Nutrition
If you ask me my take on nutrition, I'll tell you I eat real foods. I like to eat foods that I can roughly envision where they came from, how they're made, and how they'll make me feel great. After years of tweaking my diet to optimize my own health and well-being, I'm committed to eating a real food, so-called "paleo" diet about 90% of the time. When I eat well for most of my meals and snacks, a few bites of lower-quality foods don't always impact me as negatively.
What is Paleo, and what is my experience?
The Paleo lifestyle is based on the way our bodies function at peak performance. The diet consists of real, natural foods. The fitness regimen consists of functional movements based on how our ancestors would have moved. The lifestyle incorporates other aspects of wellness, including ample, high-quality sleep and minimizing stress.
Please keep in mind that this is JUST A SILLY LABEL. It's a convenient way to name something that otherwise may be less concrete to people. I like to say that I "eat real foods" -- that is, real foods, that can be found in nature, and that generally don't contain ingredients I can't recognize or pronounce. It's much simpler than it sounds, and you don't need to label yourself in order to understand and and implement some of the principles.
Other tips for choosing and cooking food wisely:
Paleo book and recipe reviews:
[Page under construction. More resources to come.]
What is Paleo, and what is my experience?
The Paleo lifestyle is based on the way our bodies function at peak performance. The diet consists of real, natural foods. The fitness regimen consists of functional movements based on how our ancestors would have moved. The lifestyle incorporates other aspects of wellness, including ample, high-quality sleep and minimizing stress.
- A FULL Description: Dare you to Go Paleo for 30 days <--- My first "paleo" eating experience. Includes links to other resources
- The original "week without wheat" and the amazing results that motivated me to take my "just eat real food" to the next level. I've been eating "gluten-free" ever since.
- A recent account of my personal mostly-Paleo experience
- Happy Paleoversary to Me! Lessons learned from a year of (mostly) paleo
Please keep in mind that this is JUST A SILLY LABEL. It's a convenient way to name something that otherwise may be less concrete to people. I like to say that I "eat real foods" -- that is, real foods, that can be found in nature, and that generally don't contain ingredients I can't recognize or pronounce. It's much simpler than it sounds, and you don't need to label yourself in order to understand and and implement some of the principles.
What can you eat on Paleo?
Plenty! Meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, oils... just not the processed, junky kinds. Some dairy (grass-fed, unpasteurized) is permitted if an individual is not intolerant to dairy (personal experimentation). Get the details on the "rules" in my paleo post or Diane Sanfilippo's What is Paleo page. Here's some samplings of things I've eaten:
Other tips for choosing and cooking food wisely:
Paleo book and recipe reviews:
- Read Loren Cordain's The Paleo Answer: 7 Days to Lose Weight, Feel Great, Stay Young
to hear the science from the Father of "Paleo" himself.
- Practical Paleo explains the what (with clear, helpful guides), the why (with diagrams for understanding), and the how -- including tons of simple, tasty recipes.
- It Starts With Food - A GREAT starting place for newbies. They lay it all out in simple terms, in a relatable way.
- Make It Paleo - Hundreds of recipes, all paleo. Also see some of the cooked recipes here.
- Weeknight Paleo - contains meal prep, plans, and shopping instructions for a week's worth of weeknight meals for the whole family.
- The 21-Day Sugar Detox book and 3-week program helps you bust sugar cravings, whether or not you follow a paleo lifestyle (3 different levels to choose from).
- Also see: Well Fed, The Paleo Solution, and The Primal Blueprint.