It was much easier to stick to than I thought it would be. As you can see from my January Eats diary, I didn’t eat fancy or hard to find foods, go hungry, count calories or count carbs. I simply ate Mother Nature’s foods and avoided man made foods. Everything I ate came from natural ingredients and I know I ate more calories than I usually do – yet I LOST 13 pounds! Eight were from the Oct-Dec holiday period but the other 5 pounds I’ve carried for 10 years! I haven’t been this weight since 2001 *pinch me*
A Balanced State
From what I’ve learned, maintaining steady blood sugar is key to not just losing weight, but maintaining a healthy weight. So while my focus wasn’t to lose weight, with Paleo, I dramatically cut sugar (carbs) from my diet and ate healthy complex carbs that were mostly low in sugar and eaten with other foods. This slowed their ingestion and helped avoid imbalances. When simple or high carb loads are eaten consistently, the body repeatedly gets knocked out of a balanced state and becomes stressed and reactive, which results in few positive outcomes. Here’s an eye opening article about excessive sugar and health with many credible citations. Also, an informative study on sugar, presented by Doctor Lustig, MD., that’s well worth the watch.
If interested, there’s a book that gets into our makeup by a former research biochemist, Robb Wolf, called the Paleo Solution. If you think about how our bodies evolved and have been conditioned to nourish itself from natural resources for millions of years, and compare that to the dramatic changes in our diet that occurred overnight by comparison, it’s no wonder so many bodies have revolted with illness and disease. The hormones, liver, metabolism, pancreas, etc aren’t equipped to process the quantities of sugar (carbs) and chemicals consumed today. And more and more research supports returning to an ancestral, natural diet for better health. Here’s one of Robb’s blogs on gluten and grains.
Keep It Real
I really don’t think all sugar (carbs) are evil if eaten in moderation. And while my focus wasn’t about losing weight, I’m thrilled I did and plan to continue down this path after I lose my last 6 pounds. To keep it off, I obviously can’t return to former eating patterns that caused the problems, right? Permanent change = permanent results.
To shed some light on where I’ve been, for the first time in 10 years I believe I can reach my former weight prior to the ‘great explosion’ that took place between 2001 and 2004. I gained close to 80 pounds in 3.5 years. No lie. And just 5 short years ago, at the peak of feeling hopeless and accepting this was my new life, I never would’ve believed it was possible to lose – not all of it. Not for one second. Seriously.
Interesting enough, I didn’t follow an organized diet and for the first time in years, the weight just fell off. Moved, stressful job, no time to go out to eat, and when home I wanted to relax, not run out and pick up food. So I naturally fell into a very similar lifestyle as Paleo, cutting a load of carbs, all fast foods, and alcohol from my diet. I actually started craving fruits and veggies and ate a lot of chicken and fish (prior to grass-fed, loved Sam’s giant bag of fish and chicken!) Which reminds me, although grass-fed and organic are better for you, it’s not a requirement to gain better health. Any change you make to return to a simpler way of eating will make you healthier.
Yes, simple really works :)
Now that the 30 days are over, I can start reintroducing foods back into my diet. I plan on having a Feb Eats page but just to capture new foods being introduced rather than every meal. This will help track and monitor reactions, especially gluten, which can take more than 7 days to detect. Mine may be a bit tricky since I believe it jacks with my hormones and I won’t know immediately since women’s hormones change throughout the month. My rashes are believed to be progesterone related which is in the system 2 weeks during a normal month. I’m usually out of balance and experience multiple cycles a month. Blech. I really hope those days are behind me.
Here’s to successful testing and better health!
