Posted on 03/27/2010 9:19:08 AM PDT by SonOfDarkSkies
Fat. Sedentary. In love with fried cheese.
That's how Blakely Graham, 36, described herself before she started an intense exercise regimen and tapped her inner cave woman.
Now, she's trim and athletic. She still bats her eyes at deep-fried dairy, but finds the strength to reject the stuff.
In September, Graham, a Boulder marketing executive, joined a gym called CrossFit Roots, one of more than 1,700 CrossFit gyms around the world. The program emphasizes intense, simple workouts in bare-bones gyms, where people perform squats, throw heavy balls against walls, perform countless pull-ups and push-ups, and nearly (or do) collapse by the end of the workouts. The workouts first were popular with police academies, military units, martial artists and firefighters but have spread to fitness enthusiasts in general.
Shortly after joining the gym, Graham, like a lot of CrossFitters, also began eating "paleo" (short for paleolithic), an approach to diet that in some regards mirrors CrossFit's minimalist, no-nonsense training ethic: the diet eliminates dairy products, legumes, all grains, refined sugar and most salt. It is a diet, in other words, similar to what people ate during the Stone Age.
The paleo-CrossFit combo- platter has transformed Blakely's life. Her husband, who followed her into CrossFit and the diet, is a changed man, too.
"I didn't even know he was good-looking," said Graham, with a wink, just before starting a session recently in CrossFit Roots' tiny Boulder gym — really, more like a big garage — just off Pearl Street. "By week three, the weight was coming off so quickly, and I was getting so many compliments, I said, 'OK. I'll stick with this.' "
The book on paleo eats
CrossFit's embrace of the paleo way, also called the "cave man" diet, also has thrilled Colorado State University professor Loren Cordain...
(Excerpt) Read more at denverpost.com ...
If bread was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me.
isn’t bread considered grains? I love bread too heh
I prefer the Twinkie style bread.
The skull of this 25 year old Paleolithic Adonis that I’m holding never drank milk, this skull never had a slice of bread in its life
And I thought He was on the strawberry shortcake diet.;-)
What was the average age of death for the caveman and was he/she disease free?
I didn’t see that statistic referenced.
Might I add, "This skull has a life expectancy of 35."
I appreciate the idea behind the diet (less refined foods in general seems to be a great start), but life expectancy started to expand and life became "better" once agriculture developed. That means more whole grains and some dairy products.
And unless Dr. Cordain knows something that the rest of us missed out on, Paleolithic man was a "mammal", which means he recieved his food from the mammary gland of his mother during his very early life. So that skull indeed did drink milk.
In other words, the Atkins diet.
So easy, even a caveman can do it!
I hear a lot of people say that college diplomas are no indication of intellect, but whoever came up with this diet as historical went ahead and proved it.
So, in a nutshell, working out hard and eating less calories (esp in the form of processed foods) works. No matter what the plan is called...
And take a multi vitamin. No one’s diet contains all the good things the body needs.
“While following the paleo diet tests Lewey’s patients, understanding it is a breeze. Eat all of the vegetables and fruits you want. In addition, eat lean meats, nuts and seeds. That’s it.”
Comments:
- “I started eating Paleo about a month ago and in that short period of time, the physical and mental health issues I was having ceased. My athletic performance and recovery time have improved significantly, my acne cleared up, and my roller-coaster water retention is gone. I lost about 5 lbs in the first 2 weeks and am on track to lose 20 more. The change I value most since starting Paleo however, is my improved mood. I struggled with depression and mood swings before changing my diet and all symptoms have...VANISHED! I finally feel like I own my body. I am wonderfully energetic, happy, and I feel equipped to deal with stress. Beyond my health improvements, Paleo was a very easy switch for me. After 3 days of initial withdrawal (from both coffee and complex carbs) I haven’t desired to break the diet since...”
- “Have been Paleo for 10 weeks - Guess what - no migraines (were weekly before), no stomach issues (IBS for years), depression improved, asthma improved, CrossFit performance made leaps and bounds. Oh, and for those in the “I don’t like what I see in the mirror” group - 15 pounds, 4 pants sizes, almost 10” off the waist. (After a heavy exercise, ‘normal’ diet, and a 1-2 lb weight loss / month). Yes, it’s hard to maintain (preparation is key). No, it won’t be popular. Yes, you will have to defend against your friends. But you can’t argue with the results!”
- “I learned about about the Paleo diet from Dr. Cordain about 11 yrs ago at a nutrition conference. I am a physician and the rejections here are cliches of ignorance. Do not, I repeat, do not steal this gift from yourself. I am
considered a genius physician where I live Ha! I am not.I simply advise and educate my patients about The Diet. It cures most diseases simply because we get these stupid diseases because we are not eating the diet we are
designed to eat. Even the vast majority of genetic diseases are the result of those genes less able to handle our nonhuman diet. What you have been taught about diet is from the medical industry to support their industry.
If Dr Cordain had not supported his diet so strongly with research it would probably be illegal.” Lane Sebring MD
Milk is the first food of all mammals
It was dairy animals man first cultivate for food sources ....with dairy they just need to go with the same unprocessed idea as they do with meat fruit veggies and grain
Sounds an awful lot like Atkins.
Thank you for posting this, SoDS.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.