Nutrition
is the most important part to having
a healthy lifestyle. Whether you are training for an event, trying to lose
weight, or just looking to live healthy, your nutrition, in particular eating real food, is your most significant
weapon!
What is Paleo?
Using the
diet that our Great Ancestors thrived on, it is eating food that comes from
nature, not a lab. Paleo is about living off of food that promotes optimal
health and performance, and not consuming foods that frequently may cause
weight gain, systemic inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and
numerous other lifestyle-related health problems. It is a lifestyle based on
high quality animal protein, good sources of fat and unlimited vegetables.
Controlling Insulin:
We need
to make sure we maintain a balance between protein, good fat and carbohydrates.
Remember protein and good fats are our friends! They are what make us feel full for long
periods of time and control our insulin levels. By controlling our insulin
levels, we should not be getting hungry every 2-3 hours and we should be able
to avoid getting light-headed and having mood swings when we don’t eat a meal right when we want to. These are all symptoms
of unstable insulin levels and even more reasons to consider paleo.
Grains and Inflammation:
Grains
can cause serious stomach problems since they contain anti-nutrients. They can
also lead to a spike in our insulin levels and cause greater systemic inflammation
(which we want to avoid). Systemic inflammation is counter-productive for
muscle growth, recovery and our overall health. Grains that we see in the
grocery stores today are not the same grains our grandparents or anyone from 50
years ago would have ate. We have played around with the genetics too much and
we are too unaware of long-term issues surrounded with today’s grains.
What to Eat:
·
High
Quality Meat (eggs, beef, pork, chicken, lamb, bison, fish, etc. - anything
that comes from an animal including organ meats)
·
Veggies
(you can never get enough of these – do not limit yourself, get as
much variety and different colours as possible)
·
Good
fat (olive oil, coconut in any form, avocados, butter)
·
Think
foods that don’t need food labels!!!
What To Avoid:
·
Grains
(bread, pastas including all whole wheat, rice, oats, cereals, corn, etc.)
·
Refined
sugar (think flavour shots in your lattes, fruit juices, lucky charms)
·
Processed
foods (most packaged foods, like granola bars, cookies, microwavable dinners,
etc.)
·
Legumes
(Peanuts and peanut butter, beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc.)
·
Soy
and soy products
·
Vegetable
oils
·
Fat
free products
·
Anything
with a long list of chemical food additives
What To Limit:
·
Dairy
(cheese, milk, etc.)
·
Fruit
(still high in sugar, and people tend to go overboard on the amount they
consume)
·
Nuts
(don’t get carried away eating bags
of nuts to fill yourself)
Other Notes:
·
Base your meals around your good source of protein, high
quality fat and a large portion of vegetables – every meal should include these
3 things!
·
Try
to eat three balanced meals a day instead of 6 smaller meals.
·
Plan
ahead. Use Sunday as cooking days. Make enough for lots of leftovers.
·
It
is ok to have cheats meals. We all have them. But don't let that one cheat meal, cookie or slice of pizza allow
you to throw the rest of the day off. Live by the 80/20 rule – 100% paleo, 80% of the time.
·
Eat
as much as you need to maintain strength, energy, activity levels and body
weight – remember this is not a diet,
it is a lifestyle.
·
Eat
mixed meals, the more diverse vegetables and meats the more nutrients you will
get (it's the same as fitness).
·
Think
real food – you are what you eat.
Whole 9’s
Nutrition In 60 Seconds:
“We eat real food – meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, healthy oils, nuts and
seeds. We choose foods that were raised, fed and grown naturally, and foods
that are nutrient-dense, with lot of naturally occurring vitamins and
minerals.”
“This
is not a diet – we eat as much as we need to maintain strength, energy,
activity levels and a healthy body weight. We aim for well-balanced nutrition,
so we eat animals and a significant amount of plants.”
“Eating like this has helped us to look, feel, live and perform our best, and
reduces our risk for a variety of lifestyle-related diseases and conditions.”
For more information about the paleo lifestyle, please
check out these links:
- Robb Wolf - What Is The Paleo Diet?
- Mark's Daily Apple - The Primal Blueprint
- Balanced Bites - What Is Paleo?
- Whole 9 - Start Here!
