...and it really isn't as bad as everyone thinks it is. It's not like a cult thing or a religious thing where this has been dictated to me by some official being. It's not even like a fad diet like Atkins where you get on the bandwagon for a couple of months, lose a bunch of weight, get off the fad diet, and then become a giant fatty again. Nope. Surprisingly enough, this Paleo thing has become a lifestyle for me.
How did I get started?: Being generally fat and unhappy, the boyfriend and I had resolved to start eating healthier, be more active, and finally lose a bit of that collective weight we had gained being a happily coupled couple who liked to eat tasty things. We were doing all those things but the weight loss really wasn't there. One day he was listening to NPR one morning when they had a special report on the "Paleolithic Diet". I think all he heard was "you can eat meat, veggies, and fruit" and he was sold. He came home and pitched the idea to me. Of course I was a little reluctant. Giving up cheese? That was like giving up breathing. Oh and giving up grains? Those freshly baked loaves of deliciousness that call to me as they sit on the table at a restaurant are practically irresistible and I probably ate spaghetti 3 times a week. But I thought I'd humor him and give it a whirl. Nothing else seemed to be working.
What does it mean to be "Paleo"?: So basically being paleo means you cannot eat the following:
- Grains and beans (yes, that includes, but is not limited to, wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, brown rice, soy, peanuts, kidney beans, pinto beans, navy beans and black eyed
peas.)
- Vegetable or other hydrogenated oils
- Sugar (you'd be surprised at how many things have sugar added to them. Have you checked out deli meats lately? Crap)
- Dairy (bye, bye delicious cheese and gallons of cow milk)
Super hardcore Paleo followers also say that you should only eat organic/grass fed meat and not regular meat you find in any meat counter at a supermarket but that stuff gets ridiculously expensive. I wanted to make this something that could actually be a reasonable lifestyle change that didn't impact me significantly in the financial area or just be a general pain in the ass
So what can I eat? Well ton's of things:
- Nuts. Glorious nuts.
- Meat/Fish/Poultry
- Coconut Milk (surprisingly delicious)
- Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Avocado Oil or any other non-hydrogenated oil
- Remember how I said bread was off the table? Well I can make baked goods with nut flours such almond flour or even coconut flour! AND THEY ARE SOOOO TASTY
- Fruit
- Veggies. Om Nom Nom
- Grassfed Butter (kind of iffy on this one and don't really use a lot of it. only special occassions)
- Natural sweeteners like honey or agave
- Potatoes (also not really authentically Paleo but hey, if you saw a critter in the Paleolithic era munching on a tasty tuber, wouldn't you knock that critter out, eat it, and then munch on what it was eating? Yeah, me too.)
See? I can eat A TON of things and its surprisingly easy to stay Paleo when going out too. You can't always determine what oils a restaurant is going to cook with but if you stick with protein and veggie options, you're going to be fairly safe and pretty close to your goal. Remember, it's about it being manageable and not something that controls your life.
Do you cheat?: Absolutely. We have a cheat day once a week. At first its was a whole day of all the things we couldn't eat... pizza, hot dogs, nachos, the works! But we soon realized that everytime we ate those things we would feel queasy and awful, almost like having a hangover but with just really bad junk food. Realizing this, we've just limited it to one cheat item each week. Sometimes its a soy latte othertimes its an entire pizza. Decision is based on how much pain we're willing to be in that day.
Have you seen any results?: Yup. I've lost 35 lbs since we started in March 2012. I'll take it. Of course that weight loss can be also attributed to workouts 3 to 4 times a week (only about 30 min each session). I've never felt better and now I can shop for cute clothes instead clothes that hide my gut. BONUS!
Would you recommend it?: Sure. Its definitely not for everyone. If you don't feel like making the lifestyle commitment (yes, that means throwing EVERYTHING out in your house that could be not paleo friendly and sticking with that) then don't do it or just do a modified version. It might be easier just giving up one thing at a time (sugar for example) then trying to go cold turkey. Being healthy is the main goal so figuring out what works for you is the most important thing.
Alright. I'm done. This was one loooonnnng post. Please don't unfollow me. I promise the other ones won't be so wordy :)
I've played golf since I was 5. Dad used to take me out on the weekends to the Par 3 course by our house and we would spend hours driving, putting, and generally arguing about who got to drive the cart (yes, my Dad even rented a cart on a Par 3 course). It was a time for us to bond, talk about what was going on in school, and learn how to play a game that required way more strategy than I ever thought.
