What is Paleo? Why?

I’m trying the #Paleo diet.  For those of you who aren’t familiar, Paleo is a #diet that consists of trying to eat as our #Paleolithic #ancestors did, by #hunting and gathering.  It is also called the #huntergatherer diet or the #agro diet.  There are several #naysayers out there who say that this doesn't work for several reasons.
1. The food from that time simply does not exist today.
Okay. I’ll buy that.  But the food today is not that far off IF YOU STAY with #UNPROCESSED #FOODS!!!

2. If people hadn't adapted to today’s #processing methods, a lot more people would be sick.
Here’s the crux of the diet.  The idea of Paleo is that people haven’t adapted to processing and agriculture. #Peanut allergies are THE example that is used.  All of the sudden peanut allergies are cropping up in populations that had never seen them before.  The other broadly used examples are #wheat/gluten allergy and #milk/lactose allergy.  #Pasteurization began about 1100’s.  Peanuts were not popular for human consumption till the late 1930’s.  In the 1800 there was a great increase in productivity of wheat and during the #dust bowl in the US wheat was planted in the plains.  Wheat is one of the most common ingredients in US food along with #corn.

3. People died young in the Paleolithic era.
The average age of death of 30 includes childhood deaths from injuries, #preventable diseases, childbirth and infection.  Otherwise the people lived to 70.

I am going to try my best to live on this diet.  It is a lifestyle choice.  I know I’m not going to be able to do it all but that’s okay.  Even if I make better choices based on my knowledge that one less chemical in my body.  I have noticed that there are some #improvements in my #health problems.  I apologize in advance if I tend to gush a bit on this subject.  I know a lot of people who would benefit from this type of clearing out of crap from their diet.  I know people who complain every time they eat a burger and don’t know why.  Cheese and bread.  Two bad things.  At least!  Sorry. Rambling, going to stop now.

What is normal?

So I'm trying this new diet, this #paleo thing.  Now, I'm not supposed to call it a #diet.  It's a #lifestyle #change.  And it really is.  I mean so much of the stuff we eat is crap.  I was in the store buying meat and a package of #turkey #sausage had #potato in it.  I mean, REALLY?  I know I'm not going to catch everything and I'm not going to worry if little things slip through but I really will try to do this as hard as it is.  I have noticed a few changes already.  I am having less #digestive issues.  I do feel a little bit more energetic. Hard not to feel better then I WAS feeling, which was rotten.  But the main thing is my memory seems to be improving.  I was sitting in Church today and I had a flash from a long ago birthday party.  I was in eight grade.  I remembered buying a brand new pair of blue jeans for the party, size 14.  I was wearing about a size 38C.  I also remember playing hide and seek in the dark.  The girl whose #birthday we were #celebrating had just moved to a new house. She had previously lived in a twin house, very similar to mine.  We were not close friends but in a same class in a parochial school everyone was friendly.  Now she had a large house in a #private #community (not gated or anything but well to-do).  I had bought my jeans at #K-Mart.  I guess I had a solid upbringing because the one thing I don't remember was ever being jealous.  We all accept the #statusquo if that's all we know.  Once we open #Pandora's Box we have to keep it open and let out the #hope too.

Let's Hide the Fat Girls!

I had a few spare minutes this afternoon.  I was in the #CherryHill mall in #NJ.  I deiced to stop in #JCPenny.  I looked on the first floor, no women's #clothes were in plain view so I headed upstairs.  Ah-ha, I said, here are are the women's clothes!  After looking through the entire second floor, there were no large sizes to be found.  I casually inquired of the clerk where I could find the "real" women's sizes.  I was told very politely, "oh it's just downstairs (wait a minute, wasn't I just there?) make a right, then a left and through the hallway."  Huh?  After following these complicated directions, almost like trying to find the buried treasure on a pirate map, there was the women's (#plus) department.  It was out of view.  Where no one could see it.  Are we as a society so #ashamed of ourselves that we hide away our problems like the dirty laundry?  Also, I was appalled with the selection of clothing!  The other departments had a whole floor between #juniors, and #Petites and #women's (normal sized).  The #Plus department had 10 racks, maybe 20.  Yes, we have an #Obesity #Epidemic in this country but the sizing in the  #fashion #industry needs to change.  The average women wears a size 14.  For model work, on the runway, a #plus size #model is size 8.  Look at the disconnect between those two numbers.  We do need to get healthier as a nation but we will never do it with #unachievable goals!  The fashion industry has given us indigestion.  It is not the root of the problem but fixing it will help us feel much better.  The country needs to take it's metaphoric medicine.  It won't hurt too much I promise.