Friday, November 5, 2010

Paleo Diet is About More Than Just Food

During the last few months I have become a Robb Wolf addict.  I have been listening to all of his podcasts and recently finished his book The Paleo Solution.  Not only do I love his ideas about eating and life, I find his personality fun. 

What I have taken from this recent addiction is the following:
  • Avoid grains, legumes and dairy.
  • Avoid gluten like the plague.
  • Eat plenty of protein sources from free range providers.
  • Eat local organic veggies.
  • Eat good fats and plenty of them!
Robb Wolf suggests trying this diet for 30 days and if you "look, feel, and perform better" than continue.  If you don't, then move on!  I use a similar saying with my kids, "You know your body best.  How do you feel? "  When I listen to my body, I know this feels right not only physically, but philosophically.

Besides giving great advice on diet, Robb Wolf and other paleo sites I have visited talk about a few other essentials to healing:
  • Get LOTS of sleep!
  • Things won't make you happy!
  • Get out and PLAY!
I listened to Robb Wolf's podcast #52 this afternoon where he talks a little about "burn-out". He shares how he and his wife have found fun things to do together outside of the realm of their business. As I was listening, I thought, "This is why Steve and I are always excited about the weekends. It isn't that we hate our jobs (we both actually like our jobs a lot), but that the weekend generally allows for more playfulness." The two of us have always had a strong need to be playful with each other (I assume every couple does, sometimes they just let the craziness of life take over) and when we don't allow time for it, we can always feel it.

As I continue to grow and learn more about nutrition and health, I learn more about other areas of my life that need a little tweaking.  I have the food part down for the most part and although I have always enjoyed play and sleep, I find that as my schedule gets busier and busier, I have to work hard at making sure these two things happen.  This weekend we don't have much of anything planned.  After a couple of days this week in a flare, I think my body is telling me that it deserves some extra sleep and play.  I can't wait!

I recently started reading a book titled, Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. So far, I love it and can't wait to share more as I get deeper into the book. It confirms many of the ideas that have become a foundation for my homeschooling philosophy.


4 comments:

  1. hi there! Ive been away for some time. I hope your flares are subsiding. So have you improved on the paleo diet? It is SO HARD not to eat gluten (of course I would be better off as anything with gluten is usually bad i.e. donuts, breads, cake! lol)

    Hope you are feeling better. I dont eat much meat at all so I think I would struggle on the paleo diet.

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  2. So please tell, just what foods ARE you eating then? Is is just organic meat and veggies?

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  3. Hi RawSierra. It's nice to hear from you again. I hope life has been good for you with few flares. This diet isn't too far from what I have been working towards. I have been gluten free for seven years and I have always loved and appreciated meat from farmers I trust. What I am deleting is the other non gluten grains that may still be causing inflammation and legumes, which have never agreed with me anyhow. I feel good.

    Anonymous, yes, I eat LOTS of veggies and meat/eggs as well as nuts, good fats that come from coconut milk, coconut oil, olive oil, avacados and more and some fruit. Oh, and lots of herbs and spices. They are just basic foods that I can easily make myself. We have found there can be a lot of variety. My daughter asked the other day when we can have acorn squash, chicken and veggies again. She loved that meal. We are using a lot of squashes like zucchini, spaghetti, acorn, and pumpkin in place of pasta and rice. So far, everyone loves it. And, it doesn't bother me to replace a grain with another veggie. Thanks for stopping by and for commenting.

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  4. It makes so much sense as these are the foods that you feel healthy after you eat them, rather than breads and stuff that make you feel heavy and tired.

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