Back to Paleo

So first a little nutrition background on me!  I won’t go too far in detail on my past eating habits…but for the most part I grew up eating heathy food.  When I first started working as a PT I was also coaching gymnastics about 20 hours/week….so was really busy and fell into the eat fast food a lot trap!  I got to a point where I was pretty unhappy with myself (that can be for a post at another time....) so decided to switch up my eating. I had started doing fairly strict paleo before I started CrossFit and really saw good results physically, as well as having more energy and better skin in general.  I never thought I was someone with food sensitivities before…but I really did notice differences cutting those things out!  I kept that up (obviously with some cheat meals and less strict periods of time) for my first 3 years of competitive CrossFit, and overall it worked well for me.  My only issue was I stopped getting stronger!  So after talking to my friend Nicole Capurso, she suggested I try macro counting and adding in some more carbs.  She gave me numbers and said maybe I even should try a poptart mid lifting! So much different than paleo! We did weekly check-ins & she was really helpful with the whole process.  I definitely got stronger!  I still ate quality foods but welcomed back rice, cheese, bread - and some treats I would not regularly have as long as they fit in.  I did a great job tracking my food the rest of that season, staying pretty lean, but putting on a little bit of weight (I like to think since I got stronger my muscles were just fuller =P   I kept up with the measuring for another CrossFit season and into weight lifting nationals that year.Fast forward to shoulder surgery.  After shoulder surgery I pretty much ate what I wanted….and a lot was very convenience based, it’s hard to open stuff and prepare food one handed!  I initially said I would be relaxed with eating for the first week or 2 then buckle back down, probably with measuring since that was what I had been doing prior.  But when it came to it, I didn’t want to!   I of course still ate healthy food, but was just very relaxed with chips and salsa (& queso!), French fries, and Oreos! As months past and my shoulder was not progressing the way I thought or hoped, I just didn’t have the motivation to be very strict with food.I hit a point about a month ago where I started to feel that motivation again!  I wasn’t happy with how I was looking in pictures (read more about that here!) and decided I had tried to measure a few times since surgery….but it always felt very stressful…so I was going to go back to what initially worked for me…Paleo!   It’s been 3 weeks now and I feel great!  With my paleo I of course stay away from grains and dairy, no legumes, but I do still use whey protein and have had some white potatoes and quinoa a couple times      .  I will definitely still have pizza or tacos from time to time (because YUM!) but try not to let those things suck me back in!There has been a huge trend toward macro counting recently.  I’m not saying I would never do it again…I definitely would for a purpose. I would agree that strict paleo probably does not support high level CrossFit/Olympic weightlifting very well, at least for me…so if I am fortunate enough to get my shoulder back to a point I can think about that…then I would probably measure again!  But for now I feel like paleo actually makes me feel like I have more freedom with food.  No, I can’t have an Oreo if I want (I mean I can….but not if I really want to do this right)…so not freedom that way, the way that people always say they love macro counting, but freedom in that I can just eat when I want and not worry about how much. I don’t eat a jar of almond butter/day (I have definitely done that in my past!)…so I am aware of amounts…but I don’t feel suffocated by numbers that I can’t go over.Really my point in all this is there is not a one size fits all approach to food!  If you love counting and it works for you, awesome! If you want to not worry about amount and just quality and type of food, great!  Play with it, see what works, and don’t let someone tell you it’s wrong! Get in your veggies & limit the crap (that is the hard part….because it’s tasty) and be kind to yourself! Everyone slips up from time to time and motivation is not always there.  You can always get back on track...