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Solving the paleo Equation: Stress, Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep
Solving the Paleo Stress, Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep is the ultimate guide to customizing your diet and lifestyle practices to your unique physical and metabolic needs. You’ll learn how to maximize your health practices and minimize your time and effort—no more driving yourself to exhaustion in hardcore fitness classes. No more strict, unsustainable, and impractical approaches to nutrition, either. Solving the Paleo Equation will help you not only avoid the ravages of adrenal fatigue, low metabolism, dwindling sex drive, and sleep problems—all-too-common consequences of overzealous workout regimes—it will help you rehabilitate from the unhealthful “health” protocols you’ve pursued in the past.
Throughout this book, naturopathic physician Dr. Garrett Smith and independent health researcher and best-selling author Matt Stone address the main areas that the “health seeker” often dangerously ignores,
• One simple change in your bedroom could restore a normal cortisol rhythm!
• Practices to keep your home and workspaces from raising your adrenaline and sapping your testosterone!
• Simple, free, reliable ways to self-monitor to avoid burnout and overtraining, regardless of the type of exercise!
• Learn about the four “Anti-Stress S’s” and their powerful affects in the body!
Instead of regurgitating the old-school saw to “eat clean and exercise more,” Smith and Stone focus on the basic pillars of true health and outstanding physical and mental sleep, stress, exercise, and nutrition. By analyzing and improving the fundamental areas of physical function—sleep quality, sexual performance, digestion, blood sugar regulation, body temperature, etc.—virtually every system of the body dramatically improves as well.
In Solving the Paleo Equation , Smith and Stone go beyond simple Paleo theory and take readers on a journey toward a practical and useful understanding of how their bodies work. Using the simple tools of a thermometer and basic biofeedback markers (urine concentration, temperature of hands and feet, mood stability, bowel transit time, etc.), you will learn how to eat and live the most healthfully for YOU. Solving the Paleo Equation is not a health formula, philosophy, cult, fad, or movement, but an education. It’s the manual on do-it-yourself health enhancement.
Throughout this book, naturopathic physician Dr. Garrett Smith and independent health researcher and best-selling author Matt Stone address the main areas that the “health seeker” often dangerously ignores,
• One simple change in your bedroom could restore a normal cortisol rhythm!
• Practices to keep your home and workspaces from raising your adrenaline and sapping your testosterone!
• Simple, free, reliable ways to self-monitor to avoid burnout and overtraining, regardless of the type of exercise!
• Learn about the four “Anti-Stress S’s” and their powerful affects in the body!
Instead of regurgitating the old-school saw to “eat clean and exercise more,” Smith and Stone focus on the basic pillars of true health and outstanding physical and mental sleep, stress, exercise, and nutrition. By analyzing and improving the fundamental areas of physical function—sleep quality, sexual performance, digestion, blood sugar regulation, body temperature, etc.—virtually every system of the body dramatically improves as well.
In Solving the Paleo Equation , Smith and Stone go beyond simple Paleo theory and take readers on a journey toward a practical and useful understanding of how their bodies work. Using the simple tools of a thermometer and basic biofeedback markers (urine concentration, temperature of hands and feet, mood stability, bowel transit time, etc.), you will learn how to eat and live the most healthfully for YOU. Solving the Paleo Equation is not a health formula, philosophy, cult, fad, or movement, but an education. It’s the manual on do-it-yourself health enhancement.
- GenresHealth
304 pages, Paperback
First published September 24, 2013
7 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 10, 2014
I have been following Matt Stone's work for 4+ years after finding him 'accidentally' online as I was searching, yet again, for help with postpartum depression and the many other symptoms(allergies, digestive issues, exhaustion, etc.) of what I was to discover were all signs of adrenal fatigue. I will be the first to admit I follow Matt's advice as PART of my personal wellness 'program', if you will. Since following Matt's advice my allergies have disappeared and my depression and other issues were well on the mend. I found I was in need of more help, and for me that has meant working with a coach and using other alternative and spiritual healing techniques to heal and find peace with my past, and these things are furthering the healing, along with Matt's advice.
This said, I really enjoyed this book. It is one I asked him to write several years ago for those of us who were grateful for the science and also found it a lot to grasp. I wanted him to write something that was more 'user friendly'. I think he accomplished that with this book. I've read others' reviews and also understand their frustration at the 'vagueness' they describe with regard to 'what to do with your diet'. To this I would say, I understand AND this is precisely the point Matt and Dr. Smith are attempting to make. We are all unique individuals and no one thing is going to work for us every moment of our own lives, let alone everyone in the world all at the same time. The one thing we can count on in life is change and many of us are fearful of this fact. So when we go into this book looking for answers and then find more questions, I can understand the frustration. And yet, there is liberation and freedom in the questions and open endedness of this book because these men share great questions for us to stop running and begin to become aware of what our bodies are saying to us.
I have learned, through my own healing and work with many others, our bodies are our compass to traverse this life, they guide us and help us to understand how to live and thrive, if we listen to them and follow them. We have been taught to seek answers outside of ourselves; that we cannot trust ourselves and must follow the advice of the 'experts'. Matt Stone and Dr. Smith know this to be true and I believe are attempting to convey this message and help us begin to take our power back.
I believe the authors of this book do a great job of starting to bring us back to ourselves; to empower us to trust our own bodies and selves to find what works for us to live a thriving life. I believe this is what they are ultimately saying here and they do so with fun, down to earth, relatively easy to understand and implement information. My favorite lines from the book are " Do not allow yourself to become victimized, "hermitized", and paralyzed by health information of any kind. Paying attention to your health should be about enhancing your life, not obliterating it." This is fabulous advice for anything in life. I was one of these people and Matt Stone has helped me to overcome that and I am so grateful. :)
These men do a great job of simply having a conversation with the reader and that feels good and real. I did get a bit lost in the world of weight training as this is a foreign realm to me, but I am sure others understand it and will benefit from it. The general premise came through, and can again, be applied to life in general..."Take it easy and listen to your body." I believe the advice and information about addiction was incredibly eye opening and fascinating and too could be applied to many facets of life, not only exercising.
I enjoyed the focus on grounding. I am very vaguely familiar with 'Paleo'. I choose not to ascribe to any certain diet or lifestyle. My understanding from the book is that Paleo basically means getting back to basics, to our roots. This means simplifying our lives, keeping our stressors to a minimum, eating delicious whole real food, being in and on the earth as it is in us, moving in a way that feels good to us, participating in life in a way that also feels good to us.
I find these ideals refreshing, honest, and life affirming. They have helped me and my family. The information regarding EMF's was particularly intriguing to me as there have been some extra difficult behavioral issues in our home lately and I am going to be unplugging and reconsidering some things to see if it will help.
I am a Self Discovery Coach, Reiki Master/Teacher, and Wellness Educator and I have, and will continue to, recommend this book and information to my clients for consideration in their own well being. I recommend this book highly.
Thank you Matt Stone and Dr. Garrett Smith for sharing your gifts with the world. :)
This said, I really enjoyed this book. It is one I asked him to write several years ago for those of us who were grateful for the science and also found it a lot to grasp. I wanted him to write something that was more 'user friendly'. I think he accomplished that with this book. I've read others' reviews and also understand their frustration at the 'vagueness' they describe with regard to 'what to do with your diet'. To this I would say, I understand AND this is precisely the point Matt and Dr. Smith are attempting to make. We are all unique individuals and no one thing is going to work for us every moment of our own lives, let alone everyone in the world all at the same time. The one thing we can count on in life is change and many of us are fearful of this fact. So when we go into this book looking for answers and then find more questions, I can understand the frustration. And yet, there is liberation and freedom in the questions and open endedness of this book because these men share great questions for us to stop running and begin to become aware of what our bodies are saying to us.
I have learned, through my own healing and work with many others, our bodies are our compass to traverse this life, they guide us and help us to understand how to live and thrive, if we listen to them and follow them. We have been taught to seek answers outside of ourselves; that we cannot trust ourselves and must follow the advice of the 'experts'. Matt Stone and Dr. Smith know this to be true and I believe are attempting to convey this message and help us begin to take our power back.
I believe the authors of this book do a great job of starting to bring us back to ourselves; to empower us to trust our own bodies and selves to find what works for us to live a thriving life. I believe this is what they are ultimately saying here and they do so with fun, down to earth, relatively easy to understand and implement information. My favorite lines from the book are " Do not allow yourself to become victimized, "hermitized", and paralyzed by health information of any kind. Paying attention to your health should be about enhancing your life, not obliterating it." This is fabulous advice for anything in life. I was one of these people and Matt Stone has helped me to overcome that and I am so grateful. :)
These men do a great job of simply having a conversation with the reader and that feels good and real. I did get a bit lost in the world of weight training as this is a foreign realm to me, but I am sure others understand it and will benefit from it. The general premise came through, and can again, be applied to life in general..."Take it easy and listen to your body." I believe the advice and information about addiction was incredibly eye opening and fascinating and too could be applied to many facets of life, not only exercising.
I enjoyed the focus on grounding. I am very vaguely familiar with 'Paleo'. I choose not to ascribe to any certain diet or lifestyle. My understanding from the book is that Paleo basically means getting back to basics, to our roots. This means simplifying our lives, keeping our stressors to a minimum, eating delicious whole real food, being in and on the earth as it is in us, moving in a way that feels good to us, participating in life in a way that also feels good to us.
I find these ideals refreshing, honest, and life affirming. They have helped me and my family. The information regarding EMF's was particularly intriguing to me as there have been some extra difficult behavioral issues in our home lately and I am going to be unplugging and reconsidering some things to see if it will help.
I am a Self Discovery Coach, Reiki Master/Teacher, and Wellness Educator and I have, and will continue to, recommend this book and information to my clients for consideration in their own well being. I recommend this book highly.
Thank you Matt Stone and Dr. Garrett Smith for sharing your gifts with the world. :)
February 10, 2014
I received a review copy of Solving the Paleo Equation.
Having read (and mostly enjoyed) Matt Stone's writing for awhile, I thought this was some of his best writing. What took awhile to grow on me in his other work is his very casual, often smart-alecky and irreverent writing style. This book preserves that but smoothes it out a little; he really seems to come into his own. Usually, when I talk to people about Stone's writing they look at me like I'm nuts "Eat more? Take my temperature all the time? WHAT?" More than any of his other books, I think, this really makes the case for his approach to health, and there are a couple of people (including my wife) that I'm excited to pass it on to.
The book is not exactly a refutation of the Paleo diet, nor is it exactly a book about tweaking the Paleo diet. If you're looking for a point-by-point tear-down or defense of Paleo, this isn't it. Which is not to say you shouldn't read it -- if you're thinking about Paleo, you should definitely pick up this book. What it does instead is put forward a health philosophy that is radically primitive: paying close attention to your own body and doing very simple, truly "Paleo" things to improve your health: sit less, reduce stress, eat enough, sleep more...
Matt Stone and Dr. Garrett Smith divvied up the sections in this book: Stone covers stress and nutrition, and Smith tackles exercise and sleep. Throughout the book, though, each inserts short mini-essays in the other's section, giving their perspective and experience on the topic. I found the stress and exercise sections were especially strong. In the stress discussion, Stone goes beyond our usual assumptions about what stress is (deadlines! relationship problems! etc. etc.) and talks about the physicality of stress -- both physical stressors and the physical effects of stress. As usual (if you've read anything else he's written), he connects this to metabolism.
Dr. Smith's chapter "General Guidelines for Sustainable Exercise" and the following chapter "Your New Training Rules" were probably some of the most valuable material in the book. As someone who has generally felt at loose ends when it comes to exercise (going all the way back to middle school gym class), these chapters have already begun to help me change the way I think about exercise -- especially the idea of "minimum effective dose." If you're like me and suffer from all or nothing thinking when it comes to fitness (i.e. Well, if I'm not Crossfitting I may as well just sit on this sofa and watch t.v.), you'll find him helpful.
The nutrition section was a lot of repeat for me, since I've read a lot of Matt Stone's other work, but was still strong. It may seem counterintuitive to readers who have been caught up in the whirlwind of the diet industry for awhile, but that is precisely who will benefit most from it.
This brings us to the section that I think was the weakest, sleep. I was very excited to read Dr. Smith's discussion on sleep, because his exercise section was so rich, but also because discussions of sleep and its importance to health are missing from so many health books (Not all -- there are some writers talking about it, but not as many as should be.) I thought his discussions of EMFs and RFR were interesting ... to a point ... but the section became much more about that than about sleep. Although I think that the seemingly eternal presence of electronics around us is definitely affecting our health and our sleep quality, I would have liked to see even more about other things that can improve sleep quality, etc. I'm not gonna lie, after a few pages the EMF discussion started to seem a little alarmist and I started to tune out (You want me to sleep six feet away from everything with a cord? How am I supposed to read before bed? Also, how is this going to work in my tiny city apartment bedroom where you actually can't be more than 6 feet away from an outlet?). Fortunately, the mini-essay by Matt Stone inserted in that section addresses this tendency to get paralyzed by health information and fear.
Overall, a strong book, enjoyable to read and easy to apply.
Having read (and mostly enjoyed) Matt Stone's writing for awhile, I thought this was some of his best writing. What took awhile to grow on me in his other work is his very casual, often smart-alecky and irreverent writing style. This book preserves that but smoothes it out a little; he really seems to come into his own. Usually, when I talk to people about Stone's writing they look at me like I'm nuts "Eat more? Take my temperature all the time? WHAT?" More than any of his other books, I think, this really makes the case for his approach to health, and there are a couple of people (including my wife) that I'm excited to pass it on to.
The book is not exactly a refutation of the Paleo diet, nor is it exactly a book about tweaking the Paleo diet. If you're looking for a point-by-point tear-down or defense of Paleo, this isn't it. Which is not to say you shouldn't read it -- if you're thinking about Paleo, you should definitely pick up this book. What it does instead is put forward a health philosophy that is radically primitive: paying close attention to your own body and doing very simple, truly "Paleo" things to improve your health: sit less, reduce stress, eat enough, sleep more...
Matt Stone and Dr. Garrett Smith divvied up the sections in this book: Stone covers stress and nutrition, and Smith tackles exercise and sleep. Throughout the book, though, each inserts short mini-essays in the other's section, giving their perspective and experience on the topic. I found the stress and exercise sections were especially strong. In the stress discussion, Stone goes beyond our usual assumptions about what stress is (deadlines! relationship problems! etc. etc.) and talks about the physicality of stress -- both physical stressors and the physical effects of stress. As usual (if you've read anything else he's written), he connects this to metabolism.
Dr. Smith's chapter "General Guidelines for Sustainable Exercise" and the following chapter "Your New Training Rules" were probably some of the most valuable material in the book. As someone who has generally felt at loose ends when it comes to exercise (going all the way back to middle school gym class), these chapters have already begun to help me change the way I think about exercise -- especially the idea of "minimum effective dose." If you're like me and suffer from all or nothing thinking when it comes to fitness (i.e. Well, if I'm not Crossfitting I may as well just sit on this sofa and watch t.v.), you'll find him helpful.
The nutrition section was a lot of repeat for me, since I've read a lot of Matt Stone's other work, but was still strong. It may seem counterintuitive to readers who have been caught up in the whirlwind of the diet industry for awhile, but that is precisely who will benefit most from it.
This brings us to the section that I think was the weakest, sleep. I was very excited to read Dr. Smith's discussion on sleep, because his exercise section was so rich, but also because discussions of sleep and its importance to health are missing from so many health books (Not all -- there are some writers talking about it, but not as many as should be.) I thought his discussions of EMFs and RFR were interesting ... to a point ... but the section became much more about that than about sleep. Although I think that the seemingly eternal presence of electronics around us is definitely affecting our health and our sleep quality, I would have liked to see even more about other things that can improve sleep quality, etc. I'm not gonna lie, after a few pages the EMF discussion started to seem a little alarmist and I started to tune out (You want me to sleep six feet away from everything with a cord? How am I supposed to read before bed? Also, how is this going to work in my tiny city apartment bedroom where you actually can't be more than 6 feet away from an outlet?). Fortunately, the mini-essay by Matt Stone inserted in that section addresses this tendency to get paralyzed by health information and fear.
Overall, a strong book, enjoyable to read and easy to apply.
March 27, 2015
I am unsure how I feel about this books nutritional info, while he is not advocating a do whatever you want lifestyle,the idea that carb management as key player in inflammation is NOT the issue most think is new to me. I really still have to "chew" on this book and really hope more people leave their comments about it. I really do tire of the ever changing opinions about diet and exercise though. I do very much agree though that the mind and body are well programmed "machines" that possess the programming to balance its needs and that in this day and age we over think our choices(because we have so stinkin many of them) and unclenching a bit would benefit us. Overall good book. Still thinking on it though.
Great concise chapters on EMF safety. Definitely have implemented some of his suggestions.
The earthing chapter was great too. Simple, but I don't really feel that subject is really that complicated.
Great concise chapters on EMF safety. Definitely have implemented some of his suggestions.
The earthing chapter was great too. Simple, but I don't really feel that subject is really that complicated.
January 28, 2014
Solving the Paleo Equation goes FAR beyond the benefits of eating a Paleo diet. Dr. Garrett Smith and Matt Stone cover everything from repairing your damaged metabolism to protecting yourself from harmful radiation in everyday life. If you are looking for a comprehensive guide on living a life of good health, this is the book for you.
The book is nicely divided into sections of Stress, Nutrition, Exercise and Sleep/Recovery. Matt Stone and Dr. Smith have their own experiences outlined in neat boxes that are helpful and engaging.
You may be surprised at some of the information given on each topic because it does not go along with the mainstream hype of fads and quick fixes. This book gives a solid foundation for real health and well-being and gives great examples and references to back up the advice.
The section on exercise changed the way I think about 'working out'. I am looking forward to moving more in ways that I enjoy rather than straining and overtaxing my body. If you find yourself pushing your body so far that you are exhausted, you should definitely check out this section. Dr. Smith and Matt Stone give great solutions to the common problem of overdoing physical activity.
If I had one criticism, it would be that there is a little too much over-analyzing in the Fats section. Paleo followers tend to know that fats are essential and know how to choose the right kinds. In my opinion, getting into which fats have more arachidonic acid and linoleic acid is not necessary if you stress the importance of quality meat, eggs, dairy and fats from grass-fed, free-range, foraged animals.
I highly recommend this book for those looking to improve their overall health.
I received an advance copy of Solving the Paleo Equation but was not otherwise compensated for my review.
The book is nicely divided into sections of Stress, Nutrition, Exercise and Sleep/Recovery. Matt Stone and Dr. Smith have their own experiences outlined in neat boxes that are helpful and engaging.
You may be surprised at some of the information given on each topic because it does not go along with the mainstream hype of fads and quick fixes. This book gives a solid foundation for real health and well-being and gives great examples and references to back up the advice.
The section on exercise changed the way I think about 'working out'. I am looking forward to moving more in ways that I enjoy rather than straining and overtaxing my body. If you find yourself pushing your body so far that you are exhausted, you should definitely check out this section. Dr. Smith and Matt Stone give great solutions to the common problem of overdoing physical activity.
If I had one criticism, it would be that there is a little too much over-analyzing in the Fats section. Paleo followers tend to know that fats are essential and know how to choose the right kinds. In my opinion, getting into which fats have more arachidonic acid and linoleic acid is not necessary if you stress the importance of quality meat, eggs, dairy and fats from grass-fed, free-range, foraged animals.
I highly recommend this book for those looking to improve their overall health.
I received an advance copy of Solving the Paleo Equation but was not otherwise compensated for my review.
July 19, 2016
Skip my review and read this book. This book has nothing to do with the "paleo diet" and everything to do with listening to your body. Health isn't something that people can teach us, it is about listening to the inner cries of our body. Love this book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews