Paleo Diet: The Conclusion

So I am no longer on the Paleo Diet.  I was on for a total of twelve days, and I gained two pounds during that time.  I am definitely not a fan of this diet.  I was always hungry on it.  I ate a lot on the Paleo Diet, but my mind was constantly screaming at me to eat.  Nothing was filling, and I always felt like I needed to eat something. 

I would eat two eggs or three eggs for breakfast with a banana or a piece of fruit.  For a mid-morning snack I’d have a handful of sunflower seeds.  Lunch would be a large salad with dried fruit, nuts, and a can of tuna.  Afternoon snack would be another handful of sunflower seeds or fruit.  Dinner would be a large serving of meat, with more fruits and vegetables.  After dinner snack would be a piece of fruit or vegetable. 

I would vary my diet too.  I’d have more dried fruit or more vegetables.  Sometimes lunch would be leftovers.  So, I ate a lot, and was physically full, but no amount of food made me feel full.  It was really weird. I would eat so much that I would go from feeling hungry to feeling sick.  Then I would stop eating for a little bit, but even when I was feeling sick, I would still feel hungry. 

I don’t know how to properly explain how it felt to be simultaneously feeling like I was starving, and feeling like if I eat another bite of something, I will pop because there is no more room in my stomach.  Towards the end of this experiment, I was starting to get used to the constant hunger.  I was eating at regular intervals and set portions.  I did that because I couldn’t trust my stomach anymore.

My wife has done well on the Paleo Diet.  She’s lost about 4 pounds since we went on it.  Now that I’m off of the diet, I am back to my normal eating habits.  I feel like myself again.  I’ll still eat like I’m on at the Paleo Diet, so that my wife doesn’t have to cook a side dish of something that isn’t part of the diet.  But she knows I’m not following it while I’m at work or when she travels.

My closing thought on the Paleo Diet is that I think this will be a passing fad with a small following.  I’m thinking this will go the route of fad diets in the past.  Someone will find a way to mass market the Paleo Diet in a convenient package, and there will be a small revival.  But eventually, someone will think of something else, and the Paleo Diet will be on the shelf next to bottles of Slim Fast, packages of Jenny Craig food, and Nutri-System meal plans. 

-S. Dartmoore