I had heard of Paleo diet around 2012, or so, from my mom and sister, who did cross fit at the time.
“Try it!” they said, “You will feel so good!” I liked healthy things so it wouldn’t be a stretch. It’s eating whole foods, with an emphasis on veggies, meat, and some fruit. Not too bad, right? But saying NO to dairy, grains, legumes, and sugar. NO WAY! That would be so hard! How on earth could I do that?

Well, at the beginning of 2014 I hadn’t quite lost all that baby fat and it had been about 9 months. I wasn’t stressing about it, but it was a goal to get rid of it. As I looked around at all my friends who “dieted” I saw a few friends who were lean and had energy. I asked them each what diet they were doing…sure enough, they were all doing the Paleo diet.

Taken December 2013

I had already had to give up dairy because it hurt my daughter’s tummy when she had my milk. It kind of primed me, really. As much as I loved dairy, it was easier than I thought to give up. So I could always try to give up those other things, at least until I lost the weight, right?

So I went online and bought a copy of Practical Paleo after my friend demanded her copy back (haha, Catherine).  The recipes were so, so good and in the meanwhile I perused the information or the “why” in the front as I went on.

I didn’t start the diet by purging my pantry, but cooked through the no-no foods as I read and lived life, which ended up being a really good thing. I read info like ‘Grains cause indigestion’ and sure enough I’d eat oatmeal not too long after and have acid up my throat all day, or wouldn’t, ahem, have a movement for a couple days and other things like that. So when I went back to the grocery store, I didn’t pick up the no-no foods again.

As I saw the evidence that what I ate and how I felt stacked up with the information in the book, I couldn’t help but just keep believing. The fat started falling off of my body at a quick rate, that I’d never seen before. I felt so strong! I wasn’t tired mid afternoon anymore, I didn’t have trouble breathing anymore (allergies), I slept better, my face was less puffy (water retention), I had WAY better digestion. Here was a big proof for me: I had developed an allergy to avocado at some point and it got way, way worse when I turned 21. As a teen, it used to make my mouth itchy but at 21 I started getting blisters in my mouth and throat after eating it, then I’d have asthma for a week. After 6 months of gut healing Paleo, I was able to eat avocados anytime now and I cook with avocado oil everyday.

Plus for the first time in my life, I could eat AS MUCH AS I WANTED! as long as I ate the Paleo approved things. (I really, really, really, really like to eat large meals.) It was liberating knowing I could lose weight and NOT BE HUNGRY! I usually go for more veggies when going for thirds of anything else, but even when I grabbed more nuts, meat or fruit I wouldn’t feel stunted. (Thirds is an exaggeration but Seconds for sure is not!)

Here was in January (left) and February (right) of 2015

I remember the time my husband and I ordered lettuce wrapped hamburgers to go, when we reached our destination and pulled out our burgers we were sad that they had made a mistake, they had buns. “Let’s not make a big deal out of it. Let’s just eat them.” We couldn’t find a bathroom fast enough. Our bodies outright rejected the white bread we used to eat all the time!

I began preaching Paleo to anyone who had ears. I was that annoying person who found a diet that worked. “Everyone! Come feel as good as I do!!! Stop eating bad foods!” And while everyone was incredibly gracious toward me, they certainly had palpable relief when I calmed down.
I was getting too hardcore. On some level, I would judge people who ate grains or I would complain to Bret that the sugar in a breath mint hurt my stomach (insert crying/laughing emoji), true story. I’m so thankful for Bret, he levels me out. He also helped me not be a pansy that couldn’t handle a breath mint.

Also it began to twist my brain. I shouldn’t have just outright said, ‘Wheat is bad,’ because Jesus uses wheat in reference to his believers (sifting wheat from chaff) and even says the loaf of bread represented his body, in the Last Supper and Jesus would not use those examples, if wheat was bad.

I am able to justify that our food is not our great-grandma’s (and everyone before her) food. Between GMO’s and pesticides the modern grain is too rough on us.
So I just softened my views, stuck to my organic veggie and grass fed/pasture raised meat csa (community supported agriculture) subscriptions and even found a good source for raw dairy.

And had to come to the important fact:

The food I eat is not more important than the people I eat it with.

When its my turn to make something or bring something, I will always opt for the Paleo option but if someone serves me food over rice and pasta at their house, I eat it. If there are beans in the dish or gravy on the thing, I eat it. If it is a build your own plate, I will try to make the most Paleo combination I can. At restaurants I order Paleo 85% of the time.

In another post I’ll write about how I did one pregnancy not eating Paleo and one eating Paleo. Guess which one went better?  (Spoiler: Paleo)

Food is never worth raising to such a level that it causes a wall of division between yourself and others. I didn’t know that when I was too excited about food, but I know it now. It’s definitely not worth getting self righteous over or not eating with others because of. (People with true food restrictions, I’m not accusing you of these things.)

I’m glad, in a quieter way, to share Paleo with others. I think it totally works as a weight loss way of eating but also as a way to equip your body well and be healthy. I look forward to sharing some recipes and tricks that I have picked up or invented on the way. I hope they bless you!