When I told my Mum about my plan and that I was going to eat loads of cashews (I love nuts) whenever I feel like snacking and that I was going to eat as much as I wanted, the first thing that she said was: 'you are going to put on a lot of weight, they are full of calories'. I didn't want to argue because my Mum has very strong opinions about things and there is no chance you will convince her if she doesn't want to be convinced. She doesn't believe in Conventional Wisdom and she doesn't believe in anything drastically different either. Basically what she says all the time is that she doesn't believe anything she is told because in another 5 years she will just be told the exact opposite by the exact same people. Well, I know what she means, there was the thing that salt is unhealthy and then that you have to have salt. There was the thing that you shouldn't eat eggs because of cholesterol and now they say eggs are healthy and there are conflicting opinions about cholesterol, too. It has been the same about chocolate and many other things and now she has taken the stance that she will have what she feels is healthy and that's that. I just wish she would listen more, or read a bit on it but she won't. It's the same kind of resistance I keep finding all around me and it is really really annoying.
On Saturday I was doing the make-up of two young ladies for a party and they kept offering me snacks of crisps and chocolate (yes, the low-cocoa content milk chocolate kind with additives) and sandwiches and looked so taken aback when I refused them all that I found myself trying to explain them about a diet (be it Paleo or the Primal) based on facts of evolution and human genes. Of course they were not interested in health benefits, but instead kept asking: 'What CAN you eat then?!?' As if bread and potatoes and rice and sugar were all there was available and without them you just wouldn't have any choices. 'What do you eat for breakfast?' is another one of my favourites plus the 'What do you eat for dessert?'.
I mean, have you ever thought about it? Why is it that you need to have dessert after a meal or why should you have cereal or bread for breakfast? It's all just habits, a cultural thing, it's not a necessity. Your body doesn't need them, so there is no reason at all apart from the fact that that is what you are used to. Try without them for a few days, maybe two weeks and you will realise you do not actually miss them at all! Another 'set back' people find themselves facing when first thinking about a diet without processed food is that they will have to slave in the kitchen for ages every day and prepare their food in advance for the whole day to take with them and how much effort and planning and thinking has to go into food and they feel like all their life will just have to centre around food.
One of the biggest surprises for me has been that this is actually not true! In fact, it's the exact opposite. OK, you will not be able to just grab a sandwich quickly from the supermarket on the way or a chocolate muffin at the station when waiting for your train in the morning, but... There is a huge BUT! Instead of food being a centre of your life, it becomes secondary because you are just simply not hungry that often. You do not feel the need for that muffin or sandwich at all. And when you are hungry, food can still wait because you do not get dizzy or lightheaded and there isn't that awful urge to stuff anything just remotely edible into your mouth. It's OK to skip a meal or hardly eat anything for a day. You will make it up to your body later when you have a chance to put your hands on something that is actually nutritious. And even cooking time I have found easy to reduce. Just think about it. How much time does it take to make a salad? 10 minutes? 15? Surely not more than that.
Let me just tell you this: today I had a breakfast of bacon and eggs and a little cheddar and radishes at around 9 am. I didn't eat anything else apart from an apple until 5 pm. And I was FINE! Yes, I started to feel hungry at around 3 (that's when the apple got eaten) but it really wasn't that difficult to keep on going until dinner was ready (I chose to cook something other than a salad, so it took about an hour). And I didn't have any dessert, and I don't mind. So get over your panic about 'no bread' and start getting creative in the kitchen. :)
