Paleo Diet musings
Okay, so at least a few people in my life know that I recently (very recently) started trying to follow the Paleo Diet. There's a couple of reasons for this, but I'll get to those in a minute. First, let me explain what Paleo is.
The Paleo diet is (supposedly) based on the idea that humans evolved to eat and digest very different things from what we eat today. Paleo proponents argue that farming and a grain-based are, from an evolutionary standpoint, very recent developments, and that our bodies aren't really set up to cope with the kind of meals that we consume. Instead, they say, we should be trying to eat a diet that resembles that of hunter-gatherer bands, which means primarily vegetables, protein (preferably from meat) and healthy fats, with our carbohydrates (of which there should be much less than is currently recommended or consumed) coming almost exclusively from fruit. Processed foods, artificial sweeteners and additives, refined sugar, and simple carbs are to be avoided as completely as possible. Many proponents of what I'll refer to as "pure" Paleo also recommend limiting or completely avoiding the consumption of dairy products (eggs and butter are not considered dairy under Paleo's classifications) due to a belief that consuming lactose causes some kind of undesirable insulin response.
I'll be honest, I haven't really dug into the science behind some of the stricter parts of "pure" Paleo, because for one thing, that's not how I'm choosing to practice it, and for another, I think some of the logic is probably shaky. A lot of the proponents of "pure" Paleo are bloggers who seem to A) possess no particular scientific credentials; and B) have the type of metabolism, habits and genetic makeup to ensure that they remain slim and reasonably healthy no matter what they eat. These are not the type of people who, if they're feeling a bit sad and aren't too careful, can consume an entire large pizza by themselves, and then go looking for dessert.
I am that type of person. I hate exercise, love junk food, and have struggled with my weight all my life. As far as my eating habits are concerned, the five food groups are crunchy, cheesy, caffeinated, sweet and pizza. As I've gotten older, I've only become more sedentary and less healthy.
I have always been unhappy with my body, but now that I'm on the downhill side of my twenties, I'm also starting to worry about my health. I'm tired, all the time, no matter how much I sleep. I eat continuously, but I never have any energy, and my blood sugar plunges if I go more than about two hours without food. My feet hurt, my hips and my back ache. I get winded going up more than one flight of stairs. It's not a pretty picture.
I've always been fat, but I never felt like it held me back in a real, physical way before. I learned to drive late in my life, so I spent years taking long, fast walks to get around. I was in pretty good shape, in spite of my extra weight. But since I got my license, I don't do that any more, and things have really gone downhill. Now, I don't have to walk, and since I usually don't want to, I've gotten to the point that I can't, which makes me want to even less.
Recently, I started thinking about doing something drastic to try to lose weight. No one made me, or shamed me. I wanted to. At first, I thought about having surgery to get the Lap-Band, or something similar, and started doing research on it. The more I found out about weight-loss surgery, though, the less I wanted to try it. It's risky, there are tons of potential complications, and it costs a small fortune. Not to mention, you still have to adhere to a strict, conventional diet and exercise regimen, which, let's be honest, if I wanted to do that, I wouldn't be looking into getting surgery!
I don't remember how I stumbled onto the Nerd Fitness Academy, but I was absolutely fascinated after just one blog post. (I'm lazy, so you'll have to Google it yourself, but it's a great site.) I started reading all of the success stories, the tips for beginners, and the philosophy behind the whole thing which can basically be summed up as: "dieting and exercise aren't much fun. Let's turn it into a game!"
One of the things that intrigued me about their program was that while the founder is quick to praise the ideas behind the Paleo diet, he doesn't necessarily recommend that everyone adhere to "pure" Paleo. (Another was that they dole out a LOT of useful information for free.) He says that the Nerd Fitness nutritional program, while based on Paleo, is primarily built around getting people to eat healthy and satisfying meals, and that it's meant to be a way of eating that people can actually live with.
Anyway, I started reading about Paleo in general, and decided to try it out for a month and see if it was something I could actually do. I'm hoping to lose weight (I'll also be starting strength training soon, which I'll talk about in another post) but mostly, I want to feel better and be healthier. Because there's so much information out there, though, and so much of it is contradictory or based on what I suspect is some kind of trendy pseudoscience, I'm working on creating eating habits for myself that I jokingly refer to as Budget Paleo.
Basically, I've cut out grain-based carbs, refined sugar, preprocessed food, and legumes from my diet. I still allow myself a bit of raw cane sugar in my coffee, and a little honey in my tea, because I'm only human, and I have read a couple of blogs whose owners say that they feel both red wine and dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa) can have a place in a healthy Paleo lifestyle. That doesn't mean eat them every day, of course, but it's nice to know I can still satisfy my sweet tooth and have a little drink now and again.
I eat some kind of protein with every meal, usually in the form of meat, and I include a vegetable or fruit with every meal, as well. I'm trying to be careful about how much fat I consume, because that's a bit of a slippery slope for me, and heart disease runs in my family, but I'm also not guilt-tripping myself over everything that goes into my mouth. After a little thought, I've decided to side with the people who believe that dairy is okay in Paleo, since I'm not lactose-intolerant, and I'm experimenting with their suggestion that if you're going to consume dairy, it should be full-fat and as unprocessed as possible. This means I'm eating a couple of ounces of raw-milk cheese as a snack, and putting half-and-half in my coffee, but I've stopped drinking milk for the moment. If I can find a way to make it palatable to myself, I may also start eating plain yogurt. I don't think I'll end up calcium-deficient, but we'll cross that bridge if we come to it.
Usually, so far, my day looks like this: in the morning, I scramble two eggs (I can't eat them any other way without toast, alas) and fry two slices of bacon. A couple of mornings, I've put green peppers in my eggs, but if I don't have a vegetable at breakfast, I don't beat myself up. I have a cup of coffee with half-and-half, a glass of water, and maybe a handful of blueberries if I'm still hungry. Breakfast is the hardest meal, because I always crave sweets really strongly in the morning, but I haven't found a good way to satisfy that so far. I know this isn't the healthiest meal ever, but I'm getting in my protein and fats, at least, and blueberries are a good source of fiber. I have to work with what I've got right now.
Lunch, which I cook a few days ahead of time and portion out in the refrigerator, has been chicken stir-fry with green and yellow peppers and carrots. (The next two days will be a cajun-seasoned pork cutlet and a mixture of broccoli and yellow peppers sauteed in a teaspoon of olive oil.) I also sometimes take an apple, or more blueberries, in case I'm still hungry after that, although so far I haven't been. I toss either some almonds or cashews into my work bag to snack on, too, if it's going to be a long day. Oh, and water. I always take a big bottle of water to work with me. I've gotten coffee (cream no sugar) at Dunkin Donuts once so far, but usually the water is good enough.
When I get home, I usually eat an ounce of cheese or yet more blueberries (I like them, okay?) while I'm cooking dinner. Since I don't have a microwave, I usually end up cooking my dinner every night. What this is depends on how hungry I am; some nights, it's just the cheese and a small serving of veggies. One night, I had eggs again. One night, I had a hamburger on a plate and some broccoli. I try to make sure that vegetables feature in whatever I'm eating, and I try to spread out my fat intake throughout the day, so that I'm not just filling up on fats and protein. At the beginning of this week, I had three bell peppers, a zucchini, a bag of carrots, a bag of celery, a bag of frozen broccoli, and a box of spinach in my fridge. Tonight, I have one bell pepper, half a bag of carrots, a zucchini and half a box of spinach. Not bad, for someone who is not in the habit of eating ANY vegetables unless someone else forces her (or they're smothered in Caesar dressing).
I've also been looking up recipes that are Paleo friendly, to give my food some variety, and I'm realizing that I'm going to have to plan my meals more than I'm used to, both for the sake of my budget and for proper nutrition, but I think I'm up to the challenge. It actually doesn't take all that long to cook a decent meal for one, when you have a good incentive, and I'm certainly not going to bed hungry! Actually, I feel like I've been eating less food (at least with less frequency) throughout the day than I normally would, but feeling more full and satisfied. It's been interesting.
I also have a good bit more energy now than I'm used to, though that's kind of crept up on me. I didn't realize until I went off my Paleo habits how much they've affected me in a short time.
Around the time that I started doing Paleo, I also switched over to decaf for my coffee, because I had noticed that I was getting a really nasty crash around noon or one every day--usually about an hour after I'd finished my breakfast/morning coffee. I assumed it was because of caffeine, and decided to cut back a bit. I didn't notice any caffeine withdrawal, which I put down to the fact that decaf still has some caffeine in it, and I assumed any lack of alertness was being mitigated by the amount of energy I was getting from eating so much goddamn protein.
Yesterday, I gave myself a bit of a "cheat day," because I'd expected to be going over to someone else's house for dinner, and didn't want to be rude and picky about what I ate while I was there. That didn't end up happening, but I figured I may as well give myself a bit of license anyway, and ended up eating a small (99-cent snack size) bag of Utz chips and drinking a frozen mocha while I was running 7th Sea. I got kind of sluggish and sleepy afterwards, but since it was past 2 AM when the game wrapped up, I didn't think much about it.
Today, Penguin and I went out to Bob Evans for brunch, and although I ordered a fairly Paleo-friendly meal (eggs, bacon, and fruit) it came with toast, and I couldn't resist eating one slice of it with my eggs. The effect was swift and profound. After finishing our food, we went to Wal-Mart to look for curtains for our apartment, and within about fifteen minutes, I was feeling the familiar "caffeine crash" sensation. My eyelids drooped, I yawned every few seconds, and the overall sensation was that I wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed.
I am fully-convinced that this was as a result of consuming bread carbs, because I haven't felt that way AT ALL since I started eating Paleo. I used to eat cereal or a bagel, or eggs and toast, every single morning. No wonder I got a nasty crash every day, and no wonder no amount of strong DD coffee would perk me up! My mother, when I told her about this, mentioned that she experiences the same thing--she strongly craves sweets in the morning, but if she eats any kind of grain-based carb, she crashes, hard. I know it's only anecdotal evidence, but it seems to be a good explanation, and a simple fix for those nasty, exhausting spells that I hate so much.
I'm back on my Budget Paleo now, and I think I'll stick with it. It seems to be making me happier and maybe even healthier. If I lose weight, great--I certainly don't see myself gaining any while on this diet plan, at any rate. I might still give myself a "cheat day" every other Sunday, just to keep from freaking out and eating a whole pizza the first time I get frustrated, but we'll see. Maybe I won't need it, or maybe I'll be able to wean off that kind of thing.
Either way, for the first time in a while, I don't feel like my feelings about food are imprisoning me.
The Paleo diet is (supposedly) based on the idea that humans evolved to eat and digest very different things from what we eat today. Paleo proponents argue that farming and a grain-based are, from an evolutionary standpoint, very recent developments, and that our bodies aren't really set up to cope with the kind of meals that we consume. Instead, they say, we should be trying to eat a diet that resembles that of hunter-gatherer bands, which means primarily vegetables, protein (preferably from meat) and healthy fats, with our carbohydrates (of which there should be much less than is currently recommended or consumed) coming almost exclusively from fruit. Processed foods, artificial sweeteners and additives, refined sugar, and simple carbs are to be avoided as completely as possible. Many proponents of what I'll refer to as "pure" Paleo also recommend limiting or completely avoiding the consumption of dairy products (eggs and butter are not considered dairy under Paleo's classifications) due to a belief that consuming lactose causes some kind of undesirable insulin response.
I'll be honest, I haven't really dug into the science behind some of the stricter parts of "pure" Paleo, because for one thing, that's not how I'm choosing to practice it, and for another, I think some of the logic is probably shaky. A lot of the proponents of "pure" Paleo are bloggers who seem to A) possess no particular scientific credentials; and B) have the type of metabolism, habits and genetic makeup to ensure that they remain slim and reasonably healthy no matter what they eat. These are not the type of people who, if they're feeling a bit sad and aren't too careful, can consume an entire large pizza by themselves, and then go looking for dessert.
I am that type of person. I hate exercise, love junk food, and have struggled with my weight all my life. As far as my eating habits are concerned, the five food groups are crunchy, cheesy, caffeinated, sweet and pizza. As I've gotten older, I've only become more sedentary and less healthy.
I have always been unhappy with my body, but now that I'm on the downhill side of my twenties, I'm also starting to worry about my health. I'm tired, all the time, no matter how much I sleep. I eat continuously, but I never have any energy, and my blood sugar plunges if I go more than about two hours without food. My feet hurt, my hips and my back ache. I get winded going up more than one flight of stairs. It's not a pretty picture.
I've always been fat, but I never felt like it held me back in a real, physical way before. I learned to drive late in my life, so I spent years taking long, fast walks to get around. I was in pretty good shape, in spite of my extra weight. But since I got my license, I don't do that any more, and things have really gone downhill. Now, I don't have to walk, and since I usually don't want to, I've gotten to the point that I can't, which makes me want to even less.
Recently, I started thinking about doing something drastic to try to lose weight. No one made me, or shamed me. I wanted to. At first, I thought about having surgery to get the Lap-Band, or something similar, and started doing research on it. The more I found out about weight-loss surgery, though, the less I wanted to try it. It's risky, there are tons of potential complications, and it costs a small fortune. Not to mention, you still have to adhere to a strict, conventional diet and exercise regimen, which, let's be honest, if I wanted to do that, I wouldn't be looking into getting surgery!
I don't remember how I stumbled onto the Nerd Fitness Academy, but I was absolutely fascinated after just one blog post. (I'm lazy, so you'll have to Google it yourself, but it's a great site.) I started reading all of the success stories, the tips for beginners, and the philosophy behind the whole thing which can basically be summed up as: "dieting and exercise aren't much fun. Let's turn it into a game!"
One of the things that intrigued me about their program was that while the founder is quick to praise the ideas behind the Paleo diet, he doesn't necessarily recommend that everyone adhere to "pure" Paleo. (Another was that they dole out a LOT of useful information for free.) He says that the Nerd Fitness nutritional program, while based on Paleo, is primarily built around getting people to eat healthy and satisfying meals, and that it's meant to be a way of eating that people can actually live with.
Anyway, I started reading about Paleo in general, and decided to try it out for a month and see if it was something I could actually do. I'm hoping to lose weight (I'll also be starting strength training soon, which I'll talk about in another post) but mostly, I want to feel better and be healthier. Because there's so much information out there, though, and so much of it is contradictory or based on what I suspect is some kind of trendy pseudoscience, I'm working on creating eating habits for myself that I jokingly refer to as Budget Paleo.
Basically, I've cut out grain-based carbs, refined sugar, preprocessed food, and legumes from my diet. I still allow myself a bit of raw cane sugar in my coffee, and a little honey in my tea, because I'm only human, and I have read a couple of blogs whose owners say that they feel both red wine and dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa) can have a place in a healthy Paleo lifestyle. That doesn't mean eat them every day, of course, but it's nice to know I can still satisfy my sweet tooth and have a little drink now and again.
I eat some kind of protein with every meal, usually in the form of meat, and I include a vegetable or fruit with every meal, as well. I'm trying to be careful about how much fat I consume, because that's a bit of a slippery slope for me, and heart disease runs in my family, but I'm also not guilt-tripping myself over everything that goes into my mouth. After a little thought, I've decided to side with the people who believe that dairy is okay in Paleo, since I'm not lactose-intolerant, and I'm experimenting with their suggestion that if you're going to consume dairy, it should be full-fat and as unprocessed as possible. This means I'm eating a couple of ounces of raw-milk cheese as a snack, and putting half-and-half in my coffee, but I've stopped drinking milk for the moment. If I can find a way to make it palatable to myself, I may also start eating plain yogurt. I don't think I'll end up calcium-deficient, but we'll cross that bridge if we come to it.
Usually, so far, my day looks like this: in the morning, I scramble two eggs (I can't eat them any other way without toast, alas) and fry two slices of bacon. A couple of mornings, I've put green peppers in my eggs, but if I don't have a vegetable at breakfast, I don't beat myself up. I have a cup of coffee with half-and-half, a glass of water, and maybe a handful of blueberries if I'm still hungry. Breakfast is the hardest meal, because I always crave sweets really strongly in the morning, but I haven't found a good way to satisfy that so far. I know this isn't the healthiest meal ever, but I'm getting in my protein and fats, at least, and blueberries are a good source of fiber. I have to work with what I've got right now.
Lunch, which I cook a few days ahead of time and portion out in the refrigerator, has been chicken stir-fry with green and yellow peppers and carrots. (The next two days will be a cajun-seasoned pork cutlet and a mixture of broccoli and yellow peppers sauteed in a teaspoon of olive oil.) I also sometimes take an apple, or more blueberries, in case I'm still hungry after that, although so far I haven't been. I toss either some almonds or cashews into my work bag to snack on, too, if it's going to be a long day. Oh, and water. I always take a big bottle of water to work with me. I've gotten coffee (cream no sugar) at Dunkin Donuts once so far, but usually the water is good enough.
When I get home, I usually eat an ounce of cheese or yet more blueberries (I like them, okay?) while I'm cooking dinner. Since I don't have a microwave, I usually end up cooking my dinner every night. What this is depends on how hungry I am; some nights, it's just the cheese and a small serving of veggies. One night, I had eggs again. One night, I had a hamburger on a plate and some broccoli. I try to make sure that vegetables feature in whatever I'm eating, and I try to spread out my fat intake throughout the day, so that I'm not just filling up on fats and protein. At the beginning of this week, I had three bell peppers, a zucchini, a bag of carrots, a bag of celery, a bag of frozen broccoli, and a box of spinach in my fridge. Tonight, I have one bell pepper, half a bag of carrots, a zucchini and half a box of spinach. Not bad, for someone who is not in the habit of eating ANY vegetables unless someone else forces her (or they're smothered in Caesar dressing).
I've also been looking up recipes that are Paleo friendly, to give my food some variety, and I'm realizing that I'm going to have to plan my meals more than I'm used to, both for the sake of my budget and for proper nutrition, but I think I'm up to the challenge. It actually doesn't take all that long to cook a decent meal for one, when you have a good incentive, and I'm certainly not going to bed hungry! Actually, I feel like I've been eating less food (at least with less frequency) throughout the day than I normally would, but feeling more full and satisfied. It's been interesting.
I also have a good bit more energy now than I'm used to, though that's kind of crept up on me. I didn't realize until I went off my Paleo habits how much they've affected me in a short time.
Around the time that I started doing Paleo, I also switched over to decaf for my coffee, because I had noticed that I was getting a really nasty crash around noon or one every day--usually about an hour after I'd finished my breakfast/morning coffee. I assumed it was because of caffeine, and decided to cut back a bit. I didn't notice any caffeine withdrawal, which I put down to the fact that decaf still has some caffeine in it, and I assumed any lack of alertness was being mitigated by the amount of energy I was getting from eating so much goddamn protein.
Yesterday, I gave myself a bit of a "cheat day," because I'd expected to be going over to someone else's house for dinner, and didn't want to be rude and picky about what I ate while I was there. That didn't end up happening, but I figured I may as well give myself a bit of license anyway, and ended up eating a small (99-cent snack size) bag of Utz chips and drinking a frozen mocha while I was running 7th Sea. I got kind of sluggish and sleepy afterwards, but since it was past 2 AM when the game wrapped up, I didn't think much about it.
Today, Penguin and I went out to Bob Evans for brunch, and although I ordered a fairly Paleo-friendly meal (eggs, bacon, and fruit) it came with toast, and I couldn't resist eating one slice of it with my eggs. The effect was swift and profound. After finishing our food, we went to Wal-Mart to look for curtains for our apartment, and within about fifteen minutes, I was feeling the familiar "caffeine crash" sensation. My eyelids drooped, I yawned every few seconds, and the overall sensation was that I wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed.
I am fully-convinced that this was as a result of consuming bread carbs, because I haven't felt that way AT ALL since I started eating Paleo. I used to eat cereal or a bagel, or eggs and toast, every single morning. No wonder I got a nasty crash every day, and no wonder no amount of strong DD coffee would perk me up! My mother, when I told her about this, mentioned that she experiences the same thing--she strongly craves sweets in the morning, but if she eats any kind of grain-based carb, she crashes, hard. I know it's only anecdotal evidence, but it seems to be a good explanation, and a simple fix for those nasty, exhausting spells that I hate so much.
I'm back on my Budget Paleo now, and I think I'll stick with it. It seems to be making me happier and maybe even healthier. If I lose weight, great--I certainly don't see myself gaining any while on this diet plan, at any rate. I might still give myself a "cheat day" every other Sunday, just to keep from freaking out and eating a whole pizza the first time I get frustrated, but we'll see. Maybe I won't need it, or maybe I'll be able to wean off that kind of thing.
Either way, for the first time in a while, I don't feel like my feelings about food are imprisoning me.