I never thought it would be for me. I love cheese and I love bread. How on earth would I manage? But we had been doing Crossfit for a month and we weren't really losing any serious weight. Which our coaches, rightfully, attributed to our diets. We would leave the box and stop by the Mexican place or grab a pizza and wash it all down with wine and beer. Not every night, but more often than we had a right to if we really wanted to make a serious change. So we decided to give it a try. We followed the basic tenants - meat, veggies, fruit, and nuts. No refined sugar, grains, dairy, legumes, corn, or potatoes. We felt fantastic within mere weeks. The only downside was that we had very limited palettes or cooking skills. We made a few staples (steak, pork chops) and tried a few new things (spaghetti squash, where have you been all my life?!), but it was already getting a little old. Then my husband had his accident and we were out of commission.
But now that he is almost fully recovered we have been building our way back into eating Paleo. And this time, I started with more research. What exactly is Paleo? As soon as you call it the Caveman Diet I think folks get the gist. Eating like our hunter/gatherer ancestors - only the foods they could get and the way they would eat them. But that seems to be interpreted differently by different people. For example, what's Primal? Or why do we hear so many different rules regarding Paleo depending on who you talk to? Looking deeper down the rabbit hole can make it all seem more difficult, when really - like any lifestyle, versus a diet - it just all depends. There are so many variations and the names often get used interchangeably. (Aglaee does a great job of breaking down most of the "real food diets" here.)
Honestly, I feel like it all boils down to one thing - finding what works for you. Do you want your body to feel better, cleaner, and healthier? Seems logical that cutting out artificial food could help in that area. Are you trying to lose some weight? Kind of obvious you will need to cut down on fruit and carbs. I think my friend Kendra broke it down well for me on her blog and between her and my reading and my own initial experience I came to five important conclusions for myself:
- Don't deny yourself. Weigh your options and make a decision based on what you think is more important to you. Do you want that cookie? Okay, you might need to do an extra workout but that's up to you. Denying everything all the time will cause you feelings of resentment and make it all seem more difficult than it is.
- If you decide to eat something less than healthy, move on. One moment of weakness does not mean you're a failure - it just means you're human. I often find that I regret those decisions enough to not make them again.
- Like everything in life, moderation is key. You want to have a cheat day or cheat meal? Fine, but don't go too crazy or your body will pay for it unnecessarily.
- Variety is the spice of life. Try new foods. (Oh hai kale!) Try old foods in new ways. (Pomegranate seeds in mashed sweet potatoes - who'da thunk?!) Discover the joy of spices! My spice rack has tripled in size and I'm loving it.
- The point of these changes is to get your body to burn good fats for energy, instead of carbs. So you're basically retraining your body and training for anything takes time, effort, and perseverance.
At the end of it all, I just want to be eating healthier. For myself, for my family, for any possible future family. Now, if in the meantime I could lose some of my extra, unhealthy weight in the process - that's icing on the Paleo-friendly cake. And certainly an important component to that goal is exercise - but more on that next time! For now I'll leave you with some great Paleo Resources, stolen from around the web:
- Balanced Bites
- Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations
- Fit Bomb's Why I Eat Paleo
- Mark's Daily Apple Primal Living
- PaleOMG
- Paleo Plan Food Guide
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