Paleo 30 day challenge: DAY 30!!!!!

Ta, da, da, daaaaa!!

I set myself the challenge of adopting the Paleo diet for a full 30 days, and I've just passed the 30 day mark!

Woohoo, etc, etc.

I also started this blog to record a daily diary of how I was finding the challenge.  As this is the 8th blog I've published that kind of suggests that maybe doing it daily didn't quite work out.

The reasons behind this are that, yes, publishing a blog post every day was not practical as I would have other demands on my time, but even at the beginning I doubted it would be daily.  I would say the main reason for the number of blogs is that the 'challenge' element didn't really last the full 30 days.

The first week or two were a challenge, but since then I have found that for the most part I have simply fallen in to a habit that I find easily works.

First thing was doing all the research.  So all starchy carbs were out, including rice and pasta.  Anything made with flour or sugar as well.  All legumes - so beans, lentils, etc were also out.

What I could eat was any fruit, veg, meat and fish.  There were certain things that were absolute mainstays in my diet that had to go, like having porridge every morning.

The next difficulty was facing a problem that I had already been warned about - Paleo flu.

Essentially what you are doing is cutting out carbs and getting your energy from fat instead.  For a good few days your body goes through a process of changing to adapt to this new diet.  To throw some science at you, you are going from glycolysis to Ketosis.

After a day or so I did start to feel really drained, and that feeling lasted a good few days.  I was tired and had a bad, nagging headache that paracetamol just would not shift.

One thing that helped, which is going against everything I'm used to doing within the concept of eating well, was to consume more fat.  So olive oil drizzled on salads, avocado, and eating the fat on joints of meat that I would have normally cut off and discarded.

It felt counter-intuitive, but it really did help.  I went away on a camping trip with my grilfriend and ate plenty.  After the trip I never had a problem again with what could be considered the 'Paleo flu'.  My body was now used to it.

I also got used to eating the Paleo way in day to do day life as well.  On the days I was in the office I would take a mixed salad (which was prepared in bulk on the Sunday), and add protein to it, mostly canned fish, but also meat and eggs.

Along with that I would take a large tub of mixed nuts and berries (usually containing raisins, almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cacao nibs, coconut flakes, goji berries and golden berries).  I would have most of this with a banana mid morning as part of my breakfast, and then snack on it over the day.  I also took a couple more pieces of fruit with me as well.

As with any 'good' diet, the trick to sticking to it is preparation.  Trying to get proper Paleo food on the go is not easy, so you need to make sure you have food ready and with you over the day.

Working in an office part time is fine to do that, as I have a set routine, but this is a lot harder for when I am on the road doing stand up comedy.  It's hard enough sourcing the right food on the run, but if you are relying on Motorway services it is nigh on impossible.

The best I could find was that in some places they now do small portions of pre-cooked cold chicken drumsticks.  It's not exactly going to be organic in that situation, but it's better than nothing.

On certain Paleo sites I have seen the figure of 10-15% being quoted as an acceptable percentage to allow yourself to deviate from the diet.  I.e. if you go out and get some food that contains a little sugar, or a bit of wheat, it is ok as long as it is kept minimal.

In practice I don't know how else you can do it.  Of course, if you prepare ALL your food yourself you will be fine.  However, that just would not work for me.  Broadly speaking I'm happy with my commitment to my diet.

For instance I went out for a curry and got a sizzling mixed tandoori.  This was tandoori pieces of chicken, lamb, beef, pork, etc (AKA Noah's Ark on a plate!), served with a sauce of my choice.  I went with Rogan Josh for the sauce as that is mostly tomato based.

Being cooked in ghee butter is absolutely fine on the Paleo diet, the only issue was that being tandoori the meat was probably marinaded in a yoghurt sauce.  However, that would be so small an amount of what was on my plate it would barely matter.  Mind you, I suppose the onion bhaji was even more of a sin because of the flour it contained, and I still ate that as well!

Talking of sinning, I have also covered in an earlier blog about the debate around booze.  Strictly speaking you should not have any, but if pushed tequila, cider or wine are just about ok.  As such, I now drink cider if out, but that's never more than once a week anyway.  Does it sound like I'm trying to defend myself too much?  Maybe.

So, what now?

The idea of the 30 day challenge was to give myself enough time to really road-test this diet, to see how it made me feel.

Aside from the aforementioned 'Paleo flu', I feel fine.  My energy levels throughout the day are pretty good and I'm sleeping ok as well.  What I would say though is that any changes I might have felt have not exactly been as transformative as I might have thought.

Sally also feels that I am little more spikey than I was before.  I'm not so sure myself, but she would be a better judge than me I suppose.  Oh, and the thing about Atkins causing bad breath?  That can be an issue with Paleo as well apparently.  Yuk.  Just something to be aware of I suppose.

Overall I think I am feeling a little better, with no massive spikes or dips in energy levels.  So is it worth it?  More to the point, will I carry on?

Sally decided we needed a picture of me hitting day 30 of the challenge.  Here I'd
just cycled 3 miles uphill, which is why I'm not looking quite as enthusiastic as you might expect.

I think I will.  I've lost a little weight from my tummy, my skin is good, and generally I am feeling alert.  The rules are forcing me to avoid bad foods that are bad for you no matter what diet you follow - doughnuts, chocloate, etc.

It's not about calorie counting, or even loosing weight, so I can eat as much as I want.  Now that's an attractive feature!

I went to the doctors today to have my bloods taken to be tested.  I asked them to look at my cholestoral and calcium levels, as those are two areas of potential concern with the high fat, low diary nature of the diet.

This will be the last blog for now, but if I have anything big to report, such as changes in my health, I will do.  Thanks for reading, and make sure to keep following my regular blog about EVERYTHING.

Right, best pack some nuts, fruit and chicken for when I hit the road for tonights gig...

Paleo 30 day challenge: Day 14-18 (5th-9th April 2015)

In terms of meals I have found the Paleo diet to be fine.  Sure, there are a number of foods that I can't have any more.  If I had a Friday night free from stand up me and Sally would go swimming once she finished work, then get fish and chips on our way home.

You did the exercise and that was the reward.  In a chicken and egg style quandary, I'm not sure which came first.  Did we start getting chips because we had done the exercise of going swimming, or did we indeed only start going swimming to justify buying the fish and chips?

A more likely conclusion to that question is that it was Sally who suggested going swimming, and me that added on the idea of getting fish and chips.

And sure, I really do like a chippy dinner.  But do I miss it?  Mostly no.

The reason I don't miss it too much is because on the Paleo diet I can have lots of food I really like, and as much as I want.  Sure, you can over eat, but there's something about fruit, veg, fat and protein that means that you don't feel the need to over eat as much.

Can you say that about carbs?  Let's put it this way, if I ever 'popped' a can of Pringles I really didn't stop!

So in terms of meals, Paleo living finds me just fine.  However, what about treats?

Now, the idea of treats are not the same as a meal.  For a meal you want food you enjoy, of course, but you are mostly eating in a way to satisfy hunger.  Treats have got little to nothing to do with hunger.

My office is a den of sin and temptation when it comes to treats.  I may only work there part time now, but the potential calorie intake available is enough to make even delivery drivers turn diabetic just by dropping off a parcel there!

On top of one filing cabinet are cakes and biscuits a very generous colleague makes for us all.  Alongside that are various other sweet delights donated by happy clients.

This means that even if you are strong enough in mind not to buy naughty food like this, it's still there.  It should be fine of course, will power should be enough.  Should.

What happens is you are fine throughout the morning and then around 11am (the devils coffee break), you brew up and have just 'one' biscuit.  Believe me, it is never just 'one'.  By 4pm you realise that you have idly eaten about 4-500 calories of sugary devilment without even noticing.

The thing with trying to have a healthy diet is that it can be achieved in different ways by different people.  There are certain truths about how food affects us, but how you go about trying to eat right is down to the individual.

All I can write about are my own experiences, and personally I find strict guidelines can be strangely reassuring.  If I'm aiming to eat a balanced diet in which everything is ok in moderation that means a slice of cake is ok.  As I said before though, I find one slice of cake is rarely just one slice of cake.

However, if I'm fasting or on the Paleo diet and I know that the rules say I cannot have any cake whatsoever, that's fine.  I might want it, don't get me wrong, but I don't fall off the wagon.  I know for some that wouldn't work at all, but it does seem to work for me.

But it is nice to have some nice foods for snacks.  By snacks I suppose I mean easily accessible small portions of food.  Not something that takes time to prepare, just something handy.

In this sense Sally has made a  couple of things recently that fill that void quite nicely.  Protein balls and coconut macaroons.  And she's even given me the recipes.

For the Protein balls you need 6 tbsp cashew butter, 4 tbsp cacao, 2 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tbsp ground flaxseed or chia, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 tbsp honey/agave and a sprinkle of sea salt.  Combine all the ingredients into a bowl, mix and slowly add water until you have your desired consistency.  Mould into balls.  Giggle at the word balls.

These give you a lovely chocolatey hit.  But also they are quite dense, so you can take your time eating them and not just have them disappear in to you only to reappear on your waist.

For the coconut macaroons you need 6 egg whites, 1/4 tsp sea salt, 1/2 cup agave/honey, 1 tbsp vanilla extracts and 3 cups shredded coconut.  To make them you beat the egg whites and salt until stiff (the egg whites, that is).  Fold in the agave/honey, vanilla and coconut.  Once mixed separate into small balls on a tray and bake at 170 for 10-15 mins.

This is a nice sweet treat and with the egg whites this means it's got quite a bit of protein, so surprisingly filling.  Sally did find when making it though that when baking don't have them too thick, otherwise the surface will start to burn before the middle is done.  I find they go nice with some nuts, seeds and dried fruit.

Dried fruit is a bit naughty of course.  It's much sweeter than the original fruit, and also often contains preservatives.  However, in terms of rule bending they are ok if eaten in very limited amounts, and frankly, a little can go a long way.

What I take to work every day is a snack pot.  In it is a mix of things that I find go really nice together.  I include in the mix raisins, golden berries, dried Goji berries, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashew nuts, almonds, coconut flakes and raw cacao nibs.

Some of those things can provide rather too an intense flavour if taken by themselves.  The raw cacao nibs are raw chocolate essentially, and very bitter by themselves.  Also the golden berries and Goji berries, whilst super food with it's underpants worn on the outside, are also not great tasting by themselves, in my opinion.

However, when mixed with the seeds and nuts, they are great.  The sharp acid of the golden berries and the coffee like bitterness of the cacao nibs blends nicely with the other flavours.

So, there are ways of having satisfying fun snacks, and still sticking to the Paleo diet.




If on the Paleo diet or not, let me know what healthy snacks you enjoy.  Can you find ways of treating yourself without sinning?

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.