You have taken the plunge and are Nano deep in CrossFit. You have taken a sip of the Kool-Aid and are now ready to go all in! It’s time to go Paleo.
Primal Paleo Beginnings:
So, literally the beginning of Paleo is from our primate cave dwelling ancestors. Think paleolithic era….see the connection? Animal fur coats, spears, horrible BO. You’ve got the idea. This period lasted for roughly 2.5 million years and supposedly our ancestors were stronger, with bigger brains, and suffered less disease. It came to an end roughly 10,000 years ago with the agricultural movement; i.e. processed food.See Here
What is Paleo?
Eat lean meat, poultry, fish, seafood, vegetables, some fruit, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats like avocado and animal fats. Don’t trim that steak! Stay away from dairy, starch, processed sugar and processed carbohydrates, legumes (means beans and peanuts people), and sadly alcohol. Nothing is perfect.
What does it Do?
What happens about an hour after you eat a big serving of pasta or bread? You get hungry again, right? It doesn’t make sense considering you just consumed more than enough calories to get you through a few hours. Spikes in blood sugar cause the feeling and the mood swings, etc. that come with it. A Paleo diet stabalizes your blood sugar and some other helpful things as well. Check them out here
Paleo and CrossFit:
CrossFit Approved version here. I am not sure if CrossFit Headquarters fully sponsors Paleo or not. I thought I had read a few things about them moving to Zone. All I know is the best CrossFit athletes I know follow the Paleo eating plan. Want to be successful? Study those who are successful, and then copy the hell out of them, tweaking only what you need to make it better for you.
First Week:
Usually sucks. High grocery bill. Spend all day cooking. Need to buy enough tupperware for a family of eight. Then there is the detox. Sugar is a drug. What happens when a drug addict goes without a fix, minus knocking over a gas station? They come down hard. The same is true here. When your body goes without sugar, it craves sugar, and it results in irritability, headaches, stomach pains in some cases. Is it worth it? Hell yes! That crap is no good for you! Stop eating it.
High Grocery Bill:
It’s not cheap to eat healthy. One of the keys to the agricultural age we referenced earlier was to make it easier for people to get food. How did we do that? By processing everything and in turn removing many of the nutrients or just using plain crap to begin with. Animals were taken from the fields and stored in commercialized farms where they were fed hormones and god knows what else to fatten them up more quickly. You can imagine how that ends. Garbage in, garbage out. It is expensive to eat healthy however you are investing in your health. How can you make it more affordable?
Buy in bulk. Find a local butcher and see if you can go in with family or friends from the gym. That makes it easier for meat. Another option is Costco. It might not be grass fed but it is cheaper than what you pay in the grocery store.
Farmer’s Market or Farm Co-op. Again this is a great opportunity to split with family or friends and as our society is beginning to recognize the importance of a better diet, more of these are popping up. A quick Google search is usually all it takes to find one near you.
Preparation:
Fail to plan and plan to fail. Planning meals ahead of time is pretty much a necessity. It is also a great way to save a few bucks by planning your meals around what is on sale at the grocery store. Kylie is the queen of planning meals. Kylie is my wife and partner in crime.
It does take more time to make meals and prepare breakfast and lunch for the work week, however it is very worth the investment. There are hundreds of websites and cook books with meal ideas. Take advantage of the wealth of information that is available on the Internet. It’s more than just games and Facebook.
Detox:
It sucks. You’ll get through it. Just remember that if you cave and eat some junk, you’ll have to start the detox process again. I’ve done it quite a few times. Fall off the wagon and then just get right back on!
Second Week and Forward:
You will notice that your joints don’t hurt as much and you will have more energy. You will also probably sleep better as well. All pretty good benefits. Your workouts will be better and you will generally “feel” better. Friends have stated they no longer get headaches like they used to, etc.
Following are a couple of links that are really helpful including the Whole Life Challenge which is a great way to get started. By tracking your score daily and journaling, you are keeping yourself more accountable.
Have fun out there.
CrossFitRook 