This way of eating is not for everyone. Removing dairy, grains, and legumes from your diet is something that most folks only consider doing if they have a condition that calls for it or if they’re interested in being as nutritious as possible for their body in the hopes of life extension, which, if you ask me, ain’t a bad thing! (Maybe this way of eating is for everybody!)
Regardless of your reason for changing your day to day noms, there’s gonna be some “body backlash” – some “Hey! Where’s my bread and candy?!” coming from your system. It happens to everybody, whether you’re a bodybuilder or someone weak from a combination of many ailments.
The most important thing to remember when beginning or even maintaining a change in your eating habits is that long-term changes are what matter most. This means that occasional glitches or “cheats” are the norm, not the exception to the rule.
Does this mean that you should “cheat?” Heck, no! Why on earth would you want to self-sabotage? But are you going to anyway, despite your best efforts? Probably. And that’s okay.
It’s not like you’re making a small change from the standard American diet. Being a Paleo eater and following the Paleo Diet means giving up all the artificial crap that we knew and loved and that sustained us and brought us up to be the people we are today, for better or for worse. And the great thing about it is that we’ve come to the point in our lives where we’ve decided that we want to be healthier and to take a step towards feeling better by eating a specific way.
There’s nobody who’s going to punish us if we stray. Our bodies won’t reject the other food, and odds are we’ll just enjoy it. If something bad occurs, we’ll be able to tell exactly why.
If you’ve chosen this path, it’s because you’re doing it for yourself, for your health, and for those you love. So don’t ever think it’s all or nothing.
It’s meal by meal, bite by bite, day by day that you’re making your insides feel better and letting yourself heal.
The secret to success has always been the same: just don’t quit. 🙂
In It For The Parking 
I think it IS for everyone, it’s just not easily obtainable for everyone (for a variety of reasons, ranging from availability of quality meats and veggies to lack of will power) Any “diet” should indeed be a way of life, and if you get off track, just get back on 🙂
I’m not sure if you follow Mark’s Daily Apple at all (AWESOME site if you haven’t checked it out), but he strives for 80% perfection… his whole schtick is that it’s primal eating in a modern world – he makes exceptions from his primal ways for aged cheese, red wine, chocolate, and a few other things. He also tries to think like “Grok” – Grok wouldn’t turn down a piece of honeycomb offered by a friend, but Grok also wouldn’t eat honeycomb every day.
Mark’s Daily Apple is great – I’ve actually got a link up on the right hand side. Thank you for telling me that he strives for 80% perfection. Because 80% of our 3 meals a day, 7 days a week means that out of 21 meals, 17 are going to be 100% paleo, and that if you have some grains or a little sugar during 4 of your meals during the week, you still did as perfectly as Mark of Mark’s Daily Apple. And that’s totally hot. I’ve been doing better than I thought.
oh, DUH, should’ve checked out your links.
I’m also pretty sure I read on MDA that Mark has coffee with milk and sugar every morning… he finds that the quality/sanity that it adds to his life outweighs the fact that it’s not primal… something like that anyway.
He has some wonderful analogies, tips and tricks for primal living in a modern world, and some research to back it all up for the “non-believers”
I’ve found wonderful links in comments from his readers (most recently, speaking of coffee, a link to bulletproof coffee – and a whole site of life hacks), and generally enjoy the well-written intelligent banter.
I originally stumbled upon his site looking for low-carb marathon running nutrition. 🙂
I gave myself an entire year to fully give up grains/legumes. Because I knew if I only gave myself one shot, the second I failed I’d give up. But having a whole year to try made it a lot easier to be gentle with myself when I inevitably would go off the rails, and being gentle with myself, would make it a lot easier to get back on track.
I love the picture & corresponding quote!
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