When was the last time, dear reader, that you spit-roast a freshly hunted saber-toothed tiger on an open fire using logs chopped with your own hand-fashioned stone axe?
I’m going to bet it’s been a while… at least 10,000 years I’d guess. In fact, I may even be bold enough to suggest that you have never hunted or foraged for your own food…. And we needn’t include foraging for the last decent onion left in the Tesco’s vegetable section – although it does sometimes seem that you may as well be wondering around in the wilderness!
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| 'You slowly die of obesity, we win' |
So, what exactly is my point?
Well, it may seem tenuous, but this is a giant hurdle in your search for the perfect body and optimum health. This IS a free lunch!
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| Her paleolithic diet had done wonders! |
But it isn’t our fault… I mean, fire and the stone tool are the logical ancestor to the computer chip, the iphone, the car, the airplane and all the other wonderful modern technologies you can think of… We are, it seems, hard-wired to forever reduce the burden on the opposable thumb that enabled all of this in the first place. There is but one casualty – let’s simplify it down to this…you.
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| Left to Right: manual labour, manual labour, manual labour, manual labour, manual labour, iPhone |
This is the paradox, people. That hunted cat roasting on the fire was the logical first step in our technological revolution, and we have not stopped since.
So do I suggest you instantly drop all the apparel of your modern lifestyle and don a leopard skin toga? Yes, of course! But, should that prove less than convenient, I can perhaps offer you some tips to help simulate your 10,000 year old self:
· Take your time and eat slowly – imagine eating around that fire. Relax and enjoy your food as much as possible. Slower eating will cause you to feel full after an appropriate amount of food rather than stuffing it all in and then feeling like a stuffed balloon.
· Forage – believe it or not, it is possible to forage around the streets of our modern cities! Little and often is a mantra that should become your own… by finding little treats of nuts, seeds, fruits for snacks and eating smaller meals more often you will have to work harder for your food and in doing so keep your metabolism high all day!
· Single product shopping! I doubt that caveman found conveniently parceled portions of ready-made food in environment-busting plastic outside his front-boulder everyday. So, neither should you. Keep it fresh, buy single ingredients and know exactly what you are eating! Plus, you have to work harder to cook it.
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| Someone else to pick your rice: check; someone else to grow, harvest, clean, chop and cook your veggies: check. |
So, there you have it, 3 simple but useful tips to kick start you on the way to finding your inner hunter-gatherer.
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