Realizations

On to day 5 of eating Paleo and a few things have become very clear while some things have remained fuzzy, or gotten fuzzier.

There's no doubt that over the past 5 days I have eaten better. The question is, have I "felt" better. That's a harder question to answer. I truly believe that eating this way is the best way for our bodies. I'm continuing to read and discover the reasons why this lifestyle is the healthiest there is, the problem is, I don't find myself able to translate what I'm reading on the page to other people. When they ask me why or want me to explain it, I feel like I do a really poor job explaining it. I've been rather surprised that while a lot of people are curious and inquisitive, some people have been down right condescending about the diet. I've gotten everything from laughs to almost overtly negative remarks. It's totally possible that those remarks are more about, "Here goes will on something else again," than they are on the diet itself, but it's been surprising none the less.

It's also clear that I have already lost weight. Significant weight, 6 pounds to be exact. Now that sounds crazy, unhealthy even, but I of all people know that getting rid of inflammation, water retention, etc is most likely the cause of this. I went on a short "paleo cleanse" right after I finished Ironman Texas because of how awful I felt from consuming so many energy gels, gatorade, etc during the training and race, and then the smorgasbord I took part in for like 3 days after, and I lost 11 pounds in 48 hours. Again, inflammation, water retention, not body fat.

The last thing that is clear to me is that I need to eat a little more. I'm still finding out what ration of fat, protein, and carbs works best for me. For the last 4 days I have been running on about 50% fat, 30% protein, and 20% carbs. I know this is where people who don't understand this diet hit the ceiling. People who have been familiar with what American nutritional standards have told us would say that is WAAAY too much fat and that I am headed for heart disease and all kinds of other things. As I'm learning, fat doesn't make you fat. Sugar and it's effects on your body when it encounters fat, makes you fat. All that being said, I can't fully explain it yet, I'm just trying it. Robb Wolf can explain it completely, and it's not pseudo science and fluff, he knows what he's talking about. What I will say is that I do think my ratios need adjusting. I'm still doing endurance sports and training hard. So I'm going to start aiming for a 40%f, 30%p, 30%c ratio. Adding in things like sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and extra fruit will give me a little more energy for the longer workouts.

So what's still fuzzy is how I feel. On one hand I feel great. I already feel like 5 days in my body looks better, somehow slimmer. It may be mental, but I don't really care if it is from the looks department. One of the things I'm after is a better sense of self from this lifestyle, and for this one small part of it, it's on the right track. On the other hand I feel like crap. Im sweaty, jittery, sick feeling, and I think it's because I'm, well, getting sick. I just started back to school in the last 2 weeks and hitting my immune system with 700 teenage boys worth of germs wouldn't be good regardless of how I'm eating. I will admit that this has been a shock to my system and may have made it easier for me to get sick, but certainly don't think it's WHY I got sick. So I'm fuzzy on how I feel because I'm not sure if I'm feeling weird from the diet or because I'm getting sick. I guess I'll find out in the next couple of days.