Cheating is wrong – learning the hard way
I went on a little getaway this past weekend, and I knew sticking to eating paleo would prove challenging. I must say, I did great the first day – I refused bread except for a teeny bite (it wasn’t even that good, despite being a 4 star restaurant!), and loved eating primal treats like wild boar loin (seriously) and foie gras.
But, the second day, the Eggs Benedict were calling… and I answered. (admittedly, they were delicious) Then the calzone knocked on my door for lunch. By the time I saw that they featured a Reese’s dessert calzone, it was over. I ate it – the whole thing.
And you know what? It wasn’t even that good. I think the idea of it was much more appealing to me than the actual dessert was. Has anyone else cheated and then found this same thing? You sort of daydream about how ‘pre-paleo’ (yes, I realize that’s a contradiction.) food tastes and would taste again? Warm bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar? Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, wrapped lovingly in a crepe with nutella and banana pieces? Mmm.
So I indulged a little. And it’s ok, because I really saw the effects of my indulgence immediately. Both my husband and I became rather bloated, felt instantly tired after our cheat meals, and were just sort of sluggish overall (which was ok since we were on vacation). And that got me wondering, ‘Is this how I used to feel ALL the time, just without noticing?!?!‘ I think it is.
So we’re back home and back to eating paleo – and it definitely feels good. Whew!
Posted on June 10, 2011, in Oops and tagged bloated, calzone, cheat, cheating, lanai, Oops, paleo, primal, reeses, vacation. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
I love that you took a picture of it. With that staring me in the face, who are we kidding; I think most of us would cheat. It was beautiful! Your description alone was beautiful.
But I completely hear you with the cheat thing. I stopped eating fast food years ago, so every once in a blue moon I’ll “treat” myself like for Valentine’s Day when my hubby is deployed, or the month or so ago when the guy predicted the world was ending. Well, just for in case, I went to McDonald’s. (How horrible does that sound that I choose a Big Mac for my last meal?) But it didn’t taste like I remembered. My husband said our taste buds have changed and adjusted to the homemade cooking I’m now involved in. But I think part of the allure to cheat is the fact that it’s forbidden. Once you taste it, like you said, it isn’t as good as you remembered. And that day (when it was the end of the world) I was sluggish too. Processed crap.
Regardless, I’m glad you guys had a fabulous vacation and were able to splurge a little in a nice restaurant, even if it only taught you a lesson in the end.
How difficult was it following the food plan when you weren’t able to cook yourself?
It IS funny how your taste buds change, yeah? And totally agree that part of the allure is that it’s forbidden – well said!
It wasn’t hard at ALL to follow the food plan – I mean, you need to be slightly flexible – but one night we had meatloaf wrapped with bacon, which probably had a little wheat from breadcrumbs in it – and another night we had wild boar with veggies, foie gras, and then had dessert as a treat – but i don’t think the dessert even had flour in it. Another night we had ribs. One of the things I like most about this diet is that you don’t need to count anything or worry about fat at all – you just look for meat, veggies, and sweet potatoes – and you’re good! I’ve been sick for the past month (with walking pneumonia, totally unrelated to diet), have literally been sitting on my butt ALL the time, not counting any calories, eating fat, eating fruit, sweet potatoes, etc – and I’ve lost 5lbs. Pretty good, if you ask me!
Kate, don’t forget that this has to work for all of you, and there are many stages. You struck of chord, and I think the TOTally right attitude when you wrote [to the effect] that, “Wow, my body used to have to put up with that crap ALL the time!” The beautiful thing is, any degree of compliance helps you; don’t make it into a “diet.” Do as much or little as you want, but you’re still WAY ahead of the game no matter what. My body does poorly with wheat, yet I’ll indulge with French pastries (but they have to be DAMN good) once in a while, and enjoy it, although my body always reminds me that, well, it doesn’t appreciate it ;^(. So, have fun and be grateful for every day that you aren’t burdening your body with modern crap most of the time. The fact is, we DON’T live pre-paleolithic. We live now. BTW, have been very happily paleo for 18 months and feel no guilt when i indulge. Have you tried Dagoba? It takes choco into another universe. Cheers from Chitown- Chris
Christopher, thank you for your thoughtful comment! Totally agree about cheating but it has to be worth it – I’ll cheat on paleo for something that’s AMAZING – but not just ‘ok’.
And I’ve never heard of Dagoba – I’ll look into it! Thank you!
Cheers to Paleo!