I've been debating about starting this blog for about 10 months now. That's how long I've been following the paleo bent on nutrition. I started the paleo diet as a way to lose a quick amount of bloat before I had to take photos for a weight loss competition. I knew it was too late to make major changes (only 10 days from photo day!) but I wanted to at least lean out a little in the middle and when I'd followed paleo previously, that's exactly what I got. I jumped right in nutritionally using what I already knew from having read Neatherthin, The Paleo Diet and The Paleo Diet for Athletes, years ago. Then I found some blogs and ordered two books - Everyday Paleo (my first paleo cookbook!) and The Paleo Solution. I did a little research to see who this Robb Wolf character was before ordering and found it interesting that he worked so closely with Loren Cordain. I devoured his book and was hooked. I felt great, I was eating great and I wanted more.... so I ordered Paleo Comfort Foods and then Make It Paleo and I was on my way. Those two books and all their gorgeous photography (plus a few good meals from all three books) helped me convince my husband to join me on my journey. That and the fact that I did most of the cooking anyway.... ;-) But this decision on his part was HUGE for me. This meant that I was free to comb through our pantry, freezer and cupboards and rid ourselves of all unhealthy foods! It also gave me a lot of comfort knowing that when he was snacking while working from home all day, at least he was snacking on healthy things.
We own a small (ok, tiny) farm where we produce our own raw goats milk, raw cheeses, pastured eggs, raw honey and organic produce, so we were well on our way before dropping grains from the diet. We also live in a place where buying local is kind of a way of life, so it was really easy to find good sources of grass-fed beef, pork and pastured chickens.
When I tried paleo years ago, there were no published cookbooks, no blogs and no crossift (a huge factor in the visibility of the paleo diet these days). The only 'recipes' I had back then were those at the back of the Paleo books and of course, they were without tempting photos! I also was well entrenched in the idea that fat was bad for me, so I tried to take my 'body building' diet of lean meats, veggies and whole grains and just drop the grains. Needless to say, I was starving. I was miserable. It was not sustainable...at all. This time, I wanted to do it differently so I embraced the whole thing...fat included. I ate fatty cuts of meat (it took some getting used to!) if they were from grass-fed cows, I used whole raw goats milk (upwards of 6% fat for the breed we raise), I ate whole eggs. I switched to olive oil and coconut oil. I literally taught myself to like both avocado and bacon - both foods that I could not stomach previously due to the fat content and texture issues. And once I did all these things, I found myself really, really satisfied on the diet. I was truly amazed.
No longer were my days plagued by thoughts of 'what do I get to eat next'? I stopped thinking about food all the time! My digestive track regulated like nobody's business. I never thought I had digestive issues at all, but once I saw what truly 'regular' meant, I realized that what I was experiencing before was no where near as healthy! My skin improved. I've been plagued with acne troubles since I was a pre-teen. Now it's gone. My energy stabilized. My memory improved. My sleep deepened. All things that I never expected to be affected by my diet. And NONE of these things were really problems before...just things I thought were part of my genetic makeup. Wow.
Then, once we'd gotten into a nice groove, I decided to make my first paleo 'treat'. I think I started with pancakes and then tried coco balls made with dates. All of a sudden, I had a source of dessert that wouldn't cause digestive distress! Unfortunately, that was a slippery slope. It kept me on the paleo bandwagon through the holidays (which was a huge plus), but it also brought my weight loss to a screeching halt. I wasn't gaining because I was still quite active (see my exercise story here), but I was no longer losing and I still had plenty of fat to lose.
On Saturday, March 3rd, I was tripped up by my dogs (we have three 70lb+ dogs) and I slipped in the mud and managed to destroy my lisfranc joint in my right foot (and fractured my 4th metatarsal). On March 15th, I had surgery to repair it and today, May 30th, I'm still in a boot. I'm pleased that at least I am now walking without crutches, but my activity is still extremely limited. I've remained paleo, but with all those treats still a big part of my diet, I've actually managed to gain some weight in the past 3 months.
I'm now out of shape, overweight, and feeling really blue about myself (physically). It's time to change.
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