All of my life I have been an interesting eater {some might say that's an understatement}. A little over two years ago I read a book that changed my eating beliefs forever:
Sugar Shock. In a nutshell, it covers the ins and outs of sugar addiction, when it began in our culture, how it was promoted, and why we're all still eating this crap {ie. addiction}. I know it's not going to ring true for everyone, but for me, it finally clicked. I was addicted to sugar.
I should mention that I also have a family history of diabetes. Mostly type II. And, unfortunately, I tend to run borderline diabetic. Boo. All signs pointed to the need to radically adjust my eating habits. I did this immediately and drastically and... guess what? It wasn't really that hard.
Enter: PREGNANCY.
This is when it got tricky. Fiber in pregnancy became, um, well imperative for me. I began to slowly bring back some items that I had previously eliminated, such as wheat bread {a pretty simple sugar} and sometimes a pancake or two {duh, I was preggo}. Mostly I was able to stay craving free due to my relatively low-sugar intake. Unfortunately, my blood sugar remained high and I was almost determined to have developed gestational diabetes. I worked to control the sugar even more, but even so, I was sometimes low on will power and I definitely indulged more than I ever would have before. Naturally, I was worried about my ability to wean myself once more after P finally made her appearance.
It has been 9 months now and I have tried on and off to work myself back into the dedicated low-sugar poster child that I once was. But truthfully, inspiration is running low. I get tired of eating what I feel are limited choices in the traditional low-carb diet and so I just skip eating altogether {not a good move} and my blood sugar takes such a mean dive that I become a sweating, blabbering, clumsy fool. Thus, out of necessity, I have been keeping my eyes peeled for a more interesting approach and what I keep coming up with is the Paleo diet.
This diet {aka. "The Caveman Diet"} asks you to evaluate your food choices and opt for things that your ancestors would have eaten. Essentially, anything from a tree or bush {yay for blackberries and apples!}, most nuts, and meat are allllll goooood. What's not good? Sugar, grains, dairy, and most starchy veggies {pretty sure cave people didn't peel and boil potatoes}. It is similar to the way I am comfortable eating except for the dairy. I LOVE MY LATTES! So, I did a little more digging and found that there are tons of Paleo's who add small quantities of dairy to their diet. The general consensus is, if your body tolerates dairy well, go for it!
Sweet! Sign me up!
I have not begun a rigorous change {my OCD sometimes takes things like this too far}but I can happily report that I randomly hopped on the scale this week and I am surprisingly down to my pre-Paley weight. I was shocked but I guess I shouldn't have been. It's not rocket science. You are, unfortunately, what you eat.
Side note: Naturally, because I do most of the shopping and cooking, Chris has shifted over too. {Paley already eats this way because I make all of her baby food and I am careful about what she eats so that we can avoid creating a little cookie monster.} I am hopeful that this will be a way of eating that will just become part of our family. We all know the power of food in cultures and among families!
The one thing that I have negative to say is that it hasn't affected my energy levels. I had high hopes for a major energy surge but thus far I dread getting out of bed just like before. My hope is that this, coupled with my other new habits {details coming soon} will all work and flow and keep me even keeled, alert, and in the present. Wish me {us} luck!
