The 30-day Primal Eating Challenge

I've told you before about the way I eat: meat, veggies, fruit, good fats. Other than a little bit of white rice here and there, I don't eat any grains. It's usually called something like "paleo," and, when modified (as I do) to include some full-fat dairy, the going terminology seems to be "primal."

But you know how it is....a lot of us try to eat well, but sometimes we stray a bit. And then sometimes we do things like go on really cool vacations, and there's a little more alcohol in our lives than usual, and well....let's just say that my gym's decision to encourage all its members to do a 30-day clean-eating challenge is well-timed. Of late, particularly on a recent two-week jaunt to Germany (during Oktoberfest fercryinoutloud) I ate a bunch of things I usually don't -- bready things, beery things, more beery things, more bready things. We just got back from Germany two days ago and I am still a little sluggish to say the least.

So anyway, the gym version of the challenge starts next Saturday, but I decided to accelerate the schedule and start my 30 days right now.

Today.

So here are the rules: no grains, no legumes, no dairy, no alcohol. Eat meat, fish, eggs, veggies, fruit and good fat (almonds, avocado, etc.) Eat real food. No sugar. No processed crap. Those are the "paleo" rules. But here's the catch: if I follow those rules exactly as written, I will lose weight. I don't need to lose weight. I just want to clean up the minor mess from the minor dietary detours that I have taken in the last month or so. Really....I don't want to lose more weight. I have done that already. So here are my modifications, which morph this into a "primal" challenge,instead of a paleo one. All the above rules apply, except:
1. White rice is okay in small doses. It's just pure starch, and doesn't have the inflammatory properties of other grains (including brown rice). Simply put, for someone not trying to lose weight, a little white rice is harmless. And, like sweet potatoes (and white potatoes too, for that matter), white rice is a good source of clean post-workout, non-gluten-containing carbs.
2. Heavy cream, full-fat cheese and butter are okay as long as they are from grassfed sources. If they come from grassfed cows, those items contain wonderful omega-3 fats. You know...just like salmon. Again, this rule applies only if you are not trying to lose weight. And have I made it clear that I do not want to lose any more weight?

Honestly, this is not going to be tough. OK, I'll miss alcohol, but, otherwise, I already eat this way *almost* all the time. But the gastronomic detours of vacation have left me craving a cleaner diet. So, as I said, the gym challenge is well-timed and, to keep myself fully on the straight and narrow (and maybe offer a little encouragement to others who are doing the same challenge) I am going to blog the whole damn thing here. My plan is that if it goes down my pie hole in the next 30 days, you're going to read about it here.

So let's go.







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