WHY CAN"T I EAT PEANUT BUTTER!?!^$%@ (Jessica's ball slam face - Jessica is a recent on-ramp graduate and a Challenger already eating paleo - watch out!)
Big shout out to the twenty-one Paleo Challengers vying for the best cave-body in the South Bay. Kitty total as of this week is $390 to be split by two winners from the motivated people only Category A group a.k.a. group “I wanna see my six-pack and win me some scrilla!” (check out rules and info/resources here). Depending on how heated the competition gets, who knows, maybe Forrest will throw in some more incentives… who knows 
My winning a year’s supply of Maranatha nut butter for my recipe contest entry prompted me to write this post (I have a feeling you’ll be seeing Maranatha around the gym). This post is to help you learn how to think like Remy to help you win, some pep talk about ‘gray areas’ and a list of advice.
I will doubtless get many more questions from you over the next week (they’ve already begun to roll in) about whether this or that is ‘paleo’ or whether you’re ‘allowed’ to eat something. I thought I’d share with you how these things get framed up in my mind before I spit out an answer to you. I will miss bursting your bubble and playing the ‘Cavemen DID TOO eat _____!!’ game until the next group of Challengers steps up (we can still play though, just try to keep a straight face and we’ll see who figures out who’s kidding whom first).
You say: “Remy, can I eat corn tortillas?” or “Are corn tortillas paleo?”
I hear: “I like corn tortillas. Will I lose points in this game if I eat them?”
My brain analyzes: “Are corn/tortillas an excellent choice for someone with the goal of changing how they look, feel and perform given this individual’s calorie budget, nutrient requirements physical demands? From an evolutionary perspective, was corn something that we likely are well-adapted to and does research support that it generally does not cause an adverse insulin, autoimmune response, or other reaction in even small quantity?”
I reply: “While they don’t contain too many harmful components like peanuts or beans, corn tortillas, much like rice, are not an optimal choice compared to other far more nutrient-dense, lower glycemic-load fuel sources. From a ‘paleo’ diet/anthropological record perspective they are somewhat in the “gray area” (UNlike refined sugar and grains) even if we were talking about freshly made from corn, no junk added tortillas. Since they are not an optimal fuel source, I would recommend eliminating them from your diet for the Challenge (or have them sparingly as part of a cheat meal).”
Then you cock your head and look constipated/unhappy or insist YOUR ancestors definitely evolved to eat tamales every day.
You’re concerned with doing stuff the effective way, right? That’s why you quit the elliptical and the Nautilus equipment at 24 Hour. I propose you think the same way about what you put in your body. Don’t get me wrong, I have been down the other path, too, and the process of nutrition enlightenment can be a long one.
I kid you not, this is a photo I took of my breakfast circa 2006 (that's granola and fat-free strawberry yogurt)... the nutrition journey is a long one.
I once did the back/bi’s/chest/tri’s dealy-o and thought I was a tough cookie for my packed ‘cardio’ schedule of swim/bike/run. I also once convinced myself that oatmeal was a ‘healthy’ low glycemic load breakfast and that the ‘gray area’ was just my maple syrup/brown sugar (or Splenda on a good day) addition. A protein shake used to also qualify as ‘healthy’ meal and the old ‘gray area’ was the the added peanut butter or sorbet. I once thought I could get lean by just counting calories, sticking to fat-free everything, and sucking down Isopure whey-water post-workout. For a long time, I had a tough time prioritizing time and effort on feeding myself well and had forty thousand products (no exaggeration) filling the grocery aisles to help convince me it was possible to eat for convenience and still be healthy. I knew I couldn’t ignore all the signals for long that my body was giving suggesting that the amazingly convincing product marketing and Food Pyramid crap we are fed is a big pile of… food industry lobbying money.
There are many things in the gray area that technically did *exist* for millennia while your ancestors evolved, but eating them regularly or in the quantity or form that modern technology makes available doesn’t mean it’s good for you.
- Honey/agave/maple syrup, etc – yes, those existed in some quantity for paleo-man, but definitely not often and probably in tiny quantity
- Nut butters – yes, nuts are paleo, but large quantities of nut butter is another thing, especially one kind of nut that has a single fatty acid profile (e.g. almond butter and omega-6 fatty acids) – see below on ‘variety’
- Dairy – yes, pre-domestication, there were wild animals and I’m sure milk was available at some time or another, but definitely not in large quantities or in the highly altered state you find homogenized/pasteurized/de-fatted dairy now. Raw dairy is technically paleo, but if you choose to, you should have it post-workout for its insulin-spike inducing effect which is beneficial after a workout.
- Processed meats (sausage, cured meats, processed deli meats) – anything highly processed, packaged is suspect
- Bars – even if they contain paleo ingredients, do you really want all that concentrated sugar in one bite? For emergencies, sure, but…
- There are plenty more I’m sure you’ll come up with.
If you frame up your questions in a similar way to the one I outlined above, all of this nutrition stuff will all start to click and make sense. You’ll become a savvier nutrition student if you figure out what the patterns are and think of your questions in this way rather than just keeping a list of ‘Eat’ and ‘Do not eat’ foods in your phone/on your fridge. You’ll soon come to understand how filled your diet was with things that didn’t exist for the majority of human history and why they are not optimal for fitness. You’ll realize just how poorly you were eating before and just how ‘black’ your former ‘gray’ areas really were.
If you don’t have the inclination to figure out all the why’s on your own or want a jump start, come to the Nutrition Seminar this Saturday.
Finally, I have some tips that I hope you’ll take heed on and get crackin’:
- Read through this blog over time – there are many posts to get you started and to answer many questions, namely the Paleo Challenge blog posts and posts tagged Nutrition, as well as the resources page.
- The social transition to Paleo may also be rough. Check out these posts from Nutritionize (CF Unlimited) and Whole 9.
- DLG’s! Dark Leafy Green vegetables: Many of you will struggle with sugar cravings and perhaps fullness and instead of relying on vegetables (especially DLG’s) as your primary source of carbohydrate and as your daily multivatimin, you might rely too heavily on other foods (that should still be eaten! but in smaller quantities) such as nuts, nut butters, Larabars in a pinch (high glycemic load), or too much fruit. Make lots and lots of vegetables to have around as snacks. Eat 2+ cups of vegetables with each meal.
- Quantity – peruse the Paleo Challenge resources for info or attend the Nutrition Seminar
- Variety, variety, variety! You must vary the meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts/seeds/oils you eat to get the variety of nutrients you need daily to operate effectively.
- Plan your cheats smart: Check out Whole 9′s Guide to Eating Dirty Part I and Part II and Mariessa’s Hangover post and Mark Sisson’s What Happens to Your Body When Your Carb Binge post
- Take omega-3’s (EPA+DHA) from fish oil. How much? See here. SFH brand will be available for sale in the gym soon.
- There are good fats and bad fats. Generally speaking, good fats come from meats and nuts/seeds and quality oils, bad ones you find if you stray from the grocery store perimeter (in processed foods), and commonly in restaurant food. Your primary fuel source should be fat, especially if you want to be burning body fat.
- You should sleep, a lot to aid the recovery, fat burning and general good-health benefit processes.
- Alcohol is very counterproductive even in small amounts to fitness and winning the Paleo Challenge (see points calc in rules).
- The perimeter of Vons/Ralph’s/Albertson’s is where people who want to live a long time (and enjoy it) shop. There’s nothing in the aisles for you (except maybe coconut milk, sardines, tuna, or no-sugar added tomato sauce or nut butters). Check out Sprouts at Anza/PCH if you haven’t.
Other announcements:
- Paleo Challengers: make sure you have all items taken care of – Google Group > Links > Outstanding Items
- Sign up by TODAY for the Nutrition Seminar! I need a headcount for food by noon.
- Game night Saturday at Dana’s (see the email you received for details)
- Now at Sabra (the restaurant across PCH from us) you can order the “CFSB Special” which basically means ‘paleo’ (they will sub rice for veggies and hummus for baba ganoush, and hold the pita)
See you at game night (where I will avenge the 100 burpees in yesterday’s WOD by crushing Forrest’s big Hasbro gamer ego)!
WOD 4/16/2010
A. L-Sit 30 seconds x 5
*rest as needed. 15 minutes to complete
B. AMRAP 7
10 Ring Rows
10 Knees to Elbows
Raw dairy is technically NOT paleo. It is in the gray area for a primal diet, but in the paleo era we did not have domesticated animals to milk. And if we killed a nursing mother, the amount of dairy would be small. Forget the udderized cows we now have. They weren’t like that then. The amount of milk in a mammal is small. It may have given you the equivalent of a couple of glasses of milk a year. This amount does not negate the numerous health negatives of dairy consumption.
Agave should not be considered paleo. Agave nectar is the marketing name for High Fructose Agave Syrup. It is more processed and higher in fructose than High Fructose Corn Syrup. If you must have something sweet, try palm sugar. Like maple syrup it is a boiled concentrate of a sap, though from a plant found in the climate that we evolved in.
I don’t like the idea of cheat meals. If you allow them you will then spend time fantasizing about the next cheat. Better to get it out your system. If you want something sweet eat a Larabar.
This is how I define the diet: http://paleodiet.com/definition.htm
Don, thanks for your input. I have in past found your website a useful resource as a collection of paleo resources on the web – you’re kind of a paleo web community celebrity. Thanks for commenting! To respond –
‘Paleo’ among a variety of health communities has come to represent different things. The archaeological record that gives support to what a true ‘paleo’ diet was you can distill out of an evolving list of foods in the literature (also summarized on your website). However, ‘paleo’ to the CrossFit community if I were to sum it up, has come to represent something a little different than just a list of foods or ‘paleo’ as defined by a number of individuals who became associated with developing what’s now known as the Paleo Diet. Among the CF community, as I interpret the direction of the movement’s nutrition methodology, the diet recommended for its athletes is one that seeks to optimize performance and health. As a component of that optimal diet ‘paleo’ foods have come to represent the food source/quality gold standard that one should aim for. As for quantity, CF experience in training athletes supports the best macronutrient ratio to be that known as ‘Zone’. As far as dairy goes, many in the CF community have gotten overall positive effect (and health benefits that may arguably outweigh detriment) from its use in the pursuit of many performance goals. Given that those performance goals are very likely to persist among this community, advocating raw dairy is definitely an improvement over modern dairy.
‘Cheating’ is a very personal choice and depends on your own food habits. Some people don’t have strong attachments to foods (‘fantasizing’), others do. Planning out cheats helps most people shift away from their old bad food habits as they start to feel what it feels like without processed foods (as most people’s cheats are). Based on plenty of experience with athletes and people in general, the practice has been maintained as it tends among most people to improve morale to *gradually* let go of bad habits, and allows for a gradual transition of social eating which tends to be non-paleo. While it would be ‘better’ to get it out of your system at once that is not a realistic goal for many. Whole 9′s articles on the social transition and on smart cheating are excellent in my opinion.
Don, I just read your blog on the ‘Paleo Diet’ as someone who considers myself pretty much paleo with the exception of a couple ‘cheat-meals’ I’ve had some pretty damn good success. On the 1st topic of milk (raw or homogenized) I’ve found that it does help boost my insulin levels and helps in recovery. I can’t stomach eating enough raw protein and fruit to equal that which I get from pounding a glass of whole milk immediately following a WOD. I know it’s not completely “Paleo” but in this era to be 100% paleo is pretty difficult and can be extremely expensive lifestyle.
I’m also guilty of the cheat meals. As Remy mentioned above it’s there for people who have that attachment to certain foods. In my case that’d be peanut butter and nachos. Having these two cheats although very sparingly allows me to remind myself how crappy I feel after cheating (carb crashing). It also reminds me of why I eat paleo and try to maintain a healthy diet.
Being an athlete my whole life I’ve done multiple diets. From eating pizza, wings, 1,000 calorie protein shakes, and everything I could get my hands on to carb-restricting and pure meat/vegetable diets. I’ve found that paleo does work best to enhance my performance as an athlete. But, as with everything in this day in age moderation and enjoying life is also important for my existence.
I couldn’t agree with you more Jon. Life is meant to be enjoyed. Food is meant to be enjoyed (and I enjoy the heck outta some fro-yo…). It is when we take anything to the extreme that it is no longer enjoyable or healthy.
As a teenager I developed an eating disorder that haunted me through the early part of my twenties. It wrecked my metabolism, the way I viewed food, and worst of all, the way I viewed my own body. It has taken years for me to regain control over the guilt, frustration and self punishment that came along with my desire to achieve perfection. Now that I am older, wiser and more mature, I have made the decision to enjoy food instead of allowing it to rule my life in a harmful way. If Paleo is what I enjoy on a particular day, then great! But just because I eat Paleo doesn’t mean I’ll feel guilty about eating a cupcake or having some wine -in fact I’ll enjoy those treats (I refuse to call them cheats) that much more.
Rather than have only a Paleo diet; I try to have a Paleo lifestyle which includes items other than diet. My goal is to have a ~90% Paleo lifestyle. I find that if I concentrate on other aspects of a Paleo lifestyle (such as frequent fornication, burning things down, attacking your neighbors and forcing their offspring to join your tribe, wearing only a loin cloth)…….then, well then I can afford to have a few cheat meals and still maintain my 90% Paleo lifestyle.
I have the perfect shirt for some of you in the gym:
Chris… tears… can’t stop laughing.
Scarlett thanks for sharing. Chris… freaking amazing! Again, I find myself laughing when my students are testing, oops!
Chris,
That was the funniest thing Ive seen in years…
~Matt W.
Chris great comment! Here is a text I got today from Wes after he did the workout from yesterday:
“Sorry for throwing up in your parking lot. I tried to wash it down.”
Nice, Wes.
Anyone making up yesterday’s WOD today at 4 or 6?
Hahahaha. Chris, that is damn hilarios. Oh and Forrest the puke was certainly impressive. Didn’t think a guy the size of wes could puke that much and have the breakfast burritto still completely intact. I think He just felt guilty after realizing it wasn’t even in the paleo gray area so he had to let it go. Haha
I don't think vomit is paleo and I need to chew my food more.