Let's get into the real meat of things (pun semi-intended):
I'm
at a point now where I want to try something that will give me another
firm push in the right direction. There's been a lot of discussion in
recent months about "Caveman" and "Paleo" diets that attempt to
replicate the eating habits of our earliest ancestors who would have
eaten only the foods we were "meant to eat" before the ages of
agriculture and processed foods came along. The diets emphasize high
protein, generally through a comparatively high level of meat
consumption, and relatively low carbs because of the omission of any
sorts of grains and things of that nature as well as refined sugars.
This does somewhat differ from other high protein diets in that pretty
much all other vegetables and fruits (limited with some plans) are fair
game. Countless individuals have reported successful, sustainable weight
loss, as well as improved mood, energy, and overall feelings of
well-being with these plans. It sounded to me like something I'd want to
try, but I wasn't necessarily willing to forgo my vegetarian lifestyle
that I've adapted to and enjoy so much. That's when the wheels started
turning and I began to do a bit of research. There were some folks out there ranging from your everyday vegetarians and vegans all the way up to high endurance athletes (see another favorite blog of mine, No Meat Athlete) who had tried varying versions of these diets, so I knew it wasn't impossible.
That's not to say it's exactly easy. Most vegetarians and vegans rely on things like soy (and its derivatives), wheat gluten, a number of grains, and several varieties of beans and other legumes for their protein. Unfortunately, all of these are off limits with traditional paleo-style diets.
I feel like it's time for another **DISCLAIMER: I am not a certified nutritionist, nor am I any sort of self-proclaimed expert on nutrition, diets, eating plans, or any related fields. I'm not a medical expert, and all of the views expressed throughout the entries on this blog are simply my personal observations and deductions that are based on the research that I have done, however deep and thorough it may or may not have been.**
Just figured I'd throw that out there in case I say something that's not 100% accurate about any of these lifestyles or someone mistakes me for some type of dietary guru. But I digress. Back to the topic at hand.
Sure, I could still eat eggs as a protein source, but anyone who's done one of those diets where you eat a hard-boiled egg for more than one meal a day knows they get old REAL quick, so I though I might try to make the jump from vegetarian to vegan in my approach since my other non-vegan love, dairy, is also a paleo "no no".
Am I going to always adhere to the strictest standards of the paleo and vegan philosophies? Probably not. You see, I LOVE food. I love cooking it, eating it, experiencing new ones, discussing it with friends, and I love to actually taste what I'm eating. There may be some ingredients that I cook with that don't mesh with the paleo ideology, and I'm not going to grill the servers in every restaurant that I eat in to make sure there's not so much as a molecule of animal byproduct that would conflict with the vegan lifestyle. (See previous reference to the "What I Vegan" Vegan Police post). All I can say for sure is that I'm going to try my best to adhere to this plan because I want to provide you all with the clearest picture possible of my results from this experiment.
The planned time frame for the experiment is going to be from Monday, April 15, 2013 through Sunday, June 16, 2013, approximately 9 weeks. Why this time frame? I wanted to choose an adequate amount of time so that I could see if any real results would start to come of this, plus, as previously mentioned, I'm a live theatre performer. I'll actually be in overlapping rehearsals for two shows this summer. The first of which, "Urinetown", closes on...you guessed it, June 16. Then I'll head full steam into a production of "Les Misérables" which will run in late July and early August. (I'll provide more info on these shows and my life as an actor outside of my day job in later posts). One of the main things I'm interested in seeing is how this new lifestyle will be able to provide me with the energy I need to make it through the busy schedule that working a full time job plus rehearsing for demanding roles in two shows will incur.
Well, that about wraps up the introduction to this madness. (About time, right?) I look forward to having you all along for the ride and hopefully having your encouragement as well.
Happy trails to you... (ok, anyone have any suggestions for how to sign off on these posts?)
Jon
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