Leave the Caveman Diet with the Cavemen

I’m always one up for a challenge especially when it comes to food and living a healthier lifestyle. After hearing about this thing called the Paleo diet my curiosity was immediately sparked. I picked up the “Paleo Solution Diet” by Robb Wolf, which proposes a 30-day challenge into what he describes as the caveman diet – meaning you can eat anything that was available to a caveman. At first glance I felt like I already eat similar to that so it should be a breeze, until I realized that frozen yogurt and everything chocolate did not make the list. As a self-diagnosed chocolate addict I went ahead and apologized to all my friends and family before I began the challenge, because this girl without chocolate is not a pleasant person to be around. Luckily, dark chocolate with a cocoa percentage above 73 did make the list but it took some time getting use to the bitterness.

Day one came and I thought I had it down pat – oh wait, I can’t have my usual morning on-the-go bar because it has oats in it? Since when did oats become bad? And I can’t put Splenda in my coffee? I picked up the phone and apologized again for what may be a long 30-days. What I thought was going to be an easy challenge just threw me some curveballs.  

After the first few days I was surprised that I wasn’t more tired and hungry. As someone who regularly works out I thought I would need carbs to keep my energy up. However, it seemed the bulk of meat, vegetables and almonds kept my energy up, despite my lack of coffee because there’s no way this lady is drinking it black. I did, however, trade out my morning cup of joe for hot tea, which was a different, yet nice, change of pace.  

With the first week down I was on the right track and feeling pretty good. Having no heavy breads, pasta, or additive sugar made me feel lighter, even though it was probably all in my head. But then the weekend came…This is usually the time where I’ll have dinner out somewhere, indulge in some desserts and do my week worth of drinking in one night. What can I say, I’m still in my early 20s. All that, however, was out of the question, so I made the best out of the situation. Technically I could have dined out but not knowing exactly how my food was prepared and having to ask the waitress to omit a laundry list of ingredients just seemed like a hassle. I did attempt to make a chocolate dessert, which can be found on paleodietrecipesplan.com . It actually turned out pretty well and cured my chocolate craving. As for the alcoholic beverages, Tequila is the most purest and natural form of alcohol therefore is allowed on the diet, so after one shot I was done and had one cheap bar bill by the end of the night.
   
This pretty much how my 30-days went, with just a couple more curveballs such as birthday parties and dinners to attend and chocolate being thrown at me from every angle. When the 30-days were up I felt very accomplished, only slightly hungry, and actually noticed a change in my physique. While people who have 20 plus pounds to lose or are diabetic will most likely notice a drastic change, I was still able to notice a greater prominence in my oblique’s and about an inch off those “lovely” love handles. Many might think this is similar to the fad diet Atkins, where you lose a bunch of weight and gain it all back by going back to your natural eating ways. The Paleo diet, though, is a way of life, as the book gives great detail as to why additive sugar, processed foods, carbs and dairy are not good for you. However, even after reading Robb’s book I could not convince myself that all carbs and dairy are bad for you or that milky goodness chocolate is bad in moderation.  I will give Robb this, if diabetes runs in your family or are having health issues that are linked to food then this is a great plan to live your life on. If you’re an average Joe like myself who is maybe just looking to get toned in those stubborn areas this may not be the route to go. Overall, I’m glad I did it as it made me take a closer look at what exactly I’m putting in my mouth and also encouraged me to try different recipes like squash spaghetti, which has now become one of my favorite meals. While I still incorporate some of his recipes in my diet I’m comfortable living by the motto to “leave the caveman diet with the cavemen.”