So let me tell you how this post actually came to be. I mentioned on my Facebook Fan Page (if you are not a fan get your butt over there and become one 
) earlier in the week that I was being interviewed by the ultra-cool Sean Croxton of Underground Wellness. If you haven't heard of Sean check him out. He is a rising STAR in this space and a brilliant forward thinker who will do a lot to push the Paleo Movement forward in the next few years.
One of his ideas is THE PALEO SUMMIT. It is a series of interviews with some of the movers and shakers in the Paleo movement. He will be releasing those next month to the public. People on his list include Mark Sission from Marks Daily Apple, Sarah Fragoso (my pal) from Everyday Paleo, Diane Sanfilioppo of Balanced Bites and Nora Gedgaudas author of Primal Body, Primal Mind to name just a few.
I managed to snag an invite (I think there is an online internet law that every summit must have one Canadian in attendance) and Sean asked me what I wanted to talk about.
Instead of responding with some lame paragraph, I sent him the graphic below and told him that was what I wanted to discuss.
[Click on the image to ENLARGE.]
The agenda...
So here is what I am going to hit on in this post.
- the evolution of this idea from it's original posting 3 months ago
- a clarification of what Paleo really is
- identifying who your opponents are
- a brief description of the various elements contained in this model
- a discussion on best practices
You ready? Lets do this.
The evolution of an idea...
For those who have been with me for awhile, you may recall that 3 months ago I released a post titled, Why people fail at paleo and what to do about it. The post was HUGE in terms of it's popularity. It garnered 76 comments, and more importantly 1340 Facebook shares. In essence, it was an introduction to what I was hoping would be the beginning of a PARADIGM SHIFT for people.
You see, it is my contention that people are failing with this, NOT because they lack will power or determination (both are learned skills), but rather because they are working with an INCOMPLETE model for fat loss and body transformation. They simply are unaware of the other elements in play that are holding them back from achieving the success they rightly deserve.
I attempted to address that in the initial post, but I have continued to tweak the model in an effort to give you THE BEST INFORMATION possible; something visually compelling that helps you better understand what a complete model for fat loss and body transformation looks like. The graphic you see above is the latest evolution.
And lets be honest, what is more visually compelling than a picture of me leaning on what appears to be air. Is it the magic of Photoshop or are my abs just that damn strong. Feel free to comment below. 
Keep in mind that while I use myself in this example, imagine that you are at the center of this transformation.
OK so now that we have that cleared up, let me ask you a question.
What is Paleo really?
I believe there is also some confusion about how to classify Paleo. Some call it a diet. Some refer to it as a lifestyle. Others think it is some kind of system. In my opinion, it is none of these. Rather I see it as a TOOL in a much larger ecosystem of transformation.
You see Paleo in and of itself is NOT going to deliver us from our weight loss woes. I know people think it will, but by itself, its useless to create long term change if we don't have a clear picture of where it fits in the bigger scheme of things.
And to help you understand, I am going to compare it to something that is based on the exact same principles that body transformation is.
And that would be one of the oldest games in human history.
Chess vs fat loss and body transformation...
The goals of both chess and body transformation are the same: TO WIN! In chess it means to capture your opponents King, in body transformation it means fat loss to obtain a look you desire.
But you don't win at chess by trying hard! You don't win by having will power. You don't win because you want to win. You win because you understand how to use the pieces involved to counter your opponents moves while still advancing towards your ultimate goal: getting your opponents damn king.
And that my friends requires STRATEGY. You need to think your way around a chess board and constantly re-evaluate each new move made and decide which move is next; all with the sole purpose of helping you WIN.
So too it is with body transformation. More often than not people are failing because their opponent has made a move and they simply did not respond to stop the bleeding. Eventually the damage becomes so great that failure becomes the only viable option.
So this leads to my next question.
Who are your opponents in this game?
As I see it, there are 3.
- You
Without question YOU are your biggest stumbling block in this process. You do more things unknowingly to sabotage yourself then the rest of the planet combined. But if you don't see yourself as part of the problem and actively begin repairing the damage you cause, you will find yourself in this endless cycle of attempted transformation jumping from one silly program to the next thinking this will finally fix your problem. Oddly enough it never does, does it?
Begin to fix you and you will begin to fix your weight gain and health issues.
- Other people
Yes other people can easily derail our success, but far TOO MANY people use that as their escape clause rather than taking responsibility for the fact that you let other people manipulate you like a marionette. It's important to identify those people who act as negative triggers in your life, BUT it is more important to figure out how to deal with them rather than blame them for your failures.
Other people are not the problem. You not knowing how to deal with them is.
- Life
Good ole life. You gotta love it, but man oh man it just constantly has a way to knock us flat on our ass at times when we least expect it. It's important to understand that LIFE will derail you if you don't realize it too is an opponent in your game.
Life's sole purpose is to place obstacles in front of you. You either learn how to free yourself from each subsequent challenge it provides, or let it capture your spirit and hold hostage. You do get to choose though.
So now that you know who your opponents are, lets talk briefly about...
The tools at your disposal...
I interchange the terminology all the time. Sometimes I say tools, sometimes I say elements, sometimes I say pieces. But there are 7 as I see it (btw feel free to modify this model to suit your own personal philosophy). I will add a bit more to what is already stated in the graphic above.
- Paleo Nutrition and movement
I'm not going to rehash what each of these are because if you have been here longer than a few hours you probably know more about those elements than I do. But I do want to explain the box that is around both of those.
The box exists because those are the only two pieces people tend to use when they are attempting to create transformation. But that is like trying to win a game of chess with only your King and your Queen while your opponent plays with the full compliment of their 16 pieces at their disposal. YOU CAN'T WIN in such a scenario. IT'S AN IMPOSSIBILITY regardless of your skill level.
- Mindset
You are probably wondering why that is the only one that is in RED. Because I believe that is the MOST IMPORTANT piece. People think they fail at body transformation because they don't know enough about Paleo or exercise or lack will power etc. I disagree. They fail because they have this thought process that continually lets them down when they need it the most.
If people spend as much time working on developing their mind as they do studying about Paleo and exercise, then, and only then will success begin to happen.
- Community
Think of this like a board of directors. We need to surround ourselves with people who empower us NOT enable us. It doesn't mean you have to get rid of your friends or family (sorry that sounded Italian mobbish didn't it?) who may in fact be enablers, you just need to know where to place them in your circle of friends.
- Empirical Knowledge
This knowledge is different than that which you obtained to learn about the in's and out's of being Paleo. Empirical knowledge IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT. It is the knowledge you have acquired from your own personal experience and experiments you have conducted. Unfortunately, VERY FEW people actually do this. They just keep doing what everyone tells them to do and when it doesn't work they beat themselves up thinking they once again are lacking something that others clearly seem to have.
- Environment
There are two points I want to touch on here. There are really two environments we dabble within. One that we control (like our home) and the ones we don't...essentially everything the moment we step outside our home. Those who succeed at body transformation do an INCREDIBLE job of controlling the uncontrollable. Those you fail do so because they think they are powerless to control the uncontrollable. But you can.
- Recovery
We spend so much time DOING that we forget that longevity of our doing really depends on how we actively go about and recover, whether it be the quality and duration of the sleep we get or the downtime we create for ourselves to have fun and simply ENJOY life.
And finally...
Best Practices...
I'm going to go back to the chess analogy for a second. Do you know how someone becomes GREAT at chess. PRACTICE. They spend time each and every day going over moves and strategies and how to deal with particular situations (most notably the things they struggle with).
Do you know what separates great shooters in basketball from average ones. The great ones focus on a particular aspect of their shot to practice and when they fail they can tell you exactly what they didn't do properly (ie. I didn't follow-thru)
Conversely, those who are successful at fat loss and body transformation are no different. They practice all aspects of the "game" and when they do fall they don't speak in generalities like, "Oh I lack will power or discipline." They speak in specifics like...
- I failed to plan ahead
- I didn't bring any back up snacks
- I didn't think through how I was going to deal with that particular situation
- I dealt poorly with that particular stressful situation and it totally derailed me
In conclusion...
There is a better, smarter less painful way to transform how you look. You just need to understand all the principles at play and spend time each day to master them.
To making shift happen,
DD
Recommended Reading...
Over on the Fan Page, I was asked this by my pal Tashina...
Here is what I am currently reading and enjoying at the moment...
1. *The Dark Side of Fat Loss by Sean Croxton (it's an ebook). I have linked to it for you.
I am looking to steal ideas from this guy. He has interviewed hundreds of big names in our space and has taken all that collective knowledge to put together something that is not just outside the box thinking...it's outside the planet!!
2.* Eat. Stop. Eat by Brad Pilon (it's an ebook as well). I have linked to it for you.
I realize what I did last year has taken me as far as it can. To get to the next level I need to think outside of the box/planet. Brad talks about fasting in a way I have not heard others talk about it. I like that!!
3. Mindset: The Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
I'm rereading this book. This gal is awesome. What I love the most is she talks about all the mistakes she used to make. I love people who keep it real.
*Because I LOVE both of those books above I have signed up for their affiliate program. What that means is, if you decide to buy the book, I would ask that you use my link as I get a % of the sale, a commission if you will. It helps me keep this site afloat.
Dean,
I’ve been reading your blog since you appeared as a success story on Mark’s Daily Apple and I love how your site and work is evolving.
The Mindset element is the big one for me. Too many experts focus just on diet and exercise, but as they say, “if it’s that easy, everyone would be doing it.”
I spent a bit of time going back over your posts last night and I watched Dan Pink’s TED talk on motivation, where he talks about the need for autonomy, mastery and purpose. It struck me that your approach encapsulates autonomy and mastery, but I struggle with the purpose aspect.
So many people in the Paleo community seem to have an almost religious fervour for it, while the number of success stories I’ve read where people say “I switched to Paleo and I never looked back” I just find depressing. Having switched to Paleo a couple of years ago, I have to say I do more “looking back” that I do eating clean, even though I fully acknowledge and enjoy all the benefits of Paleo (more energy, no mood swings, etc). I take heart with your posts focusing on how to stick with it and your confessions that even you find it hard at times.
After all this, I’ve realised that the point for me is that following a Paleo lifestyle is not going to bring about some transcendent experience, but it will stop me getting in my own way and give me more time and energy to focus of those things which do hold purpose for me. We’ll see how this goes.
Thanks Dean. Keep up the great work.
- Isabella
Hey Isabella. Impressive you have stayed with me this long. I’m VERY appreciative of that!!
To your point, I personally believe that most people do a really crappy job of telling their success stories. I mean for me, I am definitely NOT looking back…and I have experienced tremendous success, but I definitely have my battles with ME along the way.
We are also missing a lot of the information about these people as well…we don’t know exactly what never looking back means and we don’t really know what kind of results they are producing.
I believe sometimes in our desperation to look like experts we need to make it sound like we have life all figured out. But NO ONE has life all figured out.
I remember when that finally hit home for me. I went to a Tony Robbins conference back in the 1990s and he talked about his wife and loving relationships etc. years later he got divorced from this woman and remarried someone else.
That was when I realized experts are like everyone else…they don’t have all the answers and they have struggles too.
But it takes a lot of empirical knowledge for us to piece something together that works for us.
It’s a question of whether we can persevere through the prototype phase to find something that works for us.
Great Post! Although I use all seven tools, I am currently reaping the benefits of Empirical Knowledge. Like Isabella, my Paleo journey has been less than linear. For 16 months, I have been experimenting to find the perfect balance of nutrition and mindset that would help me control some binge eating issues. Finally I have had my Eureka moment and am experiencing the longest stretch of binge free clean eating that I have ever had. The thing with this journey is that it will be different for everyone. What I am doing may not lead someone else to perfect health. Communities like this one are so necessary for sharing ideas and garnering support. Thanks Dean.
That’s a good story for people to see Paula. That is more realistic to what most people experience. Curious to know what you have discovered that has allowed this evolution to occur.
Essentially, through experimentation, I found my binge trigger. I was using a large amount of artificial sweeteners (splenda and stevia) which were causing my body to crave and demand a lot of carbs. I stopped using sweeteners and I stopped bingeing. I still get the urge to binge, but it is easier to work through it without my body working against me. I know the theory that AS can cause cravings is unpopular, but I thought I would put it out there in case it might help someone else. Besides, artificial sweeteners are definitely not Paleo.
that is a great insight! Hope people are reading this!!
Dean – this is a very interesting post. I have been exploring visualization and mindset as part of my journey.
I think that we have to believe that we can succeed before success can happen. I have come to this realization from Dave Ramsey’s financial approach. I never really thought I could live without debt until I lived without debt. Taking this premise, I can’t get healthy until I live healthy.
Your graphic is a great way to look at healthy.
Thanks!
I LOVE that you brought in an idea from another discipline (being debt free in this case). The thing with all this is that it is PRINCIPLE based. And there are lots of principles that we can steal from others in other areas that we can apply here…I do it ALL THE TIME. My book (shameless plug) is all about ideas I stole from people, businesses, even one from my cat (just kidding on the last one…just curious to see if anyone actually reads my comments
Darn, I thought there really was a cat lesson. My cats teach me stuff all the time.
yep, I read through ALL the posts usually.
Great article. It is so important, that paleo is a piece of the puzzle. To succeed, you do need to know triggers and how to get support and how to actually deal with life head on- feel the feelings instead of escaping them by being unhealthy. And I think one of the best ways to do that is to realize its not all about me- when you reach out- you forget your own crap and that is the community part.
Well said Shelley…this blog is my community and it holds me accountable with like-minded people with a similar outlook…
Hi Dean!
I’ve been following you since your story was first put up on Mark’s Daily Apple, and I really enjoy reading about you and your process.
About a year ago, my husband and I tried eating Paleo very intently for about 3 months. It solved a number of issues for us, and we both felt much better – but we gained weight and began missing too many foods. We’ve adjusted quite a few things that weren’t working for us, and now I would call our diet “fresh and healthy with a strong Paleo theme.”
I’m a huge fan of Brad Pilon and Eat Stop Eat, and I think he offers the big piece of the puzzle that was missing for me until this year. I’ve long known that if I don’t eat in the morning, I’m not hungry until later in the day. This is such a useful piece of knowledge when you’re attempting to manage calories overall, but I had always felt guilty about it because of all the marketing behind the “eat to keep your metabolism going” idea. I’m so grateful to Brad for educating himself and voicing all that he has to say, and I’m SO looking forward to seeing what else you have to say about intermittent fasting and how it fits in for you!
I also wanted to offer up another book that I find incredibly unique and useful in the “mindset” toolbox. Mireille Guiliano’s “French Women Don’t Get Fat” is also a little book of wisdom about mindset and choices (and enjoying food!) Bear with me – she’s not a Paleo gal in the least – but she talks very realistically about the American diet mindset and how it backfires (and therefore, most of us diet and diet and diet without lasting success). What she has to say about our attitude and enjoyment of foods is fantastic and I’m currently working on adjusting our family’s meals/cooking/rituals along the lines of what she says. I’m curious if you’ve read it?
Thanks again for all that you do and share with the rest of us!
All kinds of interesting books coming out of the woodwork…think that is going to be my next question on the fan page. thanks for the great detail Laura.
Great post Dean! I think this dovetails nicely into what I’ve been thinking about and reading a lot about lately. At the recommendation of a friend (ok fine…my therapist) I started reading the book “Switch:How to Change Things When Change is Hard” by Chip and Dan Heath. A lot of it is about how to create change in your business or organization, but I think a lot of the principles can be applied to making personal changes. I won’t get into all of it here, but there were a couple of points that stuck with me. 1. Find the bright spots- I think back to times when I’ve felt and acted in healthy ways. What worked about those times that I’m not doing now? I was eating food that I enjoyed and I was planning ahead. 2. Decision paralysis. Usually when I decide that I’m going to take control of my health I end up looking at hundreds of recipes or just heading right off to the grocery store without a plan. I figure I’ll sort it all out when I get there. There are so many options (even within a paleo framework) that I say screw it, I’ll just get the frozen pizza. So, I’ve decided to create a very specific plan for myself in terms of eating, focusing on meals that I already know I like. All of the food is prepped for the week so the work is minimal and there are really no decisions to be made. I am working on applying these ideas to the rest of the framework- moving, environment, recovery. Things are looking good! Thanks for another great post!
A specific plan is HUGE gurl…and I LOVE Switch. I like you take the principles and write about them for body transformation…those boys offer up some great stuff!!!
Another absolutely amazing post, Deano (:
I’m very glad I found your blog when I did, it has been the #1 most helpful part of my ‘shift’ and especially now with your ‘interactive’ facebook posts (like asking what we like the most, what has been the most challenging about the paleo lifestyle, asking us to scale how we did for the week or your prompt today – setting goals for ourselves this week.)
Just thought you should know!
Keep up the amazing work, as I know you will!
Hey Renee that’s great feedback…and nice to know…and I assume when you say interactive you mean how I ask a question and then I answer it myself
How are things after the wisdom tooth removal?
Really good, actually – thanks so much for remember and asking (:
Made up my own blended paleo concoctions during my no-chewing-phase… (: I believe I’d mentioned it to you before the surgery that I was nervous about the “recommended foods” list for after surgery… Sodas/Jello/etc
And, hehe, I’m glad you answer your questions too (: We’re all curious what you’re response would be anyway!
As it noted above, this is an absolutely fantastic piece Dean! I’d even go so far as to say its your best post yet. Can’t wait for you to come down to Austin in March and rock the house for PaleoFX12!
Kevin, you wrote that exactly as I told you to…well done my friend he he! Thanks. I completely scrapped my initial 3100 word post I had originally written.
AMAZING post!! May I use your inner circle graphic on my fb page?
Of course Melisa. All I ask is you highlight my incredible genius to your followers (I’m kidding. I say that to simply hide my lack of genius
It’s always a pleasure to read you, especialy that you are from Canada (I’m from Montreal)
What is your thoughts about Eat.Stop.Eat. ? Since I’ve read your post, I’m wondering if I should buy it or not…Been paleo for a few months, sleep has improve a lot, I’m in a better shape, but would like to lose a little more body fat…Would you recommend this approch?
Thank you very much, and thank you for being such a great motivation
Kathie
I LOVE montreal…would like to spend a month there this summer
In terms of whether you should buy Eat.Stop.Eat I will leave that decision to you. But I will say this…this is about each of us developing our own fat loss program…I haven’t written about this yet but I think what we first do will only take us to a certain level…we then need to test out ideas to get to that next level…that’s where I am as well and why I am looking at Eat.stop.eat. I also realize that intermitent fasting doesn’t work for everyone…but that is part of the experiment for me…and THANK YOU FOR THE NICE COMPLIMENTS…I love montreal even more now 
Oh yes, Montreal is soooo nice in the summer time, come over!!
Thank’s for your answer. I don’t know if I’m ready for fasting since sleep is not perfect yet and don’t want to add more stress to my body, but i’m really curious about it and would love to read his approch and try to see how I react
See you around next summer
You may be right about the sleep-stress thing re IF. I find that if I skip breakfast – which I naturally prefer to do – I fall asleep in teh afternoon. Clearly something’s not optimal there. The possible consideration in my case is that IF is not appropriate for anyone with thyroid or adrenal (there’s that stress thing again) issues.
Dean, I’ll be watching for more posts on this. Not to sound tragic but I am pretty much alone on this train. I can attest that without the reinforcement of community, knowledge and mindset fail. Going back to PaleoHacks for everything, and sifting through 32 opinions from people who don’t have the whole story as it applies to me, sucks. Particularly when my answer to ‘why are you doing this’ isn’t weight loss or “getting ripped”, because that informs 99% of the answers out there.
Wow! I seriously thought there was something radically wrong with me but reading Paula’s comment has helped me see that it isn’t so! I started eating sugar free chocolate candy thinking it would help me transition from eating sugar. My thought was because they don’t have sugar in them I would be able to control my binging. Not so! They call my name as loudly as any sugared substance does. So now I know they cannot be a part of my life! I’d rather have my 3 treats a week of real food anyway! Thanks everybody for helping me see that I am not a weirdo!!!