Review - The Primal Blueprint

Long time readers of 60 in 3 know that I greatly enjoy Mark Sisson’s articles over at Mark’s Daily Apple.  I may not always agree with him, but his posts are thought provoking, educational and informative.  So I was quite happy to hear that Mark was taking his primal blueprint for health and putting it into a book form titled appropriately enough, The Primal Blueprint.

Style

As usual, Mark’s writing is great.  The chapters are well laid out and include multiple examples which are easy to understand.  While there are some high end biology, genetics and nutrition discussions, all of them are well explained.  In other words, this isn’t just a book for fitness enthusiasts, it’s also accessible for people who are just now getting into a healthier mindset.  That said, even the best written book is useless if the content is bad, so let’s examine what the primal blueprint is all about.

Overall

Mark believes, as do I, that people need to get back to their roots.  Health wise, he sees our primitive ancestors as leading extremely healthy lifestyles from a variety of aspects.  His model, a caveman named Grok, does everything right and treats his body well.  By comparison, Mark uses chapter two of the book to show us a modern family by the name of Korg, Grok backwards, and how the modern lifestyle is extremely unhealthy.  So far so good, I like this philosophy, but is there something actionable in the book?  The answer is absolutely.

The primal blueprint is a set of rules for how to live a healthier lifestyle by emulating our ancestors.  This blueprint is laid out in chapter one and each rule is further detailed in subsequent chapters.  I’m going to list the rules out here and give a brief opinion on each.  For more information on them, visit Mark’s site or buy the book.

The Primal Blueprint Rules

1. Eat Lots of Plants, Animals and Insects - I like this rule, yes, even the insects part.  Too many of us limit our diets to just a few specific ingredients.  In the US, a majority of food seems to be beef, chicken, potatoes, wheat and corn.  That’s a bad thing and health conscious individuals will attempt to change this.
2. Avoid Poisonous Things - Well, that’s a no brainer, right?  Seems smart to avoid drinking that drain cleaner.  Except Mark isn’t just talking about obvious poisons.  He’s referring to all the modern crap that people put into their systems.  That means excess carbs, preservatives, processed sugars, caffeine and a variety of others.  I’m not sure I agree with Mark’s policies on whole wheat foods, but otherwise I think he’s spot on.
3. Move Frequently At A Slow Pace - Mark’s recommended physical activity is slow and moderate paced movement.  Things like walking, biking and hiking.  Can’t argue with him on this one, except that Mark argues against prolonged cardio like jogging and makes some very convincing arguments against it.
4. Lift Heavy Things - Makes sense.  Challenge your muscles and build a better body.  This one I agree with and I like Mark’s emphasis on natural, compound exercises like squats and lunges.  The primal blueprint recommends explosive, all out efforts rather than slow and gradual by the way, something I’m not sure I agree with.  However, that’s a minor quibble.
5. Run Really Fast Once In A While - Rather than prolonged cardio, Mark believes in the occasional all out effort.  Sprints are a great example of this.
6. Get Adequate Sleep - No argument here.  This is one of the basic rules of healthy living.
7. Play - Again, no argument.  If you can combine physical activity with fun, you’re doing great.
8. Get Plenty of Sunlight - Just not too much!
9. Avoid Stupid Mistakes - Which basically translates to “don’t walk into traffic”.  Not sure how Mark reconciles this with his snowboarding but hey, it’s definitely a good rule to follow.
10. Use Your Brain - Great last rule to finish with.  Fitness isn’t just about the body.  We need to pay attention to the most important muscle of all, their brains.  Use it or lose it folks!

Is the Primal Blueprint Worth Reading?

Absolutely.  Even if you disagree with some of what Mark says you’re still going to find a lot of worthwhile information here.  Plus the Korg chapter alone is worth the price of the book because it shows us just how unhealthy our modern lives have become.  However, there’s a more important question here.

Is the Primal Blueprint Worth Following?

That is, is this a healthy way to live?  For the most part, I think so.  I agree with Mark on 80% of what he says.  Still, there’s a lot that seems off to me.  Whole wheat is bad?  Jogging is bad?  Cavemen are healthier than modern men?  Mm…  Still, I’m an open minded person and I feel odd rejecting this idea out of hand.  After all, there’s a lot here that makes sense.  So

The 60 in 3 Primal Blueprint Challenge

For the next couple of months, June and July, I’ve decided to adopt the Primal Blueprint in its entirety and see what kind of a difference it makes in my life.  That means the following:

• No more jogging.  Trading this in for occasional sprints and more hiking and walking.
• Eliminate those poisons.  No more breads, pastas, rice, caffeine, sugar and the rest.  Yes, even whole wheat.
• Add a bit more protein to my diet.  Yes, that means eating more meat.  I’ve already found a local farmers market vendor who has great organic beef, chicken and venison plus another vendor who sells fresh fish.
• Focus on vegetables, fruits and nuts for my other nutritional requirements.
• Change my weight lifting routine to be a bit faster in line with Mark’s recommendations.

I’ll blog about my progress here in a series called The Primal Blueprint.  At the end of July, we’ll see how I feel.  That’s when I can tell you if the Primal Blueprint makes for a good lifestyle and not just a great book.

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Mark’s site can be found here: Mark’s Daily Apple

Mark’s book can be found here: The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram Your Genes for Effortless Weight Loss, Vibrant Health, and Boundless Energy

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Primal Blueprint, Day 2

It’s been two days now since I started on this new plan and there’s good and bad news.

Bad News

• Still struggling with a cold.  This has nothing to do with the Primal Blueprint though, I got this cold two days before I started living by Mark’s plan.  Still, it’s a bit frustrating to wake up every day with a sore throat and a headache.  I wonder if my new lifestyle is making things worse or better but I suppose there’s no way to really know that.
• Experiencing the same issues I did when I first tried out intermittent fasting.  Namely, going out with people becomes very difficult since most restaurant meals are not even close to the Primal Blueprint.  Still, with enough planning, I’m finding that I can go out and still stick to this plan.  Mexican restaurants seem good (hold the rice), seafood places are good (again, hold the high carb sides) and sushi places are great (avoid the rice and order sashimi).
• I’m going through a lot of cravings for sugar.  Good thing I started this AFTER I got rid of most of the sugars in my diet last month or else I doubt I could stick with it.  There’s an important lesson there by the way, don’t try anything drastic like this without some gradual changes, you’ll greatly increase your chance of success.
• Not sleeping well, but this could be related to the cold.  I’m trying to avoid taking any medication for this illness but that’s difficult when I’m staying up all night coughing.  What’s worse, losing sleep or taking a cough suppressant?  There’s valid reasons for coughing but my body needs sleep!
• I miss my runner’s high.

Good News

• This is forcing me to cook at home more, which is good.  I’m greatly enjoying finding out how good of a cook I am.  So far I’ve realized that I make a pretty kick ass omelet, stir fry and fish.
• My body feels great even though I’ve been working out while sick.  I’ve been doing 25 minutes of high intensity weight lifting followed by 10 to 15 minutes of low intensity elliptical with a lot of walking and biking thrown in for good measure.  My muscles and joints are experiencing no pain, probably because I haven’t been jogging in two weeks.  Of course, I’m going to see if this has any negative side effects at the end of July, when I do a physical.
• I feel like I have more energy than I did before, which is promising considering the fact that I’m sick and haven’t been sleeping well.  I’m not falling asleep in meetings or in front of the computer, even without caffeine.  we’ll see how I feel when this cold is done.
• My weight is down by several lbs.  This is essentially meaningless though since weight fluctuations over a couple of days can be attributed to the normal metabolic process rather than any changes in body composition.

Things To Try Out This Week

• Need to see if I can have a good meal at an Indian restaurant.  I LOVE Indian food and I’m going to have an issue with a diet that does not allow me to eat it.
• Need to go hiking, something I promised myself I would do regardless of the Primal Blueprint.

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Overall, I’m liking this new way of living.  Of course, it’s only been two days…

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Primal Blueprint, Day 4

A few things I’ve noticed now that I’m paying more attention to them.

The Undying Cough!

If you’ve had a bad cough recently, you can empathize with what I’m about to say.  Yesterday, I was feeling pretty darn well.  My head was clearing up, I had no headache and that crummy “sick” feeling was almost completely gone.  Only one problem, I was coughing.  Now coughing is a natural thing.  It’s your body’s way of trying to get rid of crap in your airways.  So I don’t usually take anti cough medication during the day.  However, what about at night?  As good as I was feeling, the cough was definitely keeping me awake.  It’s hard to fall asleep when every couple of minutes your body is wracked by a coughing spell.  So I did what most normal people do and took a couple of cough lozenges.  Basically, these are bits of candy with some numbing agent in them that makes the coughing trigger go away.  It seemed to work and I fell asleep.  By the way, I never used to take these lozenges before.  I only started doing so a year or two ago when someone told me that needlessly suffering coughing attacks is silly and only leads to prolonging the cough.

This morning I woke up and I felt worse than before.  The headache was back, the throat felt worse than ever and I felt generally crappy.  So is Mark right?  Is coughing something we should put up with even at the expense of sleep?  Was the cough lozenge a good way of covering up the symptoms but a bad way of getting healthier?  The answer is, I have no clue.  This could just be a bad cold that came back or it might be that I blocked one of my body’s necessary ways of getting rid of disease.  My sample size of 1 is simply not enough data, but it is something to think about.

I wonder how many other ways we have of circumventing the body’s natural function in the name of comfort.  There’s a study I read a while back on how some necessary nutrients are no longer in our foods because we insist on cleaning them up.  That’s right, dirt has nutrients and when you insist on making all your food perfectly clean, you lose out on a lot.  Same applies to medication which reduces fevers.  Fevers are a way for our body to make it tough for viruses and bacteria to live inside us.  When we suppress those fevers, we often make it easier for infections to persist.

So is all medication bad?  Is all treatment unnecessary?  Well, I wouldn’t go quite that far.  However, this is giving me a lot of food for thought.  I think that, as I progress along this two month experiment, I will try to avoid all unnecessary medicine, even things as simple as throat lozenges, and see how I do.

Chocolate Tasted Funny!

Yes, that’s right, I had a sweet tooth breakdown yesterday.  I was in a candy store and there was maple fudge (my favorite!) and I just craved it so much that I broke down and bought a small piece.  Guess what?  It tasted WAY too sweet.  Just four days after starting, something that would have tasted perfectly fine to me before, now tastes way too sweet.  Again, this is just a sample of one, which means that in the long run, this might be meaningless, but I find it encouraging that the cravings for processed sugar are less and less frequent.  Maybe I can finally kick this candy addiction once for all!

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All in all, I’m liking this new lifestyle, although I’m still having difficulty finding good things to eat.

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Primal Blueprint - Month 1

It’s been a month now since I started experimenting with Mark Sisson’s The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram Your Genes for Effortless Weight Loss, Vibrant Health, and Boundless Energy
and I’m beginning to notice some definite changes.

Cravings

I never realized how much I craved sweets and carbs until I tried to go a few weeks without them.  Wow!  I’ve always though that smokers are weak because they are unable to stop smoking but here I am unable to stop eating candy.  It’s quite literally a compulsion to eat and it’s very difficult to overcome.  Sure, some of you may say, “I can stop eating junk food and chocolate anytime I want.”  Yes, I thought so too but the truth is that it’s a lot harder than you think.

It’s quite clear to me now that my body became addicted to cheap, easy calories in the form of sweets and refined carbohydrates and that addiction proved just as hard to kick as caffeine.  I’m making great progress but it still amazes me how habit forming sugars and carbs are.  No wonder the food industry likes to stuff us full of them, the more we get the more we want.

On The Other Side…

I now realize just how satisfying a good meal can be when you’re not craving carbs.  Here’s my food intake from yesterday.

• Breakfast - A bunch of blueberries and a peach.
• Lunch - Stir fried vegetables with three scrambled eggs.
• Dinner - Chopped salad and a portion of organic beef about the size of a hamburger patty.
• Snacks - A few almonds and figs.

That’s it.  That’s all I ate.  Note that I’m still getting plenty of carbs in the form of fruits and vegetables, I’ve just cut out the junk carbs.  I also haven’t gone insane with the protein intake and converted all my meals to different versions of bacon wrapped steaks.  Instead, I’m eating a nicely balanced diet of fresh ingredients.  End result? I felt great.  Even though this was actually a small amount of calories, I felt amazingly full and had no cravings for more food later on.

Aches and Pains

The aches in my legs have gone away.  I used to have regular pains in my hips and thighs which made it difficult for me to sleep.  Once I stopped jogging, the pains quickly went away and my sleep has never been better (except for last night when my overly rambunctious puppy decided to chase a moth around my bedroom).  At the same time, I’ve actually increased my weight and elliptical workouts so I don’t feel like I’m doing less exercise.  I’m also biking more although I’m still not hiking as much as I would like to.

Problems, Problems, Problems

The only problem I’m experiencing is around food.  I’m still having issues sticking to the Primal Blueprint eating plan for two reasons:

1. It’s not restaurant friendly and a lot of my social life revolves around eating out.
2. I’m not a good cook at home which means most of my meals are variations of stir fries, omelets and salads.

Actually, I suppose this is one problem and not two.  Namely, I severely overestimated my ability to find foods which match my eating plan.  Which is part of the reason I posted my five things to consider before jumping into a new eating plan last week.

I suppose this is what I’ll work on this week, finding new restaurants and new recipes to work on.

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And a big thank you to my friends, you know who you are, who support me even when it’s the middle of the night.

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