"If at first you don't succeed, try Paleo"...cure-all or new diet fad?

I've always agreed with this quote about food, yet for I-don't-know-how-long, I certainly haven't used it to cure myself. Instead I've been poisoning myself - wilfully, knowingly and maliciously. Why? To combat pain - emotional and physical; and because it's become habit; because I didn't care enough about myself; because I've been "trying" for too long to make changes. "I'll try to get to the gym"; "I'll try to eat better"; "I'll try not to drink on a school night"; "I'll try to do my meditation exercise" or worse "I want to try to...(insert more life-affirming behaviour)". All this trying produced absolutely no health benefits at all and I ended up feeling far worse and spent my days and early morning insomnia time beating myself up for not trying. And then I'd promise myself I'd try again tomorrow. All this pretend concern and 3am planning for my health didn't actually eventuate of course. I was always trying and that made me feel a little bit noble, but I didn't have to stop doing any of the destructive things I was doing while I was so busy trying to.

I was trying so hard and nothing changed, and then I recalled the words of that great 20th century philosopher:

*

I got so very tired of "trying" because there were no visible results - I had somehow fooled myself into believing that while I was trying I didn't actually have to do anything. So, instead of moaning about my ill-health  my body shape, my size and my weight, oh... and that pesky stress and distress I have been feeling for...oh, forever,, I made a decision. With some goals in mind, I began to research. (Starting with the workability of "trying" for the last three years which I quickly concluded was a surefire way to FAIL!)

So, here I am - I have stopped TRYING and actually made a decision to DO instead. (I feel the urge to put another quote in here that we normally associate with a well-known sports clothing brand, but I shall refrain).

I'd had great results with a program my partner and I developed a few years back and had trialled pretty successfully with us and a group of willing clients, and I looked at why that was successful at weight loss - it was balanced, it was sensible, based on a hormonal approach to eating, with psychology (of course) thrown in to the mix. It lost us the weight...but unfortunately didn't stop stressful things happening and I succumbed this last year to my old coping habits (see previous posts for descriptors of those bad kids!). So I revisited our program and also started reading and researching the whole food/Paleo concept as a way to combat my health issues and the (over)weight.

In my quest to discover new things I read all about the Paleo "diet", sometimes called "Caveman eating" (Paleo: as in those homo sapiens who lived in the Paleolithic Age. Creationists: stop reading here). As well as the promise of weight loss, this way of eating aims to eliminate our bodies of toxins introduced by sugars, processed food, legumes, additives, grains, wheat  and alcohol to name but a few. All of which produce dis-ease in the form of inflammation (of muscles, joints, bowel, vital organs and so on),as well as headaches, gut problems, and food allergies and intolerances. And this is only a brief summary of my research!


If "Paleo" brings to mind eating raw meat, the Flinstones and cries of "Ugg! I'm going hunting and gathering now; where's my spear?", then stay tuned...

 

"Yabba-dabba-doo! What animal is that?

 

*to Yoda thanks

Er...hello...it's been a while

I just read my last blog post, and like many others in the Blogisphere, cannot believe how long it's been since my last musings.  How full of hope was the note the last post ended on - a holiday, a writer's retreat, sunshine, exercise.  How it all went awry....

Let's see...I was living in a house I didn't want to be in, it was cold, uncomfortable, there were dramas galore, family feuds and upsets and my best friend was terminally ill. What was a girl with my propensities to do? Well among other things I continued to comfort eat, I upped my alcohol intake as a way of medicating away my sadness and stress (yeah, I know, NOT smart), I hibernated, I got sicker, I became even more inert, I fought with my partner, I worked til stupid o'clock every night, I got addicted to several TV series (more medication), Actually I blame the series Mad Men for my increased tolerance to massive amounts of alcohol. Every time Don Draper or Roger Stirling had a drink, so did I (though they usually had a tipple at about 10 in the morning, just after they got in to work, I reserved my imbibing ways til dark) . Those Madmen aficionados out there will wonder why I am not blogging about joining AA...

Hey there Julia, care for a refill?

Anyway, here I am many moons later, many kilos heavier, a dress size up, and feeling rather sluggish. I have headaches that make me want to get migraine treatment, aches and pains all over my body, inflammation, a creaky neck that makes parallel parking and lane changing  difficult, not to mention downright dangerous! I'm keeping the physio, the chiropractor and the makers of Panadol Osteo in business.  I feel emotionally bereft. Oh, and I have very little energy either. All of the above has made keeping in touch with people extremely rare and like changing lanes in traffic, very difficult. My resilience is low and I have been at my wit's end, unable to make the changes that I know I need to make to get back to a semblance of health and sanity.

So begins the journey I started a long time ago now...Here I go - from Round and Rubenesque to Lean and Luscious. This time I will need all the help I can get.

"Great biceps girlfriend!"