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Last week I missed putting up my regular Thursday blog post. This was for the best reason imaginable: I was at Paleo fx! Paleo fx is the annual meeting where die hard paleo fans, new paleo converts, and paleo movers and shakers get together to connect, to revel, and to party, party, party.
(Some of us, anyway.)
Yet much as paleo fx is a coming together, it is also a divisive coming apart. I don’t mean to wax dramatic on you, but it’s a fact: I might hug Ben Greenfield or Jimmy Moore, but I’m still going to dig my heels in against their overtures to low carb diets. Similarly, I might get to meet infamous Cross Fit athletes, but I’m still going to advise my fans to close their eyes during the Paleo Fx introductory video, in which rock hard abs are gloriously depicted as the pinnacle of paleo fitness and bro-y awesomeness.
Paleo means a lot of things to a lot of different people. In some ways this is a beautiful thing – it makes us a diverse community. Nevertheless, I have my own feelings about what paleo should be. My vision is different from other people’s… and that’s okay. I’m even going to fight for mine, because even while I don’t ever believe any single ideology should WIN the paleosphere, the ideology(ies) I love within paleo definitely need their place. They need to be heard. They need to be visible and valid. Honored.
This year Paleo Fx brought this home to me in a big way. I am coming away from paleo fx determined to vocal. Sometimes here at Paleo for Women, in our sweet little corner of the paleo community, I forget that our body positive, accepting and loving principles aren’t universally accepted. This weekend I remembered. I re-committed myself to standing up and out for what I believe in.
This is what paleo means to me:
1. Paleo is about being a natural body.
While on the surface this idea may seem like a no-brainer to just about everybody, it’s not.
For me, paleo is about letting your body play a role in your decision making process. It isn’t about hacks, it isn’t about perfection, it isn’t about turning yourself into a bionic, manufactured, fighting machine. Lots of (but of course not all, and theres room for everybody!) what I saw at Paleo fx felt like that: perfectionisty, tweaking, biohacker culture.
I don’t have anything particularly against biohacking per se – if you find some good tweaks that make your life better, all the more power to you. What I take issue with are the boatloads of supplements, the energy tricks, the performance hacks, the competitive vibe, the ceaseless quest. This draws away from that which is truly relaxed… and for me, slothfully (humanly) human.
I mean, sure, you can do the whole biohacking thing if you want to, but I prefer to think of human beings as the soft animals of Mary Oliver fame. (She writes: “you only need to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”)
For me, paleo is about relaxing into my body, not seizing control and making it do my bidding. It’s about listening, and empathy, and stillness. So much of our culture in America is obsessed with doing. Something I very much aspire to is being. I want to be less of a human doing, and more of a human being. I believe this is a very important aspect of our humanity that gets ignored because it does not sell. It is not sexy. It is not flashy.
But it is the bomb.
2. Paleo is not about macronutrients
Can we just… can we just stop this already? We’ve been fighting about carbohydrates for years now. It’s ridiculous, and I want it to end, now.
The science is actually on my side: paleo is macronutrient-neutral. Anthropological studies show, and quite clearly, that ancestral cultures and extant hunter-gatherer cultures eat a wide variety of macronutrient ratios. Some survive off of mostly fat and protein. Others eat tons of tropical fruits. They appear to all be in fairly similar, and quite good, health.
It’s also quite clear that different people have different macronutrient needs. Some people may benefit from ketosis – though I think probably most don’t. (Sarah Ballantyne gave an excellent talk on this.) Some people have diabetes and benefit from a lower carbohydrate diet.
Plenty of other people however definitely need lots of carbs – especially those pregnant, nursing, with hypothyroidism, recovering from hypothalamic amenorrhea, stressed out, sleep deprived, or low in serotonin. To name a few. When one kick ass Paleo for Women community member asked a “expert panel on carbohydrates” (of all men, mind you, thanks paleo fx selection committee) about carbs for women with fertility problems, they all said, “no, no carbs.”
To which I can only say, try having a pair of ovaries for a day, or several thousand.
3. Paleo means health
This is another point that may seem obvious to everybody. Nevertheless, when you take a peak under the surface of a lot of what is happening in the paleosphere, you find that it actually doesn’t always pan out this way.
Paleo ends up being about physical fitness, which is not the same as health. This year at Paleo Fx we saw a stronger focus on fitness than ever before.
Paleo also ends up being about body fat, and the way that you look, which is ridiculous.
Fortunately, I didn’t see much of this at paleo fx. Pretty much everyone there was awesome and accepting of everybody else. Period. It was great. But I know… I know that the sphere is full of jerks hiding in the corners, too. Paleo, like the rest of the world, is full of people who sit behind their computer screens and say mean things to my friends because they don’t have six packs.
Paleo is not about tearing each other down, or judging each other based on appearances. It’s about all of us on our own journeys toward better health and happiness together.
4. Paleo is gender equal
As super educated, relatively privileged people, more or less, I consider it our duty in the paleosphere to be on the frontlines of inclusivity.
There should never be a discussion that has zero women invited to partake in it, especially when its on a health topic in which women are known to have unique needs.
Paleo should also be doing its best with regards to race and socioeconomic inclusivity, too.
5. Paleo means body acceptance
Now, I don’t mean to say, with paleo, you shouldn’t make or aspire to make changes in your body. I think you can and definitely should do that. Health is a good goal. Weight loss (if done physically and mentally healthfully) is another. Changes are usually good and awesome.
But changes should be made in the context of acceptance. Your body is the way it is because you were born with a set of genes, and you were exposed to a particular environment in your mother’s womb, and you were nursed off of breast milk or formula, and then you spent your whole childhood and young adulthood eating various things and encountering different struggles. Your body is not perfect – no one’s is.
Your body is the way it is because of a whole set of circumstances that were entirely outside of your control. Even if you ate badly, you did not know it. Today, you are empowered with knowledge. You have the ability and the blessing to take control. You can work with your body to a healthier and happier future.
The best way to do this is with acceptance on your side. Your body doesn’t need to look a particular way – it only needs to be forgiven. It needs to be accepted. It needs to be loved. For me, paleo is about embracing my body and all of the ways in which it has been affected by the world. Paleo is about moving forward into the future with patience, and being grateful to my body and all of the amazing feats it accomplishes on a daily basis.
6. Paleo is about having a healthy relationship with food
Strongly related to the point I made above about acceptance, paleo, for me, also means that I do not obsess over food. It means I do not eat orthorexically. It means that I LOVE and ACCEPT my body such that I do not PUNISH myself with food, or DENY myself food.
I bring this up because even while just about everybody would say “yes of course paleo is about healthy relationships with food” we are not talking about this nearly as much as we should be. Last year at paleo fx we saw an influx of powerful people like Madelyn Moon, Kaila Prins, Summer Innanen, Molly Galbraith, and the like, talking about body acceptance and healthy relationships with food at paleo fx. It was so exciting!
This year we saw less of this. This may explain why Kaila’s talk on food obsession (one of the only ones about the psychology of eating) was absolutely packed. Also, there was hardly a dry eye in the room. Kaila’s talk hit home in a big way. We need to talk about this more. This is something that people need from us – psychological and moral and emotional support.
For me, being paleo means that I ditch perfection. It means that I stop trying to rabidly control my body. It means that I no longer restrict myself, punish myself, or feel guilty about food. It means that I eat whatever macronutrient ratios my body may need or crave, and that I give myself the permission to play with that and with my food choices however I want.
Paleo means that I stop focusing on my body fat percentage and my leg press numbers. It means that I stop counting my health in terms of fat grams eaten or my dress size, or even the number of miles I’ve sprinted, and instead think about how I feel, the connections I am healing with myself and with others. That is another very important part of being paleo, too – connecting with the people around me, and sustainably integrating myself into the food web and ecosystem. Paleo fx was big on that this year, and I hope that we continue to promote sustainability and interconnectivity as a big part of what it means to be paleo.
Paleo is…
Love. Naturalness. Community. Thoughtfulness. Acceptance. Support.
Which, if you’re interested in more about, you can read about in moderately entertaining form, here.
These are the things that paleo means to me. What does paleo mean to you?
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GIRL!!!!!! Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES YES YES. One of your best posts ever, but all of your posts are “the best” ….. I love how you gave a shout to Noelle in there 😉 LOVE it!
I really loved this sentence >>>> For me, being paleo means that I ditch perfection. It means that I stop trying to rabidly control my body. It means that I no longer restrict myself, punish myself, or feel guilty about food. It means that I eat whatever macronutrient ratios my body may need or crave, and that I give myself the permission to play with that and with my food choices however I want.
Because paleo truly healed my relationship with food, too. I don’t obsess anymore I just nourish my body. I show it love. I am gentle with it. I listen to it. This way of eating relaxed me if that makes sense.
You mentioned macros in this post, so I really think you’d like my post today! It’s all about macros and the 5 issues I have with them 😉 <3
Well said. Waaaaaay too many type As out there missing the point of paleo and life. Roll on!!
YES YES YES. This was my first year at PFX, and it honestly opened me up spiritually in a way that I never have been before. Kaila’s workshop tugged at my heartstrings and made me realize that my life is AWESOME (well I already knew that… :D) but that my restrictive mindset is keeping me from experiencing it. Which is dumb.
I finally had the emotional realization that OMG IT’S NOT ABOUT FOOD. I knew this rationally, but I really felt it for the first time after talking some of this stuff over with my brother who is a very spiritual being. I’m finally starting to see that I can just be me, whoever that is, and enjoy the hell out of my life at all times. Wow.
I do really wish that there was more about body image and food issues, especially since last year there were some really great panels. However, I know that’s feedback a lot of people will have, so hopefully they will move more toward that next year. Overall, I liked the focus of the conference. I didn’t attend the fitness sessions for the most part, but that’s obviously a big part of the community. The shamanism panel was really incredible as well – I know they were excited to add that this year!
For me, paleo means living in tune with my body and living outside of it if that makes sense. There is so much more of life outside of my body, but I still want to honor it. This is new for me as of like…yesterday…but already I can tell I’m going in the right direction past all the obsessions and perfection.
Loved this post – maybe I’ll get to meet you there next year 🙂
Thank you for your post, you are one of the few paleo blogs I still subscribe to (I used to receive dozens in my in box).
Paleo used to mean to me—eating real food as opposed to packaged food, questioning the status quo of nutrition and health advise, seeking new approaches to health, learning about traditional ways of eating, improving health dramatically with food as opposed to pills, searching any health problem or issue or any food with the word paleo online used to provide me with great and useful information, it was a community of information sharing.
now paleo means to me — sales pitches hidden behind articles posing as helpful information or posts about bad things that will happen if you dont read this post, or buy this product, promotions using degrading body images, it also means constant marketing and appeals for paleo things i should buy, and then there is the boring yet negativity and competitiveness born from the petty debates about the micro details (are potatoes paleo, safe starches, what is low carb, etc etc),
so I have spent months, un-liking and unsubscribing from the posts, podcasts and emails, (and it is quite a chore to get rid of them all) many of which were from people I used to rave about, as great information sources. I became embarrassed by the “PAYLEO” movement and all my association with it.
Your post reminded me of all that I was first attracted to years ago: returning to the source, eating wild, eating natural, enjoying food, not restricting it, the lifestyle (more playing, more sleep, more nature time) improving our health and our relationship with food. THANK YOU and bless you.
Stefani, it was such a pleasure to meet you this weekend! Thanks for warmly hugging this stranger 🙂
I absolutely agree with a lot of what you’ve written. The struggle against our bodies is as harmful in the paleo-sphere as it is in conventional health and wellness, and really, there’s little difference — it’s just that in paleo we eat other foods while we’re engaging in body shaming, comparison, and the achievement of goals that detract from our health. Lately Frank Forencich has been writing some stuff that your first comments about Oliver’s “soft animal” phrase reminded me of: he writes about the modern tendency to dominate our landscape via fitness (Spartan races, etc.), when we should really be slowing down and integrating into our environment. The same thing applies for our physical selves; how silly it is that we’re the instigators of our own oppression!
And re: socioeconomic equality in paleo — YES! One thing I’m really passionate as a health educator and RD-in-training is the inherent human right to good food. In my career, I want to teach people scraping by on SNAP and WIC benefits how to thrive in a less-than-ideal financial situation; although a strict paleo template doesn’t necessarily work for something like that, starting “small” with the power of real food can, in my opinion, be enough to change someone’s life.
Ah, I could go on and on. To everything else you said — high-fives and hugs and hell yeses!
I can’t even tell you what this means to me. It came at the perfect time. I am new to the paleo world and have been struggling a bit lately with this need to do it perfectly. This hits home in a big way and is so powerful and helpful. Thank you!
This is great! I’m so glad I’ve found you. That is sad that some of the panels included only men considering ALL of my favorite paleo bloggers I follow are women!
Good read thank you Stefani , I’ve bought your booked , emailed you and sent a question to the podcast as I desperate for help, I have pcos weight problems and I Infertility! So I’m struggling with low car paleo , hungry and tired all the time and unmotivated I wonder if I have thyroid problems? But I read and follow everyone at paleo fx and they all say about ketosis or low carb which worked for me a few years ago but now I’m struggling !
Thank you for your support and advice
I follow a paleo-like lifestyle for a healthy body. I have migraines and Thyroid issues, and I can say this last year I have felt better because of it. That’s all that matters to me.
Stefani what a beautiful post full of take aways for living! I feel like I need to post this on my wall for awhile as a reminder of what really matters! And you included a line from my favorite poet, Mary Oliver!! Thank you!!
Paleo and Mary Oliver together, lordy girl this is a wonderful post, so happy and thankful you are in the fight for us!
Looking forward to hearing about more, thank you for all you do!
XXX
MARY OLVIER IS PALEO!
I REALLY needed this right now. In the last few days I’ve been trying to take the “stress” out of being paleo and this hit the nail on the head. Thank you.
I love the sentiment of your post. For me, the word “paleo” means nothing. All your other words resonate deeply, though. Maybe, just maybe, you need your own word as you continue to explore new frontiers of health, nutrition and fitness! Keep up the great work.
I wish I had made it out this year, especially for Kaila’s talk! Beautifully written piece, Stefani! I’m right there with you.
Agree x 1000. I’ve been intimidated by attending PaleoFX for years because of some of the pervasive influences you mention here- specifically the absy bro-type crossfitters. I feel like there is such a strong support online for a very inclusive, open, and healing type of community that has such a potential to grow. Your work exemplifies this, but I wish there were more. We’ve got to learn to have healthy discussion and disagreement without pure divisiveness. And we just have to learn to love ourselves where we’re at!
AMEN!!! I tend to not associate with any specific dietary term like ‘paleo’, ‘vegan’, etc. because people just get too damn extreme and hard set on what that term means and anything outside of that is somehow wrong. I usually eat a mix of different things that feel good to my body and honors what my body needs. I wonder what that would be called? Paleo-ish? Most of all real food, plant-based, sometimes paleo, sometimes more vegan, sometimes some gluten free grains, depending on what I need. Definitely not low-carb. Everyone is so different and many times the ‘paleo’ world is intimidating for me, especially the fitness aspect. I tried crossfit and it was just too much for my body and I likely need to find a different type of gym that can adapt the workout to my body’s unique needs. Love your message!
Although I do not follow a paleo diet myself for ethical reasons (I can’t bring myself to eat animals no matter how good it would be for my health) I love reading your posts, and I love that you have a version of paleo that promotes health and wellbeing in women, and acknowledges that we are different from men and should eat and exercise differently. Its wonderful to hear sustainability was a big part of the conference. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!
This post made me so happy for so many reasons. One of them being that when my friends talk to me about my sort-of paleo diet, they have an air of judgment about their perception of what paleo means. I try to explain that what paleo means to me is giving my body what makes it work in the best possible way to make me happy, to calm and soothe my body and mind. It doesn’t mean to ask “Is this Paleo?” every time I see a different food or follow someone else’s rules or be a part of a “cult” (they love using that word). The Paleo community is a community of people whose goal is (mostly) better health and well-being through a diet of real, whole foods. Everyone has different meanings and reasons within that bigger picture.
Not being surrounded by a lot of well-being-conscious people, I look forward to these paleo blog posts and podcasts because it is like I am part of a community. But I agree that it would be nice to see more inclusive behavior and ideas. I sometimes forgot that I don’t need to drink Bulletproof coffee and try to deadlift more than my bodyweight. I just have to….not have to, but get to learn from you all, decide what works for me, and enjoy the ride. This was more of a ramble than a comment!
Beautiful post. Anyone who quotes my favorite Mary Oliver poem has me as a fan for life. Thank you for standing up for women in the paleosphere. I especially love your claim about being gender equal–It feels uber frustrating that there were panels exclusive of women when there are so many informed women on this subject.
Thanks for this post, and for taking a stand on issues surrounding carbs and the unique health needs of women. I had basically tanked my metabolism a year ago after following the advice of this trainer and his severe diet (more on that in a minute) and ballooned up to heavier than I’ve ever been in my life…I gained 30lbs over the space of a few months and nothing could make the scale budge an inch. I was getting into paleo over the past couple months, but eating nothing starchy or “carby”, and still no weight loss results. Hmmm! I was stumped, I’d always had a healthy metabolism and lost weight pretty easily if I did squats, and I was actually scared I might never feel myself again. Then I heard an old podcast where you talked about women needing carbs, including starchy carbs (my god!), for hormonal health, and how all paleo voices on this topic had been men. I added them into each meal this past couple weeks (plantains, sweet potatoes, actual white potatoes)…I thought what the hell, strict low carb paleo made me feel crappy and the scales showed zilch, nothing to lose! And guess what, I feel like a million bucks and I can FEEL my metabolism is back! Like instantly it was like my metabolism revved back to life, I felt that healthy hunger pang before meals that I didn’t realize had stopped, until it suddenly came back. oh and I already dropped 3lbs. Oh and the meal plan I got from that highly recommended trainer to lose weight…well it was in fact, I know now, the kind of plan a severe bodybuilder might follow before a show. These weren’t my goals, but he just wanted to get clients because he would brag his magic plan got results. I dropped 11lbs in 2 weeks. Of course, a diet of tilapia and asparagus twice a day forever is unsustainable (and just no way to live!), plus it seemed shady so I stopped after a month, and that’s when my body freaked out and went into uber crisis mode!
YESSSS. Love you so much, lady.
Great post Stephanie! Love your work 🙂
** Stefani I mean!! Really enjoy reading your writings. Have your book but read that ages ag0. Probably time for a re-read. Thank you for writing this and totally agree with comments made. You have a following of some of the most sassy and intellectual beings in the “paleosphere”. 🙂
LOVE THIS! You always bring the balance that I often lack in my approach to diet and lifestyle. You’re amazing. This post is amazing. Don’t ever stop doing this! You were made for it! Many thanks.
I read you all the time but rarely comment, Stefani. Just wanted to say that I’m so glad you keep these important ideas in the forefront and give them they attention they deserve. It seems like in the “Paleosphere” (even though I hate that word), there are a few different camps: people who already look like fitness models, people who are moving heaven and earth to *get to* a point where they look like fitness models, and people who are wrecking their physical and emotional health in the attempt. It’s funny (not funny “ha-ha,” funny sad) that people get into this to look and feel *better,* and improve their health, but the constant tinkering, “hacking,” and generally obsessing and driving one’s self crazy tends to make things go in the opposite direction.
It’s difficult to be in a community where so much emphasis is placed on how we look, but often, getting to a place where we (or other people!) “approve” of our appearance requires going to fairly unnatural extremes (of diet, exercise, biorhythms, supplements, etc) — and at least *some* of the community emphasizes doing what *is* natural. It’s enough to give anyone whiplash. 😉
To add to Stefani’s: “I’m still going to advise my fans to close their eyes during the Paleo Fx introductory video, in which rock hard abs are gloriously depicted as the pinnacle of paleo fitness and bro-y awesomeness.” — Sometimes I wonder if I’d have fun lifting. I wonder if a trainer at a local strongman gym might take 10 minutes with me just to see if I’d have fun with the movements. I’ve even heard strongman trainers on podcasts talk about how they welcome women into their gyms. … but the websites! They’re so intimidating! Huge dues with ginormous muscles and pictures of guys screaming. I closed my browser. I mean, how non-inclusive and intimidating is that??
I “found paleo” when I was looking for a more sensible way to eat. There had to be a way of eating that made sense AND didn’t cost money (like Weight Watchers, etc). That’s what I found, especially because of the people I stumbled upon first. Those ladies are incredibly reasonable and also talked about body image and self love (Liz Wolfe, Diane Sanfillipo, Stefani Ruper, Stacy Toth, Sarah Ballantyne, Kaila Prins). Thanks to Stefani, now I can follow Noelle Tarr, too! And I found Kendall Kendrick and Susan McCauley and Summer Innanen.
For the movement piece, at least most people recognize how amazing walking is. I just feel so scared and intimidated to try anything else because it feels like anything else needs a coach or trainer of some sort, and that’s scary to me.
Thank you, Stefani! You’ve hit the nail on the head! These are the same complaints I have about the Paleo diet-community but haven’t had the words to communicate. I’ve definitely fell into the trap of focusing more on the benefits of my looks than my health when advocating for the diet and have to slap myself on the side of the head frequently to stay focused on what’s more important. Eating Paleo isn’t for looks or even for profit, as some bloggers have focused (many claim they don’t HAVE to be on the diet). It’s to control and possibly heal the health issues many of us have struggled with for too long..
When friends ask me about my diet they always say, “Yeah, I knew some friends from crossfit who ate Paleo.” But I always have to explain that the reason behind my diet is much different and then get an opportunity to describe the benefits of the diet beyond big muscles. I’ve even kept a moderate amount of starchy vegetables in my diet just because I could feel my body craving them (rice, white potatoes, even beans), and advocate others do the same, according to their needs.
I always enjoy reading your posts that may go against the mainstream Paleo ideas, and learn something new each time. Keep up the research! I may be Paleo but I’m still struggling to pinpoint the main issue and I feel that your posts lead me one step closer each time. Just the idea that Paleo should be different for men than women was eye-opening to me!
Perfectly worded and expressed, Stephani!
And, may I add my observation as a first-time attendee at PALEO fx? Along with the more gender-heavy emphasis, there’s also a HUGE age-specific target in Paleo. I’m a 56- year old female, and while there were lots more little old grey-haired ladies than I expected attending, it’s still a pretty heavily 20-30s audience.
My husband and and I embraced this lifestyle for health reasons, and the payoff has been HUGE. While we still have a ways to go, we are so much better than before.
We are now working with my 86-year old mother-in-law; she’ s now training 3 times a week with him, including kettlebells and wall squats.
Paleo could be a life-saver for so many in the second half of life (especially with our horrible American diet), but the emphasis on abs and micromanaging vitamins and supplements, rather than long life lived well, is off-putting.
I loved getting a hug from you, and, yes, I left an itunes review! Keep up the good and helpful and empowering work!
Thank you. Finding balance is a daily struggle for me. Just this morning I woke to finally step on the scale after banning myself for months. Much to my dismay, I’ve gained weight BUT I feel awesome. I finally have my blood sugar regulated and feel better than I have in years. So right this moment, I’m searching for acceptance of this new (heavier) body that is happy, natural , nurtured and rested. Who cares if my skinny jeans are busting at the seams… right?? Cheers to you Stefani!
Keep doing what you’re doing. We appreciate you. You make a difference.
YES: “There should never be a discussion that has zero women invited to partake in it, especially when its on a health topic in which women are known to have unique needs.” Absolutely right, Stefanie!
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Although I don’t eat/live in a generally “paleo” way (going “whole hog” would not be for me, but there are a few healthy practices and hypotheses that I do learn about, experiment with, and sometimes adopt), over the past 4 or so years I have read a fair bit on “paleo” topics on the internet, skimming through dozens of the major websites/blogs/discussion forums on the subject.
Because so many in that “community” put so much of themselves online, it’s not too hard for an onlooker to notice the intellectual/theoretical disagreements, episodes of personal animosity, nitpicking, macho one-upmanship, blatant profiteering, image whitewashing, even romantic entanglements, etc.
Last year I remember reading the blogs of a couple of sets of people (from different countries) who were at the heart of the “paleo” world for a time, who became disillusioned (some with the human element, some with the hypothetical underpinnings or practical results) and broke away from the official “paleo” brand/contingent.
I must say that for me the “vibe” has always been kind of off-putting, and the “movement” can seem a teeny bit cult-y to the dispassionate observer. Still, an interesting microcosm of mostly-intelligent, hard-working, very-earnest human beings.
In her refreshing, honest appraisal here, Stefanie mentions many of the same issues that have bothered me.
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Taking the best of the ideas, figuring out what works and what is practical, rising above pettiness/point-scoring, being courteous, realizing that individuals can have very different physical makeups, reactions, and needs, embracing both sexes, people of different backgrounds and cultures, and people of different income and education levels, not heavily monetizing/trademarking everything, not obsessing about a shallow “image”, dialing back on perfectionism…. that’s the way to go – that’s the mindset of the “paleo” proponents whose work I will continue to follow, whose sites I will visit/consult from time to time.