Going Primal?

If you are a regular reader/subscriber to this blog you know that nutrition is one of the topics we discuss quite a bit.  One of the great resources for nutrition information on the Internet is Mark Sisson’s The Daily Apple blog.  If you review Mark’s blog you’ll find common sense information about fitness and nutrition.  If you are a vegetarian/vegan, then this may not be the resource for you.  On Friday I read through the posts under The Primal Blueprint 101.  In addition to being a nutritional theory, The Primal Blueprint is a book. I quickly ordered the book after reading this information.

The Primal Blueprint has four main foundations:

1) 80% of your body composition will be determined by your diet.

2) Lean Body Mass (LBM) is the key to life.

3) Excess body fat is bad.

4) Excess insulin is bad.

I really can’t disagree with any of these principles.  In fact, I think they are incredibly sound.  I can’t wait to dive into this book and learn more about it.

As a triathlete it is very easy to fall into the trap of consuming massive amounts of carbs simply because I can.  While The Primal Blueprint appears to encourage watching (and perhaps limiting) carb intake, it also discusses what type of carbs should be consumed.  In May I wrote a blog post about how to get your carbs from fruits and vegatables.  If I understand Sisson’s theories, they will include a lot of this type of information accompanied by a scientific explanation.  That’s really what I’m interested in learning more about.

Nutrition frustrates a lot of people because it can be confusing.  There are so many different books, blogs and theories on nutrition.  I have been successful over the past couple of years by keeping things simple.  Eating an appropriate amount of calories.  Consuming between 0.8 and 1 pound of protein per pound of body weight.  Limiting saturated fats.  Eliminating trans fats. Consuming an appropriate amount of unsaturated fats.  And finally, ensuring that my basic body functions operate properly by taking daily doses of vitamins, minerals and the other key essentials found in Shakeology.  That’s worked, but I know it could work better.  Part of our mission here is to really change the way people view food.  In order to do that, we need to be as informed as possible when it comes to nutrition.  This is always going to be a learning process and I’m very excited to increase my knowledge base. As I read the book, I will be posting videos on YouTube and putting up blog posts, so keep an eye out for those.  Let’s get Primal.

Have a great day everybody.

Dave