Back with episode 37. We actually survived an entire episode without Robb making fun of my beard!
Download a transcript of Episode 37
Show Topics:
- Paleo & OCD
- Coconut Water
- Apple Cinnamon & Coconut Custard
- Feeling Light Headed & Fatigued
- Natural Hormonal Enhancement
- Define Your Goals
- Ankylosing Spondylitis
- Differences for Women
- Infertility
- Menopause
- Gluten Avoidance
- Building Layers, Peaking Phases, & Periodization
Show Notes – The_Paleolithic_Solution_Episode_37
Hey Robb,
I would love to hear more commentary around implementation of the “Define Your Goals” part of the podcast. I think many people are probably in the same position as me. I have been doing more met-cons (sub 10-minute) than strength lifts lately and to use your term, I feel pretty ‘knackered’ now. Focusing during work is tough and I feel like I could go to bed at any point. I can only manage 5-6 hours of sleep a night during the week, due to work, although it is fairly regular sleep at least (no shift work). The weekend gets a little better, sometimes breeching 8 hours. I had a brief moment of wanting to go to the Games after watching them but then I came back down to earth and realized that is just not realistic. The world that you describe is what I would like: be lean with fairly good work capacity while not being tired so often. The Met-Con’s are quite fun to do but I just don’t recover well from them. I think many struggle with how much to eat and exercise while trying to lean out.
No real question here but just wanted to pass along the interest in the topic. I guess I’d call it “Real World Fitness” if that makes sense.
Hey Robb/Andy ~
Thanks again for the good info guys. Quick question about grass-fed beef: I just placed my order for a split-half and was told I would receive a call in the coming weeks for directions on what cuts I wanted.
Hmm…I have no idea. I’m not a picky eater and it would probably do me good to learn how to cook dome cow parts other than what I already know..
Any recommendations?
Robb & Andy- another infotaining podcast from Chico a.k.a. the Paleo-Mecca. Brace yourselves for a long post- this is one of my few weekly opportunities to write for fun and in English.
In terms of the mention of the difference between “elite” performance vs health & longevity, I read a great quote in a book last week (“By The Sword”- thoroughly recommended) but I’m kicking myself that I left it in Riyadh so can’t quote verbatim: it was a comment by a senior East German Olympic/Athletics official along the lines of “Elite sport begins where healthy sport ends”. Thrashing yourself into a paste every day is probably not the best in the long run.
In the service we used to say “There are old soldiers and bold soldiers but no old and bold soldiers”. It’s a common observation in combat units that take themselves seriously that once guys have finished their 20ish years, they aren’t leaving in better shape than when they joined, despite doing lots of hard exercise over a long period.
Perhaps a more accessible example is professional sports: cf John Welbourn- judging by his blog posts, he has sustained and played through some gnarly injuries. Aside from talent and determination, the prime difference between him and the everyday “athelete” crushing themselves 3 on/1 off is that he was well compensated for his pains in money, fame and cheerleaders (allegedly). => Cost/Benefit, Risk/Reward.
As far as the pregnancy topic is concerned, it sounds like you and Andy offer a “full service” to clients. I have a mental image of your gym resembling the lab that produces Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film “Twins”. Perhaps you should rebrand to “Norcal Stud and Conditioning” and really get the clients rolling in.
Death To Gluten,
Tane
Whoa, I just realized that topic 6 was submitted by me! Thanks for the response, the timing couldn’t have been better! I will work on implementing the guidelines you laid out. Thanks again.
Andy –
See now you’ve built up the beard too much. I think in fairness to Robb, you should post a picture of your beard so that we can see if it was Robb holding back or if he really doesn’t have anything to make fun of.
Seriously though guys…I was at One World for PSS and have dropped close to 30lbs since then with almost no drop in strength (except an overhead press which pisses me off). For those who are not concerned with how long it takes to lean out, I had really good luck with OPT’s blog along with a post-workout protein shake. The shake certainly slowed my lean out down, but the slow approach made keeping the strength I have (500 dead, 430 squat, 375 bench) much easier.
I can’t thank you both enough!
Brandon
Hey Robb,
Thanks for the podcast. Really learning a lot since recently becoming a convert in the last 2 months or so. I’ve got some questions about applying the paleo diet to my possibly abnormal case. I’m not looking to lose weight, and not coming from a CrossFit background. I recently graduated from university where I was a lightweight rower (so basically a power-endurance athlete). My goal now is to try to make my national team in the coming years so I’m continuing my training and I’m sold that improving my diet and eating paleo could play an important part. I’m a light guy, definitely not the naturally jacked type unfortunately (though a good thing for my sport), so I’m always trying to put on muscle as well. 6’2, 72kg, probably 8% body fat, about 9-10 workouts a week including lift 3x/week, a lot of long slow distance. Here’s my problem: I literally don’t know what to eat to get enough calories to build muscle (and recover fully). I can make a lot of great paleo type dinners, steak and veg or something, and I love it, but I really need to eat all day. I basically graze throughout the rest of the day on eggs & any leftover meat, but mainly it’s tuna/salmon, salads, vegetables, berries, that kind of thing, which just don’t provide enough calories. I haven’t gone super strict paleo in that I keep the whey, still eat some cheese and maybe some peanut butter (occasional pb binge). Have cut out grains for the vast majority. Basically, I’m just trying to figure out how I can eat paleo throughout the day to keep my protein and calories up. I can absolutely destroy a tub of nuts or almond/cashew butter–which I end up doing fairly regularly–but I really do think that hurts more than it helps. I often feel pretty terrible on workouts when I overeat on nuts, possibly from the anti-nutrients, and I know it absolutely destroys the n-6:n-3 ratio. The sheer amount of n-6s in a cup or so of almonds, walnuts, cashews, pecans, etc is obscene. Unfortunately, I think I run on too little calories a lot of the time and then end up overeating on nuts for a calorie-dense (and delicious) food source. I like eating, so that’s not the issue. Not one of those hardgainers who complains about having to eat too much. I just can’t *cook* enough to eat steak 3x a day or I’d have no life aside from cooking and eating. I love sweet potatoes but am not sure I still would if I was eating 5 a day. I could eat nuts all the time, or I could start eating bananas all the time, but I think neither of those are going to be very good, right? I feel like the answer is that I absolutely must start chugging coconut milk or doing shots of olive oil, but I’m not a big fan of just consuming calories to get calories, and not into weighing food and counting calories. Any recommendations? Thanks a million, keep up the great work. Looking forward to getting multiple copies of the book for family.
Hi Guys,
Great podcast!
Q…why does extra body fat = better performance?
Hi Robb – have you seen this article – it’s great:
“The Dark Side of Wheat, New perspectives on Celiac disease and Wheat Intolerance”
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/205172-The-Dark-Side-of-Wheat-New-Perspectives-on-Celiac-Disease-and-W
Robb,
When one is doing a keto gig, do you think it is necessary to track fiber levels? I had a very hard time following DePasqual’s protocol and ended up with a very bad problem… for multiple days. On top of that I gained 10lbs of blubber. I don’t plan on doing this again but I was just wondering since I mostly do a cyclic keto/carb up randomly thing right now without too much concern on effects of metcons/HIIT.
Robb,
In the podcast you talked about how “defining your goals” should dictate how you approach and design your workouts ie max performance vs health and longevity. I’m curious as to what your workouts look like, what do you do in the gym? Do you follow a template in the fashion of something like MEBB?
Thanks
Hey Andy and Rob, great podcast as usual. The question I have is this: I just recently (about 6 days ago) got a vasectomy, I still have the little twinge I feel if I move a certain way. I have not worked out since the morning of the operation and don’t plan on it till I’m healed completly which the docotr said can take up to 2 weeks (this isn’t the kind of injury you can train around or rush). I’m sure I’ll be healed by the time you get to this in the podcast, but maybe someone in the future can use this as a reference. What should I add more of to my diet i.e. fish oil, any oil, less sweet potoaoes? I’m 33, 5’7 and about 142-144# and I eat paleo with a cheat meal one to two times a week. Thanks guys
Robb. You always contrast elite vs. longevity/health in diets and most questions focus on the latter. What is the macro and pwo diet suggestions for elites
Thanks
Hey Robb,
Haven’t listened to ep37 yet, but what is your take on this?
http://www.ehow.com/way_5645330_alternatives-stomach-acid-test.html under the ‘self test,’ using baking soda to test for low stomach acid. Would that be a good primer before taking hcl supps in case you’re not deficient and you mess yourself up? Or is it not legit?
Malcolm Gladwell has written a very interesting article on menstruation patterns in ancestral versus modern societies, how it relates to breast cancer and how the pill makes the situation even worse. Check it out.
http://gladwell.com/2000/2000_03_10_a_rock.htm
Glad you keep pushing the pasture raised beef. I’m hoping in a few years from now it will be easier and easier to obtain good animals. I think I’m gonna make a trip to the farm and have some talks 🙂
I have an unusual question concerning fasting from the hours of sun-up to sun-set for a period of 30 days. For religious reasons, I have to take a complete fast (no food or drink of any kind) from sunrise until sunset. I am an avid crossfitter and currently working my increasing my crossfit total and my olympic total. A little background is I am a male, 28 years old, 6’4”, 205lbs (muscular but lanky build), and I crossfit not less than 6 times a week and work on strength 3 times a week. Also, I eat mostly Paleo aside from very little dairy and some black beans to get in some carbs, (I get extremely dizzy if I only get carbs from veggies) I try to eat at least 1gram of protein per pound of body weight mostly from meat sources and salmon. My questions are basically, how/what should I eat considering that I can only eat and drink at night, what kind of training volume would you recomend, and do you think i should focus primarily on strength workouts of short but heavy sets, and if so add a short met-con after or just met-con on different days? This is a question that I’ve had for years and now that I’ve found your blog and podcast I’m sure that I’ll get a some light shed on the subject. Thanks again for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us! Can’t wait for the book to come out. Keep up the great work!
The cortisol info piqued my interest. I’m pretty sure my boyfriend has high cortisol from an extremely stressful job, though I suppose it could just be job-related stress/anxiety. He occasionally gets lightheaded and has been having a lot of trouble relaxing and sleeping. The worst part about the job is that he never knows which days are going to be crazy and which aren’t so he is basically sitting at his desk waiting for people to freak out for whatever reason and ask him to quickly produce information that takes a long time to find or that he can’t often get. We moved for this job and don’t have a lot of friends in the area, so I’m sure having a social network that’s far away (and living in a place we don’t like) has contributed to the stress.
I like to think we eat pretty healthy. A typical day of food is omega-3 eggs for breakfast, or egg whites, bananas and flax seeds. Eggs and nitrate/nitrite-free bacon on weekends. Lunch is usually tuna salad or chicken salad, plus carrot sticks and celery sticks or an apple, and some nuts. Dinner is usually chicken or beef or sausage, kraut sometimes or some kind of vegetables and of course a salad, with an occasional piece of fruit. He does do Muscle Milk sometimes on workout days and we do have non-Paleo post-workout carbs maybe once or twice a week, usually brown rice or sweet potatoes. An occasional cask-conditioned beer or two on weekends. Sometimes we’ll eat corn chips or jelly beans but not very often. We’ll have a bar of dark chocolate or trail mix (no grains) with chocolate once a week or so. Coconut water if it’s on sale. He does have caffeine in the morning.
Things are pretty stress-free outside of work. After he gets home we go to the gym around 5:30 three days a week, eat dinner after we get home and then he’ll try to unwind by watching baseball or whatever’s on TV and then reading. We work out on M/W/F/Sa (Max Strength right now, which is almost all weights with some intervals or 10-min metcon at the end or on T/Th). We don’t always do the intervals and they are never longer than 20 minutes, and since he’s a former LSD runner this is a really good program for him.
Supplements include a daily multi, 5 caps of Carlson Super-Omega 3 fish oil, 2 caps of CLO (the fermented Green Pastures kind with butter oil) and an ounce of Fulvic minerals, plus the aforementioned Muscle Milk. I’ve been giving him magnesium and zinc and vitamin C, looking for vitamin C in the form of magnesium and zinc ascorbates to kill all birds with one stone and of course try to lower his cortisol and get him to relax a bit and maybe sleep better but not sure what else to do. Cutting caffeine? Anything else we could try?
Another great podcast Robb!
A quick follow up question to the gluten avoidance question. What is your take on the difference between gliadens found in wheat and those found in other grains such as barley? Do you believe people who have issues with gluten should be equally strict on both of them? I ask because although I would know all about it if I had some bread I have little problems on the likes of guinness.
However I have recently been mulling over cutting out a monthly Guinness binge after listening to the interview on underground wellness with Dr Tom O Bryan which scared the crap out of me. So my question really is that do you think your “see how you feel, look and perform” is still upto the task of guiding optimum food choice given the damage gliaden containg food stuffs could be causing under the surface without any noticable physical effects? Really what im hoping you might tell me is that i can keep getting trollied on Guinness every once in a while but my gut feeling tells me otherwise!
Thanks for all your hard work man, Ive got the book on adavance order!
Kev
Robb,
Recently I have been getting into mountaineering which is pretty awesome but seems to be a sport that is difficult to do while being completely paleo. I climbed cotopaxi, a 19,000 ft. volcano in ecuador, last winter and i tried to stay away from most of the candy bars and straight pasta meals that the rest of my group was eating but it was difficult. I am going on a 6 day mountaineering course in the cascades in August and I have to pack my own food. The school recommends large amounts of complex carbs as they provide extra calories and are easily digested. Fats and proteins, they say, are not as easily digested and not as good to bring on the trip. Do you have any suggestions? What subs for breakfast when everyone is eating oatmeal? I’m worried about what i can carry in terms of keeping things fresh as well as how it will affect me and how heavy it all is. Any thoughts are appreciated.
David
Hey Robb, I was wondering what your take on Tyrosine supplementation for optimizing mental alertness and offsetting fatigue, and what dosage would be necessary to get the benefits.
Thanks!
Julianne: thanks so much for that link! That was very interesting.
Do you think that eating mostly Paleo with supplements (iodine, Mag, fish oil, Vit D) will alleviate the problems of menopause (hot flashes, weight gain, etc)?
I hope it works….that’s the route I’m taking as I now enter perimenopause.
Hey Rob,
Thanks to you, I feel like I really “get” metabolism as it applies to macronutrients and systemic health. What I am dying to know more about is specifically how to approach training for optimal health and longevity. I am 27 and I have been doing Crossfit for 1.5 years, Paleo for 9 months. I’ve experienced the initial massive improvements starting as a Crossfit beginner and have also experienced overtraining and likely adrenal fatigue several times. At this point, I’m interested in continued strength gain without complete loss of met-con abilities, and I don’t want to keep beating myself into the ground. Several times you have mentioned linear strength progression and periodization but I don’t know how to implement it. Do you have to commit to one program such as 5-3-1, Black box, or Starting Strength and only later add in more met-con? Are these programs meant to be short term or can you continue them long term? After gaining all my strength goals, is Crossfit alone sustainable long term? What if you hit every WOD at 80%, not 100%? I feel like I’m wandering around in the dark with this because I just don’t know where I am going with all of this. What does a year or two down the road look like for health and longevity?
Thanks for sharing your brain with all of us. We appreciate it more than you could know… 🙂
I guess I should add I don’t have any health problems – no autoimmune disease or metabolic derangement issues. I am at an acceptable weight and fitness level at present. I also sleep great. I basically want to reach at or near my potential while maintaining health and longevity.
Robb & Andy.. thank you for another useful, greatly informative, and colorful presented podcast. I’m a seasoned listener!
I’m 57, excellent health, 5’3″, 110 pounds, going through the symptoms of menopause. I do the Paleo thing for awhile then fall off because something may trigger the old sugar addiction. Have found that when eating 100% Paleo, sleep is wonderful, mood is elevated, life is easier in every way. Believing I have had issues with adrenal fatigue but am learning about not sweating the small stuff AND calcium/magnesium intake seems to help. Here’s my worst nightmare:…Beginning to see fat take over some of my lean body mass. Help!!! I’ll fight this one all the way! Have always been active but recently started burst training 4 days a week and strength training with light weights and balance on alternate days. What’s the best thing I can do to keep this sugar addiction under control and is it possible to keep lean body mass as I age? I refuse to sink!!..What’s your recommendation.. Thanks Guys.. your work is great!
Cynthia,
I’d say yes absolutely –
What works for me (at 50, peri-menopausal but seems to have gone back to pre-menopausal since strict gluten free -weird!)
I am strict gluten free now – no cheats (I have Hashimoto’s – auto-immune thyroid disease), strict makes all the difference. No other grains, if I cheat -it’s white rice – a tiny bit. No legumes. I’ve been eating more organ meats too – that seems good, chicken and calf liver, chicken hearts, things like that.
I take magnesium, zinc, b vitamins, C and E, lots of D and Omega 3, not iodine – I had a bad experience with it as it aggravates my thyroid – it would be fine at RDA if you don’t have hashis. I take some polyphenols like quercetin, olive leaf and curcumin as I think they help reduce my inflammation linked to auto-immune stuff, and increase my immunity (no colds or flu for 2 years now)
Right now – I am really pleased that my weight is so stable – about 20 BMI and staying there easily. I can almost see my abs! I only crossfit 2x per week, but that makes me feel great.
I’ve been paleo for 14 months now (after 13 years of zone diet) and the stricter I am the better I feel. I used to have a little insulin resistance – as I used to have to get carbs just right, but now I that’s gone.
I do follow my old zone proportions – but less carbs, about the same protein and never measure fat – although I limit fat as too much and I put on weight. I find too many nuts can be a problem too – start to put on weight – otherwise I just eat when I’m hungry, go without a meal sometimes and get good sleep, and try not to stress!
Julianne-
Just gotta tell you: You Are Awesome.
that’s all for now.
Thanks for answering two of my questions in one podcast! (The menopause question was me too, I accidentally put Chris, my real name, in the name field instead of Squatchy).
It’s amazing how eating like your body was designed to and living healthy helps so many of these ailments and diseases. It must be black magic 🙂
Hi Robb. Thanks for hitting my question on the podcast. I had suggested that my client record what she was eating to determine if it was food related. I just checked in with her and ask how she was doing. she said she is feeling great now and thinks that it is related to her cycle. She says this only occurs when she has her period. She also said that monitoring nutrition and making sure she has taken her iron supplement helps.
Thanks Robb – means a lot!
Quick question – I have a client who has menstrual issues and fertility issues. (2 years trying to get pregnant, nasty cramps)
I will put her (at least highly recommend – gently or not so gently push or inspire – whatever will work!) to get her eating paleo, vit D, omega 3, etc.
I’ve been telling her about your experience that women at your gym get very very pregnant eating paleo.
Question: How important is dairy free for menstrual / fertility? Or is a little okay?
This study says low fat dairy bad and high fat good for fertility
http://cme.medscape.com/viewarticle/553094 (possibly insulin connection to anovulation?)
and this one
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/139/3/282
on milk consumption and fertility
“The authors found significant correlations among these variables such that fertility at older ages is lower and the decline in fertility with aging is steeper in populations with high per capita consumption of milk and greater ability to digest its lactose component These demographic data add to existing evidence that dietary galactose may deleteriously affect ovarian function.”
Looks like it is wise to cut lactose – but is whey protein okay or not? Butter?
What is your experience?
Well…we know that insulin (leptin) regulates aging and thus fertility. Biologically, we are meant to have kids at age 15 or so. medicine considers pregnancies after age 28 to be “geriatric” pregnancies. They have changed the terminology to cease pissing people off but it does not change the biological features. Do, dairy increases insulin several growth factors. If these folks WANT to get pregnant, perhaps they should forgo dairy entirely until they succeed? I’d certainly NOT condone the whey, it’s as bad as milk IMO. Butter…why not coconut oil?
just my thoughts.
Robb-
Just finished reading Lights Out and was wondering about the idea of eating plenty of carbs via fruits and veggies in the summer and greatly reducing or eliminating carbs in winter. If I read correctly, Wiley said we should put on weight during summer months when fruits and veggy are plentiful and cut back when the season is cold and less carbs are available naturally. Im 97.64% paleo with cheats being 90% dark choc bar once a week, and heavy cream in my decaf coffee. Charleston SC. Male, 6’05, 230, 35 yo, crossfit 3-4 week but increase rx weight and work at 60-70% max effort, 5000mg vit D, tons of fish oil, and magn. Im not concerned with body comp but rather focused on great health, energy levels, and disease free life..
Thanks for the info on spondylitis. I was diagnosed about 2 years ago, but I’m negative for the gene. If anyone is interested in more info on diet for spondylitis, please go to kickas.org Many people have found incredible progress through Dr. Ebringer’s diet: http://www.kickas.org/as_dietary_primer.shtml
We continue to tweak the ideas through the forums.
Unfortunately, this diet doesn’t work for everyone…did not work for me. I’m interested in now trying the diet without eggs (since I was eating tons of them due to lack of other things to eat).
I’m currently on Humira and NSAIDs to manage symptoms…which has allowed me to return to my hobby of trapeze (the amount of lifting/physical activity really depends on an X-ray of the integrity of the spine). My goal is to be off of these meds and managing the condition through diet – which I’ve seen people actually do.
Thanks for addressing this condition. It’s rare to come across info!
Lindy-
I’d additionally remove eggs nuts, seeds, and all nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, curries), get plenty of sleep, get your vit-d-levels checked and get them between 65-80ng/dl.
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Very interesting and concern of the entry, any more such.