I have been off paleo for the last two or three weeks as a result of an explicit decision to give up in order to simplify my life. It did not come as a great surprise that instead of simplifying it, I found myself in a worse slump than I had been in before and at this stage, I am gathering personal strength to get back to what I now believe even stronger, is a better way of eating, functioning and living.
By way of preparing for it, I want to explain what happened as much for myself as for those who may be reading this.
So, what's so hard about Paleo? For me, it had nothing to do with deprivation. Really, that's one thing I never experienced. It was pretty easy to give up sugar, grains & potatoes. In this sense, Paleo is the best diet in the world: your body adjusts and begins to guide you toward the better choices as long as you are focused on the right way to live and eat.
However, the right way to eat involves, as any Paleo enthusiast will tell you, creating meals out of ingredients as close as possible to their natural form. This means, no bagels, no TV dinners, no canned soups - none of the grocery store conveniences that make meal preparation a ten-minute breeze. Instead, you have to plan ahead, show in quantity, design meals and never find yourself with an empty refrigerator at meal time. True, with practice, it is possible to develop a rhythm such that actual preparation time is not onerous. Still, no one will argue that cooking paleo is a small commitment.
I am a stay-at-home mom and the hardest part of the job turned out not to be sleepless nights, potty training or tantrums. It's keeping the house, putting meals on the table and cleaning up after! Each time the complexity of my life increased, I my eating suffered. Worse yet, in the absence of good food, I did not have the energy to get organized, shop, cook and get back on top of things...
Going off paleo was thrilling the first few days as bagels & cream cheese were suddenly an available option when I was hungry. A week into it, though, my general well-being began a downward spiral. I was tired, short of breath, bad-tempered and a general sense of exhaustion of life overcame me. Now, at the end of week two, as I am looking at what I have done, the choice seems clear: get off my ass and make a god-damn meal! Today, tomorrow, for the rest of the week...
Still, I am aware of the enormity of the task. Three meals a day every day. Sure, some will be left-overs, but the discipline required is above anything I have taken on before.
That said, I am coming out of hiding and would like to tell the story of my attempt to organize my life and doing better (or worse), and telling primarily this story over the coming year.
Thanks for sharing your story. There's a lot of cleanup when you're eating real food all the time (as opposed to opening a can, dumping contents in a dish, throwing can away, microwaving food, and only have 1 dish to clean -- or none, if you're eating a TV dinner). There's also some time spent in meal prep... I find the cleanup the most annoying part. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for the planning ahead, yes... I think I realized this more fully when I started spending 12-14 hour days away from the house.
Paleo can be very difficult during busy times because it always requires planning ahead. I'm not sure it requires so much more time as it does organization and thought. For instance, I think it requires just as much time to stop at the local cafe for a sandwich as it does packing some smoked salmon or hard boiled eggs in your lunch bag for the workday. But the latter requires organization and planning ahead, both when shopping and when prepping for the day at work. Ultimately, it would be nice if there was more demand for food establishments to serve real food, as everyone likes to have a meal out now and then.
I actually don't cook most days and I eat a lot of leftovers even at home, which minimizes my prep time. On days when I have to be away from the house I either fast and don't eat much, or I try to focus on very simple meals at a local restaurant (Vietnamese soup without noodles, for instance). Another tactic is to for me to bring things to work like smoked salmon, hard boiled eggs, good quality lunchmeat, and veggies/fruit.
I'm sure this is a lot harder when you have family to think about, so I hope you don't think I'm dismissing your concerns. Ultimately, I hope you find a plan that works for you. Frankly, I've found that lately, boredom is my real problem. Meat and a veggie for dinner e v e r y night? Boring. There are so many paleo friendly meals that are healthy in concept (maybe not in every ingredient they use) but I don't feel like making them at home. :)
I wonder if Sarah Fragoso's Everyday Paleo cookbook might help you? It's something I've not checked out, but might be interesting for simple ideas that are easy to prepare, yet prevents the boredom. It would be nice to have some paleo-friendly recipes in one place, rather than searching all over the web and blogs. I yearn for some good paleo cookbooks, and I plan on getting this one. :)
You might also consider the paleo TV dinners... way expensive, but might be good in a pinch? Michael Gold can tell you more about those.
ReplyDeleteHi Monica,
ReplyDeleteI've missed you since I sort of went into hiding. Your advice is always comforting and to the point. YES on boredom! Toward the end, I couldn't stand looking at meat any more. When it comes to meat, I am a picky eater to begin with. Much of the time, it's just too dry for me. I'd much rather feast on the veggies. So it's hard and tiring. I'll look into the cookbook you are suggesting. I have Mark Sisson's book, but it's hit and miss for me, and much of what's in there is very complex. It's also pretty small.
YOu could try www.paleoplan.com
ReplyDeleteI didn't like the recipes very much and I'm not committed to paleo eating, but these types of recipe services (that generate a shopping list) are very helpful in the planning ahead part. It might work for you.
We are not thrilled about cooking or cleaning in our household, so we keep lots of steak and salad fixins on hand which make a great, quick meal. We also buy the cooked, peeled, frozen shrimp at Costco which can be heated and eaten quickly. Hmm, what else? Rotel (in the canned tomato aisle) makes Chili Fixins which doesn't have any junk in it. You just add in your ground beef (we like ground bison) and a can of tomato sauce and you've got quick, healthy chili in about 10-15 minutes. We also eat breakfast at all hours of the day. Sausage or bacon and eggs is always quick to whip up. You can also keep bacon leftovers and hard boiled eggs in the frige as quick snacks. FAGE yogurt with berries is my favorite quick fix as the high fat, high protein content of the yogurt is quite filling. We always overcook too, that way we have leftovers for lunch the next day or a snack later. Hope some of this helps!
ReplyDeleteTry keeping fresh fruit around and deli meats. Maybe turkey? An apple & almond butter can be lunch in a pinch if you don't have time to make a full meal.
ReplyDeleteYou can do it! Looking forward to hearing about your progress. It's tough to maintain that's for sure, even with a fully stocked fridge. Temptation is all around!
Cara
Thanks, PrimRose! My impression that fresh fruit is not proper paleo as it contains a lot of sugar. That said, I have decided that low-sugar options such as grapefruit, green apples, etc are something I can depend on. Do you do a lot of fruit?
ReplyDeleteMy best weeks are when I've cooked on the weekend. I try to do two different meats but cook them simply. I freeze in portions what won't be eaten within a couple of days.
ReplyDeleteI have several go-to flavors I add as I'm preparing each meal (or each day's food) : tomato sauce, garlic, oregano and fennel (Italian); coconut milk, broth, Thai curry paste, fish sauce & sesame oil (Thai); garam masala and/or curry powder (Indian); etc. All these are staples that I always keep on hand. Veggies are eaten as salads or steamed and served in or along side the meat. Many are one-pot meals.
Hope this gives you some ideas.
Luanne