Going Primal: A 30 Day Challenge with the New (Old?) Fitness Craze

Most of what we learned about diet and health for the past 20 years is wrong. The USDA Food Pyramid is not a prescription for a healthy diet. The high carbohydrate, low-fat “Standard American Diet” (SAD) we eat today sabotages our health and well-being.

Look at the evidence. We’re increasingly obese. We’re increasingly diabetic. That’s just the physical evidence. We won’t get into mental and emotional health trends.

The picture gets worse ... we’re increasingly sedentary.  Most of us don’t have time or interest in the high-effort, injury-prone activity required to maintain fitness.  Go to the gym?  Forget it.

An increasing number of people are subscribing to the statements above.  They’re reviewing the science, trying new approaches and making their own decisions about what’s best for them and their children.  Many of them are going “primal.”

Going Primal

Primal or Paleo approaches have different names (most notably the Primal Blueprint, the Paleo diet and CrossFit) but a similar basic philosophy — the best way to optimize our health and fitness is to simulate the conditions under which human beings evolved millions of years ago:

• Ditch the nutrient-light carbohydrates, especially those from processed foods
• Eat more protein and fat
• Replace long cardio workouts with shorter, more intense efforts

It’s working.  Success stories are piling up.  People aren’t just losing weight; they’re stopping diabetes in its tracks, eliminating hypertension and avoiding the common cold.  Fueled by the blogosphere, primal / paleo is the new health and fitness craze.

Over the past few months, I’ve become interested in primal or paleo lifestyles.  I’ve read countless articles and blog posts, listened to podcasts, and reflected on my own experience.

I’m reasonably convinced - a primal / paleo approach could take my health and fitness to new heights.  “New heights” is a relative term.  I’m a decent runner—competitive in my age group in marathons and longer races.  But I’d like to take my racing performance to the next level.  More importantly, I’d like to:

• Eliminate the daily fatigue and energy dips
• Avoid sickness and improve my overall health (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.)
• Play more actively with my kids
• Have more focus and concentration

Primal or paleo approaches claim to deliver all of these benefits (and more).

I can’t learn any more by reading; my next step is to Go Primal.

The Experiment Begins

Today begins my 30 day Primal Challenge.  For the month of September, I’m going to follow the Primal Blueprint.  Specifically, I’m going to:

• Eat Primal.  Eat vegetables, fruits, nuts/seeds, meat and healthy fats.  The good news (for me anyway) is that I already eat these items.  I’ll need to make some changes however, like eating more fish and evaluating the “quality” of what I eat in these categories.

• Avoid eating junk.  This is where it gets interesting.  I’m avoiding my key vice, the 5 Cs (Cookies, Cake/brownies, ice Cream, Candy, sugar Cereal) and as many other processed foods as possible (including pretzels, popcorn, chips, soda, bread, pasta).  What will I eat?  I have no idea.

• Focus on sleep.  I average five or six hours of sleep per night.  For the next 30 days, I’m aiming for seven hours of sleep per night.

• Play.  I’m going to play more actively.  Hopefully my two kids and dog won’t wear me out within a few minutes.

One disclaimer...as a long distance runner, I do a lot of physical exercise.  Call me crazy, but I enjoy long cardio workouts.  I may adjust my diet to accommodate my exercise requirements, but I won’t eat the junk listed above.

Living in Long Valley should make going Primal easier.  Local farms offer ample opportunity to eat right.  Wide open spaces (and tons of rocks in my back yard) offer room to play and get intense exercise.  I’m looking forward to exploring the aspects of Long Valley that support Primal or Paleo lifestyles.

What to Expect

During these next 30 days, I’ll be writing frequently about my 30 day Primal Challenge.  I’ll be diving deeply into the various aspects of a Primal lifestyle, discussing how I’m living Primal in Long Valley, and sharing my thoughts and feelings as I explore whether this lifestyle actually improves my health and fitness.

I have some expectations for the next 30 days:

• It will be hard.  I’ll probably learn more about my motivation and self-discipline than I will about the Primal lifestyle.  Going Primal means giving up (or suspending) a lot of bad eating habits.  Making those changes will be hard.
• I will have noticably more energy.  I’m expecting my energy levels to increase with the right nutrition and adequate sleep.
• I will lose weight.  Losing weight is not a high priority for me.  If I can improve the way I fuel my long endurance and short speed workouts, I’m all in.

This 30 day challenge could be the start of a new and better health and fitness lifestyle for me.  I need to repeating that phrase regularly though—a half day has passed since I started the challenge, and I’m already missing my afternoon shot of chocolate chips.

Anyone want to join me?

Photo credit:  Mark's Daily Apple