Thursday, February 23, 2012

"Paleo diet" review




As of today I've stuck to the "paleo diet" for one month. For those of you who have no clue what a paleo diet is, it's basically everything you eat now except breads (wheat), dairy, and beans. Nothing weird about this diet, no coffee enemas (although they don't tell you not too), no pills that cause your heart to race, just really tasty food.

I've never tried a diet before for a few reasons. First, I love to eat. No really, I love to eat! I probably eat more than 99.9% of the world population. Ask my wife or my friends if you don't believe me. If I wasn't eating I was thinking about what I was going to eat. I could get hungry for my next meal while I was eating. It would be hard for me to go more than 3 hours without food. The second reason I've never dieted before was I wasn't conscience of what the food actually did to my body. Food was food, and I just believed to be healthy, stay away from fatty foods, eat a few salads, and get 6-8 servings of whole grains.

The more I have learned about nutrition the more I see that the typical "American" diet is making us all fat. There are many virtues of good fats and cholesterol that our modern diet isn't providing. What it does provide is too many carbs and Omega 6 fatty acids that are making us fat and sick. Carbs are a fuel source for our body but so is fat, and when we have an overload of carbs our body’s wont burn fat for fuel. When we eat those 6-8 servings of whole grains that the food pyramid suggests we never let our bodies use our fat storage, and it starts causing problems; Fat-assitis and that wiggly-underarm syndrome. The "Paleo" way of eating has you getting more fats and proteins from meats, fish, avocados and nuts and less carbs from breads, and pastas.

On the "paleo diet" you try to eat as if you only had the food that a caveman would have eaten. I don't go as far as hunting and trapping wild animals in my subdivision, but I do order a southwest chicken salad instead of a Big Mac. When you say the word "diet", your mind automatically thinks hunger pains and crappy bland food. That's the best thing about this diet so far. The food is really tasty! I also go much longer between feedings, and my cravings for breads and sweets are much more controllable. I don't feel like a strung out junkie looking for a hit of snickers or a shake. When I'm done eating I feel really satisfied, not like I'm on a diet. My normal foods consist of Sweet Potatoes (for carbs), sausage, meat, avocados, coconut, almond butter & delicious bacon.

So far this diet is working really well for me. I kicked my carb addiction and eliminated most of the processed foods. I didn't take any measurements or weigh myself before starting the diet, but I can visually see I'm much leaner and more muscular. Energy levels are up and no weird stomach aches and pains. I highly recommend anyone that’s looking to drop some fat and/or improve health give this diet a try for a month. Below are some of my favorite paleo foods and a good article on why we're getting so fat.

Spicy stuffed poblano peppers

Sweet potato & apple pancakes

lettuce wrapped burger

Garlic mashed cauliflower - add a couple pieces of bacon and chives, and try this it's way better than you think.

Good article on how food effects the bodys metabolism

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