Ready for your 30 days to becoming a Primitive Diva Challenge….?

Ready to get a little WILD with a lifestyle program that focuses on the nourishment of your body with REAL food, building strength naturally (in NATURE not in a GYM), Avoiding the ugly side of Beauty (Toxic Chemicals) and getting plenty of Vitamin S (Sleep, Sun, Soil and Stressbusters). Kick off those high heels girls, grab some grass fed beef jerky and read on…..

What is a Primitive lifestyle/diet…?

Primitive, Primal, Paleolithic or Paleo are terms that describe an effort to get back to foods of our ancestral history. This is THE Original diet of our Hunter and Gatherer ancestors and is actually the “anti-fad” of most nutrition programs ever explored. The basic premise is that we spent about 2,000,000 years hunting meat, foraging for leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, nuts/seeds and very little else. In contrast, the foods of agriculture – grains and dairy – only showed up about 10,000 years ago. Ask yourself this…”where did we go wrong?”. It is imperative that we get back to basics before the diseases of modern living took hold of our population. So embracing your inner cavewoman is a way to obtain great health, weight loss ,energy and strength gain and even hormonal harmony.
If you do the math, we have been exposed to grain foods for all of 0.5% of our existence. Essentially, we’ve had NO time to adapt and evolve with these new foods. Further, within the last 100 years pesticides and chemicals have entered our food supply in high proportions and food has become highly processed. An average diet in America contains virtually NOTHING our bodies actually recognize as food. This is one reason we are experiencing a staggering increase of illness, cancer, heart disease, chronic inflammation and auto-immune diseases. These are not seen in any population of Hunter/Gatherer societies until they are exposed to a modern diet of processed foods, sugars and grains.

So, the basic premise is that feeding your body a whole food-based, organic diet, like it is designed for and intended to eat, is going to result in the highest health and performance possible. Our bodies are not going to run best on grains, sugars, man-made engineered frankenfoods and poorly raised toxic meats.

Because of the many health benefits of living more natural and Primitive, this is more of a movement and a lifestyle than it is a “diet.” It involves sleeping, eating and fitness patterns that attempt to recreate the patterns we evolved on. It is also important for you to look at your skin care regime (toxic chemicals)~your skin is the largest organ of your body~ IF you want optimal health, it starts with what you put on it daily. We will also discuss the importance of clean water along with warnings to avoid our biggest modern day household hazard--plastic/BPA and avoiding too much techno-stress. All of the suggestions fit very nicely with brief, intense and infrequent anaerobic exercise because that is the pattern of activity we would have had during evolution. Things like sprinting away from a predator, chasing prey, carrying heavy things and fighting. I will share many ideas and concepts with you in my weekly “work-out without walls” segments. In the meantime….Move, Sprint, Stretch, Crawl and Jump your way to improved fitness.

Primitive Nutrition (Primitive/Paleo/Primal)

Meat – Free-range, Pastured, Organic and fed its appropriate/intended diet (cows eat grass, not grain for example)

Fish - Wild caught

Vegetables – As much as you can eat, organic and a high percentage raw

Fruit - Organic and limit to 2-3 servings per day

Nuts and Seeds – Nuts and seeds are allowed in moderation- due to high omega-6 fats and some inflammatory factors. If you eat nuts and seeds eat them raw as opposed to roasted in vegetable oil. Limit to 1 serving (1oz) per day *Walnuts and Macadamias are your best choice(s) Note: Peanuts are a legume, like beans and are excluded from the diet.

Potatoes – White potatoes are out because they are a “new” food. However, you may consume 1 serving (fits into the palm of your hand) Sweet Potatoes or Yams, particularly after workouts due to the carbo/sugar load.

Grains – ALL grains are out ….these are ALL products of modern Agriculture. This includes wheat, rice, corn, quinoa, etc.

Dairy – During the 30 day challenge- I suggest eliminating ALL sources of dairy. Some paleo advocates strictly oppose it’s inclusion and others are huge advocates of Raw dairy from grassfed cows (Weston A Price followers). There are also others that recommend goat dairy rather than cow due to its less allergenic proteins ,lower lactose). Personally, I eat RAW goat cheese, yogurt, and kefir and do very well on it. In general, cultured dairy (yogurt, kefir) is more digestible and less allergenic than the plain milk product. Obviously, whey protein is out on two counts: 1) it’s from milk 2) it’s highly processed. IF you are going to consume cheese, RAW Goat is best. And you can substitute any milk intake with Coconut Milk (Unsweetened)

Supplements – I am not big on supplements. The reasoning is that our bodies are hugely powerful and intelligent when given good food, low stress, sleep and a proper lifestyle. There are many natural ways to get your pro-biotic’s . Omega-3’s, Vitamin C , etc… in Whole food form. I will share many articles, food choices and recipes during the challenge – so, save your money for high quality foods that truly and fully nourish your body. If you are dealing with any deficiencies, I suggest therapeutic juicing over supplements, as an addition to your lifestyle.

Ladies, ready to become a Primitive Diva. Join the tribe on Facebook (link on right) . I will offer several product/book giveaways to those of you who bring the most new friends to the tribe. Sharing many Primitve Diva recipes, photo’s, workouts, beauty tips and videos to help with the challenge, starting March 1st, 2011. I encourage you to keep a journal and take before and after photo’s to see the AMAZING transformation of your best Cavegirl selves. Feel free to twitter questions to me @primitivediva. At the end of our premier 30 day challenge, we will have a launch party in Houston, Texas to unveil the Primitive Diva logo and to celebrate our vibrant health. So start shopping for that special cavegirl dress and don’t worry about the shoes….its ALL about rocking the pedicure , right?