The Paleo Diet

I have just completed a 31 day challenge where I strictly follow the Paleo diet--no cheats! Not even one little bite! (Except for the time I didn't realize peas were a legume...whoops!) Growing up as a ballet dancer I learned about food and nutrition very early on, so I feel like I had a lot of practice with healthy eating (and not so healthy...hello, college!). I can't even tell you how much I learned in one month...I am so glad that I did this! I have a lot of opinions, so this might be a long-winded blog post, but bear with me. I'll break it down into a couple sections for you:

Things I Learned:
-Eat MORE at each meal. I ate massive meals--we're talking 1/2-1 lb of meat in one sitting. Half a pound of vegetables. Nearly every morning I started my day out with 4 egg whites, 3 medium sized pancakes (see my post on 5 minute pancakes for recipe), a whole grapefruit and black coffee. Often dinner would be a half pound burger with about a pound of vegetables. We're talking big meals. These lean meat, vegetable heavy meals will keep your body energized and satisfied and since there is no sugar, you won't feel a crash later leaving you wanting more food.
-There's something about this diet that has helped my asthma like nothing I've ever tried before. I used to use my rescue inhaler about 5-6 times a week, and I think I've used it about 3-4 times this whole month. I need to do some further investigating as to why this is, but it's no mistake. My asthma greatly improved.
-My sugar and carb cravings were GONE day 1. When you completely eradicate sugar from your diet (except for fructose from fruit), your body doesn't miss a thing. This was one of the biggest surprises for me because I used to gobble chocolate, cereal, you name it. I would get these mental cravings (girls, you know what I'm talking about) and I couldn't stop thinking about that food until I ate it. All physical and mental cravings for carbs and sugar were totally, completely gone after DAY ONE. Crazy, huh?
-All those little things you think you NEED...cream in your coffee or some sweetener, a piece of bread with your soup, butter on your vegetables...whatever it is...just try not to have it. You really don't need it, I promise. You'll start to realize how delicious food tastes without butter, sugar, and salt all over it.

My Opinion on Paleo
I think a lot of what this diet is about is great. Eliminating added sugar, anything artificial or processed...wonderful. Promoting eating as many vegetables as you can...awesome. Lean meats? Great. I can say first hand that I feel amazing--I sleep better, I'm more energized, my cravings are gone, my digestion issues are gone, my asthma is improved, my skin is clearer, and I'm never bloated. There's just one lingering issue in my mind. I think the whole concept of "eating like a caveman" is kind of idiotic. It's really too bad this diet isn't called "Dr. Cordain's Natural Diet" or something along those lines. Anthropologists have proved that Paleolithic humans were in fact making crude flour from grains, and that most hunter-gatherer diets were mainly vegetarian. I'm also pretty sure there was some cannibalism going on with these peeps. Also, how much coconut oil do you think the cavemen were really jamming on? I think the whole "eat like a caveman" aspect is what puts the Paleo diet in the fad category, which is unfortunate because there are so many great things about it. I have said it before and I'll say it again, I'm never going to follow anything that completely wipes out food groups. It's great to try for a month, and if you are the type of person that needs to follow it religiously 24-7 to feel your best, go for it. I personally think that there are those occasions in life where you just want drink a damn beer and you should. You should never deprive yourself of anything. I'll quote Bethenny Frankel again--"You can have it all, you just can't have it all at once." The key to anything and everything in life is moderation.

My Plan For the Future
Personally I plan on taking what I have learned this past month and incorporating it in my life in a way that works for me. I'm going to stay lactose free because I'm pretty sure that's the root of my tummy troubles. I also plan on avoiding processed and artificial foods at all costs. I am going to limit my grains and when I do eat bread it's going to be in small quantities and always be whole wheat. Beans and ancient grains such as quinoa and amaranth will be coming back into my diet today. I'll be more vigilant about reading labels and avoiding as much added sugar and salt as possible. At the end of the day, I think in order to be happy and healthy you need to listen to your own body and do what's best for you. We are all different and I don't think there is any cookie-cutter diet that works for everyone.