Two Years Ago I Started Paleo And It’s The Best Thing I’ve Ever Done
Two years ago I started eating paleo, short for the Paleolithic Diet, or the Hunter-Gatherer Diet.
In short, it’s any foods available prior the agricultural revolution; so anything that comes above the ground, like meat, fruit, and nuts.
A good rule of thumb is nothing artificial, or that doesn’t contain nutrients.
But it’s not really a diet, in that it’s not designed for the short term. It sounds a bit cheesy, but it’s more of a lifestyle.
It is just habit-forming eating.
An analogy convinced me to try paleo
The best analogy I got was if you scratch you arm with your fingernails briefly, it’s fine. But it you do it for hours or days, it will form red marks and do long-term damage.
That’s what’s happening to us when we feed ourselves with wheat, grain, and other foods according to the paleo way of thinking.
Learning what it actually was and starting was the hardest part
I learned how to eat paleo from my boss at the time, we travelled and ate together for about six months and I picked it up.
It would have been hard to have seen how I could have lived without these otherwise.
The main points of the diet are:
- No dairy. No cheese or milk. Though gggs are fine – lots of eggs
- No beans or legumes
- No gluten
- Carbs are okay provided they come from vegetables including sweet potatoes (although they aren’t strictly paleo, sweet potatoes are allowed for the nutrients). Cauliflower rice, for example, is very popular
- No sugar – you can still have chocolate, I go for 90% cacao, and now when I have anything less, it’s too sweet. I used to love all sweet things, but you can change your taste!
To help me get started, I signed up to a Dubai-based meal-delivery company, Love Food, which has a Paleo option, to receive meal deliveries for 30 days.
5 ways I have benefited from the paleo lifestyle
- No decisions Whenever I go to a brunch, I don’t even have to think – it’s just salads, meat, fish and fruit for dessert.
- I never feel bloated anymore I never feel too full or that I’ve eaten too much, but I’m not hungry.
- So much more energy I’ve been more productive in the past two years than I have for the rest of my life, much of that goes down to paleo.
- Zero sugar Cutting sugar out of your diet is possibly the best thing you can do, for your weight, energy levels, and long-term health. Knowing that sugar is bad makes the decision easier. But you also need to know where sugar is, it’s even in tomato ketchup and miso soup.
- Weight: I used to weigh between 73-75kg, and be size 32 waist, now I’m down to 70kg and a 30 waist. It just feels more natural for my height to be this size.
But is it for everyone?
It’s not. Vegans or vegetarians, for example, would struggle. And while meat is clearly not the most efficient use of the world’s energy resources or the most environmentally friendly, even on paleo, you don’t have to eat meat excessively.
There is a cafe in Dubai Motor City called The Cycle Bistro that is ‘Beyond Paleo’ and they have things like sweet potato fries and quinoa that aren’t strictly paleo.
There are also plenty of cookbooks, you’d be surprised how varied and tasty the food can be.
I’ve definitely slacked off a bit in the past two years. But the logic behind paleo makes sense, and it’s still my default diet when I’m choosing what to eat.
My boss used to say that a good way to keep it up, is for one month in the year to do 30 days really strict paleo again. And I’m considering doing it again for July.
