“Be like the cavemen,” is not something people hear everyday.
The paleo diet is often known as the caveman diet, which asks people to eat what their bodies were originally intended to digest.
For two weeks I participated in this experiment to improve my health and see if it is possible for a student lifestyle.
The main idea is to eat fruit, vegetables, lean meat, seafood, nuts, seeds and few healthy fat. Then avoid dairy, grains, processed foods and sugars, legumes, starches and alcohol.
The goal is to have the most organic diet as possible.
“We eat real food – meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, healthy oils, nuts and seeds. We choose foods that were raised, fed and grown naturally, and foods that are nutrient-dense, with lots of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals,” according to www.whole9life.com.
For me this means giving up my Diet Dr. Pepper addiction, the occasional adult beverage, bread and cheese. And I gave myself one exception, sushi, it’s my weakness and I have accepted it.
“It’s not a low calorie ‘diet’ – I eat as much as I need to maintain strength, energy and a healthy weight,” Whole9life.com’s paleo pitch states.
So I stocked the fridge in my apartment with chicken, fish and a variety of vegetables.
The T-room has been a challenge but the salad bar had become my best friend. The only other part of the T-room I could eat in the hotline if they have chicken breast or non-fried fish and the hot line vegetables.
Another problem was my time management; I could no longer pop in some Easy Mac or a Lean Cuisine sandwich.
I will be honest, I failed at this diet. I did lose about two pounds in my attempt, but the idea felt unrealistic to me. My friends and family would want to eat out and eventually I could no longer say no.
Though I am not strictly paleo today I do my best to let my plate resemble mostly fruits and vegetables and meat. However, I let myself eat yogurt and a dinner roll from time to time and it has helped me feel more balance in my diet than the extreme though effective paleo diet.