Paleo may not be for you.
Gasp!
Chances are if you’ve been in the CrossFit community for some amount of time, or belong to a CrossFit box, you’ve encountered paleo at one time or another.
And chances are, you have toyed with the question: Should I be paleo? as if it were a religion or political affiliation.
After all, over the past several years, the paleo diet and CrossFit way of life have become like Lucy and Ethel, eggs and bacon, or ‘peanut butter and jelly’ (ok, bad example).
You know the prescription now like the back of your hand:
Eat meat, lots of veggies, some fruit, little starch, no sugar and lots of water.
It’s pretty amazing to be in a community and culture where healthy eating is not only accepted, but it is the ‘norm.’
Paleo challenges happen every several months; Paleo potlucks bring the box together; Sally bakes her famous paleo bars for your post-WOD snacks; And, there’s no other sporting event in the world can you go to like the CrossFit Games, where the majority of food options for spectators are paleo food trucks.
Eating real food is all the rage—and is really good for you.
That being said, however…paleo may not be for you.
Or, at least, the way you currently interpret paleo may not be for you.
On the other end of the spectrum, the paleo movement has also gotten a little bit out of hand for some.
For instance:
- You find yourself feeling guilty for going out to a sushi restaurant and wanting to order a roll—with rice (gasp, heaven forbid), but refusing to give in.
- If you go to Whole Foods and want to eat something from the hot bar, it can’t have a touch of canola oil on it (an oil they often cook their food in); or at a restaurant, you request to know every ingredient in the food before you order it.
- You’ve resolved to try a ketogenic diet—cutting out carbs like sweet potatoes and fruit—only to begin feeling more fatigued and experiencing impaired recovery and less intensity from your workouts.
- You claim you eat paleo (to yourself) while your intake typically includes:
Breakfast– eggs and bacon with a Starbucks latte;
Snack: a paleo muffin or packaged protein bar;
Lunch: an un-wich lettuce wrap with deli turkey, tomatoes, mayo and mustard with bagged ‘sea salt’ potato chips or a Chipotle salad bowl with corn salsa, guacamole and carnitas on top;
Snack: a handful of jelly beans from the office candy stash at work and a shot of espresso to get you through the afternoon slump;
Dinner: some chicken wings with honey mustard dipping sauce and sweet potato fries with ketchup from your favorite sports bar or a homemade meal of pulled pork with BBQ sauce, grilled veggies and mashed cauliflower
Snack: a banana and chocolate chips before bed
In other words: you’ve either:
a.) Become dogmatic about your diet, as rigidity and even fear slips in surrounding unapproved foods;
b.) Found yourself not necessarily feeling better even though this is how you are supposed to be eating; or,
c.) Lied to yourself that you eat real food, then scratch your head why it’s not working for you (and your body composition endeavors; or performance enhancement; or improved health)
So…Is paleo right for you?
It really all depends.
If you’ve found yourself in any of these above predicaments…your current version of paleo, at least, may not be right for you.
Every BODY is different—and therefore, your personal prescription and definition of a Paleolithic diet may (and may even should) look different than that food blogger you follow on Instagram…or your training buddy…or the black-and-white definition of ‘Paleo’.
This fact in and of itself should put you at ease.
In addition, if you have completely turned ‘paleo’ (real food eating) into more of a 20/80 approach, as opposed to an 80/20 approach or even 70/30 approach (the majority of the time you eat real food, and the other percentage, you live life/don’t care as much), then paleo may not be for you either.
How come?
You really aren’t eating the paleolithic way in the first place. This is another topic for another day; however if you truly aren’t on board for eating real food…you don’t have to be—(so stop saying you are).
This day in age, there is not a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to your diet.
You don’t have to be a cookie cutter—and while your body was designed to thrive off of eating real foods..the logistics of what that looks like varies from person to person (both mentally and physically).
Here are a few common ‘mandates’ from the traditional paleo rule book, and some thoughts to ponder.
Paleo=No Carbs/Low Carbs: This is just a common misconception. Nowhere in the ‘rule’ book does eating paleo specifically say: ‘low-carb’ or ‘no-carb, unless you are on the ketogenic bandwagon. Instead, through the paleo approach, you get the majority of your carbs of real, whole-foods sources like vegetables, fruits and starchy tubers (potatoes, squashes, yuca, parsnips, carrots, beets, etc.)
Beans, Rice and Peanut Butter Are Bad…Very Bad. Since the paleo diet’s popularized inception over the past decade, the consensus on legumes and some ‘safe starches’—like rice and quinoa has shifted to a more individualized approach. When these foods are properly prepared (soak beans and rice overnight before preparing and consuming; purchase or make nut butters in their rawest form—if making on your own properly soak your nuts, and, if buying in stores, look for no salt, no sugar added, raw nutbutter), they can actually be perfectly nutritious for some folks (consuming starches like white rice and potatoes after workouts, in particular, can aid in glycogen recovery.
No Dairy. Like legumes and rice (see above), if you just can’t give up dairy, guess what…you don’t necessarily have to. Again, in it’s rawest and truest form (least processed), you will find this dairy labeled as full fat, raw, grass-fed and organic. Full fat dairy (like yogurt or even some cheese) can, too, be part of a well-balanced, holistic nutrition plan for some. Our advice? Since dairy is also known as a gut inflaming food group, try seeing what it does for you to take it out of your diet for 30 days. You may find you are more sensitive to it than you thought because you’ve never gone without it. Breakouts, bloating, poor digestion, IBS, and constipation are just some of the symptoms associated with dairy consumption. You really know until you try.
Grass-fed, Organic, Pasture-Raised Everything. And while we do recommend many grass-fed, organic and pasture-raised sources of food (particularly when it comes to meats), a ‘little dirt’ never hurt—and you do NOT have to be a Nazi about ensuring every food you put in your mouth is organic or grass-fed or pasture raised. In other words: Food is not a game of perfection. If anything, for your grocery bill, save your dollars to put towards the majority of your meat and seafood supply (avoid unknown chemicals and hormones), and buy fresh produce but not all of it has to be organic).
Disordered Thoughts: If you’ve found yourself wayyyyyy more consumed with food—or thoughts about food, food rules, your body, body image and more…it may be time to take a step back and re-evaluate if paleo is working for you. As mentioned above, food is not a game of perfection, and if it’s starting to get to the point that your food choices (or non-choices) play into morals and your values or your thoughts about yourself or your ‘shoulds’ or ‘shouldn’ts’…then paleo may not be working for you. Eating real foods is meant to nourish and enliven you! Not weigh you down (mentally or emotionally). Check in with yourself.