A Caveman Wouldn't Eat That! (or "Paleo Haters")

Doing something different to what society considers normal is often met with scorn, laughter or criticism. And if you're really lucky, sometimes you get all three at once. And if you're a fan of the paleo diet than you're probably getting this often from all the paleo-haters out there.

My favourite hater comment: "A caveman wouldn't eat that"

I'm not naive about the paleo diet. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea and I believe that it's the kind of drastic lifestyle change that people need to discover for themselves - I don't try to convert others to my way of thinking. I do it for me and not them.

So whenever I am asked about it I simply state "I'm eating like a caveman - lots of meats, vegetables, fruit and nuts" and leave it at that unless someone demonstrates enough interest to show they wont be a complete jackass about it.

But the paleo-haters don't return the favour. They don't choose to keep their ideas and opinions to themselves but instead choose to argue with me every step of the way, resulting in my now favourite hater-comment:

A caveman wouldn't eat that!

There are many subtle variations of this comment but the concept is the same. It is often dripping with amusement with an undercurrent of gloating, as they take pride in pointing out what they believe are contradictions in my eating habits.

I always feel like responding with "Yeah stupid me, the caveman probably didn't have that. I've just been waiting for someone to pull me up on a technicality because I'm not enjoying feeling great, looking great, and being super healthy. Can I share your stupidly mega-upsized Big Mac, fries and coke? Maybe we can also share the subsequent heart attack too?"

Paleo is making the best choice from what's available

But I'm too nice to do that. I feel like it's my place to choose the be the bigger person (figuratively) and let them know that while paleo does have guidelines around what should and shouldn't be eaten, the basis of the entire thing is about making the best choice from whatever is available.

Sure a caveman may not have had much bacon and certainly didn't have access to too many espresso bars but is that really a big problem? I haven't been able to successfully kill my own woolly mammoth yet, nor have I been able to locate a naturally occurring coffee plant near my house so forgive me for combining the best of both worlds and eating a paleo(ish) diet with the aid of modern convenience. But that is exactly what this paleo diet is about.

If we (the paleo-lovers) actually tried to replicate our ancestral diet to the letter than it would be very difficult to achieve, simply because certain foods are no longer available in the quantities that would be needed. But what we can do is take the concepts of the paleo diet (and the valuable lessons learned about what is actually good and bad for our bodies) and use that to make the best choice in a modern world. That is what being paleo is about.

Example of making the best choice

I took my wife out to dinner at a nice restaurant on the weekend and while I am pretty confident that my cavemen ancestors didn't eat Confit duck a? l’orange & sweet potato, I am also supremely confident that I chose the the best option for me and my body.

PS: I'm also sure cavemen didn't have access to espresso martinis and I don't care. I am in love with them. :)

So what brilliantly flawed arguments have you other paleo friends endured? I'd love to hear about them so feel free to share your horror stories.

Listen To Your Body

It was a week before my trip to Europe for my brother's wedding and I was sitting in the doctor's room waiting for the verdict - I had noticed this strange intermittent burning pain in my abdomen for the past two weeks and I was beginning to get worried. But I was not prepared for what he said next: "There is nothing physiologically wrong with you. I think it's just stress."

I am a firm believer that many ailments and illnesses are manifestations of our stress and inner thought processes so the concept of stress being a cause for illness was not new. But was it possible for me? I hadn't been stressed for years!

Over the course of my life I have bounced between both ends of the spectrum of stress. I was a happy-go-lucky type kid who loved to be loud and have a good time. But I also put a lot pressure on myself. I expected great things of myself and often set absurd goals that I would then stress over.

This pattern continued for much of my life - a strange mix of being relaxed and confident in one situation and then stressed and over-the-top in the next - until I began my personal development journey in 2007. During this time I sorted a lot of my issues out and I became proud of who I was and what I could achieve. I stopped putting pressure on myself and just started enjoying life. I was happy.

So to be told by a doctor I was stressed was a big slap in the face.

A Lesson From Paleo: Pay Attention To Your Food

Looking back, I accepted the doctor's story of stress because it was easy. I was working in a very negative environment and I was organising my first overseas trip so it was easy to just say that I was stressed and maybe I was. But one thing that living a paleo lifestyle has helped me realise is that I need to listen to my own body and pay attention to what I am doing to it, both mentally and physically.

A perfect example occurred last Friday. Sophie and I decided to have a non-paleo dinner (that's right, I've managed to convince Sophie to go paleo too!) with some modern treats that we used to enjoy. We ate crumbed chicken breast with salad and finished with an after-dinner snack of some very smooth white chocolate. It was nice, if not a little sweet for my paleo-modified tastebuds. But then the headache came.

It happened two hours after dinner - a headache started slowly pounding behind my eyes and I immediately regretted the dinner had eaten. I do not get headaches very often but even so, in the past I would have shrugged it off as a just a random occurrence and continued on my merry way. Not anymore!

It wasn't a big leap to draw the conclusion that it was that sudden spike in carbs (mostly highly processed sugars) that had caused the headache but it was a big step forward for me.

My mind is now focused on everything I do to my body and is attuned to monitor the effects and adjust. This is something I have never done before and I like it.I never used to link my actions to what occurred in my body before, instead I generally accepted that things "just happened" in my body.

Migraines, eczema, stomach cramps, and asthma to name a few - I used to see these things as what I had to put up with, like these were failings of the body I was given for this life and there was nothing I could do about it. I was wrong.

Maybe some of the ailments in my life will always be there or perhaps I am predisposed to suffer things like asthma, or get a migraine once a year, or live with this poor excuse for red hair for the rest of my life. Maybe. But I now believe that I have a lot more control over these things than I ever used to.

Your Mental Diet Is Just As Important

It is not just the food we eat that can change our bodies, but our thoughts can too. Just like having a crap-laden meal of processed junk-food will leave your body feeling terrible so will a mental diet of negative thoughts, stress, and anxiety. These are negative energy sources and they are the equivalent of fast-food for our brain. They provide a short-term energy burst but have long-term negative side-effects.

Living a healthy and happy life requires a combination of eating well (I'm recommending paleo if you can't tell) and thinking well. The latter is often harder to achieve which is why I write so much about it.

Changing your thought pattern from negative to positive requires a lot of effort, self-awareness, and dedication but it can be done.

The good news is that once you start looking to make these positive changes then your will find that it snowballs from there. The first change is the hardest, but once you start you will find that momentum is on your side and things become easier. It's just a matter of taking those first few difficult steps.

For those looking to make any healthy change (diet, mental, or other) in in their life I recommend paying close attention to your actions, observing what you feed on (both physically and metaphorically), and listening to your body. Remember, it is never just doing something randomly - it is always responding to something you have already done.

Image: Suat Eman

Paleo Diet - 30 Day Review

It has been one month since I first started living the paleo lifestyle and I am converted. I realised I was converted when, like all good paleo zealots, I started calling it a lifestyle not a diet. But it's true. It feels like a natural progression for me with my focus on developing and improving myself on both mental and physical levels taking me to explore new things. I started the diet simply as a test and the experience has been so positive that it now feels unnatural to be doing anything else. So I'm a paleo convert and maybe you will be too after reading my in-depth review of my first paleo month.

The Stats

Let's start with the cold hard stats. I am a self confessed numbers geek so even though I feel and look better living the paleo lifestyle I like to verify it with numbers. Numbers can't lie can they?

Weight: 77.6kg (-2.4kg)
Biceps: 32cm (no change)
Chest 98cm (+2cm)
Waist: 72cm (-2cm)
Hips: 82cm (-4.5cm)

For those that know me in person they would say I am, and always have been, fairly thin. To have dropped 2.4kg and a few centimetres around my waist and hips it has to have been all fat that I lost which is amazing as most people, including myself, would not have thought I needed to lose any. But I have definitely trimmed which means that my body fat percentage must be approaching single digits and my abdominal muscles are starting to be visible again, for the first time in a few years. And I haven't even been doing any ab exercises!

The weight loss mostly happened in the first two weeks which makes me think my body was adapting to my new eating regime and has now found a more natural body composition. Initially I was worried as I did not want to lose any weight but I feel if I add a more determined exercise effort (including good post-workout foods) I can gain some muscle fairly easily now.

Exercise

My dedication to exercise has been lacking over the past few weeks. I have still managed the odd primal style exercise (lifting sandbags, pushups, chinups, squats) at home but it all felt a bit random. Even when I did make it to the gym my workouts were all over the place and I could not get into a good rhythm. But I may have rectified that on my last visit.

I have decided to stop using resistance machines and move to a workout which combines free weights and interval style training. I start the stopwatch when I arrive and then go through a series of exercises (box jumps, squats, deadlifts, lunges, pushups, shoulder press, bicep curls, chest fly, chest press, shoulder fly) and attempt to beat my previous time for the overall workout. There is no set rest time between sets so I just push myself until my body needs a rest. I have only done this workout once but I felt great (and worn out) so I think there is potential there.

That is the plan from here on in, so stay tuned for a future update on that but for now let's get back into dissecting my first paleo month by looking at some of the difficulties I faced.

Difficulties Faced

I faced a handful of difficulties implementing a paleo eating plan but none were insurmountable. The biggest challenge was the increased preparation time for meals. Before going paleo my breakfast consisted of cereal and milk with a total preparation time of 10 seconds, and my lunch was nearly always bought from a store. My new breakfasts and lunches take anywhere from 5 - 15 minutes each so I had to find up to 30 minutes of preparation time each day to stick to the paleo diet. Luckily I am good at managing my time.

After that the difficulties faced were small. Sure I had an itch for sugar but that was to be expected, and I had to learn to appreciate drinking vodka, lime and soda instead of beer or wine, but these changes were easy to make. When I decide to do something I get highly motivated so sticking to the plan was not hard.

However, after living a week following the Paleo Diet rules strictly I did decide to make a few minor modifications.

My Modifications

By modifying the diet I am not saying that I know better than those spruiking the benefits of paleo living but just that I saw things that would improve my own experience and increase my chances of success without much of a trade off on my health. The two biggest changes I made were to include a couple of things that I enjoy as "treats", and being more lenient on some naturally occurring foods.

The treats were simple. It wasn't about adding processed foods and sugars again but more about establishing a lifestyle where my eating habits are mostly paleo but with a few bonuses I enjoy. The bonuses I chose are things that I used to have without negative consequences for my body. Milk is the number one example and I have only decided to use it to allow me to drink coffee because I love the taste of good coffee but cannot stand to have it black.

I have been drinking milk for a long time and have never had problems with it so adding a little to my diet for me to enjoy a coffee seems like a nice trade off. It's still much less than the LOMAD (litre of milk a day) I was guzzling on the Geek to Freak routine earlier this year.

The other modification I made was to be lenient on all natural foods, even if they are not strictly good paleo foods. For example I have, and will continue to, add the odd serving of potatoes to my meals. My theory is that naturally occurring is still better than anything processed and my focus is now on eating when hungry instead of being too strict to the rules. I think this will help stabilise my weight and perhaps even help gain muscle without detriment to my health. It's not like I will be eating bread every meal!

What To Do When Paleo is Impossible?

During this past month I found times when it was physically impossible for me eat enough food to satisfy my hunger and still keep within the paleo rules. I faced a dilemma. Do I go hungry and wait for a better opportunity to present itself, or do I just make the best choices from what I had available. The latter is what I went for.

Following the paleo rules strictly is obviously needed (and recommended) for those seriously overweight and/or sick but for me, a thin and healthy young man, I decided that regular eating was better than being a paleo nazi. After all, a cave man wouldn't starve himself if food, albeit strange compared to his normal diet, was available would he?

So when faced with these impossible paleo solutions I made decisions to choose the most natural foods I could, eat lots of protein, and avoid highly processed carbs. When in doubt eating is better than starving.

Falling off the wagon

But that motto of choosing the best food available was not the reason why I fell off the wagon over Easter. It was all my own choosing and I am glad to have done it. Kind of like a mini-experiment within an experiment to prove that the original theory is still valid. With nearly a month of paleo living elapsed I decided to relax my "best food available" rules and included some naughty things. I'm looking at you chocolate.

I am not much of a chocolate person so it wasn't anything to do with cravings or willpower. It was just a test. I decided to opt-in to Easter with my family and I ate my white chocolate bunny, drunk too many vodkas, and under-slept 3 nights in a row. The result? Bloody terrible.

I woke up the monday and I was sneezing up a storm, my nose wouldn't stop dripping, my head felt fuzzy, and my body had dull aches all over. Turns out that was the best I was going to feel all day.

Later, when I was curled up on the couch feeling a little sorry myself (and finishing my easter chocolate) a thought occurred to me: "What if I am sick because my body is telling me to stop treating it like crap?" I put the chocolate down, ate some fruit, grabbed a handful of nuts and shifted back to a paleo focus. 24 hours later I was feeling fine. No medicine, no antibiotics, and no crazy tonics made of moon dust and unicorn hair. Just a simple diet change. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Need for Sleep

Getting enough sleep is still the hardest lifestyle change for me to implement. I have so much going on in my life that I end up squeezing sleep in instead of allocating enough time. I think this is a common problem for many people, a by-product of our society and the structures we have in place, but that is a discussion for another time.

The point about sleep is that I am still not maximising my potential, especially living the paleo lifestyle, because I am not resting adequately. I am considering going to biphasic sleep where I add an afternoon nap but I will hold off on this for now. One experiment at at time. For now my focus is on increasing both the quantity an quality of my current sleeping patterns.

One Month Summary

The paleo lifestyle is great. I lost some fat, I increased my energy levels, and I now have a new passion to annoy all my friends with. What's not to love?

Seriously though, I do not think words do it justice when explaining the positive feelings experienced. I believe that removing a lot of the crap from my diet has resulted in my mindset becoming even more positive than before. I feel that I am seeing dramatic improvements in myself both physically and mentally just by living this lifestyle. Now the next step is to buy a big block of land, learn to farm, and grow a big wooly beard. Keep an eye out for that article!

Paleo for life. I'm convinced.

Paleo Diet - Day 7 (final update)

A full week down! 7 days on the paleo diet and I must say its going well. I can feel that this lifestyle is becoming more habit than forced and I am really enjoying the amount of fresh food I am eating. I'm beginning to wonder why it took me 27 years to figure it out.

The Obligatory Meal Info

Breakfast: Fried egg, bacon, with fruit salad and nuts Lunch: Salad with egg, bacon, and chicken sausage Snack 1: Boiled Egg Dinner: Beef Thai curry Snack 2: Fruit salad

My First Test - Takeaway!

Tonight I had my first big test of sticking to paleo. We had some friends over tonight and we ordered Thai food so I picked a nice coconut-based curry with big chunks of meat with vegetables (including potatoes). As I mentioned in some earlier posts, I am not too afraid of adding the odd potato to the diet as they are still a natural food and aren't going to cause me too many problems.

I did add some rice to my dish too but then did not end up eating it. Instead I saved myself for the left-over fruit salad. A much wiser choice.

The Week Summary

7 days complete and I am happy that this will become a regular lifestyle change for me. I love the food, I am happier, I am more creative, and I'm leaner but with more defined muscles. It has been a very positive experience, except for some slight sugar cravings but those are easily handled. Overall I believe this paleo style of eating not only makes sense but is good fun. I'm sold.

No More Paleo Updates

With the first week complete I wont be doing daily updates anymore. I really wanted to force myself to be accountable and writing every night was a way to do that but I feel that it is getting in the way of my other writing and I have lot more things to talk about still. As such my paleo diet updates more irregular and only when something important happens.

Paleo Diet - Day 6

Day 6 on the Paleo diet and I'm going to keep this article short and sweet. Nothing out of the ordinary to report today, just another day eating healthy foods and feeling good. Maybe that's a good thing? This eating style has become part of my life now that I do not even notice it? Sounds good to me.

The Obligatory Meal Info

Breakfast: Fried egg, bacon and chicken sausages, with fruit salad Snack 1: Nuts Lunch: Salad with egg, bacon, and chicken sausage Snack 2: Fruit salad Dinner: Baked fish (lemon and garlic) with salad and roast pumpkin

Summary

I am very happy with how today went. I had some doubts because normally my Saturday gets busy and I end up eating irregularly. I was concerned that if I was out I would get ravenously hungry and not be able to find any paleo-friendly food to suit me but this simply did not happen. I ate my meals, and withstood the junk food temptations offered at a market with ease. I even managed to get some primal exercise done in the afternoon while at home.

Go team!

Paleo Diet - Day 5

Day 5 on the Paleo diet and I'm still feeling great! Even without the longer than usual sleep last night I have been full of energy and happiness all day. I think some of that is a natural psychological by-product (as I start to notice improvements in my body I naturally become happier) but I cant help feeling it has a lot to do with the types of food I'm eating and the long lasting energy they provide the body.

The Obligatory Meal Info

Breakfast: Chicken Apple Hash and some Macadamias Snack 1: Fruit salad and some Almonds Lunch: Left over dinner (bolognese and vegies) Snack 2: Egg and 2 chicken sausages Dinner: More of yesterday's dinner with fruit salad dessert

Supplements and Vitamins

I have started on some of the dietary supplements and vitamins that are recommended as complimentary to the paleo diet. In particular I am taking fish oil, magnesium, and vitamin D3. I have not noticed any effects yet, unless they too are contributing to my more upbeat and energetic mindset.

Primal Exercise

I have been thinking more and more about changing my exercise routines to be more primal based so I trialled a few different things today.

I did some alternating step lunges, squats, pushups, and chin-ups using just my body weight as resistance. I then filled a bucket of water and did some quick "clean and jerk" style lifts as well as holding it above my head for as long as I could. The result? A bit of fun and some very good exercise and my abs feel tight without even doing any a work. Maybe there is something in this primal exercise theory?

Workout Food

I still have that niggling idea that I should have a big hit of carbs post-workout and I cannot find too much good information about what paleo-foods are ideal for this time. The extra meals have stopped weight loss but for muscle gain I can't help feeling I should load up with carbs after busting out the weights. We will see how tomorrow's early morning session goes.

Summary

It's working well. I look and feel healthier, stronger, and fitter. All positive so far.

Paleo Diet - Day 4

Day 4 on the Paleo diet and I'm feeling great! Perhaps the earlier bedtime last night played a part but I cannot discount the possibility that this paleo eating style is having positive effects on my body. Just like it said on the tin!

The Obligatory Meal Info

Breakfast: Chicken Apple Hash and some Macadamias Snack 1: Apple and almonds Lunch: Salad with leftover lamb rissoles Snack 2: Big serve of watermelon Snack 3: Two eggs (fried after a quick afternoon workout) Dinner: Bolognese, steamed vegies (broccoli, cauliflower and carrot) and macadamias

Extra Meals!

After some more reading I've added some extra food into my day. My main concern is losing too much weight as I am already quite lean. Since January I've dropped 5.2kg (from the Slow Carb Diet and general good eating habits) and I don't want to lose much more. So the solution is adding extra paleo-friendly meals to my day. I am not going to structure it but just try to get myself into the habit of eating when hungry.

Eating When Hungry

Eating when hungry is the ideal way to tackle the paleo diet. If you feel hungry, you eat. Simple. It means that you listen to your body and if you need to eat 3 meals one day and 6 meals the next that's what you do.

Today I was hungry at about 11:15am and I had already eaten my morning snack. So i tucked into my hearty lunch! I got a few weird looks and the odd comment about how "it's not lunchtime yet" simply because I was eating before midday. It made me realise how much emphasis we put on the clock instead of just listening to our bodies and it was in that moment that I made the resolution to eat whenever I damn well felt like it!

Energy Plus

Today it only took me a few minutes to go from lying in bed to being fully awake, primed with energy and ready for the day. I was energetic and happy right from the start of the day, a feeling I hadn't experienced for quite a while.

I contribute this increased energy and general good feeling partially to the diet and partially to the longer sleep time. Even though I still did not manage to sleep through the entire night without disturbance, I spent over 9 hours in bed and my body rested appropriately.

Summary

I'm getting into this paleo eating and I feel like it is something I can definitely sustain in the future for a long time. I'm also re-learning how important sleep is in our lives and with that my focus is shifting to be less about time-suck social temptations and more about giving my body what it wants.

Paleo Diet - Day 3

Day 3 has come and gone and I am still staying strong on the paleo diet. Another day filled with fresh fruit and vegetables, lean protein, nuts, and oils. Sugar cravings are still around (my mouth actually started salivating when I walked through the junk food aisle at the supermarket today) but I can ignore them easily enough. Check out why I find beating addictions easy below, as well as my food list for the day, and a few other points I am noticing about this paleo diet.

Food

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs, 1/2 an orange, and handful of nuts Snack: Apple and handful of almonds Lunch: Chicken salad (no egg this time) Snack: Pear and green tea Dinner: Lamb burger (with roasted capsicum "buns") and sweet potato chips.

Why Addictions Motivate Me

I have always been a very competitive man and that breaks down to two parts - I always strive to perform at my very best and I always aim. And these two traits are perfect for motivating me to deal with physiological addictions of any kind. Sugar cravings included.

When I notice a withdrawal-type symptom in my body I automatically see it as a challenge. It is as if someone has said "I bet you cannot get by without sugar. I bet you give in" which just makes me want to beat it even more.

The other part is my desire to perform to the best of my ability. When I notice symptoms like sugar withdrawal I start wondering if I was ever performing at my best. Maybe I have been holding myself back all this time? What if I cut sugars and I become stronger, faster, fitter, and healthier? That's a pretty big motivator for me.

External Motivation - Seeing is Believing

Theory is all well and good but sometimes the perfect motivation comes from seeing others in action and hearing their success stories. A good source of motivation for the paleo diet naturally is Robb Wolf's website, but today I stumbled upon a Canadian gym called The Strengthbox. It looks like my heaven.

The Strengthbox is about "primal exercise" which is the exercise equivalent of the paleo diet. Their workouts involve natural body movements and resistance forces, performing irregular actions that activate multiple muscles, and generally having a bit of fun while exercising. This looks exactly like my ideal gym that I dreamed up a while back.

Then I stumbled onto Greg Carver's blog, Athletics by Nature. Greg is one of the main guys at The Strengthbox and his blog is all about living a primal, or paleo, lifestyle. He has interesting articles about recipes, diet, exercises, recovery, and even how to build a MovNat climbing platform for exercise. Check it out, it's very cool.

I guess it is the same with any regime change (diet, physical or other). You can always find support and motivation online so there is never a reason to give up, especially not when the new plan has so many benefits.

Creativity is Through the Roof!

One benefit I am noticing is that I am having a big spike in my creativity when it comes to meals, especially dinner. Previously it felt like I was just going through the motions, preparing the same old meals that I could do with my eyes closed. Now I am dreaming up recipes and challenging myself to do something different with great success. Yesterdays Spicy Orange Chicken was fantastic and tonight's Lamb burgers hit the spot.

With this added culinary creativity I am also noticing an increase in my general creativity. I am reconsidering writing my novel, investigating several other business opportunities, and working on a new computer program to help me bring in some money. Hopefully this creativity trend continues as I get further into the paleo diet because it is very positive.

Summary

Day 3 down and I am feeling pretty good. Not too much different to how I was a few days ago, except for the sugar cravings and increase creativity. My sleeping habits have not been very good of late so I think I am still over-tired and under-resting which is not ideal. I believe this will impact on my ability to maximise the paleo effects so I need to address this.

On that note, it might well be my bed time. Good night.

Paleo Diet - Day 2 (The Sugar Itch)

Day 2 in my paleo experiment was good but a little harder than yesterday. I'm calling today my "sugar itch" day because I found myself daydreaming a few times about sweet foods. I think it will get worse though hence it only being an itch today. I did spend the day in an office watching people chowing down on cream-filled biscuits, chips and lollies so maybe that didn't help. But I digress. Time for the interesting part:

Meals

Breakfast: Leftover Salmon and mixed nuts (Brazil and Pecans) Snack: Orange and almonds Lunch: Chicken salad (lettuce, carrot, tomato, capsicum, 2 boiled eggs, 100g chicken) Snack: Apple and almonds Dinner: Spicy Orange Chicken (Zac's recipe) with lots of vegetables on the side. Drinks: A few Vodka, Lime and Sodas to round out the night!

Paleo Taste

As I alluded to earlier, I had a an urge for some sugar today. I think that mindset made the meals seem blander than they actually were. I normally love my chicken salad but I had to push myself to finish it today. I expect this to get better as I get used to the no sugar intake.

Dreaded Weight Loss!

I weighed myself again this morning (this time BEFORE breakfast) and I was down 1.4 kilos! Not cool. Some of this I can contribute to having a little extra weight yesterday as "wedding hangover" but it still rings some alarm bells. Standing at 6"2 (188cm) I am already relatively lean so weight loss is not ideal. I will continue to monitor this in the future, especially after gym workouts.

Summary

I'm feeling a little flat as I write this but I contribute that to a recent lack of good sleep. Overall I feel the paleo diet will work well. I can see how it would easily result in weight loss for overweight/obese people but am unsure of maintaining it in my lean state. Perhaps I am simply not eating enough? This is only day 2 after all so I will reserve any judgment until I have further data.

Day 2, the "sugar itch", complete!

Paleo Diet - Day 1

Today was my first official day on the Paleo Diet and it was a positive experience overall. I had trialled a few paleo meals over the past few days but decided to wait until today as I attended a wedding yesterday and I doubt they would have appreciated me requesting paleo foods at such late notice. Some people can be so touchy. I guess those earlier paleo meals could be seen as a bit of cheat. It means I had a few days easing myself into this new eating habit so my body could be already adjusting to this eating style but I decided the purpose of this paleo test is not to see what negative results I have (e.g. carb withdrawal, cravings) but rather what positive effects this diet has on my life. So without further ado let's see how day one went (with pictures!)

Day 1 in Pictures

Breakfast

Breakfast was delicious. Two eggs and 1.5 rashes of bacon, fried in olive oil, plus half an apple and a handful of blueberries.

Snack

Mid-morning snack of half an apple and a handful of almonds.

Lunch

Lunch was post-gym so I whipped up my standard salad (lettuce, capsicum, tomato, carrot) and added leftover chicken sausages and the left over rash of bacon from breakfast. Yummy.

Snack v2

I was a little hungry coming into late afternoon and so I polished off 2 boiled eggs and 3 brazil nuts The brazil nuts are a tip I took from Tim Ferriss about their selenium content and the effect on sperm production and testosterone levels. The eggs? Well I just love eggs!

Dinner

Grilled Salmon, green beans, and a small serving of Zac Salad (that's lettuce, tomato, capsicum, and carrot for those that missed it). This was the biggest unknown for me as I've never been big on Salmon before but this meal surprised me. It was fantastic and I will be having Salmon again in the future.

So that's everything I ate. How did it all go?

Taste

Beautiful. All food was fresh and delicious. The meals and snacks were good combinations of different areas and I made sure I got my lean protein fix for every meal. I could definitely eat like this for a long time with no concerns for boredom or taste.

Hunger

I did not experience much hunger today. In fact I would say my hunger was less than a normal carb-filled day. It was weird though. Normally I will get hit with a sudden urge of hunger around lunch time and I have to rush out to get food, and lots of it! Today I would eat a meal and feel satisfied and then an hour later my stomach felt empty. I was not hungry per se, but not full. It was definitely something different but probably more how our bodies should feel after food.

My Biggest Concern - Weight Loss

I know most people will hate me for saying that my biggest concern is losing weight but it's true. I weighed in at 81kg this morning (after breakfast) and I don't want that to drop. I'd prefer to be gaining weight (muscle) which is the whole point of the gym work but it adds more tension around the issue of ensuring that I eat enough food. I need to be able to live a paleo lifestyle, work out, and still be able to build muscle.

With that in mind I did something I told myself I was not going to do - measure my calories. In the past when I have started tracking my calorie intake (normally to ensure I eat enough to bulk up at the gym) I tend to go a little over the top with it. I wanted to do this diet without measuring everything but I decided that I needed to see how much this day has been worth first to determine if I will waste away or not.

Energy In: 1948 Calories Protein: 147 grams (31.6% of total energy intake) Fat: 127 grams (59.4% of total energy intake) Carbs: 45 grams (9% of total energy intake)

Not great. I think I need a fair bit more food if I am going to gain muscle from busting weights at the gym. I will give the paleo method a trial and see what effect it has on my body but I am thinking the future might include things like potatoes just to pad it out a bit. We'll see.

Day 1 down!