On thresholds and discrimination.

It’s not that you just found Paleo, it’s that you’re not sure what to do next.

Maybe you’ve been doing Paleo for longer than a month, maybe you just celebrated your first year (mostly) off of gluten, grain, and dairy. You feel good, but you still want to feel better. What do you do now?

We get asked this a lot, so the good news is that you’re not alone.

Thousands of other people have walked this same path. Whether you’re celiac, gluten free, a cancer survivor, or looking for that performance edge, “strict” Paleo might not be enough for you.

Strict Paleo might not be enough.

The answer is not to become more restrictive, but to become more discriminating. Begin to unplug from the “form” of Paleo, and start to connect with what works for you. In the beginning, Paleo is a fantastic framework. It eliminates most of the general gut irritants found in modern diets, and it gives you a fairly clear way of understanding how to think about eating (and life.)

Become more discriminating, not more restrictive.

Once you’ve eaten Paleo for a while, you’ll invariably try a “cheat”. It might be a cheat meal, a cheat day, or even a cheat week. Don’t sweat it. Not only is that normal, we think it’s a requirement in order to find not only what works for you, but what doesn’t.

If you eat Paleo, sooner or later you'll cheat.

You may find that dairy is fine for you, or that you have to refine it to grass-fed dairy, or maybe just restrict it to goat’s milk only. Hell, you may be like me and react strongly to soft cheeses but be able to have a few slices of hard cheese with few ill effects.

You may also find that a bowl of oats in the morning works well for you, or that fresh baked bread at home is fine as long as you only have a slice or two. About the only thing you’ll consistently find is that sugar at the “normal” American dose has a strong deleterious effect.

Whatever you find, know that Paleo is only the beginning, and that what you’ve done by “going Paleo” is to tune in to what works for you. It’s a much bigger deal than you might have guessed at first, and as you look around you’ll realize that most Westerners are NOT in tune with their body, their diet, or their lifestyle in general.

Most Westerners are not in tune with their body or diet.

Being out of tune with your lifestyle is not incurable or irreversible. It’s a problem that is easy to solve with a few hours of reading and a 30 day commitment to eating strict Paleo. After that, you’re clearly listening to your inputs and can decide what tune you want to march to.

Being out of tune with your life is NOT incurable.

This shit ain’t rocket surgery, folks. You can do it.

If you’re looking for more, and want a few clear “next steps” in Paleo, check out intermittent fasting, Peter Attia, Barry Murray & fat adaption, ketogenic diets, and Wim Hof. For you folks who like your dietary advice from the beyond-the-bleeding-edge wild west, check out Jack Kruse. He’s crazy and probably wrong on a lot of details, but by God he’s right about cold water and sardines.

Enjoy the ride!

• Why You Should Jump In An Ice Bath Today!
• Episode 39: Peter Defty & Optimized Fat Metabolism
• Fermenting Food: The Basics of Preserving Food

---

---

3 Comments

Leave a comment

Name *

Email *

Comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.