Because initially, that shit tastes GOOD. Cupcakes and warm toasted bread and things like that are just...fucking...delicious. Then you feel like shit afterward.
I actually disagree. I don't think it tastes good. I think it (the sugar) triggers a bunch of chemicals in your brain and what you're craving is that high. When you're off sugar for any length of time, you find that the stuff you used to eat is cloying and far too sweet. We're all addicts.
That's pretty much it. Wheat and sugar trigger a significant release of endorphins in the brain. After a while everything you eat tastes different because you don't taste it from an addict's point of view. It's hard to explain to people who never experienced it.
This is some kind of fruit & nut mix that I ended up with this weekend when I was bored in the kitchen. It's actually very good - to me, anyway. Maybe one of you will find some use out of it: Spoiler 7 ounces shredded coconut 6 ounces dried cherries 6 ounces dried cranberries 1/2 pineapple, cut into 1/2" cubes 4 sliced bananas, sliced and dried into chips 1 lb. walnut halves 10 ounces pecan halves 6 ounces sliced almonds 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds 1. In a large container, mix together the coconut, dried berries, diced pineapple, and banana chips. Store in the refrigerator. 2. Chop up nuts to desired sizes. In a separate container, mix the nuts and seeds. Store in a cool, dry area. 3. Mix together 1/3 cup of fruit with 1/2 cup of nuts for an easy snack. The quantities and the fruits themselves can be anything you want (it's essentially a granola salad), but you get the idea.
Obviously everyone is different, but for me the biggest shift in going paleo is that I really don't eat for pleasure (barring travel) anymore, that's not to say I don't like the food I eat, just that I eat for fuel, not pleasure. If you find yourself craving any non-paleo (or really even paleo) foods cut them out of your diet. Don't beat yourself up over trace soy here and there, just focus on eating mostly paleo foods you enjoy but don't want to over consume. Treat food as an energy source and nothing else. That said I'd steer clear of any condiment that's not homemade.
Post Whole30 and I think that I might have to accept that gluten will have to stay out of the diet, but for special occasions. I have experimented twice now and beyond just the gut disruption I have had a wicked headache for 10-15 minutes within a few minutes of consumption of any flour. I have done some dairy and been okay (the wife is lactose intolerant so it will stay out of the house regardless) and have not really missed legumes as much as I thought I would so that is easy. I still wake-up easier and feel much better after a few days of fully paleo and it has helped with my increasing work stress at the new job (though it's "good" stress from wanting to make this place succeed.)
Same here and I have an iron stomach, I've always eaten everything and anything be it under-cooked or what not and been fine, but after no bread for a while both the Gf and I have BAD reactions. And I went vegan for 6 weeks back in college, throwing meat and dairy back in was no sweat. Yeah, the only issue I have with legumes is that soy lecithin is in fucking EVERYTHING, but the beans themselves are easy to ditch.
Funny you mention this, because I went hardcore vegan from Thanksgiving to Christmas this year to "cleanse" leading up into the holidays. I was DYING the week before Christmas to eat something other than pasta, farro, etc. By the end of my Whole 30 the only two things I really wanted back were bacon and wine.
I had my cheat meal last night. I hadn't eaten pasta of any sort for a few weeks and I wanted to make a nice Italian dinner. Homemade sauce, homemade pasta, fresh bread, the works. Today...I feel like I spent last night trying to out drink an entire bar. I've never had this intense of a reaction to food before. My stomach is all sorts of seasick, my joints ache, I have this pinging headache that comes and goes. The craziest feeling is that my body seems to be craving more. I'm not hungry, but I'm getting that hollow stomach feeling that feels like I haven't eaten in days. I keep having flashes of thoughts about eating all sorts of carb laden shit that I haven't had in two months. It's really interesting to finally start realizing that what we eat, beyond junk food, has some serious effects on how our bodies operate. Sadly, as a full fledged Italian and lover of all kinds of pasta, I think those days are coming to an end.
Who would like to see a documentary that will completely rethink EVERYTHING? Here you go: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.ovguide.com/food-matters-9202a8c04000641f800000001783e05a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.ovguide.com/food-matters-920 ... 001783e05a</a> <a class="postlink" href="http://www.foodmatters.tv" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">www.foodmatters.tv</a> (shows the first 40 minutes only)
What was new in that? Isn't that information why we're all eating paleo? I know a lot of those guys are vegetarians but they (specifically Ornish) basically prescribe a no meat paleo diet to their patients. And while I think going that style of vegetarian is sub-optimal, it's significantly better than a normal western diet. Good documentary to show the non-inducted though.
I think a lot of the Paleo philosophy is "Let's eat how our ancestors ate, because that makes sense." The nutrient therapy discussed in the Food Matters doc isn't really touched on in Paleo (from what I've read). I really would have liked to have seen what brands of vitamins and the quantities an average person should start with. What bothered me a bit about it was the Superfoods thing. Paleo makes sense logically...eating gogi berries all the time does not, especially considering most of us live in the northern part of North America. The eye-opening bit, for me, was the 50% recovery rate of terminally ill patients and the fact that cancer is the body's healing mechanism gone awry. And why is it out of control? Because of all the toxins it's trying to manage. I just thought the whole thing was kind of an "A-ha!" moment. Not the music group, but the epiphany.
You can add a bunch of hors d'oevres from a function I went to last night. Dairy, sugar, grains...you name it. I didn't eat much, but boy I ate everything I shouldn't. My thoughts on the final day of this challenge: 1. Well worth it. I had NO idea how addicted to sugar I must have been, and how insidious it is in food. I'm glad I pushed through the hateful part around Day 10/Day 15. I think that was the withdrawal from all the crap I was eating. 2. I feel no desire to change how I'm eating now. The only thing I'm modifying is to reintroduce wild rice, and some natural sweeteners (I made apple crisp tonight with honey, as well as wild mushroom risotto). 3. It's an excellent way to re-program how you think of food. My cravings are drastically reduced. Also, I'm eating way more than I was. You have to make up the calories somewhere, and it takes a shitton of veggies to do that. 4. I'm considering adding some supplements I wasn't taking already, mainly vitamin C. I'm also thinking of reducing the animal protein I eat a bit (like, almost no red meat, very little chicken) and going heavier on fish and eggs. Jesus, I already eat, like, almost four eggs per day but I guess this can't hurt. Really happy I did it. Once you push through the hard stuff - which is just your brain craving the chemical high - it gets much better.
So impressed that you made it through, you have proven that you are tougher than the rest of us who were big fat quitters. So, deep down and honestly, it sounds like you think it was beneficial, and I trust your judgement. Shoot, now I am kicking myself even more for being a big fat quitter. I may try to do it again at some point, but I feel like I need to find a good 30 day stretch not chock full of temptation and social events and with summer coming that is pretty unlikely. On the flipside, I do feel like my obsessing improved greatly after I quit.
I don't think you should beat yourself up so much. When I look back at when we all hated life on this thing, it took everything I had not to walk away in disgust. In retrospect, that was withdrawal. Because once I pushed through that the cravings just abruptly STOPPED. I kept a food log over on instrength.com (same user name) and I was counting down the days until Day 16, when it just never occurred to me to care about the challenge ending anymore. Shopping this weekend, I was considering adding back in certain foods. That's when I really started to realize how fucking insidious (I can think of no other word) corn syrup, fructose, stabalizers and soy are. The Blue Menu (healthy, big box store brand that is usually a great alternative) tzaziki I always bought? Soy, high fructose corn syrup, unpronouncable chemicals. The organic Greek yogurt? Same thing. The redi-mix chicken stock? Holy shit, everything from wheat to soy to more unpronouncable stuff. I think that's why it's important to do the challenge completely. Also, Mya, you might have had a harder time because you still had that creeping sugar in everything you were eating (I'm thinking of the carton coconut milk which, BTW, even CANNED coconut milk has to be read with care. I only found one brand that was just coconuts and water). So yeah. If you want to do it again, like I said...I'm just going to carry on. And if you can stop ALL the crap this time, I think you have to view it as a good sign when the "I will eat my arm for stevia and slap children for a cupcake" feeling hits, because that means the sugar/chemical/dairy withdrawal is peaking.
First off kudos to alot of you. The varying levels of dedication are impressive and y'all give some really good ideas about stuff. While I'm far from going Whole30 or even being semi-strict paleo, I've implemented alot of fundamentals from it and the results have been great. I haven't eaten a piece of normal bread in, gosh, probably 3 months, and I really don't miss it. I cheat here and there with a tortilla or occasional bun or pita, but mentally, my blockade on bread has been productive and a good starting point. I've gotten stronger and leaner, my weight doesn't fluctuate like it used to, and the best part, I feel way less bloated. Which I never realized how annoying it was until I got past most of it. I think the best part, and something which could greatly help in pushing me stricter in the future, is finding paleo-friendly meals that are beyond delicious. I went to brunch with my family yesterday and my sister picked a spot that upon arriving boasted some sign on a blackboard that said "ask about paleo-friendly options." So I asked the server and ended up getting a shrimp and chorizo egg white frittata with mixed greens tossed in olive oil on top. My god, it was sublime. Combine that with my taste for spinach going from "needs copious amounts of garlic or seasoning" to "ill eat it almost plain" and I'm finding it way easier to eat clean. And I remember asking awhile back on here for tips for putting on weight/muscle while paleo. Well I've found the best part is I've been able to because I eat way more of the good, less filling foods like proteins and veggies cause I don't get a full stomach of rice or breads or whatnot. Good stuff.
I figured I should post this since I put a bit of effort in tracking my food intake and I think it paints a pretty decent picture on paleo. I realize my results aren't particularly impressive but keep in mind I didn't even attempt to cut down on the booze (which I foolishly didn't track), I just stuck to red wine and scotch. Also not tracked is a stretch in February to March where I ate some 85-100% cocoa dark chocolate just about every night. To note, I started off this past summer around 270 pounds and got myself down to about 255 on basically an all Indian food diet, then went to Tim Ferris' slow carb diet in November and transitioned to paleo in late February. The food tab is basically my diet journal, the weight data tab is just a holding place for the weight data and the weight analysis tab is the easiest place to visualize my progress over time. The PAGG stuff noted in the food tab is the supplement stack Tim Ferris recommends. For a brief period I tracked some exercise, but I've actually been more active since then, just haven't tracked it. For reference I'm 6' tall and have a pretty big frame. I'm still a little chubby now but think I'd be relatively lean at 200-210 pounds. <a class="postlink" href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26341204/Daily%20Intake.xls" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26341204/Daily%20Intake.xls</a>
Thanks for reminding me, Frank. Some stats that might be helpful: Height: 5'3" (shut up! It's the perfect height for a girl!) Weight, before ANY paleo: 163-165 (my all-time weight is 175. NEVER. AGAIN.) Weight, after paleo but before Whole30: 155ish Weight, after Whole30: 148ish My ideal weight in my own mind is somewhere around 135. I figure I'll just continue on this food plan, because it's working. I can only imagine how much I'd lose if I was active. I presently have a desk job and the only time I'm up and around is walking the dogs (six days/week, we usually hike a 5km trail. Walks are usually 1.5 hours, but in the summer can exceed 2hrs).
DCC and Frank - I just read through your instrength/excel food journals, good idea and certainly a way to keep yourself accountable and track your progress. I think I had mentioned that I was hoping to stop tracking, but I think (much to my dismay) maybe I need to start being pretty faithful to it. As it stands now, I am getting frustrated so find myself cheating more often than I should be. My weakness these days is cereal, granola type cereal to be exact. I seem to be able to find a good substitute for most other foods (cauliflower for rice, squash for pasta, fruits for sweets, etc) so I don't feel that I am deprived, but cereal has become like crack for me. Anyway, good job you guys. DCC - you bring up a good point on the hidden sugars triggering the cravings, although I tend to think it was also the time where the deprivation was the most heightened since we all seemed to hit the wall together. It is crazy all the places for hidden sugars, it was making me crazy obsessively looking at food labels, but I guess that is the whole point. Frankly, I would rather just have good old fashioned heavy whipping cream and don't see the harm in it. So, what is this HBO show? Worth checking out?