If you aren’t part of our_Paleo Challenge Facebook Group, you may have missed these cool videos Ivory posted. Interesting that the reporter had to stuff her face with whole foods in an effort to keep her current weight, yet in 10 days lowered her cholesterol, dropped her blood pressure, and reversed her insulin resistance (she wasn’t aware she was pre type II diabetic).
Speaking of cholesterol, be sure to make it in for the next wellness seminar with Dr. Brittany Burns, as that will be one of the subjects covered! Date and time TBA!
It is time for our annual PALEO CHALLENGE! For those of you who are new to crossfit and have not been eating strict paleo, here are a few websites to get you familiar with the concepts:
Now that you are familiar… the CHALLENGE starts January 2nd and lasts for 6 WEEKS until February 10th. This gives everyone plenty of time to make drastic changes to their body compositions… and just in time to look your best for Valentine’s Day!
Take a peek at the links below for previous Paleo Challenge winners:
These results happened in just 6 WEEKS!!! Bring on the New Year with a healthy change in life style and a new outlook on nutrition!
Stay tuned for competition rules and buy in! If you are interested in the challenge let us know in the comments below. You will win enough money to buy a new few clothing items for your new body! Remember, this is a body composition change challenge… not a weight loss challenge.
Anybody check the weather lately? Not a whole lotta’ sun ’round these parts this time of year.
Vitamin D deficiencies are very common in northern climates during the darker months. Low blood levels of vitamin D can lead to:
SAD (seasonal affective disorder and moodiness)
Heaviness in the legs
Chronic musculoskeletal pain
Fatigue
Hypersensitivity of the skin
Increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease
Cognitive impairment in older adults
Severe asthma in children
Cancer
The list goes on, just Google it…
So how can you get your dose o’ D? Well it’s pretty easy in CdA during the summer; our bodies produce the stuff when the sun’s UV rays hit our skin. Winter is the tough one. Time to supplement.
Research shows you can safely supplement 4000 I.U. of vitamin D per day. Costco has a good brand packing 2000 I.U. per pill at a reasonable price, be sure to check it out.
Check out vitamin Vitamin D3 World for more info, and as always, ask the trainers!
Check out this video about the fattest place on Earth. They were healthy until they adopted a western diet. So are they screwed by genetics, or is this a case of gene expression? (another good post by Mark’s Daily Apple)
In case you guys haven’t signed up for Gluten Free January and are missing out on the great info being put out, here is the latest email from Matt Lentzner. Check out what he has to say, then see whats on the menu for our recipe of the week!
“Ever heard of “Leaky Gut”? I’ll admit it sounds a little ridiculous, but it’s real.
Technically, the inside of your stomach and intestines are still outside your body. Food is brought in, processed, the nutrients absorbed, and the waste passed out. Your digestive track is the most highly immune system protected area of your body. If you think about it, this is the most likely point of entry for any invaders or toxins.
The idea here is that when your small intestine gets damaged then it leaks. It’s not like a leaky tire, but more like a screen door with a hole in it. You want the fresh air, but not the flies. Get enough holes and the screen door is an open invitation for all the bugs in the world to come into your house.
It is like this with leaky gut. Bacteria, undigested food, toxins, get through the gut barrier and into your blood stream. This causes an immune reaction inside your body. Your body will assume it is under attack and produce antibodies for any foreign objects it encounters. Things get dicey when your body makes antibodies for proteins that happen to look like structures in your own body. This is called auto-immune disease. When you body’s own immune system attacks it’s own tissue.
It’s a real crapshoot. It varies from embarrassing hair loss (alopecia) to permanent nerve damage (multiple sclerosis).
Where does wheat and gluten fit into this? I’m glad you asked.
Gluten is a gut irritating substance. In other words it can damage your gut. If the damage gets bad enough then tiny gaps start to form in the intestinal lining. Next thing you know you have leaky gut. Of course some people are more sensitive than others, but I think everyone suffers from it to a greater or lesser degree. Even if your gut doesn’t actually leak, this constant irritation keeps your immune system on red alert all the time, making allergies worse.
Other stuff like aspirin, NSAIDs, and alcohol can also irritate the gut. So you want to take it easy on those things. But for most people the constant bombardment is coming from gluten. For many people it’s every meal of every day for their entire lives.
Eating gluten is like gambling except there’s no winners – only losers. And some people are gonna lose bigtime.”
Ok, the holidays are over. Anyone else feel like a slug? No, I don’t mean for trampling that grandma to get the last tickle-me-elmo doll. I’m talking about the FOOD! Yep, the cookies, the egg nog, the booze… anybody feel like cleaning things up a bit? We did do our pre-Thanksgiving Paleo Challege (congrats Darcy and Angela!), so we want to change things up a bit this time around (btw, check out some of the previous winners). Somebody at Robb Wolf’s site, the paleo guru himself (check out his book), raised the question, “what if we can go gluten free for one month?“ Well, what if? So who’s with me! Check out Gluten Free January for more info.
When you’re ready to sign up just send a message to glutenfreejan@gmail.com with your first name, last initial, and city where you’re currently living.
Check out this post from last year on vitamin D. Very relevant info considering what time of year it is. I’m not a big supplement guy; I get plenty of good stuff from whole foods. Fish oil is one thing I do take, but I also supplement with vitamin D during the winter months. Check it out, especially if you tend to get depressed/moody this time of year!
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