I just started reading Two Meals a Day by Mark Sisson and holy smokes… it’s a game-changer.
I normally dismiss the latest 'diet' fad or gimmick for weight loss, because that’s usually exactly what they are: a fad or a gimmick that people forget about 10 years from now. But this one is different. This book focuses on three big, yet simple ideas.
First, Remove Added Sugars, Processed Foods, Grains, and Industrial Seed Oils.
These things are killers and the main reasons why America is the fattest country in the world. Many of us (myself included) have become carbohydrate-dependent and put ourselves into a positive feedback loop wherein the more carbs we eat, the more carbs we need. Despite the false ideas and propaganda spread by the agricultural industry in the early 1900s, grains are notnecessary and our bodies operate just fine—actually significantly better—without them. The mass marketing that we’ve grown so used to is focused almost entirely on carb intake. Think about your current diet; I’d be willing to bet that the majority of what you eat is either processed in some way or contains a high amount of carbs. If this is you, it’s not necessarily your fault. Between marketing, food costs, and convenience, carbs seem like the best choice. But you gotta ditch em. So if we can’t eat added sugars, processed carbs, and industrial seed oils, then what can we eat? The answer: A LOT.
Second, Eat Like a Caveman
I’m sure you’ve heard of the Paleo diet, also sometimes known as the cave-man diet. This concept is simple and its roots go back hundreds of thousands of years. From the dawn of Homo sapiens (about 200,000 years ago) up until about 12,000 years ago, humans have eaten nothing but meat, fish, eggs, fruit, vegetables, seeds, and nuts. That’s it. No bread, no oatmeal, no McDonald’s, no pizza, no ice cream. If it didn’t grow out of the earth or come directly from an animal, it wasn’t a part of our diet. You'd be surprised how much food you can actually eat following this diet; just think like a hunter-gatherer. When you’re at the store or a restaurant trying to figure out what to eat, just ask yourself “could a caveman have eaten this?” If the answer is yes, then go for it! The agricultural revolution that happened 12,000 years ago was quite possibly the worst thing to ever happen to our physical health. By introducing grains into our diets and making them so readily available and abundant, our ancestors initiated the carbohydrate-dependency that we see today. Forget the famous ‘Food Pyramid’ that was plastered all around our elementary school cafeterias and focus on eating natural, organic, unprocessed whole foods.
Third, Eat in a Feast-or-Famine Schedule.
Going back once again to our ancestral roots—pre-agricultural revolution—human beings have lived in a ‘feast-or-famine’ routine. As hunter-gatherers for more than 180,000 years, humans did not regularly have access to three square meals a day. They would typically spend their mornings hunting, fishing, or looking for fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Around the middle of the day, they’d feast on all their findings—they would 'break-fast'. About three or four hours later, they’d finish off the rest of what they had found that morning (we call this dinner). Humans typically lived on an 18-6 intermittent fasting schedule—wherein they fasted for 18 hours and ate all of their meals within a 6-hour window. After living this way for millennia, our bodies have evolved and adapted to function best when running on this same type of routine. There’s a whole bunch of science-y stuff to further explain exactly how our bodies operate best with this routine, but just know that it WORKS.
To Summarize:
1. Ditch added sugars, processed foods, grains, and industrial seed oils
2. Eat only what a caveman could eat: meat, fish, eggs, fruit, vegetables, seeds, and nuts
3. Limit your eating to two meals a day, preferably within a 6 or 8-hour window
If you would like to go more in-depth and learn about the why of all these ideas, as well as tons of great recipes, I highly encourage you to check out Two Meals a Day by Mark Sisson.
Kommentare