Mind...BLOWN!!

So this past weekend I got an email from my local library telling me one of the zillion of books I have on hold was available. I saw that it was a Paleo book but didn't run to pick it up. Although I hadn't read any of the research, I wasn't completely sold on this way of eating. I'm not sure why, but I was dragging my feet.

I should have SPRINTED to the library!

Holy tomatoes, has blown my mind. I have never seen such an extensive, easy to use, volume of a book that is essentially based on everything I believe! And it's from 2012 so all the research and studies are current. Just in the first few pages alone I am seeing statements written that I have only seen on my online health blogs (like that cholesterol is not necessarily linked to heart disease). She's got raw milk in here, fermented foods, healthy fatty oils, pages on digestion, blood sugar levels (my hot spot) and it....is....just....amazing!

Here's the book:

Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo (aka, my new hero)

I think I may be purchasing this one.

And then to add fuel to this exciting fire, Diane was one of the first guest speakers on this week's Healthy Life Summit. I found out about this week-long free online conference with some of the world's leading health experts through all of the blogs I follow. If you have some time it's definitely worth a listen. So I listened to Diane talk about her Paleo lifestyle as well as her 21-day sugar detox as I cleaned up the dinner dishes and put all the of the toys away. Loved every second of it, and this has really opened my eyes.

I was never really living sugar free because I was still consuming grains and legumes.

I always knew this in the back of my mind, but I didn't want to do it. I think a few years ago when I first went sugar free I did have some grains, but I mostly ate vegetables and meat.  I definitely have never felt as good as I did that spring of 2009. Part of the reason I started including natural sweeteners back into my diet this go around was because I wasn't feeling much better. I know that the external factors definitely play a part in it (stress, lack of sleep, emotional ties to food, etc) but I actually don't think I was doing my body any good eating the oatmeal, rice, millet and quinoa on a daily basis.

And so....I am going to get back on the saddle. There are two ways to approach this:

1) Begin a Paleo lifestyle. This means I eat meat, vegetables, some fruit, and can have the occasional natural sweetener (yippeeeeee!!!)

2) First do the 21-day Sugar Detox and then transition into the Paleo lifestyle. This means no natural sweeteners and only green apples and underripe bananas as my fruit for three weeks.

I'm not sure what option I'm going to do, but I do know I'm going to give one of these a try. But like everything else, I don't think it's best for me to plunge into this immediately. I'm going to take a month to dive into this book, search online, and get myself prepared so I can have the smoothest transition possible.

Now before you go rolling your eyes and saying things like, "Ugh, Brooke is crazy. Just aimlessly jumping from one fad to another. She just needs to chill" hear me out. Because this is the look The Hubs gave me this weekend as I was sitting on the couch drooling over this book.

First off, this isn't a stretch from what I'm already doing. The bulk of the book is about eating healthy fats (check), high-quality meat (check), cutting out processed foods (check) and avoiding all refined sugars (half check). The difference is that she includes whole grains and legumes in her "refined sugars" category. And the more I read....I am agreeing with her. Remember how I'm always saying that real food should spoil and not be able to sit on shelves for months at a time? Well, dry grains and legumes sit on those shelves so they have always been confusing me.

Secondly, even though I am eating a clean diet and nothing processed and no gluten and very little dairy, I am still suffering from some issues:

- Blood sugar ups and downs: I never quite kicked this over the past month or so. And it's getting a little ridiculous. If I eat breakfast I almost feel faint a couple of hours later. I can literally feel the dips in my body as the day goes by. She devotes an entire portion of the book to blood sugar problems.

- Digestion: I don't want to divulge too much here, but let's just say my trips to to the toilet aren't "normal." And I'm noticing a lot of build up of gas and just odd things going on in my tummy. Again, an entire chapter devoted to digestion in the book.

And lastly, I actually don't think this will be as difficult as no sugar completely (even though I wasn't doing that!).  If I can have the occasional grain-free muffin sweetened with honey or molasses, I don't think I'll feel like I'm missing out on much. We'll see how it goes when I actually start doing it, but that's my gut feeling.

I have a busy month with The Hubs traveling, people visiting, and a trip up north so I think I will wait until that blows over so I can have a solid block of time at home to give this a whirl. Until then, I'm going to be trying out different recipes and trying to have as many grain-free days as I can.

And I'm going to dissect this book and all things Paleo and share them with you! Oh happy day! :)