Primal Blues

I finally got around to reading Mark Sisson’s book, Primal Blueprint last week.  I have to say that I was afraid it would be Atkins redux but was pleasantly surprised to find the lifestyle he promotes very similar to my own about 14 years ago, when I felt at my prime.   And that was, indeed, my reason for buying the book: chasing after that Glory Days feeling.  I hoped it would give me a clue as to why I have such low energy lately, despite eating so much wholesome food.  All of those years ago, I ate the foods he promotes because I was nursing a baby with allergies.  Her intolerance necessitated my eliminating some things from my diet, things he believes we are unfit to digest- like grains.  He believes that all of us are allergic to grains on some level.  Huh.  Even super grainy, oat topped, 100 percent whole wheat; or especially so.   Had I not felt so good when I went mostly grainless years ago, I would not have even considered it.

 But, what have I got to lose in trying this for a few weeks?  I already knew store bread and flour is mostly nutrient devoid after being ground and sitting on a shelf for so long.  I don’t really care about it.  I’m just not that food – driven, I don’t have the energy.  

The rest of the book is easy to swallow.  But in the case of his “Lift Heavy Things” strength training and only occasional hard workouts, I already do that.  I just don’t believe in lots of gym time.  It’s not me.  I have to force myself to strength train for 15 minutes in my garage twice a week because I’d rather be moving around.  But, I could also stand to back down the intensity of my runs.

I like his emphasis on slow steady movement.  I like long slow jogs and walks, or chatty bike rides.  But I think reading this has motivated me to force my kids to do it with me.

I’ve been doing things a little more his way for a week and a half and I think it’s working.  For instance, last night I was up until 1am ripping out a sweater I had just knitted because the shoulders were deformed.  A few weeks ago that would have made me crabby, sick, and cross-eyed this morning.  Today, I was just crabby.