The premise:
Man has been wandering around this planet in one form or another for a couple million years (Cro-Magnon, Homo-erectus, Homo Sapiens) living a hunter gatherer lifestyle. Agriculture, as we know it, is at most about 12,000 years old. We've built a food industry based on grains that our ancestors wouldn't have been able to access in the abundance they are now available. Nor would we have eaten them as they were difficult to digest since they are essentially grasses - best left to the consumption of our food sources in order to turn them into more useful proteins. Genetically we are almost identical to our ancestors. However, our foods no longer resemble what they ate. The intent of a paleo way of eating is to nourish our bodies as they evolved to be nourished - not the way that grain producers and General Mills, Kraft Foods and Nabisco tell us we should.
The goals:
Give yourself 30 days to repair the damage processed foods have inflicted.
Improve how you look, feel and perform.
Regain insulin sensitivity.
"Reset" your taste buds to enjoy the flavor of real foods.
The approach (in Melissa's words):
The only way this will work is if you give it the full thirty days. Anything less and you are selling yourself, and your results, short. You may start to see and feel improvements within just a few days, but according to Robb Wolf and Mat Lalonde, the healing process takes significantly longer. And… no cheating. Just ONE cheat could irritate your digestive tract, promote an inflammatory response, upend your insulin sensitivity and send you running for the nearest Dunkin Donuts. It will ruin the effect of the “reset button” you are trying to push. This isn’t me being a hard-ass, or insisting that you tough it out to prove to yourself you can do it. This is a fact – the only way this will work is if you give it the full thirty days, no cheating.
The "rules" (as taken from Melissa Urban's Whole30 blog):
Eat real food – meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, some fruit, and good fat from nuts, seeds, coconut, olives/olive oil and avocado. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re fresh and natural.
1. Do not eat dairy. This includes butter, cheese (hard and soft), yogurt (even Greek) and milk (including cream in your coffee or tea).
2. Do not eat grains. This includes bread, rice, pasta, cereal, oatmeal, corn and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa and sprouted grains.
3. Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (soy, black, kidney, etc.), peas, lentils, and peanuts. (No peanut butter, kids.)
4. Do not eat or add sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc.
5. Do not eat processed foods. This includes protein shakes, processed bars (like Zone bars), dairy-free creamers, etc.
6. Do not drink alcohol, in any form.
7. Do not eat white potatoes. It’s kind of arbitrary, but one, they’re a nightshade <http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=62> , and two, sweet potatoes and yams are a more nutrient-dense option, so go for those instead. (On that note, if you have serious inflammation issues like arthritis, you may want to consider avoiding all nightshades for 30 days.)
8. Most importantly… do not try to shove your old, crappy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold. This means no “Paleo-fying” existing less-than-healthy recipes – no “Paleo” pancakes, pizza or ice cream.
A few concessions. These are less than optimal foods that we are okay with you including in moderation.
1. Processed Meat. On occasion, we are okay with organic <http://www.applegatefarms.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?id=2942> chicken sausage and these types of things (provided they are nitrate, dairy, gluten and casein-free), and high quality bacon, deli meat, and jerky.
2. Nuts. We do not want you cracking out on nuts and nut butters, people. Almond butter is acceptable – buy the organic (no sugar added) if possible.
3. Dried Fruit. In general, careful with the fruit. Use dried fruit and Larabars in serious moderation, and only if it doesn’t send you running for the nearest candy dish.
4. Non-”Paleo” Vegetables. We’re fine with green beans, sugar snap peas and snow peas. While they’re technically a legume, they’re far more “pod” than “bean”, and we want you to eat your veggies.
5. Coffee and black tea. We’re okay with coffee (black, or with a little coconut milk) in moderation, and only if it doesn’t interfere with sleep. Usually, that means none after noon. If you really want to go hardcore and reset your body’s sensitivity to caffeine, skip the coffee/tee for the 30 day period as well.
6. Vinegar. While it’s technically not “Paleo”, we’re fine with using it in small quantities as a salad dressing. But use lemon or lime juice when you can.
7. Salt. While some “approved” foods like olives or bacon will have some salt in them, go easy when adding salt to your food. And if you must, go for sea salt.
Pick your pony:
Decide what your personal goal is. And stay focused.
If this is about leaning out for you go easy on the nuts and added fat.
If you want to gain some size, do some research and find Robb Wolfs 3000 calorie curry recipes - you've got some eating and heavy lifting to do.
If this is performance/ metcon based... you've got more than 30 days. Typically you will feel a crash during your 3rd week. Its temporary. Don't quit. Push through. If it's lingering, look at upping your fats (depending on goals) and reassess in a week.
Include these supplements:
Fish oil - go here and calculate: http://whole9life.com/fish-oil/ - do what it says
Vitamin D: Robb Wolf recommends 5,000+ IU
Resources:
www.thepaleodiet.com <http://www.thepaleodiet.com>
www.robbwolf.com <http://www.robbwolf.com>
www.whole9life.com <http://www.whole9life.com>
www.everydaypaleo.com <http://www.everydaypaleo.com> (great recipes)
www.marksdailyapple.com <http://www.marksdailyapple.com> (not a favorite of the Whole30 crew as he tends to water things down and make it easy for people to stray by "allowing" Neolithic foods)
No comments:
Post a Comment