Saturday, August 14, 2010

my paleo story

in april of 2009 i did my first crossfit workout. it was something with dumbbell squat cleans and push ups. i had just gotten my ass kicked in front of complete strangers and was instantly addicted.

the following month i was introduced to the paleo diet. i hate that word. but i'm truly in love with paleo. it has changed my outlook on literally everything. sometimes i feel like the father from my big fat greek wedding. he thought windex fixed everything, but for me, paleo fixes everything. acne? common cold? bad mood? gas? mentally cloudy? people think i'm crazy, but PALEO FIXES EVERYTHING!! i have never looked, felt, or performed better in my entire life. i'm in better shape at 25 than i was at 18.

i have eaten 90-95% strict paleo since may 2009. the first couple weeks were hard. i was tired, emotional, hungry, and felt like i was in a fog. but i stuck with it, and after 4 weeks i felt amazing. i began to research more and more and i liked what i saw. it made sense to me. i am by no means a paleo expert but, we are not genetically adapted to eat the modern food that is put in front of us today. in the grand scheme of things, 10,000 years (beginning of the agricultural revolution) isn't that long of a time period. our bodies couldn't have possibly evolved fast enough to start digesting and processing this new food. we just weren't built like that!





i stick to what our bodies were built to consume and process: meat, vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit and little starch.

the new and improved food pyramid. ssshh don't tell the american dietetic association!


contrary to what some believe, i do have a social life. it may be scheduled around workouts and food, but i still have one. if i go out with friends for a special occasion or to a family gathering, i go with the flow.  i don't want to be THAT girl. " i can't eat this", "what's in that?", "who made this?", "does that have dairy?" i just try to make the best choice i can in the situation i'm in. i feel that being mentally healthy is just as important, if not more, than being physically healthy... and if that means getting an ice cream on a hot summer night or having a beer with friends, then so be it. obviously those ice creams and beers are rare, but having something to look forward to keeps me--and probably George--sane.

when i do go off my regularly scheduled programming, my body lets me know. gluten and wheat products affect me the most. to me, a slice of pizza isn't worth being stuck in the bathroom for an hour and having a severe food hangover the following day.

a normal day for me looks like this:

breakfast: eggs, bacon, and a handful of berries. i had my first scrambled egg June 3rd, 2009 and i haven't looked back since.

lunch: usually leftovers from the night before or a big salad with chicken or a tin of tuna on top. i dress a salad usually with a good olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

PWO (post work out): i usually don't feel like eating real food after a work out, so i'll have a scoop of optimum nutrition natural whey. that starts my recovery until i've had a chance to get home, settled and ready to eat a real meal. obviously cavemen weren't drinking whey protein after a long hike through the desert, but it works for me. i chose this brand because it's all natural and has no artificial sweeteners.

supper: usually a hunk of meat and some vegetables.




if i'm really craving a sweet after supper i'll have frozen berries with some heavy cream over the top. what do i drink? water and maybe a cup of black coffee twice a week.







september 2007 @ about 185 pounds

late 2007 i weighed 186 pounds. i currently weigh between 158-160. i've never been stronger and i'm only looking to the future.

july 2010 @ about 160 pounds with a few visible abs...???


i'm eating between 1,400 and 1,800 calories a day. i'm getting about 100 grams of protein a day. i perform at my best on a high fat-high protein diet. i've finally found what works for me.

"...we’ve seen that we don’t reject neolithic foods solely on the basis that caveman didn’t have them, but prefer to have evidence as to the health effects of our food choices." -thepaleodiet.net

4 comments:

Diane @ Balanced Bites said...

Awesome work and awesome story... oh and awesome after photo! HOT!!! You look great. Congrats on your discovery. I feel similarly about paleo but at a different angle... for me, it was about finally realizing WHY I felt a connection to some foods and a disconnection from others. It helped me make sense of why I thought/knew/felt that processed foods, grains and dairy were not supposed to be part of my regular diet. Welcome to the other side :)

Diane @ Balanced Bites
http://www.balancedbites.com

Sandy Sommer RKC said...

Nice work Kerri,

I'm 48 and stronger than when I was 20 and playing college football. Mainly my eating changed. Nutrition is the key to health. The older we get the more we realize that.

Train with purpose,

Sandy Sommer RKC

Unknown said...

Great post and great results.

Greetings from a fellow paleo gal :))

Kim said...

Hey Kerri! I love your story and recipes!! Looking forward to more posts from you!