Why paleo dieting works (for me) - Day 16 of my 30 day Paleo challenge

I admit that I entitled this post Why paleo dieting works. In fact I would have left it like that but I decided that in the interests of being politically correct I would acknowledge that I am speaking from my own experience and that of my handful of clients who have dropped 3lbs to 5lbs in the first week of eating clean unprocessed foods such as meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, berries and nuts and seeds (see some of  my earlier posts for more details on paleo eating and some recipes to get you started). I would be absolutely amazed if there was anyone who stuck to this diet for at least 90% of the time and didn't lose weight, I really would.

What is so different about this diet than those from WeightWatchers, LighterLife, Slimming World, the Cambridge diet etc? Mainly it's that its about REAL food, the kind of food our bodies evolved to eat; not the so called 'frankenfoods' in the supermarkets which are a concoction of sugar, unhealthy fats and chemicals. (Most of the big diet companies have their own ranges of these frankenfoods which they are keen to push to those on their diets.) When you are eating real foods you feel fuller and more satisfied and as you are getting a good dose of nutrition at every meal the cravings you have for sweet sugary foods disappears over time.

Like every diet though you need help and support to make it stick. Habits are formed over time, and food and drink habits are very powerful based around social, physical and emotional thoughts and actions. Habits take time to change so you need to give yourself a good month of eating clean foods before new habits are formed and old cravings disappear. It's good to work with a coach, a group from your gym, friends who are also looking to lose weight and become more healthy or a spouse who also wants to make the change.

If weight loss in itself was enough to give people motivation then everyone that went on a diet would be successful and would keep the weight off but we know that is not the case. With a paleo or primal style diet (main difference for me is that primal is less strict and allows dairy) there are so many health and wellbeing benefits such as staving off inflammation in the body, preventing type 2 diabetes, staying young longer, better skin and hair, more energy (in the long term, it might take a week or two to adapt at first) that these in themselves are enough to spur me on. I am planning on living to a ripe old age and being active and mobile and enjoying myself not stuck in a chair in an old peoples home. There are no guarantees of course, but I would like to bet on the fact that I have more chance of making it than those eating a junk and processed food based diet.

If you want to join me for the last 14 days drop a comment below and I will support you through it. Go on, you know you're worth it (and it will do you a lot more good than using the right shampoo!!).