Hey Everyone, just wanted to let you know about an amazing service in the San Diego, CA area called MMMM Good Meals. Luckily, Dutch Lowy did a great interview with Michele Vieux, crossfit games competitor, CrossFit Invictus trainer and Big Cheese behind MMMM Good Meals.
If you live in the San diego area and have a hankering for fantastic Paleo/Zone meals, get going with MMMM Good!
Robb Wolf is a former research biochemist and 2X New York Times/Wall Street Journal Best-selling author of The Paleo Solution and Wired To Eat. Along with Diana Rodgers, he co-authored the book, Sacred Cow, which explains why well-raised meat is good for us and good for the planet. Robb has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world via his top-ranked iTunes podcast, books, and seminars. He also co-founded the 1st and 4th CrossFit affiliate gyms in the world, The Healthy Rebellion community platform, and is the co-founder of DrinkLMNT Electrolytes.
Search Robbwolf.com
Hi Robb
First off – thanks for opening my eyes to the whole Paleo lifestyle! My transition went from Crossfit >> The Zone >> Paleo-Zone. I still Weigh and measure, and i recently went 3Xfat on account of zombie-like performances on met-cons, and i seem to have almost caught up with where i was on the oats/whey protein etc diet.
I got into paleo mainly cos my brother developed ulcerative colitis and it seemed a sensible route to go down for me. I’ve read as much of your work on the subject as i can and just bought the ‘Paleo diet for Athletes’ book. My question is, ever since going 3XFat it’s made my stools greased lighting and none too pleasant! I read your 42 way article in which the mass gainer had to eat a ‘stool-loosening’ quantity of fat. Is this a normal side-effect?
I’ve recently tried Int Fasting too which made me feel good but i tend to get chronic diarrhea after my first meal following the fast. IS this normal? Could it be having a black coffee during the fast which prompts it? Any advice would be appreciated. I live in England and i don’t have any other paleo buddies to ask about this!!!
Ahhh yes. I’ve had this fun little issue at various times. Try adding in a digestive enzyme like Nowfoods:Super Enzymes to each meal and you should see some improvement.
Chris-
Qeustion for you: YOu mentioned just getting bak to output levels you saw with a basic Zone…any health improvements you can see beyond that? I guess another way to ask this: Why is paleo compelling for you to do? Ive had some dust-up from HQ on all this stuff and will be doing some informal surveys.
Robb since going gluten free and dairy free AKA Paleo, strength, Met cons energy, and all great things that come w/ quality FOOD it DOES FREAKIN MATTER, i have takin all your advice and put it to work dropping oats was huge for me i have eaten my whole life but i just feel better without them,
Quote Coach Glassman Lecture 2 on optimizing perfromance u must put TOP FUEL in the TANK NOT PISS… if u want a sub 3 fra u must WAM, i am blown away at how Tony is disagreeing about food QUALITY, well it does
all the best to u and your unbeleivable knowledge about nutrition, cant wait to meet u at the games
Jeremy Olds
Thanks Jeremy. I am not trying to make this a Religion, just give folks to tinker and find their own way. Independent thinking appears to be un-popular in some circles however…my last post in the Zone Chronicles has been deleted.
Hi Robb
Cheers for the quick reply! I guess it would be hard to quantify any health improvements so far. I’m hoping that cutting legumes and grains out might help with my hayfever allergy and seasonal asthma (when summer kicks in I’ll know for sure), and long-term, keep any risk of colitis to a minimum. Can i just ask though, wIll the Super Enzymes prevent the diarrhea following the fast?
Chris-
It should. Also, you might shift some of your carbs to yams for the soluble fibre. How much fish oil are you taking? We may actually need to dial that down a bit.
Hey Robb,
Concerning the switch to Paleo diet, have you ever heard, or do you know about how a paleo diet may affect fertility? I may have a good story for you.
Scott-
OHHH, yes. Both insulin and gluten have effects on fertility…we have quite a number of stories along this line. Shoot your so me when you get a chance.
Robb-
Just an fyi that might help your case in your “informal surveys”. Going from strict zone to paleo has helped me in more ways than I can count. I actually put on a couple of lean pounds with zero stomach issues, bf % went down, metcon times have improved, RECOVERY improved dramatically, and strength gains have gone up, albeit moderate. This is over the course of only about 2 months, so if I switched to a WAM paleo I think the results could be even greater. Regardless, my personal experience is telling me that a tinkering paleo works better for me than a by the book zone. Just my 2 cents.
Matthew-
This seem sto be the trend. Interesting stuff.
I’ve been struggling for a few days now to make sense of the apparent feud between Robb and “some circles” at CrossFit HQ over…what? There has got to be a hefty serving of misunderstanding going on.
Bill-
Elements of HQ think paleo concepts are pseudo-science. this has proven troubling for me given the feedback I receive via this blog and other arenas. Damn annoying.
I find it crazy that anyone could tar paleo as pseudo science given its roots in Evolutionary biology. If your arguing against the science of Paleo then by default your arguing against the science of Evolution. Good luck with that.
Whats even more crazy is that they counter Paleo eating with some hocus pokus crap about “teeter toter” which has zero founding in science and from an evolutionary perspective is plain silly. The zone remains to be a good approximation of carbs to protein ratio that crossfitters need. I find that more a handy coincidence then thought out science.
Kevin-
Exactly my point but it’s largely fallen on deaf ears.
Paleo concepts can’t really be pseudo science as at its heart is the way h-h lived and ate for millennia.
For sure ones not eating mpami worms and ostrich egg omelletes complete with lots of clay and dirt on base but the gestalt/thrust is very much replicated ‘science’;it surely nowt but replication.
This same non logic can easily be applied to CF exercise.!San never swung from ropes(few trees in Khari !) or threw around rocks etc.Lots of lots and lots of walking.
What aspects to ‘they’ continue pseudo science ?
Have any of them read Man the Hunter ?
You fight the good fight Sister and you tell them that is they persist with their gibberish, Simone will be doon to throw his pink handbag at them…..avec a big farking stone inside !
Fellows-
It’s just damn annoying and there is NO reasoning.
Robb i think a Paleo Chronicles is in order.
i still think its weird they deleted that post……………….
Robb kinda off base here a little, but what causes constant belching and your stomach making lots of gurgguling noises, my wife wakes up and burps without even eating or drinking its really crazy how much she burps, just thoght u would have great input
Jeremy
thank you
Jeremy-
Have her cook her veggies more, perhaps add some digestive enzymes like NowFoods:super enzymes and tell her to stop watching National Lampoon movies…
http://www.slate.com/id/2219162/
this you will like.Wrangham being a famed primatologist as i recall
Fellows-
the “cookitarian” view of human evolution. Interesting stuff.
This whole thing seems really odd to me. I thought the standard CF nutrition line (eat meat, veggies, nuts seeds, etc) WAS a paleo prescription and then the eat this in a 40/30/30 ratio bit was listed secondary?? Maybe that’s changed.
A few thoughts though…
The top performers when interviewed about the Zone seem to add fat and drop back carbs. Crunching numbers puts this broadly line with what is naturally achieved by going Paleo.
Pat Sherwood might resort to burgers etc when on the road if needed, but his home routine is pretty tight paleo excl the weekly cheat meal.
I doubt that the top performers are doing zone purely on bread, shitty cuts of meats and trans fats – I’ll bet they’re keeping the quality pretty high and minimising exposure to sugar, white flour and trans fats. Hmmm… Paleo-ish??
So, my thought would be that both approaches when used by those trying to max out performance leads to the same place – a higher fat, lower carb, 80-90% paleo-zone diet.
Converging paths based upon separate protocols. If you look at this from the CrossFit perspective where using multiple paths to the same goal is encouraged (see the 2K Rowing article from one of the earlty CFJs) its seems odd that you wouldn’t use both paleo and zone to minimise the amount of time it takes you to hit your goal of elite performance.
Moving on from performance to health, Paleo seems a sensible plan to adopt 90% of the time. With first hand experience of the benefits to health that paleo gives, I find it hard to swallow when people dismiss it.
Oh yeah – Chris – I’m UK based and run Crossfit Westcountry. I have firsthand experience with UC and a paleo/zone approach to management – drop me an email if you or your brother need anything.
End.
Hey Robb,
What are your thoughts on unpasteurized whole milk? Any chance you’ve got a couple links up your sleeve regarding nutritional information and general knowledge about it?
Thanks,
Aaron
Aaron-
I’m not that geeked out on raw milk…I’m more focussed on grassfed. In other words, I’d put grassfed pasteurized over grain fed raw. Other folks would argue that point I suspect.
Robb,
I’m doing the zone (mostly paleo) with half carbs and more fat to make up for it, but I’m not seeing much improvement in bodyfat, especially around the low stomach area. Plus my performance hasn’t really taken off. I was thinking of doing some cyclic low carb and how I should construct it. 3 days of 1/4 carbs followed by a couple days of full carbs then a couple of half carbs? I assume any carbs I take out should be made up for with good fat sources. Is cyclic low carb something to be done as a lifestyle or once I reach desired bodyfat should I stick with the paleo-zone with half the carbs?
James-
I’m actually working on a post along this line. I think the CLC approach is MONEY for leaning out. You will not set any records on CF WOd’s, but you should lean out quickly. A shift to Rutmans’ ME-black Box or CF football might be better programming for this phase, it was for me. I’d just keep the carbs generally low (less than 50g per day) and then one meal per week higher carb until you reach a goal leanness.
Robb,
Thanks I’m looking forward to that post! I also meant to ask if you think it would be a good idea to do some IF doing 18 hours fasting with a 6 hour feeding period while doing low carb?
P.S everyone at CrossFit Fairfax where I work out is far more concerned with nutrition after your cert last week. I wasn’t able to go because it was sold out but you definitely made an impact on how everyone is eating.
James-
Glad to hear the Fairfax crew is stepping up the nutrition side of things. They were already very solid so it will be interesting to see where that goes.
You can tinker with that 18hr window and LCL. Just keep an eye on performance and sleep. Keep those solid. On the performance side, like I mentioned previously however, you will likely have problems with standard CF.com programming and little carbs.
This link doesn’t seem to work…just leads to a site for the antidepressant drug Lexapro. Is the MMM Good Service service still in existence?
I would be interested in exploring some paleo resources in San Diego, I imagine I should just inquire with the various Cross Fit affiliates…? (Sadly, I haven’t CROSSED over (haha) to the CF side of it yet, as I am still getting acquainted with the nutrition aspects. A good friend recently raved about how much better she feels eating Paleo, which led me to completely immerse myself in your book, podcasts, and blog archives. Only later did I find out you operate out of my hometown of Chico! Too good to be true. Brilliant, BRILLIANT stuff. Hope to check out Nor Cal Strength and Conditioning next time I’m home.
Keep up the good work, and let me know if you have any recommendations down in SD. 🙂
Sara-
Michele is now involved with Crossfit Invictus. They are an outstanding gym and I;d highly recommend training with them. Not sure on the food other than paleobrands.
Robb, many thanks for allowing me to know what paleo diet is from my uncle who is now an Aussie. I have been suffering from diabetes since I was 34. It’s purely caused by my poor eating habit for about 10 years. I tried herbal stuffs, alternative ways, doctor’s diet and medicine like glybenclamide..yet my blood sigar levels remains high 180 till 200. Now i am reading your book my uncle gave me, but since i am only an English teacher, lived in Indonesia, i have difficulties in finding many of your ingredients. would you mind recommend me a diet program suitable for Indonesian? My other question is Is there any possibility that my pancreas well come back and work normally after strictly following Paleo Diet?? looking foward to hearing from you…Yo from Bandar Lampung, Prov. Lampung, Sumatera, Indonesia.