it’s crucial that you get clear on what message you’re putting out there. Sure, it would be great if everyone in your household ate the same thing (who likes to make two dinners anyway?) and no one ever brought cookies or Halloween candy or artificially colored and flavored juice drinks into your home, but that’s not necessarily realistic. It’s not necessary to your success either.

So, asking yourself: is your partner being difficult because they’re not supporting you? Or because they’re not eating and moving their body exactly how you’re doing it? Good questions to ponder. Someone can be supportive yet choose to not live a Primal lifestyle. And that’s okay.

6. Find common ground

Assuming that your SAD-loving partner would prefer to eat Twinkies and mac-n-cheese all day isn’t just unfair, it’s unproductive. Take a step back and figure out what foods you both enjoy eating (there’s got to be at least one, right?). Maybe you both like eggs or salmon or grilled asparagus. Or a great rare steak. By finding a favorite food in common, you can come up with meals that satisfy both of your eating preferences. Plus, the effort of wanting to find common ground with your partner can reduce the tension of a ‘my way or the highway scenario’.

7. Join a supportive community

If you’re not getting the support you need at home (or not enough support), there are tons of online groups you can engage with. Right now, the Mark’s Daily Apple Facebook group has more than 200,000 members. Keto Reset has 32,000 members. And Primal Blueprint has more than 20,000 members. If that’s not enough, reach out to a friend, a family member, or one of our expert health coaches.

Participating in a group gives you the opportunity to be with people who have a like-minded purpose. Not only will you be interacting with those who understand what you’re going through, it can help you feel less isolated, less anxious, and less stressed out.

8. Reflect on your own journey

You might be all-in when it comes to your keto or Primal lifestyle now, but think back to the beginning of your health journey. Transitioning away from a morning toast and OJ routine, or sandwich-and-chips-on-the-go isn’t always easy. And it’s not something to take lightly. So, if your significant other isn’t diving into Primal in one fell swoop, relax a little. They may need an approach that feels less scary — where they’re less likely to fail. Just remember that everyone’s journey is different. Even the people who live under the same roof as you.

What’s worked for you? Tell me if you’ve used any of these tactics or other strategies, when dealing with a difficult or unsupportive partner.

The post 8 Ways to Deal with a Difficult Partner (Who Doesn’t Eat Like You Do) appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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People often ask me why I use supplements. After all, our hunter-gatherer ancestors didn’t take them. Our ancient ancestors didn’t take them, nor did our medieval ones or our pre-industrial ones. In fact, nutritional supplementation is one of the most modern inputs you can imagine and, in a perfect world while eating a perfect diet, it should be unnecessary.

But the world is not perfect. We don’t have the same foods available to us that our ancestors ate during the formative years of our evolution, and even if we did, modern farming practices altered mineral levels in the soil. Supplementation can restore some semblance of a “natural” food environment.

Overcoming the stressors of modernity, however, is harder, because it’s not a matter of avoiding the wrong foods and eating the right ones then smoothing out the rough patches with smart supplements. Modern stressors are mostly unavoidable. You have to deal with them. Endure them. And that’s where supplements can really help. Like L-theanine.

What is L-Theanine?

One of my favorite anti-stress supplements is L-theanine. It’s an amino acid found in green and white tea that is structurally similar to glutamine, GABA, and glutamate. It crosses the blood-brain barrier after oral dosing, appearing in the hippocampus and increasing alpha-waves in the brain in less than an hour. It’s clearly “doing stuff” up there. But what are the benefits?

L-Theanine Benefits

The majority of L-theanine’s benefits revolve around our response to stress and anxiety. L-theanine takes the edge of things. More specifically and in addition, L-theanine:

• Reduces stress
• Lowers anxiety
• Improves performance
• Smoothes out the effect of caffeine
• Improves sleep
• Restores immune function
• Protects against alcoholic liver damage

L-Theanine as a Stress Reducer

When you meditate, your brain is pumping alpha waves. When you’re having a restful morning with . not much to do but hang around and quietly enjoy your time, you’re alpha wave-dominant. When you’re sitting on the beach listening to the waves lap the shore, a brain scan would reveal a ton of alpha wave activity. And when you take 50 mg of L-theanine, your alpha brainwaves kick in after about an hour.¹

L-Theanine as an Anxiety Buster

L-theanine isn’t a benzodiazepine. It won’t brute force your brain into an overwhelming state of supreme chill. For L-theanine to reduce your anxiety, you must actually be anxious. Now, much anxiety is hidden, even to ourselves. We may not know that we’re anxious about something. We may not recognize it. So theanine can really help, as long as there’s something for it to help against.

The downside is that it’s subtler than taking a pharmaceutical anti-anxiety med; you don’t “feel it” as much as taking something like xanax. The upside is that it doesn’t make you drowsy and it’s non-addictive. In fact, most people tolerate theanine so well that researchers have been unable to identify a toxic dose. I’m not suggesting you take an entire bottle, of course. There may be a toxic dose, somewhere, somehow. But subjects have taken 400 mg of L-theanine every day for 8 weeks straight without apparent ill effect.

L-Theanine as a Performance Enhancer

L-theanine is most effective at improving the cognitive performance of people undergoing stress. In studies, this takes the form of artificially stressful environments—loud noises, oppressive rules, that sort of thing. In real life, stress is more unpredictable, and I’d argue that most of us are in stressful environments, even if we’re not consciously aware of it. If you’re lucky enough to live a totally stress-free life, L-theanine may not help your performance.

Here’s what I mean: In subjects doing mental tasks in a stressful environment, taking theanine improved performance, reduced blood pressure, and lowered subjective stress-anxiety levels.²

L-Theanine and Caffeine

If you get the jitters or anxiety from caffeine, have 100-200 mg of L-theanine with it. The combination has been shown to smooth out the effects of caffeine and reduce anxiety while retaining performance. That’s why you feel awake and alert after a cup of tea, but without the jittery feeling that coffee gives you.

L-Theanine: Sleep Enhancer

Much like its relationship with mental performance, the ability of L-theanine to enhance sleep depends on the psychological status of the individual.

If you suffer from anxiety or stress, L-theanine has been shown to improve sleep quality and efficiency and reduce sleep latency and usage of sleeping meds.³

If you’re a kid with ADHD, 400 mg of L-theanine can help with sleep quality.⁴

If you’re being treated for clinical depression, 250 mg of theanine per day should help reduce sleep disturbances at night.⁵

If you’re being treated for schizophrenia, 250 mg of daily L-theanine should improve sleep quality.⁶

But if you have good sleep and good mental health, L-theanine won’t be a big boost to your sleep quality—unless you have significant stress in your life (which most do).

L-Theanine for Immune System Restoration

Back about 20 years ago, I developed an anti-stress supplement meant to combat the overreach and overtraining so many endurance athletes experience. Like me. See, I would get dozens of colds each year. Even though I looked healthy and fit, my immune system was constantly playing catch up. All my running and training didn’t leave any resources for the rest of my physiology. Everything was devoted to recovery.

That supplement, originally called Proloftin but now called Adaptogenic Calm, included L-theanine in addition to four other key anti-stress ingredients. I developed it to fix my own issues, and sure enough, it worked (and as it turned out, many others had the same problem).

As we can see from recent research, it wasn’t just placebo. In one study, endurance athletes supplemented with a cysteine and L-theanine product starting ten days prior to training. They ran immune tests before and after training, and the group who got the cysteine and L-theanine supplement had lower C-reactive protein, lower neutrophil count, and higher lymphocyte levels, indicatives of a lower inflammatory and immune load.⁷

L-Theanine and Liver Health

We don’t have direct evidence of isolated L-theanine improving a person’s liver’s resistance to things like alcohol, but we do have two other lines of evidence.

First, the animal studies that show supplemental L-theanine protects the liver against alcohol-induced injury and increases liver glutathione content (the antioxidant we use to detoxify ethanol).⁸⁹

Second, the many observational studies linking green tea consumption to improved liver health and  robustness, like the one where green tea consumption seemed to protect against fatty liver.¹⁰

L-Theanine: Dosage You Should Take

Oral doses as low as 50 mg have been shown to induce alpha brain waves in healthy humans and doses up to 600 mg per day have been safely tested. Generally, people can tolerate an awful lot of L-theanine without any problems. In fact, you’d have to eat hundreds of grams of pure L-theanine powder to even approach the LD50.

How I Use L-Theanine

The most common way I take L-theanine is by popping a few caps of Adaptogenic Calm, the anti-stress supplement I’ve been making and using for over a decade. You don’t have to take Adaptogenic Calm to get L-theanine, but I’m pretty happy with the synergistic effects of the ingredients.

On the rare occasion I feel acutely stressed out, I’ll take some L-theanine powder under my tongue and let it sit there. L-theanine is water-soluble, so in theory it should absorb sublingually. It certainly feels like it does—I get an almost immediate effect. The taste is subtly sweet. Not something you seek out, not something you avoid either.

You can also get it from green tea, but it will be difficult to hit the 100/200 mg mark found to be most effective in clinical trials through tea alone. Average theanine doses in a cup of green tea range between 25-60 mg. It’s doable, especially if you luck out with a theanine-rich source of tea—you just have to drink a good amount.

That’s it for my take on L-theanine. All in all, it’s a great compound to keep on hand and, perhaps, take on a regular basis. Very little downside, almost all upside.

Have you ever tried L-theanine? Notice anything? How do you use it yourself?

Thanks for reading, everyone.

The post Why You Need to Be Taking L-Theanine appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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What lessons can we learn from world champions in a biomechanical comparison of different kettlebell snatch styles?

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Today you take your first steps towards becoming a ninja/Jedi/assassin/superhero, without needing to step foot in a gym.

Think it’s impossible?

Well, check out our friend Jimmy above, who transformed himself by just focusing on bodyweight training in his home.

No gym? No problem! Let our coaches build a home routine for you.

Have no fear, as long as you have a body, we’ll get you started with bodyweight training.

If you’re a ghost, this just got awkward. 

Here’s what we’ll cover in our guide:

• What is bodyweight training?
• Is bodyweight training better than weight machines?
• Where should I perform bodyweight exercises?
• How to progress with bodyweight training.
• Can you build muscle with only a bodyweight workout?
• How to get started with bodyweight training.

Let’s jump right in!

What Is Bodyweight Training?

“Use your body to improve your body.” – Something some zen master said at some point probably

Bodyweight training means doing any exercise that leverages your own bodyweight to build strength and muscle, burn fat, and become more resilient. Now, you might think that’s just basic stuff like push-ups and squats. Those things ARE bodyweight movements, and absolutely crucial to building a healthy foundation.

Hidden in plain sight however, your own body’s weight is actually a complete training system waiting to be used. +5 points to Gryffindor for you being a complete training system.

You can use your body’s weight as a centerpiece in your training routine for decades to come, like me:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Steve Kamb (@stevekamb) on Sep 28, 2016 at 9:51am PDT

Coach Jim also centers his workouts around bodyweight training:

You can also use a bodyweight workout to build a foundational strength before you move to barbell workouts, or mix in some bodyweight training to complement your yoga/swimming/running/dancing/international jewel thievery. Today, we’ll take you through exactly how to get started.

The best part: since bodyweight training scales in difficulty and has plenty of variety, it truly can be used from Level 1 to Level 50.

Is Bodyweight Training Better Than Weight Machines?

Your body is a complex piece of machinery that has been fine-tuned over thousands of generations. Think of yourself as Human Ver. 100000000.0.0.1. We’ve been doing “bodyweight training” as a species since our days as cavemen and cavewomen – except back then it wasn’t called training, it was called “life” and there was no spandex:

Things like:

• Sitting in a deep squat around a campfire with our tribe.
• Crawling under and over things as we encountered obstacles in nature.
• Pulling ourselves up into a tree or over a cliff to escape danger.
• Pushing ourselves up onto a ledge or platform to get a better view.
• Swinging from vine to vine as King of the Jungle. (Okay maybe not this one).

Because we’ve had to adapt to do all of those things to survive, our bodies LOVE the idea of working with all of our muscles and bones and joints in unison to accomplish movements or overcome obstacles. If you’ve ever heard the term “Functional Fitness,” that’s what we’re talking about here.

It’s the reason we rage against the machines in the gym – cue “Bulls on Parade” – they often create imbalances and other weird problems through isolation and non-functional movement.

Think of it this way: Cavemen didn’t pick up various rocks to isolate their triceps muscles or do “curlz for the cavegurlz.” And they certainly didn’t lie on a bench at a 30-degree angle while doing log presses to emphasize their upper pectoral muscles before going to kill a gazelle.

Instead, men and women did whatever they needed to do in order to survive — and their bodies adapted as a result.

If you’ve been reading Nerd Fitness for a while, you know I’m a fan of this quote from the trainer of the actors in the movie 300: “Appearance is a consequence of fitness.”

Bodyweight exercises tap into our full, natural anatomy. Movements like squats, push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and rows are compound exercises that recruit all the muscles in our body and teach them to work in unison.

When you do bodyweight training, your body becomes more efficient working as a unified organism: all of your muscles, tendons, joints, and bones get strong as hell together — and safely.

Plus, you get to master your body like a freaking Jedi.

We know that strength training — with your bodyweight or with free weights — also happens to burn plenty of calories and builds muscle and strength. So it doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, young or old — bodyweight strength training can help you build a body that looks good and feels good. In fact, as you get older one of the best ways to feel young is to stay strong! Just ask our older rebels.

Period. Exclamation point! Loud noises!

Where Should I Perform Bodyweight Exercises

Bodyweight training can be done ANYWHERE.

Read that sentence one more time. Crap, there goes that excuse for not exercising! You always have your body with you, which means you always have the ability to exercise, even if it’s just for a few reps here and there.

You can always improve yourself physically. Anytime. Anywhere. Whether you’re:

• Traveling around the world
• Hunkered down in a bunker during the zombie apocalypse
• Stuck in a cubicle
• Living in a hotel
• Training in your living room
• Near a playground
• On Mars. Once Elon Musk sends me there.

Seriously, right now you can just drop down and do some (knee/wall) push-ups.

I’ll wait.

You didn’t do them, did you?! You sandbaggin’ son of a biscuit… you SAILOR you.

Even if you DIDN’T do them, you weren’t completely overwhelmed at the idea of doing a few reps!

My point is this: You don’t need access to a gym to get in great shape. You simply need to know a few moves — which we’ll teach you below — and you can train anywhere.

How to Progress with Bodyweight Training

Although bodyweight exercises are a bit tougher to visualize as a scalable activity compared to weight lifting (where you just put more weight on the bar), with just a little bit knowledge bodyweight training is like improving a particular skill tree in video games.

For example, in the push-up you might start on your knees:

Or with your hands on an elevated surface:

Over time, by slowly adjusting the angle you are manipulating your bodyweight, you can effectively change the difficulty of an exercise to make it more challenging. With a tougher angle, you have to move a higher percentage of your bodyweight, and thus more strength is needed!

I guarantee you can train with just your bodyweight for the next 20 years and you will not reach a “MAX LEVEL” screen.

Here’s what an oversimplified progression tree for the squat might look like:

#1) Assisted Bodyweight Squat

#2) Bodyweight Squat

#3) Assisted One Leg Squat

#4) One Leg Squat

Show me somebody that has advanced to the end of one or more bodyweight skill trees, and I’ll show you somebody that is in peak physical condition (and looks damn good too!).

Once you learn the progressions, it’s just like adding points to a skill tree or leveling up a skill to unlock the next one in a video game. You start at the base exercise, get stronger and better, and then rank up when that movement becomes too easy. Gamification ftw.

There’s always a new skill to work on, a new challenging variation, the next level in the skill you’re working on.

Can You Build Muscle With Only a Bodyweight Workout?

Bodyweight training can help you build a great physique. 

If you’re like me (and the other 7.2 billion people on the planet), you might look at gymnasts or see what Coach Jim is doing in that photo above and say “holy crap I wish I had a body like that” or “dang, would be cool to do that, but not me.”

If you happen to be somebody who is stockier or heavier, you might look at a bodyweight-training-Jedi and say “I can’t train like them, because I’m not built like them. I need to lose weight first before trying to those things”

You’ve got it backwards.

They look like they do precisely because they train like that!

In fact, we have TONS of success stories from people in our community, male and female who have transformed thanks to bodyweight training. Yours truly included!

Some people use the training to slim WAY down, others like me, use it to pack some muscle on (click on each photo for the story!):

Now, not only do ninja/assassin/gymnasts look good, they can also do some pretty cool party tricks – like Jim doing one-arm handstands:

I don’t think I’ll be doing handstands on stacked chairs anytime soon, or busting out one-handed handstands, but it’s amazing to know what our bodies are capable of when we train them with conviction and follow the right progressions!

If you’re somebody who scrolls through Instagram far too often (like me!), use motivation properly and follow people that inspire you to be stronger, fitter, and better.

May I suggest:

• Mats Trane: 57 years young!
• Andrii Bodarenko: your jaw will drop.
• Madeleine Leander – Starcraft 2 champion with a Ph.D. in math who has mastered the muscle-up!
• Jennifer Tavernier – Dang!
• Nerd_Fitness – hey that’s us! You’ll definitely want to follow us this month.
• Jim Bathurst – Master of the Training Universe at Nerd Fitness
• Staci Ardison – Ring enthusiast, deadlift addict at Nerd Fitness
• Steve Kamb (me!) – all around goofball working on becoming a monkey-ninja-assassin-gymnast-Jedi.

How to Get Started With Bodyweight Training

At this point, you’re most likely nodding your head at your computer and saying “okay fine Steve I get it, I’m going to make bodyweight training a focal point of my workouts!”

Seriously, I can see you. You look nice today, and those shoes go great with that shirt.

But you might think you’re too overweight or too old or too [something] and that’s all nonsense. Hogwash. Poppycock. Balderdash.

Here’s that 57-year-old gymnast again, who is in better shape than 99% of people 25 years younger:

 

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A post shared by Mats Trane -57/yo 🇸🇪 (@matstrane) on Jun 29, 2016 at 8:56am PDT

If you’re brand new to Nerd Fitness, we recommend you get started with the Nerd Fitness Beginner Bodyweight Workout. Read the article, and watch the video below, featuring me about 30 pounds lighter and with helmet hair:

(Fun fact, this is our most viewed video on Youtube at 1,400,000 views, and my shorts are on backwards. Professionalism at its finest!)

If you’re feeling particularly feisty, check out our Advanced Bodyweight Workout too:

Whether you go through those workouts or not, I have a mission for you!

I want you to master these three moves:

#1) The Push-up

#2) The Squat

#3) The Pull-up

or Bodyweight Row:

If you can do a workout with 3 sets of 10 push-ups, 3 sets of 20 bodyweight squats, and 3 sets of 5 pull-ups, you will be in better shape than 95% of your peers.

That should get you well on your way to becoming a badass version of you.

Now the only thing left to do is start!

If you want some help getting going…

Here are some options for next steps with Nerd Fitness: 

Option #1) If you want a professional coach in your pocket, who can do video form checks, provide feedback, and adjust your workouts based on the equipment you have available, check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program! 

For example, let’s say you find yourself stuck indoors during a pandemic, and you want somebody to custom-build you a workout program based on the equipment and furniture you have. That’s where an online coach is a game-changer! 

Personally, I’ve been working with the same online coach since 2015 and it’s changed my life. You can learn more by clicking on the box below: 

Our coaching program changes lives. Learn how!

2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Have questions you need answered? Join Nerd Fitness Prime!

Nerd Fitness Prime is our premium membership program that contains at-home exercise routines, live-streamed workouts with NF Coaches, a supportive online community, group challenges, and much more! 

Option #3) Become part of the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.

Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out from home” guides.

Get your Nerd Fitness Starter Kit

• The 15 mistakes you don’t want to make.
• Full guide to the most effective diet and why it works.
• Complete and track your first workout today, no gym required.

Alright, now it’s your turn. Answer me this:

What is the BIGGEST thing holding you back currently from getting started with bodyweight training?

What’s one reason you are going to add bodyweight training to your routines this month?

Leave your comments and questions below and we’ll do our best to answer them.

-Steve

PS: If you want more ideas on how to get started, make sure you check out The 42 Best Bodyweight Exercises!

###

Photo: Leg0Fenris:Lego Pushup, Exile: Pull-Up Bar

Gif Source: Chest Press

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Your vagina is a complex and finely tuned environment that has several factors that need to be kept in balance. Your vagina is pretty good at protecting and cleaning itself. Proper vaginal care, such as good hygiene, safe sex, and regular gynecological visits, all play a role in keeping your pH in check. But what […]

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Hi, everyone, Lindsay here. As a parent of school-aged kids, the upcoming school year is front and center in my mind. Like you, I’m trying to figure out how to make distance learning work for my family. Before starting today’s post, I want to acknowledge that everyone’s situation is different. Family structures, finances, support systems, living arrangements, access to technology, and employment all affect how we’ll approach this upcoming school year. Not to mention, our kids have unique needs, strengths, and challenges.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution. A lot of parents are facing tough dilemmas. Their school districts’ solutions simply aren’t workable for them for various reasons, sometimes reflecting larger societal issues. While I’m going to offer some simple, concrete steps and encouragement, I also don’t want to minimize the challenges that some people are facing. I’d love for other parents/caregivers to join the discussion in the comments and let us know how you’re juggling everything.

The new school year is almost upon us, and I’m sure I’m not the only parent who feels like my head has been spinning for five months. After being thrown into distance learning in March, school districts are still scrambling to figure out what’s happening this fall. Teachers and parents are rightfully worried about how to balance seemingly un-balanceable interests: educating our kids, supporting working parents, making sure all kids have equal learning opportunities (always an issue), maintaining kids’ socioemotional wellbeing, and allowing schools to stay funded, all while protecting the health and safety of students, their families, teachers, and staff.

What a mess. It turns out that living through a global pandemic is hard and exhausting.

In the U.S. at least, many of our kids aren’t going back to school, not physically. Certainly, none of our kids is going back to anything like the school they knew before. Some of us are lucky enough to have options—distance or hybrid learning, co-ops, charters, or homeschooling. Others are going to have to go with whatever their district decides. This post is aimed primarily at parents/caregivers whose kids are distance or hybrid learning, but it also applies if you’re choosing a different route instead.

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Start By Taking Stock

Get a notebook and pencil, call a family meeting, and:

1. Decide What You Want to Accomplish This Year

This isn’t about making a concrete plan so much as a general mission statement for your family. What will allow you to feel like this year was a success? What do you need to do to protect the mental health and happiness of the people in your household?

Since we’re all being thrust into something new anyway, it’s the perfect time to pause and consider what’s most important when it comes to your kids’ education. What, and how, would you really like your kids to learn? Given their druthers, what topics would they choose to pursue? Some families are choosing to homeschool this year, seizing the opportunity to try something completely different. On the other hand, if you have a high schooler on track to apply for academic scholarships, perhaps staying on that path is your top priority.

For some families, managing their kids’ social and emotional wellbeing is going to come before academics this year. Maybe you’ll do your best to go with the flow of whatever your district is offering, but let go of all expectations about grades, schedules, and getting dressed every day.

There are no right or wrong answers here, but it’s important that everyone is on the same page.

2. Identify Your Village

Even with social distancing, there are ways we can support one another. Make a list of all the people who can be there for you this year, and vice versa. Then, start to rally the troops.

Do you have grandparents or aunts and uncles who can take an hour or two per week to read or do homework over Skype? What skills and talents do your friends and family members have that they could share—things like organizing cooking, music, art, or science lessons? Do your friends have high school or college-age kids who can tutor or babysit (safely, of course)?

Some families are creating “learning pods” with a few other families. The kids band together and do schoolwork, while the parents share the load. Perhaps this is feasible for you. Otherwise, maybe you organize standing Minecraft playdates or a movie or book club so your kids can socialize, and you can get your own work done.

Don’t forget about yourself. Who will you talk to when you feel overwhelmed? How will you get breaks when you need them?

3. Budget Your Finances AND Your Time

Lay it all out there. Realistically, how much time can you spend monitoring your kids’ schoolwork? If you have a partner or co-parent, decide how you’ll partition your time. Figure out what you’ll need from your village. Be honest about how much both you and your kids will be able to accomplish.

If your kid is expected to be on the computer from 9 to 3, and that’s simply not going to happen, contact their teacher and ask for accommodations. Better yet, propose an alternative that is realistic for your family. If you’re working from home, explore whether you have flexibility with your hours. There might be a way to start earlier and take two-hour lunch breaks, for example. Make sure to ask if your employer is offering childcare subsidies, which can often go to a family member who helps watch your kids.

Figure out how much money you have available to spend on school this year. For us, rec sports are canceled, so those registration fees bought a not-too-expensive laptop for schoolwork. (By the way, laptops and Chromebooks are in high demand already. Get yours now.)

If you have more time than money, maybe you are the person who can coordinate the learning pod or organize used book swaps if the library is closed. If you have more money than time, you might sign your kids up for online classes and extracurricular activities, or hire a tutor to help with challenging subjects. Sites like Outschool and Coursera offer all sorts of classes your kids might enjoy.

Connect to Homeschoolers

Homeschoolers have the most experience making home learning work. Although homeschooling is different from distance learning, I bet you’ll feel much more confident after reading a few blogs or talking to your friends who homeschool.

Here are some things I’ve learned from homeschooling friends:

• Daily schedules work great for some families, but they aren’t mandatory for success. Likewise, if you have room to set up a designated classroom area in your home, great. The couch works too. Whatever system works for your family is fine, and you should do it without guilt. Who cares if your kids sleep till 10 and are doing classwork at 7:30 p.m. under the kitchen table if that’s your rhythm (and they aren’t sleeping through all their Zooms)?
• There are tons of free online resources available to help kids learn. We aren’t stuck with whatever the schools give us if our kids need more.
• Even seasoned homeschoolers will tell you that it’s hard. The struggle is real, and it doesn’t mean you are failing.
• Pretty much everything our kids do during the day—reading, watching videos, playing Lego, coloring, digging in the garden—counts as learning. Going for walks is PE. Don’t feel extra pressure to fill every minute of their school day with activities that look like “work.” All of us Primal parents probably know this, but it’s easy to forget when we’re so focused on schoolwork.
• You can prioritize. Most homeschoolers, and even elementary school teachers, don’t teach every subject every day. They do math and language arts most days, though. Practice and repetition are important in these subjects. “Lessons” can include math games, doing mental math problems in the car, reading to your kids and having them read to you, watching read-along videos on YouTube, and so much more. (Talk to your kids’ teachers if their daily assignments aren’t manageable, too.)
• Let your kids’ interests guide some of their choices. If they are reading the Percy Jackson novels, check out documentaries or podcasts on world mythologies, or virtually visit museums to see ancient Greek art. For your science lover, grab an inexpensive pocket microscope and encourage them to keep a science notebook documenting their discoveries. Teachers Pay Teachers offers enrichment activities for almost any subject, plus decorations and organizers for your home “classroom.”

If you don’t know any homeschool families, look on Reddit and Facebook. More than likely, you’ll find a local homeschooling group or one that focuses on your kids’ specific needs.

Give Yourself and Your Kids Plenty of Breaks

I mean this literally and figuratively. During the day, allow for plenty of downtimes. Let kids move between tasks and take mental breaks. Even in school, they really aren’t doing focused work for long periods, especially in the lower grades. There will be no getting away from screens this fall, but I’ll be encouraging my kids to walk away regularly.

You need breaks, too. Kids of any age can take 20 to 30 minutes of quiet time in their bedrooms in the afternoon so you can take a breather.

Also, give everyone plenty of grace, yourself included. We’re living through a pandemic. Everyone is coping with grief and pandemic fatigue right now, even if we aren’t labeling it as such. Some days won’t be great. There will be tears. Tasks will not get completed on time. Some nights, dinner will be cheese and (almond flour) crackers with baby carrots if we’re lucky. Laundry will sit in the basket unfolded. It’s ok.

Remember: This is Temporary, and We’re All Doing the Best We Can

I know the advice to do your best sounds so trite to anyone facing decisions that feel impossible. Still, what else can we do?

So many parents are stressing about their kids falling behind. Maybe I’m being naïve, but I’m not too worried about that. It’s not that my kids are exceptionally resilient or anything, but nothing about this year is going to be “normal.” Trying to hold ourselves to previous school years’ standards is unrealistic and unfair. 

Also, kids are resilient. When all this is over, and the dust starts to settle, it’s going to be a whole new educational landscape. Everyone is going to have to catch up in one way or another. We will figure it out.

If your kid is having a hard time with the social isolation, or because they have learning challenges that their schools are not accommodating at home, I’m not blithely telling you not to worry. It stinks that so many families are struggling, and that existing inequities are being magnified by distance learning. I’m saying that none of us needs the added pressure of trying to recreate a typical school year during exceptional times.

Look for Silver Linings

We’re understandably focused mostly on the challenges that come with distance learning, but it can also have its advantages. Many kids are actually thriving at home. For some who were struggling socially or academically, distance learning has been a welcome change. A lot of us parents are reexamining our priorities and finding that we are excited to teach our kids in different ways. There is, for some families, a distinct silver lining.

Gratitude can be an excellent coping tool during stressful times. Can you think of three things that you appreciate about distance learning? Ask your kids to weigh in. My kids would say: working at their own pace, sleeping in, pants are optional. Revisit your list every couple of months and see what you can add. You might find gratitude for new connections in your homeschool pod, or for being there to witness your child’s aha moment when she mastered cross-multiplication.

Hang in there, friends.

The post Making Distance Learning Work appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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Ever make excuses for why you don’t partake in grains? Wondering the best way to pass on processed foods at a party? And how do you eat healthy when there are no healthy choices available? In this week’s edition of Ask a Health Coach, Erin is here to answer your questions about defending and maintaining a Primal lifestyle in a SAD world. Keep your questions coming in the comments section below or over in our Mark’s Daily Apple Facebook Group.

Maria asked:

“How do you deal with relatives who totally buy into the dietary guidelines? I think my siblings actually believe I’m harming myself and my kids with my ‘crazy’ diet. What do I say to make them see my side?”

Trust me, I know how frustrating this is. And honestly, I don’t typically engage with anyone who tries to shame me for my choices (just like I don’t shame anyone who hasn’t realized how detrimental a Standard American Diet can be).

That said, when it’s family, it’s hard not to engage. It’s also hard to not let it rile you up. Hearing someone say that canola is one of those healthy oils or “I can’t believe you don’t eat bread” or “this soy burger is so much better for you” can make a sane person scream. And no amount of citing nutritional studies ¹ or forwarding Mark’s Daily Apple links will convince them otherwise.

Our food choices have become as controversial as talking about politics or religion. And most people have a hard time seeing that their diet and their health issues are connected. They just go about their day, slurping down their ginormous sugar-laden coffee drinks and processed convenience foods and then running to the doctor when a health issue arises (which it always does).

Unless they’re paying a lot of attention, people become so disengaged from their bodies that they don’t realize eating certain foods is causing them to feel like crap. They don’t realize that being bloated or having indigestion all the time is fixable.

It’s not your job to fix them. But it is your job to stand up for what you and your kids believe in. Eating high-quality protein, healthy fats, nuts and seeds, and fruits and veggies is how our ancestors ate — before chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease became staples in our healthcare system.

You know that eating this way works for you and your family. That’s why the best advice is to lead by example. As your siblings see you indulging in red meat and big ass salads and forgoing grains and processed desserts, they’ll also start to notice that your weight is staying stable (or you’re losing weight) and you’re avoiding the typical illnesses that plague Standard American Dieters.

Whenever you get together with family, keeping eating like you always do without making it a big deal. Who knows? Maybe one of these days you’ll notice they’re slathering up their dinner with real butter instead of spraying on the fake stuff.

Sara asked:

“I’ve been Primal about 2 years and I’m still struggling with how to eat healthy at parties when there are limited food options. I always end up eating what’s there because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Got any advice?”

Let me ask you this. What’s more important, your health or the host’s feelings? If passing on chips or cake makes you feel bad, you might want to dig a little deeper into why you’re choosing to eat Primally in the first place. I use an exercise called WHY x 5  with my clients that works wonders when it comes to gauging their deep-down motivating factors for change; and all you have to do is ask yourself WHY five times:

• Why is living a Primal lifestyle important to me?
• Why does that matter?
• Why is that important?
• Why would that be great to achieve?
• And (to address any remaining questions) why?

My guess is that when you eat processed junk, you end up lethargic and bloated. Maybe you feel foggy, your cravings are out of control, you don’t sleep as soundly at night, and you don’t feel as rested in the morning. When you eat protein-forward foods made with real ingredients and healthy fats, you probably feel like a million bucks.

I get it though. It’s really hard to pass on a dish that someone has made from scratch and is being offered from the goodness of their heart. But here’s how you do it. Just say “no.” Or “no thanks” if you’re feeling extra polite. You don’t need to come up with an excuse to justify your answer either. You don’t have to say you aren’t hungry or that you don’t eat grains. All you have to say is “no, thank you.” So liberating, right?

Here’s another technique I use personally and recommend in my own health coaching practice. Bring a Primal-ish dish ² (that won’t scare off your non-Primal friends). That way you’ll be guaranteed something healthy to eat — something where you know all the ingredients. Even if you’re not much of a cook, you can easily throw together a colorful salad and bring along a delicious Primal-friendly dressing that everyone in attendance will love (and ask you about). There’s also the possibility that your real food contribution will spark a non-confrontational conversation about why you eat this way and (hopefully) give them an alternative perspective on what good health is all about.

James asked:

“When you are out and there are no Primal choices, is it better to eat unhealthy or nothing at all?”

Here’s the deal James. Once you have a solid understanding of what ‘healthy’ is, you can always find a better-for-you choice. When you’re hung up on following the rules to a tee, or the opposite end of the spectrum, having those “life’s too short not to eat the cake moments” — that’s when people typically get into trouble.

But let’s back up a sec. Say you’re at a restaurant and you’re starving, completely ravenous. Even with the best willpower, you’d be struggling not to scarf down the whole bread basket. Anyone would. Now, I love when my clients have the awareness to realize that they’re hungry (vs looking for something snacky to pass the time), however there’s a difference between being hungry and being hangry ³ That’s when all logic and reasoning go out the window.

When you answer hunger with a processed, grainy thing like bread, you’re going to have a blood sugar spike, then a big ol’ sugar crash — quickly followed by another round of ravenous hunger.

So, my first piece of advice is to eat a little before you arrive. When your blood sugar is stable, you’re more apt to make choices that are aligned with your goals. Meaning, you’re more likely to choose a healthier option than dive head-first into a basket of grains.

Second, you can almost ALWAYS find something Primal-ish at a restaurant. Order a burger and scrap the bun. Ask for a plate of steamed veggies with butter. Or sip on a cup of coffee with cream ‘til you can get your hands on something more satiating.

And third, the Primal lifestyle is all about balance, so if you end up eating the bread, don’t sweat it. While the 20% isn’t intended to be about cheating, it is about navigating real life scenarios.

Have you had to defend your Primal lifestyle to family or friends? If so, what strategies have you used? Share your experience in the comments below.

The post What to Say When People Ask About Your Eating Habits appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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When foreign infectious pathogens like bacteria and viruses enter the body, your immune system produces antibodies to protect. So, the stronger your immune system is, the quicker it can produce antibodies. But for this to happen, you’ll need to incorporate some fairly easy “tricks” into your daily diet and routine — particularly during a time […]

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Bon bons sound so fancy, don’t they? It’s like saying “ice cream bites,” but with a French accent and a posh flair. You may get the impression that ice cream bon bons are difficult to make, but here’s a secret: they’re easy. If you can scoop ice cream, you can pull it off. And if you use Keto Pint Ice Cream, you can make low-carb keto ice cream bon bons without churning a thing.

Go ahead. Show off a little.

We used Primal Kitchen® Chai Tea Collagen Latte Drink Mix to give these keto bon bons a warm, cozy spice flavor against a chilled ice cream backdrop, plus collagen that your skin and hair love as a bonus.

Don’t wait for your next opportunity to share a batch of bon bons. Make a tray, keep them in the freezer, and pop one whenever a sweet moment strikes.

Keto Chai Ice Cream Bon Bons Recipe

Time in the kitchen: 60, including 45 minutes in the freezer

Makes: 10 bon bons, or more if you decide to use more ice cream

Ingredients

• 3 oz. coconut butter
• 2 oz. cacao butter
• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1.5 scoops Primal Kitchen Chai Tea Collagen Keto Latte Drink Mix
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 (or more) pints Keto Pint Ice Cream (Coffee or Sea Salt Caramel)

Directions

Finely chop the cacao butter.

Scoop out the coconut butter and spoon both into a heat-safe bowl. Set up a double boiler by heating a few inches of water in a pot.

Once the water is hot, reduce the heat to low and place the bowl over the pot so it’s resting on top of it. Use a whisk and begin mixing the cacao butter and coconut butter to encourage it to melt.

Remove the bowl from the heat right before the cacao butter is fully melted, and continue to whisk when it’s removed from the heat.

Whisk in the coconut oil until the mixture is uniform. Add the collagen powder and vanilla extract and whisk until combined. Set the mixture aside.

Scoop out the ice cream using an ice cream scoop and place each scoop on a sheet pan with a piece of parchment on it.

Place the scoops of ice cream in the oven for 30-45 minutes to harden.

Once the scoops of ice cream have set, place a scoop of ice cream on a spoon or spatula and spoon the white chocolate mixture on top.

Cover the ice cream twice with white chocolate, allowing the chocolate to coat all sides of the ice cream. Carefully place the finished bon bon on a piece of parchment and repeat with the remaining ice cream.

Place the bon bons in the freezer to allow them to set and harden.

Dust a little of the chai collagen on top and enjoy!

Tips

• When setting up the double boiler, set the burner over low heat and only let the coconut butter and cacao butter come near being fully melted before removing the bowl from the pot. Continue stirring after you remove the bowl from the heat and then stir in the coconut oil, vanilla and collagen powder.
• The chai white chocolate coating will thinly coat the ice cream on the first pass, so I recommend giving each scoop of ice cream two dips of coating.
• If chai flavor isn’t your thing, you can try this recipe out with a different flavored Primal Kitchen Collagen and your favorite ice cream flavor.

Nutrition Info (per scoop, about 10):

Calories: 136
Total Fat: 15g
Total Carbs: 3g
Net Carbs: 2g
Protein: 2g

The post Keto Chai Ice Cream Bon Bons Recipe appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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Paul Carter of Lift Run Bang specializes in hypertrophy and body re composition. He coaches pro bodybuilders and elite strength athletes and works with some of the most respected minds in a strength and physique world.

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