My no gym experiment

If you are a follower of this blog then you'll know that I am gym goer of, forever.  25 years of continuous gym going and even some instructing too.  There are a myriad of benefits to exercise but weight loss is not one of them.  Shocking I know but true.  80% of your body composition is determined by what you put into your mouth.  The other 20% is a mixed of genetics, how you manage stress, your sleep quality and how much sun you get.  Yes, really.  I know, it definitely gave me the permission to stop exhausting myself trying to make the gym classes.

Every day life is busy enough
I think exercise is a daily necessity, we are not genetically used to sitting at a desk all day we are used to moving around all day at a moderate pace.  Well, I was doing that but feeling guilty for doing it, feeling bad for rushing from one thing to the next, not taking any 'time out' to relax. But the list of things to do never ends!  There are kids to feed, clean up from, then feed again repeat a million times, there is washing to do and hang out and sort and put away, cooking, baking, shopping, feeding all of the animals, tending to weeds in the veggie patch, plus random house projects such as painting bits of furniture, clearing out the kids drawers, cleaning the house, vacuuming, mopping end and repeat.  Right? I know you relate.  Whether you are a guy or a gal, your list of jobs is never ending. So I decided to view this as activity, therefore a good thing.  My Grandma was busy like this with her three kids and I bet the woman before me in my line had similar chores to do.  It's physical.  It's enough. 

But what if I get weak?
The other area I wanted to focus on was strength.  Mark Sisson in The Primal Blueprint suggests this as the recipe for optimal health and fitness, (among other Primal Blueprint Laws)

• Move frequently at a slow pace
• Lift heavy things
• Sprint once in a while
• Get adequate sunlight
• Play
• Get adequate sleep

Yoga & au revoir back pain
Ok so I am nailing the first one. Lift Heavy things, Sisson suggested that these four exercises encompass them all: push ups, squats, plank and pull ups.  I did start by just reps of the four but found it SO BORING.  I love yoga but never really classify it as 'real exercise' (I know, what a fool) but figured that yoga encompasses all of those moves and decided to commit to doing 20-30mins per day on the lawn.  I use the Yoga Download app on my phone, it's free and I get to do whatever class I feel like on that day.  I am loving it and so is my back.  I have suffered with facet joint syndrome for years, bloody agonising lower back pain.  Reducing the inflammation in my body by eating primal has all but eliminated the joint problem and the millions of forward bends and ragdoll poses I have been doing has brought an end to my back problems.  Man, that alone would have been reason for me to go primal. The gym classes made my neck and shoulders tight, as did the stress of being exhausted from the class, the rushing to get there, plus all of the moving around at a slow pace ON TOP of gym work. I was stressed, it was too much for my system.

How getting adequate sleep and sunlight turned my world around
My sleep was pretty rubbish.  Hard to get to sleep, slept lightly, woke regularly, struggled to get back to sleep.  I read that getting outdoors in blue and green space and seeing white light early in the day can help you sleep at night by setting your circadian rhythm.  I thought that sounds good, lets give it a whirl. Yoga on the lawn, followed by a beach walk with sprints on the days I felt energetic enough, followed by a dip in the ocean is my personal recipe for world peace! Tick tick tickety tick.  I felt on top of the world all day after this little routine and by evening I was winding down all yawny and looking forward to beddies. How could you get more sunlight into your life?  Maybe a walk in the morning before work, or at lunchtime, get your arms and legs exposed and be careful not to burn. 

A note on play
Pre the experiment I was too tired, busy and stressed to really get down to some serious play with the kids.  I know you can relate.  Anyway, Dad's are good at that right?  But I had never considered play as prescriptive to overall awesome health and hey if my idol Mark Sisson suggests it as Primal Blueprint Law Number 7, lets give it a bash.  So, because my beachy yoga workouts didn't take as long as a drive to the gym, hour class, shower, drive home (3hrs), I had more time to do my jobs as outlined above and more time for play!  I was in a better mood too and not stressed and shouty.  So a bounce on the tramp, a kick of the footy, frizbee, bike ride races, Uno, monopoly, snakes n ladders etc etc have come into our family life, as well as just some simple tickles, or my fave tickle maths (I ask a maths question to Sam and tickle him til he answers it correctly!) It. Felt. Cool!  Such a good stress reliever and chance to connect with my kids.  Feels good.

Neck pain relief
I have chronic neck pain.  I've got the right pillows, I have massage, I see the chiro and we have decided that it's my mindset that creates the neck pain.  That stressed out feeling, that busy busy busy.  I cancelled my scheduled chiro appointment yesterday as my neck is way looser than before my experiment.  Hoorah to that.  It is still a bit tight, so I'm just off to do some chair neck yoga.

My take away message
Our lives are so busy, most of us are active enough, strenuous gym workouts add to the stress on the body.  Most of us are over stressed as it is, some with adrenal fatigue.  There is a simpler more pleasant way to get the benefits and be fit and strong without knackering yourself!!! I didn't get weak or unfit!  I am just as fit as before, but less stressed!

As Mark Sisson puts it,  "Overexercising is a common scenario when you consider how our active population has such a strong focus, dedication, and willpower to push through signs of fatigue.  Our bodies are simply not adapted to benefit from chronic aerobic exercise at intense or even mildly uncomfortable heart rates nor to slog through exhausting circuits of resistance machines several days a week.  The mild to severe difficulty of these Chronic Cardio or strength workouts overtaxes the stress response (commonly referred to the fight or flight response) in your body.  Here, your pituitary gland tells your adrenal glands to release cortisol into your bloodstream. Cortisol is a powerful stress hormone that is critical to a variety of physical functions and energy production.  The spike of cortisol in the bloodstream from a stressful event increases respiration, heart rate, blood circulation and mental focus and even converts muscles tissue into glucose for quick energy.  This is a great example of how we abuse a system that was genetically designed to respond to emergencies, such as Grok facing a predator."



What do you think?  I love to hear your comments.

My 2 rather depressing realisations about exercise

My current bedtime reading, confronting yet obvious

 

One: Exercise won't help you lose weight. 
This is a chapter in the confronting book I am reading by David Gillespie. Gillespie has a wad of evidence to back this up.  Over the past thirty years the health equipment, gym and weight loss industries have boomed and been sustained like nothing in our economic history.  The boom in the physical movement industry came about the same time we were told to "eat low fat and eat more healthy whole grains".  Look around you, look down at you, it didn't work.  We, as a nation have got sicker and fatter yet we are moving more than ever.  If we are overweight it all boils down to it being your fault, you were too lazy or you didn't have enough will power to avoid the fattening foods.  Its all your fault. You fat lazy fecker. 

But what if that isn't true....I am currently feeling a bit depressed that my firm beliefs of the past 25 years are being throttled but I am also washed with massive flowing relief and an inner knowing that OF COURSE it doesn't make any sense to flog ourselves into a crippling sore wreck of a mess in the name of health and weight loss.  Right?  I can certainly feel my poor old knackered adrenals breathe a sigh of relief. I'm so sorry adrenal glands!

We as humans are very efficient at using our calories.  Exercise just doesn't burn many off those calories unfortunately.  An example Gillespie gives is,

"The 150 calories in a glass of apple juice would let us ride a bicycle 8 kilometres, but the same energy (in petrol) would push a car just 250metres."

Two: Exercise classes are such a waste of my time. 
I am a regular gym goer of 25 years (side note:  have I ever achieved my goddess like bodwah from this...answer: no)...I used to be an Aerobics teacher for godsake and Personal Trainer and Gym Instructor....I BELIEVED THIS SHIT WORKED!  And yet I used to always feel a bit inadequate about my less than ripped Instructor body.  But like I say I believed it would help me lose weight, one day and I was terrified to stop in case I suddenly ballooned. So I continue to go to the classes, it's always a mad scramble to get there on time, it takes about an hour of prep and driving to get to my gym.  The class is an hour, then there is the showering...all up it takes me 2.5hours to workout.  Usually after all that faffing about I'm knackered and a bit moody and over it for the rest of the day.

This book is bleak and negative (the first chapter is "Why diets don't work') in that it goes against everything we are told to believe about what it takes to be healthy.  But I like it.

On the upside of gym classes now guys....

At the beginning of the year when I was super sick, I was feeling so nauseous and anxious that I couldn't handle going to the gym.  But I wanted to move my body, it's what it's used to (and god what if  I balloon?) but in my debilitated and exhausted state all I could manage was some yoga which I did mainly outside on the grass, gentle and sometimes harder bike rides, walking in the forest and on the beach. I had to keep going as a mother, house wife and gardener so I was still moving around at a moderate pace for most of the day and lifting heavy things such as my 16 kilo kid! 

What happened was rather lovely.  I didn't balloon, I stayed about the same, even dropped a couple of kilos.  I felt more centred, less rushed, I was on my own time frame.  I developed an intuition for what would work best for me on that day, not Chronic Cardio because today is Step Class but more I feel tired today some yoga would be yummy or I am bounding with energy lets do some sprints.  This way of moving is inclusive too as my kids can come along or bounce on the tramp and watch me zip up and down the drive way a few times or punch out a few press ups or squats. It also is great on time as I can walk with my friends and chat at the same time.  Also being outside in nature has numerous benefits. 

• The white light on my eyes first thing on a morning helped me to sleep better at night because it regulates my circadian rhythm
• Being in the sunshine helps me produce much needed Vitamin D, a very important factor in proper digestion and gut health
• Being in nature makes you feel relaxed and happy
• It's fun seeing all of the animals out in nature and that makes you feel good too

Now I am not knocking gyms and classes at all.  In the past when I was working ten hour days ducking to the gym (secretly so the boss didn't see me having a break gah) was the most efficient and convenient way to de stress midway through the day.  When my kids were pre school going to the gym was awesome because of the crèche facility, often providing the only sixty minute kid free time in my day.  And I still love the gym now, I love Helen Powley the teacher cos she is like a Mother Hen loving all of her gym going girls and that's nurturing.  I love seeing my pals there and the coffee and chats afterwards.  It's a great place to feel part of the community and to connect and socialise with other women you may not otherwise encounter during the day. 

There are many benefits to exercise, but I do believe that weight loss is not one of them.  As Mark Sisson states in THE PRIMAL BLUEPRINT (I'm a big fan)

80% of body composition success is determined by diet

 

Mark Sisson's advocates the following three primal blueprint laws with regard to exercise that will optimize gene expression and promote fitness

 

Move frequently at a slow pace

Lift Heavy things

Sprint once in a while

 

Sisson suggests

• avoiding chronic cardio (frequent medium to high intensity sustained workouts)
• avoiding chronic strength training (frequent and/or prolonged sub maximal lifting sessions ending in exhaustion)
• Avoiding Regimented Schedules (instead allow for spontaneous, intuitive variation in type, difficulty and frequency of workouts)

  

So that's what I am going to do and doing all of this knowing it's for the myriad of health benefits gained from exercise and not to lose weight.  I will still go to the gym but that will mainly be to see my pals. 

 

So what do you think of the above?  Relief? Disbelief?  Let me know. 

I recommend a read of Gillespie's book, you can click on the above link to order a copy, I am an affiliate of Fishpond and receive small commissions for any books purchased via links I provide.  Otherwise, head down to your library and see if they have a copy...can't be arsed to read it? No worries I'll bring all the main points home for you.

  

I have added an email thingy at the bottom of my page so that you can sign up and receive email notification of a new blog post.  You can also email me directly at primalsoapbox@gmail.com or follow me on Facebook and Instagram as Primal Soapbox.

In short: eat more fat and exercise less.....say what?

So what do I mean by primal, or paleo or (cringe) the caveman diet?  I now don't think its some passing diet craze I truly believe it's a lifestyle that suits our evolution.  Eating primal is eating the same things that our ancestors who survived before us did for thousands of years. 

Only recently have we messed it up by altering grains to give greater yields, making food in labs and paying scientists to make frankenfoods that are cheap to produce and last on the shelves for ages.  Next time you walk down the cereal aisle ask yourself 'do I really believe this is healthy for me?' 

Our ancestors ate a diet rich in good fats with some protein, minimal carbohydrates and practically zero sugar, unless it was autumn and there was some seasonal fruit which was good to fatten up for the winter.   Or maybe our ancestors came by a guarded beehive and found a little bit of honey, maybe a tablespoon each. Now we eat the equivalent to at least a tablespoon worth of honey e v e r y   d a y.  It's like we are preparing for a winter that never comes, food is in abundance.  A Standard Australian Diet (SAD, love that acronym as it does make you indeed SAD) is low in fat and high in sugars and carbohydrates.  We exercise now more than we ever have done (did your Grandma go to the gym or run 10kms a day?  Mine didn't, she got her exercise from cleaning the house, preparing food, going down the shops and raising a family) but we are getting FATTER. 

Cancer, obesity, diabetes, neurological diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's  are rife for us now yet our ancestors didn't suffer these diseases.  Our hospitals and Doctors are amazing at treating acute illnesses and accidents but really struggle with treating chronic diseases.  As humans we typically try to get away with as much as we can, its in our nature, "yeah I've heard gluten probably isn't good for me but I am not a celiac so I can get away with it", no one is going to be more interested in your own health than YOU.  We trust our health to Doctors who prescribe medication to treat the symptoms not the cause. 

I think that if you don't want to die of some god awful degenerative disease then the information is out there to take your health into your own hands and make a difference.  I have read oodles of research as I think it is AMAZING but appreciate that not all of you share the same desire that's why I've left the research and referencing out of this blog to date and am just passing on the key points to you in a laymans way.  It's the N=1 idea.  That means, try the experiment on yourself, give it 30-60 days and see how you feel.  Be sure to let me know.

How does all of that trickle down to your dinner plate?  Well I aim to half fill my plate with veggies, some protein (I go for about 75-100g per meal as in raw meat or fish or eggs not actual protein content of food) and fat, (I go for about a tablespoon of additional fat per meal in the way of coconut oil, butter, cream, avocado, olive oil etc.)   Add carbs if you wish, like if you are really craving some mash, have it, or a delicious root mash go for it, but I am trying to eat above ground veggies more as they are less carby, but I do enjoy root veggies and have some quinoa and rice too.

When I first flicked through a few paleo cookbooks I felt disheartened, it was just lots of fancy ways with meat....and looks very different to what we had previously eaten.  Now however I have taken what I have learnt and adapted our family faves to be more primal and thus more body compatible and nutritious.  Primal cooking has surprised me in that its become a lot more simple - the food speaks for itself.  I used to slave away over fancy sauces (low fat of course) and bloody gravies there was so much prep time (and so many undesirable ingredients).  The other day I had planned on cooking some grass fed pork in a white wine and cream sauce with prunes and a root puree.  I looked at the recipe and felt uninspired, I couldn't be bothered.  So we simply barbequed the pork, had the puree (carrot, parsnip and sweet potato with butter) with some steamed greens from the veggie patch to the side.  The food was amazing.  I have never tasted pork like that before. I would have ruined it with cream etc.  The freshly picked veggies coated in butter were simply stunning too.  Simple and delicious.  Way much more enjoyment.  Oh and also did you know that the vitamins in vegetable are fat soluble?  I pop organic grass fed butter over all of our veggies now, they taste so much better, who knew?  Finally a way of eating that satisfies, delights, there is certainly none of the deprivation that I expected to encounter.

What about the cost? Yes grass fed meat and organic dairy products are more expensive but a little goes a long way, somehow this perfect, as nature intended food is more satisfying, more tasty and makes you feel FRIKKIN AWESOME.  I buy cheaper cuts (which are actually more nutritious as they are usually on the bone so think bone broth benefits) and slow cook them, we have leftovers for lunch, a little goes a long way.  If you buy seasonal veggies they will be cheaper, and if you grow your own and keep a few chooks you are laughing.  I bake most of our cakes, biccies and bread and now I have fine tuned my quirky ingredients such as almond meal and coconut flour its inexpensive to make better versions of yummy treats.  We are drinking less grog, so that's a saving too.  But ultimately what is the cost? I would have gladly spent thousands to stop feeling so nauseous, turns out I didn't have too.  Invest in a primal lifestyle for yourself and your family and you could be saving on your long term health.

A bit more on exercise, as you know, I have been a devoted gym junkie for 25 years, chronic cardio works, calories in versus calories out kinda thinking.  Well that doesn't work for me anymore.  Exercise is a form of stress on the body and raises cortisol, the stress hormone, this was bad news for my adrenals and left me feeling overwhelmed with anxiety and some sort of mild depression I suppose, yeah more like a dark cloud of it all being 'too hard'.  When I was feeling really shit I just couldn't face going to the gym at all but the gym junkie in me said I should probably get some exercise, so I did other things like walked on the beach, did some yoga in my living room and had some bike rides in the countryside.  It felt great!  Little did I know but I was starting to incorporate other factors of a primal lifestyle such as spending time in nature and getting some UV exposure for vitamin D (essential to good digestion and good mood, I think 20 mins of unprotected sun exposure per day is what to aim for but you should check).  Think what our ancestors would have done, they moved around a lot all day long, didn't spend much time at all sitting down and they lifted heavy things, maybe they would have had to do a quick sprint here and there to catch some dinner or save themselves been someone elses dinner!

So some take aways for you my darling soapboxers: EATING FAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU FAT.  Move your body lots throughout the day (if you're a Mum like me then you're winning) lift heavy things (like your kids) and workouts can be short bursts of sprints that leave you breathless or tabata style workouts.  If you get to the gym and you're not feeling it, listen to your body and go home.

I've found that living a primal lifestyle is workout enough!  On Sunday I spent three hours power gardening, trying to feed and mulch my fruit trees, grass and veggie patches before some heavy rain came in, then I spent three hours cooking in the kitchen.  That's enough right?  I've started to look at my activity throughout the week on the whole as opposed to how many times I've hit the gym in the past seven days.

 

Here's Mike trying a H induced Tabata style workout down the beach recently.  Exercise, family time and time spent in nature all rolled into one, too easy

So in case you didn't already figure it out, I am ON A KIN MISSION to spread the word about how getting back to ancestral basics can really help everyone experience a better life!  If you are experiencing some vague health problems that the Dr can't help you with then consider giving some of the primal lifestyle ideas a try.  Also, if you know of anyone who could benefit please spread the word about my blog and facebook page, thanks in advance, H xx