At Last Carrot Cake V2.0

 

carrotcakehomemade no flour or sugar

Big thanks to Primal Palate (dot com) for the recipe and instructions.

Pinterest that pic, it’s awesome!!

Ingredients

 

Process

  1. In a food processor, using the grating blade, shred carrots.
  2. Place carrots in a large ziplock bag.
  3. Pour maple syrup over carrots and let marinate in the fridge for an hour.
  4. Preheat oven to 325°F.
  5. In a small mixing bowl, add sifted coconut flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
  6. Make date mixture with 10 medjool dates and 1 tablespoon maple syrup.
  7. In a large mixing bowl or kitchen mixer, blend eggs, vanilla, melted coconut oil, and date mixture.
  8. Add dry ingredients to wet and blend.
  9. Remove carrots from the fridge, and drain the excess maple syrup from the carrots using a colander.
  10. Stir grated carrots into cake batter.
  11. Grease two 9-inch cake pans with coconut oil.
  12. Pour batter into pans.
  13. (For easy removal, line pans with parchment paper)Bake for 35 minutes.
  14. Test center with a tooth pick—if the tooth pick comes out clean, then the cakes are done.
  15. Remove cakes from oven and cool.
  16. Frost cake with cream cheese frosting, garnish with walnuts, and serve.

 

Best and Worst of 2013? Well now we know what gets worst article of the year…

white men cant jumpIt’s not often that an article raises my ire so much that I want to leave a comment after it to explain to the idiot who wrote it how incompetent they are.

No wonder that they turned off comments for this joke of an article.

Best and Worst of 2013.

On the first page, if you can make it past Water yoga and water Zumba as the best without spitting out your morning coffee in disgust you can make it to the biggest joke of page 1 and that is VEGANISM is one of the best trends of 2013. Now I am not shy about bashing vegans because they simply need some sense beating into their poor frail little bodies, but for someone to actually claim it as a BEST trend of the year is irresponsible.Veganism and vegetarianism are not sustainable as lifestyles. The proof is out there, and the denial of the human as an omnivore is as ridiculous as being surprised when your cat brings home the occasional mouse. It’s in our nature! But wait. It gets better, if you can tolerate the bullshit long enough to get to the worst list things go impossibly downhill and the obvious fact that this “journalist” has done zero research to support any of her claims becomes painfully clear.

The Whole 30 diet, going gluten free (for any reason) and too intense workouts (a shot at Crossfit I assume, just vague enough to avoid rampant criticism from the community) are listed as the worst. Now, the last one, TOO intense I get that, TOO lazy and TOO stupid are also not great, and in fact most things that are TOO something are going to reflect badly. I can only assume she was grasping at straws at this point. Her “expert” tells us that sacrificing form for intensity is not good” well I guess sacrificing research for opinion is OK? Nice one.

She claims that the Whole 30 and Paleo lifestyles are strict and unsustainable. Odd then that she should claim that Veganism whose definition excludes entire food groups is OK. No meat, dairy, fish, eggs make for a wonderfully diverse and enjoyable lifestyle. Make sure you eat your beans so you can pretend you are getting all the amino acids you need to build muscle tissue. There is a reason that Vegans are, and I quote, “THINNER” than other groups, their bodies are simply eating them from the inside out and as they waste away they appear thinner. As a matter of fact, as muscle tissue wastes away the individual actually gets FATTER while appearing THINNER. Arm wrestle the next vegan you meet and you will get my point.

It’s not that her whole article is crap, just the important parts. She does have some pieces correct like her disdain for hot classes and vibration machines, but as the quote from one of the great sports movies of all time says “the sun even shines on a dog’s ass some days”. Today is her day.

And People Wonder Why I Eat Paleo

sugar_kills_580Oreos as addictive as cocaine…

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/oreo-cookies-addictive-drugs-like-2458182

Sugar Kills…

http://nancyappleton.com/141-reasons-sugar-ruins-your-health/

http://www.eathugger.com/68/why-sugar-kills-you-and-how-to-avoid-it-without-going-crazy/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2096088/Pure-white-deadly-No-cocaine-sugar.html

Suck it up buttercup, protein, veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds… and if you want, a little dairy.

How do you start? Grab a handful of self control and a goal.

Western Professor Off The Deep End – Don’t Smoke Eggs!

I am saddened to see such drivel coming out of my Alma Mater but I couldn’t help but notice the oversensationalized headline in the paper that EGG YOLKS ARE AS BAD AS CIGARETTES!!!

I tried to sweep it under the carpet of common sense but I just couldn’t. Thank goodness then that Mark Sisson of Mark’s Daily Apple made the salient points for me. Read all about how the “scientist” got it wrong.

Seriously, Western should fire the guy, at least that way he would realize that his ridiculous “research methodology” much like his reputation lays in tatters.

A Paleo Word About Nuts And Seeds

Somebody asked me the other day if quinoa was OK to eat. I said it wasn’t the best because it is a grain and grain is bad. Fact is, I deliberately over simplified that response, quinoa as most people know is not a grain but a seed however it behaves very similarly and is produced in grain plants where gluten and other contaminants are common. That led me to an interesting article about nuts and seeds that has pointed me in a new direction rather than giving up dairy. I think cutting my nuts and seeds consumption by 75% should do the trick instead. The more I read, the more I realized that my consumption is probably a little high.

Anyway, for more info on PUFA, Omega 3 and 6 and all the other fabulous info about nuts and seeds, read on…

Are Nuts And Seeds Healthy?

The Lowdown On 18 Paleo (Or Not) Foods…

I regularly read Mark’s Daily Apple and recently he published 2 posts that I want to share. It sheds light on a total of 18 foods that are judged as to whether they are primal / paleo friendly or not.  It’s a good read, and some things may surprise you. I’m just glad I got the OK to eat a little “fructose rich bee vomit” every now and again.

Here’s the original 10

Here’s the last 8

R9D30 – Phase 2 – I Messed Up Already (but at least I’m not curling detergent)

So I was supposed to do Chest + Back + Balance & X2 Ab Ripper this weekend as a start to Phase 2 but somehow I got confused and did X2 Shoulders + Arms & X2 Ab Ripper instead. I am not sure where the confusion came from but it is what it is, I need to do a Plyocide workout then do CBB and I will be back on track. It’s bootcamp tonight and probably rest day tomorrow, Wed is bootcamp again and then hopefully Ply on Thursday.

But I’ve been thinking.

I’m not as tired as I should be, I am getting an unsettling feeling that I need to do an extra day per week working out so I think I will do plyo tomorrow between the bootcamps. For a few weeks not I have been taking Tuesdays off but I think it’s about time I picked up that day and did something with it since I tend to take Friday or a weekend day off too (which is inexplicable!). Whatever it is I am consistently having the feeling that I am not pushing hard enough regardless of the fact my back has been sore for a week now. But maybe that’s why… The fewer workouts are working against me.

I’m working my way through Convict Conditioning by Paul Wade, it seems like an interesting read about old school calisthenics and bodyweight conditioning. I will report more once I have read more. It’s in line with my current philosophy that you should be able to train yourself without weights and without a gym using only your imagination and your body weight. Even such extreme things as one arm handstands or handstand pushups should be in the realm of the ordinary athlete if they are training appropriately, but how many people do you know who can do a handstand at all never mind a handstand pushup…

I see so many ridiculous “home workout” clips on line with people using soup cans and detergent bottles as a substitute for the gym weights, it’s just an incorrect interpretation of a flawed approach. I guess teaching proper pushup technique, pullups and squats isn’t sexy enough to make the papers. All those other videos just serve to make the “trainer” look like a fool. Seriously, bodyweight training is a proven, ages old method of developing the human body to perform as it was designed, and I can’t say I can imagine any caveman picking up a couple of rocks to do bent over tricep kickbacks. The whole fitness industry is as flawed as the diet industry, people are lost and confused and I think it’s time to exit the ride and get back to solid ground. Much like we did in the 80’s after the aerobics craze died out and people started going back to weight bearing exercise I think it’s time to get serious again and revisit our past. It’s in line with the nutritional approach of the paleo lifestyle, simplify and get better, faster and more useful results.

 

 

R9D16 – X2 Balance & Power And Time Magazine Acts Stupid

Finally got back on my P90X2 track again last night. I will probably do another week of phase 1 just like the original P90X to give me 3 weeks on 1 week rest. Last night’s workout went OK, I need a better stability ball though since mine is a low quality and too squishy. I was a little short on some of the moves because my quads were screaming after my KB workout the day before. I guess I hadn’t done enough squatting while I was away and the KB workout just fried me. I have to say I do like this workout, even though it is a little heavy on the balance work (it probably should be since it’s CALLED balance) like a lot of this P90X2 system. It’s a decent full body approach and I only noticed this time around how much leg work there was because of my pain levels. I probably managed around 90% of the program, I fell short on the crabby dumbbell press due to the stupid ball and I can’t quite manage the Lolasana yet but I will get there!

Time Magazine has once again proven that years of misinformation fed to us from interest groups and commodity crop behemoths is something that will take years to overcome. The article is ridiculous but the retort I found on Bulletproofexec is pretty good. Here’s a clip to get you started:

On January 4th, Sora Song of Time Magazine published an article called, “It’s the Calories, Stupid: Weight Gain Depends on How Much — Not What — You Eat.”  This is one of those articles.

The article focused on a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association titled,

“Effect of dietary protein content on weight gain, energy expenditure, and body composition during overeating: a randomized controlled trial.”

The goal was to find how over consuming protein or fat affected total weight gain and lean body mass.  Basically, does eating more of protein or fat have a metabolic advantage over the other macronutrient.

Sora Song, an editor for Time Magazine, writes, “…it’s not what you eat but how much that matters when it comes to body weight.”

Like many people, she assumes the only variable when it comes to food  is the number of calories, which ignores the role of macronutrients like protein, starch, and fat.  If it was true that the only variable that mattered was how much you ate, you could eat a low carb diet of damaged seed oils, fructose, and whole grains it would have the same effect as a high carb diet of sweet potatoes, seafood, and coconut (like the Kitavans).  As the Kitavan research shows, the difference is obvious.  While a high carb diet is not necessarily bulletproof, it’s a lot better than a high toxin diet -regardless of the macronutrient composition.

This is starting to sound suspect but if you read on you will find that the study (as is normal with “sponsored” studies) claims that you gain less weight on a low protein hig carb diet than the other way around. Unfortunately what they fail to show is that the type of weight gain on carbs is almost pure fat where the weight gain on protein is at least 50% muscle mass. But Kellogg’s don’t want you to know that, they want you to eat Pop Tarts and continue to believe eggs and bacon are the devil. It’s an interesting expose of an irrational and irresponsible article.

Good Calories Bad Calories is a great place to start if you are wondering how to make sense of it all. Move on to The Paleo Solution and you will have all the unbiased info you need to get to work. Either that or watch Fathead, it’s on Netflix now!

Also, if you want to get an idea of who is writing more sensible and helpful books, check out the review of The Smarter Science of Slim: What the Actual Experts Have Proven about Weight Loss, Health, and Fitness on the Fathead site.

You Need To Know This – Health and Fitness 101, The Basics

I guess I should expect it given where I came from…

I get asked with great regularity about my exercise, diet and motivation. I consider it a privilege to share my knowledge and in that spirit I have put together a basic list of the things that have influenced how I think. Some are my original thoughts, some are not, but it’s all part and parcel of what made me who I am today.

First, let’s get the diet out of the way.

Most of you already know my diet is paleo. It’s what I do and it is what I recommend. Even for kids I don’t see the value in eating grains that are processed and have very little in the way of nutritional value. Eat whole foods, drink water.

Eat like a predator, not prey
What are my reasons for eating paleo? (Other than losing 65lbs?)
Why I eat paleo (By Fitbomb)
Refined Carbs are Just Plain Bad  – including the part about exorphins, or why your body craves carbs like an addict craves coke
Its Carbs not fat that are the problem
Why Paleo isn’t low carb

Now you know how to eat and why let’s quickly address the darling of the weight loss myth – Cardio.

Kettlebells Vs Cardio - The dishonour of cardio
Forget what you think you know – Why cardio is killing you (especially this: 10 reasons I don’t do aerobics)
Why do HIIT – A special nod to my gym girls

The mental game. Why it’s critical to develop mental focus, strength and have a healthy work ethic. Fear and motivation are two topics that come up a lot with my gym girls, and it’s also something I see in the faces of my bootcamp participants. Fear is good, fear is healthy, fear is there to tell you that you are about to become better.

For the kids – Some things you should know…
Fear – Face it, defeat it. Over the years I have had kids who were afraid. Most aren’t any more because they know better.
A big enough WHY? Find your reason, without it you are lost.
Stop listening to yourself – long but well worth the read. PROTECT THIS HOUSE!

So there you have it for now. Some stuff I have written, some links to very good information out there on the web and some stuff I admit I stole because I think it will help you. It’s all important, come back again and again to take what you need and as you do, learn how to coach yourself through life and be the best that you can be for you, your family and those with whom you can share the knowledge.