Over the years, I've allowed myself to become a guinea pig with regards to diet trends; I've gone pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan, and most recently, Paleo. Based on the eating styles of our cave-dwelling ancestors, the Paleo diet super slim green lean continues to gain popularity within health circles, especially CrossFit enthusiasts. This high-protein, low-carb diet strictly prohibits foods like grains, beans, wheat, and dairy and has been associated with story after story of weight loss success . and the removal of digestive issues. After months of wavering back and forth, I made a decision to go for it, cleanup my diet, and attempt a short Paleo project.

Each stint in a different diet has taught me something, but I can say with complete sincerity that my Paleo experiment had profound effects on my relationships with food and my body . . . but I couldn't stick with it forever.

Things i Loved

I ended Stressing About Calories
As someone who was really a slave to counting calories in the past, I discovered new freedom in using the focus from the numbers as well as on to the ingredients. Automatically, I had been consuming higher-quality, whole foods around the Paleo diet. Not only did I slim down, but I felt energized from the inside out. Today, I consider calories when making food choices, but going Paleo solved the problem realize that calories are not always king - and they're certainly not the only thing you ought to be considering when planning meals.

I Achieved a New Degree of Body Awareness
Being an avid yogi, I always considered myself to be hyperaware of how food relates to my energy levels and mental clarity. But it only took 1 week on the Paleo program to see just how strong of the connection exists between diet and workout performance. Prior to going Paleo, dairy and grains were a part of most meals, resulting in major belly bloat every day. Yes, different foods do different things to different people, but after going through a small elimination period, I was in a position to cut back on the foods which were weighing me down.

I began Treating Food as Fuel
Within my teenage and college years, I'd a serious love-hate relationship with food. Meals regularly felt like battles, and I achieved a false sense of control wavering backwards and forwards all day between periods of fasting and binging, wreaking damage to my health, my energy, and, as well as, my metabolism. I've advanced significantly from those times, but dealing with a rigid clean-eating program solved the problem embrace my food inside a totally new way.

For the first time in my life, I was not part of the clean-plate club. Within my Paleo experiment, I never created a meal feeling stuffed and began finding modest amounts more satisfying. The project also forced me to consider stock of simply how much of my diet had relied on wheat, grain, and dairy products - and just how my body feels different after i scale back those foods. Almost from nowhere, it happened. I was practicing things i have been preaching: I officially grasped the concept that food is not standing in my way; it's helping me function at my top potential.

I acquired Back in the Kitchen
I've always loved cooking, however with a full-time gig and a serious workout schedule, our social engagements and catch-up sessions with friends revolved around dinners out. Dealing with a Paleo experiment meant I was going to have to spend a lot more amount of time in my kitchen to organize Paleo-friendly meals, but I was up for that task.

The first day I went overboard. I made a decision to prepare four over-the-top, labor-intensive recipes I had spent hours looking for on Pinterest . . . on a single Sunday afternoon. Once I got that stressful experience out of my system, I learned how to prep meals in advance and throw together an easy breakfast or supper at home. As i still benefit from the occasional meal out throughout the week, a lot more of my weeknights are spent cooking with friends in my kitchen.

Why I Stopped

I've many friends who have found success having a Paleo lifestyle, but many of these take an 80/20 method of this program; 80 % of times you follow all Paleo rules, and 20 percent of the time you will find the freedom to indulge while you please. Many people thrive within this system of clear-cut rules, but my Paleo experience solidified a fact I've been aware of myself for some time: Now i am not just one of those people.

If somebody informs me I can not eat something, it's all regulated I'm able to think about, and then I would eat it. A lot of it. Since I've struggled with food previously, it's important that i can feel like I have options. While eliminating certain food groups from my diet solved the problem achieve a new sense of body awareness, I didn't like this some foods were strictly off-limits in the Paleo diet. According to trainers Chris and Heidi Powell, "Anytime you deprive yourself of food . . . all you want is what you can't have," and for me, this might not be more true.

Now, I'm eating in a manner that supports me, tastes delicious, and keeps me satisfied. I do not eat bread, pasta, and pizza every day, but when I'm craving it or it's a special day, I eat what I want - when I want! - moderately instead of binging later. Without all of the strict diet restrictions comes a more relaxed and balanced relationship with food that naturally aligns with the remainder of the relationships in my fruit plant weight loss capsules life. My times of mindlessly scarfing down a big baguette with butter or perhaps a huge pizza are long behind me, and that i credit my Paleo test out this newfound natural balance. It's a priceless and delicious gift Irrrve never anticipated receiving in the cavemen.