Going Paleo

I wrote this last week, but forgot to post it. I am now on day 12 of going paleo and will write more about that later.

On Thursday I committed to going paleo for the next 3 weeks. What is “going paleo” you ask? Paleo is short for Paleolithic, which refers to the era of the cavemen. In essence, the paleo diet is the caveman diet or the hunter gatherer diet. If your caveman ancestors didn’t eat it, you don’t eat it. Whole natural foods, nothing processed. For some foods, it is fairly easy to decide if it is “ok” or not. Obviously, no soda, no potato chips, no brownies. For other foods, it is a little less clear. On the paleo diet, you do not consume grains or starches like potatoes. Why? Because you cannot eat these foods in their natural, uncooked state. If you went out and tried to eat raw potato, you would get sick. It took a long time for man to figure out that they could broaden their culunary options by cooking food. So, while you can cook your food on the paleo diet, you cannot eat anything that you are obligated to cook in order to eat safely. Also, dairy is a no no. This one is controversial to some because milk is the first food that humans eat and it doesn’t necessarily have to be processed. But modern dairy products are predominantly processed and pasteurized and are therefore off limits. The body also has a hard time digesting dairy so it is a good idea to limit it as much as possible.

So that is the cut and dry explanation. For the last 4 days, I have stuck to my commitment. I have been eating a lot of lean protein like chicken and bison, and a lot of fruit and veggies. I am usually pretty clean with my eating, but I have making a real effort to measure and count what I am putting in my body. I haven’t been hungry and mentally I feel like I am making progress. I have started a food journal where I write everything I eat and in what quantity and at what time. I am also tracking my weight, my water intake, and my workouts. So far, I have lost 2 pounds. Even if those are water weight, I will take it. So for the next 18 days, it is going to be a lot of veggies, fruit, almonds, olive oil, chicken, bison, and fish. But you know what? That doesn’t sound too bad to me.