To Paleo or Not to Paleo?

Have you been hearing or reading about the Paleo way of eating? 

[Let me take a second to vent: I am distressed about the way the word "diet" has been changed - everyone talks about following "a diet", but in reality however one eats is ones diet. So I will not be calling this a diet, but rather a preferred way of eating.]

Yes? Good - if you are reading about it then you are undoubtedly at least intrigued.

No? Then I encourage you to do so.

Am I going to preach here about how following the Paleo eating guidelines are superior to any other way of eating? No, not exactly. Rather, I would like to simply point out a few lessons learned and encourage you to test them in your own life.

I began investigating the Paleo way of eating when my son began talking about it. I liked most of what I read, but there were some things that bothered me: no sugar, no dairy and no grains.  Hmmm, I thought, that means no spaghetti, no french toast, no yogurt - and no ice cream!

But I read about people who were stronger, thinking more clearly, feeling healthier ... all things I wanted in my life. And like anything else, if you want the results you have to invest in the practice. I confess that I began in the negative - rather than thinking of it as a change I started removing things: no more cereal, no yogurt in my smoothies, no... no... no... See the pattern? I was trying to change by focusing on what not to eat.

Then I started reading books like The Paleo Solution and Everyday Paleo. I began seeing how much easier and better it would be to begin focusing on new recipes we could try rather than focusing on what we were no longer going to eat.

Have we completely "gone Paleo"? No, and that leads to some more lessons learned.

WISE CHOICES: We went out to dinner for Father's Day, and reviewing the menu it was easy to choose something that fit the way I choose to eat: a steak, a salad, and a baked sweet potato. It was my plan to stop there, and that would have been perfect. In fact, I later learned that it would have been perfect based on calories as well (I track my daily eating on an app called Lose IT!  and it keeps a tally of the calories). However, I let myself be enticed by a piece of New York-style cheesecake. What a mistake! Not only did that throw me 1050 calories over the ideal, it sent me into gastric distress that robbed me of a night's sleep and made it necessary for me to stay home from the office the next day. Lessons? That huge influx of dairy and sugar and grain was too much for my system now that I have drastically decreased those things, and many of the digestive issues I have had over the years are likely the result of similar poor choices.

IT'S NOT CHEATING: Once I began really trying to walk the Paleo talk, there were things I would call "cheats". But I have recently begun to reconsider that term, because a "cheat" denotes a feeling of doing something wrong. So from now on I will refer to these as allowances. I have allowed myself to hang onto a little dairy+sugar in the form of ice cream. It is real ice cream, not low-fat-sugar-free-ice-cream-wannabe. I have tried to eat this little 150-calorie treat either when I come home (while fixing dinner) or immediately after dinner. I will likely continue this through summer and then as the weather cools and the desire for ice cream lessens, I hope the taste for it will be gone by next summer. Lesson? If there is something that doesn't result in negative consequences and you can allow it to yourself from time to time, do so.

ON THE POSITIVE SIDE: We have a lot of stuff in our pantry that is non-Paleo-friendly, like flour and oatmeal and rice. They are still there. But I am not focusing on the fact that we are not using them - I am looking at all the good recipes from people like Sarah Fragoso (follow her blog at everydaypaleo.com) and enjoying lots of new dishes. There are lots of things we have always eaten that fit our new eating style too. Lesson? Focus on what you ARE doing and not on what you are NOT doing.

ANYTHING I CAN DO...: Please note that most of the pronouns in this article are in the first person singular. While my beloved husband is forced to eat what I choose to prepare for dinner, he still sticks to his preferred breakfast and lunch. Without going into details, let me assure you that is it carb-laden and far from Paleo. Lesson? fight the battles you can, and let the rest go. I am not going to change the entire world, and each person must make his/her own decision to buy into a lifestyle and dietary change.

I AM NOT SICK: It occurred to me the other day that I have come through the winter and spring without a cold - not that it was common for me to get lots of colds, but perhaps one a year. So this past week we have had a lot of non-Paleo treats at the office and I crumpled in the face of temptation. Chocolate chip cookies, mini-muffins ... and then some of the gumdrops my husband keeps around ... candy ... and what attacked me today? A cold! Lesson? What I eat does affect my health and all that crap does affect my immune system.

Yes, there are other lessons - and there will continue to be lessons. We are not totally Paleo, and rather than taking a 30-day cold-turkey approach we are gradually making changes to our diet and lifestyle. (Yet another lesson - this may seem better but it probably is not. It really would be better to make the change all at once.)

Do I want all of you to immediately become devotees of the Paleo lifestyle? It would be great if you are so moved, but most of all I would like you to evaluate what changes you would like to see in your life, what changes in your diet and lifestyle need to happen to achieve those results, and then go forward and do it.

I hope you'll follow our journey and benefit from our lessons, and I would love to hear your lessons and comments!