Paleo is the new in thing, or the new fad diet or the most evil thing ever brought to us by that evil Pete Evans…… come on.

“You want me to eat what for breakfast??” Was my first ever reaction to the Paleo diet. I distinctly remember Back in 2008 when I was first starting out as a personal trainer talking with my mentor about this Paleo diet. There was a reason the cavemen died, why would I want to eat like them?! Now this is way back before Paleo was ‘the new thing’ along with Crossfit but don’t get me started on that too. (Quick joke – If you do both Paleo and Crossfit, which do you tell people about first……. AAAAHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHA)

My mentor Joe explained why we should be eating this way and all the benefits, I trusted him so I decided to give it a go. I followed the Paleo diet perfectly and even recorded my experience via podcasts (links coming soon).

If you have been able to escape all the social media hoohah about the paleo diet and have never heard of it, wow, well done. I have a few books on paleo but the original book which was written by Loren Cordain phD and was my go-to-guide back in 2008. Basically it is about following the diet of the paleolithic man. That as humans we have not evolved enough to process foods such as grains, dairy or anything processed etc.That we should eat foods that our bodies were designed for and in doing so live much healthier lives. These foods were pretty much the following:

• Meat
• Nuts
• vegetables (there are some restrictions with these as well)
• water

That’s it. You were allowed cheat meals which became the highlight of my week, but that’s it. There’s a whole long list of what not to eat but let’s not put a dampener on this article.

Now here’s a break down on my experience.

• Yep I lost weight, I did not lose muscle and was quite toned as I wasn’t retaining any fluid.
• Constipation was a thing though and that sucked.
• After I got over the previous point my energy came back and I felt good.
• It was social suicide. Going out was very hard.
• People did not agree with me and how I was eating. Any negative bodily reaction I had, i.e feeling tired or a sniffle was due to ‘that diet’.
• Back then there wasn’t a whole lot of info about making the paleo diet socially friendly or interesting recipes.
• It got boring and hard to follow so I came off and enjoyed a ‘relaxed’ version.

 

Ok so when I started noticing Paleo on Facebook a lot I thought oh good it’s getting popular. Then when I saw Pete Evans on his Paleo Way crusade I honestly got annoyed. At first. I got annoyed because this way of eating had been around for ages and everyone thought I was crazy when I suggested it but now that a celebrity has put his name to it it’s cool and it’s the new thing. How annoying! (p.s some of us trainers at the gym were already getting stuck into Crossfits in 08 before it was EVERYWHERE… how cool are we 😉 haha). Anyhoo I was annoyed at Pete Evans and that now all anyone in the female/mother characters in my social life would talk about was Paleo, even though they thought I was weird back in the day. After getting over myself I realised hang on, good on Pete Evans. Admittedly I haven’t read all the sections in his Paleo Family Food cookbook (which I received for my birthday). I’ve been told he can be a little strict and preachy, which is a total turnoff. But I have tried some of his recipes and they are damn good! I have to say good on him for being able to provide normal sounding recipes that resemble everyday meals. He’s just delivered them in a healthier way. When I first did Paleo diet I would have loved some of his recipes… there’s bacon in everything!! lol ok that’s a slight exaggeration, but there’s a lot of yum stuff in there.

I don’t know why a lot of people are getting super hatey towards him. My general vibe is that he is trying to get people interested in food and enjoy healthy eating  (that or he is trying to take over the world). I think he has achieved this with a lot of people. My hat is off to you Pete Evans for making a previously boring diet flavoursome. Do you have to follow it religiously? No, but perhaps take some of it on board to make some improvements for yourself 🙂

I’ve been having to talk with my clients a lot lately about nutrition. Everyone is so confused and who can blame them with all the conflicting info about there. “Don’t eat this because it’s a grain and we can’t process it vs We need grains for a complete diet” “eat a whole lot of beans for fibre vs beans are bad don’t eat them” “eat lots of fruit, it’s natural and fresh vs don’t eat fruit it’s so high in fructose. Fructose and sugar are the worst thing ever, sugar will ruin your life and the reason you don’t win the lottery every week”.

Geez.

I’m not a nutritionist.

But here’s what I know….

Eating more fresh, natural, organic food is good for your body. It nourishes it and provides lots of good stuff for your insides (i’m highly scientific).

Eating less processed foods is good for your body. Your body doesn’t have to work super hard to break it down and conquer it.

Knowing where your food comes from is important. As we have all learned recently with the frozen berries!!. Isn’t it worth paying that little bit extra to buy local and know where your food comes from?

Have fun in the kitchen! I’ve been experimenting with new healthy recipes and revamping my Winter cookbook. Make healthy cooking enjoyable.

Everybody’s body is different and everyone is going to react differently to different foods and diets. You gotta find what works for you, do it in the most natural and fresh way and just roll with it.

Bon appetit!

 

 

*Please remember I am not a nutritionist, these opinions are my own. I encourage everyone to research and ask advice before making changes to their diet or undertaking a drastic nutrition change.

p.s this article was written before Pete Evans tried to bring out the paleo way for babies and toddlers, NOT a good idea and a book I do not agree with at all