All (Food) Things Considered: The “Short List”…

All right, I know that if you’re reading this you’re probably convinced that paleo is like the best damn thing since sliced bacon. I also know that a lot of you think that you have it totally figured out and that there’s no question in your mind that you’re doing everything exactly right. While you may be correct, there’s still a chance (albeit a small one…) that you’ve still got room for improvement. Maybe you’ve latched on to something (or everything) you’ve read online about what you should (or shouldn’t be) doing, or heard about the latest ‘magic’ cure at the gym – and now you’re running with it because it’s going to totally up your game. Well, I’m here to clear up a few things, and here’s my short list of stuff that you need to think about… (Brace yourself, this might hurt a little bit.)

Meat Me Outside… Yes, I know, steak is awesome, bacon’s delicious and chicken is pretty ‘clucking’ tasty too; BUT as is true with most things in life – too much of a good thing is still TOO MUCH! One of the biggest mistakes I see folks make – they go whole “hog” for meat and fat but completely neglect vegetables and really anything other than meat and fat.

If your plate is made up of primarily protein and fat with a token broccoli spear or two, you’re doing it wrong. Seriously folks, you don’t need a pound of meat, eight strips of bacon and an entire avocado at each meal. Vegetables first! (and I’m not talking about sweet potatoes, yams, potatoes, parsnips or the other starchy stuff – but, like, REAL vegetables – think green…). Consuming copious amounts of meat and fat does not make you ‘better at paleo’. It does make you constipated, nutrient deficient and in a lot of cases, less than lean and/or healthy.
Does that have Carbs?!?! The “carb”nundrum is something that many people struggle with. I like to say that there’s two classes of paleo eaters – there’s the group that’s deathly afraid of carbs and the group that has orange-tinted skin because of all the sweet potatoes, yams and butternut squash they’re pounding. Folks, this may be hard to believe but, there is a happy medium when it comes to the “C”-word.

Contrary to what some say, not all of us need to be in ketosis; in fact that may be the worst thing some of us can do. That being said, there’s no reason to be eating starches and sugar (think Paleo bars, cookies, breads, fruit, honey, etc. – more on this stuff to come…) 24/7 either and this is especially true if you’re not active, trying to lean out or lose weight or have issues with blood sugar regulation. The exact balance is going to look a little different for everyone, but for a majority of us a zero carb approach isn’t the answer nor is consuming a significant amount of carbs (yes, even sweet potatoes) at every meal. Balance, people, BALANCE!!! (And LOTS of non-starchy vegetables!!!)

Not so (Intermittent) Fast… Yeah, SLOW DOWN before you jump on this bandwagon. Intermittent fasting is made out to be this awesome way of eating to get you healthy, lean and make you a serious badass. Well, I hate to burst your bubble here – it’s not a good fit for everyone and may do more harm than good in some cases (women and type 1 diabetics – I’m talking to you.).

Sure there’s some awesome science behind increased longevity and health being linked with caloric restriction and/or an abbreviated eating window – BUT if you don’t have all your ducks in a row (sleep, great nutrition, smart exercise, limited stress), then just NO. Figure out how to maintain a healthy lifestyle before you go throwing another ball in the game. Also, if you’re currently IF’ing and find yourself all, “OMG I’M GOING TO EAT MY ARM” hungry and can’t concentrate on a damn thing other than what you get to eat in two hours, then yeah, NO – not an awesome idea for you either.

**FYI** If you are drinking a cup or two of coffee with butter and/or coconut/MCT oil (AKA: Bulletproof coffee) and pretending that you’re IF’ing – stop fooling yourself. You just ingested 200-400 calories and um, that shit counts.

But I made it with coconut flour (AKA – but the label says Paleo)… In case you don’t already know, this one REALLY lights me up – and not in a positive way… I mean really people, our Paleolithic ancestors were NOT baking ‘paleo’ breads, cookies, pancakes or other treats nor were they hitting the local Whole Foods and scoring ‘paleo’ bars and other — READ: PROCESSED ‘paleo’ products. This probably means that you shouldn’t make a daily habit of buying, making and/or consuming these things either. I’m not going to expand on this any further here because I already wrote that story and you should probably read it if you haven’t. Here it is. You’re welcome.

Vicious (30-day) Cycle – The infamous 30-day challenge and/or sugar detox – yeah, we’re gonna talk about that. I’ve done this before too – here, here and here, but I think it’s important. The purpose of a 30-day challenge or sugar detox is to either jump-start a new LIFESTYLE or clean up some sloppiness and habits that may have accumulated in your current lifestyle. The purpose is NOT to use them in recurrent cycle or for a ‘quick fix’.

Here’s how NOT to do it: do a 30-day challenge -> eat like an @sshole for 60-90 days -> do another 30 day challenge -> back to @ssholed-ness and so on… Stop it! If you’re going to do a 30-day challenge, announce it on Facebook and recruit your friends to do it with you – awesome; BUT if you’re doing it again in 60-90 days and you’re starting back at square one, just bow out and instead figure out how you can make this healthy lifestyle stuff happen 365. Harsh Reality: Health doesn’t happen in 30-day chunks.

There’s a supplement for that… There is a time and a place for supplements and some of them are totally warranted, but if you’re doing what I refer to as “blind supplementation”, it’s time to open your eyes and see the light. I know this is super hard with all the information on the internet – but here’s what you do: STOP Googling your ‘symptoms’ looking for an answer in pill or powder form, instead go see a real (good) doctor and figure out what the issue is. Do NOT go out and purchase a plethora of vitamin, mineral, herbal, adrenal health or hormone supplements and try to figure it out on your own. That’s the perfect recipe for supplementing yourself sick. This is no joke, I’ve had a client that made herself Vitamin A toxic – not a good thing.

Here’s the deal, you don’t know what’s going on in your body and even scarier, you don’t know what’s in the supplements that you’re putting in your body. Those things aren’t regulated! For all you know you might be swallowing a capsule filled with dirt from some guy’s backyard that his dog peed on earlier in the day. Before you ‘go in blind’; get checked out, do your homework as to which products to buy and if you start feeling worse on the new miracle cures – STOP taking them. Do not consult Google and add more. That is totally NOT productive.

My way or the highway… So, you know that paleo is great – it’s done totally awesome things for your health, body and life in general and yeah, you want to tell people about it. That’s great, in fact, you should talk about YOUR experience. What you shouldn’t do is villainize every other way of eating or try to convince everyone that paleo is the ONLY right way (I mean seriously, can you imagine the bacon shortage that would cause…). But really, if you take on an elitist attitude and stop seeing that there are other ways the work for other people and that in some (albeit rare) cases, paleo isn’t the answer – all you’re going to do is drive folks nuts. And sure, vegan bashing might be fun and all; but I’d venture to guess that there’s at least one or two super healthy vegans out there. Leave them alone.

Different strokes for different folks. What works for one will never work for all, and it’s important to remember that when you’re talking to people. Judging people for the way they eat or really for anything is just not okay. You don’t know their stories, their struggles or their whys, and they don’t know yours. My guess is that you’ve probably got a few less than stellar habits too, am I right? And – let’s be honest – you haven’t been paleo forever and there’s probably quite a few of you that would say you were a ‘healthy eater’ prior to the conversion.

Keep telling your story (when someone asks or seems interested – don’t be “that guy”) and who knows – you may get some takers but if you don’t – getting all “I’m better than you because I eat like a caveman,” is not going to change the situation. Just keep walking, it’ll be better that way and you’ll still have friends.

Bottom Line: There you have it. That’s my short list, (yeah I said ‘short’ – just be happy I stopped when I did), of things that you may need to consider no matter how long you’ve been at this paleo thing. This is definitely not all encompassing, and remember the bottom line: no number on the scale, way of eating, or amount of weight lifted in the gym will result in a happy, fulfilling life. Don’t sweat the small stuff but don’t let the small stuff grow into big stuff either (this includes your gut and your butt…). Find YOUR groove and run with it – there’s no perfect recipe – health is a lifestyle, not a destination.

Amy Kubal

Amy Kubal is a Registered "Paleo" Dietitian and the ring leader of Robb's RD consulting team. She works with a wide range of clients from competitive athletes to those dealing with complex health problems. Check out her bio and consulting options, and her blog Fuel As Rx to get your Paleo nutrition fix.