The PALEO Challenge

Since March of 2011 I have been loosely following the Paleo Diet. After reading books by Mark Sisson and Robb Wolf I started to do my best to follow the rules of eating no grains. Meaning, no bread, pasta, rice, cookies, cakes, granola. You get the idea.

This also meant limiting my dairy as well. I bucked on this initially. I didn't eat that much dairy to begin with. I only had a little milk in my coffee and some cheese. But when I actually think back, there was a lot of cheese. A couple pieces in the morning while making the kids lunches.

"Oh you want a snack? cheese? I'll have some too." And so on.

I cut out the sugar in my coffee completely and stopped eating sweets as much as possible. Here and there I would have a piece of cake at a party or a cookie. But that was about it. In my opinion, at the time, I was eating pretty healthy.

Then, starting January 1, 2012, I cut it all out and started eating strict Paleo. No grains at all, and no Dairy. If you're not familiar with the "Paleo" diet, the premise is to basically eat as our Paleolithic hunter gatherer ancestors ate. Meat, fish, berries, seeds and nuts. Now, in our modern society things are a lot different than they were 10,000 to 20,000 years ago. But our body chemistry is the same. And that is what the diet is based on. Our bodies were built to use the proteins and fats from natural foods like meat, fish, berries, nuts and seeds and not packaged, processed and manufactured foods with all of the chemicals and additives, let alone the fast foods millions of Americans eat daily.

When I first started hearing about eating this way my gut reaction was "NO WAY can I give up bread and pasta!" That is also the first thing most of my friends and family say when I tell them or they ask what I have been doing for eating. "I love my carbs too much" is what some of my friends would say.

After nine months, I can tell you this, there is NO WAY I'm going back to eating that way. EVER!

The body composition changes, the strength gains (muscle and immune system), are undeniable, let alone the 35 pound weight loss. I feel my mental state is much better. I'm more motivated and happy. It's honestly tough to put in words how I feel compared to how I did.

Since I started eating this way, and training at a CrossFit gym, I went from a 155 pound deadlift to a 310 pound deadlift in less than five months. I doubled what I could lift four months ago! That to me, is incredible, and speaks volumes to what just changing your diet can do.

Also starting on January 1 of this year I started a challenge with a group of people on Facebook to eat "clean" for 90 days.

Eating "clean" means sticking to the Paleo plan. No grain, no dairy, no legumes (peanuts, kidney and soy beans etc.). I thought this was going to be extremely difficult. But, to my surprise, it really hasn't been.

The first week or two, I was really nervous. "What am I going to eat?" "I need a snack." "Am I eating too much?" "Am I not eating enough?" And then after about 10 days everything started falling into place.

My wife has been very supportive to the point where she's telling my in-laws what I can and can't eat. Or will and won't. She has been eating, and enjoying the Paleo meals I have been cooking and preparing and I've been getting some pretty good compliments from her on what I have been cooking as well. Bonus!

There are so many "substitutes", if you want to call them that, for what the average American family eats. Instead of spaghetti, cook a spaghetti squash, and use the same meatballs (bread crumbless) and sauce you normally would. Simply skip the cheese and the bread that you usually have with a pasta meal. It is JUST as good and you don't feel like you have to curl up on the couch and take a nap after you're done eating to recover.

Use Cauliflower to make versions of Garlic Mashed Potatoes, or Fried Rice, or Rice Pilaf. They are light and yummy and give you the same comfort food feeling just like the "real" thing.

I have been enjoying searching for and finding new recipes or websites to create new dishes. It's been a fun and creative process.

The other bonus for me, that has definitely helped is after the first 15 days my gym, Crossfit Wicked, started their own 60-day Paleo Challenge on the 16th of January with the help of Dr. Ryan Hewitt and his wife, Kendra Cecita of Merrimack Valley Chiropractic.

The seminar and information provided was pretty jaw-dropping. The misinformation provided by the US Government about the Standard American Diet (SAD) which includes grains and dairy and confusing information that the public hears as Pizza being classified as a "vegetable" are pretty shocking and terribly misinterpreted by the general public.

The idea of Paleo is relatively simple. Eat what our ancestors ate. Move. Get some exercise. Re-evolve from our current sedentary lifestyles back to the ways of our paleolithic ancestors. Have fun. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy what you eat. Enjoy your friends, family and community.

Its simply getting your mind and body back to a simpler way of doing things, in my opinion. Giving yourself the opportunity to live a happier, healthier, longer life, without having to worry about joint pain (inflammation from insulin production produced by consuming excess grains) and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Possibly helping curb or even cure people's susceptibility to MS , treatment or prevention of Alzeihmer's Disease.

I'm not saying by any means that eating Paleo is cure all for everything. But could it be possible that our bodies still aren't capable of filtering out all of the toxins that are contained in today's SAD diet? Could it be that our bodies are simply pre-programmed to eat what our paleolithic ancestors ate over 10,000 years ago and our body chemistry hasn't changed?

Is it a surprise to anyone that we're the heaviest, most out of shape and obese country in the world because our current eating habits?

This picture (see link) is pretty amazing to show you what the "Standard American Family" eats in a week.

I'm not here preaching to everyone saying "you must do this" or "you shouldn't eat that".

What I'm saying is, by simply changing the way you eat. Could you feel better? Could you perform better/get stronger? Could you lessen the chances of getting chances of getting diabetes, MS, RA and maybe a number of other auto-immune disorders?


If that's the case by simply changing what you eat, then...

Why wouldn't you?