A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how stress can seriously knock our attempts at living healthily. Stress hormones such as cortisol can have a dramatic effect both on what we want to eat and how we store fat, but the mental effects of stress are equally hard to deal with. We might know how to live healthily but somehow our minds can´t quite make that jump and it seems so much easier just to plod along eating whatever and not really thinking about it too much. In the past, I have certainly found myself making the most outrageous 'excuses' for eating rubbish – 'You only live once', 'It's only one thing', 'It would be unsociable not to', or my favourite - 'I can eat healthily tomorrow'.
All this is very normal and we can go on making excuses and finding reasons until the cows come home, but at some point we realise that somehow, we need to get back to living healthily; after all, poor diet is a major factor in 4 of the top 5 causes of premature death in the West; poor diet contributes to heart attack, stroke, cancer, Type-2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, and there are now studies that also link poor diet to depression and dementia. So yes, 'You only live once' is a fair argument (although I'm not about to go into a deep discussion on spiritual and religious beliefs!), but why not make that life full and vibrant and as long as possible in the best possible health?
Before I get into the 6 steps, the first hurdle to get over is our own mental attitude. Trust me, I really do know how hard it is to get back into healthy living after a splurge onto the darkside, and I think one of the most important things to get into place is your 'Why' – why do you want to live healthily? Is it to be able to enjoy time with children or grandchildren? To be able to keep doing activities you've always enjoyed? To have energy and health into old age? Or, my favourite, To look good naked? (even if only to myself). Once you have found your Why, the next step is to make that your absolute priority because, in the end, it is. To quote Abraham Lincoln:
Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most
One of the most effective ways I have found to get this established is to use visualisation (don't worry, I'm not about to launch into some crazy, hippie psycho-babble) – Visualisation is simply setting in your mind a real vision of what you are aiming for. If you can´t imagine it, it will be harder to achieve, so find yourself a few minutes of quiet and calm and try this:
See yourself in a few weeks/months/years from now – imagine you have followed a healthy, Primal lifestyle - what does your life look like? What are you (still) doing? How do you feel? What do you look like? Make the picture vivid and real and really enjoy looking and feeling like you do in your healthy future – That is your Why. That is what you are aiming for. Now, do those snacks and 'treats' look so great, compared to the vibrant healthy future you can have instead?
So onto the simple steps to living Primally, and these work whether you're new to Primal or finding your way back after a lapse. I use the term simple rather than easy because although the steps are incredibly simple to follow, they do take some discipline, especially at the start. Leo Babauta talks about the 'child mind' inside each of us; the childish part of all of us that wants things to be easy and dislikes any discomfort - “but I want sticky toffee pudding”. It's the part that will try its best to undo your efforts. This is when it's important to have your Why firmly established because it is that which will get you through the harder times. The main thing to remember is that this is not about counting calories or depriving yourself – it's about eating and living in a way that honours your human body. You will no doubt find your own way to do this based on your own likes, dislikes, intolerances etc. but the fundamentals stay the same.
1. Completely get rid of sugar, grains and vegetable/seed oils
These items are completely alien to our diet and cause a huge amount of damage to our health. Sugar, despite what the snack companies would have us believe, is completely nutrient-free. It spikes blood sugar and initiates an insulin response which sets up up on a roller-coaster of cravings, highs and crashes. Insulin drives fat into storage and prevents you from using the fat stores you have (and probably want to get rid of); it also makes you hungry for more sugar and/or carbs so you end up in a vicious cycle of eating, crashing and being hungry again, and that's not how our bodies are meant to work. Even 'natural' sugars such as honey or fruit still trigger an insulin response and should be used in moderation.
There's now a lot of science and research about the negative effects of grains (especially wheat) and processed oils. They can be damaging to the digestive tract and can even contribute to depression. Cutting them out could be the best thing you can do for your health.
'80% of body composition is determined by how you eat'
Mark Sisson
2. Make everything you eat nutritious and delicious
Ok, so now you're wondering what on earth you're supposed to eat as most packaged foods and snacks will contain some or all of these offensive ingredients. The answer is – real food. Primal eating is food at its simplest and most nutritious. Good quality protein – meat, fish, seafood, eggs, cheese, nuts or high-quality non-meat protein combined with a wide range of veggies, salads, and really good fats: olive oil, coconut oil, butter, goose fat and even lard! - Yes, lard is actually your friend – stable even at high temperatures and a source of good saturated fat. Think roasted chicken (with the skin on), some lovely roasted and steamed veggies and gravy made from the juices – just skip the gravy granules. Or what about a delicious Caesar salad with home-made Caesar dressing (very easy to make if you use my home-made mayo recipe as a base). You could use some toasted nuts and pumpkin seeds instead of croutons for a nutrition-packed meal. If you're craving dessert, why not natural live yoghurt with a (small) spoon of honey, or maybe some wonderful berries with cream. You can indulge in a square or two of high quality dark chocolate, or maybe even a glass of wine.
Snacks can be an issue if you're avoiding grains, sugars and offensive oils, but my blog on Primal Snacking will give you some ideas to beat the snack cravings.
3. Take a look at your exercise
Most people think that exercise is joining a gym, pounding the streets or lifting weights and that really puts them off but it definitely doesn't have to be that way. The most important thing is just to be more active throughout the day – walk as much as possible, take the stairs, go for a stroll after breakfast, walk the dog, have regular movement breaks if your job is sedentary – all these things add up to overall movement. Throw in occasional body-weight movements and a very occasional sprint and you're good to go. What you don't need to be doing is hours of cardio exercises every week – in fact, these can be counter-productive as too much cardio exercise will just make you hungry for carbs as your body desperately tries to refuel and most people over-compensate. Exercise is good for fitness, strength, stamina, flexibility and overall health, but it's not a good tool for weight-loss and over-doing it may just lead to carb-bingeing and weight gain.
As the quote says -
“You can't out-run a bad diet”
4. Focus on good sleep
Sleep is so important. 7-8 hours of good sleep will make the difference to all aspects of your health, including weight-loss. Try to set regular hours for going to bed and getting up, even at weekends; make sure your room is quiet, dark, cool and uncluttered; reduce the use of digital stimulation in the evenings – I use an app on my iPad which reduces the blue-light after sunset, and take time to prepare for bed, winding down slowly and relaxing before you go. I would seriously recommend not having any electronic devices such as TVs, computers or work-related stuff in your bedroom. I know of so many people who undo all their healthy endeavours by not prioritising sleep.
5. Stress
Some stress in our daily lives is inevitable and in fact desirable, but if you know that stress is affecting your health, then it's definitely time to take action. Ongoing stress, even at low-level, can cause the body to store fat, reduce immune function and trigger cravings for carb and sugar laden foods. There are many tools you can use for reducing stress but some of my favourites are journaling (writing things down can often help us manage the stress), Mindfulness, talking it out with a good friend, getting enough sleep and eating well; this last one is key – stress and poor diet are so inter-related that each will increase the other, pulling you into a downward spiral.
6. Play
Try to find time in your week just to play. Do something that you enjoy just for its own sake and lose yourself completely for a while. As you know, my favourite playtime is out on my paddle-board, but I also enjoy an afternoon of silly play in the pool with my friend or a game with one of my cats. Play with your children or grandchildren, your dog, your neighbour, your BFF - keep it light and relaxed and just enjoy yourself like you did when you were a child.
If you can commit to doing these 6 simple things for 21 days, you will find yourself on the road to good health and regaining your 'Joie de vivre'. Let me know how you get on and please post any questions you may have.
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