Paleo-what, is this Atkins Part 2?

What is this?

Eat all the meat and fats you want? Is this the Atkins diet? Not quite.This new, revolutionary, fad, diet has actually been around for a while. In gist – the paleo diet recommends lean meats, good fats (yes there are good fats), and lots of veggies, while abstaining from grains, dairy, and legumes. In essence, this is the diet that our hunter/gatherer ancestors ate. I came across this “diet” from Robb Wolf’s book “The Paleo-Solution” while browsing Amazon. It was recommended based on other books i looked at, but what surprised me were the rave reviews. Ten minutes looking at reviews, 2 seconds purchasing, and another 30 seconds until I was reading it (thank you kindle). The book is both fascinating and counter intuitive to most of what I have learned about nutrition, but I won’t go into detail about its content yet. The core message from the book is basically “try it”. Try it for 30 days, then re-introduce the foods you took out of your diet and see how you feel. The author is convinced that you will be pleased with the results enough to keep with it (as a LIFESTYLE mind you, not a diet). After reading half the book the night I got it, I decided to take the bait for a 30 day trial (no money-back - guaranteed).

A little about myself

I think of myself as generally healthy. I eat what I thought was healthy (isn’t that what they all say): whole grains, lean meats, good fats, dairy, legumes, and some vegetables. I exercise regularly, and I have also gotten into running recently, so my cardio is going way up. Other then that I play sports when I can find people to play with, and I have gotten back into roller hockey for the past year.

Why a blog?

Who cares what I have to say? Well, first off, I do. I was going to document this offline, but then I thought I might keep up with it more if I have a fun way to express myself. Also, what I have come to realize in my limited research on the paleo-diet, is that there is a nice little (yet growing) community of followers. What better way to keep myself interested then plugging myself in with other people who are trying it out as well. My hope is to find out that;

• A. this diet is a load of crap, and I can begin eating dairy, grain, and beans again, feeling satisfied that I gave what some consider as the holy-grail of diets. Or
• B. That Robb Wolf is actually right, and I just started the first steps to transforming my health for the better.

As I will be looking to others during these 30 days, I offer my experiences to the community, so that people down the line will have a better idea what they are getting into.