Dear Readers: What Do You Want?
It’s Monday and that usually means another round of Dear Mark, but today I have something a little different in mind. Today I have some questions for you (along with a chance to win a Primal prize).
Since I launched Mark’s Daily Apple way back in 2006 it’s been my goal to help 10 million people take control of their health. While MDA now reaches hundreds of thousands of people every month I’m always looking for new ways to do a better job, so I’m coming to you for ideas.
Over the years I’ve put together and given away numerous freebies (the 7-Day Course on the Fundamentals for Lifelong Health, the Primal Blueprint Fitness eBook, the Reader-Created Cookbooks and Primal Living in the Modern World to name a few), created new, handy web pages (the 101 page, the Recipe page, the Shopping List page, the Resource page and others), launched the forum, released a number of books, expanded the Primal supplement line, and began hosting events (Primal Transformation Seminars and PrimalCon) all with my stated goal in mind. Again, how can I help as many people as possible? How can I make this the best and most reader-friendly health site on the Interwebs? How can I best distill the science and make it easy to understand and practical to use? And how can I offer the best products and services a Grok or Grokette could want? While I don’t really need another project at the moment (I’m wrapping up two new books – The Primal Blueprint 90-Day Journal and The Primal Connection – but more on that later) I’d love to hear what you think would make Mark’s Daily Apple a better website and your Primal life easier.
So, with that in mind, a contest:
The Contest
“What do you want from me?” It’s a (very) tired Adam Lambert song, but it’s also an important question. My blog, my books, what I do is constantly informed by the thoughts and ideas of my readers. Today is your chance to tell me what you’d like to see on my part for the future of the Primal movement. In the comments section below, tell me one service, product, tool, or feature you’d like to see in the coming year. I’m leaving this fairly open ended. No idea is too small or big.
A winner will be chosen at random. Agreeing with other people is allowed (and encouraged), but only the idea comments will be counted for drawing purposes.
The Prize
A canister of both the Vanilla Creme and Dark Chocolate Primal Fuel.
The Deadline
Midnight (PDT), tonight!
Who is Eligible
Everyone. I’ll ship the Primal Fuel anywhere in the world.
Thanks in advance to everyone that offers an idea. I’ll see what I can do to give you what you want! Grok on!
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
VIDEO ARTICLES, Although reading is great, I think if you did vlogs it would be a excellent way to increase the sites popularity and more easily spread the message!
I’ve recently become acquainted with Scott Sonnon’s Circular Strength Training (CST) system. I really love his health-first, movement-based fitness modality, with its emphasis on joint mobility and what he calls “intuitive training.” And there’s scarcely an exercise tool more Grok-like than the clubbell! So I’d love to see some sort of joint venture between PB and CST, however small-scale. Maybe a workout video?
(I also second the idea of PrimalCon East Coast!)
Thanks for everything, Mark!
A detailed nutritional breakdown of foods. And of course and East Coast PrimalCon!!!
Short, intence, quality videos.
Attract new people and provide inspiration to the already primally educated.
I love the challenges that you have been issuing… we all know the principles but reminders to go out and do the primal things we may me slacking on are great motivators!
Also, I would love to see some focused leadership on really moving the conversation away from a focus on weight-loss and “LGN” and focusing more on the principles that will bring vitality and wellness to ALL people. The incessant weight loss chatter in the community can be incredibly demoralizing and often borders on body shaming. Its ok to be primal and overweight and focusing on health above weight loss!
+1…not everyone will LGN, no matter what!! and its not a priority for some people, anyway. the health needs to be the focus, other things follow.
I would love to see a meal planning service like the book “The Organized Cook” weekly meal plan system by Toni Spilsbury. I love prepared meal plans but I sometimes have a hard time making them primal.
Some sort of system to organize all your information into different groups. I know you have all that in the archives section, but you have so many information that sometimes I get confused on what to do.
Also, two suggestions:
You can do a Meal of the day and Workout of the day post on a daily basis. It would be like a journal. On this post you can tell us about one of your daily meals (breakfast, lunch, etc). I think it will do lots to help the readers see examples of how primal can be practical. On the workout of the day you can suggest the readers a workout for each day, so we can vary our workouts and don’t get stuck on the same routine.
The point of doing this is to allow us to connect with you and maybe identify ourselves with you in new ways. I think most of us admire your lifestyle and it would be great if you can share some of it with us.
Your primal Fridays are excellent and encouraging but how about some stories and counsel to those who have less than perfect stories? Or they go primal and lose weight but never end up looking like weight lifter/model type and still have an extra 10 or 20? Or struggle in other ways? Thanks!
Mark,
I want to see you continuing your fantastic work for the Primal/Paleo/Health Community. Near enough everything needed can be found through your website and books, and, with your continued efforts to research the subject everyone is kept up to date with the latest findings and ideas. (The articles on fasting have taken a lot of stress from me as I get questioned a hell of a lot about the subject but now I direct everyone to you for a greater understanding.)
I’ve always wanted to go to PrimalCon, but travelling to CA hasn’t been feasible so far. I would suggest creating a mini-PrimalCon series. You could make some videos, suggest some agenda items and let some local “experts” host the event. This would encourage the development of Primal communities all over the world. I would love to meet some other Groks and Grokettes in my city (I know you’re out there).
Seconded. There’s occasional talk on the forums like this so the infrastructure is already in place.
I’ll happily host a small gathering here in the West of Ireland
Primal Con East-coast edition!
I’d also love to see more guest posters, but perhaps from people on the forums, not just their success stories, but what they did to experiment and make their diet work for them.
#1: A tool that can generate a daily workout based on Primal movements and also what equipment you have available.
#2: A post for a DAILY workout for those who have issues with making their own regimen and/or are having trouble figuring out how to make a workout “Primal”.
#3: A tool that can bring Primal people together to conduct group workouts, trade info etc… A forum is somewhat useful for that, however the tool can be targeted for that ability specifically.
#4: Mobile app??? For workout generation, searchable database for foods and their Primal/Not Primal categorization(possibly other avenues I haven’t thought of).
#5: Certification (not sure if this is already possible?), in Primal blueprint nutrition for those that want to go out into the world and (properly) educate others.
I would like a more diverse product line or perhaps retail partners with products like grass fed human grade “pet food” ground beef w/ guts.
The underlying wish is for this to become more mainstream and drive the gf meat costs down.
I would love to see a printer-friendly format for the recipes, (maybe even a “recipe box” where users could save their favorites) with an integrated shopping list generator. Even just an option to save recipes as a PDF (without the commentary or intro) would be really useful.
As much as I love the gorgeous photos, actually cooking from a blog post is needlessly difficult.
Great idea, gets a bit busy in the kitchen with the laptop on the bench while I read the recipe and cook.
Interest in Primal will always be limited by the “caveman” focus. Not saying the focus is wrong. It attracts some people. Not saying to change. So this isn’t an entry in the contest.
You still may help 10 million people have better health. I hope you do. But you don’t have to directly reach everyone. Some blogs, e.g. ones by women, which have a simple country garden theme, are going to reach people you don’t. But if those bloggers were inspired by you and follow the Primal philosophy, then you have still touched their readers.
I agree with the “caveman” thing.
9 times out of 10 when I tell someone I eat Paleo/Primal they say disgustedly “Isn’t that those people who think they’re cavemen?”
Makes Grok want to smash!
No. It’s those people that think they CAME from cave men . . . ;~)
I hope that’s sarcasm, but given the avatar…
Also, I agree with Conor – I would like to see the year
included with the date on the articles.
I would like to see a regualr weekly video blog. Actions speak louder than words, and you would build a better bond with all your primal followers out there.
I’d like a Primal meal plan. I’m not a good meal planner .. and if I have a plan, then I’m most likely to stay on target.
Perhaps maybe do a weekly meal plan blog for all to follow?
As a Primal Blueprint newbie (3 weeks now, yay!) I think you have the internet pretty well covered (though the smart phone app ideas are great).
To reach more people you need to think outside the ‘net. I would love to see a monthly or even bi-monthly magazine (yes, kids, on paper!) that featured recipes, workouts, helpful hints, success stories, reminders of the basics, and so on. Possibly, but not necessarily, different content than found on all the web resources.
Since I’m throwing out almost all my old cookbooks and recipe magazines, this would be a fabulous replacement.
My thought exactly, Monica! I second your idea 100%. A magazine would be terrific for all of your reasons AND my add on is: it would be another way to share PB lifestyle with others by passing it along, sending free subscriptions to libraries, health centers, MDs and so on. It subscription would also make a most thoughtful gift!
What do you think Mark? Everyone?
Love Primal magazine idea! You can sell ad space to generate more revenue, do interviews, offer coupons, recipes etc.. I would keep them just for the recipes!
Although you (Mark) and your team do your best at answering our questions, there are still many questions left unanswered simply because it’s difficult (not impossible
) to answer them all. If you had a small team of people dedicated to answering questions, that would be awesome.
Wouldn’t that open up the chance of corruption? Call me a cynic but…
I would love to see a section of content devoted to the creative Primal Blueprint hacks some of us have had to come up with.
Think of it as a kind of a celebration of Primal law 10, like Hackaday.com does with electro-mechanical disciplines, but maybe with fewer Trools…
Primal fast food chains worldwide!!
I would love a page on your site that features Primal-friendly restaurants and menu items for restaurants that are generally available in most states. I think there are more options available than we might think, but it would require quite a bit of reader participation to share what they have found.
Political leadership.
Mark, you are the only person who can harness the power of the paleo crowd to effect change, large and small.
What do we want? A paleo meal option on airplanes, equal NIH funding for LC/HF studies, an end to grain subsidies, the removal of the conflict of interest at the heart of the USDA dietary guidelines, better labelling for omega-6/3 ratios, reduced health insurance premiums for paleolistas, mandatory sidewalks on all (new) roads, etc, etc, etc… (What else do we want people? Please add your suggestions in comments.)
How are we going to get it? By raising the profile of paleo, letting business and bureaucrats know that we are a force to be reckoned with; a letter writing campaign to CEOs and senators; local chapters… anyone, anyone?
I know, I know, this movement is all about self-reliance, not relying on government, voting with your dollar… These are all great things. But the reality is that the government sets the rules of the game, with massive consequences for those 10 million Americans you are trying to reach (and many more besides).
Orchestrating the efforts of the 100,000 people who read this blog may be the most impactful thing you have ever done. We are ready and waiting!
+1
+1.
Political action to end to grain subsidies, yes!
+1,and add bike lanes as well.
+1
Doesn’t have to be political. We need someone to help harness the growing energy (and $$) of people like us to advance education. It can be education of politicians, school boards through pilot lunch programs, the public through funding documentaries, etc.
Hi Mark. You and your people do a fabulous job. I can honestly say, that I have never been one to ‘join the gang’ regarding diet/weight loss/health. It was your thoughtful, thorough approach that actually got me to read on and eventually change a few things in my approach to food and exercise. I am a woman, wife, mother. I was brought up (as many of us are) to embrace and give comfort through food. For me Blueberry pie comes to mind because and again, for me it speaks of a home filled with wonderful smells, love, laughter, comfort, family. I am no marketing guru, but sometimes the soft sell works very well. Since following your blog about 10 months ago, I’ve tried at least 5 recipes from your selection. Most of them are now part of what we eat on a regular basis. Since turning to primal, my kitchen has yielded all kinds of new smells and tastes that my family has enjoyed…that have become the new ‘comfort/love’ foods for us. From something as simple as berries and cream with some nuts sprinkled on to Taki Masala Chicken. Notice that many cook books do have love/joy…positive adjectives in the title. On this note I was also speaking with a lady whom I had the pleasure of meeting at one of your seminars and we did get around to talking about cookbooks and how bright vivid pictures are so important to this type of format. I guess that this is my 2 cents. Keep up the good work.
Respectfully,
Judy
when I first started primal about a year ago what I would have liked is someone to follow. You could enlist the community to log their daily life for 30 days, mainly what they eat and how they exercise, complete with grocery lists, exercise logs etc. Each person would have a profile, such as me, working father of 3 kids with limited time to cook and the new person starting out could choose someone with a similar profile and have an easy day by day path to follow as the begin the primal lifestyle.
I’d really like to see someone in the primal community attack the differences between how primal works for women versus men. It seems like so much of the literature is written from a male perspective, without addressing the very real hormonal differences women experience.
I’m a [paleo] man who discovered the wheel and built the Eiffel Tower out of metal and brawn. That’s what kind of [paleo] man I am. You’re just a woman with a small brain. With a brain a third the size of us. It’s science.
To get big, think big.
Get on the Ellen Degeneres Show.
Mobilize all of us willing readers to campaign whoever it is that makes it happen to get on Ellen. You’ll introduce millions to your website.
Tap into the Ron Paul group, liberty includes the freedom to put whatever you want in your body, which includes primal foods or lots of bad stuff from FDA/DOA approved Big Agriculture.
Please don’t get Primal associated with a noted racist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3EADdr-5AY
Very racist isn’t he? (sarcasm)
That doesn’t change the fact that he published racist newsletters all throughout the ’90s in his name that said African-American men were innately more inclined to crime than European-Americans, not to mention, he has stated on multiple occasions that he is in favour of repealing the civil rights act.
Regardless, Paleo/Primal becoming tied in with a particular politician or political affiliation of any kind is a terrible idea, and by its nature would alienate half of the community.
I would like pamphlets that can be given out to ogres who give me a hard time about not eating carbs and who say that we should all just eat “everything in moderation.” Actual foldable, easy-to-comprehend summaries of the PB, and why people should stop being ogres.
A visual companion to the site a video podcast Primal TV with interview/cooking/exercise/health topics. Maybe an ebook of past articles from blog. Less online navigation