Eating food as it was meant to be eaten..

I thought I would do a little paleo post today, especially since the lovely Kelly mentioned me and my paleo ways in her last post!

I would say right now I am doing very well with eating paleo! (And weighing in at 127, wooo, that's what I like to see!). I eat paleo in all ways except that I will drink alcohol and I do go through almost 10 pieces of gluten free bread in a week. Those are two things I haven't been willing to completely do without, and as long as I am moderate and mindful, they don't affect my weight.

I recently made a comment on another blog, which I won't link to because I am not sure I agree with most of what's going on over there, but the comment was basically urging the writer to not spend a lot of time and effort with making paleo foods resemble items from SAD (Standard American Diet), such as pizza or cakes or whatever.

One of the VERY best thing eating paleo has taught me is to enjoy food in its natural form!!

And I think if you are eating paleo and NOT learning to enjoy cauliflower as just plain old roasted cauliflower (a little oil and spice isn't bad!) or whatever the vegetable/fruit/protein is, you are missing out on a big lesson.

Paleo brownies? You're not really getting it.

When you start filling your house with paleo brownies, breads, etc... your house starts to look like it had BEFORE paleo. And that certainly is not the point. Especially since paleo-version baked goods are way more calorie dense and just as nutritionally unsound as SAD baked goods.

I really like this page: Getting too good at paleo (aside from the no snacking between meals part, if you are hungry, really legitimately hungry - eat).

And this quote from that page:

"The major problem with elaborate Paleo(tm) foods and desserts is that they are calorie-rich and low on nutrition. This is exactly why SAD doesn’t work. And here we have Paleo folks mimicking the SAD approach! "

And this list from that page:

• Start with the basics: food, sleep, activity, sunlight, socializing. Do not start with, “What can I buy to fix such and such?”
• Eat real, whole foods. Fill your plate with recognizable foods and make them delicious with cooking techniques and spices.
• Avoid Paleo(tm) processed foods. Nut flours, oils, butters, etc. are processed foods. That doesn’t make them toxic, but it does make them easy to overeat. Do you think human beings have had a chance to evolve a mechanism for detecting when too much coconut oil, almond butter, or coconut flour has been consumed? I don’t.
• Avoid snacking between meals. Admit it, before you learned how to make Paleo(tm) muffins, you rarely snacked between meals. And when you found out Larabars were Paleo(tm)? Fuhgeddaboudit. Even if you did snack a bit, the foods were less calorie dense and probably more nutritious.
• Stop being afraid of starch. Unless you are diabetic or otherwise unhealthy (and being a little overweight is probably not ‘unhealthy’), why are you avoiding a food like potatoes? They are nutrient-dense and low in calories. They’re also inexpensive and can help solve Paleo(tm) budget issues. Give your body the glucose it wants, or heck at least experiment with it. It’s done wonders for n=1 me.
• Learn new skills like fermenting, instead of baking. You can keep getting better at a Paleo(lithic) approach, too!  Fermented salsa and kombucha will keep your gut humming along nicely.

Now I would take the avoiding nut butters/flours and the no snacking rule with a grain of salt. BUT the logic behind it is sound. If these items are making you behave like you did before - why are you even bothering? The point is to get good, solid nutrition in your body and to eat simply.

Kelly mentioned how Chris and I will make muffins once in a while, to hike or whatnot. And that is true! We sometimes make a batch of "paleo muffins" for the house. But these muffins aren't.... ahem.... exactly delicious. They would never make me reach for one if I wasn't hungry or trigger a binge. Don't get me wrong, they don't taste BAD, but they aren't filled with sugars or sweet things. They are basically a protein bomb (often almond flour and eggs comprise most of the muffin) to grab when we need it.

We can and have made some paleo treats - we made lemon bars this year and made a cake last year. But those come into the house once in a very great while (not even once a month)... they are treats, meant to be shared with others, and not part of our regular diet.

We also don't make these every week. We can go WEEKS around here with only eating super simple food. It works for us. We cook veggies in oil and spices, roast up a protein, have a sweet potato and... ta da - that's our dinner every day of the week! Breakfasts are always an egg and veggie scramble, lunch is often dinner's leftovers, and snacks are nuts and fruit or almond milk yogurt.

I would refer you to My Easy Shopping List so you can see how simple, easy and straightforward my life at home is!

My struggle is when I go out socially (and I will be tested at a potluck party tonight, but I think I will be able to post tomorrow about how good I was!). But setting myself up for 100% success at home means that I really have no problem keeping the weight off (I lost 10 pounds on paleo and it hasn't come back!).

Remember KISS = Keep It Simple, Stupid. :D :D :D

Love you all, have a beautiful day!

Namaste.