MORE ON PALEO EFFECTS AND CHALLENGES

Now, I don't mean to be an evangelist here, but our paleo way of eating is showing such benefits that I need to share. I am, I realize, one lone voice among many pro and con for this way of eating and lifestyle, but I intend to use that voice, at least from this platform, to espouse what I see as behavior that could be beneficial to many people. That, after all, is the purpose of this site in the first place. The longer that we eat paleo, the easier it is. I have lost those quick hunger pangs that always hit mid-morning and mid-afternoon as breakfast and lunch full of carbs wore off. The increased protein intake has provided longer fueling for this body, and with the very low-carb, it appears (not verified as yet) that ketosis is also working. As we get our bodies used to burning more fat and less carbs, we have longer-ranged energy. The media sure doesn't help with this, though. The web, tv, radio, social media, etc. are seemingly FULL of advertisements and references to high simple carbohydrate consumption. If you look at a tv for more than 1/2 hour, you will almost certainly be bombarded with multiple commercials for fast food, instant waffles, sugary cereal, candy, chips,soda,etc. This isn't too tough on me, as I am happy with our committment. It seems to take a toll on the kids though. They have, to be sure, plenty to eat, and good nutritious food. They kind of miss cake and pie and doughnuts, though. Not that they don't EVER get them, but now it's dramatically less than before. That multi-billion dollar food industry is dedicated to making people consume a lot of food. It's that simple. It is further a simple determination that they make more money if they can PROCESS the food before it gets to your mouth. That's why you don't see a lot of advertisements for unprocessed meat and raw, fresh vegetables. Neither my wife nor I are overweight, but both have still experienced a noticeable weight loss since launching into full paleo. Leaner is better. The problem with obesity in the U.S. and other places around the world is easy access to lots of carbohydrates. Rice, beans, legumes....all much cheaper than, say, organic vegetables or grass-fed beef. We are fortunate. We grow most of our fruits and vegetables and have our own chickens. People who don't have that resource, and further don't have the means to buy such good quality food, often fill the void with food that is more affordable, thus high carbs, resulting in a high obesity rate. If you have to live on cheap bread, beans and ramen noodles, you're likely to get fat. Not that paleo can't be done on a budget, but you would have to be really committed. We will continue on, and it will be interesting to see where this paleo journey leads us. I hope it is a permanent change of lifestyle, as it seems to have great health benefits.

OUR PALEO LIFESTYLE EVOLUTION

Eating a paleo diet is a pretty radical change from the way most of us have grown up. Carbs are EVERYWHERE! A natural diet is, it seems to me, just a logical way to live your life. Unfortunately, the food industry, at least here in the U.S., spends untold billions of dollars to convince you otherwise. After all, how much money can a food processing company make if nobody eats processed food. People eating apples, peppers, and unprocessed meats pretty much makes those companies unnecessary. If you watch TV, you will be subjected to a non-stop barrage of ads, trying to dress up processed foods as part of a healthy lifestyle. You really don't need someone to process your food for you. Your body was designed to process food. The paleo way of eating (of which I am certainly no expert), just gives your body what it needs, without it having to deal with all of the additives and "flavor enhancers" that are often blended into processed foods. Our whole society, it seems to me, has evolved to be "food centered". Instead of being nourishment, food has become a source of celebration and entertainment. I work in an office environment where people celebrate birthdays, retirements, promotions, etc with, unwaveringly, a big box or sometimes a table full of junk. Well-meaning people, wishing to make someone happy or celebrate a life event, spend their time an money to bring in a couple of dozen doughnuts, brownies, cake, cookies, bagels, etc.etc.etc. These are set on a table where people pass by during the day and constantly graze until everything is gone, generally with the exception of the little plate of fresh fruit that is set on the back of the table as a "healthy after-thought". This is usually done in the morning, presumably after everyone got up and ate their breakfast, so it's definitely not hunger-driven. You will hear things like, "Well....I shouldn't, but just this once. After all it is his or her birthday...". This will be a long uphill struggle to change our relationship with food. I think it is so well established that it won't be easy. You can only do it FOR YOURSELF. You don't have to celebrate with a big plate of processed junk that your body doesn't need. You can say "Happy Birthday!" and decline the cake and doughnuts. It's not that hard, and there is a lot at stake here. About a year ago, I tried really hard to go hard-core paleo. My family, at that point, wasn't on board, and it was really tough for my wife to try to cook in two completely different modes everyday, so I grudgingly stopped, although we all continued to eat a great deal of home-grown vegetables and fruit from our orchard. My wife, being Asian, grew up eating rice every day. That was tough. She has always desired and lived a very healthy lifestyle, and we try to steer our kids toward that as well. She recently began reading, in earnest, about paleo cooking and has read related books such as Grain Brain by Dr. David Perlmutter, which sets forth his theory that consumption of so much grain is a source of many health problems. I am still reading that, and may do a review of it in an upcoming post. Being the excellent cook that she is, my wife began experimenting with paleo cooking, and has become quite the expert at substituting to make the transition easier for everyone, particularly our kids, ages 17 and 9. She searched out and found excellent paleo cookbooks, and we are fortunate to live in a pretty rural setting, with great access to bunches of different organic vegetables, organically grown fruits, and eggs from our own chickens. With those resources, we launched into a full paleo way of eating, and it has been great. She makes great pasta-substituting shredded zuccini for the noodles (zoodles!), has found that the kids can have some pancakes made from things like coconut or almond flour, etc. We, and particularly I, don't claim any particular expertise in such a way of eating, but we are really enjoying this. You don't, after a while, miss things like bread with meals, rice, etc. It is really not a hard transition, and with your health hanging in the balance, and more importantly, the health of your kids, it is a worthwhile endeavor. In keeping with my general philosophy in these posts, I am not imploring you to,or even recommending that you do this. That's not my purpose. I'm just talking about what we are doing, and giving you alternatives...Be healthy.

REVIEW-NEW BALANCE MINIMUS TRAIL 10V2

Thanks again to Jeff Gallup at Barefoot Inclined for these. I won them on a giveaway from his site. They retail for about $110.00. I have done some running in them and have even tried them in some other venues (tennis to be exact). These are well-made shoes, for certain. Some recent modifications over the previous version have, it seems, improved their comfort. A minimal drop (4mm), the feel of them is nice and flat. They have a pretty aggressive tread which grips well on all surfaces that I have tried, and the toe box is certainly substantial. I have to admit that I am a true dyed-in-the-wool sandal runner, but these are some shoes that I can run in without my feet feeling boxed-in. Having a shoe actually shaped like a foot seems like a great idea to me, and these come pretty close. While sandals are (and no doubt will remain) my preferred running footwear, I have no qualms about running in these. They are extremely flexible, and let your foot move naturally without binding or rubbing. These shoes have a nice, smooth interior that allows you to wear them barefoot. Not having to use socks in a running shoe, to me is a great plus. They claim on the NB website to be "odor resistant". I have worn them exclusively without socks and, so far, they have not developed any substantial odor. This has been a problem for many "barefoot shoes", VFFs in particular, but so far, so good with these. I find that putting them on, perhaps because of the shape of my feet, has a little issue. Putting my foot in initially is a little bothersome. It feels as though the foot has to go through a narrow part of the shoe before being "released" into the roomy toe box. This is, to me a very minor problem, and as I said, may be a bit unique to me. Once they are on, they are extremely comfortable to wear. I minimize the problem by making sure the laces are really loose before putting them on. As I mentioned at the beginning, I tried these for something for which they really weren't designed. I have worn them on the tennis court a few times. One benefit is that the Vibram outsoles seem to be non-marking, and the lugs on the bottom grip really well on the hard court surface. I am not recommending them for tennis, and don't play enough to feel qualified to give a thumbs-up or down on that issue. I am only making the point that they seem to be quite versatile. This is a very light weight shoe. I have referred to this in a previous post in which I compared a number of shoe weights. It is on a par with my lightweight sandals, including Xeros and Earth Runners Alphas, so its weight has presented no issue for me. I got the shoe in black/silver, but it comes in a number of colors, so you should be able to find one that fits your preferences. It does well for relatively big feet (I have, in this shoe, a 13 EE). This is bigger than I wear in a sandal, but is just right for me in an enclosed shoe. I opted for the bigger size, as I was concerned about toe-box size. In all, I like this shoe. It stays minimalist, but provides a "real shoe" look for situations where you might need it.

NEW REVIEW COMING SOON-SHAMMA RUNNING SANDALS-WARRIORS

I will shortly be receiving a pair of Shamma Sandals Warriors minimalist running sandals from Shammasandals.com. These look promising, and I'm anxious to run in them. Watch for my review of these coming up soon.

SHOE WEIGHT COMPARISONS

Before we begin comparisons, a few disclaimers. This is by no means a scientific comparison. It's MY comparison of MY shoes in MY size weighed on MY scale (ok my wife's kitchen scale and she made me seal them in lightweight plastic bags before she consented to its' use.) I have run many miles in most of these, with the exception of the tire tread huaraches, which I just got a couple of weeks ago, and have run about 10--15 miles total in them. The NB MT10V2s are relatively new also. The tire tread huaraches are really what triggered this comparison, as they are pretty hefty. I plan to do a specific review of them, and their interesting (hopefully authentic, but not sure) origins. That's for another day. I used to run in those NB 992s in the photo. I ran my first half-marathon in them, in fact, so they're kind of a keepsake now, although I vow never to run in such things again. I even had heavy arch support insoles in them! They are the heaviest of the lot, coming in at a whopping 18.6 oz. sans insoles. That's a lot of weight to carry on each foot for 13.1 miles, if you think about it. Next came the tire tread huaraches, at 18.5 oz. These are authentic tire tread, with a leather foot bed and leather ribbon-ties. They came to me needing some customization, which I have nearly completed. They were kind of a funny, squarish shape and a bit big, so I cut, shaved, and ground off probably an ounce or so to get them to the size and shape that I wanted. After the first couple of runs I don't really notice the weight much. You can forget ground feel, though with a 15mm tire tread between you and Mother Earth. I will keep running in them, but they're also looking great for hiking at this point. I recently won (On Jeff Gallup's Barefoot Inclined site,) a pair of NB MT10V2 trail shoes. They are 13 EE, and have lots of toe box room. For a shoe, they are incredibly light, weighing in at 7.4 oz. My first commercially obtained minimal shoes are my old Xeros. These have plenty of miles on them, so I don't know if they are lighter than when I first got them. I have replaced the original lacing with paracord, as well. They come in at 6.3 oz. Last are my favorites, the Alphas from EarthRunners. These things fit my feet like gloves, hold secure during any conditions, and weigh in at 4.8 oz. They feel like nothing on your feet. I like to run in them after a day or two in the tire tread beasts. At that point, the Alphas make my feet feel like Mercury the wing-footed messenger.