Thursday 14 February 2013

Living like a caveman



I have a tendency to be little on the overweight side, not necessary fat, but definitely overweight. Therefore I'm keen to be in a position to be able to control my weight, which is part of the reason for this whole exercise malarkey.

Over the years I really have had an antipathy towards fad diets, and there have been plenty that have come across my radar.

There have been the bog-standard calorie deficit schemes like Weight Watchers and Slimmers' World. These diets are created by corporations to make money, ultimately they are designed to fail, as the whole premise is that you can earn the right to have treats.

Also there have been the extreme diets like the cabbage soup diet; a diet where you eat, well, cabbage soup. Pretty tedious and in no way a life choice.

I've always been drawn to foods that don't have many ingredients and aren't rammed full of chemicals and additives. So when some of the good people on TriTalk started talking about the Paleo diet, I took good look at it.

My uneducated take on it was you eat food that the cavemen ate, with the primary tenet being no processed food. Not eating (overly) processed food can only be a good thing can't it?

So what are the paleo commandments, and how would they affect my life:

  1. No processed foods - This seems to be a no-brainer to me. However in these days of mass production, it is very hard to avoid
  2. No refined sugars - another tick in the common sense box
  3. No grains - I'm not a massive fan of bread, so that wouldn't be too much of a hit. However I enjoyed a large bowl of porridge to kick start my day, this could be an issue. Another loss would be no pasta which is a quick and easy regular meal in the Harris household. No rice is another one that will effect what we'd eat on a regular basis
  4. No potatoes - Meh, not bothered. I've never been much of a fan, be they mashed, fried, roasted or boiled. I've always seen potatoes as something to get over and done with as quickly as possible before getting to the good stuff
  5. No legumes - This means beans, peas and peanuts. This one is a bit confusing to me, but the premise as I see it is that they have to be cooked to be eaten and that is why they are on the list
  6. No Dairy - This is a biggy. Lots of stuff in this food group that I enjoy.
  7. Eat lean unprocessed meats and eggs
  8. Eat your veggies, and plenty of them.
  9. Eat fruit, but try and minimise the amount of sugars
  10. Eat nuts

Prior to committing to the paleo diet, my typical working day meals may have looked a little like this

Breakfast
Large bowl of porridge
Small glass of orange juice

Lunch
Couple of tortilla wraps with various fillings
Various fruit
Yogurt

Evening meal
Pasta dish
Bowl of ice-cream

In addition to this I'd probably have 3-4 mugs of coffee with milk and one sugar.

Now, even with the benefit of hindsight, this strikes me as a traditionally understood healthy diet. But under the paleo structure, most of this would not be acceptable.

In November 2011, I challenged myself to have one month of strict paleo eating and see how what worked for me and what didn't. I even went as far as making paleo ketchup, as I'm a bit of a bugger when it comes to having moist meals.

Since the change, my daily working day meals look something like this

Breakfast
Boiled egg
Fruit smoothie 

Lunch
Salad or soup
Various fruit

Evening meal
Roasted veg with chicken/lamb/steak/pork

But yes, I'm still having my bowl of ice-cream.

I've cut the coffee right down and am now having green tea.

The benefits I've seen are quite marked, the most noticeable is that I've lost a bit of excess weight. I don't feel so bloated after eating a meal (even if it a huge portion). My whole digestive system seems to be operating much better and I've got a general feeling of, well, feeling well.

So this seems to be the way forward for me. I'm by no means strict and I will eat processed crap like a good 'un when it takes my fancy. But, I have taken the option to cut out some of these toxins from my life and it seems to be doing the job





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