Off The Paleo Wagon

When I went on vacation last week I knew I was going to have some minor breaks in my Paleo protocol.  With a month and a half off I didn’t think a lobster roll or two, or maybe a beer, would impact things too much. I would say each day I had one transgression, usually for a pretty good cause.  By a “good cause” I mean I wanted to enjoy the flavors of the New England coast (where I was) without going too far off the rails.  Sometimes it would be some bread with a sandwich.  Another time it would be trying an IPA from a local brewery.  I also had the occasional slice of pizza or ice cream cone.  All of this are very not Paleo, and in a post-experiment world I wouldn’t even think twice about it.  I did however give myself a minor mental beating about it, although not enough to deter me from doing it another day.

The real problem came when I got home.  I know human nature dictated that this would happen, but I was hoping that if I left the Paleo transgressions on vacation they wouldn’t follow me home.  Unfortunately they’ve gotten worse with each passing day.  What started off as an indulgence of one ice cream sandwich is now two a day.  Yesterday I added cake to the mix as well as some fried wontons.  I don’t need these calories.  In fact I think my hunger levels being elevated are a direct result of eating this highly processed foods.  I’m not even indulging in healthy non-Paleo food.  I’m simply downing junk food.  For one week, while on vacation, it was an understandable and acceptable violation.  At this point it’s just me being lazy and lacking will power.

Don’t get me wrong, I love all the foods on my whole food Paleo protocol.  I crave salads, tomatoes, berries and so on.  Still, I crave ice cream and bread more.  If I was indulging in some good ice cream, like my homemade Oreo Cheesecake Ice Cream, or some fresh crusty homemade Tartine bread I would again be willing to say it’s worth it.  However I’m instead eating these mediocre at best products out of sheer boredom or laziness.  What the hell, dude!

I’m hoping that writing this to myself will get some of this apathy out and get me more back in line with eating the whole foods Paleo for the remainder of this experiment phase (to the end of August).  I’m hoping that two weeks of divergence doesn’t totally skew things when I get my blood test a month from now.  I’m thinking that it shouldn’t but that this was less than ideal.  I do know that overall I’m not feeling much different than when I’m eating the whole foods Paleo protocol.  There are some minor differences but it’s really in the noise.  The only substantial change is my level of hunger and craving for junk foods. I go into “Cookie Monster” mode very easily now.  I’ve picked up those few pounds of water weight from the increased glucose store levels that accompanied the increase in carb consumption, but I’m not going to worry about that.  My digestion also doesn’t seem to be as regular as it was before and through the vacation either.  I don’t know if that’s because of the indulgences in these non-Paleo types of foods or if it’s the substantial reduction in the volume of plant food that my diet has taken on recently.  I’ll be playing with that last variable when Mediterranean Diet hits in September.

Here’s to seeing if I can get my shit back together…