For the past week I guess it has been, maybe a bit longer, I have been making my move back over to Primal and I can already see/feel a difference. I have on occasion still had a piece of bread here, some grits there, but only to not waste the food I need to get rid of leading up to November 1 before I make the full leap over.
I also have not yet given up my morning Diet Coke.
I am leaner, clothes fit better and the poof is gone. So have the constant hunger pains that you are all use to hearing me whine about. I love not being hungry all the freaking time!!!
I am about 35% of the way through reading The Primal Blueprint - 21 Day Transformation, the latest book out by Mark Sisson. I have been reading Marks blog for probably a year now and the information is solid and I love the transformation series every Friday.
Do not confuse Primal with Atkins or South Beach etc. It is FAR from that. Basically, Primal is in fact a lower carbohydrate driven way of eating however, you still eat and need carbohydrates but we certainly don't need them that much is clear. Especially PROCESSED carbohydrates. Carbohydrates should come from natural sources, not a factory. And lets face it, bread is MANUFACTURED. So is pasta...pasta and bread are just 2 examples of things that are not natural nor do they grow on trees or vines!!
Primal is about eating REAL FOOD. Something you know about me if you have read long enough is that I hate and loathe processed food. Its horrible for your insides. Our bodies were not designed to digest freaking chemicals. I feel certain that its the chemicals and growth hormones that are injected into foods (even meats) that are responsible for children who are much larger and much earlier developed in their younger years than when I was growing up. I still have a shock and awe look on my face when I see girls and boys in elementary/middle school that look like Juniors or Seniors in high school.
Inject food with all the growth hormones and chemicals into the food, feed the children the food (day after day after day) and well now the population is getting bigger and fatter just like the animals on production farms. Sickening.
The one thing I cannot get behind, but totally understand and agree with, is that cardio overkill is unnecessary and not Primal. Totally agree that its not the Primal way. However, I love endurance sports (marathon and half marathon running) therefore I don't see myself stopping anytime soon.
Primal would be more like sprints, track work or even a hill workout, which is what I did last night. Honestly when I was doing more speed and hill workouts I was indeed in better shape...to understand it all fully, one has to read Marks work(s) and I like that the newest book seems to condense all the information into this newest release.
And CrossFit and Primal are like man and wife. Again totally makes sense. I am looking forward to January and my CrossFit adventure to see what transformation my body goes through then.
Instead of being a sugar burning machine, why not be a fat burning machine instead?
Duh.
Thoughts?
5 comments:
I read the Primal Blue Print and some of Mark's supporting posts several months ago. My concern is his feeling that this is not something for an Endurance Athlete. I considered giving it a try, but with three marathons coming up and the time it takes to re-train your body, I opted to put it on hold until my season is over. That doesn't mean I have not taken some of the concepts and put them in my diet.
Exactly. However I have researched plenty of endurance athletes, even ultra marathoners who are indeed Primal. I also have a friend IRL here in houston (Ironman'er) who just went Primal a couple of months ago and had transitioned well.
Yes you have to make some modifications but 80% primal works!
I am suffering a bit of withdrawal from the sugar that is derived from the carbohydrates, meaning I am a bit more tired than usual, but that passes after a week or two. powering through!!!
I like the idea of this, but do you eat a lot of meat?
How does the lack of processed carbs (like from pasta) affect your longer runs?
Interesting topic!! :)
The focus is on farm raised/grass fed animals or of course fish etc., but only the lean types of animal products. Most animals are feed grains, which duh, is bad for not only them (they cant digest; watch Food Inc.) but then bad for us as well because we ingest what they ingested and anyway..its gross so I wont go into it here. :O)
I typically eat only lean meat anyway. My focus is always on vegetables. When I went vegetarian in 2010 I did fine with training for Chicago, but it took a while for my body to adjust but i was running low mileage when i started.
Your body just has to adjust from burning sugar to burning fat, and on Primal, endurance sports or 'chronic cardio' as he calls it is discouraged.
I will have to still use gels and sports drink but there are alternate low glycemic choices on the market now.
I have never been a carb loader to begin with so for me its a bit easier; although i can be a bit of a carbivore and just eat badly when I let myself slip as i have the past 2 months.
When i was primal/vegetarian last year i was in the best shape of my life, and looked and felt fantastic. Getting back to that is going to be great but the withdrawals can be tough for some!
Sounds interesting. I have made some major adjustments to my diet in the past few weeks - not completely clean, but much, much, better and I am loving it. I will have to look more into the primal thing, too! I totally agree about all the antibiotics and hormones that go into our foods...it's scary!
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