Our forty-seventh show!

Ep. 47: Exercise

In this episode, Stacy and Sarah are joined by The Paleo View's male co-host, George Bryant of Civilized Caveman. Stacy, Sarah and George discuss exercise, how it can help and hurt our health and weight-loss efforts, and the importance of finding a personal balance between training and rest.

The Paleo View (TPV), Episode 47: Exercise

0:00 - Introduction

1:19 - News & Views

George is back on the show this week

The original plan was to have Amy Kubal on the show to talk about blood sugar regulation, but she got sick - that show is now scheduled to air on Friday, July 26

The boys have been calling George, Uncle George and happily sharing their food with him while George has been visiting

George was in town for the Beyond Bacon release and Stacy cornered him into doing the show again, and the two actually are sharing Stacy's treadmill desk (not actually walking) to record the show

There were 225 people at the book release, the food was amazing, the crowd was huge - great energy all around

Sarah left her kids for the first time ever to attend the Beyond Bacon release party and had a blast

Sarah's kids did great when she was gone, but then broke down when she got home

Stacy took Friday off of work and between George and Sarah staying at the house for the book release and the 4th of July it felt like a relaxing weekend full of celebration

George took Stacy to yoga for her first ever class and she enjoyed it

Stacy noted that she understands how exercise can be an intimidating thing, especially when you are new to something, but you should feel proud when stepping outside your comfort zone, especially with fitness

Sarah read a study about people who try new forms of exercise, and the research found that yoga is one of the easiest to incorporate and stick with

Adults are quick to define things and want to set guidelines, but doing anything that involves moving - getting outside and playing is all a form of exercise, you just need to find what works for you and keep variety to whatever it is you call exercise

21:03 - Science with Sarah: The health benefits of activity/the health detriments of inactivity

Many think of exercise as just a way to lose weight, burn calories and build muscle, but Sarah thinks of it as hormone regulators, which is really the most important effect of exercise on health

It not only impacts the level of hormones, but the sensitivity of hormones

Some really key hormones are impacted by physical activity: insulin, cortisol, leptin, ghrelin, melatonin

It also regulates the immune system, mood, quality of sleep, stress tolerance - it is all interconnected

Getting physical activity reduces the risk of getting cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, depression, and some cancers

The World's Health Organization has recognized sedentary lifestyle as the fourth leading risk factor for mortality in the world, and attributes a sedentary lifestyle to 3.2 million deaths a year globally

The most important thing with exercise is movement, to simply not be sedentary (not sitting or lying down)

You can be walking at a slow pace, gardening, cleaning, or exercising at a higher intensity - it all counts

George loves to keep exercise light hearted and fun and doesn't get stressed about missing a workout - he wasn't happy when his workout regimen was the opposite, which made him devalue fitness

When you exercise to have fun, the intimidation goes away and you are able to simply enjoy what your body is doing

George will Prancercise if required to keep things fun - don't be afraid to do Prancercise to keep things fun - AND IF YOU DO Prancercise, send your videos, pictures and feedback to [email protected]

Note, George wore a comb-over look for the recording

35:00 - Q&A

Lauren: What are your suggestions for a young female trying to shed excess fat, while maintaining muscle mass and energy levels?

You have to chose whether you are focusing on weight-loss, health, or building athletic capabilities

Stacy is focusing on becoming fit and she has goals that she wants to reach related to that, but she isn't focused on body composition

If you are going to focus on weight-loss, its completely different than performance or health - there may be overlap, but you need to pick one and focus on it

Sarah wants to help Lauren pair down the goals a bit because losing weight is really hard to do while also improving your performance, especially if you aren't managing your stress when doing intense exercise

If you are not eating enough carbohydrates to fuel your activity levels that creates stress, which increases cortisol and makes it harder to lose weight

If she manages the stress and does what she needs to do to help her body recover, she actually may be able to drop the stubborn weight

To manage psychological stressors have fun, try meditative practice, diaphragmatic breathing

Thinking about your health goals in terms of the stress on your body and how to manage that may help the other pieces fall into place

Diaphragmatic breathing is when you use your diaphragm to open your lungs rather than your chest muscles

George reminds women that there is a level of leanness that is dangerous for women and you need to be aware of that

Stacy recommends checking out Paleo for Women and this podcast episode featuring Paleo for Women writer, Stefani Ruper

The two biggest risks with going too low with your weight are interfering with thyroid and reproductive hormones

Pushing the body routinely to excess, like what elite athletes do, has been correlated with a bunch of health issues, mostly caused by a weakened immune system because you have to have adequate rest in between training sessions

Warning signs are loss of period, period irregularity, fatigue, dry skin, hair falling out, brittle nails, not sleeping well, not waking up rested, having to pee in the middle of the night more than once, keeping weight around the middle

There is a perfect balance when you are training, being excessively active can cause the same issues that a sedentary lifestyle causes

You cannot tie health to the way your body looks

George will take a sense of humor and a smile any day

(53:49) Heather: How do I target fat loss in my midsection?

George focuses on how his body feels when determining his workout frequency, but prefers to do Crossfit three days a week and then focuses on mobility two to three of the other days

Crossfit is incredibly intense and you can quickly over do it and tax your system, revving your cortisol

George feels like Heather may be over training

The quantity of calories isn't as important as the quality

If Heather doesn't feel like she is overdoing it, perhaps there may still be too many higher carbohydrates in her diet - she may want to look at how her paleo diet is structured and also look at sleep quality

Nuts, butter, paleo baked goods can all be tricky areas if you are trying to lose weight

Heather could also be gaining muscle from how she is training

Nutritionists and registered dieticians can help her dial in and optimize her lifestyle

If someone had extensive nutritional deficiencies before going paleo, your body may gain weight while it holds on to the new nutrients, but will eventually stop holding the weight

(01:04:11) Kendra: Experiencing muscle soreness 48 hours after working out, what is causing this kind of delay?

DOMS is delayed muscle soreness and is not a good thing

Research has not been able to conclude what is causing it or how to solve the problem, but is has been linked to nutrient deficiencies

You want to feel muscle fatigue from a workout within hours or a day or two

The change in her DOMS time is a good thing because her doctor is helping her identify her deficiencies

Stacy had a similar challenge and learned that she was deficient in magnesium

Stacy says good work and keep doing what you are doing!

George finds that he gets DOMS when something in his routine isn't working and when he may be over training

Everyone feels muscle fatigue at different times, however, there is a normal range that you need to be aware of and you shouldn't feel gassed from every workout

Stacy is off to go pick on George while he is still there, and Sarah is off to go catch up on sleep

Have a good one everyone!

1:25 - Outro