A Paleo Thanksgiving….Not!
29 Nov
Per my annual family tradition, I went up to the isolation that is the Berkshire Mountains for Thanksgiving. I suspected going in that staying paleo was not going to be easy, and perhaps impossible. I was right.
My Aunt and Uncle live in a cabin in Western Massachusetts. There are no stores, no take out restaurants….nothing. They do a big food shop and once the family shows up (about 15 people), we are all locked in for the weekend stuck with whatever food is in the fridge.
Knowing that I would be driving there, I made an effort to eat only paleo friendly fare on the 8 hours to and fro. I packed some walnuts, some raisins, a couple kiwis and a bottle of water. That was the easy part.
Once I was actually at the cabin, I did my best to stay paleo when I could, but it was not easy. For example, the main breakfast food was bagels and cream cheese. Dinner was some type of pasta. By far the easiest meal of all to stay on the paleo diet was Thanksgiving dinner! It was sooooooooo good too.
There was turkey obviously; but there were some extra special sides that I never would have made myself. A roasted vegetable blend perfectly cooked and seasoned. Sauteed red cabbage. I had a paleo feast. It was easily the best paleo meal I have had so far.
Thanksgiving meal aside, at some point I came to the conclusion that staying paleo was just not going to be possible. I indulged here and there. Pasta for dinner. A slice or two of pie for dessert. A cookie to snack on.
Did I feel good about it? NO! However, I got home last night and I weighed myself this morning. I am only up 1/2 a pound. I was 249 when I started the paleo diet and as of today I am 247. 2 pounds might not seem like a lot, but that is with practically no exercise (I have been injured for most of the last month) and plenty of cheating. Ultimately I do feel better, and physically I just look a lot less bloated (probably water loss).
The truth is the number of pounds lost each week is not of major concern to me. If this was some short term diet being used to reach as specific number, that would be one thing. However, my switch to the paleo diet is A LONG TERM HEALTH PLAN. Basic science tells me that if I stick to the paleo diet way of eating the majority of the time, I WILL LOSE WEIGHT AND BE HEALTHY. Therefore the time it takes me to get there is not a major concern.
This is not to say I wouldn’t like to lose weight and hit my optimal weight sooner rather later. It just means that if I get caught up in the numbers, I may get discouraged and lose sight of the longterm goal.
Anyways, today is Sunday and I’m ready for some football. After my less than paleo-friendly Thanksgiving experience, I am getting back on the wagon today. My birthday is one week from today. Since I know I will be going out and will most definitely indulge, I will use that as a motivation to stay 100% paleo until then.
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