Back to Health
Who doesn’t love pumpkin bread? And it’s always better when chocolate is involved, right? Of course! So when we saw this incredible paleo chocolate pumpkin bread from Paleo Grubs we were hooked. Yes, it’s as good as it looks, and YES you need to hop on over to their site and grab the recipe right now.
Click here to grab the Paleo Chocolate Pumpkin Bread recipe from Paleo Grubs.
UPDATE: Giveaway is closed! Thanks to all who entered. Check out the winners below!
With the new year just weeks ahead, we are excited to announce this FUN giveaway! With five winners and oodles of prizes to choose from, we’re hoping to make you guys really happy. So… without further ado, let’s get to the details of Primal Hub’s Mix and Match Giveaway!
Here at Primal Hub we are passionate about healthy living through nourishing food, functional fitness, and natural living. To that end, we found a lot of cool prizes that fit within those categories. The problem? We couldn’t choose just one! That’s why we are letting the winners choose not just ONE prize, but THREE.
Each winner get’s their choice of one prize from EACH of the three categories: Food, Fitness, and Lifestyle.
All we ask is that you check out the prizes that interest you the most and tell us what you’ll choose if you win. That’s it!
What are the prize options? Glad you asked. Be prepared, it’s kind of long list!
Against All Grain: Meals Made Simple: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Paleo Recipes to Make Anytime (ARV $20)
Every Last Crumb: Paleo Bread and Beyond (ARV $23)
Practical Paleo: A Customized Approach to Health and a Whole-Foods Lifestyle (ARV $23)
Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (ARV $20)
Mediterranean Paleo Cooking: Over 150 Fresh Coastal Recipes for a Relaxed, Gluten-Free Lifestyle (ARV $23)
The Paleo Approach: Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body (ARV $24)
Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat (ARV $17)
The Paleo Kitchen: Finding Primal Joy in Modern Cooking (ARV $23)
Real Life Paleo: 175 Gluten-Free Recipes, Meal Ideas, and an Easy 3-Phased Approach to Lose Weight & Gain Health (ARV $26)
The Frugal Paleo Cookbook: Affordable, Easy & Delicious Paleo Cooking (ARV $14)
UP by Jawbone – Medium (ARV $70)
Inov-8 F-Lite™ 195 Trainer Shoe (ARV $70 – $120)
Cap Barbell Fitness Vinyl Kettlebell (one of each: 10 & 15 lb) (ARV $50)
Primal Pit Paste Natural Deodorant Lavender 2 Ounces (ARV $10)
Redmond Real Salt Earthpaste, Spearmint – 4 Oz, Pack of 2 (ARV $12)
GAMMA RAY FLEXLITE Anti Blue Ray Glasses (ARV $18)
Fun, right!? Click on the prize name to learn more and then use the widget below to let us know what interests you the most. You can also improve your odds by doing any of the other entry options included in the widget.
What are you waiting for? Go forth and WIN!
Cara T.
Robin A.
Shannon H.
Angela W.
Angela T.
Congrats ladies! Check your email for information on claiming and choosing your prizes. Remember to email us back by January 9th or we’ll have to choose a new winner.
Giveaway ends 12/31/14 at 11:59 PM MST. We’ll choose five winners and announce it here on the blog. Be sure to check out the terms and conditions linked in the widget.
We love lifting things, but we also love yoga. Yoga great for reducing stress, improving sleep, and achieving that overall ‘zen’ feeling we all love. Yoga is also great for CrossFit athletes and participants. Adding some much needed mobility and addressing common tight muscles, this little video by Nadya Andreeva has some simple yoga stretches aimed directly for CrossFit folks. And at 8 minutes long, there are no excuses NOT to include this in your daily routine.
For the dedicated and enthusiastic athlete, taking time for quality rest and recovery days can be hard. We live in a society that values the “go, go, go” and “harder, faster, stronger” mantras so often recited in the fitness world. But both rest and recovery are essential parts of any training program. And beyond merely “giving you a break” implementing quality approaches to rest and recovery (yes, they are different) can enhance your performance.
In its most simplest terms, rest is a combination of sleep and time spent not training. We all know quality sleep is essential to good health. Making good sleep a priority is also essential to your training and performance as an athlete or for anyone simply wanting to make the most of their workouts.
Recovery is your approach to helping your body repair. Did you know that the process of building muscles requires you first tear them? We’re not talking major, injury-type tears. Rather, when you lift weights or do other strength training activities you are making tiny tears in your muscle tissue. As your body repairs and recovers that tissue becomes stronger. This is just one reasons why recovery is so crucial to proper training.
Proper recovery considers hormonal balance, emotional well being, and the structural elements of the body.
Could using electronics at night increase your risk of death and disease? Say what? When we think about the things that increase our risk of disease we tend to think food and diet. Sure, the really health conscious folks will also keep in mind things like toxins, stress, or lack of sleep.
Stop right there, Ranger. Let’s talk about sleep a bit, and how blue light from all those fancy screens of yours (television, computer, smartphone, tablets, ect.) are ruining your sleep. And that chain reaction most definitely CAN increase your risk of disease and premature death.
“Until the advent of artificial lighting, the sun was the major source of lighting, and people spent their evenings in (relative) darkness. Now, in much of the world, evenings are illuminated, and we take our easy access to all those lumens pretty much for granted.
But we may be paying a price for basking in all that light. At night, light throws the body’s biological clock—the circadian rhythm—out of whack. Sleep suffers. Worse, research shows that it may contribute to the causation of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.” (Blue Light Has a Dark Site, Harvard Health Letter)
We all know sleep is important. Countless studies and research have shown that sleeping 7 – 9 hours at night can reduce the risk of many chronic ailments, reduce stress, and help your overall health. But more people are not getting the sleep they need and sleep issues are rampant in our society today. We try supplements, special pillows, herbal teas… all in the name of better sleep. But what about the artificial light from our technology? Turns out blocking blue light may be a major factor in getting your zzzz’s.
How artificial light is wrecking your sleep, and what to do about it
How to Improve Melatonin Levels with Orange Sunglasses
We grab a pair of anti blue light glasses and make sure we wear them a couple hours before bed (best if you start as the sun starts to go down.) There are lots to choose from (see a whole search here) but these orange guys are definitely a cheap solution to the blue light problem.
Have you heard about the benefits of earthing? Not many have, but it’s a simple concept that can enhance your overall health a lot.
In it’s most simplest terms, earthing is the process of grounding ourselves (in a similar way that we “ground” our electrical outlets). It’s a natural process of being connected to the earth in order to “neutralize” our body’s electrical makeup.
The earth is a six sextillion (for visual learners that’s this number: 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) metric ton battery that is continually being replenished by solar radiation, lighting, and heat from it’s deep down molten core. These electric chargers are really important for us because our bodies are made up of mostly water and minerals. In other words, our bodies are amazing conductors of electrons.
“And as long as there is direct skin contact with the earth, the free electrons from that 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 metric ton battery (Earth) are easily transferred into and throughout our body. These free electrons help balance out our bodies—which have a lot of free radicals moving about.
In a nutshell, free radicals are positive-charged molecules (short of one or more electrons) that search for free electrons to become stable. In a healthy, balanced body, these free radicals obtain their missing electrons by stripping electrons away from pathogens and damaged tissue—killing “the bad guys” in our bodies. This is acute inflammation. (This is good.) The problem is that in chronic or prolonged inflammation those free radicals go on a rampage and start attacking healthy tissue.” (Source: What is earthing?)
Earthing has been shown to help our overall health, reduce stress, improve sleep, reduce inflammation, and more.
Read about the benefits of earthing for our health here.
Read about the benefits of earthing for stress reduction and improved sleep here.
Read some general faqs and basics about earthing here.
In our highly insulated world it’s pretty easy to get grounded. Simply take your shoes off and enjoy some connection with the grass, soil, beach, and earth. Of course, if winter or other harsh conditions make that impossible, check out earthing sheets/mats and earthing shoes as alternative ways to get grounded, improve your health, and restore balance to your body.
Women should lift weights. There we said it. By ‘lifting weights’ we don’t mean those adorable little 3 pound dumb bells. I mean, your purse weighs more than that! No, by ‘lifting’ we are talking about building true strength, power, and fitness. Unfortunately, too many women still believe the myth that lifting weights or doing actual strength training (remember, those adorable 3 pounders don’t count!) will result in huge, bulky bodies. Not true! Lifting weights can help women get slim, toned, and looking amazing!
Researchers from Penn State found that those who lift weights shed six more pounds of fat than those other dieters who only did aerobic exercise. Dieters and chronic cardio fanatics may lose weight, but research has shown that a quarter of weight-loss from non-lifters was muscle loss. Want to lose the right kind of weight? Lift.
Did you know that losing muscle mass can cause your metabolism to slow down? When women lift weights they build essential muscle mass that keeps their metabolism roaring.
When women lift weights they build muscle that brings out that awesome hourglass shape.
As we lose our muscle mass it’s usually replaced with fat, particularly around the midsection. But when women lift weights they are more easily able to keep a hip to waist ratio that not only makes your clothes fit better, but also has a correlation to better overall health.
Lifting weights is especially important for women who tend to suffer from osteoporosis more as they age.
Weight lifting can strengthen key muscles in the whole body when done correctly (hint: forget the weight machines!). Back pain can be greatly reduced as you strengthen the core, back, legs, and improve your posture through quality weight training.
Did you know that weight lifting continues to burn calories even after your workout is done? That’s because after each strength workout, your muscles need energy to repair their fibers.
Strength training can improve sleep quality and aid in your ability to fall asleep faster, sleep deeper, and wake less often during the night.
Research has shown that weight lifting can improve heart health, bone health, brain health, and improve overall mood and energy.
University of South Carolina researchers found that total-body strength is linked to lower risks of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.
So… women, it’s time to step up to that bar and get lifting!
Are white potatoes paleo? This is a common question in the primal and Paleo communities. After all, white potatoes are vegetables. They come from the ground and have a pretty nice nutritional content. They are also a staple in the Standard American Diet. From potato chips, to French fries, to baked and fully loaded… white potatoes definitely are linked to their share of ‘junk’ food. But if they aren’t ruined by nasty vegetable oils or other definitely non-Paleo foods, can these tubers be part of a healthy diet?
Strictly speaking: No, white potatoes are not Paleo. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be a good addition to your diet. We’ve gathered some of our favorite reads on the subject, both for and against white potatoes. Take a peek and then decide what works best for you body.
We love the discussion presented here on white potatoes and a nourishing real diet. Learn all about their starch content, nutrition, and whether or not you might want to add these vegetables to your primal or Paleo diet. Read the full article here.
This article lays out the more strict version of the Paleo diet and offers reasons why you might want to avoid this vegetable all together. Read the full article here.
Finally, we love the fun take on The Lord of the Rings and the discussion of white potatoes and a primal diet. Read the full article here.
Ah, chicken. Welcome to the Paleo world. The chicken breast is such a staple food item in today’s world, and luckily there are some super tasty Paleo chicken breast recipes available to put to good use our little poultry friend. We’ve searched high and low to find some real winner winner chicken dinners that are fully Paleo and fully yum. Enjoy.
Just one look at this scrumptious dish and you’ll be ready to try it! The fresh rosemary dances beautifully with the sweet flavor of balsamic vinegar. Pair this with some roasted vegetables, fresh greens, or sauteed veggies and you have a simply delicious meal. Find the recipe here.
This is a go-to recipe in our house! It’s so simple, fool-proof, and absolutely delicious. The lemon marinade brings such a yummy, bright flavor. Try it. You won’t be disappointed. Find the recipe here.
The spices combined with the lime used in this marinade will make your mouth water. Bring a little life to your typical chicken dinner with this delicious recipe. Find the recipe here.
This dish is super comforting in the colder months, but spicy and flavorful enough to eat year round. No need to top with cheese, there’s enough goodness in the bowl to skip it. Find the recipe here.
We love this ‘garbage-free’ Paleo chicken nugget recipe. It’s a perfect Paleo menu for the kids, a cocktail party, or just because who doesn’t love chicken nuggets? Especially when they are full of healthy ingredients! Find the recipe here.
Looking for some new inspiration for your chicken? Look no further than this slow cooker recipe. Lots of great ideas for leftovers, too! Find the recipe here.
We imagine eating this in Hawaii, near a fire pit, and basking in the goodness of life. Yeah, this is a pretty peppy and delicious recipe worth trying. Find the recipe here.
What’s not to love about a recipe that has the word “easy” and “Paleo chicken tenders” in it? This comfort food recipe is a go-to when you think you’re missing all those friend chicken tenders you used to eat back in the day. Find the recipe here.
Here’s another super simple, but flavorful chicken breast recipe that’s Paleo and delicious. Fire up your grill and try this baby out! Find the recipe here.
If you like pesto like we do, you’ll love this pesto-crusted chicken breast recipe. Find the recipe here.
This recipe is screaming “elegant!” (Even though screaming isn’t very elegant.) The lavender adds such a fragrant and interesting twist to your chicken. Definitely check this recipe out.
We adore the smoky flavor of this chicken breast recipe. This recipe is super simple (and easy!) and full of flavor. It’s sure to be a monthly visitor in our home. Find the recipe here.
Three words: Spicy. Avocado. Chicken. What else do you need? The creamy avocado adds a nourishing boost to this flavorful recipe. Find the recipe here.
Sometimes it’s the simple things that really make a difference. This lemon chicken is pretty good, but something about add fresh rosemary just makes it sing. Find the recipe here.
Super simple and ready at your table in 20 minutes. This chicken has great flavor thanks to some super handy spices that you most likely have on hand right now. Find the recipe here.
Do we really need to say anything? I mean, BACON wrapped chicken breasts. If you have a pulse you will like this recipe. And it’s so simple, too! Find the recipe here.
If you thought your days of cream sauce were gone when you decided to go Paleo, think again! This dreamy recipe with creamy sun-dried tomato sauce will make you sing. Find the recipe here.
We are nutty for pine nuts! And this Balsamic chicken with pine nuts is nutty good. Like really good. Try it. Love it. Find the recipe here.
This is a fun new take on your typical chicken breast. Grab a Hawaiian shirt and some pineapple (in moderation) and go totally tropical. Find the recipe here.
Who doesn’t love Pad Thai? Here’s a great recipe that you can play with to suit your Paleo palate. Find the recipe here.
Full of flavor, this is a dish we instantly fell in love with! Plus we love the idea of serving it inside a juicy tomato. Genius! Find the recipe here.
Chicken and rice is such a staple dish, but you don’t need to say “goodbye” as this Mushroom Cauli Rice with Chicken is so yummy! Find the recipe here.
We love the sweet flavor of this recipe. The sweet potatoes and apples make it feel fun and comforting all at the same time. Find the recipe here.
Stew is such a comfort dish, and perfect for those blistery days. This recipe lives up to its name: Quick and creamy. It’s also really good! Find the recipe here.
This soup is so easy to throw together and full of flavor. Pair it with some steamed veggies and you will be feeling so good in your belly. Find the recipe here.
At first you may think you can never eat out on a Paleo diet. After all, when you committed to a Paleo or primal lifestyle you couldn’t believe how much better you felt as you ditched those pesky inflammatory foods. You have more energy, got rid of that constant bloated feeling, and are looking better than ever! But the time comes when you realize you can’t live in your home (or ‘cave’) forever. Whether it’s to socialize with friends, connect with family, or simply give yourself a break in the kitchen, you WILL want to eat out every now and then. And unless you live in some trendy big city that might have some actual Paleo style restaurants, chances are you your choices are far from the food ideal you’ve adopted.
Don’t worry!
Avoid the obvious offenders like pizza restaurants as it will be really hard to find anything that you can eat while on a Paleo or primal diet. Steak houses are great options and usually have a lot of options. Sandwich shops, Italian restaurants, and Asian restaurants will be more difficult to avoid grains. Many national chain restaurants like Chili’s, Applebees, and TGI Fridays have some decent options. Sure there are plenty of poor choices at these places, but there is a large menu and lots of ways to plan a delicious Paleo meal.
Always ask for no seasoning salt when you in restaurants. Most have added MSG and sugar. We love to take our mini Real Salt Pocket Shaker (like this) with us. It fits perfect in a purse or pocket.
Sadly, the hardest part about eating out while on a Paleo diet is that restaurants are still under the impression that fake butter spreads are actually good for you. You may be surprised how many restaurants don’t cook with real butter. To add insult to injury, vegetables and fried foods are cooked in very unhealthy vegetable oils. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed that someday more restaurants will catch on and use coconut oil or tallow, but until then ask to have your food cooked with olive oil.
Most often the menu descriptions will tell you if something is breaded or not, but there are times when a hidden element of a dish may be breaded. Before finishing your order, clearly ask if your choice has any breaded elements to avoid an unpleasant surprise at your table.
Too many people assume that what’s on the menu is the only option. Most restaurants are willing to make some modifications if asked. Don’t be afraid to ask about any part of your dish… from how it was cooked to where it was sourced. It’s up to you get the information you need to feel comfortable eating out on Paleo.
If questioning the status quo while out on a socializing experience isn’t in your nature, play the ‘I have an allergy’ card. Restaurants are very careful to avoid liability.
If you aren’t comfortable with the allergy confession, you can honestly say you’re on a ‘diet.’ Even though we know Paleo is more a lifestyle than it is a Weight Watcher’s substitute, our world takes the ‘diet’ word seriously.
Fried foods are often breaded, and even if they aren’t, they are plunged into nasty vegetable oils. Unless you can get your hands on some tallow French fries or coconut oil potato chips, skip the fried foods and go for grilled.
Salad dressings are some of the worst offenders to real food champions. Full of high fructose corn syrup (that’s GMO) and rancid vegetable oils, you’re better off asking for olive oil and vinegar. Just be sure it’s olive oil, as some people will unfortunately bring you canola. (*head smack*)
If you’re opting for a big ole’ salad, make sure you ask for any croutons or tortilla strips to be excluded.
Almost every restaurant will trade your side dish for some steamed vegetables, even if it’s not on the menu.
Don’t let the freebies tempt you on the table. Ask for it to be removed.
Gravy is usually loaded with flour. Just say no.
Despite this list of ‘strict’ Paleo guidelines for eating out at restaurants, you know your body best. If you know you’ll be doubled over in stomach pains if you touch any gluten, by all means, be strict. Otherwise, consider what can slide every now and then and enjoy your time out.
If all else fails and you don’t want to cheat on your diet at all but have to make an appearance at an event, fill up before you go so that you’re not tempted to eat something you’ll regret later. At the restaurant grab a simple side salad, a hamburger patty, or some veggies and don’t worry about filling up.
Remember, you can eat out at restaurants while on a Paleo diet. It takes some forethought and boldness to ask the necessary questions, but you can still enjoy the time away from your own kitchen!