Question for people that have/had allergies. My girlfriend's allergies are also gone since starting paleo but she's paranoid about ceasing her Zyrtec intake thinking she'll start seeing symptoms if she stops, and she gets BAD allergies so I understand the fear. Do you guys still take meds to be sure or were you able to stop taking them? I'm hoping she can stop taking them altogether next year. Just for the sake of clarity, do you usually pitch the skin and eat them chip like as you were suggesting? Or do you still feel fine if you say eat a baked potato skin and all? I've read the skin of white potatoes is the main reason they can be harmful.
I had allergies previously, they weren't extremely bad but certainly noticeable, especially after moving back to the Southeast after living out in the Rockies. Now for the most part I'm fine. I keep some allergy meds on hand for the inevitable Atlanta spring days (back-to-back days w. Pollen counts over 8300 and 9000 this year), but aside from that I don't take anything.
Personally, I was/am intolerant to all first- and second- and some third-generation allergy meds, because I've been taking them since I was a child. As of last fall, I was up to two [whatever] per day, and often they had no effect. Zyrtech, Equate, Reactin, whatever. Extra strength didn't matter. Itchy eyes, sneezing, itchy throat, the works. I haven't touched a pill since sometime around December, now that I look back on it. I think that now my immune system doesn't have to spend all its time fighting off the inflamation caused by gluten and all the other crap, it has time to address pollen and cats. I was also chronically predisposed to chest infections. Nary a chest cold has reared its head in months. I did a bathroom reno in February and had to lose the medicine cabinet and most of my storage spaces. I seriously debated chucking all the pills; in the end, I pussed out and kept four or five varieties, just in case (especialy the stuff bought from the States, which we can't get here). But I haven't had reason to use them.
Is there any reason to believe that kids shouldn't follow the exact same Paleo guidelines as adults? I have two 10-year-old brothers, both of whom have mild learning and attention deficit disorders. I don't know if that's simply a product of being 10, but I figure that improving their diet (which is mediocre at best) is a much healthier alternative to daily doses of Adderall. Even though it's been only 3 weeks, I've already began experiencing wonderful benefits from cutting out all the bad stuff, and I'd like to see how much it can help them, as well. I'm going to forward the links for Mark's Daily Apple and Whole9 to my parents this weekend. Those are the two blogs I frequent, and I find them to be the most clearly-written and informative. If anyone has any additional suggestions, I'm all ears. I can't imagine this stuff is rocket science, as long as they stick to the fundamentals.
Taking gluten out of their diets WILL make a world of difference, and removing processed foods...they're really going to seem like different kids.
I have an unexplained phenomenon that I have noticed on my 5 days of this whole30 thing. I go from feeling OK to starving in about 3.2 seconds flat. As an example, I was getting ready to leave work for happy hour, had brought an orange to work for a snack, but decided not to eat it because I wasn't hungry. I was no more than a mile up the street when my stomach started growling and I realized I was famished. Does this happen to anybody else? Any explanation?
Kampf, Winterike, and Shimmered, thanks for the advice guys. Out of curiosity, why do you feel I shouldn't be as careful when it comes to carb timing? My understanding of the science of it all is that carbs are basically only necessary to replace the glycogen you use when being active or what the body uses for maintenance to avoid ketosis. Thus, I thought having a bit pre and post workout for the most part, and minimal the rest of the day was pretty much ideal. Of course, I wouldn't mind throwing in extra stuff everywhere. The one area about nutrition that's always been a bit confusing to me is the macros. I've been told that 1-1.6g of protein per kg is pretty much perfect for an athlete, which isn't much in the way of calories. And a lot of nutritionists I've spoken with through work believe you only really need carbs for the purposes of what I talked about above. That leaves a lot of calories on the board for healthy fats, much more so than most diets for athletes I've seen advocate. Does that mean that I'm undereating carbs, that most people are overeating them, or not necessarily either answer?
You're not alone. I'll eat a massive meal, feel full for twenty minute, and feel like I haven't eaten anything for a day. It goes away after a little bit. I just power through it. I'm thinking carb withdrawals. On that note...I have been perfect all week with the diet but am going out drinking tonight. Already resigned to the fact that I'm eating some SHIT tomorrow. Sunday back on the clean path.
It's not so much the lack of satisfaction (although today I would probably choke a puppy for something sweet in my tea, but that is another subject altogether), it is the complete 180 that occurs at the drop of a hat. And I feel like I am eating plenty of fat, but I'll try to do even more. Maybe coconut oil in my tea would make it sweet. So, next question, I picked up some mussels at Whole Foods. I have never made mussels before, but love ordering them out. Most of the ones that I enjoyed, and the recipes that I have seen, calls for a little white wine in the sauce. Is that a cheat on this Whole30 thing? I have a feeling I know the answer, but I'll toss it out there. And since I know the answer already, what should I substitute? I am so jealous that you are going out drinking, I went to Happy Hour last night and drank.....coffee....black. And I drank about 5 cups, big cups. Thank god caffeine isn't off limits. I was so wired by the time I drove home that I was probably impaired like a meth addict. What is funny, is by the end of the night my friends were all drinking coffee too (after their several glasses of wine) because mine smelled so good. I'm a regular life of the party these days, anybody want to hang out?
That makes sense, thanks. I'm pretty sure I've inhibited recovery in the past through undereating. Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on maintaining a caloric deficit on inactive days? I cut some weight recently to lessen the load on my joints for some ultras I'd like to run this year, and it wouldn't hurt to cut from what I'm at now (6' 188) to something in the range of 180-185, though I'm probably running out of weight to easily cut at the low end of that spectrum. Would I be better served just making sure to focus on one thing at a time to avoid fucking my body up, or will it be fine as long as I eat enough around my higher activity days?
Hmm, not sure on that one. You might try the Whole30 forum, there has been a lot of good cooking tips on that one. Mussels without white wine does seem like a travesty, but even cooking with alcohol is strictly off limits during the Whole 30. [/quote] Started my new job this week and we had two team building happy hours, one at the CEO's house. I drank enough club soda to float a weather balloon both times. 9 more days.
All the time, and my cravings feel insatiable. How wrong is it that the last two days I've been wanting taco bell more than anything? I've been trying to add in more carbs to compensate, but it doesn't seem to matter. Maybe after a couple of weeks our systems will be better adjusted.
My problem is sweet things. Like, something hard and sweet to suck on. As I mentioned before, ever since the whole malaria fiasco I get a horrible taste in my mouth if I haven't eaten in awhile, or if I'm on an empty stomach. With no gum or Tic-Tacs or Freezies or Werthers or whatever, it's killing me. Anyone know a quick paleo snack that would get rid of a bad taste? And I think I've accidentally cheated twice more. I suspect the dried fruit I eat has added sugar, and I can't remember if the tuna burgers I made a few months ago and froze have chickpeas in them or not. *sigh*
I have been "cheating" and chewing gum. Shimmered brought up a very good point that I am way to close to people to not be chewing gum (and I have to admit that it was easier once a few people brought up that they weren't going to follow that). Hopefully it isn't ruining the whole experience for me. To be honest, I don't have a sweet tooth anyway, except for stevia in my tea and coffee and occasionally to toss with fruit. So if the point of this exercise is to rid my body of it's taste for sugar, than that is pretty much already done.
Focusing on one thing is definitely the way to go, especially since your goals are pretty antagonistic. I'm guessing here, but I think undereating during your inactive days is enough to slow your recovery significantly since you're very active most of the time. At some point, undereating just becomes one more stressor your body has to handle on top of recovering from the training, and too much stress will definitely slow you down.
I just went and bought a higher grade of Cod Liver Oil than I typically get. Jesus Christ, this shit was $55 for a 500mL bottle. It had better make you shit gold bricks or something.
I'm pretty sure it will just make it so your breath smells like you felated an entire aquarium... If you buy dried fruit from any store, you can universally count on it having added sugar. Even if it doesn't list it as an ingredient, it's in there. The reason dried fruit isn't recommended is the concentration of sugar, even if there isn't any added sugar, is greater than the original fresh fruit of the same quantity. So if you ate a cup of raisins lets say, there would be around 3x's as much sugar than if you were to eat a cup of grapes. I'm kind of surprised to hear everyone having massive cravings. One of the things I like about this diet so much is that on day 2, I lost all of those I NEED SUGAR NOOOOW! feelings. I got a coffee the other day and I mistakenly took a sip of the other person's coffee I had also bought. It had 2 Splenda in a large. It tasted like I had just ate a spoonful of sugar. I used to have 6 of those in a large and now I have no idea how anyone could eat something that sweet. My desire for overly sweet things is definitely a thing of the past.
Why does cod liver oil get such a bad rap? If you buy the high-grade stuff, it tastes kind of like lemons. I mix it with my smoothie in the morning and have never been bothered by the taste or bad breath. As to not craving sweet things, I wonder if it's a gender thing? The women seem to crave sweet stuff more than the men. I'd kick someone for a gooey brownie right now. What's stopping me is this thread, and the knowledge that eating one would make me vomit.
I've been craving sweets, but what I really want is pasta. A sandwich. Tacos. No matter how much I eat I find myself wanting to go back to the fridge in less than an hour. Sometimes the food taste great, and other times every option sounds gross because I really want grains. A beer would be nice too. I'll admit, I cheated a bit yesterday and had some tequila. Just one drink though. At least it wasn't a grain spirit, right? These dietitians claiming the diet is only as expensive as you make it are full of it. I mean, if you want to eat cheap produce and cut way back on meat, it could be cheap, but that's an atrocious diet, and this is hard enough as it is without cutting every corner to save money. My grocery bill today was $165 and that's about a week in supplies.