You Made it!
Sometimes the first steps towards a goal are the hardest! So I applaud you for taking these steps! Throughout this challenge, please listen to YOUR body and what it needs!
I will be sharing links for possible workouts and more details on the foods to enjoy. Be sure to check back here at least once a week for new information. I’m leaving a couple of things here now in case it helps you prepare.
Ready?! Let’s go!
-Coach Tracie
(Use these buttons or scroll down to find what you need.)
Paleo
Are you familiar with the Paleo diet? I know the word diet may have negative connotations, but whatever you eat is your diet. The goal of this challenge is to focus on feeding your body the nutrients it needs to thrive. The tricky part is that ideal foods may be different for everyone. Your diet needs may change due to health status, digestive abilities, stress levels, gut microbiome hormones/perimenopause etc. I’m sharing some general information regarding the Paleo diet, but it is just a template, so modify as needed.
Aim to eat off YOUR template 90% of the time.
PALEO TEMPLATE
FOODS TO EAT LIBERALLY
Meat & Poultry. Beef, lamb, pork, chicken, turkey, duck & wild game. (Organic and free-range if possible)
Organ meats. Especially liver
Bone broth soups. It’s important to balance your intake of muscle meats and organ meats with homemade bone broths. Bone broths are rich in glycine, and amino acid found in collagen, which is a protein important in maintaining a healthy gut lining.
Fish. Especially fatty fish like salmon, mackerel & herring. (wild is preferable) Aim for 3 6oz servings of fatty fish per week to balance your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.
Eggs. Preferably free-range and organic.
Starchy tubers. Yams, sweet potatoes, yucca/manioc, taro, lotus root, etc.
Non-starchy vegetables. Cooked and raw.
Fermented vegetables and fruits. Sauerkraut, kim chi, beet kvaas, coconut kefir, etc. These can be excellent for gut health (if you have gut dysbiosis or experience symptoms be sure to talk to your doctor or add more gradually)
Traditional fats. Coconut oil, palm oil, lard, duck fat, beef tallow and olive oil.
Olives, avocados and coconuts (including coconut milk).
Sea salt and spices.
Whole fruit. Approximately 1-3 servings per day, depending on your blood sugar balance. Favor low sugar fruits like berries and peaches over tropical fruits, apples & pears.
Nuts and seeds. A maximum of a handful per day, preferably soaked overnight and dehydrated or roasted at low temperature (150 degrees) to improve digestibility. Favor nuts lower in omega-6, like hazelnuts and macadamias, and minimize nuts high in omega-6, like brazil nuts and almonds.
FOODS TO EAT IN MODERATION
Processed meat. Sausage, bacon and jerky. Look for gluten, sugar and soy free and organic/free-range meat is preferable.
Green beans, sugar peas and snap peas. Though technically legumes, they are usually well tolerated.
Coffee and black tea. Black, or with coconut milk. Only if you don’t suffer from fatigue, insomnia or hypoglycemia, and only before 12:00 PM. Limit to one cup (not one triple expresso - one cup).
Dark chocolate. 70% or higher in small amounts (i.e. about the size of a silver dollar per serving).
Vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is especially well tolerated.
Restaurant food. The main problem with eating out is that restaurants cook with industrial seed oils, which wreak havoc on the body and cause serious inflammation. You don’t need to become a recluse, but use caution.
Concentrated sweeteners - maple syrup, honey, agave, xylitol, and stevia.
FOODS TO MINIMIZE/AVOID
Some of these foods you may choose to include in your template if you tolerate them well. Decide on your intentions ahead of time.
Dairy. Including butter, cheese, yogurt, milk, cream & any dairy product that comes from a cow, goat or sheep.
Grains. Including bread, rice, cereal, oats, or any gluten-free pseudo grains like sorghum, teff, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, etc. Grains can be beneficial to your gut microbiome especially in small amounts.
Legumes. Including beans of all kinds (soy, black, kidney, pinto, etc.), peas, lentils and peanuts. Beans are a good source of fiber and protein, so you may choose to keep these in your template.
Concentrated sweeteners. Including sugar, high fructose corn syrup, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet.
Processed or refined foods. As a general rule, aim to eat real, whole foods.
Industrial seed oils. Soybean, corn, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed, canola, etc. Read labels - seed oils are in almost all processed, packaged and refined foods (which you should be mostly avoiding anyway).
Sodas and diet sodas. All forms.
Processed sauces and seasonings. Soy sauce, tamari, and other processed seasonings and sauces (which often have sugar, soy, gluten, or all of the above).
FITNESS
Why intervals?
Interval training - alternating periods of hard work with recovery so that you get your heart rate up then recover, also known as High Intensity Interval Training . HIIT takes less time than typical cardio workouts and studies suggest the benefits are even greater. HIIT is great not only for cardiovascular benefits muscle tone, it also boosts metabolism and healthy hormone production. Interval training/cardio improves sleep, boosts mood and improves memory. The goal is to safely push yourself, it’s not a casual walk.
It is still important to warm-up and stretch to prevent injury.
Why resistance training?
Strength training builds muscle. More muscle means a higher metabolic rate. Strength training is also important for reducing risks associated with sarcopenia (especially loss in bone mineral density). Resistance training provides protective effects to DNA, improves mental health, has been shown to reduce fat mass while increasing muscle mass.
Why yoga?
Yoga has so many health benefits! Yes, I am probably biased, but I can’t stress enough the importance of maintaining full range of motion in all of your joints and muscles to prevent injury and maximize function as we age (my days working in outpatient rehab repeatedly demonstrated, prevention is much easier than treatment!) Yoga flow incorporates breath with movement which is beneficial for stress management and activating the calming system of your body (parasympathetic system). Yoga also improves balance and increases muscle tone.
HIIT
Dr. Mark Hyman gives this exercise sequence as an example of a HIIT workout.
7 minutes: 12 exercises that you perform for 30 seconds with 10 seconds rest in between.
*Scale as needed*
Strength
Strength training using body weight
Not sure where to start for strength training? Consider this routine. Remember to listen to your body to avoid injury.
Yoga option
If you don’t belong to a yoga studio, you might not know where to begin for the yoga session. Thankfully, there are free options online that you can do anytime. Here is one you could try this week:
Hydration
Aim to drink half your body weight in ounces per day. For example, if you weigh 150 lbs, drink 75 ounces of fluid per day. Your kidneys will probably take a few days to acclimate, so you may want to start gradually… or expect frequent trips to the bathroom!
Proper hydration is important for your kidneys, digestive tract (ie avoiding constipation and passing wastes/toxins), temperature regulation, lubricates your joints, optimal athletic performance, mental health, and healthy skin.
Your hydration does not need to be solely from water, but be careful to avoid empty calories from juice etc.
My personal favorite electrolytes are from LMNT. They have the perfect ratio of potassium, magnesium and sodium.
+drinking water within 10 minutes of waking helps flush your body’s toxins through GI and urinary tract
+fluids don’t have to be solely water, in fact, you may feel better with some electrolytes mixed in (my favorite is LMNT)
+you may want to gradually increase ounces to allow kidneys to acclimate to increased volume
+alcohol is a diuretic (causes you to lose fluids to urination)
+avoid empty calories in drinks
+avoid drinking lots of fluids with meals - this dilutes needed stomach acid which impairs digestion and vitamin breakdown/absorption
sleep
Current research suggests that less than 7 hours of sleep means that your hunger hormones will increase while your satiety hormones decrease, so you will feel hungrier the next day just because you didn’t sleep enough and your body’s insulin sensitivity will be impaired that day also (impaired blood sugar regulation). Sleep is important for our immune system and to clear old/damaged cells (autophagy). Sleep is also crucial for detoxing your brain via your lymphatic system. During sleep we rid ourselves of neurotoxic waster that cause inflammation. We also need to sleep for memories to consolidate and proper brain function.
Typically, we sleep an hour less than we are in bed. So to get 7 hours of sleep, ideally, we are in bed 8 hours.
Fasting
A fast is any time that you go without ingesting calories. From your last bite at night until your first bite in the morning (or drink if you have calories in your coffee), that is a fast. Having a fast from 12-14 hours has MANY benefits including metabolic benefits, reducing inflammation, brain fog and improves insulin sensitivity. It also activates autophagy, the process by which your body gets rid of old and damaged cells!
Fasting is a stressor though, so please listen to your body if this is a new tool for you.
Ideally, break your fast with protein. More info to come!