What's next?

My 21 days of being sugar-free are coming to an end.  Or, at least, the 21 Day Sugar Detox is coming to a close.  On Monday, January 23rd, I am free to start putting sugar and grains back into my diet.

I'm not sure I want to.

Yes, that glass of red wine that I have been pining over ... THAT I want put back into my diet.  At least, you know, a glass on Friday nights.  I do want that back.  Maybe an apple to go with my almond butter, or some blue berries to add to my goat milk kefir in the morning for a breakfast alternative.  (Getting a bit tired of eggs.)  But, otherwise, I think I am liking the results of a sugar and grain free way of life.

"Officially", I have lost just over 11 lbs. since starting.  While I can not claim to have an over-abundance of energy, I am no worse off than I was before the detox.  I have found my (ahem) bowels to be much happier and my body seems to use up the food very efficiently, which tells me its getting lots of great nutrients out of it, and needing to eliminate less waste.

It's also fairly easy to accommodate when eating out.  Simply order grilled meat and veggies, hold the pasta/rice/bread etc., please.  I make my own salad dressing, so as long as I remember to bring some with me, I can pretty much stay on track with a grilled chicken salad anywhere I go.

So, *gasp*, does this mean I am ready to embrace the Paleo lifestyle?

Well ...

Yes ... and no.

I do believe there is a lot of truth to the research behind it.  I do not believe all grains are evil.  I DO like how my body reacts to limiting them, but I don't see myself NEVER having another, say, fish taco, for the rest of my life.  But, making grain and processed sugar items "treats & cheats" and not a mainstay in my diet seems like a really good plan.  Those who know me, or have followed my writing, know that I have always tried to live a pretty clean eating lifestyle.  I avoid sugar, or tend to use Sucanat, home grown dried stevia, or pure maple syrup or maple sugar in place of the evil white stuff.  But grains, whole grains, have been a huge part of my diet.  From the oatmeal in the morning, to the whole grain sandwiches at lunch, and the brown rice with dinner.  Pretty much every meal in my day held a portion of grain.  And I am not buying into the "all grains are evil" theory.  But, this little experiment on my body has shown me that grains, although not evil, might not be the best thing to eat every single day, every single meal.

Something else that I feel should be pointed out:  I have not counted calories.  Other than the first 2 days, when I logged my intake just to have some sort of idea where the calories were falling (around 1500 each day), I have simply eaten when I was hungry and stopped when I was full.  I kept a bag of raw almonds in my car, next to my water bottle, for emergencies.  You know, when you are running errands, driving from here to there and realize you are starving and your best food option will be something from a gas station or drive-thru (neither of which is acceptable to me).  I would just snack on some almonds until the hunger was under control, finish my business, then work on getting that real meal.  I didn't weigh OR measure my food.  I cooked in coconut oil, olive oil, or *gasp again* real organic butter.

And I worked out a lot, and hard.  But that hasn't every really been a problem for me.  (Months of healing a broken leg aside.)  Eating real food while getting my butt up off the chair/couch etc.  I sit far less, my house is a heck of a lot cleaner and my butt is getting smaller.  I write less, true, but the time I spend behind the face of this laptop seems to be more productive.

So what's next?  More of the same I guess, with a few treats mixed in.  And 5 words that sum up my plan quite succinctly:

Eat FOOD.  Move a LOT.