Have you ever eaten Paleo?
So its about to be the beginning of a new year and it's time for a repeat of last year and the year before. We start a fitness & diet program until about Feb, we quit it and we're done with it until the next year. Living regrets and hating the mirror for 11 months out of the year isn't fair to you. You work to hard to settle and look who you do not want to be. Don't you feel its time for a clean slate? What is your New Year's Resolution? Do you have a effective game plan ready? Are you mentally prepared? Why waste a month for New Years? Thats a month of life you'll never get back! So here is your quick start guide to start moving in the right direction.
Well family and friends, I got something you might wanna try out. I've been singing the praises of Crossfit for the last 2 years or so but I got something else for you to think about trying. (Check out Crossfit92.com for more information on my fitness program!)Insert the Paleo Diet. What is it? Some new craze? Nope, not at all. Its what people have been eating prior to the introduction of modern day agriculture a mere 10,000 years ago. Also, its not really a diet either. Diets leave you hungry and unsatisfied, constatly wanting more food. I dare you to feel that way being Paleo...
First things First....
What are the basic tenets of eating Paleo?
- Eat lots of Vegggies (I know, already sounds wacky right?)
- Eat lots of Meat, preferably grass fed but don't stress on that too much in the beginning.
- Eat lots of Good Fat (Whoa! Hold on right? Fat?! Isn't that bad for us? No. Stay with me and I'll explain that in a bit.
- Stay away from Grains (Bread, cookies, little debbies, etc.)
- Stay away from Dairy (milk, cheese, etc.)
- Stay away from Legumes (Beans, peanuts)
- Stay away from SUGAR (Candy, syrup, etc.)
- Limit your fruit intake to a minimum (Fruit contains frutose and is basically nature's candy. Yes, I know its better than McDonald's French Fries but it still has a butt ton a sugar and you can get all the vitamins you need from all the veggies you should be eating, right?)
That's pretty much the basics. I know, I know. It sounds tough and you are probably feeling that all of your comfort foods have just been thrown out the window. Stay with me and we'll get you off the Crack and into smaller jeans and a healthier outlook.
How do you shop for Paleo? Well basically just stick to the perimeter of the grocery store. The produce and the meat departments are your new best friends. Everything you need to start this year/decade off right can be found there. Steak, Chicken, Pork, Turkey, Broccoli, Bell Peppers, Cauliflower, Avocados, Almonds, etc. Starting to get the idea?
Have you ever eaten Paleo? You might be thinking that you don't know how to cook without bread, pasta, sugar, etc. Let me ask you this...have you ever had an omelet for breakfast? Have you ever had a salad for lunch with chicken breasts? Have you ever had a big steak and broccoli for dinner? If you answered yes to one of those, congrats, you've eaten Paleo before. If you answered yes to all 3 then you've had a Paleo day. It may have not been all together in the same day but collectively you have.
So whats this crazy thing about eating lots of fat you said earlier? Well, yah eat fat...lots of it. Good fat that is. Almonds, Avocados, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil. If you are eating grassfed meat then the fat on your meat is great for you too. How is this? Well your body can natural run on fat as opposed to carbs. Thats right, you can fuel your body on fat and adapt it to use the excess (on your butt, stomach, thighs, wherever) instead of wolfing down Twinkies and sugary energy drinks.
But wait aren't grains good for you? Short answer, No. Long answer is Grains were certainly not a substantial part of the human diet prior to the Agricultural Revolution, our digestive processes haven't evolved to maximize the effectiveness of grain consumption, it wrecks havoc with insulin and other hormonal responses in the body and it will eventually be broken down into glucose and most likely get stored as fat(because carbohydrates elicit a physiological response that favors fat storage). Also, grains aren't the complete nutritional sources they’re made out to be. Any nutrients you can get from whole grains you can get in equal to greater amounts in other food such as meat and veggies. Grains also contain Gluten and Lectins, but thats a whole lot longer story. The bottom line is this: grains = carbs. Unnecessary at best, but flat out unhealthy at worst, they’re not the wholesome staples they’re made out to be.
Pheww...thats a lot to take in right? Don't stress. There is literally a metric butt ton of more info that can be debated with Paleo. Just try for a month to KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) Paleo and see if it works for you or not. Whatdya got to loose? Maybe a few pounds and you might gain some good things like confidence, energy, etc.
Here is the take away from all this:
"Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat." (Excerpt from World-Class Fitness in 100 Words by Greg Glassman founder of Crossfit)
Dig into these sites for further information:
robbwolf.com (Intermittent Fasting, Fitness, & Paleolithic Nutrition)
whole9life.com/9-blog/ (Let Us Run Your Life - An Integrated System for Health and Fitness)
paleonu.com (paleolithic nutrition - duplicating the evolutionary metabolic milieu)
marksdailyapple.com (Primal Living in the Modern World)
thepaleodiet.com (Optimize Your Health, Lose Weight, and Reduce Disease!)
If you have any questions on how to get started or guidance feel free to shoot me a email or phone call!
Your Body Transformation Expert,
Edward Hardee <Crossfit 92>
