I am reading Your Personal Paleo Code by Chris Kresser. The program is divided into three parts: reset, rebuild, revive. The reset phase is a 30 day very strict paleo diet that is quite similar to the Whole 30 Challenge. This is 30 days of strict paleo where you are eliminating all sugar and sweeteners, all grains, all legumes, all dairy, seed oils, and anything artificial. In addition, you are limited to one cup of coffee or caffeinated tea per day and advised to limit some foods. The reset phase allows you to reclaim your health, after which you enter the rebuild phase, where you systematically re-introduce the previously forbidden foods to see if you can tolerate them. This is the personal part; all people are different and all have different reactions to food. This phase allows you to figure out your personal diet. In the revive phase you make final tweaks to your diet until it is perfect for you. This involves things like macronutrient counts and the like.
I have started the reset phase in earnest today, October 27, 2019. In the reset phase you are to eat liberally: meat and poultry, organ meats, bone broth, fish, eggs, starchy plants, non-starchy vegetables, fermented vegetables and fruits, traditional fats (coconut, ghee, palm oil, macadamia nut, lard, duck, tallow, olive), olives, avocados, coconuts, sea salt and spices. Eat in moderation: processed meat, whole fruit, nuts and seeds, green beans, sugar peas, snap peas, coffee and black tea, vinegar, restaurant food: Avoid completely: dairy, grans, legumes, sweeteners of any kind, chocolate, processed or refined foods, industrial seed and vegetable oils, sodas, fruit juice, alcohol, processed salts and seasonings.
I would like to describe my progress and what I’m doing here in the belief that it will help me succeed with the program, will help to support (or refute) its claims, and will help others who may be interested in trying something like this. I should note that I have successfully completed two Whole 30 challenges in the past, so this is not new to me and I know what to expect. I am not planning to write about each day, but I would like to write often enough so that subtle changes can be described and so there is enough detail to be helpful.
In general my health and my physical strength and endurance are good. But I take medication for blood pressure and asthma and I suffer from a range of digestive problems such as IBS, gas and bloating, and allergy symptoms that are not seasonal. In terms of supplements I take B12, D and fish oil. I would like to ultimately take no pills whatsoever. And, of course, I would like to eliminate the digestive symptoms.
Weight: 190 lbs
Midsection measurement: 40 inches (around the waist just above the navel. This is intended as a measurement of belly fat and bloat. My waist is about 32″ so this is a large difference.)
Blood pressure (medicated): 158/93 at 3:15 PM. <– this is pretty bad and higher than usual.
I am not planning to describe everything I eat here, but I would like to give a sense of it. So far today I have had one large cup of black coffee (I have been drinking two cups of strong black coffee a day for years, so this is a big difference and will be quite challenging), one cup of herbal tea, seltzer and water. For breakfast/lunch I had an omelette with 3 eggs, pork souvlaki meat, olives, artichoke hearts, bell pepper and tomato. It is shown below. I also had an apple and some mixed nuts. I think dinner will be lamb roast, cauliflower rice and a salad.
In addition to the dietary changes, I am planning to try for at least 15 minutes of meditation a day and to seriously curtail my digital entertainment. For that I plan to check my personal email and social media only twice a day and to stop deliberately reading and watching all news and information feeds. If some news gets in my head that’s fine and if something truly important happens, I will find out about it, so I am not worried about missing anything.
Oh, and here’s my other problem:
I will detail my exercise program in a separate set of posts.
Form Is Everything 