One Week

It's been one week eating paleo.  And from what I've read and heard, I expected to feel lethargic, dizzy, unfocused, etc. until my body adjusted to the new diet of meat, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fruit.   Actually, it was the dairy, grains, sugar, and caffeine that my body wasn't getting that I thought would cause me the most headaches.

But....
I feel great.  I feel awake, alert, energetic, strong, and happy.

At first, I was surprised.  I quit smoking almost ten years ago and it was an excruciating experience.  That's what I was expecting this time.  I equated the cessation of grains, dairy, and sugar with the cessation of nicotine.  But it wasn't like that at all.  I chalk this up to a few other factors.

First and foremost, in addition to eating like a caveman, I've been sleeping like a caveman.  I crawl into my completely dark and slightly cool cave where I've been getting between 8 and 9 hours a night--basically an extra 3 hours a night.  I think that alone has done wonders for my overall health and mood.

Furthermore, I've been supplementing my diet with fish oil (9g a day) and vitamin D (2,000 IU a day).  I've been taking fish oil for quite a while now but I ramped it up after listening to Robb Wolf and I learned that the capsules I was taking didn't offer near enough omega-3s.  I've never taken vitamin D before but the first day that I did, I notice a remarkable difference.  Living where we do, we don't get enough vitamin D (because we get it from the sun).  Our northern latitude and temperate climate deprives us of a good deal of it.  But supplementing it has really boosted my mood.  It says a lot about how important it is to get sun.  I think it's the reason why we're in such better moods in the summer.  I guess in a way, the vitamin D makes my body think that it's summer.  Feels great.

But I think one of the other big reasons why the transitions hasn't been so hard is that overall, my diet over the last year or so wasn't all that bad.  Sure, I have some vices--mainly coffee and the occasional pastry, not to mention my love of nacho chips and spinach dip--but overall, I was eating a paleo/zonish diet.  Meat, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fruit have been the staples of my diet and I rarely had pasta, rice, or bread.  So, in effect, I just had to cut out the coffee, the pastries, and the snacks.

All in all, I feel great.  I don't know if I have enough adjectives to describe how it feels to live like a caveman. I've been getting tons of sleep, eating paleo, and hitting the CrossFit wods hard and I feel great.