My Mom's paleo challenge

So I think I may have been able to convince my mom to go paleo for 30 days... so I wrote up this plan, which is basically me stealing a bunch of info and putting it together. I didn't think she would read any of it, but actually did. She said a big issue was breakfast for her, and I can totally see that (I actually intermittent fast a lot of breakfasts) especially since she doesn't like eggs. There are still amazing amounts of paleo choices including the easiest, left overs from the night before. There is no reason you can't have grilled chicken or steak for breakfast! There is also turkey bacon and chicken sausage that are good protein choices. Add some fruit, some avacado or some nuts, and you are good to go. Now all I need to do is convince her to take fish oil, and I think well within 30 days she will be convinced of the benefits.





PALEO 30 DAY CHALLENGE

I'm going to steal a whole giant blog post from someone, then I will try and explain more of the reasons behind paleo

Change your life in thirty days (The Whole30)

In Part II of my Guide to Eating Dirty, I recommend cheating smart – indulging in those foods that aren’t going to knock you out of energy, wellness and performance commission for days on end. The concept sounds pretty easy, and it is… as long as you know how various food groups like gluten, dairy and legumes affect you. So how do you figure out what foods are okay to cheat with, and what foods will never be worth it?

I can tell you where it STARTS... strip out all the crap from your diet and let your body heal and recover from whatever effects those foods may be provoking. What, exactly, does that mean? Super strict, no cheat, by-the-book Paleo for the next 30 days. Cut all the foods that could be kicking you in the crotch without you even knowing it for the next 30 days, and see how that feels. (To be clear – this is NOT a “30 Day Challenge”. This is so much bigger than that. And it's not really even about cheating. I kind of tricked you there. I'm not sorry. Read on, please.)

Why?

First and foremost, it will change your life. I cannot possibly put enough emphasis on this simple fact. This. Will. Change. Your. Life. It will change the way you think about food, it will change your tastes, it will change your habits and your cravings. It could, quite possibly, change the emotional relationship you have with food, and with your body. It has the potential to change the way you eat for the rest of your life. I know this because I did it, and it changed my life, and it changed the way I eat on a very permanent basis.

I promised you some cheat-tips, so here's how this ties in. The only way you are going to know if something is having a negative effect on how you look, feel or perform is to take it out for a while, then try it again with a fresh perspective. Think of it this way – if you’re allergic to pollen, and you are exposed to pollen every day, that means every day your nose is a little stuffy and your head is a little achy. You probably don’t even realize how crappy you feel, because a stuffy nose and achy head is just normal. Now, take a vacation somewhere pollen-free. Allow your body to experience a month without that irritant. Then… come home. Imagine how aware you would be of your allergy then. Your first few days back, you would be miserably in tune with how your allergy is affecting your everyday life.

Same concept here. Dairy, gluten, lectins and alkaloids may be provoking a similar autoimmune response in your body today – and you don’t even know it. Certain sugary foods may send you running for the nearest candy bowl, while others may satisfy you with just a small amount. So take a vacation from those food groups. Give your body a break, and then, if you so choose, come back to them with a fresh perspective. You’ll be able to immediately see if – and how – they really do impact how you look, feel and perform.

There are other reasons for doing a super strict 30 day Paleo program. For one, there’s an excellent chance that this little adventure will jump start fat loss. And I’ve seen really good results, especially in women, of body shapes changing just by eliminating these foods. Does your stomach look flat in the morning and chubby by day’s end? Try cutting dairy. You’d be surprised how an irritated digestive tract can manifest into a muffin-top over those low rider jeans in just a matter of hours.

What?

So what does strict Paleo mean? You'll get a different answer depending on who you ask, but this is the plan I followed back in April.

1. Eat real food – meat*, eggs, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruit, oils (like EVOO or coconut). Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they're fresh and natural.


2. Do not eat dairy. This includes butter, cheese (hard and soft), yogurt (even Greek) and milk (including cream in your coffee**).


3. Do not eat grains. This includes bread, rice, pasta, corn (I count corn as a grain), oatmeal, and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains. That's not real food, right?


4. Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds, lentils, and peanuts. (No peanut butter, kids.)


5. Do not eat sugars*** of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, Splenda, Truvia, Stevia, etc.


6. Do not eat processed foods. This includes protein shakes, processed bars (like Zone bars), dairy-free creamers, etc.


7. Do not drink alcohol, in any form.


8. If you have serious inflammation issues like arthritis, you may want to consider avoiding nightshades for 30 days as well.
   

*I ate organic chicken sausage during my 30 day period. They are nitrate, dairy, gluten and casein-free and all natural. I did not eat bacon, but I’d be okay with bacon if it didn’t have any nitrates or other crap in it.

**I drank coffee in moderate amounts. Since I was drinking it black, I really didn’t want that much anyway. If you really want to go hard core and reset your body’s tolerance to caffeine, skip the coffee for the 30 day period as well.

***I used reason when avoiding sugars. For example, my Sunbutter includes some cane juice, which means there are 3g of sugar in each serving. Since it’s such a fantastic fat source and the only other ingredient is sunflower seeds, I was okay with that.

How?

So now that you have the basic plan, you need to know how to implement it. I’ll help you.

Start now. Today. This minute. Count out thirty days, go immediately to your grocery store and stock up on things you can eat, and begin. Cold turkey, just start. It’s the only way to do it. Give yourself excuses, reasons to put it off, and you may never begin. Do it now.

The only way this will work is if you give it the full thirty days. Anything less and you are selling yourself, and your results, short. You may start to see and feel improvements within just a few days, but according to Robb and Matt, the healing process takes significantly longer. And... no cheating. Just ONE cheat could irritate your digestive tract, promote an inflammatory response, upend your insulin sensitivity and send you running for the nearest Dunkin Donuts. It will ruin the effect of the “reset button” you are trying to push. This isn’t me being a hard-ass, or insisting that you tough it out to prove to yourself you can do it. This is a fact – the only way this will work is if you give it the full thirty days, no cheating.

Tough Love

Here comes the tough love. This is for those of you who are considering taking on this life-changing month, but aren’t sure you can actually pull it off, cheat free, for a full 30 days. This is for the people who have tried this before, but who “slipped” or “fell off the wagon” or “just HAD to eat (fill in food here) because of this (fill in event here)”. This is for you.

1. It’s not that effing hard. (Yes, I wanted to throw an f-bomb in there.) Don’t you dare tell me this is hard. Giving up heroin is hard. Drinking your coffee black is. Not. Hard. Substituting Sunday morning French toast in favor of a giant omelet and side of crispy bacon is not hard. Eating fresh, delicious fruits and vegetables every day is not hard. So I don’t want to hear one single complaint. You won’t get any coddling from me on this one, you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”, and you won’t get any second chances. Not in my house. It’s thirty days, and it’s for the most important cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. So shut up and do it.


2. Don’t tell me you “slipped”. Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of Krispy Kremes, you DID NOT SLIP. You made a choice to eat something of poor quality. It’s always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident. You make a poor choice, even once, you’re out. You don’t get to re-start, you don’t get to keep posting. Commit here, 100%, for the full 30 days, or go somewhere else.


3. Don’t lie to me. Don’t even try.


4. You never, ever, ever HAVE to eat anything you don’t want to eat. You’re all big boys and girls. Toughen up. Learn to say no. Learn to stick up for yourself. Just because it’s your Mom’s birthday, or your best friend’s wedding, or your company outing does not mean you “have” to eat crappy food. It’s always a choice, and I would hope that you stopped succumbing to peer pressure in 7th grade.


5. This does require a bit of effort, people. If you’re cutting grains and dairy for the first time, you have to replace those calories with something. You have to make sure you’re eating enough, that your vitamins and nutrients are balanced, that you’re getting enough protein, fat and carbohydrates. Don’t expect me to fill in the blanks for you. Figure it out. There are a ton of good resources out there. I’ll list some in my next post, to get you started. But take responsibility for your own plan. Improved health, fitness and performance doesn’t happen just because you’re now taking a pass on chocolate milk.

Summary

So there you have it – my thoughts on changing your life in 30 days. If just one person makes this happen – just one – this entire four page post will be well worth my time and energy. It’s that important. I believe in it that much. It changed my life, and I want it to change yours too.

Post questions to comments so I can answer them for everyone. Post your commitment, if you’re up for it. Just make sure you re-read the Tough Love portion again before you sign up. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.


- Melissa Urban




So in case your still with me....
Sound Nutrition should enable you to
1. LOOK better
2. FEEL bettter
3. PERFROM better
4. Track biomarkers of health via blood work (Probably not going to really apply, but would be very interesting to see if you want to realize how much eating this way can impact you.

For health we want good "insulin sensitivity" - that is we want the body to release the smallest amount of insulin neccessary to replace blood glucogen. Many modern pathologies are a result of insulin resistance (requiring more and more insulin to replace blood glucose levels).

4 causes of impaired tissue sensitivity to insulin
1. chronically high blood clucose levels
2. lack of sleep (2-3 days of inturrupted sleep can cause the body to act like type 2 diabetic)
3. inactivity
4. autoimmunce complications with leptin
Leptin is a hormone that tells the body it is full. Grains, legumes and dairy block this signal, so we avoid these foods!!


How else do grains etc mess with you?
They irritate the gut, allowing particles to enter the body and cause irritation, as well as allowing pathogens to enter the same way.
"Grains and legumes increase viral and bacterial adhesion to mucosal membranes, thus leading to increased rates of cold, flu, infection, and inflammation"

Dairy - high correlation with autoimmunity and hyperinsulinism


blah blah blah

7 basic tenants of paleothic nutrition (the science version, what we really care about is to eat lean meats, fruits, vegetables, good fats, no starch or sugar, grains, dairy, legumes)
1. glycemic load - how much sugar is in a food
2. fatty acid composition - omega 3 v omega 6, and saturated fat
3. macronutrient composition - carb, protein, fat
4. micronutrient density - vitamins, antioxidents for a given amount
5. acid/base balance -long term health thing, don't worry about it
6. sodium/potassium ration - dont worry
7. fiber content - suffice to say that you will get enough


Protein - Whole complete proteins that support growth, repair, and immune functions. Non-antibiotic, grass fed if possible, lean and varied 20-35% of calories
Fats - 30-60% of calories - including fish oil. We want a balanced n-3/n-6 ration. our ancestors had a 1:1 ratio. the average modern ratio is 1:20-40. We take the flish oil to bring this ration back to normality.
Carbs - 15-25% , quality more significant than quantity, although naturally quantities were rarely large.


You have a good idea of glycemic index and glycemic load so I won't go into them. They should help guide food choices towards vegetables and lean meats especially.

We are doing this mainly for health. There is significant evidence that shows that this lifestyle can help prevent cancer, ALZHEIMERS, parkinsons, depression, and more. You do a great job with the excercise of a paleo lifestyle, with the intense workouts twice a week and consistent walking for golf. You also have the basic idea of how much food to have as well.


Good links:

http://www.thepaleodiet.com/nutritional_tools/recipes.shtml
www.paleomama.com
www.everydaypaleo.com


Recipe 1 – Paleo Diet Speedy Pancake

Ingredients:

1. Coconut oil
2. 2 Large eggs
3. ½ Cup cashew nut butter
4. ¼ Teaspoon cinnamon
5. ½ Cup sugarless apple sauce
6. ½ Teaspoon Vanilla extract

Directions:

(1) Combine all ingredients in a bowl with the exception of coconut oil. Stir the mixture until they are well battered.

(2) Add a little coconut oil to a non-stick frying pan. Just enough to grease it. And then, add the batter into the frying pan and spread it properly to mould into a pancake shape.

(3) Use low or medium heat to cook it and after a minute or two, flip to fry the other side.