Every time I hear the phrase “food fight,” I am instantly transported back to the Faber College dining room. John Belushi, “Pluto”, is covering his face while being told that he is a “PIG pig”. In response, ask, “See if you can guess what I am now?” John shoves a round ball of mashed potatoes into his mouth and proceeds to smash his cheeks with both clenched fists. As the lumpy white stuff explodes over everyone, he yells, “I’m a pimple. Do you understand?” Chaos breaks out. John is chased around the dining room and at the end yells, “Food fight!” Without hesitation, there is more food in the air than on the tables. Yes, a classic scene from the Animal House movie. But this is not the type of food fight I am referring to in the title. Now we are in the fight of our lives against food, bad food; food that makes us fat and causes us physical and psychological problems. This is our fight for modern food.
For most of my life, I suffered from what doctors call IBS, irritable bowel syndrome. I called it my flawed, broken, shitty stomach. From an early age, I was pricked, pricked and tested, while all the doctors told me the same thing: “I can’t find anything wrong.” However, there was definitely a major problem. My stomach seemed to hate food. After more than 40 years, I finally found out; It’s not that my body doesn’t like food; is that you do not like certain foods; and not the foods that are generally considered problematic. In a glorious “Ah ah” moment, I realized what should have been obvious to all of my doctors. All I have to do is avoid certain foods and I have no symptoms. No more morning stomachaches, running to the bathroom, or feeling like my GI tract is connected to a car battery via jumper cables. Today, my stomach no longer feels flawed. The foods that I have to avoid are bread (wheat gluten), sugar and I have to limit my consumption of fruits.
As I began to investigate more and more (thank goodness for the Internet), I realized that for hundreds of thousands of years, man did not eat bread. In fact, the man did not eat beans, Beluschi potatoes, pasta and a large number of foods that are commonly consumed today. I realized that I had changed my diet to that of my ancestors. I had become a caveman! In the process I had an additional benefit. I’m 5’10 “. I went from 185 lbs. To 150 lbs. Before settling down to 160 lbs. I went from a 34-inch waist to 31. Wow, not only was my stomach fixed, I was in great shape.
When people talk about diet, it is often like something they do on a temporary basis. They have a weight goal in mind. They struggle, often reaching their goal only to stop eating which caused them to lose weight and return to normal. As a result, they got back in weight, usually with a few bonus pounds to start with. For me, diet is what I eat; not just for the moment, but all the time. More so, it’s what I don’t eat. Cavemen did not drink soda, bake bread, consume processed foods, or stop to eat “junk food.” Me neither. Our ancestors were onto something; something that now regains momentum and popularity.
All over the world, blogs are popping up about this rebellion against garbage that large corporations mass produce and market for food. One of my favorites is Cooking Caveman with Jeff Nimoy (http://cookingcaveman.blogspot.com). Here, Jeff shares his caveman recipes; all organic, no wheat, no sugar, no garbage. More than anything, Jeff shares his experiments with food, the most successful, some, not so, showing us that there are creative solutions for cooking without modern substances harmful to health; and that caveman cooking can be very tasty as well as fun. Books like The Evolutionary Diet: What and How We Were Designed to Eat and Lose Weight Quickly on the Caveman Diet have hit the shelves. They are giving us the weapons and tools to wage war against the processed, fast, high carbohydrate, sugary and unhealthy food that is making our society, more and more, look like the characters who stopped walking long ago in the movie WALL. -ME.
When I share my thoughts on this concept, people look at me like I’m crazy. “Not eating bread. I love bread. How not to eat bread” is a typical response. And then when I say that I rarely eat sugar (I indulge in a little dark chocolate every now and then), they start to slowly back away like I’m threatening their very existence. And, almost always, it is assumed that I ration my food intake. Not!
I eat copious meals. I love eat. For breakfast I eat eggs with unsweetened chicken sausage or ground turkey. For lunch I eat a huge salad with a mix of healthy lettuce, bell peppers, avocado, cucumber and topped with ground chicken or turkey. I dress it with freshly squeezed lemon and extra virgin olive oil. For dinner, eat another huge salad with a main course of chicken, fish, or beef and a side of vegetables. I also make pasta with white or brown rice pasta and make my own sauce (check the labels on the pasta sauce, many are filled with sugar). Actually, I’m not making a huge sacrifice. No wheat, no fast food, no processed foods, very little sugar and carbohydrates. After 3 years, nothing happens. And I still weigh 160 pounds as I approach the big 5-0. While I don’t live 100% as a caveman, I am close; Let’s face it, if the caveman could have a killer California zinfandel or dark chocolate, he would do it in a heartbeat. Again, it’s all about moderation.
As a therapist, I am dedicated to working to create positive change; How can I help others (as well as myself) to create knowledge that allows them to transcend, empower themselves and bring happiness into their lives? Do yourself a favor. Try eating caveman for a week. I think you will find that after a few days of feeling a little strange (your body will start to rid itself of all the toxins created by eating unhealthy food) you will start to feel great. Do not think or say that I am going to go on a diet. Instead, think about creating a new diet / lifestyle for yourself. The idea that I hope to create is that if you are reading this, you are probably feeling tired, have low energy, are a bit depressed, and feel unmotivated. Why? Because you are filling up on contaminated fuel. Think about it. Would you put 50 octane in your car if such a thing existed? Of course not. Stop giving yourself contaminated fuel. This will be difficult at first. But, as I like to say, “There is no great without hard.”
Finally, you are what you absorb, emotionally, psychologically and physically. To be emotionally and psychologically happy, you must avoid negative thoughts that create negative feelings (after all, a thought comes before a feeling – many people get it backwards) and instead connect with positive thoughts and embrace human values. positive. To be in good physical shape, you should avoid toxic foods that make you feel bad and instead eat foods that you should eat and that will make you feel good. The combination of positive thoughts and a healthy diet will open the door for happiness to enter your life. So, start thinking like a caveman and start your fight against bad food today. The only thing you have to lose is your belly!