Which is so important that I'm taking time away from the rare desire of playing academic catch-up to write about.
Let's keep it simple:
Dietary Imbalance = Hormonal Imbalance
The high protein/fat, low to no carb diet that I've been maintaining for the past 3 or so months has finally taken its mental toll. Physically speaking, I wasn't in a bad position: my sleeping schedule was regular, I felt so much stronger, I could eat however damned much I pleased at each sitting; it was great! Mentally, however, I felt like shit: low energy during cardio workouts which translated to inferior performance, not being able to enjoy what I grew up eating (rice, oatmeal?! COME ON!). I couldn't eat my comfort foods, which is bad, because I get cranky and become mildly psychologically unstable.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not angry at the whole primal idea. In fact, I learned so much about nutrition, natural foods, recipes, and, most importantly, about my own body that I can never bring myself to hate on the whole primal belief system. This is more about reminding myself of the very important ideals I've gathered over these past couple of months of extreme nutritional experimentation. So, with that, here goes:
1. Listen to What Your Body is Telling You
You don't know what's best for you. What? You don't agree? What about that time you binged on meat? Or KO'd from over-drinking? Yeah. That's what I thought. When healthy, your brain knows what your body needs; if you're low on calcium, it'll release hormones for cravings of foods high in calcium. If you've been eating Honey Nut Cheerios every meal for the past week, your brain knows, and your desire to eat those Cheerios will diminish accordingly. Which brings me to...
2. Equilibrium
Just as there is a Yin, there is a Yang. If you don't eat meat for a couple of days, your body will be low on the essential nutrients and protein that come with the ingestion of meat, thus accounting for the steak cravings you get every so often. Case-in-point: eat a little of everything, minus the sugar. And by everything, I mean natural, from the earth, and NOT FROM A BOX. Kthx.
3. Exercise
Last week's LP really reminded me of how great a runner's high can feel. I missed that feeling, and my body acknowledges it: I haven't felt the urge to run in over a year.
In conclusion, I'm glad I tried going primal because of the things I've learned. I respect the belief, but it's not for me. I'm still going to eat a shit ton of vegetables, but when it comes to protein and fats, I'm keeping them at a moderate to low level... Because I like my daily bowl of oatmeal and rice :D
I truly believe our bodies are amazing... Having a mild case of food poisoning really helped me with this decision: even when I didn't feel like eating food, I still had the strangest craving for brown rice (complex carbohydrate). I attribute it to the general lack of carbohydrates my body experienced over the past couple of months. I would eat some carbs and feel so much better... Now that my stomach is almost fully recovered, I want to start anew with a changed outlook on food and nutrition: BALANCE! VEGGIES, MEAT, HEALTHY GRAINS, AND NO PROCESSED SUGARS!
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