Getting Started with Paleo
There are more food-related health problems (cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol and more) than there have ever been. But because you’re reading this, I want to say congratulations! You’ve obviously made an important decision to take back your health and start eating better. It doesn’t matter what the reason behind it is (if you’re newly diagnosed with a health related disease/issue or you’re just sick and tired of being unhealthy, for example), what’s important is that you’re taking action to make the positive changes in your diet and lifestyle. That’s a huge accomplishment and a very smart decision.
I’m assuming you’re interested in a Paleo way of eating. So this series of blog posts was created to give you some easy to understand information about eating a Paleo diet. It’s broken down into a five day action plan that will help you get started and I’ll even share some sample recipes that are quick and easy but delicious too as well as a seven-day menu plan to ease you into your first week of following this way of eating!
First, let’s cover the main foundation – what the Paleo Diet is and whether it’s right for you or not.
The word Paleo comes from the Paleolithic period, or also known as the Stone Age. Another common name for Paleo is the Caveman Diet. It was given this name because the allowed foods are similar to the dietary needs our bodies were originally created to eat and what was once only consumed back during Paleolithic times (cavemen) – real, natural non-processed foods such as nuts, berries, wild animals, vegetables, fruit, etc. In other words, anything that could be hunted or gathered. You may have also heard it referred to as clean eating. Basically, it’s a very simple ‘real’ food way of eating – how our bodies were biologically created to eat.
If our bodies were designed to live on foods like the cavemen did what happened?
The agricultural revolution, that’s what happened! After agriculture and farming were introduced, suddenly our society became accustomed to consuming things like pasta, rice, bread, and so on. Things that the cavemen survived without! Our bodies were not created to consume all these grains…even though the food pyramid recommends we eat so many servings of grains a day!
The Paleo WOE (way of eating) is a way for people to go back to a simple, healthy diet. A diet their body craves and needs – one that our bodies were created to consume. It’s meant to be easy to understand and easy to follow, but it’s also easy to overcomplicate things. If you find yourself making Paleo complicated, remind yourself that really it’s all about whether or not a caveman would eat it.
Is the Paleo lifestyle right for me?
Only you can make that decision, although some doctors may make the decision for you when, because of health related issues, they recommend you follow this way of eating. If you have gluten-sensitivity or inflammation of the joints, going Paleo can be a great asset to helping clear those issues up. You may find it challenging if you’re a vegetarian but it can (and has been) be done. If you’re not willing to commit 100%, then it’s probably not the right choice for you. Without being fully committed, you won’t give it a fair chance and more than likely will quickly and easily slip back into old eating habits. Make a commitment to give yourself at least 30 days of eating this way so your body will have time to go through the adjustments (detox, withdrawal) and start feeling the benefits. In the grand scheme of things, committing to 30 days is ‘easy’.
All that to say, do your due diligence (research, talk to a doctor, etc.) and make an educated decision as to whether it’s right for you or not. Just as with everything else in life, just because Paleo worked for someone else that doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you or that it’s the best option for you.
If you decide it is, follow along here as we start the 5-day Paleo Action Plan!
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