Ok hi, yelle here. I know I’ve been scarce lately and poor chelle has been carrying this blog so I figured I’d chime in. I’ve had a lot of people asking “what the heck is paleo and why do you do it?”. When I explained it, they would be like “how come” and “why don’t you eat that?”.. mostly inquisitive but some more judgmental than not.. and my personal favorite “.. but doesn’t your body need _______?”. To them, I pose “why does my body need that?” that’s where the conversation starts to end. A lot of this I’ve had to research lately, because frankly, I went paleo as a 30 day challenge by Chelle, and my reasoning for (mostly) maintaining the lifestyle is because I FEEL BETTER. I've lost 30 pounds in 4 months that I've kept off in a healthy way and I've more than tripled my athletic performance.
This is going to be rather brief, because I don’t want to bore anyone to tears with too much of the logistics of the lifestyle. It’s probably easier to list what we DO eat for our nutrients, than what we don’t eat. The Paleolithic Solution (paleo for short) consists of this:
EAT THIS YALL: “eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar”
-Meat (LOTS and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of meat)
-Eggs (yum yum yum. Eat these.)
-Veggies (Eat as many in quantity as you want! For the most part, I’d say if nature made it, it’s fine.. but there are some veggies that paleo frowns on that I will briefly list later, so if you refuse to give them up, try limiting them.)
-Fruits (If you’re trying to lose weight, or training for an upcoming athletic event, strictly limit these.)
-Nuts (a peanut is NOT a nut. Try to limit these as well for the same as above, because nuts are super duper fatty, which is VERY good for you, but in VERY small doses. The amount should fit in the palm of your hand)
-Seeds/Herbs/Spices (knock yourselves out, yall)
DON’T EAT THIS YALL: “Modern diets are ILL suited for our genetic composition. Evolution has not kept pace with advances in agriculture and food processing resulting in a plague of health problems for modern man...”
(If you must, think of them as TREATS to keep you on track. The majority of your meal wouldn’t consist of a cupcake, it shouldn’t consist of any of these. Sorry Olive Garden fans):
-GRAINS [wheat, barley, rice] *NOTE: This is tough for a LOT of people to swallow. Bakers, don’t fret! You can use almond meal/flour and coconut flour in place for your baking needs. Muffins, breads, etc. can be made with almond and coconut replacements.
-DAIRY [cow milk is good FOR COWS.] NOTE* I’m an ice cream FREAK. It is the only dairy I treat myself to [occassionally]. SO DELICIOUS makes Coconut Milk Ice Cream. I have this in my freezer. I thought I’d DIE after 25 years of cheese at every meal, but you know what, I DIDN’T. My tastebuds and tummy thank me for it.
-WHITE POTATOES (think about cutting out basically all starches). *NOTE: Depending on who you talk to, sweet potatoes fall in this category. I don’t know any paleo’s personally who don’t eat sweet potatoes. Post workout, they maximize the refueling of your body, and they are high in fiber. I fully endorse sweet potatoes.
-LEGUMES [beans and peanuts] *NOTE: As you saw, I’m still a green bean girl.. It’s the only bean I currently eat. To give you an idea of why, half of a green bean’s carbohydrate content is fiber where as a something like a kidney or black bean has a LOT more starch. When compared, a cup of green beans contain only about 34 calories while black beans contain roughly 227. I’m absolutely NOT a calorie counter but some people prefer numbers, which I understand. PLUS, Robb Wolf says they’re ok, so they’re ok.
-SUGARS [like what they LOADED in the oreo cheesecake I had yesterday. I know I know, you’re so disappointed in me..] *NOTE: Bakers and sweet teeth alike, use: stevia, syrup, honey or another natural alternative. GOOD NEWS: CHOCOLATE IS OKAY AS A TREAT! It is recommended that it be cocoa powder or at least 70% cocoa.
It seems daunting, right? It’s NOT. It’s pretty simple too, even if it’s a long list. You want to eat things that you have to do as little as possible to prepare. Commit to it, try it for 30 days, if you feel better and look better, (which you WILL) then stick to it. Eat all the time, so you aren’t starving yourself, and that box of doughnuts the office manager brings in won’t be nearly as tempting. If it sucks, tell us. We can take it. If it’s just too much all at once, try cutting one group at a time, so you don’t feel deprived. Most importantly, as Chelle said, CUT YOURSELF SOME SLACK. It’s not ever about falling off the horse, it’s about getting back on. I fall off the horse [hellllo, cheesecake], I put my butt right back in the saddle. Make healthy choices regularly so that you don’t beat yourself up when you make less than healthy choices occassionally. There’s no test to take to prove you’ve done it, you don’t have to publicly display your affection for our stolen brilliance (although we’d sure love that). You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. My work guys give me a hard time if I grab sushi for lunch, “YOU CAN’T EAT THAT!”… Actually, I’m an adult, I can do whatever I want. Don’t beat yourself up. Think of it as a lifestyle change and not a diet.
Sorry for yelling so much and for being bossy, and so much for being “short”. I am just really enthusiastic about it, because it works. If you’re concerned with not getting enough nutrients [calcium, fiber, potassium, blah blah blah] research it yourself (those links up there ^) or ask us questions. WE LOVE TO TALK. ESPECIALLY ABOUT THIS. IF YOU DIDN’T NOTICE.
And finally, we don’t “knock” any dietary plans. Every BODY is different, and we understand that. We do, however, think our dietary plan is SUPERIOR. And furthermore, it is because we said so. :P
