So my dad sent me this article this morning. He wasn't passing judgment, he just had bought me a Paleo cookbook and wanted to educate me about what I'm getting myself into. However, from using Arbonne products and doing their detoxes already a couple times, and my copious hours on Pinterest, I've got plenty of info in my arsenal. It never hurts to have more, though. It's a pretty basic read, so if you don't know what paleo is, read it.
But here was my response:
Don’t those symptoms seem gross?!?!? Leaky gut. Just the name of it makes me want to eat paleo for the rest of my life!!! But I realize that’s not the reality I live in. I have fast food joints at my fingertips, restaurants that make cheeseburgers with the cheese already inside, and a boyfriend whose main dish is Pizza Rolls.
As I sit here sipping on my coffee (from my badass Captain America mug, thanks Molly)(coffee is against the Paleo diet), I’ll be the first to say I never do a diet 100%. The Autoimmune Paleo Diet is one that is strict and restrictive on your intake of food. No grains?? Not even quinoa. No coffee?? How do I wake up in the morning. No cheese?? Kill me now.
But moderation, now that’s not too much to ask. I can do moderation. In fact, since college, I’ve been working really hard to stay at a moderate intake of food. (And I’ve lost 50lbs since graduating high school…bet you didn’t know it was that much.) Kinda trying to live by the 80/20 principle. Where 80% of the time, I eat healthy. It’s like when I cook food at home, I try to make it clean and/or paleo. Which does get kinda difficult and sometimes wastes food, because I never get around to eating it, or there’s just too much for me to eat by myself and we’re limited on space. (Speaking of, if you have any ideas where I can get a legit spice rack to put all my wonderful spices, let me know!!) Then, 20% of the time, when I go out with friends, or out for the weekend, then I feel like I can splurge and eat a little unhealthy and not feel guilty for “breaking a diet” – because it’s my lifestyle, not a diet.
Like I said, I’m not perfect and there’s no rhyme or rhythm to my life right now. So it’s hard to say exactly what I’m going to eat. But, I know I’m going to be cooking from home with great ingredients, because I can trust that. Like this: http://paleomg.com/crockpot-coffee-ancho-chile-short-ribs/ - doesn’t that look hella good??? Yeah!!
The other side of any intake of food is how you’re going to expense the energy that it gives you. Since November, I’d been busy with The Wedding (yes, it deserves to be a proper noun, because of all the life it sucked out of me, but damn was it a beautiful day!!) so I wasn’t working out and I ate out probably 75% of my meals. 75%!!! Holy cow, I feel it. I’m dense, I’m sore, I’m tired, I’m greasy and blobbish. And I’m 100% sure that comes from poor eating and no exercise. So, I joined a gym, a yoga group, and signed up for a 5K. I will probably only go about 3x’s a week, but that’s ok. I don’t have to be a psycho workouter, that’s unrealistic. But even 3x’s a week can make me feel better.
It’s not always about what diet you’re on. It’s got to be a lifestyle. And more than cooking strictly from my OMG That’s Paleo?? cookbook, I’ve got to put good things in my body and workout. I need cheat days where I have a bowl of cookie dough and a bottle of wine by my side. And I need days where I’m so stressed I need to run 5 miles on the treadmill just to calm down and use up some energy. For me, it’s not about weight or abs or following a fad. It’s feeling better and looking better…from the inside out.
So THAT’s why I like Paleo, and that’s why I asked for the cookbook. It encourages me to be 80% good to my body. And that’s 80% more positive energy and vibes that I’ll be able to give back to my friends and family. So no, I’m not “Paleo” or “Gluten-Free” or any other diet that’s going on. I’m me. And I’m healthy.
I just kinda want to make that a PSA. I know I'm always talking about food and what I want to be doing, but I think it's so important to have information on why you're doing what you're doing. Especially when it comes to your body. So thanks for that, dad. You gave me a reason to write again.
<3XOT
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