What is the Protein Sparing Modified Fast Diet?

There are some crazy crash diets out there. You’ve got the cabbage diet, where people live (or try to live) off of cabbage soup for weeks at a time. You’ve got the gelatin diet of the 70s, where people would try to lose weight by eating only gelatin (it didn’t work and some people got really, really sick). There are dozens of variations of crash diets, and most of them are unsustainable, unhealthy, and ineffective. 

There’s one that’s a little different: the protein sparing modified fast. No less extreme but far more reasonable and effective than the others, the protein sparing modified fast, or PSMF, is an ultra high protein, low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie diet. It’s intended to accelerate fat loss and minimize muscle loss. It is not intended to be a long term way of eating, but rather a short term intervention that can springboard a person into greater sustained weight loss and healthy living. 

Why Do a Protein Sparing Modified Fast?

Because “weight loss” doesn’t tell you anything. Weight is a non-specific measurement of mass that’s comprised of fat, muscle, connective tissue, bone, and water. To “lose weight” can mean you’ve lost mostly muscle. It can mean you lost a bit of fat and lot of muscle, or a lot of fat and bit of muscle. It can mean reduced bone mineral density. It can mean your tendons and ligaments are losing strength. It can mean you just lost a bunch of water weight. But when the average person wants to “lose weight,” they want to lose body fat and keep their muscles.

The protein sparing modified fast “spares” protein (muscle) and accelerates fat loss. It aims (and mostly succeeds) at creating the kind of weight loss people are looking for.

How Do You Do a Protein Sparing Modified Fast?

Emphasize lean protein.

Lean protein is the basis of the protein sparing modified fast. In order to be “protein sparing” and accelerate the loss of fat and limit the amount of muscle ams you lose, the PSMF emphasizes high protein intakes. By increasing protein relative to calories, your diet provides the amino acids your body needs to convert to energy instead of your body taking those amino acids from your own muscle tissue.

Eat at least 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. If you’re lifting weights (which you should be to get the most benefit out of the diet), up that to 2 grams protein per kilogram. I’d actually suggest going as high as 2.6 grams per kg, as a recent study showed that this level of protein intake during aggressive dieting minimized muscle loss.¹

The protective effect of including adequate amino acid intake when dieting is so profound that even infusing starvation patients—people who aren’t eating anything at all—with isolated amino acids can stave off the worst of muscle loss.²

Lean protein sources include:

• Lean cuts of beef and pork: top round, 95% lean ground beef, filet, loin
• Chicken and turkey breast
• Lean white fish: cod, haddock, halibut, tilapia, flounder, rockfish
• Shellfish: mussels, oysters, clams, shrimp, crab
• Egg whites
• Whey isolate protein powder
• Low/non-fat Greek yogurt

The best protein sources are whole foods: meat, fish, shellfish, yogurt. They contain more nutrients and are more satiating than isolated protein powders or egg whites. As such, the bulk of your protein sparing modified fast diet should be lean whole food protein. Powders can be used as adjuncts to an already good diet if you need a boost to get up to your desired protein intake.

Minimize fat.

For the purpose of this short term fat loss diet, you choose lean meats and avoid almost all added dietary fat. All the fat you’ll be consuming will come off your own body. This isn’t supposed to be a sustainable diet for life where flavor, nutrient-absorption, and long term health come into play. This is a rapid fat loss diet.

If you insist on it, use only as much fat as you need to cook—to keep things from sticking.

Minimize digestible carbs.

By minimizing digestible carbs (sugars and starches), you speed up the emptying of liver and muscle glycogen, lower insulin levels, and accelerate the loss of body fat. After glycogen is burned through, fat loss begins.

Stay under 30 grams of carbs a day, depending on calorie allowances.

Emphasize non-starchy vegetables.

For micronutrients, variety, and fiber, the PSMF promotes the consumption of large amounts of non-starchy vegetables. Things like asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, spinach, kale, peppers, onions, garlic, and all leafy greens. The catch is that you can’t add all that much extra fat to make it super-palatable. Veggies must be steamed, boiled, or cooked with minimal fat—no more than a half teaspoon or so to really get the full effects.

Keep calories low.

Clinical protein sparing modified fasts allow 800 calories a day. More casual PSMF-style fat loss diets done on your own can be higher calorie, but still very low. Whatever amount of calories you decide is right for you, hit your protein requirements and fill out the rest of the calories with carbs and fat.

Supplement smartly.

I’ve already mentioned whey protein, a great source of lean protein. But there are a few other things to consider taking.

• Electrolytes: sodium, potassium, magnesium become vastly more important on a low-calorie, low-carb diet. Salt your food liberally, as a PSMF will get boring very fast if you’re eating bland food.
• Omega-3s: if you aren’t eating mussels and oysters, which have adequate levels of omega-3s, you need to be taking fish oil, 3-4 grams per day.
• Multivitamin/mineral: a good multivitamin and mineral supplement is a good idea.
• Bone broth or collagen: the glycine in bone broth/collagen will balance out the methionine in all the lean protein you’re eating, and broth is a great way to add flavor and refinement to an otherwise boring diet.

Do glycogen depleting workouts.

You can speed up the effects of the protein sparing modified fast by doing high-rep circuit training that rapidly depletes glycogen.

Keep in mind that glycogen depletion is localized.³ The muscles you use are the ones that get depleted. Compound movements like squats and deadlifts are more efficient because they’ll deplete multiple muscle sites with the same movement.

Higher intensity elicits greater glycogen depletion. Walking doesn’t deplete much at all, while sprinting depletes a ton. Anytime you increase the intensity, you’re increasing the glycogen burn. Volume also matters. The trick is maintaining intensity over long durations or high volume.

Isn’t Rapid Weight Loss Unhealthy and Unsustainable?

“Slow and steady weight loss” is a myth in my opinion, a grand lie perpetuated on the masses. Rapid weight loss works better, works faster, and leads to greater lasting changes.

Contrary to popular belief, people who lose weight faster tend to keep it off.  The research indicates this as well.

• A 2000 review found that faster, greater initial weight loss improves long term weight loss maintenance, even when that weight is lost using extreme diets like the protein sparing modified fast.⁴
• A 2001 review found that using very low calorie diets to trigger rapid short term weight loss can be highly effective for long term weight maintenance, provided subjects follow up with a “weight-maintenance program” including physical activity, nutritional education, and behavioral therapy. In other words, it works if they make it a lifestyle change.⁵
• A 2004 review of the effect of “lack of realism” in weight loss goals on long term weight maintenance found that “higher dream weight loss goals” were linked to greater weight loss at 18 months. Aim big, get big results.⁶
• Among middle-aged obese women, those who lost weight the fastest were the most likely to keep it off after 18 months.⁷
• There was also a more recent paper where people who lost weight quickly were no more likely than people who lost it slowly to regain the weight in the long term. Members of the fast weight loss group were more likely to hit their short term weight loss goals (12.5% reduction in body weight) and stick with the program. Even though both groups had regained about 70% of the lost weight after three years, the net weight loss in the fast weight loss group was greater.⁸

What’s going on here?

You need to shock the hell out of yourself by the speed at which fat falls off. Only then can you “know” at a guttural level that you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This kind of rapid fat loss is what gets you hooked on the possibility that yes, you can actually lose weight. That yes, your obesity or overweight isn’t intractable. In my experience, people who don’t lose a decent amount of weight right away get discouraged, lose faith, and are more likely to give up.

The PSMF is simply one of the fastest ways to lose body fat.

Is the Protein Sparing Modified Fast Diet Safe?

Yes, it’s safe for just about everyone. Anyone can do a protein sparing modified fast for a week and come out okay. Check with your doctor if you have a medical condition, of course, and I would never recommend that kids, teens, or pregnant women (or those actively trying to become pregnant) do one, but everyone else? Go for it. A week is safe. A week is effective. A week will show you how fast you can lose fat.

But if you decide to stay on it for much longer, or even long term, watch for warning signs.

• Thinning hair
• Weak nails
• Trouble sleeping
• Low energy overall, not just in the gym
• Low thyroid function
• Menstrual changes, or even loss of menstruation
• Not recovering from workouts, injuries, or wounds
• Negative mood changes

These all indicate a worsening of your metabolic rate. You’re becoming less virile, less fertile, and less robust in general. Your diet is no longer improving your health. It’s worsening it. It’s time to start eating more food, more fat, and more carbs.

Also, as women tend to be more sensitive to low calorie diets and things like extended fasts, I’d recommend that any women doing a PSMF pay close attention to these symptoms and signs.

Besides, the PSMF isn’t supposed to be a long-term diet. It’s supposed to be a shock to the system. The trick is losing weight rapidly by adopting a healthy way of eating and living. One that you can stick with.

If you have any other questions about the protein sparing modified fast, let me know down below in the comment section, or ask about it on social media and I’ll try to get back to you.

References

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29182451/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1355601/pdf/annsurg00255-0084.pdf
3. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3112561
4. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12119640
5. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11707557
6. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15044676
7. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20443094
8. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25459211

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6 Functional Exercises to Improve Balance and Stability

If you think about it, many of our everyday movements require us to balance on one leg. When you break into a light jog to catch a bus or catch up to your colleague in the hallway, there’s a brief period in each step when you’re balancing on one leg. When you climb stairs, you push up with one leg at a time. The last time you jumped over a puddle or off a curb, you landed on one foot.

For athletes—by which I mean anyone who participates in any sport or physical endeavor, novice to elite—the need for impeccable balance is even greater. Runners obviously spend a lot of time on one foot, but so do hikers, dancers, and aerobics buffs. Sports like basketball, tennis, Ultimate Frisbee, flag football, squash, and soccer add an extra degree of difficulty by introducing lateral movements where you move in one direction, land on one foot, and then juke in another direction.

Being bipedal creatures, you’d think balance would come naturally to us. And it surely did for our ancestors who moved every day, climbing over rocks and walking on uneven terrain, running and sprinting as needed. Sometimes they stumbled and succumbed to fall-related injuries surely, but honed their balance every day doing the simple acts of living.

We modern humans aren’t tripping over ourselves all day, but we certainly don’t push ourselves in the ways our ancestors did. Chairs, cars, and paved sidewalks have made us soft. Even super fit athletes often struggle with the type of single-leg balance and stability exercises we’re presenting today.

Just like we need to lift weights to develop the strength that our ancestors would have developed naturally, we need to intentionally cultivate excellent balance. That’s what the exercises below, presented by my pal and collaborator Brad Kearns, are for.

6 Functional Balance Exercises (Medium-to-Advanced Difficulty)

Before attempting these exercises, you should feel comfortable balancing on one leg while standing still. Folks still working on building that solid foundation must start with beginner balance exercises first and work your way up to these more advanced movements.

That said, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself! You might be surprised at how wobbly you are the first time you attempt these exercises. Stick with it. If you’re serious about working on your balance, do the following exercises a few times a week.

Before launching into the specifics, here are some guidelines that will make these exercises safer and more effective:

1. Keep your core engaged throughout the exercise.
2. When you bend your knees (lunging, for example), keep the knees tracking over your foot. Do not allow them to cave inward or flare outward.
3. Land softly when you jump.
4. When you first start out, have a wall or pole nearby that you can grab for support, but don’t hang onto it. Use a light touch if you need it.
5. Do these exercises barefoot or wearing the most minimal shoes possible. Remember, balance starts in the feet.

You can do all six of the exercises below as one dedicated balance workout. Do one or two sets of each exercise as described. Or like Brad, incorporate a couple of them into your morning routine or as part of a microworkout.

Low lunge with torso touch

This is similar to a walking lunge with which you’re probably familiar. The difference here is that with each forward lunge, you’re going to bring your torso toward your front thigh. Focus on form over speed. Make your movements deliberate as you lunge forward with the front knee tracking over toes, hinge forward at the hips without rounding your back, and then push up powerfully to take the next step while keeping the glutes and core engaged.

Take 10 to 15 steps in one direction, then turn around and return to the starting point.

One-legged step ups

Place your left foot on a bench, step, or box. Engage your glutes and push through your left foot to stand up on the bench. Bring your right foot to meet the left. Make sure your body rises straight up in the air rather than throwing your body forward and back to harness momentum.

Do 12 to 15 on the left foot, then switch and do the same number on the right.

For a more advanced variation, drive the left knee up to hip height while raising your arms in the air with each step up.

Elevated leg soft jumping

Place one foot on a bench, step, or box behind you. You can dorsiflex the back foot so the toes anchor to the bench, or point the toes so the top of the foot rests on the bench. Hop on the standing leg, keeping a microbend in the knee. These hops should be small, with the foot barely leaving the ground. Mix up the speed from one workout to the next to play around with different stimuli.

Do 10 to 15 on the first leg, , then switch and do the same number on the second side.

Side to side jumps

Jump laterally from one foot to the other. The knee will want to cave in as you land, so pay careful attention to keeping the knee tracking over the foot.

One set is 10 to 20 jumps.

Bulgarian split squat

Place one foot on a bench, step, or box behind you. Nearly all your weight is in the standing leg. Squat down, then stand up and finish with full extension of the hips, snapping your hips forward.

This is a hard one, so 8 reps per leg will suffice. If you want to make it even more challenging, hold a weight in one or both hands or a kettlebell at chest height.

Drinking bird

Stand on your left leg, keeping the knee soft. Hinge forward at the hips and lower your torso toward the ground while your right leg raises straight behind you. Imagine your head, torso, and right leg all being connected in a straight line and moving as a single unit. Reach forward toward the ground with your right hand for balance. Contract your left glutes and hamstrings to reverse the motion and return to standing. Tap your right foot to the ground if needed, but strive to keep it elevated throughout the entire movement.

Tip: Make sure the head stays fixed on the neck so that your gaze should travel up and down with the upper body. When you’re standing, you’re looking straight ahead, and when you’re bent over, you’re looking at the ground. Aim for 15 to 20 reps per side.

For a complete demonstration of all these moves, plus more helpful tips from Brad, check out the YouTube video:

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Salmon Burgers

Salmon burgers are the perfect dinner time meal. Not only are they nutritious, but when made on the stovetop are a quick meal to enjoy with the entire family. Plus, salmon includes vitamin D3, B-vitamins, magnesium, iron, and selenium. You can’t beat that. Our recipe also calls for a low-carb bun, but you can always switch it out for lettuce or collard greens. Our patties are so delicious and packed with flavor that we wouldn’t blame you if you even omitted the wrapping all together to eat the burger and and slaw on their own!

How to make salmon burgers

For this recipe we’re using wild-caught salmon filets, which include healthy omega-3 fats and far fewer toxins than farmed salmon. In order to prep the salmon you’ll want to cut the skin of the salmon away from the flesh. Then finely mince the salmon filet with a knife or by pulsing the salmon in a food processor. If you are using the food processor, cut the filet into large chunks, then pulse until a mince forms. Be sure not to over-process! The salmon should look similar to the below photo.

Next, place the salmon in a bowl along with the egg, almond flour, green onion, bell pepper, mayo, coconut aminos, black pepper, coriander, onion powder, paprika, cumin and salt. Mix to combine. Form the salmon mixture into 4 equal sized patties and place on a sheet pan.

 

How to cook salmon burgers

The great part about this recipe for salmon burgers is there are multiple cooking methods! If you’re running short on time and don’t have time for cooking with an oven, throw these patties on the stovetop for an efficient cooking method.

• Cook the salmon burgers in the oven: Before you start cooking ensure your oven is preheated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once your patties are formed bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the patties are firm and the salmon is fully cooked, flipping once during cooking. Set aside to cool.
• Cook the salmon burgers on the stovetop: You can also make the burgers in a skillet on the stovetop. Heat a tablespoon or so of avocado oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the burgers. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side, or until the burger is cooked through.

Salmon burger toppings

Our salmon burgers also come with a homemade slaw made with broccoli or cabbage slow then tossed with the chipotle lime mayo and squeeze of lemon. You can also add extra minced red bell pepper or green onion to this mixture if you’d like. As for additional toppings, feel free to mix and match based on your liking! We used sliced tomato and red onion this time around.

Print

Salmon Burger

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• Author: Priscilla Chamessian
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 4

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Description

Salmon burgers are the perfect dinner time meal. Not only are they nutritious, but when made on the stovetop are a quick meal to enjoy with the entire family.

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Ingredients

Salmon Patties:

1 lb. wild-caught salmon filets

1 egg

2/3 cup almond flour

1/3 cup chopped green onion

1/3 cup minced red bell pepper

2 Tbsp Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo

2 tsp coconut aminos

½ Tbsp Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp coriander

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp paprika

¼ tsp cumin

¼ tsp salt

Slaw:

6 ounces broccoli or cabbage slaw

1.5 Tbsp Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo

Squeeze of lemon juice

Fixings:

Your favorite low carb bun (we used UnBun) or lettuce for a lettuce wrap

Sliced tomato

Sliced red onion

Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo

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Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Cut the skin of the salmon away from the flesh and finely mince the salmon filet with a knife or by pulsing the salmon in a food processor. If you are using the food processor, cut the filet into large chunks, then pulse until a mince forms, but do not over-process.
• Place the salmon in a bowl along with the egg, almond flour, green onion, bell pepper, mayo, coconut aminos, black pepper, coriander, onion powder, paprika, cumin and salt. Mix to combine.
• Form the salmon mixture into 4 equal sized patties and place on a sheet pan.
• Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the patties are firm and the salmon is fully cooked, flipping once during cooking. Set aside to cool.
• Toss the slaw with the chipotle lime mayo and squeeze of lemon. You can also add extra minced red bell pepper or green onion to this mixture if you’d like.
• Assemble your burgers by stacking the salmon burger on a bun or lettuce wrap, along with sliced tomato, red onion, the slaw and more chipotle lime mayo.

Notes

Lettuce or collard greens would be excellent low carb options to wrap these burgers in, or omit the wrapping all together and just eat the burger and slaw on their own.

You can also make the burgers in a skillet on the stovetop. Heat a tablespoon or so of avocado oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the burgers. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side, or until the burger is cooked through.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 burger patty, 1/4 of slaw
• Calories: 426.6
• Sugar: 4.9g
• Sodium: 389.1mg
• Fat: 27.6g
• Saturated Fat: 3.6g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 11.9g
• Fiber: 2.9g
• Protein: 33g
• Cholesterol: 0mg
• Net Carbs: 8.96g

Keywords: salmon burgers

Did you make this recipe?

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New and Noteworthy: What I Read This Week—Edition 191

Research of the Week

To avoid diabetes, South Asians should reduce carbohydrates and increase protein.

“Uncomfortable knowledge” is important knowledge.

Is coagulation more important than LDL in heart disease?

Playing in microbial-rich soil produces an anti-inflammatory, more diverse microbiome and stronger immune system.

Trigger warnings don’t work.

New Primal Kitchen Podcasts

Primal Kitchen Podcast: The Link Between Dairy Intolerance and Dairy Genes with Alexandre Family Farm Founders Blake and Stephanie

Primal Health Coach Radio: Medicine the Way it Was Intended with Dr. Ken Zweig

Media, Schmedia

Shawn Baker brings the carnivore message to the UK.

Hopefully this forces a better re-usable propane canister system.

Interesting Blog Posts

Aspirin for COVID.

Some are starting to get it.

Social Notes

This is how you age.

What is best in life?

Everything Else

Fear of failure and performance on Master Chef.

The more kin-based the institutions, the less economic development a country has.

After losing their access to bison, the Plains tribes went from some of the tallest in the world to some of the shortest.

Medieval medicine.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

Interesting paper: Looking beyond cholesterol.

Interesting result: Doppelgängers don’t just look alike. They also act alike.

Interesting article: They’re starting to get it.

Nice post: How non-nutritive sweeteners affect the gut and glucose tolerance.

Fascinating: Chess players play worse remote.

Question I’m Asking

What do you do to satisfy the “creative” side of you?

Recipe Corner

• Dairy free caesar (if you don’t want to use Primal Kitchen’s).
• Watermelon gazpacho goes well with a nice hot New York strip on the side.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Aug 20 – Aug 26)

• What We Can Learn From Kids—What are they doing right?
• How to Go Primal With Food Allergies, Intolerances, and Restrictions—How to do it.

Comment of the Week

“Most of the studies on long COVID are looking at narrow slices of our body’s chemical interactions – and that’s far too limiting. I don’t have all the studies in front of me to reference, but there’s a lot of evidence (and many have accepted) that long COVID and mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) are essentially the same thing. Dr. Tina Peers found that most of her long COVID patients reported symptoms of MCAS before they got COVID, suggesting that a genetic or underlying predisposition to long COVID lies in mast cell dysfunction. Anyone with long COVID also have asthma, hypothyroid, food sensitivities before you had COVID? When you shift your lens to the mast cells you have to acknowledge the complexity of the effect on the body – it’s not just about too much histamine, but a host of other chemicals. When our body is, or thinks it is, under attack, our mast cells activate, and in the process release histamine and, for the purposes of this discussion, cortisol. So, to “fight” the paper cut, infection, bee sting, or cat hair, our body goes into full fight mode – inflammation – and our cortisol levels rise. When things are functioning normally, histamine and cortisol levels drop in time, and we return to equilibrium. However, our bodies have been under attack by all sorts of toxins for decades, or maybe we have a genetic abnormality such as Mannose-binding lectin deficiency or Ehlers Danlos, so our bodies cannot find the equilibrium, and eventually we suffer from adrenal fatigue. I don’t have evidence of this, but I expect that the authors of this article are measuring this adrenal fatigue that is just a symptom of the underlying condition that presents a welcome mat for long COVID. And when COVID – a disease of the mast cells – finds that welcome mat, the sensitivities and inflammation that were already present now kick into high gear, and we’ve got long COVID. How do we treat it? As you would MCAS – with a strict low histamine diet, and analysis that identifies vitamin deficiencies (likely Bs and D, to start). Reduce emotional stress, avoid triggers like heat and exercise, pace yourself, sleep more, and accept that it’s going to take some time. Excellent source of info: https://www.youtube.com/c/RUNDMC1”

-Interesting thoughts.

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Ask a Health Coach: Why Is This So Hard? What Happened to Everything in Moderation?

Hey folks, Board-Certified Health Coach Erin Power is here to answer your questions about Primal eating and how to make it easier! If you’re wondering how to eat healthier without the struggle, we’ve got strategies, tips, and backup! Have a question you’d like to ask our health coaches? Leave it below in the comments or over in the Mark’s Daily Apple Facebook group. 

Roberta asked:
“Eating this way is such a struggle! I try to eat like you say but sometimes food is the only thing that brings me joy. What happened to ‘everything in moderation’? Also, I’m 67 and don’t like bringing attention to my weird diet around friends or family. I have high cholesterol and want to lose weight. Why can’t this be easier?!”

Before I dive in with answers, I want to take a moment to recognize that you’re here, showing up, asking important questions, and seeking to understand your health and eating patterns. At any age, that’s already a win. But I have special appreciation for folks who are in their fifties, sixties, and beyond and who never stop asking what shifts or changes might help them to feel better and thrive.

For many people, there is a strong pull to “do what they’ve always done”—even if it’s not working—to get them where they want to be. This pull gets stronger the longer they’ve been doing it. Good for you for being open to something different. It’s not easy. Oh, and by the way, your brain is wired to be wary of change; so it’s almost not even your “fault” that you’re feeling a certain kind of way about a whole new diet.

Now, just for clarification, when you write “I try to eat like you say,” I’m assuming that you mean in accordance with Primal guidelines. Even within Primal guidelines, an eating plan can look all kinds of ways. Essentially, we’re talking about real, whole food as close to its natural state as possible, including high-quality protein, healthy fats, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds, high-quality dairy, and occasional indulgences such as dark chocolate or other Primal treats.

Despite the rigid-seeming nature of that list of food choices, there is tons of nuance. Options and variations within these parameters are practically endless. For instance: for people who are sensitive to nuts and seeds or dairy; for those who avoid eating some or all animal products; and for those who aren’t in a socio-economic position to acquire the perfect grass-fed, grass-finished beef, there are still countless ways to craft delicious, nutritious meals.

What I’m getting at here is twofold:

1. There’s not “one way” to eat healthy or to follow a Primal diet.
2. You still can (and should) find joy and deliciousness with a Primal way of eating.

But…there is a caveat.

Everything in Moderation Might Equal Health in Moderation

Everyone’s version of “everything in moderation” looks different, but many of my clients come to me after their version of it decidedly did not get them where they wanted to be with health and wellness. Generally speaking, “everything in moderation” doesn’t seem to be working all that well for most people. I’m not really a tough-love kind of coach, usually, but I can’t argue with the fact that if something is not working, it makes little sense to keep doing it. If nothing changes, nothing changes.

Our bodies have not evolved to cope with many foods common in a modern diet. Highly processed foods, inflammatory seed and vegetable oils, sugar, and grains can wreak havoc on our metabolic health, endocrine system, and immune system while creating chronic inflammation and contributing to widespread diseases of modern living. Even small exposures to these “immunogenic” foods can trigger irritation and inflammation in the body—the thing we are hoping to avoid inflicting on ourselves.

That being said, we are also trying to cultivate an anti-fragile body. Your body is resilient, and can handle occasional exposures to naughty inputs like less-than-supportive foods, a bad nights’ sleep, or an extra glass of wine at a special dinner. We embrace the 80-20 principle for a reason. We also realize that everyone is at a different place in their wellness journey and brings a different set of circumstances to the table. Any supportive steps—however small—are better than none and will help create a positive feedback loop, encouraging next steps in your journey.

If we were working together in my capacity as a Primal Health Coach, I would gather more specifics on what you’re eating daily and where you’re struggling: what, specifically are you missing or craving, and what can we do to satisfy that for you so this doesn’t feel so hard. How can we fold in some flexibility and joy without backsliding into “moderation” no-man’s-land?

Changing the Story

Whether I’m working with clients or reflecting on where something feels out of alignment in my own life, one of the first places I look is the language we use and stories we tell. Might sound a bit out there, but I promise that the words we choose and the stories we repeat have a huge impact on our experience and reality.

A couple of phrases from your question stand out for me in this regard: “Eating this way is such a struggle!” and “I’m 67 and don’t like bringing attention to my weird diet around friends or family.”

Now, I’m in no way minimizing those challenges. Changing lifelong eating and lifestyle habits is objectively hard.  In other words, I totally get it. AND, I also want to gently propose that so long as you repeat and rehearse a story of struggle, you will continue to reinforce that struggle as a lived experience.

When it comes to changing your stories and beliefs (and thus actions and experience), start with your thoughts and what you say to yourself and to others. Monitor that with utmost care, because you are literally speaking your reality into being. This is a process and takes practice, but each time you catch yourself thinking of Primal eating or making healthy choices as a struggle, I’d like you to:

1. Pause and non-judgementally acknowledge the thought, feeling, or action.
2. Gently and kindly offer yourself compassion: you’re making a big change, and change is hard.
3. Reframe.

The wording you use should feel resonant with you. Try stretching beyond your current stories and beliefs but not so far that it feels totally unbelievable. For example:

• Choosing real food is challenging at times, but I love knowing I’m feeding my body what it needs to thrive.
• The more times I choose to eat real, whole, nutrient-dense food, the easier it will be. Might take a while, but soon this will just “be how I eat.”
• There are many delicious ways to nourish myself with Primal foods.

And, just for fun, here’s a really big reframe for you: Lots of folks are opting into “weird” health behaviors to take care of themselves these days. Maybe that whole “struggle” thing is an outdated story. Maybe the conventional diet that your social circle still subscribes to is actually the weird one!

Very possibly, this self-compassionate reframe exercise will feel awkward or forced at first. Do it anyway. Gently bring yourself back and treat your thoughts as though you are training a sweet but misguided puppy. Eventually, with kindness and repetition, our minds (and our puppies!) will learn.

Make It Easier

Ultimately, we are each our number 1 caretaker. Our thoughts, stories, and choices have consequences and those consequences are cumulative. Making healthy choices and giving our body what it needs to thrive is hard, but it’s not the hardest thing you’ll ever do. And it doesn’t need to be miserable.

When making changes, one of your most important jobs is to get curious and to ask: “How could I make this easier? How could I make this more enjoyable?”

The answers will differ for everyone, but hanging out here and in the Mark’s Daily Apple Facebook group is a great way to gather ideas, inspiration, and support. Ask the question, write out a list of possibilities, and give them a try! For backup and individualized support, consider hiring a coach!

External accountability truly is a game changer, and we can help you troubleshoot your specific circumstances. Visit myprimalcoach.com to learn more and get started!

Do you find Primal eating easy…or not so much? Have any ideas, tips, or inspiration to share with Roberta? Please do and drop other questions for me in the comments!

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How to Build an Adult Obstacle Course

Building an adult obstacle course a la Tough Mudder or Spartan Race or Ninja Warrior is a noble goal, but not everyone wants to spend their weekends constructing a complex network of lumber-heavy structures that fill up your backyard. There are prefabricated adult play structures you can buy or companies you can hire if you want to go that route. If you’re handy, you can do it yourself, but, again, it will take a lot of time. I’m more interested in constructing ad hoc adult obstacle courses using simple objects you might already have lying around or can easily obtain at Home Depot. It’s a bit more attainable that way for the average person.

Adult Obstacle Course Ideas

The beauty of these types of obstacle courses is that they are endlessly modular. You can adjust the layout, bringing the jumps closer together or farther apart as you progress in skill and strength. You can bring them to the park or the beach and set up an obstacle course wherever you want. Your creativity flourishes. It can be a different course every single time. Here’s some of the supplies I’d recommend getting your hands on and what you can create with them.

Balance beams

Long pieces of lumber are relatively inexpensive balance beams that are easy to transport. You could attach support pieces underneath on either end running perpendicular to raise the beam off the ground and provide more stability, but you don’t really need to. Simply laying the pieces directly on the ground works too. It’s also safer, since you’re not “falling” off anything.

• 2×4 if you’re not very comfortable on a balance beam
• 2×3 if you are
• 1×2 if you really want to learn to balance

You can use these for balance beams. You can use them for crawling—bear crawls along a 2×4 is a great exercise and a nice change of pace for an obstacle course.

River stones for a balancing pathway

Every time you spend a day at the creek or river, grab a few large flat-ish stones and take ‘em home. After a dozen visits you’ll have enough. Or just head down to the landscaping supply store and fill your truck/trunk with some decent sized stones.

Then, make a walking path using the stones that players have to traverse. The key is to get stones that are flat enough that you can stand on them but also have some wobble to them. They should be unsteady but relatively safe, making it a great way to walk across uneven, non-linear “ground” and activate all the muscles and connective tissue in your lower body (and balancing neurons in your brain).

You can also jump from stone to stone, as if you were at the creek. For added difficulty, spray them down with the hose first.

Fitness/yoga balls

Yoga balls get a lot of flack in the “functional fitness” community. They don’t deserve it. Sure, I don’t recommend doing squats on them or overhead presses. That’s silly, and dangerous. What I do recommend is burying it halfway up in sand or dirt to use as a small trampoline.

Get 4 or 5 of them spread out in a line and bounce your way along it. Advanced movers can even do flips, although you won’t find me doing that anytime soon.

Ropes

If you have a tree in your backyard, you can hang a rope from it. What can you do with a rope?

• Climb it- Great strength workout and a mainstay at the toughest obstacle course challenges.
• Swing from it- Just like Tarzan, scream optional.
• Leap and grab it- Stand on a chair, rock or anything high and leap to grab the rope. How far can you safely do this? Four feet? Six feet? Test yourself.

Logs or railroad ties

Something long, heavy, and wooden is a great addition to an adult obstacle course. You can have players lift the log and carry it to the next station. You can have them do a set of overhead presses, deadlifts, or squats with the log, either with one end on the ground or both ends off the ground.

Buckets filled with gravel or sand

Spend 30 bucks on 4 buckets and a couple bags of gravel or sand from the hardware store and you’ve got yourself a nice setup for loaded carries. You can carry the buckets by the handles. You can hug it to your body. You can even carry them overhead. They’re awkward and messy and gritty, and that’s the point. Whatever the course designer requires, the players have to do.

The beauty of the gravel bucket is you can adjust the weight to fit the players. Fill the bucket all the way with gravel and it’s about 75 pounds. Two of those are going to be pretty heavy. Fill it halfway and it becomes more manageable for younger, smaller players.

Light pieces of wood laid between two boxes or two chairs

These might be the most important element of all. By laying sticks or light pieces of wood across boxes or chairs, you can create hurdles to leap over or crawl under. You can even make a string of them to create a tunnel to crawl through, or an alternating series of jumps and crawls.

Tennis balls on strings

Punch holes in the tennis balls and tie strings onto them, then hang them from something overhead like a trellis, tree or gazebo. Create a series of tennis balls at varying heights that contestants have to dodge and weave through without touching. Wind will make it harder. Purposely prodding them so they swing a bit will make it even harder.

If you want, you can coat the tennis balls in charcoal dust so they leave a mark as evidence of being touched (or not).

Cones

Little cones (like you use in soccer practice) are great for creating paths you have to weave through and around. Creating a path makes things more “official,” and people are bound to be more into the obstacle course if you have a predetermined path—a journey for them to complete. It’s a little thing but it’s very important.

Throwing element

Every obstacle course should have a throwing element. In the Spartan Race, contestants have to throw a javelin at a target. You could do that—they even sell javelins on Amazon—or you could have upright sticks and a pile of rocks you have to use to knock them over. You could use a dart board, or throwing knives, or axes.

The point is to introduce an element of throwing accuracy into the course. You don’t want everything to be brute strength.

Chopping element

I still love splitting wood rounds. Takes me back to my childhood in Maine. And there’s no better workout than actually performing a functional activity. In fact, one study showed that wood chopping triggers a higher testosterone response than an equally intense bout of working out.¹

If you don’t want to set up wood round splitting, you could get a sledgehammer and some old tires and have contestants do a set number of hammer slams. The point is to lift a heavy handled object and slam it down with great purpose and intensity.

Remember to Get Creative

Take all the ideas up above and then put them together. Have a balance beam running through the tunnel. Bounce off a buried yoga ball onto a balance beam. Carry buckets of gravel while traversing the wobbly river stones. Swing off the rope onto the yoga ball course. You get the idea.

The most important thing is to introduce all the elements of human movement: speed, balance, strength (upper body, lower body, total body), skill, dexterity, throwing accuracy, cardiovascular fitness, upright, ground-based (crawling), jumping, landing. Oh, and fun.

Now I’d love to hear from you. How would you put together an adult obstacle course?

References

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3810999/

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Do Air Purifiers Work?

So you’re thinking about investing in an air purifier for your home. Perhaps you’re worried about allergens, mold, wildfire smoke, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), or weird smells in your house. Maybe now that you’ve done a bunch of other work to “clean up” your body and environment—eliminating oxidized seed oils, swapping out your personal care products, getting that reverse osmosis system to filter your water—the next logical step is making sure you’re breathing the cleanest air possible.

You go to the store and get hit with sticker shock when you see small units for going upwards of a thousand dollars or more. Are air purifiers really worth the price, you wonder? Sure, they might be worth it if they work as advertised, but that’s if they work.

The good news is that home air purifiers do a pretty good job churning out cleaner air, provided you select the right one. They have some cons, though, too:

• Air purifiers can be expensive and noisy.
• They require regular maintenance to work properly.
• They won’t completely purify the air in your home, especially if you choose the wrong device.

Not everyone needs an air purifier, but it’s definitely worth considering, especially if you live some place with poor air quality or you have respiratory issues. Before whipping out your credit card, here’s what you need to know about selecting the best one for you.

How Do Air Purifiers Work?

There are many types of air filters and air cleaners, from big industrial units to the filtration systems built into your home’s HVAC to portable air purifiers you can place around your home. The latter are what we’re covering today.

Air purifiers can roughly be divided into two categories:

Mechanical air purifiers use filters to remove particulates from the air, including dust, pet dander, pollen, mold and fungal spores, and potentially even some microbes like viruses. These filters trap and hold the particles, preventing them from returning to circulation.

Electronic air purifiers—ionizers and electrostatic precipitators—electrically charge particles, which causes them to attach to surfaces so they are no longer floating around in the air for you to inhale. Some electronic air purifiers include collection plates to attract the charged particles, while others send them back into the room to stick to walls, furniture, or floors.

Both technologies remove physical particles from the air, not gases like VOCs. VOCs are chemicals that are emitted by a wide variety of items you already have in your home, such as paints, glues, cleaning products, cosmetics, carpet, upholstery, and more. These chemicals have been linked to both acute and long-term health issues. Activated carbon filters can absorb gases and reduce odors.

Some air purifiers will also use ultraviolet (UV) lights to kill living organisms like viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Heavy-duty units in hospitals often use a combination of mechanical filters and UV lights, but they’re also available for home use.

Air Purifier Benefits and Limitations

Air purifiers have been extensively tested and mostly proven effective for removing potentially harmful substances from the indoor air we breathe. (I’ll talk about which are best below.)

However, there is only limited evidence that this translates to measurable health benefits. They might help with allergies^{1 2} and possibly asthma.^{3 4} Otherwise, their value seems to lie in users’ subjective evaluations of breathing easier.

The general consensus among experts, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S.,⁵ is that the best way to improve your home’s environment is to use air purifiers in conjunction with frequent cleaning, good ventilation, and removing potentially harmful substances. For the cleanest indoor air possible,

• Vacuum and change sheets frequently to minimize allergens and dust.
• Ensure good ventilation via windows (assuming the air outside your home isn’t polluted or smoky) and a well-maintained HVAC system.
• Use safer cleaning products, low-VOC paint, and the like.
• Deal with mold at the source using approved remediation methods.
• Don’t smoke indoors (obviously).

Know that air purifiers aren’t tested for their ability to remove gases like radon or carbon monoxide, even if they include activated carbon filters. If you’re concerned about those substances, hire an expert to test your air quality and provide guidance.

Choosing the Right Air Purifier

First and foremost, what are your goals? Do you want to clean, sanitize, or deodorize your air?

• To clean your air—remove particulate matter like dust, pollen, smoke, and spores—HEPA filters are what you need.
• To sanitize—kill mold, viruses, or other living organisms—look for a combination HEPA filter to trap them and UV light to deliver the killing blow.
• To deodorize or remove gases like VOCs, you want an activated carbon filter.

Opt for an air purifier that uses a physical (HEPA) filter instead of electronic air filters. Electronic air filters emit ozone, a potential lung irritant. At low levels, ozone can cause symptoms like nausea or headaches; at high levels, it’s quite dangerous. Although the amount of ozone produced by these devices is supposed to be fairly minimal and too low to cause health issues, it can vary based on how you use the unit in your home.⁶

Speaking of ozone, there’s another type of air purifier, ozone-generating cleaners, that pump out ozone to (supposedly) neutralize chemicals in the air. This process can ironically create potentially harmful byproducts you wouldn’t want to breathe in. Ozone-generating cleaners also can’t remove particulate like dust or dander from the air, and the EPA is very clear: “If used at concentrations that do not exceed public health standards, ozone applied to indoor air does not effectively remove viruses, bacteria, mold, or other biological pollutants.”⁷ I’d stay away from these.

Once you’ve settled on the type, check the specs on the models you’re considering:

• Purifiers that are AHAM Certifide have been independently tested by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.⁸
• Energy Star-rated appliances will use less electricity, which is worth considering for an air purifier you might be running day in and day out, year-round.
• The CADR score tells you the clean air delivery rate—how effective the unit is, essentially. The higher the better, and the bigger your room, the higher the CADR you need. The AHAM, which is responsible for testing and verifying CADR, recommends that the CADR be at least 2/3 of the room’s area in square feet. So, if your room is 12 feet by 12 feet, that’s 144 square feet, and you’ll want a CADR of at least 95 (or more if the room has high ceilings).

If you’re opting for a physical filtration system, look for a true HEPA filter, not “HEPA-like” or “HEPA-style.” Those latter terms don’t mean anything. If choosing a non-HEPA filter, check the MERV (multiple efficiency rating value). This indicates how well the filter removes small particles, with higher numbers being better.⁹ MERV ratings of 13 or higher seem to be the gold standard.

Finally, you’ll want to consider noise level and price. Bear in mind that filters need to be replaced regularly, every 3 to 12 months depending on your air purifier. Factor that into the cost, especially if you’re considering an air purifier with multiple different kinds of filters. You might want to look for one with washable and reusable filters.

DIY Air Purifier

I was skeptical of all these photos you see online of people taping HEPA filters to the front of a basic box fan, but it turns out that it probably works! The Puget Sound Clear Air Agency has tested and endorsed this method.¹⁰ The California Air Resources Board likewise concedes that DIY purifiers can combat wildfire smoke indoors, although they still recommend using commercially manufactured devices.¹¹ They also caution that you should choose a fan manufactured after 2012 because it will have a fused plug that cuts down on the fire danger if the fan falls over or overheats (a small risk to begin with), and only run the filter when you are in the room and awake out of an abundance of caution.

Considering that you can assemble a DIY air purifier for less than 50 bucks, it seems worth a shot. Here’s how you do it:

1. Get a fan. Any size or shape will do, but the more powerful the motor, the better. One side of the fan needs to be flat.
2. Get a HEPA filter or a filter with MERV rating of 13 or higher that is big enough to cover the flat side of the fan completely.
3. Secure the filter to the fan, making sure that air can’t escape out the sides. Seal it with duct tape if necessary. Air is meant to go through the filter in one direction, indicated by arrows on the side of the filter, so make sure you have it oriented correctly.
4. Run the fan and enjoy your sweet, sweet cleaner air.

As with commercial air purifiers, how effective it is depends on the size of your room, the amount of air the fan is able to move, how much you run it, and how clean the filter is. You can always test how well your DIY set-up works by procuring a digital air quality monitor and doing before-and-after tests with your homemade device. (This is also a good way to see if you need an air purifier in the first place.)

What If I Just Fill My Room with Houseplants?

I’m all for getting as many houseplants as you can reasonably fit in one space. Unfortunately, though, they probably won’t deliver the air purifying benefits you want. There’s some evidence that they remove carbon dioxide and VOCs, but they won’t filter out dust or allergens, for example. Get houseplants, sure, but get a proper air purifier if you need one, too.

Bottom Line: Do Air Purifiers Work?

Air purifiers do what they are supposed to do: remove stuff like pollen, dander, spores, and smoke that you’d rather not breathe. The most effective ones aren’t cheap, but you can get a well-rated unit for a small-ish room for a couple hundred dollars. You’ll probably be happy with your investment as long as you buy the right type of air purifier for the job and maintain it regularly. If you don’t clean and replace your filters on the manufacturer’s recommended schedule, they won’t work as well.

Just don’t expect them to completely eliminate allergy symptoms, asthma, or other health issues. Remember, cleaning your home—vacuuming, dusting, changing your sheets—is the first line of defense in keeping allergens and dust at bay. Air purifiers add an additional layer of protection.

As someone who lives in wildfire territory, I’ll probably be investing in an air purifier this year, or perhaps making my own. Tell us in the comments if you’ve tried an air purifier in your home and what benefits you experienced, if any.

References

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29549698/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7393300/
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29708676/
4. https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/classic/research/apr/past/11-324.pdf
5. https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/indoor-air-quality-iaq-frequently-asked-questions
6. https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/esp_report.pdf
7. https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/ozone-generators-are-sold-air-cleaners
8. https://ahamverifide.org/
9. https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/what-merv-rating
10. https://pscleanair.gov/525/DIY-Air-Filter
11. https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/indoor-air-cleaners-and-wildfire-smoke-faq-0

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