Let me be upfront. Since my early teens, I have always had to “watch” my weight. Didn’t matter if I was on a softball team, ran track or was on a 7-day-a-week workout schedule, I still had to be careful what I ate. Thus, I think I may have tried about every “diet” known to man. I’ve tried Atkins, extra-low fat, cabbage soup and even that awful grapefruit diet—for those of you who know me and how well fruit and I get along, imagine how pleasant that one was.  I don’t do diet pills, prepackaged diet food, “meal substitutes” or wraps. However, I must admit, I’ve yet to try any of those “new” diet trends like Paleo, Mediterranean, or raw.

So with that being said, for two months I am going to attempt to go Paleo.  Now Paleo is special in that I get to trash just about everything I’ve learned about healthy eating. Yes, Paleo encourages low-fat, however, more importantly no grains, minimal sugars, no legumes and a very limited amount of dairy.  Also only free range or grass feed meats.  It feels kind of weird eliminating the entire base of the old food pyramid!

Now, from what I’ve read, most “Paleos” aren’t 100% Paleo, but it seems the un-negotiables are no grain—especially wheat, and only very select sugars—even large amounts of fruit are frowned upon (which suits me fine).  I doubt my diet will be 100% Paleo as not everything is available in central Kansas, but for the first month I am going to try about 90% or as close as I can. If everything is going fine at that point, I may reintroduce a little dairy. But, no whole grain wheat bread, no wild rice and no tofu (which I guess I at least should be grateful for that).

Thanksgiving and Christmas will be an extra challenge this year as I make quite a few holiday goodies and I don’t think my husband and children (not to mention my co-workers) would be too thrilled if I gave up making those.  And by the way, my all time favorite “sweet” is chocolate, and chocolate is technically Paleo—it’s the stuff they put in chocolate that isn’t.  I’ve heard a lot of Paleos get their fix from 85-90% cocoa bars.  I love dark chocolate, so don’t be surprised if I find a legitimate way to justify that one!  

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Mary Hoisington