My Uniformed Take on Paleolithic Nutrition

I Love, love, love training and all things food.  These two basic human activities cannot be untangled, they are one.  These lifetime endeavors stagnate and die without an accompanying intellectual pursuit.  That is why I also love, love, love exploring training and nutrition theory.  It gives me direction, understanding, and avenues for improvement.  I applaud everyone that came before me and unselfishly passed down their knowledge for my study.  Striking out on my own has its place but with so much material out there why reinvent the wheel?

My youngest sister sent me the book The Paleolithic Solution by Robb Wolf.  Yes, I have an established way of eating, but that is not going to stop me from learning about this and giving it a try for a month.  I am not above mixing things up, last year I was Vegan for a week as part nutrition and social experiments.  I never became vegan but did incorporate some of what I learned in my eating rituals.  That is for another post, back on topic.  My sister is very into fitness, eating healthy, and has social abilities that far exceed my own.  It seems simple enough to send someone a book to read and apply its message in life while doing the same thing, but it is a thought that never occurred to me.  I am blessed to have her as it is nice to have someone taking a similar path to discuss these things with.

   

So I want to get out my uniformed take on Paleolithic nutrition and associated concerns.  I refrain from using the word “diet” as a function of its rampant abuse.  After I am better researched and have given Paleo a fair try I will have to revisit these things.  Please keep in mind these ramblings could be completely false and not representative of what Paleolithic nutrition is.  This is the beginning of my journey.

Paleolithic nutrition is rejection of the agricultural revolution that brought us grains and legumes.  What happens when a cow or chicken eats grains and I eat them?  How many degrees of separation from modern agriculture are required?  Will the Paleolithic gods frown on my stray from ideology or is it more of a do the best you can?

Dairy is out of play.  This is what makes dairy consuming vegetarians and no animal products ever vegans worlds apart.  At least paleo includes meat consumption.

Meat and Vegetables seem to be the only things in play.  Fruits are on a case by case basis.  Entire food preparation methods are also excluded, deep frying is probably one of them.

No alcohol.                          

How will I meet the calorie needs of training without grains?  I will need to give up my favorite oatmeal, peanut butter, and berries breakfast.  Grains are much cheaper than meat and vegetables per calorie.  Maybe the money I save on beer will offset the cost?  Do I need to pawn my mama's TV for extra cash?  

Steel cut oats, peanut butter, blueberries and strawberries.  Oats are not paleolithic and it breaks my heart.

I will make the transition to Paleo after the sprint triathlon I have planned in early September.  My training leading up to the Men’s Health Urbanathlon will use the Paleo solution and I will report my findings then.  As I will be in Chicago deep dish pizza will be a must so I expect that weekend may also mark a lapse or end to the paleolithic experiment.  Exploring new ideas and learning are noble lifetime engagements.  In this journey it is important to apply critical thought and research something for you rather than to take anothers conclusions on the subject.