Food Experiment #2: Paleo

This post may make me seem like a crazy person. For the month of February, Jeff and I decided to try out a vegetarian diet. All went well and I felt good about eating less meat. It was actually not as hard as I thought it would be and we had fun trying out some new recipes. This month... well, for the next 52 days, I am trying something that feels completely the opposite. The gym I work out at... and love, CrossFit Costa Mesa, is doing a "Paleo Challenge"... a 60 day challenge for anyone who wants to participate, of eating a paleolithic diet, also known as "the caveman diet". This is essentially eating meats, fish, eggs, fruit, nuts, seeds, and lots of veggies. No grains, dairy, or sugar.

I have thought a lot (probably too much) about this, and the vegetarian thing for that matter, taking into consideration my past struggles surrounding food, dieting, body image, etc. I am not a big believer in or supporter of "diets". I think for many women especially, diets can lead to obsessive behavior, guilt, bingeing, and an unhealthy relationship with food and our bodies. That being said, why am I doing this? Mostly its just curiosity, and because I feel like I am in a pretty good place body image wise these days. I am choosing to think of the next 60 days not as a diet but as an experimental lifestyle... much like eating vegetarian. I have told myself, and Jeff, and now you, that if I start crossing that imaginary line into being obsessive or just plain miserable... then I will stop. Its not worth the progress I've made over the last year of finding freedom and being comfortable in my own skin. I'm not in it to lose weight or inches, just to try something different and hopefully start improving my CrossFit workouts... and feeling better. So I am taking it one day at a time. Jeff likes calling me his paleo-princess :)

What about the eating animals part? Well, we started buying our meat from Celestino's, a meat market where we can get grass-fed beef, and last Saturday, we went to the Irvine Farmer's Market and got some delicious pastured eggs. So we are trying to be mindful. It has been one week of eating Paleo and I am feeling pretty good... a little lower-energy, but apparently that is normal for the first week or two. It is nice knowing that lots of others at CrossFit are doing it as well and that there will be support and strength in numbers. In the end, as I have mentioned before, I think Jeff and I will find ourselves somewhere between the two ways of eating... maybe we can call ourselves Vege-Paleo's... or Paleoterians! I know, I'm so clever ;)