Tag: body fat

4 Ways Winter Affects Your Physical Health

By Mark Sisson

24 Comments

With winter all but officially upon us, we might already be feeling the season, maybe even planning warm weather vacations. I venture most of us have wondered if we’re not somehow healthier during the summer months. Is it just a mental vitality from the additional daylight hours and relative ease of outdoor time, or is there something more at work? Does our health really take a hit in winter? For those who enjoy this brand of trivia, there’s an actual field of study devoted to this called biometeorology. And with the minutely detailed research into epigenetic activity, we’re getting a fuller picture all the time of astonishing nuances as well as big picture shifts. To a Primal mind, it all makes sense. Humans evolved within a seasonal context—without any of the modern accommodations that would buffer climate or weather influences. Why would our bodies not have adapted with responsive wiring?

Dear Mark: Too Late for Health? Never.

By Mark Sisson

104 Comments

For today’s Dear Mark, I’m answering just a single reader question, but it’s a big one. Janice and her husband have endured their family’s light-hearted ribbing about their “caveman lifestyle” for years. Now that the paterfamilias of the clan is severely obese, almost 80 years old, and recovering from a relatively mild stroke, the family has turned to Janice’s expertise for help changing his ways. How can she convince her father that it’s never too late to get healthy? That changing your diet, exercise, and lifestyle can improve even the most unhealthy person’s trajectory and enjoyment of life? She’s confident that if she can just get through to her dad, the rest of the family—who also needs an intervention—will inevitably follow suit.

Let’s give it a shot:

How We’re Setting Our Kids Up to Be Fat, Sick, and Unhappy

By Mark Sisson

128 Comments

I’ve been on a bit of a “children’s health and wellness” kick lately, with a couple posts discussing the importance — and, unfortunately, dearth — of free play and exploration in our children’s lives. Some of you have speculated via email that Carrie and I have something to announce, but that’s definitely not the case. This is simply an important topic for everyone with a stake in the future of this world. The mental, physical, and spiritual health of our children today will determine our trajectory through history in the decades to come. If a fat, sick, and unhappy generation takes the reins of this planet, nothing good will come of it.

Dear Mark: Osteoporosis, Body Fat Gain on Caloric Deficit, and Stalling on Primal

By Mark Sisson

50 Comments

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, we’ve got a three-parter. First, I try to help out Karson, a guy who’s trying to convince his osteoporotic, sun-starved mother to try a few lifestyle interventions that may improve her condition without coming off as smug. Hopefully I’m persuasive enough. Next, is it really possible to gain body fat on a caloric deficit, or is something else going on? And finally, Dawn seems to be doing everything right, but she’s not losing any more weight — weight that she feels should be coming off. What can she try next?

Let’s go:

Dear Mark: Low Carb Powerlifting, Why We Store Fat, Houseplant Bathing, and Elk Tallow

By Mark Sisson

36 Comments

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering four questions from readers. The first one comes from Mike, a powerlifter who’s looking to drop carbs and eat healthier without sacrificing his performance. Can he do it? Find out below. Next, what does the fact that we store fat in almost unlimited quantities tell us about the role it plays in our health? After that, I discuss how someone might incorporate “forest bathing” principles in their home. Last, I explore the nutritional benefits of wild elk fat and include its basic nutritional profile.

Let’s go:

Dear Mark: Wife’s Weight Gain; Upper Arm Fat

By Mark Sisson

99 Comments

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, we’ve got a two-parter. First up is a question from a reader whose wife has gained weight following the Primal Blueprint way of eating and after completing a Whole30. She seems to be doing everything right, in other words. What could explain the weight gain? Next, I discuss what can be done – if anything – about upper arm fat. It might be hereditary, but that doesn’t mean we’re totally at the mercy of our genes. And even if we are, we can change how we react.

Let’s go:

Is the Obesity Epidemic Exaggerated?

By Mark Sisson

203 Comments

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions. People are fat and getting fatter, with no end in sight. Even kids are fat these days. Right? We’ve all seen the picture of the McDonald’s-eating toddler and heard the dire nightly news reports about growing obesity narrating back shots of anonymous overweight families trudging along with wedgies and short shorts. But just as the public at large bemoans the pervasiveness of the obesity epidemic, many critics are claiming the opposite: that the obesity epidemic is exaggerated and overinflated; that the “overweight” and “obese” categories are ploys by insurance companies to get more money from policy holders; that obesity in and of itself isn’t actually a health hazard. Some, like Paul Campos, are even arguing that America’s weight problem is “imaginary.”

Could this be? Am I tilting at windmills when I decry our collective weight problem?

Dear Mark: IBS and Gluten, Tweaking Calories for Fat Loss

By Mark Sisson

31 Comments

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, we’ve got a short but sweet two-parter. First up is the connection between Irritable Bowel Syndrome, gluten, coffee, and alcohol. A reader with a history of IBS triggered by gluten, coffee, and alcohol wonders if giving up gluten really could have solved his intolerances of the other foods. Then, I give my take on the best dietary strategy for losing the last few pounds of body fat for an otherwise lean individual. Believe it or not, I even mention and recommend counting calories.

Yep. Let’s go:

Dear Mark: Why Hyperglycemia Is Bad and Those Stubborn Final Pounds

By Mark Sisson

111 Comments

Today we’ve got a fairly short one with just two questions and answers. First, I tackle a big topic: the specific effects of hyperglycemia on the body. That hyperglycemia is bad for us is implicit, but it’s important to understand why it’s so dangerous. Today, I give a brief but detailed overview of the negative effects of chronic high blood sugar. Next, Carrie gives a female reader a few thoughts on how to (and whether to) lose the last few stubborn pounds. Her unique advice involves sprinting, reframing, rethinking, and restating.

The Best Exercise There Is, Hands Down

By Mark Sisson

166 Comments

Throw reality out the window for a second and entertain a hypothetical. Imagine you can only do one exercise for the rest of your life. If you had to choose a single exercise to do for the rest of your life, right here today, what would it be? It’s a popular question with a divergent set of answers depending on who’s being asked, and for the most part I see where everyone’s coming from.

If you ask the AARP, it’s the plank, which is easy on the joints, involves every body part, strengthens the core which can help prevent falls, is very safe for seniors (the intended audience of AARP), and you can do them anywhere without equipment. I have no fault with the plank.