Paleo Cookbook For Dummies (20 page)

Balancing blood sugar:
The foods on the Paleo Reset help stabilize your blood sugar for the long term.

In addition, during the 30-Day Reset you begin to break unhealthy food habits. How much you eat, what you choose to eat, and the pleasure you connect with food are often the end results of a habit you've created. You may not even realize that what you're doing isn't healthy or getting you to where you want to be. These 30 days begin to address these concerns and reprogram your habits.

When you regulate your body signals with healthy Paleo foods, you learn to just let your body decide naturally when it needs to eat. Your body gets into a natural rhythm, and you can more easily determine when your body really is hungry. Letting your body tell you when it needs to eat is much more efficient than forcing yourself to eat just because it's supposed to be mealtime.

You also create an awareness of your food that you've never had before. You begin to pay attention to high-nutrient foods and to notice how many packaged foods you've been eating. Best of all, you become aware of how certain foods make you feel, which is paramount for long-term success. These cues are what help you understand which foods agree with your system and which ones don't.

Think about it: If you can invest 30 days in something that will make an impact for the rest of your life, isn't it worth a try?

Putting real foods first

The most important concept of the Paleo Reset is simply about making sure that all the foods you choose are from real food sources, with a focus on quality. You don't put anything with a bar code past your lips for 30 days. That's it. You don't need any special pills or juices.

Trying to explain this concept to patients who are so eager to walk out the door with a “bottle of something” to cleanse is always interesting. It's kind of like the Abbott and Costello skit “Who's On First?”:

Patient: “Doc, I really think I need a cleanse.”

Me: “I agree; let's get you started. I'm going to ask you to eat nothing with a bar code for 30 days.”

Patient: “Okay, what do I take?”

Me: “You don't need to take anything. Let's just start by having you eat nothing with a bar code for 30 days.”

Patient: “Okay, but don't I need something to cleanse me?”

Me: “The foods will cleanse you.”

Patient: “Oh, good. So what supplements do I need to buy to get started?”

Me: “Nothing. You're good to go. We'll go over your food plan and what to expect for the next 30 days, and you'll be set.”

Patient: “Okay, but what do I take to actually
cleanse?
”

Me: [sigh]

During the 30-Day Reset, you eat super clean with whole foods, without any of the Paleo-friendly treats (such as grain-free muffins, pancakes, or desserts) that are okay after the Reset. You focus on eating quality meats, fish, and eggs; healthy fats; Paleo-approved vegetables and fruits; and nuts and seeds.

The three most essential points over the 30 days are to keep your foods simple, balanced, and of the highest quality you can afford. You concentrate on the foods you're designed to eat and that give your body what it craves to be strong, lean, and healthy.

After you do the 30 days, you quickly realize that foods with deep nutrition are your launching pad to a life of looking and feeling amazing. Your food choices and your relationship with food change after you experience the 30-Day Reset.

Understanding why you need 30 days

You've likely spent a long time developing your eating habits, so breaking them and instituting new ones may take some time. The longer you've depended on sugary foods, the more difficult retraining your taste buds to recognize natural sweetness may be.

The Reset lasts 30 days for three reasons:

Allowing time for cell regeneration:
All your organs regenerate themselves constantly. Your body's motive is to get rid of all the weak, sick cells and replace them with healthy cells. Your cells have different life spans, and your intestinal cells take about 21 days to renew. That's why starting your Paleo program with a 30-Day Reset is important: 30 days gives you enough time to encompass a full intestinal regeneration cycle, so you start out your new lifestyle with healthy, vibrant cells.

Creating positive habits:
Your nervous system takes about 30 days to recognize a habit. When you do something over and over for about 30 days, you start getting the hang of it and moving in the right direction. Your actions may not be completely automatic yet and may take some forethought, but chances are that within 30 days, you're reaching for that crinkly package a lot less frequently.

Quieting the cravings:
What's really behind your cravings? Sometimes, your body is looking for ways to find comfort. The brain chemical that's responsible for this reaction is called
serotonin;
it affects mood — specifically, happiness. The higher your serotonin levels, the happier you feel. When these levels dip, you may turn to sweets or processed foods as an artificial way to elevate these levels.

Doing the 30 day Paleo Reset forces you to find ways to naturally increase this feel-good guy serotonin. Exercising, thinking positive thoughts, and eating the clean, nutritious Paleo foods are some of the best ways to naturally boost these serotonin levels and win this epic battle once and for all.

The difference between the first 30 days and simply eating Paleo for life is that a long-term Paleo lifestyle gives you a bit of wiggle room in your food choices — what I like to call
personal play.
The 30-Day Reset, though, has no room for these different shades of Paleo. You avoid the Paleo-approved sweets and treats; (such as pancakes, muffins, and sugars of any kind) that are okay later; straight-up, 100-percent squeaky-clean Paleo foods are the only focus during this period. You have to be strict with your portion sizes as well. No cheating or swaying, or it's back to day number one!