Mother Earth has had ENOUGH

Ramman made this slide show in response to the disastrous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico:

Salad Season!

It's Spring. To me that means the beginning of 6 months of fresh and local produce BLISS. We live right next door to the Portland Farmer's Market at the Portland State campus, so every Saturday we grab our reuseable bags (that's so Northwest) and trot on over to the abundance of fresh cut flowers and ripe berries and greens. It is heaven on Earth. It's like a true salvation when we submerge from a winter of buying "organic" produce at Fred Meyer, that has been shipped thousands of miles, to stepping outside our door and grabbing some real, nutritionally loaded, organic kale that was grown just down the road. Just for us.

With the change in seasons, so comes the change in the way we eat. Sunshine = salads galore + fresh fruit. Oh, and bee pollen! This is a bit of a side note, but the BEST bee pollen you can get in Oregon is from Boyco Foods. They bring delicious raw honey and colorful bee pollen to the Farmer's Market and the guy is one of the most vibrant people I have ever met. This stuff is like the elixer of life. And if you suffer from seasonal allergies, local honey and pollen is supposed to help. You can eat it by itself, or sprinkle it on salads ;)

Last night I made one of the best salads I've ever eaten. Inspired by Mark Sisson at marksdailyapple.com (a reader submitted this recipe to him and he posted it), I changed just a couple things for mine. It's main ingredients are chicken, bacon, and avocado. 'Nuff said.

*Unfortunately I did not take a picture of my salad before I devoured it, so this pic is borrowed from the original recipe post at marksdailyapple.com

Ingredients:
3 cups Spinach
1 nice, big Chicken Breast
6 slices nitrite-free Bacon
1 whole Avocado
1/4-1/2 cup Walnuts
1 Apple, whatever kind you like
Brianna's Poppyseed Dressing (I know, not truly primal food, but none-the-less one of the best things on the planet)

Method:
1. Chop up the spinach so it doesn't hit your face when you are trying to put the fork in your mouth
2. Chop the bacon into small pieces and cook in skillet
3. While the bacon is cooking, chop the chicken into bit-sized pieces
4. When bacon is done, cook the chicken in the same pan, with the bacon fat (this genius idea is from the original recipe)
5. Let the bacon and chicken cool
6. Chop apple, avocado, and walnuts and toss with the spinach and poppyseed dressing
7. Put salad on 2 plates and top with the chicken and bacon.
8. Prepare for elation. EAT.

~Laney

Spring Workouts

SPRING IS HERE! We are excited to get this season of warm weather and sunshine going with workouts outside, here are the details:

WHAT: Primordial P.E.
WHEN: Monday-Thursday 6:15-7:15pm
WHERE: Wilshire Park
PRICE: $99 per month
*Come to as many classes as you want for just $99!

WHAT: Everyday Acrobatics
WHEN: Friday 6:15-7:15pm
WHERE: The Academy of Kung Fu
PRICE: $65 per month

*Combine Primordial P.E. and Everyday Acrobatics for just $149!

Contact us at ripcityfitness@gmail.com for more details or to sign up.

Special Report: Part 3

MISTAKE #3: CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISE WILL MAKE YOU LOSE THE MOST FAT.

We see it every day: women who spend 4 days a week, 40 minutes at a time, on the stair-stepper, treadmill or bicycle who don’t lose weight and sometimes even gain! We know men who run 6 miles a day who have no muscle tone and rolls of fat aroundtheir waists. They come to us and ask how in the world can they be gaining weight?! Or, why can’t I get rid of this pudge?! You’ve been led to believe that if you want to lose fat, all you have to do is regular aerobic exercise. There’s more to it than that.

It’s all about intensity, nutrition, and balancing your hormones. If aerobic exercise is not supplemented with strength training to at least maintain muscle mass, you cannot effectively accelerate the fat loss process. Each pound of lean muscle tissue burns 35-50 calories a day while your body is at REST. Whereas body fat is not metabolically active, so little to no fat is burned for each pound of body fat. We are not the kind of trainers who are going to get on your case about doing your hours upon hours of cardio per week, because we know that a regimen like that will most likely have the opposite of the desired effect.

Here is the average scenario: You work 8-12 hours a day. You eat what is convenient (i.e. poorly). You don’t sleep enough. If you have time you might get to the gym to do 45 minutes of cardio and maybe a little strength training if you have the energy (which you usually don’t). You burn x number of calories on the elliptical (which is probably creating some sort of overuse injury since you are doing the same motion over and over and over again), so how the hell are you still so soft around the middle? And why won’t these saddle-bags just go away?! The answer to this mystery is most likely because your hormones are all out of whack. Remember that stress hormone called cortisol? When you don’t sleep enough, spend all day working, are overexposed to light, eat poorly, and then race to the gym to run on the treadmill for an hour, your body thinks you are being chased by a lion and you are seriously screwing with yourself. In our modern and very well-lit societies, we constantly have high cortisol; doing long bouts of cardiovascular exercise will kick that stress hormone into high gear and your body will do anything it needs to in order to survive. This includes storing energy, which is why you can’t seem to get rid of that soft belly no matter how many stairs you climb.

So, what should you do? Well, first of all- if you don’t have a healthy handle on your sleeping and eating habits, start there. If you are ready to train and do it the right way, we believe whole- heartedly in high intensity, interval training that uses more than one metabolic system at once (meaning, you are doing strength training and “cardio” at the same time). Fitness is not just looking like you work out. Fitness is being prepared for any physical challenge that might cross your path, whether you are a professional athlete or a grandmother (Note: we like to think that part of fitness is being prepared for mental and emotional challenges as well). Being fit means you possess a wide range of skills and abilities that don’t come from 3 sets of 10 bicep curls or 45 minutes on the elliptical. Building strength and muscle mass is IMPERATIVE to boosting your
metabolism and having a strong and prepared body that is ready and able to do anything.

We recognize the importance of using your own body as your main tool. We use very little equipment so that you can truly connect with yourself and move in ways that we, as humans, are meant to move. Never mind sitting in weight machines and working one muscle group at a time- we focus on functional movements like running, jumping, swinging, and climbing that will develop your body and mind into one integrated and coordinated being. We teach you how to lift heavy things properly, we teach you how to harness your power and use it in the right way, we teach you how to BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING.

*Special Note: We hear the following statements time and time again: (from men),“I run a lot so I don’t really need to strength train my legs.” And (from women), “I know I should exercise more, but I don’t want to get too bulky.” NEWS FLASH: Guys, running does not equate to strengthening your legs, for true fitness you’re going to have to do more than chest, back, biceps, and shoulders. Ladies, you do not have the physiological capacity to get huge unless you try REALLY, REALLY hard with a very specialized body building program and diet. The “bulk” you notice from time to time? It’s all the carbs you eat and the subsequent water you are holding on to.

Remember: muscle is metabolically active tissue. Fat is not. Fat is an energy source for the body but most people have much more than they need. Fat does not use energy – it is used as energy. Muscle uses energy. Lots of it. The more lean muscle you have, the more fat you burn. And here’s the biggest benefit, and why everyone needs to incorporate strength training in their exercise program: the more lean muscle you have, the more fat you burn – WHILE YOU ARE AT REST!

You see, that’s really the ultimate weight loss and fitness secret. Looking and feeling great is not just a function of how much fat you burn when you’re working out, because you can only exercise so much in a given week. The real secret is how metabolically active your body is the other 95% of the time. People with more lean muscle burn fat at a much greater rate than do those with less lean muscle. That doesn’t mean you have to look like Arnold or Madonna to be an efficient fat-burning machine. But you do have to at least maintain – and preferably increase – your lean muscle tissue. It’s easy with the proper strength training program.

We interrupt this series for a special video..

There is one more part to this series of 'Special Report' posts, but we wanted to interrupt it to show you this clip from The Colbert Report:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
John Durant
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Skate Expectations

Special Report: Part 2

MISTAKE #2: I DO JUST FINE ON 6-7 HOURS OF SLEEP A NIGHT.

Yeah. For now. Have you heard the old adage, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead!”? Well, if you really think that sleeping is that much of a waste of time, you may meet your death much sooner than you might expect. Sleep is one of the MOST IMPORTANT things that we need. And we need a lot of it. Most people do not get eight hours of sleep a night. We are asking that you try to get NINE. The ONLY time when your body can completely cleanse and repair itself is when you are sleeping.

When we are exposed to light (natural and artificial), our bodies produce a stress hormone called cortisol. It is also produced when we are exposed to any kind of distress (bad) or eustress (good) such as emotional and mental stress (work related, family, relationship, etc.) and physical stress (like exercising). With all of this overstimulation from light and stress there is a subsequent overproduction of cortisol, which leaves us in a perpetually inflamed, tired, and unbalanced state. When your cortisol is up, melatonin cannot turn on and that means you will not truly be resting, even if you are asleep.

Think about it for a minute. Back in the day before there was artificial light, we were awake with the sun and asleep with the moon. It is our natural rhythm to have energy when it is light out and to be tired when darkness falls. With the incredible invention of electricity (which obviously has a great many benefits) we gradually started shifting away from our natural sleep-wake rhythms. If you are wondering whether that means we should be sleeping for 12-14 hours in the winter… Well, yes, we should. Many animals hibernate in the winter months. A similar decrease in waking activity may have also been the case for our Paleolithic ancestors. In the summer time we naturally have more energy with the longer days. We are more active and we can eat more. In the winter it is natural for us to exercise and eat less, taking advantage of the darkness to rest and conserve energy for when the spring and summer come around again. Ever notice how you are a little less motivated to work out or go out in the winter? That’s not just you being moody- it is programmed into your cells.
The problem now is, we don’t sleep more and eat less in the winter and sleep less and eat more in the summer. We pretty much sleep less and eat more all year round, and this seriously messes with our entire bodies on a physiological level. Not to mention we don’t stay up and eat healthy food, we stay up and eat processed, carb-heavy food. When you habitually don’t sleep enough and eat too many carbs, you are on a fast track to some serious problems. Unfortunately, this way of living can lead to not so uncommon health problems such as high cholesterol, hypertension, type II Diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer. This lifestyle causes your immune system to be a flimsy paper-thin barrier as opposed to the strong brick wall it should be, making you infinitely more susceptible to all sorts of disease. And I’m not just talking about your seasonal cold or flu. Another one of the main things that happen when you don’t sleep enough and are spending too much time in the light is that the cells in the lining of your heart DIE. In other words, when you skimp on sleep, you are weakening your heart. A weak heart leads to heart failure.

Since sleeping 12-14 hours a night in the winter is almost impossible with the structure of our lives, we suggest that you make a very concerted effort to get nine hours of sleep a night in a completely dark room. Do whatever you have to do to keep the room dark even if you sleep past sunrise. Put heavy drapes on the windows and cover up the illuminated clocks. Getting a lot of good quality sleep is absolutely imperative to preventing disease and living a long and health life.

If you are wondering whether this “taboo” concept that we are the same as our Paleolithic ancestors is correct or not, a valid question to ask yourself is: why is there no cancer, heart disease, or obesity in nature? Also, why do only humans and their pets get these sorts of diseases? High cholesterol, hypertension, type II Diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer are all MAN-MADE. We are killing ourselves.

*An authoritative book on the subject of sleep is, Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival by T.S. Wiley and Bent Formby, Ph.D. If nothing else, this book will make you think twice about staying up in front of the television late at night.

Up Next, MISTAKE #3: CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISE WILL MAKE YOU
LOSE THE MOST FAT

Special Report: Part 1

The Three Biggest Mistakes When in Comes to Weight Loss, Health and Fitness

MISTAKE #1: FAT IS BAD (particularly animal fat)

We’ve come a long way. Gone are the days of spears and fires, they have long since been replaced with cellophane and microwaves. We have shifted into an age of convenience and speed when it comes to what we eat, but despite what the television commercials tell you and what the FDA approves, this is not a positive shift. Even something as fundamental to our survival as eating, has been completely altered and mutated into something that is now killing us as a species. Two million years ago we didn’t have refrigerators, we didn’t have microwaves, and we most certainly did not have grocery stores, let alone fast food chains. We hunted and gathered. Our job was to find food. Chasing animals and foraging for nuts and berries all day was something that was imbedded into our natural instincts; in fact, it still is (but I will get to that in the Exercise section). Today we have an overabundance of nutrient-deficient, genetically modified, processed, and straight up synthetic foods. We are told that fat is the root of all evil and illness and that you should NEVER eat animal fats, and that “fat-free” is healthy. We are encouraged to eat a predominately carbohydrate diet because you have to replace the fat with something (like sugar) to make food taste good. People, listen up! THIS IS BACKWARDS. We NEED fat and we need animal fat. Do you think your Paleolithic brother or sister turned their nose up to the fatty part of an animal for fear of raising their cholesterol? NO. You see, back before we started to over-analyze everything and make up solutions that turn into bigger problems, we were intuitive and instinctual. We ate the fat because our bodies craved it, and our bodies craved it because we NEEDED it. We are no different today. What if I were to tell you that the cause of high cholesterol, heart disease, and obesity was not fat? Would you believe me if I told you the culprit is a high-carb diet and not enough meat and fat? Well, it’s true. Here are bariatric Dr. Michael Eades’ seven reasons why you should eat more saturated fat (which I have extrapolated from author Tim Ferris’ blog).

1) Improved cardiovascular risk factors
Though you may not have heard of it on the front pages of your local newspaper, online news source, or local television or radio news program, saturated fat plays a couple of key roles in cardiovascular health. The addition of saturated fat to the diet reduces the levels of a substance called lipoprotein (a)—pronounced “lipoprotein little a” and abbreviated Lp(a)—that correlates strongly with risk for heart disease. Currently there are no medications to lower this substance and the only dietary means of lowering Lp(a) is eating saturated fat. Bet you didn’t hear that on the nightly news. Moreover, eating saturated (and other) fats also raises the level of HDL, the so-called good cholesterol. Lastly, research has shown that when women diet, those eating the greatest percentage of the total fat in their diets as saturated fat lose the most weight.

2) Stronger bones
In middle age, as bone mass begins to decline, an important goal (particularly for women) is to build strong bones. You can’t turn on the television without being told you need calcium for your bones, but do you recall ever hearing that saturated fat is required for calcium to be effectively incorporated into bone? According to one of the foremost research experts in dietary fats and human health, Mary Enig, Ph.D., there’s a case to be made for having as much as 50 percent of the fats in your diet as saturated fats for this reason. That’s a far cry from the 7 to 10 percent suggested by mainstream institutions. If her reasoning is sound—and we believe it is— is it any wonder that the vast majority of women told to avoid saturated fat and to selectively use vegetable oils instead would begin to lose bone mass, develop osteoporosis, and get put on expensive prescription medications plus calcium to try to recover the loss in middle age?

3) Improved liver health
Adding saturated fat to the diet has been shown in medical research to encourage the liver cells to dump their fat content. Clearing fat from the liver is the critical first step to calling a halt to middle-body fat storage. Additionally, saturated fat has been shown to protect the liver from the toxic insults of alcohol and medications, including acetaminophen and other drugs commonly used for pain and arthritis, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs, and even to reverse the damage once it has occurred. Since the liver is the lynchpin of a healthy metabolism, anything that is good for the liver is good for getting rid of fat in the middle. Polyunsaturated vegetable fats do not offer this protection.

4) Healthy lungs
For proper function, the airspaces of the lungs have to be coated with a thin layer of what’s called lung surfactant. The fat content of lung surfactant is 100 percent saturated fatty acids. Replacement of these critical fats by other types of fat makes faulty surfactant and potentially causes breathing difficulties. Absence of the correct amount and composition of this material leads to collapse of the airspaces and respiratory distress. It’s what’s missing in the lungs of premature infants who develop the breathing disorder called infant respiratory distress syndrome. Some researchers feel that the wholesale substitution of partially hydrogenated (trans) fats for naturally saturated fats in commercially prepared foods may be playing a role in the rise of asthma among children. Fortunately, the heyday of trans fats is ending and their use is on the decline. Unfortunately, however, the unreasoning fear of saturated fat leads many people to replace trans fats with an overabundance of polyunsaturated vegetable oils, which may prove just as unhealthful.

5) Healthy brain
You will likely be astounded to learn that your brain is mainly made of fat and cholesterol. Though many people are now familiar with the importance of the highly unsaturated essential fatty acids found in cold-water fish (EPA and DHA) for normal brain and nerve function, the lion’s share of the fatty acids in the brain are actually saturated. A diet that skimps on healthy saturated fats robs your brain of the raw materials it needs to function optimally.

6) Proper nerve signaling
Certain saturated fats, particularly those found in butter, lard, coconut oil, and palm oil, function directly as signaling messengers that influence the metabolism, including such critical jobs as the appropriate release of insulin. And just any old fat won’t do. Without the correct signals to tell the organs and glands what to do, the job doesn’t get done or gets done improperly.

7) Strong immune system
Saturated fats found in butter and coconut oil (myristic acid and lauric acid) play key roles in immune health. Loss of sufficient saturated fatty acids in the white blood cells hampers their ability to recognize and destroy foreign invaders, such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Human breast milk is quite rich in myristic and lauric acid, which have potent germ-killing ability. But the importance of the fats lives on beyond infancy; we need dietary replenishment of them throughout adulthood, middle age, and into seniority to keep the immune system vigilant against the development of cancerous cells as well as infectious invaders.

So there you have it. If you are interested in finding out more about their research, check out Dr. Michael Eades and his wife Dr. Mary Dan Eades’ latest book, The 6-Week Cure for the Middle-Aged Middle: The Simple Plan to Flatten Your Belly Fast! Not only do they address weight loss, but also optimal health.



Up Next, Mistake #2: I DO JUST FINE ON 6-7 HOURS OF SLEEP A NIGHT

Primordial Ooze

We found this recipe on Dr. Daniel Chong's blog Truth in Medicine, and it has already yielded some pretty amazing results. It is jammed with nutrient rich food and it actually tastes way better than you would think by just looking at the ingredients. If you feel like your immune system is low, if you are sluggish, if your digestion is bogged down with all the holiday partying- GIVE IT A TRY. It's real food and it works.
Primordial Ooze Recipe

For one serving, blend the following items in a high powdered blender in this order:

1. 4 oz filtered water
2. 4 oz organic, unsweetened juice (ideal choices are pomegranate or unfiltered apple)
3. 1 tsp or 1 bunch (depending on form it comes in) of seaweed (dulse, arame, etc)- let it soak for a couple minutes while you get out the other ingredients
4. 4 tbsp hemps seeds

Blend the above together til milky, then continue adding:

1. Large handful of dark, leafy greens (rotate kale, collard greens, spinach and dandelion greens)
2. Small bunch of cilantro
3. Small bunch of parsley
4. 1 tsp turmeric powder
5. 1/2 banana
6. 1/2 avocado
7. 1/2 to 1 cup frozen blueberries
8. Liquid stevia can be added to taste
   

Beneficial additions if tolerated:

1. 1-2 tbsp grass-fed liver powder
   
2. 1 clove raw garlic
3. 1-3 raw egg yolks (save the whites and cook on the side for more protein)

Blend and ENJOY!!

Primordial P.E.

Tired of the Same Old Repetitive Workouts?

Searching for a Fun & Exciting Way to Push Yourself to the Next Level?

If You're Not Afraid of a Challenge, Then Primordial P.E. is the Workout for You!

Enter a New Realm of Fitness, beginning January 4th, 2010

Become a Part of the Primordial Tribe
Primordial P.E. is a unique, boot camp-style class unlike any workout program you've ever experienced.

Discover Your Inner Athlete
Run, Jump, Climb, Swing, Crawl your way to superior endurance & whole-body strength

Get in Shape. Improve Your Quality of Life.
Don't procrastinate, invest in the most important assets you have, your HEALTH & FITNESS.

Workouts are Monday, Wednesday, Friday
6:15-7:15pm

Location: Academy of Kung Fu

3228 SE 21st Ave, Portland, OR 97202

Price: $129/month

Sessions start on the first Monday of every month. Next session begins January 4th! Space is limited to 10 participants, save yourself a spot TODAY by emailing ripcityfitness@gmail.com
OR by calling Ramman 503-880-6586

NEW VIDEO: Coach's Training