It’s now been about 7 weeks (as of tomorrow) since I started blogging.
My original aim of the blog was to prove (mostly to myself) that it’s possible (infact easy) to stay fit, strong and healthy without having to fork out every month for an expensive gym membership.
I feel at this point that I’ve absolutely proved that to myself, if not others (if others disagree then that’s their business) and that at this point I can put down my pen and go do something else with my life…
HAH!
Yeah right. In fact, I’m just getting started. As of right now, my “Nutrition” category contains 4 posts, while my “Training” category contains 37.
The main reason for this is that I’ve always considered nutrition a bit of a no-brainer. You eat healthy (lets be honest, you all know what healthy is and so does everyone else, even if they don’t admit it), and you feel and look healthy.
This is most definitely going to change. Having seen how quickly I’ve shed off a few body fat %’age points after only minor tweaks to my diet over the last 7 weeks, I’m beginning to realise just how important eating correctly is. For this reason, the next 6 weeks will now focus mainly on diet.
No, this doesn’t mean I’m stopping my workouts. I won’t even be changing them dramatically, they’ll just be getting a little bit less focus here while I log down how I’m feeling, what I’m eating and so on.
The ‘Diet’
First and foremost, this is not a “diet” as the media would refer to it. I don’t intend to eat this way for a month, then go eat some chips. If the diet is sustainable and worthwhile, then it will be a lifestyle change for good.
Now, the diet I’m trying has several names: the paleolithic or paleo diet, the caveman diet, the warrior diet and the hunter gatherer diet. There’s others, but there are better things to discuss.
The main theory behind the paleo diet is this: farming is a relatively new invention – estimated at roughly 10,000 years old.
Ok, that’s not that “new”, but consider the fact that it takes a few hundred thousand years at least for a species to evolve in any significant way. Also consider the fact that for at least several hundred years, science and medicine will have significantly reduced the effect of any kind of evolution – survival of the fitest no longer truely applies to us.
Taking both of these things in to account, it is logical to conclude that as a species, there is no way our bodies could possibly have evolved around our diet at this point. Our bodies are not prepared for the high intake of simple carbs, trans fats and “toxins” in general (I hate that word, but it’s appropriate here).
Believe it or not, included on this list are several foods which would otherwise be labelled healthy – grains, beans and potatoes!
All three of the above contain high levels of chemicals that are designed to stop animals eating them – this is their protection mechanism. You’ll notice that none of those foods are edible without being cooked (some people eat raw potatoes – they’ll die soon though, so I’m safe in saying that) – this is because the cooking process kills enough of those chemicals for them to be edible, however they’re still quite unhealthy.
So what CAN you eat?
Most people’s (and mine) first reaction to this diet is “Wow, so you can’t eat much of anything then?” – so wrong!
The formula for success is quite simple, and easily summarised by a website I found yesterday. Basically you ask yourself two questions:
- If you were trapped in a forrest with no (or limited) tools, would this food be readily available?
- Is the food edible without being cooked, regardess of whether you intend to cook it or not?
If the answer to both questions is yes, then you can eat it! Generally speaking, this will include the following:
- Lean meats
- Most vegitables
- Fruit
- Nuts (not including peanuts which are legumes, or cashews for some reason)
Generally speaking, the following should be avoided:
- Grains (the occasional grain is ok, but not in large quantities)
- Pasta, rice etc
- Potatoes (even sweet potatoes
)
- Beans and legumes
- Processed foods or foods containing lots of preservatives
- Food with added salt
- Simple sugars
One thing that’s immediately obvious – this diet is very low in carbs. Why? Because simple carbs are pretty hard to come by naturally. Probably the only two simple sugary carbs I can think of that are naturally obtainable would be honey and maple syrup, both of which would generally be a rare treat.
Will this affect my workouts? No.
The body is fueled by calories, not carbohydrates. While carbs are a great source of calories, they’re high gi and burn very quickly, whereas calories obtained via fat and protein are both low gi, thus I should have more energy throughout the day, rather than having energy spikes around meal times, and the lows in between.
Better yet, a low carb, high protein diet stimulates muscle growth! Who doesn’t want that, right?
Prove it then!
Alright…
Thinking about a group of people that would adhere to this diet now, African tribes come to mind.
How many overweight African tribes have you seen getting around? (Alright smartass, I know they don’t walk around local streets 
)
What about Kenyans? We all know Kenyans are skinny, muscular and fit, and no the reason isn’t just because they’re Kenyans – it’s because their diet rocks! I don’t think they’re sitting around eating mars bars and chocolate donuts.
Another example, has anyone seen any pictures recently of Jason Statham (the star of Transporter 1, 2 and 3)? When training for transporter 3, Statham’s trainer put him on the paleo diet.
Jason Statham in Transporter 3
As you can see, he’s looking pretty good. Obviously this will involve some pretty hardcore resistance training as well, but that’s doable…
The workouts
My workouts will more or less stay unchanged. The exercises that a paleo man would have faced would be pretty simple: occasional short bursts of sprinting, combined with lifting heavy shit over his head.
Essentially my workout looks a lot like that anyway, so the one thing I plan to change will be including sprints, either running or skipping, in as many workouts as possible.
So there we have it – the outline of my new diet. There are still a lot of things I’m unclear about – particularly whether I can or can’t eat specific foods. Onions are a great example. People often eat onions raw, but I don’t know whether that’s specifically good or bad for you. More reading should clear some of this stuff up though!
Initially I’ll try this diet for 6 weeks. I want to give it a good chance to see any changes. Some things will be hard – giving up coffee for example – but I’m sure after 6 weeks I’ll be feeling pretty good.
If anybody is still awake, I’d love to hear what your take is on the paleo diet, so please post some comments!
Honestly guys, I’m struggling at the moment… My alarm went off at 5.05, I got up, then I got back in bed and slept till my normal get-up time (not the turkish kind). Then I almost fell asleep about 500 times while my collegue drove me to work. I am just so incredibly tired at the moment.
