First, I hate the word diet. To me, it strikes up images of people going on juice cleanses or eating only baby food. These types of diets are not only unhealthy, but also are very temporary fixes to weight loss. As soon as one goes back to eating regularly those pounds will come back. That said, not all diets are as unhealthy as these. There are some that are more permanent and restrictive but are also options that lead to a long, healthy lifestyle. One such diet is the Paleo diet.
I’m in the middle of my last month in college before I graduate. As such I’m preparing for the future in many different areas of my life. One area is my eating and exercising habits. I recently started exercising with my roommates, and since I want to lose some of my undergraduate flab I’ve taken up a routine that’s 3/4 cardio and 1/4 lifting. The problem is, in all these months I haven’t lost any weight or flab. It’s then that I turned towards taking a closer look at what I eat. I thought that if I had just eaten healthier, more whole foods and less processed stuff, I would be going in the right direction, but there was no change. It’s then that I started googling healthy eating tips, and it was then that I discovered the Paleo Diet.
When I first started the Paleo Diet I tried it without understanding the concept of it. My “Paleo Diet for Dummies” way of thinking was that the Paleo Diet focuses on eating like the cavemen. We should be eating like our ancestors meaning meats, veggies, fruits and the like, so if you come across a food that a caveman couldn’t eat, you can’t eat it either. That’s what I thought the Paleo Diet was when I first discovered it a week ago, and I thought, “OK, let’s give it a go.” I decided to take out grains and carbs from my diet and I started Googling if foods were “paleo or not.” No more desserts cause of the carbs and sugars. No more white rice, only brown rice… I think. And no more coffee ‘cause I read somewhere that beans weren’t good and isn’t coffee made from beans?
The first few days of diving into the Paleo Diet were a confusing mess, but I was committed to the cause even when my first challenge appeared. One day my two roommates decided they wanted to go to Chick-Fil-A. I, of course, could not have any of the fried chicken, not because of the chicken, but because of the carb-covered coating and the oil that fried it. In an act to be clever though I decided to look up the menu ahead of time and to see if I could find Paleo friendly options. It turns out the restaurant serves grilled chicken nuggets and salads with grilled chicken slices. I was excited, until I then looked at the ingredients. At that point, I went insane!
Why do grilled nuggets and slices have so much crap in them? Water, apple cider vinegar, soybean oil, yeast extract, salt, modified corn starch and much more. Mind you, I looked up most of these ingredients and most were OK except for a few here and there, but the shock of seeing all these ingredients sent a red alert in my head. Then there was the addition of “flavor” and “natural flavor” as if they were saying, “Since there is so much crap in this chicken seasoning we want to remind you that there is some natural flavor inside.” I decided that I couldn’t order any of the food just from the shock alone. The thing is I wanted to go out with my friends, so I ate earlier and then went with them as they got their food. It was dumb, but I didn’t want to miss out on the (small) social event.
After the Chick-Fil-A event, I spent the entire night researching the Paleo Diet and I realized that I was a little confused on the concept. The Paleo Diet is more about eating what is biologically healthy for our bodies. Yes, we eat like the cavemen, but that’s because they were eating like that for years so our bodies are predisposed to eating these substances and we have not adapted yet to eating many of the foods we eat in today’s world. Having newfound confidence I used my second wind to go back into the Paelo Diet, but this is when problems started coming in.
Trying to be healthy as a college student is hard. On my campus where fried chicken is a weekly staple, I found it hard to find healthy options. I had no problem now thinking, “I can’t have that, I can’t have that” when looking for food in the cafe, but what did that leave me with? Mostly broccoli and peas (oh wait, peas are legumes and Paelo Leap says legumes aren't healthy)… so just broccoli. There were several days where even the protein options weren’t great because they were covered in barbecue sauce that was full of sugar. I tried to scrape off as much as I could, but it was pretty disheartening. Then there were the drinking parties, and having just turned 21 I definitely wanted to go out to a bar with my friends. That said, you don’t know the joy I had when I found a healthy snack in the bookstore. That plantain chip bag was like finding the Holy Grail.
Sadly, all this challenge led me to cheating and to failure. I decided, “Screw it! I’ll have a cinnamon twist pastry!” Then before you know it I started to cheat a little here and a little there until I couldn’t lie to myself anymore. I had failed at the Paleo Diet. I was eating milkshakes, fresh bread pastries, chicken tenders, sandwiches… I was eating worse than when I started all this! The thing with diving into a new diet is that if you cheat a little you will cheat a lot. I may have been strong at Chick-Fil-A, but I lost that strength quickly after.
At the end of the week, though I can't say it was all a failure. I had cheated again and again, but I had learned from this experience. First, one aspect of the Paleo Diet is to eat only when you’re hungry. This week made me realize I don’t really do that. It made me think, "Most of the times I eat am I really hungry or am I just eating because my friends wanted to eat? How much of my eating is a social engagement?" Second, I have the willpower and resourcefulness to be successful at the Paleo Diet, but I need to fully comprehend the rules and meaning behind the diet. I can’t follow something if I don’t know what I’m following. Third, it’s hard to be healthy at college, so I have to understand that I can’t be perfect and some mistakes will happen. Lastly, it’s not a great decision to just jump into any situation. From now on I’m gonna go slow with the diet. I’m going to dip my toe in and try to eliminate some unhealthy foods at a time and many months from now I will hopefully say that I am fully Paleo.
My first experience with the Paleo Diet was a failure. That said, I am still interested in pursuing a life with the diet. I want to have a long and successful life and I believe the Paleo Diet is the way to go to accomplish that. I may have failed this time around, but I am invested in doing better from this moment on. From this failure comes a lifetime of success.
If interested in reading more about the Paleo Diet here are a few links:
"What is the Paleo Diet" by Robb Wolf: http://robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/
"What is a Paleo Diet" and "Paleo at a Glance" by Paleo Leap: http://paleoleap.com/
"The Beginner's Guide to the Paleo Diet" by Nerd Fitness: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/10/04/the-beg...
