Summer Innanen's "Rock Your Body" program for women

I've gone on (and on and on) on this blog about how the key to happiness is, first and foremost, fixing your head. Meditation, mindfulness, etc.

Your attitude -- and corresponding mental approach to whatever the "problem" is -- is nearly everything. And that rule applies to finding the critical answer to the question, "How should I eat?"

Along comes Summer Innanen's Rock Your Body program for women who are struggling with what seems like a never-ending rollercoaster of food/body-comp/weight/etc. issues.

Every now and then I get asked by someone to promote a product. I almost always pass on the opportunity, but this one seemed a little different to me. Why?

1. I wouldn't promote something if I weren't positive that it's a good thing. I first ran into Summer via Melissa Joulwan. Like Melissa, Summer has her approach to fitness and health firmly planted in the no-dieting/healthy-attitude camp. She's one of those rare people (like Mel Joulwan) whose blog and Facebook posts almost always get a "Hell yeah!" from me as I sit at my keyboard. (And often you'll find me reposting Summer's stuff on my Facebook page). She's cool, smart and isn't going to send you into a wacky gimmick-filled freak scene of dieting nonsense.

2. This program focuses on a woman's attitude toward health and fitness, first and foremost. One of the things I learned early on in my blogging adventure is that, churning in their brains, women have food/exercise issues that most men never ever think about. Guys (in general) aren't wired that way. Add to the mix some crappy (and creepy) awful societal pressure (thigh gaps, anyone? -- the answer's "no" by the way) and tons of misinformation ("Calories in/calories out!" "Lifting heavy makes you bulky!") and it all can be a confusing cluster of contradictions, which just leads to frustration and failure.

3. This video program is free. Yeah, free. You sign up using this link and Summer sends you free videos. There is little risk involved.

And, yup, if you love her approach -- and I think you will -- there will eventually, at the end of the free program, be a chance for you to sign up for a paid program with Summer. (And, yup again, if you do that, I'll get a commission out of it, just so you know). But she's not going to give you a hard sell. Why? Because she's cool, and because, if she did, I'd be forced to go out to Vancouver and do this and no one wants that. (Seriously, if I thought this was going to devolve into a gross exercise in used-car-sales tactics, I wouldn't get involved).

So who is this program for? First and foremost: women! (Duh, you got that already, right?) But second: women who have a history of frustration when it comes to body-image/weight/fitness issues.  Maybe you've starved yourself, or "rollercoaster" dieted, or  "cardio"-ed yourself into a hormonal wreck. Or maybe you've even jumped over to a CrossFit-style fitness approach, or strict paleo, and you just feel like you've traded one form of obsession and guilt for another.

That's the end of my pitch. Summer's smart. She knows her stuff. She is downright empowering in her approach to all of this. She might be able to help you out.

Once you clean things up, it's pretty f*%^ing simple

I saw this post from PaleOMG and thought, "Yes!"

I'm all about eating (and living) in a way that makes sense for that moment and that day. The last two days I worked hard at the gym. Lots of deadlifts, squats, some rowing, metcon work, etc. So I needed (and ate) carbs -- clean paleo carbs, but lots of them. (It's possible that I altered my DNA to partly become a sweet potato -- covered in cinnamon, of course).  And I ate lots of protein too. Maybe more delicious animal protein than I actually needed, but we were at the best BBQ place in Philly at the time. Oh, and butterscotch pudding, because whatever, dude.... I wanted it. Eat whatever you want.

Today's not going to be all that active -- a little volunteer work at the local dog shelter walking some pooches, probably a long dog walk with our pack too. That's about it. So I'm not going to be stuffing in the carbs like I did the last two days. Right now, breakfast is going to be some sardines, some pastured bacon, a few eggs and some raw sauerkraut. Super low carb... because it feels right today. Super delicious because hell yes.

Remember: Whole 30s and challenges and all that are great, if you use them to clean up, detox and figure out how to eat day-to-day. But fuck food neurosis and rules for the sake of rules over the long haul. Figure it out. Go with it. Breathe deep. Enjoy life.