Pep Talk
Diets are the "It Girls" of the health and fitness world. New ones pop up at regular intervals, enjoy their 15 minutes of fame, and then (for the most part) fade into the sunset. See if you remember any of these: the Cabbage Soup diet, the Grapefruit diet, the Zone diet, the South Beach diet, the Macrobiotic diet...the list goes on. Even diets that have proven to have any "staying power," like Slim Fast, Atkins, and Weight Watchers, have undergone dramatic changes over the course of their life-cycles to stay current. Compare Atkins in its first iteration (as much meat and cheese as you want) to Atkins today (which encourages eating fruit and vegetables with your high-protein meals) and you have almost two completely-different programs.One of the most popular diets today is the Paleo diet, which has gained momentum from athletes and the CrossFit movement. The idea behind the diet is intriguing: limit nutritional consumption to only the foods available to mankind in the Paleolithic era. The theory is that these are the foods that our human bodies were designed to consume, and so they are the healthiest options for optimal body performance. This means you should be eating meat, nuts, fruit, and vegetables, and avoiding anything processed, like dairy or grains (which must be cooked or milled in order to be edible).
My Take: First of all, my take on diets is that you need to select what works best for you as part of a long-term lifestyle. Something you can only maintain for the short-term is not a good option. If you love certain foods, you need to find ways to incorporate them in your life -- just fewer and far between if they are high in calories or fat. So I am not a fan of diets that are super-restrictive and cut out entire food groups.
However, there is some sound logic behind Paleo. Any diet, including Paleo, that encourages someone to eat foods in their most natural, unprocessed state means that you will be eating whole foods that are nourishing for your body -- such as vegetables and fruit, lean proteins, and nuts and seeds. These foods are high in nutrients and (except for nuts and seeds) low in calories. These foods should always be the cornerstone of your healthy eating plan.
Why Paleo Could Be Making You Fat: So we get to the whole reason why you're reading...could following Paleo be bad for your body? Possibly. And it all comes down to deviating from the whole-food principles of Paleo. Sometimes people find ways to make their favorite treats Paleo-friendly, or they find ways to take recommended Paleo foods and make them unhealthy. Some examples of this are:
- Baking sweets with almond flour instead of grain-based flour
- Mixing up high-calorie shakes using beef (yes, ewwww....beef) protein powder
- Grabbing high-sodium and additive-laced beef or turkey jerky as a high-protein Paleo snack
- Frying up some sweet potato fries in coconut oil
- Sweetening foods with agave nectar instead of sugar
Example: bananas are super-nutritious foods -- a great source of potassium and energy. However, cover the banana with ice cream, fudge, nuts, and whipped cream, and we no longer get to leverage the health benefits of that banana. I think we can all agree that a banana split is not a meal that should be part of our everyday diet, and should instead be just an occasional treat.
The Point: Am I anti-Paleo? No. In fact, the nutritional strategy I personally follow is very close to Paleo. But I don't follow it because it is "Paleo"; I follow it because I like to base the majority of my eating around whole, unprocessed foods. Ask yourself honestly -- is Paleo (or any diet, for that matter) causing me to deviate from eating whole foods? If the answer is yes, it might be a great opportunity to re-evaluate your meal plan. Any diet can be made more or less healthy depending on how someone interprets it. Follow these tips with any nutritional strategy you choose:
- Base your meals around whole grains, fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, nuts, and seeds. These are whole foods that are nutritious for your body. Depending on how your body handles lactose, lean dairy products are good choices too; just keep in mind that there is sugar in dairy and you should be mindful of how much you consume.
- Watch your calories and fat intake. Make sure you are getting enough food, but also not too much. Monitoring your energy levels and logging your food intake are great ways to keep track.
- Find ways to incorporate your favorite foods in your eating plan. If those foods are not very nutritious (i.e. ice cream), find ways to incorporate them occasionally.
- Question any diet plan that makes you sacrifice specific foods permanently. Everyone needs a release valve from time to time. Unless you are a professional athlete in training, there is no reason why you can't enjoy the occasional glass of wine, steak dinner, or ice cream sundae.
- Pick a strategy that you can maintain long-term. If sticking to a diet is torturous, then it is not the right fit for you.
Challenge Workout
Set a timer for 7 minutes. Perform as many rounds of the following as possible, taking breaks as needed, until the timer runs out.- 7 Burpees
- 7 Lunges (left leg)
- 7 Lunges (right leg)
- 7 Crunches
