On Becoming A Caveman

I’ve spent a lot of time on this blog writing about my workouts, but not so much about my diet. Managing my diet is a big part of my fitness routine, but it seems like a very difficult topic to write about without a lot of formal nutritional education. Which I do not have.


So the information provided herein is only about my personal nutritional plan or “experience”. It correlates directly with what I have been taught at Crossfit and researched on my own…though I am not capable of explaining how or why it works, I have become convinced that it does.

Going Paleo

In the beginning, I cannot say that I was very enthusiastic about the diet recommended by the coaches at Crossfit – Paleo. It seemed very drastic, extreme…and unreasonably restrictive for me to incorporate into my lifestyle. In a nutshell:

No dairy (my biggest hurdle)

No grains/rice/bread/potatoes

No legumes

After learning about Paleo, my first thought was that I would never again be able to eat a meal at my grandmother’s house. No tortillas? No tamales? Arroz con pollo? The list goes on and on.

Setting those fears aside, I slowly ventured into the shallow end of the Paleo dietary pool. I did not dive in head first…but took little strokes in order to allow myself time to adjust. The first step was to eliminate grains, since I really didn’t eat that much bread anyway….or so I thought.

Breakfast was never going to look the same again. No oatmeal. No granola, no whole grain bagel. After two or three mornings of fruit and yoghurt, I started dreaming that I could “smell toast” coming from my breadless kitchen. Finding an alternative to eggs in the morning became my mission in life (don’t get me started on eggs).

But I decided to stick with it and go a little deeper.

Suddenly, the lunch menu disappeared. No tuna sandwich (previously believed to be a healthy choice in the cafeteria). No grilled chicken wrap.

Basically, all I had left to choose from was the salad bar. Those first few days were a huge red flag to indicate the dietary severity of this situation that I had voluntarily entered into.

But slowly, over time I have discovered ways of making a Paleo meal out of just about any culinary situation. And when faced with a crisis, have learned to just “go with it” and a enjoy a good cheat meal when necessary.

Breakfast has become much easier now through two recent discoveries: Sun Butter and Coconut Milk. Since peanuts are a legume, not a nut, peanut butter is prohibited from the Paleo diet. I tried almond butter as an alternative, but it really was just a bland nutty paste…it did not taste like peanut butter. Then Carrie from the gym mentioned something called Sub Butter, made from sunflower seeds. YES. It really does taste just like peanut butter – though not as sweet. Smeared on apples, it’s a great breakfast snack before I go to work.

And if you are eating peanut butter…or it’s tastey sun-butter equivalent, it’s impossible not to crave a tall glass of milk (not Paleo). Enter So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage. This stuff looks like and has the consistency of whole milk – though not as rich. When I first bought it (at the recommendation of Dean, coach/nutrition counselor at CFDC), I was expecting a sugary “pina colada”-type drink. This stuff is actually very mild though….and goes great with the sun butter. I am also planning to try using it to make fruit smoothies in the near future.

So Delicious also makes a coconut milk creamer (thankfully, coffee is Paleo) – thereby eliminating the need for any form of dairy to reside inside of my refrigerator.

I also learned that just about any meal can be ordered or arranged in a Paleo-friendly form. I will often ask for the turkey burger from the grill in our cafeteria and place it on some salad from the salad bar rather than bread. Pasta day? I just go with the vegetables and chicken in some marinara sauce.

Dinner for me is often just some grilled flank steak, chicken or pork chops and onions served with some steamed broccoli or cherry tomatoes, and maybe some fresh avocado. For dessert I will have some fresh fruit…chilled red grapes have been my favorite for a while. (Unless I splurged for a gluten-free Hail Merry Tart).

I also buy a lot of fruit, seeds and nuts to eat as snacks throughout the day (as I type this I am munching from a bag of walnuts, almonds, pecans and raisins that I mixed up in a plastic container this morning). No-sugar added applesauce and beef jerky also makes the occasional mid-afternoon appearance.

I can’t say that I am very scientific about the portions that I eat…I generally just eat when I am hungry until the feeling goes away. That being said, it was never my intention to incorporate Paleo into my lifestyle in an effort to lose weight. It was more of a decision just to try and eat a more healthy diet that would compliment my Crossfit routine.

However, between the Paleo diet and Crossfit, I have seen some significant changes. I have been at least 75% Paleo or more (currently I would say that I am close to 95% Paleo) for the past 8 months. Over the past year, my weight went from 185# down to 165#. I feel that I am much more athletic now – at least I can get through a metcon without having to rest (as much)…I can do 25 pullups unbroken and can get through quite a few handstand pushups, without a mat. My max bench press has fallen a little, down from 225# to 205#...but I think that’s a small price to pay for the gains that I have made in other areas.

So overall, I feel like this is plan that is working for me; and allowing for a weekly “cheat day”, I think that it’s a plan that I will be able to sustain for a while (as long as I can afford it…eating “real food” is not cheap). If anything changes, I’ll post an update.