Paleo Diet: Make A New Year's Resolution You Can Keep

Posted on January 2, 2012 By Barry Cripps Paleo Diet

I see it every year at this time. I pull into the gym parking lot, and find it full to the brim with vehicles. Some I recognize, but the majority I do not. If it were any other day of the year, I would assume that some big event was taking place, but not this time. Nope, this unusually large crowd of gym-going people is here on January 2^nd, because the majority of them made a New Year’s Resolution to lose some weight, and today is the day to begin this life-changing event.

I find the whole thing both mildly amusing, and mildly annoying, because I consistently visit the gym between three and five days per week, fifty-two weeks out the year. I’m a regular, and now for the next month and a half (which is usually about as long as it takes for all of the New Year’s resolution folks to give up), I’ll be forced to park far away from the facility, and wait to use pieces of gym equipment, while some out of shape people awkwardly try to get their “swole-on”, with little or no knowledge or experience with the equipment. Ok, yes…. I’m making fun of people, but I’m only making fun of the folks who think they are going to change their lives in a few weeks, and it’s going to be a piece of cake, and then quit when they realize how long and hard they actually have to work to attain their goals. I would certainly never make fun of the people who are consistently doing what it takes to meat their goals, and get in shape…. regardless of how long it takes for us to get there.

The thing that really gets me is how many times these people have probably tried the whole “New Years Weight-loss Resolution” thing, and failed. Albert Einstein famously said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”, and this really seems to ring true for these people. I guess that it’s not entirely their fault, since the government has been pushing the “eat less, exercise more” mantra for years, but there is a better way here people!

“Surprisingly, exercise is a relatively recent addition to the standard prescriptions for weight loss. Prior to the 1960s, clinicians used to argue that making an obese person exercise would just make them hungry—they’d work up an appetite—and that’s the last thing you want for someone who needs to lose weight. Sure, healthy kids (and adults) are physically active, and lean kids (and adults) are more physically active than fat ones. But it doesn’t mean you can turn obese kids (or adults) into lean ones just by putting them on a treadmill. Still, the idea that exercise could lead to weight loss took hold back in the 1970s—thanks in large part to the efforts of one influential nutritionist, Jean Mayer of Harvard University—and we’ve been hearing it ever since. By 1980, as the Washington Post reported at the time, about 100 million Americans had become active members of the “new fitness revolution … one of the late twentieth century’s major sociological events.”” – Gary Taubes, “It’s Not About The Calories” 2011.

There’s no doubt that exercise is a good thing to do on a regular basis. Exercise builds muscle, which burns more fat, and makes the entire body stronger and more resistant to damage. Exercise also stresses the points at which muscles connect to bone, which actually stimulates the growth of bone, and increases overall bone density. Exercise raises metabolism, stimulates Hormesis, improves physical endurance, and importantly, releases endorphins, which improves our general feelings of well-being. No matter how a person loses weight, even though exercise is not absolutely necessary to do so, people don’t usually end-up looking as fit and healthy as they can if they exercise too. Some people are blessed with genetics that allow them to stay “skinny” no matter what they eat, and I’m certainly NOT one of those people. Personally, I would rather be a little “built” and lean, instead of just skinny, because then it’s obvious that I work hard to look the way I do, and I also care about the way I look. Maybe that sounds conceited, but it’s the way of the world. If you think for one second that every person you meet, every day of the year, DOESN’T mentally assess the way you look and dress every time they see you, you’re probably very wrong….. or maybe I’m just shallow, who knows. However, I firmly believe that most people allow appearance to factor into their opinion of you, whether that’s politically correct or not.

One of the greatest things about the Paleo Template, is that it allows us to eat as much as it takes for us to feel satiated, but still allows our metabolism to work as it evolved to work. People who eat a standard Paleo diet, which does include some starches and fruits, frequently lose weight steadily over a long period of time. BUT, when the carbohydrate intake level is dropped significantly, and becomes Ketogenic-Paleo, the rate of fat-loss goes into turbo. I have personally seen people who had over one hundred pounds of body-fat to lose, who were able to drop almost 50lbs in around 2 months. Granted, that’s not impressive compared to the weight dropped, and the speed at which the weight is dropped by the average “Biggest Loser” contestant, but the people I’m using as an example lost the weight with NO exercise. That’s right, Zero. None. They ate Ketogenic-Paleo, and basically sat on the couch! So tell me again why someone should spend hours on a treadmill each day in order to lose weight, when they could actually do it with diet alone?

Again, I don’t recommend that anyone walk this path without exercise in combination with diet, so as soon as the people in my example were physically able, they began a workout regiment, based upon resistance training (lifting weights), to complement their dietary regimen.

The bottom line is that the changes that are necessary in a person’s life, in order to lose weight and get healthy for a lifetime, don’t begin and end only with exercise. Sustainable lifestyle changes have to be made if a person wants to maintain the weight that they have lost, after they lose it, and for the rest of their life. What good is an exercise regiment that requires that allows the fat to return, if the person stops spending multiple hours in a gym every day? If I miss a visit to the gym, I’m not concerned about gaining weight; I’m only concerned that I missed an opportunity to grow my muscles some more.

Go Paleo In 2012, And Make A New Year’s Resolution You Can Keep!

This year, make a New Year’s Resolution You Can Keep. Make the lifestyle change to the Paleo diet Template. It’s the best chance that you’ve got to make this the last year that you need to make a resolution to lose weight.

Do you have weight loss plans for this new year? Would you like to give the Paleo diet a chance to make that New Year’s Resolution a reality? Please go to Barry’s website  www.undergroundnutritionist.com, and download his 30-Day UN-Challenge eBook now……It’s a step-by-step guide to your personal health revolution.

Please leave your comments. questions and observations in the comments section below. Thank you for visiting!

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Barry Cripps is a Paleo-based Nutrition and Wellness Consultant, who operates out of Bowling Green, Kentucky.

For more information please visit: www.undergroundnutritionist.com

2012, exercise, Gary Taubes, New Year's Resolution, Paleo, Paleo Template, weight loss