If you don't know by now that your diet is key to anti-aging... and if you think magic is going come out of a jar retailing for $800 you need not read any further. Getting the right nutrients through your food is vital and keeping inflammation down is key (inflammation = aging) !
THE ROAD TO PALEO
GLUTEN-FREE 20 YEARS
Since college, about 20 years ago, I have been gluten free. It started with the Blood Type Diet. I no longer wanted to pass out on the floor after eating a muffin top or a modest bowl of pasta! I have the occasional gluten, but overall I'm pretty serious about it except when I go home to visit for Chicken and dumplings. Gluten and I have just never been friends. Celiac? No idea. Just glad there are more options out there than before!
ORGANIC DIET
In 2010 I also did 100% organic food and beverages (www.foodincavenue.blogspot.com). By then I had weighed nearly 300lbs and couldn't drop it for the life of me thanks to a near fatal malpractice by a quack doctor in 2009. I dropped 70+ lbs while eating almost 5000 calories (more than triple my usual) and kept off about 40 of it. I quit doing entirely organic because it was becoming a marketing trend and most of the food that was sold as organic really wasn't. Even Whole Foods at the time was only 15% organic. I'd end up with sores all over my body and my mouth. I realized going strictly organic was making me too sensitive to the conventional stuff and had to desensitize myself for sanity's sake.
As a side note I did try a raw vegetarian/vegan diet for four months and the weight not only stayed on, but my stomach was distended and my face structure dropped. I found out later it was because 30% of our collagen is dependent upon the amino acids only found in meat! You can read more about how vegetarianism ages you in tuesday tip HERE. Oh yes, and I also did low glycemic. I've done it ALL.
PALEO
I would like to first disclose that whenever I heard about the Paleo diet I would cringe. There's a new diet in fashion ALL OF THE TIME! It usually was followed by Crossfit discussion amongst friends and clients. I also always assumed that Paleo was another backwards way of reinventing the Atkins program. I just personally can't eat that much meat! I also believe everything in moderation and balance. Meat is also acidic. Acidity leads to disease. It is also said that meat does not digest, it rots in our system leaving the colon more prone to colon cancer.....and...and.
WAS IT FATE?
By accident I ended up watching the documentary "The Perfect Human Diet" on Amazon Prime. As soon as I heard Paleo I wanted to change the movie, but then there was a point in the movie that showed an archeologist showing how we are genetically programmed to eat meat. Vegans and vegetarians have existed only a very short time in our 2 million year existence. http://www.musclehack.com/the-perfect-human-diet-2/ which actually makes vegetarianism the latest trend in the evolution of man. Perhaps Paleo is not quite the diet fad I had suspected.
I decided to succumb to Paleo out of desperation. My body was oozing sores and puss on my arms from the mass amounts of gluten I consumed while at a funeral. The sores just weren't going away and I needed my system to calm down STAT! I usually take Turmeric for that, but I knew a bigger change was necessary. The look is not good for business not to mention the sores can really hurt at times. I used to think they were Morgellon's disease, but I refer to them fondly now as toxin bumps.
I already eat very clean so I actually wanted to take dairy and grains completely out of my diet to see what would happen. When I began Paleo less than 2 weeks ago I didn't do much research. What I did instead was go through my normal day and google foods to discover which foods I eat in a normal day aren't Paleo.
The seven big culprits for me are:
PEANUT BUTTER (even organic/ homemade)
RICE
BEANS
TURKISH YOGURT
HUMMUS/ CHICKPEAS (I eat tons of it!)
ORGANIC MILK (in my coffee when I have coffee)
POTATOES
I'm happy to report by the third day of eating strictly Paleo the Michelin tire around my neck (thyroid that was so swollen and even throbbing at times) is gone. My energy after getting through the 5th day is incredible. I have a clarity in my thought process after less than a week that I haven't had in years without major caffeine. My mood swings are surprisingly super calm especially in the wake of a family death and 1000 major business challenges that would make grown men cry.
This Saturday I will have completed my second week. I have learned the meat I eat must be organic or I get food hangovers. If I eat chipotle salad with meat and salsa there's never a problem. Bananas are a huge snack staple for me. I avoided them before because they were high glycemic. An avocado for breakfast is not unusual for me.
I just ran across a great article from the Paleoista . She has some great advice about how to approach Paleo. I also like George Bryant's recipes for Paleo http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/grain-free-goodies/paleo-banana-bread/
By the way my goal was not about losing weight, but with my regular exercise routine I have already lost a dress size..... and the sores on my arm are healing nicely!
All of the side effects I am noticing are big indicators that the inflammation I had is going, going, gone...... another key to eternal youth.
The future is looking pretty bright! I'll keep you posted down the road. MS
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UPDATE DECEMBER 1st, 2014
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It has now been 2.5 months since I started the Paleo "diet". After the first month I felt so good that I decided I would continue Paleo to see what happens. My energy is better considering I never get a chance to sleep. The swelling and pressure in my neck from my thyroid is still gone....a HUGE relief in itself. My overall energy and attitude is better. My body is finally sculpting from the time I put in the gym. In fact I had to back off a little bit from my workouts because I was losing weight too quickly (especially in my face! Too old for that!)
I'm rarely tempted by the foods I loved and had to give up, but I find that a bite of something that is not Paleo during a special occasion is not going to kill me......and a bite usually satisfies me and I then I easily move along (except for the gourmet cheese ensemble during Thanksgiving)!!
The two dress sizes that I already lost without effort excites my clients (and the boys around the streets of new york). I'm happy to see my results motivate my customers. There's nothing worse than feeling trapped inside your own body especially if most of your life you are used to being half your size.
I have to say I'm going to give this a few more months even though I have planned to partake in our family dumpling tradition for xmas. Next stop bikini at the end of the summer???
STAY TUNED!
