making a good life goes paleo

If you know me, than you are probably rolling your eyes about my title, because I am kind of a geek about nutrition--as in, for fun I read hoards of literature ranging from the very scientific to the, ahem, extremely fwowed out, hippie fabulous, on what is the optimal diet for the human body.  I should have probably been a dietician.   Vegan, vegetarian, Raw food, slow food, juice fasting...you name the movement I've probably done it or at least read about it.  I'm kind of a Michael Pollan groupie, and when I was teaching I even made my students watch the documentary food Inc. and write about it.

 I guess that I've had this nagging feeling all my life that it is extremely important what you choose to fuel your body with, and that the status quo (aka the SAD diet) is not the best one to follow.  You would think with this attitude I would be the model of health and fitness, but as I sit here writing this I can tell you that I am not.  In fact, I have struggled with eating disorders since the time I was a teenager (probably before that) and for me, finding balance in my food choices is something I wrestle with every day, and I probably will for my whole life.

When I was several months preggers with Eli, I bought these shoes--Merrel barefoot running shoes.  They made my feet and legs feel so good I started researching minimalist running, and in doing so stumbled upon the Paleo diet and gave it a whirl for a month.  I was surprisingly impressed with the results I experienced, namely AMAZING energy (which isn't easy to come by in your first trimester of pregnancy, I assure you.) I read all kinds of info from the internet, and then I read Robb Wolf's book and it really was food for though, no puns intended. I should have gone paleo and never gone back then and there, but then a series of events kind of got in the way.  Pregnancy, teaching, lots of travel, chasing my child, having another baby, moving to a new city, holidays, vacations, you know...life.

I meant to get started up with the Paleo diet this January, and it just wasn't happening.  I was in a major food rut.  Dinner time (both the preparation and consumption of) was a time I dreaded and loathed.  I was frustrated because Eli would fuss and Sadie decided this was the time of day she needed to terrorize the house, leading to many cooking distractions, excessive messes and burned or soggy food.  To top it off, she (always a good eater in the past) would barely touch anything I cooked.  Then there was the puzzle of my husband not always knowing when he would be home from work or class, and you add all that up and I was literally crying big crocodile tears into my cooking pots as I fixed dinners that I knew I would be the only one eating.  It was like a scene straight out of Like Water for Chocolate.  Deeepressing.  Especially for me, because I love to cook. But I wasn't loving to cook anymore.

Then a series of random, or not so random, events began to crop up in my life. I like to think of this as the way the universe likes to nudge you back onto your true path, and when you don't listen the nudges become more like roundhouse kicks to your consciousness.  They began gently, and subtly, and incresed in frequency and obviousness until I finally had to say, "okay, okay universe...I get the point. I really needed to give this Paleo thing another try." And in doing so, I need to revamp the way our whole family approaches food--and observes the rituals of mealtimes--before we miss out what I believe is probably one of the brighter spots in in quality time a family can spend together.  Without boring you with all the tedious details that led me to that decision--I'll save those for future posts, yo--I would just like to state for the record that March will be the month of the Whole 30 Paleo challenge in our house, and I will be posting recipes, and observations regarding said challenge, on Fridays, if you wish to follow along, or even join in the fun.  So fix yourself some bacon and eggs, and hop on over to Marks Daily Apple for some great stories and info, and I will see you next Friday.