What can Paleo do for you?

The Paleo lifestyle is some pretty powerful stuff. Some dabble in it, some live by it, and some swear it's a hoax. The more I learn about it, the more amazed I am at what it can claim to do.

Personally, I'm a dabbler. I've yet to commit to the Paleo lifestyle 100%. I tend to go in swings where I'll be a decent Paleo player for several weeks or months, then fall off the wagon only to realize the enormous effect it has on me. Currently, I would project I'm about 90% Paleo...beer just beckons me on the weekends. Will I ever be 100%? We'll see. The more I read, the more I hear, the more I think maybe.

Here's why:

1. "The Paleo Solution." It's the title of Robb Wolf's book. All about Paleo, all good stuff. Hell, this could even scare you into a Paleo lifestyle. I picked it up about 3 weeks ago and immediately began tightening down on my diet...good stuff.

2. Performance. Ok, so Halloween weekend got a little out of hand. Candy, sugar, and beer. Repeat. Even as I write this with two days of recovery and two workouts to "detox" I still feel like garbage. Who's to say whether it was the candy, beer (there may have even been a couple of shots), lack of sleep, or all of the above. Either way none of it was Paleo!

3. Success Stories. I've yet to hear an athlete tell me that Paleo sucks and they didn't see any results from it! In fact, I have a new athlete in my 7:15 class who can attribute some major lifestyle changes to cleaning up her diet.
Lauren joined my class after finished up basics about a month ago. Her story goes way back to 5+ years ago and involves some major allergies and some "uncomfortable" symptoms. Over 5 years ago Lauren was in a tough place. She had been misdiagnosed with dermatitis and given medication to remedy it. This caused SEVERE blisters covering her entire body. She describes it as looking like a burn victim. She was prescribed topical steroids to put on all of her skin. Doctors suggested she may have food allergies but were unable to pinpoint the source of the outbreaks. Lauren describes sleeping "starfish" style covered in calamine lotion to control the itching. Fast forward a couple months and Lauren has moved home with her parents because the discomfort has disallowed her to even go into work. Doctors continue to tell her it's just a rash and it will go away in a couple weeks (she's had it for 6+ weeks now). Another month passes and Lauren begins to experience severe swelling in her arms. So much so that she cannot bring a spoon to her mouth to eat. Thankfully her family has a great sense of humor and they make fun of her as she attempts to eat! Not only that, she has to be wrapped in hot towels to comfort her skin twice a day for a month. Doctors now think she may have autoimmune disease, but are unable to diagnose the problem.
Let's jump forward to January of 2006: Lauren is finally able to return to work, but must wake up super early for work only to apply massive amounts of foundation to hide her skin from her co-workers. She continues to see doctors...surprise...no results! Lauren continues with her topical steroids but side effects include skin weakness to the point that removing a bandaid would leave a scab. For the next couple years she basically dealt with the hell of the steroids, weak skin, and other side effects. Six doctors and 20-some prescriptions later she makes a New Years Resolution: eat clean.
Lauren cuts out all processed foods except dairy and grains. Her skin is much better, but still has to use the steroids. From May to July she progresses to a Paleo diet. She cuts out soy, legumes, and eventually phases out the grains. The steroid use diminishes until she stops using them completely. Lauren now hasn't experienced an "outbreak" since hitting the Paleo. In her own words, she has the best skin she's had in 5 1/2 years, and is finally able to go without worrying about what she was wearing in fear of an outbreak. This, in a state where it's summer for 9 months of the year!
While Lauren doesn't claim Paleo is 100% responsible for success, it certainly hasn't hindered her progress. She's not shy about her story...ask her about it!

This is just one of the many amazing stories I've read/heard/witnessed verifying the positives of a Paleo lifestyle. In his book Robb Wolf challenges you to try it - for 30 days - and see what it can do for you. I say get on board!

cg