Thursday through Sunday, April 10-13th, PaleoF(x)2014 takes place in Austin and it looks like a great schedule. Almost every single time slot has more than one presentation I’m hoping to attend. There are only two presentations I know right now I will be attending, and those are the two panels on which I am participating!*
What do you think, starting right out, should I check out Dan Pardi who is a master of the practical aspects of implementing life changes (Dan’s Plan) or listen to John Kiefer, who tweaks a ketogenic diet or an athlete’s schedule with well-timed carbohydrate feasting? (Message me on Facebook if you have a strong answer, I’ll go with the votes!)
Which reminds me – did I tell you that I followed a ketogenic (ultra-low carb) for a couple months earlier this year? Eating primarily leafy greens for carbs, with a few mushrooms and stalks of celery, I kept my protein moderate and ate as much fat as I could: think sour cream, butter, avocado, coconut butter, and MCT oil. John Kiefer suggests that such a plan works better for weight loss if you throw in a complete carb fest (sweets, pizza, you name it) one night a week. A carb-fest starts out to be a lot of fun, but by the end of the evening, it’s as old as any gluttony. The ketogenic diet is beneficial for many reasons (link) which can include weight loss (mind didn’t) and a more flexible metabolism that switches easily to fat-burning. Some people however, don’t sleep as well without eating a few more carbs, and that’s what cut off the ketogenic experiment for me. I plan to solidify better sleeping patterns before I try it again. Sleep is too important to skimp on.
Back to the PaleoF(x) schedule – sparing you ALL the details! – but just to shout out a few highlights. It seems there are three simultaneous panel / lecture presentations going on almost all the time, alternating between big and little names and topics. That’s not all: at the same time there are physical training sessions. Hmm, 2 hours on the deadlift/squat for women, or the presentation on The Ketogenic Athlete?
Or I could go to a cooking demonstration.. or visit the exhibition hall. A wealth of choices and a lot of good information.
Thursday evening is a cocktail party with Pecha Kucha – a handful of people give brief talks (of topics usually done in longer time slots) with a limited number of slides, for a power-packed presentation, interspersed with schmoozing and hopefully some good Paleo hors d’oeuvres! Saturday evening is a farm to table event to benefit an urban farming enterprise in Austin. Love Austin!
If you are interested in the food or practices or science that make up the Paleo Movement, this is a wonderful (fun and informative) conference to attend, at a great venue that allows easy outside breaks and good opportunities for meeting other people. If you're not coming this year, maybe you'll put it on next year's calendar?
* The only times I won’t be posting on FB or Tweeting from the event are the two time slots where I will be sitting on panels. Friday afternoon I get to participate in the panel, “Building, Not Burning, Bridges in the Paleo Movement” with several folks whose names you might recognize, Robb Wolf, Mark Sisson and Jonathan Bailor. The weekend wraps up with “Ancestral Health for Women”, a panel I’ll share with Diane Sanfilippo, Stefani Ruper and Dr’s Lauren Noel and Ruthie Harper.
