Monday, October 25, 2010

I swore I would never go down this road

I remember about a year and a half ago having conversations with my Crossfit coach about nutrition. I remember thinking she was absolutely off her rocker for wanting to eat a paleolithic diet. Why would any one want to deprive themselves so much??? She would always encourage her athletes to trust her and just eat like she did. While working out with her had been life changing, changing my nutrition was just not something I was interested in. It was almost an insult when she suggested it. I don't know why I was so offended by it, she was just trying to help.

Shortly after our conversation about nutrition, I decided to give the Zone diet a whirl. I had read a lot about it and decided it was something I could handle. I transitioned slowly to the Zone. I switched one meal at a time. After a few weeks I was Zoning about 95% of the time. In about two months I dropped 2 sizes and about 10 pounds. My times got faster and my weights got heavier. I loved the Zone. I also struggle with blood sugar issues (hypoglycemia, gestational diabetes, ect), this diet gave me a simple solution to prevent any major lows or highs. On occasion I would dabble in some meals that were Paleo, but I was not ready to give up my oatmeal or dairy. How could anyone live without DAIRY? I loved cheese. Even though, if I was quite honest with myself dairy did not love me back. It was horrific on my blood sugar. Always left me feeling hungry way before I should.

I only recently started becoming intrigued by the Paleo diet. I ordered a book by Robb Wolf to my kindle and began reading it immediately. It really helped open my eyes up. I suddenly had the urge to clear out our pantries and transform our way of life. The good news for me, is I have a fully supportive husband! My two sons (ages 3.5 years and almost 2 years) were likely going to be the harder sell. Yet they have come so far already. They both now know that they aren't to ask for candy at the grocery store. They have figured out that the only "treat" they are likely to get is fruit or fruit leathers. I am changing over their juice slowly but surely to mostly water. We are at about 60-75% water, the rest juice. I am switching their milk over from dairy to almond milk, once again its been a slow transition so they don't notice. As I have been making these transitions, I decided, that is it...we are all going to go Paleo!

I had planned on just doing things quietly, not sharing with anyone that we had made the change, because I am embarrassed I was so resistant to Paleo in the first place. My gym starts their Paleo challenge today and while I am not taking place in the challenge, I wanted to share my experiences with my friends. I wanted to share my recipes with them too. I am also not doing the challenge because to me, that means there will be an end to my Paleo eating. I am not planning on changing. I want this to be our lifestyle. Sure we will have the rare cheat, but I am sure that the "cheats" will make me feel so icky I won't want to cheat often (this is exactly what the Zone diet was like).

So please enjoy our family's journey back to the Paleolithic way of eating. I know its not always going to be easy, but its going to be worth it. And please, let me know what you think of the recipes I post. I scour the web for ideas and tweak them to my tastes. Let me know what you tweak and how.

Oh and one more final note...go ahead and gloat coach, you were right. You know I am stubborn and will always have a tough time saying it in public. ;)

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