Here's my honest, non-sarcastic opinion on proper diet. It is all about calories and your personal metabolism. There's nothing else to it.
The Mark Haub article I posted on my blog is real. The guy lost weight on a junk food diet by strictly monitoring his calories. Plus, his cholesterol levels improved. It ain't a joke.
The truth is, there are a lot of healthy diets, not just paleo. Paleo is the fad du jour that became popular by playing on people's ignorance and providing a theoretical explanation. (I'm not calling anyone here ignorant, but it is pretty clear with the level of obesity in our country that 90%+ people have no idea what they eat on a daily basis and will buy into any plausible sounding bullshit.)
Here's why it works for people:
-It bans any sort of calorically dense food, e.g. grains, cheese, etc. You know how hard it is to eat 4000+ calories in a day eating chicken and vegetables? Impossible. No matter what, you're going to eat a low calorie diet and lose weight. There's nothing shocking about this.
-Many people have mild lactose and gluten issues that go undiagnosed. These disappear when your switch to a diet that eliminates dairy and wheat.
-It attaches a stigma ("cheat meals") to when people break it. People love feeling guilty about stupid shit.
Sure, there's probably truth to someone's lactose intolerance (or other digestive issues) stemming from an evolutionary cause. But some people digest dairy and wheat just fine. I'm one of them. Don't let some book or cultish following trick you into thinking you have problems when you don't.
I've never eaten paleo, but I've been eating a healthy, lean, protein rich diet consistently for 7-8 years now. I have a high metabolism and if I don't take in enough calories, I get weak and irritable (ok, maybe I'm irritable all the time). And because I have no digestion issues, if I need to take in another 200 calories on any given day, I'd just rather have 2 slices of bread than 4 apples. But that's just my personal preference.
My advice:
-Try cutting things out of your diet to pinpoint what it is that causes you problems. If you feel crappy after eating cheese but great after eating bread, then stop stressing about how you "cheated" because you ate bread.
-If you want to lose weight, take some time to figure out how many calories are in the foods you have. Then you can make your own smart decisions on a daily basis, such as eating the burger but passing on the fries, or getting the burrito with peppers/onions instead of beans and no sour cream and cheese.
modest too.
ReplyDeleteThis was a good read. I know personally that I suck at processing simple carbs such as bread, pasta, and regular potatoes. I cut that out and I've seen great gains/losses.
ReplyDeleteOne time Rudy did a full body test on me. I wish I remember exactly how to take it but based on certain parts of your body, using a caliper, you could tell how well you process sugars, carbs, stress and a few other things.
Drywall has finally infiltrated our blog - huh?! :)
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely truth to some of your suggestions. We cannot discount Celiac Disease, IBS, Crohn's Disease and other medically proven digestive disorders. If you do not struggle with any of these, you are lucky. If you do, then you know how great it is to find ANY diet, Paleo or not, that helps achieve your goals (whatever they may be).
You can always remove certain things for 2 weeks then re-introduce them back into your diet to see if they are irritants to your system or you can always go the easy way and get an allergy blood test. Very true Paleo is not for everyone and it is not THEE way but it is a way. Same goes for Zone. and the Drywall diet. See what works for you and always ask the 3 questions: How do I look, How Do I feel? How do I Perform?
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