If you have been following my Facebook you know that I adopted the Paleo lifestyle about a year and a half ago. A brief summary behind the decision: I have been allergic to gluten (the protein found in wheat, rye, barley, etc) all of my life but was undiagnosed until 2009. Upon discovery of the allergy, I went "gluten free" but nothing really changed; I still felt ill a good portion of the time, still suffered GERD frequently, was lethargic, etc. I had merely changed WHAT I was eating, not the habits I had. Due to my issues, I tried all sorts of diets and ended up following the Blood Type diet, which had me basically eating a vegetarian diet - something I had done for years previously. I ended up feeling far worse than I ever had before, and it turned out that I was severely anemic. I added iron supplements, but still followed the "diet." Needless to say I didn't improve very much. Fast forward a bit later that year and a friend of mine began talking about Paleo. They shared some stories with me, as well as their own personal journey, and I thought to myself, "Why not give this a go? It's the exact opposite of what I'm doing now." I basically went from subsisting on grains, veggies, fruit and tofu/soy, to eating red meat, chicken/turkey, veggies and fruit with no grains, legumes, soy, and limited (to no) dairy. Within two weeks I felt like a new person, and it has only gone up from there! I credit Paleo for a large part of the change in my life. It truly turned everything around and I've never felt better.
So why now? Why this cleanse? If I feel so much better, why do I need to "reset" myself?
The answer is simple: I allowed myself to fall back into some old habits, eating foods that are on the No list.
What I really like about this "reset" is that it's not just about the food you eat. It also has a regiment of supplements and stimulate a healthier gut and to help balance out the pH levels in your body. It comes with a comprehensive guide book that answers your questions, details out your meals, the schedule for the supplements, etc. They even give you a little "to go" bag so you can take what you need with you! I thought that was pretty clever!
The true test for me with this cleanse is that it tapers you into a super clean "vegan" style of eating. Because I do not eat grains (rice, quinoa, corn, etc) or legumes (soy, beans) I must adapt the meals to suit what I can eat. Thanks to a good friend I was linked to a post about being a vegetarian Paleo (quite the oxy moron!) and the only animal product on the protein source list was egg whites! It is my intention to avoid using those as week 2 and 3 commence, but if I am in need of protein then I will be using egg whites at the very least, and possibly whole eggs.
So, I know that was kind of long winded and possibly a bit dry to read, but thanks for sticking through it! I will be adding posts as I go along and I know I need to catch up since I just finished day 2, but I'm kind of tired and I hope you will forgive me that I will be doing those day 1 and 2 posts tomorrow! Which means I will need to catch up on day 3 at that point but hey, I'm going to keep THOSE posts simple!
xoxo!
~Adrienne
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