Paleo 30 day challenge: Day 3 - 25/03/15

You don't really want to worry about your health in the middle of the night, but I did get a shock last night.  I got up to answer the call of nature and I got worried by the smell and started to think "good God, what is wrong with me, I must be really ill.  Do I have liver failure?"

Then I remembered that I had asparagus with my dinner last night.  Ah ha!

You forget how awful it makes your urine smell.  Every single time you have it.  Like sugar puffs layered in spoilt milk... not that I can have either of those things any more.

Unfortunately though that was only one part of a generally poor nights sleep.  I had boasted in the first days blog about how well I had slept, but it just goes to show that you have to be careful about attributing every positive thing in your day to day health to a new diet.

The night before I had done other things that could have led to me sleeping well.  My girlfriend was away for the night so I had her top pillow (which is the reserve position for the very best pillows of course.  The creme de la creme of head support).  Also, I had taken supplements for magnesium and vitamin D an hour before bedtime.

The magnesium had been recommended by my girlfriend, who is a nutritionist, and the vitamin D had been suggested before by my doctor when I had seen her complaining about having restless legs when trying to sleep.  Perhaps I'm part pet, and I dream I'm running and wear myself out?

Also, today, I have felt a bit tired.  I'm going to say now I think that's mostly down to the bad nights sleep, but it could also be this so called "Paleo flu".  The idea is that a lot of people, when they change to a Paleo diet, go through a couple of weeks of flu like symptoms.

You feel tired and unwell, but that is just a part of the process of your body adapting to the new diet, of getting used to using fat for energy rather than carbs, and you come out of it doing cartwheels and somersaults.  That's the plan at least.

I did also spend an hour playing badminton yesterday, so that would cut in to my energy reserves as well.

As I said in the last couple of blogs, I'm not in a position yet to make any conclusions as to the effectiveness of this diet, nor condemn it as being deleterious to my health and well being.  All I can do is record how I've been feeling day by day and what I've been like overall after the 30 days.




Thank you to everyone who has been regularly reading and indeed sharing this blog, it is appreciated.

A response to a few points raised.  Sally commented and said that one thing that stands out about this diet is that it doesn't involve calorie counting or, in fact, cutting down on amounts of food at all.

That's true.  This diet is a case of eating within certain parameters, but eating as much as you like.  By the nature of the food I'm eating, it isn't stuff you would be tempted to over indulge in (like crisps, doughnuts, etc), but it can still be food I really enjoy.

Daisy on Facebook gave a note of caution.  As someone who is herself a celeiac, she has no choice but to be very strict in her diet.  The point she makes is that certain gluten intolerances can be exacerbated by avoiding them or cutting them out altogether.  This can then lead to a greater intolerance level if you try to reintroduce them at a later point.

And finally, I said in the first blog that my girlfriend was a little annoyed that I had chosen to do this diet just before Easter, so I was thinking what other things I could have for Easter that fit in with the Paleo diet.  @SunilOsman on Twitter said it's obvious what I should eat - Rabbit!

Of course, that makes perfect sense.  It would also teach the Easter Bunny not to trespass on my land!

Paleo 30 day challenge: Day 2 - 24/03/15

Soz, Moz

I'm only on the second day of doing the paleo diet, but so far I feel pretty good.  A nice level of energy though-out the day.  Also, one claim by enthusiasts of the diet is that it helps you sleep.  Well, last night I had one of the best nights sleep I have had in a while.

But hold on, lets not praise the diet too much yet.  Last night I used a different pillow in bed, so perhaps that helped me rest easier.  And also, with feeling positive - maybe I just feel that way because in my mind I am taking affirmative action with my health by doing the diet in the first place.

Perhaps I am experiencing a placebo effect.  I feel like I am doing a good thing so it's that which is making me feel positive, rather than anything to do with my food consumption.

You get people all the time who put positive changes in their physical health down to one magic thing, such as giving up dairy, or only eating every third m&m.  At the same time though they have potentially also made other changes in their life, like not eating take away pizzas three times a week, avoiding Krispy Kreme's, or self immoliating.

My point is that whatever I'm feeling at this point, it's far too early to draw any conclusions yet.  But what I can say which is positive is that I certainly don't feel physically bad for doing this diet for two days.  I've cut out carbs and yet my energy levels have been fine.

I have been conscious more than usual in preparing large batches of food.  As I said in the last post, between me and my girlfriend we have prepared a large fruit salad and a large salad to last the week, from which I take some to work in tupperware each day.

Last night I chopped up 4 chicken breasts and fried them off in olive oil, mixed with paprika and a little cumin.  I had some for dinner with steamed brocolli, cauliflower and parsnip.  The rest was cooled and put in the fridge for dinners over the next week.

Today I had my salad with that chicken, along with the fruit salad and a tub of mixed seeds and berries.  That last tub acts as a mix of both my breakfast and for snacks during the day.  I'm really enjoying it, I must say, but part of me is conscious that I shouldn't eat the same food every day.  I'm hoping that the prepared stuff has such a mix within it of different stuff that that shouldn't matter.

At home this evening and I cooked the following for the two of us:

Tuna steaks with (brace yourself) carrot, swede and celeriac mash, asparagus, brocolli, wilted spinach, cauliflower rice and honey roasted parsnips.  I think 8 different veggies in a meal is pretty good going, even if I do say so myself

Never cooked tuna steaks before but, thanks to the miracle of Google, I now know how.  As I had cooked Sally did the washing up, and thank God for that, because I'm pretty sure I used every pan available in Salford and it's surrounding environs.

So, I'm doing generally fine with the food prep side of things.  But there are always questions to ask about the standards of food.  The chicken I got was a fairly basically priced supermarket pack, so isn't going to be reaching the heights of organic super fantastic quality.

I had the same dilemma making a drink at work today.  I had a decaf coffee with coconut milk.  Caffeine is generally a no-no on the paleo diet, but is decaf really ok, because it does still contain trace elements?  Also, there are question marks over the processes that strip it of the caffeine in the first place.

Then there's the coconut milk.  Carton bought from the supermarket.  Is that ok, or are there additives in it which I should really be avoiding?

At this point I don't know, but I'm happy enough with my efforts so far.

As always, if you have comments or suggestions you'd like to make, let me know.

Paleo 30 day challenge: Day 1 - 23/03/15

As detailed in my regular blog I have decided to try the paleo diet for 30 days.  This means changing my view on how and what I eat completely, in some ways drastically.  However, my first thought when writing this blog is how my title is going to confuse American readers because of the date.  Relax guys, there isn't really a 23rd month, it's just how we write it.

Anyway, the Paleo diet.  First of all an introduction to what the diet is.  The idea is that you can only eat foods that our cavemen ancestors would have potentially eaten.  So that means no processed or refined foods.

What you can have is meat, fruit and veg.  What you cannot have is legumes, dairy, grains, etc.  The biggest change you face is dealing with having mostly no carbs - no pasta, rice or bread.  No cakes, chocolate... wait, this is a terrible idea!  I WANT TO GET OFF!!!

But hey, that would be a really short blog, so I will persevere.  The reason I'm attracted to going Paleo is the testimony I've heard from people on the diet saying how great it makes them feel.

I've managed to lose weight over time and I'm in decent shape, my bloods are good, etc.  Basically, I'm not looking particularly to lose weight, but I do want to care of myself.  And by that I mean, I want to feel good.

In preparation me and my girlfriend went shopping yesterday (Sunday) to get food in for the week.  Sally has been very supportive of me trying this diet, as she is in general anyway.  That said, she did say she was annoyed that I had decided to do this just before Easter.

To me, my enjoyment of chocolate is rarely effected by having people around me also enjoying chocolate.  Maybe I'm selfish, but I'm just bothered about my own taste buds, so it's not something I had thought about.

I suppose I should think about what kind of Paleo-friendly alternative treats I could have for Easter, to help get in to the spirit.  Any thoughts, let me know.

So our shopping trip involved buying a lot of fruit and veg from Aldi, along with a large tray of chicken breasts.  The leading Paleo gurus call for the best quality meat to be eaten, and certainly grass rather than corn fed.  I think it's fair to say that the chicken from Aldi isn't going to be the very best, but hey, I'm going Caveman on a budget here!

Also from Tescos we got liver and tuna steaks.  Matched up with what we already had in the freezer we have some nice food for meals together in the evenings.

Sunday night between us we prepared a large container of both salad and fruit salad to be eaten over the week.  I did the salad and combined kale, spinach, carrot, radish, apple and avocado.  I then realised I also had pepper and celery I'd forgotten about and cursed myself.

Today I took food to work.  I had a pot of the fruit salad (mango, apple and kiwi), a pot of the salad along with a tin of salmon.  I also took a pot for breakfast/snacks made up of assorted nuts, seeds and berries.

What to do for breakfast is a big dilemma.  For every other meal I can easily have extra salad or veg, but breakfast for me is a strictly carb-only zone, namely porridge.  Also, I don't eat at home but rather mid morning at work, so I don't have access to anything like a skillet.

I found it ok though.  The nuts and seeds filled the hole the oats would have, and I just ended up starting my dinner earlier at my desk.  It was in a tupperware pot so I could pick at it as I wanted it over the day.  Same with the fruit salad.

I normally feel a bit of a drag in energy around 2.30-3pm, and today was no different, although maybe not as bad.  Hopefully once the paleo diet has really kicked in after a few days up to a week I will feel different.  Also had a bit of a headache around the same time.  Is this the 'paleo flu' I've heard mooted?

I'm planning on keeping this blog as a journal of my 30 day challenge.  I'm hoping to do it daily, although in practice I'm sure it won't be, but will certainly be at least a few times a week.

Any feedback or comments are welcome.  Also, if you are or have been on the paleo diet, let me know what your experiences have been.

Day 1 done.