Tag Archives: paleo

Podcast #315: Diet Cults!

Guest: Matt Fitzgerald

This was not easy.

I’ve been interviewing health experts and authors for a little over 6 years now.

I’ll be honest, for most of those years I’d been pretty squeamish about disagreeing with my guests on the air. I figured it wasn’t my job to debate with them. Plus, I never wanted to have one of those “This interview is over!” moments. Yikes!

But lately I’ve been stepping out of my comfort zone and really challenging my interviewees with tougher questions and even some respectful disagreement.

Yet nothing quite prepared me for today’s episode…

I first heard of Matt Fitzgerald while listening to one of my favorite satellite radio programs, The All Out Show with Rude Jude. Matt and Jude were discussing how today’s “fad diets” — low-carb, paleo, south beach, etc. — have zero scientific merit and have a striking resemblance to cults.

Yes, cults.

Then Matt said something that blew my mind…

Posted by UW Sean in podcast, wellness

Podcast #297:
How to Go Paleo Without Going Crazy

Every tried going “paleo”?

I mean FULLY immersed yourself into the paleo lifestyle — the CrossFit workouts, the toed shoes, the endless bacon and coconut oil.

Let’s face it, going 100% paleo isn’t for everyone. Even me.

To the average person, despite its benefits, paleo can seem intimidating, restrictive, and at times kinda annoying, to be honest.

But paleo doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with adopting some of its principles (like ditching the gluten) while skipping others (like the bleeding calluses you get after your first encounter with “Cindy” at CrossFit).

Why not go Part-Time Paleo?

It’s way better than nothing. Plus, dinner party invitations cause a lot less anxiety.

This week on the podcast, my friend Leanne Ely — author of Part-Time Paleo: How to Go Paleo Without Going Crazy — joined me to discuss a more realistic approach to going paleo.

Here’s what we talked about…

3:23 – How Hashimoto’s and a “life out of control” led Leanne to the paleo diet.

7:30 – When CrossFit, pemmican, and toed shoes just don’t fit.

9:15 – “Embrace the parts that work for you and change it up for the parts that don’t.”

10:10 – The Part-Time Paleo Rules: How to find your inner nutritional guru.

13:00 – How is sourdough bread different or better than standard grain-based bread?

14:00 – How to navigate dinner invitations when you know the food won’t be paleo.

17:17 – An incredible 5-minute workout that saves time and can be done anywhere!

21:00 – 3 must-have essentials for the Part-Time Paleo kitchen.

26:20 – Sprouting: An easy, inexpensive way to get more veggies in your diet.

Click the PLAY button below to listen to Episode #297 with Leanne Ely.

I’ll see you next week with special guests, Katie the Wellness Mama and Neely Quinn.

Enjoy the show.

Sean

Posted by UW Sean in wellness

Gorillas, The Bible, and Women. [VIDEO]

Screen Shot 2014-01-24 at 9.32.10 AM by Sean Croxton

It’s weird, the guy really does look like a caveman…

It’s kinda like I’m living in that old movie, Encino Man. You know, the one about the two high school students who stumble upon a frozen paleolithic man while digging a pool in their backyard. They thaw him out, give him a cool haircut and a clean shave, and take him to school where he gets all the girls.

But in this case, the caveman sleeping on my couch this week speaks in complete sentences, wrote one of my favorite books of last year, and even has a degree from Harvard.

Evolution…

Last night, John Durant and I sat down for a short interview about a couple of my favorite sections of his Paleo Manifesto as well as his upcoming free online event, Paleo Con.

Posted by UW Sean in wellness

Why Paleo Fails

Last-Fred
by Sean Croxton

It goes without saying that I’m a HUGE fan of the paleo diet.

Though I don’t call myself “paleo” — I prefer to say that I just eat real food — I think a diet and lifestyle based on ancestral living makes a whole lot of sense.

And judging by the lean physiques and energetic presence of last week’s Paleo FX presenters and attendees, eating and living this way definitely works…

But not all of the time.

If I had to guess, I would say that for every one person who has tasted success with paleo (it tastes like bacon, by the way), there are at least ten who have failed.

And that’s because following a paleo diet means you have to follow a paleo diet.

Unfortunately, it’s not so easy a caveman can do it.

The honest truth is that, for most people, going paleo isn’t just a matter of reading the latest paleo book and dropping the grains, legumes, and dairy.

As with any change in behavior — in this case, diet and lifestyle — a concurrent shift in perspective must take place, without which the change is sure to be short-lived.

Or as this week’s UW YouTube guest and author of The Paleo Coach Jason Seib says, you’ll soon find yourself doing your second or third 30-day paleo challenge.

This is the difference between those who succeed with paleo and those who do not.

Posted by UW Sean in wellness

Were Our Ancestors Starch Eaters?

by Sean Croxton

To starch or not to starch.

With so much emphasis these days on Paleo, low-carb, and low-glycemic, confusion abound over the role of starch in the human diet.

I prefer to keep it simple and recommend that we eat like our ancestors.

But were our ancestors starch eaters?

Last week’s UW Radio guest Paul Jaminet seems to think so. And in the latest edition of his book Perfect Health Diet he outlines the scientific evidence supporting this premise, including…

* isotope signatures of fossilized bone
* the structure of hominid teeth
* the diets of modern hunter-gatherers
* genetics

Check out this quick clip from our show to hear Paul explain how our ancestors lived in open grasslands, and what it had to do with their starch consumption.