Prompted by the Lental season (which traditionally includes fasting), in an effort to get in better shape and lose a few pounds, I’m revisiting paleo diet concepts, modified to be realistic for my lifestyle. Food is not just fuel to me, and my goal in eating is not simply to perform better in the gym. I’m the kind of guy that will visit five BBQ restaurants in an hour just to sample their competing chopped pork sandwiches. I make butter-rich tomato sauce and spaghetti for breakfast. I almost brought my wife to tears during an eating binge in New York City last year, in which I urged her to press on through meal number five of the afternoon, ”If you don’t finish those cappellitti, they’re going to be insulted!!!”
For a quick and pretty summary on Paleo, click the Infographic at the top of this page. I was also prompted to write this post as I just read an AJC article about the controversial diet. There’s some good points on both sides of the argument, and I fall on either side of the fence depending on the issue in contention.
To me, the potential success of the paleo diet is a by-product of the gluttonous foods I eat too frequently. When I commit to no grains, no processed foods, very few carbs, this translates to me as – “I can’t eat pasta and pizza and drink beer and eat fast food a dozen times a week, and should eat more real food, lean meats, and vegetables.”
In a word – “Duh.”
I need to practice better moderation, and this is just a few week run to hit the reset button, dig into the vegetable bin more often, and learn a thing or two in the kitchen. A few notes on recent meals:
This past weekend I made a bunch of duck with some friends, including a lot of confit, which is great for a quick lunch. Today I had a crisped duck leg in a mixed green/veggie salad with warm duck fat, shallot, and tarragon vinaigrette, with a slow poached egg.
Last night I made a silky cauliflower puree with a tablespoon each of sage brown butter and cream, which had a crazy smooth and rich texture from a heavy hit in the Vitamix. It may have had a fair amount of salt, and a small amount of fat, but it’s certainly much more nutritional than potato.
And earlier this week I taught myself to make a darn solid vegetable curry with no sugar. A hit of acidity and spice does a good job (albeit unorthodox) of replacing the balance sugar provides to most curries.
You’ll notice there are black quinoa and some seeds in this bowl, which isn’t paleo, but seeds are on my modified-Jimmy-paleo list and quinoa is technically a seed, and provides loads of protein to boot.
Here’s the rest of my modification for March -
- Dairy – OK, but try to have whole dairy whenever possible. No processed cheese or low fat dairy. Does anyone know how the hell fat free half & half exists? Scary.
- Wine and spirits are OK, no beer. Wine isn’t paleo, but this rule will definitely be a carb and calorie saver for me as I would frequently have a random beer here and there.
- Nuts and seeds are OK
- Vinegar and pickled items are OK (not usually in paleo)
- The rest is the same – No bread, no beans, no grains/rice, no added sugar, no processed food or oils, and no corn products (aka almost everything else)
