Personal Reflection

 
I have written before regarding food journaling, diet fads and eating whole food.  When venturing on the train to good health and healthy eating it is easy to become overwhelmed with all the new lingo out there. 
Recently Precision Nutrition released a 5 part series breaking down the best diet.  In doing, PN filtered out a lot of questions and popular misconceptions.  I would like to highlight some keep points I found rather interesting, points I would share with my nutrition clients as they begin their journey to healthy eating.  But first I am going to share my journey to my clean eating and becoming PN Level 1 Certified. 
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I jumped on the Paleo Challenge Bandwagon, more than once.   Omitting and living by such strict parameters can wreak havoc on your psyche, not to mention your social life.   Specially, I remember on more than one occurrence feeling anxious or wrong because I ventured over to the “Never List” or the “Occasional List” 1 time too many in a week.  I joined this bandwagon without truly understanding Macro/Micro nutrient balance.  I just thought if it was on the good side, eat it. I ran my life by a list of do’s and don’t…that is not a way to live.

What did following this fad give me…understanding whole food.  How to cut sugar from my life and how to eat a shit ton of veggies with a side of protein.  It wasn’t until I got PN certified that I really looked at my food plate and compared macro ratio's from Paleo to PN recommendations.  I was foolishly under the impression that carbs are bad and nearly ripped them from my diet.  What that gave me was a lack of energy, decreased weight loss.

Paleo recommends that you eat 40% Protein and Fat and only 20% protein.  Myplate.org recommends 50% Carbs, 30% fat, 20% protein, while PN balances their plate at 30% fat and protein and 40% carbs. 

In following a PN Macro balance, processed food free, heavy with the veggies with a side of good proteins and fats.  I no longer live by a list; I live by what makes me feel good.  I give myself the freedom to flex my diet towards my needs. If you are trapped in parameters of lists than you are learning nothing about eating, you learn only rules it tells you.  

That being said if you follow Paleo and that is what works for you, than great.  My advice is stay true to yourself and educate yourself on the way you eat.