I Know My Body!

^^Watch this starting at 5 minutes, 36 seconds in^^

The big "thing" to do right now seems to be a primal or caveman type diet. And that's great. It seems ideal - I mean really, who doesn't want to be dieting and still get to eat bacon every day? The idea behind these primal diets is basically to eat what people ate when they were hunting their own food - veggies and meats. A diet where you're not tracking fat calories, but you've essentially cut out carbs from grains and pastas.And most importantly, you get to eat bacon.

Win.

I have tried several dietary lifestyle changes in the past year to two years, and I have learned a ton about my body and what it needs and wants. I have also learned a lot about bio-individuality, which essentially means, we are all different, and what works for you may not work for me.

I will use my cousin Karen as an example because I know she has a thick skin, and I know she always means well when she tells me what to do. It annoys me more than anything when I mention that I am doing a cleanse, or switching to organic meats, or eliminating certain food items from my diet...and someone tells me I am wrong. I have a lot of friends who like to jump all over me for removing bread from my diet. Well guess what, bread is my body's enemy, not its friend. Karen mostly likes to harp on me about my caloric intake. She thinks I don't eat enough. And she may be right, I don't really know. I don't count calories, and when I used to, I was usually under my reccomended intake for the day. But here's the thing...I don't necessarily agree with the reccomendations about what I should eat or weigh. For example, my BMI calculator thing suggested that I was significantly overweight, at Thor and Danielle's wedding, when I was the thinnest I'd been since high school. The "reccomendation" was that I weigh no more than 104 pounds. At the wedding, I weighed about 118, and looking back at photos, I should probably have not lost those last 5 pounds...I looked the healthiest at Stacey's wedding, when I was at about 125. But on my BMI test, 125 was considered just shy of obese...so needless to say, I don't tend to trust whatever mad scientist came up with that one.

And the same goes for calories...I eat every day, usually all 3 meals, I snack, and I don't go to bed hungry. And yet, some chart somewhere says I am eating about 300 too few calories. Well, I don't necessarily agree with that. I eat until I am full, and that's enough for me. I am not going to force feed myself extra to meet a suggestion made by someone, somewhere, who doesn't know me.

While I do agree that the basic key point to any weight loss or weight maintenance program is, calories in versus calories out, I have learned that there is more to it. It does matter where your calories "in" are coming from. Myself for example? My body cannot handle red meat in the amount that these primal diets suggest. If I eat a burger patty - without a bun, mind you - I gain, like, 3 pounds. Red meat also makes me sick to my stomach. So while I enjoy some bacon as a treat on Christmas morning with my parents, I cannot commit to that much meat. Both because I don't like it, and because I don't want to get fat.

In the past 12 months, I have learned that success for me looks like a smoothie for breakfast and a smoothie for lunch, with salad and chicken for dinner, and some healthy fat snacks in between, such as an avocado or some nuts. That's just what works for me. Just like I don't appreciate being told that I'm wrong, I am not suggesting that those of you on primal, caveman, paleo diets are wrong. If it works for your body, keep going with it! But I want people to understand that not everyone's body is the same. It is extremely disheartening to post a photo of a delicious, green, organic plate of veggies that you cooked for dinner and have six people comment about how you need a steak or chicken thigh to make it a meal. No I don't. Plenty of people don't eat meat at all, and before you jump all over me about it, perhaps you should ask if I am getting my protein and iron in other forms...to which I could tell you yes, I am.

I recently had a physical at my doctor's office, and surprise, surprise, she said all of my tests came back great, my blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugars were all normal and at no risk of anything. Everything was fine. And from my genetic history, the fact that there was nothing wrong means I am doing something very right. She asked about my diet and workout routine, we talked about it, and she said I was doing things right. So for all of you (not just you, Karen, lol) who can't seem to get off my case about how I eat like a bird or don't get enough protein or don't eat enough bacon or bread or fat or sugar...please stop it, and let me do my thing. Afterall, I know my body. You don't live in it, I do.

Could be worse, you know...I could be striving for a thigh gap.