Pterostilbene is a chemical related to reservatol that is found in blueberries and grapes.

Reservatol is being heralded in the media as a magic health potion – that’s one of the reasons that red wine is good for you.

But is there something better than reservatol when it comes to preventing cancer?

A study from the National Kaohsiung Marine University in Taiwain says there is…

Researchers compared reservatol and pterostilbene’s effects on antioxidant signalling pathways for the purposes of cancer prevention.

Both chemicals “significantly enhanced expression of antioxidant enzymes.”

Both chemicals block cellular inflammation and and oxidative stress. (By the way, cellular inflammation and oxidation may be the cause of most modern diseases such as cancer, alzheimers, and obesity)

But pterostilbene is more effective than reservatol in reducing the formation of aberrant crypt foci, lymphoid nodules, and tumors, making it a pterostilbene your best choice for helping to prevent cancer.

Here is the study citation (for my fellow science geeks):

J Agric Food Chem. 2011 Mar 23;59(6):2725-33. Epub 2011 Feb 28.
Pterostilbene is more potent than resveratrol in preventing azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colon tumorigenesis via activation of the NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-mediated antioxidant signaling pathway.
Chiou YS, Tsai ML, Nagabhushanam K, Wang YJ, Wu CH, Ho CT, Pan MH.
Department of Seafood Science, National Kaohsiung Marine University, Kaohsiung 811, Taiwan.

I make sure to eat plenty of berries over the course of a week to make sure I’m getting some pterostilbene, but I really take my health-protection and cancer-prevention plan to the next level by taking a mega supplement.  The one I take is Genesis by Prograde Nutrition.

I have this greens drink every morning at 4:30am right after I have a mug of green tea.  Click the link below for more info:

Prograde Genesis

When I first moved to Seattle to go to college at Seattle Pacific University, my mom gave me a great book called “Where’s Mom Now That I Need Her?”

I had all sorts of recipes, plus useful info like how to iron clothes and sew on buttons.

The title of this book gave me a great idea, so I’d like to give you the Mom’s Weight Loss Diet:

Your mom told you everything you need to know about basic nutrition

1.  Eat more fruits and vegetables

2. Don’t drink pop

3. Take you own lunch to school (or work!)

4. Don’t spoil your dinner with cookies or chips

5.  Plan your meals

6. Stay away from fast food

Start following these six simple tips and you’re well on your way to mastering nutrition.

And when you fit into your skinny jeans again, just say “Thanks Mom!”

Brussels sprouts are the classic vegetable everyone jokes about hating:

But I figure the only reason these aren’t your favorite vegetable is that you’ve never cooked them Momofuku style!

When you cook them properly, brussels sprouts take on a crispy, caramelized quality that makes them freakin’ addictive.  David Chang, the chef behind the Momofuku restaurant group actually had to take them off the menu at one of his eateries.

“Every single table ordered them.  It was ridiculous.  I would’ve had to dedicate one of my cooks to doing nothing but cooking sprouts all night.”

Here’s how to turn brussels sprouts from boring and ordinary to a delicious favorite that even kids won’t stop eating.

The sprouts Chang took off the menu were pan roasted with crispy chunks of bacon and then tossed in pureed kimchi.  At another restaurant, he deep-fried them and tossed them in fish sauce.  And at Ko (a restaurant with only 12 seats!) he browned them in a skillet, tossed them in sriracha hot sauce, and served them with a squirt of lime juice.

“Basically, you can’t f*ck them up,” Chang says, “Cook the Sh*t out of them; just don’t turn them in to charcoal.  They’re really resilient to strong flavors.  They’re incredibly forgiving.”

The key to brussels sprouts isn’t the flavoring, it’s how you cook them.  Get the first part right and you can give them any kind of a spin you want.  Your secret is to give them an evenly browned finish.

Slice the sprouts lengthwise, then cook them cut side down.  I like to use nitrite-free bacon fat (I’ve written about uncured bacon before here: Sodium Nitrites Are Not A Good Idea)

A cast-iron skillet on your stovetop is the best way to get a delicious carmelization.  But if you’re cooking for a large group you can easily lay them down on a baking sheet and roast them in a hot oven.

Brussels sprouts cooked right don’t need anything more than some salt and lemon juice.  Anything else you want to add is totally up to you

Here’s a recipe straight from David Chang (serves 4):

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh brussels sprouts
• 1/4 pound thick cut bacon (get uncured!)
• Butter (optional, get butter from grass-fed cows)
• Sriracha hot sauce (also called “rooster sauce”)
• Lime
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degress
2. Trim the hard ends off the sprouts, then slice in half lengthwise
3. Cut the bacon into small pieces and cook in an ovenproof skillet over medium heat until crispy (about 5 minutes). Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate
4. Drain most of the fat from the pan and add the sprouts cut side down.  Raise the heat to medium high and sear until sprouts begin to sizzle.  Put the skillet in the oven and roast until the sprouts are deeply browned (about 8 minutes), then shake the pan to flip them over.  Pull the pan from the oven when the sprouts are bright green and fairly tender (about 10 minutes more)
5. Return the pan to your stovetop over medium heat.  Stir in the bacon and, optionally, a pat or two of butter.  Swirl until evenly mixed.
6. Place in a bowl and add a few squirts of sriracha and a squeeze or two of fresh lime juice.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve with anything!

If you’re working out hard, eating right, and STILL not losing any freaking fat, this post is for you.

Have you heard that hormones can affect your fat loss?

It’s true!

The first thing you need to know is what hormones are.  Here’s the definition: “A hormone is a chemical released by a cell or a gland in one part of the body that sends out messages that affect cells in other parts of the organism. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. In essence, it is a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one cell to another.”

This means that a hormone just a little bit out of whack can derail all of your fat loss efforts!

It also means that slight adjustments of your hormones can have a profound POSITIVE effect on your body.

A really cool thing about hormones is that you can actually use the shape of your body to figure out which hormones are out of balance.

Once you know what the hormonal culprits are, I can help you figure out a plan to get back on track.

Love handles?  Insulin is messing with you.

Arm fat?  Testosterone is low.

Belly fat?  Too much cortisol.

Thigh and butt fat?  Estrogen levels are high.

Before I dig deep and expose these hormones for you, I want you to understand something important:  If you’re not exercising right and you eat like crap, don’t blame hormones.  These are the “final piece” of the fat loss puzzle.  Eat right and do metabolism boosting workouts before you start blaming hormones.

Rant over.  Now some specifics…

Hormone: Testosterone.

Too much? Almost never an issue.

Too little? Increased body fat, decreased lean muscle.

All right, pretty much everyone needs more testosterone.  (Don’t worry ladies, you won’t grow a mustache unless you take steroids!!)

To let you know how to increase testosterone, I want you to know how college kids “fake out” hormone tests to get prescription steroids.  See, if you get low test results, the doc can prescribe steroids and you don’t have to worry about legal issues.

So when a football player wants to artificially lower his testosterone levels, he will do four things: cut out protein, cut out fat, cut out sleep, start doing aerobics.

To NATURALLY increase your testosterone, just do the opposite: eat lots of protein, eat lots of fat, get more sleep, stop the aerobics and start lifting weights!

Hormone: Thyroid

Too much? Hard to put on muscle, weakness, fatigue

Too little? Fatigue, slow metabolism, increased body fat

If you want to fix your thyroid hormones, you first have to fix another hormone: Leptin.

Leptin’s primary purpose is to restore fat reserves when you eat.  This is to help prevent starvation during times of famine.  After checking fat reserves, leptin decides how much energy your body needs and where to send it.

When leptin drops, your brain gets a signal that it’s time to eat (this signal comes from the hormone ghrelin).  As you eat, leptin levels rise and your brain gets the signal to stop.

Not eating enough (or, more precisely, not getting enough NUTRITION from the food you eat) gets leptin to signal the thyroid to slow your metabolism in order to conserve energy.

Step one of optimizing your thyroid hormones: Eat enough food.  Starving yourself will just shut down your metabolism and make you gain fat.

Now, if leptin levels are too high, you can decrease leptin sensitivity and “fullness” signals won’t reach your brain and tell you to stop eating.  Overweight people actually have very high leptin levels, the problem is their hormonal receivers don’t recognize it any more.  (Like The Boy Who Cried Wolf, the receptors just stop listening)

All of this extra eating without feeling full leads to too many calories being consumed and then stored as fat.

It is really hard to overeat on “clean foods” so most extra calories come from junk foods: pop, candy, cookies, muffins, anything made with sugar, wheat, or soy.

Step Two of optimizing thyroid function is to only eat good foods (my rule is “only foods a caveman would have eaten)

Hormone: Insulin

Too much? Increased body fat, increased body weight, increased blood pressure, insulin resistance

Too little? Type-1 diabetes

Insulin is a Big Deal.  Look at health reporting in any major news network and you’ll hear about insulin again and again.

I’ve written about insulin before: Understanding Insulin

While insulin is necessary to keep you alive, insulin surges have a devastating impact on your body, including making fat loss almost impossible.

The number one way to get insulin under control is to CUT DOWN ON CARBOHYDRATES.

Your goal isn’t to get insulin down to zero, you need it to move nutrients around in your body.  Instead, you want to prevent the insulin surges that come with a rush from sugars or dairy proteins.

Just start replacing carb calories in your diet with vegetables, proteins, and fats, and you’ll get your insulin levels where they need to be for a great looking, healthy body.

Hormone: Estrogen

Too much? Increased body fat, increased body weight

Too little? Joint pain, health issues, slowed muscle building

When talking about estrogen, there is no simple 101 course.  Overly simplistic doctors just provide hormone pills that cause as much (or more) harm as good.

But for fat loss, there are 3 keys to taking control of estrogen.  They are:

1) Blood sugar management

2) Adrenal glands

3) The gastrointestinal system (including gallbladder and liver)

For blood sugar management, just follow the guidelines in the insulin section above.

The adrenal glands get messed up from constant stress – I think we all have that!  Simple things you can do to reduce adrenal fatigue are: get more sleep, take less stimulants, take time to relax, exercise (but not aerobics!!), and to eat fewer carbohydrates.

If your adrenal glands are overactive, you might have these symptoms:

• Difficulty falling asleep
• Allergies
• Excessive sweat
• Gastric ulcers
• Fatigue after meals
• Sweets Cravings
• Excessive urination

If your adrenals are underactive, you might notice these:

• Difficulty staying asleep
• Dizziness when standing quickly
• Blurred vision
• Shakiness or lightheadedness between meals
• Eating relieves tiredness
• Salt cravings

Symptoms aside, getting a Salivary Adrenal Test is the best way to pinpoint what you need to fix.  (I could give blanket supplement recommendations, but you don’t mess around with adrenals.  Get the test done and I’ll help you )

And the third key for taking control of your estrogen levels is managing gastrointestinal health.

High fiber isn’t the cure-all here.  In fact, high fiber diets based on bran and grains may make your digestive system WORSE.  Ugh.

The best way to fix your bod is to eat organic vegetables and wild, grassfed meats.  The chemical changes that take place in chemically fertilized plants and corn- or grain-fed animals absolutely DESTROYS your gut health.

Take home message for estrogen: Cut out carbs, get adrenal levels tested, eat wild foods.

Hormone: Cortisol

Too much? Slowed metabolism, increased body fat, decrease in lean muscle

Too little? Almost never an issue

Mastering your cortisol is about mastering your stress.

Not just lifestyle stress, but also dietary and exercise stress. Don’t worry, you’re not the only one stressed out. Check out the Top Ten most prescribed drugs from 2008:

1. Lipitor – Cholesterol lowering medication. Cholesterol is often increased during times of stress.
2. Acetaminophen – Pain medication. Stress causes inflammation, which drives pain.
3. Acetaminophen – Pain medication.
4. Levothyroxine – Thyroid medication. Stress responses directly causes defects in thyroid hormone physiology.
5. Amoxicillin – Antiboitic. Stress negatively impacts our immune system, making us more prone to infection.
6. Lisinopril – High blood pressure medication. Stress is well known for causing or contributing to high blood pressure.
7. Nexium – GERD medication. Stress is a well known contributor to symptoms of “heartburn”, or gastroesophageal reflux.
8. Synthroid – Thyroid medication. Stress responses negatively impacts defects in thyroid hormone physiology.
9. Lexapro – Depression and anxiety. Stress obviously contributes to both depression and anxiety.
10. Singular – Asthma medication. Stress can induce asthma and makes the condition worse if someone already has it.

Yikes!

Ok, after that top ten list, here are Luke’s Top Three Ways To Reduce Cortisol:

1.  Cut out carbohydrates!  (notice a trend yet?)

2.  Get more sleep!

3. Stop doing aerobics, they are totally overstressing your body!  (use metabolic resistance training instead!)

All right!  This post was a lot more technical than usual, but I’ll be back with some crazy new exercises – and a BIG announcement! – in a few days.

Talk to you soon

~ Luke Wold

Prograde Nutrition released one of their best articles yet the other day, so I got permission to share it with you.

Cool, huh?

The article is all about this really powerful antioxidant named Astaxanthin. There’s been a lot of promising research coming out about it lately.

In one of those studies in 2010 a group of researchers found that increased blood glucose and excessive insulin levels could be deterred with this Astaxanthin.

Meaning this potent nutrient can help PREVENT fat gain.

But it’s only found in certain foods, as they explain in this awesome article. Just click the link below and read it right now. It’s that important.

Read Article Here <- Good Stuff

Ok, enjoy the article and I’ll talk to you real soon.

Cleansing your body does not require fancy pills or supplements nor does it take some extensive amount of time. By implementing simple dietary changes you can help your body release the chemicals, toxins and fat that has built up in your tissue over time. If you suffer from acne, fatigue, irritability or fogginess then your body may be telling you its time to be detoxified. There are simple changes you can make in your daily diet to cleanse and keep clean your body. Following a 14 day cleanse diet is a perfect way to jump start the cleansing process.

Many people tend to skip breakfast. Coffee is not breakfast. A doughnut is not breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. People who eat breakfast have been able to fight off hunger longer into the afternoon and also are more common to have success loosing weight. To detox your body, eat only fruits until noon each day.

Blueberries, raspberries, cranberries and strawberries are packed with antioxidants which fight off free radicals that are in your body. Free radicals are wreaking havoc on your insides and corroding your arteries and other body tissues. Fruits also have natural sugars that curb your sweet cravings without subjecting your body to sugar highs and lows. The fiber in fruits will fight off hunger as well. Eating fruit also promote healthy energy. In order to get the best effect with the 14 day cleanse diet you also need to eliminate caffeine. Instead, reach for an all natural herbal coffee or tea that is caffeine free. Remember how energy was unlimited as a child? That was before we started bogging our bodies down with the junk we eat and drink. Herbal beverages will give you the natural energy boost you desire and help your body rebuild its natural energy source.

For lunch and dinner you need to start eating smarter. You can still enjoy all the foods you love, but changing what you eat will help detoxify your body. While eating steak and potatoes is a normal part of many families meal plan, it also leaves you feeling weighed down. The reason for this is that two separate enzymes are needed to break down carbohydrates and starches. During digestion the two enzymes partially neutralize each other making digestion less effective. It is far more ideal to eat salad with a steak.

Dark leafy greens release nutrients that help flush your system of waste that is built up. During this 14-day cleanse diet it is also vital to drink lots of water. Non-flavored, filtered, all natural tap water. Although it may not seem appealing, water is the purest substance to put in your body to help it detoxify. By following these two easy steps you can detoxify your body in as little as two weeks. Keeping these healthy dietary changes as part of your lifestyle will result in an increase in energy, weight loss, improvements in skin, hair and nails and increased mental clarity.

Special Guest Post by Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, CK, RHN, author of The Total Wellness Cleanse.

Want to boost your metabolism with nutrition?  Here are some keys:

• Use of cruciferous veggies to help fight the xenoestrogens your body is exposed to (that can make stomach fat particularly stubborn)
• Use of green/black/white/oolong teas to have very slight increases in fat burning effect
• Use of capsaicin to have a slight thermogenic effect and increase in calorie burning
• Use of cinnamon which is proven to control blood sugar levels, improve insulin sensitivity, and thereby help to control appetite/cravings and burn more fat
• and dozens more simple little “tricks” like this that can all add up.

I’ve made sure to stress that none of these are “miracles” that will magically transform your body…

I’ve always tried to stress that the main aspects of your lifestyle, training consistency and strategy, nutritional habits, and mindset are vitally more important than any of these minor “tricks and tips”.

But, I also honestly think that if you consistently combine many of these minor aspects like spices, teas, food types, etc, etc — that you can see a legitimate increase in your fat burning results.

Although I don’t believe in “Fat Burners” per se, I found a great new product that I think can help to maximize your metabolism…

This product contains some of the things I’ve talked about before… green tea, cinnamon, capsaicin, L-tyrosine, AKG, and a few other goodies.

I don’t think it’s a “miracle fat burner” or any nonsense like that… but I DO think it can help to give you the edge and increase your metabolism. Based on some of the ingredients, it could help to control blood sugar, control cravings, increase thermogenic caloric burning, etc… check it out:

7 Powerful Metabolism Boosting Nutrients <- Click here

When I’m not writing kick-butt boot camp workouts and nutrition programs, I try to answer as many questions as I can.  I want to share some from this week.  (The answers are my actual replies, so please forgive all the grammar errors!)

Q: Quinoa, grain? I just read it is in the same family as spinach.

A: Yeah mang, it’s related to Spinach and Chard. Even though it’s not a grain, it’s still very carb-intensive and has proteins in it that act a lot like gluten.

I use it two ways:

a) As a fuel source for paleo-minded endurance athletes. Having… a tupperware of quinoa in your panniers isn’t as stylish as a power bar, but it’s a whole hell of a lot better for you.

b) As a “bridge food” for people adjusting to paleo-style eating. See, most people who want to cut out grains and processed foods severely under-eat. They don’t increase their meat and veggie intake enough to replace the calories from grains and dairy. So when they’ve cut out a thousand Calories they get hungry and tired and fall off the paleo wagon.

Adding some quinoa, lentils, or tubers in to the mix helps keep calories in satisfaction levels while eaters learn to adjust their intake of other foods to compensate for the lack of carbs.

But I recommend minimizing quinoa and going for veggies as soon as possible.

Q: Question right now is breakfast? That is when I’ve eaten whole wheat toast …. and coffee.

A: For breakfast I recommend eggs as a starting point. They are paleolithic foods, plus have plenty of fat and protein.

Studies have found that eggs for breakfast lead to greater weight loss than eating the same calories in oatmeal. And another study found women who eat eggs for breakfast have less body fat than women who don’t, even if they eat the same calories.

Eggs are a “base” like salad, you can add anything you want! I personally use eggs to mix in a whole lot of vegetables, starting my day with veggies keeps me on track the rest of the day.

Here are a few egg ideas from my blog:

http://woldfitness.com/2010/07/lukes-hyper-veggie-breakfast-scramble/

http://woldfitness.com/2010/10/bootcamp-fuel-paleo-peach-and-pecan-scramble/

http://woldfitness.com/2010/11/apple-scrambled-eggs-paleo-recip/

And here’s a few reasons to avoid toast: http://woldfitness.com/2009/10/grains-suck-wheat-celia/

Q: right now i’m trying to work up to running 5 miles at a go, because i found a pretty good training program for runners who are at that level. any advice on how to increase my stamina?

A: I always promote the idea of diminishing rest interval training.

Basically, you set your goal time and figure out how fast you need to run to do it. Say you have a goal of 9 minutes a mile (about a 2 hour half marathon). You make all of your training runs at 9 minutes per mile or FASTER. So, 4:30 half mile, walk 2 min, 4:30 half mile, walk 2 min. Next time you do the workout, you do 4:30 half mile, walk 75 sec, 4:30 half mile, walk 75 sec, etc.

That way you are never training your body to run below your goal pace, and you don’t get the overuse injuries (knees, ankles, back) that you get when slogging along with bad form.

Here’s a post I wrote about the idea: http://woldfitness.com/2010/05/smoking-your-5k-race-how-to-do-it-carson/

Also, read “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall. It made ME want to start running. Good motivation.

Q: what are your thoughts on the Paleo diet providing enough fuel for an active athlete to improve performance?

A: The problem most people have when switching to a paleo-style diet is that they dramatically cut calories because they don’t replace the grains, dairy, soy, etc with more meat, veggies and nuts.

It depends on the type of athlete what paleo diet to put them on. Strength and power do great on a straight paleo (no tubers, lentils, etc). There is an initial loss of strength and power the first 4-6 weeks, then it ramps back up to normal levels over the next month. From then on there is greater progress because they can use all of the nutrients for training and recovery, not for fighting off inflammation and allergies from the diet.

Hard-core endurance athletes are doing something that cave-dudes wouldn’t have done: going maximally for brutally long distances. So in their case I follow the paleo-diet base, with the addition of some higher carb as-much-paleo-as-possible foods: sweet potatoes, yams, some lentils, some quinoa. And a little more fruit.

Even with the extra “paleoish” carbs, there is an initial drop in endurance and speed, followed by a ramp up to normal levels, then better increases once the inflammation, allergens, extra weight, blah blah blah are removed.

The biggest thing I tell my athlete clients who switch to paleo is to make sure calories stay the same or even INCREASE, otherwise they’ll feel fatigued and start breaking down.

Q: What is your take on the Vibram 5 finger shoes…?

A: I think the Vibram 5 Fingers are just about the best thing ever!

You know my back got jacked up in a car accident, these are the only shoes that I can wear that don’t leave me crippled at the end of the day.

My clients who wear them swear by them. Cuts down on knee, back, and hip pain. (But when you first switch to them, be prepared for searing pain below the knees as your calves, shins, and feet muscles are forced to work) Actually, with all the beach volleyball you might have conditioned them already

Check out these blog posts for in-depth info:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/even-if-the-shoe-fits-forget-it/

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/flat-feet-treatment/

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/vibram-fivefingers/

I highly recommend getting a pair of Vibrams!

———————————-

Ok, that’s it for today!  If you have any questions, the fastest and easiest way to get them answered is to post them as a comment on my facebook wall.  Here’s a link:

Talk soon!

~ Luke

(Warning:  The email below contains profanity and tells the truth about what happens when you chow down on soy.  If either of these offends you, visit this website instead: Cute Things Falling Asleep)

Pretty brutal, eh?

I’ve written about the dangers of soy before: Soy, My Nipples, And Your Health

And for some truly horrific soy and vegan stories, read The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability by Lierre Keith.

Here are two new quotes I ran across just this week:

“The soybean itself is a notably inauspicious staple food; it contains a whole assortment of “antinutrients” – compounds that actually block the body’s absorbtion of vitamins and minerals, interfere with the hormonal system, and prevent the body from breaking down the proteins in soy itself.” – Michael Pollan, “In Defense Of Food”

“Confidence that soy products are safe is clearly based more on belief than hard data” – FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research

The Take-Home Message for today is:  Stop eating soy!!

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but instead will interest his patients in the care of the human fram, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” – Thomas Edison

Paleo eating and primal living are Big Topics in the health and fitness world.  What does it mean to “go Primal”?

Basically, it means eating the foods your body way designed to eat and living the way your body was designed to live, with the purpose of fitness and health in general, and often weight loss in particular.

Heading up the Primal movement is a cool guy named Mark Sisson:

He wrote the indispensable Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health, and boundless energy, one of the most highlighted books on my shelves.

Primal (for the sake of brevity I’m going to drop the /paleo today ) living allows your genes to express themselves in certain ways.  What do I mean?

Simple example: I have a tattoo on my forearm.  Think of that as a certain gene.  Maybe the gene for Type 2 Diabetes.

Whether I wear long sleeves or not determines if my tattoo will show, that the gene will be expressed.

In this example my sleeves represent my lifestyle.  If I exercise, eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and meats, and stay away from booze, grains, and sugars, the diabetes gene won’t have a chance to be expressed.  It’s like wearing long sleeves.

If I skip the gym and eat whatever I want, it’s like rolling up my sleeves and letting the diabetes gene be expressed – my lifestyle determined I would get diabetes.

The gene was there the whole time, what determines if the gene goes into action or not is your lifestyle.

As Mark says: You Have To Fit Your Genes To Fit Into Your Genes.

To have the kind of lifestyle that allows your “skinny genes” and healthy genes to be used, you can follow simple Primal guidelines.  Here are Mark’s 10 Primal Laws…

1.  Eat Lots Of Plants And Animals

I believe nutrition is the single biggest thing you can do to lose weight and get awesome health.  And the two biggest things you can do to improve your nutrition are to eat more vegetables and to eat more animal protein.

You should aim to have some complete protein in every meal, as well as a bunch of veggies.

2. Avoid Poisonous Things

This one is a doozy!  No one goes around drinking drain cleaner, but we put things into our bodies that are almost as bad.

Grains, soy, sugar, alcohol – all poisons.

Even if you’re just interested in weight loss and don’t give a damn about your health, poison foods will still completely reverse your progress.

See, if you’re eating foods that your body has to fight (ex: grains), it won’t be able to absorb the good nutrients from your meats and vegetables PLUS it won’t let you lose any fat.

You know how an infected cut swells up?  The swelling helps fight all the funk from the infection.

As soon as you ditch grains, soy, sugar, and alcohol, all the bloating in your body starts going away.  Why the bloat?

Basically, your body was swelling to help it fight off foreign invaders.

Getting rid of poison foods will make sure all the effort you put into diet and exercise won’t go to waste.

3. Move Frequently At A Slow Pace

Another tricky one.  Back in paleolithic days, humans had to walk all over the place.

We didn’t run, we WALKED.  If we ran around and burned all our energy, we’d be screwed if we didn’t find food right away.

Almost no one goes for leisurely walks or hikes any more.  We have to turn it into an exercise challenge.  Whoever has the highest heart rate wins.

Walking does all sorts of good things for your body.  Yes, it burns some calories, but that’s not why to do it.

Walking gets you outside, walking is relaxing, walking through the forest can actually help fight cancer, walking just plain feels good.

My advice: Go for a walk outside a few times a week, on the weekends get up in the hills and go for a fun hike with family and friends.

4.  Lift Heavy Things

“Lifting heavy things” doesn’t mean hitting the weight room 3 hours a day to try and look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It means resistance training.

Part of Primal living was moving rocks, climbing trees, dragging dead deer, lunging down to pick berries, pulling a travois, and all sorts of other full-body movements.

Dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, sandbags, tires, and my favorite – your won bodyweight – are all things you can use for resistance training.

5.  Sprint Once In A While

Sprinting doesn’t mean lacing on some old New Balance Joggers and heading down to the track, it just refers to moving very fast (for your level).

Interval Training on a bike, treadmill, or rowing machine works great.

So does rocking out a fast set or bodyweight exercises.

So does jumping rope.

Moving quickly is very Primal – imagine a bear was chasing you and if you didn’t make it to a tree you’d die.  No one moves with that kind of intensity any more.

6.  Get Adequate Sleep

Getting enough sleep is a HUGE piece of the weight loss equation.

If you don’t sleep your body will start craving simple sugars, completely screwing up your eating plan.

No rest means you won’t recover from your workouts, instead of building a healthy body you’ll just be digging yourself into a hole.

No sleep means you won’t be able to bring any energy to your workouts.  It SUCKS trying to do fast bike sprints when you didn’t sleep the night before.  You go so slowly you wonder why you’re even doing them at all.

Some simple things you can do to sleep better are: no TV or computer an hour before bed (the light from the monitor interferes with sleep hormones), no booze or caffeine in the evening, get exercise during the day, get sunshine as early as possible, and eat lots of meat and veggies.

7.  Play

So many people drop the ball on this one.

No one ever goes out and has fun anymore.

I love going to the beach and tossing a football around with friends, wrestling with my cousins’ kids, climbing trees, shooting hoops with my dad, and just enjoying life and movement.

The biggest mistake I see people making with play is this:  They play to get in shape, they don’t get in shape to play.

Weekend Warriors go out and play flag football without building up their leg strength, shoulder health, and agility, and they get hurt.

Go out and play to have fun, as you get in better shape you’ll be able to totally dominate more intense games.

8.  Get Adequate Sunlight

Did you know getting more sunshine will reduce cholesterol levels?  It’s true!  Your body uses cholesterol as part of the vitamin D making process.  It’s one reason why your cholesterol levels test higher in the winter than in the summer.

Vitamin D prevents a lot of diseases and is essential for healthy teeth, bones, nails, eyesight, and the absorption of other vitamins and minerals.

Going out and getting burned is a Bad Idea.  20 or 30 minutes of sunshine a day (maybe during your walk!) will help you keep your vitamin D tank topped off.

(Oh yeah, smaller daily doses of sun have been shown to actually PREVENT skin cancer!).

9.  Avoid Stupid Mistakes

“Hey!  I’m going to make my New Year’s Resolution to run a marathon!  Tomorrow I’ll go out and see how far I can run!” <- Stupid Mistake

“Exercise sucks!  I’d rather be fat!”  <- Stupid Mistake

“But I don’t liiiiiiiiiiike vegetables!”  <- Stupid Mistake

“I worked out so I deserve this treat!”  <- Stupid Mistake

Back in paleo days, stupid mistakes could kill you fast.  “I’m going to poke that tiger with a stick!”  <- Stupid Mistake

Stupid mistakes can still kill you fast (“Screw the seatbelt!”), but most of the stupid mistakes we make are smaller ones:  Skipping breakfast, ditching workouts, going to bed without brushing your teeth.

As a guy who makes more stupid mistakes than anyone else (“Watch me jump off that roof!”), I can tell you that the fewer dumb mistakes you make, the better your life is going to be.

10.  Use Your Brain

Our Primal ancestors had to learn or die.  They had to observe what was going on around them and constantly solve problems.

Most of what we do now isn’t life or death, and we don’t have to track down our own meat anymore, but I’m always amazed at how people let themselves stagnate.

They never try anything new.  They never learn anything new.  I have no idea why.

It’s been shown that doing sudoku or word puzzles can help prevent dementia (I play games on Luminosity.com when my brain is feeling sluggish).

I figure that you can get even more bang for your mental buck by doing “body sudoku” – exercise puzzles that challenge your brain to learn something new while kicking your health and fat loss into overdrive.

An example would be the Spiral Squat – something totally out of the box for 99.9% of gym-goers, yet a great exercise and mental stimulant:

Just remember Rule Nine: Avoid Stupid Mistakes when you’re learning new exercises.  If you can’t get off the toilet without straining, don’t try a rock-bottom twisting squat, ok?

Conclusion

To put these Ten Primal Laws into your daily routine, here’s a painless method:  Pick one Law a week and get on it.  Or even one Law every 2 weeks.

Make each one a habit before you add the next.

Pretty soon you’ll be wearing your Skinny Genes :p

Talk soon,

~ Luke