Sweet Life On Modified Paleo Diet

I know this is long overdue but as I promised from my last blog post, I'm gonna share with you how I do my Paleo Diet. I would just like to reiterate first that I went into this diet not because I am for weight loss. My main goal is to gain mass and control my blood sugar for overall well being.

That being said, lets get to our topic straight. I first learned about this diet from bodybuilders at the gym. I heard them say that it is good for building muscles and losing the fat. Ofcourse I got so interested I researched on it.

What is Paleo Diet? According to Wikipedia, “The paleolithic diet (abbreviated paleo diet or paleodiet), also popularly referred to as the caveman diet, Stone Age diet and hunter-gatherer diet, is a modern nutritionalplan based on the presumed ancient diet of wild plants and animals that various hominid species habitually consumed during the Paleolithic era—a period of about 2.5 million years which ended around 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture and grain-based diets. In common usage, the term "paleolithic diet" can also refer to actual ancestral human diets, insofar as these can be reconstructed.

Centered on commonly available modern foods, the contemporary "Paleolithic diet" consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils. “

Since this diet is made by the westerns, the food samples that are available online are only those in line with their food choices.  Tried searching for Paleo recipes meant for Filipino diet but there’s none available. So what I did is study the components of this diet, the nature of the food we have here and tweak them for my benefit.

Paleo is really easy. It’s mainly “Low carb, high fiber, high fat and high protein”. Here’s a simple chart I follow to determine if the food is Paleo or not:

Before I went Paleo, I did a Ketogenic Diet to reset my system from “Carb burning” to a ‘Fat burning” machine. To enter the Ketogenic Phase, you need to eat food without any form of carbohydrates for a certain amount of days. I did this for about 5 days while continuously monitoring my blood sugar for lows and surprisingly I was in the normal range the whole time.

After the reset I shifted to Paleo and it has been 6 months since. I tried my best to stick to the diet that it has become a lifestyle. I do not follow Strict Paleo Diet. I still eat peanuts and soy based products because it is cheap and locally available everywhere.

I know what you’re thinking and yes, I haven’t had rice since. For a typical Filipino, I know it will be so hard to completely eliminate rice from the diet because it is our staple food. What I did is replace rice with lots and lots of vegetables until I am full to the extent that I would have to skip it. It’s so hard at first and it takes a lot to get used to, but it can be done.

I do Modified Paleo Diet, I do not restrict myself to some dairy, soy and legumes based food. I just stay away from starches and processed food. It's really blood sugar that I regulate that's why I made a diet shift to this. To give you an idea on what I eat, here are some samples of what I eat in different times of the day: (I use Coconut Oil in my food)

Sample Breakfast: 1 Chicken leg, 2 Fried Eggs and Stir Fried String Beans and Tofu.

Sample Lunch 1: Pork Sauteed in Vinegar and Sigarilyas in Coconut Milk

Sample Lunch 2: Fried Fish and Sauteed Beans and Carrots.

Sample Lunch 3: Tortang Talong and Fried Fish

Sample Lunch 4: Fried Milkfish and Fried Eggplant

Sample Dinner 1: Fried Sweet Potato and Barbeque Sticks

Sample Dinner 2: Chicken Adobo and Stir Fried Kangkong.

I love food, so much that you will always see me munching something, and until now I still do. Some of my favorite snacks are as follows:

1. Boiled Banana Plantain
2. Fried Sweet Potato Chips (seldom)
3. Happy Peanuts (Blue, retails around 26-30 pesos) This is not Paleo, but is locally available.
4. Tong Garden Pumpkin Seed (Available at The Landmark and Market! Market! Grocery, around 22-25 pesos per pack)
5. Oishi Baked Porky Pops (This is air popped chicharon. Small pack is 15 pesos, big pack is 29 pesos)
6. Lapid's Chicharon (seldom)
7. Banana Chips
8. Hard Boiled Egg (Frequent, as in my replacement if there's no breakfast)
9. MACAROONS (with a double "o")

Diet is not suppose to restrict you from eating, it's about making food choices that is in line of what you want to achieve. Especially in my case that I am so used to eating frequently, it would be so hard to stop. The technique is eating a small portion in frequent times. This will strengthen the metabolism of the body and digest food better than eating a huge meal in one sitting and fast for long periods of time.

From 8.3 down to 5.7. Passing score but aiming a number lower than 5.5

After 3 months on this diet I already lost 4 pounds, I know it's a slow weight loss but I already lost 2 inches off my waist. From HbA1c of 8.3 points down to 5.7 points! This is not by mere diet alone, I also incorporate exercise regimen as well. Again, the goal is not weight loss, but blood sugar control and overall health.

Now that I'm on my 6th month, I am now on waistline size 30-31. I look leaner now compared to how I used to before I started. But not much physical change but I tell you I never felt healthier all my life than what I am right now, and I know by just sticking to the goal of normalizing my blood sugar I can be better in doing sports like swim, bike, run and weightlifting!

Questions? Don't hesitate to send me a message. I'll be happy to answer them.

My Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/thesweetliferunner
You can also Tweet me: @sweetliferunner

Good Vibes Everyone and Sweet Running! ^_^