12.00pm
4 chicken thighs
Handful of nuts and coconut shavings
3.00pm Post workout
Protein shake
(no fruit available)
3.30pm
Chilli
Avocado
7.45pm
Steak (approx. 7oz)
2 Sausage (97% pork gluten free)
Broccoli
2 poached eggs
If you're following my blog, you most probably are doing some form of exercise and understand the importance of staying active. You also, no doubt are eating a fairly clean diet (no sugar, grains etc) and if you have been listening, understand the importance of nutrition when leaning out and improving quality of life. But is this enough?
Our modern day way of living is at odds with our ancestral lifeway. They had things both harder and easier than us. Hard things include living without advanced communication and medicine. This would explain their shorter lifespan. Our ancestors worked hard for their food, clothing and shelter and left them with an Olympic athlete skeleton. But they did not work as hard or a long as us, only about 10-15 hours a week. This is similar to hunter gatherers societies today like those that live in the Amazon rainforest. The work varied from time of year and location and consisted of mainly building shelter, hunting food and making clothes. The rest of the time was spent socializing and playing games. Scientist that have live among Hunter Gatherer HG tribes have described them to be very content with life and there nearly no signs of misery. Admittedly they do need to deal with sickness and the odd dangerous wild animal, but on the whole the hunter gatherer societies live a remarkably good, stress free life.
Now lets look at the modern life.
Sleep
Our ancestor awoke when the sun rose and slept soon after the sun went down.
We awake with an alarm clock and without as much sleep as we would like. I think we can all agree that we feel a lot better when we've had sufficient sleep and we are well rested. Imagine what life would be like if we could awaken without the use of an alarm clock everyday!
Commute
Luckily in a city like Bath, commuting is not a major issue. But what if you work in Bristol, Swindon or as far as London. For many people this long commute can be frustrating and stressful and looks nothing like our HG trip to collect edible plants.
Work
I feel very blessed in my work. I get to improve peoples quality of life on a daily basis and it is extremely rewarding. But do you love your job? do you even like it? Or do you just tolerate it for survival? Who works 40 hrs. plus? Fifty? This represents almost 3 times the amount our ancestors would have spent working. I understand that some of us need to work more than others, but if you've ever felt you need to work less and have more variety in your life to relieve stress and provide you with energy, you would be correct.
Exercise
Exercise is great but to much is not! There are certain people (and you know who you are) that attempt to commit suicide by exercise. Up at 5am six days a week, running, swimming and biking. Lifting weights at lunch, then a met-con in the evening. Working out, when sick, tired and injured. I have been guilty of this in the past but have realised that more is not necessary best. Louie Simmons once said "Train optimally not maximally" and to me, that makes a load of sense!
Can you see how all these factors are at odds with our genetics? Lets have a look at how these all effect what happens on the inside, more specifically how they effect the hormone cortisol! Hang in there guys, I know this stuff is a little deep but it really matters.
Cortisol is a hormone released from the adrenal glands in response to stress. It's main function is to give us energy in the form of glucose and fatty acids released from the liver. Cortisol levels should be typically high in the morning and drop gradually as the day goes on, leaving us with very little by bedtime. This is natures way of making sure we are alert, energized and ready to go!
Our ancestors would have had a release of cortisol when fighting a wild animal and defending themselves from an ambush of a rival tribe. But this would have been infrequent and levels would have decreased quickly.
Our modern day way of living may not involve us fleeing from sabre-tooths, but it does come with alot of other stressors. Lack of sleep, commuting, kids, financial issues, boring job, excessive exercise! These stressors are frequent and culminate.
If we are exposed to these stressor frequently we release cortisol at times that aren't natural, this effects our ability to sleep and relax in the evening. But also, more cortisol, means more glucose and fatty acids released. The glucose (sugar) enters our system and has no where to go other than our bums and tums! These chronically high glucose levels will also lead to insulin resistance and eventually type 2 diabetes. This simulates eating a high-carb diet!!
Oh, and one more thing, chronic levels of cortisol gives you wrinkles! Cortisol disables the protein collagen in our faces.
So can you see how our lifestyle can stunt our fat loss?!?
Common signs of elevated cortisol levels are:-
1. Noticeably fatter around the midsection area
2. Needing to wee in the night
3. Low sex drive
4. Struggling to sleep at night and feeling more tired in the morning than before you went to bed
5. Poor memory
6. Elevated stress levels
So to conclude, sleep more, work a little less, get a life outside the gym, and CHILL OUT!
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