Texas Paleo

So staying Paleo in Austin is not as impossible as I was afraid it would be! I'm not perfect, but I'm doing really well :-)

The trip here was pretty good. I only had black coffee on the plane. I didn't feel hungry that early in the morning, so sticking to my promise for the morning leg was easy.

I got hungry in Dallas, where my flights connected. I was still determined to keep my promise, so I was already reaching for the dried fruit in my carry-on. But guess what they had in the food court? A smoothie bar! And I don't mean with the fake stuff, I mean straight up fruits and ice in a blender. SQUEE!!

The hardest part was ignoring the myriad of delicious smelling food joints on the way. Taco places, burrito places, pizza places, both big chains and local mom&pop booths... The very hotbed of southern food temptation!

But I'm glad I did. That fruit smoothie was delicious and it held me over for a good few hours.

After I got to my hotel, I took a walk-about town. I thought for sure that I needed to find a grocery store or something in order to keep my food promise, but I ran into the perfect place!

The place is called 'Leaf' and has a sign outside of it that reads "The Place for a Great Salad". Awesome! Of course I went in. And the name was not a lie!

I got a giant bowl of Cobb deliciousness. I sinned a little, because they had a bit of cheese and dressing in the salad, and I have to confess that when the guy asked me if I wanted a slice of bread, I caved. But it was an amazing meal and I had some left for dinner later because the portion was so big. I'd say I did quite well!

True, not 100% Paleo. But a much healthier food choice than I thought I had a chance to find!

I went grocery "hunting" later. I found a CVS. Not exactly a Wholefoods, but I raided the shelves for anything I could eat.

It was a heck of an adventure. I passed by shelves and shelves of snacks and crackers and jerky and trail mix that I used to think were healthy but now I can't even touch. I didn't see a single thing without wheat for three rows straight. And nothing gluten free (though, true, CVS isn't the place to look for that).

I couldn't have any trail mix because of the peanuts. I couldn't have the dried fruit because of the chemicals and preservatives. It's such an eye opening experience to read labels in the store now. You always think "Natural Flavors" sounds a bit sketchy, but when you stick to this diet and have to force yourself to put it back and keep going, it opens your eyes to just how little you can eat.

It limits options, yes, but, for me, it also raises my standards. There's a line in the sand now. Because of my experiment with this diet, I have a new rule: If I can't pronounce it, I probably shouldn't eat it. I think I like this rule.

I finally found a box of raisins. I flipped it over, expecting to read more "polysorbates" and "hydrogenated oil" or "treated with nitrate to retain freshness", when all that greeted me was Ingredients: Raisins. YES! I totally got some and went on my merry.

The next morning I went to see what my hotel's breakfast options were. Pretty much what I expected. Snack bars, muffins, oatmeal packets, granola bars, apples, oranges, coffee, tea, even Sanka. I grabbed a cup of black coffee and two oranges. Pretty super :-)

I went sight-seeing. I got hungry after a few hours, so I sat down to have a snack. I ate a couple packets of raisins on a nice bench just outside the statehouse. I'm not much of a raisin person. I used to think they were very plain. Now I'm surprised to find that they were almost too sweet for me!

I don't know what's happening to my taste buds. But since I don't snack on just anything anymore, fruit seems much sweeter than I ever remember it being. So weird. Very cool. :-)

I tried to go to the same salad place for dinner. I was fully planning to skip the bread and ask them to hold the cheese and the dressing this time. Olive oil and salt make a pretty great dressing. But they were closed! Ah!

I went to the sushi place across the street. It was the healthiest option at hand. Again not Paleo, but better for me than Taco Pizza. :-) I ate a plain salmon roll and an eel avocado roll. They were delicious and filling.

I am torn when it comes to rice and oatmeal. I love them. I love how I feel when I eat them. I feel satisfied, not overloaded. My body feels happy. I don't know how long I plan to try sticking to Paleo, but I don't think rice and oatmeal are evil and I don't think I can give them up forever.

I understand the science behind avoiding wheat, but everything I've read so far proves problems manifesting in people with legitimate allergies, and things that happen when people eat too much wheat. But... everything in excess is bad! You can even drink water until you die! So, is it really a surprise that folks who eat too much wheat are going to get sick?

In a related argument, try reading the bread ingredients when you go to the grocery store next. Behold the wall of text that greets you. Look at all those chemicals!

So now I'm led to ask -- the research that's done on wheat -- are part of the effects reported actually from that OTHER stuff? I think any scientist would be hard pressed to find someone alive now who doesn't have these other chemicals in their system. So I'm not sure I believe that all of their conclusions about long term digestive damage is solely caused by wheat. (For average, non-allergic people like me, I mean.)

People have had food enemies since the onset of global media. In the 80s, people feared butter. Olea and crisco and margerine made names for themselves. Then it was eggs. Then, wait, no, just the egg yokes. Then, sugar. Say hi to Nutrasweet! Then, soy. Then, not soy! Then milk. Cream. Now it's grains and wheat?

So pardon me if I raise an eyebrow. I do think too much is bad, but I definitely need to read more before I can slam down all wheat completely.


Meanwhile, back to Austin, this morning I went for a run and had a nice dried fruit breakfast. Dried bananas and mangoes and black coffee. I feel light and full of energy. I feel very good.

Today is the first day of the conference. Tonight I'm getting together for dinner with some of my coworkers. We're going to a famous local restaurant. I am curious to see what the menu offers :-D

Maybe I'll tell them about my blog and ask if they have Paleo menu options.

Or maybe I won't. Maybe my mouth will be too full of burger ;-D