Ack! I'm starting another blog. Why? I have a Pinterest page for Paleo recipes I like (http://pinterest.com/renecanham/paleo-recipes/) and I refer people to it, but sometimes I devise my own recipes and I need somewhere to post them so that I can share them easily.
"What's this Paleo thing all about?" you may ask. Before humans invented agriculture, we lived by hunting and gathering. We ate what was easy to obtain -- meat, fish, fruit, veggies and nuts. We got lots of exercise chasing down prey and dragging it home. We didn't need to worry about high blood pressure and diabetes. Then humans invented agriculture. This allowed us to grow more humans in a given area but, like feed lot cattle, we developed a lot of health problems. Our bodies just weren't designed to live on a diet of starches that turn to sugar in our systems. Our cells became inflamed. We developed all sorts of metabolic disorders like obesity and diabetes. The Paleo diet attempts to recreate the natural hunter-gatherer diet by eliminating foods containing grains, legumes, dairy and sugar and sticking to meat, fish, fruit, vegetables and nuts. In combination with a CrossFit exercise program, which simulates the type of exercise required by a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, the results can be amazing.
In June of 2012, I had just returned from two months in Italy. I had to do something about my health. I weighed 202 pounds (down from 222 when I retired in July of 2011) and suffered from high blood pressure, acid reflux, high cholesterol, joint pain and high blood sugar. I started CrossFit at the beginning of June and saw a difference right away. At the end of October, I adopted the Paleo diet. By the end of March 2013, I was down to 155 pounds without ever having felt hungry. On the Paleo diet, you can eat if you are hungry. You just don't eat unhealthy food. I was perhaps the worst possible candidate for such a diet, since I loved carbs and hated vegetables, but I learned something after a couple of days. Eating carbohydrates is addictive. Eating all those high glycemic index foods messes with your hormones. You can't tell whether or not you are full. You just want to eat more. After a couple of days without grains, I stopped craving bread, potatoes and pasta. My blood pressure is now normal. My cholesterol is at a lifetime low and my "good cholesterol" looks like that of an athlete. The acid reflux went away as I lost weight. I have more energy. There is no way in hell I would ever go back.
It's not just me, either. My partner, Scott, has lost 45 pounds without going to CrossFit and cheating at every opportunity. Other friends and relatives have had similar successes. It works. I'm not obsessive about it, either. I'm pretty good about staying away from the grains, but I have a little piece of chocolate every evening and wine or beer with dinner. Once in a while I eat cheese.
If you want to give this program a try, I have a couple of recommendations:
Find a good CrossFit gym. They are not all the same. Find one where you get good coaching and plenty of stretching and warm up before the workout. A good gym will be supportive of people at all fitness levels. You cannot be too out of shape to start CrossFit. It is infinitely scalable and a good gym will work around your injuries and weaknesses.
Get your body fat percentage tested. This will tell you what your goal weight should be. What really matters is not your weight, but your percentage of body fat. Muscle weighs more. As you get stronger, you might not need to lose as much as you think. It's good to know how many calories your body burns at rest. You need to consume at least that many calories if you want to burn fat when you exercise. Your body fat percentage is your best benchmark for success.
OK - Enough preaching! From now on, this blog will be all about food as I try to convert a lifetime's collection of recipes for Paleo eating.
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