#paleo.

Confession: I do a lot of trail hiking, something like five to six hours a week in varying terrain. I'm in New England, and the soils are stony & riddled with endless, small round boulders. It's post-glacial territory. Consequently even our trails are uncommonly stony.

For hikers, no big deal. But imagine these same trails used by snowshoers or cross country skiers in the winter with a foot of snow down: crunch, grind, ouch.

For years I somewhat prided myself in being able to find the most efficient walking paths between these protrusions. No more. I was suddenly struck by the similarity of jumping these, top to top to top, with the plyometric work I do in the gym. It's the same range of motion & same balancing challenges.

In addition, I give thanks to a MovNat video I watched some weeks ago that showed workshop participants leaping boulders in a small stream. That image danced around in my unconscious for some days until I hit my usual trail network: Voila! Boulders everywhere.

So I began boulder jumping. And jumping. And grinning to myself.

Whats paleo??

I've had a lot of comments about the Paleo post earlier today. 

I don't live a 'Paleolithic' lifestyle, I eat junk food occasionally (very), I reach for whatever is closest if I am unprepared, I don't punish myself for it, and I eat high energy carbohydrates in the form of grains after I exercise to replace my energy levels. And in fact, I don't eat a lot of red meat at all, mostly veges, egg and fish. 

I guess the last paragraph of this article sums it up (try your hardest to make your choices nutritionally dense):

"Thankfully, we are fortunate that our genes do not know or care where the necessary components for optimal nutrition come from.[3-5] There’s nothing wrong with increasing fruit and vegetable intake and reducing processed, refined meats and carbohydrates, eating more sustainable sources of lean proteins as well as increasing physical activity. Keep food ratios low in bad fats, sodium and processed foods.[5-9] Every calorie (kilojoule) consumed should be nutritionally dense [8,9] "

http://www.metabolicprecision.com/articles-1/the-problem-with-paleo