For those who don’t know, Bikram yoga is a heavily franchised form of yoga that is practiced in a room heated to about 104 degrees Fahrenheit with 40% humidity. Pioneered, and ferociously copyrighted, by Bikram Choudhury in the 1970’s, the practice consists of 26 unvarying poses or asanas that are repeated twice over a 90-minute session. Though I have taken a yoga class before, I’d never ventured into the specialized Bikram studio and frankly, I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to contort themselves into impossible positions while being stuck in conditions better suited to tropical islands than the gym. Yoga is difficult enough as it is without the added detriment of sweat and dehydration.

My friend, however, swore up and down that practicing Bikram yoga religiously had helped her shed weight more quickly than any other yoga class she had ever taken. When I displayed my dubiousness, she insisted that if I weighed myself immediately after class, I would be at least a half a pound lighter. Well check and check: despite my hesitations, I was a half pound lighter than when I walked into the studio. But after taking part in a 90 minute Bikram yoga class, I think I know why this was true. And it’s not for the reason Bikram-heads would have you believe.

As I wrote above, the chief difference between Bikram yoga and regular yoga is the environment in which it’s practiced. The intense heat and humidity of the Bikram yoga studio is supposed to relax the muscles and promote sweating, which detoxifies and cleanses you. While the verdict is still out (clinically speaking) on if sweating really detoxifies you, there is no question as to whether it causes you to become dehydrated as you lose water through your pores. It does; which is one very good explanation for the small amount of weight that vanishes during class.

My Bikram addicted friend is not losing weight in the traditional sense; she is losing water weight through the profuse sweating. Any small amount of poundage she loses is packed right back on the moment she starts chugging water after class, which just reinforces the fact that quantity of sweat does not correlate to quality of the workout. The fact that the room is hot doesn’t make a difference calorie-wise and may even be worse for those trying to drop weight as they’ll become exhausted quicker. Less time doing the exercise equals fewer calories burned. That’s a natural fact.

I’m not trying to be totally down on Bikram yoga. I actually quite enjoyed the intensity of it and would definitely give it another shot, but touting it as a weight loss miracle is just misleading. Yoga in general is best used for building strength and toning the body, not dropping weight quickly. That’s what short interval exercise is for. Bikram yoga, despite its intensity, is no different. So if you, like me, enjoy testing your endurance levels and would like to tone up what’s left of your jiggly parts after a lot of other hard gym work, by all means, find your local Bikram yoga center (and you have one, believe me). But if you can’t take the heat, get out of the Bikram studio and back to the stationary bike section.

***Picture Thanks to yanivnord***

-No beans, legumes, grains, starches, or processed sugar (basically, nothing but honey is allowed), and very little salt.
-Eat fresh whole food, raw when possible.
-Civilization has made us sick, by feeding us food to which our bodies have no adaption.
-Eat meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, and nuts.

But before you start going crazy at the grocery store and throwing recipes together, understand that the quality of the food is as important as the classification of the food - especially when it comes to animal products. Not all meat is created equal.

The quality of the meat - any animal product, really - is arguably more important than the other stuff. Buy organic vegetables and fruits if you can afford it, but I think it’s far more crucial that the animal products you eat come from “paleo” animals. If you subscribe to the notion that eating food our bodies are evolutionarily adapted to is imperative for optimum health, doesn’t it follow that the animals we eat should also eat the “correct” food? Fruits and vegetables, organic or not, “eat” the same stuff: sunlight, water, nutrients. What does your average cow eat nowadays? Corn and soy, which fattens them up and makes for nicely marbled steaks… but is it what they’re meant to eat? No.

Cows should be eating grass. They should be roaming a pasture and munching on the greenery. That’s what they did for thousands of years. But in the 50s, the rising demand for beef led to the first commercial feedlots. Farmers found that stuffing cattle into confined spaces and force-feeding them grains made the cows fatter, juicier, in a shorter amount of time. Same goes for other animals. Whereas a hundred years ago most chickens, cows, and sheep grazed freely on huge plots of grassland, now they’re kept indoors and fed massive amounts of grains. It’s like we’re eating a whole bunch of sloppy fat couch potatoes. Doesn’t that seem a bit wrong to you? You don’t want to eat a Wal-Mart shopper, do you?

Treat seafood the same way. Wild salmon eat small fish, plankton, and other invertebrates; farmed salmon eat highly processed fish meal that often contains concentrated pollutants. It’s like comparing fresh chicken breast to chicken nuggets. Which would you rather eat?

Buy wild seafood and range-fed meat. Order wholesale from farms so you don’t pay exorbitant amounts at Whole Foods. Lazy 69 Ranch isn’t a whorehouse outside of Reno, but rather a fantastic beef wholesaler in Northern California producing excellent grass-fed beef. I recently received a shipment of various cuts and roasts, and I’m very happy. At Whole Foods I’d pay upwards of $20/pound; my package from the farm came out to just over $7/pound. I bought around 35 pounds, sure, but it was completely worth it. It’ll last me at least a few months and it tastes better than anything I’ve had before. Your health is worth it.

You are what you eat - the basic foundation of the Paleo diet. But what you eat is also what it eats, so make sure what you eat is eating the right stuff. Man, my old Lit professor would cringe at that sentence.

***Picture Thanks to iLoveButter***

Yes, the gym. Despite the prevalence of the calorie counting and carb obsession, fitness gurus counsel the weight loss community that there really is only one way to guarantee that you reach your ideal weight: a regular exercise routine, reliably executed by dragging your lazy butt to the gym three or four times a week.

Now, just because the gym is the only way to get the results you want doesn’t mean that going to the gym doesn’t suck. Exercise benefits you in so many ways - physically and mentally - so why is the gym such a chore? And, since we’re on the topic, why aren’t you losing any weight despite the fact that you’ve been pacing the treadmill for what seems like ten years?

It’s a question I struggled with myself for a long time. It seemed that no matter how many late nights I spent killing myself on the elliptical, I wasn’t losing as much weight as I should have been, considering how frequent my gym trips were. The common wisdom at the time was that if you were overweight, cardiovascular exercise was the best way to combat the calories. So what was up?

As it turns out, cardio is not the magic cure-all we once thought it was. Endurance training - raising your heart rate to a consistent level for an extended period of time, as is done with cardio - will burn calories, but can kill the fitness-loving soul within you with its endless tedium. You might just die of boredom before you lose another pound. So instead of hiding out in the reassuringly busy cardio section of the gym, to shed the pounds and keep a spark of spontaneity in your exercise routine, you need to venture beyond the valley of the stationary bikes and into the weight-lifting section. Yes, my friends, the weight room.

Weight-lifting is classified as a short interval exercise, which basically means that you work out intensely for small increments of time, with rest periods in between. Though it may not seem like it, this kind of alternating workout burns more calories than workouts done at a lower level of intensity for longer periods of time. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends it highly as a way to improve the ratio of fat to lean muscle mass in the body, which is what any dieter wants. Plus, embracing the short interval exercise method will save you more time overall by shortening the length of your workout while preserving the results.

As for that old myth about only lifting weights when you want to bulk up, it’s totally untrue. Unless you are lifting massive amounts of weights beyond your normal capacity, there is no way you are going to develop guns like Arnold Schwarzenegger. All weight-lifting will do is kick start your exercise routine after one too many hour-long cardio sessions. It will also give you much longed-for tone and definition, something that cardio, for all its benefits, doesn’t really do. Personally speaking, ever since I began mixing up my gym routine with some high intensity weight-lifting, I’ve not only been looking better than ever, I’ve also been sleeping better (which takes away that whole late night snack attack fear).

So there you have it. Despite what you may have been told, cardio is not the only - not even the best - way to reach your weight loss goals. But does this mean that cardio should be removed from the picture forever? No! Cardio is still a great way to burn major calories, but just remember that it will take longer and burn fewer calories than if you buckle down and head to your nearest gym for a 30 minute date with the free weights.

***Picture Thanks to hrtmnstrfr***

Okay, so the title may look strange. How exactly does one live like a hunter gatherer? There’s a lot to it, but it’s actually a pretty simple, straightforward concept. I’ve long felt an affinity with the natural world. Being out in nature, eating food we’ve grown in our own garden, exerting myself physically - these things have always felt right. Whenever I ride my bike to work instead of drive, I seem to have a better day. Don’t get me wrong, cause I love the creature comforts afforded by the modern world - I’m typing this on a laptop, aren’t I? - but I’ve come to realize the importance of getting away from time to time, or at least of using technology in concert with “natural living.” Thus, this post.

First, I’ll discuss diet.

I realize that “hunter gatherer” is a potentially problematic, blanket term. Am I referring to Paleolithic people from Europe, Amazonian hunter gatherers, or Easter Islanders? Vastly different situations, food sources, terrain, animal species. But there is a common thread that seems to link all Paleolithic people: diet.

I follow a liberal Paleolithic diet, which means I try to abstain from all grains, dairy, processed foods, starches, legumes, and beans. My basic rule is to stick with food that can be eaten raw. Meat, while sometimes unpalatable raw, can be digested without being cooked. Nuts (except for peanuts - really, a legume), most vegetables, and fruit are staples. Grains, starches like potatoes, and peanuts must be cooked to be edible, and are toxic when eaten raw.

Think of it like this: for a hundred thousand years, our ancestors lived off the land, eating animals and foraging for nuts, fruits and vegetables. They had fire, but grains and starches weren’t available in large enough amounts to warrant cooking them. But as populations grew, so did the need for more food. Ten thousand years ago we figured out how to grow stuff on a large scale, and agriculture was born. Growing rice, potatoes, and raising animals (and drinking their milk) solved a lot of problems, but it seems to have raised a few new ones. See, all those tens of thousands of years spent eating Paleolithic foods means our bodies are still adapted to those same foods. Agriculture has had a definite effect on us (see: lactose tolerance) but by and large we remain cavemen, biologically (see:
lactose intolerance). Evolution just doesn’t happen that fast.

That’s the theory, anyway. I’m no anthropological nutritionist. I do read a lot of literature on the subject though, and most important of all feel pretty in tune with my body. I’ve been on this diet for almost a year now, and I’ve never felt better. I lost thirty pounds, mostly fat. I’ve gotten much stronger. I have more energy, and I swear I experience fewer mood swings and headaches. I just feel happier and more content with life. That’s not to attribute every development solely to my dietary change, but results are results. Heck, I started our dog on a similar “back to the roots” diet based on what wolves eat, and he’s even gotten healthier!

If there’s enough interest, I’ll try to make this into a series. I’ll get more specific about my diet, talk about caveman exercises, and post some actual science supporting my harebrained ideas! Thanks for reading, and thanks to Jane for sharing all of you with me.

***Picture Thanks to brainylagirl***

You see, our friends have recently become vegetarians. And not only are they newly converted, they have become that particularly righteous type of vegetarian that look down on all omnivores for relishing the taste of a bloody steak. Because, you know, omnivores are evil and unhealthy and drink the blood of puppies every full moon. What had been a jovial night out on the town quickly devolved into a trying lecture about the benefits of vegetarianism, of which there are supposedly many, including slenderness, increased energy, better circulation and overall improvement in constitution.

Unfortunately for our friends, they are dead wrong. Despite the faddishness vegetarianism has enjoyed since the mid-1970’s, new research into the field indicate that not only is a purely veggie diet not necessarily better for you, it can actually be harmful for your overall health. Seriously. It’s all too easy to think that avoiding meat products, which are naturally high in fat, is a fast pass to being slim and looking younger for longer - something our vegetarian friends kept saying in defense of their life choice. Sadly, this is not so, friends!

In a recent study scientists found that vegetarians had a higher rate of advanced glycation end products (AGE) in their bodies than those who included meat in their diets. An AGE, in plain English, is a protein molecule that has been damaged by exposure to high amounts of sugar. A protein that is beleaguered by sugar molecules cannot do its job properly and since the cell structure of the human body is made up of proteins, a large amount of AGEs is directly tied to the speed with which your body ages. The larger volume of AGEs you have, the quicker you’ll be looking like Grandma - slim or not.

Vegetarians tend to have more AGEs in their bodies overall because they eat larger amounts of fruits and grains than omnivores. Fruit, for all its health benefits, is brimming with sugar and sugar is sugar, no matter if you’re drinking it out of a can or stuffing your face. Just like omnivores shouldn’t indulge their taste for flesh with burger patties three times a day, vegetarians should look after themselves by limiting the amount of sugar in their diet, natural or not.

Moral high ground aside, this fact should give any vegetarian pause, especially those with rows of iron supplement bottles lined up in their bathroom. Vegetarians may be on average skinnier than those of us who gobble down pork and steaks, but slenderness is never a good indication of healthiness - if you don’t believe me, ask Kate Moss in a few years.

I’m not trying to insinuate that all vegetarians will wrinkle up like prunes and die at the age of 45. I’m just saying that any sort of extreme diet, vegetarian or not, can be dangerous if you’re not coming from the standpoint of eating reasonably and keeping your sugar intake low. I’d also like to point out that actively looking down on others for not sharing your view is short sighted, especially when the benefits of a vegetarian diet aren’t quite as clean cut as our friends may like to think. Anyway, it’s just food for thought! Now, speaking of food, I think I’m going to make a spinach salad with apples and blue cheese for dinner. With broiled chicken on the side. Yum!

***Picture Thanks to anish***

First, let’s dispense with the myths. You’ve heard that spinach is high in iron and calcium, but you’ve also heard that’s just a lie perpetuated by self-righteous vegans - so which is it? Well, both. Spinach is in fact high in both iron and calcium, but spinach also contains high levels of oxalate, which reduces the absorption of both iron and calcium.

So you won’t exactly get the most iron or calcium from your spinach, but don’t let that deter you from its green leafy goodness. Spinach is still an excellent source for vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, folic acid, magnesium and various antioxidants. With all that studies have shown spinach contributes to healthy bones, brain function, eyesight, and cardiovascular system. Oh, and it also fights cancer. How about that?

So there’s still more than enough reasons to enjoy spinach. When you prepare spinach, take care to wash it well. Sand and soil easily get caught in its leaves and stems, so you might submerge the leaves beneath water to dislodge any and all grit. (Remember the E. Coli outbreak? Exactly.) Rinse and repeat.

As with all foods, cooking spinach decreases its enzymes and nutritional content, so avoid cooking it to death and feel free to enjoy it raw. Maybe a nice salad with blue cheese, walnuts, dried cranberries and raspberry vinaigrette? Or if you don’t have all that on hand, you can pretty much substitute spinach into any salad you like. (Spinach Caesar Salad anyone?)

A quick boil (about a minute) will reduce the oxalic acid and give it a slightly sweeter taste. Or you can steam it. Maybe add a layer of steamed spinach in your favorite lasagna recipe? Or toss some sautéed spinach with garlic, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, and parmesan cheese.

However you decide to prepare your spinach, please don’t do any Popeye impersonations. They’re just not funny anymore.

***Picture Thanks to Nickster 2000***

The official prison workout - as practiced by actual convicts - is the burpee. A strength-building, endurance-raising powerhouse combo exercise, the burpee targets the entire body and doesn’t let up until you vomit, weep, or lie motionless face down on the floor. The burpee is pretty much my desert island exercise; if I had to pick just one workout to do for the rest of my life, the burpee would be it. I linked to a video above that shows it in action, but the actual workout is quite simple.

1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your hands above your head.
2. Drop into a squat, placing your hands on the floor beside your feet, and kick your feet back into push-up position.
3. Do a push-up.
4. As you raise up, swing your knees into your chest and place your hands back on the floor, so that you’re in the same position as Number 2.
5. Explode upwards, jumping as high as you can.
6. Return to position 1, and repeat.

It may not sound like much, but I guarantee pain, suffering, and real results. For an extra kick, throw a pull-up in the mix: perform the exercise underneath a bar, and when you jump, grab the bar and do a pull-up. Stretch after and prepare for extreme soreness tomorrow.

Maybe you’re mainly interested in replacing the workouts you do at the gym? That can be done, too. Try the following:

Tricep Chair Dips
1. Put two chairs back to back, about three feet apart from each other.
2. Treat the backs like parallel bars, and commence dipping.
It might feel awkward at first, so take your time. And you obviously don’t want to use frail or antique chairs, but don’t worry - most chairs can handle the stress.

Pull-ups
Looking for something, anything, that can support your hanging weight. The pull-up is the single greatest back and bicep exercise, so you need to work this into your routine. I use the overhead water pipes in the laundry room in our apartment complex. Jane is a fan of a low hanging tree-limb on her running route. Or, you could do it like this guy. Try varying your grip for different effects.
Oh, and while you’re up there, try making your knees touch your elbows. Do that a few times after each set of pull-ups for a great ab workout.

Push-ups
Do I need to explain? Be sure to keep your back straight and stiff. There are some variations, though, to this military classic. A wide grip blasts the chest, whereas keeping your elbows closer to the body hits the triceps. One of my favorite push-up routines is the wheel. Using my feet as the axis, I do a circle of push-ups, doing five reps before rotating to a new position. Variety is always better, so try ‘em all out.

Squats and Lunges
The first body weight squat is a piece of cake; the fiftieth is like molten lava in your quads. Just make sure your ass touches the floor, and you’re good.
Same deal for lunges. Go low and long, scraping your knee on the carpet (or cell floor). Ramp up the difficult by carrying heavy stuff. I like to use a suitcase full of books, sandbags, or our 75-lb Labrador. Especially the dog, cause he squirms and tries to wriggle out of my grasp, doubling the workout intensity.

I realize that this has turned into the Living Room Workout, but my point still stands: you don’t need to join a fancy gym to give your body an awesome workout.

***Picture Thanks to Cronfeld***

Well, it turns out that scientists doing an expansive survey of people’s dietary habits and health have found that drinking one (just one!) can of diet soda a day leads to a 34 percent higher risk for metabolic syndrome… 34 PERCENT, PEOPLE!!! Even red meat and fried foods only increase your risks by a measly 18 percent in comparison. And metabolic syndrome is no small thing; it can lead to obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, all of which contribute to cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The jury’s still out on the causes, whether it’s some particular chemical in diet soda or something else in every diet soda drinker’s diet. Meanwhile, other studies have shown - and unfortunately, I can vouch for this personally - artificial sweeteners increase a person’s cravings for sweets and thus their tendency to overeat. Been there a few times.

I’m not sure I can go cold turkey. Even though I know water and unsweetened green tea are way better for me, I know I’ll miss the fizz. I’ve decided to stock limes and seltzer water in the house to have on hand whenever I get that craving. It’s hard to get as excited about green tea as a caffeine replacement, but at least it has antioxidants. Woot! Woot!

***Picture Thanks to Robyn Gallagher***

Here’s what I do: Warm up for about 5 minutes. Then, 3 minutes of jogging and 30 seconds of sprinting. Repeat that about 6 or 7 times, so that you have a full 30 minute cardio workout. And don’t forget to cool down for another 5 minutes at the end. (Stretching is good too. Although there is conflicting evidence for the benefits of stretching post-workout, I always do due to a slightly weaker right knee I want to keep loose!)

Remember, unless you’re already a sprinting star, you don’t want to overdo it. 30 second bursts with 3 minutes between them is just enough to keep your heart rate up without risking the strain overkill can put on your body.

And enjoy it! Sprinting is the king of cardio, and the reason should be self-evident: the endurance necessary to complete a sprinting workout makes it one of the best calorie-burners out there. Not only does it burn fat, but it lowers stress and keeps your metabolism up for days.

***Picture Thanks to Thomas Hawk***

Yes, Japanese company Nihon Sofuken are now offering “Placenta 10000″, a flavored jelly drink touted as great for your all-around health due to a secret ingredient: pig placenta. The placenta, as we all know, is the organ that follows the baby out of the birth canal post-delivery. As you may not know, the placenta is actually a nutritious piece of a flesh, containing a high volume of minerals that give it uniquely regenerative, anti-aging properties. It’s also a great weight loss booster and a natural cure to postpartum depression: mothers who consume the placenta after birth report feeling more upbeat and chipper than those who didn’t. It’s even vegan! So what’s not to love?

Well, for one, I’m of the mind that social taboos exist for a reason. If guzzling peach flavored placenta juice was good for you, we’d all have been doing it since the dawn of time. Secondly, just because something is “natural” doesn’t mean it makes a tasty appetite-suppressant. Call me old fashioned, but I still believe that a healthy diet and regular exercise is the surest way to sustainable weight loss. How many magic serums have you tried promising results that never delivered? I get the feeling this is just more of the same.

Now don’t start thinking that I’m somehow closed-minded, because I’m not. If sipping placenta in the afternoon is your cup of tea, you are welcome to it. But I think it’s worth pondering why exactly Placenta 10000 is peach flavored (because I guarantee the placenta itself doesn’t taste like peach)? How much sugar has Nihon Sofuken added to their drink to make it palatable? It’s also quite pricey at $8 per bottle and very unlikely to reach American cupboards due to heavy health restrictions on importing placenta.

Unfortunately, I find health drinks to be generally unhelpful for those trying to become fit. Case in point: Placenta 10000 (and Placenta 400,000, its jumbo sized compatriot) is classified as FOSHU (Food for Specific Health Use). This I have a problem with. Why should food have a specific health use beyond just tasting good and giving you energy? It’s this type of thinking that turns food into the enemy. Once you start thinking of food as something to be avoided you are on the path to unhealthy eating habits of all sorts. Yeah, the placenta may have anti-aging properties you can’t get from plain old water, but if you’re truly worried about wrinkling up before the age of 30, I find that one-two combo of sunscreen and a sunhat can keep the crows feet at bay. Until we know a little more about what’s in Placenta 10000, I suggest taking a pass on it and relying on the old standbys: diet and exercise. I know I am.

***Picture Thanks to NomadicEntrepreneur***