My Paleo Experience – by Doug Lee
I’m probably much like the average person in that my satisfaction with my level of fitness, body composition and eating habits “roller coasters” over time. In 2005, at my worst, I weighed 220 pounds. I wasn’t exercising and I ate a lot of junk. In contrast, while training for my first marathon in 2008, I got down to 167 pounds (high school weight!). I ate very well and burned a lot of calories while I ran 30 or so miles a week. The rest of my adult life has been somewhere in between those two extremes.
When injuries from a vehicle accident in 2010 prevented me from running for about six months, I watched about 15 pounds of fat creep back upon my waistline, where it remained for all of this past year. I regularly participate in a number of activities (cycling, running, kayaking, snowshoeing, long walks and a multitude of things at the gym), so clearly it was my eating, not lack of exercise that needed to change. This is another area where I am probably very much like so many others – I tell myself I will cut back on certain things, and I rarely follow through. I like to eat! I knew I had to do something, or would easily find myself back up in the unhealthy range again. There is also a history of diabetes in my family, and I don’t want to be next.
The two people in this department who, in my opinion, know the most about nutrition and exercise are Ian Carver and Rick Anglemoyer. I had heard both of them talk about the Paleo Diet over the years, but quite frankly I had no desire to even consider something as drastic as that. As I said before, “I’ll just cut back”. Right…
In October of this year I decided to look into it. I read The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf, and I talked to Ian and Rick. The more I learned, the more excited I became about the results I was promised I would see if I just tried it for one month. And it wasn’t just about losing a few pounds of fat. I was going to eliminate all of those artificial ingredients (both those we can and can’t pronounce) from my body. I figured I had nothing to lose by trying it for 30 days.
So here it is in a nutshell. Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Eat enough to support exercise, but not body fat. That meant no more sodas (not even diet), no chips, rice, crackers, sushi rolls, peanuts (yep – they are actually legumes, not nuts!) or sweets. It even meant no cream or Splenda in my coffee! I followed these recommendations 100%.
My original plan was to start on November 1st, but I woke up on Halloween knowing that I would eat too much candy if I didn’t start that day. I had already shopped for my acceptable foods the day before, so I was ready to go! Even though they tell you not to use the scale to measure your progress (take some measurement and pictures of yourself instead), I couldn’t resist. I was 185 pounds on day one.
I brought breakfast, lunch and snack foods to work and stocked the fridge. Admittedly this is more convenient when you work in an office, but it’s not hard to pack a small cooler if you work out in the field. My list looked something like this: Hard boiled eggs, blueberries, raw unsalted almonds, lean meat (chicken breast, ground turkey, etc), guacamole (check the ingredients!), cucumbers, sliced peppers, cherry tomatoes and canned tuna or salmon. Since I wanted to lose weight I went light on the fruit, therefore getting a majority of my carbohydrates came from vegetables.
I made it through Thanksgiving and a neighborhood holiday potluck brunch at my house, and didn’t cheat once. Thanksgiving dinner I stuck to turkey, green beans and ½ of a sweet potato with some cinnamon. For the potluck I made my own paleo approved “fajita egg muffins”. My beverages have consisted of water (lots of it), coffee, tea and sparkling water. A few unsweetened dates would satisfy my occasional sweet tooth.
I weighed myself each week, and watched the progress, with the end result being an ten pound loss in 30 days. More importantly, I very comfortably took my work belt in a notch sometime during the 3rd week. THAT means far more to me than what the scale says. And even more importantly, I feel GREAT!
I will, like a lot of Paleo followers, probably end up in the 90/10 range (90% Paleo, 10% not, as I certainly have not had my last piece of pizza or my last sushi roll!). I have no desire to go back to drinking four or five sodas a day, or polishing off two baskets of chips at my favorite Mexican restaurant while waiting for dinner. I am far too excited to see what another month of Paleo does for me.
If I you are looking to improve your health, lose weight, or just plain feel better, and my short story hasn’t convinced you, consider these two examples. With NO change in their exercise habits, Roger Engelsgaard and Marlin Weinberger lost 40 and 67 pounds (respectively) in just a few short months, simply by eating the Paleo way. Feel free to ask them how they feel and if they would recommend this to their friends.
For more information search for “Paleo” or “Paleolithic diet” on the internet. Some other great sources of information:
Robb Wolf’s book (The Paleo Solution). On his website (http://robbwolf.com/) there are links to a free food matrix, quick start guide, etc.
Mark’s Daily Apple (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/) has some great information. Sign up for his newsletter and you’ll have access to their fitness info, recipes, etc.
CBS San Francisco did a 5 day series on Paleo, and links to all 5 stories are on this site:
http://primalgirl.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/paleo-goes-mainstream-cbs-news-reports/
As always, consult your physician before making any major changes to your diet and/or exercise programs!
