Day 1 again

Today is day one of the 30 day Paleo Challenge. A good chunk of my gym is taking part in this challenge. I am doing a modified version. The first modification is that I am only doing it for 25 days. Why 25 you ask.... Because I am headed to Florida in 25 days and I have no desire to be difficult to my amazing friend that will be hosting us and feeding us delicious meals made up of hot dogs and doughnuts. Also, back home we have this amazing magical thing called a Sicilian Stromboli from Genovese's.

For those of you not aware of what Paleo is, here is a list of no nos:

• Vinegar
• Yeast
• Processed meats ( hot dogs, bacon, sausage, and lunch meats)
• Dairy (milk, butter, cream, yogurt, ice cream, cheese, etc.)
• Legumes (Beans, Peas, and Peanuts)
• Nightshades (chili pepper, eggplant, huckleberry, Goji berry, ground cherry, sweet pepper, tamarillo, tomatillo, tomato)
• Starchy tubers (potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, cassava, manioc, and beets)
• Grain (including corn)
• Refined Sugars

That is a long list of don'ts. I am only giving up the last 3. I have my reasons for ignoring the first 6 but it will just stir up a long debate through various hostile post; and I have no desire to get people up in a tizzy. So, instead lets focus on what I will give up for the next 25 days.

Grains- I have found through trial and error, that my body does not like various types of grain. Barley is the worst offender. My body hates barley. If I ever try to drink more than 2 beers in front of you, Stop Me! Seriously, stop me. I will develop flu like symptoms that will plague me for days. I am not being dramatic. I get very ill. It is not a hangover; hangovers are downright refreshing in comparison. I will never drink whiskey. Whiskey and I are not friends. Whiskey tried to kill me once and we are no longer on speaking terms. (Wow, that was a tangent.)
I stopped eating grains successfully for 10 days before my birthday. I could see a noticeable difference in my mid section. I did not feel bloated or sick. I am very aware that I should not eat grains. However, I do love pizza and good bread, so this is a tough sell to my cravings. I highlight the "I" because I know everyone is different and this is an issue I have with my body.

Starchy Tubers- When I do not have grains I rely heavily on starchy tubers. It becomes okay with me to eat french fries at every meal. French fries are a sometimes food that I have very little will power to keep in that category (yes, I did quote Cookie Monster just then) . When I was in boarding school, I ate very little else other than mashed potatoes and soft rolls. Oh, it was joyous time. A time when I went from weighing 98 lbs to weighing 110 lbs. That should have clued me in at 16 that carbs make you fat but I blindly followed what was the strongly held misbelief at the time.

Refined Sugars- Do I really need to explain this one? Everyone has always known that sugar is not something you should eat when it is not in its original packaging (i.e. fruit).

I had a very interesting discussion with a friend yesterday about all of this. She said a few things that really struck me. She made a comment on the slow creep of pounds. Lets be honest, we did not wake up one day and suddenly we were fat. She said "I am getting fat 5 lbs at a time" She was quoting someone else, but it still rang true. She also said she believes that it is not just a high carbohydrate diet that does it to you. It is a high carbohydrate, high fat, and high calorie diet that does it to you. I think she is right. I am going to try to stop continuing this trajectory towards obesity that I am on.