So what is this “Paleo” thing?

“Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and NO sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.”

Paleo, aka Paleolithic, Caveman Diet, Hunter-Gatherer Diet, Stone Age Diet. This lifestyle choice (I don’t like to call it a diet because that tends to give people the wrong idea) has been the most effective way that I have found to get my body looking the way I want it to. The saying goes: “Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym.” This 110% accurate. If we all ate as nature intended us to, the rising obesity problems would not exist. The majority of our world’s health problems would not exist and life expectancy would most definitely rise. How do you think diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, and all those other common health problems developed in our world? The cavemen didn’t have these issues. Their life expectancy wasn’t very high but that’s because they were eaten by dinosaurs.

The vast majority of foods out there are processed. Anything packaged.. processed. Can’t read the ingredients on the label.. processed. Fast food.. don’t even get me started. Soda.. horrible. Stop drinking it. I could go on and on, but I don’t wanna bore you guys too much.

Ever since I started paleo, about 2 years ago, I’ve seen INCREDIBLE changes. Taking out the bad foods that our body doesn’t need makes all the difference. When I go grocery shopping, I stick to the outsides of the store: the vegetable and fruit section, meat section, wine section (Yup, wine is paleo. Did you just do a little happy dance?). Anything down the aisles is probably not paleo. When I do venture down the aisles, I look at all the ingredients of anything I might get. If you can’t pronounce all the ingredients on the label.. NOT PALEO. If there’s more than 5-10 ingredients on the label.. it’s probably not paleo. Just put it back, you’ll be okay without it.

This may seem impossible to you right now and slightly mind blowing, but if you gradually work up to being strict paleo, it’s not so bad. You will see the changes you want very quickly, I can promise you that. When I started, I took out gluten. All bread, wheat, ect. I started looking for everything organic and gluten free (most grocery stores have a gluten free section: Wegman’s, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods are some great places to go). Doing that alone improved my energy level and workout progress tremendously.

After that, I continued to take things out over a few months time span and before I knew it I was eating 100% paleo and at the highest fitness level I had ever been. Once you get used to the lifestyle and see the changes it has made to your body, you’ll never want to go back to your old eating habits again. Not to mention you feel like absolute crap if you try to. Just the other day I had IHOP to celebrate our team making it to the CrossFit Games Regionals.. I spent about the next 8 hours running to the bathroom every 10 minutes. Never again.

It’s tough and takes a lot of discipline, but if you really want to see positive changes to your body, you have to eat right. I’m not saying you need to go 100% paleo right now or else you’re not going to get anywhere in life, I’m saying to start making small adjustments to your diet according to the chart above, and gradually make your way to eating paleo.

A daily paleo meal plan might look like this:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 3 slices of bacon

Snack: Mashed sweet potato with cinnamon

Lunch: Chicken stir fry with broccoli, peppers, carrots, raisins, cinnamon

Snack: Sliced apple with almond butter

Dinner: Steak with brussel sprouts and a glass of wine 🙂

We have paleo cookbooks for sale in the gym. I live out of that thing. You can also find loads of recipes online. Experiment a little and find out which meals will make your transition a little easier. If anyone finds a recipe they absolutely love, feel free to share in class or on the Facebook page. Or send it to me and I’ll share it with everyone. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me in class or email me. There’s no such thing as a stupid question 🙂

I look forward to hearing about all of your progress and findings. Have a great day off everyone!!