I used to be a vegetarian, and now I eat meat like it's going out of style.
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I always thought meat was pretty gross - especially meat that was called by their animal name (chicken). I had dabbled in vegetarianism back in middle school because of the shear grossness factor, but that didn't last long since I didn't cook my own food. I really became a vegetarian after having my first child. It was time for us to introduce meat to his diet and, coincidentally, my neighbor lent me the book Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman & Kim Barnoiun.
For years, I ignored the factory farming factor in my meat consumption. I was literally blinded to that aspect of meat-eating and considered organic meat out of my price range. Then, I read Skinny Bitch and before I could close the book, I knew more than I needed to about the obscene torture we put on factory farm animals for the sake of high volume.
The book is basically a vegan propaganda tool and it was the catalyst for me giving up meat and raising my son a vegetarian. The irony is that we owned a fried chicken wing joint! By day, I was slingin' chicken to every Joe in Daytona Beach, by night I was cooking vegetarian delights in my own kitchen. (okay, I confess, I never slung a wing, I was merely the marketing arm, but slingin' wings sounds cool)
My choice to become vegetarian had more to do humanity than health. I never subscribed to the idea that meat was bad for me, it just wasn't what I wanted to eat... I believe that we are what we eat and when I was eating animals that had been held in tiny cages, lived in filth, were pumped up with hormones and filled with terror, I was eating all that, too.
I had been making tweaks to my diet since I was in high school in order to be more healthy.Why knowingly damage my body? (Lest, we don't count the college years where damaging my body was a daily event...) I watched my grandfather die of lung cancer, so cigarettes were never an option. My high school swim coach told the team about the damaging affects of soda and, blip, no more soda for me. And then the studies came out on aspartame and how harmful it is to our bodies. Blip, no more fake sugar. And how about hydrogenated oils? THAT'S the fat that clogs arteries! No problem, blip, not buying anything hydrogenated. Coffee? Black. Butter? Real. Bread? Whole grain. Soy? Nope.
As a family, we tried to eat everything "whole food" for the health benefits. The only processed stuff we kept in the house was dairy, crackers & bread... it was/is important for me to raise a healthy family. Prevention is key and nutrition is essential.
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With two kids and a healthy lifestyle, it was time to figure out why our vegetarian meal plan wasn't keeping me lean. Why couldn't I shed those pounds even though I was eating so well and working out? It was time to kick it up a notch and find some accountability. I joined our neighborhood boot camp run by KBfit and started keeping a food journal. Immediately, I nixed beer and pizza for the 8 week program.
At the first 'check-up', my trainer said, "you eat so well already! How about we try removing dairy."
Ugh! Dairy?!
"Yes, even that one scoop of yogurt in your banana shake could be holding you back." She also said to add protein, so I ordered 3lbs of hemp seed on Amazon.com.
After 8, weeks I was 11 pounds down and 3 inches slimmer! Okay, so how do I kick it up a notch? How do I really get lean?
My question was soon answered on our private FaceBook page. One of the trainers wrote that she had tested every diet out there and the only one that worked for her was Paleo. Paleo? What the F is "paleo"? And why the hell is this the first time I've heard of it? So I started doing some research...
WHOAH.
Is Paleo what I've been looking for? Is this our family's dream come true? I mean, I never actually gave up bacon and Hubby never stopped eating meat, he just ate whatever the wifey was cooking! And, oh snap, had I been destroying my body and the health of my children with this vegetarian diet? The fact that I was literally poisoning my family was the most eye-opening part of the research. I was striving to be healthy and all the while, my choices were causing harm.
Sure, we all know that refined carbs are bad for us, but why? It's not just because of the sugar, like we learned with Atkins and South Beach. Nope, it's actually because of the grain itself, which is the basis of so much of American food. Humans are not supposed to eat grains! Grains are poisonous in the wild! And the grains we eat now don't resemble anything from the wild even a hundred years ago. No matter how far we process something that it poisonous, it does not make it recognizable to our bodies. And our bodies react in predictable ways: huge bellies, diabetes, cancer, heart attacks, immuno diseases, trouble sleeping, heartburn, pimply skin...
And all these ailments can be cured or prevented by food? Yes! If we give a rat things it cannot eat in the wild, it will get sick and die. If we give it what its supposed to eat, it will thrive. Why would humans be different than other animals?
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What is Paleo? Paleo refers to the Paleolithic Era and is an active lifestyle combined with eating the human diet. Humans are designed for an active lifestyle and are meant to consume only the things we can safely eat in the wild: meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds, berries. Whole foods and animals that are raised in natural habitat without hormones or antibiotics. For instance, cows are supposed to graze and eat grass. How do you think the quality of meat differs from free-range, grass fed cows to cows in cages, pumped with hormones while eating grains and corn?
We are what we eat.
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Blip. Good bye bread, pasta, beans and rice; hello bacon, steak and eggs! This change hasn't been as easy for the family as giving up hydrogenated oils or tofu were, but it's moving along. The biggest hiccup is bread - even my almost 2 year old knows that he loves bread and asks for it by name! Solution? Sprouted grains. You can find sprouted bread in the freezer section. By sprouting the bread, many of the anti-nutrients lose effectiveness.
The more I learn about nutrition, the more I embrace our number one medicine: FOOD. Food can keep us well or slowly kill us. Many diseases are reversible just by changing one's diet.
People respond to preventable illness every day by taking a pill rather than addressing their dietary habits. Instead of taking control of our health, we get a prescription and vote for universal health care. We give away responsibility and then beg for our lives. We take the path of poison rather than prevention.
To paraphrase Beverly Meyer, holistic nutritionist, what we eat, drink, smell and put on our skin are the most controllable chemistries we have for being healthy. Yet Americans blame it on our genes or try (and fail) at super work-out sessions. Most of our weight and health issues are directly tied to what we put in our mouths, not to our genes.
The more I learn, the more I evolve. The more my body responds positively to the Paleo Lifestyle, the more amped I am to get lean! I want to prevent illness, I want to be full of energy, I want to live life to the fullest! And I want this for my children.
I finished 12 weeks of accountable boot camp. I lost 14 pounds and 6 inches; I gained insight on health and the willpower to become more healthy. I set new goals and look forward to the future!
When I was a vegetarian, I was hungry ALL THE TIME. Seriously, I could down a can of roasted chickpeas and a head of kale any time of day and wonder why the heck I wasn't satisfied. Even huge meals full of veggies, rice, nuts, cheese and beans left me wanting more. Now that each of my meals are filled with meat and vegetables and I eat until I'm full, I'm actually eating less often and more healthfully than I was as a vegetarian. I'm eating like my body wants me to eat, and it's rewarding me in return.
So, this once vegetarian is eating meat and loving every minute of it.
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| After 12 weeks of eating accountability & Tabata boot camp. It really doesn't take very long to change habits; what it takes is desire. |
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Here are some links to make your research a bit easier. Enjoy!
- http://everydaypaleo.com/ Website by Sarah Fugoso & Jason Seib with blogs, recipes and podcasts. I have learned a ton by listening to their podcasts, and I relate well with them because they're both in their 30's with children.
- http://robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/ This guy, Robb Wolf, may be the most famous Paleo guy out there. Great information.
- http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/10/04/the-beginners-guide-to-the-paleo-diet/ This is a great breakdown of what the Paleo diet is and what the hell is wrong with grains
- http://www.ondietandhealth.com/ Beverly Meyer's website chock full of health & diet information
- And finally, check out this 3 minute video titled "Why You Got Fat"
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