Just for us to be born our ancestors must have been
the strongest, fastest and most robust of their peer group.
Everyone weaker would have been selected against.
YOU are a direct descendant of a pretty awesome lineage.
Think of what those people ahead of us have overcome:
- disease
- wars
- the elements
- natural predators
Makes you wonder how we would measure up doesn't
it?
If we lost all our creature comforts, power, water etc would you be ready to fight for your life against the Zombies?
Cheerful huh?!
Go back a few hundred years and we find that our ancestors had:
- Walked upwards of 20 Miles a week
- Diet rich in micronutrients, fibre, healthy fats, with all food straight from the land
- Carbohydrates came from vegetables
- Sugar was a very
rare energy source
- water from natural springs
- Periods of fasting
- Community
- Peace
However, wouldn't this need to be the fittest have reduced as we made our environment more comfortable?
Looking at the above, just maybe we have gone too far with comfort and convenience?
I'll wager that this could be a large part of the issues we see surrounding us with regards to
health.
So, what can we do?
- Increase your movement template: do you move in all planes of motion for a good amount of time in the day? Add in more walking, climbing, squatting and crawling...play like a child!
- Lift stuff and carry it about: Walk to the shops or park further away so you have to carry your shopping further.
- Get comfortable with lower temperatures: Look into the work of
Ray Cronise, and the emerging body of research into cold thermogenesis. Cold showers, shiver walks and switching off the heating have massive benefits to our immune system, recovery rates, metabolism and general robustness.
- Sleep well: I've written about sleep in its own email so check the archives. Basics though are get 7-9 hrs from 10pm in really dark room and quit the screens and artificial light from sundown. Going caveman on this will
reset your circadium rhythm which can help with fat loss, stress reduction and increase general awesomeness!
- Eat REAL food: If something has more than two stages of processing from its state in nature..don't eat it that often (never say never!)
- Minimise refined carbs: our hunter/ gatherer ancestors would only have honey, fruits and berries for only a small of each year...try to emulate this.
- Drink water: lots of it...and
only it!
- Learn satiety: take time when eating and if you find your energy levels waver across the day, get some help looking at your macronutrient (fat/ protein/ carbs) balance and calorie requirement. Surprisingly we often find that clients are not eating as much REAL food as they should do to build a strong body and keep energy high. Forget the restriction mindset that certain branded 'Diets' push on us. If you are giving your body
what it needs via REAL food you will find you reach your ideal shape effortlessly with space for a little bit of what you fancy! Spend each calorie wisely...one calorie of a veggie will give you SO much more than one calorie of a cookie! Go for value and ROI like you would with your finances.
- Fasting: Emerging research suggest that this has really good benefits when used sensibly. We don't think this is for all (I tried it and wanted to eat my own arm in a few
hrs!)...but can work well to reset our hunger mechanisms and teach us control.
- Community: NO not online...get in front of real people, unplug! Physical contact is vital.
This is the tip of the iceberg and still a bit 'fringe' within the health sphere. I think this is massively ironic when you consider that it stems from what our ancestors did through many thousands of years of evolution!
Expect a Panorama program and lots of media
attention on all this soon ;-D
Re-wild yourself!
J
