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Your Health Messages To YOURSELF Ten Years Ago paleo network-min

Your Health Messages To YOURSELF Ten Years Ago

I recently asked the fans of my Facebook Page The Paleo Network this question: “If you could go back and tell yourself a key health message ten years ago – what would it be?” What would your answer be?

There were hundreds of answers covering all sorts of aspects of physical & emotional health, here are some of them.

Your Health Messages To YOURSELF Ten Years Ago paleo network-min

Quit grains

And sugar. This was (unsurprisingly) a very common theme. Here are some of the messages:

  • No grains
  • Grain brain
  • Give up wheat
  • Kick the sugar
  • Don't eat sugar.
  • Cut sugar n carbs
  • Stop eating grains
  • Put down the sugar!
  • Don't. Eat. Grains.
  • Go grain & sugar free
  • Don't eat lots of bread!
  • Don't eat so much sugar!
  • Give up wheat and sugar.
  • Eat less sugar and grains
  • Don't eat grains or sugar!
  • Stop eating bread and pasta
  • Fat is not the enemy…sugar is!
  • Don't eat candy or chocolate bars!
  • Cut the bread bro and lay off the booze.
  • Ditch the GRAINS, forget the SUGAAAAR!!!
  • Fat doesn't make you fat. Sugar is the enemy.
  • Reduce your carb intake, don't eat bread anymore!!!
  • Avoid grains and sugar, they make you feel like crap.
  • Give up sugar and grains. You honestly won't miss it!
  • put down the loaf of bread and spinage dip!… I have a long list…
  • Once a sweet tooth, always a sweet tooth! Cut out sugar from the diet!
  • Stop all grain not just gluten don't look for substitutes there really enough to eat….

Easy on the vices

Alcohol and smoking also featured…

  • Don't smoke
  • Don't drink beer
  • Drink less alcohol
  • Ease up on alcohol
  • Avoid alcohol better
  • Don't start smoking again
  • Don't smoke or hang out with those who do!!!!
  • Cut the grains and sugar and it will be easier to quit smoking.
  • Stop drinking alcohol it's poison. So is wheat dairy and sugar. Paleo paleo paleo

Fat?

I thought more people would have commented about body weight and body image…

  • Stop Eating!
  • Don't get fat!
  • You're not fat. Eat something
  • Being fat is not genetic and you're not big boned.

Ditch the soda

Soda and fizzy drinks were also prominent in your messages to your younger self

  • No soda. No diet soda.
  • Stop drinking pop and fast food
  • Drink water not coke or coke zero
  • To never touch diet drinks or diet anything and drink lots of water!

Fitness

Fitness was one of the most popular themes, with these messages being added:

  • MOVE
  • Stretch
  • Do yoga
  • Exercise!
  • Weightlifting
  • Don't overtrain
  • Stay strong fit and fast.
  • Don't quit weekend sport
  • Start CrossFit. Eat Paleo!
  • Don't ever quit sport/exercise!!
  • Don't stop exercising because of pregnancy
  • Put down the sugar and lift weights…. heavy weights
  • And start yoga young to keep u strong and flexible !!!
  • Keep moving…don't stop the exercise…even for a week!
  • Paleo and CrossFit….if only I had discovered this years ago!!
  • Don't wait till you gain weight to start exercising. Biggest mistake I made!!!
  • Go to the gym & get a trainer/training partner. I'd be so much further along in my physical development

And perhaps best of all, the random messages!

There are definitely some stories there…

  • Speak up
  • Sleep more.
  • Stay consistent
  • Don't marry him.
  • Pack it in. Idiot!
  • Bitcoins! Buy them!!!
  • Omg! Where do I begin?!!
  • Put the candy bar down fatty
  • You really are allergic to dairy
  • Stay away from the chocolate
  • Stay focused don't get complacent
  • 27 is not too young to have babies
  • Don't get the flu shot and go Paleo
  • Your friends and chidren are amazing
  • Stay away from snotty nosed children!
  • Thank god u took the advice to lose 95 kg.
  • Stress less, not a food thing but a health thing
  • Don't ever stop, that's what I tell the youngsters.
  • Don't marry him! Hahaha. I would Def be healthier
  • Dont listen to your mother… and dont eat like her….
  • Take the time to feed your kids and yourself healthy!
  • Enjoy the small things! Work to live, not live to work!!
  • Stop making stupid excuses and get divorced now !!!
  • Nothing can be fixed until you sort out that zinc deficiency.
  • The habits I have will be the habits my kids will have. Eat clean!
  • NOTHING and I mean nothing, taste as good as healthy feels!!!!!
  • Don't take hormone contraceptive pills and quit that stressful job!
  • You are worth loving and you don't have to turn to food to feel loved.
  • Don't sweat it me, you are going to look better at 37 than you did at 27.
  • I would tell me to keep eating clean and switch degrees to sports science!
  • Don't shrug off the little things cause sometimes they mean there is a big thing.
  • My biggest down fall, closely followed by, avoid chocolate – it is not a meal!!!!!
  • Don't get lazy and give up. YOU'RE worth the EFFORT of cooking healthy food!!
  • Everything you've been taught about nutrition was false. The food pyramid is upside down.
  • Slow down, create more homemade meals (organic) than eating meals on the run (processed junk).
  • Exercise, laugh, set goals be flexible, action is the key to fruition, rest, relish silence, no sugar, grains, no dairy
  • Take a kids cooking class to master basic cooking skills – especially knife skills & don't be bloody lazy about eating properly!!!
  • Do not do the endometriosis treatment that your supposed specialised GP said was latest and greatest. It will ruin your health forever…
  • Don't have vital parts surgically removed unless you've been diagnosed with a deadly disease and the removal of said parts is the way to eliminate the disease.

So over to you… what message would you tell your ten-years-ago-self?

Un-Paleo Hospital Food primal diet-min

Un-Paleo Hospital Food

One of my favourite blogs is Notes from a Hospital Bed, which was started by a journalist during a long stay in a UK hospital. You won't be surprised to hear that he wasn't served Paleo Hospital Food!

The blogger was shocked about the food he was served each day, so took photos and posted them on his blog.

 Hospital-Food-min
Images by Notes From A Hospital Bed

In hospital good nutrition is obviously paramount to enable patients to recover and regain strength. Hospitals obviously don't serve Paleo food (but hopefully in  the not too distant future they will?), but even by Conventional Wisdom the food served in hospital leaves a lot to be desired.

When I had a short stay in hospital a couple of years ago I found it very hard to navigate the food options. Everything on offer was geared towards a low-fat agenda. The other key principle was that all of the food was quick and easy to prepare – and had long shelf lives. This meant everything was pre-packaged along with lots of undesirable ingredients.

I really feel for people in hospital – at the time they need good nutrition the most, they are all too often being given sub-standard food.

If you've been in hospital, what was the food like? Were you able to keep it Paleo? Perhaps one day there will be a Paleo Hospital Food option?

Un-Paleo Hospital Food primal diet-min

Underground-wellness-paleo-summit-online-event1-min

Paleo Summit – Review

I’ve finally got through listening to all of the Paleo Summit audio files.  I’ve mainly been listening to them on my way to and from work, so I now need to go through the transcripts (or listen again with a pen and paper to hand) as there have been so many book recommendations and interesting points I should have made a note of.

This is my quick review of the presentations in the summit.

Sarah Fragoso – Author, Everyday Paleo; Paleo, Kids, and the Family.

Despite not having children, I really enjoyed Sarah’s talk, in fact I wish all families making a move over to a healthy lifestyle would be able to listen to her.  She’s very realistic and everything she talks about is very accessible – as she’s been through the transtition to Paleo herself (with amazing results), with her own family.

Dr. Jack Kruse MD – Neurosurgeon; Leptin Circadian Cycles

I’ve been following Dr. Kruse’s blog for some time now and have been fascinated by his Leptin Reset.  I sometimes find his blog quite hard to read (I often have to make notes and reword it, to make sense of it), so was interested to learn how his ideas would be conveyed by spoken word, rather than text.  I thought he was a great speaker and that his ideas came across really well in his presentation.  He spoke a lot about inflammation, which is something I’m really interested in.  Dr. Jack Kruse seems to be on the bill at lots of Paleo events this year and I’m looking forward to hearing more!

Paleo Summit

Denise Minger – Author, Death by Food Pyramid; How to Win an Argument with a Vegetarian

After reading Denise’s critique of the China Study, I was looking forward to hearing her talk at the Ancestral Health Symposium last year – only for her presentation to clash with Mark Sisson’s!  I was so pleased to hear her as part of this summit.  She has a very different role in the Paleo-sphere, with her amazing ability to evaluate studies showing how what the media reports is often not what the data really shows.  He talk covered a lot of Vegan/ Vegetarian studies and the issue of confounding variables and was one of my favourites from the summit.  I’d love to invite her to (Paleo) dinner with some vegetarian friends!  I can’t wait to hear more of Denise Minger.

Jimmy Moore – Podcaster, The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show; How To Break Out Of The Grips Of Morbid Obesity And Embrace Healthy Living For Life

Whilst I listen to Jimmy’s podcasts regularly, it was nice to hear him as the interviewee for a change.  I think Jimmy is a great speaker and I enjoyed hearing his transition from more of an Atkins low-carb approach, to a Paleo low-carb approach.  I don’t think Paleo is, or should be a low-carb for everyone approach, but it was interesting to hear Jimmy Moore’s take all the same.

Keith Norris – Trainer, Efficient Exercise; Health versus Performance

I met Keith at the Ancestral Health Symposium, but hadn’t heard him present before, so had high expectations of this talk.  It was interesting to hear about the difference between health and performance – and how so many athletes are actually not healthy.

Underground-wellness-paleo-summit-online-event1-min

Dr. Catherine Shanahan MD – Author, Deep Nutrition; The Paleo Diet vs. Top-Selling Drugs — Who Wins?

I think this was my favourite presentation.  Very pertinent too as I know a few people who have been prescribed some of the specific drugs discussed in the talk.  If only all doctors had this much knowledge and this approach with their patients.  I'd love to hear Dr. Cate Shanahan talk again, hopefully she'll be talking at more Paleo events in the future. 

Mark Sisson – Author, The Primal Blueprint; Ancestral Living Defined

I think Mark Sisson is a great communicator and is responsible for introducing Paleo/ Primal to so many people.  I enjoyed his talk – this is another one I’d want people new to Paleo to listen to early on in their journey.

Erwan Le Corre – Founder, MovNat; MovNat: Moving Naturally

I saw Erwan’s talk at the Ancestral Health Symposium and was looking forward to hearing his accent again!  An interesting talk, but I think his topic is best demonstrated, rather than talked about – to that end I’m really looking forward to having a MovNat session with him at PrimalCon in April!

 Nora Gedgaudas – Author, Primal Body-Primal Mind; Safe Starches: To Eat or Not to Eat?

I’m a huge Nora Gedgaudas fan after hearing her at the Ancestral Health Symposium and again when she toured Australia last year with Nourishing Australia.  She is such a good speaker, with a great skill in making the science understandable and accessible.  I was glad the issue of safe starches was tackled in the summit, as there seems to have been a huge shift in the Paleo-sphere on the issue, with Paul Jaminet taking an opposing view.  I’m still somewhat on the fence regarding safe starches; self experimentation is needed I think.

Paul Jaminet, Ph.D. – Author, Perfect Health Diet; The Evolutionary Evidence for the Optimal Human Diet

Paul Jaminet is so logical, rational and fantastic to listen to.  I found his talk so interesting and valuable – this is one of the talks I need to listen to again, with a pen in my hand.

Diane Sanfilippo – Author, Practical Paleo; Practical Paleo Implementation

This would be another great talk for those new to this lifestyle to listen to.  I’m looking forward to her book coming out.

Chris Kresser – Integrative Medicine Practitioner; An Update on Cholesterol

I always enjoy Chris Kresser’s appearances on Robb Wolfs the Paleo Solution podcasts, so I knew I’d enjoy his talk.  This was a hugely interesting talk about Cholesterol that I wish CW doctors would listen to!

Mat Lalonde, Ph.D. – Research Biochemist, Harvard University; Invalid Inferences: An Organic Chemist’s Perspective on Paleo

I got to hear Mat speak at the AHS, I really like his style and approach.  It was also interesting to hear how Mat actually eats himself!

Dallas & Melissa Hartwig – Health Educators, Whole9 Life; Paleo for Vegetarians

The Whole30 founders put out such good information (I was really pleased to get a free copy of their Whole30 success guide when I downloaded the Summit files) – it was interesting to hear another perspective on vegetarianism, which is often seen as the polar opposite to Paleo.  I might have to play this one to my vegetarian friends…

Dr. Thomas O’Bryan – Gluten Sensitivity Expert; The Musculoskeletal Connection to Autoimmunity Disease

This was another highlight, not only did he explain gluten and auto immune responses he spoke at length about exactly what an allergy is, compared to sensitivites.  I learn a lot from this talk and found Dr Thomas O'Bryan to be an excellent speaker who was very skilled at getting his message accross.

Matt Stone – Independent Health Researcher; Matt Stone Debunks The Paleo Diet

I'm glad the summit included a different perspective on Paleo, but this is a talk I won ‘t be in a hurry to listen to again.  I found all of his ideas completely anecdotal – there didn't seem to be any science or studies to support his argument.  He didn't seem to be debunking Paleo per say, but more low-carb – or people dogmatically refusing to change their macro-nutrient ratios.  I just don't think it works like that.  I'd be super interested to hear what you thought of Matt Stone's talk in the comments below.

Amy Kubal, RD – Registered and Licensed Dietitian; Paleo for Endurance Athletes

I'm really glad this was included.  The more into fitness I get, the more I hear people talking about how you can't do Paleo and endurance sport – well Amy clearly shows otherwise, having won a marathon on Paleo herself!  I wish all athletes would listen to this!

Reed Davis – Founder, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition; Stress, Hormones, and Paleolithic Man

Very interesting talk looking at the stress modern man is under versus the stress the Paleolithic man would have experienced.

Paul Chek – Founder, C.H.E.K. Institute; Living Primal: Instinct Before Intellect

There were some interesting points raised in this talk about getting back to the basics, but wonder if some people might find the start a little difficult to get into.

Dr. Allison Siebecker – Naturopathic Doctor; Paleo Digestive Troubleshooting

This was a very interesting talk that I learnt a great deal from.  So many people seem to have digestive issues, which Dr Siebecker talked about at great length.  Anyone with any form of digestions issues needs to listen to this presentation!

Dr. Daniel Chong – Naturopathic Doctor; Earthing as an Essential Nutrient

I've been hearing more and more about earthing, so was interested to hear this talk.  This probably isn't one I'd recommend to someone skeptical of the Paleo lifestyle, but it made so much sense to me!

Stephanie Greunke, RD – Registered Dietitian; Ditch the D Word!

Perhaps this would be a useful perspective to someone new to this way of life, but I didn't learn anything new from this talk.  I'm not bothered whether you call it a diet, a nutrition plan or a regime – the name makes no difference to how I eat!

Dean Dwyer – Blogger, Beyond Primal; The Inner Game of Paleo

I'm glad someone like Dean was included in this summit.  Dean was overweight and did a lot of research, finding a sustainable way to live – and getting to the right weight.  A lot of people in the Paleosphere came into it without needing to lose weight, so it's good to hear from someone who is an example of how it can be done.

If you missed the presentations the upgrade is still available with all of the files.
Paleo Summit Order Now

Have you made your way through the presentations yet?  Which ones did you like (and dislike?) – and who would you like to hear next time?