Given I love to cook and eat, people are often surprised at just how little junk I eat. Perhaps more accurately, I am often surprised at just how much junk other people eat. It’s unfair to call it junk… I’m just jealous other people eat so many things I try to stay away from (e.g. chocolate, ice cream, cupcakes). Prompted by Mike’s post, I’d actually started a post detailing what I don’t eat a few days ago before abandoning it. Enter a similar post over at CrossFit Interbay’s blog (the picture is mine btw!) and I’m once again motivated.
Included below are excerpts from that post. They detail progressive choices one can make to get deeper and deeper into the Paleo lifestyle. I don’t think it’s any secret I’ve taken these to heart, although I am far from obsessive about it. I’m working through finding a balance that fits my lifestyle and will be maintainable once Melissa returns from grad school. (It’s worth mentioning she did an AWESOME job cooking meals that helped me stay on track while she was here… without me asking. Thanks baby!) I don’t think I will ever give up beer or pasta entirely, but I am trying to make smart choices more often than not. Is Paleo the “right” way? I’m not convinced… but it’s giving me directional purpose in cleaning up what I eat beyond what Melissa and I’d already done.
1. Eliminate sugar including sports drinks and fruit juices.
This is just a good idea regardless of who you are and what you’re doing. Most people recognize refined sugar isn’t good for you, it’s just how diligent you are at doing something about it. I’d long given up sweetened iced tea, which I grew up drinking, in favor of water. I did go through a few years if drinking Coke Zero once a day, but I stopped that because I thought it was impacting my ability to sleep. Now it’s a small glass of OJ and a cup of coffee in the morning then water during the week; expanding into one Zero and alcohol on the weekend. A number of people have been surprised lately that I don’t drink alcohol during the week (save a special event), although Melissa and I adopted that one some time ago. I’ve never been a big sweets or dessert person, so my other sugar intake was pretty minimal anyway.
2. Start eating healthy fats. Avocados, nuts and seeds, and healthy animal fats should all be staples of your diet.
I went for years avoiding healthy fat because I was convinced all fat is bad. Over the last few years I’ve gotten on board with nuts/seeds and I’ve recently become obsessed with avocados. I never ate them growing up and it wasn’t until Melissa introduced them to me that I knew I liked them. People always said they were healthy; I’ve finally taken it to heart.
3. Base every meal or snack around a quality source of protein, with varying vegetables and seasonal fruit on the side.
We’ve always done this for anything we make and nothing about it has changed. What I’m finding tricky is also having breakfast and lunches that are easy, so I’m not making 15 meals every Sunday. I know this is the Paleo way… and I’ve always loved making all day meals to eat during the week… but that much cooking is quite the chore. At the least, I’ve been making something on Sunday so I have dinner ready for me when I get home from the gym during the week.
4. Eliminate gluten grains and anything with flour. Limit grains like corn and rice, which are nutritionally poor.
Oh boy, this is the big one. I grew up eating pasta three or four times a week and every meal always had a starchy side. I’ve been convinced for a long time my pasta intake was a serious contributor to my weight, but I just wasn’t ready to say no. Now that I’m more motivated, I limit pasta as much as possible. I did make it last week when Melissa was here and I had a bowl of cereal yesterday, so I’m obviously not a gluten free junkie.
5. Eliminate grain and seed derived oils. Cook with butter, Ghee, coconut oil, or animal fats. Use olive oil cold or at room temperature.
We were mostly there with this one, as I used olive oil almost exclusively. I did use butter on very rare occasions and actually prefer duck fat to anything, so it’s not hard to move in that direction. Not cooking with olive oil? Hmm… my grandparents would roll in their graves over that one.
6. Choose meats such as beef, turkey, bison and lamb. Eat eggs and wild caught fish. Vary what you eat but try to avoid factory farmed and feedlot animals which are unhealthy and have poor omega.
With Melissa’s aversion to red meats and my general avoidance of things like beef as unhealthy, we’ve been almost exclusively a chicken, turkey and pork household. We’ve been buying more and more of our stuff direct from the farm, which is a good idea for everyone. I’ve made a bunch of things that contain beef lately and I still have a mental block about doing so. Even if I get the ultra lean stuff, I feel guilty as I’ve been trained to think only white meat is good for me. Given the state of poultry farming these days, I’m not sure that can be true.
7. Try varying your eating like we vary our workouts. Don’t graze like an herbivore through the day but instead imagine yourself a hunter gatherer. Eat different foods, vary when you eat and how much you eat. Schedules are nice but change things up occasionally.
I am nothing if not a fan of routines. I can’t say I’ve taken this one to heart, although living alone and being busy at work does push my meals around quite a bit. The biggest lesson for me is not stuffing my face full every time I eat, whether you’re Paleo or not. Portion control is key and it’s okay to have a light lunch with some dry roasted nuts as a snack three hours later.
8. Learn Post WOD meal timing. Eat within 30-60 min following exercise.
This is made possible by always having dinner a microwave away. Most every week day is work and then a visit to the gym, so having food ready ensures I eat before 8 pm. I can’t say I planned for my dinner to be 30 minutes after my WOD, it just works out that way.
9. Most modern fruit is just a candy bar from a tree. Go easy on apples, bananas, and dried fruit. Stick with berries and other seasonal fruit. Eat in moderation.
Melissa and I have trended towards always eating in season, so this isn’t a problem during the winter. I don’t like apples but I have no idea if I really want to give up peaches and pears for berries (although the berries are plentiful, huge and awesome ’round these parts [in season]). I don’t think eating fruit is ever a bad thing and the fruits of Washington summers are hard to avoid, so we’ll see what happens come summer. Regardless, Melissa and I will continue our trend towards seasonal, local produce.
10. Eliminate legumes
I like beans, but the only time I ever ate them was the kidney variety in chili. Melissa isn’t a fan and I’m by no means a lover, so this isn’t really that hard. I’ve only started to eat peanut butter in the last couple years (I didn’t like it previously), so even that could go away. I can’t convince myself to pay $10 for a jar of almond butter though.
11. Eliminate all remaining dairy including cheese
The cheese! Won’t anyone think of the cheese?! Everyone always says they love cheese and could never give it up. As many things as I covet, cheese is not one of them. I do like it, but I’d much rather have a bowl of pasta or beer on the weekends than eat cheese. Well, if I’m honest, I’d rather eat deep fried cheese curds once a month than eat cheese several times a week. Milk? We rarely had it when we were both working because it always spoiled. We’d taken to buying soy because it lasted so much longer, so I’ve just swapped out to one of the several almond and/or coconut milk products on the market. I’d long realized that drinking something designed to fatten a baby cow probably wasn’t a good idea, so this seems like a natural progression. I’ll still eat the hell outta some pizza every once in awhile though! (We ate it maybe four times a year anyway.)
So there you have it… a general idea of how I eat these days. Whether right or wrong, I feel good that I’m taking an active interest in what I’m eating. Melissa and I started this back in Virginia with our CSA, took it several new steps here in Seattle with routine visits to farmer’s markets and now I’m experimenting to see how eating different things makes me feel. Ultimately it’s about dialing in what works for me, and us, so on with the testing!