Ancestral Health Symposium 2012

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I have A LOT of pictures to share with you!!!  I made them into collages to help with downloading time.

The first day I arrived in the morning.  I walked around the town of Cambridge, where Harvard is located.  Ohhhh I saw the most beautiful homes.  White picket fences, brick sidewalks, gorgeous homes….I want to live there!

I really liked the top house in this picture. Harvard University – Columns all over the place! More of Harvard. Some interesting statues at Harvard University. Harvard – Brick gates were everywhere.  I decided to take a rest on the stairs.  It was so peaceful.

I was soooo excited to hear Terry Wahls speak.  I kept running into her in the washroom but I was too shy to say I’m inspired by you!  The other speaker I snapped a picture of is Andreas Eenfeldt from the The Diet Doctor aka the swedish doctor.  I really enjoyed his talk.  I met Jimmy Moore!  I saw him on Thursday but I was too stunned to say “Hi!”.  I finally went up to him at the Barefoot Banquet on the final day and introduced myself.  Jimmy is a sweetheart!  He is a really nice guy.

The amazing friends I made!!!  1st photo is: Tom, Me, & Lindsay Starke.  Tom is from New Zealand but now resides in Norway.  He is pursuing his Phd in Anthropology.  He’s such a sweet guy!  2nd photo: Victoria & Myself ~ Victoria is pursuing her passion in medicine.  She is a kind, loving person!  Lindsay Starke was my roomie for the duration of the conference.  She is AMAZING!!!  I loved our talks on paleo and life in general.  One blog post described her as the Michael Jordan of twitter.  She is a social media guru, down-to-earth, amazing individual.  I feel blessed to have met her and spent time with her.

The food!!!  The first pic is lunch #1 served at the conference.  I loved the onions.  2nd pic is mussels.  3rd pic is the 2nd lunch we were served.  Can you tell I really love guacamole!  Under the guacamole was a grass fed hamburger served with sweet potato fries.  Meals were hard at the conference.  Most days I had to go without breakfast.  My body needs breakfast!!!  The lunches served were great!  Dinner was usually late at night and Lindsay and I would go out with others and enjoy raw oysters, lots of seafood, some wine, and the company of great people.  I really miss everyone!  The Barefoot Banquet was disappointing in terms of food.  The banquet was something we had to pay extra to attend.  The conference ended around 6:30pm and the banquet started at 7:30pm.  We had a little time to head back to the hotel, freshen up and change.  I knew dinner would not be served, but instead the evening would consist of appetizers.  The appetizers were few and unappealing.  I was puzzled why they would serve mini hamburgers on gluten free buns.  Most people including myself threw the buns aside.  The food was mostly vegetables….  We left and foraged for some good food!  We ended up at the Russel House (not sure of the name).   I ate the most delicious grass fed hamburger, with a slice of cheddar cheese (sometimes I eat a little dairy), and fries.


The last day my flight left at 8:30 pm so I spent some time touring Boston, across the bridge from Cambridge.  Above & below are pictures of one of the parks.

Boston has quirks!  I thought the door was hilarious. Churches were everywhere.

The first day I walked around in sneakers…I had blisters all over my feet!  After that I walked around in my heels…umm Cambridge & Boston does not have level sidewalks!!!  As you can see the 2 pics this was what most of the sidewalks looked like.  I walked very slowly.  I didn’t want to break an ankle.

More of downtown Boston. What I learned:

That everyone is different.  One person will approach a Paleo diet from a low carb perspective and wish to stay in ketosis, and another person would rather incorporate safe starches in their diet.  It is really up to the individual.  Although vegetarians praise legumes for their great nutritional profile, and they are correct according to Mat LalondeBUT only highly nutritious raw and you CANNOT eat them raw!  The most edible highly nutritious food is the food supported on the Paleo diet.  Consider eating items raw, including meat (or at least eat your meat cooked below 300 deg).  This point was brought up by Terry Wahls and Denise MingerMark Sisson, Robb Wolf & Jimmy Moore are great people!  You could always see them sitting with the crowd listening to the presentations (no VIP area for them).  Tanka makes damn good bars!!!  Not only did I get to hangout with their marketing manager, Jenice, I enjoyed sampling their bars throughout the day.  Thank you to the Tanka Bar fairy who mysteriously placed a bar in my bag!  That made my day when I needed a snack on Sunday.  Finally I learned that Paleo is sooo much more than a way of eating.  I already see it as a lifestyle but Peter Gray gave a talk entitled The Role of Play in the Development of Social & Emotional Competence: Hunter-Gatherers, 1950s America, and Now.  I loved his message.  He talked about the characteristics of children raised in tribal environments.  How they never played in specific age group play settings but among children of varying ages.  The children rarely cried and were very content.  The elder children disciplined the younger children.  Bullying was not tolerated.  Today there is a private school that is using similar principles.  I found the talk interesting.

Overall, I had a great time at the conference and I’m looking forward to attending more in the future.  Thank you for all your support, reading my blog posts about the event, watching the YouTube videos I posted during the event ~ I really appreciate it!

Thanks,

DISCLOSURE: Not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations is at the choice and risk of the reader. Ditch the Wheat is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. I only endorse products that I believe in.

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A cookie tray of easy peanut butter cookies.

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2 Comments

  1. love the pictures! sounds like you had an awesome time…great talks, great people, great food, and great scenery…i love Boston and Cambridge! i’m crossing my fingers hoping that a paleo/primal conference is held when my mom is in town, so she can watch my little guy. oh, and he’s starting a part-time preschool program at the end of the month that is a community learning environment…mixed ages, fresh meals made from local foods (no junk food allowed), and social/montessori based.

    thanks for sharing. i feel like i was there!

    1. Hi Melissa!!!

      I got my ticket last minute. I signed up for the waiting list months ago and out of the blue I got an email that there was a ticket available. I’m so happy I went. I enjoyed every second of it. There are rumours that the Paleo FX conference will be held in Texas again. I think that conference is 6 months from now? The Paleo FX is the more practical conference with cooking demos & exercise talks. I really want to go to that one but it will depend on the cost of the flight.

      That is awesome your child’s school is so forward thinking (or past thinking?)

      I can’t wait to read more about it on your blog.

      Carol

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