Tuesday, May 10, 2011

My thoughts on diets, calories, sunburn and fat

I get asked it A LOT... so let me write you a 2 minute article on my nutrition and training beliefs....  This is only A SHORT ARTICLE. If you want to debate it, comment below.... and I would love to expand on the reasoning and anecdotes.

1.  I fundamentally believe that we should be eating (and exercising) the way that nomads ate thousands of years ago.
2.  This includes a notable lack of calorie counting, treadmills, protein powders and unnecessary prescription drugs.
3.  You get more benefit from 20 minutes ballistic and sprint drills (done properly) than a 3 hour run or bike ride.
4.  Marathons and triathlons put incredible and unsustainable stress on your vital organs and limbs.  Most endurance athletes die before 60 (or have a stroke or heart attack) and look 100 at age 40.
5.  We DON'T HAVE TO EAT 3-5 meals a day....
6.  Sugar and grains make you fat.
7.  Fat is good - macadamia oils, fish oils, avocado, full fat dairy, the gooey fat on the bottom of a roast chicken, butter - NOT MARGARINE.  The more the better.  It's the quality of the mouthful, not the calorie....
8.  Need more good gut bacteria to stave off flu? cancer? thrush?  Eat and play in the dirt and stop taking antibiotics every time you get a sniffle...
9.  Take your shoes off and sprint on the grass and sand.
10.  If your back or knees hurt it's because you have a strength deficiency. (Everyone has Scoliosis... don't use it as an excuse.)
11. If you have been eating sh!t for over a decade it will take more than 6 weeks to look and feel good again... stop hoping for a quick fix.
12.  One day people will be suing meal replacement companies because they have bowel cancer and a colostomy bag.... oh yes, and they are fat again.
13.  Take your shoes off when you do weighted squats.
14.  Caveman Grok didn't do ab work - he did chin ups and had better obliques than a fitness instructor.
15.  Have you ever seen a really cut, fit Les Mills instructor (that didn't do Cross Fit or Sweat Depot on the side?)?
16.  Get the f^@% out of florescent lights!  It's why you can't sleep and you haven't ovulated properly in 7 years!
17.  You CAN go out in the sun for short periods without sunscreen and without getting burnt... better still, train for short periods in the sun and you won't have to pay $40 for vitamin D tablets and a sore case of depression. Oh yeah.. it helps burn fat too....
18.  Good fats BURN fat....
19.  Rice cakes have less nutritional value than cardboard.  At least cardboard has a bit of bacteria and cockroach poo on it...
20.  mmmm this is going to be controversial... thyroid disease can be a terrible condition, yes... but did you see one poor sole walk out of those insidious WWII concentration camps fat? And I am sure there were more than a few of those poor, poor people that had hormone and thyroid conditions. Fat DOES NOT MATERIALIZE BY ITSELF....


Age 26 - soft, weak, sick, training 8 hours a week and consuming expensive protein powders & creatine to try and be competitive
11 years and one baby on.  I squat and chin the same as the dudes, train only 4 hours a week, eat less and need less sleep.


Want to read more about living grain and sugar free?  Try Mark's Daily Apple.com

Want to rev it up me?  plllllleeeeaaaasssse comment and get my juices flowing!

6 comments:

Shaun said...

Absolutely spot on.

As a crossfit, boxing and a paleo fan i think what you're saying is awesome.

functional movements at high intensity equals fitness.

your body doesnt stop you losing weight your mind does.

Unknown said...

I couldn't agree more. I think people just get swept up with the gym culture and the next thing they know it they are sucking on protein shakes and meal replacements. I have no idea why? They are not elite athletes who perhaps at times may need a nutritional hand. The supplements are all sweet and most grains and essential fats are not. I think this is the problem! Fark you can still have a Tim Tam you just can't have the entire packet in one session. Everything in moderation should be added to your list this includes exercise...

Anonymous said...

i trained 32 hours a week a few years ago because i was at school and i had that many sport lessons (sports school in belgium)
2 years ago i graduated and went to 8 hours of sport a week and this was lifting weights and kickbox
i gained 15 kg in 1 year (muscles) no creatine no protein shakes but just a good way of training. never been this ripped before.
rules are simpel
sleep from dusk till dawn
eat like a caveman
don' t train longer than 45 minutes (in gym, kickbox is 1hour and 30 minutes standart classes)
after that i steped my game up and started using shakes and creatin, i do notice the difrence now but only after doing it the normal way and for most people it is more than enough.
and everything that makes you lose weight is bad for you health
work hard instead off taking pills and use your brain for once

Anonymous said...

I don't quite agree with you. First of all cavemen did not eat all the fat they wanted. Sure its about the quality of your food, but they ate plenty of grains. At the end of the day if you burn more calories than you consume- you will loose weight. And while natural foods are definitely better for you, if you eat too many of those- ESPECIALLY fats you will gain weight

Erin Cash said...

Caveman Grok DID NOT HAVE A FIELD OF WHEAT to farm and mills to dehusk the flour.... that's only something that has occurred in the industrial era ie: last two hundred years. Sounds like someone should stop eating so many diet bars and go back to high school....
ps: obesity is a modern person's disease. All we have to do is look at when people starting getting fat and gyms starting popping up to put two and two together.
pps: of course Grok didn't have all the fat he could eat... that's the point. He/ she fasted, gathered, hunted and feasted. On FRUIT, VEGE, SEEDS, NUTS, FISH, ANIMALS (all their bits, not just the steaks) AND BLOOD... Most people can't be bothered pan frying fish or even making veges and will eat takeaway/ a microwave meal instead. God help us if we had to find our own food... let alone running after an animal and butchering it.

LAZY = FAT

Anonymous said...

Everything you have written makes sense to me.
I would love to get more of your thoughts on meals. You mention that we do not have to eat 3 - 5 meals a day. While I understand and agree with what we should be putting in our bodies, what are your thoughts on when to eat, combined with training/exercising?
Eat when we are hungry (while not exceeding the 3 - 5 meals a day) ?
Stick to breakfast, lunch and dinner only?
Eat after a training session on top of 3 meals a day?

Cheers, Michelle